Painted Skin: The Resurrection has very nice cinematography and art design. The special effects are nicely done as well - not jarring, which was sometimes the case with Flying Swords of Dragon Gate. As a bonus, all the leads are very good looking, which is actually a plot point. I saw both films in the theatre in 3D, which added to their respective virtues and flaws.
For authenticity, my pick would be Harakiri. No spectacular landscapes, but subtle and beautifully realised, it's an extremely lovely film. (In 2D, which is how I saw it. Cannot comment on the 3D version, as I did not see it.) Cheers Divya Sent from my iPad On 24 Dec 2012, at 11:20, Shoba Narayan <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Message: 1 >> Date: Sat, 22 Dec 2012 15:37:49 +0530 >> From: Divya <[email protected]> >> >> >> I second the endorsement of Wu Xia. Terrific martial artistry courtesy >> Donnie Yen, and excellent performance by Kaneshiro Takeshi as the persistent >> cop. >> >> On that note, good Asian action (including martial arts) flicks I saw in >> 2012: >> - The Bullet Vanishes, with Nic Tse and Lau Ching-wan. Action-packed period >> murder mystery set in 1930s China. It's just out on DVD. Much better than >> Nic Tse's other release earlier this year, The Viral Factor, co-starring Jay >> Chou, which is entirely avoidable. >> - Flying Swords of Dragon Gate, Tsui Hark-produced wuxia fantasy with Jet Li >> - Painted Skin: The Resurrection, with Zhou Xun, Vicky Zhao, and a >> surprisingly decent Aloys Chen. Who was also pretty good in Flying Swords, >> above. I'm revising my opinion of his acting abilities. >> - Motorway, with Shawn Yue and Anthony Wong >> - Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, directed by Miike Takashi. Not as actiony >> as 13 Assassins, but an excellent and intelligent remake of the 1962 film, >> Harakiri. Truly outstanding performance in the lead role by Ichikawa Ebizo, >> the Kabuki superstar. >> >> Cheers >> Divya > Divya: which one of the above list is visually stunning as well? > Shoba > > >
