Mike Thomason wrote:Maybe you're not exploring the right genres of Thai cinema, as there's surely some fine films to be had from the Kingdom? But if you're after disappointment, then I am sure this unmitigated dog of a film is going to reward you in spades! Words fail me from describing just how truly awful this mess of a film was -- every half decent idea it exhibited, was stolen from somewhere else (some of the copycat stunt steals are so blatant you're going to wonder how they didn't slapped with plagiarism suits!). Don't say that I didn't warn you...
Derivative is a word that often comes to mind after I've watched a Thai movie. I recently watched a high-profile one called MERCURY MAN that came sooo close to breaking with that tradition, but still managed to simply remind me of all the films it was lifting from. I don't mind cinematic pilfering in the least, but preferably when it's done well enough that your brain isn't constantly flipping through its filofax of "references."
I treat Thai cinema as I do Hong Kong cinema—I'll watch anything, basically—so I have seen a few gems over the years, but whenever I watch a batch of Thailand's more common/populist styles of cinema, I come away disappointed more often than not. Some of the things you say about this CURSE OF THE SUN remind me of thoughts I've had while watching other Thai genre movies. I suppose I could say the same about Hong Kong cinema, Korean cinema, American cinema, and what have you, but perhaps I'm just more attuned to those cinemas at this point. I wonder if the most memorable Thai movies are just raising my personal expectations higher than a the country's low-budget, often derivative film industry can meet. Probably just me.... Nonetheless, as this thread attests, I don't mind watching even the worst movies at least once, so perhaps my expectations will now be lowered enough to spot a mild "moment" or two!
I hope you mean graphic guys and not people who architect heterogeneous n-tier (preferably MVC) solutions that just happens to use http and a web front. And even then good-to-great graphic guys are still hard to get (yes there are tons around, even here in Modesto).
Heck, I
am a graphics guy, so I guess I have to include
myself in my original comment!
Once upon a time, I designed a very small handful of websites for various employers, but only partially. Designing a site in terms of its appearance was about as far as I could go;
building one was (and is) entirely outside my knowledge, ability and, sadly, intereest!
I can come up with a look, but someone else inevitably has to make it functional, which obviously keeps me largely out of the business!
Nonetheless, if I could count the number of people who do either graphics, or architecture, or BOTH, these days compared with, say 20 years ago, I'd need a very powerful calculator. Largely because I suck at math.
And cheers to all collectors, if this is the worst of our vices (I don't view it as a vice since I tend to study film as a hobby) then we are not doing too bad (quick credit card rant; I actually managed to get through college without one of those and still have never had one since, so also cheers to those who only have one or none).
Put me in the "one card" camp, though I do have to use it on occasion, I'm afraid. But the thought of ever paying even a cent of interest on it generally keeps me in line! What you say about vices is so true, though. It's the old "well, I could be doing THIS and I'm not" routine. Geeky-snobby as it may sound, I rather like being able to point at something "tangible" when someone asks me what I do with my expendable income.
This thread should prove how cheap a hobby this can really be, especially for lovers of Asian cinema and newcomers (or slow movers like myself) who weren't such a big part of the old Hong Kong cinema-via-VHS days.
As Mike says, if you wait for sales, don't buy everything on release day, or aren't above a good round of bargain bin diving as I've been doing since before the first post, then you can enjoy
a lot of Asian cinema without going broke. Factor in trade-ins at local shops, ebay, Amazon Marketplace and the like, and you've several good ways to unload titles you don't like and recoup a bit of money for more goodies. It's so much easier to make blind buys these days, too, when you don't have to pay sticker price in the shops. I probably spent more on this hobby 15 years ago than I do now, and got a lot less for my money (especially during the Laserdisc years
)
I can think of a few people in the real world—extended family no less—who've made similar assumptions when they've seen my collection, which for the most part resides in discreetly tucked away tote bins. Of course, I also remember the times they figured they could borrow some of those same movies and were rather shocked when I said no!
My collection was never huge, maybe 80-90 discs, so I can only imagine the loss taken by people who'd collected hundreds of the damned things. Still, that format did more to further my love of cinema than any other before or since. DVD is just a continuation, really.
