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Post by muckle dabuckle on Aug 19, 2008 13:42:28 GMT -8
I thought I'd start this thread so half the threads I participate in don't turn into "Tony Jaa is awesome" threads. Anyway. I think this is obvious (at least here) but when I say "asian" I mean Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc. and not Indian and Middle eastern. I don't have much to say right now and I'd rather hear what other people think about asian movies and scores, but I'll say a few things since I started the thread. I just finished watching the 'Infernal Affairs' trilogy and I must say they are the best non-martial arts Chinese movies I've seen in a long long time. In case people don't know the basic story of the 'Infernal Affairs' movies go something like this: a family member of a notorious Hong Kong gang decides he wants to be good and joins the police force. The police find out he was a gang member and kick him out, but one police officer gives him a second chance to be a mole in his family's gang. Of course the gangs also have moles in the police force as well and the tension this simple story line creates is amazing. The first two 'Infernal Affairs' are so well done that as a viewer I was getting paranoid about who was a mole and who wasn't. Andy Lau as the mole in the police force and Tony Leung as the gang mole are both great in this movie. Also, there is very little action in the movies and more suspense. www.dragondynasty.com/films/show/78(Lame trailer. They make the movies look like John Woo directed them ). The music is also amazing and I was totally surprised by the quality of it (I generally find that Chinese movies don't have that great of music most of the time like Japanese movies). The main titles of the first movie have a sweeping theme--that really surprised me. The composer is Chan Kwong Wing and you can buy a boxset of the scores: www.yesasia.com/us/infernal-affairs-trilogy-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1003002552-0-0-0-en/info.htmlLooks like a pretty good deal for three scores. I think Chan Kwong Wing is the founding member of some sort of Hong Kong version of Remote Control called Click Music Studios. The Japanese movie 'The Hidden Blade' is also quite good: www.youtube.com/watch?v=V33a3yQIc-8I love the music in the trailer and it is from the movie and composed by Isao Tomita (from around 53 seconds on). The movie is pretty much a samurai movie with little action. The basic story line goes something like this: the main character is a samurai and he's sent to kill a disobedient samurai who also happens to be his best friend. Of course a samurai is supposed to follow his duties without question with honor, etc. so this creates a lot of problems for him. There is also a love story in the movie that even a guy could like.
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Post by General Silliness on Aug 19, 2008 13:59:41 GMT -8
you forgot to mention that The Departed is a remake of Infernal Affairs. The Best Anti-War Movie ever is from Korea-Brotherhood.Its evn more shocking and ten times more touching then SPR.Korea has a lot of great directors and is IMHO now the best part of Asia for Movie.Japan is the place if you want to see pure Silliness, Thailand has the most gruesome horror movies, I must say that i see more great Asian movies a year than such from Hollywood.Along with wonderful Animes, not only from Studio Ghibli.I LOVED Vexille.Its such a great sci-fi story.And the Highlander Anime was suprisingly entertaining, much more then the last installments of the movie series.
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Post by Carlton the Barbarian on Aug 19, 2008 17:43:50 GMT -8
I thought I'd start this thread so half the threads I participate in don't turn into "Tony Jaa is awesome" threads. Anyway. I think this is obvious (at least here) but when I say "asian" I mean Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, etc. and not Indian and Middle eastern. You betta make that distinction or else I will strike you with Thor's lightning bolt. So, is this thread about anime movies?
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Post by Hook on Aug 19, 2008 18:54:32 GMT -8
I don't have much say in the Asian film industry as I often see myself engaging in the vexing difficulty and regrettable need of squinting to enjoy such films.
...
Hohoho. Spaniard humor.
