Reviews

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HARBIN Review: The Measure Of A Man In A Time Of War And Subterfuge

Harbin is currently playing in select U.S. theaters from Well Go USA. Woo Min-ho is someone I’ve been slow to keep up with since I first caught wind of his 2015 political thriller, Inside Man. The good news is that some of his films aren’t intangible, so I can definitely catch them when I get time. As of late, that includes Harbin, Woo’s newest period assassin drama which chronicles the efforts of Korea’s rebellion against Japanese colonialism, led in part by Ahn Jung-geun, a lieutenant beleagured by a crisis of conscience following a fatal blunder at the cost of fighters, putting him under heavy scrutiny among ranks in the resistance. Intent on ameliorating his actions, it is then that Ahn makes the stern commitment to eliminate Japan’s first prime minister, Hirobumi Ito, as the empire looks to annex Korea. The effort entails evading Japanese soldiers while trekking between snowy rural […]

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Streaming Sleepers: In THE BROKENHEARTED, A Bruising Redemption Tale That Goes Down Swinging

Fifteen years is probably long enough for someone like Leroy Nguyen to have lived and toiled through the independent film arena to garner a book publication one day. Whether or not that day comes remains to be seen, while his latest feature film makes the release rounds via Amazon on digital for rental or purchase with The Brokenhearted, a gritty new crime drama that is also poised to be his final bow. Black Scar Blues was the first time I’d really been able to get a hold of Nguyen’s work, and only because he reached out to me on social media three years prior to its release. The film gave me a really good handle on his cinematic vision which sets discernibly apart from other independent creatives with whom he’s collaborated – folks like Fernando Jay Huerto, Joey Min, and Joseph Le to name a few. The Brokenhearted is an […]

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STREET TRASH Review: Ryan Kruger’s Audacious Cult Classic Reimagining

Lightbulb Film Distribution opens Street Trash in UK cinemas on January 10, and on digital and Blu-Ray on February 17. Straight horror isn’t usually my thing, so my only experience with J. Michael Muro’s 1987 cult classic, Street Trash, is an official trailer on YouTube. I watched it to have something to help gauge a little more the latest iteration directed by Ryan Kruger which, fairly, easily takes plenty of its cues from the original hit, and quite possibly delivers the goods on multiple ends. Kruger’s Street Trash lands us squarely in a dystopian version of Cape Town in South Africa, where we Ronald (Sean Cameron Michael), and his ragtag group of homeless streetmates, along with the newest addition of Alex (Donna Cormack-Thomson) who he rescues after she’s confronted by henchmen working for the Rat King. The two, along with fellow homeless mates Chef (Joe Vaz), 2-Bit (Gary Green), Wors […]

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THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO Review: An Epic And Satisfying Revisit To A Literary Classic

The Count Of Monte Cristo is now playing in theaters across the U.S. from Samuel Goldwyn Films. The last screen adaptation of famed author Alexandre Dumas’s The Count Of Monte Cristo was 2002’s release from director Kevin Reynolds. To say the least, while I enjoyed the film, it always felt like there was more missing to its treatment for such an epic tale to be told. Would it be a stretch to say that the time our dear protagonist Edmond Dantes spent on an island prison equate to the weight of having to wait as long as the rest of us did for something significant and impressive to come along from the film front? I reckon that it depends on your viewpoint and tastes in film, in general. Moreover, and personally, I certainly didn’t expect the latest French-language iteration from directing duo Alexandre de la Patellière and Matthieu Delaporte to be […]

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RED ONE – A Streaming Success Review

The latest film fair from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is slightly different to his usual action packed, muscle pumping, adrenaline rushing flicks. Instead, he delivers a festive feature which all the family can enjoy. Released early last month on 6th November in theatres it didn’t go to plan as the studio hoped, with it only making $82 million domestically. I think this was down to a number of factors one – it being too early for a Christmas film and two – the decline in cinema goers which is very sad to see. Either way DJ has been saved by the millions of streamers with the film breaking Amazon prime records with a 50 million streams debut. And I was one of those millions who sat down and enjoyed the Christmas tale with a twist. Here is what I thought of it. J.K. Simmons (Santa Claus) and […]

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THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO: BMC Review

