Review: "Cradle 2 the Grave" Not Completely Lifeless

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 28 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Cradle 2 the Grave (2003)
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, language and some sexual content
DIRECTOR: Andrzej Bartkowiak
WRITERS: John O’Brien and Channing Gibson; from a story by John O’Brien
PRODUCER: Joel Silver
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Daryn Okada
EDITOR: Derek G. Brechin
COMPOSERS: Damon “Grease” Blackman and John Frizzell

ACTION/CRIME/DRAMA

Starring: Jet Li, DMX, Anthony Anderson, Kelly Hu, Tom Arnold, Mark Dacascos, Gabrielle Union, Daniel Dae Kim, and Chi McBride (uncredited)

The subject of this movie review is Cradle 2 the Grave, a 2003 action film. Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, the film stars legendary action star, Jet Li, and rapper DMX.

Producer Joel Silver brings us another martial artist/rap star “buddy” movie in the tradition of his hit, Exit Wounds. This time Exit Wounds star DMX joins legendary Far East action star Jet Li in Cradle to the Grave. After I watching this movie, I couldn’t figure out the reason for the title, but the name sounds rough and tough, just what you want in your “chop socky-hip hop” movie. No doubt that this is trash, but fun trash, especially if you’re feeling really tolerant; not as good as Exit Wounds, but almost worth the price of admission if you like Li and/or DMX. And I had been waiting for this for a long time.

Fait (DMX) leads a crew of high-tech urban thieves who stumble onto a bag of mysterious black jewels during their heist of a diamond exchange. The diamonds’ owner, the vicious and murderous Ling (Mark Decascos), kidnaps Fait’s daughter and holds her as ransom for the jewels’ return. Fait gets a monkey wrench in his works when another crew steals the diamonds from one of Fait’s bumbling associates (Tom Arnold). Fait and his crew forge an alliance with a Taiwanese intelligence officer, Su (Jet Li), to rescue his child and retrieve the precious black diamonds, which hold a deadly and powerful secret.

Director Andrzej Bartkowiak’s film is clunky and disjointed, but Bartkowiak (who has directed three of Li’s American films) knows that he only has to string together a few “character moments” between scenes with the only important elements of the film: DMX’s grimace and Li’s extended martial arts free-for-alls. Li actually has an extended battle at an underground fight arena that at times defies the imagination and at other times is so wacky that it earns a load of belly laughs. Because the writers gave DMX’s character a child, we actually get a few smiles from the normally scowling star during precious scenes of him “parenting.”

The supporting cast mostly serves as relief from the grim story. Most of the time, Cradle 2 the Grave is a pretty raw cartoon, and it plays rough with its characters. However, Tom Arnold and Anthony Anderson, co-stars in Exit Wounds, return to add much needed comic relief. In fact, Arnold never seems so comfortable in a film role as he does when he’s rollin’ with the homeys. I think he’s added life to his career legs the way John Lithgow did in the early 1990’s by taking a few villainous roles.

I won’t lie to you. This isn’t a good movie, but it can be very entertaining most of the time. You just have to outlast some “dramatic” moments to get to the action, suspense, and thrills. Sometimes, I became very impatient waiting out a few dull minutes just to get to the bloodshed; honestly, there’s no other reason to see this junk other than for the junk: car chases, titillation, shootouts, corrupt cops, thugs, explosions, and Jet Li’s electric hands and feet.

So when’s the next Silver Pictures’ rap-fu joint coming out? DMX and Jackie Chan, perhaps?

4 of 10
C

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Review: "The Raid: Redemption" Simply Terrific

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 14 (of 2013) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Raid: Redemption (2011)
Serbuan maut – original title
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Indonesia; Language: Indonesian
Running time: 101 minutes (1 hour, 41 minutes)
Not rated by the MPAA
EDITOR/WRITER/DIRECTOR: Gareth Huw Evans
PRODUCER: Ario Sagantoro
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Matt Flannery (D.o.P.) and Dimas Imam Subhono (D.o.P.)
COMPOSERS: Aria Prayogi and Fajar Yuskemal (Indonesian version); Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese (U.S. release)

ACTION/CRIME/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Iko Uwais, Joe Taslim, Doni Alamsyah, Yayan Ruhian, Pierre Gruno, Ray Sahetapy, Tegar Satrya, Iang Darmawan, Eka “Piranha” Rahmadia, and Verdi Solaiman

The Raid: Redemption is a 2011 Indonesian martial arts and crime film from director Gareth Evans. The film, which was released in the United States in 2012, showcases “pencak silat,” the traditional Indonesian martial arts. The Raid: Redemption stars Iko Uwais as a member of a SWAT team trapped in a notorious tenement building and forced to fight off ruthless criminals.

Rama (Iko Uwais) is a rookie cop and expectant father. The morning that the film begins, he joins a unit of Detachment 88 (kind of the Indonesian equivalent of an American SWAT team) as it prepares to raid one of Jakarta, Indonesia’s most notorious apartment blocks. Led by Sergeant Jaka (Joe Taslim) and Lieutenant Wahyu (Pierre Gruno), Rama and the other officers infiltrate the building in order to capture Tama Riyadi (Ray Sahetapy), a legendary mobster. But the team soon finds itself trapped in the building and forced to fight its way out. Tama’s right-hand men, Andi (Doni Alamsyah) and Mad Dog (Yayan Ruhian), lead an army of killers and thugs ready and willing to claim the bounty Tama has placed on the cops.

On the surface, The Raid: Redemption seems like a “no frills” film, but the breathtaking pencak silat brawls, duels, fights, etc are a celebration of the cinematic ballet that martial arts can be in film. This is bone-crunching frills, a kind of body-smashing version of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’s exquisite martial arts duels and clashes.

The Raid: Redemption is also the kind of movie that is especially the work of the director, film editor, and fight choreographer(s). Gareth Evans is editor and director, and actors, Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian, designed the fight choreography. For all the fights there are, one doesn’t resemble the other. Each fight is its own thrilling thing. It helps that Mike Shinoda and Joseph Trapanese’s musical score for the U.S. release heightens the sense of impending doom and nerve-wracking action; this is a score worth owning.

Evans manages to make a tense cop thriller full of action, without the movie turning into the ridiculous thrill machine that many Hollywood action films are. Evan also gets a number of good performances from his cast. Few gun-toting movie thugs and street-level cops are as interesting as the ones in The Raid: Redemption. Because the performances successfully construct the characters, you hate to see many of them blown away.

Sometimes, I am reluctant to recommend even movies that I really like, but I heartily recommend The Raid: Redemption. If you don’t want to read subtitles, the DVD has an English dub, so don’t use a foreign language as a reason not to see one of the best action movies in a long, long time.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2013 Image Awards: 1 nomination: “Outstanding International Motion Picture”

Friday, February 22, 2013

Review: "Kill Bill: Volume 2" Gets Better with Age

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 53 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
Running time: 136 minutes; MPAA – R for violence, language and brief drug use
DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino
WRITER: Quentin Tarantino (The Bride character by Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino)
PRODUCER: Lawrence Bender
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Richardson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Sally Menke
COMPOSER: Robert Rodriguez
Golden Globe nominee

CRIME/DRAMA with elements of Action, Martial Arts, and Thriller

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Madsen, Lucy Liu, Michael Parks, Jeannie Epper, Perla Haney-Jardine, Caitlin Keats, Chris Nelson, Gordon Liu, LaTanya Richardson, and Bo Svenson

The subject of this movie review is Kill Bill: Volume 2, a 2004 crime drama and martial arts film from writer/director Quentin Tarantino. It is the second of two films that were released within several months of each other. The film follows a character called “The Bride,” who is seeking revenge against her former colleagues.

