Last movie you saw.

[Bear 1817]

Faults - I just randomly stumbled upon the poster of this film and decided to check it out because the poster ruled, and I was not disappointed. It's a fairly strange film I'd say. On one side it's hilarious and absurd as fuck, but on the other side it's dead serious, but it mixes it up perfectly and despite being hilarious here and serious there, it never really changes tone or anything. Nothing is out of place. It's a fresh thriller, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Leland Orser's amazing chemestry is nothing short of impressive.

 

And I adore the twist on the cult films they've gone for here, moving away from the cult communities themself and rather focusing on the brainwashing and case of lost identity, or whatever I should call it. Worked really well.

 

 

Witness - Classic mid-80's Harrison Ford thriller. An intelligent thriller about corruption and love. It's a very fine film. Very believeable, and the chemestry between Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis is really nice. That dance scene is magic. I love how they portray the Amish's challenge with living together with someone from the outside. It's a struggle for them, and it's so obvious throughout this film.

 

However, I do think act 2 is a bit long, though. Could've been shorten down a bit IMO. But other than that it's a very fine film.

 

 

Goon - Fantastic film this, like. A love-letter to the violent side of hockey about a nice and ploite, but lesser skilled man that out of nowhere becomes a minor league's enforcer, and is fantstic at it as well. It may sound dumb and boring, but this film is amazing. It's got that feeling. It'll nicely paced, it's hilarious and it's got a main character you'll care about. It's hardly a film worth any Oscars (even if it's way better than 90% of the films nominated for an Oscar in the 2000's), but who gives a fuck? It's fun!

 

 

And I am looking the fuck forward to Goon: Last of the Enforcers which is set for a release next year.

 

 

[Bear 1817]

Mad Max - Rewatched this last week, and this just keeps getting better and better with every year. It's so badass, it's so cool and it's so god damn fun. And this film is total madness. The stunts are crazy as fuck, and as in many ozloitation films, you can feel the madness on set in the film itself. Madness, nothing less than madness. Atmosphere and attitude is spot on, and there's a certain rawness about it all that is unbelieveable. If you don't worship this I'll beat ya, bro.

 

I just love how they shot the car chases and shit in these films too. Everything from the ground, and you can feel the car's power and speed, and it's like your in it yourself. I believe that was quite unique for its time.

 

 

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior - A different film than the first one, but it's got the same rawness and attitude, but is even better because it's got a better story and way better pacing, which says a lot as I rewarded the first one with 9/10. So this is a perfect masterpiece in my eyes. The atmosphere, man. It's so dirty and nice. It's awesome! Dosen't feel as crazy as the first one, though, but it's just top notch. And Mel Gibson just went from a boy in the first one to a proper man in this. Love it!

 

I also love how this set the standard for "every" post-apocalyptic film to come after it, and especially in Australia. So many films took after this films, especially for the badguyses. You'll see that kind of badguys everywhere in films in Australia after this one, no matter what kind of film it actually is. How cool is that?

 

 

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome - Much better than I remembered, but still not much more than decent entertainment at best. Everything with the exception of Tine Turner is actually amazing up until the thunderdome fight is over. Then it totally changes tone and turns into a Peter Pan-kind of film, which I don't really get at all. And the entire act 2 is uninteresting at best. But act 3 is, again, amazing. But that act 2 is way too long and too fucking uninteresting.

 

The thunderdome fight is incredible, though. It's original, fresh and beyond coolio. One of the greatest fights ever. This deserves a directors cut without the fucking Peter Pan-esque second act. The film's just got everything it needs to be a fantastic film, but it's got some elements that just shouldn't have been there either. Such a shame. 6/10 for me like.

 

The theme song is shitty as well. Fuck TIna Turner.

 

[Bear 1817]

Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! - After watching the Mad Max trilogy I got a sudden urge to rewatch this, and so I did. And I still concider it to be among the best documentaries ever. Not Quite Hollywood is directed by Mark Hartley, the same man who's behind the masterpieces Machete Maidens Unleashed! and Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films. I just knows what he's doing when making films about films. They are interesting, provide lots of cool and funny facts and are very, very entertaining. It's everything you'd want from a documentary.

