2009: The Digital Chivvy

[dleedlee]

I'll second (or third) the Thin Man series. I used to watch them on late night TV , back in the Ancient Times. Even better than William Powell, is Myrna Loy. The duo are the personifications of 'droll'. And the movies are practically paens to alchoholism, too, in a sophisticated way, of course. I need to find/open the box set I picked up many a DD sales ago.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

...
I was surprised at how much I liked Sullivan's Travels when I finally saw it. The Lady Eve is one of my favorites although you are right about how the coincidences are just too convenient for a movie like that--things fall together a bit too perfectly for Jean, the Colonel and Muggsy when they show up in Connecticut. But I am helpless before the charms of Barbara Stanwyk (much like Henry Fonda) and she has a lot of screen time. Both "Sullivan" and "Eve" were released in 1941 which was still the 30s in movie terms I think. Also in 1941 was Ball of Fire (Stanwyk, Howard Hawks, Billy Wilder, Gary Cooper--just your typical studio product of the time) A guilty pleasure is Baby Face (1933) which must have been one of the last pre-Code movies--Stanwyk sleeps her way to the top and doesn't regret a minute of it.

Stage Door is a terrific LaCava movie--backstage comedy/drama with a killer cast and the snappiest of snappy dialog. Top Hat and (especially) The Gay Divorcee--I am a fan of both Astaire and Rogers. Mark Sandrich is Astaire's hand picked director and shoots stuff just right. "Divorcee" features Edward Everett Horton as a callow youth. Swing Time (also Astaire and Rogers) is directed by George Stevens. I have seen all of the musicals in the theater in decent prints as well as on DVD.

It Happened One Night with Gable and Colbert, directed by Frank Capra, is probably my favorite American movie from the 1930s--I watch it every couple of years--at least. The Philadelphia Story is close to perfect--George Cukor, Cary Grant, Katherine Hepburn, Jimmy Stewart as a fast talking (!) photographer.

Most of the Marx Brothers comedies although each of them is as uneven as a movie can be, particularly Duck Soup (1933), A Night at the Opera (1937).

Those are off the top of my head--all Hollywood movies. Alfred Hitchcock was still in England in the 1930s and made some masterpieces. And from France...

I've heard good things about Stage Door (I am going to add it to a wish/shopping list, you are the second person who has advocated this). I noticed it is in the Clasic Comedies Collection (however I have three of those films already) so I'll look into getting the 2005 release from WB. I'm interested in Baby Face thought I see it is in the Forbidden Hollywood Collection Vol. 1 (apparently two versions). Look into getting that later (as Brian says so many movies so little time aka what we all say ). I also added Ball of Fire too since I like everyone involved in that film. Thanks for the suggestions, I'm glad all of those are on DVD, I look forward to getting them.

I'm a huge Marx Brothers fan so I can easily agree with those two films (and adding all the rest of the Paramount film, I know The Cocoanuts is a little uneven ). I"m also a fan of Astaire/Rogers so those are good picks too. I got the first DVD release of The Philadelphia Story (the sound is so-so, so I might ask for the double disc as a gift sometime). Nothing bad to say about It Happened One Night -- I've enjoyed the Capra films from the 30s I've seen (though missing a few like Lost Horizon, The Bitter Tea of General Yen and Forbidden ...). I had watched It Happened One Night last year (going over the early Academy Award winners as well as that film is mentioned quite a bit ).

Two of my favorite Hitchcocks are from 30s England (and both on Criterion): The Lady Vanishes and The 39 Steps.

My top 30s:
1930s (one per director):
Bride of Frankenstein (1935: James Whale)
Les misérables (1934: Raymond Bernard)
M (1931: Fritz Lang)
Modern Times (1936: Charlie Chaplin)
Grand Illusion (1938: Jean Renoir)
The Lady Vanishes (1938: Alfred Hitchcock)
A Night at the Opera (1935: Sam Wood)
Wizard of Oz (1939: Victor Fleming)
Duck Soup (1933: Leo McCarey)
Public Enemy (1931: William A. Wellman)

A few more:
Borderline (1930: Kenneth MacPherson)
Sang d'un poète, Le (1930: Jean Cocteau)

My Asian film knowledge of the 1930s is quite weak. I've seen a few Silent Ozu Yasujiro films but cannot think of anything else.

Thanks Brian and dleedlee on the Thin Man encouragement. The first film especially is a big hole in my movie acumen .

[ewaffle]

Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:

My top 30s:
1930s (one per director):
Bride of Frankenstein (1935: James Whale)
Les misérables (1934: Raymond Bernard)
M (1931: Fritz Lang)
Modern Times (1936: Charlie Chaplin)
Grand Illusion (1938: Jean Renoir)
The Lady Vanishes (1938: Alfred Hitchcock)
A Night at the Opera (1935: Sam Wood)
Wizard of Oz (1939: Victor Fleming)
Duck Soup (1933: Leo McCarey)
Public Enemy (1931: William A. Wellman)

I am not organized enough to do a list of ten directors, one movie per director--I get sidetracked too easily. When I started my list of top 1930s movies I got so caught up in musicals and screwball/romantic comedies that I ignored all those great Cagney films and the Frankenstein/Dracula subgenre. "Angels With Dirty Faces", for example, for all its over the top moralizing, has long been a favorite--as has "Public Enemy".

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:

My top 30s:
1930s (one per director):
Bride of Frankenstein (1935: James Whale)
Les misérables (1934: Raymond Bernard)
M (1931: Fritz Lang)
Modern Times (1936: Charlie Chaplin)
Grand Illusion (1938: Jean Renoir)
The Lady Vanishes (1938: Alfred Hitchcock)
A Night at the Opera (1935: Sam Wood)
Wizard of Oz (1939: Victor Fleming)
Duck Soup (1933: Leo McCarey)
Public Enemy (1931: William A. Wellman)

I am not organized enough to do a list of ten directors, one movie per director--I get sidetracked too easily. When I started my list of top 1930s movies I got so caught up in musicals and screwball/romantic comedies that I ignored all those great Cagney films and the Frankenstein/Dracula subgenre. "Angels With Dirty Faces", for example, for all its over the top moralizing, has long been a favorite--as has "Public Enemy".

