2016 DECEMBER 2016 MOVIE DISCUSSION

[zev]

On ‎12‎/‎7‎/‎2016 at 1:58 AM, Brian Fowler said:

1. Die Hard

 

The end

25k tweets and counting tonight since it popped up on IFC a couple hours ago.

[Johnny Sorrow]

I just watched the new Magnificant Seven. It fucking stinks.

[Control]

What's a good Donnie Yen film? Loved him in ROGUE ONE and wondering what to check out from his back catalogue.

[RIPPA]

28 minutes ago, Control said:

What's a good Donnie Yen film? Loved him in ROGUE ONE and wondering what to check out from his back catalogue.

Iron Monkey and Hero (the one with Jet Li NOT the one with Dustin Hoffman)

I can't comment on the Ip Man series because I haven't seen them but I know they are popular

[John Austin]

Flashpoint and SPL are also both really good Donnie Yen movies

[piranesi]

Donnie Yen was also the villain in DRAGON INN one of the most beautiful of Tsui Hark's wire fu epics.  He doesn't do much until the end but still everyone should watch DRAGON INN if only for the amazing performances by Maggie Cheung and Brigitte Lin (my avatar who is a lady and NOT DARKMAN'S EAR!!!!!)

[RRR]

Iron Monkey(HK version not crappy USA cut) 

Once Upon a Time in China 2

In the Line of Duty 4 

 

Avoid Yen's self directed and Taiwanese films he made during his banishment from HK movies unless you want to see the most sped up kungfu ever filmed. 

[J.T.]

My favorite Donnie Yen movies:

1. Ip Man

2. Ip Man 2

3. Iron Monkey

4. Flashpoint

5. 14 Blades

6. SPL

7. Ip Man 3 (The Donnie Yen / Mike Tyson fight is really good)

[Curt McGirt]

Got Akira on DVD for Xmas (to go with the two VHS copies I have I guess) and it's still the best film ever. I do not say that with an asterisk. The extras has Katsuhiro Otomo talking about CG animation being the future, all the way back in 1993. Talk about ahead of his time! As I've never seen it in Japanese that'll be the next version I watch. Not really sure I can give the English redub a second chance. 

If they ever make a live action version of this I may consider drastic measures as regards the filmmakers

[caley]

On Sunday, December 25, 2016 at 5:19 PM, Control said:

What's a good Donnie Yen film? Loved him in ROGUE ONE and wondering what to check out from his back catalogue.

Have only seen the first two Ip Mans but I LOVED them.  The part in the first one where he steps up and offers to fight basically everyone at once is one of the most bad-ass movie moments ever.

[Control]

I mean obviously I've seen IRON MONKEY. I'm not a philistine. Happy to hear that the IP MAN movies are worth a look, though.

[piranesi]

While I'm visiting my parents in St. Louis I have a chance to go visit my faovorite mall of all time.  Chesterfield Mall. Place of my first kiss.  My first job.  My first arrest. (three different days I assure you).

Well the old mall is suffering.  Like half the stores are closed or closing.  The "fix your iphone screen" guy was panning in the fountain for change.  The big, greasy pretzel stand was replaced by a narcan dispenser.  It was rough to see.  But it does give me a chance to show you one of my favorite things ever.  I love it when things like this happen and it's hard to find them anymore.

So at some point in its storied history they added a movie theater to the old C-Mall.  And to mark that auspicious occasion they painted a mural depicting the great moments in the history of Hollywood. What's so great about it is that, going from fight to left it depicts the great iconic film moments from past to present.  Which means that while the left side has genuinely immortal moments that everyone of any age will recognize

 

Hepburn and Bogart an Newman and Taylor...The Wizard of Oz...But by the time you get to the right side the only thing revealed is just exactly what horrible era that mural was painted during and a bunch of pictures that anyone under the age of 30 will look at and be like 'Who the fuck is that?"

 

Now just to be clear, that is not Halle Berry winning an Oscar.  That is Halle Berry in THE FLINSTONES.

THESE THINGS DO NOT BELONG IN THE SAME MURAL!!

Oh, suburban mall....I will miss you sooooo much!

 

[Reed]

*me re-watching Back to the Future* “You know, the most depressing thing in this series are the early moments when a middle-aged, melancholy Lorraine seems to admit: ‘Oh, I just settled for George.’  George lazily accepts it. That was not a happy marriage."

Their own son actually had to go back in time to make them realize why they fell in love in the first place. Or fall in love properly, anyways. I always adored that about this film.

Marty, in all his actions, pointed out something to them. He saves them.

IMO, it's a rather dark film because that family was so frigging miserable in the first place. 

