Agreement:83% of 48 voters agree with Jeffrey Frawley's reviews Gender: Male Age: 49 Location: Potomac, Maryland, USA Lists:WISH LIST (10) / OWNED LIST (176)
Bio: I love Asian film far more than is good for me. While I am very fond of much from Golden Harvest, Shaw Brothers films hold a special attraction, particularly the work of Chang Cheh, with Ti Lung or the Venoms, and Liu Chia-liang, with or without his brothers. I am learning more about South Korean film, and find it the best Asian cinema of the past two decades. Thai film is entertaining, to say the least, but I do not yet have the critical apparatus to go beyond "That elbow strike was cool!"
YOU ARE HERE:INTERACT HOME / JEFFREY FRAWLEY'S PROFILE
Silmido (product link) Drama / War This is a remarkable tale largely based on real events in South Korea between 1968 and 1971. After a failed North Korean attempt to infiltrate North Korean commandos to assassinate President Park Chung-hee, the KCIA formed a secret commando unit from condemned prisoners, tasked with killing the North Korean President Kim Il-sung. When policies were changed and the assassination cancelled, the commandos were an embarrassment to those who had activated them for as long as they lived - so their termination was ordered.
As the real life events are still largely classified, it is difficult to assess how true to life the film is. If the film has any flaw, it is that several of the battle scenes are shot so as to obscure which side is firing at which, and just who are the casualties.
Blood Brothers [2007] (product link) Triad / Drama [Warning: contains spoilers.] The first 75% of the film seemed to be leading toward the lead character, played by Daniel Wu, coming to realize the unacceptable price of being a Shanghai Triad. But then the ending is an unbelievable shootout in which he kills everyone but the final villain, and the villain's gunman can't hit him with thousands of close range shots.
Missing [2008] (product link) Thriller / Action/Adventure This is a very different film from what I was expecting, and it will take a few more viewings to decide what is real, fantasy or mystical experience. The lead, Lee Sinje, is a haunting actress. She has said she is no longer interested in making horror movies, but I can't see her being so effective in any other genre. Isabella Leong gives a remarkably well-modulated performance in the second female lead, and she is very beautiful. This is not a truly great film, and is not among Tsui Hark's very best, but I would recommend it enthusiastically to those who have enjoyed Lee Sinje in other films.
I'm A Cyborg, But That's OK (product link) Drama / Romance One's enjoyment of this is dependent on one's ability either to tell reality from fantasy or to accept the bizarre world of this film's heroine. I'm leaning toward simply accepting her world: the male protagonist seems to both enter the heroine's world and live ever outside it. Perhaps the film's point of view is the heroine's view from outside of herself... I don't know. This is less satisfying than the director's previous films, but it is still quite good.
Zatoichi [2003] (product link) Drama / Swordplay/Sword(s) This is a terrifically entertaining film, but I can understand why some would be put off by Takeshi Kitano's laid-back to the point of coma performance and some abrupt shifts of tone. I still can't reconcile the musical ending with the rest of the film. The project gains some merit from Mr. Kitano's consultation with Shintaro Katsu's survivors and his awareness of the shadow Mr. Katsu still casts.
This isn't a continuation of, or in competition with, the original series. It is itself, and it is quite pleasing.
Sometimes, when something's been done to death, it's worth taking a chance at doing it completely differently. And I think this risk paid off here with the musical numbers, etc. To my surprise...
Dragon Tiger Gate (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This doesn't do a whole lot for me. Donnie Yen's martial arts performance is good, despite being hampered by a bizarre peekaboo hairstyle. Nicholas Tse, despite a more normal hairstyle, fights adequately, but nowhere hear Yen's level. Shawn Yue, in a wig (I hope it's a wig) more or less as foolish as Yen's, isn't given much to do. The plot is much thinner than the martial arts choreography.
The Prodigal Son [Australia Special Edition] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This is it - the superlative: Frankie Chan Fan-Kei is a terrifically convincing villain - a selfish brat with no respect for others...but Yuen Biao is better, as a similarly spoiled rich kid who matures into a fine warrior....but Sammo Hung is even better, as a kind but childish martial arts master....but Lam Ching-Ying is better than any of them as an effeminate, asthmatic and noble Wing Chun master. The greatly missed Mr. Lam became a major star as the one-eyebrowed Taoist in the "Mr. Vampire" films, but this, right here, is his very finest work.
