2007: The Digital Scrounge

[Brian Thibodeau]

Not keen on reporting yet more non-Asian stuff in an onstensibly Asian thread, but here's a few titles picked up from ebay for super cheap (which is about the only reason I even mention them). The guy always has a lot of great genre stuff and starts everything at 99 cents, yet the bidding never seems to get too heated, if at all!

LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE (1974; new 2007 Blue Underground version; won for $2.50)
FIVE BLOODY GRAVES/NURSE SHERRI (1970/78; Al Adamson double feature; Retro Shock-o-Rama 2007; Contains cut & uncut versions of "Sherri" and both films have Sam Sherman commentaries; won for 99 cents, which is fair )
EXORCISM/EXORCISMO (1975; BCI 2007 version; sounds like lower-tier Paul Naschy, so perhaps it's not my best introduction to the man's work—none of which has particularly interested me—but for 99 cents, I'll give anything a try! )

I suspect SLEEPING CORPSES is the best of this batch, and since I missed out on it when it was previously released, this was a nice find. Anyone else seen it, per chance?

Also watched an intriguing Anchor Bay Hammer DVD last night called DEMONS OF THE MIND (found in a Wal-Mart remainder rack for $3.00 ). I'm sure Mr. Thomason's probably already seen this one. It's a nice change of pace—if not an entirely successful one—from the usual Hammer monster flicks, in that the real terror, as is suggested by the title, is largely confined to inner spaces. Plus, it's got one of the best punchline kills I've ever seen, when unhinged patriarch Robert Hardy kills Patrick Magee (who gives one of the best performances in the movie as a phony man of science) while slinging a perfectly timed quip. As with so many Hammer DVDs, this one features an excellent commentary from the director, the writer and actres Virginia Weatherill, all of whom were still young enough to have sharp memories of every aspect of the film. And watch out for that scarificator!

[cal42]

LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE (1974; new 2007 Blue Underground version; won for $2.50)

I suspect SLEEPING CORPSES is the best of this batch, and since I missed out on it when it was previously released, this was a nice find. Anyone else seen it, per chance?

Oh yes, you can always count on me if we're talking zombie movies . You've had a bargain, for sure. There are some elements that don't work too well, but overall I think it's a pretty fine example of 70's zombie horror. Plus, there's a cop in there and he's hilariously intolerant. Actually, when you watch it, let me know if George's (the main male character) voice reminds you of anyone.

[Mike Thomason]

The Tiger Blade (Thailand) (DVD)*

* I'm taking one for the team on this one! The film was naff, but punting that the HK DVD is uncensored; might have been naff but still want to see it uncut!

Well, good news and (sort of) bad news on this one! The HK disc is fully uncensored, with no optical blurring per the Thai version (which I feared might have been inherent in the master), and 16:9 anamorphic, which the Thai disc was not. Downside, the audio is only Dolby surround, whereas the Thai disc had 5.1 as well.

So there's your options, if you're a fan of this craptacular Thai action mess:

Thai DVD -- 4:3 letterboxed image, 5.1 audio, optically censored
HK DVD -- 16:9 anamorphic image, 2.0 surround audio, uncensored

Either way you go, it's still a rubbish film with a couple of decent action scenes

[Bearserk]

