Chocolate - Without the benefit of subtitles though the word benefit depends on what you make of Prachya Pinkaew’s storytelling abilities. From what I gather though after Tony Jaa asking ‘where is the Ong Bak head?’ and ‘where is my elephant?’ Pinkaew has Jeeja running around asking ‘where is my money?’ for the majority of Chocolate, a film which is pretty tasty as the title implies but not completely satisfying. You can skip on the bum plot details since PP still seems to find it completely irrelevant as to why his characters are making sure the foot to face tally is high. One thing he has improved on is the pacing between fight fixtures...where Ong Bak and Tom Yum Goong dragged out and made habit of having the protagonist simply wander in and find people like magic, Chocolate doesn’t busy itself with faux happenstance, it just zips forward and dutifully gets you from one brawl to the next in jig time. The first taste of the action takes place in an ice house, with Jeeja impersonating Bruce Lee - the plus of a nice Big Boss homage aside, it hints at the good stuff but it’s not really much to lose yourself over. Same goes with the factory throwdown, which again has flashes of creative genius amidst alot of awfully basic and rather timid looking physical contact. Now I don’t know why she’s afraid of flies and not bunches of guys with meat cleavers, but she is and it makes the slaughter house bustup kinda strange as she shivers and shakes before doing a number on the hoods. The kinetic too and fro starts to ramp up and never lets up until the final showdown out on the precarious ledges of a Japanese restaurant. While Jeeja is a marvel in the latter half of the movie, in thai action cinema the onus is often thrust upon the stunt team to impart the wow factor and the guys and gals here have surely raised the bar when it comes to selling the spills. It’s curious then that on more than one occasion you notice a hike in frame rate and perhaps a touch of CG assistance. It’s not really a knock on the team at all considering pretty much everything is being thrown out for real, but you do wonder why it was even necessary when they’re arguably the best in the world right now. To be sure there aren’t quite as many ‘OWWWWW SHIT’ out loud moves that you might expect and already with so many teams being assembled to push the envelope in Thailand’s martial arts scene, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to continue to innovate outside the no longer fledgling high standard. Chances are you’ll still use your remote to look at that shot one more time..and then one more time. My favourite fight involved Jeeja scrapping with the two girls on the rooftop - had the rest of the fights been so tech and heavy I reckon the film could have kept your eye off the lazy plot even more but that’s nitpicking I suppose. Overall what you have is a superb first outing for the young star though and I hope to see her back and even better sometime soon - it’s something of a certainty really.

The Machine Girl (2008) - Goofy, gory and always having a laugh at itself, Machine Girl is not as subversive or exotically weird as Takashi Miike, nor as exact in its pacing as early Sam Raimi or Peter Jackson splatter comedies, but it is the winking comedy moments that are both ridiculous and earnest that sell the silliness.

Sunrise (1927) - Both a film-history film, one of the last great silent pictures, and the state-of-the-art for moving camera-work and a dreamy miasma of comedy, expressionistic photography and melodrama. This is F.W. Murnau at the height of ambition and ability and is often referred to as one of the first truly modern films. Certainly Guy Maddin and David Lynch likely saw this film as a signpost for their own art and even Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did back at the first Oscar Ceremony. A classic in every sense of the word, and a major starting point before Citizen Kane came along. For admirers of form, this is a treasure trove of technical virtuouso.

The Bow (2005) - Kim Ki Duk offers a combination of sumptuous visuals and sound that aims at moral provocateurism. Images like the elder boatman’s peculiar method of fortune telling, as well as the various uses of the title instrument keep the film fresh and interesting with minimal dialogue and a single location. The climax is ambiguous in just the right way (although anyone willing to explain it to me is most welcome). You may feel icky watching this film, but it forces both an emotional and intellectual response in the same way that Michael Haenke’s films often do.

Femme Fatale (2002) - I’ve had a fair bit of a change of heart on this one since first viewing it in 2004. It is both mesmerizing in terms of the super-slick visuals and the ridiculous audacity of its plotting. I’m trying to decide if the weak performances are akin to Paul Verhoeven casting Casper Van Dien and Denise Richards in Starship Troopers. Do Antonio Banderas’ pouting and Rebecca Romijn’s vamp-camp add to the stylistic pleasures of the movie or detract? Femme Fatale may just be the most sly parody/homage to the Hitchcock and convoluted-noir sub-genre ever pulled off with such a straight face. Definitely worth a second look.

