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Films watched in 2020


Raylenth
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First cinema trip in nearly five months. We saw Proxima, a film about a French Woman Astronaut and the selection and preparation for her mission. It was a bit slow at times but interesting and well done. If you are interested in space travel you'll enjoy it.

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220px-PrisonOnFire.jpg 220px-FullContact.jpg  220px-Curseofgoldenflower.jpg 220px-All-About-Ah-Long-poster.jpg 

I watched a lot of old Chow Yun-Fat films recently:

City on Fire (1987) - the film that inspired Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino's film is pretty much a remake of this. Wonderful performance from Chow paired-off with Danny Lee in roles as cop and crook which they would later swap in The Killer (1989).

Prison on Fire 1 & 2 (1987, 1991) - brilliant prison dramas in the style of Midnight Express (1978) and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (1975). Another great performance from Chow this time with Tony Leung.

Wild Search (1989) - reviews said it was like a remake of Witness (1985) with Harrison Ford but I didn't think that at all.

Full Contact (1992) - controversial bad-ass action flick with great villains and a slimey Simon Yam and Anthony Wong. 

A Better Tomorrow 1 & 2 (1986, 1987) - None of John Woo's "heroic bloodshed" classics are as good as everyone makes out IMO (apart from Bullet In The Head), in fact I much prefer all the films I mentioned above that Chow made with director Ringo Lam than John Woo. RIP Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing.

All About Ah-Long (1989) - Chow Yun-Fat's best film IMO. A bit like Kramer Vs Kramer (1978) only MUCH better. Stellar acting from the three leads including the kid, great story and music. Directed by Johnnie To.

Tiger On The Beat (1989) - a fun buddy-cop action-comedy with CYF and Conan Lee. A great cameo from Lydia Shum and amazing finale; a chainsaw kung-fu fight!

Curse of The Golden Flower (2006) - nicely shot with lavish sets and costumes typical of director, Zhang Yimou. The story is very much like an opera or Shakespearean tragedy. Also starring Gong Li, soon to be seen in Disney's live action Mulan (2020).

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I also watched:

Midnight Express (1978) - Gruesome prison drama with a great Brad Davis, John Hurt and a ropey Randy Quaid. RIP director Alan Parker.

Mississippi Burning (1988) - Shocking KKK murder drama with Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe. Not enough Dafoe though. Also with Brad Dourif, Micheal Rooker and Frances McDormand. RIP director Alan Parker. The first 18 rated film I ever saw at the cinema at age 12!

The Life Of David Gale (2003) - Disappointing murder drama from director Alan Parker (RIP), starring Kevin Spacey as a death row inmate and Kate Winslet as the journalist racing against time to prove his innocence.

Kramer Vs. Kramer (1978) - This child custody drama won Best Picture and Best Director at the Oscars?! It was nice but not great although Dustin Hoffman is good whereas Meryl Streep seems hardly in it which was odd since she's the antagonist/mother. Predictable, weak cop-out ending too.

Twins (1988) Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito as long-lost twins in Arnold's first and best comedy. Charming buddy adventure with great chemistry from the leads but nowhere near as good as Arnie's action classics. RIP Kelly Preston. I wonder how the long-in-development sequel will handle her death.

The Mission (1999) - Disappointing HK gangster film by Johnnie To starring Anthony Wong, Eddie Ko and Simon Yam. Amateurly written with irritating music. 

Heroes Shed No Tears (1986) - Absolutely bonkers John Woo exploitation action-fest starring Eddie Ko and Lam Ching-Ying. Almost zero plot; something about capturing a druglord and taking him across the border.

 

 

Edited by nicky
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Sputnik (2020)

Sci-fi horror in Russian with English subtitles.

A psychiatrist is taken to a remote military base to study a Cosmonaut who has recently returned to Earth.

Elements of the original Quatermass and Alien are clear infuences but its different enough to make it interesting.

Decent film.

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Gravity  - Another film watched for the first time in 2020. Actually pretty good if a little predictable. Stellar performances. Excellent CGI. But was I the only person thinking George Clooney and Buzz Lightyear were separated at birth. 

