DROP -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 6/13/11

 

Directed by Japanese comedian Hiroshi Shinagawa and based on his own autobiographical novel, DROP (2009) is a seriocomic coming-of-age story in which the human drama, character interplay, and comedy are punctuated by enough smashing, bashing, punches, and kicks to kill an elephant. 

Naive private school student Hiroshi (Hiroki Narimiya) feels "underestimated", so he transfers to a public middle-school where he can become a delinquent.  His first day brings him into fist-and-kick contact with sullen tough-guy Tatsuya (Hiro Mizushima) and his gang of punky hair-hoppers who wear baggy black suits and are always at war with gangs from other schools.  Hiroshi earns their respect and friendship by getting beaten to a bloody pulp by Tatsuya, and becomes one of the guys.

Long story short--Hiroshi eventually learns that there's more to life than delinquency and trying to look cool, as you might well guess.  But before that happens, DROP is a cavalcade of cartoon violence that's briskly staged and really quite invigorating to watch.  Nobody ever gets badly hurt, even though the blows are bone-crunchingly hard and some of the rumbles escalate into extreme, well-choreographed bloody mayhem.
 


There's even a scene in which the good delinquents borrow Tatsuya's dad's car (he's a crotchety ex-Yakuza who drives a cab and calls everybody "bastard") and plow right into a group of bad delinquents, some of whom crash through the windshield before being flung onto the pavement.  It's all in good fun.

While some of this ultraviolence may be a bit reminiscent of A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, these droogies aren't anywhere near as psychotic and they generally keep such activities confined within their own ranks.  They really aren't even rebels without a cause, or what you'd call angry young men, at all--they're just bored and don't want to grow up. 

Fortunately, Hiroshi has a positive role model in his big sister's boyfriend, Hide, a construction worker whose example of hard work and responsibility inspires Hiroshi to consider thinking about maybe being like him someday, after he's had enough fun getting his ass kicked on a regular basis. 

While the taciturn Tatsuya is a "Mr. Cool" type who gains strength from the dramatic intensity of his huge orange mullet, his friends are an amusing bunch who turn out to be goofier than they are threatening.  After a couple of brawny bikers are unleashed on them by one of their weaker foes, the marathon series of skull-bashing confrontations between the two sides eventually becomes comedic. 

A more human and even heartwarming side to the story emerges when Hiroshi acts as peacemaker and invites everyone over to his mom's house for New Year's Eve dinner.  Later, we learn that the delinquents (including an overly emotional fat-Elvis thug who latches onto them because he's lonely) are really a bunch of old softies when they can't hold back the waterworks during their graduation ceremony.



Unfortunately, you can't have all of this extreme roughhousing going on without someone eventually getting hurt, and sure enough, tragedy strikes during the final all-or-nothing rumble against the evil biker gang.  Director Hiroshi Shinagawa deftly switches gears between the violence, comedy, and drama, and we care enough about the main characters to get caught up in what happens to them. 

The DVD from Funimation is in 16:9 widescreen with Dolby Digital stereo in both Japanese and dubbed English.  Subtitles are in English.  There are no extras, save for some trailers for other Funimation releases.  You'll want to watch (or fast-forward through) the closing credits for a couple of added scenes.

The first time I watched this film I was mainly swept up in all the action, but a second viewing made me aware of how much quiet, introspective character interaction there is, especially between Hiroshi and Miyuki (Yuika Motokariya), Tatsuya's former girlfriend with whom he's fallen in love.  The final sequences resolve the story nicely, not quite giving us a happy ending but rather the potential for one.  While being one of the more exhilarating gang-fight films I've seen, DROP has more going for it than that and is ultimately quite moving.

DROP -- DVD Review by Porfle

TAJOMARU: AVENGING BLADE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 9/16/11

 

In director Hiroyuki Nakano's action-drama TAJOMARU: AVENGING BLADE (2009), which takes place in Japan of 500 years ago, the plot isn't simply the glue that holds a succession of swordfights together.  You might even call it slow, but the story is more than compelling enough to make the wait between clashing blades worthwhile.

The pretitles sequence introduces us to the main characters as children, with older brother Nobutsuna the impending heir to the house of Hatakeyama--thus future deputy to the Shogun--and his younger brother Naomitsu existing merely to serve them.  Naomitsu's good fortune is the love of Ako, daughter to the Shogun' counsellor, which makes Nobutsuna jealous.  When their family retainers catch a starving young thief stealing a potato one day, kindhearted Naomitsu adopts him as a servant and friend and names him Sakuramaru. 

At first, this sequence comes off as a bit overly charming, but it lays the groundwork for future resentments and betrayals among the characters and ends on a dark note, with the randy old Shogun taking an unhealthy interest in Sakuramaru.  Years later, Nobutsuna's (Hiroyuki Ikeuchi) jealousy and desire for a fortune in gold soon to be inherited by Ako will result in Naomitsu (Shun Oguri) and Ako (Yuki Shibamoto) fleeing into the wilderness with Sakuramaru (Kei Tanaka) hot on their heels.  This is just the beginning of Naomitsu's long and winding odyssey through a series of tragic events.

A key sequence involves the young lovers' encounter in the woods with an eccentric bandit named Tajomaru.  Those who have seen Akira Kurosawa's RASHOMON will probably recognize the name, as that film featured Toshiro Mifune in the same role.  Here, he captures the two and manages to cause a rift between them which results in Ako abandoning Naomitsu to his fate.  When Naomitsu defeats Tajomaru in battle, the old bandit bestows upon him both his legendary name and his sword.  Taking up with a comical band of thieves and becoming their leader, his new life offers him freedom while giving the film its only lighthearted moments. 

Later, when Naomitsu is captured attempting to return home in search of Ako, a lengthy trial to establish his true identity allows various characters to relate their conflicting versions of events in another nod to RASHOMON.  As is most of the film, this sequence is absorbing and dramatic (some might say melodramatic, especially when Shun Oguri displays a remarkable ability to turn on the waterworks) with several surprising twists and turns. 

This leads to yet another potentially tragic development for our hero as he and Ako are cast into something called the Pit of Hell, which is pretty much as bad as it sounds.  Needless to say, Naomitsu eventually fights his way back for an opportunity to take on the film's main villain (who shall remain nameless here) and get his revenge in an all-or-nothing battle that reminded me of the long-awaited climactic brawl in THE SPOILERS.  As with the other swordfights which punctuate the story, it's furious and hard-hitting in addition to being realistically and rather elegantly staged, with several shots resembling dynamically-drawn panels from a manga.

Hiroyuki Nakano's direction is solid and the film is filled with beautiful imagery.  Performances are good, with Naomitsu-as-Tajomaru's fiercely loyal band of thieves being among my favorite characters.  The musical score is an odd mix of the traditional with occasional rock songs, which works pretty well for the most part.

The DVD from Funimation is in 16x9 widescreen with Japanese 5.1 and English surround soundtracks.  Subtitles are in English.  In addition to some Funimation trailers, the bonus feature is a Japanese promo for the film which is wonderfully breathless and hyperbole-packed.  The combo pack contains both the DVD and Blu-Ray versions. 

