Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)

Superman II - The Richard Donner Cut was released last year by Warner Bros. to coincide with the release of the new Superman movie. This cut is a re-edit of the original 1980 movie by the movie's original director, Richard Donner, who had a different vision of the movie than the producers. I don't remember the original that well, although I do remember it being more campy than this release, which is more serious in its treatment of the Superman character. For details, check out this extensive entry in Wikipedia.

Christopher Reeve's Superman was the film Superman I grew up with, and is a Superman I'm glad was replaced last year. I'm not a Superman purist, and most of those would probably prefer Reeve's incarnation. Don't get me wrong, I like the films, but after seeing it recently, I realized that, 1) I saw the films as a kid, and, 2) special effects sure have come a long way, thankfully. Special effects are an artifact of their time, but the interpretation of the Superman character isn't. What I couldn't get over this time around was the painfully awkward Clark Kent. Did Superman's alter ego really need to be such a stereotypical nerd? That being said, there was much more of Kal-El in the movie than there was of Superman. This cut did allow for introspection, instead of being superficial, as the original had been. I had also forgotten how large glasses were in the 1980s. (Most of my 1980s photographs have long been hidden.)

If you haven't seen a Christopher Reeve's Superman flick in sometime, I recommend watching this latest cut. It'll take you back.

Sheitan (2006)

When a group of friends exit a dance party after a drunken fight and are invited to spend the night in the country, you know the ride is not going to be what they expected. Sheitan is a French horror flick from Tartan Films that delivers a confusing and perverted mess. The four friends are seduced to the country by Eve (Roxanne Mesquida). Thai (Nicholas Le Phat Tan) and Bart (Olivier Bartélémy) want to go because they're both vying for Eve's attentions. Ladj (Ladj Ly) is going because he's hoping to hook-up with Yasmine (Leïla Bekhti). Their expectations will hardly be met at the farmhouse in the French countryside.

The weirdness starts on the dirt road to the farmhouse. Blocked on the road by goats, the group meets Joseph (Vincent Cassel), who is introduced by Eve as the housekeeper. Joseph is an over-the-top character. Couple of things you're sure of are: he is completely mad, and he has an unhealthy interest in Bart. You realize very quickly that Eve has led the foursome into a trap that some may not leave alive. Joseph's wife, Marie, who you don't see much of, is pregnant. Mary, Joseph and Eve aren't the only references to Christian mythology -- this is all taking place on Christmas eve -- but you're not given the entire story to make sense of their use. Joseph is definitely in league with the Devil, but other than the goat and a dream sequence, you're told exactly what's going on. Joseph makes dolls -- lots of them. As you're taken around the house, you're not entirely sure if some of those dolls weren't made from pieces of previous guests to the house, as Joseph's latest creation seems to require Bart for its completion. The Devil wants a child in payment for making Joseph invincible, but what does making dolls and using Bart for their creation has anything to do with this?

The movie is pure insanity. There are a number of minor characters to take the weirdness up a few notches. But it's also confusing. I'm not sure if there was something lost in the translation, but this didn't quite go down right with me. The reasons to watch this film: the performance of Vincent Cassel -- the man is nuts; and, you like freaky horror movies from the 1970s, because this is just like them.

Blue Fin (1978)

Black Scorpion II: Aftershock (1997) movie trailer

Darcy is back on the force, but still fights on as the Black Scorpion because "it's in her nature." This time, she fights Gangster Prankster; and a new villian emerges when the Mayor tries to protect his federal earthquake relief money: Aftershock. When the two villians team up and kidnap Argyle's girlfriend, Black Scorpion is faced with the theft of the Scorpionmobile and the imminent destruction of Angel City.

Best of the Best (1989)

A team from the United States are going to compete in the world finals in karate. The team consists of fighters from all nations, can they overcome their rivalry and work together to win?

300 Trailer

Based on the epic graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite against their Persian enemy, drawing a line in the sand for democracy. The film brings Miller's (Sin City) acclaimed graphic novel to life by combining live action with virtual backgrounds that capture his distinct vision of this ancient historic tale.

Updated: March 19, 2007
Saw the movie ... here are my thoughts ...

I saw Frank Miller's 300 last week. What a ride! The movie is based on the graphic novel by the same title, and was a no apologies live action rendition of the panels created by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. The acting was superb, the story was a well crafted and the cinematography, simply out of this world. Greece from the movie was a Greece of the legends, when the gods walked amongst us mere humans. Make no mistake, this movie is not the stuff of the History Channel -- it's for the SciFi Channel.