 

For those unaware, Ozploitation was the name given to Australian exploitation films. This goes through the history of ozploitation from the early 70's to the late 80's, through sexy comedies, sex romps, action and road movies and horrors. It's divided in three parts, sex, horror and action. While it's short and straight to point, it manages to give you more than enough info to wake your interest in ozploitation.

 

Interviews with people like George Miller, George Lazenby, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dennis Hopper, James Wan and Quentin Tarantino among many gives you more than enough info and anecdotes to entertain you for the 100 minutes it lasts. Lots to dig into and lots to enjoy.

 

Say what you want about Quentin Tarantino and his films, but he knows his exploitation film and has an enormous knowledge of Australian exploitation films. He's as enthusiastic as ever, and I understand that people hate that, but there's no denying that the info he provides are golden. And he's spot on: They manage to shoot cars with this fetishistic lens that just makes you want to jerk off.

 

The best part of the docu is when they talk about how fucking mad the production of the action films were. The stunts and everything. That part is more than worth making you see this.

 

[Bear 1817]

Reign of Assassins - Wow, this was a huge surprise. I expected an barely above mediocre CGI-wanking wuxia film, but this was something else. It's not original, you can see influences from plenty films, I thought especially Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Kill Bill. But it feels rather fresh in a way. It's got a very classic and old school feelig to it, never really going too over the top with its wirework or fucking computer effects, which by the way has been like a plague to epics like this in modern time. It's well-acted, it looks beautiful for most part (a bit too "glossy" at times, though) and it's fun.

 

It's a bit predictable, but for a martial arts freak like myself it delievers everything I'd want in a film like this. I really enjoyed it

 

[Bear 1817]

Kingsman: The Secret Service - A potential fantastic film ruined by godawful CGI, Samuel L. Jackson and Michael Caine. It's as simple as that. It's well-acted other than the two mentioned, it's very violent and over the top, and it's an overall fun spy-parody. But the CGI gets on my nerve. There's much of it, and it's never above SyFy quality, which is a huge problem for me personally. Also, the church scene is ruined by this. The CGI is poor, and there's not a single hit or kick that seems powerful at all. It doesn't look like they are actually hitting eachother.

 

I liked the film, but it's far from as good as everybody says. And unless you love poor CGI and bad action choreohrahy, yuo won't love this film either.

 

[Bear 1817]

Grandma's Boy - Had nothing to do de other day and were too tired to watch something heavy, so I decided on this film as I just wanted some good, dumb, silly fun, but halfway through I realised I had seen this before and remembered not laughing at all. But I watched it through anyway, and I hate myself for it. Awful film. Not at least funny. Just awfully bad. It just tried so hard to be funny but neve is. It's annoying. That's what it is. Shit film!

 

 

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire - I was disgusted by the first one, but since I watched it I thought I had to watch the other films too. I'm not getting this at all. It's still Battle Royale for the Twilight generation. This is however an improved version of the first one, though. Much more interesting characters, and it's not all that sugar coated. But it's still a piss poor film on so many levels. I really like Jennifer Lawrence, but even the way she screams in this film is annoying. No one actually buy those screams, right? They're so fake and try-hard. Disgusting.

 

But it was an improved film, even though it's much of the same as the first one, so hopefully they'll keep improving with each film. Maybe we'll actually get a decent film before the series is over.

 

 

Minions - The cute yellow creatures from Despicable Me were so cool and adoreable that they go their own film, and I'll admit that I really enjoyed the film. It's not on par with Despicable Me 1 & 2, but it's still good, silly fun. It's a bit uneven and the pacing feels a bit off at times, but ther than that I thought it was good, even with norwegian dubbing. It was a nice, sweet, fun and very adorable prequel to a couple of very good films.

