Ravenprose said:It isn't. Paul W.S. Anderson had nothing to do with MK Annihilation. It was directed by someone else.
Oh ok, good for him. So in that case hemade crap like the first Aliens vs Predators and this new Resident Evil movie.
Detective Dee looks interesting. Res Evil - maybe in the cheap theater I'll see it.
That Back to the future just reminds me of recently trying to fill out a Telltale games questionaire about a possible back to the future game and getting rejected (probably because I'm out of whatever target age - I saw the original films in the theater you bastards!)
Archangel3371 said:I'm really, really looking forward to Machete. Has anyone seen it yet and how is it?
I saw a review somewhere.
What the film utterly lacks is any emotional depth. The characters are strictly comic-book creations. Whatever happens to them – whether their family members are killed in front of them, their own limbs are lopped off or their eyes shot out – they don't seem remotely bothered. If they don't care, why should we?
2 stars out of 5
http://uk.movies.ign.com/articles/111/1118036p1.html
For some viewers, the trailer might be all the Machete they need, and it's fine to leave it at that if you want. But you have to step back and admire what Rodriguez and co-director Ethan Maniquis have done with the seed of an idea and three minutes of footage. About 90 percent of the scenes from the trailer have been worked into the film somehow (either lifted directly or faithfully reshot) – an impressive bit of reverse engineering that couldn't have been easy to pull off. Rodriguez has fleshed the story out in a way that's as fun as it is extreme.
3 and a half stars out of 5
"What the film utterly lacks is any emotional depth. The characters are strictly comic-book creations. Whatever happens to them – whether their family members are killed in front of them, their own limbs are lopped off or their eyes shot out – they don't seem remotely bothered. If they don't care, why should we?"
What were they expecting?
Just for Archie, Voltron movie concept art.
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/voltron-movie-concept-artwork-looks-transformer-esque/
TIFF 2010: Legend of the Fist: Return of Chen Zhen review
http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/09/tiff-2010-legend-of-the-fist-return-of-chen-zhen-review.php
But seriously, this movie is just a snooze. The stretches between the action scenes are interminable, and the action scenes themselves get worse as the movie progresses, which is sort of the opposite of what you want to have happen.
Everyone involved has been better. The only legend on display in this movie is its own Legend of Stinkiness.
SECOND TAKE:
For those not particularly familiar with the unique skills of Donnie Yen and the canon of Hong Kong action films which this aims to draw from, Legend of the Fist will likely be seen as a decent but middling action epic. But for those who understand the character, the concept and the vast potential of the concept this cannot go down as anything but an enormous disappointment.
Most of the complaints seem to be about the films patriotism, I don't get how US films can get away with it and everything is fine, when China does it it's not?
I SAW THE DEVIL REVIEW
From the director of A Bittersweet Life and the Good the Bad and the Weird
http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/09/tiff-2010-i-saw-the-devil-review.php
http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/09/tiff-2010-i-saw-the-devil-review.php
The uncut version showed at the Toronto International Film Festival and it is about as bloody and gory (and oddly enough, glossy) a serial killer movie that I can recall. I'm sure someone will make a bloodier and gorier movie, that is the way these things work, but that does not change the fact that this is probably the current benchmark, Korean cinema or otherwise. Since the concept is rather ludicrous to begin with, it is easy to let go and see the crazy places the story is going to dig into.
Also the Chaser director is making a new film called Murderer.
Here is the Chaser
Here is the new trailer for Murderer
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/intense-new-trailer-for-na-hong-jins-upcoming-thriller-the-murderer/
From one of the reviews:
"Watching LEGEND OF THE FIST: RETURN OF CHEN ZHEN is like watching Donnie Yen masturbate to photos of Bruce Lee while staring at himself in a mirror."
WTF
You guys remember Luc Besson of Leon and the Fifth Element?
New film.
gg thank you for this thread. i enjoy asian cinema a great deal but i find it hard to keep track of movies these days. this is very helpful, keep up the good work
Thanks^ I don't mean this to be just an Asian film thread, but I find I have to actively keep tabs on these films as the western movies get exposure I will see, like trailers on TV or reviews in mags. These foreign films you have to dig and dig to get info and keep up to date.
