A. Tran
@antisoci-al-tran.bsky.social
This still counts as the same mistake.
It’s certainly a bold choice, Hong Kong, let’s see how it plays out. I shouldn’t even talk about SONS OF THE NEON NIGHT anymore since I couldn’t recommend any way for you to see it unless you’re flying EVA Airlines (and even then it could be a Mandarin dub).
This week’s Asian cinema arrivals: two classics with THE INUGAMI FAMILY and GOODBYE, DRAGON INN and two contemporaries on MOD with Terry Ng’s PRETTY HEART and Yeon Sang-ho’s THE UGLY.
I’m sure the people who saw it and disliked it will snark that the ghost of Stephen Chow will be haunting US theaters in October, but I’ll be there.
I’ve often said since I first watched EMPEROR OF THE NORTH POLE years ago that we need more two-fisted thrillers set in the Depression-era Pacific Northwest. Thankfully THE WEIGHT scratches that itch (with a little bit of SORCERER thrown in as well).
A. Tran@antisoci-al-tran.bsky.social · 2w agoNow seated for THE WEIGHT.
Sunday is for documenting war crimes. Nw: American Doctor
Jr NTR? Ram Charan? I thought y’all were taller…and less Japanese. The global hit RRR is now a stage musical coming to Osaka in 2027. stagenews25.jp?p=111477
That’s a lotta YAKUZA WIVES there. Do you have any unattached yakuza ladies? Picked up parts 4 through 7 of the film series this past weekend during HPB’s Labor Day sale. No English subtitles but that never stopped me before.
Yep, HOPE was awesome, I really enjoyed it.
A. Tran@antisoci-al-tran.bsky.social · last mo.Ready to catch this in Dolby on the 7th.
The MANHUNTER Challenge: leave your house as “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” starts playing and get to the movie theater before it ends (diving through a window is optional). Now watching:
I keep telling myself this autumn I’ll finally visit Japan but there’s always something going on in Hong Kong that catches my attention and this time one of them is the Cheng Pei-pei retrospective hosted by the HK Film Archive.
Dropped by my house on the way to a medical appointment to find LINDA LINDA LINDA in my mail, so that’s nice.
As I was randomly wondering how I might revisit Herman Yau’s CRISIS NEGOTIATORS, I find that it’s available on Tubi. Did anyone ask for a Hong Kong localized remake of THE NEGOTIATOR twenty-six years later? No, but I’m glad it exists and it’s quite good. link.tubi.tv/Ad5oPLMr25b
Crisis Negotiators (2024)
Framed for murder, a skilled police negotiator takes a station hostage and demands to bargain with a rival, igniting a tense battle of wits.
link.tubi.tv
Last night’s dinner and movie: Mysore masala dosa and TOXIC. Even by the generous standards of Indian cinema, TOXIC is gloriously nuts, a wildly horny and bloody rise-and-fall gangster epic. JJ Perry and 3 other action choreographers understood their assignments and matched the movie’s freak.
There seems to be chatter on Chinese social media that THE WEARY POET (诗眼倦天涯), another long-delayed Xu Haofeng film, may finally get a release.
DC: Lokesh Kanagaraj and Wamiqa Gabbi don’t exactly find romance but they do form an odd bond as two emotionally wounded souls finding each other over a pile of dead cops and sex traffickers. Anirudh’s music is the third star of the film. Tamil heroic bloodshed, really enjoyable!
THE OLD WOMAN WITH THE KNIFE is getting a very nice release from Plain Archive, featuring the 122-minute theatrical cut, the 133-minute “international cut” from its premiere in Berlin, and just announced a never before seen 158-minute uncut version. Plus the soundtrack on CD.
Happy to see Sean Lau and Herman Yau back together for a new film titled 復仇的人, a mystery thriller based on a novel by Chan Ho-kei.
More sad news from the world of cinema: RIP Hong Kong film producer Nansun Shi, a core member of Cinema City and producing partner with her then husband Tsui Hark at Film Workshop. www.hk01.com/%E5%8D%B3%E6...
Well it happened again, I sat down to unpack the deluxe edition BLADES OF THE GUARDIANS 4K set, do a quick spot check of the picture quality, and ended up rewatching the whole movie.
