2008: The Digital Rummage

[Mike Thomason]

March Purchases

50 First Dates (US) (DVD)
Alexander: Final Cut (Germany/France/US) (DVD)
Birdcage Inn (South Korea) (DVD)
Cannibal Apocalypse (Italy) (DVD)
Conquest (Italy) (DVD)
Contraband (Italy) (DVD)
Hostel: Unrated edition (US) (DVD)
Laure (Italy) (DVD)
Love Exposure (South Korea) (DVD)
Love Letters of a Portuguese Nun (Switzerland) (DVD)
Love Now (South Korea) (DVD)
The Millionaire Chase (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Our Town (South Korea) (DVD)
The Queen (UK) (DVD)
Seven Days (South Korea) (DVD)
Troy: Director's Cut (US/UK) (DVD)
Underground Rendezvous (South Korea) (DVD)
The Venus Tear Diamond (Hong Kong) (DVD)
We Love Millionaires (Hong Kong) (DVD)

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Royal Tramp (1992: Hong Kong: Dragon Dynasty): Already watched both films.
Bodyguard Kiba (1 and 2: Japan)

Got all these HKL (35 including shipping for the lot): Once upon A time in China 2, Once Upon A Time in China 3, Legend Of a Fighter, Iron Monkey, My Lucky Stars, Ninja In The Dragons Den, and Warriors Two.

Non-Asian:
Black Narcissus (1947)

[Brian Thibodeau]

Non-Asian:
Black Narcissus (1947)

Nice . . .

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Non-Asian:
Black Narcissus (1947)

Nice . . .

After your recommendation in Criterion thread, I had to make sure I got it. I will also put in higher in my Criterion queue when I receive it to watch sooner (probably behind House of Games but ahead of Bad Timing ).

Enjoying the Val Lewton set I recently received. I got other films too lately, but mostly 30s and 40s like "The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)".

[Brian Thibodeau]

After your recommendation in Criterion thread, I had to make sure I got it. I will also put in higher in my Criterion queue when I receive it to watch sooner (probably behind House of Games but ahead of Bad Timing ).

Enjoying the Val Lewton set I recently received. I got other films too lately, but mostly 30s and 40s like "The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)".

Hoping to get that House of Games edition sometime in the future. Looks pretty nice.

I've been watching a lot of older stuff myself lately (although most of it was purchased ages ago, so not really part of this year's rummage)! Just finished the Esther Williams Collection Vol. 1 believe it or not! Good stuff, for the most part, especially her debut lead role in BATHING BEAUTY,which wraps up with a mammoth production number in the pool. Couldn't even imagine anybody pulling films like those off today.

Also watched a couple of Fox Film Noirs, including VICKI (1953), a just-good remake of I WAKE UP SCREAMING and FOURTEEN HOURS, a top-notch suspense picture filmed in New York about a beat cop trying to talk a suicidal guy off the ledge of a building.

Haven't bought much lately, though. Too much to watch already, and I'm finally watching it!

[ewaffle]

Hoping to get that House of Games edition sometime in the future. Looks pretty nice.

I am a fan--a stone fan--of David Mamet and his first wife/muse/star Lindsay Crouse and think that "House of Games" is a terrific movie. Rebecca Pidgeon is fine--"The Spanish Prisoner" was terrific. However, other than the commentary, I think that the Criterion restoration treatment is less necessary for Mamet's work than many others. His genius is in the dialog--some of his movies, including "House of Games", would work beautifully as radio plays.

I realize that writing "other than the commentary" on Criterion discs is like saying "other than the shark" on "Jaws"....

Haven't bought much lately, though. Too much to watch already, and I'm finally watching it

I have imposed a temporary (open-ended) partial (almost complete) moratorium on myself for further purchases. That doesn't sound like a huge a step but the stacks of DVD to watch and books to read can get out of hand--or at least they are now. It seems that the more I buy the less I read and watch so time to slow way down for a bit.

[Brian Thibodeau]

His genius is in the dialog--some of his movies, including "House of Games", would work beautifully as radio plays.

I remember thinking this when I was watching a movie of his called OLEANNA many years ago. Quite the film to discuss with a girlfriend or wife, I must say. I believe it was based on a stage play he'd done (which would have been interesting to see as well), but it really seemed like it would have worked quite well on radio. With the right actors, of course.

I have imposed a temporary (open-ended) partial (almost complete) moratorium on myself for further purchases. That doesn't sound like a huge a step but the stacks of DVD to watch and books to read can get out of hand--or at least they are now. It seems that the more I buy the less I read and watch so time to slow way down for a bit.

The stacks do get unwieldy after awhile, don't they? Starts to feel like work sometimes. Enjoyable work, but work nonetheless.

