Some "blog" feedback...if inclined?

[Mike Thomason]

Hey folks...

So, anyway, how do you all reckon the review blog is going then?

http://column.hkmdb.com/mike/

I'm not really fussed nor fazed whether people agree with my opinions or not, as invariably (and as proven numerous times in the past) we have different tastes and enjoy different things when it comes to Hong Kong movies!

Just want to know how the folks here feel it's shaping up now that I've taken it in a brand new direction? The (slightly) shorter reviews are new, and the (much) longer ones that are starting to appear all pre-date my return to the medium this month -- trying to keep the piccies interesting, with being too salacious or gruesome...which is not my thing anyway.

Am I doing a good job with my thing, or a crap one? Ultimately, just looking to see if anyone's reading it, and what they think of it and its format now that it's back in circulation. I'll keep posting tons of stuff either way, good or bad feedback...coz I've gone a bit review crazy*!

And as always -- HUGEST of HUGE thanks to Bob and the DB for it all!

Thanks in advance,
Mike

PS: If you're a "DVD head", don't take the piccies too seriously or to heart! They're correct aspect ratios and stuff, but I "mess" with them pretty severely to make sure they look "good" on the blog...hehe...

* plus there's literally dozens upon dozens of unpublished stuff in the archives at present.

[cal42]

It's a well-written blog, and I read it frequently. I read both yours and Brian's and generally look for updates every day, believe it or not.

I particularly enjoyed your article on the classification system (I've been watching HK films for 16 years and I was still scratching my head at times about certain aspects of it).

The only reason I don't leave comments is I've not seen any of the films you've written about, although Girl With the Long Hair seems appealing and I may look into it at some point.

[Brian Thibodeau]

Lookin' good so far!! Must admit I kinda miss the fascinating rants that used to pop up from time to time , but I do rather prefer the focus these days, particularly the long stuff, and I can assure you your blog has instantly become the more read-worthy of the two! As anybody who reads mine knows, it's more of a rambly dumping ground for odds 'n sods I can't put anywhere else, or just plain goofy s**t I just like to get out of my head, or movies I know few around here have seen yet (I got dibs! How sad, I know...). In fact, I just realized I should give some lovin' to the TIFF presentation of MAD DETECTIVE before it potentially ends up lumped in with the Johnny To collective blob over on your side of the fence!

I found this part of your review of ITCHY HEART to be rather revealing, and it's nice when a reviewer of any stripe—but particularly yours —can admit that decidedly outside factors can often flavour one's written opinion of a film whether we admit it or not... (beyond the obvious experience of same)

Though personal feelings should usually not intrude on the task of assessing a film on its own merits, we seldom remember that it is often the company we share, or the audience we are a part of, that is an integral factor in our own personal enjoyment of whatever form of entertainment we are partaking.

When I think of all the movies I've enjoyed in the company of others...




(Incidentally, and off topic I know, I'd love to jump in on your Shaw request thread, but I'm afraid I'm not allowed as, despite having all but two of those titles at home (those two being Love With the Perfect Stranger and Mr. Possessed), I've yet to take the plunge into the Shaw world just yet. So I just keep picking 'em up as they come out, martial arts and non-martial arts stuff alike, though the latter is where my interest lies. So many titles, so little time! But winter is on the way in my neck of the woods, so maybe someday I'll be able to join in the conversation! Sorry for now.)

[Mike Thomason]

I just realized I should give some lovin' to the TIFF presentation of MAD DETECTIVE before it potentially ends up lumped in with the Johnny To collective blob over on your side of the fence!

Believe it or not, I usually love Johnnie To's films, either stuff he directs or the other stuff he produces with the "house" talent -- just over the last year or two I feel he's been a bit hit and miss. As mentioned, Yau Noi Hai's Eye in the Sky was just mid-tier Milkyway to me; more going through the motions than the standard high quality. But then, I'm in the minority who felt Election was a bit of a boring old clunker; the sequel was definitely the better of the two films for me as at least it harboured some energy lacking from the first one.

Point two: everyone that writes about contemporary stuff has their merits and is worth reading, in my books. There's so many retro-reviews out there these days, you'd think that HK stopped producing movies back in the late 80s! Thereby, I'm glad we're both up there thanks to Bob and the DB...

