RIP Jim Kelly

Instead of a usual review tonight I figured I should note that today, I discovered that yesterday Jim Kelly passed away at the age of 67. No, not the former NFL All-Pro quarterback, but the martial artists turned actor who appeared in such movies as Enter the Dragon and several that I have reviewed in the past. To hear that he passed away due to cancer is especially sad.

In fact, here are the movies he's been in that I have seen and reviewed. Click on the titles to read each review.

Black Belt Jones/Golden Needles
Three the Hard Way
Take a Hard Ride
One Down, Two to Go

In the past I did not guess that I would see a decent number of films from both Jim Brown and Jim Kelly, but that's what I've done and they've usually been at least a good time.

In the next week I should be seeing one or two of his other movies for review, as that would be the appropriate thing to do. However, I'll be watching something else for review Monday night, barring someone else of this level passing away between now and then.

The Good, The Bad, The Weird

The Good, The Bad, The Weird (Jo-eunnom nappeun nom isanghan nom)(2008)

Runtime: 130 minutes

Directed by: Kim Jee-Woon

Starring: Kang-Ho Song, Byung-Hun Lee, Woo-Sung Jung, Seung-Su Ryu

From: CJ Entertainment

I know, this is up really late, but things happen... at least I'll be talking about an awesome film that I do give the highest recommendation to those that enjoy action/adventure movies that are light in spirit but have some great setpieces, plenty of humor, a wacky and yet great musical score, and a grand prize that many people want. The director of this made his American debut with The Last Stand (review here) which I know has a mixed reaction but I did enjoy it a lot; not like this movie, but by the end of the year I am pretty sure it'll be in my Top 10 of the best of the year. To give a plot description of this version of The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly, time to go to the IMDb, with some modifications:

“Three Korean gunslingers are in Manchuria (Northeast China) during the 1930's: Do-wan (The Good), an upright bounty hunter, Chang-yi (The Bad), a thin-skinned and ruthless killer, and Tae-goo (The Weird), a train robber with nine lives. Tae-goo finds a map he's convinced leads to buried treasure; Chang-yi wants it as well for less clear reasons. Do-wan tracks the map knowing it will bring him to Chang-yi, Tae-goo, and reward money. Occupying Japanese forces and their Manchurian collaborators also want the map, as does the Ghost Market Gang who hangs out at a thieves' bazaar. These enemies cross paths frequently and dead bodies pile up. Will anyone find the map's destination and survive to tell the tale?”

The three leads dress distinctively: The Good like a cowboy crossed with Indiana Jones (boy is this better in every way than the 4^th Indiana Jones movie), The Bad real stylish, and The Weird wears goofy clothing, including aviator goggles. That is just one sign of the light tone of this. Things start off great with action in a heist of a locomotive and there's plenty of action scenes and adventure to see after that.

I should mention that the setting of Manchuria (I do not know where it was actually filmed, but it was a rocky dusty desert setting; I would compare it to the deserts of Chile) was pretty great to me as it looked cool and I had never seen it before. To give a brief history lesson, during the time period Japan occupied the peninsula of Korea so in the Manchurian area you could find many Koreans, and that was a plot point here, with frequent questions of, “Are you Korean” or “Can you speak Korean?” and Korean characters did mention how they felt displaced where they were now and they wished they could go back and have their country be what it was before it was occupied. That was also interesting to me.

Like I said, this is great as an adventure film and as a badass Western movie. If you haven't seen it then you really should, as I say it's one of the most enjoyable and fun action movies of recent years anywhere in the world (it kicks the ass of many big-budget Hollywood action films in the same time period) and also one of the best. There's a section near the end (where you hear a re-recording of Santa Esmeralda's version of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood) that is epic and I heard it described as “The Blues Brothers with horses” and I'll go with that.

I'll be back Sunday night and I should be more punctual.

When You Don't Feel Good Tonight...

Then I won't feel like doing a review. I'll likely get a better night's sleep tonight than I did last night, so Friday night is when I should be back with what I usually do. I do have a feeling that I'll likely end the whole theme of watching foreign movies in early July instead of on Sunday.

Razor 2: The Snare

Razor 2: The Snare (Goyokiba: Kamisori Hanzo Jikoku Zeme) (1973)

Runtime: 89 minutes

Directed by: Yasuzo Masumura

Starring: Shintaro Katsu, Toshio Kurosawa, Ko Nishimura, Kei Sato

From: Toho

January of this year I saw the first in the Hanzo trilogy, known as Hanzo the Razor. You can read that review here. In short, it's a wildly entertaining movie set in the old Edo period where there's a samurai named Hanzo who is a loose cannon type and he is almost Puritanical in enforcing the code of the samurai as he battles against his corrupt superiors and he's all YOLO and does his own thing to stop the bad people. He is great at what he does but he has his quirks... such as torturing himself, having two servants who are former criminals, and oh yeah, having a giant penis and doing such things as literally beating it with a piece of wood, having sex with a bag of rice, and using RAPE against some females in order to get some information from them, and they all end up enjoying it due to his abnormally large schlong. Aside from that grossly offensive plot point, I really enjoyed that wacky film that has some pretty violent bloody bits.

