Tai Chi Master (1993)

Aka: Twin Warriors

It saddens me that when most people hear the name Yuen Woo-ping the first thing they think of is The Matrix (1999). I love The Matrix, but what he achieved with actors only partially trained in combat is a mere shadow of his ability; for the real Woo-ping you need to go to his Chinese films. Every bone-crunching and ankle-busting flight of fancy was achieved in-camera with no CGI. Keep that in mind while watching and you’ll begin to understand why he’s perhaps the greatest film fight choreographer alive today.
If that wasn't enough you also have Jet Li, the greatest movie martial artist of his generation, and Michelle Yeoh who is arguably the most graceful. Jet is on top form, using his innate ability to be both effortlessly bad-ass and endearingly naïve simultaneously. Martial Arts fans need this.

4 pole dances out of 5

THE TWILIGHT SAGA - BREAKING DAWN - PART 1 [2011]

Candyman II's Bill Condon takes an embarrassed seat in the director's chair for the first part of the film adaptation of the final Twilight book, Breaking Dawn: Part 1.
There's nothing bad I can say about this film that hasn't been said before.  45 LONG minutes of nothing but wedding & honeymoon with a few short lines of dialgoue to shove the plot even a bit forward.  I understand this is a romance but even romance can benefit from maybe even a little of advancement in the narrative.  You've been warned.

2 broken beds out of 5

LEGO Batman: The Movie - DC Superheroes Unite (2013)

My interest in the shovel-load of English language CGI animations released every year is almost zero, but I’ll make an exception for Batman.
I once bought a LEGO: Batman game. It was fun for five minutes. The film is like the game, with more action. What held my attention after those five minutes was the comedy gold of the friendly rivalry between Bats and Supes. Yes, they’re League buddies, but Supes can fly and that really irks Bruce. The story uses every opportunity to play around with that thorn in the Bat’s side.
There's a real sense of love for the material by the makers; they did their homework, as evidenced by the fan-pleasing nods to the comics and the preceding live action films.

3 bus tickets out of 5

The Heroic Trio (1992)

Three of Asia’s most bankable actresses star in this kung fu action adventure. Wonder Woman (Anita Mui), Thief Catcher (Maggie Cheung) and Invisible Woman (Michelle Yeoh) each kick some ass but for different reasons, on different sides of the fence. Can a fence have three sides? No matter. Knowing that much is enough to let you know what you’re in for.
Unfortunately, Johnny To cocked it up. His action scenes are too clunky and his framing exposes all the sins. Tsui Hark or Corey Yuen could’ve brought this to a much higher level, although it still wouldn't have made much sense in the story dept. The finale is bonkers good fun, though.

2½ stolen babies out of 5

Ambush at Blood Pass (1970)

aka: The Ambush: Incident at Blood Pass 

Having Toshirô Mifune reprise his Yojimbo character (if only in name) is the kind of thing that gets me jumping for joy. Add Shintarô Katsu (Zatoichi) to the mix and I'm somersaulting around the room. (If Tomisaburo Wakayama had been cast too I’d have literally exploded with glee.) Reluctant director Hiroshi Inagaki crafted a tight chess-like situation around the two men. The game board is an Inn at Sanshun Pass. Inagaki uses the frame well but he never over-stretches himself. Likewise, the characters never feel like more than pieces to be moved around as needed. Nevertheless, it’s a slow burning period piece that satisfies, but not in the way I’d expected.

3½ Eastern Westerns out of 5

The Enforcer (1995)

aka: My Father Is a Hero / Letter To Daddy / Jet Li's The Enforcer

Despite the crappy English titles it's a well-made and pretty damn exciting flick. It’s utterly predicable, but that doesn't mean it’s boring.
There’s an absent father theme throughout that’s neither too overpowering nor schmaltzy. Elsewhere, Jet does what Jet does best both on and off (embarrassingly visible) wires. There’s some wonderfully creative use of the environment during action scenes that make it feel like a Jackie Chan adventure with the violence knob turned up higher than usual.
It’s written by Wong Jing, who managed to include a ten-year-old kid that isn't annoying. In fact, he kicks ass some of the time! Good job, Jing.