Lists are limited in their use (though if it gets someone to watch something they would not have watched before) and I agree that it is so easy to get sidetracked, miss movies etc... But for example Public Enemy has always been a favorite of mine too. It shot Cagney to stardom (stereotyped him which he ultimately did not like) and has several other performances and situations that put it above "Angels WIth Dirty Faces" in my opinion (which is, of course, worth watching along with The Roaring Twenties".

The one that I feel many have not heard of is Les misérables (which came out in the Bernard Eclipse set from Criterion) which has such a strong central performance (the film is quite long though) that it is one of my favorite adapations.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Two more $3 DVDs from the Michigan Big Lots near my hometown (sorry to sidetrack, by the way!)

KITTY FOYLE (Warner; 1940)
DEMON SEED (Warner; 1977)

Also picked up a few more Warner boxed set leftovers, although exclusively for trade-ins here in the city, so no need to list 'em. The same store also has some Astaire/Rogers musicals in thinpacks that look like they were maybe part of a larger boxed set (Gay Divorcee, Follow the Fleet and one other I can't recall). Nobody's touched them in weeks, so I'm tempted to get them on the next visit home. I'm also kicking myself for not picking up the sole $3 copy of King Vidor's 1929 groundbreaker HALLELUJAH! Maybe next time . . .

Also tracked down one other much-wanted WB Boxset from a forum member at DVDTalk who was kind enough to sell it to me for the $3 he spent plus shipping:

JONNY QUEST COMPLETE SEASON 1

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I also picked up KITTY FOYLE .

Brian, what films (and especially HK) have you been working on lately? Do you keep a list of what you have watched?

Has HK film become less popular over the last few years? My interest has actually gone up this year.

[Brian Thibodeau]

I also picked up KITTY FOYLE .

Brian, what films (and especially HK) have you been working on lately? Do you keep a list of what you have watched?

Has HK film become less popular over the last few years? My interest has actually gone up this year.

I know the feeling. My interest in Hong Kong cinema has never gone down, even if I've deliberately restricted my viewing habits the last year or so. I'm DYING to get back into Hong Kong cinema full time--that's why I rarely miss picking up a new release, not to mention many catalogue titles. The stuff still enthralls me, and I've known for ages it'll be my little "specialty" for a long time to come. When I visit the DVD/VCD shops around here, they often have new movies playing on the in-store screens and I find myself loitering much longer than I should.

I had to take stock, though. Years of Deep Discount sales, DVD Planet sales (with trades!), Amazon sales, Wal-Mart Bargain bins, Used DVD shops, Big Lots Cheap Racks (and now illegal stock liquidations!) and even the recent Criterion sale at Barnes & Noble have pretty much netted me everything I've ever wanted to own, and then some. It's the "and then some" that tends to get out of hand at these bargain bins and liquidations. KITTY FOYLE, for example, was a title that probably would have remained an interesting entry in a few of my film books for the rest of my days, as it wasn't something I felt compelled to buy at full price, let alone see, regardless of whatever I may think of it once I view it (and I suspect I'll love it!). But $3 changes all that, and too often. Part of me wishes they'd stop this liquidation pricing; another part is grateful, if so much the poorer for it. I suspect we'll be seeing a LOT more of it as the months roll on and retail space for physical DVDs becomes more and more limited.

I enjoyed a pretty good tear through Hong Kong cinema up until about a year-and-a-half ago (from the point of view of number of the films I watched, not necessarily their quality), but to better focus later on Hong Kong cinema, I decided to focus more now on getting through a lot of the American/European titles I'd accumulated. After all, those retain some resale value where Hong Kong DVDs/VCDs generally don't, and I wanted to make sure that anything I thought would be worth selling--if I decided it wasn't a keeper after all--would actually be worth selling! Again, when you pay $3-5, and can unload a title for the same amount, it makes blind buys just too damned easy.

I suppose HK cinema is less popular, in no small part because of its reduced output obviously, but that's no reason to write it off, as some even here in our own forums have done over the years.

The only list I keep of what I've watched is at IMDB, and I only started using it a few months ago, so it's not very long just yet. When you "vote" for a movie using their star ratings, it ads the film to your vote history. That's about the only way I keep track, outside of the occasional reviews I post there, here and at Amazon, and of course the "watched" pile.

As for what I'm watching at the moment, I've been working my way through the WARNER FILM NOIR VOL. 4 box set (films at home; commentaries at work). Finished three so far, so seven to go. Nice stuff! I've been cutting that with episodes from the BIRDMAN & THE GALAXY TRIO set from big lots (still awed that I got all those for $3 each). Also rented THE INTERNATIONAL on the weekend. Much better than I was expecting, although the lengthy deleted sequence on the DVD really belongs in the movie, where it might have deflected some of the criticisms leveled at characterization during the theatrical run. I also caught TRANSFORMERS 2 on the big screen last week, and was of two minds: it generally deserves much of the scorn heaped upon it, and represents everything dumb and pandering and derivative (of himself) that defines Michael Bay's style, but I was still impressed with it as a technical experience, and it's something I'd likely buy on (cheap, maybe used) Blu-Ray months after it streets just to tickle my HT system every few years! I think the studio was wise to skip media previews on G.I. JOE in light of what happened with TRANSFORMERS; clearly critical and internet-geek consensus means beans on pictures like these.

The end goal, of course, is to lighten the load (by watching AND by selling) enough that I can make Hong Kong cinema a priority once again. I get anxious when I read the reviews a lot of you folks post here, but I gotta hold back . . . for now.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I still average one HK film a week or more. Lately I've been concentrating on Johnnie To related films (partially because I got the Stephen Teo book on his action movies), but because of reading several books on HK my knowledge and interest has increased the past couple of years. There is so many HK films both good and bad, past and present I wonder how a person could get bored or disinterested.

Not sure when I'll get into more Taiwanese films though there are several directors I'm interested in.

