Rob-B-Hood Review

Synopsis:

The film is an action comedy about three robbers who kidnap a baby. For this film, Chan wanted to play a full-fledged villain, but Chinese censors rejected the original script. So, In the movie, Chan portrays a gambling addict who kidnaps the grandson of a tycoon for ransom, but ends up as a hero trying to protect the child from the mob.

The film follows a group of thieves made up of Thongs (Chan), Octopus (Louis Koo), and Landlord (Michael Hui). They steal for different reasons. Thongs is a compulsive gambler who faces debt collectors at his door. Octopus spends his fortunes to court a rich girl. Landlord does not spend his loot, but saves all of it and keeps it in a safe in his house. After Landlord's house was broke into and all his savings stolen, he was desperate to regain his fortune and accepted a job offer that will pay him in huge sums. At the same time Thongs and Octopus were both in desperate need of money again, and they went for the job without knowing the details. Only after breaking in did they know that Landlord was asked to steal a baby, and return it to the baby's alleged grandfather, who is also the head of a Triad. When they were on the way to hand over the baby, they ran through a police road block, resulting in a car crash. Landlord was hospitalized and kept in police custody because of the accident, while Thongs and Octopus was forced to take care of the baby, deciding that it will be best to hold on to their prize before the Landlord is released. They faced challenges from all fronts, including the Triads, Thongs' creditors, Octopus wife and of course, the baby they've stolen.

Mini-Review:

I will have to admit, I got Rob-B-Hood to see what Jackie Chan still had left. The action scenes where OK, but you can tell he's in his upper 50's. He just doesn't seem as fast and you could tell they sped the film up to make up for it. He does do some cool stunts, but the age is definitely showing.

Now, the movie itself needs you to leave your parenting ways at home. If there wasn't a doll used for most scenes, shaken baby syndrome would have occured many times in the film. Starting with right after the baby is born, he is snatched by a disgruntled ex-boyfriend of the mother, and is shaken around as he eludes the authorities and parents. Then, he is dropped about 2 stories before JC barely catches him on the side of an escalator. You see the "baby" hit the side of the escalator. He then slides out of his clothes and falls another story to waiting nurse’s arms. This is the first 10 minutes. There are many other instances, which will make most parents cringe.

The movie itself was just OK. It starts off with 2 burglars Thongs (Jackie Chan) & Octopus (Louis Koo). Thongs (not sure if the translation was correct on this 0_o) has a gambling problem, and Octopus is a womanizer that's married. It's your typical story of, bad men > steal baby > become better people by end of film.

The movie had it's moments that made you feel good, cringe (see above) and some OK action scenes (car chase scene with baby carriage stuck to back of armored car is pretty out there), but overall the film was pretty goofy. It wasn't a complete waste of time.

And yes Trey, there is a nice baby montage in it for you. I don't remember a baby powder scene, but it did have peeing in the face and dirty diaper to the face. There were actually 3 dirty (I do mean dirty) diapers to the face in the film. How many Hollywood films do we get that?

Rating: Rental

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SAVE THE CHEERLEADER, SAVE THE WORLD!

I know, I know, the blog is "STR8 UP FILM", but you will read my post about a TV show and like it! So, calm down.

Plot (from wikipedia):

The first four episodes were dubbed "Ordinary people discovering extraordinary abilities." At the end of the fourth episode, an event occurred which kicked off the current arc: "Save the cheerleader, save the world," which is presumably in reference to Claire Bennet, a high school cheerleader from Texas with the ability to rapidly heal from injury, and the apocalyptic visions of New York artist Isaac Mendez. As the large ensemble cast slowly discovers their abilities and existence of others like them, they begin to realize the need for them to come together to prevent a catastrophe and save mankind.

According to NBC's official Web site, not only do the characters discover their superpowers, but also uncover a larger picture concerning their superpowers' origins. The characters become involved in each other's lives as they attempt to evade the series' antagonist, Sylar, who is tracking and killing super-powered humans.

Mini-Review:

When I first saw previews for Heroes on the SciFi channel awhile back, I had high hopes. Now that we are 9 episodes in, I am not disappointed!

The abilities slowly become apparent to the characters and the viewers. There's Flying, bending the space-time continuum, rapid healing, predicting the future, etc... Each episode seems to introduce someone new with super-human powers. It is becoming apparent, some will be good and some will be evil.

The Sylar character is very interesting. He seems to have this grudge with people with powers (hater!). Not sure if it's jealousy, or a childhood tragedy. He takes out his anger, by freezing people with powers and taking their brains.

Right now, my favorite character is Hiro Nakamura. He possesses the ability to teleport and manipulate the space-time continuum.

Rating: WATCH IT!

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The Departed Review

Synopsis:

Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson and Mark Wahlberg star in Martin Scorsese's new crime drama "The Departed."