The story of TAJOMARU: AVENGING BLADE unfolds at a leisurely pace but rewards patient viewers with plenty of soulful drama along with some rousing battle action.  While hardly epic in scale, it doesn't need hundreds of extras or a lot of CGI effects to be entertaining.

TAJOMARU: AVENGING BLADE -- DVD Review by Porfle

GOEMON -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 4/16/11

 

A sweeping, densely-packed saga of 16th-century Japan, GOEMON (2009) is a triumphant mix of live-action and CGI whose epic story never gets lost in the visuals.

Goemon (Yôsuke Eguchi), the self-proclaimed "greatest thief in the world", is a Robin Hood-like hero of the poor and downtrodden whose latest daring caper nets him a box containing a terrible secret which could bring the downfall of supreme ruler Lord Hideyoshi (Eiji Okuda).  Hideyoshi's ruthless young underling Mitsunari (Jun Kaname) dispatches his most fearsome assassin Saizo (Takao Ohsawa) to kill Goemon, but the two martial arts masters have a shared history that keeps getting in the way--both were apprentices of the beloved Lord Nobunaga Oda (Hashinosuké Nakamura), whose assassination placed the warlike and power-mad Hideyoshi into power.

As Hideyoshi schemes to conquer China and Korea, he also plans to force Nobunaga's beautiful niece Chacha to become his concubine.  While she and Hideyoshi's general Ieyasu Tokugawa plan to kill him, Goemon and Saizo join forces against him as well.  Tragic consequences ensue, with Goemon torn between his love for Chacha and hatred of violence, and his burning desire to end Hideyoshi's terrible reign once and for all.



A lighthearted, swashbuckling tale in the beginning, GOEMON runs the gamut from colorful adventure to high drama and bitter tragedy, building in intensity and emotional impact until its stirring conclusion.  A number of thrilling action setpieces alternate with scenes of great power, gaining in resonance as the story unfolds.  Having left his apprenticeship with Nobunaga to pursue a life of freedom while Saizo stayed on in his quest to become a samurai, Goemon finds himself drawn into a maelstrom of violence and intrigue that transforms him from an irreverent folk hero into a passionate crusader and potential martyr. 

Much of the film's early humor comes from Goemon's prickly relationship with his fretful sidekick Sasuke (Gori) and an orphaned boy named Koheita (Arashi Fukasawa) whom he adopts after his mother is murdered by Hideyoshi's men.  Goemon sees his childhood self in the boy and teaches him, in Nobunaga's words, to "become stronger" so that he can no longer be oppressed by others.  When the boy seeks revenge against his mother's killer, Goemon is reminded of his own conflicts between peace and violence.  Whether by natural talent or skillful direction, or both, Arashi Fukasawa is so effective as Koheita that he reminds me of a seasoned character actor. 

The entire cast is excellent, with Ryôko Hirosue luminous as the lovely Chacha and Takao Ohsawa a strong and ultimately admirable presence as Saizo.  Eiji Okuda makes the preening, sadistic Hideyoshi a realistically vile character without becoming cartoonish--we even come to understand his motives, kind of, when he explains them to Goemon in an interesting lull during battle as they share some sake on the palace balcony.
 


As Mitsunari, Jun Kaname is the model of sneering, cold-blooded ambition, while Susumu Terajima brings the necessary gravitas to his portrayal of the legendary Hattori Hanzo.  Best of all, however, is Yôsuke Eguchi as Goemon.  Whether playing the carefree master thief basking in the adoration of his fans as he showers them with stolen gold, or thundering on horseback toward certain death against an entire army of soldiers as the resurrected embodiment of Lord Nobunaga, he passionately expresses every nuance of Goemon's spiritual journey during the film.

Much like SIN CITY, GOEMON has the dynamism of a graphic novel come to life but with a rich and consistently dazzling color palette.  Shot on a soundstage with minimal sets against a green-screen backdrop, the film boasts a sumptuous combination of live-action and beautifully rendered CGI that creates its own fantasy world brimming with visual delights.  Without the jarring changeover from live actors to CGI figures that mars such films as SPIDERMAN and BLADE II, these characters remain consistent even when performing impossible moves via motion capture and interacting within wholly fabricated surroundings. 

This allows the filmmakers to convincingly depict the most grandiose setpieces imaginable, from a fiery confrontation aboard exploding warships to a furious battle sequence involving thousands of soldiers, all of which director Kazuaki Kiriya brings off with remarkable skill.  The sadistic execution of a major character in front of a massive crowd of stunned onlookers, who then stage an impromptu revolt against the gloating Hideyoshi, is an emotional highpoint.  Goemon's one-man siege on Hideyoshi's palace is a dizzying array of sweeping camera moves and breathtaking action complete with such "modern" elements as pistols, cannons, and a primitive machine gun.  On a smaller scale but no less effective are the romantic moments between Goemon and Chacha in their dreamlike, firefly-bedecked Garden of Eden.



The 2-disc DVD from Funimation Entertainment is in 16:9 widescreen with Japanese 6.1 and English 5.1 Dolby surround sound.  Subtitles are in English.  Disc two contains a lengthy "making of" documentary, a profile of director Kiriya, and the film's original teaser and trailer, along with trailers for other Funimation releases. 

Upon first viewing, I was dazzled by the visuals but appreciated the film mainly on a superficial level.  Watching it a second time, however, I was better able to digest all the plot details and fully absorb the deep emotional impact of the story.  From laughter to tears and everywhere in between, GOEMON is an exhilarating cinematic journey through a world of wonders.

GOEMON -- DVD Review by Porfle

DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 5/8/12

 

From director Fumihiko Sori (TO, VEXILLE) comes the CGI/anime epic DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER, a USA-Japan collaboration which takes Sori's familiar visual style from the hard sci-fi of TO into the realm of sword and sorcery.

When Funimation came calling with a proposal to do the videogame "Dragon Age" as an anime, Bioware creative director Mike Laidlaw was rightfully enthusiastic about the idea.  The result is a dark, mystical adventure filled with magic, dragons, knights, and other fun elements along with a story and characters that are both exciting and involving.

A prologue brings us newbies up to speed pretty quick.  In the land of Orlais, the Divine One rules along with her priestesses known as The Chantry.  A force of knights called the Templars keep order, but it's the stalwart Seekers who guard against corruption in the ranks of the citizenry, military, and ruling elite. 

Those who still practice magic, the Mages, are split into two groups--Circle Mage, who are loyal to the Chantry, and Blood Mage, the rebellious evildoers who abuse their magical powers.  When Blood Mage leader Frenic kidnaps a young Mage girl named Avexis who can control animals, it's part of a plot to use dragons to attack the Ten Year Gathering when all members of the Chantry will be in one place. 