Where do you feel your strenghs and weaknesses in HK Cinema (that interests you) is?

I always watch a variety of movies to keep myself learning (definitely want WARNER FILM NOIR VOL. 4, but my wants are neverending ). More John Ford of late (because of the Fox box set) and always something new and exciting (like WATCHMEN which was watched this weekend) and Criterion (Bunuel, Bresson) etc...

The reason why I stated that it seems like HK is less poplular because several sites on HK/Asian films (especially this one) seems to have less and less participation (Kung Fu Cinema will also have its posters, but only a few seem interested in HK comedy while a few more are interested in HK Triad films).

I always read the reviews here though after I watch a film (The Big Heat was watched this weekend so of course went and reviewed the reviews).

[Brian Thibodeau]

The reason why I stated that it seems like HK is less poplular because several sites on HK/Asian films (especially this one) seems to have less and less participation (Kung Fu Cinema will also have its posters, but only a few seem interested in HK comedy while a few more are interested in HK Triad films).

These three categories, especially martial arts and gangsters, seem to represent Hong Kong cinema in its entirety to quite a few people that I've read in other forums. Perhaps it's because they're young and haven't explored world cinema to its fullest just yet; perhaps they don't, can't or won't import DVDs; perhaps they simply prefer action and/or comedy over drama, history or social issues; or perhaps it's because U.S. and European distributors over the years have focused so narrowly on the action/crime genres as if that's all Hong Kong produced. Don't know, really.

I've often wondered if some veteran internet folks--some of them are members here, no doubt--simply gorged themselves on Hong Kong cinema, often long before the rest of us, and either a) got burned out on the cinema itself (which says nothing about the current state of Hong Kong cinema, naturally) or b) got burned out debating, arguing and boasting their expertise to each other about it on message boards and felt no need to rehash with a newer wave of fans. The whole, "been there, done that, moved on, grew up" approach is all well and good, but not so much when the bulk history of one's most spirited discussion on the subject is buried in a discussion forum that has become, or may become, extinct (which they all will sooner or later, I guess). Take that alt.movies or whatever it was called, for example, though I'm sure there were others back in the day: treasure troves of information buried in places like that, but who wants to read all the crap to find it?

I also wonder if a wonderfully saturated DVD market means that for the kind of "collector mentality" one generally finds in cinema-related forums (like us!) there's hardly enough time to watch all of it, let alone discuss it online! But we try, that's the main thing.

Once I'm back into Hong Kong cinema on a more regular basis, I do hope to be a little more particapatory around here myself!

This forum may have a small collection of devoted regulars, and our threads may not grow very fast, but at least it's all tied to something that, in theory, should be around for awhile: the database itself. Fans of Hong Kong cinema can be found at many non-HK-cinema sites, but I wonder if they know that we even have a forum here? I personally tend to think the unchanging appearance of HKMDB does little to drive traffic into the forums, let alone the cinema itself (outside of the headshots and posters on the front page driving us regulars to seek out stuff we may have missed). If it did, we'd probably have more, and newer?, contributing members helping us build up the database even faster, but alas, we wait!

I still average one HK film a week or more.

Your one-a-week HK movie approach is probably what I should be doing, but my never-ending stacks of non-HK movies keep forbidding me, restraining me, teasing me . . . I used to average 5+ HK movies a week, and do hope to get back to that in the near future.

I always read the reviews here though after I watch a film (The Big Heat was watched this weekend so of course went and reviewed the reviews).

I do this too, although many of the little odds 'n ends that I find in my Chinatown travels often have NO reviews to recommend or pan them! Not here, not anywhere, and believe me I dig deep sometimes. For a cinema that some would have us believe has been well and truly documented, there's often scant evidence online, that's for sure (unless, of course, you're talking about the top, oh, 500 films or so). Come down the ladder several rungs and the pickings sure get slim.

[ewaffle]

Masterofoneinchpunch wrote:

But for example Public Enemy has always been a favorite of mine too. It shot Cagney to stardom (stereotyped him which he ultimately did not like) and has several other performances and situations that put it above "Angels WIth Dirty Faces" in my opinion (which is, of course, worth watching along with The Roaring Twenties".

I grew up on Cagney movies--"Angels with Dirty Faces" has a special place because it was the first movie that I insisted that I not only insisted that other people watch and gave them reasons for it but did a written review. I was in the sixth grade I think and caught it on TV. I was hooked.

Years later I worked across the street from the Clark Theater in the middle of downtown Chicago, at Clark and Madison streets. It was replaced by a fifty story building but while it was in business it ran a different double feature of old movies every day, around the clock. Sometimes it was just what they could get cheaply but once a year there would be a week or two of Cagney movies. I didn't miss many for a few years running and saw Cagney hit Mae Clark in the face with the grapefruit quite a few times as well as waiting for Cody Jarrett to tell his ma he had made it to the top of the world. That was back in the Pleistocene epoch of film watching.

The Lincoln Theater was on the north side. It survived by running a rolling repertory of old movies including a lot of musicals from the 30s and 40s which is where I discoverd how amazing Fred Astaire was.

Fun times.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Years later I worked across the street from the Clark Theater in the middle of downtown Chicago, at Clark and Madison streets. It was replaced by a fifty story building but while it was in business it ran a different double feature of old movies every day, around the clock. Sometimes it was just what they could get cheaply but once a year there would be a week or two of Cagney movies. I didn't miss many for a few years running and saw Cagney hit Mae Clark in the face with the grapefruit quite a few times as well as waiting for Cody Jarrett to tell his ma he had made it to the top of the world. That was back in the Pleistocene epoch of film watching.

Man, that's how it still oughta be done.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

...These three categories, especially martial arts and gangsters, seem to represent Hong Kong cinema in its entirety to quite a few people that I've read in other forums. Perhaps it's because they're young and haven't explored world cinema to its fullest just yet; perhaps they don't, can't or won't import DVDs; perhaps they simply prefer action and/or comedy over drama, history or social issues; or perhaps it's because U.S. and European distributors over the years have focused so narrowly on the action/crime genres as if that's all Hong Kong produced. Don't know, really.

