EvaGeeks' Most Watched Movies of 2011

[Bomby von Bombsville]

Thanks to Bomby, I watched almost all of WKW's films outside of the two (In the Mood for Love, 2046) I've seen: Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Ashes of Time, Fallen Angels, Happy Together, and My Blueberry Nights.

CE is still my favorite after all of it, followed closely by Fallen Angels. All of his films move me greatly, but no two are as fun as CE/FA. I like how they are all meditations on pretty much the same emotions, but it never gets old (or at least hasn't yet). Ashes of Time was kind of boring though. The action was kind of excruciating. Makes me wonder what Grandmasters will be like.

What did you think of My Blueberry Nights?

Chungking Express has been my de facto favorite film pretty much of all films for over four years now. Ashes seems to be kind of a love/hate film. Did you see the original version or Redux? I far prefer the original, as I remember being kind of annoyed with a lot of the changes in Redux. To my memory, the frame-manipulation he used in the action sequences in Redux were not employed in the original, in which I actually enjoyed a lot of the action.

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Watched Dante Lam's Beast Cops this morning. It was... really fucking good, to quote good ol' Mark Renton. Have I ever mentioned that Anthony Wong is one of the best actors in the world? Because if I haven't, he is. The climax surely is something to behold. The last 15 minutes or so might not completely work in a different film, but I'm willing to believe in it because of Wong's sheer badassery. If "badassery" isn't a word, it should be now, and Anthony Wong should be the picture next to it in the dictionary. Even the normally excruciating Michael Wong couldn't take away from this film.

Gordon Chan is credited as co-director, but judging by the two directors' relative works, I'm crediting this film mostly to Lam. Of all the triad dramas I've seen, this is an instant favorite, perhaps even above A Better Tomorrow and Infernal Affairs II.

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Followed up Beast Cops with Pang Ho-Cheung's debut film, You Shoot, I Shoot. It was funny, although the excessive usage of jump cuts in the early part of the film was a bit trying. It got better as it went along. Once again, the climax was a great payoff.

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

A couple hours ago I watched Metal Skin Panic Madox 01, see the "what anime are you watching" forum for my thoughts.

[planet news]

What did you think of My Blueberry Nights?

I thought I read some bad reviews for it at one point... but I actually really liked it and thought his form translated perfectly onto the U.S.A. Everything, the camerawork, the narration, the "plot", was all unmistakably him and it was really interesting seeing it all make the cultural shift TOTALLY INTACT. He even had a policeman in there.

Did you see the original version or Redux? I far prefer the original, as I remember being kind of annoyed with a lot of the changes in Redux. To my memory, the frame-manipulation he used in the action sequences in Redux were not employed in the original, in which I actually enjoyed a lot of the action.

Yeah, I watched redux, and I knew it was redux, but I wasn't expecting such obvious changes (you could pretty much point out where things were manipulated without even seeing the original). The actual re-done images looked really nice, but along with its big differences without most other WKW films, I just couldn't get into anything that was going on.

btw, could you please tell me your favorite (or at least what you consider to be the best) Mandopop band? It's for a project.

[Bomby von Bombsville]

I thought I read some bad reviews for it at one point... but I actually really liked it and thought his form translated perfectly onto the U.S.A. Everything, the camerawork, the narration, the "plot", was all unmistakably him and it was really interesting seeing it all make the cultural shift TOTALLY INTACT.

That's actually how I felt on my first viewing of the film, due to low expectations, but on my second watch, its weaknesses (particularly in the acting department) came particularly clear to me.

The original version of Ashes of Time is difficult to track down, but it might be worth it. Almost every DVD of it is of awful quality, though the Mei Ah disc at least preserves the original aspect ratio. The World Video release might actually be the worst commercial DVD release ever. If the vague narrative (which is even vague by WKW's standards) bothered you, it might not be that much better to you, but I actually do quite like it, though Ashes is still toward the bottom of my WKW ladder. Leslie Cheung is awesome, though.

Looking back at my Mei Ah DVD, there's still some step printing in the action sequences of the original Ashes, and in fact, there's an additional sequence where Leslie Cheung's character shows off his own prowess, which was actually the best action sequence in the entire film. Still, action is not Wong's strong point.

The trailer for The Grandmasters looks pretty, but the action is incomprehensible, so I'm actually about as worried as you are on that one.

btw, could you please tell me your favorite (or at least what you consider to be the best) Mandopop band? It's for a project.

I can't say I listen to enough Mandopop to be the best judge, but Faye Wong is easily my favorite artist I've heard from any dialect of Chinese (most of her best stuff is in Mandarin, btw). Especially her stuff from 1996-2000. If you need to check out any of her music, definitely take a look at Impatience, Only Love Strangers, or Fable.

[Fazmotron]

Saw Zabriskie Point today.

This movie is weird.

Then everything exploded.

