After screening Payback, I did a decent amount of research to find information about the director in an effort to better understand the film from a production standpoint. After searching on the web for a bit, I discovered that there is really not much information about the film outside the fact that it is a Hong Kong production, written and directed by first timer Fu Xi. This is a bit strange, considering the fame of the lead actors Francis Ng and Fan Siu-Wong. Anyone who has a mild interest in the action cinema of Hong Kong would recognize Fan Siu-Wong from Ip Man, Ip Man 2, or my personal favorite, the gore-filled Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky.

Francis Ng plays a lowly, disheveled cab driver (very well, I might add) who picks up a newly released prisoner, Zhang Jin (played by Fan). In typical action-thriller fashion, Zhang Jin becomes the target of an assassination plot to tie up loose ends, and he finds an unlikely ally in the cab driver. Although I’m much more familiar with Fan Siu-Wong’s performances, Francis Ng’s acting in this film is absolutely fantastic. Distraught with the recent murders of his wife and daughter, watching him spiral into insanity both emotionally and physically was quite an enjoyable ride. As a matter of fact, the picture on the DVD sleeve which depicts Ng holding a gun is rather misleading. Throughout the film, Ng’s acts recklessly out of grief, but is believably clumsy in his mannerisms: He is an outraged civilian who happens upon a gun, who takes matters into his own hands without knowing anything about firearms or the repercussions of revenge. I believe this, ultimately, is Payback’s saving grace.

Any time I would catch the show Storage Wars, I always would watch with this morbid curiosity with the hopes that one day they’d open a storage unit and discover something more than a few lost boxes.  With the millions of storage units that are spread throughout the country, you’d have to imagine that hidden away in a couple of these units are some pretty awful things that would turn the stomachs of most.  Is this simply a thought I have from watching too many horror films? Most likely, but I can’t be the only one out there; after all it would seem this line of thinking is what brought The Hoarder to the screen.  In the new horror release we get to discover there is more to fear than a few old dust bunnies when venturing out to the local storage unit; in fact it can possibly turn into a trip you may never return from.

Ella (Mischa Barton) is having doubts about her current boyfriend; they are the kind of doubts that lead her to believe he has something to hide in his storage unit.  After she’s swiped his card key to the unit, Ella drags her best friend Molly (Emily Atack) along to see what all they can find.

Earlier for our Maude Review I talked about the All In The Family "coaching tree” and the number of spinoff that show produced. Maude was the first, but the most successful by far has to be The Jeffersons. The family moved into the house next door to Archie Bunker early in the first season of All In The Family. While Norman Leer always intended Sherman Hemsley to play Archie's black nemesis, the actor wasn't available for the role. Thinking ahead, the show introduced another actor as Uncle Henry to spar with Archie for a while. The son Lionel would also change actors over the years. There is no doubt that when Hemsley finally appeared as George Jefferson, the chemistry between him and Carroll O'Connor was instant magic.

The families would be neighbors for four years when the network, seeing the popularity of the Jefferson family, decided it was time for them to move it on up to the Eastside. George's chain of dry cleaners was making good money, and they could finally afford a "De-Lux" apartment in the sky. In addition to Hemsley as George and Isabel Sanford as wife Louise "Weezie" Jefferson, the cast included Mother Jefferson, played by Zara Cully. She hated her daughter-in-law and was always turning up her nose at the woman. She thought George was such a wonderful husband. Of course, he wasn't. Like Bunker he was racist and a crude man. He also had a temper, often coming out of his insecurity at being rather short. He never spoke when shouting worked just as well.

"NYPD BLUE wishes to dedicate its season to the memory of the New York City police and firefighters who sacrificed their lives on September 11th, 2001. Their heroism will never be forgotten, and we extend our deepest sympathies to their families and loved ones." 

As NYPD Blue entered its ninth season, there were tragic circumstances both on the screen and in real life. On the show Andy's former partner Danny Sorenson ends up dead, and in the real world New York City experiences the devastating events of 9/11. Both are addressed as the season opens.