My sorta-moratorium remains open-ended also (gotta keep those HK titles rolling in), but thanks to the sheer breadth and volume of titles released on DVD up to now, and the fact that catalogue titles get cheaper the longer you hold off buying them, it's been fairly easy to bring my core "library" nearly to completion. A lot of the titles I've been picking up over the last year or more (including much of the bargain Hong Kong stuff) have been ones I simply always wanted to see as opposed to ones I "needed" (so to speak) for "the collection" , and many of those titles get sold off shortly thereafter. But even that mental list is getting small these days. I'm not really given to double-dipping, and upgrading much of anything beyond the certified "classics" to hi-def holds little interest, so at least that's some money that stays in my pocket.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

...I've been watching a lot of older stuff myself lately (although most of it was purchased ages ago, so not really part of this year's rummage)! Just finished the Esther Williams Collection Vol. 1 believe it or not! Good stuff, for the most part, especially her debut lead role in BATHING BEAUTY,which wraps up with a mammoth production number in the pool. Couldn't even imagine anybody pulling films like those off today.

...

I'll be eventually watching that soon (Ester Williams so I believe it). I bought it for my mom on Christmas and I'll eventually borrow (I've bought her hundreds of musicals ; well she is a pianist). I've been watching the Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire collaborations (watched Gay Divorcee last night; so now four out of ten watched) for my musical watchings.

I'll put House of Games even higher in my Criterion queue with ewaffle's recommendation (it's now above Short Cuts too ; I've put that film off watching for so long, something about people's problems in LA ). So either Lola or House of Games for next Criterion watch.

Since I have an interest in so many genres and styles there will be no moratorium on purchases . I try to whittle those piles down , but then again I'll get a new lot for a great deal (the more you have in a particular area the harder it is to get lots; I have an RSS feed for Criterion lots, but every lot always has ones I have ; Brian must feel the same about HK films).

So more Criterion, Tartan Asian Extreme, Dragon Dynasty, Rarescope, Steve McQueen (almost done here), Hong Kong pre 60s, Chambara, horrible horrible Thai actioners , silent, Shaw Brothers, Kino, Bela Tarr, Westerns, Studio Classics, Vicki , Ozu, Kurosawa to get. Hence neverending.

[Brian Thibodeau]

So more Criterion, Tartan Asian Extreme, Dragon Dynasty, Rarescope, Steve McQueen (almost done here), Hong Kong pre 60s, Chambara, horrible horrible Thai actioners , silent, Shaw Brothers, Kino, Bela Tarr, Westerns, Studio Classics, Vicki , Ozu, Kurosawa to get. Hence neverending.

Stop it! Please, stop it! You're breaking down my resistance. It's such a fragile thing already . . .

I'll be eventually watching that soon (Ester Williams so I believe it). I bought it for my mom on Christmas and I'll eventually borrow (I've bought her hundreds of musicals ; well she is a pianist).

Priceless! That's how I ended up with the set too! My mom loves the old musicals, and I don't mind most of them, so I knew getting her that set as a birthday gift would give me a chance to finally see some of Williams' films later on (my mom grew up on her pictures). Now I can't wait for Vol. 2. Neither of us are particularly "musical", though we're both swim junkies, so I suppose that could be the attraction to these particular gems. In fact, I'm always telling my parents to let me see any movies they're thinking of trading to Blockbuster before they do so, because they've got a lot of oldies that I wanna borrow!

Frankly, I think anyone interested of Hong Kong cinema (including longstanding buffs) owes it to themselves to be more well-versed in Hollywood musicals, which is why I've always jumped at the chance to see ones I missed. Beyond the obvious connection between Hollywood-style musical choreography and Hong Kong-style martial arts choreography, I find there are often similarities of plot structure and character/storytelling dynamics between the two that suggest a lot of Hong Kong filmmakers—old and new—are at least familiar with the form. Now if only someone would have let Maggie, Michelle, Sammi or the others frolic around in a gargantuan swimming pool . . .

Since I have an interest in so many genres and styles there will be no moratorium on purchases . I try to whittle those piles down , but then again I'll get a new lot for a great deal (the more you have in a particular area the harder it is to get lots; I have an RSS feed for Criterion lots, but every lot always has ones I have ; Brian must feel the same about HK films).

How does that "RSS feed for Criterion lots" work, actually? I'm not very familiar with them to start with, so didn't know you could use 'em to scope out stuff for sale, assuming that's what you're doing. I've seen the occasional lot of HK titles on ebay, but yeah, they usually do have too many titles I've already seen, and single auctions + shipping usually amounts to more than I pay in the Chinese shops around here. But it never hurts to check. Of course, some day I'll probably be the one unloading bundles of HK discs the same way.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Stop it! Please, stop it! You're breaking down my resistance. It's such a fragile thing already . . .
...
How does that "RSS feed for Criterion lots" work, actually? I'm not very familiar with them to start with, so didn't know you could use 'em to scope out stuff for sale, assuming that's what you're doing. I've seen the occasional lot of HK titles on ebay, but yeah, they usually do have too many titles I've already seen, and single auctions + shipping usually amounts to more than I pay in the Chinese shops around here. But it never hurts to check. Of course, some day I'll probably be the one unloading bundles of HK discs the same way.

