akatemple of reviews

2LDK (2003)

Director: Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Writers: Yuiko Miura and Yukihiko Tsutsumi

2LDK (2-bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen) only has two actors in the entire film, Nozomi (Eiko Koike) and Rana (Maho Nonami) are two budding actresses sharing an apartment in Tokyo. The movie starts out so calmly by introducing Rana who is such an innocent girl brand new to the big city Tokyo. Nozomi is the kind of girl that will do anything with a guy if he buys her stuff and is not by any definition innocent about anything. The two girls are sharing a penthouse in Tokyo, and come to find out they are both competing for the same role in an upcoming movie called Yakuza Wife. This film becomes a little tiring after a while, there are several fight scenes and by that I mean a lot of fight scenes where after they make up for a minute and then start fighting again.



The movie consists of their outer dialogue and inner dialogue that is all, and it get’s kind of old after the first 30 minutes, luckily this movie is only 70 minutes in length. The fight scenes get old and the ending is well you’ll just have to watch it, but I didn’t find it to really satisfy me at all. But if you are just wanting to watch a crazy Japanese movie then this is a good one, the gore is good but if you don't like the shakeycam stuff then don't watch this.

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Assault Girls (2009)
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Writer: Mamoru Oshii

This entire movie takes place inside of an incredibly immersive virtual video game, sounds like a cool idea for a film right, well wrong. There are four characters in this movie, Jager, Lucifer, Gray, and Colonel, that’s pretty much all you get is just names without background or any clue about anything in the real world or in the game. Lucifer was my favorite out of the four just because she had wings and a cool hat. I’ll put a picture below.



The whole point is the three girls and one loner guy are trying to get to the next level of the game, and in order to do that they must team up in order to beat the boss. Descent sounding story but so much of this movie is wasted with them just walking through the desert in silence. There is one part where they each walk past a snail and take time to examine the snail in detail before moving on (about 10 minutes). The movie is less than 65 minutes long so out of the entire film you only get about 5 minutes of action. The CGI is way too obvious and boring, the monsters and boss look exactly the same and not scary at all.

THX-1138 (1971)
Director: George Lucas
Written by: George Lucas, Mathew Robbins and Walter Murch

This movie has been out longer then I have been alive and I just watched it for the first time, I don’t know what took me so long I guess it was just one of those films that I always skipped over because I did not think I would like it. I was wrong, I really liked this movie. The color or lack there of, the actors it was all great, and wow Robert Duvall was so young in this (yes I know it was 40 years ago) I mainly know Duvall from a lot of his more modern films. The mechanical confessionals were hilarious probably about as effective as the ones today (just my opinion, please no hate mail).



To be perfectly honest I really did like this film but I did not understand a lot of it. From what I got this is a love story between THX and LUH, also I believe sex is illegal. This look at the future has almost came true IMO with so many people being on sedatives for one thing or another, that part of the movie at least I found quite fitting with the world today. I do not understand the reason in the movie why it was mandatory to take the sedatives and if you didn’t you got put in jail (futuristic bright white jail). A lot of this movie reminded me or George Orwell’s 1984 and the whole Big Brother thing. THX (Robert Duvall) finds out LUH is pregnant and escapes from jail in an attempt to reunite with LUH. I don’t want to say too much about the ending even though everybody but me probably saw this film a while ago, all I will say is that I thought it had potential for a good ending, but all it did was leave me hanging.



Maybe it's just me but a young Duvall to me looks a lot like a young Robert De Niro. If anyone even reads this and can maybe explain the ending or the reason for the sedatives please let me know, also I really like Sid Haig but I don’t remember seeing him in this movie and he has to be in it somewhere, so if anyone can point him out that would be nice.