The plot: It is pretty much the same as the first one, except that this time the plot revolves around devalued currency, forced slavery, government corruption, S&M and people who are peeping toms and enjoy watching S&M, and... abortion; that last plot point seems timely given the events in Texas this week, but that's how the plot gets started, a woman dies after she got an abortion.

If you enjoyed the first one, this is more of the same, including the unfortunate sexual assault stuff. There are some laughs from wacky stuff, including the phrase: “But she was a slut... look at her dark nipples!” I swear that is true. There are also such things as another funky soundtrack (but in a different way), S&M whippings with a long wooden stick, a woman (who happens to be bald) getting regularly tortured along with the sexual assault, and even Hanzo cross-dressing at one point. I won't give much more away in case you want to watch the entire series. I rate it about the same as the first one.

I'll be back tomorrow night.

Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels

Lock, Stock, & Two Smoking Barrels (1998)

Runtime: 107 minutes

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Starring: Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Jason Statham, Vinnie Jones

From: HandMade Films

As I wind down my foreign film watching, I figured I should rewatch this quality film, one that I think I first watched around 2000, as I remember talking about the movie in person with some pals in '01 (this sort of thing doesn't happen all that often in person, to be honest) and I've seen it a few times since then and I've enjoyed it. I might as well get the Blu-Ray one of these days from a used DVD store or some other similar place.

The plot: A whole lot happens (it's complex but it's never impossible to follow as it comes together greatly) so let me copy and paste from the IMDb: “A botched card game in London triggers four friends, thugs, weed-growers, hard gangsters, loan sharks and debt collectors to collide with each other in a series of unexpected events, all for the sake of weed, cash and two antique shotguns.”

Like I said, a lot happens in the movie as several storylines are interconnected, but they all come together by the end and even if you think you are totally lost at first, you eventually should be able to understand what it all means, and once you do you'll realize how great and entertaining this crime drama is, with nice performances all around, characters you'll remember (like Hatchet Harry and Barry The Baptist) and a whole lot of wacky and entertaining events... there's a nice soundtrack too, everything from James Brown to Iggy Pop.

To think that this launched the careers of several different people, that being director Ritchie, Statham, and Jones. It seems like marrying Madonna was a downpoint for him and he hasn't recovered from the time that he was with her, as I've seen Snatch and that was fine-enough but not the same, and I haven't seen the rest of his movies except the first Sherlock Holmes and I felt disappointed by that, and his movies since 2000 have been a mixed bag according to many people and he hasn't had another movie quite as good as this one. Former soccer tough guy Jones has done many moves since this one... most of them aren't that great but at least he's made a living and he's still making money. Of course, Statham is a big worldwide star and is THE action star since 2000.

If you've somehow haven't seen this and you enjoy your crime dramas, then you should check this out. Just make sure to see it with the subtitles on, as at times it's hard to understand their thick accents and their unique slang. I'll be back tomorrow night.

Solaris

Solaris (1972)

Runtime: 168 minutes

Directed by: Andrei Tarkovsky

Starring: Donatas Banionis, Natalya Bondarchuk, Juri Jarvet, Anatoily Solonitsyn

From: Mosfilm

I know, I am late; it happened. Being tired for the entire day and even taking a nap has thrown my schedule out of whack. Anyhow, I figured I should see this famous Soviet sci-fi film, as I hadn't seen it nor the Soderbergh remake, which I know is definitey not as highly regarded. I got a free 2 week invite to Hulu Plus, and this time I hoped I wouldn't have problems with it like I did the last time. Well, aside from a few times where the picture stopped but the audio kept on going... it was fine. At least I was able to play it without any actual computer issues, but enough about that.

The plot is that sometime in the future, psychologist Kris Kelvin (Banionis) is asked to go to space and visit a space station that is orbiting about a mysterious ocean-covered planet known as Solaris. The people left on the station are acting strange and apparently are psychologically damaged, so he has to go there to see what's going on. Many weird things happen and Kris experiences what happens to the crew on the station... I'll give away one thing... a thing that looks and acts like his dead wife (Bondarchuk) appears but it's a manifestation of the planet. It results in such things as Kelvin wondering about himself and his attitudes and even what it means to be human, among other heady concepts.

“Mind-bending” and “metaphysical” are terms that have been used to describe this motion picture, and that is accurate. This is slow and deliberately paced, but that was alright with me. People have said this is dream-like and I agree. It's a movie that doesn't spoon-feed information to you and you do have to think about what's going on and what it means. It was always interesting and I could mention what I think it means, but spoilers so I won't. I'll just say that despite this not being in my wheelhouse, this was great. Everything that was done was done so well: the story (based on a Polish novel), the acting, the characters, the run-down spaceship set, the cinematography, the ethereal music... it all comes together almost perfectly.