Sorry about the late reply (Friday was a bit horrible ). It is just endless what we can collect on DVDs .

RSS is great for so many different reasons. It's main use is for keeping track of new blog entries (I use it to keep track of Cals "Hero's of the East"), but you can keep track of new Amazon reviews for your favorite reviewer like Morgoth or yourself , and ebay sellers and ebay searches (much easier than using ebay's seller and other feature saves, though it does keep track of additional items that the RSS feed does not).

First get yourself an RSS Reader (I use Snarfer -- www.snarfer.com, however, there are tons of readers out there). Look through the sparse documentation .

Next add feeds (you might want to create a nice directory structure with whatever software you use) by copying the link usually through an RSS image or or you can just use whatever link someone gives you (examples below).

Hero's of the East link: http://filmjournal.net/mjocallaghan/feed/
Kung Fu Cinema: http://69.64.87.108/?feed=rss2

My Amazon Reviews: http://www.amazon.com/rss/people/ASFTYW ... ev_manlink
Morgoth's reviews: http://www.amazon.com/rss/people/APIW11 ... ev_manlink
Brian's Reviews: http://www.amazon.com/rss/people/A2BHRZ ... ev_manlink

Ebay feeds: they tend to be a bit long, but you can get them by searching for an item you like (like Criterion in the DVD section) and after your search results looks for the RSS image (pictured above). Click on that and copy the link. Add that link as a feed to your RSS reader software. Anytime something is new it will appear in the reader.

Picked up this weekend:
The Legend of the Black Scorpian (2006) China
Walker (1987) Criterion

[cal42]

That's extremely useful - I didn't know you could do stuff like that!

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

That's extremely useful - I didn't know you could do stuff like that!

RSS is so cool because you can save so much time by being notified of new blog entries instead of having to go to the web site over and over again (so I was notified yesterday that you wrote about Forbidden City Cop ). It also keeps track of each entries so if I want to look at an old article, I just click on it and I open the page link (like choosing Brian's Natural City review for Amazon or mine for The Blue's Brothers).

Kaiju Shakedown: http://www.varietyasiaonline.com/compon ... /task,rss/

[Harlock]

just ordered 2 books

Collective Memories in Movie Posters



Delicate and cherished collective memories of Hong Kong cinema preserved in a 366-page desktop calendar, which contains the finest selection of film posters in the HKFA collection, and memorable quotes penned by prominent film critics and scholars, including Law Kar, Michael Lam, Li Cheuk-to, Neco Lo, Keeto Lam, William Cheung and Wong Ain-ling. A collector's gem and a must for the true film buff!

Printed in full colour, bilingual in Chinese and English, published in 2007, priced at HK$105. (Edited by Winnie Fu)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hong Kong Filmography Volume VI (1965-1969) (In Chinese) (i just miss vol.1 and he seems really rare)



Up until the mid-to-late 1960s, going to the movies was still the most staple entertainment for the general public. Despite the social unrest caused by mass riots in 1967, Hong Kong's film industry made a swift recovery, and treating the audience to the delights of widescreen cinema in glorious colour. With the establishment of its own colour processing workshop, Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd. went from strength to strength, and consolidated the dominance of Mandarin films in the market. By contrast, Cantonese films were lagging behind with new social trends and taste. In the midst of drastic downsizing of productions, some dedicated Cantonese film veterans took their vocation even more seriously, and came up with meticulously crafted works. However, for practical reasons, the Hong Kong film industry diverted resources to developing the Taiwanese market.

Hong Kong in the 1960s was a time of tremendous economic growth and social evolution. The baby-boomer generation created a demand for more youthful and urban film culture. Both Mandarin and Cantonese films tried to cater to this young audience by making chic, cosmopolitan drama, lively youth films packed with song and dance, and even socially conscious works that tackled the problems of rebellious or delinquent youth. On another front, a revolution was taking place in colour wuxia films, thanks to trailblazers like King Hu and Chang Cheh. Their bold recreation of the martial arts world, their innovations in action choreography and unique aesthetics of violence took the genre to dizzying heights of artistic achievement and (sometimes) commercial success. Contemporary detective and action films also thrived as variations on this genre.

Hong Kong Filmography Volume VI (1965-1969) has compiled a database of some 900 titles of both fiction and documentary films made between 1965 and 1969. 452 pages thick with 16 colour poster stills. Hardcover. Published in 2007, priced at HK$265. (Edited by Kwok Ching-ling)

[Brian Thibodeau]

Trips to the dentist often make me feel like treating myself after all the suffering, so today I popped in to the trusty Movie & Music Warehouse to rummage through their VCDs, which have now been reduced from $2.50 to $2.00. Mostly older and/or obscure titles, but they'll fill in some gaps I guess. I still don't understand the lack of love for VCDs when there's so many titles that have only ever been released in the format in the digital age (after VHS and, possibly, LD, of course), despite the compromise in quality (something that just never happens with Hong Kong DVDs ). I'm sure some of these titles did turn up on DVD—this store actually has a bunch, but $2 vs. $10 for a DVD: hmmm . . .—but I'm likewise sure there's a few that haven't, and it might be a long wait at this point . . .

BORN TO BE WILD (1995)
THE OTHER 1/2 & THE OTHER 1/2 (1988)
TONIGHT NOBODY GOES HOME (1996)
GHOST PROMISE (2000)
THE RECKLESS BARRISTER (1994; surprised to see this one so underrepresented in the DB. Will take care of that at some point. From the packaging, it almost looks like they turned Shing Fui-on into a dashing leading man! )
PARADISE HOTEL (1995)
THE HONG KONG HAPPY MAN (2000; Now I gotta find the sequel!)
I.C. KILL (1999; Ryan's review sold me on this cheapie years ago, so it should be an interesting time capsule by now)
THE YOUNG ONES (aka HALF PAST 15) (2001; with Lee Siu-kei at the helm, perhaps this is a precursor to FING'S RAVER???)
EASY MONEY (1994)
WHAT PRICE . . . STARDOM (1977; another one in need of an update)

and a few odds n' ends from the $5 Wal-Mart bargain bins (just don't tell anyone I went there, OK? )

TROY DIRECTOR'S CUT (had no real desire to see this, but for five bucks, why not.)
(EDIT: just noticed this on the other Mr. T's very recently updated post at the top of the page! Glad to see you're still kicking around, sorta-kinda )
CONVOY (1978; probably shouldn't have bought this, even though it's a guilty pleasure. Somehow I just don't think a company called "Cheezy Flicks" actually owns the rights to what I think is a Fox title, but I guess it'll have to do for now)
THE ARROW (1997; this was a Canadian TV miniseries about one of the biggest disappointments in aerospace history, the development of the phenomenal CF-105 supersonic interceptor jet known as the Avro Arrow in the late 50's, a program brimming with potential that was suddenly and unceremoniously scrapped by our shortsighted government, along with the handful these legendary planes that were actually finished, in 1959, fueling a controversy that still kicks around to this day. Good cast too: Christopher Plummer, Dan Ackroyd, Michael Ironside, Michael Moriarty)

[Mike Thomason]

...just noticed this on the other Mr. T's very recently updated post at the top of the page! Glad to see you're still kicking around, sorta-kinda

Yes, I still live and breathe! But at present, sadly not even the review blog has time for updates -- homelife and personal affairs have taken precedent over the last couple of months. We have a little boy on the way in August, and my mother's been taken very ill of late, so time is a bit more scarce at the beginning of this year than ever before.

I get the odd window to watch things, but not really the time to write about them (excepting an [email] interview with Kim Ki-Duk I've recently submitted for an American publication I freelance for), and even odder moments where I walk into the big variety stores, see some big commercial Western films I wanted to see on DVD in the bargain bins, and purchase them for nix with view to watch somewhere in the near to distant future. I reckon DVD will be a defunct format by the time I catch up!

[Brian Thibodeau]

Yes, I still live and breathe! But at present, sadly not even the review blog has time for updates -- homelife and personal affairs have taken precedent over the last couple of months. We have a little boy on the way in August, and my mother's been taken very ill of late, so time is a bit more scarce at the beginning of this year than ever before.

Life certainly gets in the way sometimes. Hope all goes well on both those fronts!

You could always do what I do with the blog thing: shuffle an older entry to the beginning from time to time! Might not fool everybody, but I figure makes me look more active than I really am to the few people who even find the thing in the first place! Oh, the shame . . .

I get the odd window to watch things, but not really the time to write about them (excepting an [email] interview with Kim Ki-Duk I've recently submitted for an American publication I freelance for), and even odder moments where I walk into the big variety stores, see some big commercial Western films I wanted to see on DVD in the bargain bins, and purchase them for nix with view to watch somewhere in the near to distant future. I reckon DVD will be a defunct format by the time I catch up!

I was reading a thread at another forum recently about "movie saturation" that kicks in when the stacks of DVDs seem to outpace the time we'll ever have to watch them, and I think it's a symptom many here can understand, myself included. Now that DVD seems to be approaching its twilight years, and the bargains are constant and everywhere, I've pretty much built the library I always wanted, and have simply been trying to muddle through at a leisurely pace (thus the fewer purchases this year). But it's still daunting sometimes!

Thankfully, I see no need to upgrade the vast majority of these titles to the next format, despite having some of the technology to do so. Blu-Rays are fine and dandy for films that actually warrant the enhancement—particularly newer stuff that was shot hi-def in the first place—but I just don't see much point in upgrading the countless American drive-in movies, euro schlock and low-budget Hong Kong and Asian specialties that make up a significant portion of my library. Upconversion is more than acceptable for the vast majority of 'em to my weary eyes, and considering how difficult it seems to be for Hong Kong distributors to release truly definitive versions of virtually anything—let alone get much of the city's output on DVD in the first place—I just can't imagine going through it all over again with hi-def! Oy!

