Reviews
THE BOXING KING (混混拳王) Review: Kickboxing Subgenre Resurfaces In Chinese VOD
Kickboxing cinema, is a subgenre, that in the west, beyond Scott Adkins, or the horrendous remakes of Jean Claude Van damme´s Kickboxing, seems already dead and buried, but the vast and wide chinese VOD market, seems to have become a paradise for this type of productions. There are hundreds of them every month, and in most of them, local popular fighters have their appearance, getting their ass kicked but whoever the star of the flick is.
NE ZHA: BIRTH OF THE DEMON CHILD Review: Get A Grip Of Destiny And Make It Yours!
This past year, this Chinese animated film became in one of the most successful animated films ever made, grossing worldwide more than $725 million. A total success for Chinese cinema and Chinese animation. But letting money aside, the film is a reimagined version of Nezha, a character from Chinese mythology that has appeared in countless different films, videogames and even novels, such as ‘Journey to the west’ where he is the villain of a really funny chapter.
Ahn Yong-Hoon’s THE LOST CHOICES, A Punishing Crime Drama With A Title That Brilliantly Says It All
Ahn Yong-hoon’s 2015 directorial debut, The Lost Choices, takes a glaring look at rape culture and the dehumanization of women and disabled.
Your Next Viewing: ABIGAIL
All around, things are changing. Stores are limiting their hours, places like restaurants and gyms have closed. Some people have been laid off from their jobs. So how are you spending your time if you’re not working or are quarantined at home? How about watching a good film (or more than one)?
Your Next Read: THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW
When I am not busy watching horror movies to review or writing, I like to read. A lot. This year, a friend and I have found a reading challenge we have decided to do together. One item on the list is to read a “novel that will get a movie adaptation in 2020.” I will spare you the details on how two bookworms wheedled down two needlessly long lists of books that we could read together; all you need to know is that we decided on The Woman in the Window by A.J. Flynn.
Your Next Viewing: THE BONE BOX
This past weekend was Friday the 13th, and rather than watch the series of the same name, I chose to spend my weekend watching a Kane Hodder documentary and Terror Films’ newest release The Bone Box.
Your Next Viewing: TO HELL AND BACK: THE KANE HODDER STORY
There are 11 films in the Friday the 13th franchise and Kane Hodder has only played Jason Vorhees five times. Yet his name is synonymous with both the movies and the character. To most horror fans, Kane Hodder is Jason Vorhees.But do you really know the man behind the mask?
Your Next Read: TWENTY
If you could pick the time to leave this life, would you? If you said yes, and you had twenty days left to live, how would you spend your time?
I was sent the book Twenty, written by Debra Landwehr Engle, in exchange for an honest review. I took my time before actually reading it. I posted the obligatory, “I got book mail” photo on my social media, but I kept finding other things to read. I’ve had enough loss in my life and like to use books as an escape from reality rather than another way to view reality. But Twenty isn’t just about dying. It’s about living.
In Twenty, the reader meets Meg who, at the age of 55, has already lost her mother and daughter and is divorced. Years ago, while caring for her mother, a doctor gave her a bottle of pills that promised a “quick, painless end in exactly twenty days.” Meg did not give them to her mother, but takes them in the opening chapter of the book.
What follows is the next 20 days of Meg’s life, with a chapter dedicated to each day. The reader gets to see how she decides to spend the remainder of her time, including cleaning and reaching out to people in her life. Told between the present and flashbacks as Meg reminisces, the reader slowly gets to discover what circumstances brought Meg to taking the pills.
I read this book in about three sittings. If I had had a full day to dedicate to it, I would’ve finished it in one. It is that good. At just under 200 pages, it could be a quick read and trust me, it is a page-turner. I was annoyed every time I had to put it down because I needed to see if Meg would tell her sister or boss or friend about the pills, I wanted to continue the 20 days with Meg to see how she spent them, what realizations she had, and if I could apply anything she learned to my own life (I definitely could and will).
Twenty was well-written, well-paced, and had good characterization that made the conversations and people feel realistic. My only complaint about the novel is that I read it alone so I did not have a book club to discuss this read with, but that’s okay; that is what the internet is for, right?
FOXTROT SIX Review: Mario Kassar Ambitiously ‘Raids’ Fanfare With Epic Indo-Action Sci-Fi
For every cinephile and action movie fantatic, Mario Kassar’s name rings tried and true. One of the very hit Hollywood producers behind the megastardom of actors like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jean-Claude Van Damme to name a few, Kassar’s latest stint takes movie fans to Indonesia with Foxtrot Six, an explosive men-on-a-mission action sci-fi with an ambitious formula that taps ardently into the local talent base.
THE TORMENT OF LAURIE ANN CULLOM Review: A Contained Nostalgic Horror Thriller With Fair Results
When I hear the phrase “based on true events,” I have two completely different yet equally strong reactions. I cringe, thinking of how I might have to suffer through what has become a too commonly used technique of “found footage” which really just means a bunch of shaky camera work that will more than likely make me feel like I need to throw up. The other reaction is a tiny squee of delight as I get to watch a true crime story come to life on the big screen (or my TV screen, whichever the case may be).
BLOOD ON HER NAME Review: A Darkly-Redemptive Exercise On Moral Flexibilty
Having found its way into festival favor in the past year, Matthew Pope’s feature directing debut presents a stunning, dramatic glimpse into middle-American suburbia in cerebral crime drama, Blood On Her Name.
DEAD END: DEAD MAN WALKING Review: It’s All About Family
As far as formats go, the current shortfilm trilogy laid out in actor Bryan Larkin‘s Dead End slate easily bodes as a viable proof of concept in different directions. The idea had always been a feature film, though current market evolution with such new age brands like snackable content platform, Quibi, certainly provides options for content creators if the viability proves sustainable going forward.
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