"The Departed" is set in South Boston where the Massachusetts State Police Department is waging an all-out war to take down the city's top organized crime ring. The key is to end the reign of powerful mob boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) from the inside. A young rookie, Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), who grew up in South Boston, is assigned to infiltrate the mob run by Costello. While Billy is working to gain Costello's trust, another young cop who came up from the streets of "Southie," Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), is quickly rising through the ranks of the state police. Earning a spot in the Special Investigations Unit, Colin is among a handful of elite officers whose mission is to bring Costello down. But what his superiors don't know is that Colin is working for Costello, keeping the crime boss one step ahead of the police.

Each man becomes deeply consumed by his double life, gathering information about the plans and counter-plans of the operation he has penetrated. But when it becomes clear to both the gangsters and the police that they have a mole in their midst, Billy and Colin find themselves in constant danger of being caught and exposed to the enemy -- and each must race to uncover the identity of the other man in time to save himself.

"The Departed," the gritty crime drama from director Martin Scorsese, takes us into the lives of two cops: Colin Sullivan, smart and unabashedly ambitious, appears to be on the fast track in the Massachusetts State Police Department's elite Special Investigations Unit, whose prime target is powerful Irish mob boss Frank Costello. Billy Costigan, street-smart and tough, is purported to have a violent temper that costs him his badge and eventually lands him back on the rough streets of South Boston, where he is recruited into Costello's ranks. But neither man is what he seems and, as they work at cross purposes, they are plunged into a dangerous game of cat and mouse in which the stakes could not be higher.

The story of "The Departed" is based on the 2002 crime thriller out of Hong Kong called "Infernal Affairs," which achieved great success in Asia before coming to U.S. shores in 2004. An American version was soon in the works, with William Monahan writing the screenplay.

Mini-Review:

Wow, this movie blew me away. I have to say, I was a little worried when I heard about this being made a year or so ago. The movie was said to be a remake of one of my favorite HK films Infernal Affairs. Closer to The Departed's release, I started reading that Martin Scorsese actually took elements from the Infernal Affairs Trilogy. I wasn't to sure about this, but it worked. Also, I haven't been all that impressed with Scorsese's films, since Goodfellas and Casino. Not to say his newer films were bad, just not my cup of tea. I had high hopes for Gangs of New York, but in the end I was let down. Well, the "stomping on your face" Scorsese is back with a vengeance!

Another one of my concerns was the South Boston Irish accents. I know Matt Damon and Marky Mark grew up in Massachusetts, but Leo and Nicholson trying to due this accent scared me. I have to say, I was really impressed with DiCaprio's accent. He pulled it off IMO. As for Nicholson, he didn't even try. He just played a crazy (I do mean nuttso) boss, like only he could. No need for accents here.

The movie is violent and vulgar, but it works. Here's a little IMBD trivia for ya:

"The word "f*ck" and its derivatives are said 237 times throughout the film."

This is the best movie of 2006 in my eyes. I am really itching to go see it again, before it's out of the theaters. The DVD will be in my top 10, once it's released.

Rating: Go see it NOW!

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UPDATE:

This is from an articale posted on 10/06/06 on KFCCinema:

"The Departed": Too Much Swearing

The word is in on Martin Scorsese's "Infernal Affairs" remake "The Departed" from the only source which really matters - the star of the Hong Kong original, the unaging one himself, Andy Lau. Speaking after the film's Hong Kong premiere, Lau noted that although it used several quotes from the original, it contained far too much bad language, and felt that it went on too long, combining elements from all three films in the trilogy, though the film makers had only paid for the rights for the first episode. When asked to rate the movie, Andy rather generously responded: "I would rate both versions 8 out of 10. I thing I don’t like the most is how they made Kelly Chen and Sammi Cheng’s characters into one. I don’t think that the two male characters would like one female. But the remake is ok to watch". So there you have it, Andy has spoken!

EXPLODING DVD Player! (Well, sort of.)

The post you've all been waiting for is finally hear!

I purchased the codefree Malata N996 DVD Player around 8 years ago for about $200, because members of the AnimeOnDVD & DVDTalk forums said it coverted PAL > NTSC the best at the time. It has been a great player for all these years.

So, Friday night (11/10) I get ready to watch Dog Bite Dog. I turn on my faithful Malata, and I hear this loud POP! It kind of freaked me out. I didn't know if it was my TV or the DVD Player. The lights on the DVD Player still worked, so I'm thinking everything is OK. I put in the Dog Bite Dog DVD, close the tray, and I hear another loud POP! Screen doesn't look right, and the tray no longer will open. After all the love the Malata and I have shared over the years, it tries to eat my disc. I DON'T THINK SO! Now, I'm in the tech business and went to ITT, so I'm not afraid to do an autopsy on mere electronics. I get out my trusty screwdriver, and go to work. What I find inside, is not pretty. Two capacitors decided to explode! And, I do mean EXPLODE!

Obviously, I am very disappointed at this point. Not only do I not have a DVD Player anymore, but I wouldn't be getting my movie fix that night. So, I go to BestBuy.com and do a little research on the models they carry, by checking them on VideoHelp.com (great resource for finding out about features that are not listed on the box. If you know what I mean?).

I settled on the Toshiba SD-3990 ($49.99), purchased it online and picked the option to pickup in store. Next day, picked up my new player. That night, I go to hook everything up and lo and behold, it doesn't have an optical jack. It takes an RCA coaxial cable instead for digital sound. Off to Fry's I go for another $15 cable. Oh well, at least I'm watching DVDs again!

