Hans: I’m a big fan of WKW as well, and haven’t heard too much in the way of positive things about blueberry yet, but your review gives me some hope. Did you hear that he’s putting out a director’s cut of Ashes of time for Cannes? should be interesting.. Do you like Johnnie To? His new one “The Sparrow”, which is about pick pockets(and starring To favorite Simon Yam) looks like a departure for To, but looks pretty good none the less..
I love Johnnie To. He is what makes HK cinema still exciting today. I have Triangle and Mad Detective sitting on my floor next to my tv to watch soon.
Ashes of Time: Director’s Cut? I’m stoked. If only the Criterion Collection will subsequently release this one as a 3-disker…
As for My Blueberry Nights, it’s vintage WKW. I really love WKW, so he can do no wrong in my eyes. I got the HK R3 pretty cheap or you can wait for the R1, Wily. Either way, I think that you’ll enjoy it. The primary argument against Blueberry, according to the critics, is that WKW is “recycling” his ideas, eg nothing new artistically. My response is: so what?
I agree wholeheartedly about To; I remember when Korea’s new wave and Japan were just cleaning up with critical acclaim and with fans a few years ago, not to mention the slump HK was in creatively, and yet To stood strong and continued to almost single handedly keep the HK film industry respectable(other than a few blips on the radar here and there from other film makers) As for Triangle, you know it’s a 3 segment, directed by 3 different director’s type thing eh? I believe it’s To, Hark, and Ringo Lam. I heard it’s good, but uneven. As for Mad Detective, well, I’ll post my review I posted from the KFCC message board:
Mad Detective: Well, I certainly hope this isn’t the best movie HK put out in the past year, if so, they’re in trouble in a big way. I was very anxious to see this after hearing all of the positive things that were being said , not to mention it being a Johnny To and Wai Ka-Fai film, as well as the presence of Lau Ching Wan, needless to say, all of these things added up to me being disappointed and underwhelmed. Don’t get me wrong, it is a solid movie, but based on all of the above mentioned pluses/hype it had going for it, it definitely didn’t live up to them in my opinion. As To usually makes smart films, I found some of the logic the characters displayed to be completely ridiculous/contrived. I didn’t like the ending all that much as I found it to be a complete change of tone from the rest of the film up until that point. With all that being said though, it was a fresh idea, was well acted and is worth watching, but like P.E said so many years ago: DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE (in terms of the being the best movie HK put out in 2007; on second thought, maybe it is, but I wouldn’t know at this point in time as I’m behind… I’ll keep my fingers crossed that it’s not the best HK has to offer…) 7/10
inside-god what an awesome movie. This movie was so damn bleak and brutal and on of the best horror films i have ever seen.
nightmare man-from the past horrorfest, it had some good kills and tiffany shepis breasts but it was mediocre at best.
lake dead-a pretty mediocre inbred family film. its no wrong turn or hills have eyes.
fan of the dead-this was an interesting documentary of aromero dead fan from france who went to pittsburgh to visit all the locations the various dead films were filmed. It was really an interesting film.
I watched WKW’s My Blueberry Nights w/ Norah Jones, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman. This one is unlike the somber, medative In the Mood for Love and 2046; and is a return to the Chungking Express/Fallen Angels days. Inevitable that WKW would make an English-language film w/ Western stars, considering that Sofia Coppola is currently making Western WKW films, like Virgin Suicides and Lost in Translation. I admit I love everything that WKW makes: his films are always about shy, introverted characters who have trouble articulating their feelings, especially love, to those around them. He has a fancy of allowing the camera to linger on characters in medative poses. Really anti-film in a lot of ways, because WKW makes movies about characters with internal, subjective conflicts. That I admire. Norah Jones reminds me a lot of Michelle Rodriquez, minus the sass. I can see people dismissing this film as being v. similar to the overwhelming majority of WKW’s work, minus his last two flicks, but I still love his work. And this one is no exception.
Got Carlos Reygadas’ latest, Silent Light, and going to give that a spin, probably tonight. Late.
I’m normally a WKW fan but Blueberry Nights was a major misstep. Very forgettable.