Suspect Zero (2004)
Director: E. Elias Merhige
Written by: Zak Penn

Tom Mackelway (Aaron Eckhart) is a demoted and kind of burnt out FBI agent who get’s transferred to a smaller town because of screwing up a very big case the FBI was working on. Dead people start popping up with the same symbol on or around all the bodies, at the same time someone starts calling and faxing very vague clues about missing children. Benjamin O’Ryan (Ben Kingsley) is a man with a top secret past having something to do with experiments that the Russians were doing a long time ago but then the American government picked up where the Russians left off and continued the experiments. O’Ryan becomes the FBI’s number one suspect, Mackelway becomes obsessed with the case making others concerned that he might screw this one up just like the last big case he was on. This is a great movie about trying to track down a serial killer with some kind of ESP talent, there are lots of twists and turns that keep you watching, the ending is great and ties up the story nicely, this is a really good and suspenseful movie. Carrie-Anne Moss is also in this movie but to no great extent, she is more of an afterthought in this film.


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Meet Bill (2007)
Directed by: Bernie Goldmann and Melisa Wallack
Written by: Melisa Wallack

Bill (Aaron Eckhart) is a man who is trapped in his job and cannot win with his in-laws. Bill works at a bank that is owned by his father in-law, he has a made up job title and only has the job because he married into the family. His wife Jess (Elizabeth Banks) starts out the movie as a bored wife who has a thing for Chip Johnson (Timothy Olyphant) the local news reporter. When Bill finds out everything he lashes out at Jess, and Chip resulting in both of them taking out restraining orders against him.
Bill starts living in a tent in his brothers backyard while trying to mentor a young rich high school kid. Bill the kid and a lingerie sales girl (Jessica Alba) team up to try and win back Bill’s wife. This is a great comedy and had me laughing almost all the way through it. Aaron Eckhart put on a good amount of weight for this movie and is a part of the story with him trying to get back in shape and change stuff about himself. Through the entire film there is this donut franchise that Bill is wanting to invest in, that is actually quite a bit of the story but all in all this was a funny movie, but to be honest the only reason I got it was I stumbled upon the .gif I will post below, and then just had to see the movie.

Rope (1948)
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by Hume Cronyn and Patrick Hamilton

This was the first time I have seen this movie, I have been trying to find a film that was made in one continuous shot. It was Alfred Hitchcocks idea to film the movie in one continuous shot but the technology did not exist at that time so he made it look like it was continuous by panning the camera behind someone’s back making it look like one shot. The movie starts with two really close friends Brandon (John Dall) and Phillip (Farley Granger) killing there other close friend, they then put the body inside of a chest in the main sitting room of the apartment. Brandon and Phillip then invite a group of people over for a dinner party the guests include the parents and fiancé of the murdered man. Brandon invites Rupert Cadell (James Stewart) without telling Phillip, Rupert was the schoolteacher of all the men at the party and the one person who posed the biggest threat of figuring out what had happened.



Brandon and Phillip murdered there friend for the excitement and rush, throwing the party was just to see if they could get away with it. Brandon has interesting views on murder thinking that the superior intellectual people should be able to commit murder as long as it was against an inferior person, Rupert shares their views on murder because he was the one who use to talk about his ideas with Brandon. The main difference is that Rupert was a good person and would never have acted whereas Brandon and Phillip did. You can tell almost from the very beginning that Phillip is the weak link and immediately regrets what they have done to their friend. You find yourself on the edge of your seat waiting for Phillip to do something or say something stupid. Brandon is the exact opposite and definitely the alpha male in this film, he throws gas on the fire with some of the stuff he sais almost trying to see how close he can come to getting caught, he thinks he has committed the perfect murder. I left a few characters out because the movie seemed to mainly move around the three that I have described. I looked up some info on this movie and it turns out that this is based on an actual murder committed in 1924 which makes this movie way more disturbing.

Special (2006)
Directed by: Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore
Written by: Hal Baberman and Jeremy Passmore

Les (Michael Rapaport) has a job as a meter maid (not sure if that term is unisex), he does the same unfulfilling job every day and has no one that is really in his life. He gets the chance to go and partake in a drug trial for a drug that is basically an anti-depressant it is supposed to remove the feeling of hopelessness. The medicine has an unforeseen side effect and makes Les start to feel like he has super powers such as flight, telekinesis etc. Suddenly he has a purpose and meaning in his life and uses this to start doing good and stopping crime. Maybe it is Psychosis or maybe Heroism from all the comic books he reads but in the real life he is ineffectual and powerless but he does not let that stop him from doing everything he can to help, and that really made me feel something for this character.



This film is a very dark comedy and will make you never want to sign up for a drug trial. But this is also a heart ripping story of an example of one person trying his hardest to make a difference. If you like dark comedies or just in the mood for a good dark pick me up then you should watch this.

Super (2010)
Directed by: James Gunn
Written by: James Gunn

Frank (Rainn Wilson) is a short order cook at a diner, he is married to Sarah (Liv Tyler) a recovering addict. One day Sarah is gone, when Frank goes to find her he finds that she is using again and has been taken by Jacques (Kevin Bacon). Frank finds himself unable to deal with the situation so he turns to god and starts praying, evidently Frank has been a victim of hallucinations or seeing gods signs since he was a young boy.



Seeing a man on television (Nathan Fillion) dressed up as a religious superhero gives Frank the push to go out and start doing good and fighting crime under the alias Crimson Bolt, only he is less then prepared to start this new line of work. After a few minor successes he picks up a side kick Boltie (Ellen Page) who just acts all spazzy constantly just like Ellen Page in most of her movies. The two join forces in the effort to rescue Frank’s wife and a lot of unexpected things happen which I can’t go into detail here without spoiling the movie. This is a dark dark comedy/superhero movie, this is a must watch in my opinion especially if your into the dark/superhero movie genre if such a thing even exists.

Bunraku (2010)
Directed by: Guy Moshe
Written by: Boaz Davidson and Guy Moshe

A Drifter (Josh Hartnett) walks into a bar, the Bartender (Woody Harrelson) sais to the guy….. yeah I’m not sure where that’s going. This is such a bizarre movie which takes place kind of like a post WW3 in which guns have been outlawed so now the sword has replaced the guns. The Drifter meets up with a mysterious Traveler with the help of the Bartender convincing them that they need to work together in order to achieve their goal of defeating the very elusive Wood Cutter (Ron Pearlman). Alexander (Demi Moore) is the Wood Cutters woman who really is just in a couple scenes but hardly enough to matter to the storyline at all, just thought I'd throw Demi's name out there.



This film reminded me of Sin City just based on the artistic way it was made, there are some amazing action scenes but believing that Josh Hartnett is some kind of Martial Arts expert is kind of a stretch. But the fight scenes are imaginative and original to say the least. I really liked this movie just because of the artistic and bizarre nature of the whole thing.

For the Story.

For the creative and artistic way it was filmed.

Noriko’s Dinner Table (2005)
Directed by: Shion Sono
Written by: Shion Sono

This film is a sequel (I know the picture above sais Prequel but everything I have been able to find sais it is the sequel) to Suicide Club which is a film that I really like. I had no idea that there was a sequel but am happy that I found it. The director is also the same who just released Cold Fish (2010) which is another great film. I was expecting a lot from this film and I did get a lot, about 2 hours and 50 minutes worth.
Noriko (Kazue Fukiishi) is a shy and very unhappy girl, she hates the town she lives in which she describes as in the middle of nowhere and dreams about living in Tokyo. Using the computer lab in her school she finds a website dedicated to girls ages 16 to 17, she becomes a little obsessed with talking to one girl Kumiko (Tsugumi) with the handle Ueno Station 54 who lives in Tokyo. Noriko comes up with the handle Mitsuko and keeps it throughout the movie never revealing her real name to her friends. Her new name helps her to change and become the girl she’s always dreamed of becoming. One night she runs away to Tokyo to meet up with Kumiko, this is when it starts to get really confusing and hard to follow because they should have put 2 hours 50 minutes of this movie into a 90+ minute movie. This is also when I realized that this was a sequel to Suicide Club because flashbacks from Suicide club and mentions in the newspapers start to pop up frequently in the movie, also for anyone who has watched Suicide Club the website is the same website where the two girls meet in the beginning of this film.



When Noriko get’s to Tokyo is when all the confusing stuff happens, she and her friend start working as rental families for lonely people who want a family for the day. Noriko’s father tracks her to Tokyo but by the time he finds her she has been brainwashed into thinking that she was her handle Mitsuko and was unable to recognize her father. The rest of the story is just confusing, there are so many alternate reality stories that happen in the movie that it just get’s annoying, you will watch 30 minutes of the movie only to find out that it is a dream or a fantasy or something like that. This movie is long, confusing, annoying, and boring, most of the dialogue in this is their inner monologue which just get’s again annoying and confusing. This was a huge letdown so I suggest not even watching this and sorry if you already have.

Suicide Club
Noriko's Family Table

Okay so from now on all the reviews will be new and not moved from the movie tab.

Teeth (2007)
Directed by: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Written by: Mitchell Lichtenstein

Dawn (Jess Weixler) lives in a small town, right behind her house are huge smoke stacks I am guessing from some kind of power plant, I am not sure exactly how that ties in with the rest of the film. Dawn is very outspoken about her beliefs in abstinence that is probably a good thing since she suffers from Vagina Dentata (teeth in her vagina). She discovers that she has this after being sexually assaulted by her boyfriend who forces himself on her only to lose his most precious part. After this happens for the first time her character starts to change both sexually and her becoming a more dark minded person. Soon she starts to learn that she can use her GIFT to her advantage by getting revenge on people who have wronged her in the past or threatening her in the present.



This movie was classified as a Feminist Horror film, I guess I can kind of see that. For me it seemed like they were just really trying to get there point across about pre-marital sex and puberty or coming of age for a teenage girl. I found the film to be more of a comedy than anything else but there was also a pretty descent about of blood and gore.

This is one brutal horror movie you should snatch up quick

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Faces in the Crowd (2011)
Directed by: Julien Magnat
Written by: Julien Magnat and Kelly Smith

Anna (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of the serial killer Tearjerk Jack, hitting her head during the attack gives her a diagnosis of Face Blindness where she cannot identify anyone by their faces meaning that she cannot identify her attacker. I did a little searching and Face Blindness is a real medical condition that just makes this movie all that more terrifying, trying to imagine this happening to yourself is such a scary thought. The cops become fed up with Anna since she can’t recognize the killer and because she makes a few mistakes, and calls them when she thinks the killer is after her, the one time it was her father that she couldn’t recognize. There is one person who continues to try and work with Anna, a Detective Kerrest (Julian McMahon and David Ingram) who has some kind of special connection to Anna that they really don’t explain and I can’t really go into this without giving away too much. Anna becomes very detached from life with all that she is going through, her boyfriend can’t stand the idea that she can’t tell him apart from any other man, even looking in the mirror she cannot see her own reflection she sees somebody else looking back at her. Anna starts seeing Dr. Langenkamp (Marianne Faithfull) who is deaf and starts to teach her how to recognize people by their body language and other distinctive things about the person she wants to remember. After going through some Hypnosis exercises the killers face begins to clear and Anna starts to remember.



The ending without giving to much away was for me at least just really boring and not nearly the way I was hoping it would end, just kind of a Blah feeling when the credits started rolling. The way this was filmed was cool, the number of actors they had playing one person was interesting because they changed actors each time she looked away from the person or just blinked her eyes. All in all it’s a good movie and if you like the Psychological Thriller genre then you should watch this.

Logan’s Run (1976)
Directed by: Michael Anderson
Written by: David Zelag Goodman and William F. Nolan

With the remake of Logan’s Run still a ways away I thought it wouldn’t hurt to watch this classic again since it has probably been about 17 years since the one and only time I watched this film till now. Logan 5, the movie's central character, is a sandman and is played by Michael York. He is given orders by the central computer to track down a group of runners who have not been "renewed" and might have set up sanctuary outside of the City of Domes. To do this, the computer advances Logan's life clock (all the citizens of the city have life clocks that tell their ages) to make him appear as if he's 30. Now Logan is forced to run, hence the title.



While the billowing, disco-ish haircuts and outfits might scream "'70s!" to those who watch Logan's Run, the truth is that there is a lot to like about the movie. For starters, the premise is an intriguing one, and handled well. Giving Logan a succeed-or-die mission gives much of the movie an urgent, claustrophobic feel. York and Jenny Agutter (who plays Jessica, Logan's accomplice in his escape) appear on the surface to be the perfect bland "pretty people" for the shallow society depicted in the movie, but in the course of the movie, reveal their characters' depth.



"Logan's Run" is a time capsule of what large budget sci-fi movies were before "Star Wars", but it succeeds, mainly from having a creative plot that draws the viewer's interest and transcends the trappings of the dated 70's designs. By no means the best sci-fi movie of the seventies, but one that’s quite enjoyable nonetheless. In the remake I really hope they keep the hair and clothing style that was in this film, I know it was made in the 70’s and reflects the hairstyles and other aspects of that time but without that then I really believe the movie will be to different and not a remake but a remodeling and after watching this again I just really hope they keep that feeling in the new one.

Rika: The Zombie Killer (2008)
Aka: High School Girl Rika Zombie Hunter
Directed by: Ken’ichi Fujiwara
Written by: Ken’ichi Fujiwara and Takeyuki Morikaku

This well cast low budget, silly and goofy Zombie movie has actually got some really great parts, the fight scenes are actually pretty good and the film has a strong lead actress and a very diverse cast of characters. Fun and entertaining and fans of films like Tokyo Gore Police or Machine Girl will dig this. Nudity = check. Swearing = check. Gore=eh, a little. Blood = hell yeah and a lot of it.



The film revolves around a scientific program gone haywire. While the emergency sounds are blaring in the background, the main scientist seemed to have slept after having an erotic dream after looking at a porn magazine. When he wakes up, he finds out that his colleagues are now zombies and instead of running away, he looks at his comrades in the eye and ends up being bit by one and thus becoming a zombie. We then see the exploits of a European wandering zombie hunter via a streaming video clip that a guy is watching on his computer. But somehow in this film, the main protagonist is defeated by a huge zombie monster which ends with the hero's arm being cutoff (and evidently, the hero is killed). We then see the monster take the cut off arm (which is still holding the sword) and throwing it towards the forest. It appears that this was not a fake movie but a real clip that had happened.



Enter Rika and her high school classmate and BFF Nami as they ride in the subway and talk about Rika's grandfather who is a skilled surgeon who moved away and Rika still missing him. The two suddenly have an idea to run away and visit her grandfather Ryuhei at his summerhouse. We then see the grandfather who seems to be an invalid and just sits down with hardly any movement. A woman named Sayaka is seen taking care of him and happy that her brother is to be coming to visit. While at this village, we see Rika and her friend at the village and come face to face with a zombie. The town seems to be filled with zombies and now Rika and Nami try to run away and encounter some gangster guy named Tomoya. The three are then chased by zombies and end up escaping together and go to the summer home where Rika's grandfather is at. Meanwhile at the village in which zombies are growing and growing, three guys (who are like the comedy support of the film) try to find a way to escape the village. The three managed to make it to the village and we learn that Sayaka is the wife of Rika's grandfather and Tomoya is her brother (fake). Sayaka explains to her that her grandfather has Alzheimer's and Dementia but in truth, it was a plot by Sayaka and her boyfriend Tomoya to get money from Rika's grandfather and plans to kill him off in order to get the insurance money. Also, arriving to the residence is the original scientist who was responsible in everyone turning to a zombie. Supposedly, despite now being a zombie, he has resisted his zombie urges and wants to help Rika and everyone. Anyone who is a fan of the Ultra-Gore Japanese films should definitely watch this, great zombie movie, tons of blood and enough action to please anyone.

Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)
Directed by: Brad Anderson
Written by: Anthony Jaswinski

VANISHING ON 7TH STREET taps into one of humankind's most primal anxieties: fear of the dark. An unexplained blackout plunges the city of Detroit into total darkness, and by the time the sun rises, only a few people remain surrounded by heaps of empty clothing, and abandoned cars. A small handful of strangers that have survived the night (Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton, John Leguizamo and Jacob Latimore) each find their way to a rundown bar with a working generator to keep the lights working. With daylight beginning to disappear completely and whispering shadows surrounding the survivors, they soon discover that the enemy is the darkness itself. It seems if a shadow catches you then you just disappear the same with any kind of darkness. Luckily they have a generator however they are running out of gas (of course) to keep the lights on.



