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

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 29 Dec 2006, 15:20

Cure - Good
I'm so embarassed to have seen just three Kiyoshi Kurosawa films, and that includes this one. This is something I very much hope to mend because I am so very intrigued. I have become quite tired of dramas yet Kurosawa films, which are in essence dramas captivate me. There's a distinct shift away from reality to portray his intentions and for me this adds a degree of comfort and a pleasing aesthetic. This slightly surreal and ambiguous approach offloads some of the directors work to the viewer. This is not done in a conventional fashion which is to merely portray events and nothing more, it's much more subtle and though a risk it ultimately suceeds. This is perfectly coupled with a unique visual style which allows me to identify his films a a glance but not quantify what exactly it is that he does.
Oh the film... Well it's good, it's not great. It's quite creepy and very human. Predictable but also not which left me feeling a little lost and I think that may well have been the intention. It doesn't hide what will happen next but what happens after or before may be a surprise. This was a bit strange but all in all it's a good film and I feel it will improve with more viewings.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 29 Dec 2006, 17:52

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory 4/5
Wooo!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 29 Dec 2006, 19:14

Lourdes wrote:Zhang Ziyi is horrible, just look at Gong Li for a comparison. Both started off in Yimou films, both even looked alike at the same ages but Gong Li is just oh so much better. Zhang Ziyi just puts on her 'dogshit under the nose' expression and whines here way through films.

My god that's an unfair comparison when Gong Li is TWICE Zhang Ziyi's age.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 29 Dec 2006, 21:29

hey,

1:99 - 4/5

It's hard to be uncool towards something with a good intent, in this case anyway.

The short movies collection made to encourage the HK citizens during the SARS epidemic. 11 shorts by the likes of Johnnie To, Tsui Hark, Stephen Chow, Teddy Chen, Fruit Chan and more. Some go on autopilot while conveying the needed message about hope and encouragement. Others, like Chow's "Hong Kong Is The Best" mixes a somber nature and genuine wit. Then again Mabel Cheung and Alex Law's contribution puts forth splendid warmth without going complex or odd on us so there's a need for both styles. Some of the filmmakers definitely went to work, trying to speak of the needed things in an alternate, stylish, quirky way.

The disc also includes extended versions of a handful of the shorts as well as a 45 minute documentary about the films and the life dealing with SARS.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 30 Dec 2006, 01:51

We Feed the World - 5/5
An Austrian documentary about food industry. Among many things it is about:

Why are tomatoes grown in Almeria, Spain, supported by the European Union, by the millions on an area as far as the horizon? Why are these tomatoes sold in Senegal at the supermarket for a lower price than those of local farmers?

Why do we throw 200.000.000 kg of unsold bread away every single year, while at the same time we feed our cattle with soja, grown in Brazil, on an area that is as big as France and Portugal together, that used to be tropical jungles?

Why is Nestlé one of the biggest bastard corporate?

Whoa! I sure won't eat any mass production anytime soon. Especially meat, be it chicken or cow. Man, they breed fledglings on their own, for a life of 8 weeks in a slaughterhouse, where they are treated like usual goods, transported on production lines, thrown around as if they were nothing. And after I saw that I knew what I would show to people the next time they tell me how brutal and cruel Muslims and Jews treat their animals when it comes to killing them. The meat I eat when I'm in Jordan always comes from a local farmer and at least, the animals on his farm used to have a life on a farm. They weren't "produced" for the gain of a company and only to grow and then die.

Here are some screens:
Too many screenshots. Go to this thread in order to see how you supermarket gets a chicken into the plastic package.

https://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/forums/ ... hp?p=68601

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 30 Dec 2006, 02:11

grim_tales wrote:But Zhang Ziyi is still young and Gong Li is much older so of course she has more experience
OK Gump was slow witted and semi literate, but he wasn't an idiot (if that makes sense).

bradavon wrote:My god that's an unfair comparison when Gong Li is TWICE Zhang Ziyi's age.

http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0000084/
http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0955471/

How is there an unfair comparison?

