What Have You Just Seen... Marks Out of 5

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 01 Dec 2006, 06:25

OK. I can admit when I'm wrong.

Last night I watched DIE ANOTHER DAY on DVD for the first time.

And... I rather enjoyed it.

3/5

Not top ten... but still.

Like many I didn't like it when I saw it at the cinema. Yet somehow on DVD it was a lot more fun. Yes, the CGI surfing is still crap and yes, the invisible car was a mistake, and yes, Michael Madsen is still a Yankee a-hole, but I found myself being entertained above all else. 132m and not a dull second. It pushes the noise and bang factor to the limit, but the action was well done, and I found the humour less annoying than in the Roger Moore films I've revisited. I would've liked more drama, but the scenes in the first third stop this from being a light comedy like, say, The Spy Who Loved Me. The fact that I was predisposed to not liking DAD made my change of heart all the more surprising. And, as I said, I can admit when I'm wrong.......

IronMonkey · Post by **IronMonkey** » 01 Dec 2006, 08:53

Into The Blue - 3/5

A very enjoyable popcorn action flick that doesn't outstay its welcome. And anyone who doesn't like Jessica Alba in a bikini is just blind! Wow!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2006, 10:35

Hex S1 - Eps 1-2 - 3/5

Buffy set in England, basically (from what I've seen of Buffy).

Even the college/boarding school feels American. The actors seemed a bit old to be playing college students for some reason

Promising despite the fact its easy to see its origins/influence.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:07

hey,

On The Edge 3/5

Solid stuff from a mostly solid favourite of mine, Herman Yau. Nick Cheung is a former undercover cop trying to adjust to a new kind of cop life, only to start falling apart as both sides of the law looms down upon him now. All but one righteous but violent cop (Anthony Wong).

One of Nick Cheung's best performances so far, he is asked to display bottled up emotions. Something that works when we do get the explosion of emotions later. Partly told in flashback, overall Yau gets the better effect out of the present scenes but overall tells an affecting story. The romance angle lacks everything it should have however and Francis Ng's minor role feels rather slight for the actor. Doesn't prevent it from being watchable as Ng flashes some of what's expected from him (edge, flamboyance etc etc). Anthony does much better in a seemingly unsympathetic role but filled to a fair degree with depth. There's nothing wrong with Hong Kong cinema displaying consistency.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:20

Bjorn Again - Taking The Piste tour - 4.25/5 - 4.5/5

Very famous ABBA Tribute band (from Oz)

Awesome fun, and very good.

They mostly played the "hit" songs but there were a few I didn't know (Last Summer, When I Kissed The Teacher etc), there was even time to include a Police riff (the ending of "Message In A Bottle" was stuck on the end of SOS) and a singalong of 3 chord Quo classic Rockin' All Over The World

Ripe for audience participation so some of the sadder, more heartfelt pieces weren't there but the happier ones (Dancing Queen etc) were all there.

Great fun

Agnetha (the blonde one from ABBA) was gorgeous in her day.

Liked her thigh high boots, very sexy

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:26

She looked like a moose IMO. I'm glad you liked it though.

Last night I watched DIE ANOTHER DAY on DVD for the first time.

And... I rather enjoyed it. 3/5

Like many I didn't like it when I saw it at the cinema. Yet somehow on DVD it was a lot more fun.

In a a guilty "Fast and the Furious/The Transporter" fun way it probably isn't too bad but then that doesn't make it remotely good either.

I quite like Fast and the Furious & The Transporter but then they're not Bond are they. I expect much more from Bond than I do my B-Movie action fodder.

There's no way I'd ever pay money to see it again!

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:32

LOL fair enough Brad, diff'rent strokes etc.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:36

You replace an E with an apostrophe? You may as well have spelt it in full, it's the same number of characters.

Sorry it just struck me as a little odd.

p.s - I dislike everything about Abba, awful in every way (not even any fit birds).

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:41

Fair enough

You not into older music at all?

The girls acting as 'Angetha' and 'Frida' looked OK tonight (from a distance), mostly because of what they were wearing.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:55

grim_tales wrote:Fair enough
You not into older music at all?

Of course. Lots, from The Eagles to the Beatles to Joni Mitchell.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 01 Dec 2006, 22:57

Good man

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 02 Dec 2006, 09:31

hey,

The Revenge Of Angel 2/5

Certainly a different Moon Lee vehicle as she reserves the Joey Wong role for this one (I.e. another variation of for instance the A Chinese Ghost Story story). Played straight but with no sense of making the romance work and veteran director Yeung Kuen (Seeding of A Ghost) merely relies on action. Not the worst choice as there are some fluid, standout scenes, in particular towards the end where spells and weapons collide.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 03 Dec 2006, 11:29

hey,

Storm 3.5/5

Unusually well-produced Swedish flick, mixing ideas and imagery a la Dark City and Matrix while also mixing in a rather touching story about forgotten memories. Is a bit too quirky for its own good but when getting to the heart, the film very much scores.

