Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561502 times)

pixote

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #910 on: January 04, 2010, 12:40:26 AM »
"horror"

Heh.  I knew Gemini was in trouble from the first sentence.  Quotes around genre definitions always spell trouble!  I'm intrigued by the last screenshot though (in the well).  If I saw that on a poster, I would be there opening weekend.

If this bracket had a subtitle, it would either be "A Decade of Terribly Intrusive Music" or "The Stephen Chow Decade".  Chow's second round ubiquity might be a factor in terms of what gets resurrected.  I'll have to think about that.  But I'm glad he didn't disappoint here, so you at least got to watch one film you liked.

I sure do love this bracket.

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sdedalus

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #911 on: January 04, 2010, 12:55:13 AM »
Don't look at me: I've eliminated three Chow films.
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pixote

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #912 on: January 04, 2010, 12:56:39 AM »
Don't look at me: I've eliminated three Chow films.

Fight Back to School was pretty good, though!  And another one has him gaining powers through sex or something!

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sdedalus

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #913 on: January 04, 2010, 01:00:58 AM »
Yeah, he's awesome.

We should pull all his films out of this and just do a Stephen Chow bracket.
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Melvil

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #914 on: January 04, 2010, 01:03:22 AM »
Not you, Melvil.

I'm a big fan of Shinya Tsukamoto.  Subtly is not his speciality but I find his themes to be very interesting.  I saw this for the first time early last year and was spellbound.  I think you were ready for a more direct or realistic story, whereas I went in knowing what a nut job Tsukamoto is as a filmmaker.  To be honest, I remember very little of the crazy dude's first scene, but just loved watching the two characters turn into each other.  I hope this doesn't turn you away from other films by this original talent.  Tetsuo: The Iron Man is like no other film ever made (it helped define the cyberpunk movement.)  And A Snake of June is possibly his masterpiece.  A hypnotic puzzler that ranks with the upper tier of David Lynch.

Huh, I was reading comments on IMDB and was really surprised at how much praise it was getting, but figured that was just crazy IMDB people. Now I don't know. :D Everyone seemed to point to Tetsuo as what they love him for, so maybe I'll check that out.

I'm sorry to disappoint, I just don't see how anything he does in this movie is successful. Even the transformation you mention hardly exists in the movie except that it tells you it exists. I didn't see it happen, I saw one scene where it wanted me to think it had happened while I was away. It's like it had these interesting ideas but didn't know how to implement them, so it just explained them instead and covered up the lack of cohesiveness with the insane bits.

I sure do love this bracket.

How's those forecasts coming?

pixote

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #915 on: January 04, 2010, 01:13:55 AM »
How's those forecasts coming?

Competing with Filmspots at the moment, but I think I'll find a way.  I did watch Riki-Oh today, after all.  :)  Then again, I'm having trouble getting a copy of Yumeji:(

It's possible the second round will start without the resurrected films in place.  It's also possible (and likely) that the final first round matchups will drag on for six to eight weeks ... if the 90s US Bracket is any indication.

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1SO

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #916 on: January 04, 2010, 01:50:50 AM »
Huh, I was reading comments on IMDB and was really surprised at how much praise it was getting, but figured that was just crazy IMDB people. Now I don't know. :D Everyone seemed to point to Tetsuo as what they love him for, so maybe I'll check that out.

I'm sorry to disappoint, I just don't see how anything he does in this movie is successful. Even the transformation you mention hardly exists in the movie except that it tells you it exists. I didn't see it happen, I saw one scene where it wanted me to think it had happened while I was away. It's like it had these interesting ideas but didn't know how to implement them, so it just explained them instead and covered up the lack of cohesiveness with the insane bits.
Actually it's interesting to hear your take since this was your first exposure to the director.  Makes me think about somebody watching Natural Born Killers as their first Oliver Stone film.  For most of us we watched Stone build up to it so we weren't as put off by the heavy-handed approach.  You know, your start your Terry Gilliam with Brazil, then move onto Baron Munchausen or The Fisher King.  I feel now you'll only be further confused by the acclaim for Tsukamoto, finding stylistic similarities in his body of work.

I just remembered he was part of my Top Directors Working Today project back in 2008.  I think he was the only director who garnered no comments.

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #917 on: January 08, 2010, 09:11:52 AM »
Don't Cry, Nanking vs. Journey to Beijing

Don't Cry, Nanking

United 93 feels real. Band of Brothers feels real. Blackhawk Down feels real. All three do justice to the events they portray because they don't shy away from ugly truths. The Nanking massacre is one of the most horrifying atrocities in history, but you wouldn't necessarily know it by watching Don't Cry, Nanking. The horror of the massacre is lost to mediocre filmmaking. When compared to a scene from Saving Private Ryan you begin to see the difference.

You see faces instead of just masses...


... people being shot instead of just people shooting...


... and gore, blood, bodies. Up close and messy. Not just as a wide shot.

It's these little things that create the feeling of reality and keep your attention by providing variety. Short stories within the scene. Without 'em you quickly become numb to what you're seeing. One faceless mob shooting another faceless mob. Sorry if I'm ranting, I guess I just feel this tragedy deserved something less average. There's more power in one actual photograph of the massacre than there is in the entire massacre sequence.

All that said, it may come as a surprise that I still thought the film was worth watching. While the massacre scenes are unfortunately weak, they aren't the primary focus. The central story is that of a Chinese man, his Japanese wife and their two children all living in Nanking when the Japanese army invades the city. It's engaging enough to take you to the end. I won't give away the details, but it's an interesting drama.

I'm not particularly big on this one, but I at least got a vague, watered-down idea of what it was like to be living in that place and time. Of course, I'll never really know. No movie could capture what it was like to actually be there, but it should at least make you forget you're watching a movie.


Journey to Beijing

The only thing imdb has to say about this film it's that it's a documentary. I wasn't sure what it was about but I figured it would be an interesting change of pace.

It follows a group of about two dozen people as they walk from Hong Kong to Beijing. Their purpose, as far as I could understand it, was raising money for schools and making people aware of the importance of education. I takes place around the same time Britain transfers sovereignty of Hong Kong back to China. It's explained that while this isn't the reason for their march they wanted to take advantage of the optimistic mood.

Unfortunately it's a pretty dry movie despite doing its best to wrap the viewer up in the passion of the moment. It's basically just one interview after the other given by people involved in the walk. They talk about everything from the dwindling numbers of waterfowl, to experiences during WWII. Some interviews are more interesting than others, but none of them really tie into each other or present any clear message. I must admit I skipped over a lot of them (the political ones) because they were simply too boring. Add to that the fact that they are talking about issues more than a decade old. Frankly it was hard to stay interested or find what they said to be of any consequence.

Someone from China, with a sense of what it was and what it has become mind find this more interesting. For me it was like reading a ten year old local newspaper of a city I've never been too.


Verdict

Don't Cry, Nanking moves on. It's the better film, and far more discussion-worthy than Journey to Beijing.
« Last Edit: June 18, 2016, 11:36:48 PM by smirnoff »

pixote

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #918 on: January 09, 2010, 03:53:56 AM »
Really love the comparison to Saving Private Ryan.  Well done.  A shame about Journey to Beijing.  Your thoughts definitely jibe with my experience with the film's first five minutes.  I'm really hoping there's at least one doc in this bracket that's third round material.  We'll see!

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smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #919 on: January 09, 2010, 11:06:06 AM »
Thanks pix. And I hope so too!