Action – Wtf-film: cult cinema and video reviews

Posts Tagged ‘Action’

Action Packed Double Feature (Dirty Mary Crazy Larry / Race With the Devil)

April 5th, 2011 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 3 Comments »
Tags: Action, Car Chases, Horror, Peter Fonda, Satanism, Susan George, Thriller, Warren Oates

Dirty Mary Crazy Larry – Year: 1974   Company: 20th Century Fox   Runtime: 93′
Director: John Hough   Writers: Leigh Chapman, Antonio Santean, James H. Nicholson, Richard Unekis
Cast: Peter Fonda, Susan George, Adam Roarke, Vic Morror, Kenneth Tobey, Roddy McDowall, Eugene Daniels
Race With the Devil – Year: 1975   Company: 20th Century Fox   Runtime: 88′
Director: Jack Starrett   Writers: Lee Frost, Wes Bishop Music: Leonard Rosenman
Cast: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker, R.G. Armstrong, Clay Tanner, Carol Blodgett
Disc company: Shout! Factory   Video: 480p (1.85:1)   Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English (DMCL only),
Dolby Digital 2.0 English (DMCL and RWTD)   Subtitles: None   Disc: 2 x DVD 9   Release Date: 04/12/2011
Product link: Amazon.com Reviewed from a screener provided by Shout! Factory LLC.

Loosely adapted from the novel The Chase (also published under the titles Pursuit and Dirty Mary Crazy Larry) by Richard Unekis, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry follows the exploits of aspiring NASCAR driver Larry and mechanic Deke who, tired of killing time in the amateur racing circuit, decide to take an illegal shortcut to fame and fortune. The plan is simple: hit a rural grocery store on the morning of their cash delivery and escape into a maze of road and exits to the south. The robbery goes off with nary a hitch, with threats against the store manager’s family ensuring that the would-be racers have ample time to escape.

Deke and Larry think of everything – everything, that is, except Mary, Larry’s headstrong one night stand from the evening before the robbery. Looking for a bit of excitement in her dull life, Mary insinuates herself into the duo’s escape, proving to be as much a challenge to the success of the operation as grizzled cop Vic Morrow and his army of highway patrolmen.

Georgia Peaches / The Great Texas Dynamite Chase / Smokey Bites the Dust

March 30th, 2011 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
Tags: Action, Car Chases, Car Crashes, Claudia Jennings, Comedy, Dirk Benedict, Explosions, New World Pictures, Roger Corman

Georgia Peaches – Year: 1980   Company: New World Pictures   Runtime: 96′
Director: Daniel Haller   Writers: Mick Benderoth, Mote Stettin, William Hjortsberg, Lois Luger
Cast: Dirk Benedict, Tanya Tucker, Terri Nunn, Lane Smith, Sally Kirkland, Dennis Patrick, David Hayward
The Great Texas Dynamite Chase – Year: 1977   Company: New World Pictures   Runtime: 90′
Director: Michael Pressman   Writers: David Kirkpatrick, Mark Rosin
Cast: Claudia Jennings, Jocelyn Jones, Johnny Crawford, Tara Strohmeler, Miles Watkins, Nancy Bieler
Smokey Bites the Dust – Year: 1981   Company: New World Pictures   Runtime: 87′
Director: Charles B. Griffith   Writers: Max Apple, Brian Williams
Cast: Jimmy McNichol, Janet Julian, Walter Barnes, John Blyth Barrymore, Robert Beecher, Mel Welles
Disc company: Shout! Factory   Video: 480p (1.78:1), 480i (4:3)   Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Subtitles: None   Disc: 1 x DVD5 / 1 x DVD9   Release Date: 04/05/2011 Product link: Amazon.com
Reviewed from a screener provided by Shout! Factory LLC.

Shout! Factory is at it again, pushing my exploitation buttons with another bargain-priced cult film package. This time it’s a whopping triple-bill collection of New World actioners revolving around that staple of the genre – explosive car chases.

