Bullets 'n' Babes

Great! 8)
I'm so looking forward to a subtitled release, since NHCE has suddenly become one of my most favourite rumoured-about movies. And if there isn't going to be something with subs anytime soon, I'll need to buy the JP-release anyway and HungFist has to do it for me.

Chocolate: 3.5/5

JeeJa Yanin is a hottie! I liked the fighting sound effects, really powerful, I think a lot of older martial arts films would have benefited from sound like that. Gotta love the fight between her and the Capoeira fighter haha.

Memories: 4/5

My favourite segment was the 'Stink Bomb' one.

Dragon from Russia 1/5

My gawd, what a horrible movie. This movie really showcases the worst of Hong Kong cinema!
The movie is based on the Crying Freeman manga, but dear ow dear... it's beyond poor!
First fo all it just jumps all over the place, characters arent properly introduced, the comedy is worthless, the performances are hilariously bad, and what should have been it's savin grace, the many actionscenes, are poorly shot and extremely badly edited.

I really wanted to like this, and actually managed to watch it all to the end, but this is just plain bad moviemaking!

I was a bit surprised even by how much I disliked it, cause supposedly it has a few fans who seem to be under the dillusional idea that the action is actually good in this movie. It's not. The choreography in some places might be good, but it's a struggle to see it properly due to the poor editing.

Avoid this movie like the plague. In fact, when getting a choice between the plague and watching this movie, choose the plague!

1/5.

Roaring Fire (Japan, 1981) – 4/5
Norifumi Suzuki’s 94 minute film school for Hong Kong action film makers. Glorious insanity. Read more here.

Doberman Detective (Japan, 1977) – 3,5/5
"I'm not a clown, I'm a crazy person. Read more here.

Seaman No.7 2/5

Disappointingly flat Jimmy Wang Yu actioner never really gets going and only sparks into life at the climax. Wang Yu plays a drifting sailor who flees to Japan when he thinks he's killed someone in a bar fight. the german dvd is a little dark but the print is pretty much free of print damage and is anamorphic.

Hex (Hong Kong, 1980) – 1/5
Horror and sleaze specialist Kwei Chih-hung nearly forgot both elements from this film; the latter only finds its way into the pic during the last 10 minutes, while the other simply never catches fire. Following the most painfully dry 40 minute weeping marathon the film makes a turn from tedious to unsuccesful as a beated wife and her servant decide they don’t have to take it no more. Super natural scares are introduced, but the results never rise above zero. Only the last few scenes manage to bring a smile into your face.

The Kamikaze Adventurers (Japan, 1981) – 3,5/5
Shinichi Chiba and Hiroyuki Sanada star in an enjoyable romantic caper adventure. A temptation to rob a money transportation brings Sanada’s guitarist and Chiba’s pilot character together. Kumiko Akiyoshi is the charming lady in between. Action fans may be disappointed as there isn’t all that much action going on, and practically no martial arts. However, Sanada and Chiba’s flawless tag team play is perhaps more enjoyable than ever before. The leads are placed in front of the camera together in most scenes, both scoring 90+ minutes screentime. At times, the film feels almost like Kadokawa Idol pic gone JAC mode.

Oops. Moved.

The Black Falcon (Hong Kong, 1967) – 3/5
”James Bond’s sworn brother” is after a mysterious villain organization in a Shaw Brothers spy film. While not one of the most impressive efforts in the genre, it does come with a pretty good mixture of colours, camp, and plot turns that make little to no sense at all. Surveillance cameras are everywhere (even in the middle of a lake) and the armed bad guys compete for the ’lousiest aim on the planet’ -medal. Some of the music was also used in The One-Armed Swordsman (1967), in remixed form.

Interpol (Hong Kong, 1967) – 3/5
Rica director Ko Nakahira’s medium cool spy adventure. Two interpol agents are murdered and 009 is given a mission to find out who’s behind the hits. The undercover mission requires teaming up with a comic sidekick and seducing practically every female that walks across. The pic holds up quite well but is no match for the super stylish Wang Yu vehicle Asia-Pol (1966).

The Good, the Bad and the Weird (2008 - Kim Ji-Woon): 3 / 5

Predictable, but also loads of fun.
Silly forgettable plot, good acting, good stunts, good Tarantino-like music.
Kinda like watching Kill Bill, but made by a director who actually knows what he's doing.
Too much shaky-cam in the action scenes, but apart from that it's pretty decent.

Not the masterpiece that so many people were hoping for, though. Just a fun little film.

Did anybody else catch the reference to OldBoy, by the way?
When Song Kang-Ho puts on the sunglasses and asks "Who are you?" à la Choi Min-Sik. That part made me fall off my seat.

Sounds good Tom

re-post, since this went missing during the forum upgrade

Swordsman (Hong Kong, 1990) – 2/5
King Hu, Ching Siu Tung, Tsui Hark and a load of other directors deliver a hyperkinetic swordplay epic. It’s a very recognizable showcase of style that doesn’t exist anywhere outside the genre, but coherence is lacking. The main problem is the length, but it’s a bit hard to say whether it’s over- or underlength. For the mess the film is in its current state, it’s too long. But this probably results from there being too much content in the first place. Perhaps it opens better if you’re familiar with the original story. If you’re not, you can only guess how many thousand pages were cramped into two a hour movie here.

