[takutox]

Speaking of bad Kung Fu movies, yesterday I watched a movie that literally made me LOL: King of Beggars




When I pulled it off Netflix, I had no idea it was one of the classic Gordon Chan movies. It's English subtitled. This thing has it all - Kung Fu masters, Imperial Soldiers (the HK equivalent of Star Trek Red Shirts), hookers, beggars, etc. This is one of those HK movies where the Kung Fu Masters can literally do ANYTHING. They can fly, conjure, command the wind, make people explode, you name it, they can do it. In one scene someone got split vertically completely in half with a sword. Great fun!

Rating: 6/10 just because some of the outrageous scenes made me laugh

 
love that movie so much haha, old stephen chow. watched so many times as a kid and still good now.

 

[oqvist]

This one?

Yes thanks

 

[Redcarmoose]

Battle Royale II:

Wow this was a bad movie. The acting was bad but I expected that, the pacing was terrible. The entire middle of the movie, which was filled with weird (and I'm pretty sure anti-American) propaganda, was used as a build up to a fight sequence at the end.... except there was no build up, the story just kind of came to a halt. Bonus point given for the (mediocre) gore.

3/10

But did you like BR1?

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Into the wild - 8, great movie, I really enjoyed it and the ending was superb in my opinion.

Paradise - 4, didn't really like it and not near enough time to get any clear points across, bonus points for the town being as religious as mine though, makes it somewhat understandable. ;p

 

[kkl10]

The Seventh Seal - 9,8
 
I haven't seen an Ingmar Bergman movie in a long time, oh how I missed it!
I highly apprecciate the cinema produced by the swedish director, philosophical themes, poetic and human sensibility, intelligence and captivating characters - on this last point, one of the things I specially like about his cinema is the way how he seemed to give attention to women feelings and thoughts, I feel he knew how to express the feminine psyche like very few others, but I don't know for sure if any woman would agree with me.
This is not so much the case in The Seventh Seal, but one can see here the direction that Bergman wants to follow in several aspects.
I admire this work since the first time I saw it, it always gives me the funny feeling that I'm watching a theatrical play (maybe because The Seventh Seal is actually based on a theatrical play written by Bergman himself), it has great poetic and human quality, the whole story is a metaphor for life and focuses on applying an existentialist scrutiny on numerous themes, Death, Faith in God, Destiny and Art itself. It culminates by proposing an optimist view on Art.
Bergman is able to essay about complex philosophical subjects through a poetic and human cinematic language, to me this is what demarks him from other directors. I mean that his flms are intelectual but not cold nor devoid of feeling, emotion or humour.
Bergman Cinema thrives with tenderness.
The Seventh Seal plays with my emotions, it's a bittersweet movie, one of the rare kind that manages to break my heart and break me up (laughing genuinelly).
The obvious technical limitations in it's production can be slightly distracting, that's the only reason why I don't rate it higher, but it doesn't matter, this work transcends the sum of it's parts... cliché statement but it's true for The Seventh Seal IMO.
Beautiful movie from one of the greatest masters of Cinéma d'auteur.

 

[Redcarmoose]

Aliens 1986
 
 
First time seeing it on Bluray. Total genius! 10/10. Makes me wonder how even better it would have been with a cooperative cast of actors?

 

[Muinarc]

But did you like BR1?

 


For what it was, I did enjoy BR1, there was a clear goal to the plot in that one at least!

@kkl10; I agree, The Seventh Seal is a great movie!

@Redcarmoose; Great movie, the blu ray kind of bummed me out though because you could tell they were on/in sets, the quality is almost TOO good. It kind of took me out of the experience.

 

[Redcarmoose]

 

But did you like BR1?

 


For what it was, I did enjoy BR1, there was a clear goal to the plot in that one at least!

@kkl10; I agree, The Seventh Seal is a great movie!

@Redcarmoose; Great movie, the blu ray kind of bummed me out though because you could tell they were on/in sets, the quality is almost TOO good. It kind of took me out of the experience.