Lt. Starbuck turns back country whiskey runner for 1980′s Georgia Peaches, a semi-serious made for TV car chase and criminal comedy originally produced with the possibility of a television series in mind. Georgia Peaches follows ‘shine runner Dusty and his friends, mechanic Sue Lynn (Berlin’s Terri Nunn) and singer Lorette (real-life country singer Tanya Tucker), as they are blackmailed into investigating a bootleg cigarette operation and forced into action against a southern crime syndicate headed by ice cold Sally Kirkland.

The Troll Hunter

March 23rd, 2011 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
Tags: 2010, Action, Folklore, Horror, Monsters, Norway, Otto Jergensen, Trolls

a.k.a.: Trolljegeren
Year: 2010   Company: Filmkameratene A/S   Runtime: 99′
Director: André Øvredal   Writer: André Øvredal   Cinematography: Hallvard Bræin
Music: Alan Wilson   Cast: Otto Jespersen, Glenn Erland Tosterud, Johanna Mørck, Tomas Alf Larsen,
Urmila Berg-Domaas, Hans Morten Hansen, Robert Stoltenberg, Knut Nærum, Erik Bech,
Inge Erik Henjesand, Tom Jørgensen, Benedicte Aubert Ringnes, Magne Skjævesland
Coming to US theatres (June 2011) and on demand (May 2011) through Magnet Releasing.
Currently available on Region B Blu-ray and Region 2 DVD in Norway: Platekompaniet.no

There are plenty who would say that the found footage genre has worn out its welcome over the course of the past decade, and I’m in no position to argue otherwise. Much of the effectiveness of the format relies on its inherent verisimilitude, but after all of the shaky-cam horrors of the past few years (Cloverfield, Paranormal Activity 1 and 2, REC 1 and 2, Quarantine, and Diary of the Dead, to name a few) there’s little denying that the format has become just as transparent as any other. The Troll Hunter may not do much to change that fact, but that doesn’t mean this comparatively light-hearted Norwegian monster romp isn’t a whole lot of fun.

The Troll Hunter owes at least a small debt to 1999′s The Blair Witch Project, the found footage blockbuster that, while far from the first, served as the catalyst for the current trend. Both films find a group of aspiring college documentarians investigating an aspect of local folklore and feature plenty of footage of those same documentarians running from unseen somethings in the woods. The Troll Hunter improves upon the Blair Witch formula through superior dramatics (which rest almost entirely on the shoulders of controversial comedian Otto Jespersen, who plays the title role) and a desire to entertain its audience with more than just a succession of cheap scares. Of course The Troll Hunter also has trolls, and what’s more, it isn’t afraid to use them.

Robo Vampire

March 21st, 2011 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 2 Comments »
Tags: Action, Crap, Godfrey Ho, Horror, Magic, Martial Arts, Robots, Science Fiction, Sorapong Chatree, Tomas Tang, Vampires

Year: 1988   Company: Filmark International Ltd.   Runtime: 90′
Director: Godfrey Ho   Writers: William Palmer   Cinematography: Anthony Mang
Music: Alan Wilson   Cast: Robin Mackay, Nian Watts, Harry Miles, Joe Browne, Nick Norman,
George Tripos, David Borg, Diana Byrne, Alan Drury, Ernst Mausser, Sorapong Chatree
Available on OOP DVD from BCI / Eclipse. Product link: Amazon.com

Confession time. I’ve been slacking off on my Wtf-Film duties as of late, content with letting the movies come to me by way of screeners or the odd pre-order. That’s not to say that I haven’t covered some good stuff, with Phenomena and The Beyond arriving from Arrow Video or Shout! Factory’s latest MST3K box, but all of those properties fell right into my lap (or mailbox, rather). The simple sad fact of the matter is that I’ve been lazy, satisfied to bask in the relative comfort of review discs while this site’s purpose fades into the ether.

