101 Guide to Asian Cinema (1 Viewer)

[Aaron Silverman]

I wouldn't mind an anime forum, either. . .I stopped reading those 14-page "anime discussion" threads long ago- it's just pointless for me to try and keep up with 12 conversations going on in one thread!

 

[Parker Clack]

Guys:

As far as setting up an Anime only forum area on HTF that wouldn't be possible. Many believe we are already sub divided too much as it is. What do we do about those that want a Westerns only forum, or Drama or Family oriented films, etc............How would we be able to include them too?

If this thread ever gets to the point that it is getting buried in the masses let me know and I will archive it.

Parker

 

[DavidY]

Nice post, Jim. It's just what HTF needs.
I would like to add that HKL and other R2 PAL DVDs are available at good prices from Link Removed They have FREE worldwide shipping on their DVDs. For Canadians, they are very customs friendly. Recently, they have had over 20 HKL DVDs priced at 9.99-12.99 pounds each including Iron Monkey, Once Upon a Time in China 1 and 2, Bruce Lee's movies and others.
As for the Malata N996, I ordered mine recently from Link Removed It's available in both black and silver and both have the November 9, 2001 firmware upgrade which fixes most glitches, except the Star Wars glitch (apparently not fixable since this relates to the chip itself). A poor remote, cryptic menus and instruction manual are the only apparent cons of the Malata N996. It does XY scaling which I believe that the modded JVC doesn't do.
Dave

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

I just picked up Shaolin:Wheel of Life. These guys are simply amazing. I would rank this high as a must see. A true testament to the art.

 

[TheLongshot]

For Anime discussions, you might want to check out the Anime On DVD forums. Great place to hang.
Dave:
Thanks for the recommendation on Bensons World. Sure beats ordering from Amazon UK.
Jason

 

[Ted Lee]

Amazing Post - great job! i'm definitely tracking this one.
on a slightly different genre, some movies i can think of off the top of my head:

• eat drink man woman
• tampopo
• shall we dance
• raise the red lantern
• ju dou
• the wedding banquet
• the joy luck club - does this one count?
• pushing hands
• king of masks - i think that's what this one is called?

ugh...so many...sorry my brain's fading...

 

[Michel_Hafner]

Hi,

Some remarks about Bollywood DVDs.

The big problem is the image quality. It's mostly awful.

We are talking about junk DVDs at close to

VHS level or below: fuzzy, badly compressed, with noise

reduction artifacts galore, washed out colors, no correct

2:3 pulldown, pan and scan, poor sound...

There is one label that uses a good telecine and produces

decent quality: DEI (Digital Entertainment Inc.). Most

of the their DVDs are quite nice except for omnipresent

noise reduction artifacts. Other labels may have an ok

title once in a while, but don't count on it. Notoriously

bad is Eros, Videosound, Tips and others. Promising is

Ayngaran (Tamil DVDs) and ok at times is Yash Raj.

check zulm.net for individual DVD reviews before buying

anything.

#Indian - Bollywood Classics

#Kuch Kuch Hota Hai - A love triangle that captures the #magic of Indian Cinema, great soundtrack!

#Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (DEI 2 Disc)- beautiful.

Can recommend this one. Good quality except for noise

reduction.

#Sholay - Epic that embodies the serious side of Indian #Cinema

#Dil To Pagal Hai

#Border - Epic war film

#Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai (DEI 2 Disc) - nice locations, great music.

Same here, nice quality except for noise reduction.

#Indian (Hindustani) - nice cinematography.

#Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge - Nice story set in Europe

#Hum Aapke Dil Mein Retha Hai

#Mohabbatein - The current top DVD from the director of #Dilwale Dulhania Le Jaayenge

Worth renting/buying as well:

- Fiza (DEI version, not Videsound), one of the best Indian

DVDs, film and DVD

- Shree 420 (Yash Raj)

- Bawarchi (DEI)

- Anand (DEI)

- Lagaan (Columbia-Tristar!, Oscar nominated)

- Mission Kashmir (Columbia-Tristar! coming in spring)

- Roja (DEI)

- Alay Payuthei (Ayngaran)

cheers

Michel Hafner

 

[Rick Deschaine]

Jim,
Great post. I wanted to also add that
http://posteritati.com/
has a great collection of Japanese movie posters, many of them somewhat rare. I purchased a poster of 'Empire of the Sun' from them. Very cool!
Later, Rick

 

[Jim Long]

Rick,
Thanks for the nice poster site! I will check them out. Have they been consistent on service?
Michel, yes there are some bad Bollywood transfers out there, they are on a par with the Mei Ah releases from HK. But some of the recent releases have been very good such as Mohabbatein from Yash Raj Films and Dil Chahta Hai from Spark. I agree that DEI is more consistent than most. It was also good to see that Lagaan got a major release. As a side note, when you list of my recommendations you should use the [ quote ] code around them.
Ted, yes I'm pleased that Eat, Drink, Man, Woman gets a release finally today by MGM. Should be worth a look! So what genre would you label that?
Jason, I second the nomination for Anime On DVD a place where I could learn more than enough about the subject. I used to try to visit once a month, very cool and I will add this to my links.
DavidY, I was using Black Star, but I will give Bensons World a try and see how well it works.
Raphael, thanks for the suggestions, I will order these
Jim

 

[Michel_Hafner]

#Michel, yes there are some bad Bollywood transfers out #there, they are on a par with the Mei Ah releases from HK.

