A couple months worth of quick movie reviews for no particular reason
...based on a combination of my Netflix rental list and the ratings list on my Netflix friends page, since the latter seems to be non-comprehensive and the former doesn't include movies I've watched in other venues:
* Blood Brothers dir. by Alexi Tan, 2007. On the one hand, it's not as good as I'd hoped given the hype while it was in production and the phenomenal trailer; on the other, it's nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be based on the reviews it got when it came out. It's as gorgeous as the trailer promised and is--as was made clear during production--clearly inspired by John Woo's (who produced) Bullet in the Head. But that film offered a clear, forceful narrative about well-defined characters who were backed into a corner and forced to make decisions with unfortunate consequences. This one... didn't. Expanding the first hour of the movie into a two hour narrative and forcing the extra space to be spent on better building of characters would have made a better movie, but it's difficult for me to begrudge it the last half hour, even if it did end up in the obvious place. Also, it's probably better in reality than it was for me because I realized a half hour in that I had difficulty distinguishing two of the main actors (Chen Chang and... Ye Liu, maybe?) just because I wasn't previously acquainted with them and there were enough scenes in which their character was not clear enough to carry it out, so their roles--which were pretty critical--got a bit muddled for me.
Recommended, with reservations.
* Lawyer Lawyer starring Stephen Chow, 1997. I gave it three stars on Netflix, which for an HK movie starring Stephen Chow is pretty much the kiss of death. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just more-or-less indistinguishable from a bunch of other Stephen Chow movies from the same era (King of Beggars, the Royal Tramp movies, Forbidden City Cop...) whose primary advantage is that they came out first. If you want to watch a Stephen Chow movie, it's good enough. If you've already seen the previously listed movies, the best I can say is that it's not a waste of your time.
Not recommended, except for people (like me) who want to see every Stephen Chow movie.
* The Tiger Blade dir. Theeratorn Siriphunvaraporn, 2005. I only returned this a month ago? Wow, this movie was apparently pretty forgettable. Um, I remember it being somewhat vague and vapid. I also recall liking the feel that it wasn't a fantasy movie so much as a cop movie from a universe where Buddhist magic worked, and this was blasely but not extensively incorporated into crime and police work.
Recommended for people who want to watch every Thai action movie or every new martial arts movie.
* Heroes of the East dir. Lau-Kar Leung, 1979. This movie was great. Really really sweet. It's got a great one-sentence pitch, which becomes even better when you discover it to be a action romcom in the tradition only HK can bring to the table. Also, it's great as a product of the times insomuch as it's clearly a movie whose twin themes are cultural tolerance/understanding and the inherent superiority of Chinese culture (as demonstrated by its martial traditions), and the movie gives you enough nudges and winks to make it clear that they're in on the joke without making the contradiction the focus of the film.
Recommended for everyone.
* Forbidden City Cop dir. Stephen Chow, 1996. Not quite as good as I remember it, but still pretty sweet. I would say that From Beijing With Love is plainly superior. I was really shocked looking back to go, "Oh hey! Carina Lau is in this!"
Recommended for Stephen Chow fans.
* King of Beggars dir. Gordon Chan, 1992. My memory is definitely a bit fuzzy at this point, but it was definitely pretty good. I will always be grateful to it for the realization that Beggar So aka So Hat Yi is some sort of actual mythical/legendary figure, not just a generic name given to beggars in every other historical martial arts movie (Drunken Master, Heroes of the East, Fist of the Red Dragon aka Heroes Among Heroes, &c...).
Recommended for Stephen Chow fans.
* The Girl Who Knew Too Much dir. Mario Bava, 1963. Definitely Bava's Hitchcock film, for better or worse. Very much one of those movies I spend the whole time talking over, mocking it for inconsequentialities, then realize at the end that it was actually pretty decent.
Recommended only for Bava die-hards. If you haven't bought the boxed set, you probably shouldn't bother.
Gotta run. To be continued...?
EDIT (continued):
Evil Aliens dir. Jake West, 2005. We were constantly going back on forth on whether this movie was awesome with some awful moments or awful with some awesome moments. I don't know if people ever still drink beer and watch movies at Phlabra's place after Cahoots on Saturdays, but if they do Phil should rent this and show it to them. Abra will have to close her eyes a couple times, and everyone will say "I can't believe they did that!" a dozen times or so, and hopefully the majority of them will be with glee.
You will weep with joy the first time you see an alien get run over by a combine.
Amazons vs. Superheroes dir. Alfonso Brescia, 1975. This movie is just fucked up. Seriously, totally off the wall.