In Kill Bill: Vol. 2, the sequel or second half of Quentin Tarantino’s film, Kill Bill: Volume 1, The Bride (Uma Thurman) continues her mission of revenge against her former colleagues for killing her husband-to-be and the wedding party and for shooting and leaving her for dead. Most of all, she want her old boss, Bill (David Carradine); he fired the shot in her head that was supposed to kill her. But Bill has a secret named B.B. (Perla Haney-Jardine), so will The Bride be able to handle the shock of meeting B.B.?

Where Kill Bill: Vol. 1 was a stylish martial arts movie done in lively colors with the relentlessness of a revenge movie cum video game, Kill Bill: Vol. 2 is slick, crime drama – part Western and part hard-boiled novella. There’s a movie poster for a film by the late actor, Charles Bronson, used a set piece in the film, and Vol. 2 indeed has the gall of Bronson bullet ballad. Some viewers may be put off by the jarring change of pace from the first film to the second. There are very few fight scenes in 2, and they’re quite short. Only the battle between Elle Driver/California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah) and The Bride has the hard-edged intensity of anything near the fisticuffs of the first film.

Still, Kill Bill: Vol. 2 is an example of virtuoso filmmaking and an expert homage to many well known American film genres. Vol. 2 isn’t anywhere near as fun to watch as the first, but for those viewers who have varied tastes in films and movies and who are familiar with many film styles and techniques, Vol. 2 will be exciting to watch. As all his films have been, Kill Bill: Vol. 2 is ultimately worth watching because director Quentin Tarantino simply does so many interesting things. He’s that know-it-all film nerd who can actually make the great film he might say no one else can make, although Kill Bill Volume 2 isn’t that exactly the great film either.

8 of 10
A

NOTES:
2005 Golden Globes, USA: 2 nominations: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (David Carradine) and “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Uma Thurman)

2005 Black Reel Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Original Score” (RZA)

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Review: "Kill Bill: Volume 1" is Still a Killer

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 152 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)
Running time: 111 minutes (1 hour, 51 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong bloody violence, language and some sexual content
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino
PRODUCER: Lawrence Bender
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Richardson (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Sally Menke
COMPOSER: The RZA
BAFTA Awards nominee

ACTION/CRIME/MARTIAL ARTS/THRILLER

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Michael Parks, James Parks, Sonny Chiba, Chiaki Kuriyama, Julie Dreyfus, and Chia Hui Liu

The subject of this movie review is Kill Bill: Volume 1, a 2003 martial arts and action film from writer/director Quentin Tarantino. It is the first of two films that were released within several months of each other. The film follows a character called “The Bride,” who is seeking revenge against her former colleagues.

If there was much doubt that Quentin Tarantino could still make not just good movies, but great movies, Kill Bill: Volume 1 should dispel that doubt, unless the doubters are just being contrary. That Kill Bill is one of the most violent, if not the most violent, American films ever made is very certain. Only time will tell if Kill Bill Vol. 1 is the best American action movie ever made, but it is the best and most thrilling film since James Cameron abruptly reshaped thrills and intensity of movies with Aliens.

In the film, The Bride (Uma Thurman) awakes from a coma in which she’d been in for four years. It has been four years since her fellow assassins of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad killed her husband and wedding party at a small church in Texas. Her boss, Bill (David Carradine), however, did the honor of shooting The Bride, showing no mercy even though she was late in her obvious pregnancy. Bill’s biggest mistake was that he didn’t kill her, and now The Bride is out to Kill Bill. Before Bill, she has scores to settle with two of her colleagues, Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox) and Cottonmouth, now known as O-Ren Ishi (Lucy Liu), and a Yakuza crime boss in Tokyo.

Tarantino reportedly shot so much footage for Kill Bill that he and the studio Miramax Films ultimately decided to divide the film into two parts. One of Tarantino’s signature techniques is to juxtapose time in his scripts, dividing his films into self-contained chapters that are complete little short stories on their own. Each chapter fits in quite well with the larger film story and embellishes it so very well.

Kill Bill isn’t so much about the story as it is about the technique of making film. Tarantino basically asks his audience to go along with this long homage to Asian cinema, in particular martial arts epics and crime films. He mixes film genres with varied visual styles of films, and in that his cinematographer Robert Richardson (an Academy Award winner for Oliver Stone’s JFK) ably assists. At times, Kill Bill is totally about what the film stock looks like – the colors, the lack of color, grittiness, glossiness, etc.

This is a film geek’s film – the kind of genre film a big fan of a particular genre would like to make as well as see, and Tarantino makes it so well. Kill Bill is a grand time. For fans of martial arts films who loved the elaborate fight scenes in movies like The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, the master fight choreographer who worked on both films, Yuen Wo-Ping, worked with Tarantino on the heart-stopping and eye-popping fights in Kill Bill.

Tarantino gets the most out of all his crew. The RZA (of hip hop act Wu-Tang Clan fame) composes a brilliant, genre-crossing, ear-bending score that recalls the sounds and tunes of classic gangster, Western, martial arts, and crime cinema classics. Shout outs also go to the art and costume departments.

Kill Bill is without a doubt great cinema about cinema, and it’s excellent entertainment. By no means perfect, it does dry up on occasion and even seems a bit long. There were also too many bits obviously thrown in to accommodate the next chapter. Still, the fault lines don’t matter because Kill Bill is so damn fine. Action movie lovers and lovers of great filmmaking cannot miss this because Kill Bill Volume 1 is that proverbial good movie about which people are always complaining Hollywood doesn’t make anymore.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2004 BAFTA Awards: 5 nominations: “Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music”(RZA); “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Tommy Tom, Kia Kwan, Tam Wai, Kit Leung, Hin Leung, and Jaco Wong), “Best Editing” (Sally Menke), “Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role” (Uma Thurman), and “Best Sound” (Michael Minkler, Myron Nettinga, Wylie Stateman, and Mark Ulano)

2004 Black Reel Awards: 1 nominee: “Best Supporting Actress” (Vivica A. Fox)

2004 Golden Globes, USA: 1 nomination: “Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama” (Uma Thurman)

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Review: "Sanjuro" is Full of Dull Characters, Except for Sanjura (Happy B'day, Toshiro Mifune)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 141 (of 2004) by Leroy Douresseaux


Tsubaki Sanjûrô (1962) – Black and White
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan

Sanjuro (1963) – U.S. release
Running time: 96 minutes (1 hour, 36 minutes)
Unrated by the MPAA
DIRECTOR: Akira Kurosawa
WRITERS: Ryuzo Kikushima, Hideo Oguni, and Akira Kurosawa (based upon the novel Peaceful Days by Shugoro Yamamoto)
PRODUCERS: Ryûzô Kikushima and Tomoyuki Tanaka
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Fukuzo Koizumi and Takao Saitô
COMPOSER: Masaru Satô

COMEDY/DRAMA with elements of action

Starring: Toshirô Mifune, Tatsuya Nakadai, Keiju Kobayashi, Yuzo Kayama, Reiko Dan, Akihiko Hirata, Takashi Shimura, Kamatari, Kamatari Fujiwara, and Takako Irie

The subject of this movie review is Sanjuro, the 1962 Japanese samurai film directed by Akira Kurosawa. This black-and-white movie is a sequel to Kurosawa’s film, Yojimbo, which starred Toshirô Mifune as a wandering ronin. Mifune returns in Sanjuro as the title character who helps a young man save his uncle who was falsely convicted by a corrupt official.

