tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-35652433140064873222024-03-11T16:34:27.114-07:00From The Depths Of DVD HellLooking at cult, foreign and obscure cinema, while wandering off the well walked path of mainstream cinema.Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.comBlogger609125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-24932643906541714272019-05-02T12:51:00.003-07:002019-05-02T12:51:34.123-07:00End of Book One...Hey folks and welcome to end or more precisely this chapter of the "From The Depths of DVD Hell" saga as while Blogger has been it's home for the last eleven years, the time has come to close the book and move onto greener pastures to continue this journey.<br />
<br />
For far too long I have been unhappy with the look of the blog and the generally unweildy tools the platform provides only resisiting the urge to move due to the connections I had made with you my dear readership and the good friends I have made since I started out expecting to be writing for a year and then move onto somthing else only to continue finding great pleasure in hunting down films, while expanding into podcasting which has only added to the journey.<br />
<br />
This blog will not be going anywere as while I could transfer the content across I would rather keep it here so that it can continue to be enjoyed by anyone who still wishes to read them and start on the new page afresh. <br />
<br />
So don't fear this is far from the end as the journey continues <a href="https://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.wordpress.com/">HERE </a><br />
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-41318656089245741362019-03-17T23:16:00.001-07:002019-03-17T23:16:42.139-07:00Leviathan
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<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBaTvUZUUSzk6bBhKIZDqW_3j-VnERF7KH_zWxZJI0H-B6S7-qP4SQk0X2kAjC5Vd5Bgmb-koilgJZb1F7Dg-tE-uGk081KPbNFjrI7fh6lbyt8UphfWOzT5dqPktLoU_YOp9TeGVWnLM/s1600/Leviathan.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="289" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBaTvUZUUSzk6bBhKIZDqW_3j-VnERF7KH_zWxZJI0H-B6S7-qP4SQk0X2kAjC5Vd5Bgmb-koilgJZb1F7Dg-tE-uGk081KPbNFjrI7fh6lbyt8UphfWOzT5dqPktLoU_YOp9TeGVWnLM/s640/Leviathan.jpg" width="368" /></a></b></div>
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<b>Title:</b> Leviathan</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> George P.
Cosmatos</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 1989</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Peter
Weller, Richard Crenna, Amanda Pays, Daniel Stern, Ernie Hudson,
Michael Carmine, Lisa Eilbacher, Hector Elizondo</div>
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<br />
</div>
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<b>Plot:</b> A group of
deepsea miners discover a Soviet shipwreck, Leviathan only to bring
back with their salvage an entity which soon begins working its way
through the crew. </div>
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<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/u4ugObcErgc" width="560"></iframe> </div>
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<b>Review:</b> <span style="font-style: normal;"></span>One of a slew of Underwater Sci-fi horror released in the wake of <i>The
Abyss</i> alongside <i>Deep Star Six</i> a film which proved as tricky to get hold
of. Unlike <i>Deep Star Six</i> this one actually proved to be worth the
effort as it plays like a more horror focused version of <i>The Abyss</i> with a
dash of John Carpenter’s <i>The Thing</i> thrown in for good measure.</div>
<div class="body-text -prose collapsible-text" data-full-text-url="/s/full-text/viewing:60378431/">
<br />
Directed
by George P. Cosmatos whoat this point was coming into the film hot
after directing both <i>Rambo: First Blood 2</i> and <i>Cobra;</i> here though he calms
things back alittle as he introduces a crew of blue collar deep sea
miners headed up by geologist Steve Beck (Weller) who like the rest of
the crew is looking forward to the shift change in 4 days. However the
chance discovery of the scuttled Soviet ship soon brings with it all
kinds of problems when the experiment which was being tested on the
unknowing crew is soon wreaking havoc on the mining team.<br />
<br />
Despite
the B-movie roots of the film each of the crew are given enough depth
to help them standout more than disposable monster chow, though at the
same time most of the crew for the first quarter are overshadowed by the
pervert antics of Six Pack played here by Daniel Stern who spends most
of his time in the film trying to hit on or just straight up sexually
harass the two female crew members which is the kind of thing that you
could never get away with now, especially with his boob mug and the
centrefolds he plasters across his bunk. The crew in general though are a
likeable bunch with Ernie Hudson getting a few great lines while Weller
is enjoyable as the lead his performance remains as diversive as ever
especially in the first quarter were he seems to actually be confused
about what he’s supposed to be going while his payoff line of “Open wide
Motherfucker!!” comes off a little more amusing than I think it was
originally planned.<br />
<br />
Shot on sound stages in Rome the layout of
the Miner’s “Shack” is actually very similar to the Deep Core research
station of <i>The Abyss </i>in that everything is raw steel and exposed pipes
but at the same time we see throughout this station subtle details such
as the screens playing footage of landscapes and sunlamps to strive
away the effects of being underwater for long periods. Such a functional
setup of course only works the better during the final were the high
pressure of the surrounding ocean slowly crushes the station causing the
internal structure to collapse and spectacularly implode. At the same
time the lack of sterile work areas and clunky diving suits designed to
deal with the high pressure really give the film a presence and
memorable look which complements this crew of blue collar workers,
striving off the boredom and cablin fever of their surroundings till the
next shift change.<br />
<br />
While the monster action is alittle slower
than expected to start as what initially starts out seemingly as an
infection after two of the miners consume vodka they fund amongst their
salvage from the ship and because seemingly no one told this pair about
why you don’t drink things you find on sunk ships the film soon mutates
into body horror before the film just turns into a full blown monster on
the loose movie. Much like as in <i>Alien</i> though the crew also have to
deal with the shady plots of the company higher ups here represented by
an almost otherworldly Meg Foster who communicates with Beck via the
station video monitor, though it’s soon becomes clear that they might be
working their own agenda as always seems to be the case in these
movies.<br />
<br />
With Stan Winston handling the creature effects they
still look impressive if never going as crazy as Rob Bottin’s effects
for <i>The Thing</i>. However watching the film now it doesn’t really matter
as with these kind of movies now just being the preferred output of <a href="https://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.com/search/label/Asylum%20Films">the Asylum </a>and the SYFY channel to actually have a half decent film with
practical effects leaves you feeling kind spoiled to not be subjected to
subpar CGI. At the same time the monster does have a few unique quirks
of it’s own as we see crew members absorbed into it’s skin adding a nice
moral quandry for those attempting to fight it as they are faced with
the prospect of having to kill their friends in order to kill the
monster.<br />
A fun throw back which serves as a reminder as to how
far this sub-genre has fallen and while it might not reach the same
heights as <i>The Abyss</i> it’s a notable step up from <i>Deep Star Six</i> and
perhaps if the tension was built upon more it might be more fondly
remembered. Regardless there is still plenty for genre fans to enjoy
here.</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-84922251390714975422019-03-03T12:41:00.001-08:002019-03-03T12:41:36.431-08:00The Cult of Chucky<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPiDa3m8hJtHXEKTddS6nn9ZMvI9PUahJ_MhIaFsA6vtWTHhnMfpvayfotx52Iisdn1tVrmFw_hsy3e2rC-slcHBe9bcr9_WaTJwQDDb_GP3oDUrstIw1hTYA0Bwv9WHwjDCKbbWXjWHQ/s1600/40d182e208417fe85278deb97a74a91b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="720" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPiDa3m8hJtHXEKTddS6nn9ZMvI9PUahJ_MhIaFsA6vtWTHhnMfpvayfotx52Iisdn1tVrmFw_hsy3e2rC-slcHBe9bcr9_WaTJwQDDb_GP3oDUrstIw1hTYA0Bwv9WHwjDCKbbWXjWHQ/s640/40d182e208417fe85278deb97a74a91b.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Cult of
Chucky</div>
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<b>Director:</b> Don
Mancini</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released: </b>2017</div>
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<b>Starring:</b> Fiona
Dourif, Michael Therriault, Adam Hurtig, Alex Vincent, Jennifer
Tilly, Brad Douriff</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Plot:</b> Four years on
from the events of <i>Curse of Chucky</i> Nica (Fiona Dourif) has
been confined to a mental institution after being framed for the
murder of her family by Chucky (Brad Douriff). Now transferred to a
medium security unit, only to soon find herself tormented once more
by the killer doll.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/20LeBoejmF4" width="560"></iframe> </div>
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<b>Review:</b> <span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">The Seventh instalment in the
Chucky franchise its actually quite staggering that there is still
any life left in this series and while the other icons at this point
were heading to space, crossing over to other franchises or </span><span style="font-style: normal;">in
the case of Pinhead just constantly feel like has just wandered into
the wrong movie. Chucky on the other hand has just become a more
grotesque visage over the course of the films to the point were he
has just been now reduced to a heavily mutated head being kept in the
wall safe of series mainstay Andy (Alex Vincent) or has he?</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">C</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ertainly
it’s clear from the start that Mancini much George Romero with his
zombie saga that </span><span style="font-style: normal;">he making
these films for the fans rather any kind of critical audience </span><span style="font-style: normal;">but
despite this</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> it’s fun
seeing him trying to sew the series together by giving Andy more of a
cameo as he’s opens the film on a date which quickly turns sour
when his date discovers his troubled past of being tormented by the
killer doll with mention of his babysitters murder giving us a
flashback to her demise in the first film. Sadly we don’t get to
see any more of these classic even though Andy does mention them in
the same scene.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-style: normal;">F</span><span style="font-style: normal;">ocusing
once more on Nia as we pick up her story four years on from </span><i>Curse
of Chucky </i><span style="font-style: normal;">were she has been
confined to a mental institution and now left questioning if Chucky
was even real. However being moved to a medium security unit it’s
not long before Chucky is up to his usual antics helped largely by
the fact that somehow these good guy dolls keep showing up at the
facility. Initially as a therapy tool if one which is soon being
passed around the residents as Mancini somehow manages to play the
long game in dragging out the inevitable reveal that Chucky is very
much alive. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Considering how
we are so deep in the series the fact that he is able to still pull
off such mind games with this character really is a credit to Mancini
as he really builds the tension by having the usual methods of having
Chucky reveal himself such as burning the dolls hand all fail. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
location itself is suitably isolated to make such a small cast
effective while the sterile whiles and snow covered landscapes make
nice change for the series even if we are denied a rewarding show of
blood </span><span style="font-style: normal;">sprayed across </span><span style="font-style: normal;">snow. Equally considering that the majority of the potential victims are all paitents helping with the early mind games as a early murder is written off as suicide.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>Curse of Chucky</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">had felt in many ways like a
reboot for the series and a chance to rework its formula with the more obvious slasher shocks being
traded out for genuine tension so it feels like something of a step
back in many ways to see the film slipping back into old habits even
though the revel of what the cult of the title is certainly an
interesting move for the series. Of course with the upcoming remake it did
leave me wondering if we’d ever get to see this angle come to
fruition especially ending on the cliffhanger of sorts it does.
