His Chinese gun smuggling ring dismantled, Triad
gangster Lee has designs on moving his operation stateside. He’s even found a gwailo benefactor to help
make this dream a reality. Alas, old
demons come back to haunt him, preventing his plans from truly coming to fruition.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Short Film Review: Magnetic
Rogue Agent “Dark Suit” (Alexander Hashioka-Oatfield) is
finally tracked down by Rookie Agent “Light Suit” (Jessie Bayani). The game appears to be up as “Dark Suit” has
his hands up against a wall and is being frisked by “Light Suit.” “Dark Suit” suddenly gets the drop on his
less experienced counterpart, disarming him.
A pitched battle ensues in the tiny space as “Light Suit” struggles to
regain the upper hand over his prey. In
the end, only one agent will walk away from this alive.
Movie Trailer: The Avengers - Official Trailer #2
By now, moviegoers have surely been shown enough of The Avengers via trailers and
commercials to have an idea of what the film holds in store. Each successive advertisement has tried to
expand the scope of the film a bit. They’ve
been successful to an extent, though it still seems like the first episode in
an extravagant television series rather than an ambitious big screen epic. That notwithstanding, it must be acknowledged
that there appears to be some very good stuff here. The latest trailer, billed as the second
official one, plays like a two and half minute highlight reel. It’s a procession of money shots in which
each character gets to shine a bit. Some
moments are so good that one wishes they would have been saved for the film
itself.
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Movie Trailer: 'The Raid: Redemption' U.S. Trailer
Is there any more that I can possibly write about my
anticipation for The Raid? At this point, I just want to see the damned
movie already. It certainly doesn’t help
that Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions keeps dangling film clips and
trailers in front of fans like carrots in front of Bugs Bunny. They obviously know they have one Hell of a
product on their hands, and have no compunction about teasing it up until the
zero hour. What else could possibly
explain their curious decision to rename it The
Raid: Redemption so late in the game?
Just what is that title change supposed to signify?
Labels:
Action Film,
Cop Film,
Foreign Film,
Martial Arts,
Movie Trailer Review,
The Raid
Batman Gets Medieval In a New Suit of Armor
Of Batman’s many moniker’s, “The Dark Knight” has always
been my favorite. It adds an air of
majesty to the caped crusader, almost as if the Batman persona is a position
that has been handed down in the Wayne family for generations. It also paints the Batman as a true warrior
that holds a place of honor in his beloved Gotham. It’s a title befitting an icon. After all, what is The Batman if not a Knight in every sense of the word?
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Movie Review: Elite Squad: The Enemy Within
All is not well in the streets of Rio de Janeiro. After the BOPE (Military Police of Rio de
Janeiro State) violently squelches an inmate uprising at the Bangu 1 penitentiary,
lieutenant colonel Roberto Nascimento (Wagner Moura) is promoted to sub-secretary
of Intelligence at the public safety department. He has his work cut out for
him, as drug cartels have turned the city’s slums into a warzone. He also has sworn enemy in History teacher
and staunch liberal Diogo Fraga (Irandhir Santos), who witnessed the BOPE’s
violent methods at Bangu 1 firsthand.
Incensed, Fraga becomes a state representative Hell bent on exposing
corruption in city government. He also
marries Nacismento’s ex-wife Rosane (Maria Ribeiro), becoming stepfather to
their son.
Labels:
Action Film,
Cop Film,
Movie Review,
True Crime
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Short Film Review: Lego Captain America
Captain America, with shield and pistol in tow, bursts in on
a secret Nazi meeting. Catching those in
attendance completely off guard, he commences to make mincemeat out of everyone
in the room. Reinforcements arrive, but
to no avail. All who enter are shot,
sliced, or eviscerated. Even a helicopter
armed with a Gatling proves to be no match for America’s favorite super
soldier. At the end of it all, Cap emerges
triumphant.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Movie Trailer: The Amazing Spider Man Trailer #2
I’ll just go ahead and put it out there: I really don’t want to like The Amazing Spider-Man. I already got the Spider-Man movie of my dreams
eight years ago with Spider-Man 2. I’ve been a fan of Sam Raimi since Darkman, and I always saw him as being
the ideal choice for this property. This
reboot wipes the slate clean and starts from scratch, tossing everything Raimi
and company did out the proverbial window. That really irks me, yet I still don’t
want the film to fail. I want to be
proven wrong come opening day. Spidey
has been my favorite superhero since childhood, and I root for him no matter
what. I’ll gladly eat a nice big slice
of humble pie if the final product delivers.
Labels:
Movie Trailer Review,
Science Fiction,
Spider-Man,
Superhero
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Movie Review: Chronicle
A trio of teenagers are blessed
with telekinetic powers after coming in contact with a strange glowing object. Each handles their new-found abilities in
different ways. Matt’s (Alex Russell) inner superhero is
slowly awakened. Already brimming with
confidence and swagger, Steve (Michael B. Jordan) takes it all in stride. The overly timid Andrew (Dane Dehaan) gradually comes out
of his shell, but years of being bullied at school and at home have given him a
pronounced dark side. He obsessively
documents his entire life on video, and manages to capture the trio’s super-powered experiments and misadventures in great detail. With each use, their powers grow exponentially. In Andrew’s case, that metamorphosis has
tragic results.
Labels:
Movie Review,
Science Fiction,
Superhero
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Mission Not Quite Impossible: One Teenager's Unrelenting Quest to See 'Juice'
In 1992, I was rediscovering my NY roots. Having lived in Lithonia, GA for six years at
that point, I wasn’t really a New Yorker anymore. Though I still enjoyed much of the rap music
that came from there, my growing fascination with West Coast gangsta rap had
nearly converted me by that point. I
wasn’t really feeling the then emerging generation of NY rappers. Brand Nubian and Leaders of the New School
just didn’t move me, at least not at first.
Their videos sucked, and their production left something to be desired
in my eyes. However, by 1992 I was
slowly coming back to the fray. Some
kids from Queens had started going to my High School. I liked their swagger, and in turn befriended
them. Another influence in that same regard
was my cousin, a native of the Parkchester section of the Bronx. He had just signed a deal with Wyld Pitch
records, and the B-Side of his first single
celebrated the home town in grand
fashion. As if some sort of omen, a film appeared on the scene that seemed to
cater to my feelings at the time.
Labels:
Black Cinema,
Black Interest,
Hip-Hop,
Movies,
Rap
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