#But some of the recent releases have been very good such as #Mohabbatein from Yash Raj Films and Dil Chahta Hai from #Spark.

Well, the problem is that there are not some bad DVDs but

over 90% of them are on a quality level which would raise

storms of protest from Western customers if this were a

Hollywood film from a Hollywood studio. It's often

outright unwatchable if you have a big screen.

The situation is well known among Indian DVD customers

with a good home cinema and quality awareness.

DEI is the only Indian company that produces Hollywood quality DVDs

(except for the very bad noise reduction) so far. Dil Chahta Hai and Mohabbatein are ok but mediocre

for Western standards. The latter used to freeze countless

players and people had to get replacements. Fact is that

Indian DVDs are very unsuitable for creating a film like

experience as they are riddled with video artifacts all

over the place. Even the best have noise reduction problems

all the time. Sad.

Michel Hafner

 

[Rick Deschaine]

Jim,

I have ordered two posters from them, the aforementioned Japanese 'Empire of the Sun' poster, and another for the theatrical release of 'Down From the Mountain'. They have been great on both accounts. They shipped promptly and packaged well. I just wish I had some extra cash for that gorgeous 'Apocalypse Now' poster of the Flight of the Valkyries helicopter battle scene!

Rick

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Indian Bollywood Films Recommended on DVD:
In no particular order:
Films with good music & dances:
Asoka (Excellent DVD released by Metrodome, UK. Region 0, PAL, Anamorphic OAR, DD5.1)
Dil Se (DVD a mix bag from DEI/Eros. Excellent DD5.1 sound, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed incorrect Aspect Ratio)
Taal (Eros DVD rereleased with Anamorphic OAR, Decent DD5.1)
Dil To Pagal Hai (DVD from YashRaj Films, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed OAR poor quality Video, Decent DD5.1)
Rangeela (DEI version, Anamorphic OAR, Remixed DD5.1)
Mast (Eros DVD, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed OAR, Decent DD5.1)
Jeans (DEI/Eros DVD, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed incorrect Aspect Ratio, Very Good DD5.1)
Kaho Na Pyar Hai (DEI DVD, Anamorphic OAR, Good DD5.1)
Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam (DEI version DVD, Anamorphic OAR, Good DD5.1)
Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham (YashRaj Films DVD to be released March 8th, Expected Anamorphic OAR, DD5.1)
Other good films:
Monsoon Wedding (DVD not released yet. Currently showing in theaters in the US)
Sholay (DEI/Eros DVD, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed OAR, Dolby Pro Logic)
Satya (DEI/EROS DVD, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed incorrect Aspect Ratio, Good DD5.1)
Dil Chahta Hai (Soven/Spark DVD, Anamorphic OAR, Good DD5.1)
Mughal-E-Azam (Shemaroo DVD, Full Frame OAR, Mono)
Anand (DEI DVD, Full Screen OAR, Mono)
Roja (DEI DVD, Anamorphic OAR, Mono)
Bombay (DEI/Eros DVD, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed incorrect Aspect Ratio, Mono)
1942 A Love Story (DEI/Eros DVD, Non Anamorphic Letterboxed incorrect Aspect Ratio, Mono)
Mission Kashmir (DVD to be released by Columbia, Expected Anamorphic OAR, DD5.1))
Sanjay
Member since 1997

 

[Talal]

by the by.. Rangeels is Anamorphic..

and forget the bombino version of Mughul-E-Azam. Make sure you get the version by SHemaroo.

 

[Sanjay Gupta]

Thanks for the corrections Talal. I have edited my post to reflect the same.

Sanjay

Member since 1997

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

Great recommendations by all! Let's keep it going!

 

[James Nguyen]

