Movies

[seven]

Just watched this one. Fantastic documentary about the evacuation of the US Embassy in Saigon, April 1975

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/lastdays/?utm_source=promourl&utm_medium=direct&utm_campaign=lastdaysinvietnam_2015

 

[Kahuna]

I recently discover an older film from 2001...In my true glacial fashion I am sometimes decades slow....

 

The film is titled Green Dragon...It stars Patrick Swayze and Forest Whitaker...They are actually the only English

speakers in the film save one Vietnamese gent.....The remainder of the cast are Vietnamese......

 

The scene is 1975 right before the fall of Saigon...A new Vietnamese refugee camp has been established at Camp

Pendleton a Marine base north of San Diego, California......It is the story of a special friendship that develops between

Swayze  the NCO in charge of this camp and an English speaking Vietnamese he hires to help him....and Whitaker,

the camp cook, and a young Vietnamese boy who can't speak a lick of English but they soon become fast friends....

and all because of Mighty Mouse.............

 

It's a very nice story and worth a look...

 

The second film I highly highly highly recommend is titled Snowflower and the Secret Fan.....From a novel by the same

title although the film is a bit different....It is Chinese and the women are to die for.............A story about a very very special friendship between two women.......

 

A must see if you are an old romantic like me.....

 

And best of all, I just recently got a copy of a Thai film that I enjoyed many years back...It is titled Guan Moon Ho in English Hello Stranger...I saw the film about 3 times while visiting Thailand a while back...In fact I dragged PD and his lovely along on one viewing and as I recall they enjoyed the film.....I bought a copy only to discover on my return home that it was all in Thai with no subtitles...So I donated it to the LA Thai Consulate - I often did that and it does speed up the visa process - All these years later I found a copy by chance online...It has  brought back all those great memories......

 

It is a simple romantic comedy....Thai style... that takes place in Korea...It is a Thai film but one that stands well along side most western romantic comedies....

[dixon cox]

And best of all, I just recently got a copy of a Thai film that I enjoyed many years back...It is titled Guan Moon Ho in English Hello Stranger...I saw the film about 3 times while visiting Thailand a while back...In fact I dragged PD and his lovely along on one viewing and as I recall they enjoyed the film.....I bought a copy only to discover on my return home that it was all in Thai with no subtitles...So I donated it to the LA Thai Consulate - I often did that and it does speed up the visa process - All these years later I found a copy by chance online...It has  brought back all those great memories......

 

It is a simple romantic comedy....Thai style... that takes place in Korea...It is a Thai film but one that stands well along side most western romantic comedies....

 

It seems to be listed on IMDB as Kuan meun ho (2010) ~ Assuming that's the film you're referring to.

 

I did some searching on the various torrent sites but came out empty-handed.

 

Do you have a link please Kahuna? ~ My other half watches a lot of movies and it's becoming more and more difficult to find stuff for her watch. Movies keep her quiet, at least for a while, or until it's time for tea 

[Kahuna]

Damn was it 5 years ago?????

 

You are correct DC it is Muen and not my Moon.......

 

Actually the case the DVD is in is all in Thai so I guessed....My old mind is not what it once was....In fact, my old mind never was what it once was.............

 

I bought my copy from an outfit in Honolulu...I suspect they got it from Hong Kong or ??????????

 

Sorry I know squat about torrents.....

 

But if there is a way to share my copy by downloading it somehow, I will be happy to give it a try.............Let me know....

 

In the interim, It was on YouTube in it's entirety in like 4 or 5 separate segments a month or so ago.........But it I can find it now....I watched in on YouTube until I got my copy.........

 

For now here is the trailer...........

Damn was it 5 years ago?????

 

You are correct DC it is Muen and not my Moon.......

 

Actually the case the DVD is in is all in Thai so I guessed....My old mind is not what it once was....In fact, my old mind  never was what it once was.............

 

I bought it from some outfit in Honolulu...I suspect they got it from Hong Kong or ??????????

 

Sorry I know squat about torrents.....

 

But if there is a way to share my copy by downloading it somehow, I will be happy to give it a try.............

 

It was on YouTube in it's entirety in like 4 or 5 separate segments a month or so ago.........But it I can find it now....I watched in on YouTube until I got my copy.........

 

For now here is the trailer...........Damn I want to do her.............

 

[dixon cox]

Many thanks Kahuna.  I showed her the clip above and within 2 seconds she said she's seen it already!     
 
I'm now downloading  Avengers - Age of Ultron (2015) for her instead 

[Lefty]

Over the weekend AMC aired an old WW2 movie, I'd never seen before. Bataan, filmed in 1943. The actual battle took place in 1942, so this was made the following year. 