Ever adrift in an era of fading tradition and increasing lawless, Sanjûrô the ronin (masterless samurai) finds himself instructing a band of ne’er-do-wells in the art of samurai wisdom. A follow-up to Yojimbo, Akira Kurosawa’s film, Tsubaki Sanjûrô, features this movie’s title character (and the hero of Yojimbo), a crafty samurai (Toshirô Mifune), helping a naïve young man and his eight fellow clansman save the young man’s uncle who is falsely accused and imprisoned by a corrupt local official.

Not nearly as good as Yojimbo, Tsubaki Sanjûrô, for all its sword play and violence, is really about politics, especially the element of corruption that rules so much of politics. Picture Sanjûrô the swordsman as a master mediator, a centrist moving from one side to the other learning what he can, being quick on his feet, and shrewdly negotiating his way out of trouble. The nine young men will learn much from him before the master swordsman must move on…to where, they nor we know.

The film is, however, flat, and the characters, except of course for Sanjûrô, are woefully dull. The film’s best moments are the scenes in which Sanjûrô easily dissects his opponents with his verbal flare or swiftly dispatches his challengers with deadly quick sword strikes. The film really peaks in the last ten minutes when Sanjûrô faces a rival he respects and when he grudgingly accepts the admiration of his pupils before he heads off into the unknown.

6 of 10
B

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Review: "Big Trouble in Little China" is Still a Big Deal (Happy Birthday, Kurt Russell)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 7 (of 2003) by Leroy Douresseaux

John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China (1986)
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13
DIRECTOR: John Carpenter
WRITERS: Gary Goldman and David Z. Weinstein; adaptation by W. D. Richter
PRODUCERS: Larry J. Franco
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Dean Cundey
EDITORS: Steve Mirkovich, Mark Warner, and Edward A. Warschilka
COMPOSERS: John Carpenter and Alan Howarth

ACTION/ADVENTURE/FANTASY with elements of comedy

Starring: Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, James Hong, Victor Wong, Kate Burton, and Donald Li

Big Trouble in Little China is a 1986 fantasy and martial arts film from director John Carpenter (Halloween) and starring Kurt Russell. The comic adventure film follows a truck driver who plunges into a mysterious underworld beneath Chinatown where he takes on a powerful ancient sorcerer.

Big Trouble in Little China may well be John Carpenter’s most entertaining film with its heady mish mash of kung fu, eastern mysticism, action movies, fantasy, and camp. It’s a celebration of how a dumb movie can actually be outrageous, inventive, silly, and kinda smart, after all.

The story revolves around big-talking, wisecracking trucker Jack Burton, played by Kurt Russell as a kind of John Wayne beset by bad luck and pratfalls. Determined to get money owed to him, Burton follows Wang Chi (Dennis Dunn), a business associate, to the airport to pick up his fiancée, Miao Yin (Suzee Pai). When gang members kidnap her, Jack and Wang follow them into a wild adventure that tests the limits of Jack’s endurance and disbelief. Lo Pan (James Hong), a 2,000-year-old sorcerer who rules an underground empire in Chinatown, needs Miao to extend his life and power. A busybody lawyer (Kim Cattrall) further complicates Jack’s life when she tags along for the ride through Lo Pan’s terror filled labyrinth.

Carpenter directs the film at a break neck pace. Virtually every scene is packed with something strange and wondrous, so much so that the viewer never has time to really pay attention to the holes in the film. But it’s all played for fun: wild and lunatic martial arts fights, bizarre and ugly monsters, colorful costumes, imaginative sets, sparkling special effects, off-kilter shootouts and chases. It’s a great time at the movies, and that it maintains its charm without its SFX seeming dated is a testament to Carpenter’s skill, an under appreciated cinematic genius.

As usual, the team-up of Carpenter and actor Kurt Russell, who have worked together on three films and a television movie, results in a good movie. Russell, known as an action star, is actually an excellent comic actor. I don’t think this movie would really work without him, and it is certainly worth watching again because of him.

8 of 10
A

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Review: "Blade II" is Still Too Legit to Quit (Happy B'day, Wesley Snipes)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blade II (2002)
Running time: 117 minutes (1 hour, 57 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong pervasive violence, language, some drug use and sexual content
DIRECTOR: Guillermo del Toro
WRITER: David S. Goyer (Blade based upon the character created by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan)
PRODUCERS: Peter Frankfurt, Patrick J. Palmer, and Wesley Snipes
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Gabriel Beristain (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Peter Amundson
COMPOSER: Marco Beltrami

ACTION/FANTASY/HORROR/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Kris Kristofferson, Ron Perlman, Leonor Varela, Norman Reedus, Thomas Kretschmann, Luke Goss, Matthew Schulze, Danny John-Jules, and Donnie Yen

The human/vampire warrior Blade (Wesley Snipes) returns to do his thing, which is hunt and destroy vampires. While in Prague, Czech Republic to rescue his old partner Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), Blade receives a summons from Damaskinos (Thomas Kretschmann), the overlord of vampires. A new breed of creatures, The Reapers, is loose, and they feed on both humans and vampires. Damaskinos has formed a vampire tactical unit dubbed the Bloodpack to hunt the Reapers, but he also wants Blade’s assistance and offers a truce. The Reapers, however, led by the powerful Nomak (Luke Goss), prove to be a formidable foe.

Directed by Guillermo del Toro (Mimic), Blade II is that rare sequel that not only surpasses the original in quality, but also manages to be very different than the original. This is primarily through the efforts of del Toro; his sense of visual style has a huge impact upon this movie, and the look is seemingly based on art rather than music videos. (Stephen Norrington, the director of Blade, was also a director of music videos). He plays with light (natural and artificial) and darkness to set mood and tone, but also to suggest character motivation and plot elements. del Toro works like a painter, and he makes Blade 2 a wild ride, but reveals a thoughtful composition behind the camera.

In fact, the art department played a huge role in the look of the film. Wayne D. Barlow, the head creature designer, is famous in science fiction and fantasy circles for his drawings of aliens. Mike Mignola, the concept artist, worked on Atlantis: The Lost Continent for Disney. Timothy Bradstreet, a comic book artist and illustrator like Mignola and like Blade 2 storyboard artist Leo Duranona, designed the vampires in this film. Bradstreet’s work, according to him, probably influenced the look of the Blade character in the first film.

The dark and decayed look of inner city Prague is absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing even in the dankest and dirtiest sections. Kudos to the art directors and set decorators; they manage to make Blade 2 one of the most gorgeous looking movies ever that used low rent sets.

The eclecticism of the cast also adds to the aura of this movie. Snipes is clearly more confident and more comfortable in his role. He dropped his monotone delivery from the first film for more effective banter this time around, and he portrays Blade throughout this film more as the bold warrior who finished off the original film than the one we first saw.

Kristofferson’s role is a little weightier this go round. Whistler has an air of mystery and intrigue about him, and every time he is on screen, there is something about him that makes you wonder about his motivations. His verbal jousts with his replacement Scud (Norman Reedus) brings a little humor to the film.

Although Kretschmann and Goss are good in their respective roles as Damaskinos and Nomak, the Bloodpack are the true supporting vampire stars. Leonor Varela as Nyssa, Damaskinos’s daughter, brings beauty and a hint of sexuality to these mostly male proceedings. Fight choreographer Donnie Yen also has a small role as Bloodpack member Snowman. Ron Perlman also does a nice turn as Reinhardt, Blade’s opposite in the Bloodpack.