This movie for the most part is entertaining and a good story in general, however there are so many unanswered questions and the ending just sucks. There are some really intense moments so if you like the sci-fi thriller genre then watch this movie, and you get to see Hayden Christensen do something other than screw up Star Wars movies.

The Terminal Man
Directed by: Mike Hodges
Written by: Michael Crichton and Mike Hodges

A computer scientist (George Segal) is in a car accident, and the resulting brain injury causes him to have sudden, violent seizures. When he assaults his wife, he is imprisoned. Now, he's a volunteer in an experimental new medical procedure that might end his rampages, with electrodes planted in his cerebral cortex that are supposed to control and ease his bad impulses. The operation seems to be a success at first, but--as in FRANKENSTEIN--there's a downside to playing God. The electrodes malfunction, and he escapes from his hospital room. He's at large in a big city, and it's a matter of time before he becomes uncontrollably violent again....



I have always been a huge Michael Crichton fan and The Terminal Man was the first book I read by him, to this day it is still one of my favorite books. But as in most cases the book is far better and much more interesting. The movie is good but it is long and very drawn out, about the first hour of the movie is just prepping for surgery and then the operation. If you are a fan of movies like the original Andromeda Strain or just a Michael Crichton fan then you should watch this movie.

I gave it a 3 just for being so drawn out, otherwise it would have gotten a better rating.

Night of the Comet (1984)
Directed by: Thom Eberhardt
Written by: Thom Eberhardt

“Since before recorded time, it had swung through the universe in an elliptical orbit so large that its very existence remained a secret of time and space. But now, in the last few years of the twentieth-century, the visitor was returning. The citizens of Earth would get an extra Christmas present this year, as their planet orbited through the tail of the comet. Scientists predicted a light show of stellar proportions. Something not seen on Earth for 65 million years. Indeed, not since the time that the dinosaurs disappeared, virtually overnight”



This movie follows two valley girl sisters in a post apocalyptic Las Angeles, after the strange comet passes by Earth everyone who was outside it seems has been reduced to dust just leaving there clothing behind. Regina (Catherine Mary Stewart) and Samantha (Kelli Maroney) find a radio broadcast and decide to track the signal and head to the radio station thinking that the signal is live. Once at the radio station they find another survivor Hector (Robert Beltran, better known as Chakotay from Star Trek: Voyager). Hector is a truck driver who has to head to San Diego and try to find his family promising that he will return and find the sisters. While Hector is gone a underground laboratory somewhere in the desert find out about the two girls who have survived and send people to bring them back to the lab for further testing. The people in the lab seem innocent at first but they might not be quite what they seem. There are a few other survivors it shows in the movie, but they are the typical looters and generally bad people you would expect in this kind of movie.



There are some great early 80’s shopping montages set alongside the incredible 80’s horror film music. The shopping scenes are hilarious and have one of the best quotes of the movie when the younger sister asks the older which outfit she should take and the sister responds, "That one, it'll stay in style longer". It’s only a good line if you remember this is in a post apocalyptic world. The music, and especially the clothing fashion is one of the things that just makes this movie so awesome, if somebody tried to do a modern remake and change all of that it would be such a disaster. I saw this movie about fifteen years ago and just watched it again 16 years later and it’s still just as good as I remember, Horror/Zombie fans have probably already seen this movie but if not then you have to watch it.

Incendies (2010)
Directed by: Denis Villeneuve
Written by: Denis Villeneuve and Wajdi Mouawad

Starting in Canada twins Jeanne Marwan (Melissa Desormeaux-Poulin), and Simon Marwan (Maxim Gaudette) are being read their mothers Last Will and Testament. The dead mother, Nawal Marwan (Lubna Azabal) asks that the twins go and find their father whom they thought was dead and a brother that they did not know existed. Simon does not have much of a part in the first half of the film, mainly it is Jeanne somewhere in the middle east (I believe in Lebanon as most of the flashbacks take place during the Lebanese civil war during the 1970’s) trying to find anyone who has a connection or any information about her mother. There are flashbacks during a lot of this showing Nawal Marwan taking a major role in the civil war and ending up in prison, the flashing from past to present at times for me was a little confusing, this is one of those films where you really have to concentrate and not miss a single line of dialogue. I think that’s all I will say about the flashbacks as to not spoil anything for others who have not seen this because most of the story and twists in this movie happen during those moments.



