jake scully
Kiznaiver
Bought the Arrow 2xblu ray Oldboy yesterday and saw the film earlier today - excellent South Korean thriller - haven’t watched the 5 hours of extras on disc 2 yet!
Rate the Last Film You Watched
- Thread starter Professor Irony
- Start date
Once a Thief (1991)
An unusual foray into comedy for John Woo during his most fertile action movie period, this more light-hearted affair reteams Leslie Cheung with his A Better Tomorrow co-star Chow Yun Fat (surely one of the hardest working dudes out there at the time) as a team of art thieves who set out to turn the tables on their abusive guardian. Interestingly, Woo, prior to hitting it big with his action movies, was known primarily as a comedy director, but here he really struggles to find the tone, perhaps betraying how hastily this film was put together (just ten weeks!). Cheung and CYF bounce off each other well, and the set pieces are as good as you'd expect, but the comedy is undermined by the baggy, weirdly downbeat second act, and often doesn't gel with the graphic gunfights. It's perfectly watchable, with some entertaining ideas in the mix here, but this is definitely a lesser outing for Woo and, pales in comparison to the comparable, but slicker and more cohesive, God of Gamblers.
An unusual foray into comedy for John Woo during his most fertile action movie period, this more light-hearted affair reteams Leslie Cheung with his A Better Tomorrow co-star Chow Yun Fat (surely one of the hardest working dudes out there at the time) as a team of art thieves who set out to turn the tables on their abusive guardian. Interestingly, Woo, prior to hitting it big with his action movies, was known primarily as a comedy director, but here he really struggles to find the tone, perhaps betraying how hastily this film was put together (just ten weeks!). Cheung and CYF bounce off each other well, and the set pieces are as good as you'd expect, but the comedy is undermined by the baggy, weirdly downbeat second act, and often doesn't gel with the graphic gunfights. It's perfectly watchable, with some entertaining ideas in the mix here, but this is definitely a lesser outing for Woo and, pales in comparison to the comparable, but slicker and more cohesive, God of Gamblers.
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City on Fire (1987)
Probably best known as the inspiration for Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Ringo Lam's original Hong Kong film is a familiar story of the honest policeman (Steve Martin! Just kidding, it's Chow Yun Fat) who finds his loyalties shifting when he's on a tough undercover assignment, but it's a pleasingly gritty affair, powered by strong performances as much as the brutal action. In a reversal of their roles in The Killer, both Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee are excellent as the good hearted, naive cop and the callous but loyal gangster who form an unexpected bond. It lacks the bombastic set pieces of John Woo's outings, but broadly speaking, I think this is also a more visually interesting movie - the cool blues and deep shadows give it a distinct atmospheric. Well worth seeking out.
Probably best known as the inspiration for Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, Ringo Lam's original Hong Kong film is a familiar story of the honest policeman (Steve Martin! Just kidding, it's Chow Yun Fat) who finds his loyalties shifting when he's on a tough undercover assignment, but it's a pleasingly gritty affair, powered by strong performances as much as the brutal action. In a reversal of their roles in The Killer, both Chow Yun Fat and Danny Lee are excellent as the good hearted, naive cop and the callous but loyal gangster who form an unexpected bond. It lacks the bombastic set pieces of John Woo's outings, but broadly speaking, I think this is also a more visually interesting movie - the cool blues and deep shadows give it a distinct atmospheric. Well worth seeking out.
The Heroic Trio (1993)
A deeply strange cult favourite from Johnnie To, this superhero fantasy sees three female warriors (Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh) fighting to overcome their differences and take down an ancient evil magician who is kidnapping baby boys in a bid to find a new puppet emperor to rule China. The plot is often nonsensical and the film goes through the customarily odd shifts in tone, but it’s visually quite splendid, going for a similarly gothic noir look to Tim Burton’s Batman, with its anachronistic combination of expressionistic, 1940s style sets peppered with contemporary technology. Action is wild throughout, with some scenes needing to be seen to be believed, and Cheung steals the show as an anarchic, but kind hearted mercenary. If you’ve tired of predictable superhero blockbusters, look no further.
Tiger on the Beat (1988)
Loosely modelled on both Lethal Weapon and Jackie Chan’s Police Story series, this is a decent buddy cop vehicle that pairs ya boi Chow Yun Fat‘s lazy womaniser with straight arrow tryhard Conan Lee. It works well as a light hearted comedy for the first half-hour or so, but seems to lose its way in the second act with a deeply unpleasant sequence of CYF’s character violently interrogating a female suspect, before that’s swept under the rug as if it hadn’t happened. The finale does redeem the film somewhat though, with an impressively barmy duel involving a pair of chainsaws. Worth a look, if the middle section doesn’t sour you on it.
A deeply strange cult favourite from Johnnie To, this superhero fantasy sees three female warriors (Anita Mui, Maggie Cheung and Michelle Yeoh) fighting to overcome their differences and take down an ancient evil magician who is kidnapping baby boys in a bid to find a new puppet emperor to rule China. The plot is often nonsensical and the film goes through the customarily odd shifts in tone, but it’s visually quite splendid, going for a similarly gothic noir look to Tim Burton’s Batman, with its anachronistic combination of expressionistic, 1940s style sets peppered with contemporary technology. Action is wild throughout, with some scenes needing to be seen to be believed, and Cheung steals the show as an anarchic, but kind hearted mercenary. If you’ve tired of predictable superhero blockbusters, look no further.
Tiger on the Beat (1988)
Loosely modelled on both Lethal Weapon and Jackie Chan’s Police Story series, this is a decent buddy cop vehicle that pairs ya boi Chow Yun Fat‘s lazy womaniser with straight arrow tryhard Conan Lee. It works well as a light hearted comedy for the first half-hour or so, but seems to lose its way in the second act with a deeply unpleasant sequence of CYF’s character violently interrogating a female suspect, before that’s swept under the rug as if it hadn’t happened. The finale does redeem the film somewhat though, with an impressively barmy duel involving a pair of chainsaws. Worth a look, if the middle section doesn’t sour you on it.
Flaming Brothers (1987)
An early attempt to cash in on the new wave of Hong Kong gangster films brought on by A Better Tomorrow, this is a traditional-style tale of two impoverished orphans (Alan Tang and Chow Yun Fat) who grow up to be successful hoodlums, but find their bond torn apart when one decides to renounce his life of crime so he can marry his childhood sweetheart. Despite an early writing credit for Wong Kar Wai, this is pretty standard stuff and feels quite dated compared to Woo's strangely ageless trendsetter, although its shifting between comedy and drama feels smoother than a lot of the other films I've seen lately and the action does deliver, albeit messily. Watchable, but a little ordinary.
Outlaw Brothers (1990)
A decent action-comedy outing for the multi-talented Frankie Chan, who both directs and stars here as one half of a pair of high-end car thieves who get in over their head after they get mixed up with a tough lady cop (Yukari Oshima) on the trail of a drug-smuggling gang. Having collaborated with Jackie Chan on occasion, you can definitely see JC's influence on Frankie's approach to the film, particularly in the stunt work, although sadly it can't quite maintain itself on that level, suffering some unpleasantly dated gags and a general wooliness towards the end (who has the cocaine again?) While Frankie does okay in the lead (he's clearly a very accomplished fighter) he also suffers for having made himself the straight man in a film of larger than life characters, being frequently overshadowed by his more entertaining co-stars and playing a role that I feel probably needed Jackie's effortless charisma to bring it alive. Mostly a good time, but not without irritations.
An early attempt to cash in on the new wave of Hong Kong gangster films brought on by A Better Tomorrow, this is a traditional-style tale of two impoverished orphans (Alan Tang and Chow Yun Fat) who grow up to be successful hoodlums, but find their bond torn apart when one decides to renounce his life of crime so he can marry his childhood sweetheart. Despite an early writing credit for Wong Kar Wai, this is pretty standard stuff and feels quite dated compared to Woo's strangely ageless trendsetter, although its shifting between comedy and drama feels smoother than a lot of the other films I've seen lately and the action does deliver, albeit messily. Watchable, but a little ordinary.