In short, if you enjoyed 2001, then you should also see this, as it's both the same and different, but you likely will be more apt to enjoying this cereberal masterpiece. I am glad I finally was able to check it out.

I'll be back Tuesday night.

Hatchet III

Hatchet III (2013)

Runtime: 81 minutes

Directed by: BJ McDonnell

Starring: Danielle Harris, Kane Hodder, Zach Galligan, Caroline Williams, Robert Diago DoQui

From: Ariescope Pictures

I know it's a little later than when I had planned to have this up, but it happens. In hindsight, I would have been better off not even spending the time and Xbox points to watch this, but I had no idea I would have this reaction...

Back in 2010 I finally saw the first Hatchet, a movie that has a lot of fans in the horror community. I talk about that here, but I thought it was not a good film. The gore was great and there were some funny moments, but most of the characters were asstagonists and just stupid in an aggravating way. I got to se the sequel on the big screen. You can read all about that experience here. It was better than the first but overall was average. More interesting than the film was how Kane Hodder appeared in person and he delivered a Q&A before and after the movie. Sad to say, due to still unclear reasons the movie got yanked from its AMC engagements everywhere after only like about 2 days.

With this movie, it only opened in a few markets earlier in the month but among other streaming sites it was on Xbox Video so I figured I would watch it, as I have seen the first two and I haven't heard anything major that would not make me want to see it.

Well... the plot is that now Victor Crowley is unstoppable in a preposterous way. Even after the ending of the second movie, and what happens in the opening minutes of this movie. The police and eventually the SWAT team end up in the swamp to collect the dead bodies, and that allows for Mr. Crowley (not on his white horse) to find more victims to kill, but this time the kills are badly done and just not that interesting, but mainly there are bad effects, especially when they are of the CGI kind. There's more but I don't want to get into it.

Yep, I did not like this movie... actually, I am putting it mildly. I HATED this movie. HATED. What a rancid piece of crap. It's not just the stupid nonsense story but most of the characters you see here are horrible loathsome human beings, especially the lead of the movie, Marybeth. Honestly. I have no idea why a character that was a big bitch in the first one but not to a turn-off point and who was not as bad in the second one suddenly turned into the most legit detestable major turn-off in the worst way character I have EVER seen. Ever. She was such a complete... I don't want to use misogynistic terms so I'll just say that character did a lot to make me despise this movie, although there certainly are other things that just make me think it is a bad movie, but that character made it into a film that legit makes me very angry, and that definitely is not a good thing. It's been a long while since I've been this upset with a motion picture, as a matter of fact. Not even the son of legendary character actor DoQui and Stritch from the second Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie can save it, but at least I did not wish for Mr. Crowley to tear them from limb to limb like I did most people in this.

Even if you loved the first two, I would say to stay far away from this. For everyone else, you'll be happier if you never have this festering sore enter your lives. I mean, not only do I think that I'd much rather watch the crappy A Good Day To Die Hard, but even the stinky piece of crap known as Creature was a better movie! Both movies share an actor (I won't spoil who it is) and at least in Creature he's in it more and I liked more people in that and I could laugh a few times, even if it was in disbelief.

I'll be back Sunday night and I should be watching something that doesn't make my blood boil.

RIP James Gandolfini & More

When I saw last night that he passed away it was quite the shock. I never watched The Sopranos and I've only seen a few of his movies but it was still sad news. Sometime in the next few years I'll watch at least one of his movies. That would be a nice thing to do.

But tomorrow night I'll have up a review of Hatchet III (even if it goes up on what is technically Saturday morning) and I need to rewatch the first two before I see III; also, I'll watch a few more foreign films before the month is over with and I can go back to watching random motion pictures.

Oh, and LOL to a loathsome couple who I won't ID at all apparently naming their newborn baby daughter NORTH WEST. I think that's grounds to take the child away, but maybe they wanted to pay tribute to that horrible Rob Reiner movie from the 90's which I saw when I was like 14 and even back then I thought it sucked and I don't want to watch it again, even for Letterboxd or this site.

Like I said, I'll be back soon with the usual.

The Protector

The Protector (Tom Yum Goong) (2005)

Runtime: 110 minutes

Directed by: Prachya Pinkaew

Starring: Tony Jaa, Petchtai Wongkamlao, Bongkoj Khongmalai, Xing Jing

From: Sahamongkolfilm Co.

I go to Thailand in my foreign-film watching and I rewatch this movie, one that I saw a few years ago and enjoyed (despite its nonsensical story) and I figured this was the perfect time to watch it again. It's a shame that Jaa has had obvious mental health issues the past few months and (allegedly; I just heard this rumor recently and it wasn't elabored on by the person who told it) ties to underworld figures in Thailand who apparently control him but it's up this year; by this time he should be a huge worldwide action star. Ong-Bak has an even lamer story but the action there is also quality; I've never seen the two sequels as I have heard some REAL bad things about both. A major shame. At least this is still pretty great, despite the nonsensical storyline.

