Weekend viewing

[odinn7]

Kung Fu Hustle- I'm not a huge fan of Kung Fu movies although I have seen quite a few of them, especially when they used to be shown on Saturday afternoons when I was a kid. This movie was awesome. The fights, the style, the storyline...all were excellent. I really enjoyed the use of some of the older stars from the earlier movies. Even the comedy was great. When my wife suggested renting it, I dreaded another Kung Pow movie and thought that is what I'd be watching. Instead, I found myself mesmerized within the first 5 minutes. An excellent movie, even if you're not a huge fan of Kung Fu films.

Hide and Seek- ***SPOILERS***
I really wanted to see this but found myself disappointed when it was all over. The movie wasn't bad but it wasn't what it had been made out to be. There were some plot holes and when everything "came together" at the end, it made for some impossible things when you look back on it. It started as a ghost movie but ended up as a slasher film. DeNiro did an excellent job as well as the annoying little Dakota Fanning. Both of them had me believing they were whacky and she even looked sickly through most of the film.  One problem I had with it, and it's really MY problem and not a problem with the movie, is I'm a p***y when it comes to things with children. Being a parent has made me look at everything differently. I see the kid lose her mother and start thinking about my daughter and how that would have an effect on her. I see the kid being tormented by a ghost but at least she has a loving father to help her so that's better. Now it turns out that this kid lost her mother and her father's a freak and I'm thinking of the effect that would have on any kid. Now the kid has lost her mother, her father's a freak, and her father gets killed right in front of her. Ok, I'm weak when it comes to kids and this is what hurt the movie for me. I just get too distracted thinking of my child and the innocence of children when I see stuff like this. The movie itself was fairly good if it wasn't for this stumbling block of mine. However, don't expect a ghost movie....sure I just ruined it for you...but I did write "spoilers" ;- )

[Mr_Vindictive]

Hey!  I....actually liked Kung Pow.  Can't wait for the sequel that's in development.  

As for Kung Fu Hustle - WOW.  I bought an import copy on DVD back in April (around the time of the US release) and I was surprised by just how much fun the film was.  I still have no idea why the MPAA threw an R rating onto this flick.

For me it's perfect.  The humor is spot on and I'm finding myself chuckling at various scenes as I write this.  The scene where Sing is trying to find someone to fight in the community and the scene with the knife throwing are hilarious.

Fantastic movie.  Great buy.

[odinn7]

Perhaps they gave it an R rating because of the F word being pitched around and some of the violence (even though it was "cartoony").

Oh the scene where he's trying to find someone to fight is hilarious...especially the last guy he picks (the short one in the back).

[Mr_Vindictive]

I can only really think of one instance in the flick where the F word is used, which is when the film opens up and the gang is raiding the police department.  I'm sure they're probably more uses elsewhere, I just can't think of any at the moment.

As for the violence, most of it is cartoony.  I guess the scene with Sing and the leader of the Axe gang could constitute as "bloody" or "graphic".

[Ash]

Hide & Seek....UGH!

I was p**sed by the end of that movie and felt I'd wasted my $$.
Good thing I didn't go to the theater and see it.

I thought it was a cheap rip off of "Secret Window."

[dean]

Wait, let me get this straight.

Kung Fu Hustle was dubbed?

This was released in here last week, and I'm planning on seeing it, but will have second thoughts if its dubbed.

My friend has it on dvd [though he's in the States at the moment for work] and I've seen most of it, but undubbed and I thought it was fantastic, like the scene where the main guy is planning to take out the land lady for being mean to him by throwing knives at her, with hilarious consequences!

and yes, I too liked the part where he was looking for somebody to fight, especially his reactions.  Great stuff, although they really go overboard on the CGI effects [though this works well in this movie somehow]



Post Edited (08-17-05 03:54)

[Mr_Vindictive]

Dean,

The American release has both the original language track and a dubbed track.  My copy is an import so I only have the original language track, so I don't know just how good the dubbing is.

[odinn7]

The dubbing is ok and really, I expect dubbing to be a little off in Kung Fu movies, otherwise they just don't seem right to me. Too many days of watching them on channel 9 when I was a kid. The funny thing is that my wife had trouble understanding some of it so I also put English subtitles on. This added an extra element of comedy to the movie as the soundtrack and the subtitles didn't match. They said one thing, but I was reading something else. It was timed right, but the translation just didn't carry over. Funny stuff.

[Mr_Vindictive]

Odinn,

Yeah, I've noticed that in various dubbed films.  The subtitles never match what the dubbing.  Usually the dubbing, for whatever reason, is abbreviated compared to the actual words being spoken.