 

[JaiDee]

I re-watched a GREAT movie from 1993 over the weekend......  Heaven and Earth by Oliver Stone and featuring Tommy Lee Jones. Excellent portrayal of the Vietnam war from the perspective of the Vietnamese;  it didn't get as much ink or as much credit from the critics as Born on the 4th of July or Platoon, but it was still really well-done.

 

Highly recommended if you haven't seen it.

[seven]

I re-watched a GREAT movie from 1993 over the weekend......  Heaven and Earth by Oliver Stone and featuring Tommy Lee Jones. Excellent portrayal of the Vietnam war from the perspective of the Vietnamese;  it didn't get as much ink or as much credit from the critics as Born on the 4th of July or Platoon, but it was still really well-done.

 

Highly recommended if you haven't seen it.

Ah man, i watched that when it premiered. Oliver Stone was present promoting it at the party after , I had a brief chat with him, he was cool. This was when the critics still loved him and before Natural born killers which changed the game completely for him, critics hated NBK.

 

Its his last in the trilogy about Vietnam war, you mentioned.  I'm glad you liked it. Many of my friends didn't, but i thought it was great. It also stars one of the most beautiful women ever, Joan Chen.

 

Thanks for reminding me about this one, well worth watching again after 20 years.

[JaiDee]

Yeah, I had seen it before as well, Seven; I am sure it was one of the deciding factors [amongst many] which made me want to visit Vietnam so badly back in 1998. I probably saw it on VCR a year or 2 after it came out.  The scenery is absolutely sublime; I looked up where he filmed it and it said Vietnam and Thailand, which is not surprising.

 

  Very intense movie.....you keep saying to yourself all the way through it "how can this young lady's life get any harder?" but somehow it keeps getting more and more difficult, year after year.

 

Speaking of beauties, the girl who played Le Ly was a knockout as well; her name was Hiep Thi Le, a one-off actress who beat out thousands of others to play that role, and she did it really well.

 

That's cool you got to talk to Ollie Stone, one of the best directors ever!

[Pdoggg]

 

You are correct DC it is Muen and not my Moon.......

 

 

 

 

I know in general LBR guys aren't too interested in romantic comedies but this is as good as any Hollywood movies of that genre.

 

2 thumbs up from me and the teerak.    :good:

[Pdoggg]

Thais tend to like this slapstick movie because the falang is such a buffoon!

 

[seven]

 The scenery is absolutely sublime; I looked up where he filmed it and it said Vietnam and Thailand, which is not surprising.

 

  Very intense movie.....you keep saying to yourself all the way through it "how can this young lady's life get any harder?" but somehow it keeps getting more and more difficult, year after year.

 

the girl who played Le Ly was a knockout as well

 

That's cool you got to talk to Ollie Stone, one of the best directors ever!

I watched it in one of the biggest theaters in Stockholm and i remember the sound from the helicopter opening fire in the first scene and the breathtaking scenery throughout the film. Everytime i'm in Asia now, i recall this movie.

Yes, very cute girl.

I remember  Ollie was really laid-back and cool , zero big shot attitude.  We just exchanged courtesies, but i truly enjoyed it.

 

Check out The Last days of Vietnam ( post 28) ,I'm sure you will enjoy it. Footage and film clips never seen before.

[Kahuna]

 

 

Speaking of beauties, the girl who played Le Ly was a knockout as well; her name was Hiep Thi Le, a one-off actress who beat out thousands of others to play that role, and she did it really well.

 

 

 

 

She is a NorCal resident and went to my alma mater...UCD...In fact she was a student there when she won the role in Stone's film....

 

But you're wrong she has been in other films....Among others she has a featured role in Green Dragon the film I mentioned earlier...

 

She is indeed easy on the eyes......Damn I love Asian women........

[Lefty]

Ah man, i watched that when it premiered. Oliver Stone was present promoting it at the party after , I had a brief chat with him, he was cool. This was when the critics still loved him and before Natural born killers which changed the game completely for him, critics hated NBK.

 

Its his last in the trilogy about Vietnam war, you mentioned.  I'm glad you liked it. Many of my friends didn't, but i thought it was great. It also stars one of the most beautiful women ever, Joan Chen.

 

Thanks for reminding me about this one, well worth watching again after 20 years.

This is one time I'd agree with critics. NBK was senseless, useless garbage. 

 

My favorite Stone movie was a fairly unsung one. U-Turn.  Great cast, and a really bizarre twisted plot. 

[Pdoggg]

I think the first 10 minutes of NBK was great.

 

Beyond that unwatchable by me.

[Lefty]

I think the first 10 minutes of NBK was great.

 

Beyond that unwatchable by me.

I do not recall the point that it became garbage to me. I watched it once in it's entirety so I could be somewhat objective about it. No hankering to ever see it again.  Since, QT was somehow connected to it, the soundtrack included some great LC songs, That was the limit of it's appeal to me. 