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">Seeing Andy though
potentially being setup as the franchise’s Dr. Loomis is an exciting
prospect which sadly doesn’t come to fruition thanks largely to
Andy kind </span><span style="font-style: normal;">of failing in the
hero department. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Thankfully
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">the </span><span style="font-style: normal;">character
of Chucky still feels as fresh as ever with Dourif seemingly showing
no kind of acting fatigue from playing the character for so long
there is certainly fun to be had, more so when he’s as creative a
lil psycho as ever giving us an incredible kill sequence involving a
skylight and a compressed air cylinder finally delivering the payoff
that was sorely missing from the greenhouse kill in </span><i>The
Hand That Rocks the Cradle</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> . The
main issue here is that Chucky is clearly here a character being
crushed under the weight of his own mythology which is certainly not
helped by Mancini’s determination to make everything tie together
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">rather </span><span style="font-style: normal;">than
starting the journey afresh </span><span style="font-style: normal;">as
the previous film had seemingly set things up to be</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">this especially coming to a
head when Jennifer Tily’s Tiffany has to confirm that she’s not
actually Jennifer Tilly, which is infact a </span><span style="font-style: normal;">throwback
to </span><i>Seed of Chucky </i><span style="font-style: normal;">than
the kind of baffling logic seen in </span><i>Oceans Twelve </i><span style="font-style: normal;">were
Julia Roberts imitated Julia Roberts! </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Regardless
it was only after I looked it up on IMDB that this plot element
became clear, while certainly not helped by Seed being the
forgettable mess that it is. </span>
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">W</span><span style="font-style: normal;">hile
Cult is far from the worst entry in the series it’s unquestionably
a </span><span style="font-style: normal;">step down</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
from the previous film and with remake on the Horizon it’s unclear
if </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Mancini’</span><span style="font-style: normal;">s
vision for the franchise will ever materialise despite </span><span style="font-style: normal;">claims
of more film and a TV series to follow whether this will happen or
not remains to be seen. </span>
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-68306022013428009402019-02-20T22:42:00.000-08:002019-02-20T22:42:29.756-08:00The Bullet Vanishes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhEzhS9ffkHeZGdoQW6icOnjbu8X_-s6EltCwG3lyiiEgKgiTox7Q9eQT2YB385x5vWI3tGQ4dYobYp85HcP1wNvBYJt86DG6Osfx0ok47Hq99O-csn_UzSNo_noTOD6I64VxVx51vLE/s1600/THE-BULLET-VANISHES_master_poster_v3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="400" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDhEzhS9ffkHeZGdoQW6icOnjbu8X_-s6EltCwG3lyiiEgKgiTox7Q9eQT2YB385x5vWI3tGQ4dYobYp85HcP1wNvBYJt86DG6Osfx0ok47Hq99O-csn_UzSNo_noTOD6I64VxVx51vLE/s640/THE-BULLET-VANISHES_master_poster_v3.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> The Bullet
Vanishes</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Lo
Chi-leung</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2012</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring: </b>Nicholas
Tse, Sean Lau, Yang Mi, Boran Jing, Wu Gang, Liu Kai-chi, Jiang Yiyan</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Song Donglu
(Lau) an eccentric detective and expert in criminology is teamed up
with Guo Zhui (Tse) who has a reputation for being “the fastest
gunman in Tiancheng”. The pair soon finding themselves trying to
solve a series of mysterious shootings at a bullet factory were no
bullets can be found.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>Review:</b> I’m not
sure what it is about Asian cinema but it’s not only proven to be a
surprising source of great Westerns such as <i>The Good, The Bad and
The Weird </i><span style="font-style: normal;">and</span><i> </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Miike
Takashi’s </span><i>Sukiyaki </i><i><i>Western Django</i></i><i>
</i><span style="font-style: normal;">especially for someone like
myself who never cared for the Western genre. The other surprise has
being these Sherlock Holmes style mysteries which we saw so memorably
reworked in Detective Dee and the Phantom Flame and now here with this film
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">which takes place in a
sumptious vision of 1930’s China</span><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">While our lead might not own a deer stalker hat or even smoke a pipe, there is an
unquestionable Holmes like air to Detective Donglu who is introduced
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">testing out one of his
theories by hanging himself so that he can compare his own injuries
to that of the victim. We also get to see him trying to understand
how Fu Yuan (Yiyan) a woman convicted of killing her husband pulled
off the murder as he demonstrates as keen a mind for criminology and
the criminal mind as he does for detection. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">H</span><span style="font-style: normal;">is
partner Guo Zhui on the other hand is on first appearances more of
the muscle of the pairing and while he certainly gets to demonstrate
some impressive shooting skills, he also comes with an indepth
knowledge of firearms and balistics which certainly come in handy in
this case </span><span style="font-style: normal;">especially in
figuring out how the owner of the bullet factory was able to win a
round of Russian roulette refered to here as “Fate of the Heavens”
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">and makes up one of several
mysteries that the film presents over the course of it’s runtime
including a locked room mystery. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">At
the same time </span><span style="font-style: normal;">director Lo
Chi-leung </span><span style="font-style: normal;">even brings his
gunslinger knowledge to the action scenes as memorable seen during a
shootout were he must work out the range of the badguy during a tense
stand off. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Of
course </span><span style="font-style: normal;">when it comes to these
kinds of mysteries there is the tendency to provide far fetched
explanations to solve the mysteries being presented and thankfully Lo
Chi-leung never resorts to such thing as every mystery has for the
most part a logical explanation. That being said </span><span style="font-style: normal;">if</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
the solution for the Phantom bullets actually would work or not </span><span style="font-style: normal;">if
unclear but certainly it atleast seems plausible. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Still
it’s an intoxicating blend of mystery and action that we get here
and which works only the better due to the skill</span><span style="font-style: normal;">s</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
set of the </span><span style="font-style: normal;">films</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
two detectives.</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">H</span><span style="font-style: normal;">eading
up the villain quota for the film is Liu Kai-chi as the factory owner
Boss Ding a truly odious cigar smoking villain who is more than happy
to send his thugs to impose his will on not only his workers but
anyone who opposes him and certainly </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Lo
Chi-leung </span><span style="font-style: normal;">wastes little time
in establishing just how ruthless he is as the film opens to him
forcing a female worker he has accused of stealing bullets to play
him in a game of Russian roulette or “Fate of the Heavens” as he
refers to it as and what will be seen as the catalysis for the
phantom bullet murders which start befalling his men. Even with such
an obvious lead villain the film still manages to work in numerous
other twists as it soon become clear that this is a mystery that goes
a lot deeper than Boss Ding’s questionable business practices. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Sadly
while we do get a lot of strong male characters, here the female cast
are rarely given as much to do, other than to pop in and out of the
story to provide a clue or uncover a piece of evidence to keep the
story running. That being said Yang Mi is great as the fortune teller
Little Lark. Sadly used to lesser effect is Yumiko Cheng as the
coroner who for some reason also keeps an Ostrich in her lab, the
reasons for frustratingly never being revealed. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">A
gorgeous looking mystery if one which will no doubt draw comparisons
to Guy Richie’s take on Sherlock Holmes, despite the film
constantly proving that it’s able to stand on it’s own merits
even if it does choose to break up the pair just when I was looking
forward to hopefully getting a series of adventures with them which
is sadly dashed in what very much felt like was a tacked on epilogue
to the story as </span><span style="font-style: normal;">Lo Chi-leung
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">opts for one last twist
instead of ending the film at it’s logical end point. Despite this
what remains is a fun mystery complimented by action scenes which are
as often as inventive as the detection methods. </span>
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-14836068726111025422019-01-15T13:13:00.001-08:002019-01-15T13:13:09.955-08:00Pacific Rim: Uprising<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lDPmiRXlcRr_rSRz0aHtOcHWmvSahpxqQmDcKj26F8eiFq42CqgZi44iiRgk7WuV-owpWZBC7mkLu8EkZqzL3nFiz5X40IWAEokIHYg9-QnkJGoEZazx-LQtSMz-GbzPnmiKVqJgvJI/s1600/flat%252C550x550%252C075%252Cf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="540" data-original-width="339" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_lDPmiRXlcRr_rSRz0aHtOcHWmvSahpxqQmDcKj26F8eiFq42CqgZi44iiRgk7WuV-owpWZBC7mkLu8EkZqzL3nFiz5X40IWAEokIHYg9-QnkJGoEZazx-LQtSMz-GbzPnmiKVqJgvJI/s640/flat%252C550x550%252C075%252Cf.jpg" width="394" /></a></b></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Pacific Rim
Uprising</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Steven S.
DeKnight</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2018</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> John
Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Jing Tian, Cailee Spaeny, Rinko Kikuchi, Burn
Gorman, Adria Arjona, Zhang Jin, Charlie Day</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Ten years
after the events of the first film, society has begun to rebuild
itself believing that the Kaiju threat has long been defeated. Jake
(Boyega) the son of the now legendary Stacker Pentecost and now a
disgraced former Jaeger pilot makes a living selling Jaeger parts on
the black market only for a chance encounter with Jaeger enthusiast
Amara (Spaeny) to see them both being drafted into the PPDC as the
threat of the Precursors and their Kaiju creations threatens the
world once more.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_EhiLLOhVis/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_EhiLLOhVis?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> <i>Pacific
Rim Uprising </i><span style="font-style: normal;">was unquestionably
a film I was looking forward to, even if my general lack of desire to
pay for overpriced cinema tickets has meant that it's taken me until
now to actually watch it. Needless to say with Del Toro not returning
for this sequel there was certainly an element of doubt if it could
love up to his original love letter to the Kaiju genre and for the
most part I feel that Steven S. DeKnight's follow up continue</span><span style="font-style: normal;">s</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
to build upon the world Del Toro had established. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">In
the years which have passed the Pan Pacific Defence Corps have once
more become recognised as the key defence and as such no longer the
rag tag band of pilots scrabbling for resources through black market
deals for Kaiju parts. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-style: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
At the same time it
should be noted that this is a much more busy and louder film as
DeKnight revels in the chaos and destruction compared to the Del Toro
pacifist approach which focused more on the battle between giant
robot and monster than potential collateral damage. Now while both
movies certainly provided the same buzz and excitement from these
scenes I wanted as a life long Kaiju fan there is an unquestionable
feeling that the DeKnight's is lacking something.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Plotwise there is a
real mish-mash of ideas at play and while seeing the PPDC turned into
a heavily funded war machine is a welcome evolution for the series
even if one potentially set to be made obsolete by a new drone
program. At the same time Jake the son of rousing speech maker and
leader Stacker take on the hero duties this time as he finds himself
drawn back into the fold as the Precursors launch their latest
offensive which sees the film working more of the enemy within angle
which ties it nicely to the original film aswell leading to a more
meaty role for one of the few characters who make their return when
their betrayal is inevitably revealed. The rest of the film though
is this weird mix of Kaiju fun with an undeniable and unneeded and
not mention unwanted <i>Top Gun</i> vibe as Jake and his former
co-pilot Nate (Eastwood) play out a Maverick / Ice Man dick swinging
contest which would have honestly worked better if they were rival
pilots ultimately forced to team up than co-pilots from the start.
Throw into the mix an unresolved love triangle and it just feels like
it's padding out the run time.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
One of my initial
concerns regarded how both Jaegers and Kaiju were shown in the
trailers, which honestly left things looking like a reskinned
<i>Transformers</i> movie, here the camera work is just as impressive
as the first film even if the action is alot more hectic than the
lumbering intense battles of the first film. It's just a shame that
the film suffers from some truly horrible sound design which only
serves to cheapen and detract from the film as radio mics crackle and
weapons would sound more impressive if you just made your won Pew Pew
sounds. Thankfully the action sequences are still fun to look at with
plenty of Jaeger tech being showcased here and sure while no one
might be using a cargo ship as a makeshift bat the new set of Jaegers
all come with their own fun toys to battle not only the Kaiju
monsters this time but also the new drones which perhaps might feel
alittle too close to the aforementioned transformers, but thankfully
it’s given enough of a spin to work.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While Del Toro's
absence is certainly noticeable here, it's still a fun (if flawed)
experience that I enjoyed my time with, while DeKnight's own
additions to the series like the mini Jaeger "Scrapper" and
the rival Shao Corporation only help to make this a fuller and more
exciting world which I hope that they continue to explore with
further films.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-24258555509903131732019-01-05T22:58:00.001-08:002019-01-05T22:58:07.031-08:00Rollercoaster<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUxI3WEhsm9Z1kX8EUZ8ZPdW0xfezg1jwfBL6wiLhS4iYb6dBPahyphenhyphenk2pOMGfy8dKGRXVBSMtYHh-4rkSUTUujKaCbrI0dmZzdovebpYe5PL-zKdt_W2Ka0teAXSldwa7mkCXxcCDiAyo/s1600/MV5BODJiOGU4OWYtYTM1ZS00Y2ExLTkwZDMtOWFkYjk3NTViOTY1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjI4MjA5MzA%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C666%252C1000_AL_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1000" data-original-width="400" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWUxI3WEhsm9Z1kX8EUZ8ZPdW0xfezg1jwfBL6wiLhS4iYb6dBPahyphenhyphenk2pOMGfy8dKGRXVBSMtYHh-4rkSUTUujKaCbrI0dmZzdovebpYe5PL-zKdt_W2Ka0teAXSldwa7mkCXxcCDiAyo/s640/MV5BODJiOGU4OWYtYTM1ZS00Y2ExLTkwZDMtOWFkYjk3NTViOTY1XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMjI4MjA5MzA%2540._V1_SY1000_CR0%252C0%252C666%252C1000_AL_.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Rollercoaster</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> James
Goldstone</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 1977</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> George
Segal, Richard Widmark, Timothy Bottoms, Henry Fonda, Harry Guardino,
Susan Strasberg, Helen Hunt</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> When a bomber
(Bottoms) plants a device on the tracks of a rollercoaster causing it
to derail, it soon becomes a deadly game of cat and mouse as Safety
Inspector Harry (Segal) attempts to stop him before he strikes again.<br />
<br />
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ioMMQawXq4g" width="560"></iframe> </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> A film
probably best known for its rather spectacular opening
roller coaster crash than the film the footage was taken from this would be one of the few feature films that director James Goldstone
directed spending most of his career directing TV Pilots for <i>Ironside</i>
and the original <i>Star Trek </i><span style="font-style: normal;">were
his work was not only noted for its momentum but also the
“fifteen-minute cliffhangers” he brought to them. </span><span style="font-style: normal;">A
film equally noteworthy for being one of the four films which
Universal presented in “Sensurround” were selected theatres were
low-frequency bass speakers were used to create vibrations at key
moments, which ultimately proved to be so </span><span style="font-style: normal;">successful</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
that it cracked the plaster of some of the theatres which choose to
use it. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Despite the
impressive opening crash this is surprisingly a much more subtle film
than I was expecting as Goldstone instead here chooses to craft a tense thriller with the rest of the film plays off the tension of
not knowing were the bomber has hidden his next device let alone the
mind games between Timothy Bottoms unnamed bomber and George Segal’s
Safety inspector Harry. Bottoms however was criticised for being too
boring as a villain in reviews for the film when it was originally
released but here he gives a performance reminisant of Kevin Spacey’s
John Doe in <i>Seven</i> which here really works for the film, especially
when he is spending the majority of the film taunting Harry over the
phone or a walkie talkie, all the time knowing that he holds the
power in this situation with Harry left to play the unwilling puppet
in the proceedings.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Segal meanwhile is
an engaging leading man as the frustrated safety inspector he works in humorous subtle digs at his
incompitant bosses while also having to work with the local police
chief and Richard Widmark’s tough FBI agent. While it might seem
that his talents are perhaps alittle wasted here seeing how he spends
most of the film talking to the Bomber over the walkie talkie while
moving through a variety of amusement rides which for theme park fans
provides its own enjoyment with the film being shot on location at
Ocean View Park, Kings Dominion and Six Flags.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The Cinematography
throughout is extremely impressive especially with the rollercoaster
footage were large portions are shot from the front of the carriage
creating that simulator feel of being on the ride which is a nice
touch especially when Goldstone isn’t planning on giving the
audience any more crashes. The fact that they are shot from so many
angles including some impressive profile shots is really add to the
excitement, especially during the finale were the cat and mouse games
are played out on the opening of the six flags <i>Revolution</i> the
world’s first coaster to use a clothoid-shaped vertical loop and
more fun against the backdrop of a <i>Sparks</i> concert a gig which
had rumoured to had been offered to both the <i>Bay City Rollers</i>
and <i>KISS</i> the later turning it down in favour of doing <i>KISS
Meet The Phantom of the Park. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Sparks
would later recall doing the film as one of the worst things they
have ever done </span><span style="font-style: normal;">which I had to
wonder if this was before or after they did their 2006’s album
</span><i>Hello Young Lovers. </i><span style="font-style: normal;">Despite
what they feel about it, the high energy performance here really play
well against the tension of this final game between the bomber and
police. </span>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">While
it might initially be a little </span><span style="font-style: normal;">disappointing</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
to see what seems to be setup as another disaster movie </span><span style="font-style: normal;">dissolve</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
into a thriller it </span><span style="font-style: normal;">ultimately</span><span style="font-style: normal;">
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">proves to be the right move
here, especially with Segal’s performance certainly able to carry
the film so that such shocks are never required even though the film
had originally been planned to be a lot more gruesome with both the
opening crash and how the bomber ultimately meets his demise, a
plaque for which can still be found on the rollercoaster at Six
Flags. While perhaps not a film that rewards repeat viewing it’s
one still worth checking out especially for the opening crash </span><span style="font-style: normal;">as
you</span><span style="font-style: normal;"> wonder </span><span style="font-style: normal;">just
</span><span style="font-style: normal;">how they pulled it off. </span>
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-27356006122380261782018-11-23T13:13:00.002-08:002018-11-23T13:13:40.617-08:00The Midnight Meat Train<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> The Midnight
Meat Train</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Ryuhei
Kitamura</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2008</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Bradley Cooper,
Leslie Bibb, Brooke Shields, Roger Bart, Ted Raimi Vinnie Jones
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Leon (Cooper)
is a photographer with an obsession with the darker side of the city,
however when challenged by gallery owner Susan Hoff (Shields) to find
darker subject matter he by chance discovers a serial killer (Jones)
using the midnight subway system as an abattoir.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> Another
film to be adapted from Clive Barker’s “Books of Blood” short
story collection this film also marked the English language debut
from director Ryuhei Kitamura who much like Barker is equally no
stranger to blending genres. My main reason for checking this one out
those was the memory of Vinnie Jones’ role as the sharply dressed
serial killer who rides the midnight subway trains being compared to
that of Arnold Schwarzenegger in “The Terminator” and its
certainly a performance he nails here with him imposing form and ice
cold demenor.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Bradley Cooper’s
role as the photographer Leon meanwhile is kind of confusing as here
he plays a photographer obsessed with exposing the seedier side of
the city which we are lead to believe is for artistic purposes while
at the same time he shows no qualms about putting himself in harms
way when he chooses to photo graph a gang on the subway.