3 Asian rope tricks out of 5

Dolls (2002)

Three vignettes exploring the same idea weave into one non-linear entity that’s also paradoxically linear in a very fundamental way.
Kitano's editing is typically flawless. Visually it's more colourful than usual and certainly more open to interpretation. It’s less overtly violent, but is perhaps the most violent of all when you delve deeper into the motivations. I found it impossible to hold onto one narrative thread and follow it without succumbing to the urge to grasp at a hundred others.
Ultimately, you'll take from it what you bring to it.
Some basic knowledge of Japanese society will enrich the experience.

4 closing seasons out of 5

A FISH CALLED WANDA [1988]

When people talk about great comedies of the '80's they always seem to forget director Charles Crichton's final film, the British crime caper A Fish Called Wanda.
Co-written by Monty Python's John Cleese, the film starts out pretty slow but once the ball starts rolling it snowballs into a classic situation comedy of lies & deceit with the perfect mixture of British and American humor.  It tosses morals out the window and attempts to do nothing but aim for the funny bone and succeeds with it's four main stars all playing their roles with comedic perfection.

4 doomed dogs out of 5 

IMAGINAERUM [2012]

Music video director Stobe Harju brings Finnish Symphonic metal act Nightwish's Imaginaerum album to the screen as a companion piece.
Like a twisted mix of Tim Burton & Neil Gaiman collaborating on Jim Henson's Storyteller, Harju makes great use of Nightwish's Elfman/Zimmer inspired music to go along with the dark yet beautiful visuals.  The effects are a little hokey in some parts but that's part of the charm, seeing as the ambition and strong imagination are clearly apparent.  It begins to unravel a bit at the seams when it tries to be an intimate dramatic piece but quickly gathers itself together when it goes back to being a melodramatic spectacle that would be right at home as a stageplay rather than a film.  If you're a fan of Nightwish or any of the other names I dropped in this review then this film is definitely for you.

3½ scattered thoughts in order out of 5

Naked Weapon (2002)

There are no prizes for guessing which HK cult classic the film takes its cues from. To be fair, it’s from the same writer, but that doesn't excuse the implied connection, of which there’s none. It stars Maggie Q as an assassin who uses her curves and her sex to get close to targets. All goes well until her past begins to intrude and her agenda becomes cloudy.
A better director, one less preoccupied with Hollywood slow-mo, could've did great things with Naked Weapon, but instead it’s a bit of a turd that smells strongly of wasted potential.

2 marionettes out of 5

FAST & FURIOUS 6 [2013]

Director Justin Lin's 6th and final film in The Fast & The Furious franchise takes the family out of the exotic locations of before and lands them in the gritty land of England and tea & scones.
Sure, it's short on brains, character development and much of a storyline but that's not really what fans are here for.  It delivers by the meat-headed truckloads with vehicular carnage, bloody hand-to-hand combat, silly but good natured humor, insanely choreographed action sequences that go way over the top and...well...a tank.
With Lin stepping down and Insidious director James Wan stepping in for the next film, I can't wait, seeing as the post credits scene made me wet my pants with fanboy anticipation.

3 F&F family doppelgangers out of 5

A GOOD DAY TO DIE HARD [2013]

Like father like son.
Director John Moore resorts to the tired cliche of estranged son teams up with father only to find they have much more in common than they thought, in the fifth Die Hard film, A Good Day To Die Hard.
I counted one scene that got me giddy with brainless excitement and the rest of the film felt like a good time to nap had it not been for the excessive noise.  Moore removes any form of wit, fun or character from the previous films and replaces it with dull, vapid dialogue and flashy but soulless action sequences.

1 excellent car chase out of 5

BULLET TO THE HEAD [2013]

Sly Stallone and The Fast & The Furious' Sung Kang drive around killing people in director Walter Hill's Bullet To The Head, an adaptation of Alex Nolent's graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete.
It's pretty much cinematic trash that seems like it was scripted by an uneducated adolescent with absolutely nothing worthwhile to say.  With films like these you would at least expect some sort of thought put into the kill sequences or the one-liners but there is none of that to be seen.  The film is simply void of any appeal whatsoever.

