baha
Dec 2004
www.pandora.com/
|
Seen tons of shit lately ('shit' as in stuff, not all bad):
- The Warlords: Any Lau, Jet Li, and Takeshi Kineshiro in a big budget multi extra epic. Lovely to look at, but too thick with the Shakespearean tragedy attempt.
- Valley of Flowers: Pan Nalin's first movie since Samsara and has a lot of the feel of that movie, surreal and beautiful. DO NOT GET AN AVI. This must be watched on DVD or better quality, as much for the sound - actually, more for the sound - than the visuals. Every note and every image is choreographed. Beautiful movie...but, again, I felt shortchanged with the ending. Still, for the absolutely gorgeous lead actress and everything that comes before Japan it's well worth it! (Ending isn't terrible, it just isn't awesome either.)
- Swordsmen in Double Flag Town (1991): martial arts spaghetti western! Another beautiful movie set in the wasteland/deserts of northern China. Very little fighting and lots of character build-up. Not a chop-fooey flick, but a great watch with an excellent end.
- Courthouse on Horseback: an amazing film about a judge, a trainee judge, and a (court) recorder who travel the remote villages in China officiating over village disputes. I learnt more about rural China watching this movie than in the 100's of hours of I've spent watching movies and documentaries and reading about the fastest growing economy on earth. It won't be to everyone's taste, but is one of the most rewarding movies I've seen in years.
- Vengeance is Mine: finally got to watching Shoei Imamura's "tour de force"...and that's exactly what it is! Mindblowingly good...but I watched a cut version (afaik, difficult to assess with PAL runtimes), hoping to get hold of a certified uncut version so I can be sure.
Lots of others watched, mostly my oldkool Shaw Bros chop-fooey flicks - I love em! But not really the swordplay ones, they don't do it for me, has to be hand-to-hand kung fu for me.
Just about to watch 'Lust, Caution'
EDIT: didn't watch Lust, Caution, turns out there's an 'uncut' version...not sure if the version I have is cut, but why take the risk, eh?
__________________
Last edited by baha on 01-20-2008 at 12:37 PM
Report this post to a moderator | IP: Logged
|