The plot: Kham (Jaa) and his family raise elephants in Thailand. The elephant known as Por Yai is going to be presented to the ruler of the country but it and its calf Kohrn get kidnapped and sent to Sydney, Australia. That animal is considered sacred in the country, so Kham is MAD and goes to Sydney to get the both of them back and has to deal with such things as a gang led by a transsexual (both the character and the actor are trannies), a Thai cop in Australia who is on his side, and corrupt law enforcement.

I thought it then and still think it now: the story is for the birds and is not presented in the clearest manner so it's confusing at times. I have no idea what it's like in the 81 minute version that got released in U.S theatres as I never saw it on the big screen (in hindsight that was a mistake, even if I hear that even some of the fights got edited) but hopefully it was more coherent there. Still, I think the movie is a blast to watch as the action scenes are so great and tremendous. From the Jackie Chan-esque fight in the abandoned warehouse to the awesome 4 minute plus fight scene in the club that was filmed with no edits and cuts... from the arty fighting in the church with the floor covered in a few inches of water to all the bone-breaking that happens throughout, the fight scenes are tremendous and help make it a blast to watch despite the story. Unfortunately this may be the best film in terms of entertainment that Jaa ever does, and that makes me sad.

I'll be back Thursday night.

Man Bites Dog

Man Bites Dog (C'est Arrive Pres de Chez Vous) (1992)

Runtime: 96 minutes

Directed by: Remy Belvaux, Andre Bonzel, Benoit Poelvoorde

Starring: Benoit Poelvoorde, Remy Belvaux, Andre Bonzel, Valerie Parent

From: Les Artistes Anonymes

On my continuing journey of watching foreign films in June, I go to Belgium and see this for a second time; the first time was approximately 10 years ago, when I rented it from the super-liberal The Movie Fan videostore when I went to school at Illinois State University. I did not remember much about it so I figured it'd be the perfect thing to view tonight.

The plot of this infamous mockumentary is that a documentary film crew follow around Benoit, a guy who happens to be a serial killer, and the camera has an effect on him; it causes him to up his killing spree and eventually the film crew get in on the action and turn into entitites that are just as terrible as the boorish loudmouth who thinks himself smarter than he actually is and who is a racist xenophobe who also is misogynistic... and he can't hold his liquor either. Yet, he's still a charming figure at times.

The shock of this isn't quite the same in 2013 as it was in '92 (what with the scourge of “reality” TV being popular now, not to mention found footage/mockumentary films are now not too hard to find) but still, despite some too ridiculous moments, this still is entertaining for what it is, which is a really dark look at several different topics. They include:

• The influence of the camera on documentaries. It's a natural for this to happen. As much as someone tries to be themselves when they're on camera-such as for a documentary-a person will always end up acting differently. But as much as Benoit changes when he's around the film crew, the film crew also end up acting differently as they spend more time with Benoit; that crew ends up doing some horrifying things
• The public's fascination with such things as violence and serial killers. Enough said.
• The media's love of such things as violence and serial killers. Look at all the coverage that such things as high-profile murder trials get; people seem to love it (even though I think it's sick to enjoy such things as the coverage of the Casey Anthony trial), so that's why it's done.

It is not the easiest movie to watch given the subject matter. Still, I thought it was enjoyable for what it is and even now it says a lot and now, after the fact there's commentary that can be applied to “reality” TV.

I'll be back Tuesday night.

Inside

Inside (A L'interiur) (2007)

Runtime: 82 minutes

Directed by: Alexandre Bustillo, Julien Maury

Starring: Alysson Paradis, Beatrice Dalle, Nathalie Roussel, Francois-Regis Marchasson

From: La Fabrique de Films

Continuing the foreign film watching for the month, I go to France and watch one of the “New Wave of French Horror”, where in the past decade there have been some films that have gotten attention for being on the extreme side. There's Martyrs, High Tension and Frontier(s), all movies I've seen before, and none of them I rated all that high. Just click on the titles to read the reviews if you wish. This one seems to get a lot of attention, for being “the best” in the category and also for being the goriest and grossest.

The plot: A pregnant woman named Sarah (Paradis) and her husband are in a car accident where he dies. Apparently the accident happened in an abandoned parking lot... but anyway, a few months later (on Christmas Eve) she is close to giving birth. On that night a mysterious woman breaks in and she has to hide in the bathroom as the woman wants Sarah's baby... so she wants to cut her open to get it. That's about it for much of the movie.