On the flip side many ciniphiles eschew Hong Kong filmmakers with the exception of just Wong Kar-wai and occasionally Johnnie To. This is why I'm really enjoying the writing of David Bordwell who appreciates everything from Kung Fu, wuxia to the comedies and dramas. While this fickle bunch will love Taiwanese filmmakers like Tsai Ming-liang and Edward Yang (I own several of both but have not got to yet) they will laugh at John Woo, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark as being campy (sometimes those directors are but they miss the point) as being not worthy of their Brakhage filled collection.

Of course back to those fans of Martial Arts will sometimes get into Triad/Cop (from the sites I go to those fans seem a bit less than the MA ones) and the horror, but yeah they tend to avoid the dramas and many of the comedies. For an example of myself to be honest I never really thought about Chow Yun-fat other than his action films (though I had seen HOng Kong 1941 earlier). Because of going through the ouerve of Johnnie To I got to see him in two comedies from Cinema City (though these were still a bit atypical, Chow has done a decent amount of comedies) in Eighth Happiness (this is silly beyond belief, but I liked it and a few others I lent this to liked it) and The Fun, The Luck and The Tycoon.

I've often wondered if some veteran internet folks--some of them are members here, no doubt--simply gorged themselves on Hong Kong cinema, often long before the rest of us, and either a) got burned out on the cinema itself (which says nothing about the current state of Hong Kong cinema, naturally) or b) got burned out debating, arguing and boasting their expertise to each other about it on message boards and felt no need to rehash with a newer wave of fans.

There is certainly a few here that fit that description though there certainly is good material coming out of Hong Kong. Flash Point, Sparrow, Ip Man have been great watches from the past few years. Even if you have expert knowledge in one or several facets of HK films there is still more. There is such a huge amount of films I can't see how even the most dedicated fan can watch it all. Factor in that HK films have been influenced by (if you really want to write and discuss well about a particular filmmaker, genre etc.. you have to watch/know those films too; how could you write seriously about John Woo without knowing about Jean Pierre Melville)

...
This forum may have a small collection of devoted regulars, and our threads may not grow very fast, but at least it's all tied to something that, in theory, should be around for awhile: the database itself. Fans of Hong Kong cinema can be found at many non-HK-cinema sites, but I wonder if they know that we even have a forum here? I personally tend to think the unchanging appearance of HKMDB does little to drive traffic into the forums, let alone the cinema itself (outside of the headshots and posters on the front page driving us regulars to seek out stuff we may have missed). If it did, we'd probably have more, and newer?, contributing members helping us build up the database even faster, but alas, we wait!
...
I do this too, although many of the little odds 'n ends that I find in my Chinatown travels often have NO reviews to recommend or pan them! Not here, not anywhere, and believe me I dig deep sometimes. For a cinema that some would have us believe has been well and truly documented, there's often scant evidence online, that's for sure (unless, of course, you're talking about the top, oh, 500 films or so). Come down the ladder several rungs and the pickings sure get slim.

I need to write more. I do capsule reviews (sometimes post them here, but not in the database), but need to increase my longer reviews. The ones I put in the database I want to make sure I can be somewhat proud of them. Even with some of the films that have four or five reviews many times they have a couple that could be removed because they are summary only and then several are just a line only. To be fair there are some great essays on many, many films here.

[Brian Thibodeau]

On the flip side many ciniphiles eschew Hong Kong filmmakers with the exception of just Wong Kar-wai and occasionally Johnnie To. This is why I'm really enjoying the writing of David Bordwell who appreciates everything from Kung Fu, wuxia to the comedies and dramas. While this fickle bunch will love Taiwanese filmmakers like Tsai Ming-liang and Edward Yang (I own several of both but have not got to yet) they will laugh at John Woo, Ringo Lam, Tsui Hark as being campy (sometimes those directors are but they miss the point) as being not worthy of their Brakhage filled collection.

I wonder if this boils down to what Western distributors choose to distribute: martial arts/action films, crime/action films, and the works of arthouse darlings like Tsai and Yang. That's fine, it's all legitimate cinema no matter how you slice it, but it doesn't represent a very broad range. The grindhouse to the arthouse, but not much in-between. I'd bet a month's salary that the majority of home viewing set-ups in North America, Europe, Australia etc. and beyond are not equipped with region-free players, nor would residents want to risk spending the money on such a device and taking up importing to feed it, and that includes people who frequent a lot of home theater forums and enjoy Asian cinema. The technological limitations, coupled with selective genre-picking of the distributors, leaves them high and dry, though they may not realizes just how high and how dry. On the other hand, I doubt there's anyone here, on a Hong Kong cinema-specific forum, who doesn't own a region free player, so in a way I guess we're all biased.

Because of going through the ouerve of Johnnie To I got to see him in two comedies from Cinema City (though these were still a bit atypical, Chow has done a decent amount of comedies

. . . and they'll never get official releases in the west, either, because they don't mesh with the image of him that has been established here, an image markedly different from the one he's cultivated in Asia for the better part of three decades. Thankfully such films are ultra cheap to import these days.

There is certainly a few here that fit that description though there certainly is good material coming out of Hong Kong . . . Even if you have expert knowledge in one or several facets of HK films there is still more. There is such a huge amount of films I can't see how even the most dedicated fan can watch it all. Factor in that HK films have been influenced by (if you really want to write and discuss well about a particular filmmaker, genre etc.. you have to watch/know those films too; how could you write seriously about John Woo without knowing about Jean Pierre Melville)

It's like a big global puzzle that takes a lifetime to piece together, but what an enjoyable task!

(as for the many facets of Hong Kong cinema, those Z-grade video pictures I often pick up have become invaluable in grading the performances of many actors on a much longer sliding scale , so many are there who vacillate between such productions and better-funded A-list projects higher up the food chain)

Even with some of the films that have four or five reviews many times they have a couple that could be removed because they are summary only and then several are just a line only

There was a time when editors could delete the more useless and/or offensive reviews in the database, but we don't have the permission anymore, and there's a lot of 'em still floating around. One defense given at the time was that even a one line review is still a review, although there are many instances where that could be easily argued.