The movie was rated 18A, and so it should. The violence -- and when isn't there violence when you have 300, well-buffed, mostly naked (except of the leotards and capes) men shouting, sweating and wielding long spears, arranged against a well armed, uncountable throng -- was unstoppable. Hordes of attackers from the Persian empire threw themselves at the spears, swords and grunts of the Spartan heroes. There were monsters, immortals (who died), giants, mutants and 7-8-9-ft. Persian king-god -- but none were out of reach of the Spartans. Lest you think the movie was just chock full of violence -- it was actually -- there was also politicking intrigue, with spineless schemers, selling their own freedom for gold. The Battle of Thermopylae never looked better!

Of course, they all die. As they must when you go to see a Frank Miller inspired movie. If you've seen Sin City - Unrated (Two-Disc Collector's Edition), you know what a treat you're in for. A visually stunning film, made to appreciated for what it is. Naturally, the critics have all panned the film. Which is a good thing. This film isn't for critics.

Pathfinder Trailer

A young Viking boy is left behind by his people in North America (which the Vikings had visited hundreds of years before Columbus). A stranger in a strange land, the boy is raised by a tribe of American Indians -- the very people the Vikings had sworn to destroy.

When Vikings again storm the eastern shores, waging a barbaric campaign, they slaughter the tribe that adopted the young man. Now 25, he wages a violent personal war to stop the Viking's trail of death and destruction.

The Invisible Trailer

When a teenager is attacked and left for dead, he finds himself in limbo, invisible to the living, and racing against time to find his body before he truly perishes. The only living person who might be able to save him is his attacker, a troubled girl who is on the run from the law.

The Reaping Trailer

A Christian missionary (Hilary Swank) who lost her faith after her family was tragically killed has since become a world renowned expert in disproving religious phenomena. But when she investigates a small Louisiana town that is suffering from what appear to be the Biblical plagues, she realizes that science cannot explain what is happening and she must regain her faith to combat the dark forces threatening the community.

Grind House Teaser Trailers

Two 60-minute horror movies, "Planet Terror" (written/directed by Robert Rodriguez) which explores an alien world eerily familiar to ours; and "Death Proof" (written/directed by Quentin Tarantino), a rip-roaring slasher flick where the killer pursues his victims with a car rather than a knife.

Stephen King's 1408 Trailer

The Host Trailer

Gang-du (Song Kang-ho) works at a food stand on the banks of the Han River. Dozing on the job, he is awakened by his daughter, Hyun-seo (Ko A-sung), who is angry with him for missing a teacher-parent meeting at school.

As Gang-du walks out to the riverbank with a delivery, he notices that a large crowd of people has gathered, taking pictures and talking about something hanging from the Han River Bridge. The otherwise idyllic landscape turns suddenly to bedlam when a terrifying creature climbs up onto the riverbank and begins to crush and eat people.

Gang-du and his daughter run for their lives but suddenly the thing grabs Hyun-seo and disappears back into the river. The government announces that the thing apparently is the Host of an unidentified virus. Having feared the worst, Gang-du receives a phone call from his daughter who is frightened, but very much alive. Gang-du makes plans to infiltrate the forbidden zone near the Han River to rescue his daughter from the clutches of the horrifying Host...

Sharkwater Trailer

For filmmaker Rob Stewart, exploring sharks began as an underwater adventure. What it turned into was a beautiful and dangerous life journey into the balance of life on earth.

Driven by passion fed from a lifelong fascination with sharks, Stewart debunks historical stereotypes and media depictions of sharks as bloodthirsty, man-eating monsters and reveals the reality of sharks as pillars in the evolution of the seas.

Filmed in visually stunning, high definition video, Sharkwater takes you into the most shark rich waters of the world, exposing the exploitation and corruption surrounding the world's shark populations in the marine reserves of Cocos Island, Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador.

In an effort to protect sharks, Stewart teams up with renegade conservationist Paul Watson of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. Their unbelievable adventure together starts with a battle between the Sea Shepherd and shark poachers in Guatemala, resulting in pirate boat rammings, gunboat chases, mafia espionage, corrupt court systems and attempted murder charges, forcing them to flee for their lives.

Through it all, Stewart discovers these magnificent creatures have gone from predator to prey, and how despite surviving the earth's history of mass extinctions, they could easily be wiped out within a few years due to human greed.

Stewart's remarkable journey of courage and determination changes from a mission to save the world's sharks, into a fight for his life, and that of humankind.