Well no more, I say! I long for that elusive high, the blissful intoxication of chancing upon a film of mind-altering strangeness. It’s high time that the hunt was on again, and I’ll be damned if today’s find didn’t get the dopamine a-flowing.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 XX

March 3rd, 2011 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 2 Comments »
Tags: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Joel Hodgson, Lee Van Cleef, Science Fiction, Shout! Factory, TV's Frank

Experiments: Project Moonbase, Master Ninja I, Master Ninja II, The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
Disc company: Shout! Factory Video: NTSC 4:3 / 16:9 Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Subtitles: none Discs: DVD5 (3) DVD9 (1) Release Date: 03/08/2011 Product link: ShoutFactory.com
MST3K XX is reviewed here from a screener provided by Shout! Factory.

I’ve not counted myself among the MST3K faithful for years now, having been recently possessed by a more analytical appreciation of “bad” cinema. That said, I’ve always had a soft spot for original host and series creator Joel Hodgson, and this latest 4-episode DVD boxed set from Shout! Factory acts as an all-in-one history of his half-decade turn as space-bound test subject Joel Robinson. This is classic MST3K through and through, and enough to tempt this reviewer back into the fray.

MST3K XX‘s four episodes span three seasons: Project Moonbase from season 1, The Magic Voyage of Sinbad from season 5, and Master Ninja I and Master Ninja II from season 3. Project Moonbase has its own historic significance, being from the first official season, and The Magic Voyage of Sinbad, featuring the American bastardization of a Russian fantasy film, is an undisputed classic of the series, the real gems of the collection lie right in between. For my money season 3, with its focus on Sandy Frank, Bert I. Gordon, and the mighty Miles O’Keeffe, is the best the show ever had, and Master Ninja I and II are just more evidence for my case.

Rats: Night of Terror

February 18th, 2011 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
Tags: Action, Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso, Horror, Nuclear War, Post-apocalypse, Rats

a.k.a. Rats: Notte di Terrore
Year: 1983   Company: Beatrice Film / Imp. Ex. Ci. Nice   Runtime: 96′
Director: Bruno Mattei   Writers: Bruno Mattei, Claudio Fragasso, Herve Piccini
Cinematography: Franco Delli Colli   Music: Luigi Ceccarelli Cast: Ottavio Dell’Acqua, Geretta Geretta,
Massimo Vanni, Gianni Franco, Ann-Gisel Glass, Jean-Christophe Bretigniere, Fausto Lombardi, Henry Luciani
Available on DVD from Blue Underground. Product link: Amazon.com

A bunch of post-apocalyptic assholes with names like Duke and Taurus stumble into a secret research station decades after the third world war has brought an end to civilization. Finding no people but plenty of supplies, our intrepid survivors decide to stay the night, only to find themselves trapped by an ever-growing horde of super-intelligent flesh-hungry rats.

This is a monumentally stupid film about monumentally stupid people who do monumentally stupid things and, as a result, die monumentally stupid deaths at the teeny-tiny teeth and claws of superhuman uber-rats. So monumentally stupid is this film and the events that transpire within it that I found myself to have been quite liberally drooling on myself by the time the end credits rolled (no joke). Nothing like this has ever happened to me before, but the experience has left me thinking that a review bib might not be so bad an investment.

Continue Reading »

Berserker

February 11th, 2011 | article by Denis Klotz | No Comments »
Tags: 2001, Action, Mythology, Patrick Bergin, Paul Matthews, Vikings

Year: 2001 Runtime: 84′ Director: Paul Matthews
Writer: Paul Matthews Cinematography: Vincent G. Cox Music: Mark Thomas
Cast: Kari Wuhrer, Paul Johansson, Craig Sheffer, Patrick Bergin

In the mythical time known as “the credits”, Odin became somewhat dissatisfied with his Valkyrie girlfriend Brunhilda (Kari Wuhrer) and chained her to an altar surrounded by eternal flame. As you do.