Frustratingly the background or reasons for Leon pursuing this work
is never made clear so why he’s willing to take such risks much
less become so obsessed with tracking down this suspected killer.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Of course seeing how
this is a film being based off a short story there is of course the
requirement to pad out the story which here questionably adds Leon’s
girlfriend who really doesn’t add a huge amount to the film in
terms of plot and really only served to bring an element of melodrama
to the final act. What is confusing though is how Kitamura manages to
craft a film which is clearly in need of some trimming as while the
additional elements certainly don’t detract from the story the film
still felt like it overstayed it welcome especially when it passed
the point I felt like we should be getting some kind of resolution.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Unsurprisingly for
Kitamura and the fact this is based on a Clive Barker text the film
is gratuitously bloody which can in some scenes work such as one
potential victim attempting to craw across the blood drenched floor
while other seem like bad 3D effects which made me wonder if this
film has ever been scheduled for any kind of 3D release. Still there
is still some inventive violence on show here as skulls are clubbed
with a meat hammer and crimson sprays across the carriages. The
highlight being when we get to see the nights quota of victims strung
up like a human abattoir.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
kit</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Outside of the gore
which is the arguably the obvious draw here Kitamura also brings his
underrated eye for detail in his settings as he bring a real feeling
of sleaze to the subways, while a cat and mouse style chase through
an abattoir bringing a real menace to Jones character as he stares
down a corridor of carcasses. All of which rises it about the
predicted disposable horror that the film is sold as, something also
not helped by its throwaway distribution by the studio.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A frustrating film
at time as it diverges from being an effective thriller to tedium but when it works it is an effective film but far from what fans of Kitamura have come to expect from the director who here feels at times like he's had his wings clipped. </div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-34092538276915128552018-11-16T13:57:00.000-08:002018-11-16T14:00:28.309-08:00Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend<div class="entry-content">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b>Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b>Hideki Takayama</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b>1989</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review: </b>Reknown as one of the landmark titles of adult animation, this
notorious anime adapted from Toshio Maeda’s manga has continued to shock
each new generation of anime fan who no doubt were directed to it by
the previous generation. Of course when it was released in 1989 it
served in many ways to taint the impression the general public had about
anime while the hysteria lead by newspapers such as <i>The Daily Mail</i> began leading a public outcry to “Ban this sick filth”.</div>
Of course looking at the film its easy to understand why audience
were so shocked when this title was released especially when there was
nothing else really like anime with the genre’s seemingly carefree
attitude its gratuitous sex and violence with the closest we had come to
such material in the west being the sporadic adult animated title such
as <i>Heavy Metal </i>or the films of Ralph Bakshi. Infact so uneducated
were audiences at the time especially with there being no internet to
refer to, anime was often refered to as Japanimation or Manga which was
certainly the case in the UK thanks to majority of titles being put out
by Manga entertainment.<br />
<br />
Because of Urotsukidoji’s notorious legacy for myself it was always a
title I avoided much like many of the demon based titles, largely due
to the feeling of watching something you really shouldn’t especially
with popular titles of the era such as <i>Violence Jack</i>, <i>Wicked City</i> and <i>Genocyber </i>which
seemed to relish the levels of sex and violence with thie popularity of
these titles in many ways influenced the titles being available when I
started getting into Anime in the late 90’s were the focus was often on
more adventure, sci-fi and horror based titles than the staggering range
that anime fans now have available to them. At the same time with most
anime being only accessible via VHS releases / tape trading it limited
further what you could watch with the cost of these tapes often making
you more cautious about not wanting to be lumped with a tape you
couldn’t pass on. Still with the aim of trying to cross off the list
those anime titles for one reason or another I’d missed I finally
decided to bite the bullet and watch it.<br />
<br />
Originally released as a series of three OVA’s (Original Video
Animation) which were edited down into this theatrical version for
western audiences at the same time cutting around 40 mins of gratuitous
sex and violence, something that many fans / anime sweaties are often
quick to gripe about despite there still being plenty of nudity,
gratuitous violence and demons befiling humans left in the film and
taking a look at the cuts list its nothing that I personally can’t live
without but of course if your the sort of anime fan who wants to see
such things and have the extra bucks to pay trader prices you can hunt
down the uncut version released in the <i>Perfect collection </i>via Anime 18<i>.</i><br />
<br />
The film meanwhile see’s the Earth realm as one of three
interconnected dimensions alongside the demon dimension of the Makai and
the more ethereal realm of the beast people known as the Jujinkai which
our antihero Amano and his sister Megumi belong to. The pair have spent
the last 300 years looking for the Chojin (or Overfiend) who according
to legend rises every 3000 years to bring the three realms together in
harmony. However despite the seemingly straightforward plot this is a
film heavy in random sub-plots and schemes being carried out by various
members of the demon realm whose encounters with humans usually end in
splatter heavy violence and more worryingly rape, something the film
certainly takes a shockingly lax approach to compared to the west.<br />
<br />
Amano and Megumi’s mission soon leads them to encounter the shy clutz
and occasional peeping Tom, Negumo who has fallen for the popular
cheerleader Akemi and following a series of situations which
unquestionably make for awkward viewing the pair end up forming an
unlikely couple which is of course only complicated further when Negumo
is revealed to be the Chojin that Amano and Meguimi have been hunting
for. A reveal which in one of the more memorable moments sees him taking
on his gigantic demon form in a transformation sequence which sees a
trio of penis tentacles tearing through a hospital. The plot at times
can feel confusing and distracted which many fans blame on the cuts
while for myself it was mainly because of its desire to constantly work
in those graphic moments which see the film diverting off course to add
another thrill but when it works its still an interesting plot with some
fun twists along the way, especially as the prophecy might play out the
way that Amano expects.<br />
<br />
Much like it’s creator the film’s influence on erotic anime and
especially the Hentai genre can be seen throughout the film as its hard
to ignore the scenes of graphic sex and roaming tentacles which when
combined with the explict violence makes it far from the most accessible
anime even though there are titles which followed in its wake which
certainly pushed the boundaries of taste further including Toshio
Maeda’s own <i>L.A. Blue Girl. </i>Needless to say that despite its
importance within the history of anime, this is not going to suit all
tastes however if you can stomach the more explict aspects to the film
it is still an enjoyable…if that’s the right way to phrase such an
experience that this film certainly is.</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-7175494250985740962018-07-08T12:53:00.001-07:002018-07-08T12:53:29.320-07:00Andre The Giant<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADjCrIkGv85ADxtd-T8GH7ERART7MhyphenhyphenOd4wXJU2syQMwI9FKWi2crfDkwE_pfVqEm8XM5obdfadR4ZM3YXh40wtnAZJeNxj0EIwVgNsVYWlffTE-9bhg5OHCfG391pfbD8vGEP5VCbhA/s1600/DZhtoIBUMAALscl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="400" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgADjCrIkGv85ADxtd-T8GH7ERART7MhyphenhyphenOd4wXJU2syQMwI9FKWi2crfDkwE_pfVqEm8XM5obdfadR4ZM3YXh40wtnAZJeNxj0EIwVgNsVYWlffTE-9bhg5OHCfG391pfbD8vGEP5VCbhA/s640/DZhtoIBUMAALscl.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Andre The
Giant</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Jason
Hehir</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2018</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Documentary
charting the career and life of wrestling legend Andre Rene
Roussimoff better known as Andre the Giant.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/f_jTeuajas0/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/f_jTeuajas0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> If we are
to believe everything about Andre we would be lead to believe he had
three rows of teeth and could drink 107 beers in a single sitting.
But standing at 7ft 4 in Andre was as big as his legend not to
mention one of the most recognisable faces in professional wrestling
even to non wrestling fans and it’s this legend that director Jason
Hehir attempts to find the truth behind as he features extensive
interview footage with his family, his fellow wrestlers and “Princess
Bride” cast members to craft a portrait of this iconic figure. This
is a film certanly not afraid to showcase his life from the
triumphant highs to the crushing lows which lead to his premature
demise.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Charting his rise to
fame in the first half it’s clear that Hehir is as fascinated with
Andre’s status as a real life giant as everyone who saw him while
he charts the making of his legend as he starts his rise through the
wrestling ranks becoming a headline attraction back when wrestling
was still broken up into territories defined by local television
coverage. Soon ending up as one of the biggest stars of Vince
McMahon’s “World Wrestling Federation” now better known as the
“WWE” as he helped McMahon essentially bring the end to the
territories as the company rode the introducion of cable TV.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
One of the strengths
of the documentary really is in how Hehir manages to make a film
which is as appealing to the establish fan as it is to the newcommer
as while there might be extensive talk of the wrestling territories
and backstage politics here memorably highlighted by Andre chasing
off his minder while he’s trying to play cards. Hehir manages to
explain the mechanics of the wrestling industry to the newcomer
without slowing down the pace of the documentary. To this extent it
can be alittle jarring to have Hulk Hogan seemingly hijacking the
documentary to talk about his own career but thankfully he’s on
refreshingly modest form and its inclusion is more to build up the
showdown between himself and Andre and their iconic match at
Wrestlemania 3.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As a wrestling fan
the film more than delivers especially with the wealth of archive
footage which is included, especially for the lesser seen early
portions of Andre’s career. The documentary also does not shy away
from the brutal backstage politics of wrestling with many of the
wrestlers interviewed openly discussing Andre intentionally roughing
up wrestlers who either annoyed him or he perceived as threatening
his spot and its refreshing that the documentary doesn’t shy away
from the more negative aspects of Andre which only adds to the build
up to his match with Hogan were going into the match Hogan had no
idea if Andre was going to go along with his match plan or not.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While a large
portion of the film is unsurprisingly devoted to his wrestling career
Hehir does touch briefly on the making of “The Princess Bride”
were he memorably appeared as the giant Fezzik a role which William
Goldman had written with him in mind. Perhaps disappointingly to fans
of the film this section is one of the briefest but it does feature
some fond memories by his co-stars Cary Elwes and Billy Crystal
aswell as Director Rob Reiner reminiscing of dealing with a drunk
Andre suspended on wires so they could film a horse riding sequence.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Unquestionably this
is both touching tribute to the legendary wrestler which wrestling
fans will certainly enjoy but at the same time accessable enough that
the uninitiated will still find much to enjoy here.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-86497993303462889902018-03-20T08:12:00.000-07:002018-03-20T08:12:12.528-07:00Island Claws<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoATenBXxwYwrLPgFYVGpjN4LbuRp-pdo5zcqrlP5e73uDJSJdsG6yM1VPHIrubd6zX3OnoxN9WSmD8NNuJqnYKxETEvrblfwhgMa1mcywt-MNF5kIuCnhm_h8ZMvdSAX8-yuUoQ-Asd4/s1600/o_island-claws-dvd-80s-atomic-monster-movie-63ec.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1050" data-original-width="750" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoATenBXxwYwrLPgFYVGpjN4LbuRp-pdo5zcqrlP5e73uDJSJdsG6yM1VPHIrubd6zX3OnoxN9WSmD8NNuJqnYKxETEvrblfwhgMa1mcywt-MNF5kIuCnhm_h8ZMvdSAX8-yuUoQ-Asd4/s640/o_island-claws-dvd-80s-atomic-monster-movie-63ec.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Island Claws</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director: </b>Hernan
Cardenas</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released: </b>1980</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Robert
Lansing, Steve Hanks, Nita Talbot, Jo McDonnell, Martina Deignan,
Barry Nelson, Tony Rigo, Raymond Forchion, Dick Callinan, Dolores
Sandoz, Frank Schuller, Mal Jones</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> When a leak at
a Florida power plant dumps several thousand tons of toxic waste into
the ocean it causes the local crab population to suddenly start
growing to monsterious size and start moving in on the local
population of a nearby fishing village.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> The sole
film from director Hernan Cardenas while also written by Ricou
Browning and Jack Cowden who also created “Flipper” making their
move into writing a movie about killer giant crabs a perfectly
logical one. This late entry in the animals run amok genre doesn’t
exactly bring anything new to the genre outside of the fact that its
about giant crabs which compared to the numerous shark movies out
there is certainly one of the lesser seen creatures of terror. I mean
even ants to my knowledge have clocked up more movies than our
crustacean pals have but stumbling across this on Amazon Prime who
recently have become almost shameless with the kind of movies they
choose to stock their on demand library with I thought it was an
interesting enough concept to check it out.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Opening to a
research lab were they are conducting experiments in increasing the
size of crabs using warm water and growth hormones as a warm to help
increase the world’s food supplies, especially when they discover
that the local crab population near the power plant have been growing
bigger which of course is nothing to do with the fact that a few tons
of toxic waste have been dumped in their part of the ocean which
anyone up to speed on their movie logic will know already that movie
radiation equals giant monsters compared to real life were it sadly
this is never the case. It’s here though that we are introduced to
journalist Jan (McDonnell) who is writing a story on the lab only to
soon also get involved with scientist Pete (Hanks).</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Elsewhere bar owner
Moody attempts to keep the small town together by acting as their
unofficial head as he keeps the peace amongst the locals usually by
keeping them boozed up in his bar while he also acts as Pete’s
adopted father after his parents were killed in a drink driving
accident caused by Jan’s father who also runs the power station
responsible for all the giant crabs. There is a small part which
hints at bad blood between the two fathers but is as dropped as
quickly as its introduced like so many of the sub-plots in the film
which includes a group of Haitian refugees who wash up on the
outskirts of town and hide out in the mangroves and whose sole reason
for their inclusion seems to be so that Cardenas could work in an
angry mob who thanks to some old school racist tendency believe that
the Hiatians are to blame for all the strange happenings in town
which they equate to voodoo reminding us once more that there are few
things as dangerous as a group of drunks with an idea.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The crab attack are
sadly pretty sparse here and for the most part involve actors working
with a swarm of real crabs which are actually used pretty effectivly
especially during one of the scenes highlights when they swarm the
school bus which one of the locals Amos lives in with his attempts to
battle the invading crabs showing us that the banjo is as little use
as a weapon as it is an actual instrument.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The climax of the
film though see’s the towns folk battling an 8 foot crab which
somehow has managed to remain hidden until it suddenly destroys
Moody’s house. Created by Glen Robinson who’d previously worked
on effects for “King Kong” (1976) and “Flash Gordon which far
exceeds the expectations of the films low budget especially when he
built a complete crab and not just the front portion which you’d
expect. While still an impressive looking design it sadly lacks any
real movement meaning the actors are forced to run around a lot
shooting at it with shotguns and generally trying to sell it as being
more of a threat than it really is and perhaps Cardenas might have
been better just sticking with his initial crab swarm.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The downside to the
film other than the occasionally plodding plot threads certainly
comes from the lack of lighting during the night sequences which
really make it hard to see what exactly is supposed to be happening
half the time, which one of the attack scenes is for the most part
impossible to make out meaning that it lost much of its effect.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On the whole its not
a bad film just not the sort of film that your likely to watch more
than once and even then its throwaway entertainment at best
