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#FILMTALK with #POPCORNX (Session 4 / Season 2)



I'll be introducing 4 films in this 4h session of FILMTALK (Season 2) showcasing a quartet of preloved films I have on DVD, since made available for sale at Miku Market! The 4 films showcased today are:


Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS (2002)
Beast Stalker (証人 / 2009)
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)
Three (2002)




WHERE: Miku Market @ 02-09, Queensway Shopping Centre, Singapore 149053.
WHEN: Open 12noon-6pm only on Saturdays & Sundays.



"A Japanese engineer leads the charge in the development of the VHS format. Based on a true story.". (tv.apple.com)



WHAT-IS: Dawn of a New Day: The Man Behind VHS (陽はまた昇る) is a 2002 Japanese film written and directed by Kiyoshi Sasabe, that tells the tale of the birth of VHS. It follows Kagatani Shizuo, an electronics employee who rallies his coworkers to save their jobs by increasing sales. They do this by developing the VHS standard. They battle with Sony and their standard and ultimately prevail. (themoviedb.org)

I had spent a decent amount of time attempting to find a embeddable trailer of the Japanese docu-film, to no avail, but for this embedded version on tv.apple.com - which showed a whole lot of talking and a whole bunch of human drama. And honestly the DVD is still sealed with plastic wrap unopened, so ironically now, I have zero reference...!





WHAT-IS: "(The) Beast Stalker" (証人) is a 2008 Hong Kong action thriller film directed by Dante Lam, who also co-wrote the script with Jack Ng. The film stars Nicholas Tse, Nick Cheung, and Zhang Jingchu.

The story follows a police sergeant, Tong Fei, whose actions in a car chase lead to a tragic accident where a little girl is killed and her twin sister is later kidnapped. The sergeant, consumed by guilt, works to rescue the kidnapped girl and bring the criminals to justice.



MY IMPRESSIONS: The film's title overshadowed and misled what the actual film is about, with this cops-and-robbers trope given a depth of emotion and effect on the people around them. The cinematography is a stand out.

A wholly underrated HK film, as far as I am concerned, and worth a watch. But is it memorable enough to endure cinematic history? You decide.








WHAT-IS: "Curse of the Golden Flower" is a 2006 Chinese historical drama directed by Zhang Yimou and starring Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li and Jay Chou. The film is a lavish historical drama set in 10th-century China during the Tang dynasty, focusing on a royal family's betrayals and conflicts.



MY IMPRESSIONS: I could roll off my fave Zhang Yimou films (Raise the Red Lantern, The Road Home, Happy Times, Hero, House of Flying Daggers...), and based on that alone, I snagged "Curse of the Golden Flower" purely by the power of his name without actually seeing any visuals.... And I was not disappointed... much.

The opulent visual splendour overwhelmed my senses, but not in a good way (like House of Daggers had). The contrasting color palette confused my understanding of the story, which remains a faint whisper from a stranger, that has left me naught to say about the film's story, alas.







WHAT-IS: "THREE is a 2002 horror anthology film consisting of three short films from three different Asian directors. The segments are (in order): "Memories" (directed by Kim Jee-woon from South Korea), "The Wheel" (directed by Nonzee Nimibutr from Thailand), and "Going Home" (directed by Peter Chan from Hong Kong). The film stars Leon Lai, Eric Tsang, and Eugenia Yuan (Read more on Wiki).



MY IMPRESSIONS: I am a fan of "anthologies" (chic of which were comicbooks tho), but not so much of "horror", especially "Asian horror", which many times are different that Western-styled horror ... The irony of this was I had wanted to indulge in this film when I bought it, but I have yet to because I remain a scaredy-cat still :p

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