Author Topic: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts  (Read 561507 times)

mañana

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1560 on: May 11, 2011, 08:31:00 PM »
Nice job, Bill. My recollection is that Shall We Dance? is pleasant but unremarkable. I support this decision.
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Bill Thompson

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1561 on: May 11, 2011, 09:29:32 PM »
Really glad you liked The Eagles Shooting Heroes.  It surprised me too at how much of a treat it was.

Yeah, it surprised me too, but it was very enjoyable. Your write-up on it for the first round was very good as well, helped me put my thoughts together after the fact. :)

Nice job, Bill. My recollection is that Shall We Dance? is pleasant but unremarkable. I support this decision.

Thanks, Shall We dance is certainly a pleasant movie, but it didn't leave much of a mark on me. I won't be forgetting The Eagle Shooting Heroes anytime soon, I can assure you of that.

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1562 on: May 28, 2011, 02:26:50 PM »
A Scene at the Sea
(Takeshi Kitano, 1991)
Melvil's original verdict

This movie is probably not going to be for everyone.
Oh dear. I’m sorry to have to be that guy but when it comes to A Scene at the Sea, “everyone” includes me. The stylistic things that mesmerized Melvil about this film were, for me, a problem.

minimalist... lots of still shots... sparse compositions... deadpan performances... the pace is very slow and deliberate... lingering...
That’s a bang on description of the style. You either like it or you don’t, so there’s no point in my railing agianst it. Instead, accepting the film for what it is, I’ll offer up a few criticisms (general comments really) I think are still valid.

The relationship between Shigero & Takako was a hard one to accept. I kept asking myself, what does she see in this guy? Granted there’s a pretty unique connection being that they’re both deaf, but even so. He’s constantly sullen and shows her almost no affection (if she can get his attention at all). Yet she dotes on him... worships him almost. I suppose there’s a history there we don’t know about (the ending suggests it in flashback I believe) but I’m just confused as to how I am supposed to feel about the relationship... and more importantly what I’m supposed to have taken away from it. I guess that’s probably not the way to look at it though. It’s not a message movie after all, you take away what you take away. What I was really looking for was something to endear me to the couple and get me emotionally involved in thier story.

I think it’s fair to say the periphery characters were rather goofy in nature. They were valuable insofar as they added definition to an otherwise uniform experience (to take them out would be like a book with no puncuation), but outside of that I’m not sure what they added. Maybe that’s enough.

The way people behaved in the film didn’t feel authentic. Better than casting a bunch of your buddies, but not up to reasonable acting standards either. I think Shigeru was the only character who felt confident in his movements. But it was more than the acting that felt wrong... just the characters basic behaviors seemed odd... sometimes defying basic logic. In many cases it’s clearly done for humour, but other times I just had to shake my head and wonder what on earth they were thinking.

Wipeout



City of the Rising Sun
(Sung-su Kim, 1999)
worm@work's original verdict

A gangster movie, and check out the soundtrack:

The Box Tops - The Letter
Chubby Checker - Let’s Twist Again
The Searchers - Love Potion No.9
Tommy James and The Shondells - Hanky Panky
Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs - Wooly Bully

I don’t think Scorcese’s influence on the style, themes, and characters of this film could be any more prominent.



It’s really just pilfering though. A shot here, a song there... scraps from the master’s table. It’s all for naught because when you cobble it together with the rest of the amateurish film-making it’s akin to adding a few granules of sugar to a cup of tea. Hardly enough to change the flavour.

Worm’s review is also bang on. Generally bland with one curious relationship that you may or may not find interesting. It reminded me a little of the Damon/Norton duo in Rounders... one with a pretty good head on his shoulders, the other with a crooked streak that constantly gets him in trouble. You think they should go their separate ways but something keeps bringing that back together. By the end of rising sun I'm not sure I ever really learned what that is...




I didn’t enjoy City of the Rising Sun. It’s boring, I’ve seen it all before, and it’s not techinically impressive. A Scene at the Sea I didn’t connect with on a fundamental level. Being that both films failed to do anything for me I guess it’s good bracket etiquette to defer to the previous verdicts rather than try and quantify which film I liked less (actually, that’s a nice option to have). Worm didn’t much like Rising Sun while Melvil developed deep appreciation for A Scene at the Sea. I have no problem seeing A Scene at the Sea move on to round 3. Let it be so! 8)

tinyholidays

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1563 on: May 28, 2011, 03:34:23 PM »


Ordinary Heroes

Directed by Ann Hui. Written by Kin Chung Chan. Hong Kong, 1999.

While fighting for the rights of boat brides in Hong Kong, activists fall in and out of love. That's the synopsis I could most easily give for Ordinary Heroes. But it's tricky. The action occurs out of chronological order, and much of the significance of key events depends, it seemed to me, on already understanding the historical context in which they take place. Unfortunately, without that context, I found much of the point of this film inaccessible. The actors give fine (if not particularly memorable) performances, and I did learn about some political problems of Hong Kong to which I had not previously been exposed. I don't know whether to blame my inability to connect with this film on my Western eyes or its underdeveloped storytelling.