especially if your a fan of the genre.</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-27164849582227980822018-03-04T14:08:00.000-08:002018-03-04T14:08:22.095-08:00American Ninja<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-kncknCa2D9F221dESdH7g8SdT6fm4aYK-TfBWdTJlPdY9Gn_AaqnG03auGkTqvU5ffvkFbfhTfeYHYMK4-bYsH5Eu0Lae3Uon2w7I7AOmUHXZQ21KIBd-dgOxWCTAypv3Fuqi6jgGQ/s1600/MPW-52609.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="758" data-original-width="500" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy-kncknCa2D9F221dESdH7g8SdT6fm4aYK-TfBWdTJlPdY9Gn_AaqnG03auGkTqvU5ffvkFbfhTfeYHYMK4-bYsH5Eu0Lae3Uon2w7I7AOmUHXZQ21KIBd-dgOxWCTAypv3Fuqi6jgGQ/s640/MPW-52609.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> American
Ninja</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Sam
Firstenberg</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 1985</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Michael
Dudikoff, Steve James, Judie Aronson, Guich Koock, John Fujioka, Don
Stewart, John LaMotta, Tadashi Yamashita, Phil Brock, David Vlok</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Joe Armstrong
(Dudikoff) a drifter conscripted into the U.S. Army to avoid going to
prison finds himself drawing on his ninjutsu training when his unit
are caught up in a plot to steal weapons from the army being carried
out by the Black Star Order of Ninjas.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> A standout
title for Cannon films which would inturn spawn a further four sequels as here
they once more attempt to cash in on the Ninja trend which itself was
less focused on any kind of historical accuracy and instead more
focused on the look of the Ninja outfit and general excuse to wheel
out all kinds of fun gadgets and weapons.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here Michael
Dudikoff plays Joe a loner who has been trained in the ways of
Ninjutsu from birth which certainly comes in handy when he’s
required to pulls out these skills throughout the film and despite
not being a trained martial artist tapped into the James Dean vibe
that Cannon films wanted after audiences struggled to get on board
with the idea of a female ninja in the equally cult “Ninja 3: The
Domination”. Certainly Dudikoff nails that James Dean persona of
the loner with a chip on their shoulder but then here Dudikoff is far
from the most expressive of actors and for some reason seems to have
the same expression throughout. Even at the end were he is the hero
surveying the smouldering remains of the battlefield does he not
crack a smile and instead maintains the same gruff expression.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Thankfully what he
might lack in expressions he does make up for in terms of his
abilities as an action star even though he didn’t have any martial
arts skills at the time of filming unlike his co-star Steve James
which turned into something of an issue between the two with Dudikoff
not wanting to be shown up with James requesting that his fight
scenes be filmed on the opposite side of the compound to Dudikoff to
avoid further problems. The pair would eventually squash their issues
halfway through the production but watching the film you could easily
believe that Dudikoff was a trained martial artist especially when
you look at scenes like the sparing session between Dudikoff and
James. James though makes for a great co-star and much more than a
sidekick which is character had originally been written as and thanks
to James changing a lot of the dialogue which was one of the main
conditions of him agreeing to do the film and certainly it makes him
much more of his own heroic character especially during the final
showdown were he gets to fight his own battle.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The action
throughout while perhaps lacking in any kind of logic especially when
you get multicoloured ninja’s but it still manages to be enjoyable
as a popcorn action flick and with it’s high bodycount and
especially during the finale which features a ninja vs ninja showdown
between Dudikoff and the head ninja played by Tadashi Yamashita in a
fight which is a mixture of the pair trading Ninja gadgets (which
include wrist lasers!!) while simultaneously engaging in an obstacle
course. Needless to say this film more than delivers in mindless fun.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Perhaps having some
kind of expectation going into this film, seeing how its an American
Ninja movie perhaps made me view this in a more forgiving light, but
when approached with the view point of just having fun with the movie
it certainly delivers while the tight runtime which dedicates a large
portion to action scenes equally helps and really makes me keen to
see what else the series has to offer.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-81309914693318729612018-02-26T07:26:00.000-08:002018-02-26T07:26:56.159-08:00Pedicab Driver<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7hm8h_enIDYX7X3ysbL5dpEvEW1dtNX4Fozi4H9VIA9wqukSKdvIhqzpr1kN8ttePdSPI_9bPQqMI1DiJEg5JHLgEXSdfeFVWnqWM-voGXcujcegc-UfiEpAklZ0B2ib4IbG4GMwB4o/s1600/b5-pedicab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="317" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy7hm8h_enIDYX7X3ysbL5dpEvEW1dtNX4Fozi4H9VIA9wqukSKdvIhqzpr1kN8ttePdSPI_9bPQqMI1DiJEg5JHLgEXSdfeFVWnqWM-voGXcujcegc-UfiEpAklZ0B2ib4IbG4GMwB4o/s640/b5-pedicab.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Pedicab
Driver</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director: </b>Sammo Hung</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 1989</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Sammo
Hung, Max Mok, Nina Li Chi, Fennie Yuen, Suen Yuet, John Sham, Billy
Chow, Lau Kar-Leung, Sun Yueh</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Lo Tung (Hung)
and his friend Malted Candy (Mok) are pedicab drivers working in
1930’s Macao while hoping to win the hearts of their respective
love interests which soon leads them into unwanted attention from the
local gangster Master 5 (Sham)</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> When I cast
my mind back to the early titles which first got me into Martial Arts
cinema there are the obvious classics like Jackie Chan’s “Police
Story” and Bruce Lee’s “Enter The Dragon” but it was this
film which first introduced me to the unlikely superstar Sammo Hung
who despite being on first appearances looking like a parody of the
traditional kung fu hero with his portly physique but as he proves
throughout this film (not to mention his extensive career) he is more
than capable of putting together some jaw dropping action scenes
which is perhaps one of the reasons this film is held in such high
regard by fans of Martial Arts cinema.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Blending comedic
slapstick with hard hitting action scenes right from the start as Lo
Tung and his friends engage in a tea house brawl with a group of
rival pedicab drivers which includes light tubes being branded like
lightsabers, while the number of people involved in this opening
brawl is quite staggering when you look at how well choreographed the
sequence is and only added to further by the brief appearance by Eric
Tsang as the cleaver welding restaurant owner.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While the film
certainly has it’s comedic elements largely provided by Hung as he
battles the lecherous old baker Fang (Yueh) for the affections of
Ping (Chi) who works for his aunts bakery. This plot line is perhaps
played with alittle too much Benny Hill style humour which does make
Ping suddenly falling for Lo Tung more than a little surprising
especially when she doesn’t seem to really care for him. The darker
elements however come with Malted Candy’s pursuit of Hsiao-Tsui
(Yuen) who he doesn’t realise is also a prostitute owned by the
gangster Master 5.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Considering how
light hearted the film is in the first half its actually quite a
shocking switch in tone that the film suddenly takes when it comes to
Malted Candy’s romance, which at one point see’s him and his
friends throwing drinks at her and generally treating her as being
below them, even though she only became a prostitute to pay her sick
father’s medical bills and now is trying to buy out her contract.
Certainly on the first watch its a jaring shift in tone which does
take you out of the film, especially considering how until this point
the film has been playing things in a comedic slant.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As problematic as
the plotting for the film might be the real draw is the action
sequences which unquestionably more than deliver here. For those of
you have never seen a Sammo Hung movie this more than showcases his
talent with not one but three standout fight sequences for him as the
first see’s him battling with poles the head of a gambling house
played by another legend Lau Kar-leung who despite being setup for a
return in the finale bizarrely never returns. We also get to see him
battling Master 5 and his knife welding goons in the finale which
also shows him demonstrating his usual surprisingly limber move set
which is still jaw dropping to watch and worth watching the film for
alone.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For some bizarre
reason this film is notoriously difficult to find and only further
argues the point for hanging onto so many of my VHS tapes, though
why this film has not been given a better release is really quite
baffling, especially when so many fans proclaim it as a high point in
his career. True it might suffer from some sudden shifts in tone and
questionable plotting but the action scenes alone make this one worth
taking the effort to hunt down.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-44294100877417880752018-02-23T07:21:00.002-08:002018-02-23T07:21:28.109-08:00Island of Death<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://klling.wordpress.com/ultimate-70s-blogathon/"><img alt="https://klling.wordpress.com/ultimate-70s-blogathon/" border="0" data-original-height="315" data-original-width="560" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkMtcgv_LnANJSrvzPpQGBjihwH0UEPJhSHMb_HyexcTHoLxMQOABaOL3sX-MJ2AUC20WYEjnPDP7U1yUCP7_7cV_SqM1lX0DmW-cVRWTFuJOfB_54HJRmU0NgBFYX06V5SBaF2uzr6s/s320/ultimate70sbanner.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rAUZyZGE_6FmEWJT9_p6i024CWzyAqAKIjLiYwqkY7edBD3G3qnCroMH6CsNkLzK6BcVNbTrYFhjVoc-YDD0gqQl1YqGu4EWUIw4p3hg6d7PstyT7uZ1OWYVjrQYXUD3y9jSBPl9I28/s1600/IslandOfDeath-DVDArt.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" height="640" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5680910608251365938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6rAUZyZGE_6FmEWJT9_p6i024CWzyAqAKIjLiYwqkY7edBD3G3qnCroMH6CsNkLzK6BcVNbTrYFhjVoc-YDD0gqQl1YqGu4EWUIw4p3hg6d7PstyT7uZ1OWYVjrQYXUD3y9jSBPl9I28/s640/IslandOfDeath-DVDArt.jpg" style="height: 500px; width: 400px;" width="400" /></a><br />
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<div>
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<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> Island of Death<br />
<b>Director:</b> Nico Mastorakis<br />
<b>Released:</b> 1977<br />
<b>Staring:</b> Robert Behling, Jane Lyle, Jessica Dublin, Gerald Gonalons, Jannice McConnell, Nikos Tsachiridis<br />
<br />
<b>Plot:</b>
Christopher (Behling) and Celia (Lyle) are enjoying a break on a small
Greek island, while pursuing their favourite pastimes, which
unfortunately for the locals are sex and violence, meanwhile Inspector
Foster (Gonalons) is hot on their heels.<br />
<br />
<b>Review:</b>
Probably the least well known of the video nasty list, yet arguably the
most notorious seeing how it only got taken off the list here in the UK
last year, still good things come to those who wait which this film
might be anything but, but still I think it’s easy to say that this is
possibly one of the most explicit movies to have made the list,
especially as it is essentially a constant stream of soft core porn,
nudity and violence, with only the most paper thin of plots to string
the scenes together, which is hardly surprising when Director Mastorakis
seemingly had two goals when he set out to make the movie and that was
to first make himself as much money as possible, while the second was to
make the most violent and perverse film possible after after being
inspired by “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, well more specifically
he was inspired when he found out just how much money Tobe Hooper was
making from it.<br />
<br />
Opening with Christopher buried up to his waist
in what will later be revealed to be a pit of lime while Celia watches
and laughs mockingly we get our first taste of Christopher’s travel
documentary esq voice over which continues to appear randomly through
the film as the film now cuts back to a few days earlier as Christopher
and Celia arrive on the unnamed small Greek island looking like any
normal happy couple. Needless to say we are just about fifteen minutes
before they are having sex in a phone box while he phones their
mother…..yes that’s right they are also brother and sister (though
confusingly at times she is also referred to as being his cousin) and
really don’t seem to care much about the incestuous nature of their
relationship. So after that surprising opening, you would think that
Mastorakis might have blown his load early, until Christopher having had
his attempts at getting some morning fun rejected instead relives his
frustration with a passing goat before graphically killing it in what is
unsurprisingly the most talked about moment in the film.<br />
<br />
This
murderous duo are almost polar opposites to each other when it comes to
thier motives, with Christopher murderous tendencies being drawn from
his own twisted religious beliefs, making him prone to ranting about his
role as the angel of purification and how his victims have sinned as he
kills, while these zealot esq beliefs of course makes the residents of
the island prime targets for his campaign to purify them of their sins,
especially when everyone is prone to spontaneous nudity and so sexually
open. Celia meanwhile plays things like his trusted accomplice though
seemingly minus Christopher’s religious rants, as she sets up the
majority of the murders, as Christopher voyeuristically enjoys watching
her having sex and frantically photographing her in action, which
seemingly seems to be the only cure for his own impotence, especially
when each of the murders are usually followed by frantic sex between him
and Celia and more frantic photography of their handiwork.<br />
<br />
There
is barely a moment wasted here which is not being filled with death,
gore or sex or some amalgamation of the three, with the sound of a
camera shutter between each scene, creating almost an unintentional
feeling that each scene is like a little violent and nasty short, a
feeling only further reinforced by the beyond minimal plotting on offer
here, which is pretty much abandoned by the final quarter as we lead up
to the moments were we first joined the murderous duo, though don’t
expect anything to be any clearer by the time we get to were we first
started the film, as Mastorakis instead leaps even further into the
randomness void of pure cinematic insanity which has Celia making the
nasty (literally in this case) with a inbred looking famer, after he
beats up and farts (yes you read that right) on Christopher which is
around the same point that you realise that Mastorakis really doesn’t
care anymore, let alone has any idea how to end the movie.<br />
<br />
The
death scenes are all explicit and filmed with an almost voyeuristic
glee, as Mastorakis unleashes a variety of interesting deaths from the
traditional stalk and slash, to the slightly more creative such as a
bulldozer blade and memorably using an aeroplane wing to hang one of
their victims during flight. Still none of these are shot with any sense
of fun are largely just gratuitous violence and gore, which frequently
makes for uncomfortable viewing.<br />
<br />
“Island of Death” is another key
example of a film which made the Video nasty list and which no doubt
otherwise would have long since been forgotten like so many of the
titles on the list and furthering the belief that the list did more harm
than anything regarding protecting the movie going public from these
kinds of movies, instead providing exploitation fans and gore hounds
with a shopping list of titles to hunt down. Needless to say you can go
through life having not seen this film and be all the better, especially
as you won’t have wasted an hour and half of your life on this film,
which left me with the same feeling I had after watching “The Human
Centipede” an equally ghastly experience, which equally was all shocks
over substance and like this film also soon realised that it has nowhere
to go and no matter how low you sink the moral standard it still
doesn’t make up for the serious lack of plotting and as such, I would
recommend this only for video nasty completists and celluloid curiosity
seekers only.</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-68647661475109577832018-02-07T13:39:00.001-08:002018-02-07T13:39:20.772-08:00Brawl In Cell Block 99<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2eCPiRi7RFeWRA7QB663dQF5g7K1jpntq3sJZS6eccT5GcQzuBQ6kWSmeNa4RvKG2_WS9K-6vKz5cIB3kcWJQFVEbqOlGo-Yu11LpSVwYP0K8K82hSzQRmJM4qG2ZK8u_QQIG_7GntU/s1600/Brawl-in-Cell-Block-99-UK-Poster-560x815.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="815" data-original-width="400" height="560" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjo2eCPiRi7RFeWRA7QB663dQF5g7K1jpntq3sJZS6eccT5GcQzuBQ6kWSmeNa4RvKG2_WS9K-6vKz5cIB3kcWJQFVEbqOlGo-Yu11LpSVwYP0K8K82hSzQRmJM4qG2ZK8u_QQIG_7GntU/s640/Brawl-in-Cell-Block-99-UK-Poster-560x815.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Brawl In Cell Block
99</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> S. Craig
Zahler</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2017</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Vince
Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson, Udo Kier, Marc Blucas, Tom
Guiry</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Bradley Thomas
(Vaughn) a former boxer and drug mule finds himself drawn back into
his old life when he is laid off from his job at an auto-repair
company. However when a pick up gets botched he finds himself
imprisioned and with a debt to repay to his former employer Eleazer
(Mucciacito) who has now kidnapped Bradley’s wife Lauren
(Carpenter). Now Bradley has to assassinate a fellow inmate being
held in a maximum security facility.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/4XnCP5ggpbI/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4XnCP5ggpbI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> Perhaps if
Tarantino had not been on his own kick to revitalise the Western
genre with “Django Unchained” and “The Hateful Eight” we
would perhaps see director S. Craig Zahler in much more of a
mainstream light especially with his own take on the Western with
“Bone Tomahawk” memorably bringing cannibals to the wild
west while somehow managing to combine intelligent plotting with jaw
dropping violence and now with this film he attempts to do the same for
the prison drama.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Continuing the
recent move into more serious fare for Vince Vaughn following his
memorable turn on the largely forgettable second season of “True
Detective”. Here Vaughn is very much the velvet glove inside the
steel fist as he plays the hard hitting Bradley who thinks little of
the brutal damage he inflicts on those who stand in his way and this