It's up to apprentice seeker Cassandra and Circle Mage member Galyan to find out the truth behind all this and expose the conspiracy of corrupt insiders, but Cassandra's utter hatred of all Mages complicates their accidental partnership.  Cassandra, of course, is a knockout--what fictional warrior woman isn't?--and a fierce fighter, but it's fun watching her discover how much she still has to learn about politics, combat, and human relationships.  Her interplay with the kindhearted Galyan and their eventual friendship are nicely handled. 

When they're framed for murder and treason, Cassandra and Galyan find themselves battling both Templars and Blood Mages in a series of visually stunning battle setpieces, some of which involve monstrous trolls and golems.  Quieter moments allow for some dramatic character interaction that adds depth to Jeffrey Scott's story.

The finale during the Ten Year Gathering is a spectacular sequence in which the two main characters must escape the executioner's axe in time to protect the Chantry from a gaggle of enormous firebreathing dragons bent on destruction.  Fumihiko Sori's soaringly cinematic handling of this thrilling sequence is impressive as are the epic-scale set design and effects.

Fans of TO will appreciate the character design here.  Again, it's a pleasing blend of CGI mock-reality and comic-art style that's neither too realistic (avoiding the "uncanny valley" effect) nor too cartoonish-looking.  Motion capture is used very well and skillful rendering of facial details allows for some very subtly expressive characters.  Vocal performances in both English and Japanese language versions are good.  

The 3-disc Blu-Ray/DVD combo from Funimation contains the English language version on both DVD and Blu-Ray format and the Japanese language version on DVD. Image is 1.77:1 widescreen with Dolby 5.1 sound and English subtitles.  Extras consist of a 20-minute "making of" featurette, a tour of Bioware by Mike Laidlaw, production sketches, and trailers for other Funimation releases.

What first seems like a dense, tortured tale that would only appeal to gamers turns out to be an enjoyably accessible adventure with plenty of visual and dramatic appeal.  I've already come across some more hardcore fan reviews comparing it unfavorably with this or that, or pointing out ways in which the animation, voice acting, etc. fall short of the norm, but as for me DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER is just plain fun.

DRAGON AGE: DAWN OF THE SEEKER -- DVD Review by Porfle

WOLF CHILDREN -- Blu-ray/DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 11/26/13

 

Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda (THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME, SUMMER WARS) opens WOLF CHILDREN (2012) with a scene reminiscent of Miyazaki's KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE--a young girl gazing up at the sky while lying in a field of grass that's gently swaying in the breeze. 

Each girl is about to mature beyond her placid childhood existence, but the differences between that chipper coming-of-age tale and this sometimes tragic, sometimes soaring ode to the love and self-sacrifice of a single mother for her "special" children" soon becomes heartrendingly apparent.

The girl in this high-stakes "coming-of-age" story,  Hana,  will meet a mysterious older boy who's sitting in on some of her classes at school.  A long getting-to-know-you period allows us to settle into everyday urban life in Japan (Mamoru Hosoda has a keen eye for the mundane) as the two of them fall in love.  Then comes the shock: he reveals to Hana that he is, in fact, a "wolf man" who can change into feral form at will. 

Not only does Hana's love for him hold fast, but they're soon expecting a baby girl whom they deliver themselves to avoid "surprising" the maternity doctor.  A baby boy follows soon after, and the couple are happy in their modest lives as apartment dwelling parents.   Then, in the film's first emotional shock, the Wolf Man meets a tragic fate, leaving Hana to raise their increasingly unusual children by herself.

With the older child, Yuki, becoming more and more wild--she loves to switch from human to wolf form in order to run rampant through the apartment or throw tantrums--and even her more timid and humanlike younger brother Ame becoming harder to pass off as "normal", Hana moves the family to a secluded old house in the Japanese countryside.  Here, she believes, Yuki and Ame will be free to decide which life path they want to take, whether it be human or wolf.

At this point WOLF CHILDREN takes on some of the attributes of another gentle, pastoral Miyazaki tale, MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO, with the two curious children exploring unfamiliar natural surroundings while their single parent gets help settling into country life by a group of kind and sympathetic neighbors. 

But this film lacks the more fanciful elements of TOTORO despite its premise.   (No cat-buses or cuddly giant forest gods here.)  Her wolfishness being an unsubtle metaphor for adolescence, Yuki finds herself longing to attend school and mingle with other children as her human side comes closer to the fore.  It's a transition which will have its share of dire consequences, and we don't know if she can pull it off.

Ame, on the other hand, begins to overcome his timidity and get in touch with his feral side.  To evoke Miyazaki yet again, Ame's excursions into the wild to commune with its denizens in an increasingly profound way recall the title character of PRINCESS MONONOKE, with a similar artistic evocation of nature's insistent lure.

With the opening segment--a mini-movie in itself made all the more devastating by the matter-of-fact portrayal of the Wolf Man's demise--we know we're in for a potentially painful experience.  One, in fact, that I feared would be as bleak and intensely downbeat as the notorious GRAVE OF THE FIREFLIES, which it very well could have been since the viewer is just as emotionally invested in  these characters as those in the earlier film. 

Yet instead of trying to put our feelings through a ringer, WOLF CHILDREN is a gentle and sensitively told narrative with moments of joy as well as melancholy and brittle nostalgia.  And it's surprisingly mature, appealing as strongly to adults as well as children and perhaps even more so.  This is Hana's story more than anything else, and her experiences will no doubt be easy for many parents to identify with as she struggles to raise her children while dreading the day they will leave her.

The subtlety of expression and "acting" by these animated characters is impressive.  Hosoda uses fairly realistic character design in the adults, but is a bit more fanciful in depicting the wolf children who are comically drawn during their toddler stages and boast a potent mix of human and animal "cuteness."  It's interesting to watch them grow as fear and uncertainty, as well as increasing awareness, begin to creep into their expressions.

Certain sequences, such as Hana and her children running happily through a snowy forest or a lone wolf racing up the face of a mountain amidst misty waterfalls, are exhilarating achievements despite the mix of traditional animation and CGI.  I feared that the use of digital animation to augment the cel work would mar the film but quickly became accustomed to it. 

Much effort is expended by the animators in depicting mundane, everyday images of life which are also reminiscent of Miyazaki--Hosoda and his artists seem to revel in such throwaway sights as bicyclists passing by and pedestrians going about their business in the backgrounds.  To animation fans, of course, such lovingly-rendered detail is irresistibly immersive.  Other scenes achieve the kind of visual poetry that gives anime its own unique beauty.

The Blu-ray/DVD combo from Funimation is in 16x9 widescreen with Japanese and English soundtracks in Dolby 5.1 surround sound.  Subtitles are in English.  Extras include an actor and staff commentary (U.S. version), several stage appearances by the cast and crew, a live performance of "Mother's Song" by composer Masakatsu Takagi and singer Ann Sally, and a variety of promo videos and trailers for the film.  Feature and extras are combined on one Blu-ray and two seperate DVDs for a total of three discs.