You know, I just think that I don't like recent French horror in general. Many people seem to dig this, but me... it definitely is gory and graphic and the topic it's about is pretty gross. BUT, as a whole I did not enjoy this at all. A car crash happening in what looks like an abandoned parking lot wasn't a good start for me. But, when right away you see that Sarah acts like a complete bitch for no real good reason and she continues to act like a complete bitch, why am I supposed to like her or feel bad for her plight? Then, this 82 minute long movie certainly feels longer than that. That did not make me happy.

Also, the plot is rather threadbare and there's a lot of stupid moments and twists. Some of these make Sarah look not only like a loathsome bitch, but a stupid one too. I hate to have to use misogyny, but this is how the movie portrayed the character and I have to report it accurately. I really don't know why so many have gone wild for this or think it's great. I thought it was a detestable film where the lead's an asstagonist and it's just stupid all around. This is not the type of horror I want to watch.

However, I DID laugh when a few times throughout you get CGI of the baby in the womb and when something happens you get its reaction; I laugh because it was so stupid and hokey.

I'll be back Sunday night, with hopefully a movie to review that I actually liked.

No Review Tonight

Unfortunately I got wrapped up with things tonight (including spending time helping someone out, which I am not complaining about doing) so I figured that instead of watching something pretty late tonight and posting it even later tonight, I'll just watch something on Friday and post it on Friday night before midnight. Barring any unforeseen circumstances I should be able to do that. I won't run out of potential films to see, that is for sure.

Turkey Shoot

Turkey Shoot (1982)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Brian Trenchard-Smith

Starring: Steve Railsback, Olivia Hussey, Michael Craig, Lynda Stoner, Roger Ward

From: Hemdale Film

In my return to this month of watching foreign films, I decided to leave the continent of Europe and fly halfway across the world to Australia and the world of Ozploitation to see one of the many movies spotlighted in the great documentary Not Quite Hollywood, and this has a reputation of being quite sleazy and violent. So, why not watch it, a movie also known sometimes as Escape 2000 and Blood Camp Thatcher?

The plot is basically The Most Dangerous Game scenario set in a dystopian future that seems like a police state and everyone has to obey and government is big brother and all that. Unfortunately, that idea seems appropriate for an American given the disturbing news that has come out in the past week. But enough about current events... in this world there are “camps” where people are sent to if they disobey. You follow two girls who are unjustly sent there (Hussey, Stoner) and a rebel who has escaped from camps before (Railsback). The leader of the camp is Thatcher (Craig; yeah, the movie did name him after Margaret) and the biggest baddest guard there is is Ritter (Ward). The trio and two others are sent out in the woods, where several big bad guys are tasked to hunt and kill them.

What I heard was correct; this is quite sleazy and violent. The first half of the movie, they certainly went out of their way to make the villains quite awful and reprehensible. They do some terrible things. When they get their comeuppance, it at least is satisfying, and they do go out in graphic ways... although boy those moments also demonstrate how low-budget it is. A lot of obviously fake dummies, you know. There are some darkly comic moments, and also some wackiness, like how one of the villains has a hairy mutant/man as a pet! Its name is Alph! It's a man who is hairy almost like a werewolf and has reptile eyes. It is a post-apocalyptic future? Possibly.

Overall, I thought this was at least some entertaining trash and if it sounds good to you based off of the description, then you should check it out. The shoot apparently wasn't easy and there was friction between various people, but it's sleazy fun. I'll be back Thursday night.

Behind The Candelabra

Behind the Candelabra (2013)

Runtime: 118 minutes

Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Starring: Michael Douglas, Matt Damon, Scott Bakula, Rob Lowe

From: HBO Films

Yep, I managed to find a copy of this on YouTube (but shhh on that) and as I heard a number of people I know online talk about the movie (just about all of them dug it) I had to see it, and take a short break from the Foreign Film June deal-io I am doing. There's certainly a lot to say about this. I'll start off with how Soderbergh says (at least for the time being) this is his last-ever film as he is fed up with Hollywood and how the studios did not want to make and release this due to is content, despite the talent involved, because it's about a homosexual relationship. I don't always dig him but I do agree with Steven's views on independent film and how the Hollywood studio system is now pretty ridiculous with how corporate it is and how it's filled with bean-counters.

Also, there's the flamboyant Liberace, who in hindsight... well, it seems so obvious now that he was a homosexual. He's a talented musician for sure and it was an extravagant show he put on which helped him for a time be the highest paid entertainer in the world. I managed to find a video on Youtube of the intro to his Las Vegas show from the early 80's which consists of the intro that the audiences saw then you see the first few minutes of the man himself on stage, talking to the audience. Here's the video, where you get to see the real Scott Thorson as the guy who literally drives Liberace on stage in a Rolls Royce. That comes across as awkward now, given that of course it was Thorson who wrote the book this movie is based upon, all about the relationship he says he had with the legendary entertainer. Anyhow, the video shows that Liberace on stage seemed like a charming guy who enjoyed interacting with the audience and making them happy.