Kiss Me, Deadly (1955) - Noir that is boiled right down to the ether and ending not with a whimper, but with a bang (and a whimper). Mike Hammer, badass PI and all around misanthrope, gets way in over his head when he picks up a mysterious woman half-naked on the side of the road. An investigation involving a rogues gallery of characters along with stupidity, greed and hamfisted blunders. Any film which visually inspired such diverse fair as Raiders of the Lost Ark, Pulp Fiction, Repo Man and The Lost Highway is all good in my book. And something tells me that on top of all that, David Mamet might just get a charge out of this film.

Grrr, where’d you get Machine Girl on DVD?  Anyone actually seen Fatal Move, I’m excited for that if someone will just give me one positive thing I’ll buy it in a heartbeat!

Prepare yourself for a little rambling as I give a (very) brief rundown of a few of the films I’ve watched on DVD since my exile in (South) Korea. Thanks to a bug in the software I used to convert my my superb LG portable player to “all-region”, after just 3 months of faithful service, the player simply refused to read discs anymore. So I had my friends in the States send me my trusty all-region Toshiba unit, which I’ve hooked up to an ancient CRT monitor. To think, I’ve been here seven months, and I spent around three of those months without any means of watching movies! Anyhow, during those four months, I’ve still managed to see some 80 films: in the DVD rooms, at the theater and at home—and my private collection here now numbers around 50 DVDs.

Beginning with silent films, I saw FW Murnau’s Faust, The Last Laugh, Sunrise and Nosferatu (all on Eureka’s MoC collection). Of those, the first two impressed me the most. The supernatural Faust has some of the most sensational B&W;imagery I’ve seen in a silent film. I also watched Fritz Lang’s Spione and Dr. Mabuse the Gambler, both in handsome Korean editions released here earlier this year. Neither rises to the heights of Metropolis or The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (my own personal favorite—a great transfer of which is available from Criterion). It so happens that they are currently having a large Lang retrospective at the Busan Cinematheque, where I saw The Big Heat with some friends. I didn’t think much of the film when I watched it a couple of years ago on DVD, but it was a little better the second time around. Curiously, the Cinematheque showed an old print with Spanish subtitles!

A few Korean romantic comedies that surprised me were: 200 Pound Beauty (a plastic surgery comedy that was one of the most successful films last year); Lovely Rivals (2004), starring the wonderful actress Yeom Jeong-ah (about a rigid schoolteacher and a student, ostensibly both vying for the attentions of a handsome new instructor); and A Good Day to Have an Affair, about two married women who meet men on the internet.

Two of the best Korean films I watched on DVD this year were Im Sang-soo’s The Old Garden (also starring Yeom Jeong-ah) about an 80s activist on the run who is caught and imprisoned, and the woman he leaves behind. Perfectly judged, with excellent performances and photography, this one bombed at the box office and received mixed critical response, but it’s one of the best Korean dramas I’ve seen in a long while. Then there’s Our Town, a thriller (about a serial killer and a writer who commits a copycat crime) that, like so many other Korean movies of late, I had extremely low expections for, but which also turned out to be one of the best of its kind.

The recent death of Richard Widmark led me to watch the Kiss of Death starring Victor Mature, and to discover a pretty entertaining film-noir.

The Kingdom, panned by a lot of critics, was actually a great Hollywood action/thriller. I thought it delivered the goods in a way that most Hollywood films of its kind don’t. In fact, two highly critically-acclaimed films, There Will Be Blood and No Country for Old Men were nowhere near the “masterpieces” that many claimed they were—the former was rather long and ponderous; but Javier Bardem’s compelling performance as a psychopath killer in the latter makes it worth a recommendation if you like that sort of thing.

Of French films, American director Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly turned out to be one of the year’s highlights, with tremendous acting (mostly by way of voice-over) by Mathieu Almaric in the lead role. I also had rather low expectations for this one, having watched Amenabár’s similarly themed (and sleep-inducing) The Sea Inside (with Bardem in the principal role). Imaginative photography and mordant humor raised this film above all the rest.