It's been a while since I shed tears of joy over a movie, but the indescribably lovely finale of WOLF CHILDREN reaches a crescendo of genuine emotion and beauty which afforded me that welcome catharsis in a big way, and for that I'm grateful.    Even listening to the exquisite theme song during the closing credits threatened to get me going all over again.  Being given such a feeling by a movie is rare, and I cherish it.

WOLF CHILDREN -- Blu-ray/DVD Review by Porfle

EXILE -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 11/3/09

 

For me, one of the most fun kinds of movies to watch are the ones in which an indie filmmaker with a little imagination and a passion for making movies scrapes a comparatively miniscule budget together and then goes for broke. One such filmmaker, Mike Conway, put his previous film THE AWAKENING together for less than $6,000, yet I watch it a lot more often than I do the MATRIX sequels.

His latest film, another sci-fi actioner entitled EXILE (2008), cost several times that amount yet the budget was still low enough to necessitate considerable ingenuity in lieu of wads of cash. Once again, Mike's very own backyard serves as a backlot, and I'm willing to bet most of those interiors were shot in his garage soundstage. Living in Las Vegas, Nevada means access to some nice desert scenery as usual, but here we also get some great location shots in a desolate area of Utah filled with crags, crevices, and volcanic rock.

The story returns to TERRARIUM territory (Mike's second feature, released on DVD by Lionsgate as WAR OF THE PLANETS) with a crashed spaceship on an alien planet inhabited by monsters. This time, cargo ship pilot Jason (Brian Sheridan) and his crew, Karen (Sheila Conway) and Glen (George Miklos), are hijacked by a stowaway (C.J. Hyatt) and forced to land on the planet Midlanteer, which is halfway between their warring planets of Granlibon and Kamoorsta. Jason and crew overpower the enemy soldier but are attacked by Kam fighter ships and crash-land. All three survive the crash but Jason is blinded while Karen and Glen are killed by large crablike creatures with stinger tails.

Jason soon makes a startling discovery--a towering female android named Reyna (the 6'4"-in-heels Heather Lei Guzzetta) who has been living in the hidden bunker laboratory of her recently-deceased creator. Reyna, who requires contact with a human in order to survive (something about bio-signatures that I didn't quite catch), adopts the blind Jason as a symbiotic partner and helps him stay alive against the bloodthirsty monsters and Kam soldiers who are after him. As their relationship deepens, the android eventually professes her love for Jason. But when he's captured by a search party during her absence, Jason learns a shocking secret that casts everything he thinks he knows about Reyna into serious doubt.


As is the case with all of Mike Conway's homegrown films, you have to keep the limited budget and resources in mind and make allowances whenever EXILE doesn't quite look like a Lucasfilms production. The fun part is seeing how stuff like this was pulled off in the first place. Conway gets a lot of mileage out of his After Effects program with some nifty digital trickery (particularly in the matte shots and gun flashes), and he manages some fairly cool green screen shots as well. Scott Lichfield's hideous planet monsters are nutty and fake-looking, but fun and rather ingeniously done. And as in the case of THE AWAKENING, Airsoft supplies some totally authentic-looking weaponry that adds a lot to the battle scenes.

Probably the most impressive visual elements of EXILE are the space scenes by visual effects artist James Rogers. Against a well-rendered background of stars and planets are some cool spaceships that are videogame-quality or better, with fluid movements and some interesting detail during the space battles. The cargo ship's crash landing on the planet (reminiscent of a similar sequence in PITCH BLACK) and subsequent destruction by Kam fighter ships are very well-done for this budget level. As always, one can either be dismissive of the relative simplicity of these effects or admire the fact that they look as good as they do.

With the Reyna character, Conway's script blends elements of TERMINATOR, ENEMY MINE, and Data from "Star Trek: The Next Generation" but manages to take things in an unexpected direction before it's over. Heather Lei Guzzetta is an imposing figure as always and is effective in the physical scenes. Brian Sheridan, of indie filmmaker Tiffany Sinclair's 2005 film PRAEY, gives a solid performance as Jason, while Sinclair herself is quite good as Jason's girlfriend Sira. Mike Conway's wife Sheila is her usual dependable self, with the performances of the rest of his stock company--including THE AWAKENING vets C.J. Hyatt, George Miklos, and Jake Bass--varying widely in quality. Daughter Carmen Conway does the opening narration.


The Utah exteriors look good although direction and photography at times display the somewhat rushed, unpolished quality you'd expect with such a tiny crew and harsh conditions. Fog and smoke effects are overdone in some shots, and the dubbing of the soldiers, whose faces are partially hidden by oxygen masks, is a bit awkward at times. Most of the action scenes are well-done, though, especially when Reyna goes on the offensive against the encroaching soldiers. I also like the ending, which is left intriguingly vague. All of this is accompanied by Mike Conway's own self-performed synthesizer score.

The DVD from Midnight Sun Entertainment is in 1.85:1 widescreen with stereo sound. Extras include the 16-minute "making of" featurette "Off World", a trailer, and a very brief short film entitled "Big Dreams."

As with the rest of Mike Conway's filmography, EXILE is one of those films that some will find entertaining while others can only shake their heads at how little it resembles the slick megabudget stuff they're accustomed to. As for me, I admire the audacity and tenacity of such do-it-yourself auteurs and enjoy seeing how much they can accomplish with so little to work with. It's sort of like a conjuring trick, making feature films out of thin air, and as always I look forward to seeing what Mike Conway will pull out of his hat next.

Buy it at Midnight Sun Entertainment

Read our interview with Mike Conway:
Part One
Part Two

EXILE -- DVD Review by Porfle

DARK WORLD -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 8/20/11

 

Harry has his share of problems.  He's an aging, cynical cop who was recently shot in the foot; his shady ex-wife Nicole has just shown up on his doorstep again, one step ahead of some Las Vegas mobsters out for her blood and concealing a dark secret; he's struggling to sort out a baffling case involving a brutal serial kidnapper-killer; and, worst of all, his niece Grace has just become one of the missing. 

Certains elements of his life, on the other hand, are almost too good to be true.  He lives in a storybook suburban neighborhood that suits him just fine, he has a loving son, and his sleazy partner Bob's gorgeous wife Zoey can't keep her hands off of him.  In DARK WORLD (2008), these two sides of Harry's life will begin to clash in ways that neither he nor the viewer could possibly suspect. 

Writer-director Zia Mojabi has concocted a corker of a tale and visualized it as one of those sun-bleached southern California film noirs complete with Harry's world-weary voiceover.  ("There was a time when they killed people for something," he muses after we witness a gruesome double murder.  "Greed, power, love...or at least lust.  Now they just kill.")



It's not as sharp as a big-budget studio production, but Mojabi renders this deliberately-paced story with a good deal of style, mixing the hazy aura of normality with dark, jagged slices of the slasher genre.  He also injects it with lots of amusingly offbeat touches without being overly cute about it. 

And talk about a cast--wow.  Michael Pare' plays Harry with just the right mix of medium-boiled toughness and wry humor, while Theresa Russell proves that she's not only still a babe but an interesting actress as well.  Julie St. Claire is a knockout as Zoey, the quintessential woman in red.  Steven Bauer (SCARFACE's "Manny") is on hand as Nicole's boyfriend Rick, while James Russo (DONNIE BRASCO) is his usual awesome self as her brother Charlie. 