The Count Of Monte Cristo is a Samuel Goldwyn Films release. The film will play for audiences in Los Angeles and New York theaters beginning December 20, and will expanding to more than fifteen markets in the U.S. beginning on January 3. The last screen adaptation of famed author Alexandre Dumas’s The Count Of Monte Cristo was 2002’s release from director Kevin Reynolds. To say the least, while I enjoyed the film, it always felt like there was more missing to its treatment for such an epic tale to be told. Would it be a stretch to say that the time our dear protagonist Edmond Dantes spent on an island prison equate to the weight of having to wait as long as the rest of us did for something significant and impressive to come along from the film front? I reckon that it depends on your viewpoint and tastes in film, […]

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Cailee Spaeny and David Jonsson in ALIEN: ROMULUS (2024)

Streaming Sleepers: Fede Álvarez’s ALIEN: ROMULUS Plants A Seed For Franchise Vitality

I don’t typically do horror, but I love a good, intense, well-made thriller in the various subsets of the genre. In particular, I love what Fede Álvarez accomplished with Alien: Romulus, which is currently streaming on Hulu. Cailee Spaeny was incredible in the front-and-center role of action heroine Rain Carradine, who along with adopted brother and Weyland-Yutani android, Andy, played by David Jonsson, pair up with a ragtag group of survivors to leave their unyielding work colony on LV-410 and head for the serene planet Yvaga. What they don’t know is that the abandoned station for which they’ve just commandeered is full of hibernating xenomorphs eager to do what they do best: Hunt and breed, using humans as incubators to kill and consume anything living or breathing, and in their way. I haven’t seen Prometheus or Alien: Covenant, so those are on my watchlist to take in at some point […]

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A GOOD DAY WILL COME Review: Amir Zargara Dares You To Care

Iranian-Canadian filmmaker Amir Zargara is back with a new short after taking off with 2021’s Become The Wounded. I haven’t seen that one but the logline hints a great deal at the kind of filmmaker Zargara wants to be in front of the viewing public, something he remains clear about in his latest work, A Good Day Will Come. Actor and martial artist Sia Alipour plays Arash, a promising wrestler with a chance to flourish on the mat and climb the ladder as a contender for Olympic Gold. His career flourish also comes at a moment of sociopolitical upheaval with a spell of protests against the Iranian government and calls for accountability turning violent onto citizens. Additionally, Arash must contend with the potential consequences laid before him by his coach, whose own apprehension is drawn purely from political apathy. Things change however when the film takes a striking emotive turn, […]

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THE BOUNCER Review: John Ozuna Tangos With Romanian Gangsters In Masimiliano Cerchi’s Latest

I learned about actor and martial artist John Ozuna when I was covering some of director Rene Perez’s work back in 2018. What I didn’t know – at least until this draft – was that Ozuna is a Guinness World Record-holding martial artist on top of that, crowned for throwing well over seven-hundred punches in a minute, and clocking the world’s fastest martial arts punch at 43.3 miles per hour. These are all impressive feats to share with the niche, while Ozuna has since stepped up to the challenge of adding “screen actor” to his tradecraft with a number of credits to show for his efforts. Ozuna’s latest work, The Bouncer, is already out on VOD from Vision Films, from director Massimiliano Cerchi. Penned by Adrian Milnes, The Bouncer is set in the city of Bucharest where we meet Frank (Ozuna), a nightclub bouncer who finds himself crossing paths with […]

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STRIKING RESCUE Review: Tony Jaa Brings The Pain In Cheng Siyu’s Serviceable Revenge Thriller

Striking Rescue opens in select theaters on December 6 from Well Go USA Entertainment. Thai action star Tony Jaa continues to grow his cinematic workspace. Reasonably, this sort of feat might have seemed far from reachable in the earlier years of Jaa’s progression as a stuntman and a burgeoning film actor, at least until the breakout success of 2003’s Ong Bak with Jaa lending his success to trademark bone-crushing Muay Thai fight action, and stunt feats the likes of which have all but grabbed firmly the attention of action fans eyeing the same high caliber showmanship seen in Jackie Chan films. To add, Jaa’s image also garnered more of an upright appeal in the roles he played, something that even remained inescapable with his villainous turn in James Wan’s Furious Seven. For what it’s worth, that changes a little bit more this time with his most recent role showing us […]

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GET AWAY Review: English Humor And Swedish Horror Delight Pave The Way For One Hell Of A Trip

GET AWAY Review: English Humor And Swedish Horror Delight Pave The Way For One Hell Of A Trip