 

[ChaoticEnding 2070]

• Behind The Sun

[Flame-X 441]

Ant-man

 

Very entertaining film. I actually enjoyed it better than Avengers Age of Ultron. The set pieces in action scenes are great which I bet the creative staff had tons of fun with. It's got some worthy cameos from other marvel movies and tv series that's not for the sake of cameos but actually relevant to the plot. If you're looking for action comedy, check this out.

[Bear 1817]

The Heroic Trio - This is one of those film I've been wanting to watch for years but which simply have had to make way for other films for no special reason at all. I'm not all that familiar with Johnnie To, but the 6-7 films I had seen before this have all been great, so my expectations were up high, and a cast consisting of Maggie Cheung, Michelle Yeoh, Anita Mui, Damian Lau and Anthony Chau-Sang Wong among other didn't exactly make my expectations any lower. But despite my sky high expectations this film managed to not only live up to my expectations, but go far beyond that and impress the living shit out of me.

 

This film was pure fun from begining to end. It's very over the top, silly, cartoonish and cheesy as fuck, but everything, even the silliest scenes (such as the motorcycle scene) works out. The overall tone of the film is very light and, as already stated, cartoonish, and that's by far the strongest point of the film. If not for that cartoonish feeling this wouldn't have worked half as well. Well-acted, extremely well-choreographed and highly stylized in a super cool way. There's something really cool and futuristic over the entire film and I dig it. Top notch special effects. God damn!

 

Also, top, top badguy even though I wish we'd get to learn more about him. But other than that, amazing film!

 

And I'll have to add that the obvious homage to Flying Guillotine was cool as fuck. That shit was awesome!

 

 

Executioners - A decent enough sequel to The Heroic Trio, but this film just doesn't hit the right nerve. Was I entertained? Yeah, I was. But I'm also really disappointed by this film. The silly, over the top, cheesy and cartoonish elements are gone and the badguy feels like a Phantom of the Opera parody. It's a darker, bleaker and more serious film, and that's also where it fails. It just isn't as fun, interesting or cool as The Heroic Trio. It's ok (6/10), but nothing more. The Heroic Trio were a 9/10. Huge difference. It's such a shame.Could've been so good this one like.

 

[Bear 1817]

Shaolin Wooden Men - Old school Jackie Chan martial arts film from 1976. It's a very classic kun fu film, and if you are heavily into the genre like me, you won't find anything new here. But that doesn't mean it isn't good. I thought this was excellent with high quality fights and an excellent and very interesting training session. This is one of his more serious and darker films. No slap-stick-fu or anything like that. Just pure kung fu excellncy.

 

The last fight is odd, though. They've cut it a few times to make it faster, which seems a bit off. But it's nothing I can't real with it. Becuase the choreography itself is great. Not his best 70's flick, but great nonetheless.

 

 

Dragon's Claw - Absolutely brilliant kung fu film by Joseph Kuo (7 Grandmasters, Born Invincible, 8 Masters). There's nothing new, original or anything like this. There's a fairly standard story, event though it does feel very bleak and dark compared to many of the similar films. Especially the rape shit surprised the shit out of me. But it's about revenge and being badass. I just love the three badguys of the film. They are exactly how I love my badguyses in these types of films. Evil and sleazy but really likeable chaps. Event he look of them are excellent. Jang Lee Hwang was born for this kind of roles. He's just got the look of a badguy. How cool is that? It's bloody magnificent!

 

[Bear 1817]

Knockabout - Sammo Hung's fourt film as a director, and a film where he continues what he stated on his previous film, Warriors Two. A superb mix of innovative kung fu, crazy good acrobatics and comedy. The film stars Yuen Biao, one of the Seven Little Fortunes from Peking Opera School among Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung and Corey Yuen, in what I believe to be his full lead debut, and he does well both as an actor, martial artist and acrobat, as well as Sammo Hung, Bryan Leung and Lau Kar-wing. The plot isn't original, but it's something that works very well and the fights are superb, with Yuen Biao's acrobatics stealing the show. Overll a bloody fantastic film!