Visually exciting, intriguing, and beautiful, Blade 2 is unique horror movie simply because of the way it looks. It is an exciting action movie filled with leather suits and high tech chop-socky. The CGI fights scenes are a little off in some instances, but for the most part are very good and only add to Blade 2’s exceptional look; it gives the movie the feel of being something other than just another violent action movie. The fight scene between Nyssa and Asad (Danny John-Jules of the British sci-fi television series “Red Dwarf”) against Blade, alone, is worth the price of admission because it tops anything in the first film. It stands with some of the good fight scenes found in Hong Kong movies (thanks to Donnie Yen).

Guillermo del Toro has created a special cinematic visual experience in Blade 2, which adds to the appeal of seeing his other work. Simply put, in popular parlance, Blade 2 rocks, and it is worth repeated viewings.

8 of 10
A

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Review: Takashi Miike Does Epic in "13 Assassins"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 60 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

13 Assassins (2010)
Jûsan-nin no shikaku (original title)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of bloody violence, some disturbing images and brief nudity
DIRECTOR: Takashi Miike
WRITER: Daisuke Tengan (based upon a screenplay by Kaneo Ikegami)
PRODUCER: Minami Ichikawa, Tôichirô Shiraishi, and Michihiko Yanagisawa
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Nobuyasu Kita (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Kenji Yamashita
COMPOSER: Kôji Endô

DRAMA/HISTORICAL/MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION

Starring: Kôji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yûsuke Iseya, Gorô Inagaki, Masachika Ichimura, Mikijiro Hira, Hiroki Matsukata, Ikki Sawamura, Arata Furuta, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Masataka Kubota, Sôsuke Takaoka, Seiji Rokkaku, Yûma Ishigaki, Kôen Kondô, and Ikki Namioka

13 Assassins (Jûsan-nin no shikaku) is a 2010 Japanese period drama (a jidaigeki) from prolific director, Takashi Miike. This samurai epic is based on a true story and is also a remake of the 1963 Japanese film, Jûsan-nin no shikaku. The story is about a band of samurai warriors out to kill a tyrannical young lord. 13 Assassins is also one of the best films of 2010.

The film is set in the last decades of Feudal Japan, when the era of the samurai is waning. The sadistic young Lord Matsudaira Naritsugu (Gorô Inagaki) rapes and kills at will. He is seemingly untouchable because he is the former Shogun’s son and the current Shogun’s younger brother. After Naritsugu’s actions lead to the destruction of a prominent family, a senior political figure, Sir Doi (Mikijiro Hira), decides that Naritsugu must be killed. Doi hires Shinzaemon Shimada (Kôji Yakusho), an older samurai whom he can trust, to assassinate Naritsugu.

Shinzaemon, who was once a Shogun’s samurai, gathers 11 other samurai, including his nephew, Shinroukuro (Takayuki Yamada), and the 12 plan the assassination. Lord Naritsugu is traveling to his family’s territory, so Shinzaemon plots to steer him to the small village of Ochiai, in the province of Mino, where they will ambush him. Along the way, Shinzaemon adds a thirteenth member to his group, a mysterious woodsman who says his name is Koyata Kiga (Yûsuke Iseya). Meanwhile, the assassins learn that Naritsugu’s security detail is much larger than it was supposed to be.

13 Assassins is the first Takashi Miike film I’ve seen. Before this movie, I’d heard of him via the controversy around his work, such as Ichi the Killer (2001) and his episode, “Imprint,” of the “Masters of Horror” television anthology series. In 13 Assassins, Miike certainly doesn’t spare the audience of blood, dismemberment, and assorted wanton murder. Lord Naritsugu is one of the vilest characters I’ve ever seen depicted on screen, and he is the instigator of some of the most vicious murders portrayed in the 13 Assassins. Kudos to Gorô Inagaki for his brilliant performance as Naritsugu.

However, the depictions of violent death both in battle and in character drama shouldn’t be the only thing people take away from 13 Assassins. What audiences should recognize is Miike’s supreme skills as a helmsman, particularly as a director of this grand, historical epic. In 13 Assassins’ climatic battle, there are a little more than 200 combatants, but you might think there were 10 times more.

Miike and his collaborators and crew, in particularly director of photography, Nobuyasu Kita, and film editor, Kenji Yamashita, stage a fight that makes battles in films like the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, Cold Mountain, etc. look small. Such films use computers and digital technology to make their battles look super-sized, while Miike goes intimate – up close and personal – with the mayhem, desperation, and frantic pace of battle. That makes this battle look grand and glorious, but also sad, wasteful, and pathetic.

I find that with only a few exceptions, notably Shinzaemon Shimada and his nephew Shinroukuro, Miike misses the chance to really delve into the many wonderful characters fashioned by screenwriter Daisuke Tengan. That’s a shame because some of them have gripping back stories and engaging personalities. Still, that really isn’t much of a blemish, if it’s a blemish at all, on this superb film. 13 Assassins is one of the best samurai dramas I’ve ever seen, and it is one of the best historical films of the new century. Film lovers should not miss 13 Assassins.

9 of 10
A+

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

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Review: "Kung Fu Panda 2" Brings Awesome Back

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 45 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG for sequences of martial arts action and mild violence
DIRECTORS: Jennifer Yuh
WRITERS: Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger
PRODUCER: Melissa Cobb
COMPOSERS: Hans Zimmer and John Powell

ANIMATION/MARTIAL ARTS/COMEDY/DRAMA

Starring: (voices) Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Gary Oldman, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, James Hong, Michelle Yeoh, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Haysbert, and Danny McBride

Kung Fu Panda 2 is a computer-animated film from DreamWorks Animation. A martial arts, action-comedy, it is the sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2008 animated film, Kung Fu Panda. The sequel is every bit as good as the original, but the action and fight scenes in the new movie not only surpass the first film, they are also better than anything yet seen in computer-animated films.

Following the events of the first film, Kung Fu Panda 2 finds Po (Jack Black), the giant panda, living his dream as the legendary Dragon Warrior. He protects the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, the legendary Furious Five: Tigress (Angelina Jolie), Crane (David Cross), Mantis (Seth Rogen), Viper (Lucy Liu), and Monkey (Jackie Chan). Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) wishes to continue Po’s lessons by helping him pursue inner peace.

However, Po and the Furious Five must race stop a powerful new enemy, Lord Shen (Gary Oldman), the exiled son of the late Peacock Emperor. From Gongmen City, Shen plots to unleash a powerful new weapon that threatens to destroy kung fu and help him conquer China. For Po, however, there is something familiar about Shen and his murderous army that paralyzes him whenever he faces them. Suffering from bad dreams, Po must delve into his past, the place he doesn’t want to go. If he doesn’t, Shen will win.

I must admit to being in love with great martial arts fighting scenes. I could watch the fight sequences in films like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, and even Ninja Assassin on a continuous loop. The fight scenes are what really won me over with Kung Fu Panda 2. It’s still hard for me to believe that computers can create this kind of character animation and movement with such precision and dynamism. I don’t know if I should call it high tech virtuosity or art as the illusion of life. Kung Fu Panda 2 has some of the most beautiful animation I’ve ever seen and rich hues and colors that sparkle.

