Cool as fook film making

This Johnnie To film may have ben out fer quite some time now but I only managed to watch it last night. And my word, wot a fooking trip it was. A noir thriller set in Hong Kong/Macau featuring a French crooner (Johnny Halliday) in the lead role, now that's wot ye calls film making with balls.

Plot may be a tad simplistic but its good enough to keep ye glued to the screen. The stylistic floursishes are plenty & some are just bordering on cinematic genius. Stand offs are full of tension & gun fight scenes are turned into works of motion picture art with clever use of shadow & light.

French dude flies into Macau after finding out his daughter's family has brutally murdered by mysterious trio of assassins & swears revenge. As a stranger in a strange land & suffering from memory loss (due to a bullet lodged in his brain), Halliday gets nowhere in his initial quest. But he then chances upon another trio of hired guns just they are leaving the scene of the crime & makes them an offer they cannae refuse.

Some reviewers & fans of To feel the film suffers because Johnny Halliday is a poor replacement fer the legendary Alain Delon fer which the role was originally written fer. But as far as I is concerend that's Delon's loss coz this is pure cinematic gold. And if ye is fan of film noir, this is pretty fooking fine way to spend an hour and half of yer time.

The Greatest Brasilian Ever?

Anyone know where me can gets this?

Flares, Hairs & Football!

This has been making the rounds again on Astro & me would definitely recommend it to all footie fans.

The Damned United tells the tale of Brian Clough's ill-fated appointment as manager of Leeds United. Fourty four fooking days is all he lasted.

This has got to be one, if not the best, films on the beautiful game. A damn fine performance from Michael Sheen as Ole Big 'Ead & Timothy Spall as his partner in crime, Peter Taylor.

The scenes of muddy pitches & flamboyant sideburns really did bring back some fond memories of watching footie from a bygone era.

The actual footage of Liverpool's King Kev clash with Leed's Norman Hunter in the 1974 Charity Shield on its own is worth the entry fee.

Old but fooking Gold!

Its nay secret that like many other angry young men, me abso-fooking-lutely loves the Godfather trilogy. And though me has seen the films numerous times, me never tires of watching or recommending them to others. And yes, me may a bit over zealous at times, but that's just me (so spare me the lecture).

Anyways, wifey & meself did something me has always wanted to do which is to watch all three films in one sitting. And last weekend, Seth, wifey & meself sat down fer a Godfather marathon. All nine hours of it!!!

And fook me, the impact is still tremendous. The sheer scope & breadth of the storytelling, the career-defining performances & brilliant cinematography meant we didn't even notice our sore butts.

The first film has a slow build up but this allows all the characters to be fully fleshed out. We see how a clean cut Michael Corleone tries to break away from his familia's criminal activities only to be sucked in when his beloved father is gunned down.

Here is the central appeal of these films, the conflicted young man forced to shed blood & make difficult decisions fer the sake of his family. The anti-hero with nay choice but to go down a river of blood. Many of us are just absolute suckers fer that!

As many of ye would know, the second instalment has been described by famed auteur Stanley Kubrick as the greatest film of all time. With its parallel storyline sweeping back to Sicily tracing the roots of La Cosa Nostra, yer treated to a visual spectacle that has yet to be matched to this very day.

Many fans also love the fact that the script brings plenty of realism such as the Vatican banking scandal in PtIII & the mob's doomed projects in Cuba after the Commie revolution (PtII) into play giving the films real substance. Fer sure, the films romanticize the gangster lifestyle but hey, since when was that a crime?

Yer kindly invited to share yer thoughts on this masterpiece & why it means so much to yer.

ps: Even those who think its crap are invited to share yer thoughts . . .

A Basterd of a film!

Cool title. Cool premise & a shit load of violence.

Good to see a Quentin Tarantino film top the box office charts recently & while this ain't a classic, many kudos to the man fer at least trying to make each of his films different.

Don't want to give too much away but suffice to say, there's great performances, cool-as-fook soundtrack & a sting in the tale.

Available at most good pirated DVD emporiums, there are worse ways to enjoy the impending long weekend ahead.

As usual, look forward to reading yer comments on this film.

Cool shit

In me missionary zeal, me has managed to get half of me dept to watch Pulp Fiction. All of em abso-fooking-lutely LOVED it & the office is now full of Tarantino-quoting colleagues. "Le Big Mac & Bad Mutha Fookers etc etc" all fooking day long.

Found this fooking cool wallpaper featuring the Lego version of Jules & Vincent & thought me'd share this with ye guys. Also found the script to the film, so fer those who wanna have a slightly different take on the film, do click at the link below.

To read Tarantino's ground breaking screenplay, please click here: http://www.godamongdirectors.com/scripts/pulp.shtml

Greatest Film of All Time?

Wifey & meself managed to take a quick break from tending to junior last night & me stuck on the DVD of what is arguably one of the greatest pieces of work ever committed to celluloid - Pulp fooking Fiction.

Despite having watched it numerous times, wifey & meself were still spellbound by the hip-as-fook, one-of-a-kind dialogue & the numerous stylistic cues Quentin Tarantino injects into this masterpiece. From De Palma to Goddard, the visual spectacle is akin to having a toke of some very fine buds. And the fooking soundtrack is just BONG-tastic! Absolutely mind blowing!

Though Tarantino's later works hasn't scaled the dizzy heights of this film (which won the prestigious Palm D'Or at Cannes when it came out), he is still one of the few auteurs whose name is used to describe a certain type of scene or film - Tarantino-esque. Besides Alfred Hitchcock, how many other film makers have had their name enter popular lexicon?

Despite it being released over 13 years ago, its genius hasn't dimmed one bit. If anything, its influence on modern cinema is there fer all to see. If ye've never taken the time to watch this film, me urges ye to treat yer senses to one of the finest films made in the name of entertainment. Those who have, do so again. The knowing laughs that 'Flock of Seagulls' line (& many others) will make yer fooking week.

Royale with cheese, indeed . . .



ps: Look foward to reading yer comments on yer fave parts of this film & yer overall view of its cinematic value.

pps: Also yet to see Inglorious Basterds. Hope its a return to form.