Shameless Pile of Stuff

Race with the Devil

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, Saber-Maslansky Productions, USA, 1975.

Motorcycle salesman Frank (Warren Oates) goes to campervan/biking vacation with motorist Roger (Peter Fonda) and their wives Alice (Loretta Swit) and Kelly (Lara Parker). Apparently they haven't seen "Texas Chainsaw massacre", they should know to avoid American back countries. There are always inbred cannibals, monsters and stuff! Soon the nice vacation takes a nasty turn when a group of Satan worshippers begins to sacrifice humans on the nearby hill.

Roger and Frank

Kelly and Alice

Satanic ritual

The Sheriff (R.G. Armstrong) seems amused. It must be those damn hippies again having a drunken orgy again! Meanwhile the ladies loan some reference books for deciphering the ominous message that was left in the campervan. The freakish local residents begin to get on their nerves. Then the cultists start playing psychological warfare on them. Finally they have to drive like crazy to save their lives.

The Sheriff

Ominous message

Race With the Devil!

This is an weird mixture of car chase action movie, horror thriller and motorhome invasion- movie. Kind of fusion of "Wicker Man" and "Mad Max." It offers some good thrills and scares. Of course the story is quite silly with whole towns supporting the evil cult. Possibly it felt more believable in the seventies after the Manson murders and Jonestown cult mass suicide three years later in 1978. Also the side plots are left hanging as this is clearly horror flick meant to be watched drive-in theatres. Still watched in the right mood it has good cast, good tension and solid nightmarish plot development.

Knock knock! Who's there? Crazy cultist!

As a trivia Tom Hanks is watching this movie in "The 'Burbs."

Rating:

Good

Starring: Peter Fonda, Warren Oates, Loretta Swit, Lara Parker, R.G. Armstrong, Clay Tanner, Carol Blodgett, Phil Hoover, Ricci Ware, Paul A. Partain, James N. Harrell, Karen Miller, Arkey Blue, Jack Starrett, Wes Bishop, Joyce King, Paul Maslansky, Dan Hewitt Owens, Tommy Splittgerber
Director: Jack Starrett

Today's quick find deserves its own post. When I visited a charity shop I found some regular DVD:s and then this box of awesomeness:

The box had only words Shinobi Heart Under Blade written in Latin alphabets. After checking what was inside I decided to take a risk although there was no mention about English subtitles. After all the price was only 3.50€ and Shinobi means ninja so it was an instabuy.

The movie was "Shinobi: Heart Under Blade" (2005) and it got quite good reviews. It seems that the movie is more in the vein of Hong Kong wuxia dramas, and less Sho Kosugi or Michael Dudikoff. Somewhere it was described as Romeo & Juliet with ninjas.

There are four DVDs:
1. The movie and trailers for other films (the movie has English subtitles. However the menus are in Japanese so navigating the menus takes a bit of trial and error.)
2. Iga Clan Bonus Disc containing making of featurette, premiere featurette (without subtitles), cast interviews and deleted scene.
3. Kouga Clan Bonus Disc containing featurette about effects, another premiere featurette, storyboard comparison, featurette about ninja weapons, another featurette about special effects, location featurette, TV spots and trailers.
4. Heaven music video by Ayumi Hamasaki.

The DVD holder was also pretty:

There was a lot of stuff in the box, a book, flyers and a smaller box full of cool stuff:

The book had pictures of the characters, locations and background information (in Japanese of course):

The box contained cards with pictures of cool ninjas, pretty ninja-girls and some mysterious characters:

Then there was a ninja-pouch with some mysterious ninja-powder and rubber-shuriken with suction cups:

There was also Iga Ninja Clan lapel pin

T-shirt and Kouga Ninja lapel pin are missing but I can't really complain considering that the full Shinobi Limited Premium Edition costs over 100€ in teh internets. All in all a nice and surprising find.