This movie is not all about the visual spark, however. Kung Fu Panda 2’s story has heart and also the kind of compelling character writing we’ve come to expect from Pixar’s films. Po’s struggles with identity and his origin and the fear that engenders are genuine to the point that you might start worrying about him as if he were a real person. I can say that same thing about Lord Shen, a thoroughly fashioned character and the kind of complicated, complex adversary usually reserved for films seeking Oscar nominations. Gary Oldman does a splendid job in his voice performance as Shen, emphasizing that while Shen is the contrast to Po, they also have similar issues.

Anyone who tells you that Kung Fu Panda 2 is more of the same may not quite be full of crap, but they’re more than half full. This is a sequel that is a continuation of the original’s excellence, and Kung Fu Panda 2 is one of the year’s best.

9 of 10
A+

Sunday, May 29, 2011

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Review: "Curse of the Golden Flower" is a Grand Tale in a Grand Tradition (Happy B'day, Chow Yun-Fat)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 93 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia (2006)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: China; Language: Mandarin
Curse of the Golden Flower (2006) – English title
Running time: 114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence
DIRECTOR: Zhang Yimou
WRITERS: Yu Cao and Yimou Zhang
PRODUCERS: William Kang, Weiping Zhang, and Yimou Zhang
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Shigeru Umebayashi
Academy Award nominee

MARTIAL ARTS/FANTASY/DRAMA

Starring: Chow Yun-Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou, Ye Liu, Dahong Ni, Junjie Qin, Man Li, and Jin Chen

China, 929 A.D., Tang Dynasty: In the house of Emperor Ping (Chow Yun-Fat) resides romantic intrigue and political machinations. His ailing wife, Empress Phoenix (Gong Li), suspects that Ping has been slowly poisoning her with the medicine for her anemia. As their children, sons Crown Prince Wan (Ye Liu), Prince Jai (Jay Chou), and Prince Yu (Junjie Qin) are drawn into the secret passions and schemes for power, a dark old secret about one of the sons comes forward. Soon, the Emperor’s reign is challenged by a blood coup, so who will be the last royal standing?

With his 2006 film, Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia or Curse of the Golden Flower, acclaimed director Zhang Yimou blends the drama and supernatural martial arts of his film Hero (released in the U.S. in 2004) with the color and pageantry of his 2004 film, House of Flying Daggers. For all its sensational vivid color and the magnificent backdrops of China’s Forbidden City, Curse of the Golden Flower is a complex tale of familial loyalty and intimate deceptions. Yimou puts a brutal story of forbidden love and naked betrayal up against the eye-popping martial arts (and the fight scene are dazzling and breathtaking), and in the end, the dramatic side wins.

Curse of the Golden Flower is a story of a royal family at war with itself in which the winner takes all and leaves the audience gasping with shock and disgust. And the characters do all that bloodletting in some of the most gorgeous, sumptuous costumes seen in recent films. This film is a pitch perfect, grandiose tale of bloody murder amongst family that may rival the tragedies of the old English stage.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2007 Academy Awards: 1 nomination for “Best Achievement in Costume Design” (Chung Man Yee)

2007 Image Awards: 1 nomination for “Outstanding Independent or Foreign Film”

Thursday, June 14, 2007

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Review: Mediocre "The One" Has Lots of Good Jet Li (Happy 'B'day, Jet Li)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 10 (of 2001) by Leroy Douresseaux

The One (2001)
Running time: 87 minutes (1 hour, 27 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 intense action violence and some language
DIRECTOR: James Wong
WRITERS: Glen Morgan and James Wong
PRODUCERS: Steven Chasman, Glen Morgan, Charles Newirth, and James Wong
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert McLachlan
EDITOR: James Coblentz
COMPOSER: Trevor Rabin

SCI-FI/ACTION/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Jet Li, Carla Gugino, Delroy Lindo, Jason Statham, and James Morrison

Longtime television writer (“X-Files,” “Millennium,” “Space: Above and Beyond”), James Wong begins his sci-fi, action-adventure movie, The One on an alternate earth where Al Gore is President of the United States (which elicited some delighted clapping from the audience with whom I saw the film). Within minutes of that opening, an unbelievable fast and powerful villain has killed a convict who looks exactly like him. After a protracted chase, two armed men Roedecker (Delroy Lindo) and Funsch (Jason Stratham), apprehend the super criminal.

We then learn that he is Yulaw (Jet Li), a former cop like Roedecker and Funsch, who has been killing alternate versions of himself. The universe is actually a multiverse, several universes instead of one. Yulaw finds his other universe opposites and kills them, thereby absorbing some of their energies. When he kills the last one, number 124, he may become like a god.

Cut to “our” world, Yulaw’s earth-twin, number 124, is a sheriff’s deputy named Gabriel (Jet Li again) happily married to his soul mate T.K. (Carla Gugino). When Yulaw intrudes upon Gabriel’s world, he finds that Gabriel has also absorbed the power of the other 123 versions of himself that Yulaw killed. Confused and unsure of Funsch as an ally, Gabriel must stop Yulaw without killing him lest Gabriel himself become a god and endanger all of existence.

When one views a Jet Li movie, one hopes to see the man who moves like a dance artist; in his body, the martial arts are indeed a performance art, and gymnastics are a fatal, beautiful craft. Like Jackie Chan, his body bubbles with enthusiasm. Both their screen gifts are not in the craft of how an actor uses language, but in emotions, exaggerated facial expressions, and movement. They both recall the film greats from the silent era and the golden age of Hollywood, Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. They do have a major difference.

Whereas Chan is a comedian, Li is hardcore action star. Imagine a pint sized Clint Eastwood who uses his hands and feet rather than a big, phallic pistol. Picture a Bruce Willis hero with the charmed nine lives of a cat that uses Far Eastern methods of self-defense over a pistol. Best of all, filmgoers get a fine heir to the Bruce Lee film hero.

Li, who was the wildcard in Lethal Weapon 4, doesn’t need a great script or director behind him; he is the movie. He gets neither in The One. Wong and Glen Morgan’s script is standard sci-fi claptrap, and Wong is a serviceable director who at least manages to capture dynamic movement of his star. Still, the story does occasionally get in the way of Li’s brilliance. Having to balance the nonsensical, fantastic elements draws the audience’s attention away from Li. Worm holes, black holes, and psuedo physics get in the way. We don’t need the science, but the fiction of this impossible superman played by a gifted screen actor is just what we want.

Delroy Lindo’s (Li’s co-star in Romeo Must Die) enormous talents are usually wasted or ignored in supporting roles, but it’s good to see him, even in a bad part. At least he got this job; it easily could have gone to a white actor. Stratham is an odd piece here as he was in John Carpenter’s Ghosts of Mars. So far he has only really seemed a good fit in Guy Ritchie’s Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, but like Lindo, it’s fun to watch him most anytime.

See The One for its star, and forget the phony plot and sci-fi trappings, watching Li is a privilege.

5 of 10
C+

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Review: Wesley Snipes Pumps Little Life into "Game of Death"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 26 (of 2011) by Leroy Douresseaux

Game of Death (2010)
Running time: 86 minutes (1 hour, 26 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence and language
DIRECTOR: Giorgio Serafini
WRITERS: Jim Agnew and Megan Brown
PRODUCERS: Philippe Martinez, Rafael Primorac, Billy Dietrich
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Erik Curtis
EDITORS: Kevin Budzynski and Todd C. Ramsay

ACTION/THRILLER

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Gary Daniels, Zoe Bell, Robert Davi, Aunjanue Ellis, Quinn Duffy, Michael Maurice, and Ernie Hudson

Wesley Snipes’ latest straight-to-DVD thriller, Game of Death, only received a theatrical release in Japan. Game of Death is such a low budget action flick that it barely looks better than such high-end, television crime dramas as “NCIS: Los Angeles” and the 2010 “Hawaii Five-O.”