[cal42]

Ain't it weird? It goes all quiet on here for ages and then there's three posts all in the same day! Hope your mom gets better soon, Mike.

I've been trudging through the stuff I've already bought and re-watching some gems from yesteryear. Like Brian, my library's pretty big now and I was searching for something to watch last night and came upon something I'd not watched before. My reaction was: "I can't believe I've never watched that" before putting it back and watching something I'd seen before .

Decided to order some more films today though:
People's Hero - saw this once in the 90's and really liked it. Don't know what I'll make of it now.
Mad Detective - not seen it but it looks interesting.
Kid From Kwantung
Interpol - Got to get as many Shaw DVDs while I still can!

By the way, Brian, where is your blog these days?

[Brian Thibodeau]

I've been trudging through the stuff I've already bought and re-watching some gems from yesteryear. Like Brian, my library's pretty big now and I was searching for something to watch last night and came upon something I'd not watched before. My reaction was: "I can't believe I've never watched that" before putting it back and watching something I'd seen before .

It's funny. Sometimes I look at the "watched" DVDs that I'm keeping and actually look forward to the day when I can return to them. I find my opinions of films rarely change over time. Thanks to low prices, I've picked up a lot of "blind buys" of stuff I've wanted to see for decades. Some I keep, some I sell, but the core library of keepers should be nice to peruse once I'm finally caught up on all the films that I've wanted to see since I first became a film junkie in my early teens. Thanks to DVD, I have pretty much all of them, and cheap too, and I'm gradually ticking them off my mental list. Still a ways to go.

I also hope some day to return to being more of a renter, now that I've got comparitively easy access to offbeat video stores around here than I ever did in my old home town. But still, they'll have to wait . . .

Looking forward to your thoughts on Mad Detective. Quite a gonzo classic in my book. I'm just about to head downtown for the first time in about three months. I probably shouldn't go near Chinatown, since money is tight, but I can already smell the roast pork buns and fish balls. INTERPOL is actually one of the Shaw titles I need to grab before it goes out of print, so I'm hoping one of the old reliable haunts there might have it. But really I shouldn't . . .

[Mike Thomason]

April Purchases

2 Fast 2 Furious (US) (DVD)
The Amityville Horror (US) (DVD)*
Assault on Precinct 13 (US) (DVD)*
The Big Alligator River (Italy) (DVD)
The Blue & The Black (Hong Kong) (DVD)
The Blue & The Black II (Hong Kong) (DVD)
CJ7 (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Cadaver (South Korea) (DVD)
Captivity (US) (DVD)
The Da Vinci Code (Extended edition) (US) (DVD)
Epitaph (South Korea) (DVD)
The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift (US) (DVD)
Femme Fatal (South Korea) (DVD)
The Fog (1980) (US) (DVD)
The Fog: Unrated edition (US) (DVD)*
Le Grand Chef (South Korea) (DVD)
The Hitcher (US) (DVD)*
House of Wax (US) (DVD)*
Illicit Desire (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Kiss of Death (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Love & Sex Among the Ruins (Hong Kong) (DVD)
The Merry Wife (Hong Kong) (DVD)
The Outlaw Brothers (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Poseidon (US) (DVD)
Post Apocalyptic Triple Feature: Boxset
- 1990: The Bronx Warriors (Italy) (DVD)
- 2019: After the Fall of New York (Italy) (DVD)
- The New Barbarians (Italy) (DVD)
Saw: Unrated edition (US) (DVD)
Saw II: Unrated edition (US) (DVD)
Saw III: Unrated edition (US) (DVD)
Saw IV: Unrated edition (US) (DVD)
Shoot 'Em Up (US) (DVD)
The Silent Love (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Sunflower (South Korea) (DVD)
Taxi Hunter (Hong Kong) (DVD)
Thirteen Ghosts (US) (DVD)*
Valentine (US) (DVD)
When a Stranger Calls (US) (DVD)*

* yes, these are all the remakes

[Mike Thomason]

I'll periodically update the above post through the month, but in the interim has anyone been keeping up with new Hong Kong movies? I'm looking for some feedback on the below titles:

Dangerous Games (2007) (Or is this Mainland Chinese?)
In Love With the Dead (2007) (Rare for me to miss a Pang film, but this one looked a bit mundane...)
Kung Fu Dunk (2008) (yeah, I know it's from Taiwan!)
Linger (2008) (new Johnnie To! Woot!)
Mad Detective (2007)
The Pye-Dog (2007)
See You In You Tube (2008)
Trivial Matters (2007) (a bit hesitant here, Edmond Pang's going downhill fast...)
The Warlords (2007) (Once again, does this count as HK or China?)
Yes, I Can See Dead People (2008)

Thanks in advance! Back to old Jess Franco flicks and my South Korean catch-up in the meantime...