After digging up some information about the film I found out that it is based on Futaro Yamada's novel "The Kouga Ninja Scrolls." It has nothing to do with Ninja Scroll anime or series but it is closely related to anime-series "Basilisk" as both of them are based on the same book. I have "Basilisk" on DVD also but I haven't watched it:

Bullitt
Warner Brothers/Seven Arts, Solar Productions, USA, 1968.

Based on the novel "Mute Witness" by Robert L. Fish.

Let's finish the unofficial car movie marathon with a cop movie classic containing one of the iconic car chases filmed.

Lt. Frank Bullitt (Steve McQueen) is a tough San Francisco cop. Ambitious and crooked politician Walter Chalmers (Robert Vaughn) assigns him to protect witness Johnny Ross (Pat Renella) before a trial against mobsters. Using the testimony from a vicious gangster would advance Chalmers' career. While Bullitt is off duty spending time with his designer girlfriend Cathy (Jacqueline Bisset) two hitmen wound Ross and Inspector Stanton (Carl Reindel).

Frank Bullitt

Cathy

Walter Chalmers

The assassin (John Aprea) tries to finish the job and Bullitt tries in vain to prevent it. However Bullitt finds out that the case is more complicated than it seems. Despite pressure coming from Chalmers, Chief Bennett (Simon Oakland) allows Bulllitt to continue his investigations. Luckily Bullitt has a fast Ford Mustang that is useful for catching the crooks. However Cathy witnesses a crime scene and is horrified by the ugly things Bullitt sees and violence that he commits in his work. But for Bullitt serving justice without moral integrity is the driving force. As George Orwell put it: "Those who abjure violence can only do so because others are committing violence on their behalf."

Chief Bennett

Don Gordon as Sgt. Delgetti

The famous chase

The film has a cool later 1960s look and also realistic looking hospital scenes. The film has quite little action and it feels more like a modern hard-boiled detective story Chandler style but with less dialogue. It is better to avoid watching it waiting for fast-paced action, this is more a crime mystery film. As for the action scenes, the car chase is the highlight, featuring Russian Hill in San Francisco that is used in later films by everyone and his dog. The laconic style seems to have influenced 1970s cop movies, "French Connection," films of Charles Bronson and Eastwood's "Dirty Harry." There is also a jazzy soundtrack by Lalo Schifrin. Robert Duvall appears as cab driver.

The special edition DVD includes some interesting documentaries "Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool" and "The Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing."

Rating:

Very good

Starring: Steve McQueen, Robert Vaughn, Jacqueline Bisset, Don Gordon, Simon Oakland, Norman Fell, Robert Duvall, Georg Stanford Brown, Justin Tarr, Carl Reindel, Felice Orlandi, Vic Tayback, Robert Lipton, Ed Peck, Pat Renella, Paul Genge, John Aprea, Al Checco, Bill Hickman
Director: Peter Yates

Suomeksi/In Finnish

Waltsu from Cinema Lozenge gave me a blogger award with questions so thanks!

Rules of the award:

x Write a brief post about the award with the logo included

x Tell briefly how you started blogging

x Give some tips for beginner bloggers

x Link to the blog that gave you the award you

x Nominate 10 blogs to receive the award

Tell briefly about how you started blogging:
Because I watch a lot of movies and read plenty of books I had wanted to start a movie or book blog for a long time. Around Easter in 2014 I started to try. After all it is free to try!

Give some tips for beginner bloggers:
Write about topics that you find interesting. Try to post regularly to keep the audience interested. Read blogs with similar topics. Don't get frustrated because of low traffic. Beware of spam!

Nominate 10 blogs to receive the award:
Let's name only these two because this award has already been sent to many blogs I read:

Assorted Thoughts From An Unsorted Mind
http://bigdassorted.blogspot.com/

Mikkoakin kiinnostaa
http://mikkoakinkiinnostaa.blogspot.com/

Suomeksi

Waltsu Cinema Lozenge- blogista antoi minulle kiertopalkinnon kysymysten kera joten kiitokset!

Ohjeet:

x Kirjoita postaus palkinnosta logoineen.

x Kerro lyhyesti, kuinka aloitit bloggaamisen.

x Anna ohjeita aloitteleville bloggaajille.

x Mainitse ja linkitä blogi, joka sinut nimesi.

x Nimeä kymmenen bloggaajaa palkinnonsaajiksi.