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They even sound the same. To infinity and beyond......

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  • 2 weeks later...

220px-Mulan_(2020_film)_poster.jpg

MULAN (2020)

3/5 No Spoilers 

I've never seen the 1998 animated feature so I can't compare it. But as far as ancient Chinese Wuxia movies go I will say that MULAN (2020) is a very Americanized story of a classic Chinese tale which kinda ruined my enjoyment. Much of the supporting cast speak in American or Americanized Chinese accents and not even one word of Chinese is heard (despite casting calls asking for Mandarin-speaking actors as I recall). 

Niki Caro does a decent job directing but the script is somewhat flat with little explanation given to the story's fantasy elements or the villain's motives, a disappointment coming from the writers of the Planet Of The Apes reboot. The whole idea of a woman disguising herself as a man trying to fit in could have been great but it seemed more a like a subplot rather than the main focus. There's also a very subtle (quasi-homosexual) love subplot running which was the only interesting characterization in the story but it's not really fleshed-out much and viewers are left unsatisfied (apparently the #MeToo movement had something to do with it?). Donnie Yen isn't given much to do either and Jet Li even less, he doesn't even move his body! Jet's dialogue was also dubbed which defeats the purpose of hiring a star name, surly. Gong Li is good but I found her origin lacked explanation and her motivation for what she does at the end rather questionable. And why is Mulan herself blessed with that much power but no one else?

The costumes and set design all look beautiful but its way too colourful, its like a 1950s MGM musical in the village scenes especially. I half-expected a villager to break out in song.  I know its a Disney film aimed at families but I felt it only added to the overly-Hollywoodized/commercial feel of the film. If a Chinese director had made this (Ang Lee turned it down) I'm sure he'd be accused of selling-out especially with the heavy Western influence. I felt that way about Zhang Yimou and Yeun Woo Ping when they made THE GREAT WALL (2016) and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON: SWORD OF DESTINY (2016) especially since the first Crouching Tiger film was in Mandarin, not English like the sequel.

Asian-lead films made in the West for mainstream mass consumption are rare so I really want this to be a commercial hit but Disney put-off a lot of potential paying viewers by making it so expensive on Disney+. And then there's the boycott due to the stars' less-than popular political views. Its an OK film, a bit flat and an obvious product of commercialism and colonialism but I also feel its a product of the political and cultural climate which dictates what writers should or shouldn't put in their stories to make them more "accessible".

BONUS: The most annoyingly dumb comment I read online was, "It's got Donnie Yen and Jet Li in it. But why not Jackie Chan too???" Just cos its got two of the biggest Chinese martial arts stars to have made it in Hollywood in it, doesn't mean JC should be in it too. 

Edited by nicky
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19 hours ago, nicky said:

220px-Mulan_(2020_film)_poster.jpg

MULAN (2020)

Asian-lead films made in the West for mainstream mass consumption are rare so I really want this to be a commercial hit but Disney put-off a lot of potential paying viewers by making it so expensive on Disney+.

From what I've read it will be on normal Disney + in a couple of months, it's just pay per view now.

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2Jv8Uof.jpg

Train to Busan (2016) Korean with English subtitles

Father and daughter board the bullet train just as a "zombie apocalypse" kicks off.

Think 28 Days Later.

On a train.

Well-crafted film that maintains the suspense with good performances and creepy effects.

Some great imagery too.

I was also impressed with the quality of South Korea's transport infrastructure.

Recommended.

 

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7 hours ago, Bumper8 said:

2Jv8Uof.jpg

Train to Busan (2016) Korean with English subtitles

Father and daughter board the bullet train just as a "zombie apocalypse" kicks off.

Think 28 Days Later.

On a train.

Well-crafted film that maintains the suspense with good performances and creepy effects.

Some great imagery too.

I was also impressed with the quality of South Korea's transport infrastructure.

Recommended.

 

It's great innit? The way the zombies move is awesome. Looking forward to the sequel.

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2 hours ago, natedammit said:

It's great innit? The way the zombies move is awesome. Looking forward to the sequel.

I saw it the other day, it was better than I was expecting after reading about it.

Edited by nicky
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