Some more movies ordered

36 Secrets of Courtship - Shaw Brothers comedy with Ai Ti, Ling Doi and Booi Yue-Fa
2430 Night Call Volume 1 - Not entirly sure what this is, but Sophie Ngan stars in it so better check it out
Burning With Desire - Charlie Cho sleaze, another one for the collection
Chinese Chocolate - This one certainly could need some more info for the DB
Chinese Sexy Story - Probably another cheap Cat.3 flick. Seems to be missing from the DB.
Crazy Sex - Shaw Brothers movie. Has some strange notes in the roles in the DB.
Crazy Sex - Another movie with the same name, not much else info.
Desire -
Face D'Ange - Another Cat.3 flick in dire need of more info.
Fantasy Palace - Not sure what this is, it has Cherry Chan as an actor, but is listed to be only 60 mins.
The Fire of Desire - Missing from the DB
Forbidden Tales of Two Cities - Shaw Brothers comedy with Woo Gam, Tanny Tien Ni and Ku Feng.
Girl With the Long Hair - Shaw Brothers Drama with Dana, Wai Wang and Henry Yu Tung.
The Golden Lotus - Yet another Shaw Brothers production
The Happiest Moment - And another one
Key to Fortune - Cat.3 with James Wong, Cindy Yip and Chan Kin-Yat
Love and Sex Among the Ruins - Comedy with Dayo Wong, Cheung Tat.Ming and Ada Choi
Love Swindlers - Shaw Brothers with the same strange notes as can be found in Crazy Sex.
Lust For Love of a Chinese Courtesan - Shaw Brothers
A Lustful Night - Didn't get it last time I ordered it so I'm trying again with a different version.
Made in Taiwan - Missing from the DB
Man in Blues - Also missing.
Midnight Breast - So is this, if it is a proper movie that is
My Secret Private Virgin - And so is this movie starring Sophie Ngan.
Pleasure Portal - Probably a cheap Cat.3 flick
Rape - Another movie named Rape, the use of these titles never cease to amaze me
Sensual Awakening - Probably something like Pleasure Portal above
Sex For Sale - Back to some more Shaw Brothers sleaze starring Ai Ti
Sex Phone Girl - Another short Cat.3 movie which seems to be missing from the DB
Sex, Love and Hate - Shaw Brothers Drama with Lily Ho, Yueh Hua and Hsu Feng
Sexy Girls of Denmark - Had to check this out it being filmed so close to Norway
Sexy Palace - More info needed on this one
Sinful Confessions - Elvis Tsui movie
Snooper - More Cat.3 goodness
The Spiritual Love - Another one
The Story of Tong Queen - Another one
Torrent of Desire - More Shaw Brothers
Virgin Breeze - Will have to wait to see what this is.
Women of Desire - And one last Shaw Brothers movie for this time
Your Sweetheart is My Concubine - And the last movie for this time

All that remains now is to see how many of them I get.

[Brian Thibodeau]

All that remains now is to see how many of them I get.

And how many you have time to watch!

I keep offering my help, but you never seem willing to bulk ship them over here!

Actually, when I first started scanning your images, I felt a sense of relief because I actually have every single Shaw title in there, but then I continued on, and realized yet again just how many junky gems are still hidden out there...

And while some folks are undoubtedly gonna have issues with so many pictures so early in this page, I must say I find them quite helpful when planning my little "shopping" trips.

[ewaffle]

An astounding list! I have a grand total of three of those listed.

And thanks for the images--and especially for coding them so they line up in columns instead of one long row across the top of the page.

[Bearserk]

And how many you have time to watch!

not many enough I seriously need to take a vacation sometimes just to watch some of them

I keep offering my help, but you never seem willing to bulk ship them over here!

Hehe, it way easier for you to take the trip across the pond

Actually, when I first started scanning your images, I felt a sense of relief because I actually have every single Shaw title in there, but then I continued on, and realized yet again just how many junky gems are still hidden out there...

And while some folks are undoubtedly gonna have issues with so many pictures so early in this page, I must say I find them quite helpful when planning my little "shopping" trips.

And I barely scratched the surface, if I only had the money, place and time to really dig into what is available

And thanks for the images--and especially for coding them so they line up in columns instead of one long row across the top of the page.

I decided to be a bit kinder to they peeps who still hasn't seen the light and emigrated to a proper browser hehe

[Mike Thomason]

I decided to be a bit kinder to they peeps who still hasn't seen the light and emigrated to a proper browser hehe

Nothing wrong with one that I've got, thanks dude. Each to their own though...

Crikey! Are those all VCDs or a mix of VCD and DVD?
Even though you've mentioned money, 40 x $40HK is still $240AUD, and that's ex-shipping!
More than I've got to throw away in one drop on unknown titles!
Which reminds me...

Flash Point (Hong Kong) (2-DVD)
Hula Girls (Japan) (DVD)
Possessed (Malaysia) (DVD)

...later on, like week or so, more Shaw titles!

[Bearserk]

Nothing wrong with one that I've got, thanks dude. Each to their own though...

Of course We all have our preferences as to what to use

Crikey! Are those all VCDs or a mix of VCD and DVD?
Even though you've mentioned money, 40 x $40HK is still $240AUD, and that's ex-shipping!
More than I've got to throw away in one drop on unknown titles!
Which reminds me...

Flash Point (Hong Kong) (2-DVD)
Hula Girls (Japan) (DVD)

...later on, like week or so, more Shaw titles!

Well I rarely place orders as you lot seems to place orders all the time. It's a way to reduce the risk of having to pay customs fees and such.
It's a nice mix of both DVD and VCD, try to get as much as possible on DVD, but settle for VCD where there are no DVD to be found.

