Page 1 of DVD Reviews - How about some Asian cinema?

Just watched another Stephen Chow film (King of Comedy) and almost peed my pants, his visual comedy is just fantastic.

So I thought I`d take a browse through the DVD Reviews on this site to get some ideas of my next purchases.

Alas, sites that even scrape the surface of Asian cinema are few and far between and sadly this one is no exception.

There`s a Martial Arts section but asian cinema is about a lot more than high kicking action flics. How about a new section, just for Asian cinema?
If you can acommadate a section for Indian cinema, surely magic from the Far East can made a reasonable contribution?

Anyone second the suggestion?

Oh go on, be your best friend. ;)

J.

I gladly second the suggestion - especially as I was browsing King of Comedy at dddhome today and couldnt find a decent review on imdb.com. (I can now order it quite happily.)
I took delivery of 7 dvd`s from dddhome today so I`ll post reviews of what I can if anyone wants me to.
Just a question Jonpy: where did you buy King of Comedy? My only worry with dddhome dvds is that as their stock naturally originates in asia, are the English subtitles up to scratch? I watched Twin Dragons today (first one out of the box) and the English subtitles were terrible.I know this isn`t so important with action flicks, but with something like Battle Royale or Audition it could render the film unintelligible.

recently watched a korean film called Shiri. very, very good. sort of a korean reworking of Nikita.
do agree that when people talk about Asian films all you seem to get are Martial Arts films. recently i asked in my local blockbuster why they did not have a more comprihensive world cimema section, and was told there was no call for it. this is after spending several weeks trying to rent Irriversible and The Eye which are constantly out. still not gotten around to seeing them yet.

just remembered, a very funny Asian film i saw a long while back was Eat, Drink, Man, Woman. very funny, about a man bringing up his four daughters. worth a watch.
Do really want to see Audition, but can`t get it in the shops and every time i try Play it is out of stock, will eventually see it.

so yes, i second your suggestion for a Far Eastern section.

I warn you now: as far as Audition and Irreversible are concerned, I hope you have a strong stomach. Both films are utterly shocking in parts but not gratuitously in my opinion. Also, Irreversible has a beautiful side which is absolutely charming.

really looking forward to watching them, but like most people i have quite a lot to watch as it is, but i`ll get there. want to see Iko the Killer, which is yet another on my wish list.

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Also, Irreversible has a beautiful side which is absolutely charming.

Yes, the last third of the film is very romantic!

Editor
DVD REVIEWER

Hey Dnick, the Eye is WELL worth buying. Spooky stuff!!!

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was browsing King of Comedy at dddhome today and couldnt find a decent review on imdb.com.
I`d say it`s a wee bit better than God of Cookery, I laughed out loud many, many times. Some of the visual jokes are superb. The two leads are just really engaging....and the young lady Hostess reminds me of Sophie Ellis Bexter, even though she`s Chinese, and doesn`t look like her. :/

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where did you buy King of Comedy? My only worry with dddhome dvds is that as their stock naturally originates in asia, are the English subtitles up to scratch?
Good ol` DDDHouse, got 5 DVDs at once, came to just over 18 quid, not bad.
The transfer is fine, not perfect in the first few minutes but settles down fine, sound is excellent 5.1 and the subtitles....well, they`re typically Stephen Chow. I don`t know if his production company uses the same people for every film but in King of Comedy, as in God of Cookery and Shoalin Soccer, there`s some rather dodgy translating going on.

Think "I knew you`d be famous!" when someone says "You`ve got a fame" and the word debt, so frequently needed in HK films, is often very notable by it`s absence.
"You gave me a dishonour cheque" anyone?
But it`s all good and adds to the fun. Besides, I haven`t seen these films released in any other versions, so until Extreme Asia or a more western orientated company get their hands on them, we`re stuck with being amused at the subtitles as well as the action. :)

There are a couple of Mega Star versions of A Chinese Odyssey at DDDHouse though, with DTS, so have ordered them to see the difference from the standard Universal Laser releases. At twice the price (8quid each..shiocking!), let`s hope so.

Roll on their delivery. :D

J.

P.s. Think I`ll know up some reviews for a few of my faves, at least get some thoughts up there for other fans, regardless whether they give us our own category.

The asian section would be very broad. How about having Region 3 reviews and then splitting them up into the normal categories (e.g. Horror, Comedy, Thriller.) Region 3 could cover Hong Kong and Korean Discs. There is a large increase in region 3 retailers and CD WOW are selling Hollywood R3 discs quite cheaply. It would also be interesting to know how Region 3 versions of a film compares to other regions. There is a slight backdrop in that in the region 3 area, there are many different discs of the same movie available so you would have to say what brand and/or country it is from. I have shiri on region 1 dvd and it is an excellent movie on a great dvd. There has been an increase in HKL reviews on this site, I have noticed reviews for non martial art movies like The Killer and A Better Tomorrow. I havent seen it but Volcano High is supposed to be a great Korean movie, a cross between xmen and the matrix or something

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