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 30 Dec 2006, 09:30

By the time Gong Li was 24, she'd been in 5 movies (her first at 22). By the time Zhang Ziyi was 24 she'd been in 7 movies - he first at the age of 19/20 - The Road Home - or even 16/17 if you count a TV series.
Though of course Gong Li has been in more films overall, not sure what you're saying?

You can't compare their overall output. But you can, if you like, compare their amount of movies when they were both the same age (roughly the same).

Just because she (Zhang) may play similar roles doesn't necessarily make her a limited actress, its what she's given.

thelostdragon · Post by **thelostdragon** » 30 Dec 2006, 09:51

Dudes, could we stop comparing two totally different actresses or are we so narrow-minded that we see them as kinda equal, because they are both Asian women?

Zhang Ziyi was very fine in "The Road Home" and in "Purple Butterfly" and "Jasmine Women" she also played a different character than her usual warrior princess roles.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 30 Dec 2006, 13:42

The Scene of Green Papaya - Superb
It's about as Vietnamese as my bumcrack and there's some musical irriation but I love it. It makes me so relaxed and I end up captive to its beauty. The very modest scale and attention to detail is what attracts me. Otherwise it'd be no better than something from Tsai Ming-liang.

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 30 Dec 2006, 14:43

Lourdes, given up on rating stuff out of 5 or 10?

Miami Vice - 3/5
Had a poor story that was entirely forgettable. The usual gritty atmosphere of a Mann film was present (obviously).

Someone please tell him to stop using the MTV-style shaky cam + medium shot combo for action scenes - the finale was barely followable. I mean just 2-3 years prior he made the terrific shoot-out sequence in the Yukuza night club in Collateral - what happened?

Yes, they mumble on the DVD too, I had to turn on the closed captions after a while. The Irish guy (his name escapes me) and Jamie Foxx were well cast in the Crockett and Tubbs roles IMO.

A hot as Gong Li is, all that crap about going off in the speed-boat to Havana, blah, blah was just dead-weight and losing it would've helped the pacing.

Super Dimensional Fortress Macross - 4/5
A terrific space opera where the characters and their development is just as paramount as the action. A thoroughly well-written story that is rarely seen in anime these days.

Melodramatic at times, but no worse than Battlestar Galactica 2003 I'd say.

The frequent (and terrible) J-pop songs are grating on many occasions and the theme of using pop music as a weapon is frankly absurd.

Animation is rubbish, but that's the fault of low budgets and tight schedules that were common in that era.

Macross: Do You Remember Love? - 3/5
Film adaptation the series. Terrific animation (that shits all over the original show) and battle scenes, but 2 hours hardly can even scratch the surface that is covered in the 34 episode series. The J-pop is even more annoying here than in the series.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 30 Dec 2006, 15:17

The Irish guy is Colin Farrell.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 30 Dec 2006, 15:21

Lourdes wrote:http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0000084/
http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0955471/

How is there an unfair comparison?

That Gong Li is much more older and more experienced, funnily enough what I said originally.

thelostdragon wrote:Dudes, could we stop comparing two totally different actresses or are we so narrow-minded that we see them as kinda equal, because they are both Asian women?

You say Dudes implying you're talking to Grim, Lourdes and I yet two of us were already agreeing with you???

Lourdes wrote:The Scene of Green Papaya - Superb
It's about as Vietnamese as my bumcrack and there's some musical irriation but I love it.

Have you visited Vietnam? As I thought it was very Vietnamese. What exactly makes it nothing like Vietnam?

Same goes for the wonderful "At the Height of Summer" (aka: Vertical Ray of the Sun).

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 30 Dec 2006, 16:21

Dhoom 3/5
I thought Bachchan's character (the cop) was a dick, so I was rooting for the thieves all the way through. Some nice stunts - good to see a solid actioner with a decent production value. It's ridiculously unrealisitic but oh well. Looking forward to the sequel.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 30 Dec 2006, 16:24

Did our discussions convince you to pick it up too?

My Dhoom (English title: Blast) and Black arrived today.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 30 Dec 2006, 16:34

I was going to buy it (even before our conversation) but a friend loaned it to me. I think he has Dhoom 2 on the way as well (he's a huuuuge Bollywood/Hollywood/World Cinema fan).

Watch Black!!!! 8)

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 30 Dec 2006, 16:55

I did like Black, first half was pretty slow, but once the 2nd half comes it really gets going. I'm glad that Rani Mukherjeegot an the iifa award for Black. All stars really really deserved this.

Actually check out the link:
http://www.redhotcurry.com/entertainmen ... inners.htm

@BiscLimpkit

I thought Bachchan's character (the cop) was a dick, so I was rooting for the thieves all the way through. Some nice stunts - good to see a solid actioner with a decent production value. It's ridiculously unrealisitic but oh well. Looking forward to the sequel.

Nothing changes in the 2nd movie, Bachchan character is still a dick, he really let the movie down, but Uday is just a classic in that movie, really good comedy moments, also Hitrek is bloody good in it. They do tend to focus more on him, and sometimes it does get annoying, but still have to say he is a superstar

For Dhoom, I did like Esha Deol and John Abraham (I really like him in Saaya (One of the best j-horror style movie there is, but its not horror) and he was okay in Zinda. The opening stunts for Dhoom is very good, and kinda on par to Hollywood movie.

Guess what, production is nearly starting for Dhoom 3 and guess who is the bad guy in this. Shah Rukh Khan!!!!, I can't believe it, I'm watching Don at the moment, its pretty good, so have high hopes for SRK being a bad guy, and heard rumours that Aamir Khan will be a guest cameo in Dhoom 3. If they can get him, then bring on Dhoom 3!!!!!!!!

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 30 Dec 2006, 17:10

No joke right. I just saw the trailer for Dhoom 2 and it gave me a boner this big:

*makes a gap of about 1' with hands*

That looks nuts (aye the trailer, not my boner).

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 30 Dec 2006, 17:17

The does trailer for Dhoom 2 does look great.

"YORKSHIRE TO HOST IIFA 2007"

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 30 Dec 2006, 17:25

I really really liked Dhoom 2, and it is on par with hollywood movies. Catchy theme songs as well, def want that for my mobile, you will see when you watched the movie.

"YORKSHIRE TO HOST IIFA 2007"

Really??? I didn't see that... must go to that!!!!

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 30 Dec 2006, 17:27

So Dhoom 2 is better than Dhoom then?

Yes it's at the bottom of your link.

slasher13 · Post by **slasher13** » 30 Dec 2006, 17:39

bradavon wrote:So Dhoom 2 is better than Dhoom then?

Yes it's at the bottom of your link.

Yup much better, really works at a sequel

Need to get my eyesight checked

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 30 Dec 2006, 19:32

bradavon wrote:That Gong Li is much more older and more experienced, funnily enough what I said originally.

Have you visited Vietnam? As I thought it was very Vietnamese. What exactly makes it nothing like Vietnam?

Same goes for the wonderful "At the Height of Summer" (aka: Vertical Ray of the Sun).

I thought it showed that have had very similar careers but Gong Li was always a good actress....

Papaya is a French film. French director, French production company, French crew and a mostly French cast. I wouldn't be surprised if it was filmed on a set in France to boot.

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 30 Dec 2006, 20:22

You meant "The Scent of Green Papaya" right? Who is Vietnamese: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107617/

French financing though, as is common.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 30 Dec 2006, 20:37

bradavon wrote:You meant "The Scent of Green Papaya" right? Who is Vietnamese: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107617/

French financing though, as is common.

Tran grew up in France, he's bascially French. Much of the remaining cast are from France and the crew is entirely French.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 31 Dec 2006, 18:31

C'est La Vie Mon Cheri (so far) - 3/5

Only just got round to watching this