Conference bookie::movies

    I thought "Hard-Boiled" was overrated, but, by definition, that means
    plenty of people disagree with me.  "A Better Tomorrow" is ace.  The
    sequel's not bad.  "Bullet in the Head" is uneven, but considerably
    better than "The Deer Hunter", which is the usual comparison.
    
    H-K gangster alert:  Ringo Lam's absolutely amazing "Full Impact" is
    now on video.  Terrific betrayal-and-redemption plot, terrific
    trio of bad guys headed up by a fey magician, terrific performances
    from Chow Yun Fat and that kind-of-Caucasian-looking-guy-in-the-glasses, 
    and terrific use of Bullet Cam.  If I ignore the last 5 seconds, it
    may be my favorite.
    
    Ray

    re -1
    Did you see any of these movies at the Brattle when they had his films
    there or did you get to see them on video some how.  If you did get
    them on video I would love to know where you got them and how you did.
    I have not heard of the other movie I will try to check it out.
    
    As for the movie Hard Target I think that it is a watered down version
    of Woos style but even that is better than 90% of the action movies out
    now.  I feel that Van Damne got a break when he hooked up with Woo
    because this movie is clearly Van Damnes best.  But that is not saying
    that much.....  I feel that in this movie the director out-shined the
    star's in the movie, but look out for Lance Herikson's character as the
    villian to be a pleasent surprise.

Woo's films have not been released on video in the US except for 'The
Killer' and now 'Hard Target'.  You can get them, however, from 
various importers or places down in Chinatown or if you have LaserDisk,
from Sight & Sound.  I've heard stories that some outfit like
Image is going to release some of his films but it hasn't happened
yet.  While not everyone like 'Hard Target,' I wonder how using the
Louisiana bayou country to film a Hong Kong gangster film was received
back in Hong Kong.  Must have seemed rather exotic...

monty

    Where in Chinatown should I start looking.  Plus, will the movies most
    likely be sub-titled???
    
    Thanks,
    Ernest

You're going to have to wander around or try a phone book.  Alternatively,
talk to one of the staff of Pix Poster Cellar in Cambridge, at least
one is an HK film fan.  Some will be sub-titled (and you'll have to
check the language) and some won't.

    All the movies I mentioned are available on VHS and subtitled. 
    Legibly, even.  (Cut-off subtitles can be a real problem on VHS
    transfers of films from Hong Kong and Taiwan.)
    
    Most of the HK films I see in the Chinatown theaters are subtitled,
    probably because there are a lot of English-readers in HK. 
    
    Ray

> "Jeff, give him face!"

Ooh, that's familiar but I can't remember what that's from.
Other favorites:

	"Blow the Candle!"

	dozen-or-so syllables translated as:  "Is" or "I'll."

    re 6
    Where did you get your movies from on VHS.. from Chinatown, if so where
    in Chinatown.
    
    Ernest
    

    No, I go to Chintatown theaters, but for VHS rental, I've always gone
    the easy way and picked 'em up at a regular old English-speaking store. 
    I live in a trendy neighborhood, so the local video places are trendy. 
    HK film is getting trendier all the time (fueled by trendy guys like
    me, yeah!).  Thus, easy access to HK video.  Not that there's _enough_
    of it....
    
    Ray

    Which "trendy" neighborhood is this....The place might be close to me..
    You know how us trendy guys tend to gravitate toward each other.
    
    Ernest
    

    Corner of Haight and Fillmore.
    
    Ray

    re 1
    Was the movie Ringo Lam made titled "Full Impact" or "Full Contact",
    because I have found someone who specializes in these kinds of movies.
    He has a movie by Ringo Lam called Full contact and I wanted to make
    sure that they were both the same movie.
    
    Ernest

    RE Hard Target
    
    This was one of the worse movies I've seen, and I've seen a few of
    VanDamme's movies. I can only assume the "credit" for that goes to
    John Woo. It was so bad, my husband (an action movie enthusiast) turned
    to me and asked "Is this supposed to be a spoof?".
    
    The music is inane and badly used, there are supposedly dramatic pauses
    that produce laughable results (see the spoof comment above).
    
    Only see this if you are desperate, or are taking a class in how not to
    make a movie......
    
    
    Marilyn

re last.  'Hard Target' is indeed a John Woo film and not a JCvD.
The slow motion shots, closeups and odd angles, and complete lack
of concern for Newtonian mechanics are Woo trademarks.  Consider
yourself lucky that you didn't get the usual wistful lovesong from
the heroine.

monty

re: Marilyn

> This was one of the worse movies I've seen, and I've seen a few of
> VanDamme's movies. 

I gotta agree! I sometimes like dumb action movies (ie. Total Recall or
Under Siege), but this was just soooo bad it was unbearable! And I 
absolutely hated the stupid slow-motion shots that occured all the time
for no reason - if anything, it took away from the action and its impact.

Easily the worse movie I've seen since Millenium; I wouldn't recommend this 
to anyone, under any circumstances.

alan

    
    
    IMHO comparing Total Recall to Hard Target is like comparing 
     Wine to water. Hard target was dumber than dumb and not even
      in a campy sort of way. I saw Claude on some TV show and he was doing
      roundhouse kicks over his girl freinds head, showing off of course.
      This guy has the IQ of a monkey.
    
    
                  -=-=-R~C~W-=-=-

    Re. -1
    
    
    What have you got against monkeys? ;^)
    
    Marilyn

    
    	Actually, monkeys have high IQ's ... the measure of the ability
    	to learn.
    
    	What you really wanted to say was that he has the intelligence
    	of a monkey ... which, for the most part, isn't too great.
    