is after we’ve seen him dismantle his wife’s car with his bare
hands after he discovers that she has been cheating on him. At the
same time he’s not just some mindless psychotic thug with his soft
spoken and straight to the point attitude while frequently insisting
he’s called Bradley and not Brad which makes him a very much a
different sort of character than you would expect, especially
considering the journey that we follow him on as he has to get from
his initial imprisonment at a medium security facility to the maximum
security facility of Redleaf by essentially beating the living hell
out of anyone he can.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On equally strong
form are the supporting cast which see’s Udo Kier as the go between
from Bradley’s former employee and whose dark threats regarding the
fate of Bradley’s wife in perticular the fate of their unborn
child which hints at the violence to come. Don Johnson is on equally
great form as Warden Tuggs who also uses the threat of violence and
the generally dire conditions of his prison and much like Bradley
plays against type as he constantly retains an air of cool, even when
the situation around him is getting increasingly out of control never
giving us the balistic meltdown we expect him to be building towards.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Despite the premise
this is far from he all out action fest that you might expect. Yes
there is certainly a lot of action here with some incredibly shot and
wide framed brawls really making the most of Vaughn’s boxing
training he undertook for the role but much like with “Bone
Tomahawk” Zahler teases out these moments, spending the first hour
establishing his characters and the botched drug deal which leads to
Bradley being incarcerated but its never boring especially with
Zahler showing the same kind of flair for dialogue as he has for
violence
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Shot with an
intentional grindhouse eye for violence here it’s most jarringly
cartoonist in how its approached with arms being broken and noses
blooded it only gets worse when Bradley finally reaches the titular
cell block 99 located in the depths of Redleaf and were order is
maintained through the use of shock belts and less than humane
treatment of the inmates considered problematic to be sent down
there. Unquestionably these moments are cringe inducing and even
slightly nauseating in places thanks to the fantastic sound design
which really makes you feel the full impact of these moment. However
compared to the superhero style of action and quick cuts its almost
refreshing to see how Zahler holds back and just shoots the action
almost from the view point of the onlooker. Yes Bradley might be
overpowered in the damage he’s able to inflict with no real
explanation as to how he’s able to achieve some of these almost
superhuman acts of violence.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As of now Zahler
might be one of the few directors alongside Richard Kelly, The Soska
Sisters or Quentin Tarantino who I’m excited to see what they do
next which at the time of writing is the equally evocatively titled
“Dragged Across the Concrete” which will see him taking on the
police procedural which after seeing his first team films has me only
the more excited to see what other dark delights are yet to come.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-87066618240840733692018-02-02T06:37:00.001-08:002018-02-02T06:37:31.238-08:00My Wife Is A Gangster<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1x7hr9HF1E9U8pM3MGpuhyphenhyphen9-JE1Rt2vbzskTSYnsDsAYmaCx-QoSR7wQUVSKvPY3eOd4FMczIbctVjU5d4v-EKJ1zrNMUzI4cP-_CBv_4XA0JVckcApb0tTnZ12OmE7E7fuBpHMBGK8/s1600/my-wife-is-a-gangster-movie-poster-2001-1020431052.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="400" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi1x7hr9HF1E9U8pM3MGpuhyphenhyphen9-JE1Rt2vbzskTSYnsDsAYmaCx-QoSR7wQUVSKvPY3eOd4FMczIbctVjU5d4v-EKJ1zrNMUzI4cP-_CBv_4XA0JVckcApb0tTnZ12OmE7E7fuBpHMBGK8/s640/my-wife-is-a-gangster-movie-poster-2001-1020431052.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Title: </b>My Wife
Is A Gangster</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Director: </b>Jo
Jin-Kyu</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Released: </b>2001</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Starring: </b>Eun-Kyung
Shin, Ahn Jae-mo, Park Sang-myn, Kim In-kwon, Jang Se-jin, Yeon Jung-hoon, Lee
Eung-kyung, Kim In-mun, Gye-nam Myseong, Shin Shin-Ae</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Plot:</b> Eun-jin
is a high ranking gangster in the Korean Mafia who suddenly finds herself being
forced to find a husband to forfill the wishes of her dying sister who much
like Eun-jin’s new husband has no idea of her ties to the criminal underworld.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/N6o2htGEB4Q/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N6o2htGEB4Q?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Review: </b>The
first film in a trilogy, this action comedy is something of a double edged
sword as here we get solid action sequences alongside the comedic attempts of
Eun-jin to play both a wife and continue her role as a crime boss. Now this is
not exactly the most original of plots especially as there have been a slew of
comedies based around one party trying to hide their actions from their
significant other, much less ones based around a character having to act
against their general personality. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Opening to a rain drenched fight between two rival
gangster clans we are introduced to Eun-jin or more her legend as Mantis who
easily dispatches her gangster foes using her preferred weapon of choice can be
best described as a pair of scissor blades.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Of course even without her unleashing bladed death Eun-Kyung Shin has
just as much of an intimidating presence when she’s just drinking tea and reading
the newspaper with Director Jo Jin-kyu thankfully playing things largely subtle
as he prefers instead to play up her tough and largely cold persona which
needless to say makes her attempts at finding her softer side only the more
amusing. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Predictably a lot of the humor is derived from Eun-jinn
attempting to play the dating game and find her softer side, initially though
some interesting advice from the make up artist that her henchmen find to help
her find a more feminine side to her look. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a chance encounter though that she meets
future Kang Soo-il (Park Sang-myn) who is astonishingly clueless about his wife’s
criminal activities not to mention extremely accepting of her cold demeanor as
any attempts her make to romance her usually end with him being kicked
comedically across the room. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Adding to the comedic element are her loyal henchmen who
are drawn into the attempts to find her a husband while at the same time mainly
relying on the resources open to them as seen by them filling up the church
with hostesses from their karaoke bars and fellow mobsters. Thrown into the mix
is the cousin of her henchman, who fresh from the country has big ideas about
being a mobster but zero clue of how he’s supposed to conduct himself let alone
the fact that his preferred weapon of choice is a the shin bone from a horse
really speaks volumes about him while at the same time largely being played for
laughs.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
Were the comedy tends to fail or perhaps just gets lost
in translation are usually with the scenes between Eun-jin and Kang Soo-il with
him trying to undress her while she is asleep or her suddenly being tasked with
having a baby taking to essentially raping him as she forces him to continually
have sex with her in her attempts to get pregnant. Thankfully the comedy and
action of other scenes make up for these awkward moments which make it easier
to stomach.</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
In a Jackie Chan vein the action sequences blend
perfectly alongside the comedic moments with Eun-Kyung Shin showcasing some
incredible fighting ability, while the variety of these set pieces choreographed
by Kim Won-jin <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>which include a knife
fight in a field being shot almost like a showdown between two samurai and a
warehouse gang fight really giving the kind of action I wasn’t expecting from
such a largely comedic film. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
An entertaining watch if for a few tricky comedic moments,
the blending of styles works perfectly here while ending on a sequence which
had me eager to check out the sequel.</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-43547513944615191322018-01-23T05:21:00.002-08:002018-01-23T05:21:25.519-08:00Atomic Blonde<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvml9bE3S_77zvQF9rD7d2ejJac1QQLfFaL5aIg8ARxt1QPxlBCWI5hkC0pW7UTWDIt_1J3yNlmG-FlRM6cd-w4ng4F_EG_whQCGmhMG78vJWM2oSiHjUEhbrTqLyXmcoPg_2NA7PoAR0/s1600/large_kV9R5h0Yct1kR8Hf8sJ1nX0Vz4x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvml9bE3S_77zvQF9rD7d2ejJac1QQLfFaL5aIg8ARxt1QPxlBCWI5hkC0pW7UTWDIt_1J3yNlmG-FlRM6cd-w4ng4F_EG_whQCGmhMG78vJWM2oSiHjUEhbrTqLyXmcoPg_2NA7PoAR0/s640/large_kV9R5h0Yct1kR8Hf8sJ1nX0Vz4x.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Title: </b>Atomic
Blonde</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Director: </b>David
Leitch</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Released: </b>2017</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Starring: </b>Charlize
Theron, James McAvoy, John Goodman, Til Schweiger, Eddie Marsan, Sofia
Boutella, Toby Jones, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roland_M%C3%B8ller" title="Roland Møller"><span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Roland Møller</span></a>, <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Jóhannes
Jóhannesson</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></b><br />
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Plot:</b> It's 1989 and
days before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, MI6 agent Lorraine Broughton is dispatched to recover a microfilm that contains the details of every intelligence agent on both sides of the Cold War active in Berlin, only to soon
discover that she’s not the only one who wants to find it.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/yIUube1pSC0/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/yIUube1pSC0?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Review: </b>I’m
frequently surprised by what films are adapted from graphic novels with “Road
to Perdition” and “A History of Violence” being prime examples and this is
certainly the case for this film which is adapted from “The Coldest City” by
Antony Johnston which has since the release of the film been renamed “Atomic
Blonde” to strengthen the connection to the film. </div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNoSpacing">
While the idea of Charlize Theron being an action star
might seem like a new direction for her career following on from show stealing
turn as Furiosa in “Mad Mad: Fury Road” but at the same time it could be argued
that she’s had this edge to her career since turning up in the problematic yet surprisingly not terrible remake of “The Italian Job” or “Promethus” were she’s
seen doing push ups when she leaves her cryo-pod while her fellow crew mates
are too busy throwing up. Needless to say much like Linda Hamilton she really
is the hidden gem of an action heroine as she certainly proves here as she
teams up with Director David Leitch who here minus his “John Wick” co-director
Chad Stahelski is clearly attempting to continue in his efforts to re-invent
the modern action movie. </div>
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While it might be sold on the premise of being a female
John Wick a moniker that is almost as cringe-worthy and lazy as Hayao Miyazaki
being refered to as the “Disney of Japan”. Sadly this really is not we ultimately end up getting here despite Theron efforts to really deliver
something special and to her credit she really is one of the few remarkable
things about this film, more so when her performance was the only thing I
really wanted to save while the rest of the film just left me wanting to just
tear it down to the studs and start over. </div>
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For Theron this film is something of a passion project
and from her performance it’s certainly clear with her training for the film
which saw Theron not only cracking two teeth but also sparring with Keanu
Reeves who at the time was also gearing up for “John Wick 2”. When you see them
results of her hard work on screen you really have to commend her hard work
especially when it adds a sense of realism to her performance. More so when it
comes to the action scenes which much like “John Wick” certainly have a kinetic
flow to them as well as a touch of realism as her character is frequently
beaten up and blooded from each encounter while being shown taken ice baths to
deal with the injuries so that she can drag herself through to the completion
of her mission. If anything it was these action scenes that I wanted to revisit
more than the confusing plotting surround them. </div>
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The idea of setting the film during the cold war might
seem refreshing it really doesn’t give the film much outside of providing a significant
event to set the finale against. More so when going into the film I had no idea
that it was even supposed to be set in the late 80’s instead believing that I
was going to be watching Theron kicking ass in a post Soviet Russia especially
seeing the random ass get up of fellow agent David Percival played here by an underwhelming
James McAvoy who I ended up wishing they’d cut from the film or better still
just have Joaquin Phoenix reprise his performance from “Buffalo Soldiers” whose
character is what Percival essentially is once you remove the spy antics. Sadly
due to his significance to the plot we are lumbered with him. </div>
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Elsewhere we get do get smaller and more effective performances
from Toby Jones who plays Theron’s MI6 superior and much like John Goodman who
plays his CIA counterpart is someone I never really tire of showing up in
surprising places like this, but here he is really one of the few performances
that I wanted to see more of here. </div>
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Ultimately the downfall of the film can be found in the
plotting which packed with double agents and the inevitable double and dare we
say triple crosses end up turning into a confused mess as the relevance of
certain characters becomes all the more questionable the more twists that are
added while others such as Sofia Boutella’s French agent Delphine are given
things to justify their presence in the story which in the case of Delphine
seems mainly to provide an unrequited lesbian sex scene between her and Theron
which like so much of the padding here added nothing to the story bar some
brief titillation, even though the film makers have been quick to defend her
role as being a way to humanize Theron’s character despite the fact we are
shown numerous shots of her pining for her lover and fellow agent we see being
killed at the start of the film. </div>
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Soundtrack wise it’s as predictable as to be expected as
the usual 80’s pop hits are dusted off because seemingly we can’t have any
mention of the cold war without Kaleida’s “99 Luftballons” working its way in
there while George Michael’s “Father Figure” just feels miss placed.. We do get
a couple of highlights in David Bowie’s “Cat People (Putting out fire)” being
used to the same effect it was in “Inglorious Bastards” with our female ass
kicker putting on her make up while “London Calling” by the Clash works equally
well. </div>
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Ultimately this is a forgettable spy thriller with some
memorable action scenes which much like Theron’s performance will no doubt be
one of the few things you remember about it when it’s over. Certainly this is a
character I would see developed or dispatched on a less confused plot as this
was far from the introduction it deserved. </div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-1791713653767803372018-01-19T08:48:00.000-08:002018-01-19T08:48:11.393-08:00Heavy Metal<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaO1AbQdGsUa88IaaZRTg0-Sfe1Wu7IkSaosSely3fKnS2jpjUmA_wtKafxfRpYzDdOsh4BZcsBmT-D_4KclL4cYagk9mZCIfeXZ-mlb0IapV3bX1DcpMlKgG4B5TMXUbrmRkhLMo92FE/s1600/tumblr_static_filename_640_v2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="400" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaO1AbQdGsUa88IaaZRTg0-Sfe1Wu7IkSaosSely3fKnS2jpjUmA_wtKafxfRpYzDdOsh4BZcsBmT-D_4KclL4cYagk9mZCIfeXZ-mlb0IapV3bX1DcpMlKgG4B5TMXUbrmRkhLMo92FE/s640/tumblr_static_filename_640_v2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Heavy Metal</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Gerald
Potterton</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 1981</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Rodger
Bumpass, John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy, Alice Playten, Harold
Ramis, Percy Rodriguez, Richard Romanus, John Vernon</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> An anthology
of tales adapted from the pages of the mature comic book “Heavy
Metal”<br />
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<b>Review:</b> For those
not familiar with the mature comic “Heavy Metal” it's no doubt a publication best known for its focus on
fantasy and sci-fi stories which are presented with a healthy dose of
nudity, violence, drugs and erotica. It’s also a comic which
interestingly is also owned by Kevin Eastman who lets not forget was
also responsible for giving the world the “Teenage Mutant Ninja
Turtles”.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
The film itself is a bumper collection of nine tales tied together by a mysterious green orb called the Loc-Nar
which also describes itself as “the sum of all evils” and as we soon
discover has been responsible for influencing societies throughout
time and space while usually bringing misfortune to those who
encounter it. Each story has its own distinctive style from the “Sin
City” style noir of the opening story “Harry Canyon” through to
the ultra violent barbarian fantasies of “Den” and “Taarna”
which makes it an easy film to get into especially as if you don’t
like one story its not long till you move onto a new one.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Directed by Gerald
Potterton who is no doubt best known for his work as an animator on
arguably the best Beatles movie “Yellow Submarine” here his style
is just as experimental incorporating elements of rotoscoping aswell
as a distinctive hand drawn animated style which brings to mind the
work of Ralph Bakshi. More so when characters frequently can be found
engaging in some form of bad or deviant including (but certainly not
limited to) a pair of alien pilots snorting mile long lines of coke
off the floor of their spaceship.
