Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on May 7th, 2003
Surrounded by hundreds of extras in China’s Forbidden City director Don Tyler (played by Donald Sutherland) is hit with a creative draught and doesn’t know where to go with his latest masterpiece. YoYo (played by Ge You who some of you may remember from Farewell my Concubine) is hired to be the documentary making of camera man befriends the troubled Tyler. Tyler and YoYo discuss film maker and philosophy and happen upon the idea that in Chain if someone over the age of 70 dies the funeral is not sad but happy, Tyler ...efers to it a as a comedy funeral as there is a language barrier between him and YoYo who mainly speaks Mandarin. Knowing he is not well and having just been kicked off the film by his studio boss Tyler asks YoYo to give him a comedy funeral as he collapses into a coma.
When the costs for the funeral start to soar YoYo enlists the help of a friend who is one of the biggest concert promoters in China, things get completely out of hand as every square inch of real estate at the funeral is up for bids by advertisers as this unique event will be broadcast worldwide. We also has a romantic subplot between Tyler’s assistant (played by Rosamund Kwan) and YoYo as he tries to convince her that selling advertising space at a funeral is not selling out but, fulfilling the wishes of their boss. Through a couple of interesting plot twists in there and you have a very dynamic movie with an original story line.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 6th, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on May 2nd, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 26th, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Archive Authors on April 25th, 2003
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Chow Yun-Fat is Godfrey (not “Jeff” as the case has him, though “Godfrey” is, to NorthAmerican ears, an odd name for an action hero), tough-as-nails leader of a group of friends inThailand. Godfrey’s weak cousin gets them involved in a heist masterminded by the Judge(Simon Yam), who leads a gang as flamboyant as they are nuts. Godfrey is betrayed and left fordead, but comes back a year later for revenge. Directed by Ringo Lam, Full Contact doesn’tachieve the heights of John Woo’s b...st work, lacking the impossible-to-top action blow-out ofHard-Boiled or the utter delirium of Bullet in the Head. There are, however, plenty of nifty set-pieces, especially towards the end.
Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 24th, 2003
Malevolent is a direct to video release staring Lou Diamond-Phillips. The cast is mostly made up of film and television character actors. While not exceptional, this is not a bad film either. It’s one of those “innocent guy framed for murder” films with enough plot holes to make Swiss cheese. If you’re willing to ignore the incredible coincidences needed to pull off the crime, an ending that falls a little flat, and some rather obvious continuity flaws, this one is worth at least a look.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 21st, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 20th, 2003
Long before computers began to provide movie-goers with vivid representations of dinosaurs and alien invasions, Willis O’Brien and a young protégé, Ray Harryhausen, were thrilling audiences with stop motion. O’Brien’s masterpiece, of course, was King Kong. Ray Harryhausen developed that painstaking process for films like Earth vs. The Flying Saucers. Jaded audiences of today might find it hard to imagine that the f/x on this film held the fans spellbound in their theatre seats. Now, with digitally remastered prints and the new alchemy of DVD, you can treat yourself to an early craft that has influenced the great pioneers of today’s filmmaking.
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 17th, 2003
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Posted in: Disc Reviews by Gino Sassani on April 14th, 2003
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