[Macros]

 Tsundoku, on 14 November 2024 - 10:10 AM, said:

Hmmmm ... could be OK.

Looks cool, but watching the "trailer" has just given me the whole movie

Blegh

[QuickTidal]

Tsundoku, on 10 November 2024 - 11:22 AM, said:

I sense this one would get the rare, highly coveted QT/PG double thumbs up.

I would expect you're right. Looks dope.

[QuickTidal]

I'll slowly update on the films I saw over the last year as they come to me.

I saw TWILIGHT OF THE WARRIORS: WALLED IN, which is a Hong Kong actioner the likes of which we've not seen for a while, hearkening back to the good old Golden Harvest days of the 80's/90's....which is apt since the film takes place in Kowloon Walled City (in the 1980's) which was evicted and destroyed by the British govt in 1993 (to be fair, it was a pretty lawless enclave of people living in mostly squalor).

I'll be clear, while he's not the lead per say sotrywise, Louis Koo is the star of this one, he's the most recognizable face and he comes off as cool as a cucumber for the entire run time and he's a joy to watch from the moment he is introduced (dropping his cigarette to smack a newcomer and grabbing it again before it hits the ground) and throughout. Sammo Hung is also in this and does some pretty unbelievable stuff for a 72 year old man (even for one of the Three Dragons) and made me assume it was wire work and CGI at points....because no way...but Raymond Lam is the main POV character who is doing his best 1980's-era Jackie Chan fighting and it's spectacular, especially in the tight spaces the city provides. He's a riveting dude to watch and My HOPE is that he's one of a few guys hoping to usher in a new Kung Fu/Martial Arts cinema age...but that could just be wishful thinking on my part. The supporting cast, especially Richie Jen and Terrence Lau are EXCELLENT and complement Lam very well. Aaron Kwok is here, but he's given less to do that I'd wish of him, and Louis Koo makes him look superfluous.

There IS a point late in the flick, probably at the beginning of the third act where the movie, which had been most grounded in reality for most of the runtime, dives headfirst, rather abruptly, and yet whole hog into Wuxia/superhero stuff...like all of the sudden one of the bad guys can't be killed by anything because his skin can't be pierced because his Qi is too strong...which felt wildly out of left field and that might annoy people. It bothered my buddy who came to see it with me a bit...BUT since I spent most of the last year or more immersed in old Shaw Brothers Kung Fu and Wuxia stuff, it didn't faze me and I just rolled with it and I wasn't too bothered.

A solid film, a few hiccups overall, but very much reminded me of CLASSIC 80's Kung Fu stuff I love so much, with a modern kineticism that sets your bones rattling.

[QuickTidal]

Let's see what else:

NAPOLEON...I waited for the extra long Directors Cut on AppleTv to drop to finally watch it. Now I'm a fan of Ridley. I always have been. But he DOES produce some stinkers now and again....and holy hell as this one bad. Like for starters miscast. You feel NOTHING between Phoenix and Kirby. The whole point of Napoleon and Josephine was that he was young, impressionable, and met this slightly older woman and they could not keep their hands off each other, or stop having contact, or stop being each others "person" even after all the fighting and even after they split (for political reasons)....Phoenix and Kirby deliver nothing of the sort. Whether it's Phoenix portraying Napo having sex is always like a rutting dog, or Kirby just sort of being this shrewish harridan of a wife at every interval. Nothing of the relationship that history records is there. Flat as hell. So yeah just miscast. And Phoenix SEEMS to be playing him as a parody, and I'm unsure if that was Ridley's mandate? Like there are many scenes where Napoleon says things and it appears to be unintentionally funny? Like at times he's portrayed as a quiet military genius, and at others like a petulant whiny toddler...and there's no in between. So I want to give Ridley the benefit of the doubt and say he WANTED to showcase him as this bipolar toddler/genius...but again that doesn't jive with history? Also, a VEERY small part of me wonders if there's an English pettiness in how he's portrayed? The same thing that led to the English papers drawing him as smaller than he was? Like is Ridley showcasing some sort of "hate the French" mentality that bled in from his youth weaned on the "empire!"? Anyways, terrible film, and even the battle scenes are weak and short. The misfire of his career really. Historical epics are his THING...

