I think this might be the fourth Italian horror movie I’ve seen that’s based on Poe’s story, The Black Cat. None of them actually follow the original story except for the inclusion of the titular cat and a scene where someone is bricked up behind a basement wall. This is Lucio Fulci’s take and, as such, includes a little bit of corny gore (the burning scene is probably the best) and a lot extreme close-up eye shots. Outside of the beautiful photography and R-rated elements, this seems like a made for T.V. movie.
I assumed that they would have hired actual disabled people to star in this and expected it to be a little more tasteless than it was. Alas, the lead “cripples” are all played by actual abled kung-fu masters. They do show a child having his arms off, so there’s that. It also features a man being turned into an idiot through head compression. Apparently rudimentary medical science isn’t really that big in Hong Kong. The main focus here is acrobatic fighting with hoops, chains and poles. The disabilities don’t really play into the fighting styles beyond the initial training montages.
It’s a quirky comedy. A quirkedy! Just about everything about this movie is deliberately strange. The plot is basically a joke setup expanded to feature length… a guy walks into a bar with three arms… hilarity ensues. There was enough going on here to keep me entertained even though I felt it needed something more. Or maybe something less? When every character in the movie is an extreme caricature, there’s nobody to latch on to by staying grounded in some vestige of reality. Marty comes close and, with his plastered hair and awkward stage presence, he is the blueprint for Neil Hamburger.
I’m not sure if this is supposed to be a sequel to Tricky Brains, but it’s just as bad as that film. This is filled with Hong Kong pop culture references and lame jokes and nothing really works. All of the conflict is resolved with weird Asian poker games that make no sense to me.
Stephen Chow is an arrogant T.V. chef who is dethroned and must cook his way back to the top. Much of the humor is cultural and flew over my head, but there’s enough of Chow’s usual fantasy slapstick to keep me interested. However, it’s not even close to the quality of his work in the 2000s. The highlight of the movie is Nancy Sit’s cameo as a mean, dancing food critic.
We are already two generations beyond the Wii and I am still getting caught up on all the games I’ve been wanting to play for years.
Red Steel 2 was the first big title to take advantage of the Wii Motion Plus controller. For some reason, the prospect of a motion controlled sword fighting game was always a big thing. I think Red Steel 2 comes close to fulfilling that nerd dream. It still is a bit of a waggle freak-out during hectic fights, but, when it’s focused, the motion controls work very well. This is a massive improvement on the previous game in the series.
I’m not even sure why this had to be a sequel. The plot and setting have no perceivable connection with the gangster themed original. This game takes place in a steampunk-ish, old-west-but-Japanese setting. It feels a whole lot like Borderlands in tone and art style. After the first few wacky cut-scenes I realized that there was not going to be any sort of coherent narrative. Something about a sword and a guy who wants your sword? Whatever. What matters here is that the game is fun.
As I have stated elsewhere on this Web site, the Wii’s controls are really good when it comes to console FPSs. The movement, shooting and sword controls very natural. Sure the sword strikes could have probably been bound to buttons, but the motions make sense. There should have been dozen of games like this released for the Wii, too bad this came so late in its life-cycle.
Man, Stephen Chow has been making the same movie over and over for more than two decades. Don’t get me wrong, I usually like the end result, but maybe try something a little different? The basics, Stephen Chow goes from loser to kung-fu master with tons of slapstick and dated movie references along the way. I do enjoy how he can take a throw-away joke from earlier and then bring it back in to focus later on in a way that makes the original effort seem like it was somehow important to the story (Garfield mask?!).
A decent entry in the never-ending series of mock documentary films. This one follows the mundane lives of three New Zealand vampires. It has its moments and is a zillion times better than the various attempts to make a monsters in the real world story like True Blood.
Not all Shaw Brothers martial arts movies take place in ancient China. Four Riders is set in Seoul during the weeks following the Korean War when bell-bottoms and disco hair were apparently all the rage. Not much in this movie makes any sense, but if you can take a deep breath and ignore the gaping plot holes, it’s a fun ride with a wild climax. Features: a dart throwing hentch-woman, apocalyptic biblical references, gym-kata and a shorty-robe wearing crime boss.
I remember seeing this movie in the video store with its super-cool robot on the cover and thinking, “This rated R so it is probably a super graphic and scary sci-fi movie like Alien.” Alien kinda traumatized me as a kid so I was never in a rush to rent this one. Now, thirty years later I have finally mustered the nerve to watch it. Dear gawd, it’s low budget crap. The R rating is mostly from the inclusion a seventy-year-old Kirk Douglass’s naked bum. This feels like a 50s Corman sci-fi movie with a disco veneer and that super-cool robot is a bit less intimidating when you see it Frankenstein-lumbering around hallways that a decorated mostly with neon-colored HVAC ventilation tubes.