Outlaw Brothers (1990)
A decent action-comedy outing for the multi-talented Frankie Chan, who both directs and stars here as one half of a pair of high-end car thieves who get in over their head after they get mixed up with a tough lady cop (Yukari Oshima) on the trail of a drug-smuggling gang. Having collaborated with Jackie Chan on occasion, you can definitely see JC's influence on Frankie's approach to the film, particularly in the stunt work, although sadly it can't quite maintain itself on that level, suffering some unpleasantly dated gags and a general wooliness towards the end (who has the cocaine again?) While Frankie does okay in the lead (he's clearly a very accomplished fighter) he also suffers for having made himself the straight man in a film of larger than life characters, being frequently overshadowed by his more entertaining co-stars and playing a role that I feel probably needed Jackie's effortless charisma to bring it alive. Mostly a good time, but not without irritations.
zrdb
Adventurer
No Time To Die-just saw this tonight and it totally blew away me from the beginning to the end. As Daniel Craig's last Bond outing it was damn good. Being as they killed Bond I can't see how they'd make more Bond movies unless they started with a clean slate and ignore what happened. It'll be interesting to see if they ever do, twas' a great movie.
I know it's got around a lot now, but you might want to spoiler that...
Yami
Thousand Master
While I think they might want to test the waters with a female non-"James Bond" 007, it would be as easy to make another James Bond film as it ever has been; No Time to Die just clears up the ambiguity over whether or not 'James Bond' is a single character and whether Connery, Moore through to Craig were literally playing the same man. They're not. James Bond is a codename as much as 007 and I'm glad that No Time to Die actually had the courage of its convictions in spelling it out. There was an idea floated during the production of Skyfall that they might get Connery to play the character that Albert Finney ultimately did to hint at this same idea, or indeed of Skyfall being a sort of 007 retirement home.
No Time to Die Spoilers.
Them 'killing' Bond at the end gave me mixed feelings. It was a bold idea and, as a way to bookend Daniel Craig's run, I didn't mind it, but for me it had no emotional weight to it. They've been talking about who the next Bond will be for years now, so I don't think there's any real doubt that Bond will be back.
That said, I've never been particularly bothered about whether or not each actor's run took place in the same universe. It's nice when they do a little nod to the previous outings for the audience ("This never happened to the other guy!"), but to me, that's all it is. I'm quite happy for each actor to exist separately in their own continuity.
That said, I've never been particularly bothered about whether or not each actor's run took place in the same universe. It's nice when they do a little nod to the previous outings for the audience ("This never happened to the other guy!"), but to me, that's all it is. I'm quite happy for each actor to exist separately in their own continuity.
Yami
Thousand Master
I think that it had a lot of weight for the average viewer from sheer shock impact and while "they've" been talking about the next Bond, the 'they' in question is usually the tabloid media who discuss it from pretty much the first film of the previous one. As zrdb's post shows, there'll probably be a significant section of its audience who both didn't see it coming and will see it as the end of James Bond.
I also thought it had impact because we've grown accustomed from seeing the people that Bond loves die for or because of who he is - see Casino Royale or, perhaps especially, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which No Time to Die pays homage to. This is the first time that we've seen on screen James Bond - whether person or symbol - do the reverse and die for love and family.
I also thought it had impact because we've grown accustomed from seeing the people that Bond loves die for or because of who he is - see Casino Royale or, perhaps especially, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, which No Time to Die pays homage to. This is the first time that we've seen on screen James Bond - whether person or symbol - do the reverse and die for love and family.