SUZUME. My gods. Now I love me some Makoto Shinkai....YOUR NAME and WEATHERING WITH YOU are top tier anime films on par with Miyazaki excellence. Soi I expected to like SUZUME...but If you had told me that the film would be the thing that helped me get through my moms passing more than anything else, I would have called you a liar. But that's exactly what this was to me. I don't want to dive into spoilers to say why, but sufficed to say that this little tale of closing portal doors, and a sentient wooden chair was so good that I sat there as the credits rolled SOBBING and Laughing in equal measure as I had a realization about losing my mom and how to move forward and why. Just incredible. I was SO impressed that I walk around with Suzume herself on a little keychain on my backpack now to help keep me grounded.

THE CREATOR...I liked this. I know why people felt it fell through and didn't exactly deliver on its full premise, but I was satisfied with it at the end, and it made me WAY more emotional than I ever expected to be over a sci-fi robot story.


I also got a subscription to Arrow Player ($5/month) as they have a metric tonne of Shaw Bros kung fu and wuxia stuff on it, so I thought it would be a good way to consume those films to see if I like them enough for a physical purchase.


Best stuff I watched?

DIRTY HO (no, it's not what you think) as my inaugural Shaw Bros film this was a banger and I loved it so much that it's probably in my top 5 Shaw Bros. Great action, a great story, and the seminal Gordon Liu. This was my first Gordon movie, but would not be the last (it also helped me understand why his scenes in KILL BILL 2 are so cool)...and it was also the bellwether of my fave Shaw Bros director, which would be Lau Kar-Leung...I know people who watch Shaw Bros seem to love Chang Cheh's Venom mob stuff a lot, but for me I like that Lau leaves out the horror element Cheh is so fond of.

MY YOUNG AUNTIE Another Lau Kar-Leung flick, this time starring one of his later collaborators Hsiao Ho (who was awesome), and the seminal dreamy-sigh-worthy Kara Wai (yes I have a crush, yes she's currently 64 and looks amazing, don't judge me!) kicking all kinds of ass and being a crazy good swords person. The comedy bits are great, and it makes me even more excited to watch LADY IS THE BOSS, where he recast Wai as the lead, and Hsiao Ho AND Gordon Liu are her co-stars! Anyways, great one.

HEROES OF THE EAST...another Lau Kar-Leung joint (you seeing a pattern in my preferred Shaw Bros stuff yet?), now this one has a hokey ass storyline about a Chinese merchants son (Gordon Liu) who practices Kung Fu being pledged to be politically married to a Japanese mans daughter, who he is unaware that she is also very skilled in martial arts, but her weapons mastery is in Japanese weapons...and he doesn't want to marry a stranger, but when she shows up they basically fight a bunch of contests to see what martial arts is better, Japanese or Chinese...hilarity and cool action scenes ensue...also, and I know Shaw bros DID make some erotic thrillers with nudity in them...but I didn't expect the side-boob that is presented in this for no real reason other than to show that the female lead is wearing nothing under her Gi....What's weird to me is that Yuka Mizuno, who played the Japanese lead, was in exactly 4 films from 1977-1982 and then nothing. Left film and never returned. Which sucks because she was great and has a few scenes where she even outshone Liu.


36 CHAMBERS OF SHAOLIN & RETURN TO 36 CHAMBERS...now these are considered the high water mark and possibly the most well known Shaw Bros films of all time, barring maybe COME DRINK WITH ME...and it shows. They are exercises in everything you know about Kung Fu films in a single film and its sequel. If you've seen an old photo of Liu on set, it's most likely from the first of these two films. There is a third film, but I've not gotten around to it yet.