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While the animation
style might look a little more dated there is still unquestionably a
charm to this hand drawn style of animation and it perfectly suits
the stories being told much like the voice cast who might be
surprising to see attached to this film and no doubt the result of
Ivan Reitman being attached as the producer, but they all really play
their roles well with John Candy’s voice work in particular really
left me wishing that he had done more voice work as here he really
shows a talent for it.</div>
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Adding to the action
is a classic rock soundtrack which thankfully forgoes the usual
obvious choices and instead gives us lesser known tracks from the
likes of Cheap Trick, Grand Funk Railroad and Sammy Hagar which
really is the kind of soundtrack you want when you open your film
with a Corvette being driven out of a spaceship and landing on Earth
by it’s astronaut driver (or should that be pilot). Still
regardless of the setting of each story the soundtrack somehow works
well with the onscreen action, though frustratingly one of the
stories being cut due to production delays meant that we lost “Time”
by Pink Floyd from the soundtrack.</div>
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It’s true that due
to the voyeuristic style throughout the film which much like its
source material is not something that will suit all tastes, but if
you liked the brash style of “Sin City” you will no doubt find
this film very much its kindred spirit. Yes it’s rude, foul mouthed
and seemingly devoid of even the most base morals but at the same
time it’s so much fun that it’s hard to draw too much of an issue
with it’s frequently outlandish world view and for fans of adult
animation, especially those who came up through the anime boom of the
late 80’s and early 90’s will no doubt get a kick out this one.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-30821660820929166142018-01-14T01:10:00.002-08:002018-01-14T01:10:40.631-08:00Boxset Binge #9 - The End of the F***ing World<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1AYdYmatGwPkonS5AA4Wg5xGw6l0lFeAYjePslorNmiVrbkp_gvTKggf9xzhrWP7SdqlNu2I7sKFGr_rEdvr9-qp8GM-yMiPdraGQKjzqN67TN2mQGF317azHiR-VnA8bkgZp21CrTg/s1600/TEOTFW_Vertical-Main_RGB-thumb-autox1037-190651.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1037" data-original-width="700" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk1AYdYmatGwPkonS5AA4Wg5xGw6l0lFeAYjePslorNmiVrbkp_gvTKggf9xzhrWP7SdqlNu2I7sKFGr_rEdvr9-qp8GM-yMiPdraGQKjzqN67TN2mQGF317azHiR-VnA8bkgZp21CrTg/s640/TEOTFW_Vertical-Main_RGB-thumb-autox1037-190651.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Adapted from the
indie comic series of the same name by Charles S. Forsman the series
follows 17 year old James (Alex Lawther) who believes he’s a
psychopath and fellow classmate Alyssa (Jessica Barden) who has her
own issues including a problematic home life which includes being
sexually harassed by her stepfather. Wanting to escape their problems
the pair set out on a spontaneous road trip / crime spree.
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Switching between
it’s two leads who take turn to narrate the story its clear from
the start that both James and Alyssa are outsiders. James more
obviously as he keeps to himself while observing his fellow students
as he attempts to find the perfect victim to evolve his growing
psychotic tendances which thanks to some Wes Anderson style framing (which sadly isn't carried past the pilot episode)
we see has until now been restrained to various animals. Alyssa on
the other side of things feels that she can’t connect with anyone
around her as her so called friends want to talk to each other
through text messages even when they are sitting across from each
other. Equally with her explosive temper and general Don’t give a
shit attitude especially with her mother seemingly more focused on
living her life of domestic bliss to seemingly notice anything that’s
happening with her daughter.
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Thrown together the
series initially is more focused on wether James will kill Alyssa or
not, especially as his every other thought early on seems to be
having fantasies of him killing her, but surprisingly its once the
series moves past this and focuses instead on these two lost souls
finding themselves through each other that the story really starts to
find it’s grove with the pair finding themselves soon on the run
from the law after a run in with an actual psychopath end messily.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Both Lawther and
Barden are great as the leads and really manage to make this unlikely
relationship work though the character of James does suffer from
being at times limited especially for the first half of the series
were he’s essentially limited to his psychotic fantasies and while
his character is more redeemed in the second half of the series
especially when we find out more about his troubled past. Alyssa
however remains a fun and feisty character throughout especially when
she’s seemingly unable to find any situation she can’t find
someone to fallout with or to subject to her wrath.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Outside of the pairs
Bonnie and Clyde antics, the show receives strong support from an
interesting mix of characters in particular Gemma Whelan and Wunmi
Mosaku as the detectives trying to track down James and Alyssa, while
dealing with their own relationship being strained by a misguided
advance but like everything in this series nothing should be taken on
first impressions and this is certainly the case here as well and to
watch them evolve over the course of the series only makes the world
more believable as characters are given ample time to be fleshed out
into multi-level characters rather than just being included to give a
sense of tension to James and Alyssa’s journey.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Certainly this is one of the
more unique series of last year it went largely unnoticed despite
receiving a strong advertising push. Recently though the series got
picked up by Netflix which is possibly the platform that it needs,
especially as this fast paced black comedy is still worth
discovering.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-7162727053682965152018-01-11T01:06:00.000-08:002018-01-11T01:06:07.914-08:00Elwood's Essentials #17 - The Crow<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXWiMx8_eIuMIbEFj20bDqir3nVSDfAmc-ITNsqLeTYZEndr4oSBx8K0CQ3hLQaX8Ns_ljwmjhAF-mli_RODqKpYmlgdtfvvvcN6oJzVDgisczCgjVPlaBehZAYzhEBD9WTEUSZ9kyYs/s1600/04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="745" data-original-width="500" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMXWiMx8_eIuMIbEFj20bDqir3nVSDfAmc-ITNsqLeTYZEndr4oSBx8K0CQ3hLQaX8Ns_ljwmjhAF-mli_RODqKpYmlgdtfvvvcN6oJzVDgisczCgjVPlaBehZAYzhEBD9WTEUSZ9kyYs/s640/04.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> The Crow</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Alex
Proyas</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 1994</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Brandon
Lee, Michael Wincott, Ernie Hudson, Rochekke Davis, Bai Ling, David
Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Jon Polito, Tony Todd, Sofia Shinas,
Michael Massee, Laurence Mason</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> One year after
being murdered Eric Draven (Lee) is resurrected by the power of The
Crow to extract revenge on the gang who killed him and his fiancée
Shelly (Shinas)<br />
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<b>Review:</b> An iconic
cult movie for a number of reasons especially in terms of style and design aswell as the tragic death of leading man Brandon Lee in an event echoing the death of
his own father Bruce Lee. More so when this film much like “Enter
The Dragon” is frequently seen as the film which would have finally launched
Brandon into the mainstream having previously put in memorable turns
in “Showdown In Little Tokyo” and “Rapid Fire”. Certainly
for myself it was one of those films whose VHS cover drew me in long
before I knew anything about the film or it’s tragic and highly
problematic production as I discovered it of all places in my local
(and long since defunct) record store and since that initial
discovery has remained a film I still love to go back and revisit.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Based on the equally
cult comic book by James O’Barr who had originally wrote the
story as a way of dealing with his own personal grief when his
fiancée was killed by a drunk driver, while drawing further
inspiration for the story from a newspaper article he'd read about a
young couple who were killed in Detroit for a $20 engagement ring.
At the same time it should be noted that while the source comic is
still an incredible piece of work and certainly raw emotion with its
distinctive black and white illustration it’s not a piece which
works as a straight adaption. As such instead of following the source
material’s path of unflinching violent revenge between bouts of
Eric’s emotional torment we get a more traditional revenge movie
yet one which still retains the core elements of the source material.</div>
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Proyas brings the
world certainly to life here as he paints a crime riddled vision of
Detroit were it is almost permanently night and raining, only
allowing some colour into the world once Eric gets close to
completing his quest for revenge. Proyas had though originally wanted
to shoot the film completely in black and white and only use colour
for the flashback sequences which the studio unsurprisingly wouldn’t
get behind especially for what was already a risky concept. Still
while perhaps not the vision he had intended this city of almost
permanent midnight is still an effective playground for the story to
playout in.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While he might not
have been the first choice for the role of Eric with O’Barr citing
Johnny Depp as his personal choice for the role, while River Phoenix
and Christian Slater were also seen as being up for consideration
for the part. Brandon Lee though was of course much more of an
unknown talent and no doubt better known for being the son of a
famous martial artist than his previous films, but watching the film
now and seeing how he embodies the role of Eric its hard to see
anyone else in the role and even now after numerous sequels it’s
still Lee which we see as being the definitive embodiment of the
character. What further helps Lee’s portrayal of the character are
the moments of humanity he gets throughout rather than just being a
vessel for revenge on T-Bird and his gang and while the flashbacks
might be a little too smaltzy he does manage with these brief flashes
of his former life manage to give us an idea of who he was before he
became “The Crow”.</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Considering Lee’s
background as a martial artist it might seem strange in the fact that
he doesn’t in fact get to do much bar a move here or there with the
film being much more focused on heroic gunplay. Were it does pay off
though is with his body movements and much like the casting of
dancers like Michelle Yeoh in Martial Arts movies here it equally
pays off as Eric is shown as moving with cat like movements
especially as he prowls the city roof tops in search of the gang
members on his list. The fact that he is so charismatic and hypnotic
in his performance is only an added bonus.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Opening on “Devil’s
Night” the night before Halloween were the city gangs cause acts of
vandalism and arson throughout the city, which surprisingly was
actually a thing in Detroit until the mid 90’s when it was Detroit
official's organised “Angel’s Night” were volunteer patrols
protect their neighbourhoods from arson attacks. Here though it’s
seen as a calling card for the city’s top crime boss Top Dollar
(Wincott) a minor character in the comic who here gets a promotion to
the film’s big villain which is only added to by the charismatic
Michael Wincott which might be his most iconic role to date outside
of voicing “Death” in “Darksiders 2” and as such has meant
that its always been kind of disappointing to see him frequently not
getting to play more of these kinds of roles in the films he’s made
since.