Later, in ye olden times of fake facial hair, when everyone (except for Ms Wuhrer) spoke with a British accent, there was trouble among the Vikings. Hetman Thorsson (Patrick Bergin, who had rent to pay) wants to use the very special tribe of the berserkers to unite wherever we’re supposed to be under his rule. Berserkers in this film’s very special mythology are, by the way, possibly cannibalistic warlike yet highly flammable undead wearing dead bears. In a creative interpretation of Nordic lore, berserkers are created by the bite of Valkyries to serve Odin. Valkyries, vampires, same difference; they both glow and glitter, right? Nope, I’m not joking about the glowing; to my mind Berserker is now the most probable candidate for inspiring the Twilight franchise.

Bay Rong

February 3rd, 2011 | article by Denis Klotz | No Comments »
Tags: 2009, Action, Johnny Nguyen, Martial Arts, Vietnam

a.k.a.: Clash
Year: 2009 Runtime: 98′ Director: Johnny Nguyen
Writers: Johnny Nguyen Cinematography: Dominic Pereira Music: Christopher Wong and various long-dead Europeans
Cast: Thanh Van Ngo, Johnny Nguyen, Lam Minh Thang, Hoang Phuc Nguyen

Trinh (Thanh Van Ngo) has been working as an assassin and girl for every opportunity under the codename “Phoenix” for a shadowy gangster-type with connections in the grey areas between espionage and crime known as Black Dragon (Hoang Phuc Nguyen) since she was a teenager. Not that she ever had much of a choice in the matter. Black Dragon ”rescued” her out of slavery as a prostitute in Cambodia and made her what she is now. Plus, he is keeping Trinh’s daughter hidden away somewhere as a very convincing argument for the woman’s loyalty.

Still, her life is getting to Trinh, and she only wants out and start a less violent existence somewhere with her daughter. Black Dragon even seems willing to grant Trinh her wish, there are just a tiny handful of missions she has to finish for him first.

Battle Royale

January 13th, 2011 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
Tags: Action, Arrow Video, Kinji Fukasaku, Takeshi Kitano, Tatsuya Fujiwara, Thriller, Toei, Violence

Year: 2000   Company: Toei Company, Ltd.   Runtime: 114′ / 122′
Director: Kinji Fukasaku   Writer: Kenta Fukasaku (from the novel by Koushun Takami)
Cinematography: Katsumi Yanagijima   Music: Masamichi Amano Cast: Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda,
Taro Yamamoto, Chiaki Kuriyama, Sosuke Takaoka, Takashi Tsukamoto, Yukihiro Kotani, Eri Ishikawa,
Sayaka Kamiya, Aki Inoue, Takayo Mimura, Yutaka Shimada, Masanobo Ando, “Beat” Takeshi Kitano
Disc company: Arrow Video   Video: 1080p 1.78:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master 5.1 Japanese,
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Japanese   Subtitles: English   Disc: BD50 (All Region x2) DVD5 (Region 0 PAL, x1)
Release Date: 12/13/2010 The Limited Edition 3-disc package, numbering only 10,000, has already sold out at most
retail locations, but can still be purchased (for now) through Arrow Video. The Special Edition 3-disc Blu-ray
edition, in Arrow’s standard packaging (multiple covers, cardboard slipcase) is up for pre-order at Amazon.co.uk
Be sure to visit the Cult-Labs forums to have your say on this and future Arrow Video releases

Under the pretense of a leaving on a school trip, a class of forty-two 9th grade students is drafted into the Battle Royale program – the Japanese government’s response to an exploding youth crime rate in a time of recession and social unrest. The children are forced to fight for their lives against their own desperate classmates, each of which has been given a survival kit complete with its own unique weapon (such varied items as axes, swords, machine guns and pot lids). If a sole survivor has not emerged within three days then the battle is forfeit, and everyone dies.

