Ben Whimpey’s THE PROPOSAL Pilots A Worthwhile Action Hero Profile
From ARR Productions, Natoli Productions and Bruise Productions, THE PROPOSAL is directed by Ben Whimpey and stars Marc Natoli and Kahli Williams.
Reviews
Marc Price’s NIGHTSHOOTERS Is Pure, R-Rated Martial Arts Action And Comedy Fun
The last five years have been terrific in keeping up with actor and martial artist Jean-Paul Ly. A career comprised of nominal stunt performance and small roles that eventually paved the way for his stellar reception in Jailbreak now brings us front and center with Magpie and Colin helmer Marc Price, whose name became central to the posterity of martial arts cinema back in late 2017 with UK production, Nightshooters. The action and comedy turn up some robust and energizing performances from the very start; An audibly forte shot of a bloody skull inaugurates the narrative telling of Marshall (Adam McNab), an independent filmmaker hungry to complete his latest no-budget, over-the-top zombie movie featuring washed-up action star, Harper (Doug Allen). Their beleagured seven-member team including boom mic/sound guy Oddbod (Nicky Evans), practical effects and demo expert Ellie (Rosanna Hoult) and production assistants Jen (Kaitlyn Riordan) and the hapless Kim (Mica […]
OUTLAWED Nods To Real Life Heroes With Escapist Action And Thrills
Adam Collins both stars and co-directs (with Luke Radford) in an action thriller about a special forces veteran who struggles with civilian life after a botched mission and is approached by his childhood love who needs help bringing a corrupt politician to justice. It is very rare in the action genre to find a story that hasn’t been done a hundred times before. Fortunately, the structure was shifted around enough that it wasn’t as predictable and a bit more engaging. Some scenes were laying it on a bit thick, to the point where I was exclaiming out loud, “I get it, the character’s hit rock bottom.” with still another few minutes of the sad montage to go. But the main selling point is of course the action, consisting of mainly shootouts with occasional close-quarters combat. It’s easy to fall into the “shot, reaction shot, shot, reaction shot” pattern with shootouts […]
FIVE FINGERS FOR MARSEILLES Is Essential Tastemaker Cinema
It was a few years ago that Be Phat Motel duo Michael Matthews and Sean Drummond rose to the occasion with stunning short sci-fi proof adaptation of Charlie Human’s Apocalypse Now Now. With that project in tow for a full feature film presentation, they’ve also become headturners in the festival circuit with their latest debut at the help further putting South Africa in the lucrative crosshairs with revenge/redemption western, Five Fingers For Marseilles. Long before becoming the kind of milestone cinema drawing crowds in Canada, Korea, the U.S. and other fests abroad, Five Fingers For Marseilles sat in development for eight years before filming in 2016. Matthews’ research, in addition to covering tens of thousands of miles of land throughout South Africa, also included listening to stories from Sesotho locals – some which he once even stated to 702 were pretty gruesome in comparison to what he chose for his […]
Down But Not Out, THE TRIGONAL Emerges With A Victor
Ian Ignacio stars in THE TRIGONAL with Rhian Ramos, Gus Liem, action director Sarah Chang and writer/director Vincent Soberano.
Chin Kar-Lok’s Action-Packed Heist Thriller GOLDEN JOB Thrills, Steals Away At Nostalgia And Falls Just Shy Of Enriching
Well Go USA’s Golden Job star Ekin Cheng, Jordan Chan, Michael Tse, Jerry Lamb, Chin Kar-Lok and Eric Tsang, and opens on 9/28.
Kim Kwang-Sik’s THE GREAT BATTLE Rages On With Valor
Kim Kwang-Sik’s THE GREAT BATTLE stars Zo In-Sung, Nam Joo-Hyuk and Park Sung-Woong, and opens on 9/21 from Well Go USA.
TIFF 2018: Vasan Bala’s THE MAN WHO FEELS NO PAIN Excites The Feels
TIFF ’18’s Midnight Madness entry, THE MAN WHO FEELS NO PAIN, is directed by Vasan Bala and stars Abhimanyu Dasani and Radhika Madan.
DEATH KISS Is A Joyless Carbon Copy Thriller On Auto-Pilot
Rene Perez’s DEATH KISS stars Robert Kovacs and releases on digital and VOD October 2, and on DVD this December.
Sato Shinsuke’s BLEACH Is Highly-Spirited Otaku Soul Food
From Warner Bros. Pictures Japan, director Sato Shinsuke’s BLEACH is now available on Netflix and starring Sota Fukushi and Sugisaki Hana.