 

 

The Heroic Ones - A great, yet somewhat disappointing Chang Cheh flick with an incredible cast. I'm a huge Chang Cheh fan, and the cast including the likes of Ti Lung, David Chiang, Lau Kar-wing, Ku Feng, Chan Sing, Bolo Yeung, Lily Li and more, so my expectations were extremely high. But this film was something different than what I had expected, being very un-Chang Cheh-ish (at least very different from the Chang Cheh films I like), and while that itself isn't something negative, I just though this lacked the usual ingenius Chang Cheh style that I have grown very fond of.

 

Unlike the more exploitation oriented films I know from the man himself, this is more a costume period drama with huge sets, a good story and an epic feeling to top it all. Great cast, lovely action scenes and shit, but it wasn't close to as good as I expected, but then again I expected a 10/10, which is really stupid to begin with. Anyway, it's a nice, dramtic epic, and I truly enjoyed the film. A bit uneven in pace, but all in all very good. 8/10

 

[Bear 1817]

The Duel/Duel of the Iron Fist - I talked about Chang Cheh in my previous post and what I personally expected from him with me being a bit disappointed with The Heroic Ones, and this film is what I expect from him. In many ways it's different than the other Chang Cheh films I've seen, but everything about it just oozes of Changh Cheh. It's a bloody, brutal kung fu gangster flick with magnificent action scenes, plenty of blood squirting beautifully, some lovely characters and Ti Lung and David Chiang at their very best. The plot here is more than enough to please me, and I like its twists and turns. But 75-85 minutes of the film's 100 is one big massacre with Chang Cheh's name written all over it. Brutal, bloody, slick and stylized action that will pleae any fan of martial arts action film. Also, I get a very spaghetti western- and film noir-esque feeling at times. Very cool!

 

I thought this flick was amazing. I also really like the soundtrack with some of it being stolen from 2001: A Space Odyssey. The theme for David Chiang's character is really look to. Every single time he enters the screen his theme starts, and that is something I really like.

 

David Chiang plays one of his coolest characters ever as well. A slick, motherfucking badass gangster with impressive skills. It's just too cool!

 

 

Soul of the Sword - A nice, wuxia film with Ti Lung as Wu Ming/nameless, a man without status fighting to beat the King of Swords, and become the King of Swords. It's a rather dark film with a great, complex plot, lovely sets and beautiful action scenes. Ti Lung is at his very best here. His slick acting and movement fits the entire film - the character, the atmosphere and the plot. He's just excellent as usual. Highly recommended for fans of dark Chinese fantasy, wuxia and martial arts films.

 

[Bear 1817]

Seven Steps of Kung Fu - Pacy, old school kung fu flick from the late 70's with lots of badassery and flair fights. This film offers nothing new, and I am sure this was mad on a really small budget and in a very limited period of time, intended to earn money as one of two films in a Grindhouse showing, but it was a great film nonetheless. Or, it wasn't a great film, but it was great entertainment. The choreography is slick and fast-paced, and I dare even say fairly fresh and original with lots of creativity thrown in, the bad guys are cool as fuck and the good ones even cooler.

 

But what really made this something great, is how sly and sneaky the two heroes are. They just don't give a fuck and are ruthless as fuck going up two on one several times during the film. You don't see that too often in films like this. It probably sound stupid, but that really sets this apart from a lot of films during the era and makes it a bit unique. I really liked this film despite all its flaws.

 

 

Golden Swallow - An early Chang Cheh wuxia, and a semi-sequel to King Hu's classis wuxia Come Drink With Me. This sequel continues the story of Golden Swallow, once again played by the always so fantastic Cheng Pei-pei, but the main characters in the film are Silver Roc, played by Wang Yu, and Golden Whip, played by Lo Lieh. All three leads are fantastic and it's a well-directed, superbly acted and amazingly choreographed wuxia with nice characters and lots of bloody action. There's a love triangle present and I think it were executed perfectly here and I feel for all three involved, and it's a fairly melancholic film with great atmosphere. But despite this, it's still got this Chang Chehexploitation-feeling to it with his name written all over it. A bit epic, yet raw in a certain way.