The Last Mimzy Trailer

Two children discover a mysterious box containing some strange devices they think are toys. As the children play with these "toys," they begin to display higher intelligence levels, prompting their parents and the community to search for answers.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 Trailer

A group of young National Guard cadets deliver equipment to a desert outpost, but find it mysteriously deserted. A distress call on their walkie-talkies leads them to believe that there are people in the hills who need to be rescued, but the call was sent by a tribe of mutants, damaged by nuclear testing, who lie in wait for them.

Dead Silence Movie Trailer

There is an old ghost story in the sleepy town of Ravens Fair about Mary Shaw, a ventriloquist who went mad. Accused of the murder of a young boy, she was hunted down by vengeful townspeople who cut out her tongue and killed her. They buried her along with her "children," a hand-made collection of vaudeville dolls.

Since that time, Ravens Fair has been plagued by death. The ghastly dolls from Mary Shaw's collection have gone missing from the grave and reappeared over the decades. In the dead of night--wherever they are glimpsed--families are found gruesomely murdered...with their tongues torn out.

Far from the pall of their hometown, newlyweds Jamie (Ryan Kwanten) and Lisa Ashen thought they had established a fresh start. But when his wife is grotesquely killed, Jamie reluctantly returns to Ravens Fair for the funeral, intent on unraveling the mystery of her death.

Once reunited with his ill father (Bob Gunton) and his father's new young bride (Amber Valletta), Jamie must dig into the town's bloody past to find out who killed his wife and why. As he uncovers the legend of Mary Shaw, Jamie unlocks the story of her curse and the truth behind the song from his childhood: if you see her and scream, you will never speak again.

Sunshine Movie Trailer

The Sun is dying, and mankind is dying with it. Our last hope: a spaceship and a crew of eight men and women. They carry a device which will breathe new life into the star. But deep into their voyage, out of radio contact with Earth, their mission is starting to unravel. Soon the crew are fighting not only for their lives, but their sanity.

Indigènes / Days of Glory (2006)

Indigènes -- a French term used for the African soldiers during the second world war, meaning "natives" -- is a more appropriate title for this movie, than the English release title, Days of Glory. There was little glorious about the participation of North African soldiers in the French army of WWII. Although the North Africans fought for the French motherland, France was hardly open arms for the Africans -- if anything, to this day, those soldiers that are still alive continue to be marginalized and not treated with the same respect of their French counterparts. The movie is about France's shame -- a shame that some are willing to acknowledge, but others, like those of the National Front, dismiss as lies.

Indigènes follows a group of Algerians who join the French army as they fight through Italy and Provence to liberate France from the Nazis -- focusing on four, each having their own reasons for fighting in defense of their colonizer. Abdelkader believes in the French ideals of liberté, égalité, and fraternité; Yassir is there just to get rich, liberating treasures wherever they're found; Saïd wants to escape poverty at home -- and Messaoud is looking to find a new life and love in France. Along the way, they are tested and transformed by the war and the bigotry they encounter.

The individual stories are powerful and superbly performed. The injustices are painful to watch. This is history, but also a potent mirror on the state of the world. The injustices continue today. The hope of the characters crushed with their fallen bodies; with history that continues to repeat itself; with bigotry that remains unchanged. The movie is powerful and moving, and hopefully will be seen by more than just the converted. This is a war movie of two wars -- with one that continues to be fought today, in desperate need of more infantry. Liberté, égalité, and fraternité: it shouldn't be so hard to accomplish.

Days of Glory (2006)

The story

1944-1945... Liberation of Italy, Provence, the Alps, the Rhone Valley, Vosges, Alsace was essential to the victory of the allies... and to establish France’s presence among them after the armistice. This victorious battle to advance on Germany, after much bloodshed and great losses, was the accomplishment of the First French Army, recruited in Africa in order to avoid the control of the German commissioners and the Vichy authorities: 200,000 men, including 130,000 “indigenes” (natives) including 110,000 North Africans, and 20,000 AfricansÉThe rest made up of two thirds “pieds- noirs” (French colonials) and one third young frenchmen who fled the occupation. The film relates the forgotten story of the soldiers known as “Indigènes” following the epics of four of them: Abdelkader, Saïd, Messaoud and Yassir (le goumier) a mobile corps, reputed for their endurance, ground sense , and courage in close combat. They are sent to the front line.

Each one is in pursuit of a different objective throughout the passage across France which they liberate, arms in hand.

Yassir joined for the booty he expected to collect.

Messaoud was surprised by the welcome from the French. He hopes to marry and live in France, to escape the arpatheid in Algeria.