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

...
I wonder if this boils down to what Western distributors choose to distribute: martial arts/action films, crime/action films, and the works of arthouse darlings like Tsai and Yang. That's fine, it's all legitimate cinema no matter how you slice it, but it doesn't represent a very broad range. The grindhouse to the arthouse, but not much in-between. I'd bet a month's salary that the majority of home viewing set-ups in North America, Europe, Australia etc. and beyond are not equipped with region-free players, nor would residents want to risk spending the money on such a device and taking up importing to feed it, and that includes people who frequent a lot of home theater forums and enjoy Asian cinema. The technological limitations, coupled with selective genre-picking of the distributors, leaves them high and dry, though they may not realizes just how high and how dry. On the other hand, I doubt there's anyone here, on a Hong Kong cinema-specific forum, who doesn't own a region free player, so in a way I guess we're all biased.

Almost all players in these regions sold are specific (like R1 for us). I'm always surprised on how many people in these jobs that do not know of region encoding (of course I've got many blank stares when I mention Criterion). Now many machines you can do hacks on (either a hardware switch or some have hidden fixes).

I actually do not own a region free player. I buy all the R1 releases as well as many R0 releases. Fortune Star/Joy Sales tends to put out some excellent (to mediocre) R0 releases. Their Eight Happiness release is actually quite good in subtitles as well as picture (The Fun, The Luck and The Tycoon's quality was not as good). Actually many DVD companies end up doing this. The obvious ones are Tai Seng, but Criterion has put many of their releases as R0 NTSC while even MOC has put out a few R0 NTSC releases (this is weird since most of their output is R2 PAL, but their MAD DETECTIVE release is R0 NTSC). But since I have so many DVDs to go over it rarely bothers me (with the exception that a few Ozu films on R3 and many Shaw films on R3 NTSC -- my current system does not have a hack to fix this and the several R2/PAL HKLs I own.

...
. . . and they'll never get official releases in the west, either, because they don't mesh with the image of him that has been established here, an image markedly different from the one he's cultivated in Asia for the better part of three decades. Thankfully such films are ultra cheap to import these days.
...(as for the many facets of Hong Kong cinema, those Z-grade video pictures I often pick up have become invaluable in grading the performances of many actors on a much longer sliding scale , so many are there who vacillate between such productions and better-funded A-list projects higher up the food chain)
...
There was a time when editors could delete the more useless and/or offensive reviews in the database, but we don't have the permission anymore, and there's a lot of 'em still floating around. One defense given at the time was that even a one line review is still a review, although there are many instances where that could be easily argued.

It is funny that you mention that because I just read an article on Chow Yun-fat and his popularity in Korea. The author was wondering how he ended up doing more family friendly commercials (from the great but somewhat esoteric book At Full Speed). While Chow was known transnational for his action cinema,films like EIGHTH HAPPINESS broke HK records and was very, very popular (Though I'm not sure how popular this film was outside of HK, no one seems to mention this).

I'm not sure when I would be able to get to the grade-Z pictures, but it would be interesting to read about the better ones. There's enough HK grade-A to still watch. Actually I notice that many movies are either hard to get or just not available either because of OOP or they were never released. It took me awhile to get EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED for example.

I do wish several things could be deleted easier and I do wish that some responses in the editing threads would be quicker on subjects (like the posting of the plot summary on EIGHTH HAPPINESS remains unanswered). Many of the one liners are summary only .

[Taijikid]

Anyone who thinks of Chow Yun Fat chiefly as an iconic action hero needs to watch him in roles as diverse as the slick womanizer in the Chor Yuen comedy Diary of a Big Man, as the village chief in Now You See Love, Now You Don't, as the seedy cop in Tiger on Beat, and especially as the slacker cousin Figgy in one of my favorite Chow movies, An Autumn's Tale.

I love The Killer and Hard Boiled, but there is so much more to Chow than guns and cool looks.

I wanted to add that, although I post infrequently, I love this board and read the posts with interest and gratitude. Keep it up.

[Brian Thibodeau]

I wanted to add that, although I post infrequently, I love this board and read the posts with interest and gratitude. Keep it up.

Good to hear from you again. You really should chime in more often!


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Another visit to the Wa Yi today, and a few more 2-for-1 VCDs

ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA V (1994; Universe) Can't believe I missed this one during every previous visit! I saw the movie ages ago, but never took the time to properly review it, so this was a no brainer, although I wish I could have found part IV today to go along with it.
COP (1999; Widesight)
MUMMY DEAREST (1985; Joy Sales Legenday Collection)
BY HOOK AND CROOK (1990; Joy Sales Legenday Collection) (aka COUP DE GRACE)
ENHANCED ROMANCE (2004; Maga Base) Not much in the DB on this one
DRUG QUEEN (1976; Maga Base) Ditto
MAKING IT (1978; Deltamac)
MARKET'S ROMANCE (2002; Asia Video)

Sadly, the Wa Yi removed their Shaw VCDs from the 2-for-1 sale right around the time that Cal was in town and bought his . They took the 30% discount of their few remaining Shaw DVDs too. I think I may ask the guy about this next time I'm down there, because there's a bunch of Shaw VCDs along the main VCD wall and they're "technically" under the BOGO signs along that wall, so "technically" he might still sell them to me at the discount! It's not like there's a lineup, sadly . . .

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And a couple 2-for-1 DVDs of older titles, from one of the "half 'n half" stores in my neck of the woods. They've still got quite a stash of these tucked in away in a corner of the store. I really should just make a bulk offer on the lot of them, since it's increasingly obvious that no one else wants them

THE BOSS UP THERE (1999; Modern)
KING OF WRESTLERS (2005; Times)

And a couple of new releases:
SHINJUKU INCIDENT (2009; Emperor)
HIGH NOON (2008; Mei Ah)
This has been out for a while actually, but I didn't realize it's actually the followup to WINDS OF SEPTEMBER, an excellent Taiwanese film I saw at the TIFF last year. Apparently there's a third Mainland chapter as well.


