Category Archives: Reviews

Review: Gamer (USA 2009)

Posted on May 9, 2017 by David

I was hoping for the insane highs of Crank 2, but this Neveldine/Taylor joint was a little too bland. The central metaphor – with Gerard Butler as a convict put under the control of rich gamer geeks and forced to … Continue reading →

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Review: Train to Busan (South Korea 2016)

Posted on May 7, 2017 by David

Holy shit, THAT is how you do a zombie movie! I’m not usually a fan of fast zombies, but this mash-up of 28 Days Later’s panicky plague and Snowpiercer’s “class war on a train” is great fun, wasting little time … Continue reading →

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Review:  Hercules, Samson and Ulysses (Italy 1964)

Posted on May 2, 2017 by David

This middling peplum is an adequate representative of the genre, mostly of interest due to the biblical connection.  Kirk Morris (aka Adriano Bellini) plays Hercules this time around, right in the middle of his lengthy series as the character, following … Continue reading →

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Review: Captain America: Civil War (USA 2016)

Posted on April 27, 2017 by David

Entertaining enough, for a lumbering behemoth that had to service over a dozen major characters and advance multiple plot threads.

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Review: Live and Let Die (UK 1973)

Posted on April 25, 2017 by David

Is it damning to praise Live and Let Die for not being as racist as it could have been (even though it’s still pretty damn racist) because its racism seems to come from a place of profound ignorance rather than … Continue reading →

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Review: Witching and Bitching (Spain 2013)

Posted on April 20, 2017 by David

Man, I wanted to like this – I generally enjoy Alex de la Iglesia movies, and I like what he’s doing for genre – but this black comedy about a bunch of idiot criminals who wander into a town full … Continue reading →

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Review:  Dragon Lord (Hong Kong 1982)

Posted on April 18, 2017 by David

Within the two years after Dragon Lord’s release, Chan would enter into his golden age with the quadruple punch of Project A, Winners and Sinners, Wheels on Meals, and Police Story, catapulting him into superstardom and cementing his reputation as … Continue reading →

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Review:  Creepy (Japan 2016)

Posted on April 12, 2017 by David

Creepy marks something of a return to form for the one-time po-mo J-horror master Kiyoshi Kurosawa.  There was a point in the late 1990s and early 2000s when Kurosawa was one of the most exciting filmmakers working, and his every … Continue reading →

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Review: Missing in Action (USA 1984)

Posted on April 9, 2017 by David

I like Joseph Zito, but this quickie Vietnam revenge actioner starring Chuck Norris that Cannon rushed out in time to beat Rambo: First Blood, Part II is a real stinker. The narrative is incredibly choppy, and the action scenes are … Continue reading →

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Review: Punk Vacation (USA 1990)

Posted on April 6, 2017 by David

This movie is profoundly confused.  The filmmakers basically took all the tropes of the 60s biker film (think The Wild Angels or The Glory Stompers), and moved them into the 1980s while substituting new wave punks for the traditional leather-clad … Continue reading →

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