Into the Blu

 Around 2003 marked a change for the horror genre, a new wave was hitting the scene and it wasn’t coming from Hollywood. France’s horror scene was blooming and one of the most talked about films was “High Tension” with its relentless storytelling and pure terror it was said to impose upon its viewers. Was the hype true or was this simply the opening of the floodgates of over-gory cookie-cutter horror films that would infest the market for the next 7 years?  Continue Reading

Sometimes you have to kill to do good things. That statement from General Pang in a nutshell summarizes the film The Warlords that is the subject of today’s review. The Warlords was recently featured on HDNet and HDNet Movies and I was curious to see whether the Blu-ray release of the film would be a significant upgrade in terms of picture and sound quality over the prior cable presentation. Continue Reading

I will admit that I did not know what to expect when Broken Embraces arrived for a review. The fact that it stars Penelope Cruz was a good sign. That plus the fact that it was directed by Academy Award winning writer and director Pedro Almodovar was even better given his past track record. I had also heard some good critical buzz about the film but have found in the past that good critical buzz is not necessarily a harbinger of an enjoyable film or one that would be assessable to a mass audience. Thankfully, Broken Embraces, merits the praise that has been heaped upon it by the trade press and contains yet another in a string of amazing performances by Penelope Cruz. Continue Reading

Arousing curiosity from me at the Golden Globes where I’ve Loved you So Long was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actress, It’s about time I get to actually watch this film. Very rarely do foreign films disappoint me, and one with so much nominations and awards to boot. While I’ve Loved you So Long didn’t take home the awards for the aforementioned nominations there is a general consensus that the film did in fact earn its place at the Globes. Continue Reading

Lately many Hollywood films have either partially or completely drawn from foreign film, and can you really blame the Hollywood execs? My experience with foreign films has been nothing but positive, from German and Spanish all the way to Japanese and Chinese, with Chungking Express falling into the ladder category (Hong Kong to be more specific). With the odd exception, I have found myself craving some originality in the films I’ve been watching, hoping for some complexity and stylistic visuals. Everything I’ve heard about Chungking Express points in the positive direction, and fourteen years after its release I will finally get the chance to make that determination for myself. Continue Reading

The interesting thing about reviewing movies is that at any given time you can be handed a movie that is just so out of your usual realm of movie watching. That is what I like about reviewing movies. You get to experience so many different genres than the typical mainstream flick. So, when the time came to review Persepolis, I knew this would be one of those times. However, could my mainstream mind handle the change? Continue Reading

It was back in 1999 when I first saw Run Lola Run. I remember exactly where I rented it, what city I was in and who I watched it with. I read about the film online and when the opportunity came about to rent it, I jumped at the chance. One of my main reasons for wanting to rent it was because my companion was in fact German and from Germany and I knew she would enjoy watching a movie in her native language. Little did I know before watching Lola, it would become one of my all time favorite movies. Continue Reading

Let me first say that I love Godzilla and I love monster movies. The Host is a South Korean film that has received much critical acclaim for the return of the giant monster. With many comparisons to both the Godzilla movies and Jaws, to say that I was looking forward to watching this would be an understatement. Yet, when all was said and done, I was left, like the monster, a little cold. Maybe I had just bought into the hype a little too much. Continue Reading

I am a huge fan of foreign cinema. It gives me a chance to enjoy unique and unconventional films without the predictability and overly optimistic Hollywood undertones. So it goes without saying that anytime I get the opportunity to observe foreign film I welcome it with open arms. Already being a huge fan of Chinese cinema I hope Curse of the Golden Flower can hold up to what I’ve come to expect from past viewings Continue Reading

For those unfamiliar with Clint Eastwood’s recent massive undertaking, Letters from Iwo Jima is the companion film to Flags of our Fathers (see my previous review). What Eastwood has done is taken two different perspectives on the same battle: one from the soldiers responsible for raising the famous flag on Mt Suribachi, the other from the Japanese soldiers as they prepare and enter the battle themselves. Letters is the latter and possibly stronger film of the two.

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I had missed Apocalypto while it was in the theaters, so I was excited to find it sitting on my front porch Monday morning.

The film centers in the 16th century in Mesoamerica. A Mayan villager named Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) goes hunting for a tapir (a wild boar) with his dad, Flint Sky (Morris Birdyellowhead) and other villagers. One of the hunters who is included in this hunting party is Blunted (Jonathan Brewer), a big guy who has had a hard time impregnating his wife Sky Flower (Iazua Larios),… Continue Reading

Outside of the Academy Awards in 2006, I had never heard of this picture, most likely because it is a Spanish film and was played in America on limited release. Although Volver left the Oscars without any brass, it still has been highly regarded by critics and viewers alike. Like most people my age would think, this movie doesn’t look awfully appealing, but I can assure you there?s a lot more to it than you would expect; it turns out to be a real deep and dark drama, with the odd laugh. Continue Reading