Shen · Post by **Shen** » 03 Dec 2006, 20:40

Happy Feet 4.5/5

Fantastic film. im not usually a fan of animation but this looked too cute to not see. and it was awesome, hilarious, cute and just great. dancing/singing penguins whats not to like?

the animation was fantastic. robin williams was great fun, just an all round fun movie. defiantly see it again.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 03 Dec 2006, 22:07

hey,

The Girls From China 2/5

Category III drama. I give director Barry Lee credit for showing an intent to tell his story more often than not straight but the story and the execution of it is a fair bit from ok despite. Despite a running time of 100 minutes, it is quite well-paced however.

Came out in the UK under the very PC title Whores From China. Very nice.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 03 Dec 2006, 22:12

I'll save my comment, Ken, as you most probably know it already.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 03 Dec 2006, 23:48

The Living Daylights

6 out of 10

A hard one to call. I definitely enjoyed it but it also felt a bit "Bond light". Actually a good way to put it is "Bond by Numbers".

The lack of larger than life villain which pretty much all Bond films have had was big one for me, this is also missing in Licence to Kill but there the violence, toughness, grittiness and life-like/for real qualities of the film meant it simply doesn't matter.

In Casino Royale we have a larger than life villain but it manages to still feel tough and real.

In TLD however the villains are so limp it's unbelievable, even Sanchez in LTK is larger than life to these villains.

The Living Daylights has a Bond who wants to be a 15 but is restrained by the PG rating. He's tough but oddly because of the PG rating he comes across as always holding back.

I liked it more when it was set in Eastern Europe (the super car on ice was a particularly good scene). Until this point it felt like a companion piece to From Russia With Love and was working well.

I thought it went down hill a bit when we got to Afghanistan (looking a bit to much like Indiana Jones).

By this point it all got a bit silly too with lots of over the top madness. At least the over the top madness of Tomorrow Never Dies and previous Bonds are lots of fun, so you're too busy being taken along for the ride you don't notice. As this wasn't happening here I started to get a "little" bothered by how stupid things were.

As for Dalton well he plays it straight and tough as Bond ultimately should be. Dalton though seemed a little uncomfortable with the role, he never looked like he was fully relaxed, as he is in LTK. Probably because he was rushed in at the last second (literally after Brosnan was unable to play the part).

The Bond girl was only marginally attractive too, both Bond girls from LTK were far more stunning.

I'm actually struggling to remember scenes from TLD to write about whereas LTK I can still remember them. The theme song is great though, lots of 80s synthesiser cheese

Overall enjoyable but not as good as I was expecting. I think I need to give it another go in a few weeks/months. I enjoyed it but was expecting more.

After now seeing both Dalton Bonds, his performance is probably (from what I understand) the closest to how Bond was written, as films I think Casino Royale is better.

Lol, watch the scenes between Dalton and Maryam D'Abo in TLD and see how he interacts with a woman he loves. Then imagine him doing that shower scene from CR and you might see what I mean.

Any scene in particular? Sure I see what you mean Dalton could've played that scene too but I fail to see how it would've been better than Craig's performance. Both are as good as each other acting wise.

p.s - Bond has only ever been in love twice (OHMSS and CR), everyone else is just lust.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 04 Dec 2006, 00:58

On the Edge - 3.5/5

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 04 Dec 2006, 05:04

thelostdragon wrote:I'll save my comment, Ken, as you most probably know it already.

All I can say is, stop worrying so much about me. 8)

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 Dec 2006, 17:30

Torchwood - Episode 7 "Greeks Bearing Gifts" - 4/5

Thought this was actually a pretty good episode, quite dark.
Toshiro (Naoko Mori) gets a pendant which means she can read other people's thoughts, but it also means she questions her commitment to the Torchwood team, when she hears their thoughts they say cruel stuff about her etc.

There's some lesbian action for Toshiro

:thumbright:

Strangely though it seems like the swearing/sex/gore is the only thing giving this a 9pm slot ATM, not necessarily more mature stories.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 04 Dec 2006, 19:28

hey,

Yu Pui Tsuen III - 2.5/5

Walking little of Ho Fan's reportedly stylish paths as seen in the first two films, Lai Kai-Leung (co-director of Love, Guns & Glass) decides to adhere to the period sex comedy formula instead but in an amusing fashion he parodies Stephen Chow's excellent Forbidden City Cop as well.

The first two films are considered forerunners and in many ways better than Sex And Zen.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 04 Dec 2006, 20:08

What's the English title of the film?
I haven't heard of Love or Guns and Glass, did you know Sex and Zen 1 is getting a Joy Sales remaster? II already has a remaster (well anamorphic anyway) AFAIK.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 04 Dec 2006, 20:50

I'm guessing Yu Pui Tsuen is someone's name.

How do you parody a parody?

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 04 Dec 2006, 20:58

hey,

it only goes under the title Yu Pui Tsuen, which is the name of the novel Sex And Zen was based on. The latter also received a remaster in France recently and it's indeed on Joy Sales remastered list as well.

How do you parody a parody?

You just do. I guess it's not a scene for scene send up but elements such as the secret agents, the main character's wife and a few inventions along the way does scream Forbidden City Cop quite loudly.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 05 Dec 2006, 03:04

I watched Rob-B-Hood tonight, I thought it was good!