 

Yu Wang's character is the best in this film. An anti-hero one might say, and he's one badass motherfucker. He stole this film. What a brutal character.

 

Brilliant film!

 

[Bear 1817]

Monkey Kung Fu - Let me just start off by saying that this film must not be confused with the better know Chia-Liang Liu film Mad Monkey Kung Fu releaed the same year. There's not much of a plot in the film, but it's got a shitload of action scenes and they are really, really well-choreographed and even better executed on screen. It's baically 75 minutes of action and 15 minutes of talking, waling and doing nothing. So in that sense it's not a very impressive film, but the action is nothing short of stunning. Creative, fun and impressive.

 

All in all it's a film for the hardcore martial arts fans. If you don't get wet in your pants by watching great fights alone, then this isn't a film for you.

 

 

Hapkido - An early 70's martial arts film with an impressive Angela Mao, Sammo Hung and Carter Wong (fucking Thunder in Big Trouble in Little China!) in the lead roles. Is it a fairly standard film? Yeah, sure it is. There's nothing new here. It's basically a Fist of Fury remake. But damn is this shit working well. Everything is well-done. Yeah, except fo the racism. Heh. "Japs sucks, go China!". But I can overlook that kind of bullshit when everything else is this good.

 

Short camoes by both Jackie Chan and Biao Yuen too, which makes this one of the earliest films to feature the three brothers Hung, Chan and Biao. Cool as fuck, even though you barely see Jackie. Heh.

 

[Bear 1817]

Sightseers - Well, this was disappoitning. My girlfriend choose this film and when I saw it was directed by Ben Wheatley I got excited as fuck  beause I thought A Field in England was excellent. But with this I felt it failed on everything it tried to do. It's a black comedy that isn't even slightly funny, and the characters are annoying as fuck. I just didn't get anything from this at all.

 

 

Dirty Wars - A nice little documentary that basically shots itself in the foot by focusing way too much on Jeremy Scahill and his thoughts and feelings, rather than the very interesting subjects themself. At times it feels like Jeremy Scahill is the subject of the film and that just didn't work for me. No idea why they made it like they did. But it was interesting anyway.

[Bear 1817]

Drunken Master II - As you understand by the title this is the sequel to Drunken Master which came 16 years earlier, and it was Jackie Chan's first traditional martial arts film since the early 80s', probably 1983's Fearless Hyena II or soemthing. He'd made plenty of martial arts films inbetween of course, but they were very either martial arts comedies or action comedies which were very stunt-oriented.

 

The first one is perfect and this sequel is just as good, if not better, and it proved that Jackie still had it. It's exciting with brillitnat martial arts, some insane stunts and fantastic comedy. The film is hilarious with some of the best comedy ever catched on film, and if you don't laugh when seeing this you'e crazy. The cast is good. Jackie Chan, Anita Mui and Ti Lung takes the lead roles and they're all brilliant, and people like Andy Lau and Lau Kar-leung having smaller roles as well.

 

There's not really much to say about this film. It's perfect. Breathtaking!

 

 

The God of Cookery - A nice, and as usual silly as fuck, comedy by Stephen Chow who also stars in the film. Over the top and stupid, absurd and silly, but very enjoyable. But he'd make way better films later on in his career imo.

 

 

The Pirates - A decent enough adventure film with Korean pirates and bandits, but it suffers a bit from its lenght (130 min), uneven pace and sudden mood changes. There's some nods towards other film (Pirates of the Caribbean!!!) and shit like that, but overall it's a nice enough adventure film with good action, some really funny moments and some cool characters. The costumes and sets looks incredible too.

 

 

The Defender - A nice Jet Li action flick directed by Corey Yuen. The plot is alright even though I don't buy the romance in the film, but the action is top notch badassery from begining to end. Some nice humour thrown in as well, but this film is all about the action and that's was makes it so good. Yes, dear Des, this movie is great because of its action brilliance.

