skrall-991-949327 Reviews

Kung Fu Yoga (2017)

Good fun

[7/10 · 5 May 2022]

I am not sure what some people expect from a Jackie Chan movie. If you see the end of some of his movies...the entire cast doing a group dance...you KNWO he's just doing this for fun. Plus I noticed a LOT of young actors in his film so I think he's giving them valuable experience. /rant Yes, IT HAS few problems as a movie....but don't they all? Rather than dwell on that.... I'll tell ya why you should want to watch it. Jackie Chan. Right? The cast is young and beautiful. The cinematography and locations are gorgeous. It's a great Weekend night adventure....if you et al can do subtitles. Which on Amazon is small and quick. Note: I prefer subtitles to preserve the culture and performance. I hate bad overdubs.

Like almost any action adventure movie....just sit back with drink of choice and snacks and enjoy the fun. There are worse ways to waste movie night.

The New Legend of Shaolin (1994)

Fun and adventure waiting for you!

[8/10 · 3 December 2021]

If you want your martial arts serious....move on. If you have a good sense of humor to mix in martial arts and Wild Wild West adventure this is it!

This version is dubbed....and at first sounds silly. You know the drill. Sometimes you'd rather hear original language even without subtiles....so bad! But if you watch face and body language...they nailed it. These girls are SUPPOSD to be as annoying as OC high school cheerleaders. The other dubs vary from acceptable to perfect, showing the intentional annoyance of the girls.

The fight scenes are generally superb and exciting, as you would expect from Jet Li. The devices used are quite cool and some original. The lady dart thrower is great, as is the iron horse and other WWW-type metal fabrications. The kids COULD have shown to be annoying too, but again the easy going tongue in cheek keeps them entertaining.

I highly recommend this movie...blending fun comedy with some serious martial arts. Check it!

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

Good suspenseful movie but...

[5/10 · 11 July 2020]

But the forms of assignation are about as preposterous as you can possibly imagine. Suspend disbelief? It's too much to ask.

Requiem for a Vampire (1972)

Not a great film by my standards:

[4/10 · 26 April 2015]

The main thing I can say about this movie is Rollin apparently doesn't care about any storyline details. If you blink at the right time you might think you missed something, but of course you didn't it was never there. For example SPOILERS ALERT? …why the clown outfits? Did they plant the motorcycle before whatever caper they were on, or did they accidentally come upon it? ? Where did they get the cape things from the graveyard- one girl goes off screen and comes back with a wardrobe? A BAT the squawks like a crow or banshee? How did the "castle" suddenly appear at the top of a mountain? The girls are brave enough to go into a scary old castle and get naked in a made bed, but at the sight of a dead body they go apesht. And produce a gun we hadn't seen since she set it down in the back of the car before they set it on fire, despite being barely dressed. And by what names may I call the lovely tarts? I have no idea.

Apparently- it's more important to just show scenery and movement than have any kind of cohesive informative story. Instead of immersing myself in the film- that's what a good film does for me- I found myself asking silly questions like I outlined above. Distracting to say the least. I am not opposed to keeping some secrets to be revealed at the appropriate times, but the story is telling me these girls NEVER talk to each other? Never call a name? They are girls come on.

I am also not opposed to a film ASKING more questions than it answers…but I expect them to be a little more substantial. I fully suspect that some who overly enjoyed this movie really more enjoy movies the general public either hates or more importantly oblivious about. The sub or counter culture phenomenon. I realize that slick expensive production isn't for everyone…but did you REALLY feel…immersed? Did you feel taken away? Did you almost feel bitten? Or about to rape? Or did you like it because no one else does? Or has even seen it?

I sort of feel hypocritical…because I love old Godzilllas and other monster movies like War Of the Gargantuas. On one hand I admire no CGI, miniature sets, and cool things that make me feel immersed like spitting out the dress of the victim you ate. But there is a story and dialogue…I can easily put myself there. I never found myself in "surreal" land, as others say they did. It seemed like the director just told people to do this and that. "run over there…put this cape on…start the motorcycle, run up to the castle…get naked and hop in bed , lay on the altar and pretend to get raped even though everyone has their clothes on". It doesn't take a big budget- it takes a real story, real dialogue…SOME attention to plot details. Things you would naturally do.