The plot is strong and well told, the acting very solid, and the martial arts superlative.
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
Agreed Lam Ching-Ying was outstanding in this feature! His performance and Sammo's really stood out!
Knockabout (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This isn't Yuen Biao's best film, or even his best film with Sammo Hung (that would probably be "Prodigal Son" on both counts), but it is an auspicious starring debut with extremely good choreography and a strong script. All of the Seven Fortunes performers - including Sammo Hung, Jackie Chan, Yuen Wah, Yuen Tak, Corey Yuen and others - are very good, but none gave so assured a performance in his debut as Yuen Biao here.
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
Agreed, its not their best but it was quite entertaining with a great cast and great action.
Chocolate [2008] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure "Chocolate" must not be judged as an attempt to duplicate Tony Jaa. It is not, and doesn't try to be. It is a showcase for the extremely good fighter Jeeja Yanin/Yanin Vismitananda, who was 23-24 when the film was made but looks much younger. She doesn't have the raw force of Tony Jaa, but very much of his speed and good technique. The plot is not the selling point, but this is a very serviceable story of an autistic physical savant fighting to afford her mother's medical care, coming into contact with Thai and Japanese gangsters.
This isn't like anything else: it does a fine job of being itself, and I enjoyed it tremendously.
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
N
Repetitive to the point of tedium. Every fight was the same and the lead was extremely annoying.
Born Invincible [PanMedia] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Carter Wong has been in a lot of worse films, and the martial arts scenes (60% of the film?) are very well done. Reviews are supposed to be of the film, rather than the DVD - but when the only DVDs available have the mediocre transfer and incredibly awful English dubbing found here, it's hard to take the film very seriously or to enjoy it as much as it deserves.
Another significant problem with enjoying "Born Invincible" is that, very typically for Joseph Kuo, the initial characterization of Tai Chi and Tai Chi practitioners is just bizarre.
I wanted to like this. Donnie Yen can fight every bit as well as he is allowed to, and act rather well for a performer who is foremost a martial artist. Kelly Chen is a beautiful actress who can be coached to give a convincing performance as a swordswoman. Leon Lai is a charming and effective actor. Tony Ching Siu Tung has choreographed and directed many excellent action films. The problem must be with the script and conception. Donnie Yen is presented as a supreme general and warrior, but he is given relatively little opportunity to display his abilities. Kelly Chen is cast as an empress whose officials are too foolish to respect and obey; but early on her character is torn whether to follow her duty or her romantic impulses, proving her officials are right to distrust her. Leon Lai's forward-thinking pacifist is anachronistic enough to command technology at least half a millennium past his time.
"An Empress and the Warriors" is meant to be a grand argument for peace and equality, but it just isn't convincing.
The Buddhist Fist (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This is an early success by the Yuen Clan. Yuen Wo Ping and his brothers choreographed, and he directed, a very exciting adventure. Yuen Shun-yi, who has usually been relegated to playing monstrous villains, plays an engaging hero. Unfortunately the family patriarch, Yuen Siu Tien, died before he could complete his relatively small part. Fan Mei Sheng, who replaced him in some other parts when he was unable to work or after he had died, takes the part which was probably meant for him.
The 10 Faces Of Sonny Chiba [10-Movie Set] (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Most of these ten films are guilty pleasures, but pleasures they are. Sonny Chiba's films with Kinju Fukasaku are low points for both men - with unconvincing special effects and inferior set design - but I'm not sorry to have this set! Most of the films are worthwhile, and the Streetfighter films, particularly the first one, are quite enjoyable.
The Postman Fights Back [Dutch Special Edition] (product link) Action/Adventure / Drama This is primarily a showcase for Leung Kar Yan's charisma in the part of the postman, but Fan Mei Sheng, in his accustomed genial barbarian role, and Chow Yun-Fat, looking impossibly handsome and with inscrutable motives, give good supporting roles. Yuen Yat-Chor, a very fine martial artist but an unimpressive actor, rounds out the leading actors. Eddie Ko, in an unsympathetic role as the official who hires the three men to deliver a parcel to a warlord, is one of the better villains of the past 30 years. Cherie Chung is pretty and extremely young as the villager who tags along with the postman and his fellows.