 

[Bear 1817]

And I watched the infamous "Pai Mei trilogy". Two of them features Lo Lieh as Priest Pai Mei, a character who would later show up in Tarantino's Kill Bill Vol. II. He's such a fantastic character. I love the living shit out of him.

 

Fun fact: Gordon Liu, who appears in two of the three films, played Pai Mei in Kill Bill Vol. II.

 

Executioners from Shaolin - The first one if directed by Lie Chia-Liang, perhaps best known as the director of classics such as 36th Chamber of Shaolin and its sequels and Drunken Master II, and it's a film that is nothing short of perfect. The film stars Chen Kuan-tai, Lily Li, Lo Lieh and Gordon Liu, and they are all great. But Lo Lieh steals the show here. His performance is stunning!

 

But everything from the cool opening sequence with Pai Mei and a Shaolin Temple master fighting in front of an empty backdrop to the plot, cast and action choreography is stunning. It's an absolutely mind-blowing film for someone as into the martial arts genre as I am.

 

 

Shaolin Abbot - Several actors including Lo Lieh and and Lily Li returns for this "sequel" directed by Ho Meng-Hua, the man behind the important and legendary, but disappointing, horror film Black Magic, but only Lo Lieh are playing the same role and joining them are, among others, David Chiang. The film isn't nearly as good as Executioners, but it's still damn good and both David Chiang and Lo Lieh are excellent here. At times it feels like I am watching a good remake of the über classic 36th Chamber of Shaolin, but it's not anywhere close to as good as it. But I did really like this film anyway, and Lo Lieh is so good as Pai Mei. Badassery!

 

 

Clan of the White Lotus - This is probably my favourite of the three films, or at least it's just as good as the perfect first one, and is directed by Lo Lieh who in this film plays Pai Mei's brother Pak Mei, or Priest White Lotus as he's called. With him he's got Gordon Liu, and they're both amazing.  The plot is at times really odd, but it offers a new, unique touch which I really appreciated. It's not original and it's not unique, but it's fresh and has a good plot and brilliant action sequences. And more than that I really can't ask from a film like this. Monsterously good film!

 

[Bear 1817]

Bad Boys - Say whatever you want about Michael Bay and his explosive style of film making, but the few times he's hit he'shit hard, no matter how ridiculous, silly and over the top his film are. But as his budget went up, the quality went down and to this date it's still his two "low-budget" films Bad Boys (19m) and Pain & Gain (26m) that stands the strongest, followed by The Rock (75m) which is his third lowest budget to this date. So the smaller his budget, the better the films.

 

Anyway, Bad Boys still stands strong in my eyes. Ok, so it's fairly generic and standard in the buddy-cop genre rehashing the Lethal Weapon and Beverly Hills Cop films, and already here Michael Bay goes way over the top with his explosive film making. Everything that can explode, explodes, and the explosions are usually big. Huge. Immense! But the chemestry between Will Smith and Martin Lawrence is absolutely fantastic and the humour is spot on for mot part, even though there's some awful one-liners here and there, especially by Téa Leoni whom I think is the weakest point of the film.

 

But the chemestry between Smith and Lawrence is incredible, the action is good and the explosion are many and big. What's not to like? Superb braindead popcorn flick. And I've always been in love with Will Smith, something that surely helps me enjoy this film.

 

 

The Godly Beggar - I don't know much about this film as it doesn't have a wikipedia page and isn't listed in IMDB, but what little I do know i that The Godly Beggar is a wuxia-inspired martial arts flick from Mainland China by Gao Tianhong, starring the excellent Wang Qun who is probably best known for starring in the brilliant Fist From Shaolin. So it's a very rare film, but it's a good film leaning more towards drama than martial arts action, despite some well-choreographed action scenes here and there. Is it the best martial arts drama ever? Nah, but it's well-worth seeing for fanatics. 6,5-7/10

 

[vanivani 558]

Saw Train Wreck. It was pretty funny. 