The director is in charge of this movie not the story. Boo.

A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014)

A very fun movie- laughter ensued.

[17 November 2014]

We were just looking for a fun Friday movie, and thought this may work. Or not. Well it did. Right from the opening scenes we laughed. Shadow puppets? really? GREAT! It's nice to see an Old West comedy- not anything like this since Blazing Saddles.

Now, there are some era juxtapositions for sure. You can tell they OBVIOUSLY took some modern day comedic and social references and inserted them into the Old West.

If you are some sort of super fan who must be superbly impressed...just skip it. Looking for a fun silly movie to escape the rigors of everyday reality? Give it a try! Leave your critical-acclaimed objectiveness movie critique thing at the door and grab some popcorn and favourite beverage(s).

Probably not suitable for the children's.

Marnie (1964)

Good- maybe not "great" or "genius"

[8/10 · 29 October 2014]

The main page review lists this film as "great" and "genius" and several other superlatives. I believe this to be maybe a little generous because of Hitchcock's reputation. No doubt Hitchcock was very clever in his films...but this one...maybe not so much. So why'd I give it an 8? you ask. Here's why! The subject matter of the film is quite different for the time and very serious. We didn't talk much about it back then or even years afterward. Very brave of Hitchcock to tackle it, and make a full story about it. The film does reveal itself in slick sections. Some of the scenes are masterful for their emotional intensity.

So...why do I have a problem with it? you ask. Criticizing Hitchcock is indeed a daunting task. I'll do my best! A few very cheesy scenes. There's one scene of the safe where he uses a fast zoom in and out. Seems like an afterthought or some assistant may have filmed the scene, not a master filmmaker. Some scenes were cut so broadly it was nearly jarring. A good director, especially of Hitchcock's fame, should be able to ensure the film is mostly smooth on post-production.

I'm a big Sean Connery fan...he's not just Bond. Also Tippi has been in my top 10 classic actress fantasy league. But, the actual acting was also often jarring, and hard to bond to. I mean that's what we all want to do right? Good guy bad guy extra character....we want to FEEL the character. These characters were hard to feel. Hard to bond to. The escape on horse scene seemed almost preposterous, even when you KNOW so many films used the backdrop technique.

I also did just watch Dick Cavatts interview with Hitchcock...so I totally understand his style, his unconventional presentation and cleverness. He seems to WANT to make you uncomfortable. I get it, and he usually gets it right on. I think he just...BARELY! missed his mark here.

This is still a good film. The subject is extremely difficult. For that alone it deserves a lot of credit. And of course our life isn't quite as smooth and slick as most movies make them out to be. Hitchcock unfolds the story quite well, and you do get the satisfying feeling of closure. However, in my opinion it's just not totally genius and brilliant. If this is that, it totally stonewalls and caps so many better films.

Worth the watch....Hitchcock, Connery and Tippi....yea!

Strange Frame: Love & Sax (2012)

Okay if you want to test your movie watching skills

[3 May 2014]

This film could be considered edgy, avant garde, risqué, risky, new horizons...any number of things depending on your slant and agenda...depending on your definitions...especially of "cinema". This certainly is "art"...the human creations. But is it a good film? (in the context of who we generally think of good films). Just because a movie is...different....doesn't make it a great or even good movie. Okay...that being said- I found I did not enjoy this movie. And I like sci-fi, anime, certain CGI, etc. I can also appreciate someone taking risks. But....It's style is some sort of drug induced freak abstract just for the sake of doing it not for the sake of the story or film. And hey if that's all you want out of film then knock yourself out! As was mentioned the story isn't edgy or even engaging, there's no character engagement, I didn't feel connected at all, just kind of bored, especially with the forced pretentiousness of how I should be awed by everything, oh LESBIANS WOW!. Not. If animated abstracted lesbian lead characters is the claim to fame, there's not much to claim.

Bottom line...I'm not going to discourage anyone from watching any film, but I'm not recommending this one either. Do yourself a favor, if you want to watch a great original animated rock and roll movie, check out Rock n Rule. It's the ORIGINAL real deal, and you will see it looks like they probably lifted some things from it too.