LOI BAO: Victor Vu’s Cautionary, Redemptive Hero Tale Thrives And Thrills
With the foothold superhero movies have gained throughout the spectrum of cinema, the dynamics fluctuate greatly with Hollywood being the most noticeable blip. Other territories sprout with more regional appeal whereas Victor Vu’s latest, Loi Bao, has the fruit of momentum on its heels for greater profusion. Following screenings at Fantasia in Canada and East Winds in the U.K. in the past year, Vu’s new film still stands firm in today’s film climate. Its circulation outside of Vietnam sort of deems it a worthwhile talk topic with respect to Asian representation in cinema, and its attribution to the superhero genre certainly makes it ripe for the occasion. Its lead star, Cuong Seven, has all but proven his apt, physical capability thusfar as the villain in Cuong Ngo’s 2016 thriller, Tracer. Switching into protagonist for the duration of Vu’s new crimefighting foray, Seven pulls his weight firmly in carrying a story […]
IRON FIST: SEASON 2 Lives To Fight Another Day
The new season of Iron Fist is now here and I actually couldn’t be happier. The first season drew some pretty proper criticisms for its structural aspects and some fans are apparently still apprehensive in their lingering sentiments over the show’s star, Finn Jones. I have to say though that there’s plenty that comes out much better in the handling of the action to coincide with some of the drama. Continuing from season one and its ensemble pivot to The Defenders, Danny Rand has taken the mantle in protecting New York City from crime. Balancing it all with his personal life with Colleen Wing still has its challenges but it’s nothing they can’t handle until questions begin to stir some gravely important issue concerning them both. This, while in the midst of finding themselves as mediators in a brewing war between two Triad factions, ensues bittersweet reunions with friends-turned-foes, and […]
Review: FINAL SCORE Is No ‘Sudden Death’ Tie Breaker, But ‘Die Hard’ Enough For The Right Crowd
There’s no question going into director Scott Mann’s latest, Final Score. Hailing actor Dave Bautista in his second outing with Mann since the 2015 film, Heist, you get a solid, simple, genuine and bare-bones hostage flick with some really cool and fun moments and thrilling sequences. Similarly, might also wonder if Mann ever pondered a scenario in today’s era where a film in the vein of John McTiernan and Peter Hyams might earn the appeal of twenty-something moviegoers today. It’s an admirable idea worth discussing, although with Final Score playing front to back, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve probably seen this movie already. Whether or not that’s a good thing is up to you to decide… Clearly taking a nod from action cinema of yesteryear is a story that reunites Mann with his fellow Heist co-star, actor Dave Bautista in the role of Michael Knox, a traveling ex-soldier […]
SYFY Shark Thriller, FRENZY Bites With Campy Shark Spectacle
I was recommended a shark movie, for a change. Here are my thoughts on Jose Montesinos’ FRENZY!
Na Hong-Jin’s THE YELLOW SEA Is A Heart-Breaking, Soul-Searching Post-Mortem In Four Acts
To date, Na Hong-Jin has only ever helmed three films – his most recent being 2016 mystery thriller, The Wailing. Six years earlier, Na sat in for his second film after 2008’s The Chaser with The Yellow Sea, reuniting with actor Ha Jung-Woo two years later. Ha happens to be one of my favorite actors as of 2014 when I first saw him in Yoon Jong-Bin’s Kundo. The Yellow Sea retroactively reaffirms this in one of the rawest performances you’ll see amidst an epic crime drama that almost never lets up in its intensity or bleakness. At two hours and change, there is a lot to unpack, but the gist of the story centers on Gu-nam, a Joseonjok migrant who reluctantly accepts an offer from a local crimeboss to travel to Korea to perform a hit-for-hire. Calamity ensues when he’s framed for the murder, ensuing a twist of events that […]
Review: Kam Ka-Wai’s BIG BROTHER Stands And Delivers, And Throws Down With The Head ‘Yen’ In Charge
Well Go USA is proudly releasing Kam Ka-Wai’s BIG BROTHER in select U.S. theaters this Friday, with Donnie Yen, Yu Kang and actress Joe Chen starring!
Review: GHOST SOURCE ZERO Hacks Into Your Inner Fanboy With Veritable Promise
Mark Cheng’s GHOST SOURCE ZERO stars Joe Barbagallo, Jean Goto and Emily Dennis and is now available in the U.S. from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Review: BUNKER: PROJECT 12 Should Probably Stay Inside It
I don’t really pay attention to IMDb ratings but I guess figures like that actually have some merit, specifically with regard to Jaime Falero’s second feature and Vision Films’ latest release, Bunker: Project 12. Films like this aren’t worth much on the film market front unless they have a huge star to help make a name for it and lo and behold, that man turns out to be actor Eric Roberts who never not steals the show no matter which scene he’s in, and really it makes a lot of the crummy low-budget films he’s in all the more frustrating. Front and center is a cast that lists Tony Corvillo, Joaquin Sanchez, Timothy Gibbs, Natasha Alam and James Cosmo for the story of a group of mercenaries hired by an arms industrialist to track down a long lost underground soviet bunker with the help of their captive, an aging military […]
Review: OUTLAWED Shoots Terrorism In The Face And Gets The Girl For Queen And Country
Actor and filmmaker Adam Collins has up to six years in film credits with a few years to his name as a certified stunt performer. His time as a Royal Marine Commando has also proven pertinent to his career goals as it now brings us his fully fledged feature debut next to co-helmer/writer Luke Radford with Outlawed, a tale heartily attributed to the armed forces upon its release. Collins directed a shortfilm prior to this, although Outlawed is my own inaugural observation of his craft, applied aptly in large part despite budgetary constraints. Much of the film is straightforward, smartly directed and well acted in its execution, coupled with just the right amonut of sex and violence anyone in their 30s or older can take heed to for their own tastes in film. Collins leads the story as Jake O’Neil, a Royal Marine Commando whose own internal conflict arises following […]
Review: Erik Matti’s BUYBUST Pays With Intriguing Relevance… And Lots Of Bodies!
One of the most delightful things anyone might hear upon learning of a film like Erik Matti’s new crime opera, BuyBust is who will star. I didn’t know who Anne Curtis was until XYZ’s own Todd Brown broke the news at ScreenAnarchy on top of other updates regarding training of the cast, as well as the director’s own subsequent passionate testimonials on Facebook, and I have to say, in wake of its 100% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, this film has done an incredible job selling itself. The reviews and residual reactions stemming from its festival run and recent release in The Philippines have been mostly positive, that is, apart a few articles I’ve come across that have been critical in nature. It surprised me a little, though it wasn’t necessarily unexpected, varying opinions and so on and so forth. Indeed, BuyBust, a milestone production for a market that has […]
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