[Mike Thomason]

[Well I rarely place orders as you lot seems to place orders all the time. It's a way to reduce the risk of having to pay customs fees and such.

Funny you should mention Customs! That's exactly why I place so many small/medium-sized orders!
Australian Customs tax at about 47% on anything over $250AUD, so the trick is to keep things below that.
Hence, what could be done in one BIG order, has to be split into two or three smaller orders.
Or else the taxman comes after me with a hefty import tax bill...

[Bearserk]

[Well I rarely place orders as you lot seems to place orders all the time. It's a way to reduce the risk of having to pay customs fees and such.

Funny you should mention Customs! That's exactly why I place so many small/medium-sized orders!
Australian Customs tax at about 47% on anything over $250AUD, so the trick is to keep things below that.
Hence, what could be done in one BIG order, has to be split into two or three smaller orders.
Or else the taxman comes after me with a hefty import tax bill...

If I only could have had such a large margin to operate by The Norwegian customs tax anything with a value greater than 200 NOK, about $40 AUD, a limit which hasn't been changed since the early 70's, which means I am way better of placing a few large orders where some will escape the customs attention, than by placing a lot of small orders, where the shipping costs will get way to high for me.

[Brian Thibodeau]

I used to have my DDDHouse, Buyoyo etc. orders directly to my Canadian address many years ago (I think back when Buyoyo was Layoyo or something like that?), and before I lived in Toronto. Customs charges were hit and miss regardless of the value of the order, though when they did apply a charge, it was high enough to cancel out any savings I had over picking the stuff up in Chinatown when I'd visit Toronto.

More than a decade ago, I chipped in on a U.S. postal box with a friend of mine in my old home town back when I still lived there. The place is right on the border with Michigan, and it's a fairly smooth trip over the river. I just try to time my orders to my trips home. And in more than ten years of renting out that box, I've never been charged a single customs fee, so I'm guessing our American friends on these boards must rarely, if ever, get squeezed for additional import fees. Lucky bastards!

Of course, picking up the items at the mailbox is one thing, getting them back across the border is another, as once again I get to deal with customs people, only in person! But as a regular cross-border traveller, I've come to learn the value of looking (relatively) non-descript, driving a good clean car, and...ummm...downplaying the value of my purchases or simply forgetting to declare them. Of course, it doesn't hurt to actually unwrap them before the trip back, too. Just in case I have to create an excuse!


That said, I'm back in my home town as I write this, and was in the U.S. earlier today. Didn't get any HK stuff this time (just plenty of other discs I can't find in Canada), but I did notice a new Rarescope release called CUB TIGER OF KWAN TUNG, featuring Jackie Chan in what the package says is his first starring role. Apparently this later became MASTER WITH CRACKED FINGERS, but it seems like this version is the original, which might be interesting. It's reasonably priced, as with most in the Rarescope lineup:
http://www.amazon.ca/Cub-Tiger-Kwang-Tung/dp/B000TSIK1O
http://hkmdb.com/db/movies/view.mhtml?i ... ay_set=eng

The reviews here make it sound pretty mediocre, but I might grab it on a future visit just to satisfy my curiosity!

[Brian Thibodeau]

Geez, wish I'd seen this sooner! Apparently, Amazon had some phenomenal—and temporary—Criterion markdowns for the past couple of days. JIGOKU was $10 , WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS was $14.40 plus several others, including EQUINOX, which was recommended by others earlier in this thread, for a measly $14.00 and a few others. Frustratingly, most of them have now gone back up , but keep your eyes on this thread at DVDTalk to see what might still be available:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=512568

Luckily, as I write this, the MONSTERS AND MADMEN box, also highly recommended by Masterofoneinchpunch much earlier in this thread, is STILL just $28.80, wihch finally prompted me to pick it up, he'll be happy to know! If anybody's curious to see some interesting sci-fi/horrors from the 50's, particularly the excellent ATOMIC SUBMARINE, this might be the best time ever to spring for this set. Good luck!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000K0YM18/

[Brian Thibodeau]

Oh, and one other thing I noticed during my trip across the border this weekend. Image has released the somewhat underrated CHINA HEAT (1990), starring Sibelle Hu and Michael De Pasquale, in R1 DVD. According to the package, it's 1.78:1 anamorphic and in Chinese with English subs (FINALLY!! ). Best Buy wanted $14.99 and Amazon wants $13.99, both of which are a bit high, so I'll probably keep my eyes on Amazon Marketplace for this one to replace the unsubbed DVD-R I ripped from my old LD before I sold it. Not a great film, mind you, but some excellent action choreography throughout, even if Sibelle doesn't get to take part in much of it.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000QFAFMM



