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    I watched two Asian thrillers the other day, BLACK COAL, THIN ICE (mainland China) and MEMORIES OF MURDER (South-Korea). I'd seen MEMORIES when I found it on a second hand dvd something like 8 years ago. I remember not liking it very much but I reckon it must have been one of those late night viewings, so later you're dozing off, cos this time around I loved it and wanted to watch it again right away (I didn't, though). Incidentally, BLACK COAL turned out to cover a subject that was similar to that of MEMORIES; crappy cops trying to solve a serial murder case. Both films were great. Apparently it's reported that a great deal of Westerners didn't much like BLACK COAL. I guess it was too slow and the plot wasn't spelt out in great detail enough.
    2019: The only blog to survive the nuclear holocaust

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    • I really enjoyed BLACK COAL, THIN ICE but that was due to Gwei Lun-mei as the femme fatale. I saw it in the theater, bought a bootleg dvd in Chinatown and eventually bought the Well Go USA blu ray.

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      • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
        I really enjoyed BLACK COAL, THIN ICE but that was due to Gwei Lun-mei as the femme fatale. I saw it in the theater, bought a bootleg dvd in Chinatown and eventually bought the Well Go USA blu ray.
        Someone mentioned in a review on IMDb that the film was censored in China! I bought the HK dvd.
        2019: The only blog to survive the nuclear holocaust

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        • Gambling Den (Japan, 1967) [DVD] - 2/5
          The first film in the 10 part Gambling Den series, all starring Koji Tsuruta and many of them featuring Tomisaburo Wakayma in a villain role. This opening instalment is unfortunately one of the weakest. Tsuruta is an honourable gambler who decides to help two other men (Kyí´suke Machida and comic relief Shingo Yamashiro) save two women from a yakuza run brothel. Unfortunately too much time is spent on silly humour and a straight forward story that lacks any nuance. The themes of honour and humanity are quite weak here, and the film is largely missing the "between a rock and a hard place" dynamic that is important for a good ninkyo film. There is a decent amount of gambling scenes, but they also tend to be low on tension. The final encounter with evil gang boss Seizaburí´ Kawazu is satisfying, however.

          Gambling Den: One Lone Dragon (Japan, 1967) [DVD] - 2.5/5
          The 2nd film in the series is a slight improvement over the first. This time there's less comedy, a decent supporting performance by Tetsuro Tamba, and a tattoo contest storyline that gets rather interesting towards the end. It's also a ridiculously emotional affair, with crying and tears in every other scene. Far from the best ninkyo films, but it's quite watchable nevertheless. Oddly enough, there's very little gambling in the film.

          Gambling Den: Showdown of Invulnerability (Japan, 1967) [DVD] - 2/5
          The 3rd film in the series isn't terribly bad; it's just underwhelming on every area. There's more gambling this time around, including several different dice games, but one gets the feeling director Ozawa is sometimes treating them as a necessary evil. It's only towards the end that tension begins to rise; in some of the earlier scenes we are mostly treated static images of men sitting in gambling den, with little attention given to the actual game. Tomisaburo Wakayama plays the villain, but his character lacks any depth. Comedy is thankfully kept to the minimum and the film remains watchable throughout. One minor point of interest is seeing the pretty Masumi Tachibana is a small supporting role a few years before Teruo Ishii delighted the world by stripping her of unnecessary garments in the Tokugawa films.

          Running in Madness, Dying in Love (Japan, 1969) [DVD] - 2/5
          Koji Wakamatsu has always been hit and miss for me, some of this social commentaries coming out very powerful (e.g. Shinjuku Mad), and some, such as this, feeling too theatrical. The film opens with a young man participating in violent anti-government protests, then returning home where things get out of hand and his policeman brothers ends with a bullet in his stomach. He escapes with his brother's young and suicidal wife. The story and characters are just an excuse for leftist director Wakamatsu's political monologue. It's nice to see filmmakers with so much to say, but he should've focused more on the cinematic aspects. The landscapes are appealing, though, especially towards the end when the characters arrive Hokkaido.