I really like the player. The tray is a little flimsy, but it is codefree and converts PAL > NTSC just fine. It also has 100X fast-forward and rewind. 0_o Warp speed!

Thanks for listening, and remember: Electronics DO fight back!

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Pusher Trilogy Review

Pusher Trilogy


PUSHER

PUSHER II: WITH BLOOD ON MY HANDS

PUSHER III: I’M THE ANGEL OF DEATH

Pusher Trilogy Trailer

Synopsis:

Writer and director Nicolas Winding Refn turned down a place at the prestigious National Danish Film School in order to make his 1996 feature film debut, PUSHER. This violent, edgy, yet moving cult classic established Refn as an uncompromising filmmaker of great talent and depth. Following his next two films, Bleeder (1999) and Fear X (2003), Refn returned to the Copenhagen underworld in 2004 with PUSHER II: WITH BLOOD ON MY HANDS, while 2005 saw the release of PUSHER III: I’M THE ANGEL OF DEATH.

All three PUSHER films display Refn effortlessly blending moody atmospherics and frenetic action, portraying his characters with a depth and confidence belying his years. Though each film can be appreciated independently of the other two, Refn subtly interweaves these three tales so that a minor character in one film moves to the fore to become the central character of the next. The resulting trilogy stands as a masterful reinvention of international crime cinema, as poignantly human as it is brutally and viscerally realized. The PUSHER trilogy reveals the humanity in even the most violent criminals and how every pusher?no matter what his status?is only one bad deal away from total ruin.

Mini-Review:

I had allot of expectations going into this trilogy. I have heard about it for the last 2 years, and really heard nothing bad about it. It sounded like something right up my ally. Maybe that high expectation, is why I was a little disappointed.

There are some great and interesting characters, that are easy to buy into. They seem to just end up going down the wrong paths. The endings of all three films, leave you feeling that you really don't care for the main actors anymore.

I am still glad I saw these films finally, and as a whole or each movie by themselves, they are OK films. Just not what I was hoping for. Moral of the Pusher Trilogy? Drugs are bad!

I liked the way they packaged the trilogy. One big case that holds all three DVDs. Audio is only 2.0 on all three films. I was not too happy about that. Since the first film is from 1996, then I can understand, but the final 2 came out in 2004 & 2005. A little 5.1 wouldn’t hurt. Subtitles looked good to me.

There is a documentary on the first disc called The Gambler, that I would like to watch before selling the set. Maybe this will help with my opinions for the trilogy.

Rating: Rental

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Next up: Exploding DVD Player!

Dog Bite Dog Review

Dog Bite Dog

Synopsis :

“Only a beast can smell the tracks of its own kind.”

Pang Jr., a young killer from Cambodia, arrived Hong Kong to assassinate. At the same time, cop Sam and his team of detectives got their orders to investigate the crime. Wai soon found Pang with his intuition and started pursuit. Terrified, Pang fled to a refuse dump in the countryside, where he accidentally met Yue. Yue was raped by her step- father. Pang killed her step-father and promised Yue that he would take her to Cambodia and start a new and happy life together.

By this time, Wai and his colleagues tracked down the couple. Pang, like an injured beast, and killed Wai’s colleagues one by one and escaped to Cambodia. Wai swear that he would kill Pang himself even if they were at the ends of the Earth. The two men became like two wild dogs to attack each other, neither one wanting to stop until the other side fell!

Mini-Review:

Wow, this is one brutal film. Here is a quote from Peter Martin's review on TwitchFilm:

"Dog Bite Dog grabs you by the back of the neck and body slams you into the mud. Before you can catch your breath, your face is scraped along a broken concrete highway, leaving a long, bloody trail. All that's left is for a speeding truck to crush your head like a grape."

Yup, pretty much sums it up. There is no wire-fu or any real kung-fu, it's more realistic beat downs in the fights and in your brain. The film makes you start to like certain characters, then that just turns. It seems to show that everyone has that "DOG" side in them.

I really liked this film. Not sure if that makes me insane, but it just had a really interesting story and some intense scenes, you don't think are coming.

The DTS sound track was loud. This is good, because the soundtrack is awesome! When the fights happen, there are dog noises. There was barking and growling, but they messed with the sounds (fading, echoes, etc..). One of the coolest effects I've heard. Problem is, I don't like dogs, so it made me a little nervous at times. 0_o This also helped with the feel of the film.

Video looked great as well. The single disc edition had some troubles with the video, so I would purchase the 2-disc edition. This ones staying in my collection.

Thanks for reading my first MINI-review. Look for the exploding DVD Player post and my Pusher Trilogy review.

Rating: Keeper

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STR8 UP FILM DEBUT

Well, I have been talked into starting a blog from a good friend. Check him out at his own blog:

My sweet blog

I hope to bring you mini-reviews of films I see on DVD and in the theater. We'll see how it goes, but maybe the "mini" will turn into "full" reviews in the future.

Thanks,
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