Game of Death centers on CIA Agent Marcus Jones (Wesley Snipes). Marcus has been assigned by his company mentor, Dietrich (Michael Maurice), to act as a bodyguard for an arms dealer, Frank Smith (Robert Davi). Smith has ties to the Detroit-based Redvale Corporation and its owner, John Redvale (Quinn Duffy). Marcus’ assignment is to gather intelligence on Smith and Redvale Corp. before taking them down.

The mission is complicated when Smith falls ill shortly after he and Marcus arrive in Detroit. The mission is compromised when a rogue CIA agent, Zander (Gary Daniels), and his team make a move to kidnap Smith at Detroit Receiving Hospital. Now, Marcus fights his way through a wave of assassins and killers, while Rachel (Aunjanue Ellis), a courageous doctor, tries to save Smith’s life.

Although it shares a title with the movie Bruce Lee was filming when he died in 1973, Snipes’ Game of Death is unlikely to become a legend among film fans. It isn’t bad. It’s just a mediocre movie all around, and what isn’t mediocre is amateurish or substandard – the directing and the writing. I watched this because I am a big fan of Wesley Snipes, but even I have to admit that it was not often I found something entertaining, interesting, or engaging about this movie. I forced myself to find something in this movie to like. If you like Wesley Snipes, rent Game of Death. Why? Just because…?

4 of 10
C

Friday, March 25, 2011

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Review: "Hero" or "Ying Xiong," by Any Name is Great

Hero (2004)
Original title: Ying Xiong (2002)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: China/Hong Kong; Language: Mandarin
Running time: 99 minutes (1 hour, 39 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for stylized martial arts violence and a scene of sensuality
DIRECTOR: Yimou Zhang
WRITERS: Feng Li, Bin Wang, and Yimou Zhang
PRODUCERS: Bill Kong and Yimou Zhang
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Christopher Doyle
EDITORS: Angie Lam and Ru Zhai with Vincent Lee
Academy Awards nominee

MARTIAL ARTS/ACTION/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring: Jet Li, Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang, Daoming Chen, and Donnie Yen

If you liked Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, you may like Ying Xiong, better known by its English title, Hero. However, the two movies aren’t exactly alike. Crouching Tiger is an epic love story in which the romance is intertwined with political intrigue, betrayal and mystery. Hero is both a love story and a revenge tale, but both of those elements are ultimately submerged for a philosophical and spiritual message of national heritage. They are similar in this: I thought Crouching Tiger was by far and away the best film of 2000, and I think Hero is better than the vast majority of films that have been released domestically in the time since Hero first appeared theatrically in China (2002). Hero was also a 2003 Oscar® nominee for Best Foreign Language Film.

In the story, the Nameless Hero (Jet Li) seeks to murder the King of the province Qin (Daoming Chen). Decades earlier, the King’s forces massacred Nameless’ people in the province of Zhao as part of his campaign to unify the lands that would eventually become China. Nameless reaches the Emperor’s palace and shares the story of his journey up to that point. There is, however, another facet to the story. Nameless also takes on the challenge of defeating three swordsmen, Sky (Donnie Yen) and the assassin couple, Snow (Maggie Cheung) and Broken Sword (Tony Leung Chiu Wai), who also plot to kill the Emperor. Or as the Emperor of Qin discovers, is there more to the story of Nameless and three assassins than Nameless is telling the Emperor.

Although Hero will draw comparisons to the aforementioned Crouching Tiger, the film shares more with Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon in terms of narrative and Wong Kar-Wai’s Ashes of Time in terms of its visual appearance and its spirit. Regardless of what other films it may resemble, Hero is an exemplary feat of filmmaking that is both thrilling and poignant. Awash in colors and emotion, Hero has beauty that will make your head swoon. The writing defines the lead characters so well, and the cast plays them with such furious conviction that you can’t help but live vicariously through them.

To enjoy such thrilling characters that you can’t help but feel their joy and sorrow, their triumph and noble resignation, or feel their boldness for martial confrontation and feel like you are in battle with them is what we ask of great movie characters. And to find such great characters in a movie that lives up to the promise of its players is an infrequent treat. To find a movie that delves into history and sends a message to the present that makes us realize the importance of the past is all the more rare.

10 of 10

NOTES:
2003 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (China)

2003 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film” (China)

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Review: First "Blade" Still Cool

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 (of 2002) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blade (1998)
Running time: 120 minutes (2 hours)
MPAA – R for strong, pervasive vampire violence and gore, language, and brief sexuality
DIRECTOR: Stephen Norrington
WRITER: David S. Goyer (based upon characters created in the comic book Tomb of Dracula by Marv Wolfman and Gene Colan)
PRODUCERS: Robert Engelman, Peter Frankfurt, and Wesley Snipes
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Theo van de Sande (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Paul Rubell
COMPOSER: Mark Isham

HORROR/ACTION/FANTASY/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Wesley Snipes, Stephen Dorff, Kris Kristofferson, N’Bushe Wright, Donal Logue, Udo Kier, Arly Jover, Traci Lords, Kevin Patrick Walls, and Sanaa Lathan

Blade (Wesley Snipes) is a vampire hunter. Born Eric Brooks, his mother died from a vampire attack, and Eric, still in the womb, underwent a change in his DNA, which made him part human and part vampire. He has all the vampires' strengths but none of their weakness. As a adult, Blade seeks revenge on all vampires.

Blade’s war on the vampire nation focuses on Deacon Frost (Stephen Dorff), an ambitious bloodsucker who plans to resurrect the vampire god, La Magra. Blade rescues Dr. Karen Jenson (N’Bushe Wright), a doctor attacked by one of Frost’s henchmen, and she joins Blade and his fellow soldier/father figure Abraham Whistler (Kris Kristofferson) in the battle to stop Frost and his world ending plans.

Directed by Stephen Norrington, Blade is an exhilarating, action thriller/horror. Before The Matrix, Blade featured sped up motion and high tech chop socky. With a pumped up electronica soundtrack and the visual panache of a music video, Blade didn’t have to lean on its skimpy story. It is amazing eye candy: cool, fast paced, violent, gory; it is a part arcade game, part music video, horror movie, action movie, and all around good time.

The performances are decent. Snipes is dead on monotone as the super vampire killer, and Dorff is the delightful, eternally young and sexy bad boy. Kristofferson is cardboard gruff and Ms. Wright is earnest, if not a bit over reaching, in her determination to act like the serious doctor/scientist.

A review can’t really do this very fun film the justice it deserves. Blade is not smart. It’s perfect action movie entertainment that delivers much more than it initially seems to offer. Reading this won’t do it. Blade and Deacon Frost are all bad boy cool with a very good movie as the backdrop. Just see the damn thing for yourself.

7 of 10
A-

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Former Ninja Turtle to Produce Martial Arts Films for Young Viewers

I found the following press release through Business Wire, and by running it, I am admitting that I liked those live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies from the early 1990s.  I think it's time to see them again:

Former Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Star Ernie Reyes Jr. Teams Up To Produce Slate of Youth Oriented Martial Arts Films

SANTA MONICA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Former Ninja Turtle star Ernie Reyes Jr. of Smasher Entertainment and Art Birzneck of Birch Tree Entertainment announced today at the American Film Market that they are teaming up to produce a slate of youth-oriented martial arts films targeted at the teen and twenty-something audience.

