Change Your Image
mdx
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Lists
An error has ocurred. Please try againReviews
Ren mian yu: Hong yi xiao nu hai waizhuan (2018)
Background knowledge required
Firstly, the deity that the main character worships is the Tiger Deity and it is an actual thing in Taiwan. Because spirits usually latch onto someone when they do bad things, the deities will also require a representative in this world. The deities usually pick the person who they want to represent them and it's usually a family thing. So the grandfather was worshipping it. His son, the protagonist, is also its worshipper, and now that he's dead, it's pretty obvious that the son will be following in his footsteps.
The part where everyone finds corny (when the son wakes up and walks into the shrine like a tiger with his eyes glowing) that's the Tiger Deity manifesting itself. That's why when the son realized his father was going off to fight the evil spirit, he asked him not to go and stay close and he would protect him. It means the son knows and is aware that the Tiger Deity has picked him as his representative. But the father never realized because he has been aloof from the deity all this time.
The part where the protagonist was in the forest with a few followers who were all wearing tiger gear and he seems to be praying, he was actually asking the Tiger Deity to manifest itself (which it never did) and we later realize it's because when his wife died, he blamed the deity for not helping her and his resentment actually prevented the deity from manifesting.
There's actually 2 spirits at play in this story. The sick boy and the evil mountain demon. Usually, more powerful beings would just consume lesser spirits to make themselves more powerful, but it seems like that the demon has somehow accepted the sick boy as a disciple of some sort.
The pianist mother didn't die, instead, she's living within a cocoon that the sick boy has created. It's obvious the sick boy just wanted family to take care of him. It's pretty sad.
On the other hand, the evil mountain demon is pitting itself against the Tiger Deity. The protagonist actually doesn't really know that the evil mountain demon is out and about because that's not who the demon is after. The demon is actually after his son, that's why the boy keeps on dreaming about the demon. And at the end we realize it's because the Tiger Deity has already picked the boy to be his representative.
Anyways, that's my understanding of the movie. I come from Taiwan and I've listened to so many stories about people being haunted and needing to go to a shrine to have it taken care of that I can appreciate the movie a lot more. If I had watched this movie a year ago with no knowledge, I would not have understood it well and would have written it off as an okay movie with cheap jump scares. But, yeah, ghosts really do suddenly appear out of the blue to scare people.
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor (2008)
Couldn't really enjoy it
I watched this when it came out on DVD because I loved the Mummy series and I really like Jet Li. But there's 2 things about this film that made me unable to really enjoy it...
Firstly, Rachel Weisz didn't reprise her role and I could understand that coz she didn't like the script. But Bello's chemistry with Fraser was really weird. Until I read someone's review and they said it felt like a mother talking to her son. And bingo! That's exactly what it was. That feeling is so weird.
BUT, the main thing that really pissed me off was the monster, the Taotie. It looks exactly like the same thing that appeared in the Hunger Games. Like, couldn't the designers have googled it? Was it that hard? If people went to see a film and it mentions the "dragon" appearing and when it does, a giant bat appears, I'm gonna say people would notice. Yes? Of course, kids who have never seen a picture of a dragon would be impressed but everyone else would feel like the film was taking us for fools? And that's exactly how I felt. My family isn't really interested in mythology, but I am, so I've looked up a lot of creatures and monsters and seeing how the set designers for the film butchered a relatively important creature in the film made me really angry.
I actually wrote a scathing review straight after watching the film but I cooled off and deleted it. Now it's been 10 years and I'm actually still really pissed, if not more, because my job made me come into contact with pictures and sculptures of Taotie. So yeah. I enjoyed the film up to that point. Anything that came after was harshly criticized by me.
Life of Pi (2012)
Beautiful and visceral
This film was thought-provoking and kind of makes one go away and question themselves. I find it hard to put something down in words because I can't describe the feeling it gave me, except I was filled with wonder throughout the film and a certain sadness when I left it. I do remember my mind churning when Pi was talking about his views in life. I sometimes argued with him in my mind and sometimes agreed... so I guess there was some self-discovery going on in there. At the end,you kind of want to go back and watch it again for pointers to what was really going on...but no more spoilers... I guess some people will just think this is visual junk while others will actually get something from it. So do go watch the film and discover it for yourselves, you might be surprised.
Sheng shi chuan shuo (2000)
Finally the movie version!
This is just a movie version for a long-standing series in Taiwan. It's the national pride over there since the puppeteering techniques were passed from father-to-son. And like father-to-son all the voices you hear are done by the puppeteer. The main character and his side-kick are old characters. As is his arch-rival (don't know how to pronounce his name but he's easily distinguishable since he's the puppet with the best looks).
In the movie all the sets are made in proportion to the puppets whereas on TV all you see is the back-drop and a stage so this movie is definitely worth seeing if you're into this kind of stuff.
Ying xiong (2002)
A feast for the eyes!
Reading the comments there seems to be many people who believe this movie is a money-ripper. However, if they read Chinese history about Emperor QIN he did in fact unite the seven kingdoms into China and rightly named himself the first Emperor of China (the one who built the terracotta figures and the Great Wall of China). History records that the emperor allows no one to approach him without his consent, and that he sleeps in a different bedroom every night just to dodge assassins.
Because there were so many assassination attempts, it is easy to incorporate this story into history (albeit a biased one - since the Emperor QIN was in every aspect a tyrant). Chen Dao Ming (Emperor QIN) is one of the finest actors in China and it is a pity that he played this role since he could convey a whole series of emotions just from his eyes. Therefore, it was fictitious that the movie suggested the Emperor felt a great sadness at the end. He could not have, he was never noted for having any emotions.
As for the rest of the characters. Jet Li, Maggie Cheung etc. I don't care much for their acting but people should note that in Chinese Kung-Fu novels all swordsmen of some talent had an air of coolness about them.
It is interesting to note that all locations were filmed in China. And the lake with it's different colored scenes - I heard that they had to be there at specific times. As for the much-loved maple leaf scene. That's real and not a prop. The leaves in that little forest all turn red at the exact time and it happens only once a year so the movie had to wait for it, I guess. Personally I loved the cinemagraphic side of the movie and I can't wait for the DVD to come out so I can gorge myself again.
Zum mak dik goo leung (1994)
Definitely make you cringe.
Basically, a violent and disturbing film. A psychopathic killer is on the lose. A couple of girls get murdered and raped. Our main character sets out on a quest to catch the murderer for personal reasons. As the genre suggests, it's a horror. And believe me, it's a horror. What the killer does is not nice. This film should really be rated R since there's implications of sodomy and sadism. Though I can't say this is a lousy film, but the humorous parts just ruin the whole seriousness of the film which is really a pity. Takeshiro Kaneshi (the Japanese hunk) makes a surprise appearance in the film as the doctor.