          The Criminals 5: The Teenager's Nightmare (Hong Kong, 1977) - 2.5/5
          Crime / exploitation film made of two short stories by Mou Tun Fei (Lost Souls) and Kuei Chih Hung (The Killer Snakes). Mou's episode is a rather decent, but unexceptional drama about two youngsters who find a bagful of guns and try to take a shortcut to riches. Kuei's episode is an odd cops vs. serial rapist exploitation thriller with frustrating comedic undertones. It's has an exceptionally sleazy attitude - all the (frequently naked) victims are underage - despite not being nearly as graphic as similar Japanese films. One could also do with less over-acting. The best thing about both episodes is the modern, urban Hong Kong that plays a role as important as any of the characters.

          Crime Hunter (Japan, 1989) [DVD] - 2.5/5
          The very first V-Cinema production; a stripped to the bone action film about a cop avenging his partner's (the very young Riki Takeuchi) death. Running only 60 minutes, there isn't much other than action and a tiny bit of sex in the film. Most of it is mediocre, but the grande finale is a stand out with our heroes blasting bad guys away with grenade launchers and heavy machine guns - first grade weapons pornography. There's a decent bit of pleasant V-Cinema nostalgia to be had - they don't 'em like this anymore. Star Masanori Sera makes a surprisingly uncharismatic hero, though; bad guy Seiji Matano fares much better with his Yoshio Harada looks, and the real Yoshio Harada is in the film too! One interesting thing about the film is that it's not clear where it is set. The main characters are Japanese, the clubs are filled with Caucasians, the signs are in English and "Little Tokyo" is written at the side of the main character's patrol car.

          Chí´ní´ryoku kenkyí»bu no 3 nin (Japan, 2014) [VoD] - 2/5
          Nobuhiro Yamashita is no stranger to cinematic experiments, but this goes to a whole new level. It started with Shinji Imaoka contributing a screenplay for a high school girl sci-fi film. Kosuke Mukai then wrote a fake documentary screenplay about the making of that movie (which had not been filmed yet). Yamashita hired three idols to star in the sci-fi film, without telling them he was also filming the faux-documentary at the same time. He then had a small army of other actors pretend to be filmmakers, agents, and other crew, to have the girls believe they were making a sci-fi film. The outcome is an odd, but overlong and rather cheap experiment with occasional moments of genius. The best part features Yamashita working his magic to get a solid performance out of one of the girls by having her co-stars insult her real personality rather than the character she plays, evoking a genuine and spirited response.

          Garm Wars: The Last Druid (Japan, 2014) [DCP] - 3/5
          Mamoru Oshii's live action sci-fi fantasy was quite universally panned upon its release. That wasn't necessarily without a reason, but as usual, I found it quite interesting. Oshii has created an entire fantasy universe with its own mythology, strange creatures, odd technology and confusing terminology. It takes a bit of effort from the viewer to even get a grasp of what's going on. It could be described as cheap CGI fantasy - it is a far cry from the likes of Ghost in the Shell - but it's strangely watchable at the same time. It certainly feels like an Oshii film, Kenji Kawai's score is beautiful as usual. Mélanie St-Pierre, Lance Henriksen and Kevin Durand star - yep, it's an English language movie.

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          • Thorough round-up of titles, Takuma.

            Always enjoyed THE CRIMINALS series from Hong Kong. Picked up the VCD box set a long time ago.

            I often like the IDEA of Wakamatsu more than his films. RUNNING IN MADNESS not a favorite of mine, either. "

            Haven't seen any of the GAMBLING DEN films.

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            • Originally posted by Jack J View Post
              Someone mentioned in a review on IMDb that the film was censored in China! I bought the HK dvd.
              Yes, I had read that somewhere too. I believe the cuts were very minor though and the director was happy with the film that finally cleared the censorship board. The bootleg I have is the HK version from Edko Films but I've read the theatrical version shown in Chinese theaters had a different ending. The torrent, HK DVD, Taiwan DVD and North American blu ray all have the same run times, so I guess it's the director's cut. Usually the Taiwanese versions have the longer edits but not in this case. The original cut was apparently twice as long at 210 minutes! In any case, I really dig this film -- a very dark beautiful love story in the end. :up:

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              • Originally posted by AngelGuts View Post
                Haven't seen any of the GAMBLING DEN films.
                I watched the 5th film too, but it has escaped my memory to the extent that I'm not able to write anything about it. I do have the rating saved, though: 2/5. I was quite disappointed with these, especially when Chris D praised them.

                I skipped the 4th film for now, but it's often referred to as one of the best ninkyo films of all time. I have the DVD.

                I've seen the 6th film, too, and it's quite good, unfortunately not available on DVD.

