Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561548 times)

Gobman

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #230 on: December 26, 2008, 05:52:28 AM »
Riki-Oh: The Story of Riki vs. The God of Cookery

Riki-Oh




It's the year 2001 and because of the increasingly capitalistic nature of the world all government institutions, including prisons, have been privatised.

Thank God for that opening narration otherwise the one line where this comes up would make no sense, much like the rest of the movie. The acting is horrible, the plot can basically be summed up as "Riki goes to a crappy prison and fights people" but there are attempts at a real storyline and characters we're supposed to feel something about, which all fail miserably. All that being said though, I'm having trouble thinking of the last time I enjoyed a movie I knew to be this bad at all, let alone as much as I did. If you like shlock, cheese and hilariously inventive blood and gore (a man gets his face planed off and another man uses his own intestines as a weapon, to name some of the best bits) you should definitely watch this, actually you probably should even if you don't because this movie will make you. It should be noted that the version I watched had a pretty bad english dub that sounded like a bunch of Australians trying to do American accents but even if every line of dialogue was a million times better in the original language it'd still be a bad movie. To summarize, I recommend this terrible, terrible movie to absolutely everyone.

The God of Cookery







Stephen Chow plays a character called Stephen Chow, a chairman Kaga-like figure who is currently the 'god of cookery', the winner of an iron-chef style competition to find the best chef in Hong Kong, unfortunately the competition is rigged, he's supremely arrogant and not even a very good cook. All of this soon gets found out, he hits rock bottom and he has to work his way back up the ranks to become the god of cookery once more. This was an enormously enjoyable film, very funny with both slapstick and situational elements to the comedy. It wasn't quite what I was expecting from Stephen Chow, the only other film by him I've seen is Kung-Fu Hustle but this is much less action oriented. The climax is very strange and I wish I could talk about it but I don't really want to spoil it, I'll just say I really liked it and found it fitting with the bizarre humour of the rest of the film but some may find it a tad cheap. The acting was generally well done, though a little cheesy and broad on occasion but I believe this was intentional. The only complaint I have is that I wish I had watched this yesterday instead of Riki-Oh because the denouement is quite Christmas-y. I watched this in the original language with some subtitles that occasionally slipped into engrish but it was generally understandable.

Verdict

Well, God of Cookery was undoubtedly the better film, in terms of film making and in terms of enjoyment, though I think I'd be more likely to watch Riki again for it's sheer ridiculousness. I think anyone interested should watch both of them, but as fun as it is I cannot in good conscience send Riki onto the next round.

God of Cookery wins.

roujin

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #231 on: December 26, 2008, 11:16:39 AM »
I like sheer ridiculousness.

duder

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #232 on: December 26, 2008, 11:50:06 AM »
Both of those look like a lot of fun. That Riki-Oh screenshot is great :D
...

pixote

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #233 on: December 26, 2008, 12:55:06 PM »
Both of those look like a lot of fun. That Riki-Oh screenshot is great :D

Quoted for great truth.  It sounds like if you could combine these two films, it would maybe be the greatest movie ever.

Very nice verdict.  I love that you watched Riki-Oh on Christmas.  That's hilarious.  I'll try to find a subtitled version to watch for my resurrection review, see how the dialogue compares.

Welcome to the bracket!  :)

pixote
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roujin

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #234 on: December 26, 2008, 03:59:31 PM »
I expect a prompt resurrection of Riki-Oh, pix.

edgar00

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #235 on: December 26, 2008, 06:11:56 PM »
The God of Cookery looks like the best thing Stephen Chow ever did.
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Clovis8

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #236 on: December 28, 2008, 01:08:19 PM »
Ringu vs Fudoh: The Next Generation

Ringu


This is the first J-Horror film I have ever seen. I am not much of a horror movie fan. I saw the remake (The Ring) several years ago and remember enjoying it for its creepy atmosphere. I am sure most of you have seen the remake/original so I wont go to deep into the plot. A videotape exists that will kill you 7 days after you watch it. Upon hearing of some recent deaths a reporter comes to investigate the tape, watches it, then must try to figure out what it is to save her life and that of her family.

The original is better than the remake (as is common). The creepy atmosphere that I remember from the remake is more intense here. It is slow to begin, but pays off in the final act with a genuinely creepy conclusion. The reason I keep saying creepy, is that the movie is not very scary. It is more of a disturbing mystery than a true horror film. I would say it is effective in creating atmosphere but no real scares.


Fudoh: The New Generation


This is my first "Yakuza" film as well (Boy I am ignorant of Asian cinema). It is directed by Takashi Miike, probably more famous for Audition and Ichi the Killer (neither of which I have seen). After seeing the film and reading a little about Miike, it appears that subtlety in not a word he holds dear. Fudoh is silly, ultra-violent, ridiculous, stupid, laughable, gory, predicable, misogynistic, and yes, even fun, in a few parts.

The plot is simple and standard; 1) Boy sees father kill his brother; 2) Boy vows revenge; 3) boy grows up; 4) boy enlists a group of psychotic children, hermaphrodites,  strippers with superpower vaginas, and giants, to exact said revenge. Oh wait, maybe number 4 is not standard!

Over-the-top is a serious understatement for this movie. At first I was going with the movie and smiling at its audacity. But Miike continues to amp up the violence until it is cartoonish. When people are shot they are shot dozens and dozens of times at close range and still do not die. When they bleed they bleed oceans of blood; enough to fill a car in one scene. All woman in this world are both beautiful and psychotic killers. There is a ridiculously laughable "love scene" between a woman and a hermaphroditic child. It is perhaps the worse sex scene in motion picture history. Then in one final attempt at subtly, the movie ends in a pathetic attempt at a cliff-hanger, the result of which is utterly obvious and completely irrelevant. Time magazine called this one of the ten best films of 1997. All I can say to that is WTF!

Verdict: I would not say I loved either film. Ringu is perhaps a B level film, while Fudoh is a C/D level film. So really this makes the verdict simple and Ringu must move on. I will, however, be very surprised if it makes it too much further. Compared to my last bracket matchup, these two films were terrible.

P.S. One of my favorite American genre's is gangster films so I was really looking forward to seeing a Yakuza film. Perhaps someone could point me to a good/great one. Perhaps more along the lines of "The Godfather" than "Mickey Blue Eyes". :D

roujin

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #237 on: December 28, 2008, 01:41:42 PM »
I think I'll pick a Miike film for my next matchup.

edgar00

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #238 on: December 28, 2008, 02:15:08 PM »
I have never seen Fudoh: The Next Generation, so I shan't comment on your verdict. I have seen Ringu however, and it was one of the most boring movie watching experiences of my life.
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Clovis8

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #239 on: December 28, 2008, 02:20:27 PM »
I have never seen Fudoh: The Next Generation, so I shan't comment on your verdict. I have seen Ringu however, and it was one of the most boring movie watching experiences of my life.

Ya, its kinda boring. Like I said neither film was very good.

 

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