I don’t know what exactly was going on with the production in Alexandre Aja’s remake of the 2003 Asian horror film “Geoul sokeuro,” but as it stands, this remake is probably one of the most inadvertently comical horror films of the last five years. The marketing campaign for this film promised one of the most insane genre outings we’ve ever seen, and I knew I was in trouble when I began to chuckle at Kiefer Sutherland screeching at the sight of his deformed doppleganger in his bathroom window. Everything about “Mirrors” has the potential to turn in to a bonafide horror masterpiece, and instead we’re given nothing but fake scares, clunky dialogue, and writing that is just atrocious.
Tag Archives: Crime
Kiss of the Dragon (2001)
Like most American audiences, I was introduced to Jet Li in “Lethal Weapon 4” where he stole the show from every cast member in the final film of the franchise as the vicious Wah Sing Ku who engages in a battle with Riggs and Murtaugh at the end of the movie. And like every other American after the movie I sought out Li’s previous works and was pretty much under whelmed. The man’s past works range from mediocre to plain idiotic and America didn’t do much for him with movies like “The One,” “Cradle 2 The Grave,” and “Romeo Must Die” all of which were packed with CGI and hip hop references stifling Li’s potential. When allowed to work on his own terms though, Li pulled off some rather incredible pieces of martial arts cinema, one of which is “Kiss of the Dragon.”
Bitch Slap (2009)
After watching “Bitch Slap” it’s pretty obvious that the only reason it received half the attention that it did was because of the energetic production and the gorgeous women who star in it. The women are absolutely stunning particularly Julia Voth who is just mind blowingly sexy and pulls off her airhead character Trixie quite well. She can bitch slap me any day of the week. But not really. It has its heart in the right place with homages to the likes of Russ Meyer and Quentin Tarantino but in the center of everything this is really nothing more than a soft core Cinemax porno painted to look like a grindhouse throwback.
Cop Out (2010)
In spite of hating almost everything Kevin Smith has ever done, I’ve always given him the benefit of the doubt because he seems like a cool guy. But at the end of the day being a cool guy doesn’t mean you’re going to make a good movie, and “Cop Out” is proof of that. Being just a goon for hire this time, Smith has released quite possibly his worst movie to date, and the very fact that he’s continued to defend it just astounds me. I mean I’ve heard of directors defending their work, but a lemon is a lemon. “Cop Out” is a movie that had the chips stacked against it from the get go. This is not an original Smith production, and it has some of the worst casting of all time.
Deaden (2006)
I’m a real sucker for revenge films and for the longest time I’ve tried to track down this little indie production and see what the fuss was about. This basically mini-budget action thriller is a typical raw vengeance piece that holds pieces of The Punisher, Death Wish and Scarface with just the right amount of Irish edge that keeps the story moving at a brisk pace. The chaos and carnage that is inflicted by our main character Rane is just sadistic, but in the end it’s a sick and demented series of payback plots for a group of sick and demented people.
Léon: The Professional (1994)
In spite of ranking on the top ten lists of many, many movie fans since its release, my love for “Leon: The Professional” was not immediate. As a matter of fact I pretty much disliked it on the first and second outings because I couldn’t quite grasp what Luc Besson was going for with this film. It’s not an action movie, it’s more of a love story set to the tone of bloodshed and corruption, a subtle poetic masterpiece that relies on characterization and artistic strokes of pure raw emotion than some shoot em up gangster flick.
The Top Ten "Kick Ass" Moments
Well, it’s coming, yet another superhero comic adaptation but thankfully this one is different. If you’ve never read it before, “Kick-Ass” is not so much about superheroes as it is about regular narcissistic everyday people putting on costumes and trying to fight crime and somehow finding themselves becoming real costumed superheroes when they just happen to crash in to a real life villain who wants them dead at all costs. There’s a violent karate fighting nine year old, a lot of really disgusting violence, and a storyline that is more realistic than most comic books tend to be. “Kick-Ass” does not stylize being a superhero. It’s rough to read.
Coming up on April 16th is the big screen version with an interesting cast who are threatening to take the box-office by storm and if you’ve ever seen the appealing trailers, you’ll know that we’re in for something quite spectacular. After reading the comic series a while ago, I thought it’d be good to pinpoint the top ten moments in “Kick-Ass” that particularly disturbed or excited us. Believe it or not, “Kick-Ass” is quite a good comic with a creator who managed to make history in comics by creating “Wanted,” another very violent comic turned in to a hit movie starring Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman. “Kick-Ass” is a bit more conventional, but damn it looks quite good in spite of Millar’s apparent homophobia and penchant for racial stereotyping. So without further ado…
Warning, since the comic is somewhat similar to the movie, there will be potential spoilers.