As Harry's vile partner Bob, Charles Arthur Berg doesn't have the most refined acting talent but he's just right in this role, as demonstrated by the following exchange:

BOB: (referring to his ex-stripper wife, Zoey) "Every time I sit there, and I think about how that cow stripped down naked and rubbed herself up against every pervert in every titty bar in this town...once a whore, always a whore."
HARRY: "You're talking about the mother of your son."
BOB: "That retard?  I don't know much, but I know one thing...that wackjob ain't no son of mine."
 


The darker side of the story features a mysterious hooded figure who binds his captives and locks them in coffin-like boxes inside an abandoned desert warehouse, occasionally doing away with one of them in gory fashion.  How all this ties in with Harry, Nicole, her permanently-drunk brother Charlie, and Harry's sleazeball partner Bob doesn't start to become clear for quite awhile--I was wondering when Harry would stop poring over police files and keeping tabs on Nicole, in addition to fighting off Zoey's aggressively amorous advances, and actually start trying to track down the killer.  But it all comes together near the end in one of those 180-degree twists that turns everything that's come before on its ear.  You may be one of those "saw it coming a mile away" types, but I was, to say the least, duly agog.

One of the user comments regarding this film on IMDb describes it as "absolute trash", so you might want to take my opinion with more than the usual grain of salt.  However, despite a few rough spots and some scenes that could have used a little more polish, I found DARK WORLD to be a fun flick imbued with more than enough imagination and finesse to make it a satisfying and worthwhile view.  And by the time you find out exactly what the title really means, you may think so, too.

DARK WORLD -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE AWAKENING -- DVD Review by Porfle

(This review was originally posted at Bumscorner.com  in April, 2006.)

 Some people have cookouts in their backyards. Mike Conway makes movies in his.

The wrecked spaceship in his previous film, WAR OF THE PLANETS (aka TERRARIUM) was literally constructed and shot in his backyard. And for his latest effort, THE AWAKENING (2005), he used his garage as a soundstage for several of the sets. This sort of below-low-budget filmmaking can be very interesting if done by someone with a good imagination and a passion for making movies--both of which Mike Conway apparently has--and if you can get past the fact that the production values are on about the same level as an episode of "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger."

THE AWAKENING is the story of David Andrade (Conway, who also directed, edited, scored, and co-wrote the film along with Kelly Johnston and Erik Manion), a research scientist working on a top-secret government project involving the use of radiation to genetically improve the human body. When his wife Lara is diagnosed with terminal cancer, David sneaks her past the military security where he works, hooks her up to an experimental machine, and zaps her with radiation. Presto!--her cancer's cured overnight. But as time goes by, unexpected side-effects begin to develop, and Lara eventually becomes Supergirl. Well, not exactly, since her aggression, hostility, and penchant for violence have increased along with her physical abilities. So, "Super Bitch" would be more like it. (But don't call her that, or you're really in for it.) She even designs her own costume, Peter Parker-style, complete with black cape and thigh-high dominatrix boots, and goes out looking for excuses to kill people.

This, unfortunately, includes her husband David, since the big killjoy actually liked her better the other way and has been trying to find a means of reverting her back to normal. So Lara invades the research facility looking for him and starts throwing Marines around. When she finds David in his lab, he springs a trap that knocks her unconscious and prepares to reverse the super-power process.

Around this point in the movie, I'd already seen just about all the shots that were used in the trailer, and figured the story must be about played out by now. Which would've made it "ehh, pretty good", but nothing to get excited about. So I checked the running time to see how many single-digit minutes were left, and was startled to find that the movie was only half over. Hmm...what could possibly happen next...?

To my increasingly pleasant surprise, THE AWAKENING was just getting started. It seems the powers-that-be behind "Project Gladiator" are using David's research to aid in their quest to create super soldiers, and the last thing they want is for anything bad to happen to the first successful test subject. So while the Marines are trying to take her out, project director Michelle Richards (the striking, 6'4"-in-heels Heather Guzzetta) and her delightfully unlikable toady, Major Craig Konrad (Keith Ford) have called in a bunch of black-ops guys to take out the Marines and retrieve the "cargo." Naturally, this doesn't sit well with the gung-ho, old school Marine Captain Harris (Timothy S. Daley) in charge of security, so he enlists the aid of his trusted cohort Sgt. Benson (Clay Finan) and David Andrade to put some serious hurt on the black-ops guys and throw a monkey wrench into Project Gladiator.

I don't want to give any more of the plot away because it's too much fun to find out for yourself what happens next. But there's lots of shooting, explosions, gory death scenes, and outrageous situations, and it's all a lot more fun than any movie this low-budget has a right to be. I was constantly amazed at the inventiveness Mike Conway and his crew displayed in pulling off scenes that were visually stunning despite the cheap-looking special effects (while also making good use of desert locations around Las Vegas).

When Lara approaches an SUV on the highway after the driver stops to render assistance, I expected her to turn it over or something. Instead, she throws it, and then watches its downward progress with a smirk until we hear an off-camera crash. Later, she backhands the top of a soldier's head off, and the body staggers to the floor as the still-living head watches it. Sheesh--sure it looks fake, but by this point I didn't even care anymore.

The cast does a nice job as well. Most of them aren't really that great as actors, but they manage to make their characters interesting anyway. Tamra Ericson Frame starts out sorta "blah" as Lara, then gets better and better as she has more fun playing the over-the-top aspects of her character. Timothy S. Daley (one of several veterans of WAR OF THE PLANETS who show up here) makes a great no-nonsense Marine. Heather Guzzetta is a towering presence--literally--and is convincingly sinister. And Mike Conway, who will probably never win a "Best Actor" Oscar, does pretty well as David Andrade--his somewhat bland character anchors the rest of the movie.

The DVD features a making-of documentary called GUNS, GIRLS, AND CLONES (now there's a great movie title right there) that lets us see how a film like this is made on such a shoestring budget. It includes bloopers, cast and crew comments, and lots of behind-the-scenes footage that is especially interesting when showing us how some of the special effects were accomplished (a shot of Lara ripping a guy in half was inspired by the fact that their only stunt dummy broke in two during a take!) There's some digital wizardry that I didn't expect, mainly used to convincingly replicate the limited number of extras--in fact, there's a scene where two cops confront Lara, and the same actor plays both of them. We also get to see Conway and his cast and crew having a really good time making this movie.

To tell you the truth, WAR OF THE PLANETS wasn't all that exciting, so I really didn't expect a lot from its follow-up--which is what made it such a hoot to watch when it turned out as good as it did. I've seen plenty of gazillion-dollar movies that were boring. THE AWAKENING may have been partially filmed in a garage, but it isn't boring!