At the center of the action are Shuya Nanahara (Fujiwara) and his crush, Noriko (Maeda), who form a shaky alliance with 18-year-old transfer student Kawada (Yamamoto) in a desperate bid for survival. The winner of an earlier Battle Royale himself, Kawada claims to know a secret means of escaping the game alive – a secret he promises to share with Noriko and Nanahara should they be the last children standing…

Godzilla vs. Megalon

December 20th, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 3 Comments »
Tags: 1973, Action, Fantasy, Giant monsters, Gigan, Godzilla, Jet Jaguar, Jun Fukuda, Kaiju, Kaiju Christmas 2010, Megalon, Science Fiction, Teruyoshi Nakano, Toho

Origintal Title: Gojira tai Megaro Year: 1973   Company: Toho Co. Ltd.   Runtime: 81′
Director: Jun Fukuda   Screenplay: Jun Fukuda Story: Takeshi Kimura, Shinichi Sekizawa
Cinematography: Yuzuru Aizawa   Music: Riichiro Manabe SPFX Director: Teruyoshi Nakano
Cast: Katsuhiko Sasaki, Hiroyuki Kawase, Yutaka Hayashi, Robert Dunham, Kotaro Tomita,
Wolf Otsuki, Shinji Tatagi, Hideto Odachi, Tsugutoshi Komada, Kenpachiro Satsuma

I’ve never been known for having my finger on the pulse of good taste, so I suppose it’s only to be expected that one of the (and perhaps the) most universally reviled of all Toho Company’s beloved Godzilla franchise would also happen to be one of my personal favorites. The first of the series to be released domestically through Cinema Shares and the only of them to retain its original Toho-given English title*, Godzilla vs. Megalon was a staple of UHF television programming in my youth – I can at least claim to have come by my bias naturally.

It seems important to note that Godzilla vs. Megalon initially had nothing to do with Godzilla at all. Toho had conceived the project as the solo debut of the robot Jet Jaguar (the result of a creative children’s contest held by the company the year before), a concept they abandoned out of fear that the new character would be unable to carry a feature all his own. The shooting schedule was eventually slashed to a mere three weeks and the screenplay altered to include both Godzilla (in his first new suit since 1968) and his previous foe Gigan. Whether or not Toho’s scheming worked is difficult to assess, but one thing is for certain – Godzilla fought Megalon to the lowest audience turnout ever seen for the franchise up to that point**.

Garo

December 10th, 2010 | article by Denis Klotz | No Comments »
Tags: 2005, Action, Japan, Monsters, Science Fiction, Superhero, Television, Tokusatsu

Year: 2005 – 2006 Runtime: 25′ (25 ep.) Directors: Keia Amemiya, Makoto Yokoyama, Kengo Kaji
Writer: Yuji Kobayashi Music: Shinji Kinoshita, Koichi Ota
Cast: Hiroki Konishi, Mika Hijii, Ray Fujita, Masaki Kyomoto

A secret war is raging (at least in Japan). Creatures from the Underworld known as Horrors regularly creep through the cracks between dimensions to possess humans whose darkest impulses accommodate the character of the respective horror and use them to commit various atrocities. Fortunately, humankind is protected by the Makai Knights, warriors of mystical bloodlines who are able to use a magical metal known as soul metal. When need be, a Makai Knight can conjure up full body armour made from the material, but (because that’s how it goes in tokusatsu shows) they can’t stand being clad in the magical armour for long.

Garo follows the attempts of the perma-scowling Golden Knight Kouga Saezima aka Golden Fang aka Garo (Hiroki Konishi, now called Ryosei Konishi to confuse everyone as much as possible) to keep his territory (which might be the Eastern half of Japan or of Tokyo) safe from the Horrors.