[Oz]

the latter a breathtaking masterpiece of which I still don't know the meaning (which portends to be very simple).

I'd say Cold Fish is Sono's most pretentious film in that I'm not even sure if makes that much sense thematically even though the characters shout stuff like

SPOILER: Show

"Life is pain" - which had me bursting into laughter that didn't end until the credits had ended. It's one heck of a mindfuck, but it's far from Love Exposure's level since I can't really get anything concrete from it. I love it since it's Sono in his trolling mode again, but it's not a masterpiece in my opinion.

Swing Girls > Linda Linda Linda for now at least.

Huh? I was about to reply with a rant here, but I managed to cool down thanks to a delay. In my opinion, Linda does everything better - even though Swing Girls is very good by its own standards. Linda is more restrained and less goofy - with more fitting/impressive editing and cinematography. Swing Girls relied a bit too much on the annoying but common branch of Japanese comedy where everything is exaggerated. On top of that, the opening of the film was just weak whereas Linda was consistently brilliant. Swing Girls' climax was perfect (since the whole film was flashy in that way), but I prefer Linda's quiet passion.

Man Without A Map

Was it any good?

The Happiness of the Katakuris

Dayumn, you've been trolling yourself a lot lately.

I Saw the Devil

Going to see this at the film festival I'm attending in a week.

[FreakyFilmFan4ever]

I went to visit my family in Syracuse, NY over the weekend and watched the original Japanese cut of Gojira with my grandmother. It was great since she was the one who had introduced me to the American cut of the film on VHS tape back when I was about 5 years old. My mother and grandmother are actually kind of fans of Japanese monster movies themselves and played a big role in introducing me to Japanese filmmaking (albeit, they were only Godzilla movies), though they are not obsessive enough fans to be considered Godzilla "okatu".

[Oz]

Yoshihiro Nakamura's Golden Slumber: Never thought I would see a big budget thriller that wouldn't rely on cheap and fast editing. The long takes in chase sequences, sweeping cinematography and the lack of cutting in general give the film a much looser atmosphere. In fact the intensity is almost non-existent, replaced with lots of comic relief, but Nakamura's tricks make the film very gripping anyhow. Solid acting and a good soundtrack complete the neat screenplay - which feels to rely a bit too much on convenient coincidences, but I guess that fits to the nature of the film. You could say the ending is a cop out, but in my opinion it's a smart way to end a story as unbelievable as this.

[Trajan]

The Proposition

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Saw some of Larry The Cable Guy: Health Inspector on CMT. Now if you'll excuse me I'm going to see if I'm ugly enough to trick or treat over a phone.

[MugwumpHasNoLiver]

Trajan, why don't you ever say anything about any of the movies you watch? It would be a great time to show off that vibrant personality of yours.

[Trajan]

I have a vibrant personality?

Well, The Proposition is very much a 'slow burn' film. It lets itself slowly meander through its story line (basically Apocalypse Now in the 19th Century Australian Outback) and it acquits itself very well. The storyline is not original, but originality is overrated; it's execution that really counts and The Proposition is very well executed. The acting is outstanding (particularly John Hurt and Danny Huston's performances) and the music by Nick Cave really adds to the melancholy atmosphere of the film.

8/10: a very good film that falls just short of being outstanding.

EDIT: Holy shit, Nick Cave looks exactly like Hugo Weaving.

[Azathoth]

Trolljegeren. Found-footage flick with excessively dry Scandinavian humor and excessively beautiful Scandinavian scenery. Actually pretty fun watch. Maybe belabored the social commentary a little much for a movie about hunting trolls. Effects were quite excellent for the budget, +1 for the Kvelertak over the credits. as obvious as it was the "no trolls were harmed in the making of this movie" made me laugh

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

Killer Mountain. Very meh movie, I have to give Syfy a point for creativity for using giant lizards instead of Yeti for a monster movie in the Himalayas, but the execution was just too poor to give it a higher score.

[Trajan]

Fargo and No Country For Old Men double feature last night.

Watched both of them with my sister for the first time. She loved the first one, not sure how she felt about the second one.

[Guyver Spawn]

Dracula (1931) - Watch it last weekend in my film class and it was the first time that I seen it in years. 80 years later and still a good movie. It can be rather boring at some points but I still think it's a well made film for it's time. Bela Lugosi was great as always, 4/5!

[MugwumpHasNoLiver]

She loved the first one, not sure how she felt about the second one.

Oh? And why don't you know?

[Trajan]

Oh? And why don't you know?

Because my sister is an extremely hard person to read; I think she liked it though.

[Tarnsman]

I rewatched The Beast of Yucca Flats in order to remind myself that no matter what I watch (baring really, really awful things) it's not as bad as the works of Coleman Francis.

[Trajan]

That's like the cinematic equivalent of whipping yourself until you rip the skin off your back. I would never watch that unless I made a bet with someone that I could get all the way through.