Read our interview with Mike Conway:
Part One
Part Two

Official website

THE AWAKENING -- DVD Review by Porfle

ARMAGEDDON -- Movie Review by Porfle

 

(This review originally appeared online at Bumscorner.com in 2006.)

 

Sometimes I just like to sit back with a bowl of popcorn and watch a big, dumb, action-packed space opera with awesome special effects, a great cast, and a script that's funny and engaging without taxing the old grey matter too much.  Of course, I'm describing ARMAGEDDON (1998), in which a huge asteroid is discovered to be hurtling directly toward Earth and all life will be wiped out unless NASA can figure out a way to avert it.

By now, many of you have already seen ARMAGEDDON and may be thinking, "Ye gods!  My hatred for that movie shatters galaxies!"  I can understand that, if you're someone who likes his/her sci-fi serious and scientifically accurate, or you hate Michael Bay movies, or both.

If so, you would probably prefer the other asteroid-on-a-collision-course-with-Earth movie, DEEP IMPACT, which came out the same year and was more serious and scientifically accurate.  Or, if you're like me, you like them both in the same way that I like both filet mignon and beef jerky, or Beethoven and the Jingle Cats.

I find ARMAGEDDON hugely entertaining on the Jingle Cats level.  It starts out with the extinction of the dinosaurs by a six-mile-wide meteor smashing into Earth, narrated by Charlton Heston (who else to talk us through a catastrophe of Biblical proportions?), and then skips to the present day with a meteor shower destroying an orbiting space shuttle and taking out much of New York City.

This, it turns out, is merely a prelude to an approaching asteroid the size of Texas (a Rhode Island-sized asteroid would've been bad enough, or even Vermont, but somehow "Texas" sounds better) which will hit the Earth in eighteen days and kill everybody.  Finding a way to stop it, needless to say, shoots right to the top of our government's "Things To Do" list.

The top brain-boys at NASA come up with the only possible solution: they must send two teams of deep-core oil drillers to land their shuttles on the asteroid, drill a really deep hole, and plant a nuclear bomb that will split it into two halves that will spread apart and narrowly miss our planet.  So the world's greatest deep-core driller, Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis), and his ragtag team of roughnecks are enlisted to accompany NASA's astronauts on the mission.

Watching these idiots go through an astronaut crash-course and magnificently flunk most of their medical and endurance tests is a highlight of the film.  Udo Kier (ANDY WARHOL'S DRACULA) even pops up as a psychiatrist who is shocked by some of the stuff going on in these guys' heads.

This is where a lot of that "great cast" I mentioned comes in.  There's Bruce, of course--one of my favorite actors--supported by guys like Will Patton (THE POSTMAN), Steve Buscemi (FARGO, CON AIR), Michael Clarke Duncan (THE GREEN MILE), Owen Wilson (THE WEDDING CRASHERS), and Ben Affleck.  Ben Affleck? 

Okay, they're not all "great", exactly.  But Ben does a pretty good job as Harry's irresponsible protege', A.J., who gets Harry's dander up by falling in love with his daughter Grace (the ever-popular Liv Tyler).  Harry don't want his li'l girl marryin' no roughneck, so A.J. must prove himself worthy, which he eventually does, of course. 

And then there's Billy Bob Thornton (SLING BLADE) as Dan Truman, the NASA head honcho who coordinates the mission, Jason Isaacs (SOLDIER) as NASA's Mr. Wizard, William Fichtner (CONTACT, THE DARK KNIGHT) as shuttle pilot  Colonel Sharp, Keith David (JOHN CARPENTER'S THE THING) as a military officer who is skeptical of the mission's success, and Peter Stormare (FARGO) as Lev, a cosmonaut who ends up on the mission when the Russian space station he's been stuck on for months explodes while the shuttles are refueling.  Like I said, this is one awesome cast.  And Ben Affleck.

The special effects are awesome as well.  The initial shuttle explosion and meteor shower on New York city get the movie off to an explosion-packed start, despite a few instances of hinky CGI.  Most of the other CGI is well done, but there's also a lot of great model work for us more old-fashioned sci-fi fans to enjoy.  The comparatively simple act of refueling the shuttles at the Russian space station results in a tense, SPFX-laden sequence where a lot of stuff blows up real good. 

The shots of the asteroid are often striking, especially in one incredible sequence where the two shuttles are slingshotting around the moon to gain speed and circle around behind the huge rock, and then head straight into a dense hail of debris in the asteroid's trail.  This is the highlight of the movie for me, and, as the old trailers used to proclaim, it's "thrill-packed." 

Once the shuttles have landed (one not quite as successfully as the other), the drillers encounter a variety of hazardous and hostile conditions that hamper their progress and threaten to derail their mission.  Several of our favorite characters get killed.  At one point, the effort to drill a hole deep enough for the bomb looks so hopeless that the military decides to remote-detonate it on the surface, which would not only have no effect on the asteroid, but would also seriously vaporize our heroes. 

And as the clock ticks down to the final deadline for averting global destruction, one of the main characters must make the ultimate sacrifice.  Who will it be?  Will Bruce die hard?  Will GIGLI fans be devastated?  Will Steve Buscemi no longer be "the sexiest man alive"? 

Anyway, I love this stuff.  I don't care if it's scientifically-inaccurate, lowbrow, sappy, or cheesy.  (It's all of those things, and more.)  Michael Bay, one of the most hated directors on the planet, has never made an action movie that I didn't find entertaining in some way.  If I have to put my mind on hold to enjoy THE ROCK, I'll do it (I like putting my mind on hold now and then).  If I have to wade through a crappy love story to get to the mind-boggling action sequences in PEARL HARBOR, fine. 

And if I have to fast-forward through any part of ARMAGEDDON that features an Aerosmith ballad or most of the cast singing a brain-frying rendition of "Leavin' On A Jet Plane", that's okay, too.  It's worth it to enjoy this much pure, unadulterated entertainment that is filled with so many of my favorite actors.  And Ben Affleck.

ARMAGEDDON -- Movie Review by Porfle

THE FATE OF LEE KHAN -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 7/22/19

 

"Wuxia" is a film genre celebrating the adventures of martial arts heroes in ancient China, one which I liken to tales of the 19th-century American West but with swords instead of six guns and rowdy roadhouse inns instead of saloons. 

Chinese film auteur King Hu (A TOUCH OF ZEN) conveys this feeling and more in his engaging action thriller THE FATE OF LEE KHAN, aka "Ying chun ge zhi Fengbo" (Film Movement Classics, 1973), a first-class entry in the genre and one which eschews its sometimes hokier aspects.

The plot can be boiled down to this: Lee Khan (Feng Tian), a ruthless official for the Yuan Dynasty, has acquired the war plans of the Chinese rebel army, which must be recovered by resistance fighters as soon as possible.

These include a group of warrior women posing as waitresses in a remote desert inn which will soon serve as a stopover to Lee Khan during his travels.  Thus, with the help of some male rebels posing as employees and a spy within Khan's ranks, the stage is set for a no-holds-barred confrontation that will include the genre's requisite swordfighting, kickboxing, and other assorted mayhem.

