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THE BASTARD aka LITTLE HERO - Dir. Chor Yuen (1973)

I've always enjoyed this one even though it's really nothing special in the action or plot department in terms of SBs flicks. Lead, Chung Wa does become a veritable one man wrecking machine during the action packed finale but it is the relationship that develops between Chung Wa and Lily Li Li which is the real highlight. Lily Li Li plays a street wise beggar waif with a headstrong attitude and she absolutely steals every scene.

I also enjoyed the softcore sex scene involving Lin Chiao -- she's absolutely gorgeous here and seething with erotic appeal. The scene where she seduces the naive, Chung Wa character plays out very much like a roman porno. I was half expecting to see genital fogging. Much like their Japanese contemporaries, Chor Yuen uses strategically placed props to hide the offending parts and hazy out of focus shots to prevent revealing too much skin and the rustling leaves & swing was a clever visual metaphor too.

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WARRIORS TWO - Dir. Sammo Hung (1982)

Been on a bit of a Sammo Hung kick of late as I've re-watched DREADNAUGHT & KNOCKABOUT right before this one. The guy is just amazing whether behind the camera or onscreen. I've always been partial to "training scenes" in martial arts films and never tire of them and WARRIORS TWO has some excellent ones between Casanova Wong & Bryan Leung involving Wing Chun style. The "wooden men" scene is probably my fave. Lee Hoi San playing his usual role as a heavy and you just can't wait to see the swarmy & unctuous Dean Shek finally get his comuppance at his end!

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STAR OF DAVID: Beauty Hunting - Dir. Norifumi Suzuki (1979)

Re-watched this again after many years and still makes me cringe till this day. If you want to see the absolute zenith or nadir (depending on your POV) of the roman porno exploitation genre than this is it. Debasement, debauchery and extreme misogyny taken to the hilt.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

STAR OF DAVID : BEAUTY HUNTING probably the BEST of the genre in my view....There is NO WAY any even CASUAL fan of the genre should miss it....Its like the textbook that all other direcotrs copy from....

[Alex K. Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Alex K.]

Finally watched the Uwe Boll film Assault on Wall ST. Pretty damn good. Relatively free of the usual Boll-Schlock. Good film.

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KILLER CONSTABLE - Dir. Chih Hung Kwei (1980)

One of my favorite directors from SBs, along with Chang Cheh & Sun Chung teamed with one of my favorite SBs actors in Chen Kuan Tai -- so what could go wrong? Absolutely nothing! Chen Kuan Tai is absolutely spellbinding & bad ass as the ice cold "killer constable" who literally takes no prisoners in his pursuit of justice.

[sukebanboy Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close sukebanboy]

THE WORLD'S END (2013)- Edgar Wright

Watched this a few days ago.

STILL don't really know how I feel about this movie.

It was a GOOD sci-fi movie....but kind of repetitive after a while....

It had a crap (disappointing) ending.....but somehow the ending seemed to fit the film very well....

It was FUNNY....but the switch intone was a bit sudden,,,

PEGG was (I feel) horribly miscast as the main lead playing against type for him...was never convincing in the role....whereas FROST was VERY good in his role...especially after necking those shots about halfway into the movie!!

The first half hour had a FANTASTIC soundtrack...took me right back to the time period....

I may have to re-watch this thing again sometime to see how it holds up....

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CHILDREN OF THE DARK - Dir. Sakamoto Junji (2008)

Based on the novel of the same name by Yan Sogil nee Yang Sok Il, this is truly one of the most disturbing and depressing films I've ever seen. I literally had to turn my head away from the TV as some of the depictions of child sex abuse were so graphic that it bordered on exploitation & pornography. But with that caveat out of the way, this film is also one of the most powerful and unforgettable as well. It's not the just the lurid subject matter (the child organ harvesting storyline was equally as disturbing as the sexual abuse) but the totally bleak undertone that is pervasive throughout this movie with little hope for redemption that is so disturbing. Little wonder this flick was pulled from the Bangkok Int'l Film Festival as it is definitely a source of national embarrassment.

Midnight Eye Review

This is the second film that I've seen sourced from a Yan Sogil novel, the other being BLOOD & BONES which was directed by Yai Soichi and starred Beat Takeshi in the lead role. That one was memorable as well and one of the best acting performances by Kitano in his illustrious career. I wish Yan Sogil's works were available in English because he seems to be a writer that I would be interested in reading.

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GUNMEN - Dir. Kirk Wong (1988)

If you never seen a Kirk Wong film, then don't waste your time with his one foray into Hollywood with that tripe, THE BIG HIT. Instead check out this little diddy. It has its flaws and the storyline isn't as tight as it could be but still heaps better than that Mark Wahlberg crapola fest. That's pretty obvious though isn't it? Just compare the leads for christ's sake. marky Mark shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence as Tony Leung Ka Fai.

