Movie Reviews and News

How’d He Do That?

The thing that is so brilliant about Jackie Chan is that everything he does looks so fluid and flawless and literally has your jaw dropping asking “How in the hell did he do that?” If you have never seen a Jackie Chan film or think that martial arts films are not your cup of tea, just don’t know what you are missing.

Chan’s films are more like an expert acrobatic clown with some fight scenes thrown in to keep the jester like dance going and have some sort of purpose. Though the fights are well choreographed and spliced together from multiple takes, you can still marvel at the elaborate routines put on for our viewing pleasure.

Reportedly the seven and a half minute fight at the end of Drunken Master II took nearly four months to film, Chan saying in an interview that each day only provided about four seconds of useable footage. It is this exacting attention to detail that is a visual treat for the audience. While many other films like Matrix choose to use computer animation to make their characters fly through the air and perform eye-popping stunts, Chan prefers the old school version of wire work and just pure born talent in his stunt team.

My favorite Chan film is ‘Who Am I?’ which has some fight scenes and stunts that are unbelievable, this film is a very close second. The only thing edging out ‘Who Am I’ is that Drunken Master has some pretty awful voice dubbing and some of the acting is very stereotypical of the things many hate about the Hong Kong martial arts action genre. There is of course the token white guy and cheesy dialog from supporting characters and over the top villains. All pre-requisites before a script gets green lighted I believe over there.

But on top of all of that are some brilliant roles from some supporting actors and actresses, most notably is the great performance of Anita Mui playing Chan’s step-mother. Her comic timing rivaling Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton. I have yet to see anyone scene steal from Chan though Anita Mui comes close in Drunken Master. She has close to 50 movies under her belt but was best known as a singer and was called by many the ‘Madonna of Asia’. He film career was vast and shared the screen with Chan and Jet Li, but never broke into the American market like those two. As hard as it is for a Hong Kong male actor to take that trek to Hollywood, it is even rarer that a female actress is able to make that leap although she deserved it! Sadly she passed away in 2003 after a prolonged battle with cancer.

The plot of Drunken Master II (AKA Drunken Fist II, Legend of the Drunken Master, or as it was known originally in Hong Kong Jui kuen II) is simple, Chan playing the roll of a son of a famous small village herbalist/physician who upon returning from the big city from a shopping expedition gets wrapped up in a scheme of foreigners trying to illegally export Chinese national treasures. Chan is a master of a martial art discipline called Drunken Boxing although his father objects to this art and forbids him to practice it. Eventually he is ostracized from his family and by battling local thugs and eventually saving the artifacts wins back favor. Along the way Chan’s character finds love, honor, and learns how to be a man.

Sounds intricate? Not really. Drunken Master II is a fun film with many great fight scenes along the way with the final battle a cinematic masterpiece not to be missed.

Rasta Meets Satire

Club Paradise is more a satire than comedy although if you’re not paying attention you will not catch the clever sardonic wit Harold Ramis (director/writer) so aptly weaves through his film. He had help also with one of the most under rated writers in Hollywood, in my humble opinion, Bryan Doyle-Murry who also help pen Caddyshack and was a longtime writer on Saturday Night Live and SCTV.

The plot of Club Paradise is quite loose and involves an ex-Chicago fireman Jack Moniker (Williams) on disability retired in a fictional Caribbean island named St. Nicholas. Here he falls into the laidback life style of the locals and eventually teams up with Ernest Reed (Cliff) a reggae singer slash hotel owner in a battle of rich versus poor over property rights. With Monikers help they transform the broken down hotel into a resort and the movie follows the zany antics of the first affluent foreigners to visit the new ‘Club Paradise’.

While that situation leads itself to some brilliant comedy and worth any popcorn sit down viewing, there is much more at work here than just the madcap adventures of some fish out of water put in a tropical setting.

What you do see if examined more closely is some intelligent satirical comments on a culture war between the haves and the have nots. What is brilliant about Club Paradise is how subtle they do it and all to a snappy reggae beat that will have your toes tapping and your head bobbing singing, “Yeah Mon, I dig where ya comin’ from.”

Robin Williams is his comic genius self in Club Paradise as he allowed himself to relax in his early film roles. So if you like him in such other roles as Good Morning Vietnam or the Genie in Aladdin compared to when he gets that “I’ve got to send a message in my films” roles like Awakenings or Deconstructing Harry; both fine films though I prefer the comic to the preacher Williams.

What is amazing about Club Paradise and a lot of fun is all the small roles and actors who played them. There is no way a film like this could be made now days with such high quality actors. The acting budget for this troop now would topple the entire film budget. You will find yourself saying, “Oh, I know this guy! He’s great!” Acting small roles to perfection and worth a million laughs in Club Paradise are Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Rick Moranis and even Peter O’Toole delivers a good bit of acting in an almost throw away role for him.

Bottom line is this is a very nice little comedy with some great music that is perfect for a sit down and bowl of popcorn that is deeper in depth than your average mediocre farce. Have fun with this one the first time you watch it and look for all the subtext sometime later when your alone. View it the first time in a crowd and have a blast at Club Paradise.

