Wong Kar Wai @ Opening Ceremony - April 2

[Yardsale]

^

on a similar note, chungking express getting the criterion collection treatment this winter!!!

[fallen angels]

damn! i wish i was in LA or NY for that...

dont forget Fallen Angels is coming out on blu-ray too! http://www.superfuture.com/supertalk/showpost.php?p=1051774&postcount=61

[landho]

Yes--if anyone knows of a release date for Ashes of Time Redux in Texas, please let me know! Willing to drive to Dallas or Houston to see.

If I had spare vacation time, I would probably go to NY to watch.

[bonjin]

I'm very excited about Ashes of Time Redux since I still haven't seen that one. Love WKW's movies though and rate most of them as my personal favourite movies I've ever seen.

[fallen angels]

image quality is SICK

[notesee]

I'll definitely be checking this in theatres, since it's the only WKW film from the 90's that I haven't seen yet.

landho, it's going to be playing at the Angelika Film Center in Houston starting on October 24th.

Fallen, check your PMs.

[mellowfellow]

The last movie that I saw at the Angelika theater nyc was In the mood for love. I will probably watch ashes when it comes out. My favorite movies from him were in the mid 90s. Those were his best.

[fallen angels]

http://www.la.cityzine.com/2008/09/16/interview-wong-kar-wai/

good interview with Wong about the Redux.

just a "warning" for those who havent seen Ashes of Time, it might take a couple viewings to really understand the film and it's characters. the relationships between the characters is kind of complex, it took me several viewings before i really understood everything. all the emotions and themes are much like his other films though, but this geniusly takes place in a wuxia setting.

[fallen angels]

criterion!!

release date 11/25

weird.. amazon has two versions for this.

164-minute blu ray dvd, and 102-minute regular dvd. but the 102 minute regular dvd costs more? :confused:

[Tyro1]

saw my blueberrynights the other day... is pretty good, but the visions of american cities seemed a bit cliche?

[BAGUETTE]

The Eagle Shooting Heroes is the most hilarious comedy that has ever made me laughed so fiercely.

He really can direct comedy!

[fallen angels]

The Eagle Shooting Heroes is the most hilarious comedy that has ever made me laughed so fiercely.

He really can direct comedy!

"Eagle Shooting Heroes" was funny, but it is not directed by WKW, though i believe he did help in the production of it. "Ashes of Time" contains the same characters as Eagle Shooting Heroes (Ouyang Feng, Huang Yaoshi, Hong Qi, etc) because both movies are based on a famous wuxia book series. Both movies contain many of the same actors, as well.

[readytoignite]

landho, it's going to be playing at the Angelika Film Center in Houston starting on October 24th.

i just bought tickets to see it at the nyff, more expensive but totally worth it because:

1. reserved seating

2. it's not at the angelika

3. it's at the ziegfeld (see #2 above)

4. there is the possibility that the director or others involved may make an appearance for a q&a (though i'm not expecting anything for this particular one given who's involved)

5. the screening is 10/4

6. did i mention it's not at the angelika?

they stopped selling tickets to the 6:15 screening online but there are still scattered tickets available via centercharge - (212) 721-6500... there's also a midnight showing at the walter reade

[readytoignite]

4. there is the possibility that the director or others involved may make an appearance for a q&a (though i'm not expecting anything for this particular one given who's involved)

my prediction was half wrong - there was a q&a with wong, doyle and brigitte lin afterwards. mad azn rush for autographs and pics afterwards, it was lin's first public appearance since 1994 which is crazy

i never saw the original cut so can't compare - wong mentioned they lost so many parts of the original masters that they basically recut it and redid all of the sound editing (except for leslie cheung's work, obviously). it was pretty great nonetheless, it's amazing what emotional impact his work has even if you don't really follow the narrative.

[landho]

I am jealous; my brother and I are planning a small field trip to Houston on October 24 to see it. Am super excited! Ashes of Time has long been one of my favorite movies, but I could never help but wonder what a version with the action sequences more cleanly delineated would be like, especially given that they were choreographed by Sammo Hung. Finding out that Redux was actually being made was like a dream come true.

[notesee]

Ready, thanks for posting the ticket info. Wish I could've seen it in the Walter Reade theatre but I was outta town for my uni's alumni weekend. Unfortunately I'll have to settle for the Angelika.

Were you part of the mad azn rush? Don't lie.

[readytoignite]

Were you part of the mad azn rush? Don't lie.

haha - nah, that's not my scene. tho doyle seems like a cool guy to have (exactly) one beer with

[marquischacha]

For those who want to see the original. better watch it soon as it will be gone soon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKv0Mu72r4&feature=related

[fallen angels]

who saw the Redux and what'd you think?

went to see it today, there wasnt as much new footage as i expected, but the quality of many of the scenes were better. it was fun seeing it on the big screen

^marquischcha- i like that original intro so much more than the new one in the redux.

[notesee]

I finally got the chance to see the redux last night. I've never seen the original film before so for me the first 30 minutes of the film was a little hard to follow.

But the plot was very intriguing (I can't believe that movie was actually 93 minutes, went by super quick) and the cinematography was beautiful, maybe the best out of the the WKW films I've seen.

I'm gonna try to screen the original version soon while the redux is still fresh in my mind for comparison purposes.

[landho]

Briefly--will try to elaborate further when I get the chance--the original is much harder to follow than Redux. In many ways, Redux was an attempt on WKW's part to clarify, both visually and narratively, the original movie. I loved Redux and felt that in many ways it is better than the original; it is not unequivocally better, however, and I feel that the very "best" version lies somewhere between the two.

If you want to find a reasonable copy of the original, I suggest you buy the Region-0 Kong Kong version, which was available from YesAsia.com for a reasonable price. (The version that was released in the States was unwatchable: the format kept changing, the picture was muddled, the audio kept fading in and out, and the subtitles were burned into the film. Terrible.

Also, if you want to pursue Ashes of Time more deeply, you can read this monograph by Wimal Dissanayake. It's excellent and should be available from Amazon. I watched the original film three times and the Dissanayake's monograph certainly deepened my understanding (and appreciation) of the movie.

[masuerte]

ugh blueray criterion of chungking... I don't even have a blueray player yet.

[notesee]

Landho, thanks for the link to the monograph. I've been eager to increase my book collection especially in regards to film so there's a good chance that I'll be purchasing.

I've acquired Ashes of Time off the net, I believe it's a rip of the Region 0 version you mentioned as the subtitles are not burned in and there are no problems with the sound (so far), I'm going to screen the film in it's entirety later tonight.

[landho]

Notesee, awesome. Am eager to hear your thoughts on the original version of the film as well as how it compares with Redux.