Also picked up three $5 previously viewed titles at Blockbuster a couple of weeks ago, at 30% off:

ROGUE
This is the Aussie killer crocodile movie. It's not bad, but it's maddeningly predictable, right through to the end credits, to anyone who's seen even a handful of either slasher movies (same story structure) or, believe it or not, disaster movies (similar character dynamics); already listed on Amazon.ca Marketplace
MUMMY 3: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR
I like, but don't love, the first two, but this just isn't in the same league, despite the oversized spectacle. I think Rob Cohen's getting too old for this kinda thing. Jet Li's barely in it, unless you count frequent appearances by his CGI doppelganger, Michelle Yeoh awakens an ancient Chinese zombie army by reading an incantation in English, and her fight with Li, which Cohen claims (in the commentary) was most anticipated screen battle of all time according to the Asian press (:roll:) , is rather bland and as awkwardly edited as most of the film's other action sequences; Maria Bello is no Rachel Weisz; Eurasian Russell Wong is no ancient Chinese general, while Eurasian Anthony Wong is just as likely as a modern one circa the 1930's; Luke Ford is a poor substitute/sidekick to Brendan Fraser, which really isn't saying much; and the list goes on. This one also went up on Amazon marketplace, and sold the next day for twice what I paid for it. Whew!
MY KID COULD PAINT THAT
Great documentary about the nature of modern art, which was briefly thrust into the limelight a few years back when a 4-year old's splashy-drippy paintings started fetching tens of thousands of dollars from the hoi polloi. Kinda peters out as the filmmaker himself comes to question the veracity of the paintings after initially siding with the family. Thankfully, the DVD extras give a more complete picture, especially the short interview with NY TImes Art Critic Michael Kimmelman, who succinctly explains both sides of the neverending "what is art?" debate.

[dleedlee]

ENHANCED ROMANCE (2004; Maga Base) Not much in the DB on this one
DRUG QUEEN (1976; Maga Base) Ditto

I always find the Maga Base titles tempting but the one or two I recall getting were full framed and really lousy looking color. Let me know if yours are any different.

[Brian Thibodeau]

ENHANCED ROMANCE (2004; Maga Base) Not much in the DB on this one
DRUG QUEEN (1976; Maga Base) Ditto

I always find the Maga Base titles tempting but the one or two I recall getting were full framed and really lousy looking color. Let me know if yours are any different.

According to the VCD sleeve, DRUG QUEEN does not have English subtitles either, but I've found that's not always the case with these older films. Guess we'll see . . . And yeah, I don't think this company really cares too much about their product. Of course, when they're the only company releasing certain titles, I guess beggars can't be choosers (especially at $2.50 a piece).

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

I have more to put down here than I though:

Quick Change
Legend of the Lost (1957)
K-Pax
East Side, West Side
Kitty Foyle
When We Were Kings (Documentary)
Brick
Martial Club (HK)
The Magnificent Trio (HK: 1966)
Early Edition Season 2
Eclipse Series 14: Rossellini’s History Films
Eclipse Series 15: Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu
Eclipse Series 16: Alexander Korda's Private Lives
Hobson's Choice (Criterion)
The Last Metro (Criterion)
Magnificent Obsession (Criterion)
Wise Blood (Criterion)
White Dog (Criterion)
Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1
MASH
On the Road With Bob Hope and Bing Crosby Collection (Road to Singapore/Road to Zanzibar/Road to Morocco/Road to Utopia) (1941)
Modern Times
John Wayne War: 4 Film Favorites
Lonely are the Brave
Becoming Charlie Chase
The Cook and Other Treasures (1918)
Young and Innocent (1937)
Clint Eastwood: American Icon Collection
High School Flashback Collection (The Breakfast Club / Sixteen Candles / Weird Science) (got this because of Hughes death)
Pineapple Express
Imitation of Life (2 Versions)
Shrek 2
God of Gamblers (HK)
The Cat Returns
Pom Poko
To Live
Luis Bunuel 2-Disc Collector's Edition (Gran Casino / The Young Ones) (1961)
Escape From Alcatraz
Billy Liar (Criterion)
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (Criterion)
Salvatore Giuliano (Criterion)
The Testament of Dr. Mabuse (Criterion)
L'Eclisse (Criterion)
49th Parallel (Criterion)
The Lady Vanishes (Criterion – 2-disc)
The Small Back Room (Criterion)
Rouge (Special Edition: been wanting to watch this for ages; HK of course)

[Brian Thibodeau]

I think you've officially taken the crown for biggest spender. And what a fantastic cross-section of films! Always nice to see (and steal ideas )

By the way, I trust that POPEY set was a Big Lots $3 deal? I'd hate to be the only one in here with a "guilty" conscience!

Interesting followup to the Big Lots bonanza: that big dump seriously drove down prices on a lot of the Warner/Hanna-Barbera sets on the Amazon.com market place, so even those who missed out can still get some pretty good pricing on some damned nice collections. At Amazon.ca, on the other hand, where almost all of these sets are obscenely overpriced to begin with (for example, Amazon's Canadian price on the POPEYE set is $72.99 while most of the HB sets run $40-60 and higher), the Marketplace prices are still quite robust, something I'm sure more than a few U.S.-based sellers are aware of.

Luckily, I picked up two Popeye sets when we were in Buffalo (coulda had ten, but I told myself I had dignity), and unloaded one on the Marketplace for $32, instantly madking back more than I spent on everything I picked up that day! While I generally wasn't fond of the white trash who were filling shopping carts with boxed sets to resell on Amazon and ebay, I must confess that my own white trashiness couldn't resist an easy score.

More shamefully, I've been cleaning up on leftovers from a trade forum at another site with similarly nefarious intentions . . . shhhhhh. So much for dignity!

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Well I overdid it. Part of it was two different sales on Criterions from Amazon (there is a foreign sale still going on) and Barnes and Nobles (this one has been over).

