119 - Enter The Fat Dragon

Connection To SOUL OF BRUCE LEE - Both of these films fall into the Bruceploitation category, though this is a satire of the phenomenon.

As a long-time fan of Sammo Hung and a fan of the Bruceploitation genre this film was an absolute treat - so much it was like it was made to please me (though it came out 4 years before I was born).

The film most closely follows the plot of Way Of The Dragon rather then Enter The Dragon (though there is a great sight gag early on spoofing the movie - also should point out Hung actually was in that movie) and we get Sammo Hung, who's character is obsessed with Bruce Lee acting like he is Bruce, even at one point in the movie getting a job as an action guy on the set of a Bruceploitation movie - in which he ends up in the fight with "Bruce" which becomes a pretty cool message - if you are going to pretend to be Bruce, show you are as good as Bruce.

Like the best kung-fu comedies - the kung fu is awesome of course but the comedy is actually funny - comedy moments that are universally funny and not just to the HK audience - it's odd that this film seems a little unseen in the Western world compared to some of his other classics, but there is plenty of Hong Kong films I've seen on import or whatever and thought the same about.

The opening is cool featuring Hung fighting a number of people including Mars, briefly Meng Hoi (who as a kid is in Enter The Dragon) and finally the awesome Yuen Biao, and there's plenty of cool fights in between and the final fight where he takes on three fighters one by one is cool, however how I do say this - there is a black man, a white man and a Chinese man (this isn't the start of a joke), the black man looks a bit like it could be a white guy in black face, times where different then or just could be the guys original pigment.

Overall, utterly enjoyable from start to finish, well worth it for fans of Bruce Lee and/or Sammo Hung, with the running time just flying by I don't hesitate to recommend this. 

118 - Soul Of Bruce Lee (Soul Of Sonny Chiba)

Connection To SAMURAI REINCARNATION - Sonny Chiba (again).

A little bit about Bruceploitation before I start this -

When Bruce Lee died in 1973 leaving only a small filmography and a huge fanbase, opportunist Asian filmmakers started making films trading on the Bruce Lee name - the mean't we got an whole host of imitators including but not limited to Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee (notice the pattern when it comes to name), we also got a number of films that where mean't to be biographies (though in fairness Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story would be as about as accurate) , we also got a couple of films attempting to do Game Of Death (this is before Game Of Death) and the story Bruce Lee might have intended, there was "sequels" - so we got Big Boss 2, Fist Of Fury 2 etc. and there's also films that put "Bruce Lee" in sometimes odd adventures (but I won't spoil any of them in case I want to cover them)...

So to be honest why am I mentioning Bruceploitation in a film starring Sonny Chiba - because he was awesome in his own right and nothing to do with these cash-ins (that I love) it's because of the marketing of the film - it's often called Soul Of Bruce Lee but as nothing to do with him, so yeah I take the marketing of the Bruce Lee name to sell the film as Bruceploitation - this is Bruceploitation at it's loosest term - but it still counts.

This was an enjoyable entry into the Bruceploitation genre or Sonny Chiba oeuvre - whichever way you want to look at it - the dubbed version I watched was suited to the film at hand and even had a bit of an Abbott and Costello routine in it - not sure intentionally - the guy he is searching for to avenge is master's death sounds similar to Someone - so you'd get him asking "I'm looking for someone" - which to me just added to the charm of the film.

Overall, if you love old kung fu movies of the 70's you'll find enjoyment in this. For me the Bruceploitation element maybe to a minimum but the Sonny Chiba awesome-ness is here and in tact.

117 - Samurai Reincarnation

Connection To SUSHI GIRL - Sonny Chiba.

I own over 20 Sonny Chiba movies - to some people this might not sound impressive, but bearing in mind here, over the last year I've down-scaled my collection (turning it into an online business), so the part that makes it impressive is that Chiba was one of the few actors who got out unscathed (Bruce Lee also did but obviously he didn't do as much stuff - so it's not as impressive).

I think my love with Chiba started when I got a cheap transfer of the first Street Fighter movie - dubbed but a good quality print - I saw the potential, one birthday my brother get me the British box-office of the three films - all great prints in original language, while at the same time he got me another Chiba set (from the same company all in original language. I think after that I was a bonafide fan - I even now own 2 original posters - one French (for Street Fighter's Last Revenge) and one Yugoslavian (The Killing Machine - probably my favourite movie of his), and though most of my collection is subtitled, I still own some dubbed - mostly because it's the only way I can see them - Samurai Reincarnation is one of those dubbed ones.

The dubbing is bad... I mean you expect the dubbing to be bad on Asian films but this one stands out even among them - they couldn't have got the tone wrong for most voices even if they tried and that kind of takes away from what is a pretty awesome film - seriously I would love to own this in original language, maybe it's out there and somebody could guide me towards it.

I could just see what I would have liked or loved about it if I got to see a decent version of the film - the fight scenes, the set design - this for me showed all the potential in the world, this is the first time in a long time a dubbed version of the movie as honestly took something from the movie.

Overall, I'd say recommend for the movie itself but not recommended for this version if that makes sense, the film deserves a decent treatment that wasn't the version I saw, so yeah that's my word on it.

116 - Sushi Girl

Connection To KABOOM - James Duval.

It's fair to see this film features some of the cream of the crop of the b-movie genre - this is not mean't as a slight at them, but just it's a collection of cool actors - many often will appearing in awesome stuff but you could accuse them of signing on for any old shit (bills got to be paid!)

And I don't actually think most of the actors where here to get the bills paid I think at some point there was a modicum of potential to be pretty good at one point that is just lacking from the finished project. The film is a crime-movie come torture porn...

Which brings me to torture porn - and maybe reason why other people could like this more then I did - it's a sub-genre (whatever you want to call it) that just had zero appeal to me, me I'm not squirmish to gore, it's just your Hostels and Saws where not the sort of horror I was after - so take this into consideration from now on on here (and the blog).

It's not a film I particularly cared for, it wasn't really dragging me into the torture porn element started to come into the mix, Mark Hamill was fairly entertaining in his role, and you can't fault some of the other guys - awesome performers like Sonny Chiba and Danny Trejo are basically cameos honestly - one scene of torture involving teeth got me just because of my fear of dentists, which will get a lot of people though we do get the benefit of the camera not showing it.

Overall I could see some people like this film honestly because it will give them exactly what they want - it's 2 movie genre for the price of 1 and it might be two genres somebody loves, but for me it was not a film I liked very much.

114 - Mysterious Skin

Connection To 50/50 - Joseph Gordon Levitt.

I'm really putting myself through the ringer today it seems - a film about cancer followed by a film about child abuse... Now, Gregg Araki is the sort of director, who to be fair can alienate people, something like Nowhere is a film I actually like in it's oddness but I remember watching it with somebody and the best way to describe it - is they didn't like it at all - which to me is what you can say about a lot of Araki's work.

This to me with every Araki film taken on their own merits is the best film he has ever made - a film that at times can be a tough watch particularly the early scenes of abuse and later SPOILER rape and attack in New York City END OF SPOILER but is a film worthy of your time and attention.

The in your face homosexuality of the movie might not be to everybody's taste (I'm talking to you in particular homophobes), there is a number of gay sex scenes while don't show any of the act, linger on them, so for me no problem, and same for a lot people I know but hey some people will be put off by it.

You would think a movie where one of the main characters believes he was abducted by aliens would be a turn off but it's played off really well in the film - as is, how do I word this - the opening scene showing the start of the abuse, his baseball coach molesting him - the way it's filmed is shown really well how a pedophile would befriend a youngster to let lower their guard, like it's shown from the kids point of view how they would see the guy.

Overall, often tough going but a really rewarding experience in the long run. The film is pretty dark for the most part but it will stick in your memory for a long time to come.

113 - 50/50

Connection To THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN - Seth Rogen.

I think I've been holding off watching this honestly because of the cancer subject - It not exactly an easy subject to be in the mood for, even a film like this that allows moments of comedy - the truth is a lot of us will have known somebody who has fought cancer (or worse - lost someone), so yeah it was about the right time for me at least - well come to think of it to be fair, the first time I had a chance to watch this is when I first got Netflix, and I like most people where indulging on Breaking Bad - so yeah I think it really was a case of too much cancer.

I'm glad I've finally watched it since it was a film I really liked - it wasn't too side-splittingly funny that it distracted from the serious of the movie and yes it wasn't too downbeat that you are absolutely depressed watching it.

For me the characters felt real - from the pair of older cancer patients, to Levitt's girlfriend at the beginning of the movie (played by Bryce Dallas Howard) to Seth Rogen's best friend to Anna Kendrick's inexperienced counselor - they all felt like real people having to deal with this situation, but it's Joseph Gordon-Levitt's make make no mistake about it.

This might sound a weird comment to make but I wish more "disease" movies where like this - able to show all sides of the emotion, whilst most prefer to concentrate on the sad side.

Overall, not a film I'm going to watch much in my life because I don't want to put on a "cancer" film, but if I see it again I can see myself being just as affected by it.