</div>
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<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Top Dollar is really
the perfect sort of villain for this Gothic vision of Detroit as he
carries himself with the right amount of theatricality, while his
half-sister / lover Myca (Ling) helps to fill in the rules for the
crow by adding the subtle element of mysticism without the action
getting too fantastical, which really isn’t the easiest thing when
your essentially dealing with a supernatural force of vengeance. At
the same time the gang responsible for murdering Eric along with his
fiancée lead by the Milton quoting arsonist T-Bird (Kelly) are all
colourful and unique in their quirks which ultimately become the
tools of their demise and really add to this “Sin City” style
world which Proyas creates here and which he would carry across to
the criminally underrated “Dark City”.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The soundtrack
throughout really makes the film a time capsule of it’s release
with Proyas compiling a suitably grungy soundtrack featuring the
likes of Stone Temple Pilots, Rage Against The Machine and the
Rollins band. Nine Inch Nails also fittingly provide a cover of the
Joy Division track “Dead Souls” tying the film further to the
source material. Proyas also features live performances by both
Medicine and My Life With The Kill Thrill Cult the later whose club
performance soundtracks the boardroom shoot-out. The only real
downside to the soundtrack is the use of “Burn” by the Cure which
is not down to the track which itself perfectly matches Eric applying
his harlequin styled face paint but rather the issues come with the
fact its a choppily edited version which really stands out if your
familiar with the track. Unsurprisingly the grunge / goth ascetic of
the film combined with the soundtrack which still holds up now saw
the film being often sold in record stores, which is certainly how I
first came across it were it was displayed amongst the VHS copies of
“REM: Road Movie” and “Nirvana Live Sold Out”.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A fantastic film
which unfortunately broke the mould so that any of the attempts to
expand the mythology through different souls either in the films
which followed or the numerous spin off comics / books none came
close to matching what Brandon Lee gives us with Eric more often than
not characters being left feeling like they were in some way
attempting to mimic his performance and or character. As such this
remains a beautiful curiosity and one which like any actor who dies
when they are just getting noticed if this would have been his
breakout film or not. Sadly we will never know but it remains a
fitting end note to go out on.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-26639259085320490572017-11-30T15:15:00.002-08:002017-11-30T15:15:25.086-08:00Tag<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAv66B2AomUb1SgVqsb8TnBTtfwZd_FmMBYxjg3PKZ_RpZr_DjqsoEfRPBP9nlTjuT1EzkCjA0AnL4jpWc7iaJJRCoLHaYN_iGHZQKkSHD6ulvThH8oS6RwZobJGu7B6vYz6aArFrEOY/s1600/AOZub4K.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="400" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAv66B2AomUb1SgVqsb8TnBTtfwZd_FmMBYxjg3PKZ_RpZr_DjqsoEfRPBP9nlTjuT1EzkCjA0AnL4jpWc7iaJJRCoLHaYN_iGHZQKkSHD6ulvThH8oS6RwZobJGu7B6vYz6aArFrEOY/s640/AOZub4K.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> Tag</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Sion Sono</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2015</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Reina
Triendl, Mariko Shinoda, Erina Mano, Yuki Sakurai, Aki Hiraoka, Ami
Tomite</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Mitsuko (Triendl) a shy
school girl finds her life thrown into chaos when she survives the
massacre of her classmates during a class field trip, which is only
the start of the weird and strange journey she now finds herself on<br />
<br />
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</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review: </b>After
delivering a one two punch with his previous releases “<a href="http://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/why-dont-you-play-in-hell.html">Why Don’t You Play In Hell</a>” and “<a href="http://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/tokyo-tribe.html">Tokyo Tribe</a>” there was certainly a level
of excitement in how director Sion Sono would follow it up, more so
when both films were so different from each other let much pretty much anything out there highlighting once
more his unique approach to film making which has unsurprisingly seen
him drawing comparisons to Takashi Miike’s outlaw period.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Opening with the
massacre of a group of school girls by an “<a href="http://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/2011/04/raimifest-evil-dead.html">Evil Dead</a>” style
ominious wind which somehow has the ability to tear coaches in half
and randomly decapitate anyone who gets in its way, with Sono perhaps
in some way trying to beat his own record for school girl he set with
the memorable subway sequence in “Suicide Club”. From this
opening though things only get progressively more weird and surreal
as Mitsuko now starts find herself moving from one bloody set piece
to the next which was certainly hinted at with the trailer and which
is certainly delivered on here and more.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Considering what
starts off a seemingly straightforward soon mutates into something
much different I will warn now <b>Spoilers ahead </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">as
Sono once here has crafted something not only unique but equally a
pain in the ass to attempt to explain which I will obviously attempt
now. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Not
content just to make another schoolgirl massacre movie, with “Tag”
he truly catches the audience off guard as </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Misuko
finds herself on a surreal journey which she constantly finds herself
suddenly being thrust into different situations which sees her one
moment running away from a high school massacre being carried out by
the heavily armed teachers to the next moment being married to a
groom with a pigs head. Some how Sono manages to pull the same trick
which David Lynch has hung the best part of his career on by managing
to somehow hold our attention for this ride even if at time you
really have no idea if Sono knows the direction is going with the
film and perhaps just making it up as he goes. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">T</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">aking
inspiration from Yusuke Yamada’s 2001 novel which sees people who
share the same surname being hunted down and which was turned into an
ambitious five movie series. Here though we are given a world
populated seemingly only by women, with the only men being the
aforementioned pig man hybrid which is certainly a departure from the
source material while retaining the theme of characters having to
continiously run to ensure their survival which really is what ties
the various characters Misuko finds herself suddenly turned into
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">while the worlds slowly
begin to blend together as the film builds to a frustratingly
disappointing final reveal.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">For
the most part its an entertaining and highly unique ride we are taken
on here with Sono walking a line between </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">often
amusingly over the top </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">grindhouse
splatter and arthouse style plotting which here somehow works as we
switch from scenes of feminist solidarity to scenes of a wedding
massacre or mass schoolgirl slaughter and perhaps because of these
constant switches the film certainly holds the audiences attention no
doubt as much as its baffling them. Still this is not a film intended
for the mainstream especially when Sono is clearly crafting a film
made of moments which intrest him and perhaps with a more cynical eye
could just been seen as three half baked projected stitched together
by with visceral imagery and sheer randomness. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Certainly
there is an attempt to build a workable multiverse theory to justify
the changes in scene of the fact that the actress playing </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Miksuko
changes with each new setting, a transition certainly made easier by
Mariko Shinoda and Erina Mano being as capable leading ladies as
Reina Triendl able to carry a sense of familiarity between the three
personas </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">while helped
further by </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">Yuki Sakurai
</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">constant guiding presence
throughout the film. </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">At the
same time to have schoolgirls justify the deep thinking of how this
world work is alittle hard to take as seriously as Sono hoped it
would, but atleast he throws in a random Gator attack to hold our
attention.</span></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">While
this might not be his best film to date, there is certainly enough to
keep things entertaining while its tight run time only helps it
further. However if this is your first experience with Sono’s work
you might want to check out the likes of “<a href="http://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/tokyo-tribe.html">Tokyo Tribe</a>” or “Love
Exposure” to understand his appeal as a director but this is still
a </span><span style="font-weight: normal;">f</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">un
if completely random watch all the same even if the pay off is weak. </span>
</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-85853277781962697592017-11-27T12:15:00.000-08:002017-11-27T12:15:19.978-08:00Ghost In The Shell (2017)<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYU4SNxOPs2Alk_p23oiJeE4TgwcAom3C0q9mHDcLoxy3Wosdfo7N-zH7hpC4YFR_qgJdjOklzGArveYfD5R_LkSrnZuFU8UdP5iXpj9egiutxDMxUZ5AOOygeTL8XaOl7z1WHJwl6dMo/s1600/ghost-in-the-shell-poster-2-e1487814971877.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="948" data-original-width="640" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYU4SNxOPs2Alk_p23oiJeE4TgwcAom3C0q9mHDcLoxy3Wosdfo7N-zH7hpC4YFR_qgJdjOklzGArveYfD5R_LkSrnZuFU8UdP5iXpj9egiutxDMxUZ5AOOygeTL8XaOl7z1WHJwl6dMo/s640/ghost-in-the-shell-poster-2-e1487814971877.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> Ghost In The
Shell</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Rupert
Sanders</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2017</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Scarlett
Johansson, Michael Carmen Pitt, Takeshi Kitano, Pilou Askaek, Chun
Han, Juliette Binoche</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> In the near
future most humans are augmented with cybernetic improvements but
Major Mira Killian (Johansson) is the first to combine a cybernetic body with a
human brain. Now working as part of the anti-terrorist bureau Section
9 she must track down the hacker Kuze who might hold the screrthe
Major’s past.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> When it was
first announced that they would finally be making the long mooted
live-action remake of “Ghost In The Shell” it was of course met
with cries of dismay from the fans who could see no way that
Hollywood could replicate the cyberpunk tale, especially with its
complex plotting and philosophical musing on the existence of a soul.
Even if they could they are hardly things which hardly add up to a summer blockbuster which this was
being pitched as especially with the casting of Scarlett Johansson as
the Major adding to the already rampant assumptions of Hollywood
whitewashing especially when many fans were pushing for the much more
obvious choice Rinko Kikuchi to play the role.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Directed by Rupert
Sanders whose only credit outside of a trio of short films was “Snow
White and the Huntsman” which hardly sparked much confidence that
this life action version would live up the legacy of the anime which
is still regarded as one of the best of all time alongside the likes
of “Akira” and “Perfect Blue”. It was of course a pleasant
surprise to see Sander not attempting to do a straight remake but at
the same time not trying to dumb it down either. If anything it can
be seen that Sanders throughout is trying to not only pay homage to
the original films director Mamoru Oshii with the inclusion of
Oshii’s trademark Basset Hounds and even a nod to “Avalon”.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Shot as a “Blade
Runner” style cyberpunk fantasy there are certainly the
elements of the Oshii’s vision near future Japan replicated here
especially the elements of Hong Kong which made his vision so diffrent and while Sanders vision
certainly aims for a more futuristic vision heavily reminiscent of
the aforementioned “Blade Runner” but it also seems to draw further inspiration from “Akira” especially
with the extensive use of holographic advertisements which at times
can prove detrimental as at time it feels like they clutter the
landscape rather than adding to it and as such makes you appreciate
the more intimate shots from the city streets or building interiors.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Despite the changes
throughout there is still a sense of familiarity which runs
throughout the film as characters such as the Major’s partner Batou
(Asbaek) feel faithfully recreated though his eye implants only look
the more questionable here than they did in the anime. ‘Beat’
Takeshi Kitano as Section Chief Aramaki though is an inspired piece
of casting and unquestionably one of the key things which gave me
hope that this wouldn’t be a dumbed down version of the anime.
Frustratingly though when it comes to the rest of the Section 9
members they are so thinly sketched its hard to connect with them,
making this much more of a buddy cop movie than it should have been.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While I may have had
my own doubts of Scarlett Johansson’s ability in the role she
really does manage to convincingly pull of the role and certainly a
better casting choice than Margot Robbie who was also considered for
the role and here she manages to convincingly pull off the detached
and almost robotic outlook for the Major despite having a human
brain. Infact so impressed with her performance Mamoru Oshii who’d
been vocal on his own concerns surrounding the largely western cast
gave her performance his own seal of approval and its certainly easy
to see why when she is able to replicate so many of the key moments
from the original film.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Scrapping the
original “Puppet Master” plotline instead the plot here chooses
to focus on the background of the Major in perticular the mystery
surrounding her origins though the mystery hacker element is now
filled by Kuze. We also get minor background details such as how
Batou got his cybernetic eyes which I guess is great for anyone who
really wanted to know these things. However while seemingly trying to
craft his own story within this universe, there is still a large
amount of material especially from the original film which has been
pasted into the story in particular many of the key scenes such as
the dumpster chase and most keyly the Major taking on a spider tank
and certainly like so many elements of the film they all look
fantastic. At the same time though the plotting can get heavy in
places especially with Sanders trying to blend the new and original
material which does result in the film certainly being more complex
at times than it needed to be.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While there might be
numerous nods to the source material it is still best to view this
film as being its own entity than a remake, especially when here
Sanders has chosen to craft a film with its own unique storyline,
rather than adapt the Puppet Master plotline of the original film.
This of course is not an issue, especially when the universe already
established through the Manga, films and stand alone series (or
complex) multiple independent timelines and when viewed this way the
film certainly fits into this universe. On its own merits this is
certainly an interesting approach to the material and certainly a
smarter one than I was expecting to get and seeing what Sanders has
established here, actually makes me keen to see him build on this
world though whether that will happen or not still remains to be
seen. For now though while not perfect certainly interesting enough
to make it worth checking out.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-39196615617943629042017-11-11T04:36:00.000-08:002017-11-11T04:36:03.266-08:00Zoo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8LNJ17RFL7dcVbBUNzhxREKD5AEoW13B6__2s1h8ARpp6TF3jpUz7lJ1S6xNyKQk28_uLT2j93oPEvVj_1aeRQ0jQh3KIxcIRjofn2CtmTbjh9v3Db5HU1UFaAzlBqXnO9tkeB51ujI/s1600/zoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="354" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI8LNJ17RFL7dcVbBUNzhxREKD5AEoW13B6__2s1h8ARpp6TF3jpUz7lJ1S6xNyKQk28_uLT2j93oPEvVj_1aeRQ0jQh3KIxcIRjofn2CtmTbjh9v3Db5HU1UFaAzlBqXnO9tkeB51ujI/s640/zoo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> Zoo</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Robinson
Devor</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2007</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> Documentary
based on the life and death of Kenneth Pinyan Aka: Mr. Hands who died
of peritonitis after having sex with a horse.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> While the
bestiality subject matter might scream the short of subject matter
for late night shock docs but what we get here instead is actually thoughtful and
strangely beautiful documentary on one of the last
great taboos - bestiality while looking at the zoophile’s who the film derives its
title from.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Constructed using
muted reinactments charting the events which lead up to Pinyan’s death,
the film is narrated by the extensive interview footage which
director Robinson Devor collected with both the members of the group
that Pinyan belonged to but also with those such as Jenny Edwards who
were called in to deal with the aftermath of Pinyan’s death.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Rather than just
focus on the Pinyan’s death Devor instead makes the most of his
access to the key members of the group all referred to by their
internet handles such as H, Coyote and The Happy Horseman rather than
their real names clearly happy to maintain anonymity in exchange for
the real insight their interviews provide. This anonymity is also
extended to Pinyan who throughout the film is only referred to as
“Mr. Hands” though the use of radio footage he does tease
revealing his identity only to cut it off at the last second. Still how this anonymity currents holds up is doubtful now, especially when a quick wikipedia search can bring up the details of everyone involved, but back then it did mean that we get the best possible insight into this secretive world. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
By using only
interview footage to narrate the film, Devor avoids sharing his own opinions when it comes to how he views the actions of the group, nor
their less than conventional sexual tastes, the group surprisingly
not being portrayed as weirdos for their sexual desires towards
animals and instead the result of finding more of a connection with
animals than they find with fellow humans. This is certainly the case
with Pinyan whose Devor takes great pains to include footage which
highlights his normal white collar lifestyle as an aeronautical
engineer and devoted father with his trips to the farm clearly being
like many of the group a separate part of their lives which they
revealed only to their fellow group members. Its also perhaps
unintentionally twee looking at the film now to hear the group
talking about the internet, more so when the films soundtrack is
often punctuated with the sound of dial up modems, but it does serve
to remind how the internet really did help everyone to find their
tribe as was certainly the case for the group at the centre of the
incident.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The second half of
the film focuses on the ill fated events surrounding Pinyan’s death
and the inevitable fallout that unsurprisingly came from the discover
of what the group had been doing including what happened to the
members in the aftermath. Devor surprisingly never judges any of them
for their less than traditional desires though the events which lead
to Pinyan’s death are left largely foggy, thanks in no part to the
unique way that he chooses to portray those ill-fated events.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Its also during this
second half that the question over whether these acts can be
considered abuse or not, especially when the animals are unable to
provide consent to being involved in such acts and to Devor’s
credit he manages to provide both sides of the argument though its
doubtful that you mind will be changed by the evidence provided it
and certainly the opinion of the government on the subject is made
clear by their classification of bestiality as a felony offence.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Despite the subject
material the film is fascinatingly shot and with none of the lurid
shots that you might have expected, especially with Devor punctuating
the re-enactment with numerous shots of the breathtaking landscape of
Enumclaw and its rocky vistas. The footage throughout only being
added to by a mesmerising score from Paul Mathew Moore which only
serves to heighten the experience drawing you further into the story
as it builds to its grim climax.<br />
<br />
A facinating documentary on a less than typical subject and which well elevates itself being a shock piece to instead perhaps go some way into providing some kind of insight into this world. </div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-22440421927983912152017-11-09T11:55:00.000-08:002017-11-09T12:19:37.282-08:00The Nines<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhre5QF5cbHneqovzZFvQP_EY61oOtsWxPyhyBFLTigE4zLVL4y4MtXOtM8FCYWwAvJUo0uGtpVo0dXx_lwIHm5MZIX4ynOkPz0n4EmSz0MJ8gZPBiKDenr4GjZUrdxnhBlvfJ9E2eS2OA/s1600/nines_ver3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="717" data-original-width="400" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhre5QF5cbHneqovzZFvQP_EY61oOtsWxPyhyBFLTigE4zLVL4y4MtXOtM8FCYWwAvJUo0uGtpVo0dXx_lwIHm5MZIX4ynOkPz0n4EmSz0MJ8gZPBiKDenr4GjZUrdxnhBlvfJ9E2eS2OA/s640/nines_ver3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Title:</b> The Nines</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> John
August</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2007</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Ryan
Reynolds, Melissa McCarthy, Hope Davis, Elle Fanning, David Denman,
Octavia Spencer, Ben Falcone, Dahlia Salem, John Gatins</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> A troubled
actor, a show runner and a videogame designer discover that their
lives might be more linked than they suspect.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review:</b> While John
August might not be a name which leaps out at you he has worked on
several noteworthy screenplays for the likes of “<a href="https://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/2014/07/titan-ae.html">Titan A.E.</a>”,
“Frankenweenie” and the cult indie movie “Go” which initially
launched him as a screenwriter with this film marking his directorial
debut with decidedly mixed results.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
A three part
existential drama this pet project clearly has the
feel of someone trying to imitiate the experimental style of Charlie
Kaufman only with none of the quirky charm as here Ryan Reynolds
plays the three lead roles each heading up their own chapters
starting with “The Prisoner” which see actor Gary barbequing his
ex-girlfriends things before flipping his car and landing himself on
house arrest. Soon however he finds himself being being plagued by
the continual appearance of the number 9 around him.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Next up is “Reality
Television” which now sees Reynolds playing the Television writer
Gavin who is trying to get the pilot for his TV show “Knowing”
off the ground while being followed for a reality show. The whole
segment being shot in reality TV show style making for an interesting
change of pace and helping the segment to stand out along with
elements such as Melissa McCarthy’s role in this segment being to
play the fictionalised version of herself. This segment perhaps the
most autobiographical for August who based most of the plot on his
experience’s working on the failed television series “D.C.”