                And I have films 7-9 recorded from Toei channel (no DVD available)

                Part 10 is available on DVD but I don't have it.

                Part 4


                Part 6
                Takuma
                Senior Member
                Last edited by Takuma; 07-09-2016, 07:20 AM.

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                • Originally posted by 47lab View Post
                  Yes, I had read that somewhere too. I believe the cuts were very minor though and the director was happy with the film that finally cleared the censorship board. The bootleg I have is the HK version from Edko Films but I've read the theatrical version shown in Chinese theaters had a different ending. The torrent, HK DVD, Taiwan DVD and North American blu ray all have the same run times, so I guess it's the director's cut. Usually the Taiwanese versions have the longer edits but not in this case. The original cut was apparently twice as long at 210 minutes! In any case, I really dig this film -- a very dark beautiful love story in the end. :up:
                  BLACK COAL THIN ICE was excellent. i saw it theatrically in Los Angeles.

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                  • I watched Entrails of a Beautiful Woman last night for the first time in years. I remember seeing on grainy vhs with no subtitles & it felt so sleazy n' dirty. I can say that the film still feels that way! I'd love to read that a new HD transfer is being prepared for a release in the near future..

                    I also like that the director compares government to the yakuza in the interview!

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                    • Yakuza/government: little difference between them.
                      Except government pretends it cares.

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                      • I think that describes government, in general, everywhere.

                        Oh, and I like that one character wears bdu pants tucked into engineer boots!

                        A nice bd package of both Entrail films would be awesome...
                        Keeth
                        Senior Member
                        Last edited by Keeth; 07-09-2016, 02:20 PM.

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                        • Gaira's films are aleazy and weird..but usually don't live up to their potential.
                          I prefer the other film in his 'entrails'series for the fashions and also the fact ue randomly squeezed sone wrestling moves into it. His Living Dead in Tokyo Bay easnt great either..the only one I liked all the way through was his 'Female Inquisitor' movie..he seems very smart in his interviews but cant really transfer his ideas to the screen totally aucessfully..althought he gore bits in his 'entrails' films and 'Gozoo' were fun and well done...

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                          • Caught the matinee showing of COLD WAR 2. Needless sequel which attempts to compensate for a lack of creative script by parlaying political machinations in the hopes of lulling the viewer into thinking this is a clever political thriller. It's actually too "black and white" for my liking in its stark portrayal of Tony Leung Ka-fai and Aaron Kwok's characters. It wouldn't have been out of place if a laugh track was played after Aaron Kwok's indignant bombastic speech about the ethics & morals of the HKPD & the in your face posturing of HK as "Asia's safest city" propaganda. In terms of action, I wasn't expecting any major set pieces, although the shootout in the tunnel was fairly well done without being over the top like say Firestorm.



                            The upcoming previews showed Derek Yee's remake of DEATH DUEL and also the Korean zombie apocalypse flick, TRAIN TO BUSAN. I'll probably end up checking both of them out. Particularly interested in Yeon Sang-ho's movie as I really enjoyed his indie animated features, KING OF PIGS & THE FAKE.

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                            • Any fans here of Yojiro Takita's 'Renzoku bokan' aka THE SERIAL RAPE-MURDERER.

                              It's a film I like a lot as it focuses on a rapist (Ren Osugi) who works as a projectionist at a porno theater. Dozens of great posters are seen in several scenes. It's very nihilistic and brutal at times, and way above the typical standards of similar fare. Plays like a Nikkkatsu pic, but has something more, is less prescribed.

                              Very well shot, too. Cinematographer Yasushi Sasakibara also shot KITARO, THE BRUTAL HOPELESSNESS OF LOVE, RICA 2, Kitano's VIOLENT COP, RAMPO, and FREEZE ME, amongst others.

                              There is a Japanese DVD, which is average.

                              I'd love to have a BluRay of this.

                              Produced by Shishi, distributed by Shintoho theatrically and on VHS, but Interfilm on DVD.

                              Opinions from others. For me, a minor classic.Click image for larger version

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                              AngelGuts
                              Senior Member
                              Last edited by AngelGuts; 07-10-2016, 06:11 PM.

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                              • I like the IDEA of Gaira's films more than the films themselves: they always disappoint me.

                                They're just such sloppy efforts, and though they have some good gore and such, the end results are underwhelming in the extreme.

                                The art for the GUTS and ENTRAILS films is far superior to the films themselves.

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