Typically horror isn’t in my wheelhouse, but I do like to switch it up on occasion. That especially goes for films that pull off story concepts that bode as traditional until its makers take its viewers aback with mind-bending twists that reveal the director’s work as something entirely different that what it sets out to be in the mind’s eye. Get Away is exactly that kind of film, and from none other than director Steffen Haars and actor/screenwriter Nick Frost. Murky foreshadowing is the visual and atmospheric start to the more jubilant intro of the Smith family (played by Frost and actors Nick Frost, Aisling Bea, Sebastian Croft, and Maisie Ayres), whose trip to the remote Swedish island of Svalta is rife with annoying trivia and grim warnings from the locals before getting on the ferry. Once there, they come in contact with the unfriendly island villagers before connecting with […]

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GUNNER Review: Luke Hemsworth Carries A Worthwhile Action Thriller Disarmed By Its Own Mediocrity

It’s been close to twelve years since I restarted this journey a little more formally as a “news guy” – less so of a “review” guy as I was only just beginning to find my own rhythm. That search eventually evolved into something that implored me to be a little more responsible in how I watch movies, thusly calibrating a lot of my viewpoints into that of someone who some filmmakers won’t take kindly to. I’m okay with that, frankly, as I would rather be a critic and enjoy what I do than someone’s cat’s paw, and be a little more honest with my perceptions on film. Especially when it comes to action. Enter Acme Rocket Fuel’s Dimitri Logothetis, known as the frontman for the current Kickboxer reboot franchise which includes its upcoming third installment, and sci-fi action thriller, Jiu Jitsu, which is based on an in-house graphic novel. I’ve […]

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Ava Baya in GTMax (Photo: Selim Hammoumi/Netflix)

GTMAX Review: Olivier Schneider Revs Up His Film Creds With An Impressive Directing Debut

It was back in 2015 when Olivier Schneider hit my radar as the director of a then-pending screen adaptation of a 2010 crime novel. Things went quiet after that, but the career fight choreographer and stunt coordinator who’s worked on films like Taken, Safe House, Spectre, No Time To Die, and Fast X, was undoubtedly headed for a newer trajectory. That fact became clearer upon co-shepherding the limited mobile series, “Playground” a few years later, with only a handful of years before finally getting a stab in the director’s seat for a solo outing. Alas, we get GTMax, Schneider’s directorial debut on which he also collaborated with the film’s writers. Schneider’s debut kicks off with an adrenaline fueled motorcycle chase and the resultant getaway by a small gang of thieves after evading dauntless motorcycle cop Lucas (Thibault Evrard). The film then pivots viewers into the world of motorcross racing via […]

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THE FINAL GAME OF DEATH Review: A trip back in time through the unreleased footage Bruce Lee left behind

Last year, fans of the little dragon were delighted with the magnificent 4K UHD/Blu-ray box set released by ARROW covering Bruce Lee´s iconic films for Golden Harvest. However, one of the highlights of the boxset was undoubtedly the documentary, “The Final Game of Death”, a 223-minute documentary that speculates on what Bruce Lee‘s vision on his unfinished project, “The Game of Death”, could have been. Summoning all two hours of footage left that was stored in the archives of Golden Harvest, including never seen before footage, as countless of outtakes, outdoors filming or the log fight scene, following the trend that previous documentaries as “A warrior’s journey” or the Japanese “G.O.D” already did years ago, but this time, having the footage restored in top quality, also assembling a new montage including a newly filmed credits scene and introduction that reimaginates what it could have been. The documentary drags the viewer […]

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Tien Feng in THE SWORD (1980)

THE SWORD – Eureka Blu-Ray Review: A Glimmering Old-School Lesson On Grade-A Wuxia Cinema Through A Subversive Lens

Celebrated television veteran Patrick Tam has only directed a small number of films throughout his career, which spans close to half a century. He’s been a filmmaker in several aspects of the word, and this is undoubtedly signified on one of his earliest pieces, the 1980 wuxia action drama, The Sword. Lee Mak-Yin (Adam Cheng) is a noble, lone swordsman who has studied martial arts and pugilism under a revered master. He is now on a journey to find a particular master with whom he can share a duel, in order to gauge his own skills and possibly complete his training. Along the way, he meets a rambunctious young woman named Ying-Chi (Jade Hsu) who herself is in pursuit of an enemy one evening. After a brief scrimmage, Ying-Chi reluctantly joins Mak-Yin on their journey together, arriving at an inn where Mak-Yin just happens to bump into Siu-Yiu (Jo Jo […]

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GUNNER (2024) Review – BMC Preview

It’s been close to twelve years since I restarted this journey a little more formally as a “news guy” – less so of a “review” guy as I was only just beginning to find my own rhythm. That search eventually evolved into something that implored me to be a little more responsible in how I watch movies, thusly calibrating a lot of my viewpoints into that of someone who some filmmakers won’t take kindly to. I’m okay with that, frankly, as I would rather be a critic and enjoy what I do than someone’s proverbial cat’s paw, and be a little more honest with my perceptions on film. Especially when it comes to action. Enter Acme Rocket Fuel’s Dimitri Logothetis, known as the frontman for the current Kickboxer reboot franchise which includes its upcoming third installment, and sci-fi action thriller, Jiu Jitsu, which is based on an in-house graphic novel. […]

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100 YARDS Review: A Crackling Clash Of Martial Fists And Fervor From Xu Haofeng And Xu Junfeng

100 Yards was screened and reviewed for the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival, upon virtual invitation. Well Go USA is releasing the film in theaters and on Digital on Friday, November 8. It’s been wild having to wait this long before the film markets picked up on something (or anything) attached to the name of author and filmmaker Xu Haofeng. The man best known for whipping out some of the most artful and concentrated martial arts features to hit screens for well over a decade was all but a blip after landing back on radar with 2015’s The Final Master, when trailers arose for his 2017 actioner, The Hidden Sword, followed by stills and posters in 2019 for “Shi Yan Juan Tian Ya.” Both incumbent period flicks deserved better rollouts they were never given for reasons unbeknownst to this critic, and so it remains to be seen if either of those movies will ever […]

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THE QUEEN OF VILLAINS Review: A Fascinating Trip to the 80´s Japanese Pro Wrestling Scene

The Queen of Villains is a ticket to the past that gives the viewer the opportunity to delve into the Japanese pro wrestling scene of the eighties, hand in hand with the greatest villain who back then sowed fear in the AJW rings, in brutal confrontations against what is possibly the most famous female tag team in the history of Japanese wrestling, The Crush Gals. During five exciting episodes, we discover the ins and outs behind the AJW wrestling promotion, while we accompany a young Kaoru Matsumoto in her transformation into the fearsome Dump Matsumoto, genuinely embodied by Yuriyan Retriever, her uncanny performance is just a gift for the audience. However, the series is not limited to simply recounting Dump Matsumoto‘s journey to stardom, but becomes a thorough recreation of that unforgettable era of wrestling in Japan, being also a perfect portrait of the reign of the Crush Gals, a […]

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Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan in PROJECT A

THE PROJECT A COLLECTION – 88 Films Review: A Treasure Trove Of Action Comedy Delight, Memorabilia, Stories And More!

Tap the following for anchors: • INTRODUCTION • STORY • REVIEW • PROJECT A Features (Taiwanese Cut – Extras) • PROJECT A2 Features (Extras) • Conclusion INTRODUCTION: I remember first setting eyes on Project A a long time ago before Blu-Rays would exist. It was on TV, it was dubbed in English, and I didn’t even know who Yuen Biao was at the time. It was post Jackie Chan 2.0 in the mid 2000s though, and I had already become enamored by Hong Kong cinema’s revival via home media, and having turned away Miramax’s dubbed version, I always hoped I would be able to see the original in its Cantonese audio. I was obsessed with seeing these titles as intended in their regional output, and lo and behold, 88 Films has packaged one hell of a gem for U.S. fans. The bundle comes in a Blu-Ray box-set, as well as […]

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Angela Mao in an action movie still about to strike a henchman as seen in "Broken Oath" (1977)

BROKEN OATH Blu-Ray Review: Mao, Spies, Scorpions, Oh My!

At times like this I really miss websites like HKFlix, a now-defunct online DVD retailer through which I would continue to discover old kung fu classics in the aftermath of the 90s Hong Kong crossover success of the likes of Jackie Chan and Jet Li. Cheong Chang-hwa’s memorable classic, Broken Oath, was certainly one of them, and remained intangible to me only until now with its Special Edition release on Blu-Ray from Eureka Entertainment. The long-and-short of the 1977 flick though sees screen legend Angela Mao in the role of Jie Lian, who findself her exiled from the Buddhist monastery where she was raised, due to her belligerent nature. After learning the truth about her past, and with the help of her godmother and a wily pickpocket, Jie Lian sets out to avenge her late mother’s wrongful imprisonment at the hands of a quartet of four assassins who murdered her […]

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