Watched Bank Job…surprisingly good
Eat the Girl…or something like that. Basically just softcore Asian porn with a few graphic kills and some dude wacking off on the bodies.
cloverfield-better than i thought, i thought i would hate it. but it was pretty good. the scares were good and the monsters were cool. the acting could have been better and the characters could have been less stereotypical.
the orphanage-damn good atomspheric gothic haunting film. great acting by the lead and it has a tinge to peter pan to it,
charlie wilson;s war-damn good poiltical comedy film with a great performance by phillip seymour hoffman.
flash point-great hk action flick directed and starring donny yen it stars as a polic procedural but the last third turns inot a massive gunplay and martial arts fight scene. definitely a good one for fans of hk action films.
Watched Hack w/ Ms. Winnie Cooper, herself. She is still v. v. cute. Other than that, eh.
Watched an obscure 70s American slasher called Blood Voyage. Cheap flick, too. From what I can tell from the plot, a doctor gets married and invites a bunch of peeps to come on a pleasure cruise. Said peeps are patients of doctor, many of whom have violent tendencies. What an excellent idea for a guest list. Anyhoo, this one definitely had the “drive-in” feel to it; however, it was just so-so. Late.
I just finished watching HDNET’s broadcast of Night Of The Creeps in hi-def and man did that movie look better than I have ever seen it look….now if they can get it out on a Blu Ray but they may be asking too much as I dont think it ever came out on regular DVD that I can remember if so I would own that puppy…...“Thrill Me”
I finally got around to watching Man On Fire. Meh, it was okay. A bit slow I thought, and Denzel totally failed to impress me ( not that I expected him to ). He really underplayed the role. I saw none of the driving rage and sense of purpose you would expect to see in a vengence theme. He seemed more like a man walking through a bad dream than a man on fire.
The little girl was pretty cool though, and Christopher Walken is always awesome to see.
I am way too old for this, so I should know better:
Watched One Missed Call, w/Shannon Sossyamon and Edward Burns. I thought that Miike’s Japanese original was highly derivative of The Ring and was an okay/middling flick. The American remake is like a cookie-cutter of every PG-13, Hollywood-horror flick today. I think the two leads are good actors and they’re wasted here. Edward Burns, who is, imo, a talented scriptwriter himself, painfully delivered some of the worst dialogue ever. Skip it.
The Orphanage: Watched this one and surprisingly was underwhelmed. Hype always kills movies for me. Late.
I might put it in my top ten just for the fact that it depicts one of the MOST HORRIFIC things I could EVER imagine going through, otherwise, I wouldn’t. Too many awkward moments took me “out” of the experience, which is a serious mood killer for me! It also has some stuff I found very unsettling, but overall it well was worth it.
It may or may not help for others to know that the director also did Pan’s Labyrinth. Mostly because I cannot tell you how many folks I have had to tell them that it is NOT a sequel to The Labyrinth. :(
Lastly; despite the use of the children, I am moved by Guillermo del Toro’s treatment of death.
I might put it in my top ten just for the fact that it depicts one of the MOST HORRIFIC things I could EVER imagine going through, otherwise, I wouldn’t. Too many awkward moments took me “out” of the experience, which is a serious mood killer for me! It also has some stuff I found very unsettling, but overall it well was worth it.
It may or may not help for others to know that the director also did Pan’s Labyrinth. Mostly because I cannot tell you how many folks I have had to tell them that it is NOT a sequel to The Labyrinth. :(
Lastly; despite the use of the children, I am moved by Guillermo del Toro’s treatment of death.
Was one of the most Horrific movies I have seen in a while, considering what the poor guy went through, but I am not sure it was worth the watching. I didn’t feel enough remorse for Marc. Not to mention his crying and wailing really got on my nerves. Not in a disturbing way, more of a please just shut up way. I actually turned it down when the circle-laughing scene when on and on.
I finally got around to watching Man On Fire. Meh, it was okay. A bit slow I thought, and Denzel totally failed to impress me ( not that I expected him to ). He really underplayed the role. I saw none of the driving rage and sense of purpose you would expect to see in a vengence theme. He seemed more like a man walking through a bad dream than a man on fire.
The little girl was pretty cool though, and Christopher Walken is always awesome to see.
Couldn’t agree more! Nothing like in John Q or Glory!