Blade Runner is a masterpiece.

I was going to end my review with just that sentence, but felt compelled to write more as there just aren’t enough words to try and explain Blade Runner but I’ll give it a shot.

First thing you need to know is that there are two versions of Blade Runner and I urge all to watch both. The first one is the theater version which the producers of the film got nervous on Ridley Scott’s cut and had a film noir like monologue track added by Harrison Ford’s character Deckard. They were worried that general audiences wouldn’t quite get what the vision of the film was and felt this was necessary to market the film. Later with a very lucrative profit already in the bank and wanting more, they agreed to let Ridley Scoot release a directors cut which does not have that audio track.

Unlike many other people I have seen review Blade Runner, I suggest you watch the director’s cut first and get a feeling for the movie which is yours alone. Blade Runner is a feast on the ears, eyes, and mind. It will take you on a journey of imagination so let loose, relax and enjoy the ride. Then when some time has passed and you have thought about it for a while, go and watch the theater version with the dialog. It’s an interesting experiment to see if your views match what the producers felt you should be feeling.

I don’t mind the dialog so much. It adds something to the movie making it feel lost in time. Although the movie is set in the future the exact time is sort of unknown. The clothes are a mix of old and new, there is just one language which is a mix of many, and the buildings all seem out of place as well. Everywhere you look is this juxtaposition of old and new masterfully mixed.

I understand that the graphic designer who drew up plans for the hover car used in the film had such great drawings of background landscape that perfectly matched Scott’s vision they hired him to do the entire layout. It’s visually striking.

Next add the music. Vangelis made Blade Runner. If you have never heard anything by this great composer I think you need to get off the internet, get down to a music store, and buy the best of Vangelis. His score for Blade Runner is for me like another character in the movie. It ads so much to the movie you can’t ignore it. Just as the scenery is a mix of old and new, the music is a blend of known and unknown. The evocative saxophone combined with synthesizer during the movie’s love song still haunts my memories and brings goose bumps to my skin just thinking about it.

I guess I could go into the plot and say Blade Runner is about a detective on his last legs finding himself again while in the pursuit of some replicant renegade humanoids, but that almost belittles the film. Blade Runner is really about human discovery and finding one’s soul even when there is doubt of a Heaven.

For me the best character whose journey is the very heart of this picture is Rutger Hauer’s role of Roy Batty, the lead “evil” replicant Deckard is after. A full range of emotions and growth with the final scene between these two displayed as a gentle moment of clarity after a chaotic confrontation of ideals. This is one of the best scenes in all of cinematic history.

“ I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…” Batty speaking poetically, “Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams … glitter in the dark near Tanhauser Gate. All those … moments will be lost … in time, like tears … in rain. Time … to die.”

Each character is masterful in Blade Runner and represents emotions and feelings edged on by the situation. Each replicant Deckard faces teaches something of ourselves as we watch and share in their perils. The innocence of Pris, the brashness of Zhora, the strength and weakness of Leon, the duplicity of Gaff… By the end you are not sure who is who, what is what, and question everything.

Pure magic.

Ash, you’re my hero!

This is actually the third movie in the series of ED franchise which Bruce Campbell was the star in as well. Originally the director/writer (Sam Raimi) wanted to call this picture either the static Army of Darkness: ED 3 or his clever turn of phrase Army of Darkness: The Medieval and then again in the credits it has a sub title of Bruce Campbell Vs. Army of Darkness. But whatever the name, this is a must see for any movie fan!

This truly is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen. If you like a good popcorn movie, this is the one. And the brilliant thing about Army of Darkness is that many people haven’t seen it so you can pop it into your DVD player, get a bowl of popcorn, and share it with a friend. By all means do not tell them it is basically a comedy as they will have a hard time figuring it out at first.

I saw Army of Darkness first in the theaters and then took my mom to see it with me. The first 15 minutes or so is slightly re-cap and exposition and gets to the meat of the story. It is very campy and people expecting a real serious movie will start to look at you funny as if to say, “What the hell did you make me watch?” About the time Ash lops off his hand with a chainsaw they might even want to turn the movie off and watch something else. But ignore them and say something like, “It gets better, trust me…” About 5 minutes later you will hear them start to laugh and enjoy the movie and tell you it is also one of the funniest movies they have ever seen.

The premise of the movie is your typical boy meets girl, boy loses girl to zombies, boy get transported back in time, boy battles more evil creatures, boy meets new girl, boy save the day. Million of those movies out there, right? But this one’s the best.

The special effects are decent although sometimes you can clearly see blue screen masking or staged skeletons that aren’t moving or literally tied on to a horse, but the dialog and action and plot line are so damn good you tend to forgive these glaring errors. With lines like this one from the lead character Ash, “Don’t touch that please. Your primitive intellect wouldn’t understand things with alloys and compositions and things with…ummm molecular structures.” How can you resist?

I know what you’re thinking. “Evil creatures? Campy special effects? Cheesy cornball dialog? No way I’m watching Army of Darkness!” But trust me, ok? If you want a great no message just fun to watch movie, you can’t go wrong with this treasure.