½ headshot out of 5

THE LAST STAND [2013]

Director Kim Ji-Wong makes his American debut with the ridiculously violent Arnold Schwarzenegger film, The Last Stand.
It plays like a formulaic American action film with cool cars, loud shootouts, gorgeous girls, groanworthy sight gags and bone-crunching fist fights.  However it also includes some creative camerawork, unusually well-timed action sequences and shots of subtle humour to please fans of the director's previous work.  More like a modern day Western, this is an Arnie film done right, now matter how aged ol' Leatherface has become.

3 Atlantean broad swords out of 5

LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD [2007]

Len Wiseman drags the ageing John McClane kicking & screaming into a post 9/11 digital age in the fourth Die Hard film, Live Free Or Die Hard.
As an action film, it delivers with some hilariously ridiculous, yet effective thrills however Timothy Olyphant's villain is a bit flat and the film would have benefited a bit more had they made Maggie Q.'s kick-ass kung-fu bitch the big bad.  Unlike Indiana Jones 4, this film works in the hero's advanced age into the story rather than just using it as an excuse to make silly one-liners which is nice.  I enjoyed that the majority of the special effects didn't resort to CGI to give it a bit more of a Die Hard feel, unfortunately they went bat shit crazy with the color correction in post-production and it makes it a bit more artificial than it really is.

3½ timex watches in a digital age out of 5

PARKER [2013]

Taylor Hackford steps a bit out of his comfort zone by directing his first "gritty" crime thriller, the Jason Statham vehicle, Parker.
The film starts off like it could be intriguing but quickly slides off that notion and gets painfully predictable and boring as it begins feeling slapped together and uninspired.  Surprisingly, Jennifer Lopez is the shining light here, as she serves as comic relief in tight skirts while The Stath is beginning to get just a little too comfy by never pushing himself to do anything but collect a paycheck these days.  In the end, the film is nothing short of boring and dull, with the exception of feeling embarrassed for The Stath as he tries to pull off a Texan accent.  Feck.

2 Fish camps out of 5

Once Upon a Time in Mexico (2003)

Rodriguez’s third Mariachi film saw him once again write, direct, edit and score the production. That type of creative control must make him the envy of his peers. The film had a budget almost four times what the previous two had combined and was shot digitally, so editing and SFX would've been a breeze, but the story is a mess. There are too many people with not enough to do and sketchy reasons for doing it. It’s a half-baked movie with an abundance of action but not enough plotting.

2 embellishments out of 5

The Comedians (1967)

The Comedians is set in Tahiti during the Papa Doc regime. It gathered together a wonderful cast including Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, Peter Ustinov, Alec Guinness and James Earl Jones, and then delivered a stagnant bore-fest; even the cast looked bored out of their fucking minds.

1½ games of chance out of 5

My Neighbours the Yamadas (1999)

The Ghibli film that often gets forgotten, and with good reason. The pseudo-watercolour visual style, far removed from the usual template, would work well as a picture book but as an animation it's too empty, with little or no backgrounds. That emptiness could've been compensated for by filling the story, by having a solid beginning, middle and end that carried the viewer along an emotional track, but that doesn't happen. Instead, it's a collection of vignettes that attempt to reflect real life. Some are wry or ironic, and some are touching and heartfelt, but it's not enough.

2 proverbs out of 5

DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE [1995]

Number 3 in the Die Hard series changes things up a bit by adding a With A Vengeance to the title.
John McTiernan returns to the director's chair after stepping out from the second film and with him he brings back the fun something fierce.  Sure it runs around without a point for the first half hour or so but once it decides which way it's going the action is non-stop brainless entertainment with Jeremy Irons and Samuel L. Jackson tossed in for extra "fuck yeahs".   Basically the film winds up with some great punches and leaves without so much as a bruise.  Good times.  Good times.

3½ riddles out of 5

DETACHMENT [2011]

Not since American History X has a film left me feeling so horrible, so it came as no surprise when I found out Detachment's director Tony Kaye is the same guy.
It's a stark look at the youth of today and they way we as adults tend to forget our responsibility towards them.  It's wonderfully acted by a talented ensemble cast, filmed with thoughtful intimacy and aided by some interesting animation to tell the story that rips out your heart and stomps all over it.  Unfortunately it can be a bit too much at times and takes you out of the harsh reality that it's trying to portray.  Still by the end of the film it leaves the impact it's meant to make, meaning it made it's point with success.