COME DRINK WITH ME Pretty much THE Wuxia film that King Hu hangs his career on and it's incredible start to finish. I loved everything about it. Other films try to copy it, but never quite come close. Like if you ever wondered who that older woman playing Jade Fox in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON was, and why she was cast there....look no further than her Shaw Bros Lead debut here. Cheng Pei-pei is a beast throughout this flick and every time she's on screen, she's MAGIC. If you only watch one Wuxia movie, this should be it. You know that opening scene in that Star Wars show The Acolyte? Intentionally aping COME DRINK WITH ME.

8 DIAGRAM POLE FIGHTER I'm going to say something controversial here....I like this one a bit better than 36 CHAMBERS...I know I know...but man this was just a blast throughout and the staff fighting is next level. It's also interesting to see the Yang's show up on other media besides the CONDOR HEROES stuff, so that was cool.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 20 November 2024 - 03:12 PM

[QuickTidal]

On social media people are starting to get their hands on the latest SHAWSCOPE Volume 3 box set which just came out, and seeing as how they are like $200 a pop and I'm now house-poor... I find my self sitting outside the store window watching people dive into them and being intensely sad and jealous. One day when I have more money to spend on frivolous purchases like kung fu BluRays!

In all seriousness, these are all Limited Editions so I expect no frills box sets of these volumes to pop up when these all sell out of print, at much more reasonable prices. But still...the wait is...boo...

[Cause]

Gladiator 2 is not good

Spoiler

I guess they wanted a sequel so badly they never stopped to consider the meaning of starting the film with the line ‘it’s been sixteen years since Maximus died, he died for nothing, Rome is a corrupt cesspool, anyway …’. Okay I may be paraphrasing a little but that’s really how the move starts.


Despite invalidating the whole point of the first film I have never seen so many flashbacks, references and quotes from a previous movie shoved into a 2.5 hour run time. Guess they were worried without the foundation of the first film we would ask ourselves why we were watching it.

The three protagonists/agonists all find themselves following the plot threads through the hand of fate wielded with the deftest of a sledge hammer to keep the story going forward. Honestly it would take more energy than I care to give to examine all the times were the coincidences strain credibility.

No one’s motivations are ever clear or examined. They are simply stated out loud in exposition.


I found it a complete mess but the 3 people I saw it with all seemed to enjoy it.

Hopefully this gladiator will lead to peace in Rome for at least 17 years.

[Vengeance]

I took my daughter and her friend to see wicked. They enjoyed. 2 hours and 40 minutes. They could have cut an hour and had a tighter film.

[worry]

Now this I'm looking forward to.

[Tsundoku]

Looks interesting but seems to give away at least 2/3 of the story.

[Tsundoku]

Trailer looks to have similar issues to the above, BUT - Christoph Waltz in what looks to be a comedic version of "The Mechanic".

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

We watched War of the Rohirrim yesterday. Thoroughly enjoyed it! It has a light touch with its references to LOTR and it's an enjoyable original story.

Animation is largely very pretty with some weird decisions/phoned in bits that are a little jarring on occasion.

Liberal use of the Rohan theme from LOTR and I LOVED that 😁

[QuickTidal]

I'm a simple man...you give me one of the series I grew up adoring and idolizing (Karate Kid), combine it with a remake character played by an actor I also love (Jackie Chan) and set up a new kid (played by the awesome Ben Wang) and I'm in that theatre seat hardcore.

This looks great! Love the two branches, one tree quote.

The use of the Japanese hand drum sound from the second film is a nice audio touch.

The connection is obvious, in that Karate was kung fu that ancient Okinawan Japanese people learned and it evolved into Karate over time...but I'd love to know the direct connection between Mr. Han and Mr. Miyagi as he does seem to know him and know about Daniel.

Either way, new KARATE KID movie? Awesome. New Jackie Chan movie? Awesome!