.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Geez, wish I'd seen this sooner! Apparently, Amazon had some phenomenal—and temporary—Criterion markdowns for the past couple of days. JIGOKU was $10 , WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS was $14.40 plus several others, including EQUINOX, which was recommended by others earlier in this thread, for a measly $14.00 and a few others. Frustratingly, most of them have now gone back up , but keep your eyes on this thread at DVDTalk to see what might still be available:
http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=512568

Luckily, as I write this, the MONSTERS AND MADMEN box, also highly recommended by Masterofoneinchpunch much earlier in this thread, is STILL just $28.80, wihch finally prompted me to pick it up, he'll be happy to know! If anybody's curious to see some interesting sci-fi/horrors from the 50's, particularly the excellent ATOMIC SUBMARINE, this might be the best time ever to spring for this set. Good luck!
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000K0YM18/

By the time I found this out (yesterday) it was over. I was ready to put a posting here (so I could push M&M and Equinox) but alas it was too late for everything except Border Radio (which is still on sale 9/25/2007 for you Criterion collectors; this was a blind buy for me though) which I got (though I have most of what was on sale except A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS which I've wanted for awhile).

I am happy to know . Don't forget the excellent Karloff films in it too.

Brian must get Robinson Crusoe on Mars (unless he has the Laserdisc).

Has anyone here seen A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS? Criterion is supposed to put a Naruse set sometime under the Eclipse label; they have leaked that a Japanese director is set for the December release of Eclipse.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Brian must get Robinson Crusoe on Mars (unless he has the Laserdisc).

I've got that one wishlisted at a few places! Never had the LD, but caught it a few times on TV as a kid. I always figured it might not hold up for me all these years later, but the fact that it's getting Criterion treatment seems to suggest I had at least some taste as a child!

[Mike Thomason]

"Strangers in the night, exchanging glances..."

Oops...sorry about that, got a little bit sidetracked...

Dreams of Eroticism (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Passing Flickers (Hong Kong) (DVD)

[Brian Thibodeau]

"Strangers in the night, exchanging glances..."

It must be so difficult to put up with the rabble sometimes...


----------------


Purchased a few fillers from Poker thanks to Mr. Waffle's recent post about the 50% off sale. I don't usually like listing stuff here until it actually arrives, especially from a company that increasingly has to drop the odd title from an order because it's no longer in stock, but the website at least claimed these were all still instock when I ordered, in case anyone's looking to plug some gaps. Gotta wonder if this is all part of an ongoing going-out-of-business sale. Pretty mixed bag here, mostly older stuff that everyone's probably already seen. This is just cut and pasted from the order form, so it's just titles, but most of these are Fortune Star reissues.

DVDs
Funny Triple
Love Must Be Crazy
Web Of Deception
Just For Fun
Strange Bedfellow
My Cousin, The Ghost
Fruit Punch
Dream Of Desire
Mr. Smart
Happy Ghost
Happy Ghost 2
Goodbye Darling
City Hero
Changing Partners
Beyond's Diary
Brief Encounter In Shinjuku
Against All (replaces an old VCD)

VCD
Mortuary Blues

[Mike Thomason]

It must be so difficult to put up with the rabble sometimes...

No, but I see my tongue-in-cheek style of humour confuses sometimes... ...anyhoo, Shaw lunacy continues unabated...

Bewitched (Hong Kong) (DVD)
The Golden Lotus (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Legends of Lust (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Return of the Dead (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Seeding of a Ghost (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Sensual Pleasures (Hong Kong) (DVD)
That's Adultery! (Hong Kong) (DVD)

...anyone worried about the up-coming content of the (review) blog yet?

PS: How safe/secure is it shopping at Poker? I noticed that when I was going to place an order through them recently that the page you enter your credit card details on isn't secure (no "https" in the URL field).

[Brian Thibodeau]

No, but I see my tongue-in-cheek style of humour confuses sometimes...

Not in the least! Timing's predictable, but otherwise, that's some top-drawer sass!

PS: How safe/secure is it shopping at Poker? I noticed that when I was going to place an order through them recently that the page you enter your credit card details on isn't secure (no "https" in the URL field).

