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| marantzo |
 Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:21 pm |
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| Befade |
| Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 1:28 pm |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 3784
Location: AZ
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| Gary.......they always look good when they're small..... |
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Lost in my own private I dunno. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 2:08 pm |
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I just looked at it with a magnifying glass and it still looked good.  |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 5:53 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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After a hard day at the typeface, I settled down with my chicken salad and a Chardonnay to watch a film.
Fervent Kung-Fu aficionado, RZA, formerly the leading light and driving force behind mythic, New York hip-hoppers, The Wu Tang Clan, has turned auteur. His first film The Man With The Iron Fists is everything you’d expect: a hip hop, drug-addled, retro, bonkers, affectionate, Tarantino-esque, noodle eastern, fan pic. More a collection of tropes and video vignettes than a coherent film, it’s actually more fun than it has any right to be. It’s possibly rescued from entering the ranks of the worst ever by its surprisingly stellar cast, high production values and knowing humour.
3.14159 out of 5 stars – it’s a pi-rated film |
Last edited by jeremy on Tue Oct 22, 2013 4:47 pm; edited 3 times in total
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:42 pm |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12940
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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The Shaolin Idiot (aka Look Out, Officer!; Chinese title Shi xiong zhuang gui). Early Stephen Chow vehicle directed by Sze Yu Lau. The ghost of Chang Piao, a police officer falsely accused of suicide is sent back to earth to clear his name and find his true killer. He has to find a savior to defeat his nemesis. Unfortunately, that savior is Hsing (Stephen Chow), the titular idiot.
The film is often funny in the first half, but is also incoherent, and the incoherence and idiocy ultimately ruin the film. We're reduced to fart and piss jokes, and an overlong final confrontation.
Chow is almost always best when he directs himself (an exception being King of Beggars). I understand Saint of Gamblers (aka All For the Winner) is good. The Shaolin Idiot pretty much deserves its obscurity. |
Last edited by Syd on Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:57 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Mon Oct 21, 2013 9:53 pm |
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Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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For our article Nazi, the film is known both as Shaolin Idiot and The Shaolin Idiot. I'm going with title on the CD. It has nothing to do with Shaolin. My guess is that it was retitled for fans of Shaolin Soccer.
The edition issued in the states has subtitles in both English and, I think, Mandarin, simultaneously throughout the movie. These subtitles are white, which causes a bit of a problem when Hsing has to face an army of thugs, all of whom, unfortunately, are dressed in white. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 12:29 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
Posts: 9016
Location: Shanghai
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There were a whole lot of Shaolin Temple kungfu films in the 80's which had a fairly broad cult appeal, and Shaolin became a sort of a brand name. I think there were a few video games which used Shaoilin martial arts/ the Shaolin name as well.
Fringe benefit, the actual monks of Shaolin were in demand and toured around the world in the 90's showing off their techniques and such. Also their temple became a significant tourist draw. I went there circa 1994, but got there fairly late afternoon and there wasn't much going on. And the area was surrounded by kiosks selling all sorts of cheap crap (plastic swords and whatnot). |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 4:36 pm |
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| Jeremy, will you please stop posting huge photos that whack the site into double or triple width? There are ways to shrink them. |
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| jeremy |
| Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 4:46 pm |
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Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 6794
Location: Derby, England and Hamilton, New Zealand (yes they are about 12,000 miles apart)
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I'm sorry...It was fine on my screen (it must be a settings thing)...I'll delete it...Done.
Nobody liked my pi-rated joke  |
Last edited by jeremy on Tue Oct 22, 2013 4:50 pm; edited 1 time in total
_________________
I am angry, I am ill, and I'm as ugly as sin.
My irritability keeps me alive and kicking.
I know the meaning of life, it doesn't help me a bit.
I know beauty and I know a good thing when I see it. |
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| marantzo |
| Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 4:49 pm |
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| Thanks. Find a way to shrink it. I like seeing photos. |
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| Marc |
| Posted: Tue Oct 22, 2013 7:26 pm |
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Joined: 19 May 2004
Posts: 8424
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| I have also posted photos on this site that look fine to me but people complain they're too big. May be a glitch on Third Eye. Get over it. It's an inconvenience that rarely occurs. Go see a fucking movie and things will be back to normal when you get back. |
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| bartist |
| Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2013 8:50 am |
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Joined: 27 Apr 2010
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Location: Black Hills
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jeremy wrote: I'm sorry...It was fine on my screen (it must be a settings thing)...I'll delete it...Done.