Besides the already mentioned Shiri, I'd like to offer up a few other South Korean films that have absolutely floored me not only in story/plot and acting, but also in technical execution of the films as well.
First is Memento Mori. I've only seen my friend's Region 0 release of it, not sure on the release that I personally saw, but this link seems to be the only one I can find that is R0 of the film. The DVD was hard for me to judge as it was on friend's 21 inch TV with a budget DVD player, but I still couldn't help but feel the visuals were beautiful--sound was even harder to guage considering they were coming from a solitary 2 inch tin can.
http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvdasian/11936.html
It's a supernatural story about a girls school where very odd things start to occur--very freaky at times, one of the more recent films that come to my mind that has gotten a good jump out of me in awhile. Last movie to really get that from me was the original Japanese Ring.
Second is JSA (aka Joint Security Area). Wow, I watched my 2 disc SE of JSA this past weekend and all who were with me were just floored by this movie.
The film itself has beautiful choreography, excellent acting, and writing that unfolds the story every so carefully but in such a way that the viewer ends up truly feeling and empathizing for the characters while riveted to watch the plot unfold.
The story follows 2 pairs of border guards at the border between North and South Korea--one pair from the northern side of the bridge they all overlook, the other pair from the south. The movie opens with an incident at the border that results in the death of 2 soldiers. The narative then juxtaposes the investigation happening in the present while making extensive use of lengthy flashback sequences that build up to the opening scene. The flashbacks though are not quite as jumpy and rapid fire as in say a Memento.
The DVD itself is beautiful. I personally own the 2 disc Special Edition (1 disc with movie and no extras, the other disc with a full array of extras) whereas my friend owns the regular 1 disc. Best I can tell the two sets are differentiated only by the disc of extras--which are purely in Korean with no subtitles. I with very limited knowledge of Korean was able to gleen the happenings of the extras at times, but it'll still be a stretch for many.
The visual transfer looked gorgeous on my 36 inch wega set--heavy use of dark colors abound but they seemed to feel natural, as did flesh tones in all the various settings, all using a rather wide range of lighting setups. The film seems purposefully grainy at times, particularly in some of the flashback scenes. The sounds...woo, the sounds. The DTS makes quite a bit of use of LFE, particularly during some of the gun fights. Didn't notice a whole lot of use of LFE or the rear surronds much outside of the relatively few action sequences.
I simply can't rave about this movie or this DVD enough. On a side note, I've read several of the makers of the film Shiri went on to help with the creation of JSA. Also, after Shiri toppled Titanic as the top grossing film of all time in Korea, JSA then came in to mop the floor with it.
A link to the 2 disc set:
http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvdasian/12982.html
Regular one disc:
http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvdasian/12833.html
Both are R0, anamorphic carrying dolby digital, dolby stereo and DTS soundtracks. Original language audio, with avaialbe Korean and English subtitles. The web page makes no mention of it, but I seem to recall Japanese subtitles, though I may just be imagining things.
I also can't disagree more with the text that appears at the website that calls the pacing of the film a "fatal flaw". Though it is a somewhat lengthy film, the story line that develops the backdrop of the relationship between the four soldiers with all the political implications involved to me at least, was very enveloping as a viewer. It was by no means the "action flick" a good Korean friend of mine painted it to be--and in the end, I'm very glad that it wasn't. It's almost pure drama with a tinge of mystery to it. Heh--and just noticed another Shiri connection, one of the film's primary actors is also one of the primary characters in Shiri.

 

[Yee-Ming]

recommendations for movies, dunno anything about DVD releases though:-

A Better Tomorrow (John Woo directing Chow Yun Fat, 'nuff said)

A Better Tomorrow 2 (sequel to above)

Shaolin Temple (Jet Li's debut movie -- some 20+ years ago)

Snake In The Eagle's Shadow (Jackie Chan, also from 20+ years ago)

 

[Todd Terwilliger]

I ordered a couple of films over the weekend:2000 A.D., Purple Storm, Gen-X Cops, and Avalon.Anybody that's seen any of these care to comment? I'll post my own comments after I get to see them.

 

[Mark_Wilson]

I'm with James on JSA. I thought Shiri was just ok but JSA blew me away! It is every bit as good, or BETTER, to what Hollywood puts out. Story and production values have steadily rising in Korean movies but JSA is there! Great story, great characters, beautiful visuals, excellent production values. Highly, Highly recommended.
I just got Musa and can't wait to watch it!
Tood, 2000 A.D., Purple Storm, Gen-X Cops, and Avalon are all good movies. 2k AD and Purple Storm are your standard action fare. Very enjoyable. Gen-X Cops is good but I think I liked Gen-Y cops better. I loved all the internet/email dating and ICQ comments. I think its the only movie I've ever heard ICQ mentioned. Fun movie.
Avalon isn't for everyone. A lot of people go into thinking its a Matrix clone, it really isn't. I had no expectations going in and came out liking it very much. It has a '1984' feel to it. I was kinda let down by the ending, though. I hope a sequel comes to tidy that up.

 

[James Nguyen]

I actually strongly preferred Gen X cops over its sequel Gen Y--the premise of the three young inexperienced academy thugs turn undercover agents seemed more "real" and fresh in the original. By the time the sequel came out, the fact that it was a sequel more or less meant that the characters intrisically had to lose that soft/green edge that surrounded them as police officers in the first. Both are good for a few laughs though if you come in with the mentality that you're not looking for award winning writing or cinematography.

Gen X is basically about 3 young police officers who go undercover to follow the activities of a mob boss and get caught up in an in house mob civil war. Gen Y is about an army (?) prototype weapon that gets stolen and must be recovered.

I think more than anything, what was missing for me in Gen Y was the lack of the star from Gen X--Nick Tse (also seen in Time and Tide, Young and Dangerous: Prequel), who I feel has shown to be a rather up and coming action star. He brings with him a good deal of charm and martial arts ability when he's on screen. And his not being in the sequel left me thinking that the group was now just incomplete--the three of them together was what made the first so hillarious for me.

--

On a side note, JSA is just remarkable. Absolutely a must own in my book for any home theater owner.