Karate Cops, the first film in the slate, is scheduled to start shooting April 2011 in San Francisco, CA. Karate Cops, created by Ernie Reyes Jr. and written by 2010 Page Award silver medalist Cody Yarbrough and Ernie Reyes Jr., features a pair of high-flying detectives in a battle against a super-villain on a quest to take over a mystical martial arts kingdom in Chinatown. Karate Cops will be followed by Cheer Ninjas and Teen Samurai.

“With our extensive connections and combined experience in the production and distribution of martial arts films, Birch Tree and Smasher are uniquely positioned to fill a void in what we believe is an under-serviced youth action film market,” stated Birzneck. “It also doesn’t hurt that we are both black belts.”

“We are re-inventing the classic martial arts hits of the 70s, 80s and 90s and making them relevant to young people today. I was fortunate to be part of The Last Dragon and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise and we are going to bring back that energy and excitement,” said Reyes Jr.

Smasher will take the lead in all creative and production aspects, with Birch Tree taking the lead in all business and distribution aspects. Strategic partnerships are also part of the production plan. Media Network Services and Straight Up Technologies will be providing video collaboration solutions for the production of Karate Cops. In addition to utilizing video collaboration technologies during the production of Karate Cops, a case study will be written on the behind the scenes integration of next generation technologies during the film making process.


About Birch Tree Entertainment
Birch Tree Entertainment is an international film sales and production company specializing in high quality martial arts and action films

About Smasher Entertainment
Smasher Entertainment is a martial arts multimedia production company

Michael Jai White Kicks "Blood and Bone" into High Gear

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 83 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

Blood and Bone (2009)
Running time: 93 minutes (1 hour, 43 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence, pervasive language and brief drug use
DIRECTOR: Ben Ramsey
WRITER: Michael Andrews
PRODUCERS: Matthew Binns, Michael Mailer, and Nick Simunek
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roy H. Wagner
EDITOR: Dean Goodhill

DRAMA/CRIME/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Michael Jai White, Julian Sands, Eammon Walker, Dante Basco, Nona Gaye, Michele Belegrin, Bob Sapp, Ron Yuan, Kimbo Slice, Stuart Wilson, and Kevin Phillips

For all intents and purposes, the martial arts movie, Blood and Bone is a straight-to-video action movie. According to the website, IMDb, Blood and Bone only received a theatrical release in Lebanon. Some may think that this says something negative about the movie’s quality, but Blood and Bone is absolutely thrilling. The movie also says that Michael Jai White should be a big time action movie star.

When he gets out of prison, Bone (Michael Jai White) heads for Los Angeles with a plan for revenge. He enters LA’s underground fight scene with the help of a scrappy manager named Pinball (Dante Basco). Bone made a promise to Danny (Kevin Phillips), his prison cellmate who was murdered, that he would take care of Danny’s girlfriend and son. This promise brings him into conflict with James (Eammon Walker), an ambitious gangster, who has the most feared fighter in LA’s underground scene, the massive Hammerman (Bob Sapp).

In Blood and Bone, Michael Jai White reveals himself as a charismatic action star who is as cool and stoic as he is an ass-kickin’ superhero. Bone is similar to one of those characters that Clint Eastwood plays in Westerns – the mysterious stranger who suddenly appears on the scene specifically to deliver justice/revenge. Mix that with some Bruce Lee, and we have Isaiah Bone. White as Bone, however, is better as a martial arts hero than either Steven Seagal or Jean-Claude Van Damme. Over the course of his career, White’s acting has also improved, and he is much less stiff than he was in his first leading role in a movie, as the title character in Spawn (1997).

In Blood and Bone, White is smooth, funny, and occasionally, even droll and witty. He really comes alive as a martial artist in the film’s numerous fight scenes, and White is so exciting to watch that it may seem to some (like me) that there aren’t enough fight scenes and duels in Blood and Bone. White is electric when he is going up against prison thugs, street fighters, gangsters, and the film’s lead villain, James.

By the way, Eammon Walker is excellent as James, full of pathos and urgent ambition. This is one of several quality performances from actors who make the best of the awkward sounding dialogue given to them. Director Ben Ramsey not only gets the best out of many of his actors; he also paces the film so that it is always making the viewer anticipate something good.

It would be good to see the character Bone come back for a sequel. If he doesn’t bring him back, Michael Jai White has certainly given him a memorable one-shot at stardom in the surprisingly exciting, low-budget fight movie, Blood and Bone.

7 of 10
B+

Thursday, October 07, 2010

Review: "The Twilight Samurai" Different and Moving

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 53 (of 2005) by Leroy Douresseaux


Tasogare seibei (2002)
International English title: The Twilight Samurai (2003)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Japan
Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)
DIRECTOR: Yoji Yamada
WRITERS: Yoshitaka Asama and Yoji Yamada (based upon the three novels by Shuuhei Fujisawa)
PRODUCERS: Hiroshi Fukazawa, Shigehiro Nakagawa, and Ichiro Yamamoto
CINEMATOGRAPHY: Mutsuo Naganuma
EDITOR: Iwao Ishii
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA with elements of romance

Starring: Hiroyuki Sanada, Rie Miyazawa, Min Tanaka, Reiko Kusamura, Erina Hashiguchi, Miki Ito, Mitsuro Fukikoshi, and Tetsuro Tamba

Although trained as a samurai and belonging to a samurai clan, Seibei Iguchi (Hiroyuki Sanada) doesn’t fight alongside his clan in any battles. In the late Edo period of Japanese history, this samurai is a bookkeeper who rushes home at dusk, but doesn’t join his comrades in any festivities. Instead, the recent widower devotes himself to his two young daughters, Kayana (Miki Ito) and Ito (Erina Hashiguchi), and his ailing mother, Kino (Reiko Kusamura); that and his lack of hygiene make him a curiosity to his fellow clansmen, who call him Twilight Seibei. However, his defense of his friend, Michinojo Iinuma (Mitsuro Rukikoshi), and his unusual fighting technique bring him unwanted attention and soon an assignment that could cost him his life – just as he is accepting his love for his childhood friend, Michinojo’s sister, Tomoe Iinuma (Rie Miyazawa).

Tasogare seibei or The Twilight Samurai is a heartfelt elegy about man who doesn’t want to rise above his station in the world, but just wants to take care of his children and mother. Director Yoji Yamada takes a huge risk in losing his audience’s patience with the film’s slowly moving character drama. He focuses on somber, everyday detail to build Seibei’s character, a taciturn and impoverished man who eschews happiness for duty to family, as if they were mutual exclusive.

One might be fooled by the title, but this isn’t some martial arts slash fest. Seibei’s existence is bookkeeping and piecework to put food on his family’s table. However, there are hints at his past, both as a warrior and as a husband who believes that his late wife was disappointed in his material status, that come through gradually in this film. Thankfully, Sanada has the patience and acting chops to play with such sorrow until the film does have a chop-socky moment – a muscular and awkward fight scene that is more about one’s status in society than it is about power and violence.

