Asian Film Hall of Fame

I'm glad you mostly liked it. Are you using Firefox on a PC by any chance? If so I'll tell you why I asked (not a big deal, I'm just curious).

Hanagatami (2017)

That was very, very, VERY, very long.
A surreal journey that continually relapsed upon itself and spun about like a waking dream: halfway between what may be real and the emotional sum of a dreamscape that drifts like circles of waves on a continually shifting beach that may be in itself, water, and it is the sand that laps like the sexual tension that everyone has in regards to everyone else and the repression of expressing what needs to be spoken and the symbology of what is visually expressed in broken poetry.

I honestly do not know.
And I'm unsure if I need to.
Like the final meanderings of life, at its end, Hanagatami is equally poignant as it is nonsensical. Pivoting at such a quick speed, it becomes difficult to differentiate what is spoken, what is thought, and in what realm do they cohabitate.

Again, I honestly do not know.
And ponder, should I attempt to.

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What I actually said to win MovieGal's heart:
- I might not be a real King of Kinkiness, but I make good pancakes

~Mr Minio

That's it for me.
I'll have a vote tallied out later this evening.
THANK YOU EVERYONE for each and every film that I would not have seen if I did not join in.

Daimajin review tomorrow, probably after I watch Hanagatami.

Chocolate: Man, that was fun! All the fighting in this film is very fast paced and greatly entertaining to watch. For a film with such a short runtime, I'm surprised at how many fight scenes they managed to fit in without any of them feeling tired or overwhelming. I think I agree with a lot of people on this film in terms of one thing: Every scene that's about the yakuza instead of Zen just feels like a really bad soap opera. It's really odd to see something so amateurish and bad in a film where the fight choreography makes it clear that there was talent behind this (I know nothing about Thai cinema, so this could be a regular style they have and I wouldn't know). The villains are very one dimensional, but I had no issue with the main characters.

In terms of representation of autism, it's pretty good I'd say: Being upset by the flies, having a special interest, communicating with hand signals etc. I feel like the whole shtick where Zen can sense tiny balls moving at a distance could be an example of the tired savant troupe, but it didn't bother me. Was quite weird to have the guy with Tourettes be a blatant stereotype though, kinda reminds me of those films that preach diversity by making minorities the main characters, but still act offensive to different minority groups.

Good film Pahak.

The child was clearly dead. It's probably safe to assume the mother was just in shock, or is refusing to come to terms with what had just happened.

Can you tell me why you brought it up? I do use Firefox on a PC and am wondering if that somehow affects my posts. And if so, why you haven't asked me the same question (unless you have and I forgot haha).

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The point is that the mother and child being in different conditions makes no sense for the situation. If they were in different parts of the city than yeah okay maybe I can buy that but then how would she know that was her baby...if it was just burnt like that.

The reason I asked was: I was trying to be helpful. I noticed on Siddon's reviews that he had larger spaces between his paragraphs. I once had that happen to me and I couldn't stop Firefox from doing the large spaces. We even talked about it here at MoFo on one of the bug report threads. If you start reading at Jab's post and read down to where I post about the fix, you'll see what I mean.
https://www.movieforums.com/communit...42#post1966442

I've never had that happen to me, but I also always use shift and enter together for a new line (and twice if I want a full line of space in between) instead of just enter.

It might have been changed in a newer version of Firefox so no longer does the super-sized paragraph spaces. I was glad to have found a fix awhile back as it drove me crazy. But not as crazy as the new bookmark changes, that made me bonkers (I fixed that too, I'm always 'fixing' Firefox)

Don't get me started! Some time ago they did a lot of changes that made the layout more like Chrome, and I hated it. Particularly having tabs on top instead of on bottom, where they belong. If I wanted a Chrome-like browser I'd, you know, use Chrome. Every few updates since then they break whatever my current fix for putting tabs on bottom is, and it's very frustrating.

I can't remember not having the tabs on top, but that's probably my faulty memory What I struggled most with was the animated url/search bar, that took a LOT of effort to put back the way I like it.

Tears of the Black Tiger: "It doesn't take itself too seriously", that's a phrase I always hear spoken verbatim whenever an action/horror film with exaggerated elements is brought to discussion. I like to see Black Tiger as an exception to this: It DOES take itself quite seriously! Sure, the action scenes are obviously trying to be funny, but the melodrama elements feel very honest and not satirical or hollow. I think this makes the film alot more interesting than other films that try to be over-the-top or satirical; those films often have one dimensional characters because the writers almost believe a film that 'you shouldn't take seriously' shouldn't have good characters and story. Let's hope more comedic and satirical films have the same level of character writing as Black Tiger in the future.