A Quartet of Corman Classics from Shout! Factory

December 8th, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 1 Comment »
Tags: Action, Angie Dickinson, Comedy, Cult, Gangsters, James Horner, John Sayles, Jonathan Demme, Lewis Teague, Roger Corman

Big Bad Mama / Big Bad Mama II
Year: 1974 / 1987   Company: New World / Concorde   Runtime: 84′ / 83′
Director: Steve Carver / Jim Wynorski Cinematography: Bruce Logan / Robert C. New
Writers: William Norton, Frances Doel / R.J. Robertson, Jim Winorski
Cast: Angie Dickinson, William Shatner, Tom Skerritt, Susan Sennett, Robbie Lee, Noble Willingham
Angie Dickinson, Robert Culp, Danielle Brisebois, Julie McCulloch, Bruce Glover, Ebbe Roe Smith
Crazy Mama / The Lady in Red
Year: 1975 / 1979   Company: New World Pictures   Runtime: 80′ / 93′
Director: Jonathan Demme / Lewis Teague Cinematography: Bruce Logan / Daniel LaCambre
Writers: Frances Doel, Robert Thom / John Sayles
Cast: Cloris Leachman, Stuart Whitman, Ann Sothern, Linda Purl, Jim Backus, Tisha Sterling
Pamela Sue Martin, Robert Conrad, Louise Fletcher, Christopher Lloyd, Robert Forster
Disc company: Shout! Factory   Video: Progressive, 1.78:1 (16:9) Audio: DD 2.0 English
Subtitles: None   Discs: Dual Layer DVD9   Release Date: 12/07/2010
Amazon Product links: Big Bad Mama / Big Bad Mama II | Crazy Mama / The Lady in Red

As you may be able to tell from the above, there’s a lot to talk about with Shout! Factory’s latest issue of Roger Corman’s Cult Classics releases, a pair of women-on-the-run double features that boast some serious talent behind the scenes. With names like Jonathan Demme, Lewis Teague, John Sayles and James Horner attached, these packages have legitimate interest beyond their considerable cult appeal.

Steve Carver’s Big Bad Mama follows a devoted mother trying to do the best she can by two troublesome daughters in the Depression-era Southwest. Sick of the oppressive poverty of rural Texas, Wilma McClatchie (Angie Dickinson in the title role) packs her daughters in an old clunker and heads out for the promised land – California. On the way the family becomes sidetracked by a life of crime, hooks up with a pair of crooks (William Shatner, Tom Skerritt) and eventually bites off more than it can chew with a high profile kidnapping scheme.

Avatar

December 2nd, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | No Comments »
Tags: 2009, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, James Cameron, Science Fiction

Year: 2009   Company: 20th Century Fox   Runtime: 162′ / 171′ / 178′
Director: James Cameron   Writer: James Cameron   Cinematography: Mauro Fiore
Music: James Horner Cast: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver,
Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel Moore, Wes Studi
Disc company: 20th Century Fox   Video: 1080p 1.78:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master 5.1 English,
Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround (English, French, Portuguese, Spanish), Dolby Digital 2.0 English
(descriptive audio) Subtitles: English SDH, French, Portuguese, Spanish
Disc: Dual Layer BD50   Release Date: 04/22/2010 Product link: Amazon.com

To say that I didn’t see Avatar when it was in its original theatrical run (or its more recent re-release) is an understatement – I’ve avoided it outright until today. Of the billions upon billions of dollars it has reaped in ticket receipts and home video sales not a single penny is mine, something of which I remain quite pleased. It’s not that I harbor a particular hatred for James Cameron, repulsed as I may have been by the melodrama of his Titanic. It’s not that the idea of an epic special effects extravaganza didn’t appeal to me – it does. It’s the cultural phenomenon of Avatar, the millions of people flocking to see it around the world and the hundreds of critics singing its praises, from which I wish to remain distant.

