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TITLE DESCRIPTION TAGGED AS
AANKHEN As is often the case, this is a pretty straight-forward film padded out with musical numbers and a multitude of subplots, all of which are pretty good. Aankhen is slower and less over-the-top than later spy films, but it's still chocked full of all the great stuff I demand from a superior spy film. , , , ,
ABHAY It is no small claim when I say that, even within the context of over-the-top Bollywood cult films, Abhay manages to be still more over-the-top than the rest of the pack. I don't know what film classification happens above and beyond over-the-top. Perhaps there isn't one, in which case "Abhay" is destined to become an adjective, a descriptive term for a movie so completely nutso that even over-the-top film shake their head in admiring disbelief. , , , ,
ACCIDENTAL SPY Jackie Chan plays an ex cop turned gym equipment salesman who gets mixed up in an international case involving Japanese gangsters, American CIA agents, and a deadly new strain of anthrax. Action, jokes about eating funerary ashes, and bare Jackie ass abound. , , , ,
A DAY AT THE RACES Hot on the heels of the successful revitalization of the Marx Brothers under the tutelage of MGM producer Irving Thalberg in the film A Night at the Opera, everyone decided to go out and make the exact same movie, more or less, a couple years later. , , ,
ADVENTURES OF EL FRENETICO AND GO GIRL In three episodes, this no-budget shot on video film follows the adventures of hard drinkin' Mexican wrestler El Frenetico and his bad-ass sidekick who does all the work, Go Girl. , , , ,
AFTER DEATH Our heroes spend a lot of time sort of sitting around while the zombies gather outside and wait for the next time some dumb-ass spills beer on the magic candles or kicks them over proclaiming his general disbelief for all this "mumbo jumbo voodoo bullshit!" They then decide to take a trip down to the catacombs where all the ancient evil was released from, thus setting us up for the usual last ditch battle and ultra super shocking ending, the likes of which we haven't seen in literally dozens of other equally super shocking surprise zombie film endings. , , ,
AGENT FOR H.A.R.M. Wild action, cool stunts, exotic locations, sexy women, and cool music all combine to be totally absent from this awful 1960s espionage clunker. ,
AGUIRRE, THE WRATH OF GOD Herzog creates a sort of anti-epic. Certainly the story of a doomed Spanish expedition through the jungles of the Amazon in search of a city of gold that does not exist is the sort of plotline that could easily expand to the size of an epic, but Herzog, partially constrained as always by budget but primarily for artistic reasons, restricts the story to a claustrophobic size. , , ,
AIR HOSTESS Grace Chang and Julie Yeh Feng star in this colorful, romantic celebration of mid-century air travel drenched in exotic travelogue photography and smart 1960s airline style and design. Oh yeah -- there's also a charming romantic comedy underneath all the slick airflight fashion. , , , , , ,
ALFIE Michael Caine, still fresh into his career as a leading man, stars as the titular character, a working class playboy who uses his considerable charms and charisma to seduce, use, and sometimes destroy a number of women. , ,
AMERICAN NINJA The greatest ninja movie ever made? I guess I still have to give the edge to Revenge of the Ninja, but American Ninja runs a pretty damn close second. Dudikoff may not be much of an actor, but he's not so bad that you'd be shocked by how bad he is. He's well-suited for the role, and he has Steve James on hand to provide some actual charisma. Anyway, you hardly need to worry about character development and such when your characters are attacked by armies of ninjas like every thirty seconds. How Cannon never got around to pairing American Ninja with Sho Kosugi, I do not know. , , ,
AMIN: THE RISE AND FALL The world needed a cheap exploitation film about infamous Ugandan dictator and part-time cannibal Idi Amin, and luckily this movie was there to fill the void. Scenes of mass murder and oppression are mixed in with scenes of Amin strutting around in bermuda shorts, wooing the ladies, and calling himself "Big Daddy." Who says history isn't interesting? ,
AND GOD CREATED WOMAN Say what you will about the French. At least they know not to get totally outraged at something like a naked butt. That could be their national motto. , , , ,
A NIGHT AT THE OPERA A Night at the Opera sets the formula that would apply for just about all the films the Brothers would make at MGM. Groucho Marx is the enterprising businessman out to fleece the snooty types, while Chico and Harpo are a couple of rascals who inevitably get tangled up with Groucho. Hijinks ensue. , , ,
ARABIAN ADVENTURE Lyz from And You Call Yourself a Scientist said of Arabian Adventure, "It is hard to imagine any but the least discriminating of viewers -- of any age -- really enjoying this film." And I can’t really debate her on this matter. Instead, about all I can do is admit that it has been my goal to live the sort of life and put forth the sort of opinions that would result in my eventual tombstone reading, "America's Least Discerning Viewer." My other choice for an epitaph was, "It Took a Dozen Texas Marshals to Finally Bring Him Down." Anyway, I freely admit that pretty much all of the criticisms that someone could lay at the feet of Arabian Adventure stick with the tenacity of an extra-gooey Wacky Wall Walker fresh out of the gum machine capsule. None of these should come as any shock if you are familiar with the writer-director team who brought you this movie. Because the last couple of movies they brought you were were just as bad or even worse (and yeah — I liked them, too). , , , , ,
ARCADIA OF MY YOUTH Leiji Masumoto clocks in with another amazing space opera that details the origins of two of his most famous characters, space pirates and freedom fighters Captain Harlock and Queen Emereldas. , , , , ,
ASAMBHAV It's been said that in an effort to appeal to as massive a population as possible, the average Hindi film tries to cram every film genre into a single movie. Asambhav is the rare entry that maintains a relatively narrow thematic focus -- this is an action film, stripped of the romantic comedy and estranged mother that appear in almost every other film -- but it makes up for its lack of schizophrenic genre-hopping by trying to cram every single editing and camera trick from the last ten years into one film, and often into one scene, and occasionally into a single shot. , , , , ,
ASIA-POL Within just a few years of Asia-Pol's release, Nikkatsu hit financial rock bottom and was forced to retool itself from being a purveyor of action films to the stylish kink of the more lucrative Roman Porno films it became known for in the seventies. , , , , ,
ASKA SUSAYANLAR SEKS VE CINAYET Plot summary would be a waste here, but I can say that there are some effective scenes in the film (my favorite might be the parking lot chase), and the cinematography is at times much more refined than in some other Turkish outings of the same period. That said, at other times this film lacks some of the restraint and refinement of the better giallo outings from Italy, and adds in a very manic Turkish element instead. , , ,
ASOKA Of course, there's no such thing as a perfect film. But Asoka might be a perfect epic, so long as one considers that even a perfect epic is still a flawed film. , , , , , , ,
A TOUCH OF ZEN King Hu's monumental 1969 epic of martial arts, intrigue, and spirituality. Definitely the best genre film ever made, and most definitely one of the greatest films of all time, period. , , ,
BAND OF OUTSIDERS Considered by some to be one of Godard's lighter films because it is more accessible and less maverick in its approach, Band of Outsiders still offers up a fine example of the French maverick at his best, and the fact that he doesn't imitate himself should be an example of Band of Outsiders' inventiveness rather than the other way around. , , ,
BAND OF THE HAND Fresh off the success of Miami Vice, producer Michael Mann applies the Vice look, sound, style, and pretty much everything else to this "better than you might expect" artifact from the 1980s. Five delinquents are trained in the Florida swamps to fight drug dealers in inner city Miami. A solid young cast and some stylish direction elevate this movie above the outlandishness of the plot and weakness of the writing. ,
BANDITS, PROSTITUTES, AND SILVER The title pretty much sums it up. A down and out kungfu fighter's girlfriend is sold into prostitution by her greedy parents, and he becomes a bandit in order to get enough money to buy her freedom. Tons of furious kungfu action highlight this thoroughly depressing morality tale. , , , ,
BANG RAJAN Like many recent Thai films, it concentrates on the period of war between the disparate fiefdoms of Thailand and the Burmese empire to the north -- a conflict which eventually led to the formation of the Siamese nation, and the last time Thailand was ever controlled or occupied by a foreign power (unless you count Japanese businessmen drunk on Heineken and looking for a cheap handjob). , ,
BASTARD SWORDSMAN This is one of those movies that, upon completion, I can't wait to sit down and write a review of. And then, when I do sit down, all I can do is stare at the blinking cursor on a blank screen as I wrack my brain mercilessly for some way to encompass in words the absolutely bonkers display of sheer lunacy I've just watched. , , , , , , , ,
BATTLE IN OUTER SPACE An epic outer space war blow-out from Toho studios. One giant space battle with cool weapons, remote control meteors, and more action than you handle! , , ,
BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY Raised on Takakura Ken films full of noble yakuza who held honor and loyalty and sacrifice above all else, audiences were hit with a shot right to the gut by maverick director Kinji Fukasaku's grimly violent and unflinchingly real depiction of the Japanese mafia stripped of any notion of romanticism or honor. , , , , ,
BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY II Kinji Fukasaku's ground-breaking series continues as more yakuza backs are stabbed while Sonny Chiba struts around in his finest and loudest pimp garb. , , , , , , ,
BAY OF BLOOD One gets the feeling that Bava really relished the opportunity, after infusing so many of his films with a humanist compassion toward the lead characters, to simply cut loose and let a bunch of conniving, spoiled schemers really have it. , , , ,
BE-SHARAM If you wanted to, it seems like you could draw up a sort of family tree of the films Indian superstar Amitabh Bachchan made during his late seventies to mid eighties prime, tracing each of those movies' origins along three very distinct lines, each leading back to a particular career-defining blockbuster that provided the template for much of what was to come. Of course, while Bachchan would star in films that were virtual remakes of Deewaar, Sholay and Don over the course of his career, the lines leading back to those three classics would not always be perfectly straight. For one would also have to consider films like 1978's Be-Sharam, which draw upon elements of all three. , , ,
THE BIBLE...IN THE BEGINNING As lame as it may be for me say it, The Bible is a disaster of Biblical proportions. , ,
THE BIG SLEEP It's not every day you see a line-up like this: original book by Raymond Chandler, screenplay by William Faulkner, with Howard Hawks directing and Humphrey Bogart in the lead role as iconic hardboiled private eye Philip Marlowe. That's an all-star assembly of talent if ever there was one. , , ,
BIO ZOMBIE Hong Kong's first real foray into Romero style zombie films is this wild Resident Evil-inspired flesh eater festival starring Jordan Chan. Fun, energetic, and featuring plenty of oozing living dead. , , ,
THE BLADE Tsui Hark delivers his most brutal, intense martial arts epic to date. Zhao Wen-zhou stars in this excellent remake of the classic One-Armed Swordsman. , , ,
BLAZING MAGNUM Stuart Whitman plays the most vile, repugnant, and amazing unlikable hero in the history of cinema as he beats a bloody trail of civil rights violations on his way to avenging his daughter's murder. , , , ,
BLOOD FROM THE MUMMY'S TOMB Someone must have gotten the memo and said, "Jesus, another mummy movie?" After three Hammer mummy movies, which had followed some nine thousand or so Universal mummy movies featuring the vengeful bag o' rags, the general consensus was that the world pretty much had all the movies it needed in which some expedition disturbs a tomb, gets yelled at by a guy in a fez, and then gets stalked by the mummy looking to avenge the desecration of the tomb. , ,
BLOOD OATH Blood Oath is the rare micro-budget horror film that is more good than bad, and though it has obvious flaws in the scripting and acting departments, it manages to be a more enjoyable horror film than most horror films I've watched recently. , , ,
BLOODY TERRITORIES The action revolves around the number two and number three man in the Onogi Clan, a renegade yakuza gang that refuses to dissolve their organization during a big pow wow where everyone else agrees to disband. , , ,
BLOW UP I think any lover of film has to see this. Make up your own mind about whether or not you liked it or whether or not it has any value or is simply a big load of pretentious garbage, but see it. , ,
BLUE HAWAII Elvis plays Chad Gates, a former beach bum just returned from his stint in the Army and looking to finally establish his own life after spending most of it under domineering eye of his Southern aristocrat mother and the comfort of his captain of industry father's wealth. Elvis is more interested in palling around with his Hawaiian surf buddies down by the beach bungalow than he is establishing his career as the pineapple canning king of Polynesia. , , ,
BOOM Three supermodels are forced into a life of bank robbery by Amitabh Bachchan, who rides around in a little novelty kiddie car, and the flamboyant, crotch-thrusting Boom Shankar, in what has to be one of the worst movies I've seen in years. , , , , ,
BRAM STOKER'S DRACULA Coppola seems unwilling to commit to his story. He just can't resist the tendency of films from the 1990s on to poke fun at and undermine themselves. His final product is always beautiful, sometimes overwhelming, occasionally romantic, never scary, and potentially campy. In a sense, it's one of the biggest, most lavish and well-produced B-movies ever made. , ,
BREAKIN' & BREAKIN' II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO A double feature celebration of the coolest thing to come out of the 1980s: breakdancing! Lucinda Dickey, Shabba-doo, and Boogaloo Shrimp join forces to save the neighborhood, fight the system, and have a whole lot of fun. , , ,
BREATHLESS Plenty of movies have become events, but I find it easy to separate most of them from their sensation. Not so with Breathless, since what caused the sensation remains challenging even today. That leaves me with the feeling that Breathless isn't so much to be watched and enjoyed as it is to be watched and studied. Truth be told, I could just sit and stare at Jean Seaberg for ninety minutes and be happy. , , ,
BRIDES OF DRACULA Peter Cushing returns as Dr. Van Helsing in this sequel to Hammer's wonderful Horror of Dracula. Dracula and Christopher Lee, on the other hand, are nowhere to be found. , , , ,
BRONX WARRIORS Trash leads a futuristic biker gang of Manowar fans as they team up with Fred Williamson to fight back against a greedy corporation that is invading The Bronx! Classic Italian sci-fi action. , , , , ,
BULLET TRAIN Takakura Ken and Sonny Chiba star in this wonderful "man in a control room" thriller. A thief plants a bomb on a high-speed train and demands $5 million. The catch? If the train drops below a certain speed, the bomb will detonate. Sounds familiar, huh? Too bad for Jan DeBont that this film predates his by a good twenty years. , ,