CashBailey

Just swathes of gore doesn't 'disturb' me. You can go to any number of the scores of shot-on-video Japanese cheapies for that.

To date probably the two most unsettling, creepy movies I've seen are the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER. Both movies contain very little gore (TCM virtually none!) but they are both so raw and real that they're the kinds of movies where after you watch them you get up and make sure your door is locked.

I thought A SERBIAN FILM was pretentious toss.

And by PIG, do you mean the Adam Mason movie that was supposedly done in one take? It's very well done but I could pick out a few hidden cuts.

'The Indoor Kids' over at Nerdist is really fun.

http://www.nerdist.com/podcast_channel/the-indoor-kids-channel/

RUMBLE IN THE BRONX. :-D

Not a great movie but Anita Mui is a delight, as usual.

The modern master of HK thrillers is Johnnie To.

He has directed (and ghost-directed) dozens of movies in every genre, but he really made his international reputation for his slick, stylish crime thrillers. He's known more for his characters and the cool precision of his directing than for the kind of pyrotechnics and OTT melodrama that John Woo is so good at.

Pick any he has made in the last decade and you can't go far wrong. A personal faourite is THE MISSION.

Yeah, ONCE A THIEF was John Woo taking penance and just doing a big, fun, light caper comedy with (at the time) the three biggest, most beautiful stars in HK.

Actually, I heard a while ago that Cherie Chung was supposed to be making a comeback, but nothing seems to have come of it.

I would love to have seen her and Chow Yun-Fat in one last movie together.

I don't think they've gotten bad, I just think that there's really nothing new being done in Hong Kong or China. The Golden Age stars are now too old and the newer stars don't have the charisma.

That movie (aka: DRUNKEN MASTER 2) is probably the greatest pure martial arts movie I've ever seen. The fight scenes are unmatched.

The original HK cut of DM2 is kind of hard to find, which is preferable due to the original language track. Never, EVER watch a dubbed movie unless you have no other choice. Sadly an uncut, Cantonese language, original aspect ratio DVD does not exist.

And there are so many HK masterpieces that still don't have decent home video releases. The Fortune Star blu-rays are a scam; just upscaled DVDs instead of proper HD masters, and some of them so heavily DNR-ed as to look like wax. The ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA release is especially egregious.

MR CANTON AND LADY ROSE is definitley Jackie's best directed film. He really went to town on that one.

It's so lush and full of elaborate camerawork. And any chance to see him with the magnificent Anita Mui is worth treasuring.

The greatest Hong Kong movie ever made is Wong Kar Wai's CHUNGKING EXPRESS.

It's not an action movie, more an arthouse romantic drama. But it's still gloriously fun, witty and unforgettable.

What's even more amazing is that Wong made this movie while on hiatus during production of his difficult, abstract swordplay epic ASHES OF TIME.

I was in New Zealand this time two years ago. It was absolutely beautiful, but chilly. I didn't mind that though.

Got to the Sky Tower in Auckland. Spectacular views.