The Popeye set I got for free from my brother who bought it at Big Lots (several of those picks were from Big Lots). Unfotunately lately people have been picking up the DVDs by the boatload and reselling them. I have no problems with reselling I just wish that Big Lots (Edit) would put a limit on how many you could buy (an FYE worker here was litterly buying all the stocks).

I will calm down sometime (I did buy recently, but that will go on my new list).

I will buy the Dragon Dynasty Five Deadly Venoms either today or Saturday. FYE did not have it yesterday.

For some reason several of the Studio Ghibli films like the two above I bought are going OOP. However, this might mean they are just repackaging them, but so far not sure what is going on. I own all the R1 Studio Ghibli now (and have only not seen Pom Poko).

[Brian Thibodeau]

I have no problems with reselling I just wish that Best buy would put a limit on how many you could buy (an FYE worker here was litterly buying all the stocks).

I agree. I was fairly lucky on my one visit to a Big Lots in Buffalo during the main sale weekend (when the sets were actually advertised in the flyer), as we got there early and they had a nice little selection that hadn't been pillaged yet. In retrospect, I did kick myself for not grabbing more, since the resale values in Canada are so much better than they are in the states, but with the exception of the extra Popeye set, I largely got stuff I wanted to see and/or revisit (but never would've paid full price for), then realized the missed opportunity half way through the day; when we returned on the way back, there wasn't much left (though I did take what was there).

The tales of people filling up shopping carts with everything on the shelves were frustrating, especially to someone like me, who only had a very limited window of opportunity, coming from another country and all. Setting limits would have been nice, but I just don't think Big Lots cares; they want to liquidate the inventory as fast as possible, and if some dude backed his truck up to the door to clean them out in one fell swoop, I doubt they'd intervene. I could have fit just about everything at the Buffalo store into a hand-basket, maybe two, so even if I cleaned them out, it wasn't like they had much to start with.

I will calm down sometime (I did buy recently, but that will go on my new list).

Well, winter's coming. Gotta have something to do!

[Brian Thibodeau]

More $3 Warner sets from BIg Lots, this time purchased from an exchange/sell thread at another forum (at cost + shipping, just too good to pass up)

SUPER FRIENDS: THE LEGENDARY SUPER POWERS SHOW
SUPERMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES VOL. 1
SPACE GHOST & DINO BOY: THE COMPLETE SERIES
TOP CAT: THE COMPLETE SERIES
FLINTSTONES: SEASON 3
CHALLENGE OF THE SUPERFRIENDS: THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
TALES FROM THE CRYPT: SEASON 3
TALES FROM THE CRYPT: SEASON 5
POPEYE VOLUME 1: 1933-1938
PEBBLES & BAMM BAMM SHOW: COMPLETE SERIES (took this as part of the bundles, but won't likely watch it)

And, from the NEW Big Lots $3 display of Sony, Universal and Fox titles that arrived in recent days:

BASIC INSTINCT 2 (How dare you judge me!)
BLACK DRAGON (aka MR. CANTON AND LADY ROSE)
ROMPER STOMPER (2-disc SE) Will probably sell this as it was an impulse buy and I've already seen it twice


And, from the Wal-Mart U.S. $5 bargain bin:

INTO THE BLUE
CLERKS II (2 disc SE)
THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE
DRAGON WARS
(my curiosity about most of these finally got the better of me; price didn't hurt, either, since I probably won't be keeping 'em)


Plus two more Criterion Blu-Rays from the recent Barnes & Noble 50% off sale (even more with the various coupons)

WAGES OF FEAR
CHUNGKING EXPRESS
(thought I'd ordered the BR from Deep Discount, but when the regular DVD showed up, I decided just to flip it on Amazon Marketplace and get the BR from Barnes & Noble instead, as it was cheaper)


Other Blu-Rays, all recent sale items at Amazon, and all upgrades:

TANGO & CASH
2010 THE YEAR WE MAKE CONTACT
CUTTHROAT ISLAND

I'm beginning to think my Blu collection will ultimately consist of large scale genre "event" pictures like these three, plus an increasing number of Criterions now that they're releasing stuff in hi-def, and very little of the drive-in exploitation fare that comprises the bulk of my DVD collection, almost none of which I feel is really worth the upgrade when the DVDs are fine, even upscaled.

[Brian Thibodeau]

From Australia, where they finally reduced the price of:

FUNKY SQUAD: THE COMPLETE SERIES

This seven-episode spoof of 70's cop shows, played largely with a straight face but tongue planted firmly in cheek, which aired in Australia in 1995 and starred some of the folks behind the often hilarious THE LATE SHOW, managed to get picked up for wee-hours re-runs here in Canada not long after its original run, and hooked me from the opening credits:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hKZAIxLalNM
The DVD collects all seven episodes. The package says the only supplement is a "bonus comic strip" but I've yet to find it (perhaps it was only on early versions?), but there are some surprise extras in the form of authentic 70's Australian TV commercials--dating from roughly the same era as the show's phony 1975 copyright date--dropped into the three commercial breaks of every episode, and these are worth their weight in gold. Amidst all the suntan lotions, deodorants, "Jenetics" jeans, Gemini Sandpipers, sunglasses, car dealers ("get your husband to talk to Neil Neilson"), and leisurewear emporiums, the pop group ABBA, circa their big invasion, appears in two spots, hawking electronics for a chain called National (aka Panasonic), while tough guy stuntman Grant Page shills for a presumably macho elixir called Stud Cola ( ) in an ad wherein he grunts about his daring do on the set of . . . THE MAN FROM HONG KONG! I'm tempted to rip a copy of this last spot for YouTube since it doesn't appear to be there and is definitely worth a look.

[Harlock]

few buy

DVDs
Hercules season 2 & 3
Versailles: Chateau de Versailles (Japanese Band)
Versailles: History of The Other Side (Japanese Band)


Blu-Rays

Fast And Furious 4
Dirty Harry`
There's something about Mary
alien vs predator
day after tomorrow
Chocolate
The Legend of Drunken Master
Braveheart
American Werewolf in London
Police Story Blu-Ray

Next Pre order
New Police Story Blu-Ray (november 24th)

very Soon

Accidental spy Blu-Ray
Ip Man Blu-Ray
Shinjuku Incident Blu-Ray

i hope they find a way to get the ps3 blu-ray region free soon, there's a lot of region B blu-rays im interrested...

