I thought this would be a fun thread. We've all got our recommended lists. But what about some films you'd specifically advise people *not* to see?
Here are some from yours truly...
Fractured Follies - The whole "jerk meets nice girl, becomes nice guy, gets nice girl" formula works a lot better when the leading man isn't a complete prick. Also, dressing Brother Mark up as a pineapple to do a little song and dance number is crossing the line.
Witch From Nepal - Recommended only as a remedy for insomnia, and only after exhausting all pharmaceutical alternatives, the use of blunt instruments, etc.
Double Tap - Everyone in a cop movie being dumb as a bag of hammers, I can live with. That's par for the course. But the nutjob bad guy in this movie shouting firing range commands like Vincent D'Onofrio in his hammy final scene in Full Metal Jacket between blowing people away? That's the sort of thing that makes a movie painful to watch. Especially when it makes a fumbling reach for relevance.
Fu Bo - What is supposed to be a meaningful rumination on life & death instead comes across as a film designed merely to be unpleasant. A single scene involving a mortuary assistant burying human teeth in flower pots to nourish his plants does more to carry the movie's dubious message across than the rest of its running length combined. Everything else seems meant for shock value, or to persuade the audience that Fu Bo has the worst job in the universe. Sorry, but I've seen a couple eps of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. Cutting dead people open seems like pushing buttons at Spacely Sprockets in comparison.
Space Travelers - It's probably never a good idea to work a fictional anime series into your film if those animated adventures look 10x more interesting than the rest of your film. I don't wanna be watching Space Travelers the cheesy heist comedy flick, I wanna be watching Space Travelers, the OVA.
The Legendary Tai Fai - Too obvious, maybe. Is anyone out there still unaware of this film's (film? more likely, it was shot on a cheap camcorder) reputation as one of the worst movies ever released in Hong Kong? Just in case, I'll say it again. Do NOT. Ever. Watch this movie.
A (dis)honorable mention goes out to Bride With White Hair 2. This might be worth seeing if you really didn't like the ending of the first movie. For the rest of you, those who, like myself, see the original Bride With White Hair as a nearly-flawless movie with a deeply affecting ending, skip the sequel if you haven't seen it already.
How about yourselves? What would you tell fellow HK film fans to avoid when they're picking through the shelves of the video store or the catalog of their favorite online seller?
Here are some from yours truly...
Fractured Follies - The whole "jerk meets nice girl, becomes nice guy, gets nice girl" formula works a lot better when the leading man isn't a complete prick. Also, dressing Brother Mark up as a pineapple to do a little song and dance number is crossing the line.
Witch From Nepal - Recommended only as a remedy for insomnia, and only after exhausting all pharmaceutical alternatives, the use of blunt instruments, etc.
Double Tap - Everyone in a cop movie being dumb as a bag of hammers, I can live with. That's par for the course. But the nutjob bad guy in this movie shouting firing range commands like Vincent D'Onofrio in his hammy final scene in Full Metal Jacket between blowing people away? That's the sort of thing that makes a movie painful to watch. Especially when it makes a fumbling reach for relevance.
Fu Bo - What is supposed to be a meaningful rumination on life & death instead comes across as a film designed merely to be unpleasant. A single scene involving a mortuary assistant burying human teeth in flower pots to nourish his plants does more to carry the movie's dubious message across than the rest of its running length combined. Everything else seems meant for shock value, or to persuade the audience that Fu Bo has the worst job in the universe. Sorry, but I've seen a couple eps of Dirty Jobs on the Discovery Channel. Cutting dead people open seems like pushing buttons at Spacely Sprockets in comparison.
Space Travelers - It's probably never a good idea to work a fictional anime series into your film if those animated adventures look 10x more interesting than the rest of your film. I don't wanna be watching Space Travelers the cheesy heist comedy flick, I wanna be watching Space Travelers, the OVA.
The Legendary Tai Fai - Too obvious, maybe. Is anyone out there still unaware of this film's (film? more likely, it was shot on a cheap camcorder) reputation as one of the worst movies ever released in Hong Kong? Just in case, I'll say it again. Do NOT. Ever. Watch this movie.
A (dis)honorable mention goes out to Bride With White Hair 2. This might be worth seeing if you really didn't like the ending of the first movie. For the rest of you, those who, like myself, see the original Bride With White Hair as a nearly-flawless movie with a deeply affecting ending, skip the sequel if you haven't seen it already.
How about yourselves? What would you tell fellow HK film fans to avoid when they're picking through the shelves of the video store or the catalog of their favorite online seller?