[Bear 1817]

Wet Hot American Summer - Because of Netflix' sequel series, as well as the film's cult status, I decided it was about time I got down a watched this. But I went from really looking forward to the series to being highly sceptical, because this film was god damn awful. It's got a lovely cast, even though a lot of them weren't exactly great actors at this time, but no one is given something proper to work with. Everything about it feels so cheap, and it's just a huge fucking mess. Everything feels thrown together with no thought behind it.

 

I get the feeling that David Wain was always aiming towards making something that will be seen as cult in years to come, instead of aiming towards making something good. And to me, that wasn't close to working out.

 

Fuck this shit. Watch the classic films in the genres it parodies/satires instead.

 

 

Narco Cultura - A nice documentary that takes a look at the Mexican drug war in Ciudad Juárez, but instead of documenting how the drug cartels are, it focuses on the culture that surrounds it. On one side it focuses on the rise of the narcocorrido genre, with rising star Edgar Quintero and his band Buknas de Culiacan, and on the other side it focuses on CSI Richi Soto, and his work and team. A very good documentary. Well-made, interesting, thought-provoking and disturbing.

 

It's nice to see it from both sides, and the narcocorrido side of it just makes me shake my head. It's a very interesting and facinating culture, but it's so stupid. The way they see huge crime lords, many responsible for many, many, many thousands of deaths, as hero's, making songs about how great they are.

 

On the other side, covering the CSI's days, it's inspiring, sad, provoking and disturbing. Shocking stuff, and no matter how many documentaries about the drug wars you see, it never gets less shocking. It's the opposite: you'll just get more and more shocked and disgusted for every singe time you watch or read something new.

 

I like how the documentary feels very neutral and it doesn't try to spin things around on their head. It just comes off as very honest, very real.

 

[Bear 1817]

Compliance - This film did not live up to the hype IMO. It's based on a real-life happening where someone called a McDonald and pretended to be a cop and got them to strip search and rape a female. They're actually quite spot on with the characters and happening (at least based on the real video and interview that's on youtube), but it's a bit milder than the real-life happening. But I wasn't impressed by the film. It just wasn't entertaining at all. Some good actors, decent direction by Craig Zobel and all that, but it just wasn't interesting enough, disturbing enough or fun enough. It was somewhere inbetween all these, and just didn't work at all for me.

 

Anyway, disappointing film!

 

 

 

 

 

How the people this film is based on was not thrown in jail for life is beyond me. The actions of Sandra, her boyfriend and 2-3 of the others alone should be enough to sentence the lot to a long time in jail, but the stupidity of them all should be more than enough to keep them there for life. In real life I mean. They're that stupid. Only in America. AMIRITE?

[Bear 1817]

Spiritual Kung Fu - An early Jackie Chan film by genius martial arts drector Lo Wei. Far from either Jackie Chan or Lo Wei's best film, but I liked it. Jackie Chan plays a type of character he played a lot during his early years, and the plot is fairly generic. However, I did like the whodunit-element in this film which totally worked in my eyes. But the film is incredibly goofy at time with some silly-looking "ghosts" turning up and acting up. The comedic elements doesn't work too well here though.

 

But the fights are well-choreographed, and the last fight is nothing short of spectacular, and the ghosts comes to their own right in that fight. Not their best, but this is well-worth seeing for fans of either old school Jackie Chan, Lo Wei or just martial arts maniacs. The film lands on a 7,5 for me. Good stuff.

 

Have a look at Jackie in this picture. That face!

 

The ghosts:

 

[Des 289]

 

Ex Machina (2015)

An ambitious sci-fi movie dealing with AI and morality. Also mortality, but not too much of that. There are a few minor plot related issues near the end of the movie, but the fascinating and timeless concept, the beautiful visuals and the gradual change in atmosphere from chill to chilling make up for most of that. The tiny details that may trigger some questions is likely the result of being a bit overly ambitious! Still a great movie.

