I’m not sure why I took as long as I did watching “Ong Bak”. Perhaps it was because I’ve seen so many really bad martial arts films since I was a child, but when I was done with “Ong Bak”, I was just utterly blown away. “Ong Bak” knocked my socks off, and I was cursing myself for not seeing it sooner. “Ong Bak” marks the American premiere of Tony Jaa, a man whose physical talents are just astounding. But be warned “Ong Bak” is not a film based heavily on story, it’s mainly just there for the utterly amazing fight scenes. Fight scenes that are not only some of the most amazing action sequences I’ve ever seen in an action film, but also have some great choreography.
Paparazzi (2004)
I was looking forward to “Paparazzi”, I really was, I mean Cole Hauser is a cool mofo, and I was glad that he’d finally been given a vehicle of his own for once. But when I was done, I was disappointed, and pretty damn pissed that this was such a piece of crap. I mean, how can anyone with half a brain buy in to this nonsense? Mel Gibson’s Hairstylist directs this faux-actioner that serves up more of a message, but to whom? What’s the message here? From its mere facade of a crappy actioner, it also attempts to become a nonsensical message about poor celebrities, and from its dumb plot it attempts to pass of commentary, problem is it isn’t smart enough to pull off that sort of commentary, especially commentary no really intelligent person gives a shit about.
Whale Rider (2002)
This is what a children’s film should be, uplifting, encouraging, and a beautiful film about family and empowerment. This is what children’s films should be like. True realistic portraits with engaging characters and an uplifting message. The film has themes children will connect with such as seeking approval from parents, attempting to prove yourself as an adult, being raised and pressured to carry on their traditions, living up to your sibling, and basically journeying to come of age, while we can relate to the characters here. The characters are human, not broadly sketched, and each are so utterly esoteric and revealing beneath their layers and personalities that we anxiously watch to see what will become of Director Caro’s vision that, even adults may find themselves engrossed.
Ape to Man
The ape or the poof, evolutionism, or creationism, this is an argument that has basically set man apart with their own theories and views for decades, and after the constant discovery of the proof of evolutionism and inevitably Darwin’s book the Theory of Evolution published in 1859, there was obviously much discussion to be had, especially pertaining to the theory’s conflicting with the bible which it managed to disprove immensely. Darwin knew immediately that these very logical theories would lead him to hot water, and as the documentary emphasizes, he was afraid to admit his findings in fear of what would happen to him. In the end of “Ape to Man”, whether you be evolutionist or creationist, there’s no doubting the logic of the theories presented during this stunning document of the chronicling of not only the evolution of man, but the evolution of science, and the study of primitive man and its conflicting theories.
Camp Slaughter (Camp Daze) (2005)
So, as I’ve mentioned a million times, I’m a hardcore slasher fan. Aside from being a hardcore horror fan, I also am a fan of the sub-genre, and director Alex Pucci and writer Draven Gonzalez really seem to know their stuff when it pertains to slashers, and that’s one reason why I was smiling throughout the entire film. The film opens as you would expect any slasher to. Dark creepy camp, a camp sing-along with a ridiculously catchy hook, and then death. And then more death. The ending though is very similar to the opening of “Friday the 13th”, hell even the score and opening title nearly make it almost identical, and my attention was caught. I loved the opening simply because director Pucci captures the mood very well and almost copies the original film to the tee.
Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid (2004)
Baffling: This is a sequel to a really bad B film with a cast of Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, and Jon Voight.
Obvious: None of them returned for this.
Baffling: This is a sequel (!) to “Anaconda”.
Obvious: It’s really bad.
Baffling: This was released in theaters during the summer.
Obvious: There are no A or even B list actors in the cast.
Baffling: This isn’t a straight to video release.
Obvious: It should be.
Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (2004)
When “Anchorman” premiered in theaters, it managed to cause quite a stir, especially with newsmen who proclaimed despite being a comedy, the film was shockingly true to the personality of a real anchorman, especially in the seventies. Ferrell’s performance as Anchorman Ron Burgundy is such a true work of comedic gold, it’s hard to imagine anyone else in that role besides him. “Anchorman” is such a goofy, very silly, but often very funny comedy that not only pokes fun at anchormen, and the seventies but makes great use of its entire cast leaving no actor unused. “Anchorman’s” overt goofiness will be off-putting to people expecting something more adult, but this is not to be taken seriously.