Kerro lyhyesti, kuinka aloitit bloggaamisen:

Kun kerran elokuvia tulee katseltua runsaasti ja kirjoja luettua niin olin jo pitkään halunnut aloittaa elokuva- tai kirjablogia. Pääsiäisen kieppeillä 2014 päätin yrittää. Sehän on sentään ilmaista!

Anna ohjeita aloitteleville bloggaajille:

Kirjoita itseäsi kiinnostavista aiheista. Yritä kirjoittaa säännöllisesti ettei yleisön kiinnostus lopahda. Lue muita saman aihepiirin blogeja. Älä turhaudu vähäisten kävijämäärien takia. Varo roskapostia!

Nimeä kymmenen bloggaajaa palkinnonsaajiksi:

Koska tämä palkinto on jo lähetetty monille seuraamistani blogeista niin nimetään nämä kaksi:

Assorted Thoughts From An Unsorted Mind

http://bigdassorted.blogspot.com/

Mikkoakin kiinnostaa

http://mikkoakinkiinnostaa.blogspot.com/

Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool

The Greif Company, Thinkfactory Media, USA, 2005.

Bullitt Special Edition DVD contained two documentaries that deserve their own posts.

In the documentary "Steve McQueen: The Essence of Cool" Steve McQueen's ex-wife Neile Adams, friends, co-actors and admirers tell about Steve and his career. Steve McQueen (1930-1980) built his film career playing tough and charismatic characters and earned the nickname 'The King of Cool.'

After serving in the U.S. Marines he pursued theatre career to meet girls. Starting with TV-Westerns he began getting small roles in movies where he made some jests to make himself noticed. Steve's troubled childhood had made him a survivor and wanted to see if his friends were trustworthy. Bad boy reputation gave him nickname 'El Bandido.' He built a tough guy image to shelter himself from the people who tried to use him.

Being a thrill-seeker he become interested in motorcycles and racing earning respect from professional racers. He also wanted to do as much of the driving stunts as was possible. However after success of "Bullitt" he bwgan to change and became arrogant. His marriage with Adams began to suffer because he was having extra-marital affairs and using drugs. Still the documentary shows that they remained friends after the divorce. Despite some career setbacks he maintained his star status until the end.

It is an interesting documentary with good trivia. Outside his films, I didn't know much about his life beforehand so it gave useful information. The highlights of his career are respectfully told without forgetting the negative aspects of his life. Technically it is a well-made documentary with insightful interviews and multiple clips from his movies. Recommended for fans of McQueen and those interested in film history.

Rating:

Very good

Interviewees: Steve McQueen (archive footage), Robert Culp, Neile Adams, Suzanne Pleshette, Martin Landau, Hillard Elkins, Don Gordon, David Foster, Robert E. Relyea, Lawrence Kasdan, Walter Mirisch, Robert Vaughn, Eli Wallach, Richard Attenborough, Bud Ekins, Charles Champlin, Pat E. Johnson, Loren Janes, William Claxton, Norman Jewison, Chad McQueen, Haskell Wexler, Peter Yates, Bill Hickman, Mario Iscovich, Alec Baldwin, Katherine Haber, Barbara Minty, LeVar Burton

Director: Mimi Freedman

Cutting Edge: The Magic of Movie Editing

A.C.E., British Broadcasting Corporation, NHK Enterprises, TCEP Inc., USA, Japan, UK, 2004.

The second documentary of the Bullitt Special Edition DVD is a documentary about the secrets of movie editing.

Cutting is very important for the rhythm of the film and effective building of emotional responses. The first films were made using single scene, basically filming until the film ran out. If that would have been all there is for movie making the art of cinema would have become a short-lived gimmick. Edwin S. Porter invented a method for making the films more interesting by combining several scenes to tell stories. Other big steps forward were the techniques used by D.W. Griffith and Sergei Eisenstein.