Tear up the dance floor/10

 

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
This movie is the worst kind of rollercoaster: it launches at full speed and slows down at the very end of the ride only to launch at full speed again... but now going backwards. The ride is dull, headache-inducing and void of atmosphere, tension or anything else. A lot of dust and death is all there is. Differs from most action driven blockbusters in that there is no endless exposition, it doesn't hit the pause button a hundred times during the movie to allow for some character to explain what is happening. So there's none of that garbage, so it's good, yes? NO! It makes sure there is nothing to be excited about. Yes, there's a world here created with visuals, but this world is a barren wasteland. There is no mystique, no intriguing places, no characterization.
Much dust, much death, no tension, no substance/10

 

 

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)
A socially awkward woman in her late 20's finds a badly worn VHS tape of Fargo (the movie) and genuinely believes there is a treasure buried in the snow waiting for her to discover. She fails to really plan ahead and comes up with slightly autistic solutions to problems she encounters. Dark journey inside a disturbed soul who is really just looking for some satisfaction and meaning in her life. I liked the 'clean' approach in visuals. The images are not crowded, the colors very relaxing. I think this would've benefitted from film, but it works 'ok' in the digital format.
Poor Bunzo/10

 

 

Morte e Venezia (or Death in Venice) (1971)
Despite the gorgeous images this adaption of the book fell flat to me. There was not much to ponder about while glazing over the hotel guests at the beach and all that. It was distant and cold. It is in a way commendable that the filmmakers never wanted to fill up the silence with unnecessary dialogue, but at times I wished for a little more chit-chat because honestly, nothing was happening. Not much characterization either, it was shallow.
Fails to impress/10

 

 

Cemetary Without Crosses (or Une corde, un Colt...) (1969)

One of the better "spaghetti westerns" I've seen. A tragic story about a killing and a revenge. While at first the viewer will undoubtedly side with the widowed woman, it is soon apparent that she is not an angel herself. Which eventually leads to the absence of the 'good guys vs. bad guys' routine, which is good. Very little dialogue in this movie, with several key scenes being entirely silent. With the ending they might have tried something a little "too cool" that didn't quite fit the tone of the rest of the movie, but it was not a big deal. Great western.

Tasty spaghetti/10

 

 

The Cincinatti Kid (1965)
Very decent play on the 'big shot meets big shot and they battle it out for the win' game. Steve McQueen and Edward G. Robinson are two ruthless poker players, the best in the business, and when they meet at the table, sparks fly. Great acting from the two iconic actors. Decent drama surrounding the card game, with some minor characters stirring some trouble. To me it lacked a real sense of danger, it didn't feel like there was much at stake but a reputation at a card game. The romantic side plot wasn't too exciting either and the directing was mostly a play on the safe side. Nevertheless it's enjoyable. Edward G. Robinson is class, one of the best actors of all time.

The stakes are not high enough but it's okay/10

[evilcoconut 109]

Afro Tanaka

 

Pretty funny, pretty ridiculous. Probably wouldn't have been worth it at all if it weren't for Matsuda Shota's general fantasticness.

[Bear 1817]

The Magnificent Trio - A very early Chang Cheh flick with the likes of Yu Wang, Lo Lieh and Cheng Lei. The film is a remake of the classic Japanese chambara film Three Outlaw Samurai by Hideo Gosha, and it's a well-done one. But Chanh Cheh has made the film into a proper Hong Kong wuxia-film, and done enough changes that it feels like something else, but not changed so much that you can't get a grasp of which film it remakes. In other words, he's done exactly what one should do when remaking something. Ad the females are really the stars of this film, not Yu Wang, Lo Lieh or Cheng Lei. Which is something cool and different to other wuxias at the time.

 

The tory is great with lots of twist and turns along the way, the fights are fantastic, the characters are good and the sets are amazing. They're studio sets and you can see that it's fake, but it still looks gorgeous to my eyes and I've always loved that with Shaw Brothers films. The sets, even when obviously fake, tend to look amazing.

 

All in all a great film, even though both director and several of the actors have plenty of better films in their filmography. And does it touch the original? Yeah, I think so, even though the original is a slightly better film in many ways.