while he wrote the film with McCarthy in mind for her role, mirroring
Gavin’s own writing were he wrote his TV show for this reality’s
version of her.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The final segment is
“Knowing” were Reynolds now plays the acclaimed video game
designer Gabriel whose car has broken down in the middle of nowhere
with his wife Mary (McCarthy) and daughter which aims for the big
reveal of what has supposed to have been happening throughout the
film and bring all the parts together. Instead we get the feeling of
August self congratulating himself for what he’s created even
though its still very much feels like a half baked and largely
confusing mess.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Released before
Reynolds achieved the mainstream approval he got from “Deadpool”
and when many critics for some reason were keen to write him off like
Ben Affleck as box office poison a tag I never really understood for
either, especially Reynolds who might have come to the forefront
through throw away cult comedies like “Van Wilder” and “Waiting”
he’s constantly remained an intresting actor to watch especially
when given a more dramatic role like he got with “Adventureland”
or “Smokin Aces” and here he certainly gets that by getting to
play three different leads all three of which he manages to make
stand out from each other. This is certainly true in the case of “The
Prisoner” and “Reality TV” two characters which are at polar
opposite to each other with Gary coming across as bratty and self
indulgent compared to the self-doubting and moody Gavin its just more
frustrating that neither character ultimately get the interesting
arc’s that they deserve and instead are left in meandering
plotlines blogged down by August’s attempts to link all the
segments together and play into his end game.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The supporting cast
are equally great with both Melissa McCarthy and Hope Davis joining
Reynolds in playing multiple characters across the different stories
with mixed results due to the strength of the material rather than
either actresses performance.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While I might have
entered into the film with an expectation of what I was going to get
it was somewhat disapointing to ultimately end up with a plot so
plodding and ultimately navel gazing as the one that August chooses
to craft here, as a potentially interesting idea is squandered by his
attempts to really tie together three half baked stories that perhaps
would have been better developed on their own than stuck together
here.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-80318089108587660352017-11-02T16:21:00.000-07:002017-11-02T16:21:47.009-07:00The Mist<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaDnPXIvNVEM8ku-FcuVZ-XGrNb__wsX3H7ULk8XswOdk4_kG48szCx2UAtKaTz_-1JsIdC52GTAAwGYpafSPdUnb1ouV1DGG-cMpCaBcP-_OE8SB81QMgLBdqLICiosTExXNHjGxzBic/s1600/tuqH0aBtPIJ76rrl3ZZ68fcgzTM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="800" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaDnPXIvNVEM8ku-FcuVZ-XGrNb__wsX3H7ULk8XswOdk4_kG48szCx2UAtKaTz_-1JsIdC52GTAAwGYpafSPdUnb1ouV1DGG-cMpCaBcP-_OE8SB81QMgLBdqLICiosTExXNHjGxzBic/s640/tuqH0aBtPIJ76rrl3ZZ68fcgzTM.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> The Mist</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Frank
Darabont</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2007</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Thomas
Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones,
William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Sternhagen, Samuel Witwer,
Alexa Davalos, Nathan Gamble</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> When a strange
mist descends on the small Maine town of Bridgeton, the local
residents soon discover that it hides an assortment of horrifying
monsters. Now barricaded with his young son and several of the town
residents in the local supermarket David (Jane) soon finds himself
having to deal with the prospect of worst things amongst his fellow
residents.<br />
<br />
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</div>
<b>
</b>
<br />
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
<b>Review:</b> The forth
Stephen King adaptation for director Frank
Darabont following his debut “The Woman In The Room”
before following it up with “The Shawshank Redemption” and “The
Green Mile” and with this film he continues he showcase his flair
for adapting King’s stories while somehow managing to avoid the
issues which have plagued the Mick Garris adaptations.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On the surface this
might just seem like another straightforward monster movie which it
certainly more than delivers on throughout, but the real interesting
aspect for the film is instead the study of human behaviour which
runs below the surface as the residents in the town begin to choose
different ways to process the situation they find themselves in. The
first time I saw the film when I certainly enjoyed it, it didn’t
seem to resonate in the same way that it did for friends who raved
about the film and in particular that ending. Still re-watching it
this time watching how the residents fracture into the two rival
groups actually proved to be surprisingly more interesting than
what’s lurking in the mist and really were the real story can be
found.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
One of the key
aspects for the story working though is with the religious zelot Mrs.
Carmody (Harden) viewing the fog as a sign that the end of days is
upon the town quickly gathering a following behind her firebrand
sermons. Darabont here really does a fantastic job of making her more
than just a religious nutjob, instead having her follower numbers
growing as a result of the situation becoming the more dire and the
town residents not being able to logically comprehend what they are
facing. To her credit Marcia Gay Harden plays the role pitch perfect
managing to go from background annoyance to cult leader with very
natural evolution even if perhaps a little more quickly than seems
plausible.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This however is a
minor quibble and one easily overlooked when given such an
interesting and extensive group of characters who despite being so
numerous all feel fully developed and not just monster fodder.
Darabont’s casting choices gathering together many fantastic
character actors only to pull out surprising sides such as Toby Jones
assistant supermarket manager being a crackshot with a pistol, or
William Sadler’s typically belligerent mechanic’s mind snapping
after a failed supply run to the nearby pharmacy store. Throw into
the mix a military conspiracy which the soldiers in the store might
know more about than they are letting on and its a real tinderbox.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
David however as the
lead really is what makes this story work aswell as providing the
best counterpart to Mrs. Carmody as he attempts to keep order in the
group as he’s forced into taking a leadership role when all he
wants to do is insure the safety of his young son and get back to his
wife who is still back at the family home. Thomas Jane though truly
sells this every man character thrust into this extraordinary
situation subtly fleshed out by the smaller details of the story such
as his attempts to make up with his stubborn neighbour Brent
(Braugher). Here these two clashing forcing being less about Stephen
King’s usual battle about the forces of good and evil and instead
more a battle between logic and religion.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
While the breakdown
of social norms combined with this “Lord of the Flies” style
situation which we watch unfold might certainly be one of the key
aspects of the film, it is not to say that the monster element is not
without its charms as Darabont introduces throughout the film a wide
variety of monsters that come with this fog, from over grown insects
to his larger creations which he manages to make either creatures of
pure horror as in the case of the centipede like tentacles yet at the
same time he is able to make us look at some of these creatures with
a kind of awe when we get scenes of the long limbed goliath during
the finale montage.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Unquestionably with
extensive use of CGI for his monster creations, the fog helps keep an
air of mystery to these creations, certainly as the effects have
dated over the year which have surprisingly held up well with perhaps
the tentacles being one of the rare moments when the effects taken
you out of things slightly. At the same time Darabont really knows
how to use these characters, especially when it comes to the more
gory elements of the film in which he frequently manages to catch us
off guard thanks to its sporadic placement and usually when he
clearly feels that the audience might be getting too comfortable with
what’s happening much like the hysteria being whipped up by Mrs.
Carmody.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Of course it would
be impossible to talk about this film without talking about the much
discussed finale which honestly I still don’t feel that it earned.
True it is certainly a surprising not to mention bleak ending and one
which I certainly didn’t see coming the first time I watched the
film. Still it was one of the key conditions of Darabont making the
film with “Dimension” and it turned out from the general response
to the right one with Stephen King even giving his approval. However
looking at the alternative endings such as the vision of a world of
mist which stayed more true to King’s original more ambiguous
ending I can’t help but feel that its the ending I would have been
happier with.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Unquestionably this
is one of the more fresher horror films of the decade, especially
when the horror genre seems so focused to keep bashing the same tired
tropes to death, its always great to get a film which is actually
trying to do something new.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3565243314006487322.post-41200869461725902262017-10-15T04:23:00.002-07:002017-10-15T04:23:44.751-07:00The Bad Batch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbflKB4wgrMtSklhSnUpZ_GK3xMfBJWzXyUjUlwwo0EIKMbvFLKYiUeJuYGcXiwDh55k8LcKnQocwZdRYcWpjJGihC2o9UnQW7z-akemFz6pm3BNha1XGpd0Z-fe_yxvSaOmQQiNgAWQ/s1600/the-bad-batch-22224.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1104" height="540" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicbflKB4wgrMtSklhSnUpZ_GK3xMfBJWzXyUjUlwwo0EIKMbvFLKYiUeJuYGcXiwDh55k8LcKnQocwZdRYcWpjJGihC2o9UnQW7z-akemFz6pm3BNha1XGpd0Z-fe_yxvSaOmQQiNgAWQ/s640/the-bad-batch-22224.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b> </b></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Title:</b> The Bad Batch</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Director:</b> Ana Lily
Amirpour</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Released:</b> 2014</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Starring:</b> Suki
Waterhouse, Jason Momoa, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carrey, Yolonda Ross,
Giovanni Ribisi, Jayda Fink, Diego Luna, Cory Roberts, E.R. Ruiz</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Plot:</b> In the near
future criminals and other society rejects are dumped in a fenced off
area of desert wasteland outside of the Texas. The latest addition to
this community is Arlen (Waterhouse) who soon finds herself having to
traverse the landscape of scavengers, cannibals and cultists if she
is going to survive this dangerous and lawless world.<br />
<br />
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</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Review: </b>Following on
from the critically adored “A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night”
director Ana Lily Amirpour chooses to follow it up here with this sun
soaked dose of dystopia while at the same time seemingly channelling the cinema
outlaws<a href="https://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Harmony%20Korine"> Harmony Korine</a> and <a href="https://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Greg%20Araki">Greg Araki</a> to craft a fiercly unique
vision which will likely prove too abstract for the mainstream movie
goer but there is unquestionably something here.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Bringing to mind
<a href="https://fromthedepthsofdvdhell.blogspot.co.uk/search/label/Richard%20Kelly">Richard Kelly</a>’s fiercely diversive “Southland Tales” here
Amirpour clearly sets out with a vision for her sophomore effort,
though at the same time its one which will either enthral or bore you depending on your own opinion of the film
the former of which I certainly found myself in even if at times its
hard to actually know what is supposed to be happening other than a
whole lot of cannibalism and desert wandering and this of course
makes it the sort of film as a critic you kind of dread encountering.
I mean how are you supposed to write about nothing? Still as I sit
here writing this two days after I first watched it this is a film
which continues to run through my head so that I feel compelled to
get something down about it.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Opening to Arlen
being dumped into this world we are mere moments into the film before
she is set upon by one of the resident cannibals who quickly relieve
her of one of her arms and a leg before she sets out to escape across
the desert on a skateboard reminiscent in a scene reminiscent of the
opening of “There Will Be Blood” whose record of no dialogue for
the first 14.5 minutes this film smashes by none of the characters
actually talking till we are 30 mins in. Its also during this
sequence that we are introduced to the Hermit played throughout the
film in complete silence by Jim Carrey just one of a series of
interesting casting choices which also sees Keanu Reeves showing up
as the cult-like leader of the town Comfort known only as “The
Dream” who runs a sideline in pot with his harem of pregnant
ladies.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Across the desert
landscape we encounter a number of settlements which has sprung up
with Amirpour following in the footsteps of George Miller as the
residents have constructed shanty towns out of aeroplane parts and
broken down trailers, creating a new society for themselves and one
seemingly styled by the same costume department Harmony Korine uses
from Arlen’s winking booty shorts to Jason Momoa’s “Miami Man”
chest tattoo which serves like an alt-culture name tag, though why
she went with that name like so much of the film is a complete
mystery.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Arlen though is
quick to adapt to this world as the film skips forward six month once
she arrives in comfort to were has she gained a prosthetic leg and
spend her time wandering the wasteland which is were the main story
of sorts begins when she picks up the Miami Man’s daughter Honey
(Fink) after killing her cannibal mother. From here though its really
a lot of wandering as Miami Man tries to find his now missing
daughter before further wandering with Arlen when Honey gets picked
up by Keanu Reeve’s cult leader “The Dream” during an acid
infused rave sequence.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Miami Man on the
other hand is a slightly more complex character as Momoa spend the
film wandering around shirtless and looking like he was carved out of
wood, a cold warrior hardened by the enviroment around him, who feels
nothing about keeping a woman chained up in his yard to use for food,
inbetween painting detailed paintings of his daughter, though its a
connection more confirmed in the wikipedia plot summery than in the
film, were she comes across like a girl from his camp. He however
like the other characters is a fascinating to watch on screen with
Amirpour only giving us small hints of details about these characters
and leaving us as the audience to figure things out, which while
certainly a bold choice is also the kind of thing which put off
audience not wanting to sit through something so abstract.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Now if any of this
is sounding like a confusing mess then you probably would be right
and yet its a fascinating mess which Amirpour allows you to get lost
in using minimalistic dialogue and instead attention grabbing visuals
to tell her story if you can even really call it that. Instead what
it often feels like is more of a snapshot of these characters lives
as we follow them like ghosts in this world and much like with “Ghost
World” we are just along for the ride as events play out acting
more like the observers than actually being part of this world. Of
course if David Lynch can get away with telling a story on the latest
season of Twin Peaks over 18 episode when he really only needed four,
then why can't we enjoy a visually arresting and minimalist desert
romp? Yes this really isn’t going to be for everyone and already I
can see this film ending up like “Southland Tales” as its as
hated as its adored.
</div>
Elwood Joneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09661750406352159996noreply@blogger.com0