The Martial Club (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure This is an excellent follow-up to "Challenge of the Masters." Lau Kar Leung choreographs many excellent fights and provides a good plot framework to contain them. It is refreshing that the northern fighter is not stereotyped as a cold villain.
The Wandering Swordsman (product link) Martial Arts / Action/Adventure Enjoyment of this film depends almost entirely on whether one appreciates David Chiang's acting and charm: I do not, or at least not very much. There is a well-established tradition of the Chinese wandering swordsman roving a timeless China, righting wrongs and defending the downtrodden, with no concern for his own gain. That's fine, and it's made for many good films.
In this case, David Chiang plays a gullible, stupid little man with some sword skills and an inflated opinion of his own cleverness. Am I missing something, or isn't it foolish to believe whatever a stranger one is fighting tells you?
Things do not turn out well for this smiling cavalier.
Ashes Of Time (product link) Swordplay/Sword(s) / Art If one approaches "Ashes of Time" as a martial arts film, it is nothing. The editing and cinematography deny the viewer the thrill of a sequential battle from beginning to end. Instead of visceral thrill, this offers a depressive meditation on beauty, lost time, ego and desire. You would have to be far more perceptive than I to perceive much of Wong Kar Wai's intention on a first viewing, but the film draws me back, sometimes years later, to see it again and feel a delicate reverie on time which can never be regained.
I'm going to put it back in the DVD player again right now.
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
N
Why do so many people insist that Wong Kar Wai requires heightened cognition to enjoy. Depressive meditation sound like yet another euphemism for slow and boring.
Return To A Better Tomorrow (product link) Action/Adventure / Crime Lau Ching Wan is quite good in a second or third lead part - he is almost always quite good - but star Ekin Cheng is superficial - as he very frequently is. The film is as conventional a Triad drama as Wong Jing is capable of making. Unusually for Wong Jing, there appears to have been some effort to maintain a coherent plot. I found the film reasonably entertaining, but it is an outrage to even pretend it has some relationship with the great "A Better Tomorrow," hugely entertaining "A Better Tomorrow 2" or the fairly ordinary "A Better Tomorrow 3." Other than dealing with Triad members, there is no connection, and the setting of this film is noticeably more contemporary than any of them.
A Better Tomorrow 3 (product link) Action/Adventure / Bullet Ballet "A Better Tomorrow 3" was made by writer/producer/director Tsui Hark after he and John Woo, the co-writer/director of parts 1 and 2, had a falling out. This is an unnecessary, less visually interesting film than the previous two, a prequel which removes some of the mystique from Chow Yun Fat's character, Mark Gor, giving him a back-story he was better without. Still, Tsui Hark's visual flair and storytelling facility, while inferior to John Woo's, are better than most, and this is an entertaining film. John Woo made his most harrowing film, "Bullet in the Head," using the general outline of the plot he would have used in this film if he had stayed on the project. It is a hugely superior film, but I think "A Better Tomorrow 3" outperformed it in the Hong Kong market.
AGREE?
READER COMMENTS
AUTHOR
Y
Good review! I agree that the prequel does take away from the character developement off Mark Gor. I did enjoy the film and I especially loved the acting of the late beautiful Anita Mui!
Tiger Cage (product link) Action/Adventure / Martial Arts Anyone accustomed to Donnie Yen's starring roles in the last decade will find something entirely different here. His is not the lead role, and it is much smaller than Jackie Cheung, Simon Yam or Dodo Cheng's. Nor is this film a major showcase for Yen's martial arts, although his few fight scenes are quite competent. Jackie Cheung has made other films with a character similar to his here, and this is even more so of Simon Yam. I haven't seen enough Dodo Cheng films to say whether she breaks any new ground.
This is not a Donnie Yen self-love fest, but a competent crime drama.
SECURE CREDIT CARD PROCESSING BY VERISIGN.
886 users online right now / 87107 visitors since 11/30/2008 6:19:46 AM All content copyright 2000-7 HKFlix.com, not to be used without written permission.