Persopolis, presenting a young woman’s view of Iran from the fall of the Shah to the present day, is a good primer for those like myself who are woefully ignorant about the country, but the animation is a bore.

A Very British Gangster, a documentary about Manchester crime boss Dominic Noonan, is also worth a rental. Director Donald MacIntyre had free access to follow the gangster for three years up to his eventual incarceration (on charges of gun possession). The director enlivens the mundane proceedings up a bit with some nice steadicam work and crane shots of Manchester. No big revelations, though.

You might want to see Cristian Mungiu’s film 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days about a woman getting an abortion in communist Romania. It has nice drab bluish-greenish photography (mostly still shots), decent script and good acting, but was needlessly drawn out at the beginning.

Finally, perhaps of all the movies I watched this year, the one I’ll come back to again and again is Norwegian-Danish director Joachim Trier’s Reprise. Part Dogme, part French New Wave, it manages to transcend style alone (which it fairly oozes), delivering on all fronts: acting, scriptwriting, editing, and lensing.

Finally, after having owned them for more than a year, I watched Johnny To’s “Election” and “Election 2” this weekend, on two consecutive evenings.

And he just moved into my list of favorite directors. I mean, I liked “Exiled” a lot but just imagine making these three movies in a row, all within less than 18 months.

I’m loath to say it, but I was surprised when so many people put To over Woo as a director in last December’s MegaToM, but now I fully understand why. Woo hasn’t yet directed anything that ended up having the strong maturity (and, for a change, I don’t mean that to be read as “sex and violence") of the Election movies.

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three - This is one of the originators of the modern big city cat-and-mouse heist film (Diehard, Quick Change, The Inside Man), except instead of an office tower or bank, it is a subway hijacking. There are joys aplenty to be had in this film, which for the most part is pretty straight-up affair. Nevertheless it goes about itself with a pretty bad-ass musical score, and plethora of wise-ass remarks from just about everyone (New Yorkers being a tough bunch in the crime laden 1970s), but in particular the New York Transit authority who’ve seen it all (At one point a supervisor tells the hijackers to go grab a plane instead, just like everyone else does!). Walther Matthau give a commanding (and hilariously politically incorrect) performance throughout, particularly the closing shot, which is quite simply perfect. As always, do yourself a favour and catch the original before either of the two remakes (1998 TV version with Edward James Olmos, and upcoming 2009 Tony Scott version with Denzel Washington). The original has a memorable memorable sense of humour which sets it clearly apart.

Finally got around to checking out “Terkel i Knibe”.  Took me a long time to find the Danish disk - I was about to order it off the site Todd pimped in his review, when I remembered CD-Wow (only $7.99 there).  Now I enjoyed it and it was definitely a little *different*, but it’s hard to tell if hearing the “weird” voices in English would have made it funnier (the English disk does have Bill Bailey and others - but not the Danish original audio).  I may still double dip on this down the road - it’d be nice if the extensive special features on this disk had subs as well.

My stack of unwatched films is definitely stacking up now.  I’ve been putting off watching a lot of things while I’ve been slowly upgrading my home theater, but I’ll need to start digging into the HD-DVDs soon - even if I don’t have my surround sound set up yet.

Just watched Life a Dragon (Ryu Ga Gotoku) and I really enjoyed it.  It moves quickly and there are many very Miike moments.  I can’t speak for its fidelity to the game, but I enjoyed it.  Good performances all around, even though there is almost no character development.  When the big finale came around, I still found myself wondering who some of these people were, despite the fact that it seemed like I should.  The action saved it.  It got a bit goofy at the end, I’m pretty sure in reference to the game.  I liked it, now someone just needs to make it officially available in English.

Ah, thanks Zombeaner.
I’ve seen this little ditty in rental stores for awhile now and even though I love me some Miike...the absence of Eng Subs turned me away [when it comes it Dvd....I’m often lazy] even though I’m sure the plot is wafer thin.
Based on your mini review, I’ll check it out soon.

Jon, you mentioned liking 200 Pounds Beauty....what did you like about it?
I found it to be entertaining, sure...but a little vapid and condescending in all the wrong places...especially the final scene.