[SiamSam]

IMO Billy Bob was the best thing about NBK. Great role. 

[Kahuna]

And Billy Bob is really really good in U Turn..... A  film that kinda sorta grows on you...........

 

And also great in The Ice Harvest......One of my new favorites..............

[Lefty]

IMO Billy Bob was the best thing about NBK. Great role. 

I don't even recall his being in it. 

 

Check out U-Turn. Billy Bob was great in his role in that movie. As were Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Powers Booth, Nick Nolte, et al. 

 

Billy Bob is so diverse. He does heavy drama well, comedy, and anything in between. 

 

When you watch him as Lorne Malvo in Fargo, it is hard to believe this is the same guy who so perfectly played Karl Childers in Sling Blade. The most glaring Oscar snub ever IMO was BBT not winning Best Actor for Sling Blade. 

[Morrolan]

The most glaring Oscar snub ever IMO was BBT not winning Best Actor for Sling Blade. 

 

Everybody knows you don't go full retard.

 

I like Billy Bob as well although I feel he has had a bad run for the last ten years or so. Two of my favourites are the Coen brothers The Man Who Wasn't There and Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man. I love the scene in Dead Man where Iggy Pop and Billy Bob and are arguing about who is going to eat Johnny Depp "You had the last Philistine. This one's mine.". Dead Man is a great western with lots of interesting characters and with a soundtrack by Neil Young you can't go wrong. "Stupid fucking white man"

[SiamSam]

I don't even recall his being in it. 

 

Check out U-Turn. Billy Bob was great in his role in that movie. As were Sean Penn, Jennifer Lopez, Powers Booth, Nick Nolte, et al. 

 

 

I'm stupid Lefty. You're right. I was thinking of U-Turn and not NBK. He played one fucked up scary car mechanic. 

[Morrolan]

One of the movies that made me fall in love with Asia was The Vertical Ray of the Sun. Beautiful slow paced movie about three sisters living in Hanoi, it definitely made me want to see Halong bay. It also had a great soundtrack.

 

I saw Ex Machina this week which was written and directed by Alex Garland. He also wrote a sci fi movie called Sunshine that I had really enjoyed so my expectations were high for Ex Machina and I wasn't disappointed. This is the type of psychological sci fi that I love when done right.

 

It's about a rich tech genius who builds an AI robot. One of his employees wins a trip to visit his secluded retreat where he reveals that the employee must help him test the AI, to decide if the android in really thinking and feeling or is merely just giving programed responses.

 

The film was low budget with a small cast which helped give it an intimate feel and was very stylishly designed. The film slowly builds up the tension and leaves you wondering who is manipulating who. The only problem was that it was a bit predictable.

 

I saw Chappie recently which also deals with AI but I thought Ex Machina dealt with it in a more subtle way. Chappie was a bit more blunt with the robot learning about right and wrong through experience whereas Ex Machina was more of a psychological examination of what it means to be human.

[seven]

This is one time I'd agree with critics. NBK was senseless, useless garbage. 

 

 U-Turn.  Great cast, and a really bizarre twisted plot. 

I liked it. The critics slashed this one too. He could do nothing right in their eyes after NBK, and I agree, NBK is shit.  Try watch that now, how painfully poor it holds up in time.

 

I agree about Billy Bob. Great actor.

[Lefty]

Everybody knows you don't go full retard.

 

I like Billy Bob as well although I feel he has had a bad run for the last ten years or so. Two of my favourites are the Coen brothers The Man Who Wasn't There and Jim Jarmusch's Dead Man. I love the scene in Dead Man where Iggy Pop and Billy Bob and are arguing about who is going to eat Johnny Depp "You had the last Philistine. This one's mine.". Dead Man is a great western with lots of interesting characters and with a soundtrack by Neil Young you can't go wrong. "Stupid fucking white man"

That seems like simplistic logic to me. The main thing should be how well the actor effectively handled the role. BBT was so convincing he was unrecognizable. Friend of mine was visiting me once, and we watched BBT in Monsters Ball. Pretty good movie, but kind of depressing. BBT did his role effectively, but you knew it was him. After that one finished I popped in Sling Blade. We had watched like about 30-45 minutes and my friend asked who the actor was playing Karl. I said don't you recognize who it is? He said no. We watched like another 15 minutes and he said, is that Billy Bob? I laughed and said yes. He said he just guessed because of his being in the previous movie.  He was amazed that it was Billy Bob. 

[JaiDee]

Myself, I loved Natural Born Killers.

 

But then again, I smoke weed 

 

Especially loved the prison warden role played by Tommy Lee Jones.

 

I think the worst, most disgusting piece of trash ever made by Ollie Stone was "JFK", a piece of pure fiction which was presented as fact and which millions of people believed. He will never live that one down and I am sure he is now embarrassed by it.