[just drew]

On 12/25/2016 at 2:58 AM, Johnny Sorrow said:

I just watched the new Magnificant Seven. It fucking stinks.

I liked it. It wasn't great, and I thought it was poorly edited, but the cast was likeable and that counts for a lot with me...

[clintthecrippler]

I love Ip Man 1 and Ip Man 2, but the one thing I will note on the Ip Man series is that the jump from Ip Man 1 to Ip Man 2 is basically the equivalent of the Rocky series jumping straight from Rocky to Rocky IV without 2 and 3 in between.

Ip Man 1 - awesome fighting scenes amidst Chinese-Japanese tension drama of the era.

Ip Man 2 - Ip is tasked with defeating the evil British boxer that has made it his mission to destroy every single Chinese boxer he fights.

I haven't seen the third one yet, but I do know that Mike Tyson is in it.

[J.T.]

If you prefer your movie fights on the real then Flashpoint is your joint.  It has just enough Police vs Triad crime plot to justify the assbeatings and Donnie Yen mixing up Wing Chun with BJJ makes for some pretty sick brawls.

If period pieces are your thing then Wu Xia and 14 Blades are probably for you,  I particularly liked 14 Blades.  It is a little two wire fu for me, but the story is solid and there is the obligatory Ming dynasty uberweapon used by the hero.  However, this time is is some mysterious clockwork thingie rather than a magical sword or traditional weapon of Kung Fu.

 

[Neil Koch]

24 minutes ago, clintthecrippler said:

I love Ip Man 1 and Ip Man 2, but the one thing I will note on the Ip Man series is that the jump from Ip Man 1 to Ip Man 2 is basically the equivalent of the Rocky series jumping straight from Rocky to Rocky IV without 2 and 3 in between.

Ip Man 1 - awesome fighting scenes amidst Chinese-Japanese tension drama of the era.

Ip Man 2 - Ip is tasked with defeating the evil British boxer that has made it his mission to destroy every single Chinese boxer he fights.

I haven't seen the third one yet, but I do know that Mike Tyson is in it.

It's pretty much par for the course for most modern Chinese films.  They have to follow the whims of the government and their censorship/propaganda.  I like the Ip Man movies, but they get pretty cartoony is their stories and characterizations.

Some other Donnie movies I like in no particular order.  Most of these are pretty easily available on Netflix or Amazon.

Wu Xia

Special ID

Kung Fu Jungle (aka Kung Fu Killer)

Flash Point

Tiger Cage

SPL (aka Kill Zone)

Dragon Tiger Gate

The Holy Virgin Versus The Evil Dead

14 Blades

Tiger Cage II

Once Upon a Time in China II

Hero

New Dragon Inn

Iron Monkey

Wing Chun

Seven Swords (aka 7 Swords)

Bodyguards and Assassins
 

[Travis Sheldon]

On 12/25/2016 at 11:25 PM, piranesi said:

Donnie Yen was also the villain in DRAGON INN one of the most beautiful of Tsui Hark's wire fu epics.  He doesn't do much until the end but still everyone should watch DRAGON INN if only for the amazing performances by Maggie Cheung and Brigitte Lin (my avatar who is a lady and NOT DARKMAN'S EAR!!!!!)

I haven't seen this flick since the 90s, but I do remember it being awesome. 

Now I'm going to have to see if I can find a Blu-Ray of this gem.

 

[John Austin]

Cameron Crowe's Singles was on HBO, while a product of its time, I still love it. Great sound track and great movie.

[Curt McGirt]

Caught some of Grosse Point Blank on TV yesterday. What are the odds that John Cusack and Minnie Driver actually got it on in real life? Their chemistry in that movie really swings them in real life's favor. And damn does Minnie have a good American accent. And a really wide, really pretty face. Speaking of actress crushes, Joan Cusack before she started aging (and honestly, she's still not bad looking on Shameless) was also attractive in a weird way. 

Didn't stick around for the shootout at the end because of dinner but the kid listening to "Ace of Spades" while they lit up the C-store was a nice touch

[John Austin]

love Grosse Point Blank. I don't know about the real life chemistry, i kinda subscribe to the Joey Tribbiani theory on chemistry on screen vs off screen.

 

I lived the ending shootout, I mean if Dan Ackroyd wanted to be on TV he got it.

[RIPPA]

Going back to the mural for a second - I think Halle Berry is there to distract you from Rush Hour and Charlie's Angels

[GuerrillaMonsoon]

The Accountant.

Autistic Batman was pretty good. Fun, I guess.

[Kuetsar]

Why is this still open?

[RIPPA]

Thought folks could read the title and notice it isn't pinned anymore.

My mistake clearly