Movie Reviews

This is the Akira Kurosawa movie which was remade most recently as Last Man Standing (which I haven't seen), and previous as A Fistful of Dollars (which I have). It is a delightful film about a ronin samurai who gets hired by each of two yakuza gangs fighting over a town. Toshiro Mifune plays the Nameless Samurai to perfection. It is beautifully photographed and contains much humor. I especially like the funky characters, such as the innkeeper. Violent, but not excessively bloody. It's sequel is Sanjiro. This is the quintessential Samurai flick. Must See.

This movie inspired George Lucas when writing Star Wars, in terms of characters and some plot elements. A couple of hard-luck peasants who've lost everything in a war come across what appears to be a lordless warrior, who leads them to a hidden fortress to look for gold. The warrior is actually a Samurai general protecting the princess of a clan nearly wiped out by its enemies. The peasants bicker with each other like C3PO and R2D2 throughout the movie, though also show friendship. The haughty princess certainly smacks of Leia. The comedy is great, and many memorable scenes are woven into this fine picture. Much more situation-oriented than violent. Another Kurosawa classic. Beware of very low contrast prints. Highly recommended.

This film is based on the Lone Wolf and Cub manga comics from Japan (7,000 pages published to date). This is a very faithful rendition of this classic comic book. The former Shogun's Executioner roams the countryside with his young son (this is sometimes called the baby-cart assassin), righting wrongs and killing those sent to kill him. This movie shocked me by being one of the most graphically bloody Samurai films I've seen. It has three graphic rapes, one of which has the woman biting her attacker's tongue off and spitting the bloody thing on the floor, and lots of spurting blood; kind of the Sam Peckinpah style. Not that I'm offended by this kind of thing, it's just that the Samurai films I've seen (a lot) are rarely this overt. Other than this fact, this is a good solid film. The swordplay is exciting, the plot episodes well-paced, and the integrity to the comic book very firm. My version was dubbed, which ends up being rather unintentionally funny at times, reminiscent of What's Up, Tiger Lily? (Woody Allen's spoof of a Japanese spy movie). Rent it. The American sequel, Shogun Assassin, is the second and third Japanese movies in the series edited together. Highly recommended.

This recent film could be described as an action-comedy, similar to some of Schwarzenegger's stuff, but you never find acting in that genre as good as Geena Davis' is in this. She portrays an amnesiac who is attacked when someone in prison recognizes her on TV as an assassin he thought he'd killed. Her previous personality begins to emerge and she isn't very pretty. The tension between the personalities is fantastic to watch on her face. Samuel L. Jackson is excellent as her sleazy gumshoe, trying to find out who she was. Similar to his role in Pulp Fiction. This is a funny and violent picture. Recommended.

This is the Hong Kong version of La Femme Nikita, the French film also remade into Point of No Return in the US with Brigette Fonda. It follows the life of a street woman recruited by an intelligence agency as an assassin after being arrested for killing a cop. A quirky ending doesn't ruin this flick. HK and action film buffs will like this one, and its better than PoNR. It also is the only one of these three movies to have a sequel, called Black Cat II. Recommended.

This sequel to the above reviewed movie is one of those rarities: a sequel as good or better than the original. Black Cat has a new brain chip implant that gives her outstanding acrobatic abilities, but makes her more of a mental drone. Watch for the HK favorite, the belt sword, in the fantastic finale, where her opponent cuts a piece of aircraft debris in half. The fights are wonderful with the usual amount of Suspension of Disbelief for a HK flick (in other words, heavy SoD). Recommended.

This is the film where Jackie Chan proved his comic genius. As the son of the master of a kung fu school, Jackie gets in trouble for attacking the son of the master of a rival school. His father wants to teach him a lesson, so he calls in his uncle, who is known to be a horrible taskmaster. Jackie runs away to avoid the pain and injury that is sure to follow. Of course, he runs into the man anyway and begins his training in the unusual kung fu style, The Eight Drunken Gods. In the end, he saves the day with this very amusing style. Both Jackie and the old drunken master are very funny, and you shouldn't miss this strange kung fu style. Highly Recommended.

I enjoyed this movie, but the plot is very forgettable. For Jackie Chan, this is a good thing - otherwise, the plot might get in the way of the fantastic stunts and comedy. Jackie is a TV cooking show host and he accidentally gets mixed up with the mob. Great fight scenes as usual, and the finale is wild. Look for the chase through a partially constructed building with power tools as weapons. Jackie’s sense of comedy and slapstick is excellent. Recommended.

In this Jackie Chan movie, Jackie plays two roles: a street punk and a concert pianist. The two girlfriends get very confused about which is which. This is a typically funny Chan movie with lots of great martial arts and humor. Look for the bad street tough who starts worshipping the martial artist Jackie and asking for him to take him on as a student. I found this tape in the $3 bin at Best Buy. Highly recommended. 

Don't be fooled by mention of Jackie Chan on the promo info for this movie. He has about three minutes onscreen, though in a very funny cross-dressing scene. This is Michelle Yeow's movie all the way. She has some fantastic fight scenes, including one against an enormous American mercenary (he's at least 18 inches taller than she is). The plot is pretty basic criminal mastermind heist stuff with the added complication of Yeow's love interest working for the other side. Recommended.

Definitely eye candy with a plot to simply hang the action and performances on. It's wacky, it's funny, and was conceived by Luc Besson when he was sixteen. I've become a Gary Oldman fan, and his villain is quirky and exquisite. He's got a mean Texas twang and a permanent bad hair day. Bruce Willis is . . . what can I say? Bruce Willis. Milla Jovovich is the Fifth Element of the title. She can't speak English much, but she isn't supposed to; she's there to look good. My favorite scene is the 3D car chase through the NYC concrete canyons in anti-grav cabs and police cars. By 3D, I mean that traffic lanes are stacked up hundreds of stories. Recommended.

This is, hands down, the best cyberpunk movie ever made, and one of the best science fiction action movies. It has a fresh concept, fantastic special effects, excellent performances, and a great story line. In this film, Keanu Reeves has established himself as the cyberpunk actor, which he has been working on since Johnny Mnemonic. Even friends that don't like action films or cyberpunk liked this one. I'm planning on buying the letterbox version that has come out. Must See.

This is not another Disney cartoon. This Japanese animation is fantastic with outstanding animation (mostly hand-drawn), complex characters and a rich storyline. It tells a tale of human encroachment into the wild places of medieval Japan, and the resistance of the forest gods to this destruction. Disney has a distribution agreement with the Japanese production company, and this version has been professionally dubbed in English by Miramax. This is the best movie I've seen in years. It won the Japanese equivalent of the Oscar and broke all previous box office records. A Must See.

Grab your In Nomine books after you see this movie, because you can directly translate it into an adventure or mine its ideas for the rest of your campaign. Two Fallen Angels figure out a loophole to get back into heaven. A mortal, two prophets, an apostle, and a muse must stop them from destroying all of creation. A demon and a trio of Servitors are trying to get in the way.

This is among the best film experiences I've had in many years. The script is funny and poignant, the acting superb, and the direction is right on the mark. My girlfriend and I were dazed after the movie, which later led to an excited discussion of the ideas and humor. With George Carlin, Jay and Silent Bob, what more could you want. Must See.