[Brian Thibodeau]

I have everything except DANGEROUS GAMES and SEE YOU (the latter of which I'm not too familiar with . . . yet, so thanks for the reminder), so in a way, I have been keeping up with Hong Kong movies as always, but hopefully I won't risk ire by stating that I've only watched MAD DETECTIVE so far (twice, including the fest premiere ) and thought it was a remarkable little film. Maybe not peak Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai (just to be safe here), depending on one's taste for their films, but really a nice left-field surprise with a title character who probably shouldn't be as likable as he is. But then again, maybe I'm more prone to go with the grain.

Incidentally, I was looking at the DVD of DANGEROUS GAMES in Chinatown the other day and it sure feels like it's some kind of Mainland production. I'll get it eventually, but I'll defer to others to confirm its land of origin.

Looking forward to your blog reviews of any of these by the way, but somehow I suspect you're going to be preoccupied with a certain other project in a few months time to update very often!

[Mike Thomason]

...so in a way, I have been keeping up with Hong Kong movies, but hopefully I won't risk ire by stating that I've only watched MAD DETECTIVE so far (twice, including the fest premiere ) and thought it was a remarkable little film. Maybe not peak Johnnie To and Wai Ka-fai (just to be safe here), depending on one's taste for their films, but really a nice left-field surprise with a title character who probably shouldn't be as likable as he is.

No ire to be raised, good sir, as it's fairly obvious I'm ticking along doing my own thing under my own steam in my own time of late (hence all the Jess Franco films from the get-go this year).

I plan on squeezing the odd HK movie in every now and then -- gotta budget out for cots and strollers and baby toys and stuff now for August -- but after last year's rather underwhelming show from the HK movies...well, I've decided to be a bit more canny with my money and HK DVDs. Of course, I'm a huge Johnnie To junkie, so LINGER and MAD DETECTIVE will probably get a look in soon -- so thanks kindly for the positive feedback on the title. It certainly helps prioritise things!

And totally while we're not talking about "torture porn" (geez, how I hate that catch-phrase; it always conjures up the ideal of hardcore pornography themed around torture -- NOT what the donkeys who dreamt the term up were intending), I finally saw Eli Roth's HOSTEL! And I must say, for a modestly gory horror film, it was pretty decent. With all the "it's so graphic -- there's no purpose to the gore -- it's so racist towards Europeans", I must admit I was a bit hesitant about ever watching it, but then I found it cheap on DVD in a bargain bin the other day...so I thought why not? Surprisingly, it was none of the above -- it suggested more than it showed in the icky FX department and the so-called "racism" wasn't even really there; the whole "creepy foreigners" thing balanced out by the "dumb, loud-mouthed Americans" shenanigans.

And as a related aside, my previously published review of GONG TAU that I put up on my blog recently drew a rather savage, and staggeringly RUDE, response from a Malaysian* reader -- which didn't even see the light of day on the site as I deleted it before anyone else saw it as it wasn't the kind of feedback I'd like to encourage on the site (btw, check out my MILES APART review and note the single line of feedback at its footer! Trippy!). Basically, the guy said I was a total ass, knew zip about what I was writing about, called me more names because I wasn't Asian and couldn't see the film for the Z-grade trash it was and then said "this is the age of 'torture-porn' like HOSTEL" which was his qualification for trashing the movie into the gutter...then he called me a few more names, just for good measure. Pretty hilarious, really -- a guy who lives in a country who has one of the most corrupt government bodies in all of SE Asia, who incidentally banned HOSTEL (so I'm guessing he either downloaded it illegally or saw it via one of those pirate discs Malaysians seem to so love), caning me for being a "dickhead white guy" because I liked GONG TAU. The internet...it's a funny old place...

NB: Apologies to Brian and anyone else who replied or added feedback to the blog before the New Year; I was messing around with the functions of it a short while back and accidentally deleted all the comments. I am such a putz with technology...

* though he left a false email address and posted under an alias, I was able to track his IP address through to the Malaysian Peninsula; who says you have any privacy on the internet?

[Brian Thibodeau]

I finally saw Eli Roth's HOSTEL! And I must say, for a modestly gory horror film, it was pretty decent . . .

I felt the same about the effects work in HOSTEL when I saw it. I kept thinking "This is what got people so worked up? I've seen worse, actually." Granted, the implication of someone suffering is much more powerful than actually seeing the latex 'n karo syrup mechanics of it on screen, and in that regard, I though Roth did an OK job, even if I didn't see any point to it all (and I felt he still showed more than he probably needed to). Guess it did what it set out to do. Roth's got potential, but he's been awfully one-note so far—and he's awfully self-assured based on a rather modest output (and CABIN FEVER sucked royally in my book; but feel free to change my mind, folks). Perhaps working with better writers on the higher-concept CELL will finally free up some time for this guy to prove whether he can draw strong performances out of what are bound to be better actors.

