voidisyinyang Posted September 1, 2013 first film I've seen in a theatre in a couple years. Wong Karwai - arty "new wave" pomo director. The kungfu scenes are overly stylized and edited in such a way to render any real visual continuity null and void - the movements being too fast or too slow or skewed to limited ranges, etc. So it poses as a biopic piece on Ip Man, teacher of Bruce Lee. In actuality it's an unrequitted love story that drags in the fetish of visual formalities - pure style. So there are a few poignant moments in the film but overall it's lots of close ups of pretty faces and the pace of the film sets your mind wandering into a personal realm of distractions, wondering when the film will end. One reviewer called it "crashingly boring." I wouldn't go that far - visually it is stunning and yes the two leads are pretty.... but - I mean people rave about the sets used being lavish, etc. Hell - kind of reminds of the fancy sets for the Venom movies - by a director many think was closeted - I suppose Wong Karwai is closeted also.... O.K. he's married - so probably he's not cloested.... http://www.wongkarwai.net/ so there's a free comic book released with the film. That's cool if you're into comics - I'm not. Anyway I spent several years delving into art films so I dig a good boring arty-farty flick... took me back to 20 years ago or so when I tried those out. That's funny that Scorsesce is promoting the film because this film totally reminded me of Scorsese's film - with Michelle pfeifer and winona ryder.... oh yeah the Age of Innocence -- 1993. See right around the time I was saying 20 years ago... The Godard influence is pretty apparent also. Anyway the main point being is that this is not really a kung fu movie - although there are enough fight scenes to keep the adrenaline going -- which definitely is a great counterweight to the slow heavy "sumptuous" boring drama stuff. People have complained that it's just b/c of the U.S. editing cutting 12 minutes from the film but Wong Karwai said he is happy with the U.S. release. I don't think it's the editing - it's just people are not used to the arty-farty style unless they've watched Godard, etc. I would say the female lead is the best in this film just because since she was in Crotching Tiger - she seems to have more real martial arts training. Admittedly there were some old skool kungfu stars -- one was in the other IpMan film also.... he was in the Venom movies - he was one of the Deadly Venoms actually - the iron body specialist or whatever.... Anyway there's another Ip Man film out end of September so I just kept reminding myself of that to lessen the damage of this arty farty film posing as a kungfu flick. I say see it only as a matinee unless you like arty films - otherwise it's too pricey - I paid $6.75 -- matinee.... but anyway the arty-farty reviewers are raving about it which is kind of funny. I tried to get my old arty-farty film critic friend to review the Deadly Venom films but I have come across some pretty serious analysis of this - especially the repressed homosexual sadomasochism of Cheng Cheh films.... So anyway I think any real Taoist yin-yang tradition gets lost in these films.... Still there's some value in that it's still kungfu, it's still a retro traditional setting attempt..... But whatever - I think there's a lot of Western projection going on here - could Ip Man's actual level of concentration be captured in this film? I don't think so.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Celestial Posted September 1, 2013 (edited) I didn't like the movie. I still think the original IP Man is the best. Edit: The lead from Crouching Tiger is Zhang Ziyi and she's not a martial artist, she's a trained dancer actually. Zhang was born and raised in Beijing, China, to Zhang Yuanxiao, an accountant and later economist, and Li Zhousheng, a kindergarten teacher.[2][3]She is very close to her older brother, Zhang Zinan (Chinese: 章子男; pinyin: Zhāng Zǐnán; born 1973). Zhang began studying dance when she was 8 years old; subsequently, she joined the Beijing Dance Academy by her parents' suggestion at the age of 11.[4] While at this boarding school, she noticed how mean the other girls were to each other while competing for status amongst the teachers. Zhang disliked the attitudes of her peers and teachers so much that, on one occasion, she ran away from the school.[3] At the age of 15, Zhang won the national youth dance championship and began appearing in television commercials in Hong Kong.[5] In 1996, Zhang entered China's prestigious Central Academy of Drama at the age of 17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhang_Ziyi#Early_life Edited September 1, 2013 by Celestial Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C T Posted September 1, 2013 I just watched the trailer for IP Man: The Final Fight. Pity they did not reinstate Donnie Yen in the lead. He was absolutely brilliant in the first 2 films (biased opinion, cos i have always been a fan of his). Anthony Wong? Neh... he's another good actor, but martial artist he's not. Stereotypical triad big gun or cop with an agenda kind of actor. As for The Grandmaster... Could not figure out why they casted Tony Leung in the lead role. He's not even a martial artist, just a very charming and well-loved HK actor who started life on TV soaps and made it big from having appeal oozing out of his ears. I quite like his acting though, and some of his films are really good as he emotionalizes his roles to perfection -- he's like the Pacino of HK movies. One of his films which i thought was outstanding is 'Lust, Caution'. Worth watching. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
KenBrace Posted September 1, 2013 The first two movies with Donnie Yen were awesome! The new movie doesn't look near as good. I was disapointed when they didn't continue using Donnie Yen as Ip Man. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
voidisyinyang Posted September 1, 2013 Yep I just watched the Donnie Yen break dancing movie. Awesome - not much martial arts except one kick ass scene. Most of the movie is stupid humor.... But Donnie Yen is so full of energy - very young - and the break dancing is hilarious. Yeah Grandmasters -- reviews say how the martial arts was like dancing -- like a tango for the seduction fight scene... But anyway Jean Claude van Damme was a ballet dancer also before doing martial arts. Zhang Ziyi any "two Z" name has a serious advantage imo due to the rareity of Z.... Slavoj Zizek for example..... well....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0VM4Fut7ZI there's Donnie Yen.... busting out the dance moves.... 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mYTHmAKER Posted September 1, 2013 In the beginning a little homage to Charlie Chaplin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
MooNiNite Posted September 1, 2013 I might just keep watching movie, lol Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yuen Biao Posted October 12, 2013 Ip Man 3 will be out soon and will star Donnie Yen. Ip Man: The Legend is Born and Ip Man: The Final Fight are unrelated to Ip Man 1, 2 and 3. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
C T Posted October 13, 2013 (edited) Ip Man 3 will be out soon and will star Donnie Yen. Ip Man: The Legend is Born and Ip Man: The Final Fight are unrelated to Ip Man 1, 2 and 3. Thats great if its really happening. According to what limited news there is out there, Donnie pulled out. http://www.jaynestars.com/movies/donnie-yen-and-wilson-yip-withdraw-from-ip-man-3/ Edited October 13, 2013 by C T Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
suninmyeyes Posted November 15, 2013 thanks PFL about reminder for the film . i watched it on you tube , here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGzOcSQ6Gms wong kar wai is one of my favourite directors and thought it was a good movie .. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