While he's gotten into legal problems since then (and also has colon cancer) I will presume that much of what he says is true. Sure, he recently said that he had a relationship with Michael Jackson and that Liberace had unprotected sex with guys after he knew he had AIDS. I am not sure about that but otherwise I presume that the story he tells isn't fiction.

You get to see “Lee” (what Liberace always called himself) meet up with Scott backstage after a show, due to Scott Bakula's character Bob Black; Bob Black looks hilarious, as he has a mop of hair, dressed for the late 70's era, and has a huge mustache. Lee quickly falls in love with Scott, who was only 17 at the time and he was 57. Things are fine at first, but after Lee convinces him to get plastic surgery from shady plastic surgeon Jack Startz (Rob Lowe, who is also made to look hilarious; that character had too much work done on his own face), Scott begins a drug habit and well, that's when trouble starts between the two and eventually they split, although they did reunite before Lee passed away due to complications from AIDS.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie, for sure. I mean, even more so than I was expecting. All the performances were quality and given the talent involved it's pretty ridiculous this only got a theatrical release overseas in various countries and not in the United States. Besides the people already mentioned, there are small roles from Mike O'Malley, David Koechner, Nicky Katt, Paul Reiser, and even Debbie Reynolds. No wonder why Soderbergh is fed up with the studio system. There's also a nice musical score from Marvin Hamlisch, who passed away last year shortly after doing said score.

The movie seems fair to both of the leads; they both had their good moments and their bad moments. I had no idea what to expect going in but I am glad it was put on YouTube, albeit illegally, as I don't subscribe to HBO. I am also glad it was serious and it wasn't campy, as it certainly would have been easy to do such a thing. I'll be back Tuesday night.

The Boss

The Boss (Il Boss) (1973)

Runtime: 105 minutes

Directed by: Fernando Di Leo

Starring: Henry Silva, Richard Conte, Gianni Garko, Antonia Santilli

From: Cineproduzioni Daunia 70

Yep, I decided to go back to the good old poliziotteschi genre as part of my World Tour for Letterboxd, and this was the one movie of director Di Leo's Milieu Trilogy that I hadn't seen, despite having watched Caliber 9 and The Italian Connection last summer. The three movies aren't really connected except for them being in the same genre. I heard this was the least of the three but tonight was finally the time for me to check it out.

The plot: The movie is set (and filmed) in Palermo, on the island of Sicily in Italy. There's gang warfare going on between a few different families and the police force there is corrupt too. There's a gleefully over the top opening involving a private screening of pornographic films to some gangsters, and Lanzetta (Silva) blowing away everyone there with... a grenade launcher! He works for mob head Corrasco (Conte) and understandably people are pissed at what happened so the daughter of one of Corrasco's associates gets kidnapped. She's a young adult lady and she's yet another attractive brunette Italian dame. She in particular is not a strong empowering female character. Instead she's a nymphomaniac marijuana smoker who gets slapped around by any male she spends any time around, including Silva! Feminists, never see this movie. I did feel uncomfortable at times watching that on screen. Anyhow, Silva gets her back and then complications happen...

It is true that it isn't as great as Caliber 9 or The Italian Connection. Still, I happened to enjoy it. What action you do see is well-done and exciting, and while it doesn't have all the hallmarks I expect from the genre (there's no vehice chases) it's never boring due to all the drama going on with the gangs feuding with each other and even the people of the police department feuding with each other due to all the corruption going on. The daughter (Santilli) you mainly see wearing not a lot of clothing... if any at all. I did not complain with that arrangement! As you can probably guess with what I said already, this is pretty sleazy and trashy... just how I like it. No, but really, it fits right in with the typical movie in the genre and I am glad I finally saw it. If nothing else, Silva plays a great badass character. He was... boss.

I'll be back Sunday night.

Cloud Atlas

Cloud Atlas (2012)

67% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 244 reviews)

Runtime: 172 minutes

Directed by: The Wachowski Siblings and Tom Tykwer

Starring: Many people, but the main ones are Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, and Jim Sturgess

From: Warner Brothers released it in the U.S but several production companies produced it, including those in Hong Kong and Singapore; the main companies are in Germany, thus that is why I am doing this as part of Foreign June

I imagine that some would argue about me reviewing this for the theme month, but given that it was produced by foreign entities and it was filmed in Germany, Scotland, and Spain... by my standards it qualifies.

I'll be honest here, I never thought I would see this movie. I've never read the book it was based on, even if it is highly praised. The idea of the movie just sounds pretentious and goofy; actors made up to be different ethnicities and even genders to try and tie together this odd story? Needless to say, something like this has gotten a strongly mixed reaction; what got me to watch this was hearing a podcast recently where someone saw it and they hated it, but they laughed at the same things I did just from the trailers and commercials, i.e. what I just told you about the characters and the makeup.

