Tag Archives: Foreign

Director Juliane Block & Her Blockbusters

Posted on by

july02Juliane Block is playing the field that only boys have for a very long time. From John Woo, John McTiernan, and Clint Eastwood, action films and the action genre have been a boys game for a very long time. Once a make-up artist, Ms. Juliane Block is a seasoned professional in working behind the scenes and is now directing her very own martial arts films. We reviewed her short martial arts film “Ramly at War” and managed to convince us that she is the next big action director capable of breaking out of the indie field and delivering some of the greatest action films of all time.

Currently, Ms. Block is working on developing her newest feature film and is working on funding her latest films and garnering as much experience as possible. She took time out while working on her action projects to tell us why she is no amateur and why her films are bonafide Blockbusters for a new age.

Continue reading →

You Have to See This! Leon: The Professional (1994)

Posted on by

shot0034kLeon is a hit man, the best hit man working for Tony.  He kills without a sound, without any emotion, he has only one rule “no woman, no child”, he’s the perfect hit man.  Leon lives in the same building as Mathilda and her dysfunctional family.  Mathilda’s father is a drug-dealer who does not care much, her stepmom does not seem to like her much, and her big sister seems to hate her.  Mathilda’s sole solace is her younger brother, whom she loves very dearly.  Comes in New York City’s crooked DEA, Norman Stansfield, who hired Mathilda’s father as a drug dealer.  After the drugs are found to have been cut, Stansfield demands an answer as to how this has happened by 12 noon the next day.

Continue reading →

The Nunsploitation Convent Collection (DVD)

Posted on by

Available in on 2500 Limited Edition Copies, Cult Epics has released the ultimate in nunsploitation double features pairing two of the most iconic nunsploitation films of all time “School of the Holy Beast” and “Behind Convent Calls” together, and attaching a new restoration along with fantastic features for all collectors. “School of the Holy Beast” is the definition of the nunsploitation sub-genre. It’s a wonky, surreal, and demented piece of Asian drama with some of the most memorable moments I’ve ever seen in the Grindhouse motif. Most importantly it has an odd sense of humor that make it worthy of many laughs, but ones that will assuredly be of the uncomfortable sort.

Continue reading →

Dym (2007)

Posted on by

smoke_mainAt the request of director Grzegorz Cisiecki, I cautiously entered in to his 2007 short film entitled “Dym,” and hoped to see what would be the seeds of a great director in the making. While in the end “Dym” leans toward being a demo reel for work in the states, “Dym” is also a striking short film delving in to the psychosexual madness our main character endures when experiencing a turbulent romance with his girlfriend.

Continue reading →

Monsters (2010)

Posted on by

monsters_3Gareth Edwards science fiction horror flick is a grim picture, and one nowhere near intent on offering a positive look on humanity and a new world. What he instead does is spotlight a new world where one side has learned to co-exist with a new breed of creatures that crash landed on Earth, while the more privileged side of the world is so intent on refusing to admit the inevitable that they’ve built possibly the largest wall to separate them from the rest of society. Edwards’ genre offering while essentially a monster movie with carnage and shocks is also a thought provoking piece on society and two views on it looking down at two characters who see more than they ever have in a matter of forty eight hours.

Continue reading →

Rammbock: Berlin Undead (2011)

Posted on by

Fans of the zombie sub-genre are ensconced in the walking dead these days as Hollywood and filmmakers all over the world in every corner have found taking to the living dead to be a source of creativity and an unlimited audience who want to see who can take the belt from Romero. “Rammbock” has an hour long to tell multiple stories and screenwriter Benjamin Kressler is up to the challenge staging the end of the world in modern Germany at the hands of raging infectious monsters, all of whom have a taste for blood and are relentless.

Continue reading →

Amer (2009)

Posted on by

Visually and viscerally, “Amer” is a film that is a throwback to the classic Giallo thrillers, but deep down it is much more of an academic breakdown of the Giallo sub-genre and not so much a straight forward giallo film. True it has shades of the visual flourishes with uses of color and specific dashes of sharp editing that suck us in to the narrative, all the while invoking memories of “Suspiria” and “Tenebre” upon which both directors call on to create something of an evocative sexual thriller, in the end. “Amer” is admittedly an exhausting film and that counts as a criticism and a recommendation.

Continue reading →