I imagine that, had I seen Avatar in the midst of that sensation, my opinion of it would have been contrarian by principle alone. So I’ve waited. Now, almost a year after its initial run began and with two home video releases behind it, it’s safe to say that whatever unjustified negativity the film’s success fostered within me has subsided, and I can finally be unbiased – or as unbiased as one can be about something so saturated as Avatar. At least the cell phone cross-promotions seem to be over…

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

November 12th, 2010 | article by Kevin Pyrtle | 2 Comments »
Tags: Action, Canada, Comedy, Comic Books, Edgar Wright, Fantasy, Michael Cera, Video Games

Year: 2010   Company: Universal Pictures, Relativity Media   Runtime: 113′
Director: Edgar Wright   Writers: Edgar Write, Michael Bacall   Cinematography: Bill Pope
Music: Nigel Godrich Cast: Michael Cera, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Johnny Simmons, Ellen Wong,
Kieren Culkin, Brie Larson, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Satya Bhabha,
Chris Evans, Brandon Routh, Mae Whitman, Keita Saito, Shota Saito, Jason Schwartzman
Disc company: Universal   Video: 1080p 1.85:1 Audio: DTS-HD Master 5.1 English,
DTS 5.1 Surround French, DTS 5.1 Surround Spanish   Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Disc: Dual Layer BD50   Release Date: 11/09/2010 Product link: Amazon.com

That’s it. I’m convinced. So long as Edgar Wright is in the director’s chair the man can do no possible wrong. From his inimitably bizarre BBC series Spaced to his ode to the old-school exploitation trailer Don’t and everywhere in between and beyond, the writer / director / producer continues to impress with his innate sense of comic timing and his genuinely innovative approach to the basics of film construction. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is undeniably his most ambitious work to date, an audacious blend of disparate genres and motifs that simply refuses to be categorized. Those looking for an unbiased appraisal be warned, as where this film is concerned I am an impossible fan.

The story follows the eponymous Scott Pilgrim, the self-absorbed and insecure twenty-something bassist of indie rock outfit Sex Bob-Omb, as he hunts for self-worth in the mythical land of Toronto, Canada. Still angsty over a tumultuous break-up with the headliner of a rival musical sensation, Scott flings himself into a superficial relationship with a 17-year-old Chinese school girl only to find a more mysterious personality rocketing about his subconscious on roller blades. Things take a turn for the bizarre when Scott discovers that the girl of his dreams is not only more corporeal than he imagined, but seemingly available to boot. Unfortunately she comes with some serious baggage – a league of seven evil exes whom our unlikely hero will have to defeat in mortal combat if he and his would-be girlfriend are to have a future.

Wardat

November 12th, 2010 | article by Denis Klotz | No Comments »
Tags: Action, Bollywood, Mad Scientist, Science Fiction, Spy

Year: 1981 Runtime: 134′ Director: Ravikant Nagaich
Writers: Ravikant Nagaich, Ramesh Pant Cinematography: H.G. Raju Music: Bappi Lahiri
Cast: Mithun Chakraborty, Kajal Kiran, Shakti Kapoor, Jagdeep, Kalpana Iyer, Iftekhar

A mysterious evil scientific genius (in whose hunchbacked, jodhpur-wearing glory the audience will be allowed to bask only much later in the movie) is sending out swarms of locusts to destroy the Indian rice harvest. Then, he uses his favourite henchman Shakti Kapoor (Shakti Kapoor; no, I have no idea why the actor is alright with having the bad guy named after himself, but that’s not the first time I have seen this in a Bollywood film) to drown the food market in cheap, low quality rice that has been enriched with a drug that – on first impression – seems to make people just sort of horny (in a Bollywood way, obviously).

When Shakti’s not taking care of the rice business, he is killing the people the suspicious Indian government has commissioned to investigate the mysterious case of the atypical acting locusts. And, just because he’s a proactive kind of guy, Shakti is also setting up various murder attempts on that greatest of all Indian secret agents – Gopi (Mithun Chakraborty), also known as “Gun-Master G9″. As it turns out, Gopi’s so secret, his code name is even written on the side of his car. But while you can say less than pleasant things about Gopi’s knack for secrecy, you can’t fault the man’s talent for survival, or his talent for kicking people in the face, and so Shakti’s assassination attempts all come to nought.