My Wife’s Shell (Japan, 2004) – 2,5/5
Entertaining quirky pink film about failing musician turned radio host. Director Ryuichi Honda is more interested in characters than occasional sex scenes. Kazuyoshi Ozawa gives a fun performance in the lead as a ”Japanese Elvis” who never makes it big, or even close.

Shindo (Japan, 2007) – 2/5
Akira Saso’s manga about an unwilling 13 year old piano genius and her less talented 19 year old friend made into a live action film. The results are somewhat uninspired although not a complete failure. The main star, Riko Narumi, is the most interesting thing about the film. She was nothing short of perfect under Jun Ichikawa’s direction in How to Become Myself, but here she’s a bit underwhelming most of the time. It’s not entirely her fault; the character isn’t especially well written, and director Koji Hagiuda shows little talent all around. Also, it would be too much to ask from a 14 year old actress to carry the film all by herself.

hey,

Death Code Ninja 4/5
Filmark mixes up their wonderfully inept ninja filmmaking, starring Mike Abbott and quite an intensely violent Asian revenge actioner to fine effect. The final reel between the yellow and white ninjas ranks as the highlight, with the wide eyed, completely insane white ninja all of a sudden being IFD/Filmark legend Stuart Smith (whose overacting is nothing compared to said nutjob). Abbott loads up quite the arsenal too, including resorting to using tree branches in a fight and his trademark head butting. Clip (although I got the beautiful widescreen version) from the opening and you shouldn't ask where the dummy came from. If you do, you won't ever get these films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S02CzR7us30

Second clip is from the original flick and showcases well that it had qualities even Filmark couldn't ruin. Same widescreen source as my tape:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UABCddXTI1Q

Dummy thru the windshield. Awesome. Dummy apparetly hidden at cliffside in case hero needs it. Awesome. Ninjas snuggled up in a small car like clowns at a circus. Awesome. Ninja shouting "hey, wait for me!" Awesome. 8)

Second clip looked like the work of Orson Welles in comparison. OK. Not really, but I like how in after the girl stabs her arm the dude stares at her (covered) nipple (or pokey as they're widely known).

And where does the gun that's being pointed at her head disappear to? I've seen better editing in an Ed Wood film. lol

Mad Detective (Hong Kong, 2007) – 3,5/5
Johnnie To / Wa Ka Fai’s interesting and highly original film about a mentally insane detective trying to solve a crime case. Lau Ching Wan is expectedly great in the lead role.

Sparrow (Hong Kong, 2008) – 4/5
Classy, stylish and easy going pickpocket film by Johnnie To. Some forced swing in the beginning is the only real flaw.

Viva Erotica (Hong Kong, 1996) – 3/5
Leslie Cheung as a financially unsuccesful art film director forced to make a category III sex romp. A rather fun film which requires some knowledge of film industry and movies in general. Many stars make cameos, real films and persons are referred, and director director Derek Yee even makes fun of himself (there’s a character called Derek Yee in the film – a film director of course – played by Lau Ching Wan).

Tokyo Godfathers (Japan, 2003) – 4/5
Three homeless friends - a runaway girl, a transvestite, and a middle-aged bum – find an abandoned baby from trash and try to take care of it for a few days. An excellent christmas movie that is fun but not sentimental or tame.

hey,

it almosts seems like you understand cinema finally, Mark.

Knetan wrote:hey,

it almosts seems like you understand cinema finally, Mark.

Yes, I've now seen the error of my wicked ways and come to embrace proper filmmaking....

Save The Green Planet!: 4.25/5

A strange little film, but very good. Starts off like a wacky comedy but then the film is at turns disturbing, wacky, intriguing, sad, wierd, even tender in places.
So the guy wasnt really crazy then and there really WERE aliens trying to destroy the planet?! WTF?! I really thought it was all in his head and he wanted to kill Mr. Kang because he killed his mother.

I loved the music used at the end.

grim_tales wrote:Save The Green Planet!: 4.25/5

A strange little film, but very good. Starts off like a wacky comedy but then the film is at turns disturbing, wacky, intriguing, sad, wierd, even tender in places.
So the guy wasnt really crazy then and there really WERE aliens trying to destroy the planet?! WTF?! I really thought it was all in his head and he wanted to kill Mr. Kang because he killed his mother.

I loved the music used at the end.

I love that film, and the ending makes me very sad

Markgway wrote:

Knetan wrote:hey,

it almosts seems like you understand cinema finally, Mark.

Yes, I've now seen the error of my wicked ways and come to embrace proper filmmaking....

No, not proper filmmaking. Valid filmmaking my boy.

grim_tales wrote:Save The Green Planet!: 4.25/5
...and he wanted to kill Mr. Kang because he killed his mother.

Huh? It's been a few years since I last saw this film, but I can't remember that Mr. Kang (the kidnapped person, right?) killed the guy's mother. I thought he tortured him, because he believed he was an alien and wanted him to admit it.

Yeah but there has to be a reason why he believes he's an alien. I thought it was because he believed Kang killed his mother. The sci-fi ending where Kang says "Only 2 people you killed were aliens" threw me off balance.

Sukeban Deka – Season 1 (Japan, 1985) – 4.5/5
A delinquent girl detective (Yuki Saito) infiltrates corrupt high schools and fights crime with a steel breaking yo-yo. It’s obvious from the first episode why Sukeban Deka is the biggest Japanese cult TV show of the 80’s. The silly premise is played with rather straight face, only adding a kick ass soundtrack, cute lead, and an infinite amount of style. Quite possibly the coolest thing television has ever produced.