Asian Movie Challenge

Kung Fu Hustle (2004) - Stephen Chow -
The first half of this had many laugh out loud moments whilst the second half is pretty entertaining in terms of action. Overall this was lots of fun.

My Asian Movie Count: 16

They were really fake looking, but that didn't bother me so much.

That's cool. Whereabouts are you going? We went to Beijing and Changchun a few years ago and had an amazing time

I forgot to mention that I watched:

The Big Boss (1971; Wei Lo; Hong Kong) - If you don't like Bruce Lee, you won't like this movie. At times it's dumb, but it never fails to entertain.

My count: 2

Can I jump in and join this at any time? I've been meaning to watch more Asian movies and I have some ready to go.

Jump on in

Cool.

Electric Shadows (2004)

WOW did not expect to see a better version of Cinema Paradiso. This film has a decidedly perfect balance of cheesy and cinematic quality, which suits it extremely well, and the music that builds with the twisty-turny story was also impressive. A must-see from China.



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My wife is from Xi'an so we'll only go there this time - need to meet the in-laws. We wanted to go to Hong Kong & Taiwan as well but couldn't find the time.

Our daughter in law is Chinese too, from Changchun so our visit was for our son and daughter in law's wedding and to meet her family too. Everyone was so hospitable, we had such a great time. Hope you have a good visit too

I enjoyed 13 Assassins, it was very entertaining. Today I watched:



Fire Tripper (1983)

I really enjoyed it. Gentle, peaceful, and loving, it was a very endearing little film about a girl who gets transported back and forth through time from the modern and Sengoku eras.

Zotis' Asian Film Count: 5

i watched to live the other day. pretty good stuff. 75/100

My Count: 1

Little Big Soldier

Jackie Chan wrote the script for this one, and yet takes the non-hero role, a role which ended up showing he is actually a great actor. Kinda Buddhist, kinda Taoist, the film explores country life and war life in a facile but concise manner, and with Chan as director of the fighting, there is a nice little variety of realistic fights, barbaric fights, and Chan-style humorous fights, but overall a nice one-and-done.




Wing Chun

FEMALE KUNG FU. Apparently this woman was in the dreadful Crouching Tiger but who could possibly remember or care about that when she has Wing Chun under her belt? She did all her own stunts as well. Halfway through I started to think this was the precursor to Stephen Chow's style, with the social satire and rompy feel, but either way not a one-and-done, I could watch this several times. Strange though, that Donnie Yen was such a dick, calls this woman an adulteress, and then ends up marrying her at the end. Tsk tsk, a pity he couldn't get more of a beating.



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I'm looking forward to it. Had the Hep A and Typhoid shot so I can eat everything so I'm ready to go

My in-laws don't speak any English and I don't speak any Mandarin (apart from hello) so it will be interesting but Xi'an has got quite a history - including the Terracotta Warriors and it's own little Great Wall.

My biggest fear is we leave the day the World Cup starts so I have set my wife the task of finding how I can watch it. Four years ago I flew to Singapore on the day it started and missed most of it because it either cost $100 to get it on TV or I had to go to a bar where a beer cost about $20. We'll get back to Sydney in time for the quarter finals but pretty sure Australia will be out by then

Shaolin Soccer (2001) - Stephen Chow +
I had enjoyed watching a few funny Chow movies ... until this. It was silly but not particular funny and I found the soccer scenes incredibly annoying. Evertime a player had about thirty shots at goal in a row I kept thinking "WTF, why won't anyone get back and defend!!!"

My Asian Movie Count: 17

Fallen Angels -Kar Wai Wong This is the gem I was looking for. It's got that definitive 90's flavor to it; great soundtrack, visually expressive, stylish and quirky. It's also hilarious and has one of the best characters ( He Zhiwu) I've seen in awhile. Highly recommended. If we ever do the 90's list again, this will be on mine. A

My Asian Movie Count : 9


(Just for me to keep track)

Hong Kong 2
Japan 3
South Korea 3
Thailand 1

Have you seen many other WKW movies? Chungking Express preceded Fallen Angels (they were devised as one movie) and IMO is better and of course In the Mood For Love is one of the best movies ever made

I haven't seen In the Mood For Love and I have seen Chungking Express, but it's been awhile. I remember that it was really good, but I would have to see it again to know which one I really like better. I just looked at his filmography and was surprised to see he directed My Blueberry Nights. That was kind of awful.

I'm going to watch a movie or two by him before this challenge is over. I'll make sure In the Mood For Love is one of them.

Yeah pretty much I didn't actually mind it but pretty sure I was a bit biased and focussed on it's good points. I feel as though he got sucked into making an "American" movie and it just didn't work. If you look at Fallen Angels so much of it was about what the characters did - not what they said. But in MBN there was far too much talking and it's not what he is good at IMO.

How is Norah Jones in My Blueberry Nights? Is she a good actress? Love her music.