Till then, though, the wait for Lee Khan's entourage to arrive gives us a chance to spend much time in the colorful, lighthearted atmosphere of the Spring Inn, a warm, welcoming location which will dominate the film the same way Joan Crawford's rustic saloon does in the Nicholas Ray classic JOHNNY GUITAR.

We get to absorb some fascinating ancient Chinese culture by watching the antics of eccentric and often boisterous customers interacting with the inn's sassy waitresses or whooping it up at the gambling table.  The cheeky young ladies (including Hong Kong favorite Angela "Lady Whirlwind" Mao) are a joy, as is their no-nonsense mistress, Wan Jen-mi (Li Hua Li), who must keep things together until Lee Khan's impending arrival.

Also of interest are a couple of frantic fight scenes that erupt in the film's first half, one due to an invasion by a gang of thieves that quickly turns against them when the girls go into action. 

All the well-choreographed mayhem (coordinated by a young Sammo Hung) seems more explosive within the confines of the inn, with convincing physical action devoid of fake-looking wirework (but plenty of springboard leaps). Most of it is kept to simple non-lethal fun, and the whole thing is enjoyable as, in Quentin Tarantino's parlance, a "hang-out film" wherein the pleasure comes from simply spending time with these people in this setting.

It all changes, of course, when Lee Khan makes his auspicous entrance along with his equally formidable and fearsome sister, Lee Wan-erh (Feng Hsu) and their deadly guards.  The plot to steal the rebel plans away from Khan turns the formerly lighthearted mood dead serious when any wrong move or ill-spoken word can result in instant execution. 

Director King Hu wields a sure hand in his eye-pleasing depiction of rural ancient China, which often has the look and feel of an Italian western (especially in its barren exteriors which resemble the wastelands of Spain).  Camerawork is always well-placed but never draws attention to itself. 

The engaging story benefits from a very capable cast who handle not only the dramatic aspects but the action as well. While not as consistently kinetic as many wuxia films, this one builds to an extended final battle between the rebels and Lee Khan's forces which should satisfy any fan of the genre, wrapping things up in gripping and sometimes surprising fashion.

The Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics is in 2.35:1 widescreen with 5.1 surround sound and 2.0 stereo.  Mandarin with English subtitles.  Picture and sound quality are fine.  Extras consist of a featurette ("The Fate of King Hu"), trailers for this and other Film Movement Classics releases, and an illustrated booklet with an essay by Stephen Teo.

Devotees of this kind of entertainment are in for a treat with THE FATE OF LEE KHAN, but you don't have to be a wuxia fan to appreciate its winsome charms.  This finely-rendered trip back to a colorful, exotic ancient time may have you yearning to hang out at the Spring Inn again and again.



Buy it at Film Movement Classics

THE FATE OF LEE KHAN -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

1944 -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 7/24/17

 

Some of the best war stories are the ones that humanize all soldiers, and make us feel for them whatever the greater forces that compel them to fight.  Director Elmo Nüganen's World War II epic 1944 (Film Movement, 2015) is especially effective in doing so, since its opponents consist of men from the same country who have been forcibly conscripted by two different warring nations, Germany and Russia.

Karl (Kaspar Velberg) is an Estonian peasant fighting for the Germans in hopes of someday rescuing his family from exile. Jüri (Kristjan Üksküla) is a fellow Estonian who will be haunted after killing a countryman during battle and then contacting the man's sister despite the danger of suspicion by his Russian superiors. 

The film's production values are impeccable, with a fluidly-mobile camera and stark, yet beautiful photography.  Authenticity of period and setting are also first-rate, as are the performances of an excellent cast.

There are plenty of intense, frenetic battle scenes that are down-and-dirty and, like the real thing, often confusing.  (The trench warfare sequence is stunning.) 

Since the viewer has little stake in the outcome, we tend to root for whichever main character is being focused upon at the time.  This keeps the emphasis squarely on the individuals as human beings rather than soldiers defending a national directive.

Indeed, some of 1944's most powerful scenes are its quietest, as when Jüri visits the sister and they sit together in an empty church, deriving an elusive comfort from one another's presence. 

Dialogue amongst the soldiers themselves during off hours is sensitive and knowing, yielding several moments in which joviality is laced with piercing sadness. 

This sadness is always compounded by the fact that the Estonians are killing each other for the most futile and useless reasons, and watching their homeland being destroyed as a battleground for people who view them with suspicion and contempt.

In one of the film's most telling moments, a member of the Estonian government under the Germans proudly addresses the troops in the field with the announcement that, after intensive scientific research, their people have been deemed worthy of being called "Aryans." 

The withering looks of those hearing the news are ample evidence of how little this means to them--and yet, they must continue to fight and kill their countrymen, day after grueling, heartrending day, until finally, in whatever ways they can, they rebel.

The DVD from Film Movement is in 2.39:1 widescreen with 5.1 surround sound and 2.0 stereo, both English and Estonian with English subtitles.  Extras include a bizarre short film and trailers for this and other Film Movement releases.

The hauntingly bittersweet 1944 doesn't merely try to impress us with its scope, or its sweeping battle scenes, although it has both; more than anything else, it's a celebration of humanity, and how tenuously some cling to it in the face of overwhelming oppression and despair.




Read Our Original Coverage

 

1944 -- DVD Review by Porfle

BMX BANDITS -- DVD Review by Porfle

 

Originally posted on 3/17/11

 

One of the most popular Australian films of 1983, BMX BANDITS played right into the growing BMX bike craze of the time and was a big hit among the 8-15 crowd.  People who saw it as kids tend to have warm memories of it, although the main reason for watching this breezy but unexceptional flick today is to see a fresh-faced young Nicole Kidman in one of her first movie roles. 

Along with some chintzy bad-80s title graphics (and the first of several cheesy pop songs), the opening credits feature our two male leads, the dark, hunky P.J. (Angelo D'Angelo) and his spindly pal Goose (James Lugton), gearing up for some BMX action.  These somewhat fetishistic, product-placement-heavy shots were also used in a TV commercial and thus are some of the best-looking in the film.  As P.J. and Goose speed along the Sydney shoreline, we get our first taste of director Brian Trenchard-Smith's great use of scenic locations to enhance the visuals of his low-budget film. 

Cut to a bank robbery in progress, with British actor Bryan Marshall (THE SPY WHO LOVED ME, THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY) leading a bumbling gang in pig masks to a big score.  Back at their warehouse hideout, he announces their next, even bigger job which will involve some high-tech walkie-talkies being smuggled in from the States.
 


Naturally, our heroes stumble across them first, offering them up for sale to their friends in order to help finance some bike repairs.  The Boss orders two of his goons to recover the walkie-talkies from the kids or else, with the resulting chase comprising most of the film. 

David Argue, who's been in everything from 1981's GALLIPOLI to last year's ROAD KILL, plays Whitey.  John Ley, an actor most familiar to me as the throat-injured "bronze" in 1979's MAD MAX, is his partner, Moustache.  These dolts provide most of the film's limp-noodle comedy, with pratfalling Whitey constantly fighting with Moustache over who gets to drive their beautiful black 1972 Ford LTD, which is practically one of the stars of the movie and figures prominently in most of the action scenes.