Point three: is okay about the Shaws! I'm usually in touch with another Brian (the one runs brns.com) but he rated Girl With the Long Hair a measly 4 out of 10 and I loved it -- so we're on a different page when it comes to "cheeky movies" so I'm now looking for some people more in tune with my own viewpoints on this stuff. Maybe Bearserk can chime in?

Anyhoo, thanks for the feedback so far -- very encouraging to see I'm doing something right, to say the least!

PS: In coming days, maybe even tonight, make sure you scroll down on the page as I'm going to add a couple of Shaw titles but post-date them a couple of days back so that they don't overshadow the brand new stuff.

[Mike Thomason]

Okay, for those of you regularly reading my crazy exploits in the world of Hong Kong cinema, I've added a kind-of "trackback" review...

http://column.hkmdb.com/mike/?p=117

...though it's as good (bad?) as anything else that I uploaded over the weekend, I decided to back-date the posting of this review as it was commenced before the one for Invisible Target...and well before I got sidetracked into putting up a couple of the fifty or more archived reviews I have on file. Thus, as it came after the last Shaw film viewed, that's where I've posted the write-up -- Call Girls will eventually be back-dated to before Girl With the Long Hair too.

But I thought I'd drop in a line and let you all know it's there now, just in case scrolling through all those pictures and words becomes too daunting!

[Brian Thibodeau]

just over the last year or two I feel he's been a bit hit and miss.

Interesting bit of info about MAD DETECTIVE (though no spoilers) in relation to the hit 'n miss nature of To and company (and yes, I'm going a bit off-topic as always ). At the Q&A with To and co-director Wai Ka-fai after the TIFF screening, I was very tempted to ask them about visual similarities between the ending of this film and the ending of THE LONGEST NITE when suddenly someone else beat me to it. Both of them had a bit of a chuckle to themselves when the question was asked, as if they were actually expecting someone to ask about it all along. They essentially responded that they aware the film might actually draw criticism for referencing an earlier, well-remembered work, but at the same time, they knew that this particular stylistic device was simply the most ideal way to represent the themes/characters of MAD DETECTIVE. So perhaps its laziness or perhaps its intent, but it should be interesting to see the web reviews when this finally gets a release in HK and elsewhere. Oddly enough, even the usually astute Variety reviewer didn't seem to notice the thievery, but perhaps it's just a sign that it works as well as it does. MAD DETECTIVE is definitely mid-tier To—however one chooses to define that—but even at that it's one of the more inventive crime-dramadies to come out the city in a while.

There's so many retro-reviews out there these days, you'd think that HK stopped producing movies back in the late 80s! Thereby, I'm glad we're both up there thanks to Bob and the DB...

I have to wonder if the increase in retro-reviews has anything to do with the increase in young newcomers to Hong Kong cinema since the dawn of the internet, and expecially in recent years now that more and more movies from that "golden era" are being re-issued once again and marketed to a younger audience that doesn't have the familiarity with it that a lot of us do around here (gee, thanks Dragon Dynasty!). For that I say more power to 'em, as long as they eventually realize how vibrant Hong Kong's film culture still is! There's probably more reviews out there now for old Jackie Chan and John Woo and Jet Li and many other 80's/90's movies than there ever was ten or 15 years ago, and it does tend to marginalize appreciation of the new pictures coming from the region. Guess that's the price we gotta pay for being part of the flat world these days, but I'm just glad somebody's keeping tabs on the new releases, so keep 'em coming! Regular checks of the "recent reviews" section hereabouts have been rather revealing in recent months/years as well.

so I'm now looking for some people more in tune with my own viewpoints on this stuff. Maybe Bearserk can chime in?

Sad to say I strongly suspect I'd be very much in tune with you on a lot of this stuff, especially after having stumbled (quite literally) across some ages-old threads at DVDManiacs in recent months. You've definitely got a taste for exploitation! Looking forward to more reviews of the cheeky stuff.

[Mike Thomason]

Sad to say I strongly suspect I'd be very much in tune with you on a lot of this stuff...

Sadly...sadly?! I'd say that was good thing rather than a bad thing, yes?

[Brian Thibodeau]

True, it wouldn't be a bad thing! Just wish I had more time to cover all the bases so I could chime in. I've got unwatched HK movies by the boatload here; finding the time is the trick. Fingers are crossed now that winter is on the way and my bike must go into storage !