Previous verdicts by roujin & pixote. (It looks like Ordinary Heroes lost in Round 1 and was resurrected.)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring

Written & directed by Stan Lai. Taiwan, 1992.

Maybe all of these bracket films deserve to be viewed and thought of without the comparison of another film in mind. As nobly as I try, I usually end up finding such attempts futile. The first thing I noticed about Secret love for the Peach Blossom Spring after seeing Ordinary Heroes is its clear premise. Two plays squabble over stage space for their scheduled rehearsals. And immediately I liked this premise because it is self-limiting. We don't go beyond the theater and the players. We don't even really venture into their lives. In fact, much of this movie is just the plays being rehearsed. As worm@work mentioned in her review, I think there's probably some political message at work here that I can't quite tap into. But I found the comedy play ("Peach Blossom Spring") particularly appealing with its charming, broad acting. The photography of the movie works well also, as it gives a real since of space and color in a dark theater.

Previous verdict by worm@work.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Verdict: This match-up ended up being a movie that attempts too much and does not fully achieve its reach versus one that does well what it does, despite being somewhat slight. Secret Love for the Peach Blossom Spring is a nice, tight little movie, and it proceeds to Round 3.

tinyholidays

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1564 on: May 28, 2011, 04:12:27 PM »
A Scene at the Sea
(Takeshi Kitano, 1991)
Melvil's original verdict

This movie is probably not going to be for everyone.
Oh dear. I’m sorry to have to be that guy but when it comes to A Scene at the Sea, “everyone” includes me. The stylistic things that mesmerized Melvil about this film were, for me, a problem.

minimalist... lots of still shots... sparse compositions... deadpan performances... the pace is very slow and deliberate... lingering...
That’s a bang on description of the style. You either like it or you don’t, so there’s no point in my railing agianst it. Instead, accepting the film for what it is, I’ll offer up a few criticisms (general comments really) I think are still valid.

The relationship between Shigero & Takako was a hard one to accept. I kept asking myself, what does she see in this guy? Granted there’s a pretty unique connection being that they’re both deaf, but even so. He’s constantly sullen and shows her almost no affection (if she can get his attention at all). Yet she dotes on him... worships him almost. I suppose there’s a history there we don’t know about (the ending suggests it in flashback I believe) but I’m just confused as to how I am supposed to feel about the relationship... and more importantly what I’m supposed to have taken away from it. I guess that’s probably not the way to look at it though. It’s not a message movie after all, you take away what you take away. What I was really looking for was something to endear me to the couple and get me emotionally involved in thier story.

I think it’s fair to say the periphery characters were rather goofy in nature. They were valuable insofar as they added definition to an otherwise uniform experience (to take them out would be like a book with no puncuation), but outside of that I’m not sure what they added. Maybe that’s enough.

The way people behaved in the film didn’t feel authentic. Better than casting a bunch of your buddies, but not up to reasonable acting standards either. I think Shigeru was the only character who felt confident in his movements. But it was more than the acting that felt wrong... just the characters basic behaviors seemed odd... sometimes defying basic logic. In many cases it’s clearly done for humour, but other times I just had to shake my head and wonder what on earth they were thinking.

Wipeout



City of the Rising Sun
(Sung-su Kim, 1999)
worm@work's original verdict

A gangster movie, and check out the soundtrack:

The Box Tops - The Letter
Chubby Checker - Let’s Twist Again
The Searchers - Love Potion No.9
Tommy James and The Shondells - Hanky Panky
Sam The Sham & The Pharoahs - Wooly Bully

I don’t think Scorcese’s influence on the style, themes, and characters of this film could be any more prominent.



It’s really just pilfering though. A shot here, a song there... scraps from the master’s table. It’s all for naught because when you cobble it together with the rest of the amateurish film-making it’s akin to adding a few granules of sugar to a cup of tea. Hardly enough to change the flavour.

Worm’s review is also bang on. Generally bland with one curious relationship that you may or may not find interesting. It reminded me a little of the Damon/Norton duo in Rounders... one with a pretty good head on his shoulders, the other with a crooked streak that constantly gets him in trouble. You think they should go their separate ways but something keeps bringing that back together. By the end of rising sun I'm not sure I ever really learned what that is...




I didn’t enjoy City of the Rising Sun. It’s boring, I’ve seen it all before, and it’s not techinically impressive. A Scene at the Sea I didn’t connect with on a fundamental level. Being that both films failed to do anything for me I guess it’s good bracket etiquette to defer to the previous verdicts rather than try and quantify which film I liked less (actually, that’s a nice option to have). Worm didn’t much like Rising Sun while Melvil developed deep appreciation for A Scene at the Sea. I have no problem seeing A Scene at the Sea move on to round 3. Let it be so! 8)

I'm sorry for piggybacking on your review before anyone could respond, smirnoff! I hope everyone will excuse me for pulling it onto the next page here.

