Films like this make me happy I can afford to pay for them because “Layer Cake” is worth the money in the end. Taking off with a very Guy Ritchie sensibility, director Matthew Vaughn who has had involvement with one of my favorite films of the past years “Snatch” creates his own stylish monster of a mob movie with “Layer Cake”. What does the title refer to? Well, that’s basically something left for the climax, but this rampage of sex, booze, drugs, and violence make this one of the best mob movies I’ve seen since “Snatch”. Mr. X is a drug dealer/drug maker who wants to grab life by the balls.
Tag Archives: Foreign
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
After Stephen Chow’s hilarious “Shaolin Soccer”, he comes back with yet another very funny action-comedy that is part Chuck Jones, part Bruce Lee. The marriage of tense, engrossing martial arts action, and off the wall screwball antics that would make Tex Avery gleam with pride, is a task that wouldn’t be an easy one by any means, but director Stephen Chow balances the two accordingly, and as the climax becomes more action than comedy, there is still a sense of the goofy to it, a goofiness that some will love for its sheer originality, and some won’t for that same fact. Chow manages to create some of the most screwy comedy I’ve seen in a long time, while he manages to spoof much of his influences such as “The Shining” and “Thriller” as do all the directors whom have been impacted by pop culture.
Ong Bak: Thai Fighter (2003)
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.
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.
The Triplets of Belleville (Les Triplettes de Belleville) (2003)
Hitchcock once said, “If it’s a good movie, the sound could go off and the audience would still have a perfectly clear idea of what was going on”. This wonderful French animated adventure “Triplets of Belleville” does the trick pure and simple and not only puts Hitchcock’s theory to work, but it manages to prove it without a doubt. It’s very rare we get great films that are silent these days yet manage to tell more of a story than any mainstream Disney film could ever hope to tell. Hitchcock would have loved this because it does an incredible job putting that theory to work throughout the entire story which has no dialogue whatsoever from any of the characters, but tells such a clear story.
Fortress (1986)
If you’re a fan of “Lord of the Flies”, “Battle Royale”, or just hostage thrillers in general, that is a very rare film to find, one that may be lost if time has its way. The film, based on a true story, is not only just a hostage thriller reminiscent of stories like “The Most Dangerous Game”, but in the end, ends up becoming a truly cautionary tale on what kids, with the right influence from adults, and pushed far enough to the edge, are capable of without conscience. Directed by Arch Nicholson, this is a very tense and engrossing thriller that calls for the wits of a young teacher named Sally, played by the decent Rachel Ward. Sally is a character that never really loses her cool in the face of danger and ends up becoming a very primal influence on the children she teaches, whom in the end, end up becoming deadlier than they seem.
Dogville (2003)
I don’t have a short attention span, I’m willing to invest three hours, maybe four or five on a film that I think will ultimately end up being very good. I’ve seen “Ben-Hur”, and “Giant” and both were movies that were worth spending many hours on. When a film is great, a four hour movie can feel like five minutes and leave you wishing there were more, but when a movie is bad those four hours feel like an eternity, as did “Dogville”. I knew independent art films could be pretentious and rambling, it comes with the package, but I never knew they could be this pretentious and this utterly nonsensical.