[Harlock]

3 more Blu-Rays

Hitch
True Romance
Signs

[Brian Thibodeau]

After purchasing a few duplicates, I finally had to take stock of my Shaw Bros. VCD/DVD collection in order to make sure I didn't make it a habit. I dislike cataloguing my collection, but in this case it made sense because I've yet to watch virtually all of my Shaw discs and there are still dozens of titles floating around the city here that I'm pretty sure I don't have, but when I'm actually standing in the store with them in my hand, I keep putting them back on the shelf because I just don't want to take the risk of another needless duplication.

So, I finally broke down and made a list I can carry on my iPod and reference when I'm in the Chinatown shops, which allowed me to pick up the following 2-for-1 Shaw VCDs--all martial arts--at the Wa Yi (note to Cal - looks like he didn't take them off sale, he just took the sign down, for whatever reason).

THE WINGED TIGER
THE SWORDMATES
THE GOLDEN LION
SWORD OF SWORDS
THE REBEL INTRUDERS
THE FANTASY SWORD

BLU-RAY:
TWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE ($10)

Recent theatrical viewings (non-TIFF):
G.I. JOE (pretty much what you'd expect from Stephen Sommers at this point; dumb in the extreme but might make a nice demo disc for a home theater system )
THE FINAL DESTINATION (Also fairly dumb, but fun. ONLY worth seeing in 3-D)
INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS

[Harlock]

more Blu-rays

Navy Seal
Con Air
Fantastic 4
Fantastic 4 rise
Daredevil
Tropic Thunder
The Spirit
Dude where's my car
Edwars scissorhand
Hero
The Mist

dvd

V the original miniseries
Don Camillo (Terence Hill)

[Brian Thibodeau]

Amazon has a nice $5.79 sale for Warner library titles on until Oct. 3.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?i ... 1&plpage=1

Some great oldies on the list this time, so I picked up:
THE LETTER (Bette Davis)
THE SEA HAWK (Errol Flynn)
OPERATION CROSSBOW (George Peppard)
ICE STATION ZEBRA (Rock Hudson)
NIGHT OF THE LEPUS (Stuart Whitman)
THE BALLAD OF CABLE HOGUE (Jason Robards)
THE ZIEGFELD FOLLIES (1946; Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly et al)
BABY DOLL (Carrol Baker)
BELLS ARE RINGING (Dean Martin)
THE YAKUZA (Robert Mitchum)
MIRACLE IN THE RAIN (Jane Wyman)
36 HOURS (James Garner)
HOT RODS TO HELL (Dana Andrews)
A BIG HAND FOR THE LITTLE LADY (Henry Fonda)
I'LL CRY TOMORROW (Susan Hayward)

And, from another visit to Big Lots last weekend, some $3 finds:
MY REPUTATION (Warner; Barbara Stanwyck)
FLYING DOWN TO RIO (Warner; Fred Astaire)
THE DISH (Warner; Sam Neill; from the good folks who created FUNKY SQUAD, my guilty pleasure from Oz)

And, another $3 Big Lots Hanna Barbera set, via some haggling at another forum
JOSIE & THE PUSSYCATS: THE COMPLETE SERIES

And, finally, two questionably unnecessary Blu-Ray upgrades from a weekend Wal-mart sale:
OUT FOR JUSTICE
UNDER SIEGE

By the way, I have still been buying Hong Kong movies, but unfortunately I made a great many purchases and filed them away while this site was off the air for a while recently, and now I don't really feel like figuring out what I've already listed and what I haven't, so I'll start clean with the next batch, which I'm sure I'll grab soon enough!

[Masterofoneinchpunch]

Brians got some good picks lately (he should recognize where I got some of mine ).

Clint Eastwood Western Icon Collection (High Plains Drifter/Joe Kidd/Two Mules For Sister Sara)
Sylvester Stallone: 4 Film Favorites (Tango & Cash / Demolition Man / The Specialist / Over the Top)
Pinocchio 964 (1992)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
Sherlock Holmes: The Hound of the Baskervilles/Pursuit to Algiers
Rosenstrasse (2003)
Too Late the Hero (1970)
Shalako (1968)
Haxan (1922) Criterion
The Paradine Case (1947)
Point Break (Pure Adrenaline Edition) (1991)
Alien - Predator Total Destruction Collection
The Charlie Chan Chanthology (The Secret Service / The Chinese Cat / The Jade Mask / Meeting at Midnight / The Scarlet Clue / The Shanghai Cobra) (1945)
Pinocchio (Two-Disc 70th Anniversary Platinum Edition + Standard DVD+ BD Live) [Blu-ray] (1940)
Astaire & Rogers Ultimate Collector's Edition (Flying Down to Rio / The Gay Divorcee / Roberta / Top Hat / Follow the Fleet / Swing Time / Shall We Dance / Carefree / The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle / The Barkleys of Broadway)
Sherlock Holmes Double Feature: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes/The Scarlet Claw
The Lion King (Disney Special Platinum Edition Collector's Gift Set)
Bull Durham (20th Anniversary Edition)
The Lord of the Rings - The Return of the King (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition)
The Italian Job (1969)
Battle of the Warriors (2006: HK/China)
Flag of Iron (1980: Shaw Brothers)
Mysterious Object at Noon (Thailand)
Stagecoach
Captain John Smith and Pocahontas (1953)
Pat and Mike (1952)
Jubilee (Criterion)
Mamma Roma (Criterion)
Divorce Italian Style (Criterion)
The Browning Version (Criterion)
A Canterbury Tale (Criterion)
Overlord (Criterion)
A Fish Called Wanda
Butterfly Murders
The Private Eyes
Touch of Zen
The Fugitive Kind (1959)
Malcolm X (2-Disc)
Five Deadly Venoms
Jane Eyre
The Picnic at Hanging Rock (Criterion)