THIRTEEN ASSASINS REVIEW
http://twitchfilm.net/reviews/2010/09/tiff-2010-13-assassins-review.php
13 Assassins is a gloriously glossy genre picture that gives an impossible and heroic situation all the glory it is due. It is curious to see Miike do something so straight-forward and crowd pleasing. I am sure he will be off to a new picture (or three) which is as different and wacky and unconventional as is his wont. Sit back and enjoy his stop in epic myth making.
A aintitcool reader saw I saw the Devil
EXTRACTS
Not sure if this would be of interest, but I was at I Saw the Devil last night and was blown away.
The new Kim Ji-woon film, it's recently been released in Korea after some footage was cut (I believe the Korean ratings board deemed it offensive to human dignity) but they showed the full version at TIFF and Magnet Releasing has picked up U.S. distribution. It's a vengeance film starring Choi Min-sik (Oldboy) and Lee Byung-hun (The Good, The Bad and The Weird). Lee Byung-hun is a man whose fiancee is brutally murdered by Choi Min-sik and basically, the film revolves around Lee Byung-hun's quest to inflict pain on Choi Min-sik.
But unlike most other vengeance films, I Saw the Devil overtly raises the question of morality. This is probably my favourite thing about the movie because I think that at heart, a vengeance film should raise a question of morality and I Saw the Devil pretty much throws that question in your face.
Lee Byung-hun is great and because the movie makes his day job to be some type of secret service agent, we get some surprisingly awesome action sequences. Watching Choi Min-sik is fascinating since he's essentially playing the reverse of his Oldboy character.
I'm not normally squeamish, but I turned away in this movie several times. There's one moment near the beginning when they're searching for the fiancee in a river which scared the crap out of me.
When I got home to my empty, dark apartment after the film, I suddenly got spooked and I don't think I've ever been scared by a non-supernatural villain (honestly, it's a day later and I'm still kind of creeped out). I think it's because despite the high level of violence in the film, I felt like there was a certain level of reality because it was a bit jarring to be reminded that this type of random violence could actually happen to anyone.
The cat and mouse game between Choi Min-sik and Lee Byung-hun is also fantastic. It's truly back-and-forth between them for the entire film.
I don't think I can watch I Saw the Devil again but it's the best vengeance movie I've ever seen. I love Park Chan-Wook's trilogy but always felt that there was a little something missing from each of the films whereas I Saw the Devil feels complete to me. There are even some funny moments. And in some way, this film reminds me of Silence of the Lambs (it's that good), but more visceral. This was the one film I was dying to see during TIFF and even though going in I was convinced this had to be awesome just based on the people involved, I could never have imagined it was going to be this (pulse-pounding, ultra-tense, punch to the face) intense. Really recommended.
reading that somehow reminded me of an old (i guess it is now) korean film: nowhere to hide which i saw at the odeon in camden about 10 years ago
The first 45 minutes of that movie is FUBAR, the director keeps messing around. Once it beds down it's a good thriller. I really enjoyed the chase scenes, it has a certain energy about it.
I saw Duelist by the same director and its too much of a hotch potch, miixing slapstick with straight laced drama.
There is another film he directed called M, which I'm considering importing. The trailer is good.
REVIEW
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/m-2007-movie-review/
“M” in this case is an apt title, potentially standing for a number of key themes in the film such as memory, mystery, mirrors, muse, and ultimately, masterpiece. Although this may perhaps not hold true for those who have been less than impressed with the director’s excesses of style in the past, for devotees it stands as his best work to date, and an exquisitely moving experience.
More Legend of the Fist reviews
The first ten minutes equals anything in recent memory in terms of adrenaline pumping action. We begin in France during WW1, where a group of Chinese allied to the French are under fire from a German position. Few films tackle The Great War over it’s deadlier sequel and this is probably the most exciting take I’ve seen, as scores of biplanes bomb our heroes and Yen outruns machine guns and scales buildings, gleefully hacking away German soldiers.
Yen’s choreography would make Bruce Lee proud. Fitting, as the film is a sequel to Lee’s own Fist of Fury (my favourite of his movies) and neatly links into that film, remaining true to the character and spirit of Lee’s original hero. The fights here are amazing, only spoiled by Lau’s reluctance to pull back and hold still. Too many fast cuts and close-ups are employed, and they serve to detract from what are often jaw-dropping set pieces.
source: http://www.obsessedwithfilm.com/reviews/venice-2010-review-legend-of-the-fist-the-return-of-chen-zhen.php#ixzz0zoZsfkHR
It isn't. Paul W.S. Anderson had nothing to do with MK Annihilation. It was directed by someone else.