I've been watching Asian movies for the last couple of weeks. Maybe to deal with covid, maybe to just get somethings off my list. But probably because I'm just interested in being able to say "I watch foreign film" and be snob.
Some of the movies I've watched:
A Better Tomorrow-Harboild is one of my favorite movies and obviously I'm aware that this is pretty much the progenitor of that type of film. Really enjoyed this though, Chow Yun Fat is amazing in how easily charismatic he is. And while the story is very corny, it's kind of quaint how simple and operatic it is. The movie takes time to depict a kind of epic story.
A Better Tomorrow(2010)-The south Korean movies is pretty meh. It's way too serious and overdone. It feels like it has no humanity unlike the other story. I late addition of a revenge subplot feels tacked on. Didn't care for it.
The Villainess-Man this action movie was abysmal. Now it was crazy, but simply because it just has so much going on. Lots of it incoherent. Lots of it makes you scratch your head in confusion.
Battle Royale-I mean I've seen this plenty of times. Read the book. Love it, but I haven't seen in a long time. It's still good. Pacing is excellent and it still feels very engaging with how it plays with the cast.
The Man from Nowhere-This movie could have been great. It has everything I want from this type of crime action movie. Mysterious lead, a tough and almost rogue cop, a villain with some honor, shit criminals you want to see killed, and an innocent kid at the center. Well shot with good action(nice knife fight). But then they have to explain where the man from Nowhere came from. I don't care about his backstory and it's lame. Still, I look back on it positively.
Crouching Tigger Hidden Dragon-Haven't seen it in years, but man has this movie aged well. Such a beautiful movie with a very human story. Great movie.
Shadow-This was nice too look at, but I never cared much about the lead. Still worth watching, because of how well made the movie is.
The Witch Subversion-I don't like movies that do something very stupid only for hours later to reveal it was stupid on purpose. It's just here the event that's stupid is nonsense that breaks logic. So I did'nt like this very animeish movie.
Bleach- This was ok as far as a live action adaptation goes. I guess they hit all the beats. It's just everyone is a jerk in this version and it kind of just ends.
Hero(1997)-Stupid movie, but amazing stunts and action.
ILLANG The Wolf Brigade-It's such an interesting adaption of Jin-Roh. It makes the changes you'd expect a Hollywood movie to make. It has the look of the anime, but makes you ask if it makes sense for the ww2 looking soldiers to shoot their gatling guns at very mobile CoD looking soldiers. The movie looks great, but it dosen't understand what Jin Roh was about or what the whole wolf metaphor was.
Burning-Man this movie was amazing. So layered and full of substance. A movie about metaphor and perspective. Is Ben a serial killer or just a really weird young rich man. is the main character right or is he driven by jealously and his own insercuity? Does it matter? What an amazing movie.
Train to Busan-What a fun movie full of charming characters and a tense situation. Really enjoyed this movie.
Fullmetal Alchemist-Trash
Does anyone have any recommendations based on what I've seen? I've seen stuff like Oldboy, Sympathy for Mr V, Hero, House of Flying Daggers, Hardboild, plenty of Jackie Chan stuff, various anime adaptations, and so on.
I've got A Better Tomorrow 2/3 and The Killer on order.
Have things like Seven Samurai, Sanjuro, Yojimba, and Blade of the Imortal on hand.
Downloaded Bullet in the Head and Full Contact for more Woo/Chow type movies.