There are fun stories about film editing and contrasting opinions of film editors and directors. "Terminator 2"would like very jerky if every 24th frame was removed. "Jaws" animatronic shark did not work as expected but thanks to Verna Fields' editing it looked realistic despite Spielberg's wish to show more of the shark. Also Steven Seagal was difficult to work with in "Under Siege 2" as he walked into the cutting room and began bossing about how the film should be cut.

The history of editing techniques is interesting stuff. There are good examples from movie genres (action, drama, horror and erotic thrillers). Not only that but the interviews of the directors and the editors give also trivia about making classic movies such as "Apocalypse Now" and "Easy Rider." Walter Murch editing "Cold Mountain" is used as a case study of how editors work.

Walter Murch editing "Cold Mountain"

Highly interesting and informative documentary about movie making and evolution of film techniques.

Rating:

Very good

Interviewees: Kathy Bates, Zach Staenberg, Jodie Foster, Michael Tronick, Anthony Minghella, Sean Penn, Walter Murch, Martin Scorsese, Rob Cohen, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Antony Gibbs, Mark Goldblatt, Sally Menke, Craig McKay, Richard Marks, Ridley Scott, Alexander Payne, Kevin Tent, Howard E. Smith, Conrad Buff IV , Dylan Tichenor, Wes Craven, Carol Littleton, Tom Rolf, Pietro Scalia, Tina Hirsch, Frank J. Urioste, Peter Honess, George Lucas, Chris Columbus, Paul Verhoeven, Jan de Bont, Alan Heim, Joe Dante, Lynzee Klingman, Jay Cassidy, Thelma Schoonmaker, Michael Kahn, Paul Hirsch, Dede Allen, Anne V. Coates, Richard Chew, Donn Cambern, Lawrence Kasdan, Joe Hutshing, Chris Lebenzon, Jerry Bruckheimer, Alisa Vilena, Marya Kazakova, Anatol Rezmeritza, Ilia Volok, Verna Fields, Robert Zemeckis, Will Smith

Director: Wendy Apple

Stealth Fighter a.k.a Nighthawk

Cinetel Films, Artisan Entertainment, Grey Matter Entertainment, Stealth Fighter Pictures, USA, 1999.

Owen Turner (Ice-T) and Ryan Mitchell (Costas Mandylor) are two rival pilots bombing drug fields in Nicaragua 1986. As contrast Turner is a macho gangsta and Mitchell is a softie. Their rivalry turns out to be more serious than was the case with Maverick and Iceman. While on a mission Turner turns into a traitor and fakes his death. Admiral Peterson (William Sadler) first scolds then congratulates Mitchell for the work well done but losing his wingmates saddens him. Not that it has much effect to the story.

Mitchell and Turner

Adm. Frank Peterson

In 1999 terrorists steal F-117 Stealth Fighter Turner and surprise! It is Turner again now working for arms dealer Roberto Menendez (Andrew Divoff). The terrorists use the codes of the stolen plane to hack a satellite and use it to disable a submarine. President Obama I mean Westwood (Ernie Hudson) has a bad day and he must arrange rescuing operation for the submarine crew and search party for finding the stolen airplane. Meanwhile Turner is ticking off his employers and Menendez's bodyguard Berg (Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr.).

Erin Mitchell

F-117

Roberto Menendez and Turner

Despite the 13 year gap everyone still looks as young as yesterday. Mitchell is nowadays a F-117 pilot. His work is busy and his marriage with his wife Erin (Erika Eleniak) suffers because of that. Daughter J.P. (Sarah Dampf) wants daddy back home. She'll have to wait as daddy has been selected for the mission to destroy the terrorist base and steal back the airplane.The commandos use similar tactic as Christopher Walken used in "The Dogs of War." Wait, the raid scene is taken from the "The Dogs of War!"

The President and Clancy (George Gerdes)

Berg

And this scene is from "Flight of the Intruder"

Jim Wynorski is known for churning out B-movies using various aliases. Here he cuts corners and uses cut and paste film making, taking the action scenes from big budget films. Stock footage from numerous movies makes this a good movie for spot a movie game. The technique creates a mismatch of the expensive action scenes and the cheaply filmed scenes. The fighter jet interiors look more like transport planes. The submarine scene looks like that is filmed in some real warship with some guy shaking the camera so that it looks like it is sinking.