    							GTI

    
    
    I'm sorry I put down monkeys :*)
    
          -=-=-R~C~W-=-=-

    
    
    Our DNA and that of chimps and gorillas differs by less than 1% i.e it
    is 99.*% identical.
    
    I hated this film (and I hate myself for dragging me along to it 8-) )
    
    

    I liked this movie, mainly because I like John Woo action scenes. Plus
    I'll watch just about anything with Lance Henriksen.  
    
    But a few people seem to have taken more than a dislike to it and I'm
    rather curious about the kind of action movies they do like. (I'm
    assuming that you do like action movies, otherwise they wouldn't have
    gone to see Hard Target in the first place.)
    
    Anybody care to post a few lists?
    
    Nick
     

    
    
    Sure.
    
    The Lethal Weapon series
    Most of Arnie's - not kindy cop, twins, etc
    The Die Hard series
    The Alien films
    Stallone's cliffhanger and Rambo series
    Blade Runner
    Universal Soldier
    The Assassin (Point of No Return)
    Res. Dogs
    The Indy Jones movies
    Patriot Games/ Hunt for Red October
    
    
    To name a few.  Hard Target I felt lacked many of the elements that
    made these enjoyable for me.  Quality escapeism.  Pure and simple.
    
    Scott
                                          

    Here is a better list of films that John Woo has made with his
    original vison intact.
    
    A Better Tommorrow
    A Better Tommorrow II
    The Killer
    Bullet In The Head
    Once a Thief
    Hard-Boiled
    
    If you get a chance, try to see these movies and experience some real
    hyperkinetic action sequences.
    
    Ernest
     

    
    
    
    I saw Hard-Boiled the other day and it must have had the highest
    body-count ever. Do his other films like THE KILLER and BULLET IN THE
    HEAD compare to this?
    
    Is Hard-Boiled available on video in the UK?
    
    I'd give Hard-Boiled        9 out of 10
    
    
    
    
    
    
    				EWAN

    
    Hard Boiled is most certainly available on VHS in the UK.
    
    I plan to rent it as soon as a copy stops being constantly rented at my
    local Blockbuster.
    

    
    (cont...)
    
    I did so, and it is LOOSE!!!
    
    Never before have I seen Uzi explosion gun death mayhem on such a grand
    scale.  It is oh so skillfully organised and orchestrated carnage, the
    likes of which I have never seen, all slowed right down so nothing is
    missed.  An Oscar winner it is not, but depraved fun it most definitely
    is!.  Anyone who appreciates an action film should not miss this!
    
                                                                     

    Prior to gangster movies, John (Si Yuen) Woo directed some of the best
    martial arts movies in Hong Kong.
    
    I would just walk into a cinema that shows Woo's marital arts movie!
    
    His stars included Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, etc.
    
    The kung-fu movies are realistic and have some of the most technically
    correct movements.
    
    Robert
    

    .... All those who knew that John Clod Van Damme is in
    the next Kylie Mynogue movie.... which is "Street Fighter" (the game of
    the movie... or movie of the game... one of the two) ?
    
    This is currently being shot in Australia.
    
    By the way,  take note all you closet Kylie fans; on her own admission, 
    Kylie currently doesn't have a boyfriend, and she'll be coming back to 
    England in a couple of weeks.... My dinner invitation (to Kylie that
    is, as opposed to the closet fans) is in the post already.
    
    2,3,4.... I should be so luck-ee ! So luck-ee, luck-ee, luck-ee ! I
    should be so luck-ee in luuurv !
    
    ;-)
                                                     

Another high-class movie being shot at the Gold Coast...  Wow.

    This movie (Hard Target, that is) is one of my guilty pleasures.  Well,
    okay, it's not THAT much of a guilty pleasure (like Masters of the
    Universe or real silliness like that), but I just get a real kick out
    of it anyway.  I don't find it all that bad for it's genre -- taken at
    the level of art that it's supposed to be, it's quite fun.  Lance
    Heinricksen (sp?) certainly seemed to be having a good time and when I
    grow up, I want eyebrows like Yancy Butler.
    
    Anyway, what other movie can you see Wilford Brimley killing people
    with arrows and a really, really bad Cajun accent?
    
    All the John Wooisms are fun to watch for.  There's also a slight Sam
    Raimi touch, to boot, which means the movie doesn't take itself 
    all that seriously.
    
    (Sam was an exec producer.  And yes, good old Ted R. makes a brief
    cameo: "I ain't got no CHANGE, man!")
    
    The hero is tough, the leading lady is pretty, Wilford is miscast, the
    bad guys are stylishly evil. No gratitious nudity (no nudity at all, as
    a matter of fact), no obligatory sex scene.  I can't even remember a
    kissing scene.  JCVD does *not* do the splits but he roundhouse-kicks
    plenty of heads.  Lots of guns, lots of shooting, lots of explosions,
    lots of death and general mayhem.  
      
    One of my JCVD favorites.
    
    *** out of ****
    
    
    
    kim

>    Anyway, what other movie can you see Wilford Brimley killing people
>    with arrows and a really, really bad Cajun accent?

What, he's such a bad shot that he has to TALK 'em to death?

    > Anyway, what other movie can you see Wilford Brimley killing people
    >    with arrows and a really, really bad Cajun accent?
    
    Now he's killing folks with arrows? He's gonna ruin his loveable
    grandfather image that he portrays in those cereal commercials. When we
    were watching "The Firm", in which he played the firm's nasty security
    chief, my wife muttered, "I don't think I'd eat any oatmeal that that man
    gave me..."
    			Jim

    
    I like the line when the girl asks JCVD's character about his name....
    
    something like this...  "Why did she (his mother) name you Chance?"
    
    JCVD: "Because my momma took one"
    
    Something about the way he said that line makes me smile!
    
    A guilty pleasure for me as well!