When I saw BR 1 it was kind of a fashion among teens to see and a coworker suggested I see it. It maybe would have been a movie I would have passed by? A great plot that has now been copied by some script writers. Seems like the movie would be great for a remake too?
 
Blu ray is a strange process to see old movies in. I only can wonder what 4K will be like. The fact that you start to notice all the junk on the wall that is suppose to cover for multimillion dollar space ship equipment. This was more in Alien 1 than Aliens. Blade runner had less junk to notice, which was nice to see.
 
 
But yes, now the Star Wars ships look like models, when they looked like real spacecraft in the 1977s/ 1980s in theater or VHS.
 
I have no explanation as to why the ships looked real in the theater and look like models now on blu ray. Maybe we are more sophisticated viewers who also expect CGI quality for our movie reality. Maybe because they are smaller than in the theater?
 
Even regular DVD made things look real?
 
 
You can now see all the skin of actors and you realize just how much bigger and magnified their skin is than in real life.
 
 
Still, I think stuff looks great.For me I had never seen Star Wars 1,2,3 look so good except in the theater.

 

[kkl10]

Memento - 6,5
 
I watched this movie after Stranger than Paradise, but I'll review it first because it's much easier.
Interesting editing work, colored scenes display the plot backwards and monochromatic scenes in normal cronology, in the end we see the middle of the story... I can't see what's so special about this, it wasn't particularly difficult for me to make sense of the story with just 1 view and I didn't find that it added anything apprecciable to the cinematic experience... it merely entertained while it lasted...
The story itself is nothing of the other world and is not very believable.
A man who with anterograde amnesia is wrongly convinced that some guy raped and murdered his wife and spends most of his time hunting for that man, but due to his condition he mostly wanders in the dark and will do some erratic killing here and there and forget about it. The true is that he killed his wife himself and can't remember it.
Now, how exactly has the amnesiac able to survive in such an hostile environment?
How exactly did he arrive at the point he was in the beginning of the story?
There are several characters in the plot whose intentions or motivations lack clarification, not saying it doesn't make any sense but it's easy to see how it was all forced and manipulated to suit the far fetched story.
If this was supposed to be a satirical comedy I could have another apprecciation and maybe rate it higher.
Not being the case I wonder if 6,5 is not to high for what I experienced, I would gladly rate this lower, only reason I don't is because at a purely technical level, particularly the editing work, this is a good... cheating it's way up among the dumb critics I'd say.
If a movie can get so much love and kiss simply due to some unconventional narrative structure or some other purelly technical aspect while neglecting real depth of story, meaning or cinematography then something is awfully wrong.
Guy Pearce acting is another good point as well, the only thing that I found remotely interesting he managed to actually make his unlikely character believable.
As soon as plot is cronologically ordered and the amnesiac condition is understood, it's apparent how basic and shallow this movie really is.
Pathetically overrated IMO, forgetable experiment.
 
This movie has an educational value about anterograde amnesia, it's worth fot that.

 

[gopanthersgo1]

Memento - 6,5

I watched this movie after Stranger than Paradise, but I'll review it first because it's much easier.

Interesting editing work, colored scenes display the plot backwards and monochromatic scenes in normal cronology, in the end we see the middle of the story... I can't see what's so special about this, it wasn't particularly difficult for me to make sense of the story with just 1 view and I didn't find that it added anything apprecciable to the cinematic experience... it merely entertained while it lasted...

The story itself is nothing of the other world and is not very believable.

A man who with anterograde amnesia is wrongly convinced that some guy raped and murdered his wife and spends most of his time hunting for that man, but due to his condition he mostly wanders in the dark and will do some erratic killing here and there and forget about it. The true is that he killed his wife himself and can't remember it.

Now, how exactly has the amnesiac able to survive in such an hostile environment?
How exactly did he arrive at the point he was in the beginning of the story?
There are several characters in the plot whose intentions or motivations lack clarification, not saying it doesn't make any sense but it's easy to see how it was all forced and manipulated to suit the far fetched story.