The plot is quite generic for the genre but the simple story is padded up with some demented twists. Amusing dialogue and cheesy action saves this from being an utter mess. Especially dialogue between with Mitchell and his daughter is fun. Also Ice-T:s dialogue is hilarious, now there are gangstas in the air force. Perhaps the makers realized how absurd the movie was and inserted some tongue in cheek dialogue. Little bit more comedy and this would have been a challenger to "Hot Shots 2"

Rating:

So bad it is good

Starring: Ice-T, Costas Mandylor, Erika Eleniak, Sarah Dampf, William Sadler, Ernie Hudson, Andrew Divoff, William G. Schilling, John Enos III, Alex Meneses, Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr., Steve J. Hennessy, Michael Gregory, Mark Adair-Rios, Paul Terrell Clayton, Steve Eastin, George Gerdes, Trevor Gordon, Clay Greenbush, Jon Huertas, Peter Spellos

Director: Jim Wynorski (as Jay Andrews)

Militia a.k.a Undercover
Cinetel Films, USA, 2000.

Ethan Carter (Dean Cain) is an ATF-agent. ATF raids the compound of peacefully living gun nuts Brotherhood of Liberty. Taking out a small group of loonies with more firepower than in Vietnam seems a bright idea for Deputy Director Anderson (John Beck) who does not know the word overkill. Brotherhood leader William Fain's (Frederic Forrest) family dies in the massacre.

Ethan Carter

Anderson

William Fain

Two years later terrorists Staley (Christopher Maleki) & Tegley (James C. Victor) steal anthrax from Cyberdyne Systems (sic). Radio DJ Mad Monty (Stacy Keach) spews hatred and predicts a fascist revolution. Agents Carter and Julie Sanders (Jennifer Beals) must find the stolen bacteria but co-operation with the army is difficult as arrogant Major Wilson (Dean Hallo) is hostile to ATF-agents. Anderson orders Carter to infiltrate the New Brotherhood and there he needs help from Fain. Why does it seem like a bad idea on so many levels?

Mad Monty

Tegley and Staley

Julie Sanders

Carter's cover is blown too soon so Carter and his new best buddy Fain have to improvise. The terrorists plan to kill the President with anthrax-missiles. But what will Fain's final stance be?

This time Jim Wynorski loans footage from "Delta Force 2", "Terminator 2", "American Ninja 2" and "Rambo 2" (all from sequels?) Unlike "Stealth Fighter" it has a more serious feel and much less humour. Somehow positive aspect is that Fain is surprisingly ambiguous character and not totally a bad guy.

The plot is quite typical for an action thriller with twists and turning of coats. The actors are surprisingly good and the B-movie plot has a good pace. The stock footage scenes are integrated to the movie using fun to spot pons asinorum scenes for example what is a limousine from "Delta Force 2" doing parked next to a country house? And later a soldier boarding a helicopter takes off his coat to match the following stock footage. It is not a great film but could be a lot worse. Fans of cheap direct to video films might want to check it out.

Familiar face from many TV-series Michael Cavanaugh appears as Col. Jim Donnerman, Ret.

Rating:

Average

Starring: Dean Cain, Jennifer Beals, Frederic Forrest, Stacy Keach, John Beck, Brett Butler, Christopher Maleki, James C. Victor, Dean Hallo, Bill Langlois Monroe, Michael Cavanaugh, Shawna Casey, Curtis Blanck, David Dunard, Billy Rieck, Jeff Kober, Ryan Cutrona, Paul Terrell Clayton, Tom Ferguson, Dale E. House, George Christy, Kipp Tribble

Director: Jim Wynorski (as Jay Andrews)

Gargoyle's Revenge a.k.a Gargoyle: Wings of Darkness a.k.a Gargoyle a.k.a Wings of Darkness a.k.a Gargoyles
Avrio Filmworks, Cinetel Films, Lions Gate Entertainment, Lions Gate Films, USA, Romania, 2004.

The third and final (for now) glimpse to the immense filmography of Jim Wynorski is not only an action thriller but good old monster horror. Well, 'good' can be disputed.

In 1532 Romania the villagers and a priest capture a terrible flying beast under a rock. In 2004 CIA agents Ty 'Griff' Griffin (Michael Paré) and Jennifer Wells (Sandra Hess) are rescuing kidnapped ambassador's son. The gargoyle abducts one of the kidnappers. We just went into the twilight Zone!

Gargoyle

Ty 'Griff' Griffin

Jennifer Wells

Meanwhile Dr. Christina Durant (Kate Orsini) is researching old murals. Fathers Soren (Fintan McKeown) and Bodesti (Petri Roega) arrive to discuss some church politics. Christina's assistants Richard (Jason Rohrer) and Gregor (Mihai Bisericanu) go to Castle Orlock(!) Unfortunately for them the gargoyle's nest happens to be there. The CIA agents have to search for them. Meanwhile the gargoyle causes ruckus in various tourist attractions. The police suspects Lex the Butcher (Tim Abell) who is a nightclub owner and leader of a vampire fan club.But Lex also knows more about the monster than he would like to.

Richard and Christina

Father Soren

Lex with Jim Wynorski in cameo role

Cheap, dull and uninspired flick that is neither scary or funny enough. It uses the formula of Generic Monster Movie^TM. As the plot involves romantic tension between Ty and Christina it is hard to figure out what Jennifer is doing in the story. The Romanian locations are nice but the cinematography fails to make good use of it. The CGI-monsters could be worse but they're not something to applaud for. Kudos for some pretty Romanian extras though.

Daniela Nane as Peasant Girl

Rating:

Bad

Starring: Michael Paré, Sandra Hess, Fintan McKeown, Kate Orsini, Tim Abell, William Langlois, Petri Roega, Rene Rivera, Arthur Roberts, Jason Rohrer, Mihai Bisericanu, Bogdan Uritescu, Claudiu Trandafir, Cristi Groza, Lewis Cojocar, Jim Wynorski, Claudiu Istodor, Nataliya Zamilatska, Annie Cerillo, Daniela Nane, Roxana Baches, Alina Teodorescu, Alexandra Serb, Dan Fintescu, Alexandru Nicolae, Robert Barladeanu, Danut Masala, Stefan Ionita, Borcea Marian

Director: Jim Wynorski (as Jay Andrews)

Blood Brothers (Tian tang kou)

CMC Entertainment, Sil-Metropole Organisation, Lion Rock Productions, China Film Co-Production Corporation, Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, 2007.

In 1930s China Ah Fung (Daniel Wu) and his friends Kang (Ye Liu) and Kang's little brother Hu (Tony Yo-ning Yang) decide to go to Shanghai after better life. Fung is naive, Kang is tough and overly ambitious and Hu has a soft-heart and wants to go home.

Ah Fung and Su Zhen

Kang, Hu and Fung

In Shanghai the life is not rosy and they end up in low paid jobs. One night Fung saves the life of hitman Mark (Chen Chang) who tried to assassinate his boss Hong but failed and remained incognito. Fung's romance with village girl Su Zhen (Xiaolu Li) goes to back seat when he meets a nightclub singer Lulu (Qi Shu). Gowever Lulu wants to be a famous actor and there she needs Triad-boss Hong's (Honglei Sun) support. Also Lulu and Mark have a secret affair. The boys get involved in Hong's gun smuggling operation.

Lulu

Hong

Mark

Mob scheming and betrayals follow. The more the boys sink into the mob world the more strained their brothership becomes. Their loyalties are divided with tragic consequences. Eventually it is a time for vengeance!

Rival mob boss Chen (Jie Gao)

The story is kind of remake of John Woo's "Bullet in the Head" minus the war scenes. It is not bad but pales in comparison to the original brutally emotional story. The costumes and sets look expensive. However the script feels like a collection of weirdly detached scenes as the plot seems to drag while the plot driving scenes seem to jump ahead without much explanation. The boys rise in the mob ranks in no time, things happen making the otherwise simple plot hard difficult to follow. Also the atempt to sentimentality does not work well as the characters are left very shallow. The action scenes are okay for a gangster film but lack the raw energy of Woo's original. Also without the political allegories of the original, it feels disappointingly bland and middle-of-the-road gangster drama. It is a pity as the cast, and production values are great.

Produced by Terence Chang and John Woo.

Rating:

Average

Starring: Daniel Wu, Ye Liu, Qi Shu, Tony Yo-ning Yang, Xiaolu Li (as Lulu Li), Honglei Sun, Chen Chang, Jun Zhao, Dian Lun Zhang, Jie Gao, Yong Xin Gui, Li Qiu Zhang, Ren Yuen Wu, Xiao Hu Ding, Xiang Hu, Zheng Zheng, Yi Heng Shao, Zhen Ying Yao, Young Fu Fan, Zhiyong Zhang, Jing Sun, Jing Ni Luo, Yin Wen Pu, Zhao Li, Wen Jia Ji, Min Gui, Duoduo Qian, Lin Ma, Yi-Ching Lu, Jiaolong Sun, Hai Ruo Wu, Chen Yang, Yu Hua Wang, Jian Hua Song, Renee Yuan (as Xin-yu Yuan)

Director: Alexi Tan

Cutaway

Artisan Entertainment, Cutting Edge Entertainment, Golden ParaShoot Entertainment, Liaison Entertainment, USA, 2000.

Lieutenant Brian Margate (Ron Silver) authorizes perfectionist Customs Agent Victor Cooper (Stephen Baldwin) back to active duty [note: the DVD cover claims his name to be Victor Caruso, wroooong!]. Then they raid a shrimp shipment. Vic figures it out that drug smugglers use skydivers to avoid the law's long arm.

Victor Cooper

Brian Margate

Vic meets cute skydiving instructor Star (Maxine Bahns). She works in a skydiving team with team's leader Red Line (Tom Berenger) and hothead Turbo (Dennis Rodman). The team seems to get money from some suspicious source. To find out more about the smugglers Vic gets a crash course on parachuting from Sergeant Delmira (Casper Van Dien).

Star

Red Line

Turbo

Soon Vic is a skydiving virtuoso and gains the respect of the skydivers. An important contest is coming and the team must train hard. Turbo however suspects that Vic is more than just a natural talent.

Delmira

Skydiving!

Considering that I bought this for 50 cents and the DVD cover was generic at best this was a positive surprise. The director Guy Manos is better known for his work as aerial stunts coordinator. Also in this film the most impressive scenes are the parachuting and base jumping scenes. It seems that at least Berenger and Baldwin did their own stunts. The plot is quite tongue-in-cheek "Point Break" variation and surprisingly fun. The cast has a good number of B-movie stars, only Baldwin's acting seems weird at times, almost "Nicolas Cage" weird. Adam Wylie, Zach from "Picket Fences" appears as Cal, one of the skydivers.

Cal

Rating:

Good

Starring: Tom Berenger, Stephen Baldwin, Dennis Rodman, Maxine Bahns, Ron Silver, Roy Ageloff, Marcos A. Ferraez, Adam Wylie, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Phillip Glasser, Casper Van Dien, Cat Stone, Allison McKay, William Booth, Rena McPherron, Sam Blount Jr., Danielle Waxman, Ed Berliner, Tony Griffin, Sam Blount, Craig Fronk, Jefferey Jones, Troy Manos, Rex Manos, Robert Small, Bennett Liss, Trish Dempsey, Tiffinni Saint Ranae
Director: Guy Manos

The Peanuts Movie
Twentieth Century Fox Animation, Blue Sky Studios, Feigco Entertainment, USA, 2015.