[Mike Thomason]

Just to touch base, as I haven't had a lot of time to update the review blog this past week or so (work and life and stuff), there's new stuff in the offing throughout the week. I've been watching a LOT of (non-martial arts) Shaw Brothers films of late, and they're going to make up the bulk of the updates.

There should be reviews of Call Girls and Ghost Eyes (sadly OOP now on DVD, which is a shame as it's an excellent early seventies horror title) going up in the next few days. Thereafter, I'm going to try and focus my available energies on finishing my review of Bruce Lee & I (which, for the sleazehounds, is shorn of the frontal nudity present in the export prints as HK was still to relax their censorship laws enough to show such things -- the IVL disc appears to replicate the HK cinema version with no restored footage) as well as a couple of Li Han-Hsiang titles: The Ghost Story and Love Swindler; Lu Chi's enjoyably light Sexy Girls of Denmark; late sixties thriller Diary of a Lady Killer; and a horror flick: Hell Has No Boundary.

Thus, keep your eyes peeled! If time permits, I may even put up my archival reviews of Dumplings and The Eye 2 -- but at this stage it's largely going to be all hands on deck to crank out/complete the above reviews. I have a busy week on the work/personal front, so this may not all come to pass as expected...but I'll definitely give it a shot!

NB: Chalk these up as planned for the next two to three weeks, now. Am just going through a run of very bad luck this last week or so -- and the immediate pressing things are getting in the way of the "fun" things.

In the interim, here's some new things... http://column.hkmdb.com/mike/?p=123 and http://column.hkmdb.com/mike/?p=129

[Mike Thomason]

Okay, due to personal commitments I've dragged my feet a bit in getting new stuff up over the last few days...but in honour of Brian and his love of my "long-form" reviews, I've started dredging some juggernauts out of the archives ala...

http://column.hkmdb.com/mike/?p=155

...wait 'til you see the size of those aforementioned Eye 2 and Dumplings writeups!

[Brian Thibodeau]

I trust your run of bad luck has subsided?

Interesting review of POSSESSED, by the way. I'd been reading bits and bytes about if over the last while, and was thinking (as a bad-movie junkie) that I'd pick it up if I saw it floating around down here, but it sounds like I wouldn't miss much if I skipped it altogether. I had to dig a bit, but I was reminded of this interesting discussion about the director's previous "film" LEGEND OF THE RED CURSE. Even the cinematographer owned up to how crappy it was, and why.

http://www.sarawakfilmsociety.org/forum ... d.php?t=59

Both of these sound like bad movie heaven in their own special way, but I'm not sure even I'd go out of my way to see them. Perhaps the third time will be the charm for Bjarne Wong?

[Mike Thomason]

I trust your run of bad luck has subsided?

Well, sort of, yet not.

The other half has been sick for nearly two weeks now, and can't shake off a flu-bug she's picked up. I've had various unpleasant incidences at work, and have put a few noses out of joint in upper management as a result. Am expecting a thrilling meeting with my area manager shortly...

Middle of last week, some goose smashed one of the windows in my car while it was parked during working hours -- no break-in, just smashed a window for the fun of it. To add insult to injury, I had ignition problems with the car over the weekend -- that will need a serious looking at in the short term.

I got a phonecall Monday from my estate agent advising that my rent is about to skyrocket, and my final visit to the blood clinic proved the humdinger of them all -- an abnormality may have been found in my blood that, if tests come back showing a positive result, will mean I could end up on blood-thinners for the rest of my life...not to mention the interesting problems it could pose from here onwards with any air travel I do. But on the health front, I won't know for definite for another week or so yet...

And this has all occured on one wage, and in the middle of me trying to apply for a new job. Some weeks, it doesn't rain -- it pours!

Otherwise, it's business as (semi) usual -- the reviews are starting to back up a bit, but I should start getting back on track with the Shaw stuff and other oddments within the fortnight.

Thanks for the link, btw! Best laugh I've had all week! Folks talk just like that up there -- so it was just like being "home" reading that thread. Well, looks like Bjarne learnt nothing between his first film and his most recent one. It really is a case of better luck next time...

[Brian Thibodeau]

Well, best of luck with all that! That's one heck of a rainstorm.

Speaking of cars, I just paid mine off a few weeks back, and suddenly every little noise makes me real, real nervous.

[Mike Thomason]

Behold, it's the much vaunted SEEDING OF A GHOST review!

http://column.hkmdb.com/mike/?p=176