2000 AD (2000)
Not to be confused with a certain British comic, this is an okay techno thriller that seems to mark part of a new era in action films for Hong Kong, following the departure of various big directors and stars for Hollywood. Aaron Kwok does well as a nerdy games designer who gets pulled into a battle between spy agencies and a terror network following the murder of his brother, but his switch from nebbishy geek to action hero never quite convinces and the story ("Ha ha, I will do the evil computer thing!") feels rather quaint by contemporary standards. More egregiously intrusive however, are the often baffling visual choices made throughout the film. The colour filters and weird crash zooms could be chalked up to what was popular at the time, but there are a lot of awkward cuts and fades that just feel ill-timed and amateurish, often distracting from what is generally very solid work on the stunts and action. Diverting, but not something I'd go out of my way for.
The Red Wolf (1995)
A cheap and mostly cheerful Hong Kong Die Hard-alike from Yuen Woo Ping, set aboard a luxury curise liner, this one sees Kenny Ho (styled to look suspiciously like Chow Yun Fat) as an ex-cop turned security officer, wrongly accused of murder when the boat is attacked by terrorists. The film struggles to hide what seems like it must have been an absolute shoestring budget, but the action is very well choreographed and the whole thing clips along with enough pace that you never get too long to dwell on how small the boat seems to be or how few passengers there actually are. Although it's all played with a straight face, it also seems to have a knowing, winking quality to it that keeps the often brutal action from seeming too dour (you just know someone's getting thrown in that jacuzzi). Credit is also very much due to Christy Chung, who does all the character development heavy lifting, despite being saddled with a vaguely annoying comic-relief role. Tackily entertaining.
Not to be confused with a certain British comic, this is an okay techno thriller that seems to mark part of a new era in action films for Hong Kong, following the departure of various big directors and stars for Hollywood. Aaron Kwok does well as a nerdy games designer who gets pulled into a battle between spy agencies and a terror network following the murder of his brother, but his switch from nebbishy geek to action hero never quite convinces and the story ("Ha ha, I will do the evil computer thing!") feels rather quaint by contemporary standards. More egregiously intrusive however, are the often baffling visual choices made throughout the film. The colour filters and weird crash zooms could be chalked up to what was popular at the time, but there are a lot of awkward cuts and fades that just feel ill-timed and amateurish, often distracting from what is generally very solid work on the stunts and action. Diverting, but not something I'd go out of my way for.
The Red Wolf (1995)
A cheap and mostly cheerful Hong Kong Die Hard-alike from Yuen Woo Ping, set aboard a luxury curise liner, this one sees Kenny Ho (styled to look suspiciously like Chow Yun Fat) as an ex-cop turned security officer, wrongly accused of murder when the boat is attacked by terrorists. The film struggles to hide what seems like it must have been an absolute shoestring budget, but the action is very well choreographed and the whole thing clips along with enough pace that you never get too long to dwell on how small the boat seems to be or how few passengers there actually are. Although it's all played with a straight face, it also seems to have a knowing, winking quality to it that keeps the often brutal action from seeming too dour (you just know someone's getting thrown in that jacuzzi). Credit is also very much due to Christy Chung, who does all the character development heavy lifting, despite being saddled with a vaguely annoying comic-relief role. Tackily entertaining.
Return of the God of Gamblers (1994)
The third sequel in just five years for Jing Wong’s enduring hit, but the first to see Chow Yun Fat return as Ko Chun, the titular legendary card player, this time coming out of quiet retirement after an obsessive rival destroys his family. A slicker looking film than the original, this one kept me perfectly entertained while I was watching it, but thinking back on it afterwards, it feels a lot more disjointed than its predecessor, both in storytelling and tone. There’s a parade of impressive set pieces on display, but they aren’t so well linked together this time, and the change between the same wacky comedy and noticeably more brutal, serious scenes is quite jarring.
It’s tempting to wonder if the film was relying on its impressive cast to carry it, as once again, a gang of quirky outsiders gathers around Ko Chun as the film goes on, including a pair of con artists and a politically flexible policeman from the mainland. They’re actually quite fun and I wouldn’t have minded if the film had focused more on their antics rather than the surprisingly grim revenge plot, especially as it takes quite a while to gather them all together.
Entertaining, but less appealing than the original.
