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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  3 extremes / dumplings « previous next »
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Author Topic: 3 extremes / dumplings  (Read 1413 times)
ToyMan
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« on: April 24, 2006, 12:12:51 PM »

i bought this at blockbuster the other day. i was primarily interested in seeing the miike segment, "box", but i was really most impressed with "dumplings", in both it's 40-minute and feature-length presentations.

essentially, "3 extremes" is your standard horror anthology film. three different sections, by three different directors, from three different nations. japan, hong-kong, and korea.

"box" (japan extreme) was directed by takashi miike, famous for "ichi the killer", the "dead or alive" trilogy, the horror masterpiece "audition" and a host of other genre pieces. "box" itself is another quality effort from miike. it's full of atmosphere and gives you plenty of room to think. the cinematography is excellent, and really works hand-in-hand with the subject matter to establish a cohesive texture. the story is about the blurring of dreams, dreams within dreams, and a life that's stranger than the dream itself. you get your standard asian horror scares, i.e. spooky ghost girls, creepy faces peeking out from behind dark hair, etc.

"cut" (korea extreme) was directed by chan-wook park, director of the "vengance trilogy", comprised of "sympathy for mr. vengance", "oldboy" and "sympathy for lady vengance". i actually wasn't so impressed by this chapter in the film. it looked nice, but some of the cg camera effects were too show-offy, such as the camera panning back to slide through the handle of a water jug. eye candy. on the other hand, i'm sure people who enjoyed the "saw" films would consider this segment interesting. actually, the only part of this segment that i got any enjoyment out of were the instances where the captor did little dances, or little comedy bits. essentially, the story is that of a film extra, taking revenge on the director who employs him, for being more perfect than he is. i mentioned "saw" earler because it has the "do ___ within 5 minutes or i'll ___ someone you love right before your eyes" premise.

"dumplings" (hong-kong extreme) was directed by fruit chan, a director i had been absolutely unaware of. as a matter of fact, before i started writing this, i wasn't even sure of the director's gender. (male, btw) i've never seen any of his other films, and most of them (with the exception of "public toilet) seem to be my cup of tea. the film looks wonderful. like miike's "box", this chapter really has all of the elements working together. apparently, someone else found this chapter to be surprisingly good, because it was actually expanded upon and turned into a full-length film which is provided on a second disc. i first watched the full version, and then the original chapter, thinking it would be neat to see how the story worked in a smaller window, only to find out that they actually have different endings! in both, though, the story is that of a retired actress who seeks out a woman who makes dumplings that are supposed to reverse the effects of aging. anyone who's familiar with the countess bathory mythology/legends can pretty much figure out where this goes. i mean, it is a horror film, after all.

obviously, i found "dumplings" and "box" most satisfactory, whereas the dependency on gore, what i consider a stale premise, and cgi in "cut" to be a bit disappointing.
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Mr_Vindictive
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« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2006, 12:34:21 PM »

ToyMan,

I saw this one recently as well.  Dumplings is a great piece of work.  I have yet to see the full version, but the 40 minute short one was near perfect in my opinion.  I'm keeping my eye on Chan to see what he does next.

I was also quite partial to Cut as I'm a huge Chan Wook-Park fan.  His vengnace trilogy has been fantastic so far.  I liked the humor he put into "Cut" and then ending which was quite good.  

Box was completely different from the other two short films, but that is to be expected when dealing with Miike.  I didn't like it at first, but by the time I reached the last 10 minutes or so, I was captivated.  Quiet, haunting and nothing like Miike's other works.  

Overall, 3 Extremes is one of the best horror anthologies ever.
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ToyMan
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« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2006, 02:29:32 PM »

i think it's funny that this was actually the sequel to "three", which is going to be released as "3 extremes 2"...
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