Trash talk me, baby!
Jun. 1st, 2007 07:54 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tiggymalvern
Yesterday's SIFF outings were a quick tour through the delights of low-brow film-making, with a Hong Kong Gun Fu flick followed by the largely indescribable Black Sheep XD Spoiler-free reviews below.
Exiled is one of last year's Johnnie To films. As the presenter said, it's never a question of whether there'll be a Johnnie To film at SIFF, only a question of which one :-) I'll give you the SIFF site mini-blurb, since it's both accurate and succint - this blistering gangster story follows the fortunes of ex-hit man Wo as he settles down with his wife and new baby in Macau. His retirement is soon disrupted by the arrival of two former friends sent to kill him, while two other friends vow to protect him. They all have guns.
Oh, yes, indeed, everyone in this film brings guns in the plural XD I found it to be one of the better examples of the genre overall, with some great set pieces, which is really what this kind of film revolves around. I was struck by the outstanding directorial choices generally - the whole of the opening set-up is dramatic and slow and glorious, with great close-ups and long sweeping dolly shots as everyone moves into their roles. Action-wise, there were sections that stood out as beautifully memorable, such as the use of the door in the first 'act', the entire thing with the curtains in the clinic and the pools of light and shadow as the action flows down the outside of the building. And most of all, this is one of those films where an awful lot is said in long, dialogue-free scenes, the way this group of guys look at each other or don't, and huge kudos to the actors and director for making that work so very well.
It definitely has its flaws - when the time comes to choose sides, everything's dark and fast, and it's difficult to know for sure who's shooting at who till it's over, though that may have been a deliberate choice. Some of the directorial choices are almost too artsy; yes, the candles make for some lovely shots, but why is Wo moving into an apartment with no electricity? The story appears to meander to some strange, oddly-paced places as it pulls its convoluted and somewhat contrived threads together, though it always does so with that typical sense of humour and Hong Kong level of farce (that never quite reaches what a westerner would call true farce), ensuring it holds the attention along the way. This script could have made a very mediocre film or a genuinely entertaining one, and the fact that it's the latter is purely down to cast and crew. It's not The Killer, but it's not actually all that far off.
Ah, and on to Black Sheep. I don't actually have to say much about this one, do I? I mean, you guys have all seen this trailer on YouTube, right? I promise you, it's just as cheesy and twice as sick and tasteless as you think it's going to be XD All the cliches of the genre are right there where they need to be, along with some hilarious special effects and obvious homages to creature movies past. No opportunity is ever passed up to make you giggle or groan, with some genuine killer laughs thrown in.
The film aims squarely for the 'so bad it's good' category, and hits it full on the nose. Checking the comments, the 6.7 score at imdb is an average of those who loved it and those who thought it was awful, which is going to be entirely sense-of-humour dependent. It serves up exactly what the trailer promises and then some - if the trailer makes you giggle and develop a huge grin, you'll have fun. If the trailer leaves you cold, you'll want to skip this one, but there are more than enough sickos in the Seattle area for a sold-out showing even over in the cultural wasteland of the eastside Lincoln XD
Two more obvious, easy choice scores of four. Oh, yeah, and for the sensitive, both these films have a level of gore typical of their genres, particularly gratuitous in Black Sheep.
Exiled is one of last year's Johnnie To films. As the presenter said, it's never a question of whether there'll be a Johnnie To film at SIFF, only a question of which one :-) I'll give you the SIFF site mini-blurb, since it's both accurate and succint - this blistering gangster story follows the fortunes of ex-hit man Wo as he settles down with his wife and new baby in Macau. His retirement is soon disrupted by the arrival of two former friends sent to kill him, while two other friends vow to protect him. They all have guns.
Oh, yes, indeed, everyone in this film brings guns in the plural XD I found it to be one of the better examples of the genre overall, with some great set pieces, which is really what this kind of film revolves around. I was struck by the outstanding directorial choices generally - the whole of the opening set-up is dramatic and slow and glorious, with great close-ups and long sweeping dolly shots as everyone moves into their roles. Action-wise, there were sections that stood out as beautifully memorable, such as the use of the door in the first 'act', the entire thing with the curtains in the clinic and the pools of light and shadow as the action flows down the outside of the building. And most of all, this is one of those films where an awful lot is said in long, dialogue-free scenes, the way this group of guys look at each other or don't, and huge kudos to the actors and director for making that work so very well.
It definitely has its flaws - when the time comes to choose sides, everything's dark and fast, and it's difficult to know for sure who's shooting at who till it's over, though that may have been a deliberate choice. Some of the directorial choices are almost too artsy; yes, the candles make for some lovely shots, but why is Wo moving into an apartment with no electricity? The story appears to meander to some strange, oddly-paced places as it pulls its convoluted and somewhat contrived threads together, though it always does so with that typical sense of humour and Hong Kong level of farce (that never quite reaches what a westerner would call true farce), ensuring it holds the attention along the way. This script could have made a very mediocre film or a genuinely entertaining one, and the fact that it's the latter is purely down to cast and crew. It's not The Killer, but it's not actually all that far off.
Ah, and on to Black Sheep. I don't actually have to say much about this one, do I? I mean, you guys have all seen this trailer on YouTube, right? I promise you, it's just as cheesy and twice as sick and tasteless as you think it's going to be XD All the cliches of the genre are right there where they need to be, along with some hilarious special effects and obvious homages to creature movies past. No opportunity is ever passed up to make you giggle or groan, with some genuine killer laughs thrown in.
The film aims squarely for the 'so bad it's good' category, and hits it full on the nose. Checking the comments, the 6.7 score at imdb is an average of those who loved it and those who thought it was awful, which is going to be entirely sense-of-humour dependent. It serves up exactly what the trailer promises and then some - if the trailer makes you giggle and develop a huge grin, you'll have fun. If the trailer leaves you cold, you'll want to skip this one, but there are more than enough sickos in the Seattle area for a sold-out showing even over in the cultural wasteland of the eastside Lincoln XD
Two more obvious, easy choice scores of four. Oh, yeah, and for the sensitive, both these films have a level of gore typical of their genres, particularly gratuitous in Black Sheep.