And as a related aside, my previously published review of GONG TAU that I put up on my blog recently drew a rather savage, and staggeringly RUDE, response from a Malaysian* reader -- which didn't even see the light of day on the site as I deleted it before anyone else saw it as it wasn't the kind of feedback I'd like to encourage on the site . . .

Wow, you shoulda left that one in! I always love reading bizarro feedback like that on my favorite blog sites, especially if it's as dunderheaded as this clown's material. Sounds like this guy said more about himself and his country than he did about you, but he probably wasn't articulate enough to realize it! Malaysia's a very conservative place, as I recall (at least on the surface, from the sounds of it ), so it's hardly surprising that he'd side with the sensitive-Sally types—the world over these days—who don't have anywhere near enough context in which to voice critical reaction to a film like GONG TAU (or HOSTEL for that matter!). And if he thinks GONG TAU is "Z-grade" I gotta wonder if he's seen a lot of Malaysian cinema in his lifetime! Sure, there's some great stuff, but . . .

NB: Apologies to Brian and anyone else who replied or added feedback to the blog before the New Year; I was messing around with the functions of it a short while back and accidentally deleted all the comments. I am such a putz with technology...

I actually noticed that during a recent visit , but was wary of bringing it up in case it was an overall housecleaning or something! I figured perhaps the responses went away with some of those . . . interesting posts from the beginning of the year.

[Mike Thomason]

I actually noticed that during a recent visit , but was wary of bringing it up in case it was an overall housecleaning or something! I figured perhaps the responses went away with some of those . . . interesting posts from the beginning of the year.

Yeah, dummy me...I decided to do away with the "search engine" feedback lists, because it just seemed to give an incentive to some weirdos to plug more stuff into search engines then follow-through to the blog just so it would come up in the search engine searches (and I'm talking some really out there stuff -- the amount of blatantly racist and sexually violent/repugnant terms used as link-throughs, sometimes those things combined, really skyrocketed after I started posting them!), and in doing so managed to do away with almost all of the "Diversion" posts. Handy hint for the kids -- never let me near programs and/or software I am not familiar with, at least until I get the hang of it...

And don't be afraid of bringing those things up with me! Having a little one on the way has immeasurably mellowed me -- who knows? One day I might even add a new review to the site!

As for Malaysia...yeah...I know my wife's from there, but she's East Malaysian and it seems to be the West Malaysians that are best at being belligerent and hypercritical on the internet (check out any Peninsula-based movie forum; you'd think that West Malaysia wrote the book on quality cinema from the way some of them post). Good at name-calling and the use of profanity too! Btw, East Malaysia = Sarawak and Sabah on Borneo island, West Malaysia = the Peninsula. But as you said, for such an arrogant bunch so well-versed in expletive-laden internet interaction, West Malaysia doesn't exactly harbour the world's greatest additions to modern cinema. When was the last time any of us saw a Malaysian film sold internationally? Apart from people like Yasmin Ahmad, who largely works outside of the system (and draws mucho criticism, because she's...gasp...a woman!), Malaysia's contemporary cinema's quality well and truly precedes it. I'm sure I don't have to trot out the stones/glass houses analogy yet again...

In essence, per the blog of late, I've been a bit bored with it and had little to no desire to write much for it over the last few months. I pruned a couple of things I found wastes of space, terminated a few other things in error, and of course, dumped all of the comments with a wrong click of the mouse (never muck around with "select all" buttons). Maybe I might review all of the Swiss-released Jess Franco DVDs? The discs were all stellar quality, but the movies certainly weren't -- however, they all harboured loads of nudity and prurient content to make for the kind of reading that seems to be attracting the perves to the blog enmasse already. I'll go the lowest common denominator route after I plug up a review of Roth's HOSTEL for all and sundry -- that might keep my Malaysian "torture porn" fan happy!

[cal42]

My own blog has suffered a fatal problem with comments in recent weeks. Basically, EVERYTHING was ending up in the spam box and Filmjournal's spam box is not a nice place to be ("Cheap Ambien!" "Discount Ambien!" "Ambien fatal dose!" "Wean youself off Ambien!") so I haven't been trawling through it at all.

As most of the people who leave comments on my blog also come on here, sorry if your comment did not get put up on the site and I'll try to be more careful in future!

Anyway, back on topic, I'm hoping Mad Detective comes before the weekend as I'm quite looking forward to that and I'll certainly leave my thoughts lying about where people can see them.

[Brian Thibodeau]

In essence, per the blog of late, I've been a bit bored with it and had little to no desire to write much for it over the last few months. I pruned a couple of things I found wastes of space, terminated a few other things in error, and of course, dumped all of the comments with a wrong click of the mouse (never muck around with "select all" buttons). Maybe I might review all of the Swiss-released Jess Franco DVDs? The discs were all stellar quality, but the movies certainly weren't -- however, they all harboured loads of nudity and prurient content to make for the kind of reading that seems to be attracting the perves to the blog enmasse already. I'll go the lowest common denominator route after I plug up a review of Roth's HOSTEL for all and sundry -- that might keep my Malaysian "torture porn" fan happy!

Sometimes I wish I could update my own blog more regularly, but I find once a month (if I'm lucky) is good enough for now. Most of my reviews tend to be short-ish anyways, so they practically need the clips to make them look good! I basically run everything I watch through the DVD recorder, then if something strikes my fancy, I rip a little clip for use later on. Of course, it takes a while to fill up a 4 gig DVD-R that way, which probably explains the long gaps between posts. But really, how many people give a s**t about BRAVEFUL POLICE these days?

My own blog has suffered a fatal problem with comments in recent weeks. Basically, EVERYTHING was ending up in the spam box and Filmjournal's spam box is not a nice place to be ("Cheap Ambien!" "Discount Ambien!" "Ambien fatal dose!" "Wean youself off Ambien!") so I haven't been trawling through it at all.

Hey, at least you guys GET feedback! My blog is so low-key—and full of movies no one probably wants to see anyways (INTERNET DISASTER? Come ON!)—that feedback is rare. Hell, sometimes I wonder if I forgot to click a button somewhere that allows people to post in the first place!

[cal42]

Hey, at least you guys GET feedback! My blog is so low-key—and full of movies no one probably wants to see anyways (INTERNET DISASTER? Come ON!)—that feedback is rare. Hell, sometimes I wonder if I forgot to click a button somewhere that allows people to post in the first place!

Ah, but now I know where it is, and now that I know what an RSS Reader is, that might change .

[Chungking_Cash]

Granted, the implication of someone suffering is much more powerful than actually seeing the latex 'n karo syrup mechanics of it on screen, and in that regard, I though Roth did an OK job, even if I didn't see any point to it all (and I felt he still showed more than he probably needed to).

Implication is what made "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) a flea pit classic and the lack there of in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2003) a 98 minute groan.

Guess it did what it set out to do. Roth's got potential, but he's been awfully one-note so far—and he's awfully self-assured based on a rather modest output (and CABIN FEVER sucked royally in my book; but feel free to change my mind, folks).

God bless you, Brian. A friend of mine and I decided that "Cabin Fever" had built up enough positive word-of-mouth in theaters to give it a shot on video and paid dearly for ignoring our inner reservations.

Perhaps I gave "Hostel" a marginally positive review based on comparison.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Implication is what made "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre" (1974) a flea pit classic and the lack there of in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (2003) a 98 minute groan.

So true. Eli Roth could learn a thing or two. Even though HOSTEL wasn't as strong in the blood 'n guts department as we might have been led by the early naysayers to believe, it still had a fair amount of visible gore in it, presumably to cater to the younger set that equates that with "horror", and it probably could have been even more horrific if Roth had dialled it back even further. But then ticket sales might not have been as strong.

Perhaps I gave "Hostel" a marginally positive review based on comparison.

I often wonder if Eli Roth was counting on that? CABIN FEVER was a $5 bargin bin pick-up for me, and luckily I traded it for $5 back when Blockbuster had one of their "$5-credit-for-every-trade-in" deals. I think the positive buzz around that film were what persuaded me to finally spring for it (guess I didn't browse deep enough for negative commentary! ) and I was just floored by how frustratingly poorly designed the characters were, even for that kind of film. Plot contrivance also bugged me a lot as I recall. Take away the 2:35:1 lensing and it would be a just-above-average DTV horror flick. Against that, HOSTEL could only seem like the work of a potential auteur! Of course, that remains to be seen.

I did enjoy his fake trailer in the GRINDHOUSE theatrical release, though (THANKSGIVING, I think it was called). It really made clear his obsession with the soulless, mechanical novelty slashers of the 80's, for better or worse. The trampoline gag (which I've heard is shortened in certain regions) and the final "unveiling" at the dinner table were both rather amusing.

[Chungking_Cash]

I did enjoy his fake trailer in the GRINDHOUSE theatrical release, though (THANKSGIVING, I think it was called). It really made clear his obsession with the soulless, mechanical novelty slashers of the 80's, for better or worse. The trampoline gag (which I've heard is shortened in certain regions) and the final "unveiling" at the dinner table were both rather amusing.

"Thanksgiving" proved the coup de grace for me when I saw "Grindhouse" in theaters last April. For weeks a friend of mine and I at work would quote:

"It's blood!"

"...son of a bitch!"

Anyways, yes, it's apparent by both the aesthetic and the mood of "Thanksgiving" that Roth has more than just a passing familiarity with slasher flicks of the '70s and '80s. I wouldn't be surprised if Roth admited to be inspired by "Black Christmas," "Communion," "Halloween," "Friday the 13th," "Prom Night," "My Bloody Valentine," "The Prowler," "The Slumber Party Massacre," "Silent Night, Deadly Night," "April Fool's Day" and dozens of others.