You may have answered your own question there. I heard this concern from a friend in the U.S. many moons ago (long after I'd been buying from Poker, but before I'd ever noticed the lack of the "s" ), but ultimately they bit the bullet to get the deals (back when 20% was considered a top-line discount). I guess there could be a risk involved. I realize personal experience is just that, but I've ordered from them for over five years (mostly via the website, but occasionally by phone) and haven't had any credit card troubles to this day. Your mileage...as they say. An overseas phone call might cost a bit (though probably not as much as you'd save on the discs), but it might eliminate the worry. 1-732-238-5795.

They also have an option to "send credit card details separately" which should allow you to submit the order so you don't have to waste time dictating it over the phone when you call with the card info. I did this a couple times when they still listed Paypal as an option on the site but weren't actually using it anymore. They still received my order, so a quick call to give 'em my card info was all it took.

[Mike Thomason]

Is okay, after all that -- my contact at my favourite online HK retailer pulled another impressive coup for me, personally, again...

It's good to be the King!

[Brian Thibodeau]

It's good to be the King!

Of what?





.

[Mike Thomason]

...stuff. King of...stuff...

PS: When are you going to update your blog? I have about four or five Shaw reviews fishing for my attention on mine that will be going up over the next couple of days (Call Girls, Diary of a Lady Killer, Sexy Girls of Denmark, and Hell Has No Boundary) as well as belated review of Marriage With a Fool*.

* which I made the mistake of watching back-to-back with Love Is Not All Around, which resulted in the fluff that they both were gelling together and becoming one big blob of Ye Nianchen-penned schmaltz...

[Brian Thibodeau]

...stuff. King of...stuff...

Sure, uh-huh. Well I'm a king of stuff too, dammit! I thought you were gonna say King of Perth or something. I'm still learning about you Australian white folk...

PS: When are you going to update your blog? I have about four or five Shaw reviews fishing for my attention on mine that will be going up over the next couple of days (Call Girls, Diary of a Lady Killer, Sexy Girls of Denmark, and Hell Has No Boundary) as well as belated review of Marriage With a Fool*.

Good question! The blog's definitely a slowly-evolving thing, but now that yours is up and running again, I'm a bit more inspired to post regularly, but as you know, mine's always been an odds n' sods sorta dumping ground with no particular focus (Asian cinema, reviews, etc.), and probably will continue to be. Most of my reviews tend to be short-form as well (which is intentional, if lighthanded) and as such I'm just not sure they'd make for good blog reading, especially up against those detailed monsters you pen, so I tend to upload reviews when I feel I can actually write something at length. I still look at that review I did of LOVE @ FIRST NOTE and have difficulty believing I would even bother with something that long? How lazy is that?

It's funny you bring up MARRIAGE and LOVE IS NOT ALL AROUND. My blog originally had a review of the latter in the spot where the LOVE @ FIRST NOTE review sits right now, but I felt FIRST NOTE was a far better film (despite feeling like a 90 minute press kit!), so I replaced the review, but not the name of the film I was reviewing, so for months, the handful of people who might have bothered to read it probably thought some "gelling" was going on in my head.

I'm also hoping to port over a bunch of older, mixed-length reviews from various other sites (IMDB, Amazon, etc.) just so I can have them all in one place when the inevitable archive.org backup occurs . It was rather cool discovering a few months back that the blog was backed-up there when I was tweaking an older piece and hit a wrong button or two in the wee hours of the morning and suddenly deleted several paragraphs and wasn't able to retrieve them using the "back" button on my browser. That said, I'll probably back-date the older stuff since most of the titles hardly noteworthy these days. So those not expecting deep thoughts might do well to browse backwards at some point.

And then there's the TIFF stuff! Of the 11 movies I saw at the festival, only five have so far garnered thoughts on the blog, so perhaps the remainder (Johnnie To/Wai Ka-fai's MAD DETECTIVE, Christian Frosch's DEFA-inspired SILENT RESIDENT, Lee Myung-se's M, Tony Ayres' HOME SONG STORIES, Gonzalo López-Gallego's KING OF THE HILL and Hitoshi Matsumoto's DAINIPPONJIN) should be given a little love as well at some point. Hope folks are patient!

Lots to pick from. So little time to write sometimes...

[Mike Thomason]

The 5 Billion Dollar Legacy (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Carry On Con Men (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Cherie (Hong Kong) (DVD)
The Golden Buddha (Hong Kong) (DVD)
A Mad World of Fools (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Sinful Confession (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Two Con Men (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Wide Sargasso Sea (Australia) (DVD)

[Mike Thomason]

Shaws, Shaws, Shaws...and a couple of new things!

Alone (Thailand) (DVD)
The Amorous Lotus Pan (1992) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Big Bad Sis (Hong Kong) (DVD)
A Cause To Kill (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Forbidden Tales of Two Cities (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Hong Kong Hong Kong (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Maybe It's Love (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Naraka 19 (Hong Kong) (DVD)
The Shepherd Girl (Hong Kong) (DVD)*
Summons to Death (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Twisted Passion (Hong Kong) (DVD)

* we only just realised that this was one of my wife's favourite old movies from when she was young! Woot!

[Mike Thomason]

Ah, I see it's pretty much only me keeping this thing going...

Angel With The Iron Fists (Hong Kong) (DVD)
The Black Falcon (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Interpol (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Raw Passions (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Torrent Of Desire (Hong Kong) (DVD)

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I finally won a decent Asian lot (I have a couple of these horror films already so they will be future gifts; this month has been catching up on Boris Karloff/Vincent Price films ):

3 Extremes
3 Extremes II
Acacia
Audition
Bangkok Haunted
Dark Water
Doppelganger
Evil Dead Trap
Evil Dead Trap 2
Face
Gemini
Gozu
Ichi the Killer
Infection
Kichiku Banquet of the Beasts
Koma
Memento Mori
Natural City
Oldboy
Premonition
Ringu
Spider Forest
Stacy
Tetsuo: The Iron Man
The Eye
The Eye 2
Uzumaki (Spiral)
Wild Zero
Wishing Stairs

[Brian Thibodeau]

Well, just so Mike doesn't feel lonely (goodness, can't take a break to actually watch all the stuff we buy, eh?), here's some recent pick-ups. Lucked out a couple of weeks ago when I came across a brand spankin' new video/music store conveniently located in the same plaza as the Chinese mega-grocery store I shop at on a regular basis. Nice once again to see some legit retailers making a go of it in spite of the abundant bootleggers in this town. Mind you, there were these dismaying little DVD-R's in paper envelopes labelled "promotional copies" beside the box-set TV shows, so it's a bit obvious they're not fully above the board, but so far the movie selection has been originals only. Another bonus: because they'd only opened the week before, they were having a 30% off everything sale , plus another 20% off (and on all future purchases) if you bought one of their "VIP" cards for $10, so there was quite a savings on this lot. (Place is called Warden Music & Movie Wholesale or something like that, in case any Torontonians are hereabouts). Only bummer: no VCDs

Shaw Stuff (DVDs):
BEWITCHED (just read that this is the precursor to BOXER'S OMEN, which I haven't watched yet, so I might save this for a double bill)
RETURN OF THE DEAD
SEEDING OF A GHOST
SENSUAL PLEASURES
and even some Martial Arts stuff, heaven forbid!
GODFATHER OF CANTON
THE PROTECTORS
THE TWELVE COINS

Not Shaw Stuff:

MY BABY SHOT ME DOWN (Panorama, 2002) Already watched this about a week ago. Very underrated psycho thriller, shot on video, with most of the same cast (Teresa Mak, Jade Leung, Pinky Cheung) and crew who made the BRUSH UP MY SISTERS "trilogy." This is probably the best one from that company, with several surprisingly strong performances and lots of "cinema-style" camerawork that almost makes you forget you're watching a movie shot on video.

On a semi-related kick, I also satisfied a long-unfed Cantopop jones with this & this for about $13 CDN each. Nice box sets with 3 CDs totalling 50 songs per set, including plenty I've heard in the movies, plus cool books I can't read! It even includes Maria Cordero's awful crying jag "Mama I Love You" from one of those dunderheaded UNWRITTEN LAW flickies. Now anybody gets lefta me, I can crank that and make 'em scared real fast! I'm almost done the second set of discs, and so far there's been almost no duplication of songs I already have except for maybe three or four. The sets represent artists from all the different labels, which is kinda handy.

[ewaffle]

Not Shaw Stuff:

MY BABY SHOT ME DOWN (Panorama, 2002) Already watched this about a week ago. Very underrated psycho thriller, shot on video, with most of the same cast (Teresa Mak, Jade Leung, Pinky Cheung) and crew who made the BRUSH UP MY SISTERS "trilogy." This is probably the best one from that company, with several surprisingly strong performances and lots of "cinema-style" camerawork that almost makes you forget you're watching a movie shot on video.

With that cast this is a movie I must get. Teresa Mak is just unspeakably gorgeous and talented but she seems to be cast as the buddy to the female star in a bunch of films and also as one of the actresses who keep her clothes on for some Cat III flesh-fests. But almost anything with her is worth watching. And with Jade and Pinky...