The third sequel in just five years for Jing Wong’s enduring hit, but the first to see Chow Yun Fat return as Ko Chun, the titular legendary card player, this time coming out of quiet retirement after an obsessive rival destroys his family. A slicker looking film than the original, this one kept me perfectly entertained while I was watching it, but thinking back on it afterwards, it feels a lot more disjointed than its predecessor, both in storytelling and tone. There’s a parade of impressive set pieces on display, but they aren’t so well linked together this time, and the change between the same wacky comedy and noticeably more brutal, serious scenes is quite jarring.
It’s tempting to wonder if the film was relying on its impressive cast to carry it, as once again, a gang of quirky outsiders gathers around Ko Chun as the film goes on, including a pair of con artists and a politically flexible policeman from the mainland. They’re actually quite fun and I wouldn’t have minded if the film had focused more on their antics rather than the surprisingly grim revenge plot, especially as it takes quite a while to gather them all together.
Entertaining, but less appealing than the original.
jake scully
Kiznaiver
Haven’t seen the film and I know that it and The Taking Of Pelham 123 were inspirations for Reservoir Dogs but what Tarantino doesn’t mention was Mario Bavas brilliant 70’s heist film Rabid Dogs
jake scully
Kiznaiver
My favourite 20 horror films
Rene Reyes is my all time fave & others are in no particular order
1.Tenebre
2. Suspiria (Argento)
3. Deep Red
4. Dawn Of The Dead (Argento cut)
5. The Beyond
6. The New York Ripper
7. Gutterballs
8. Fantacide
9. Vidocq
10. Cradle Of Fear
11.Switchblade Romance
12. Inside
13. Martyrs (French)
14. Re-Animator
15. The Thing
16. Aliens
17. Dressed To Kill
18. Angel Heart
19. Trauma (Chile horror)
20. From Beyond
Rene Reyes is my all time fave & others are in no particular order
1.Tenebre
2. Suspiria (Argento)
3. Deep Red
4. Dawn Of The Dead (Argento cut)
5. The Beyond
6. The New York Ripper
7. Gutterballs
8. Fantacide
9. Vidocq
10. Cradle Of Fear
11.Switchblade Romance
12. Inside
13. Martyrs (French)
14. Re-Animator
15. The Thing
16. Aliens
17. Dressed To Kill
18. Angel Heart
19. Trauma (Chile horror)
20. From Beyond
jake scully
Kiznaiver
I’m sending this on iPhone and no idea what Rene Reyes is?! Tenebre is should be!!
Beast Cops (1998)
Far more naturalistic in its execution than the typical Hong Kong crime dramas of the time, this observational piece from Gordon Chan sees a pair of bent cops (Anthony Wong and Sam Lee) have their peaceful equilibrium upended when a new straight-arrow superior (Michael Wong) is assigned to their patch. The ostensible story about a young hoodlum who moves to fill the void left by his absent boss ticks away in the background, and occasionally flairs up in sudden, violent fashion, but the film is at its best as a witty character study of morally grey street life. Some of the exchanges do date it (one of Michael Wong's English-language outbursts in particular pulled me right out of it), but generally it's absorbing stuff, with a real standout performance from Anthony Wong, who really gets the chance to flex his acting credentials, with his character constantly shifting from grotesque to charming and funny to tragic. An entertaining time capsule.
Far more naturalistic in its execution than the typical Hong Kong crime dramas of the time, this observational piece from Gordon Chan sees a pair of bent cops (Anthony Wong and Sam Lee) have their peaceful equilibrium upended when a new straight-arrow superior (Michael Wong) is assigned to their patch. The ostensible story about a young hoodlum who moves to fill the void left by his absent boss ticks away in the background, and occasionally flairs up in sudden, violent fashion, but the film is at its best as a witty character study of morally grey street life. Some of the exchanges do date it (one of Michael Wong's English-language outbursts in particular pulled me right out of it), but generally it's absorbing stuff, with a real standout performance from Anthony Wong, who really gets the chance to flex his acting credentials, with his character constantly shifting from grotesque to charming and funny to tragic. An entertaining time capsule.