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Post by muckle dabuckle on Aug 19, 2008 20:37:12 GMT -8
you forgot to mention that The Departed is a remake of Infernal Affairs. The Best Anti-War Movie ever is from Korea-Brotherhood.Its evn more shocking and ten times more touching then SPR Haven't gotten around to seeing that one yet, but it has been on my list. I agree, but it's always nice to breakup all of my asian movie watching with a movie in english. I watched Rocky for the first time two weeks ago, between Infernal Affairs, and that was refreshing. I think it made me appreciate good Hollywood movies even more. I'm definitely sick of Japanese horror movies (I've yet to see a really good one). Ju-On made no sense at all. I literally didn't follow it (except there was a creepy little girl with black hair of course--which means she's bad). I have a bunch of other Japanese stuff I own, but haven't watched yet like: Versus, One Missed Call 1 & 2, Reincarnation, Baian the Assassin (a tv show with Ken Watanabe), Godzilla, Suicide Girls, etc. So I can't comment on those yet. Other than Hidden Blade the only good Japanese movies I've seen recently are: Blood Heat (with Kane Kosugi) which is a pretty decent martial arts action flick and 2DLK, which is pretty much two Japanese girls (who are roommates) turning a little cat fight into murder by escalating it. I could never figure out if it was supposed to be a comedy or not, but it's worth checking out because it IS funny. Only the Japanese could make a weird movie like this. I've tried a few Takashi Miike films, but didn't finish them because they were so stupid/violent/weird. To me he directs like Uwe Boll with Paul Verhoven-type graphic violence. Thumbs down. And my favorite Japanese movie of alltime (probably because I have great childhood memories of it) is Godzilla vs. Megalon. Mystery Science theater does one of their shows featuring the movie. Too bad you can't get the uncut movie without the Mystery Science Theater people talking over it. Obviously Jens likes it too!: www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjXpch-hAU8www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkzSEhndXaAHA! ;D I'm not really into Anime, but I own Spirited Away. Haven't gotten around to viewing it yet. The only Anime I have seen so far: Appleseed. I thought it was pretty good. Paprika is on my list (I heard it was good) as well as other Miyazaki films. Anyway. Jackie Chan is still my favorite asian film maker. I'll have to talk about him tomorrow maybe. You betta make that distinction or else I will strike you with Thor's lightning bolt. ;D That is the thread I was thinking about when I wrote that. I don't think we have to worry about anyone here calling me racist, etc. because we aren't talking about Indian "asian" movies. Only if you want it to be. The point of the thread is just to talk about any part of asian cinema people want to discuss. I'm also looking for recommendations. Plus, one of the martial arts movie forums I liked reading started turning dumb (aka there is a thread there about who has beat up people in real life with their martial arts skills. People are like, "some guy dissed me me so I side-kicked him in the face, did a spin kick to the face, did a Bruce Lee back fist to the face" blah blah blah. Stupid). I don't have much say in the Asian film industry as I often see myself engaging in the vexing difficulty and regrettable need of squinting to enjoy such films. ... Hohoho. Spaniard humor. Hahaha. ;D You're a regular Pau Gasol! Have you heard their spin now? It goes something like this: "In Spain that is a gesture of respect!" "All my friends are Chinese!"
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Post by General Silliness on Aug 20, 2008 6:19:56 GMT -8
Don´t compare Takeshii Miike to Boll.Sure, he has made a lot of crap, but also some great movies. (Like the Silly Django Remake) And his The Great Yokai War is like Live-Action Miyazaki.Aah and PAPRIKA is mindblowing.Stranger then all Terry Gilliam movies combined.
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Post by Armin on Aug 20, 2008 20:05:50 GMT -8
Is there a Devil May Cry movie in the making? By some Hong Kong director? Does anybody have more info?
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Post by muckle dabuckle on Aug 21, 2008 9:15:15 GMT -8
Don´t compare Takeshii Miike to Boll. I call everyone I don't like Uwe Boll. I was looking for that one last summer, but couldn't find it anywhere. It sounded good at the time, but my Miike hate started after this so now I don't know if I'd care for it. Hmmm....don't know if I'd like it then.
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Post by muckle dabuckle on Aug 21, 2008 9:18:13 GMT -8
Is there a Devil May Cry movie in the making? By some Hong Kong director? Does anybody have more info? No clue. I've yet to play any of the games even.
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Post by General Silliness on Aug 21, 2008 15:32:22 GMT -8
Is there a Devil May Cry movie in the making? By some Hong Kong director? Does anybody have more info? there is some strange direct-to-dvd stuff already finished.its just about 45mins or i think.