The standout of the cast, of course, is 15-year-old Nicole Kidman as P.J. and Goose's gal pal, Judy.  Chosen from among 200 applicants for the role, her natural camera presence quickly elevated her character to the forefront (check out the poster) although all of her bike stunts are performed by an 18-year-old male in a wig.

Despite her Brillo hairdo, she's very cute here and it's fun watching her in this early appearance.  For much of the film she's menaced by Whitey and Moustache and eventually kidnapped by the gang, so she gets plenty of screen time to do her stuff.  The chemistry between Nicole and her two co-stars makes their scenes together more enjoyable than this example of their witty dialogue might indicate:

"Listen, if we put our heads together, we can come up with something."
"Yeah...multiple dandruff."

Brian Trenchard-Smith's direction is competent and BMX BANDITS has a lightweight, breezy air despite looking a tad rinky-dink at times.  There's an extended sequence early on, with the three leads evading the two fright-masked goons in a cemetary at night, which is reminiscent of a 50s-era Three Stooges comedy or an episode of "Scooby-Doo." 

Judy's run-in with the bad guys the next day has P.J. and Goose pedalling to her rescue as she flees on foot along a boat dock.  For those of us who like 'splosions, a car blows up real good after being crunched by a hunk of falling scrap iron.

Things really pick up at about the halfway mark when the car-versus-bikes chase begins in earnest. Trenchard-Smith stages the lively action in all sorts of places where these vehicles don't belong, such as an open-air mall and a water park, and the fast-moving sequence is filled with stunts and pleasantly corny comedy.  When Whitey finally gets his big chance behind the wheel of that LTD, his knack for running over just about everything in sight is amusing.



The action moves indoors as the kids duck into an empty warehouse where there's ample room for screeching tires and skidding around crazily.  The finale finds the good guys crawling around atop a speeding garbage truck as the crooks try to make their getaway with a captive Judy.  Here, we also get the obligatory kid-pleasing scenes in which all the BMX'ers in town get together to help thwart the evil grownups.

The DVD from Severin Films is in 2.35:1 widescreen with Dolby 2.0 English stereo sound.  No subtitles.  A fun making-of documentary, "BMX Buddies", features a grown-up James Lugton ("Goose") and director Trenchard-Smith, who also supplies an informative commentary track.  The film's trailer is included as well, along with Kidman's brief promotional appearance on an Australian kids' show, "Young Talent Time."

If you want to see a low-budget action-adventure flick about kids tooling around on little bicycles, BMX BANDITS is pretty much as good as it's going to get.  The characters are likable, the stunts and assorted mayhem are fun, and budding actress Nicole Kidman's presence gives it an irresistible novelty value.  While the film holds no nostalgic appeal for me as it does for so many others--including, not surprisingly, Quentin Tarantino--I found it to be a pleasant enough diversion.

BMX BANDITS -- DVD Review by Porfle

CATHY'S CURSE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 

(Originally posted on March 30, 2017)

 

I'd never watched CATHY'S CURSE until now, but I do remember seeing a TV spot for it way back in 1977 and thinking that the title sounded like some kind of weird Everly Brothers song.

Today, this charmingly quaint little Canadian chiller-thriller is one of those late 70s film artifacts that seem to foretell the kind of supernatural horror flicks that we'd be seeing all through the 80s when we weren't watching some unkillable stalker-killer slashing his way through a teen cast.

Much of what happens was already pretty familiar stuff at the time.  There's a 1947 prologue featuring the violent deaths of a father and his young daughter Laura--the mother having just abandoned them, taking younger son George with her--whose spirits will return to haunt the living in the present day.

Those haunted are a family consisting of grown-up George (Alan Scarfe, LETHAL WEAPON 3, LOCK UP), his troubled wife Vivian (Beverley Murray) who's still recovering from a nervous breakdown, and their adolescent daughter Cathy (Randi Allen). 

When they return to the old homeplace to live, we know pretty much what's in store for them, and it will involve Cathy being possessed by Laura's angry spirit and making life a living hell for everyone else--especially Vivian, since Laura, like her late father, tends to regard all women as "bitches."  (George seems to be soaking up some of the old man's malevolent spiritual residue himself at first, but not much is made of this.)

French director Eddy Matalon has a lean, unfettered style and the cinematography has that chilly sort of starkness you often see in 70s and 80s Canadian cinema.  The editing is rather jumpy at times, adding to a sense of unpredictability and illogic that seems to enhance rather than detract from the film's modest appeal.

Once settled into their new house, Cathy wastes no time switching over to "creepy possessed kid" mode with the help of a hideous doll with sewn-together eyes that she finds in the attic along with a glowing-eyes portrait of Laura. 

This allows the writers to toss dashes of THE EXORCIST and THE OMEN into the stew albeit never anywhere close to the same intensity or fear level.  In fact, most of what happens is more delightfully amusing than scary, and is at times downright rib-tickling. 

This includes Cathy getting the old caretaker Paul drunk and then unleashing a gaggle of imaginary snakes and spiders on him, and sending a poor old lady who's babysitting her out an upstairs window by telekinetically launching that ugly doll at her. (The investigating police detective is familiar David Cronenberg regular Sonny Forbes, who played the bald black assassin in SCANNERS.)

There's a cool scene early on with Cathy reenacting Laura's fatal car crash with some neighborhood children while Vivian entertains two women, one of whom happens to be a medium.  Her extreme reactions to a picture of Laura's father, jerkily intercut with Cathy's menacing behavior toward her playmates, are a hoot.

The main focus of Cathy's wrath, however, is poor, frazzled Vivian herself, who's in and out of the nervous hospital throughout the film.  This allows Beverley Murray to emote to her heart's content, as when she's having a Calgon moment in the bathtub and suddenly finds herself awash in blood and leeches. 

The rest of the film is a series of derivative but pleasingly off-the-wall "fright" scenes that build to a blandly diverting finale boasting some fun burn makeup for Cathy.  Little Randi Allen, in her first and only film, is endearingly cute acting all menacing and scary.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is 1080p HD full resolution with Dolby mono sound in English, French, Italian, and Spanish.  English subtitles are available.
 
Severin once again offers a loaded bonus menu including an interview with director Eddy Matalon, a charming interview with grown-up Randi Allen and her mother Joyce (who worked in wardrobe on the film), a fannish audio commentary with critic Brian Collins and filmmaker Simon Barrett, a trailer, and more.  The disc contains both the U.S. release cut and the longer director's cut. 

CATHY'S CURSE never gets nearly as scary as it wants to be--in fact, I don't think it raises a single hackle--but for those who can appreciate this sort of thing, kicking back to watch it is one of life's simple pleasures.  It's just the kind of relatively minor cult horror flick that's a throwaway to some, and a euphoria-inducing treat to others.

CATHY'S CURSE -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle