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

EvaUnit02 · Post by **EvaUnit02** » 26 Jun 2007, 09:54

Man in the Moon.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 Jun 2007, 09:58

Havent seen that. Will have to check it out

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 26 Jun 2007, 10:21

Yi-Long wrote:Hmmm... I dont know. I would have to take a pretty good writer to make that scene 'make sense'. A schoolbus ful of japanese girls; that's just unrealistic!

If you sit down and watch Crank expecting any scene in the entire film to "make sense" your brain will literally explode! The beauty of Crank is in it's utter pandemonium and irreverence. It is extremely un-PC and a lot of fun.

Yi-Long wrote:It starts with a 10 minute shootout in a teahouse, ending with a brilliant blast! Who can forget CYF's face covered in dough and blood!? Awesome.
That's not a slow start in my book

I also LOVE the library hit by Tony, and the confrontation between Tony and CYF at the car, and the Warehouse, and and and... gawd I just love that movie. Watched it many times over the years (I now have the HK DVD...) and it's just a firm top 10 favourite.

I should have stuck to my original comment about the pacing being generally uneven leading up to the Hospital siege. As you said yourself, the opening shootout only lasts about 10mins or so, the Library scene is about half that, and the warehouse shootout is about 10-15mins as well. All the guff in between is extremely trite, clichéd cop/triad movie bollocks.

Lourdes · Post by **Lourdes** » 26 Jun 2007, 11:02

I don't like "The Killer" at all, it tries to have too much plot and dodgy HK action films REALLY shouldn't do that because they lack in quality. Whereas "Hard Boiled" I love because it's pretty much a straight up action film with some cool plot clichés that it doesn't get too hung up about.

tom2681 · Post by **tom2681** » 26 Jun 2007, 15:16

Master Kim vs Master Kim vs Master Kim (aka Three Kims aka Three Masters) (Korea - 2007 - With Shin Hyun-June and Choi Seung-Guk): 3,75 / 5

Funny little comedy.
Nothing special, though.

Synopsis:
Master Kim and Master Kim teach Taekkyon and Kendo (and they hate each other).
Their relationship is going to change with the arrival of Master Kim, a WuShu master who's decided to open his school in their neighbourhood.

There's no originality in the script but that's ok.
Shin Hyun-June (Bichunmoo) and Choi Seung-Guk (Romantic Warriors) have great comedic timing and facial expressions.
That's pretty much all we need in a comedy.

Lots of laugh-out-loud moments with the typical "My kung-fu is better than your kung-fu" nonsense and hilarious training scenes.
What I especially love is the complete lack of melodrama. This is pure comedy / action.
My only criticism is script-related. It looks like the screenwriters only wrote 2/3 of the script and then went on a holiday.
The final 3rd of the film lacks coherence.

Thankfully the ending is both funny and satisfying.

If you can forgive the dodgy storyline and the usual flashy (and useless) camera tricks, Three Kims is a good way to kill 97 minutes.
Watched it. Kinda liked it. Will probably buy the DVD.

degeneration · Post by **degeneration** » 26 Jun 2007, 15:46

A Gamblers's Story 2.5/5

Average and fairly boring stuff finishing with a rather surprising and emotional climax.

Fatal Love 2/5

Michael Wong. Quite a lot of nudity and breasts give this one its score.

The Legend Of Zu 3/5

Confusing. Visually quite good, although some of the cg looks pretty dated now, but really quite confusing at times.

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 26 Jun 2007, 16:14

Mr. Vampire 2 – 3,5/5
Enjoyably incomprehensive storytelling, kick ass soundtrack, great finale and some truly weird scenes you could only find from an 80’s Hong Kong film. For some reason the main characters don’t enter the screen until around 35 min mark, but I though that was pretty cool too. The kid vampire seemed like a bad idea at first but ended up providing some of the film’s best moments. The scene where he makes friends with the little girl is so cute.

Mr. Vampire 3 – 2,5/5
I was laughing my ass off when the movie had been playing for approx 12 seconds (not counting the credits). Now, that’s a good start, all thanks to the ever great Richard Ng. There’s some other great scenes too, like the battle in the forest and some tasty cameos. Unfortunately the second half isn’t as good. While not bad, it just feels like something you’ve already seen too many times before. For some reason there isn’t a single gyonsi in the film.

romerojpg · Post by **romerojpg** » 26 Jun 2007, 16:25

thelostdragon wrote:
romerojpg wrote:I havent rewatched The Killer since I saw that DANNY LEE FACIAL HAIR! the most evil thing in any film, in history! the freak that he is!
Dude, Chow Yun-fat took on the trend and has it as well in "Curse of the Golden Flower". A white long, very soft, thin and white hair sticking out of his face.

Noooooo! dont tell me that

I never noticed it in the cinema. Evil hairs be gone!!!

I rewatched Hard Boiled last week, stunning film still. Its amazing how much difference it makes to see a star getting to do the action, avoid bullets, avoid flames and get blown up! I do miss that, as nearly all films now have appuling stunt double work for simple things, or worse still a CGI person doing simple thing

I love The Killer and Hard Boiled, the 2 films that got me into asian cinema bigtime, both are superb, but both have little flaws I guess.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 26 Jun 2007, 16:44

hey,

Mr. Vampire 3 was probably my favourite after the original. Richard Ng indeed being a reason why. Felt a connection there to the plot of The Frighteners even.

Thought 2 was a bit sluggish to get through and the kid vampire concept Lam Ching-Ying himself utilized better when directing Vampire Vs Vampire.

Shingster · Post by **Shingster** » 26 Jun 2007, 17:12

Lourdes wrote:I don't like "The Killer" at all, it tries to have too much plot and dodgy HK action films REALLY shouldn't do that because they lack in quality. Whereas "Hard Boiled" I love because it's pretty much a straight up action film with some cool plot clichés that it doesn't get too hung up about.

Oh I would never argue that The Killer is a well written film, but it holds a certain camp charm to me thanks to the somehat ridiculous relationship between CYF and Danny Lee. Plus if you're a big fan of Chang Cheh's old Heroic Bloodshed Kung Fu classics (which I am), then I feel there's probably a bigger chance The Killer will resonate with you more than Hard Boiled, which is a little more routine.

Knetan · Post by **Knetan** » 26 Jun 2007, 19:19

hey,

Thunder Run 3/5

Entertaining prison camp movie+actioner with Ray Lui, Alex Fong and a dwarf. No pretentions here, director Hsu Hsia knows what he's doing. He probably rips off movie after movie throughout but the excessive behaviour in characters and events work in his favour. William Ho laughs maniacally throughout his OTT performance as the prison warden and lets troublesome inmates bath together with hungry rats when he feels like it. Some decent, general looking fights and gunplay also solidifies the film as being something that works for what it is.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 26 Jun 2007, 19:30

bradavon wrote:So uncut after all then.

Markgway wrote: Don't start this again. It's not uncut, it was edited for re-rating. The distributors did this, not the director.

Depends which way you look at it. It's not been censored by the BBFC but in my eyes, it has been censored from its original version to achieve a lower rating. Therefore, I'm going to have to agree with Mark.

Note: The original version achieved a 15 rating here before the studios fannied about with the film.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 Jun 2007, 20:01

Spider-Man 3: 3.5/5

Lets get the bad stuff out of the way:

The film was too long IMO - there were lots of story threads to tie together, and while I wasnt restless at all I confess I was waiting for the appearence of Dark Spidey.
Maybe too many villains, what exactly was Sandman's motivation? Why couldn't the robber confront Parker as himself? What's with Sandman? I know he wouldnt be much of a villain per se but the preachy ending could still have been there

I realise the that the film deals with heroes with a dark side, and villains with a sympathetic side but doesn't Sandman's explanation come a bit late?!
In fact, not just too many villains, there was way too much in the film. 3 villains - 2 different Spider-Mans, Peter v Harry re: MJ etc, too much!

The good stuff: However, it is a fun, exciting action film with some great set pieces. It's also very funny, like when Dark Spidey struts his stuff like John Travolta

Venom was great, and I liked the Goblin fights too.
Call me old fashioned if you like, but I thought the "soap opera" stuff with MJ humanises Parker/Spider-Man.

It doesnt try to hide the fact that its a fun superhero film, I liked that

Did anyone spot the Stan Lee cameo?

bradavon · Post by **bradavon** » 26 Jun 2007, 20:08

Markgway wrote:Don't start this again. It's not uncut, it was edited for re-rating. The distributors did this, not the director.

If you're going to view it this way then hundreds of "so called" uncut films are in fact cut. It's common practise for the MPAA to enforce cuts before we ever see the film.

Regardless it sounds like the MPAA forced the cuts NOT the BBFC so you're wrong to say it's cut (per say) in the UK.

saltysam · Post by **saltysam** » 26 Jun 2007, 20:12

The Departed 2.5/5

Disappointingly average despite the star talent on show.I didn't care for any of the characters and it's overlong.Pleased for Scorcese eventually getting his statue.

Spider-man 3 2/5

3rd and least of the spidey movies. Wouldn't mind a fresh approach to this franchise ala Batman Begins.

Pirates Of The Carribean 3 2.5/5

Madly overlong but watchable enough.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 26 Jun 2007, 20:45

bradavon wrote:It's common practise for the MPAA to enforce cuts before we ever see the film.

I wouldn't say it's common practice, especially when you consider how many titles the US churns out every year. But it is a problem. Never been a fan of the MPAA.

bradavon wrote: Regardless it sounds like the MPAA forced the cuts NOT the BBFC so you're wrong to say it's cut (per say) in the UK.

I refer you to Mark's comments:

Markgway wrote: http://www.bbfc.co.uk/website/Classifie ... enDocument
Click on 'General Remarks' if it's not already open. The cuts were made to reduce violence. I don't know anything more than that.

He knew that the UK version had been censored in some shape or form and admits that he didn't know the exact details. After I told him that the cuts had been applied to all versions, he wrote:

Markgway wrote: Don't start this again. It's not uncut, it was edited for re-rating. The distributors did this, not the director.

So obviously he's acknowledged that the UK version is not exclusively censored.

I'm glad he said something actually. If it weren't for Mark, I would've happily assumed that the Fountain hadn't been censored.

Regardless, I'm seriously hoping that the studios release the original 15 rated version. Breathtakingly beautiful film tbh.

grim_tales · Post by **grim_tales** » 26 Jun 2007, 21:01

Bisc what was your opinion on Spidey 3?

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 27 Jun 2007, 01:57

BiscLimpkit wrote:
bradavon wrote:It's common practise for the MPAA to enforce cuts before we ever see the film.
I wouldn't say it's common practice, especially when you consider how many titles the US churns out every year. But it is a problem. Never been a fan of the MPAA.

What? Of course it's common practice, they do it on most of the films...

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 Jun 2007, 02:04

If a film is cut to get a rating anywhere then it's cut. Doesn't matter whether it's the BBFC or the MPAA.

gasteropod · Post by **gasteropod** » 27 Jun 2007, 09:49

Markgway wrote:If a film is cut to get a rating anywhere then it's cut. Doesn't matter whether it's the BBFC or the MPAA.

Yeah, but what you said was 'the UK version is cut', which implies that the BBFC were responsible, when apparently we have the same version everywhere else has.

BiscLimpkit · Post by **BiscLimpkit** » 27 Jun 2007, 16:53

gasteropod wrote: Yeah, but what you said was 'the UK version is cut',

*sigh* Did anyone actually bother to read my last post?

gasteropod wrote: What? Of course it's common practice, they do it on most of the films...

Most of them?! Can you name 30 US films this year that have been re-edited or censored as a result of the MPAA? Whilst the idea of censorship offends me, I'd like to think that the MPAA leave the majority of Hollywood's output alone.

Grim to answer your question... I thought it was fun but weakest of the three by a mile. I had high hopes considering the strength of the first two films. I more or less agree with your review.

I felt Shrek 3 = Spidey 3 > POTC 3

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 27 Jun 2007, 18:41

Live Free or Die Hard - 2,5/5
This years M:I:3 (even has Maggie Q in it). And not really any better. Willis is good throughout and some action scenes work nicely (most notably the insane ending) but anything else is thorougly average and often too modern. McClane's been placed in the wrong movie and the pg-13 rating doesn't help.

Markgway · Post by **Markgway** » 27 Jun 2007, 18:46

HungFist wrote:Live Free or Die Hard - 2,5/5
This years M:I:3

God, that's exactly what I feared. M:I3 was a big disappointment for me, and it crossed my mind that Die Hard 4.0 would do likewise. I'm still gonna go see it out of loyalty, but at least I know not to raise my expectations too high. I wonder if the R-rated DVD cut will help? Or will it look like a PG-13 still with "added bits".

HungFist · Post by **HungFist** » 27 Jun 2007, 19:03

I don't think the R-rated version will make much difference. The film is all about grand scale hollywood action (sometimes totally over the top) and lacking in the attitude department.

Die Hard 2 is on TV next weekend and my guess is it's gonna feel like a shower after this. But mind you, Live Free or Die Hard isn't a bad movie. I was decently entertained from start to finish, even thrilled a few times.

brooce-leroy · Post by **brooce-leroy** » 27 Jun 2007, 19:48

I thought MI3 rocked, so if it's anything like that, I'll enjoy it. Even though it won't be a "true" Die Hard movie.