There are good performances all around, and the voice over narration by an adult Kayana enhances the story of the father and adds easy commentary about this particular era of Japanese history. The Twilight Samurai, a 2004 Oscar nominee for best foreign-language film, is an eloquent domestic drama that doesn’t play to the usual samurai melodrama and shtick, but is still as moving as the most battling samurai films.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
2004 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Foreign Language Film (Japan)

"The Karate Kid" is Still a Winner

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 47 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux


The Karate Kid (2010)
Running time: 140 minutes (2 hours, 20 minutes)
MPAA – PG for bullying, martial arts action violence and some mild language
DIRECTOR: Harald Zwart
WRITERS: Christopher Murphey; from a story by Robert Mark Kamen
PRODUCERS: James Lassiter, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Ken Stovitz, and Jerry Weintraub
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Roger Pratt
EDITOR: Joel Negron
COMPOSER: James Horner

DRAMA/MARTIAL ARTS

Starring: Jaden Smith, Jackie Chan, Taraji P. Henson, Wen Wen Han, Zhenwei Wang Rongguang Yu, Zhensu Wu, Zhiheng Wang, and Luke Carberry

The Karate Kid 2010 is, of course, a remake of the 1984 film of the same name. The new film stars Jaden Smith (son of actors Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith) and international martial artist and actor, Jackie Chan. The new film is an absolutely lovable, well-made film that stands on its on and does the original proud. This time, however, kung fu, not karate, is the martial art of choice.

Twelve-year-old Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) moves to Beijing from Detroit with his mother, Sherry Parker (Taraji P. Henson), because of her new job. Dre experiences love-at-first-sight when he sees a young violinist named Mei Ying (Wen Wen Han), practicing in the park, and the feeling is mutual. However, Dre’s feelings for Mei Ying make an enemy of the class bully, Cheng (Zhenwei Wang), a kung fu prodigy and rival for Mei Ying’s affections.

Dre knows a little karate, but it is not enough to help this karate kid from America safely navigate his new home. Cheng uses kung fu to beat the crap out of him. Dre finds a friend and mentor in Mr. Han (Jackie Chan), the maintenance man of Dre’s apartment complex, after he rescues Dre from a beating. After a futile attempt to settle the dispute between Dre and Cheng peaceably, Mr. Han enters Dre in the “Open Kung Fu Tournament” where Dre may face off against his nemesis. Han begins to teach Dre real kung fu, but although he is being trained by a master, Dre realizes that surviving the tournament will be the fight of his life.

At its heart, The Karate Kid is a wonderful story about a teacher-student relationship that develops into a surrogate father-son bond. It is a superbly written (by screenwriter Christopher Murphey) example of a bond between two people in which each not only helps the other heal, but also soar to new heights of achievement and happiness.

The relationship between Dre and Mr. Han works so well because of the strong screen chemistry between Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan. Their performances make the characters’ actions and emotions seem authentic and sincere. They not only ground the story’s more fantastical moments, but they also give it a touch of goofy charm, which lightens the movie’s overall dark and sometimes edgy and grim atmosphere. Jaden has inherited his father, Will Smith’s cheeky cockiness, but the young actor seems like more of a natural talent, as if he doesn’t have to try as hard as his father.

In this film, Jackie Chan gives what is by far his best performance in an American production. Perhaps, I shouldn’t be surprised, but I am. Chan gives a complex, layered performance to create in Han, a complicated and inscrutable man. This is best exemplified in the scene in which Cheng’s Master Li (Rongguang Yu) and Mr. Han have a tense confrontation. Chan plays the scene with barely checked but mostly concealed fury. It is difficult to figure out what is going on in Mr. Han’s mind at that moment, and that’s the way Chan probably wanted it because it adds another layer of mystery to Han.

Fresh of the maligned Pink Panther 2, director Harald Swart has delivered a winner. This film, however, is as much a Chinese and American take on Rocky as it is a remake of The Karate Kid 1984, itself a teen, martial arts spin on 1976 Oscar winner for “Best Picture.” It is unsettling to see 12-year-olds beating each other up, as they do here, but The Karate Kid 2010 is excellent family entertainment. Its messages about setting goals and being open-minded and resilient make it even more of a winner.

8 of 10
A

Saturday, June 26, 2010

Original "Karate Kid" Still Kicking

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 41 (of 2010) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Karate Kid (1984)
Running time: 126 minutes (2 hours, 6 minutes)
DIRECTOR: John G. Avildsen
WRITER: Robert Mark Kamen
PRODUCER: Jerry Weintraub
CINEMATOGRAPHER: James Crabe (director of photography)
EDITORS: John G. Avildsen, Walt Mulconery, and Bud Smith
COMPOSER: Bill Conti
Academy Award nominee

DRAMA

Starring: Ralph Macchio, Noriyuki “Pat” Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Martin Kove, Randee Heller, William Zabka, and Larry B. Scott

It has been more than 20 years since I last saw the 1984 film, The Karate Kid (maybe even longer), so with the upcoming 2010 remake due to hit theatres shortly, I decided to see the original again. I saw The Karate Kid in a theatre, and I remember liking it a lot at the time, but back then, I’d like anything that entertained me – even bad movies.

However, I was delightfully surprised to find that The Karate Kid still had me rooting for its underdog hero, Daniel LaRusso. I cringed when he was in trouble, fretted with him over typical teen problems, and cheered when he became the victor. Some of the movie is still standard teen movie fare – even the listless romance between Daniel and Ali. It may not be perfect, but this movie is mostly a winner.

The Karate Kid is the story of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio), who is the new kid in the California town of Reseda. Daniel moved from Newark, New Jersey with his mother, Lucille LaRusso (Randee Heller), because of Lucille’s new job. It doesn’t take long before Daniel falls afoul of a gang of bullies from a local martial arts school, the Cobra Kai dojo. When Daniel befriends a new classmate, Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue), he angers her ex-boyfriend, Cobra Kai stud and karate student, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka). Daniel knows a little karate, but that doesn’t protect him from a few beatings at the hand of Johnny and his cronies.

Luckily, the manager of the apartment building where Daniel lives, Kesuke Miyagi (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita), is a martial arts master, and he rescues Daniel from one particularly bad beating. Hoping to resolve the situation, Mr. Miyagi and Daniel visit the Cobra Kai dojo, but the sensei (teacher), an ex-Special Forces thug named John Kreese (Martin Kove), refuses to defuse the situation between Daniel and his students. Mr. Miyagi and Kreese agree to settle the conflict between Daniel and Johnny at the “All Valley Karate Tournament.” Mr. Miyagi begins Daniel’s training, but Daniel is shocked to discover just how strange the training regimen is. Can he handle it?

Pat Morita earned an Oscar nomination for his performance as Mr. Miyagi, one certainly well deserved. Morita took what could have been an odd-duck, wizened martial arts master and turned Mr. Miyagi into a complex supporting character and guardian to the hero. Morita made Mr. Miyagi a friend when Daniel needed one, and a surrogate father even when Daniel didn’t know he needed one.

Ralph Macchio was equally as good, personifying the typical American high school teenager with skill and depth. Macchio captured the trials, tribulations, and triumphs of Daniel LaRusso in a variety of shades and colors. One of the best parts of Macchio’s performance is how he depicts Daniel’s uncertainty about how and when to confront his Cobra Kai bullies. Macchio plays those moments by giving Daniel a mixture of fear and craftiness that really defies firm description, but it exemplifies the sense of verisimilitude Macchio’s performance gives Daniel.

Morita and Macchio’s performances are why The Karate Kid resonates with audiences, then and now. They make their characters recognizable, likeable, and believable, and together, they are the kind of winning father-son and best friends dynamic duo that can make audiences love a movie enough to turn it into a franchise.

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
1985 Academy Awards: 1 nomination: “Best Actor in a Supporting Role” (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita)

1985 Golden Globes: 1 nomination: “Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Noriyuki “Pat” Morita)

Monday, June 07, 2010