Mildly recommended for people who want to watch a movie just because it's a bad idea.
* Blood Brothers dir. by Alexi Tan, 2007. On the one hand, it's not as good as I'd hoped given the hype while it was in production and the phenomenal trailer; on the other, it's nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be based on the reviews it got when it came out. It's as gorgeous as the trailer promised and is--as was made clear during production--clearly inspired by John Woo's (who produced) Bullet in the Head. But that film offered a clear, forceful narrative about well-defined characters who were backed into a corner and forced to make decisions with unfortunate consequences. This one... didn't. Expanding the first hour of the movie into a two hour narrative and forcing the extra space to be spent on better building of characters would have made a better movie, but it's difficult for me to begrudge it the last half hour, even if it did end up in the obvious place. Also, it's probably better in reality than it was for me because I realized a half hour in that I had difficulty distinguishing two of the main actors (Chen Chang and... Ye Liu, maybe?) just because I wasn't previously acquainted with them and there were enough scenes in which their character was not clear enough to carry it out, so their roles--which were pretty critical--got a bit muddled for me.
Recommended, with reservations.
* Lawyer Lawyer starring Stephen Chow, 1997. I gave it three stars on Netflix, which for an HK movie starring Stephen Chow is pretty much the kiss of death. There's nothing wrong with it, it's just more-or-less indistinguishable from a bunch of other Stephen Chow movies from the same era (King of Beggars, the Royal Tramp movies, Forbidden City Cop...) whose primary advantage is that they came out first. If you want to watch a Stephen Chow movie, it's good enough. If you've already seen the previously listed movies, the best I can say is that it's not a waste of your time.
Not recommended, except for people (like me) who want to see every Stephen Chow movie.
* The Tiger Blade dir. Theeratorn Siriphunvaraporn, 2005. I only returned this a month ago? Wow, this movie was apparently pretty forgettable. Um, I remember it being somewhat vague and vapid. I also recall liking the feel that it wasn't a fantasy movie so much as a cop movie from a universe where Buddhist magic worked, and this was blasely but not extensively incorporated into crime and police work.
Recommended for people who want to watch every Thai action movie or every new martial arts movie.
* Heroes of the East dir. Lau-Kar Leung, 1979. This movie was great. Really really sweet. It's got a great one-sentence pitch, which becomes even better when you discover it to be a action romcom in the tradition only HK can bring to the table. Also, it's great as a product of the times insomuch as it's clearly a movie whose twin themes are cultural tolerance/understanding and the inherent superiority of Chinese culture (as demonstrated by its martial traditions), and the movie gives you enough nudges and winks to make it clear that they're in on the joke without making the contradiction the focus of the film.
Recommended for everyone.
* Forbidden City Cop dir. Stephen Chow, 1996. Not quite as good as I remember it, but still pretty sweet. I would say that From Beijing With Love is plainly superior. I was really shocked looking back to go, "Oh hey! Carina Lau is in this!"
Recommended for Stephen Chow fans.
* King of Beggars dir. Gordon Chan, 1992. My memory is definitely a bit fuzzy at this point, but it was definitely pretty good. I will always be grateful to it for the realization that Beggar So aka So Hat Yi is some sort of actual mythical/legendary figure, not just a generic name given to beggars in every other historical martial arts movie (Drunken Master, Heroes of the East, Fist of the Red Dragon aka Heroes Among Heroes, &c...).
Recommended for Stephen Chow fans.
* The Girl Who Knew Too Much dir. Mario Bava, 1963. Definitely Bava's Hitchcock film, for better or worse. Very much one of those movies I spend the whole time talking over, mocking it for inconsequentialities, then realize at the end that it was actually pretty decent.
Recommended only for Bava die-hards. If you haven't bought the boxed set, you probably shouldn't bother.
Gotta run. To be continued...?
EDIT (continued):
Evil Aliens dir. Jake West, 2005. We were constantly going back on forth on whether this movie was awesome with some awful moments or awful with some awesome moments. I don't know if people ever still drink beer and watch movies at Phlabra's place after Cahoots on Saturdays, but if they do Phil should rent this and show it to them. Abra will have to close her eyes a couple times, and everyone will say "I can't believe they did that!" a dozen times or so, and hopefully the majority of them will be with glee.
You will weep with joy the first time you see an alien get run over by a combine.
Amazons vs. Superheroes dir. Alfonso Brescia, 1975. This movie is just fucked up. Seriously, totally off the wall.
Mildly recommended for people who want to watch a movie just because it's a bad idea.