How do I describe the plot? It's six different stories that are connected (in threadbare ways), as various actors appear in most or all of them, playing different roles. There's the South Pacific Ocean in 1849, the United Kingdom in 1936, San Francisco in 1973, the United Kingdom in 2012, Seoul, South Korea in 2144, and an island in 2321 after a nuclear holocaust. If you read about it on Wikipedia it doesn't sound so complicated what all happens. Well, that's not the case when you watch the movie, as everything is all jumbled up and you constantly jump between the timelines and when you have various actors appearing often in different roles... a real mess.

My main issue with the movie... I was never given a reason to give a damn at all about these stupid A-hole characters and their plight, and the stories they were in, they were not just not interesting. The fact that you jumped across the timelines meant that I could not even try to get into the lame stories even if I wanted to. I grew frustrated and I am amazed I was able to last for almost 3 hours. “Pretentious prattle” is the perfect phrase to use here. It is SO pretentious. The idea of everyone being interconnected throughout history and one random thing happening in the past and it affecting the future in unexpected ways... that sounds fine-enough in theory. Maybe in the book it's done well. Here, though... it's ostentatious and there's a strong stench of arrogance around the whole thing; no surprise, given the incredible unbearable Wachowski's are involved!

Really, the main thing that kept me going... all the preposterous outfits and characters the main actors had to play. From Keith David (obviously an African-American) playing a Korean dude, to Halle Barry as a woman from India AND a white Jewish woman whose skin color looked exactly like Dave Chapelle when he played a white person on The Chapelle Show, from a man as a woman (and woman as a man) to Tom Hanks looking both like Robert Prosky and a balding goateed gangster with a Cockney accent... it's so terrible and wrong-headed it's hilarious. You can't even get offended by people playing different races as it's so goofy.

The movie has its share of famous people (there's also Hugh Grant and Susan Sarandon) but that doesn't mean too much to me; I imagine that if I saw it again and this time had knowledge as to what was supposed to be going on, my opinion may change... but I really would prefer not to go on that long arduous journey ever again.

I'll be back Friday night.

Cold Prey

Cold Prey (Fritt Vilt) (2006)

Runtime: 97 minutes

Directed by: The awesomely named Roar Uthaug

Starring: Ingrid Bolso Berdal, Rolf Kristian Larsen, Tomas Alf Larsen, Endre Martin Midtstigen

From: Fantefilm

Tonight, I made the journey from Serbia to Norway to talk about a slasher film from that country which has plenty of fans online. I had to go to a certain secret sight to check it out. While the version they had was dubbed instead of subtitled, I shouldn't complain as at least I am certain what I watched wasn't edited in any way. There are two sequels, and I have heard that the third entry in the series is not really that good (it's also a prequel) so maybe I should stick to the first two. I guess that the idea of a third movie in any franchise not being that good (a popular online opinion) doesn't just apply to American films but that of movies all across the world. At least looking at movies of the past 15 or so years, that idea seems to have merit.

Anyhow, the plot to this... rather simple. Three guys and two girls are on a ski adventure and they decide not to go to the popular slopes but instead one in the middle of nowhere, where they can snowboard by themselves. That goes fine... until one of them falls and breaks something in the lower leg. Whoops. They find an abandoned ski lodge so they decide to stay there for the time being. Turns out, there's some dude who hunts people with a pickaxe, and they run into him.

The movie starts off fine enough, where you get to meet the quintet at first, you see them ski, they end up at the lodge and they talk to each other. All of that was fine and I had no problems with it. Problem is, once the killing starts, most of them are just lame and not that exciting at all. You have a killer who is a blank page. I'll spoil the fact that you find out Jack S*** about the killer because I have to complain about it. He's just a random dude. The characters end up doing some really dumb things. I know, it's a slasher, but it stuck out enough for me to note it. And there are also some dumb plot twists.

Each one of those demerits aren't deal-breakers on their own. You don't need to have awesome kills in a slasher, nor do you need a backstory for the killer as sometimes it's creepier that way. Characters can do some stupid things, as it happens. But, all those things combined, and into what was set up in the story... I say it did not work. It's not an awful movie as there are moments. But I think it's disappointing as after all the hype I've heard, it's just a standard movie which has a nice scenic setting (the mountains area, and then a nice big wooden lodge) and wasted potential. I wish I wasn't disappointed like this, but I'm being honest here. If only I didn't feel blah about the motion picture.

I'll be back Wednesday night.

A Serbian Film

A Serbian Film (Srpski Film) (2010)

Runtime: 104 minutes (but I am not sure if I saw the fully uncut movie or the cut by one minute U.S version; more on that later)

Directed by: Srdjan Spasojevic

Starring: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic, Slobodan Bestic

From: Contra Film

Yep... yep. I watched THIS movie, one of the most infamous-if not the most infamous-to come out in recent years. It's the movie that caused controversy and even legal problems for some people across the world who just tried to screen the movie in a theatre for the public for a festival or as a special presentation. I mean, more than one film festival organizer was arrested just for announcing they were going to show this. No lie. That is unfortunate for the obvious free speech thing.

