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: ‘The Whisperer in Darkness’ (2011) Continues the Trend of Masterful Lovecraft Adaptations

 Drama, Fantasy, Horror, J. Andersson, Sci-Fi  No Responses »
Mar 082012
 

the-whisperer-in-darkness 2005 faux silent movie Call of Cthulhu stands as one of the best adaptations of H. P. Lovecraft, if not actually the best. It worked around the pitfalls of presenting material that really can’t be “shown” as if it was made during the heyday of silent cinema and did an exceptionally good job of it with surrealistic miniatures and a strong set design. Now comes the next production from the very same filmmakers and this time we move forward in time with an adaptation of the short story The Whisperer in Darkness as a 1930-1940ish horror movie. My expectations were sky high.

The original short story deals with strange and alien creatures haunting a farmer in the forests of Vermont and the revelation of their purpose as Continue reading »

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Film Review: Daisuke Goto’s ‘Blind Love’ (Waisetsu sutêji: Nando mo tsukkonde – 2005) Elevates Japanese Pink Cinema with Ventriloquism & Love

 Asian Cinema, Drama, Erotic, Japan  No Responses »
Feb 222012
 

blind-love Let’s be honest. When I sat to review the 2005 ‘pink’ film “Blind Love”, written and directed by Daisuki Goto, I was expected the usual. A thinly plotted, poorly acted affair. What I got was a surprise. This is the story of a lonely man, a self -described “ventriloquist on the cutting edge”, who falls in love. Our story begins with Daisuki meeting up with his estranged wife on his way to perform. After some reunion sex, we see our hero at work. He has an apprentice, Yoichi, who helps him and is learning the trade and maybe his only friend. Enter the blind woman, Hikari. She approaches him back stage after a show with praise and flowers. Startled, Daisuki allows Yoichi to stand in for him as his body. Daisuki has height issues and only speaks for himself.

What then happens is an odd take on Cyrano de Bergerac, with Daisuki romancing Hikari by proxy. Things get out of hand when Yoichi ignores his master’s wishes and copulates with Hikari while 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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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: Brad Bird’s ‘Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol’ (2011) a Thrilling Addition to the Exciting MI Franchise

 Action, Adventure, B. Woodell, Drama, Thriller  No Responses »
Dec 212011
 

mission-impossible-ghost-protocol-poster Five years ago, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) saved the world from certain destruction, but lost his wife in the process. Now, mourning the loss of her, Hunt has chosen to accept a new mission, one that again would mean certain world destruction and the start of possibly World War III in Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol.

While on a mission in Russia infiltrating the Kremlin to obtain nuclear codes, Hunt’s mission is aborted due to another spy in the premises also seeking the codes Hunt escapes just in time before a bomb explodes, leaving high tensions between the US and Russia, since all evidence points towards him on detonating the bomb. The US President declares Ghost Protocol, or the shut down of IMF, leaving Continue reading »

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Film Review: The Controversial Film ‘Territories’ (2010) Questions The Meaning of Patriotism in Post-9/11 America

 Canada, Drama, France, Horror, J. Meredith, Thriller, War  No Responses »
Nov 222011
 

territories Following a weekend at a wedding in Canada, a bunch mates get pulled over when they drive their minivan across the border to America. Two customs officers ask to see Jalil’s (Michael Mando) driving license and move back to their car to check him out. When they point out that the youngsters are driving with a bust front light, Jalil tells them that they hit a deer a while back, which triggers the officers

Despite constant claims of “only trying to do our job” the custom officers become increasingly agitated and act more and more threatening towards the group of youngsters. When one of the youths, Tom (Alex Weiner) starts Continue reading »

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Film Review: Singh’s ‘Immortals’ (2011) Blows Viewers from Theater Seats with Intense Action & Stunning Visuals

 Action, Adventure, B. Woodell, Drama, Fantasy, War  No Responses »
Nov 192011
 

immortals After a five-year hiatus, Tarsem Singh (The Cell) is back in the director’s chair to deliver us yet another visually stimulating journey in his third feature film. Immortals. Singh takes the wonderfully crafted script from the up and coming writing team of the Parlapanides brothers, Charley and Vlas, and takes us back to Ancient Greece, to a time of Western mythology when the Gods were in charge.

King Hyperion (Mickey Rourke) is scouring Greece to find the Epirus Bow, a weapon that could be used to unleash the Titans back onto the Earth from their prison deep within Mount Tartaros. After overtaking a Monastery and capturing Phaedra (Freida Pinto), an oracle who sees visions and can aid in finding the bow Continue reading »

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Film Review: Benny Chan’s ‘Shaolin’ (Xin shao lin si – 2011) is a Strong Return to HK Cinema’s Glorious Heyday

 Action, Adventure, Asian Cinema, B. Harris, Drama, Hong Kong, Jackie Chan, Martial Arts  No Responses »
Nov 172011
 

shaolin A darkness falls upon China when warlords and their armies clash in bloody combat and the noble Shaolin temple’s warrior monks find themselves caught in the middle. Intent on remaining separate from the violence of the outside world, yet willing to offer a helping hand to all those in need, their way of life is put to the test when a fallen general seeks medical help, and eventually enlightenment, from the very same monks he offended.

To those who doubt the Hong Kong film industry’s ability to continue Continue reading »

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Film Review: Take Your Time Seeing ‘In Time’ (2011) Because You Can Never Get Back Those Missing Minutes

 Action, B. Woodell, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller  No Responses »
Nov 022011
 

Theatrical Poster

Imagine a world where money doesn’t exist, only time does. Everyday you work to earn enough money to live another day, to eat and try to enjoy life. In the ghetto’s there are gangs of time thieves who’ll rob you of the time you have left, leaving you to die in the gutter. The Time Keepers roam about keeping track of time and making sure that not too much is being spread out. On the other side of the spectrum, the rich have centuries to live and have lavish parties where they play poker with the excess time they have left. And all the while, you never grow older than twenty-five years old.

Sounds pretty cool, I know how excited I was when I saw the trailer a few months back and thought to myself what a great social commentary on Continue reading »

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Film Review: Gildark’s ‘Cthulhu’ (2007) Ably Captures Lovecraft’s Alien World & The Alienation in Our Own

 Drama, Horror, J. Andersson, Thriller  1 Response »
Nov 022011
 

DVD Artwork

Filming H.P Lovecraft has never been easy, adapting that particular brand of cosmic horror does not tend to come out well on screen and the only movies that has had some success are the ones that have taken liberties with the original story it is based on. Cthulhu is another one of those and does it quite well.

This is basically an adaption of The Shadow over Innsmouth, the same short story that gave us Stuart Gordon’s entertaining Dagon. In this case however, Dagon is the one that sticks the closest to the source material where Cthulhu tells an entirely different story set in a town that very well could be Innsmouth though not as dingy. The main character, Russ, receives a message that his mother has passed away and is forced to return to the place of his birth, a small coastal town Continue reading »

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