Recently, I’ve watched:

Disturbia
This just came out on DVD in Japan and I was wary because it was quite similar to Rear Window.
Turns out, it was well crafted and had engaging leads.
Solid little flick and happily not just for the ‘teenage’ crowd as I feared.
Bugger...that line makes me sound like I’m over 72....

Sweeny Todd
This is getting a fare amount of reply these days...I just dig this film.
I’m a sucker for revenge films, especially as gleeful and sharp as this.
Plus, the bonus features are well made, with lots of great info about “Old London’.

Battlestar Galactica
It’s also a watch fest though the ‘big’ moments in Season 3....could be seen a mile away.
The two big shocking moments...weren’t that shocking for me and I don’t know if that’s bad or not but still, an almost perfect show and I envy all you yanks for being able to watch the show on TV…

I’m gonna watch AVP 2/ Requiem tonight so if you hear a scream of boredom and anger..it’ll be me, sorry.
Not going into this with high hopes....

Yesterday I saw Koen Mortier’s “Ex Drummer”, expecting to be entertained by a funny movie about some crazy Belgians.

Woah!
Even though I had read Todd’s review and heard it shocked many people when it played at the Rotterdam festival last year, I did not expect THIS!

What surprised me:
-Brilliant cinematography
-Very, VERY brutal violence.
-Gore
-Full frontals
-Hardcore sex: a few penetration shots mixed in with the usual softcore
-Exactly how much like “trainspotting” it was in places
-The catchyness of deathmetal
-The ending!!

But most of all, I was surprised at how deeply, utterly BITTER this movie is.
Bleak doesn’t describe it. Even cynical doesn’t describe it.
This movie spirals into black hatred, and that it keeps entertaining you at the same time shows the stellar skills of director Koen Mortier.

The Dutch A-Film DVD also has a few surprises:
-it’s a decent special edition, packaging, booklet, the lot
-it contains the CD soundtrack, which definitely is a big bonus here
-it has English subs! Huh? Also Dutch and French ones, and as the Flemish spoken here is particularly strong I had to use those subs too!

Ardvark - June 4, 2008, 2:52am

But most of all, I was surprised at how deeply, utterly BITTER this movie is.
Bleak doesn’t describe it. Even cynical doesn’t describe it.

The make or break point of the film may lie in that statement.  I must admit that by about the 2/3rd point, as much as I respected the movie and its willingness and artistry, it was bloody exhausting…

Ah…

AVP 2 wasn’t horrible but I’m not likely to watch it again.
I’m an effects fan so I loved watching the work from ADI but then again, Id’ve been happier with 2 hours of Behind The Scenes creature stuff.

Just got Machine Girl so I’ll give it a watch soon.
Zombeaner, if you’re in Tokyo, I can point you in the direction of where you can get the dvd.

Last night I watched: Always: Zoku Sanchome No Yuhi.

I love the first film, it’s so shameless in it’s manipulations and this film, while similar..just wasn’t as good.
Still awesome, a 4/5 but not as good as the first.

It got me thinking, Drama films normally do not get sequels.
However, when an Action or Horror sequel is made, it’s a fairly easy formula.
More action, more gore, more tension etc etc.

So what rules apply for a drama sequel?
More of your favourite characters living their lives?
Always 2 had that in spades...but I felt as though it just wasn’t a complete film...more of a Kill Bill Vol 1 and 2 deal, just cut in half.
Yeah, I didn’t like Kill Bill 2 either.

Oh, and the Godzilla cameo was outstanding.
Amazing CGI use and very well directed...once that familiar music started up...I was howling like a kid.
If only Toho could take that scene and make full flick out of it…

I am, very unfortunately, in Dallas.  So I will wait.

Ills(Them)--Very effective and minimalistic film making.  It was the inspiration for The Strangers, although I still prefer The Strangers, due to it’s darker tone.

I just finished The Lives of Others, which was pretty good and very realistic.  I think my expectations were just a bit too high, after all of the buzz that I had been hearing. 

I would still highly recommend both of these.

Funny Games U.S. - I enjoyed it as much as the original film, I didn’t really have the same feeling I did after watching the first. The original the first time around made my stomach hurt and made me feel ashamed.