While the filmmakers said that it's an attack on how staid and politically correct cinema in Serbia is in recent years (and also allegedly Serbian politics), it certainly seems like the main focus was to create something really controversial and it sure as hell worked to get attention to the Serbian film industry. There's rape, necrophilia, pedophilia, something I'll matter of factly describe as “baby rape”, and there's more reprehensible material. So yeah, what a film to choose for a cinematic journey from Hong Kong to Serbia! 

But hey, I've known about it for approximately 3 years now and I was always curious, although also apprehensive due to the vile content. Thankfully there's a YouTube video that is 103 minutes and 47 seconds, so it's either the uncut version or the version that was cut by around 1 minute to be released in the U.S on demand and video with an NC-17 rating. It is in Serbian with the dialogue being translated in Russian after a character speaks (a common thing, it seems, with Russian dubs; don't ask how I know this...) but there's English subtitles that are an option with the video and they actually seem accurate. It shouldn't be too difficult to find as long as it hasn't been taken down by the time you read this.

The plot: Milos is an old porn star who has a wife and 6 year old son. He is asked by some shady people to star in some porn films for a nice amount of cash. He doesn't want to do it but decides so for the paycheck. Turns out, they make snuff films. Things go REALLY wrong and there is an explanation as to how he does all the stuff he does and it isn't just for the money.

Overall... it's actually a competently made movie. It isn't the sort of low-budget dreck that tries to be extreme to get attention (and there are movies like that out there; I've just never seen them). There's talent to be seen and from the script to the story to how it's film, the music to the pacing, it's all put together in a fine manner. It's definitely watchable as a movie and I was able to get through it with no problem and I did not turn it off due to being offended by it. It helped that I already knew of the most extreme stuff, but I wasn't offended by it. It doesn't mean I wasn't grossed out; I just wasn't offended.

As for the allegory stuff... what was presented along those lines wasn't subtle. Things are said out loud in a blunt manner. What I say was the most effective thing was the shock value and getting notoriety for the country's film industry. Undoubtedly that was a success.

While I thought it was fine for what it was, it doesn't mean I need to watch it again. It's still a rough experience as there are plenty of disgusting things and themes and I don't really need to deal with such things on a frequent basis. "Shock" is a legitimate reaction to inspire with any form of art, including a motion picture, so I am fine with that idea. It's just that there better be more than that to make it worthwhile. Thankfully there is more than that here. Your opinion of it will likely depend on your tolerance for the subject matter, not the quality of how things were constructed and put together.

I'll be back tomorrow night with something less controversial.

Police Story

Police Story (Ging Chat Goo Si) (1985)

Runtime: 101 minutes

Directed by: Jackie Chan

Starring: Jackie Chan, Maggie Cheung, Brigitte Lin, Bill Tung, Yuen Chor

From: Golden Harvest

As I said recently, on Letterboxd I decided to mainly watch foreign films for the month of June. I decided to kick it off a night early (and I was tied up with things so that's why this is technically posted on Saturday the 1^st of June) and watch something I recently found on Blu-Ray; I have seen this once before but that was at least 15 years ago from a VHS tape that may have been a cut version. I got it from a local mom & pop store. I remember enjoying it at the time, and thankfully I still enjoy it in 2013.

The plot: Chan Ka-Kui is a cop in Hong Kong. Almost on his own he captures notorious drug lord Chu Tao (but not before he and the bad guys destroy a shantytown in an impressive scene). He is then assigned to protect the secretary for Chu, who is being forced to testify against him. Things go wrong via a comedy of errors and Chu is set free. Other things happen and there is plenty of crazy action to watch, from the destruction of a shantytown to a whole lot of sugar glass being destroyed in a local mall... among other things that happened at that mall.

From what I understand, Chan said in his autobiography that this was his favorite action film he ever did, and well, he's done dozens of them by now. It's understandable why he thinks that way. Sure, at times the Chan character in the movie comes off as an asstagonist (especially when dealing with his girlfriend May) but otherwise this is a quality action/comedy that holds up in 2013. The comedy mostly is pretty funny, whether it be gags (accidentally recording something with the witness which out of context sounds like Chan and the witness were having sexual intercourse; that was one of the few things from the movie I remembered before seeing it again tonight), wordplay, or physical humor. And the action still hits, as a lot of it is craziness due to Chan doing all his own stunts, and you have shootouts, him chasing after a bus, and of course his martial arts and death-defying stunts, where sometimes he literally does defy death due to doing such insane things and somehow not ending up in a wheelchair for trying such things.

So yep, this is still a satisfying action movie that can be enjoyed in modern times. I tend to reallly enjoy the good Jackie films (there certainly are some bad ones out there, though.... The Tuxedo... shudders. I don't want to watch that again even to roast it!) but even with that, I recommend this. I'll be back on Sunday night; I'll see a movie from a European country, but I don't know which one yet.