If this was supposed to be a satirical comedy I could have another apprecciation and maybe rate it higher.

Not being the case I wonder if 6,5 is not to high for what I experienced, I would gladly rate this lower, only reason I don't is because at a purely technical level, particularly the editing work, this is a good... cheating it's way up among the dumb critics I'd say.

If a movie can get so much love and kiss simply due to some unconventional narrative structure or some other purelly technical aspect while neglecting real depth of story, meaning or cinematography then something is awfully wrong.

Guy Pearce acting is another good point as well, the only thing that I found remotely interesting he managed to actually make his unlikely character believable.

As soon as plot is cronologically ordered and the amnesiac condition is understood, it's apparent how basic and shallow this movie really is.

Pathetically overrated IMO, forgetable experiment.

This movie has an educational value about anterograde amnesia, it's worth fot that.

I liked it a lot actually, I think the shallowness of the movie adds to the reality that life can't get too deep when you have to survive off of a few post it notes and tattoos

 

[kkl10]

Stranger than Paradise - 8
 
Beautiful minimalist film from Jim Jarmusch, it kind off blew my expectations.
It has a simplistic plot and yet it provides an immensely more gratifying cinematic experience than Memento, no comparison IMO.
All the movie was filmed and edited in minimalistic way, pretty much all the scenes were filmed in single long shots and the transition between them is always filled up by a blackout of few seconds.
What makes this work special to me, is the sensible and insightful way how it manages to express it's mood and atmosphere and transport the viewer into it's own low-key and alienated world through excelent camera work, iconic low-fi Black & White cinematography, intelligent sound work and acting that, while not being particularly accomplished, fitted perfectly well within the film's premisse.
The plot is what can be expected from the 3 main characters, disillusioned youths in their 20's with no major ambitions but still naive and not corrupted by any sense of proportionality of the world they live in. Apparently alienated, they simply try to "live the moment" as long as they have their own destinies in their hands.
The title Stranger than Paradise is a pretty accurate description of the world they find themselves in.
In other words, not much happens, this movie is not going to please anyone looking for lots of action or something cheerfully orchestrated.
It can come accross as a major boredom and uninteresting, totally understandable.
I think this is a great lesson on how to make good cinema in the simplest way possible and with minimal resources.
This is somewhat reminiscent, and probably influenced, by what could be seen in the 60/70's "New Cinema", "Nouvelle Vague", etc, avantgarde movements all around the world.

 

[Sylaw]

  Stranger than Paradise - 8
 
Beautiful minimalist film from Jim Jarmusch, it kind off blew my expectations.
It has a simplistic plot and yet it provides an immensely more gratifying cinematic experience than Memento, no comparison IMO.
All the movie was filmed and edited in minimalistic way, pretty much all the scenes were filmed in single long shots and the transition between them is always filled up by a blackout of few seconds.
What makes this work special to me, is the sensible and insightful way how it manages to express it's mood and atmosphere and transport the viewer into it's own low-key and alienated world through excelent camera work, iconic low-fi Black & White cinematography, intelligent sound work and acting that, while not being particularly accomplished, fitted perfectly well within the film's premisse.
The plot is what can be expected from the 3 main characters, disillusioned youths in their 20's with no major ambitions but still naive and not corrupted by any sense of proportionality of the world they live in. Apparently alienated, they simply try to "live the moment" as long as they have their own destinies in their hands.
The title Stranger than Paradise is a pretty accurate description of the world they find themselves in.
In other words, not much happens, this movie is not going to please anyone looking for lots of action or something cheerfully orchestrated.
It can come accross as a major boredom and uninteresting, totally understandable.
I think this is a great lesson on how to make good cinema in the simplest way possible and with minimal resources.
This is somewhat reminiscent, and probably influenced, by what could be seen in the 60/70's "New Cinema", "Nouvelle Vague", etc, avantgarde movements all around the world.

Talk about it... i loe em...