One issue I had with it was that I don't think it had enough over-the-top elements. Apart from the ending, nothing in the film shows the same level of silliness as the football game-esque "lets see that again!" replay scene at the start of the film. I also noticed there were quite a few flashback within a flashback moments in the film, I don't know whether this was intentional for the sake of comedy or whether that's just what the writers wanted.

Very good film JJ, even if I could only find the shorter version.

Mother: You know a film is well written when you've been heavily engaged in it and you don't realise the protagonist doesn't have a name until you look at the films Wikipedia page! Certainly one of those films where the main performer steals the show in comparison to everyone else. I see some criticisms of the film saying that it's not really the 'finding the killer' film that the marketing makes it out to be. I agree, that only made up about the middle portion of the film: the rest of the film was more about the mother's reactions to certain events involving the murder. Didn't hinder my experience though.



Great film Cosmic. List sent

We're just about done, yahoo! Thanks everyone

And tomorrow is the Deadline: June 1st at midnight PST.

Dust in the Wind (1986)

Well this was a beautifully shot dull affair. Dust in the Wind tells the story of two young people who have come to a new city to find their way in the world. Every shot in this film is gorgeous the director clearly loved making each shot feel like something worth being framed..but I wish the story had something more to it...like a plot.

I don't want to be to mean about it but this put me to sleep four times and I kept having to go back to rewatch it. And even though I've tried to digest it I still never connected with any of the characters. It was like I was watching these beautiful shots and yet the people where just different shades of beige.


Also you know I hate watching films like where you are left almost nothing to talk about. You don't really want to trash it because it's very competently made but you can't really praise it because it's so cold and removed from what a film like this should be.

Daimajin


When anyone mentions a film nomination for a future HOF being a “joke”, always retort that it could have been worse. After all, we have now seen Daimajin.

This was a boring film, with not much going for it other then some decent productions values. Especially for its time.

But when all one has to say about it is it’s effects, well, there isn’t much else to say.

The story is pretty standard, and lacks any kind of suspense that should go with a plot like this. It just meanders along from one scene to another with everyone talking about the veangence of the god, but for some reason he never seems to care until they drive a metal stake into his head. Then he gets angry.

But by then, I hardly cared.

Earlier link to Hanagatami isn’t working, may I have another please?

t That's a very narrow-minded approach to editing and cinematography.
Yet another argument, which simply says somebody finds the movie boring. It usually means it lacks action sequences and a gripping plot full of twists. The viewer is not fond of the fact the film made him enter the state of weariness or tiredness caused by the fact they didn't feel like pulling through that damn boring movie yet they tried anyway. Sometimes used when no other reasonable argument on why one didn't like a film is found. Caused by the fact the viewer can't see the substance, because the story is e.g. told non-verbally through visuals or in a way that isn't accessible for Sunday movie watchers.
At least you're persistent. You sound like a hood kid during a Bach concert. Kudos for persistency.
I mean, the fact I can't say anything about the music of indigenous tribes of Africa does not mean there is nothing to say about it. But even then, upon listening to it, you can draw some conclusions, describe your feelings. I guess that's just what you did saying it's boring and plotless...
Meaning? You seem to define certain ways films should be made and hate every film that does not fit your criteria. I mean, you're not Bresson or Tarkovsky to make up for your narrow-minded view on art with a stream of masterpieces.
"This 7-hour-long Sátántangó of that bore Béla Tarr is hands down the dullest, most tedious, dragging and boring swamp of boredom I have ever seen."

Do you guys even rate this HoF as a positive experience? Because you sound as if you were suffering.

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

I’m not sure why I was quoted considering Daimajin is hardly worth defending.

To answer your question, yes, it was. Even if I didn’t enjoy a film, I never consider it a waste.
For the most part, I enjoyed the bulk of the nominations.
I’m pleased to see you defending Dust in the Wind, however, as it was my nomination and a film I hold in high esteem, much like I do it’s director.
I agree with your responses towards Siddon regarding it as well, and for similar films.

Does....does this means there’s hope for me?