Film Review: ‘Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale’ (2011) Brings the Native Taiwanese Struggle Against Tyranny to the Big Screen

 Action, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Drama, Taiwan  No Responses »
Apr 232012
 

seediq-bale Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale is a new historical epic drama from Taiwan, which deals with a time of their history that is virtually unknown to people outside of the region. The film was Taiwan’s submission to the 2012 Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.

Warriors of the Rainbow: Seediq Bale takes place in Taiwan in the early 1900’s. It follows Mona Rudao (Lin Ching-Tai) as he becomes a man by taking the head of a rival tribe’s hunter, and then Mona becomes the Chief of his tribe. One day, the Japanese army comes to colonize the area, and the tribes fight back, but they’re just not strong enough to defeat the Japanese army. Thirty years later Continue reading »

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Film Review: Shuji Kataoka’s ‘S&M Hunter’ (Kinbaku – 1986) Ropes Viewers in with Outrageous Exploitation Action

 Action, Adventure, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Erotic, Exploitation, Fantasy, Japan, Martial Arts, Rape/Revenge, Revenge  No Responses »
Feb 282012
 

sm-hunter After having viewed a few of Japans Pink films recently, I started to get an understanding of how the films generally looked and were made. S&M Hunter thus far, has been the best all around Pink film I’ve seen to date from technical aspects to having a full, story.

A man’s partner is kidnapped by The Bombers, an all female gang looking to use men as their personal sex slaves. S&M Hunter takes the job of infiltrating the group, and finding the kidnapped guy, all the while using his rope skills to train the females to serve him. He saves the day, one of the women falls for him and he knows deep down their love can’t be because he has many women to train Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘Whore Angels’ (Pin-saro byôin 3: Nô-pan shinsatsushitsu – 2000) Promises Heaven but Cums Up Short

 Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Erotic, Japan  No Responses »
Feb 262012
 

whore-angels A deal has been set in place between humans and God with keeping peace in the world, but the contract must be renewed every thousand years. At time of renewal, the devil, a funny looking demon with horns named Rock and Roll, tries to stop the deal from taking place by having sex with Monroe.

One night, a woman finds Monroe being chased by Rock and Roll, saves her, but gets beat up pretty badly in the process. The next morning, Monroe kisses her to make it all better, and her wounds are gone. So the girl brings Monroe back to work at Hot Lips, a local “massage parlor”, where she is known throughout the land as the woman with the healing mouth. But Rock and Roll isn’t fully defeated Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘Sexy Battle Girls’ (Nerawareta gakuen: seifuku o osou – 1986) Takes Softcore Porn to Exciting Heights with Anime-Style Action

 Action, Adventure, Anime, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Comedy, Erotic, Exploitation, Fantasy, Japan, Martial Arts  No Responses »
Feb 232012
 

sexy-battle-girls In recent years, we’ve seen a lot of crazy films coming from Japan like Machine Girl and Tokyo Gore Police, that have upped the gore factor in cinema, but also make the audience anticipate the next “out there” idea they’re going to come up with. Surprisingly, 1986’s Sexy Battle Girls gave me some thrills in the same exact way, and gave me an insight into what was probably the inspiration for a lot of the Japanese trash cinema directors out there now.

Mirai, a young girl who has to forever wear a high tech chastity belt, is transferred to a new school by her father. While there, she uncovers an underground human trafficking ring set up by the head master and his head detective Continue reading »

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Film Review: Cage Returns in ‘Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance’ (2011) and Once Again Fails to Kickstart Consumer’s Engines

 Action, Adventure, B. Woodell, Demons, Fantasy, Horror, Revenge  No Responses »
Feb 182012
 

ghost-rider-2 Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. These words echoed in my brain while watching Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance as I went against my better judgment and gave the sequel a chance. The only enjoyment I had from the first Ghost Rider, was my friend turned to me in the theater and said, “Bennie, I’m getting sober, and this movie’s getting worse.” Sadly, with Spirit of Vengeance, I was embarking on the journey alone, with no one to share my pain.

Johnny Blaze (Nic Cage) has to save Danny (Fergus Riordan) from Roarke (Ciaran Hinds), who apparently is Satan or one of Satan’s helpers. That’s pretty much all I can tell you about the storyline because the film felt like one, giant Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘Man on a Ledge’ (2012) Reaches Dizzying Heights of Action and Suspense

 Action, B. Woodell, Crime, Drama, Thriller  No Responses »
Feb 172012
 

man-on-a-ledge There’s something wonderful about films that explain the plot in the title, and subsequently repeat that somewhere in the film, because you know exactly what to expect when going in the theater, and anything that’s beyond the spectrum of the title is a bonus and nice surprise. Man On A Ledge does not disappoint in any of those areas, and is in fact a very fun little heist flick.

Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) was set up and sent to jail for twenty-five years for robbing a very precious diamond from David Englander (Ed Harris), a rich tycoon in Manhattan. With the help of his brother Joey (Jaime Bell) and his brother’s girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez), he escapes from jail and sets to prove Continue reading »

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Staff Picks: Bennie Woodell 2/12

 B. Woodell, Staff Picks  No Responses »
Feb 172012
 

bucktown Bucktown (1975) – Starring Fred Williamson and Pam Greer, this gem from the 70’s is about a man who comes back to his hometown after his brother is murdered and with the help of his friends, gets revenge. Afterwards, his friends become as corrupt as the police before, and he has to stop them himself. Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘Agneepath’ (Path of Fire – 2012) Sets Bollywood Ablaze with a Smoldering Tale of Revenge

 Action, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Bollywood, Crime, Drama, India, Revenge, Thriller  No Responses »
Jan 302012
 

agneepath Bollywood has started 2012 with a vengeance, literally, with Agneepath, a remake of a 1990 film. It includes everything you would expect from Indian cinema; romance, action, elaborate dance sequences, and lush colors, only this film has so much more violence and heartache.

As a child, Vijay’s father tries to talk the townsfolk of a small island off the coast of Mumbai out of loaning their land to Kancha, who wants to grow coke in their salt fields. Kancha will stop at nothing to get the land, so he has a little girl raped and murdered and sets Vijay’s father up, leading to mob justice and the father’s death. Vijay and his mother move to Mumbai where he comes across Rauf Lala, Mumbai’s top drugs dealer and human trafficker and becomes a member Continue reading »

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Film Review: ‘The Grey’ (2012) is a Masterful Thriller and a Snarling, Howling Good Time

 Action, B. Woodell, Drama, Thriller  No Responses »
Jan 302012
 

the-grey What would you do, if you survived a plane crash in the Alaskan wilderness during a blizzard? Would you have the know how and basic primal instincts on building fires and seeking shelter? Now throw into the mix a pack of vicious Timberwolves who know you and your party are injured, and are just waiting to pick you off one by one. Would you survive? The answer to these questions is answered very blatantly in Joe Carnahan’s new film, The Grew, starring Liam Neeson.

Ottway (Neeson) is a wolf hunter for an oil company who oversees the workers while they’re drilling in the Alaskan terrain. He makes sure they don’t get attacked, and is very good at his job. Upon returning home from an expedition, the crews plane goes down leaving a handful of survivors with Ottway taking charge and Continue reading »

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Film Review: Cash Chin Man-Kei’s CAT III Classic ‘The Eternal Evil of Asia’ (Nan yang shi da xie shu – 1995) Still Delights with Sleaze & Frights

 Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, CAT III, Demons, Erotic, Exploitation, Fantasy, Horror, Martial Arts, Revenge  2 Responses »
Jan 282012
 

the-eternal-evil-of-asia The Eternal Evil of Asia is another wonderfully produced category III horror/voodoo/sex/comedy romp produced by legendary Wong Jing. Being one of the most prolific filmmakers in Hong Kong, anyone who knows what Wong is capable of, will have an inkling as to what they should expect in this hilarious tale.

Four friends travel to Thailand on a bachelor party excursion, but the trip goes awry when they befriend a local wizard and accidentally kill his sister. They return to Hong Kong, but the wizard follows and begins picking them off one by one. The wife to be has to decide to make a personal sacrifice to save the man she loves and her brother Continue reading »

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Film Review: Yuen Wo-Ping Introduces the Action World to Donnie Yen in Kung-Fumedy ‘Drunken Tai Chi’ (Siu taai gik – 1984)

 Action, Asian Cinema, B. Woodell, Comedy, Hong Kong, Martial Arts  No Responses »
Jan 282012
 

drunken-tai-chi Drunken Tai Chi is an absolute Yuen Woo-Ping gem from 1984, and is the very first film by the great Donnie Yen. Like many kung fu films made in the late 70’s and early 80’s by the Yuen clan, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung, Drunken Tai Chi is filled to the brim with mind bending feats of physical abilities, amazing kung fu sequences, revenge and comedy galore.

Being a revenge film, it follows the formula we’ve all come to know and love. Chan Chuen Chung’s (Yen) brother embarrasses Ta Sha, a rich schoolmate, and a rivalry ensues. It escalates to the boy having his father pay Iron Steel to kill Chan and his family. Chan is not home, but instead is fighting in a gambling hall Continue reading »

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