And it's too bad that neither of the films from your match-up worked for you. I haven't seen either, but A Scene at the Sea sounds more interesting to me, so I'm glad that it's moving on.

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1565 on: May 28, 2011, 04:38:47 PM »
That's quite alright. :)

Ordinary Heroes

much of the significance of key events depends, it seemed to me, on already understanding the historical context in which they take place... I don't know whether to blame my inability to connect with this film on my Western eyes or its underdeveloped storytelling.

I know how you feel. This is something I experience with every film in the bracket to a degree. It can be a basic social custom or mannerism that I'm not aware of, some widely known local historical event... whatever. It's like not being in on the in joke. You can lose the meaning of what's going on pretty fast. :( It's understandable though I guess... I doubt many of these films were expected to get any play overseas.

Anyways, good write up :)
« Last Edit: May 28, 2011, 04:40:52 PM by smirnoff »

Bondo

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1566 on: June 06, 2011, 03:12:04 PM »
Okoge (Takehiro Nakajima, 1992)

For those who questioned the reputation/legitimacy of David Hamilton's filmography, I present to you Okoge in his defense. This had a very similar aesthetic in a number of ways to Hamilton's films from the frank sexuality/nudity to the seemingly lower visual quality (though maybe that was just my version). It opens on many a slow pan across a beachfront filled with gay men in bikinis or nothing at all. It's been a while since I've seen that many men's butts. The boldness of the depiction of male homosexuality would seem progressive if released today, much less back in 1992.

Having looked at worm's first round review I shared the same sense of joy about the first half of the film. It can be a bit precious at times but it manages to switch between a kind of romantic comedy tone at times with some heavier dramatic moments. Of course, I also was worried about the second half and hoping I would react differently than worm did to the shift I was now expecting. I think the film could have handled its new direction more successfully or at least made it slower. The second half drags in a way the first half doesn't. Ultimately I find myself in almost complete agreement with worm's review. I wouldn't have a problem putting this through but it is beatable, which isn't something I would have said halfway through.

In The Heat of the Sun (Wen Jiang, 1998)

If Okoge was a film of two halves, this is a film of two types. You've got this quieter sort of contemplation involved in an adolescent Ma Xiaojun's habit of breaking into things using locksmith skills and spying a picture of a woman and becoming intrigued of her. On the other hand, you have this teenybopper hoodlums aspect that seems distractingly hardcore, leading at the midway point to a built up showdown that reminded me of Anchorman's news team skirmish, without the comedy, or maybe Gangs of New York, without the logic. I like the former aspects quite a bit but found the latter a bit trying. So the question is, is it better to alternate hot and cold or just cool down gradually over time?

I suppose ultimately the issue is that even when In The Heat of the Sun is at its best, it still isn't really reaching me on any deep level. It is a nice enough little film, ultimately it has a sort of Peter Pan and the Lost Boys quality to it, but it wasn't much of an emotional or intellectual experience. You get glimpses of life in the Cultural Revolution but not central enough to have a firm impact. They rarely seem to live the issues, instead we get a lot of it through voice-over transitions. The last 15 minutes were kind of not good here either. My kingdom for a film that finishes strong.

Verdict: Uneven though Okoge is, it was clearly the more interesting film for me and thus it moves on. I wouldn't mind seeing In The Heat of the Sun resurrected though.
« Last Edit: June 06, 2011, 03:15:31 PM by Bondo »

tinyholidays

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1567 on: June 06, 2011, 04:12:11 PM »
When I saw that this thread had been updated, I hissed to myself, "Yessssss!"

And with a great write-up, no less! Bondo, you've definitely got me interested in the first part of Okoge, at least.

smirnoff

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1568 on: June 06, 2011, 04:18:01 PM »
The showdown in ITHOTS has me really curious. Sounds like it would be a great scene (but, I guess it isn't?).

MartinTeller

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Re: 1990s Far East Bracket: Verdicts
« Reply #1569 on: June 06, 2011, 04:21:58 PM »
I need to revisit ITHOTS, I don't remember that showdown.  My old review:

Quote
In some ways a fairly typical adolescent coming-of-age story, but with some intriguing twists that hoist it above the average.  First, the setting is China's Cultural Revolution.  I'm sure I don't know nearly enough about it to get the full impact, but it did make for a different context than what I've seen before.  Second, the narrator throws you some curveballs and suggests that what you're seeing is a romanticized fantasy.  It calls the nature of memory into question.  The cinematography is fantastic, it plays a lot with frames-within-a-frame (I liked the stuff with the telescope especially).  Like Jen Wiang's other film, Devils on the Doorstep, this one has a light comic feel but gets astoundingly dark at times.  The ending in particular is very atypical for a story of this nature.  Rating: 9