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Post by General Silliness on Sept 2, 2008 16:36:00 GMT -8
Watch out or the epic Korean Historymovie "The Devine Weapon". The Trailer looks absoloutly stunning.On par with (part 1) Red Cliff.
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Post by muckle dabuckle on Sept 12, 2008 12:33:44 GMT -8
Watch out or the epic Korean Historymovie "The Devine Weapon". The Trailer looks absoloutly stunning.On par with (part 1) Red Cliff. It looked okay, but you can tell Red Cliff had the bigger budget. Koreans are making some really good movies recently though. Like you I really liked 'City of Violence' and thought it had awesome action and it was pretty darn funny as well: www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6hKGwRbhEg'Wushu' looks like it may be an excellent film (notice how they use Shigeru Umeyabashi's 'House of Flying Daggers' music as well as Zimmer's 'Batman Begins' music in the trailer): link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1214128517/bctid1482368889With Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung involved it will at least be entertaining. The actors are real wushu practitioners so they supposedly don't use wires, etc. so this may be one of the better martial arts films in a while. This is my favorite martial arts movie of all time (Police Story): www.dragondynasty.com/films/show/73Best stuntwork in a movie ever. The last 30-minutes are pretty much a giant fight scene in a Chinese mall (which is why the stuntmen call the movie 'Glass Story' ;D ). The stunts on the escalators are painful to watch and it has two of Jackie Chan's most famous stunts (one which almost killed him): the bus ride with the umbrella and the slide down the electrical pole in the mall. I think during the pole slide he fractured vertebrae in his back, dislocated his pelvis, and got third degree burns which shredded the skin off of his hands because of the christmas lights on the pole were accidently left on full power. I also like how they built a giant shanty town on the side of a mountain only to destroy the entire thing by driving cars through it! ;D I'm also a huge fan of Donnie Yen and loved the incredible last fight scene in his movie 'Flashpoint:' www.youtube.com/watch?v=skNC6yGuUkEOne of the few movies that integrates mixed martial arts and the grappling techniques used in that kind of fighting. The final fight was between Collin Chou and Donnie Yen (both are martial arts experts) so the fighting is very realistic and certainly not boring. I guess they were so tired and beat up from filming that last scene they could hardly stand up after it was over. They also released a better version of Jet Li's 'Fist of Legend' two days ago: www.dragondynasty.com/films/show/109I've never seen the movie, but it is widely considered Jet Li's best movie.
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Post by General Silliness on Sept 14, 2008 8:33:30 GMT -8
The Trailer for Queens for Lansanganka or whatever its spelled looks mindblowing.
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Post by christopher on Sept 14, 2008 14:07:27 GMT -8
Is this the wrong thread to talk about Japanese animation? My wife and I watched Howl's Moving Castle the other day. It was the first Miazaki (sp?) film we'd seen. I liked it quite a bit. The story was interesting (until the baffling ending), the concept original, there were lots of little things I really liked, etc. Yesterday we watched Spirited Away. It was still really different and interesting, but the plot was REALLY weird this time around. So many say this is a phenomenal film. Is there something I'm not getting?
On an unrelated note. All of Hisaishi's scores sound the same to me.
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Post by muckle dabuckle on Sept 14, 2008 14:41:14 GMT -8
Is this the wrong thread to talk about Japanese animation? No. I've owned the DVD for years, but haven't gotten around to watching it yet. I guess I'm worried I'll have seizures or something. But, I did watch the extras and enjoyed watching Miyazaki make the ramen noodles for the entire office. Yeah, you get that a lot with Japanese films. Especially animation! Maybe there is a cultural gap. I don't remember if Spirited Away was based on a traditional Japanese story or not, but I'm guessing a lot of the themes in the movie are related to the native Japanese Shinto religion. I'm pretty sure it was the highest grossing film (or pretty close) of all time in Japan. Hmmmm.....I only have three of his scores: Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Kikujiro. None of them sound the same to me.
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