Pulp Fiction. No need for a review, everyone's already seen it. And if you haven't, go watch it now! Probably the most influential, important film of the 90s.

I havent seen all of it yet....just the first 20 min or so.

Lucky

Talk about a surprise. When I ordered this, I was looking for some cheese to round out my spending spree on DDDvd. I had heard about it once from Arrow (who's reviews are so on & off I really don't take them to heart) and again when it popped up in one of the movie tournaments.

Although Lucky delves a lot into black comedy, it's really rather disturbing. The story of a sad, lonely alcoholic man who writes cartoon scripts. It's dialogue driven, mainly with a lot of monologues from the main character. He is, by far, the best actor in the movie, and the director does a good job of exploiting that to its fullest.

The voice of Lucky is annoying, but it works in a strange sort of way. He almost sounds like a pimp, but you get used to it after a bit.

All in all, a great mix of comedy with a disturbing look at the desires & mental breakdown of a lonely man. Done very well for the budget it was shot on. 8/10

good to know since i did a blind buy on this one just saturday

Kung-fu Hustle (2004)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0373074/

Stephen Chow does not only star in this film, but he directed and wrote it as well. Not only that - he's also quite visually delicious (Asian-style). There's definately no way anyone could say he's not talented* in at least one of these departments, if not all.However, by saying that, I must note that I preferred his prior film, Shaolin Soccer, to this one.

Don't get me wrong, this film isn't bad at all. It's sort of average to slightly-above-average. Not as amazing as it was made out to be by those on the internet, sadly. I felt like it just tried to do too much at once. Too many genres covered, and flipping back and forth between these styles too frequently. It didn't feel solid enough, like Shaolin did.

Also, for the storyline invovled, it seemed the comedy was a little bit forced, and... well, stupid. I laughed a few times, but I yawned a lot more and didn't have a smile on my face during that time. I'm not a fan of this type of comedy, or much comedy movies at all for that matter. I think I was just not in the mood, or I was attempting to take it serious while it was not meant to be.

The premise and plot of events were rather good, in my opinion... and I itched to say this throughout the entire film. It would have kicked ass if taken more seriously. Well, like... if the movie wasn't a comedy. Rather, a martial-art / drama movie. Now, even if I feel like that, I can't see a way of making that happen. The events that were kick ass, were mainly very comic and too cheesy. If put into a more serious film, people would laugh either way - and if they were executed in a serious manner, people would sigh and most likely turn the film off. That's troubling, so I can't blame Stephen for doing that. This is his type of movie anyway. Just not my cup of tea, in this case.

One thing I will note - for a comedy, it sure did have some of the most romantic scenes I've witnessed in a long time. Pure romantic-based movies should be ashamed after seeing this. I don't know why, but the whole sub-plot of the Girl Avec Lolipop just touched me, and made me smile. It was wrapped up very nicely and heart-warmingly in the end, as well.

* Stephen's direction was great here. The scene transitions in some cases, such as the ending before the epilogue - in which a metal spin-flower splits and falls apart in to the wind, only to be transformed into a daisy blowing through another part of the city, were very ingenious - as were numerous other shots, which I felt were very artistic and well-done.

The characters were rather good as well, only one gripse about them. They changes a lot, without any developement really. Such as the landlady. Her character flipped instantly, and quite shockingly. She seemed like two different women - and I didn't dig that.

In a wrap-up... and for my defense, I'll say this. For comedy fans, and cheese-lovers, this is a real treat. It's a great comedy, with a good storyline backing it. It covers a lot of different genres, so there is something for pretty much anyone (however, if you only like a certain part you may find the other sub-genre sections to be tedious and boring). The direction is excellent, and there is some real eye-candy shots. The action sequences, while prepared with comic CGI, are very well executed, planned, and staged. You can tell some ingenious thought went in to them. Very creative and unique. The ending is great, as is the over all storyline throughout the film. It had the romance, the buddy-buddy, the childhood friend, a reunion, some twists and turns, a few gangs, some gore, and so forth. A LOT.

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Now for a more thought-processed entry on what I would have preferred it to be - matching my tastes. Here goes;

Keep pretty much everything intact the way it was. Remove the comic CGI, and in replacement use some breathtaking more action-oriented Jackie-Chan style moves. Make the landlady more mysterious at first, so her change in character is a bit more believable. Such as, a scene with her alone where she is sort of regretting her choice to be mean to the public - to hide her true self. Her husband would then comfort her secretly. On the outside, they seem nasty and stupid... but it's all an act, for the real masters inside. Oh god, that setance itself was rather corny. Anyway, yeah, that's pretty much all I would have changed. Meh... guess I wasn't feeling the comedy. I was probably in the mood for something else.

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http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/9927/giflet249md.gif

Hell yah, glad someone else has seen it. Try Turner Classic Movies (the TV channel) if you have it. I don't know if Australia does. Anyway, I caught it on there, so they'll be playing it again soon, I'd guess.

here here !! very cool, witty movie. everyone should really check this one out.

next up : newsies (i know, i know... i want to see christian bale sing, what can i say ?), and layer cake.

"Silent hill" 8/10

Surprisingly well done.



John Carpenter´s "Sigarette burns" 7-8/10

Would love to see it made into a full length movie.

I thought it was alright, not exactly good or bad, you're just going to enjoy it or not.



The Weather Man


Really good movie with good acting from the entire cast especially Caine and Cage(doesn't that sound like a cool tag team name?...anyway...) who both gave great performances as they always do. Very well written with a handful of good laughs scattered along a sad yet progressive story.

i enjoyed it... feel good musical. no harm in that. and christian bale can really bust a move. hehe it was fun seeing all these actors so young (i'm thinking of michael "heroine bob" goorjan).

and just finshed takeshi miike's "imprint". good lord, was that brutal ! i cringed really badly in some moments. really good installation and very in keeping with miike's fucked up universe. i can see why it was banned from airing over there.


edit : i almost forgot... not for the weak of heart or stomach, by the way. "imprint" has some very hard scenes to watch, and i'm not talking "ewwww" factor here.