Saïd wishes to escape poverty in Morocco, and hopes to find a family in the French army.

And Abdelkader who is fighting for liberty and equality, in joining the French army he hopes for France’s recognition, and more justice towards the colonised Algerians once the war is over.

Pan's Labyrinth (2006)

Pan's Labyrinth is an amazing movie, set in Francisco Franco's Spain, at the closing of World War II. It tells the story of Ofelia, a young girl who's mother is remarried to the brutal fascist, Captain Vidal -- and is pregnant with his son. Ofelia and her mother are not loved by Vidal -- he considers Ofelia a nuisance and her mother only a vessel for his son. While waiting for his son to arrive, Vidal goes about reigning terror on the populace of small town and hunting down Republican rebels. In this horrible world, Ofelia seeks comfort, and finds it surprisingly one night, in the form of a praying mantis that morphs into a fairy. The fairy leads Ofelia to a hidden labyrinth, where she meets a faun, who tells Ofelia that she is Princess Moanna of the underworld, and he has been looking for her to return her home. To prove that she has her essence intact, the faun instructs Ofelia to complete three tasks before the next full moon.

Ofelia sets about to complete her tasks as the world around her tumbles out of control. Ofelia's mother is sick and is getting worse as the pregnancy nears term; Mercedes, the servant who cares for Vidal's household and has a bond with Ofelia, is a spy for the Republican rebels; Vidal trusts no one, and grows more malevolent -- capturing and torturing rebels, killing anyone who gets in his way. Ofelia completes her first task fairly easily by retrieving a golden key from the stomach of a giant frog that lives at the root of a dying tree. She runs into trouble in her second task however, which sends her to the lair of the Pale Man to retrieve a dagger. She is warned by the faun not to eat anything from the Pale Man's table -- but she samples grapes which wakes the Pale Man who quickly gobbles up two of the faeries. Ofelia barely escapes, but the faun, upset at the death of his faeries, declares that Ofelia will never go back to the underworld and leaves her.

Alone, Ofelia bears witness to the death of her mother and the birth of her brother. Vidal grows more nasty, and captures Mercedes and Ofelia trying to flee. Ofelia is locked up, while Mercedes is taken to be tortured. When all hope is lost to Ofelia, the faun reappears to give her a last chance, only if she promises to obey his directives. She is told to steal her baby brother and bring him to the labyrinth in order to return home. She doesn't understand the instructions, but obeys, in hopes of leaving the horror behind. At the labyrinth, Ofelia is told by the faun that innocent blood, that of her baby brother, must be spilt in order for her to return home. She is horrified, and refuses. At this the faun leaves, but Vidal catches up with Ofelia and shoots her after retrieving his son. As Ofelia dies, she is transported to the underworld. There she sees the King and Queen -- the Queen looking just like her dead mother from the world above ground. She is told that she had completed her third task well, and had made the right choice in not sacrificing her brother.

All ends well ... or does it? The movie never confirms whether Ofelia's fantasy world is real, or just a place for she escapes to in her imagination. No one other than Ofelia sees the magical creatures or objects from the underworld, that she comes into contact with. Even in her dying breath, as we see the underworld, and see the Queen, we are left to suppose that maybe it was just her imagination, as the Queen looks like Ofelia's dead mother. The movie tells a sad story, with the only hope to be found in Ofelia's fantasy world. If her fantasy world isn't real ... then the story truly is a bitter pill.

Pan's Labyrinth is a Spanish language film, originally titled El Laberinto del Fauno, that is written and directed by Guillermo del Toro -- the great director of such hits as Hellboy and El Espinazo del Diablo. (In fact, del Toro has commented that El Laberinto del Fauno may in some ways be thought of as a sequel to El Espinazo del Diablo.) The film is dark and melancholy, with the fantasy elements blended seamlessly into reality-setting of the film. While del Toro is a superb storyteller however, in this movie, as with some of his previous films, there is a lack of depth to his main characters. While Ofelia is played extremely well by an eleven-year-old Ivana Baquero, her character isn't developed as well as it could have been. Left unexplored is the little girl who could be so imaginative as to perhaps invent a fantasy world to escape to. Del Toro instead, stayed at a fairytale level with his storytelling, requiring his audience to accept the story as-is -- which is OK, but some depth would have been better. The same could be said of Mercedes and Vidal. The audience isn't given enough depth to either one -- although it's easy to not miss the depth in Vidal, as Sergi López's performance as an evil tyrant was superb.