 

[TMRaven]

American Hustle:  8/10.  Good comedy.  Nice dry humor.

 

[Focker]

  Stranger than Paradise - 8
 
Beautiful minimalist film from Jim Jarmusch, it kind off blew my expectations.
It has a simplistic plot and yet it provides an immensely more gratifying cinematic experience than Memento, no comparison IMO.
All the movie was filmed and edited in minimalistic way, pretty much all the scenes were filmed in single long shots and the transition between them is always filled up by a blackout of few seconds.
What makes this work special to me, is the sensible and insightful way how it manages to express it's mood and atmosphere and transport the viewer into it's own low-key and alienated world through excelent camera work, iconic low-fi Black & White cinematography, intelligent sound work and acting that, while not being particularly accomplished, fitted perfectly well within the film's premisse.
The plot is what can be expected from the 3 main characters, disillusioned youths in their 20's with no major ambitions but still naive and not corrupted by any sense of proportionality of the world they live in. Apparently alienated, they simply try to "live the moment" as long as they have their own destinies in their hands.
The title Stranger than Paradise is a pretty accurate description of the world they find themselves in.
In other words, not much happens, this movie is not going to please anyone looking for lots of action or something cheerfully orchestrated.
It can come accross as a major boredom and uninteresting, totally understandable.
I think this is a great lesson on how to make good cinema in the simplest way possible and with minimal resources.
This is somewhat reminiscent, and probably influenced, by what could be seen in the 60/70's "New Cinema", "Nouvelle Vague", etc, avantgarde movements all around the world.

 
 
Love seeing others watching Jarmusch films...Down by Law is one of my all-time favorites. 

 

[kkl10]

The Ascent - 7,5
 
Second time I see this film directed by Larisa Sheptiko.
This is possibly the most singular war movie I've ever seen, mostly due to the contrast between the poetic beauty and enchantment it often displays and the cruel and harsh reality of the story.
Action is set during World War 2, a whacked and hungry group of soviet partisans wanders on a white frozen desert somewhere in Belarus. After escaping a german attack they lay down and rest on a forest. Two members of the group leave to search for food trying not to be spotted but end up captured by the germans and then taken to a small village under the enemy control for interrogation purposes and to have their fates sentenced.
This is a very brief resume of the story but this is not the most important aspect of this movie.
Larisa Sheptiko uses all the choreography of events to make her ideological message about Soviet Union come across to the viewer. Unfortunately she takes it a bit too far, up to the point where it does detract from what could had been a true masterpiece of soviet cinema.
The acting, the camera work, the Black & White cinematography and sound work are all fabulous and display the artistic merits of the director but her urge to express the ideological message results in some cheesy scenes that do no good for the cinematic experience, clear overkill, it's a pity.
The cinematography and camera work are jaw dropping, at times giving a surreal atmosphere, almost fairy tale like enchantment (reminds me some of Yuriy Norshteyn's animation work), and at times giving a very raw and dramatic display of the reality, the picture always displays great expressive momentum.
The acting is top noch and the characters have great human depth, which contributes to the emotional and intelectual power of the movie, but sometimes it can look a bit corny.
The Ascent will leave it's mark in the minds of a lot of first time viewers, it has great poetic beauty and enchantment but it depicts a cruel and heartbreaking reality.
Unforgettable dichotomy.
 
I just wish that Larisa Sheptiko had left the ideological aspirations out of it, or at least tried to make them more subtle or simply lend it a more suggestive nature, the film would benefit with greater reach and more integral cinematic experience.
Not that I have anything agaisnt her stance per se, it's not particularly bothering or uncomfortable to me, but it will inherently deprive the movie from a certain degree of artistic latitude and I did find some of the scenes, particularly towards the end, a bit too melodramatic as a consequence.
 
I have to agree with Mutabor there's an excess of pathos that spoils the movie.
This second view didn't have the impact of the first because the corny pathos in some scenes, towards the end of the movie, were much more distracting this time.
What a pity.