During the second half of the film the brother has a large part when he starts helping his sister retrace their mother’s past, but for the most part I did not feel like he made much of an impact in the movie at all. The twins start discovering stuff about their mother that they would never have imagined and parts of their childhood that they were much too young to remember. I really think this is an amazing story of what a mother will do for her children as well as the lengths the children will go to too make their mother’s last wishes happen no matter what obstacles come up along the way. There is a bit of violence in the movie and it is the kind that is quite disturbing as most of it happens to very young children, but I am sure a lot of that kind of violence especially in that part of the world happened much too often in real life. This is an amazing movie, a very moving movie, and a twist ending that I did not see coming and it blew my mind, everyone should watch this.

The Horde (2009)
Aka La horde
Directed by: Yannick Dahan and Benjamin Rocher
Written by: Arnaud Bordas and Yannick Dahan

I remember when I was younger wishing that there were more zombie movies to watch, and now they are everywhere and coming from all different countries which is a good thing in my opinion. The movie starts with four police officers entering a huge condemned apartment building in order to get revenge for one of their friends that had been killed. Things immediately go bad, there is no wasting time in this movie. People start dying really quickly and equally as fast start coming back to life, the zombies in this movie are very fast, very strong, and almost impossible to kill (again). The cops and criminals soon join together to survive even though there is a ton of mistrust throughout the rest of the movie. The director said that he wanted to make an action movie and not just a zombie movie, he pulled it off very well I think. Parts of this movie will remind you of 80’s style Rambo films, tons of violence and way more than enough blood to please any horror/zombie fan. If you are the type of person who does not like fast zombies and prefers more of a Romero feel to their zombie films then this is not your kind of movie. The thing that stuck out to me was that I did not feel as if there was a lead/main actor, all of the actors were all equally intense and there was no real take charge person. The female actress (yes there is only one unless you count zombie women) is intense and quite often steals the spotlight off of the rest of the crew.



The movie was just zombie insanity, I believe the director said there were 300 extras and in some scenes it seems like they are all attacking the actors at the same time, like a huge zombie mosh-pit. I would compare this movie to 28 days/weeks later, the ferocity and intensity of the zombies felt the same to me. It’s a movie for the whole family.

I love the description written on the top picture.
“A ZOMBIE MOVIE that bypasses the BRAINS and goes straight for THE NUTS.”

Shaolin (2011)
Directed by: Benny Chan
Written by: Alan Yuen and Chi Kwong Cheung

Shaolin takes place during the early 20th century shortly after the collapse of the Imperial reign. This movie is all about different warlords trying to claim their piece of the pie, the main one being General Hou Jie. Hou Jie barely escapes with his life after a failed assassination on another warlord that goes very wrong, with his wife missing and his daughter dying he goes to the people who he thinks can help, the Shaolin monks. After suffering major losses Hou Jie find himself helping the cook (Jackie Chan) to get food to the starving refugees that had gathered outside the temple. Hou Jie starts to reflect on his life and all of the violence that has led him to this path in his life, he starts to embrace the Shaolin monk way of thinking which is completely different to the violent and heartless character that we see for the first 30 minutes of the film. Once Hou Jie’s brother realizes that the assassination attempt failed and Hou is still alive this forces the monks to decide how they are going to help Hou and also to save the refugees that are being held captive by Hou’s brother.



This is where the movie turned for me, even though this is not a Jackie Chan movie, he has his parts in the film but he is by far not the main character he is “just the cook”. The cook still plays a really important part in helping to guide Hou from his life of violence to the tranquility of the monk’s life. When Jackie Chan goes to help rescue the refugee’s we get transported back to every film he’s ever made. I was hoping I would make it through this movie without seeing Jackie Chan using some kind of prop to kick some ass, I thought I was going to get what I wanted but I just don’t think he can help himself. This is a great movie but Jackie Chan killed it for me, luckily he is such a small part that you can kind of just ignore it and move on.

I think the moral of this story is that Karma is a bitch.