Nobody liked my pi-rated joke
Those pi jokes tend to get a round. I am diametrically opposed to them. |
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He was wise beyond his years, but only by a few days. |
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| gromit |
| Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 12:29 am |
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Joined: 31 Aug 2004
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Location: Shanghai
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The doc Mondo Vino (2004) is long and meandering.
They travel around the world interviewing fancy small winemakers, who mostly spout some sophisticated BS about putting their integrity into the wine or making the wine taste like the land it comes from or whatnot.
It seems the main theme is globalization and the resulting standardization of wine due to international consultants and large concerns such as Mondavi and Robert Parker and Wine Spectator. But the argument is rather attenuated and slowly made and I had trouble piecing together what the hell the doc was trying to accomplish.
This summary from IMDB is a lot more clear and direct than the film itself is:
Quote: Explores a thesis: that the deep colored, oak-aged taste of Bordeaux wines has become the world standard, following the writing of critic Robert Parker, the magazine "Wine Spectator," the consulting work of Michel Rolland of Pomerol, and the money of Mondavi. ... Wine makers worldwide, many using Rolland as a consultant, pursue this structure, color, and taste - to the detriment, argue some, of wine that should reflect the character of the land where the grape is grown, including the lighter Burgundy. A few old wine makers, from Aniane, Sardinia, and Argentina offer this argument
This documentary is a slow digressive mess. Interviews include people forgetting their keys in doors and the camera crew obligingly getting them for the owner. WTF? Why waste screen time with such nonsense? Or with the pretentious PR fluff winemakers are very adept at producing. Or the many shots of dogs; the director seems fascinated by the dogs of the vineyards of the world.
The doc is actually 2'15" but I was sure it was about 3 hours long. Actually I didn't get to the end and probably won't. I bought it mainly because my brother is a wine salesman in California, but won't likely send it to him, since it is too digressive, the argument too amorphous, the interviews with winemakers too unsubstantive, and he'll hate the subtitles as well. Disappointing. |
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Killing your enemies, if it's done badly, increases their number. |
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| billyweeds |
| Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 6:33 am |
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Joined: 20 May 2004
Posts: 20618
Location: New York City
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Got two cherished DVDs from Movies Unlimited. Lili (1953) and Gung Ho (1986) are two of my favorite films and I am delighted to have both of them in the house. I've always wondered whether Movies Unlimited was on the up-and-up. There's something vaguely scammy about their promotional material. But the discs arrived intact and playable.
Of course, there's one caveat. Gung Ho displays closed captions that can't be gotten rid of no matter what I do. Anyone ever have that problem? In my case it isn't a deal-breaker since I often want the captions anyway (a few two many rock concerts, perhaps?), but it's still annoying because I am easily annoyed.
The bottom line is I've got two of my faves at the ready. Gung Ho is a criminally underrated and underseen neo-Frank Capra comedy about a Japanese-American culture clash, with a sensational lead performance by my main man Michael Keaton. It's (IMO) Ron Howard's best film (with the possible exception of the current Rush).
And Lili--well, those who know me know that Lili and the lead performance by the sublime Leslie Caron are two of my favorite things in the world. The film is a flat-out masterpiece, Caron's performance is preternaturally great, and the fact that I have to go to Movies Unlimited to experience them when I can get What Happens in Vegas or Hostel: Part II with the click of a mouse is simply nauseating. To get over the nausea requires another viewing of Lili. So I'll have to indulge. |
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| Syd |
| Posted: Thu Oct 24, 2013 8:58 am |
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Site Admin
Joined: 21 May 2004
Posts: 12940
Location: Norman, Oklahoma
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| I've had that problem a few times. It's okay as long as they're unobtrusive. And in English, of course. I usually run captions anyway. |
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Rocky Laocoon foretold of Troy's doom, only to find snaky water. They pulled him in and Rocky can't swim. Now Rocky wishes he were an otter! |
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