3½ sad cupcakes out of 5

Desperado (1995)

A sequel to El Mariachi (1992) that feels more like a remake because the two stories are so very similar. It has the travelling musician with the guitar case full of guns, the woman in the small town, the bad guy, etc. The most obvious differences are a bigger budget and more competent cast. You get Antonio Banderas to moisten the ladies, Salma Hayek to stiffen the men, and Cheech Marin to make the family dog drool on the throw rug. It’s typical Rodriguez, which means it’s a mix of stylised action and surface deep emotion that goes well with movie snacks, if you like that kind of thing.

3 blood trails out of 5

THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES [2013]

The Place Beyond The Pines is a hypnotizing, slow-burning crime drama from director Derek Cianfrance.  

These are the characters Bruce Springsteen writes about in his songs.  Troubled Americans backed into a corner facing moral dilemmas and despair on the wrong side of the tracks.  The three lead actors, Ryan Gosling, Bradley Cooper and Dane DeHaan deliver some haunted and effective performances as always, while the cinematography, eerrie music courtesy of Mike Patton and wonderful narrative provide a memorably melancholy backdrop.   It will probably deter audiences simpy looking for a good time but comes highly recommended for lovers of great cinema.  

4 tastes of ice cream out of 5

THE TWILIGHT SAGA: ECLIPSE [2010]

The third instalment of the popular Twilight films, Eclipse, brings on 30 Days Of Night director David Slade to give it a bit more *ahem* bite.
It's noticeably less mopey than the first two films, hell, I even laughed a few times with intentional humor.  Still the narrative drags it feet with long pointless scenes of teenage melodrama that could be wrapped up in less than 10 minutes rather than the 2 hour running time that it is.  Some of the vamp family gets a tad more interesting than before but never enough to distract from the intense yawns and urges to have a nap for the better half of the film.

2½ training montages out of 5

Witchfinder General (1968)

Matthew Hopkins. Witch burner. Man of God. The scourge of women. He found witches were there were none and the money rolled in.
Witchfinder was controversial at time of release for its depictions of sadistic torture. Many critics called it the most morally repulsive film ever made. By today’s standards it’s mild; even the more violent restored version is tame, but its historical importance remains undiluted.
I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have portray Hopkins than Vincent. He plays it straight, with little of the theatrics he’s known for. Perhaps because he didn't consider it a horror film? I agree; it’s a period drama and a biopic, albeit one with very little in the way of accepted truth regarding its notorious subject. I like that irony.

3 idolaters out of 5

THE APPARITION [2012]

Ashley Greene and that guy who played Bucky Barnes in Captain America are plagued by a nasty case of mold in the floorboards of their brand new house in Todd Lincoln's supernatural shitfest The Apparition.
It pretty much steals bits from every ghost story you've seen before, including Paranormal Activity, The Grudge, The Amytiville Horror and many more, then somehow strips it of anything remotely scary or interesting.  Clocking in at 82 minutes (12 minutes of that were end credits) surprised me when it felt more like an hour and forty minutes of wasted time.

1 dead dog out of 5

DIE HARD 2 [1990]

Bruce Willis is back as John McClane and is ready to have another shitty Christmas in director Renny Harlin's sequel to the action classic Die Hard.
Now the original had the element of surprise, Bruce Willis' charismatic persona and Alan Rickman's cold, yet delightful performance to allow it rise above the crop of other "American" action films of it's time.  Now without Rickman and the element of surprise, Die Hard 2 falls a little bit short compared to the original but has enough ridiculously fun action sequences to enjoy.  Sure the constant jokey references to the original like "oh no, not again" get a little bit tiresome but Willis still remains thoroughly entertaining and that's all I really wanted from this film.

3 tasers out of 5

STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS [2013]

A little bigger, darker and bolder than director J.J. Abrams & his Fringe team's first film in the franchise, Star Trek Into Darkness continues the "more balls than brains" version of Trek.
It stirs the excitement with adventure and intrigue, while taking us to brand new worlds that seem more in place in the Star Wars universe than Rodenberry's vision.  Nevertheless, with a simply deliciously cold and menacing performance from Benedict Cumberbatch and Chris Pine & Karl Urban stealing lens-flared scenes left right and center, the film is nothing more than good summer fun to butt heads with Iron Man 3.

3½ models of Zefram Cochran's ship out of 5

SUBMARINE [2010]

Submarine is a cynical coming-of-age British dramedy from first time feature length director Richard Ayoade based on the novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne.
Ayoade's filmmaking is ripe with confidence and strong storytelling that never tries too hard to be smarter than it really is, which too many films in it's genre tend to do these days.  The performances from each actor involved help hold everything together when things get a bit dry and drawn-out.  All in all, it's a delightful little film that promises we'll be seeing more of Ayoade's work in the future.

3 awkward mixtapes from your dad out of 5

Rambo (2008)

A group of self-important Christian aid workers get themselves deep in real world shit and it falls to John Rambo to save their naive asses.
Be warned, right from the very beginning the fourth film in the franchise is brutally violent. Heads get torn in half by gunfire and limbs get tossed around like beers at a garden party. It’s shot in such a way that it doesn't gratify the brutality and it doesn't lead to desensitisation; the last kill is as horrific as the first. If violence upsets you, stay away.
It’s advisable to have watched Rambo I and II so you know how JR got to where he is emotionally. Doing so will help you fill in gaps and lessen the upset over the lack of properly defined motivation in this one.

3½ boat trips to hell out of 5

The Blacksheep Affair (1998)

aka: Another Meltdown

I didn't give a damn about anyone in this shite Hollywood-inspired action flick. There's a bad guy who thinks he’s a Japanese Jesus. He goes up against a Chinese cop who got himself reposted to an East European country called Lavernia (huh?) as punishment for doing a good job and saving lives. Yes, and no, I didn't make an error.
A brief reference to the Tiananmen Square massacre is used in an attempt to give the characters a tragic past. It didn't work. Nothing worked. All of the principal cast have much better films on their résumé.

1½ stretchers out of 5

WARM BODIES [2013]

50/50 director Jonathan Levine's adaptation of Isaac Marion's zombie romance novel Warm Bodies is a bit of a head-scratcher.
Branded as "Twilight with zombies" gained it an unfortunate rep but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was more Edward Scissorhands than sparkly vampires.  It's well acted, occasionally funny and breathes some new ideas into the tired zombie genre.  However, it has a difficult time balancing comedy and horror which makes for a very bumpy ride.  Had it leaned closer towards the comedy and inserted a bit more wit into the dialogue it might have worked, instead of taking the silly premise just a tad too seriously at times.

2½ zombies with a wicked vinyl collection out of 5

FRIENDS WITH KIDS [2011]

Writer, director and star Jennifer Westfeldt reassembles half the cast of Bridesmaids for her indie-comedy Friends With Kids.
Unfortunately it's not the least bit humorous and it's characters are unintentionally douchey and annoying.  It's such a waste of a normally funny ensemble cast that all seem to be in it as a friendly favor to Westfeldt.  Her ego is inflated with the notion that she can write a story about "real humans" doing "real stuff" because she understands it all so well, when in fact she does nothing but waste your time with this unrealistic dribble.

1 case of explosive diarrhea out of 5

El Mariachi (1992)

Robert Rodriguez’s début will appeal to people with an interest in filmmaking, but will likely bore everyone else. He was writer, producer, director, cinematographer, cameraman and editor. He claims to have shot if for around $7,000; if that’s true then it’s a remarkable achievement when you take into account the limitations that must've presented. It’s deeply flawed, the edit is occasionally weak, the indoor lighting is poor (the transfer from 16 to 32 mm only made it worse), but it shows what can be done if you have the passion and the courage to attempt it.

2½ mistaken identities out of 5

Hanzo the Razor: Who's Got the Gold? (1974)

Hanzo’s third and final film has him on the case of some corrupt officials who are fleecing the poor and the low ranking samurai.
Beneath the blood splatter, the sexploitation and the 70’s funk music the actual stories aren't anything special, it’s the great Shintarô Katsu that makes the trilogy as good as it is. He brought a regal arrogance to a character that really shouldn't be well-liked at all, considering his methods.
This one doesn't stray too far from the formula set by the previous two, meaning it has very little new to offer after the first ten minutes.

3 branded bitches out of 5

Rambo III (1988)

Rambo goes to Afghanistan.
Rambo blows shit up.

1½ enemies of America vanquished out of 5

The Happiness of the Katakuris (2001)

The only thing you can be sure about when sitting down to a film by Japanese auteur Takashi Miike is that you've opened a window onto the unpredictable. Sadly, after a wonderfully bizarre opening the musical black comedy plummets into another one of his style over substance clusterfucks. Twenty minutes of actual story padded out to two hours of sitcom style antics raised up only by the inclusion of some intentionally hilarious Sound of Music moments left me colder than the corpses that help the Katakuri family find what’s important in life.

2 holes in the ground out of 5

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)

This is what happens when you let James Cameron help write your screenplay. Rambo, now literally a one-man army, gets sent back into Vietnam on a half-assed top-secret covert mission that enables him to crank the action genre clichés to maximum, and beyond. He creeps and plods through a jungle that was better lit than my back garden on a summer night, before initiating a maiming montage.
It was even worse than I remembered. The only saving grace was the almost complete lack of Arnie style one-liners.

1½ exploding arrows out of 5

Rabid (1977)

Cronenberg’s fascination with body modification continued with Rabid (aka Rage). It’s similar to his previous film Shivers (1975) both visually and in that the horror is again something normal that’s become abnormal, and when viewed from the other perspective it’s something new embracing life, but it’s not as unsettling as Shivers was and the ridiculous premise is hard to swallow even for a fan of his work like I am. I couldn't help thinking while viewing that it would've better suited George Romero's talents.

2½ armpit orifices out of 5

Narrow Margin (1990)

An average thriller that does everything you’d expect in an average kind of way. Gene Hackman is duty bound to protect a witness to a murder… on the run… bad guys… blah blah. The only real difference between this and the hundreds of other afternoon movies is that it’s set primarily on a train, making escape that little bit harder than usual.

2½ tickets please out of 5

First Blood (1982)

The name Rambo has become synonymous with the action hero genre, but the first film isn't like that at all. John Rambo is just a guy trying to survive in a world that doesn't want him. The enemy isn't a foreign power or a moustachioed villain intent on taking over the world, it’s small town prejudice and fear, it’s asshole cops that think a little power gives them the authority to dictate how everyone else should live.
Stallone isn't renowned for his acting ability, but to his credit he gives a chilling performance in one pivotal scene that is the film highpoint.

4 sharp edges out of 5

Porco Rosso (1992)

Watch enough Miyazaki films and you'll notice recurring themes; wind is one of the most obvious, so it was inevitable he'd make a film about a pilot.
There's nothing in this one for kids beyond the bright colours. That should've meant an enhanced emphasis on adult concerns, but it isn't as successful as I'd hoped. His decision to make Porco a mystery denied me the emotional connection that is Ghibli's usual currency. Perhaps the (rumoured) upcoming sequel will address that. It's still an entertaining period piece, but lives in the shadow of Miyazaki's other works. Perhaps the biggest failing is that Porco is Italian and yet he (and everyone else in the Adriatic) speaks Japanese.

3 barrel rolls out of 5

MORE THINGS THAT HAPPENED [2007]

Director David Lynch compiled a series of deleted scenes from Inland Empire to create a feature length narrative in More Things That Happened.
If you're looking for any sort of explanation from the first film then I'd probably walk out the door right now, because this film certainly doesn't make it any better.  There's nothing really here worth seeking out, unless you're a diehard Lynch fan and just need drawn-out scenes of low drones and awkward conversation.  Personally, I feel at home with that sort of thing but this even this one had me checking my watch more often than I'd like to.

2 women in trouble out of 5

TAKEN [2008]

With a little help from Luc Besson as writer & producer, Pierre Morel directs Liam Neeson in the violent action/thriller Taken.
What serves as a vehicle to redefine Neeson as a highly effective action star, Taken is riddled with plotholes, flat-lining dialogue and not a whole lot of thought put into it.  However it's the fast-paced action that keeps the story charging forward, never really giving you enough time to realize all the things wrong with it.  If not for Neeson's performance the film might not have been as fun as it is, so take it with a grain of salt and hopefully enjoy giving your brain a little bit of down time.

3 memorable phone calls out of 5

MANIAC [2013]

Director Frank Khalfoun & screenwriter Alexandre Aja adapt the exploitative cult classic Maniac as a vehicle for Elijah Wood to wipe the squeaky clean image of Frodo from folk's minds.
With it's highly unsettling tone & gruesome character study I was reminded of Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer and being shot entirely from the murderer's POV  I thought of Peeping Tom but thanks to Wood's uber-creepy performance it becomes a twisted monster all of it's own.  The POV camerawork struck me as gimmicky at first but it slowly crept into something dark that made it all the more disturbing and stomach-turning.  Top marks to composer ROB for the wonderfully textured score that called back to the early '80's slasher flick days.

3 generations of mannequins out of 5

PRETTY IN PINK [1986]

Some Kind Of Wonderful's Howard Deutch directs the John Hughes penned Brat Pack teen rom-com Pretty In Pink.
It's a classic in it's genre with all the '80's teen staples, Molly Ringwald, wacky clothing, cool jobs you wish you had, funny nicknames, the lip-synching dance scene, extreme melodrama and questionable moral stances.  Jon Cryer stands out here in probably his best role to date as the lovably nerdy Duckie.  It's jam-packed full of over-baked cliches, cookie cutter characters and the ending is a rushed mess but it manages to charm and endure with it's call back to a simpler time.

3 richies out of 5

Grave of the Fireflies (1988)

Fireflies is an immensely powerful story of two siblings, a teenager named Seita and his baby sister Setsuko, as they struggle to survive during the attacks on Japan during World War II.
Their relationship is the heart of the film; it's a heart that beats in defiance of adversity because it's fuelled by love and family values. The responsibility placed on Seita could crush even the strongest adult, but his feelings for his sister keep him focused and determined.
For a film that's built around tragedy, there's a lot of joy and beauty to be found in the subtext.

4 Sakuma drops out of 5

The Shootist (1976)

John Wayne plays an ageing shootist whose life is winding down. It was his final film and served as a fitting tribute to the big man while simultaneously marking the end of an era in style.
Wayne gives an understated performance filled with empathy because the same disease that plagues his on-screen character was killing him slowly in real life. When he looks tired, it's probably because he was.
It was The Shootist that convinced me The Duke was the 'Giant' that folks said he was when I first saw it over twenty years ago, and of all the classic John Wayne films that I've watched since it's still my favourite.

4 streaks of kindness out of 5

Island of Fire (1990)

A police officer (Tony Leung) goes deep undercover in a violent prison; whilst there his sense of right and wrong remain.
There’s a great film buried somewhere in here but it’s suffocated by the awkward plotting. The separate parts relate to each other but don’t connect as well as they should and the whole suffers.
It co-stars Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung but is light on laughter. In fact, it’s notable for being the most violent film in Jackie’s career.

NOTE: My version was the Hong Kong edition (93 mins). Included on the disc are 30 minutes of deleted scenes that featured an entire sub-plot. I think the film would've been better had they not been cut. The Taiwanese version (125 mins) has them intact.

2½ bent screws out of 5

Whisper of the Heart (1995)

Ghibli is known for transporting viewers to dazzling worlds filled with incredible scenery and amazing exploits. But Whisper of the Heart isn't about fantastic adventures or chimerical lands. It's about the adventures we create ourselves. It's a sweet, quiet little coming of age film that beautifully shows what it's like to discover your passion.

Whisper of the Heart may be short of fantasy, but it's still full of wonderfully detailed backgrounds you could stare at all day. The animation isn't quite on par with some of Ghibli's later films, but it's still solid, and the movie as a whole is very well made. There's a romance subplot that feels almost unnecessary, but I like it anyway. It's the sort of movie that doesn't weave a story as much as capture a snapshot in time, and when it comes to tales like that, I enjoy the little extras.

4 almost magical antique stores out of 5