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KIDNAP - Dir. Cheng Kang (1974)

A decent but flawed SBs crime flick based on real events featuring Lo Lieh as a lowly gas station attendant who convinces his ne'er-do-well friends to become involved in a plot to kidnap his arrogant boss, who happens to be the playboy son of a wealthy local tycoon. Everything is immaculately planned & executed but as you can imagine, things begin to go down hill once they have to split the loot & go on the lam from the cops. Essentially a "crime doesn't pay" morality tale but it has its comedic moments (mostly unintentional) as well as a few tense action scenes. Lo Lieh in the lead as the ringleader is ok here but nothing special. His gold digging stripper girlfriend played by Hu Chin is relatively nondescript too other than providing some eye candy. Fan Mei Shang & Lam Wei Tu are the most interesting characters & dare I say, most sympathetic of Lieh's motley crew of low life thug kidnappers but unfortunately, even they aren't enough to carry this film. It's also hilarious that Fan Mei Shang is treated like dirt at home by his in-laws and wife due to his "demeaning" job of being a makeup artist for strippers, which includes attaching fake pubic hair to their nether region! It's a dirty job but someone has to do it.

This was remade in the late '80s by Taylor Wong & shot by Herman Yau as SENTENCED TO HANG featuring Tony Leung Ka-fai in the lead. It holds the distinction of being the first movie to receive a CAT III rating before other true crime tales like UNTOLD STORY & DR. LAMB hit the big screen a couple years down the road. It's also much better than the SBs version even taking into account those ridiculous wolf masks.

[Paul L Scholar of Sleaze Find all posts View Profile Close Paul L]

THE MUPPETS (2011).

My kids are obsessed with this, and we've watched it umpteen times over the past six months or so. Still, I find it quite an entertaining film, with some great sight gags (Kermit and the church choir) and a slightly subversive irreverence which I admire greatly - something which is lacking from a lot of children's films these days, I think. (WRECK IT RALPH being a notable exception.) I love Chris Cooper's villain too ('I think I'm going to call this room 'The Kermit the Frog's Old Office Room'; 'Maniacal laugh', etc) - and I don't agree with the criticism his performance attracted from some quarters; his villain rap is a highlight of the film. Plus I've got a adolescent crush on Amy Adams.

[Newt Cox Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Newt Cox]

Sleepstalker Last Rites of the Sandman

Hadn't watched this in years. So threw in the DVD the other night when I laid down for bed. Figured I would see about 20 minutes before going to sleep. Ended up watching all of it. Pretty good for a mid 90s DTV horror.

[The Silly Swede Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close The Silly Swede]

Midnight Run, only because it was on TV in HD and without commercials. The old R2 dvd I have of it might be the worst DVD ever made, so I have to catch it when it is on.

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THE TIGRESS OF SHAOLIN - Dir. Lo Chi (1979)

The cover art prominently displays Kara Hui as this was her debut flick for SBs but she's really a secondary character as the lead is Lau Kar Leung's nephew, Liu Chia Yung (who still occasionally appears onscreen to this day & was last seen in Wong Kar Wai's THE GRANDMASTER). This is mostly a lighthearted kung fu comedy but it falls flat in the comedy department and the only redeeming feature are some decent fights & quirky characters especially the leprous "godma" played by Lau Kar Leung's sister, Liu Jui Yi. Her "Leper fist style" kung fu is one for the ages. Also, there were certain cultural anachronisms that were pretty funny too since this movie is a period piece. There was one particular fight scene in a tea house restaurant, where Liu Chia Yung is fighting a contentious waiter known as "Little Rat" & Liu Chia Yung starts going into a Saturday Night Live disco routine & the subtitles read "Grease" -- eh, wrong John Travolta movie reference there. For some strange inexplicable reason, one of the thug "Tibetans" is dressed like stoner hippie from the 60s & could pass asTommy Chong's Chinese doppleganger.

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THE STRANGER AND THE GUNFIGHTER aka BLOOD MONEY - Dir. Antonio Margheriti (1974)

Re-watched this after many years. I've always been a fan of east meets west spaghetti westerns ala Red Sun and Shanghai Joe & although this doesn't live up to the other two IMHO, it's still a fun little movie. The two L's in Lee Van Cleef and Lo Lieh are no Charles Bronson and Toshiro Mifune but they're solid and bad asses in their own right. The 4 actresses are all very lovely including the late Patty Shepard (RIP), SBs actress, Karen Yeh & a couple of Italian actresses whose names elude me at moment. It would've been 10x cooler if LL's hands glowed red like in King Boxer when he was handing out his ass kicking though. This shit seriously needs to come out on blu ray sometime in the near future. :up: