Reviews

Reading reviews on IMDB, I felt it was important to correct the record. "No Tomorrow" is a good looking movie, helped by cannibalising existing films such as NARROW MARGIN and AIR AMERICA into something new. Jean-Luc Godard said that "Good artists borrow but great artists steal", so where do cannibals fit into that? In this case it ends up being an almost Hollywood-level-slick B-movie by PM Entertainment.

Fantastic cast assembled, even if not all appearing for long ... This is an exercise in pure cinema, about cinema itself and a joy to watch go through the well-worn platonic forms. And these stars really are used to their full pigment on that canvas. Gary Busey is crazy, Jeff Fahey is quirky eccentric, Gary Daniels earnestness is used as a weapon, Coffee Brown is Coffee Brown working in an FBI office, George Cheung comes and goes in the blink of an eye but reassures us that this is a real movie with his presence. Hip hop artist and producer Master P bookends the film for scenes where the sh** truly goes down.

Did rapper Master P actually direct this? Or was it in his contract to be credited because half of it was funded by hip-hop money? It has everything you want from a latter-period PM film stylistically, such as gorgeous long lens cinematography by Ken Blakey and trademark expressionistic explosions. Theres a moment early in the film where someone is hit by a rocket-launcher, propelling and impaling him against a wall, followed by a PM explosion. This was shot at night to show great contrast between the rocket-launchers, flame throwers, sparks and explosions in the dark space. Whatever Master P did, there was a well-oiled technical machine working under him.

Gary Daniels does no martial arts in this, yet its a good action film becuase it keeps moving with plenty of cool sequences both new and recycled. Daniels is an interesting cinematic construct who struggles dramatically on a technical level, but this has its own pathos and we root for him.

Yes, No Tomorrow literally takes a few action scenes from existing films and splices them in .. But like what Comeuppance Reviews (go to their website..) would describe as "Plane Slogs" (fighter-pilot movies that use stock aerial footage), I can admire a film's construction when these scenes are inserted seamlessly and support the film's overall structure. Thats why I say these kinds of movies are about cinema .. Like early Soviet works that took German and American films and just re-edited them .. Thus I would say its a film for film-buffs and filmmakers too. Its like that meme that shows the IQ distribution bell-curve .. With a genius on one side, an idiot on the other but a middle-brow person in the center who takes up the majority of the curve. This film is for the idiots and geniuses, but not the boring middle-brow person who thinks they are smart by scoffing at the obvious.

And no, its not a film where you have to leave your brain at the door, instead use your noggin to dissect how it was produced .. And on a visceral level, with its cool action and vibe .. Its actually well made within those constraints and totally enjoyable. Its a corporate gangster film with great intrigue until the credits roll. You will often find films that re-use footage having pretty good writing and structure, because they need to have a sense of precision to make the collision work. If you didn't realise this film had recycled footage, you would just view it as a slick, entertaining product, which was surprising to see having premiered on video. Either way its enjoyable. This is PM Entertainment competing with Hollywood in spectacle and aesthetic, just as they would fly too close to the sun.

This low budget film sits between a cheap genre B-movie, like a Nu-Image or PM Entertainment flick and a genuine 90s indie film with art-house sensibilities. Its flawed, has gaping holes in plot, logic and occasionally poor audio ... Yet overcomes much of this with its mixture of earnest morality tale message and decent style and aesthetic. Its not a Micky Rourke film, but he is well cast as a supporting character. It is cheaply made, but has enough energy, camera movements, stylistic touches and memorable characters to make this worth viewing. Its a nice random DVD-pick-up or late-night viewing.

Gary Daniels has one of the best DTV martial arts movie careers and I think this is one of the highlights ... A half-American and half-Japanese production, shot in a combination of both Japanese and English.

All the action scenes are terrific, Daniels gets to do what he does best but we get the extra element of swordplay. Kiyoshi Nakajoe kind of steals the show with his performance, a super-cool Yakuza character who seems to control the space around him. What I liked about the film was how the dueling narratives of both men intertwined... Cop and criminal that may have more in common than they realise.

I have no idea why this film has bad reviews on IMDB, I think its well worth tracking down and watching if this is your genre. Its very much an above average DTV martial arts film in terms of craft (the often pastel colours give a nice aesthetic feeling) and the action is mostly superb. Would be a good double-feature with White Tiger or one of Gary's PM entertainment flicks.

This has been a DVD cover staring back at me from inside $2-bins for over a decade. But I couldn't tell what this movie was, didn't recognise the actors and thus there was usually something else I would gamble on with Don "The Dragon" Wilson or Lorenzo Lamas instead ... It is these places that we search for a different flavour and texture ... Not just in the filmmaking itself, but the strange journey the movies take to find us ...

So I was in a secondhand furniture store recently and picked up a stack of these bargain-basement DVDs and in my haste, chose this one too, because "why not?" .. At this point, having seen it's cover so many times, it felt like the law of averages had finally clicked in this film's favour. It had some imagery on the back-cover from the inside of nightclubs and I enjoy that coloured light, noir-atmosphere in a film.

So, to my surprise, this ended up being an intelligently-written zen-piece on the art of small and medium size grifts, but with a strange sense of honour, as if it were being done by a samurai. The master of these curious payphone tricks is played by Tommy Redmond Hicks, who somehow comes across as being a moralist in his criminal acts ... A sort of fake-cheque Morphius. The cop on his tail is played by Jack Conley, a classical film-noir character, indecisive and back on the beat after some legal troubles of his own.

Slightly dated by its verbose Tarantino-esque conversations, Confidence Man is a high-point in direct-to-video cinema while the genre was otherwise taking a nose-dive in the early 2000s. At the moment I write this, it has zero IMDB reviews and scant info whatsoever online.. Like a thief in the night.. This does not help its rediscovery. Yet it's an intriguing hidden-gem, very much worth digging-up after all these years of obscurity. In its minimalist, rough around the edges way, Confidence Man compares favourably to bigger-budget films in the crime and neo-noir genres.. But as a kind of bonus, you get the satisfaction and aforementioned texture and feeling only an obscure film can provide.

The company that made the film is credited as "Be Brave Pictures" and they even thank people in the credits for often working for free ... It was indeed brave to make something more like an A-picture in terms of writing, but go against the formula of the time by not having a star-name on the cover to move units. But rather than all their money going on David Hasselhoff, it seemed to have been a very limited pool spent on a personal dream. Sure, it ticks genre boxes, but it's also very unconventional, opening with a First-Testament quote on the screen followed by a monologue about Dante's Inferno. It didn't look like it made a commercial splash ... That's a bummer ... But artistically, nobody can take the work away from them.

OK, just quickly, this was actually very satisfying... Not so much in an action-sense, but because its a well-written warped scifi, with cool cinephilic indulges during the virtual reality sequences...

Get past the pedestrian laser-gun shootout at the beginning and you are then left with a fantastic cast of mostly B-movie actors, with interesting chemistry, in an interesting atmosphere. Tracy Scoggins steals the show with her devilish and mysterious turn.

Its a cheap film, but entirely worth watching. Great late-night movie. One of the better PM Entertainment sci-fi outings.

I remember watching this as a child on SBS TV in Australia during the day time.. I felt like I was pulled into an entirely new cinematic world.. It was unusual watching a children's film in French at this time.. I had seen a few films for adults in a foreign language but not one for kids.. The mystical pirate character was very wacky and made the whole journey very entertaining... I cannot remember much more about the film apart from once it had finished and the credits rolled, I thought it was one of my favorite films.. Its been very hard to obtain a copy of this since.. But I hope to see it again one day.

You may be able to help, stick around to the end of this review!

Almost twenty years ago I saw this film on latenight TV in Australia.. I was smoking a lot of pot.. What I remember is endless sex scenes, that went on forever.. It was a surreal softcore film noir thriller..

So I decide to track down the film and purchase an "unrated" American VHS release.. Only problem is, it feels cut to shreds.. Was this "unrated" version censored compared to the Australian network TV version?

Well my questions MAY be soon answered.. Iv ordered a Dutch VHS version... Surely a European version should be the least censored... My understanding is that they basically live nude in Holland.. But maybe they just used the same version?

And by the way, Im not getting this uncut version because Im some kind of perv.. It was a cool late night flick with a nice DTV thriller aesthetic.. If I wanted titillation, there's plenty of that available online for free.. But I just want to see the full version again and confirm if I indeed there is an uncut version or was I just stoned and imagining what the film was as I drifted in and out of consciousness?

So if anyone can shed some light on this, if there are different cuts etc, please write a short review here and I will read it.

I don't understand all the negative reviews here.. This is a solidly made revenge tale.. It isn't really a Seagal film, hes just in the supporting cast, but its a nice ensemble of players who are all giving good performances..

It has a slick DTV style, is visually coherent .. Though there are a couple of crazy special FX early shots on that are pretty poor, but they don't really effect the enjoyment of the film.

Theres even a few nice action scenes, one in particular at a cabin.

Seagal is good in this, hes in that period of work where he has a Southern accent.. I just wish there was more of him in this film.. Probably something people say about a lot of his recent work.. But its so undeniably solid, I hope Seagal continues to work with this team as a lead actor. They could make a hit for sure.

In the Pawn Broker is a DVD for one dollar... It has two films on it .. An unusually good double bill of Sand Trap and Road Ends... Two B-pictures set in rural America.. Obviously I spent that dollar and enjoyed these back to back.

Road Ends has a fantastic ensemble cast, one of the best in any B-movie I have seen ... Especially Chris Sarandon, Peter Coyote and Mariel Hemingway ... But of course Dennis Hopper swell ... All the bit parts are perfect too .. Its just great casting, acting and directing.

The film looks good, but this is very much performance driven. A tight script.

This is an absolutely tonally perfect film. Thats all I really need to say. Its pitched at exactly the right tone, something most Hollywood films or cinema generally fails to achieve ... But this one does.

Get a legitimate copy of this film .. Mine was two films on one disc and consequently lower bitrate quality.. But that didn't seem to diminish my enjoyment of this film. This is worth having on disc and inserting into your player.. Then handing to someone else physically rather than sending a link.

If you like James Corbet's documentary on the same subject, I think this is a more in-depth examination of the the history and an underground epic that shouldnt be missed.

You should always do you own research and search widely. But I found this film to be solid as a rock and with pure intentions.

Yes the film is old-school.. Probably distributed on VHS back in the day .. But like the Yuri Besmenov lectures, sometimes its more powerful to watch people talk from the past and predict the future because it proves they are right and credible.

This would be a great double feature with a Yuri Besmenov lecture.

In Australia, the indie film scene is disparate, between feasts in a period of famine. With the death of DVD and mainstream cinema distribution, its becoming more irrational to want to make a movie in this country. Even Government funding bodies and festivals have started to spend their money on virtual reality and other mediums. So what for the future of film?

Running On Empty is a great series that explores this strange and disparate community of indie filmmakers who aren't particularly interested by rationality but are more driven by the passionate history and future of cinema. Some of the filmmaker's work look extraordinary. Some of it not so good. But all their stories have insights and what tends to unify the filmmakers is a renegade quality. So if you want to be a filmmaker, listen to their stories, its incredibly frank and open. The series is an important contribution to Aus screen culture 10/10.

Best Australian-directed film I'v seen for a while - Michael Rowe's EARLY WINTER.

Set in English and French speaking Canada, this is a chilling relationship drama with a fantastic eye. Unlike our local industry's use of cinemascope, Rowe uses the frame to tell a story, rather than throw arty dead-space at the audience. These are meticulously composed shots with long takes that frame great atmospheric, dramatic sequences.

The film is also a huge lesson in screen acting. The lead actress would normally do four takes based on the script, then say "Ok, now its my turn" and start improvising. The results are superb and perhaps something that couldn't be written on the page.

Why don't we make films as good as this locally (in Australia)? Well Rowe thinks its because bureaucrats know nothing about how to make a good film.. In the FINAL CUT interview, Rowe talks about the system being "afraid of directors". Great interview, check it out.

If you want to be proud of a local artist's work - seek out EARLY WINTER. Order the DVD or stream it its available through JB, Fishpond, ebay. Don't think about it, make it the top of your watch list.

If you want to be inspired by what a local artist has to say - listen to his interview in ABC Radio National THE FINAL CUT where he lays out his vision

A Bret Easton Ellis podcast with Kevin Smith as a guest lead me to a small Canadian film, made by 'kids', folk in their twenties, with handy-cams that may have been one of the biggest jolts of cool fresh air since Breathless. Kevin Smith, who helped distribute the film, dubbed THE DIRTIES "the most important movie you will see all year."

You could go two ways explaining this film. A short answer is that the experiment works, while a long answer would go into deconstructionist theory, pastiche, social commentary, adolescent alienation and the availability of modern technology as subject matter. But the first answer is really the best, in that young-folk half-wrote and mostly-improvised a hilarious and thrilling picture in a way only 'da-yoof can.

Why do they call it a royal with cheese?​ 'The f--ing metric system' answers an over-zealous teenage media-class student, dressed in 70s-pimp fur coat, pacing down the corridors of a high school. Their confused homage lacks irony in this film-within-a-film. The two virginal best-friends are plagiarizing and cringe-inducing their way through life. Shooting their own schlock movie, they may have just stumbled upon a genuinely new AND SICK idea, while simultaneously being filmed by a documentary crew..

Rather than be mocked for their derivative short films and pushed around by jocks, why don't they take part in a high school shooting and film the whole process?​ of course, if they only shoot the bullies or 'bad guys', it shouldn't be a problem, should it?​ Do they mean this literally?

I want to come back to my answer that this film works. Shot on real high school locations during school hours as a secret project, THE DIRTIES is a strange mix of being both an experimental and mainstream triumph. Some of the participants are unwittingly being filmed, such as lead-actor and director Matthew Johnson's mother in conversation at home. This 82min film is a two-for-one. The first half is a hilarious, chump slacker comedy and the second half descends into gripping will they/wont they nail-bight-er.. Which will surprise you. But what you also get is this innovative, multi-leveled film within a film ... within a film-thing, which strikes as utterly unique and unpretentious. An oblivious and accessible take on Godard's NUMERO DEUX via the Tarantino generation. Just as intricate as NUMERO DEUX but made on the ground-floor rather than ivory tower, it's an expression of young people's hyper-screen literacy. We, the audience, are regularly taken into the edit suite to view footage, while the devilish-duo play around and manipulate footage. What starts as a brilliant joke builds into something that is no longer funny and things become completely serious. A tonal shift like after the comedic training-montages of full metal jacket.

But what these youngsters have pulled off isn't just a fantastically effective film, it's a snapshot of life only young people can make about themselves. In a few years time, their window would have been gone. So it's also filled with finite qualities you can only get from young people brave enough to commit to a project at such a young age. Rather than fall into the traps of web-series or just standard short-films, both inferior formats, director and lead actor Matthew Johnson just went and made a feature regardless of whether it has a commercial home. The gamble paid off. The film had a budget of $10,000 and won best narrative feature at Slamdance. If you want a big kick in the pants about what you are doing with your life and the earth shattering revelation that a masterpiece is just a few brainstorming sessions away - get this one into you like a slushy on a hot day. It really is a tasty burger. Perhaps see it before their soon-to-be-released follow-up film OPERATION AVALANCHE. Shot without permission on real NASA headquarters, a 'found footage' film about how the moon landing was faked.. Highly anticipated.

Mike Retter

I was actually skeptical about this film when I saw the trailer and crowdfunding campaign. I had the usual worry of what they would cover in the film and what they would leave out. Some of the talking heads in the trailer were not really of this scene (a bunch of Americans!), so I was ready to yawn and roll eyes. But luckily they were people inspired by UK noise, that although more well-known than the shoegazers themselves, were there as supporting cast rather than the leads. Its quite surreal having massive pop-stars like Robert Smith talking about this much smaller music from a listener's point of view.

So its a vague scene for starters. I mean, where do we say "noise" started? Well, I think its OK to draw the line somewhere and just say it was Britain in 1980. Of course we know about the Velvet Underground and earlier - but this really is about "shoegaze" music (in the late 80s - early 90s), which openly revived the kinds of texture The Velvets and others explored in industrial music, but sometimes with new technology.

So the lead players are really The Cocteau Twins, Jesus And Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. Three hugely influential pillars of popular rock music that didn't really sell a lot of music. What this film does best is just let the musicians, engineers and studio heads speak for themselves. And what you get is not every piece of the sprawling puzzle (snobs wake-up, its impossible to explain everything about a decade of fuzzy music in one film) but a great overview of how the musicians felt about what they were doing and who influenced them. This is supported by bigger known American artists who sight these groups as influential to them.

The film doesn't have the structure and production value of something like a slick authorised Rolling Stones documentary - but thank goodness it doesn't. This was obviously a labor of love and the filmmakers obviously cared about the subject or all the significant artists wouldn't have contributed to it. A Rolling Stones (or any other big group) documentary is an authorised product these days, which means they get to cut out anything embarrassing and basically create a piece of advertising/propaganda to keep the legacy (business) going. Watch a John Lennon documentary and Yoko as the head of the Lennon estate will make sure you never know about John's previous wife.

This is definitely worth seeking out and surprisingly good.

Strangely, the documentary about a great cinematographer ended up being the greatest film about an another cinematic figure.

Like The Cutting Edge: The Magic Of Film Editing, Rerberg And Tarkovsky shines a light on one of the arts that creates film form, that being the interpretation of subject into image. So this is a must view for budding cinematographers.

The story of how the two men collaborated successfully and improvisationaly on the masterpiece Mirror is truly inspiring in how openhearted it was. But the tale of Stalker, the film that was shot three times and potentially made crew members sick and terminally ill (because of toxic location shooting) is dark and engrossing.

This is the best video resource on Stalker I have ever seen and by giving a voice to Rerberg's point of view, brings Tarkovsky back down to earth as human and flawed. It is this reason why I think it ends up being the best Tarkovsky documentary, because although it portrays him as one of the greats of cinema, it doesn't buy into the mythic and untouchable status other films/writing on the subject fall into.

The film wonderfully highlights the complex character of Rerberg, a figure that cinephiles in the west may not otherwise have any resources to learn about. His passion for the craft, melancholy of career in pieces after Stalker and fall of the Soviet Union is given time and context, interwoven during the two hours. Quite invaluably, Rerberg's other work is highlighted for discovery.

But this film is ultimately about the Stalker saga and anyone interested in this shouldn't miss the incredibly satisfying film.

Mike Retter

I first saw Dream Boy from the director James Bolton and was interested to see what else he had made. Dream Boy was quite a highly produced, sweet but ultimately conventional film. Yet its muse on things was a curious thread that lingered.

Eban and Charley is a raw and underground-feeling interpretation of ill-faited love. It tip-toes through a provocative realtionship involving underage sex. The performers are fantastically cast and captured. They were pulled-back nicely for the documentary style photography. An effective melancholic music theme returns a couple of times, a bit like a wound-up childhood toy. Overall, this is just as good as his bigger-budget follow-up, it may be a shade better for its rawness.

If this is a genre you like to search through - this is a must watch.

Yesterday two people cycled to our video store (Film Buff Central, Port Adelaide, Australia). They were from Venezuela and slightly misread our social media. We have been championing the film Hard To Be God in our articles relating to cinema distribution.

The couple had come to actually rent the film and I had to disappoint and let them know it hasn't been released on DVD yet. They cycled all the way from North Adelaide to Port Adelaide on the off chance we may have it.

I let them know that we are just as excited in seeing Hard To Be God and that one of our founding members Chris Luscri had traveled interstate to the Melbourne Film Festival almost exclusively to see it.

Chris came back from MIFF claiming it was the scifi film of the decade, which made me extra curious to see it. Well last night I was given an online copy and watched it immediately.

Masterpiece. You will not enter a world like this anywhere else. Hard To Be A God is a monochrome zone of smoke, fog, rain, mud, spit and desperation unlike any previous film excursion. A camera's wide angle constantly floats, amongst this atmosphere and rarely cutting as it glides around like a character trailing these damp feudal figures. Peasants don't just walk past; they stop and look at you as the audience is pulled in as a participant. I cannot wait to see it again and hopefully on the big screen.

Cinema needs this film. The art form needs something to wipe the slate clean. Medieval fantasy has become art-directed gloss with unnatural blue tones and well-kept hair. Where is the dysentery? Where is the gangrene? Hard To Be A God renders every Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit film as obsolete. Don't expect this to be at your next comic or cosplay convention unless the gamers grow up. This hard fantasy and sci-fi isn't for the milkshake slurpers.

Hard To Be A God will make you feel something. Half an hour later I went to the bathroom and observed an insect's entire journey crawling across the tiles. My own mortality depicted as six legs escaping from the light. This was the kind of meditative state the film put me in. We need Hard To Be A God shown in all its epic glory on the big screen and I encourage you to spread the word, express your anticipation and visit in droves when it gets here.

Mike Retter

This film marks a new era in online content from both one of the worlds great broadcasters and filmmakers.

Rather than be constrained by the formats of television and convention of breaking things up into mini-series (Curtis has already made several of such landmarks), Adam Curtis has been given the freedom to make a lengthy, challenging feature documentary that has gone straight to BBC iplayer.

The result is a departure from his usual heavily-narrated work to a much more impressionistic piece of cinema that uses the metaphor of SOLARIS for the incomprehensible Afghanistan and related middle east conflicts. Raw footage is able to speak for itself. Typically cutting-room-floor material, such as shaky re-framing between shots is used to express something of complexity, like reading between the lines.

The BBC's job is to be relevant and provide what the market is unable to do. Here, the BBC triumphs, Curtis having the shackles taken off has delivered a giant canvas of grey with various drip patterns, which is the perpetual mess of foreign intervention in Afghanistan and western policy in the middle east. The closer you get, the more complicated it is.

Labor, Conservatives, Democrats and Republicans all get a hiding in the cyclical mess, which is examined via the extensive BBC archives to Which Curtis was given full access to.

Some highlights include:

Art teachers sent from England to the Afghan war effort to educate Afghanis about Marcel Duchamp and the early Avant-Garde.

British "supermarket" for high-tech weaponry, set out like a luxury department store of big-toys whose customers are wealthy Gulf states. In Thatcher-era Britain, this was one of the most thriving industries.

Highly recommended. This marks a new era because instead of bite-sized webisodes, this is a very serious piece of long-form filmmaking being made exclusively for what must become the main platform for public broadcasters world wide (online content). Though counterintuitive to what we perceive online content to be like, work like this is vital both in-itself but for breaking new ground and showing us what is possible with the relatively new platform/medium.

Mike Retter

I am an Australian and in our country, we are pretty suspicious of our own crime and genre films. There is always something not quite right. they either imitate American cinema, have our local dialogue painfully wrong or just get details totally off the mark. they can also have mediocre production values or poor style and direction. Chopper is perhaps the best Australian film of the Genre. It got the detail right and could be taken seriously. Lately, our TV has been dominated with Australian "true crime" stories such as the Underbelly series. people love the salacious content and real life figures (often dead in real-life from gang-land murders) being depicted on screen. Unfortunately Its pretty crap made for TV entertainment.

The Cedar Boys is a low budget film entry into the genre. I was skeptical going in but its honestly quite a nice little gem.

The film revolves around a few guys in the Lebanese community who deal drugs. One naive guy in the group, motivated by impressing a girl with cocaine and raising cash for his Brothers court appeal, finds a way of getting a cheap stash of drugs. This requires stealing them from another dealer, who isn't home and that is pretty much the set up.

What I liked about the film was it kept things pretty low-key. it didn't go over the top with stereotypes, ramp up any unnecessary drama or action. Its an efficient and mostly tight genre piece that becomes more satisfying and engrossing as it goes along. The protagonist is perfectly alright in the role of the mostly good natured guy going bad but his two collaborators (one cocky the other understated) are really excellent. There are bits and pieces that don't work, shots that are not perfect but the shooting schedule was 26 days and that is a record for an Australian feature film. I think the briskness of the shoot mostly worked in its favor, giving a pretty fresh and organic feel.

What works is the low-budget. The locations are real and the shooting is mostly an effective doco style approach. I didn't like the constant green tones in the colour scheme though. it is a look used in too many films.

As I said the story unfolds and becomes more interesting as things sharpen up to a totally satisfying climax. I enjoyed this film because of being surprised at how well made it was. reading the synopsis, I was expecting a cringe-fest and wasn't going to check it out at all. I switched over to the station it was playing on and it ended up being a worthy experience.

Us Australians love to get the knives out, tearing apart Aussie films and often for good reason but I can honestly say this is worth watching. The secret to these films being successful is often a low budget and being forced to do most of it for real, avoiding clichés and often getting inexperienced actors that already inhabit a look and feel you want. It can bring authenticity which the genre otherwise lacks.

AVATAR has a soul

I saw AVATAR today. It was a boiling 40 degrees Celsius in Australia. I caught a bus and train to get there. I spent months on a forum before that. Incremental stops included a scriptment, stills, a teaser, a foot, AVATAR day and a full trailer. Now released I have had many reviews to read which have been mostly very positive.

It is a marvel to watch. The opening scenes are very sci-fi with a glimpse of low gravity aboard a space-craft. Sam Worthington fills us in with a short narration. He is taking over his diseased brother's role in the AVATAR program. These opening scenes are actually among the most effective 3D in the film, pulling you into this story, tracking shots putting you into the steps of the characters.

I jump ahead, like the film, to The world of Pandora which is lush with earthly life as seen through pulp fantasies. The rendering of this world is terrific. The life and activity is in the plants as much as it is the animals. Wonder is generated with this ambitious creation. Cameron has lifted the bar. The CG is the best I have ever seen. Everything you have heard is true. The 3D enhances this with leaves falling and swaying branches life-like in the foreground.

The realisation of the Navii is also ambitious. They are CG but there are many moments that make you think they are real and in terms of the story they are more than good enough to propel the narrative with strong emotional content.

I went into this film knowing mostly everything within it. Hours of reading, some from the treatment and pages of the recent reviews. It is very much a family film like "Nealz" said in his IMDb review. There is a moment where one of the ferocious animal species that earlier were attacking Jake are seen with a litter, the children in the audience loved the cute pups! The spiritual side of this film is much better than expected. It is in fact a beautiful story. The structure is classical film-making but with amazingly new scope in CGI to express grand images. An epic

The journey that Jake takes through Pandora is lovely. He is taken in by the Navii and explores their culture, language and habitat. Natirii, the female Navii he meets while lost, helps him through this journey. This is a love story of both soul mates and with a wider picture. Existential connections with the natural world. Personal destiny.

I had tears in this film. I tried to hold them back but by the roll of credits they came. This is a movie that I have anticipated for so long. I think the ingredients of its story and my connection to this films production gave me a very emotional response. I cant imagine this disappointing any of the fans on the board. Keeping in mind that it is a family film but delivered everything I wanted.

Expect a special edition. After AVATAR is a hit, a special edition will make its way to the cinema. I can understand why they would cut the earth scenes and it works. The actual film seems pretty brisk and it could also have more padding out. You want more of it and that is a triumph for this type of film running two and a half hours. It is a good balance because at two and a half hours AVATAR is aimed directly at the cinema going audience. Broadly appealing with elements for everyone. My earlier prediction of a billion or more world-wide seems safe.

I don't want to go on about visuals too much but the lovely shots of the natural wonderland of glowing life in still 3D shots is magical. Something to take kids to see. Floating tiny neon li

fe jellyfish their way through the air with grace. The monkey-like extra-limbed creatures with the peeping eyes flock through the forrest quickly. The creature design is done in a clever way with the motion of a living thing. The action is over the top, epic, frenetic and a new take on the battle sequence.

James Cameron didn't stuff this up. He probably pressed the studio way beyond their comfort zone with the time, money and effort that has gone into this. Sam Worthington is excellent casting choice. Sigourney Weaver ads frank reason. Stephen Lang chews the scenery as the ultimate you know what. Zoe Saldana is beautiful as Jakes guide into this world and.

I went to the cinema and it was a very hot day. By the time I left the cinema, the streets were wet with rain. A warm humidity was thick in the air. Lightning splashed my walk to the train station with white light. I honestly wondered if It was my time to be struck down with a bolt of electricity from the sky.

Watch this film. It is destined to become a childhood classic to many little-ones too young to be on this forum. It will be talked about at high school by male and females as spectacular. It will be watched multiple times by fans. I loved it but beyond my appreciation for the film itself, is the the message of love permeating from this movie that I hope enters the zeitgeist like elements of Cameron's other stories have. At its heart is a soul. AVATAR is an achievement in many technical departments but I wouldn't say the story is deficient. It is a beautiful experience and the story is surprisingly what I loved most.

Believe the hype.

80's Hong Kong actioner. Most people think the second film in the series is the best, I think that is true but this film delivers some cool action to satisfy fans of the genre.

The plot is ordinary and cringe worthy but stick it out because there is some great martial arts and stuntwork.

The film stars Kwok Leung Cheung who is quite physically capable in this demanding on the body role but hardly a typical leading man. He is given some god awful lines in a painful script. Michale Wong is decent in a supporting role. Sharla Cheung is kinda cute but has an awful character.

Basically the plot gets the protagonist sporting a gold mask because he disfigures his face. He seeks revenge but not before the terrible story chugs along with painful melodrama.

The action scenes are above average. They use some cool techniques like creating blood splatters from impact of certain punches (shot in slow motion). The film brings the martial arts and action to certain settings requiring physical challenge such as a water fountain for a shoot out and work-site scaffolding for some chop socky. The fights are quick, brutal and entertaining. They redeem the picture for sure.

If you like the "In The Line Of DUty" series this film is probably worth checking out.

This is a no frills undercover cop story directed by Ringo Lam. With an average budget the film tells its story quite tightly with fine performances. Chow Yun Fat stars as the undercover policeman who is also having relationship problems. Danny Lee pops up as the jewel thief who will basically befriend chow as the system pushes them closer together. Yueh Sun Stars as an older cop who has lost his son years ago in the force and is bending the rules to have Chow undercover.

I think Ringo Lam takes inspiration as much from French New Wave cinema as he douse from Hong Kong. The simple shooting style, at times like documentary, captures whats he needs and he is just concerned with making it all happen for the camera with settings and performances that ring true for the lens. Films like Un Flic and Le Samorai from French director Jean Piere Melville may have been the inspiration for Lam's raw, simple style. This approach is effective.

We all know what film it ended up inspiring and Ringo Lams comparisons with his contemporary John Woo, Rather than ad to the subject dominance of the former I will just comment on the latter in That Woo only made one film better than this and it was The KIller. Despite Woo's amazing and influential style he doesn't tell perfect stories. City On Fire has a story that keeps you interested in what will actually happen. The dramatics of this picture are excellent. The performances all good. The characters are all concerned about their own situations and feel them all. The film is occasionally quite funny. Chow has a bit of a gift for comedy that transcends language and cultural barriers. This film and Lam's other film starring Chow, Prison On Fire, always amuse me in their moments.

I was taken by this film. I cared about Chow and his vice like position. His impatient girlfriend, complicated job, going undercover and being followed by another police unit as if a criminal are situations closing in on him. Chow Yun Fat is a wonderful actor to watch. He can make you laph with his dances, wooing woman and can entrance you with his glare when he means business. There are some wonderful long takes in this film that lets chow bring you into his character. In his roles of cops and killers he makes you sympathetic. A gift to the genre.

Ringo Lam brings many of his regulars together to make a class production. You will recognise some of the cast if you have seen his other films. I figure he didn't have the permission to shoot on some of the locations and it informs the shooting style, undercover in itself. Cameras lens poking out the window of a moving car to shoot the characters on the street. He just gets this film made. He has a pretty decisive vision. I have read you have to be tough directing films in Hong Kong. The schedules are busy, the budgets are low and the Authorities are strict. You have to be able to improvise and break the rules. Take risks like they do with stunt-work.

The script is way above average for a Hong Kong cop drama. This is a character driven film with less emphasis on action. A solid 80's picture. One of my favorite films from Hong Kong.

Another Ng See Yuen produced Seasonal production (his production company) that puts a Western cast in basically a Hong Kong style action film. Its low budget attempts an epic quite successfully. Loren Avedon stars as an American in trouble in Thailand eventually waging a small war against some Russians to get his girlfriend back.

Loren Avedons first starring role. He performs all the martial arts really well and these Seasonal films have given him a cult following around the world. Review after review will tell you this guy is a great performer. His acting is likable but his martial arts is among the best on screen from a westerner. Like all the other reviews I believe its a shame he never went to Hong Kong to make films but at least people continue to give him credit. One of the best screen fighters I have seen.

Cynthia Rothrock gets in the story as a cocky chopper pilot and has some great martial arts scenes of her own. She did go to Hong Kong and made some pictures there. Yes Madam is a classic film that was also directed by Corey Yuen.

Matthias Hughes stars as the Bad-ass Russian who apparently learned to fight for the screen during the films production. They kept his choreography to late in the shoot and I couldn't tell this was a first for him. It really is quite good. Having the end fight scene against Loren Avedon is enough of a physical spectacle. Hughes went on to appear in Hollywood films.

The other supporting player is Max Thayer a wheeling dealing Viet Nam vet. He ads some actual acting to the mix and performs some action of his own. I don't think he is a martial artist but they give him some moments to perform less demanding violence like burning faces with his cigar or throwing snakes! He also drinks snake blood which is shot in a single tracking shot from the snakes drained gizards to it being drunk out of a shot glass.

Its a cool picture in the greatest Hong Kong/American crossover series ever made. Its complete trash and enjoyable all the way. I don't know how these cheap films get away with their comedy but all three films in the series have some great goofy moments. They have tried to pack quite a lot into this film for the budget.

The films director, martial arts choreographer is Corey Yuen and the action scenes are pretty top- notch. There is a high impact quality to all the blows. Lots of flips and spirals to the ground. Very much in the Hong Kong style, the set pieces are quite creative. Not over edited. The choreography is really enjoyable to watch with multiple attackers at times. I think the evening fight at the open air market/eatery is the best. There could have been a little more fighting in the film but what there is doesn't disappoint.

The transfer I have isn't the best print and the audio was probably never great on this picture but if you are familiar with this genre, like chop-socky films from Hong Kong and American kick-boxing strait to video titles it's going to be up your ally. The production is fascinating. Such a multicultural cast and crew on a limited budget. The cheesiest story and most blatant use of Russian bad guys except for the first film topped off with expert martial arts choreography.

I think these Seasonal pictures, produced by Ng See Yuen are great. They are rough and cheap but they deliver the goods.

The most insane martial arts film from America incorporates an albino terrorist leader's plot to kill president George WH Bush. In classical Hong Kong style, Blood Brothers bares no connection to previous NRNS-series instalments, apart from sheer wackiness, creative dance-like use of violence and a tacked-on cold-war nationalism verging on parody. One of the great screen fighters, Loren Avedon, was brought into the series to replace Kurt McKiney, who broke his contract to return in the sequels. But these mishaps didn't stop the strange phenomena of this movie series getting better with every sequel. Seasonal film's Hong Kong production on American soil brought truly daring and dangerous fight sequences to VHS. The other "blood brother" and truly joyous cinematic ham Keith Vitali, had a plaster-cast on his arm for the first few scenes because he genuinely broke it during filming. Scenery is chewed and successfully digested by bleached blond and English-accented Rion Hunter as the leader of a strange gang of king-fu fighting communist terrorists. This all leads to the assassination plot of George Bush senior, incorporating real footage of the president, which along with strange moments of text used on a blank screen, constitutes the most unlikely tribute to Jean-Luc Godard in cinema. Cheesy quotable dialogue and severe bone-crunching where it counts, NRNS 3: Blood Brothers is among the very cream of B-cinema and wildly enjoyable.

I don't know if Zombie purists would call it a zombie film but this nice little picture stands the test of time to tonight's DVD viewing. I enjoyed almost all of it but the ending could have been better. The film makes some big comments on genetic engineering and the government/ corporation relationships regarding this. I would google this subject out and you will find some stories just as scary as this film!

Some real scares there. I like how the film doesn't make me cringe like many sci-fi/horror films of the period but actually impressed me. A hidden gem. Highly competent film that sustains almost to the end. The film involves some zombie concepts but doesn't follow the formula quite like the other films in that genre.

Great cast and the direction is restrained. The film stands the test of time so source it out.