Terrific films on DVD & video ... Any suggestions?

As they say in the print trade "Hold The Front Page!"

I have just seen,on DVD,THE best Chinese film ever.Up untill today,that honour went to the great Raise The Red Lantern directed by the magnificent Zhang Yimou who also helmed Hero and House Of Flying Daggers.
The title of this pants-wettingly good film is CURSE OF THE GOLDEN FLOWER and guesse who directed it :wink: . Zhang Yimou made his first feature 20 years ago and,as a creative force,he continues to adapt and find new ways to tell a story,keeping his work fresh and entertaining.Casting Chow Yun-Fat and Gong Li,two of China's finest actors,is a master-stroke.The tragic script and the georgeous art direction both give these amazing performers a worthy workspace to show their craft.
If you like Royal intrigue with a healthy dose of action mixed in,Curse Of The Golden Flower will NOT disapoint
This is the first film to convince me that Chow Yun-Fat can act.
He is ably supported by the great Gong Li who absolutly shone in Memoirs Of A Geisha.
This is Shakespere,Chinese style,with plot twists and turns,intrigue,incest and,of course,a cast of thousands.
Oh,I forgot to mention the Ninjas........silly me :wink: .

Some people are put off by sub-titled films.If you are one of the many that are,this film will convert you to watch more.
That's how good this film is . :wink: .

P.S.

My Region 3 disc from cdwow has a Dolby Digital and DTS 6.1 soundtrack.The Region 1 disc has only a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack and the sub-titles are in yellow .

Thanks for the recommendation, Barry.
Even better than Raise the Red Lantern? (Which I loved!)
Must really be something, then!

By coincidence, I just rented "Curse of the Golden Flower" and watched the extras last night. I'm going to enjoy it this afternoon.l

Olga, Volver just came out on DVD.

Most enjoyable film I've seen lately was from Spain. It was kind of a silly & gentle comedy ala The Gods Must Be Crazy -- Le Gran Final -- advertised here as The Great Match. The music & scenery were super.

Volver - Yes, I must see it, Piffka. Don't know all that much about it but have heard many glowing reports.




So what was your verdict on The Curse of the Golden Flower, Lightwizard?

"Curse of the Golden Flower" rivals "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers," but I actually was more captivated by the incredible sets, the judicious use of CGI and the performances. The final battle is every bit as good as LOTR 3 and makes the battle of Troy pale in comparison. The special features pointed out that all the sets were constructed at a site with little or no matte painting or CGI. Astonishing. The color alone will amaze anyone, but it's an extremely violent action film in-between the court intrigue, so this film is not for the squeamish. It's one I would see more than once -- my nephew happened to stop by after work and wasn't able to stay to see all of the film but wants to see it now that I described it to him.

Bugger & damnation!

Not for me, then. I'm disappointed.

A lot of "flying multiple blades," spearings, arrows, swords, knives -- I think they covered the gamut of the weapons of the period and then some. It's pretty bloody. But for the Chinese, red is their color.

So it's a "boy" movie, then? :wink:

Well, yes, except the exquisite and sumptuous production design representing the Tang Dynasty which happened to be the most ostentatious period in Chinese history is worth seeing the movie for. You just might have to put your hands over your eyes for, well, many scenes.

Putting my hands over my eyes makes it hard to cover my ears and even the horrifying screams get to me. Violent films? Yuck.

Olga, has anyone suggested Little Miss Sunshine to you? Pretty neat movie, I thought.

Here are the films we plan to show in my library's "CinemaGig" program. I think you'd likely enjoy all of these. We try, at least, to choose well-made, interesting films. We show DVDs -- and a few VHS productions -- with a laser projector onto a wall-sized screen.

This month we'll show The Last King of Scotland, then Sing Faster, a documentary. In May, The Queen, Pursuit of Happyness, and Standard of Perfection: Show Cattle. This summer: Volver, Night at the Museum and The Painted Veil (TBD - We're waiting to see if indeed The Painted Veil is out on DVD by mid-July.)

V for Vendetta is amazing - my friend just bought me the graphic novel upon which it is based
Holes - kids but greeeat!
What dreams may come
Dead Poets Society
Pecker

:-)

I agree, V for Vendetta is worth seeing. I've recently put A Clockwork Orange on our Netflix list. Someone said there were similarities between the two that I hadn't noticed.

The Cave of the Yellow Dog is at the top of my Netflix queue.

Loved Little Miss Sunshine, Piffka! A delight!
I saw it at the cinema some months back.

Oh good. What have you most recently viewed and loved? Do you have anything lined up for this weekend?

<rummaging through DVDs>

Hmmmm, let's see, Piffka .....

OK, series 1, 2, 3 & 4 of West Wing. Not all have to be watched this weekend, though!
I'm far from a regular television watcher. Every now & then I see an episode of WW & think: "That's good!" So I'm starting at the beginning & working my way through! Wish me luck!

Also: Zhou Yu's Train, with the gorgeous Gong Li & Hollywood Ending, a Woody Allen I've never heard of but discovered in my wanderings at my DVD/video shop.

.... So what movie treats are in store for Ms Piffka?

Don't know if it's been mentioned but I saw Mad Hot Ballroom the other night and foung it delightful. It's a documentary about a ballroom dancing program in NYC middle schools. http://www.paramountvantage.com/madhot/

Just saw "Inside Job," a heist film directed by Spike Lee. Haven't checked out the reviews but I liked it -- very different for Spike Lee and with his usual quirky and often profound style of directing. It stars Denzel Washington with a great supporting cast including Jodie Foster in a very unusual performance, to say the least. Clive Owen is the heavy -- and you find yourself in a quandary of morals here, but there is a kind of redemption revealing a grievous evil deed from the past.

Swimpy, I saw Mad Hot Ballroom. It had an amazing concept & was exciting to watch. We sure didn't have anything like that when *I* was going to high school!

Sorry to be so late in responding, Olga. I've been running a series of art workshops that finally ended this week. That took a lot of work & time for someone like me who isn't used to working anymore. (And yesterday, I spent the day hanging art pieces. It took HOURS because of our cheap frames.) I liked West Wing when it was shown on TV. I suppose having all of it at once would make for great continuity and no commercials. How was it? Great???

I'm most looking forward to The Painted Veil coming out on DVD - May 8th. In case you're wondering where I find out the release date, I usually check this website: http://videoeta.com/

As for films I liked -- two come to mind: THE CAVE OF THE YELLOW DOG a lot -- another Mongolian fable by the woman-director who brought us The Weeping Camel and EVERYTHING IS ILLUMINATED which I'd modestly recommend it: amusing but a little slow. The sunflower fields at the end are beautiful.

If I haven't recommended VERY ANNIE MARY to you yet, then I should have. It's one of my faves from netflix this year.

Other DVD films I've seen in the last month:
Madeinusa - weird... worthy as a piece to see & discuss.
Volver - good but predictable. I'd have liked just a bit more magical realism in a film like that... to give it an edge.
American Dreamz -- dreary & forgetable
My Best Friend's Wife -- stupid & annoying
Rabbi Jacob goes to Paris -- I didn't get it, or if I did, I didn't like it.
Last King of Scotland -- too much violence, but Oscar-worthy, I guess.


I'm looking forward to seeing The Pursuit of Happyness and Night at the Museum, but will probably be disappointed so I'm holding off on them. We've got those scheduled along with Volver and The Queen at my little library theater.

We liked "Deja Vu" with Denzel Washington. There aren't many movies starring Mr. Washington that we don't like.

Last night we watched "Smoking Aces". It was very good but what a bloodbath!