It is winter and the Peanuts go skating. Except for Charlie Brown who wants to fly his kite. It doesn't end well. The Little Red-Haired Girl moves into the neighbourhood. The main story is about Charlie Brown's clumsy attempts to impress her. Charlie tries to attend a talent contest, Charlie learns to dance, Charlie writes a book essay. But everything he tries goes wrong. Another storyline has Snoopy finding a typewriter and starting his writer's career. He also imagines being a WWI fighter ace who battles against Red Baron.

Charlie Brown wants to be somebody

The gang is all here

It Was a Dark and Stormy Night

If you have seen previous Peanuts cartoons it goes with a similar formula: there is a loose story connecting the episodic gags. Although 3D-animation is used the characters have elements (eyes and mouths) that imitate the hand drawn style of Schultz. and look like enhanced comic characters. At least some of the jokes are from the original comics. Much of the original animations' spirit is preserved. The music is still jazzy but some scenes use modern touches. The adults speak with the classic wah wah sound. Little Red-Haired Girl who was never shown in the comics is now seen.

The classic Charles M. Schulz comic was often quite bleak with neurotic characters constantly failing to achieve their dreams. Again Charlie rises from zero to hero and then back to zero. The movie has somewhat more happier ending, making it family friendly. Everyone likes Charlie although he is clumsy. Luckily the world of the Peanuts is kept faithful to the comic without introducing ill-fitting modern elements. It was a nice nostalgia trip, with all the elements you would expect from a Peanuts animation.

Rating:

Very good

Voice actors: Troy 'Trombone Shorty' Andrews, Rebecca Bloom, Anastasia Bredikhina, Francesca Capaldi, Kristin Chenoweth, Alexander Garfin, Noah Johnston, Bill Melendez, Hadley Belle Miller, Micah Revelli, Noah Schnapp, Venus Omega Schultheis, Mariel Sheets, Madisyn Shipman, A.J. Tecce, Marleik Mar Mar Walker, William Wunsch, Christopher Campbell, Holly Dorff, Kelly Michele Mills, Al Nelson, Tessa Netting, Randy Thom, Randy Trager, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle, Gia Bravos, Ileanna Bravos, Nikolas Bravos, Clayton Drier, Kori Elmore, Adam Joshua Jastrow, Frances Bella Kayser, Theodore F. Kayser, Ava Kramer, Sam Lavagnino, Ava Leslie, Jaiden A.M. Mathews, Terence Matthews II, Dylan Naber, Marley Pearson, Nigel Pope, Aramé Scott, Eden Vietro, Nicole Wedel, Allen Zyler

Director: Steve Martino

Spectre a.k.a James Bond: Spectre a.k.a 007 Spectre a.k.a Bond 24
B24, Columbia Pictures, Danjaq, Eon Productions, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Sony UK, USA, 2015.

James Bond (Daniel Craig) goes to Mexico with his own mission to find out the answers that were left open in the previous films. New M (Ralph Fiennes) is not happy and grounds him from the operations. The security agencies are merging and C (Andrew Scott) wants to end the 00 program. Secret agents are so old school, drones and mass surveillance are the hottest hot. James asks Miss Moneypenny (Naomie Harris) and Q (Ben Whishaw) to help him.

James Bond is back

Bond's investigations lead him to tracks of criminal organization Spectre and its ruthless leader (Christoph Waltz). Brutish assassin Mr. Hinx (Dave Bautista) is always one step behind Bond. The past haunts Bond. Along comes psychiatrist Madeleine Swann (Léa Seydoux) who may understand him better than any other woman before.

Mr. Hinx

Madeleine Swann

Mysterious Spectre leader

Daniel Craig's latest Bond completes the Spectre cycle that has been foreshadowed in the previous movies. It is hard to find many reasons why it would be any worse than the previous Craig-Bonds. Still the ulterior motives of the Big Bad felt a bit forced. Dave Bautista's laconic henchman has brutal energy and offers a good challenge to Bond. The story is a tad lighter than in the previous Skyfall and Roger Moore style humour returns in some chase scenes. Like always Bond travels around the world searching for clues and the sceneries are nice. Of the Bond girls Monica Bellucciand Léa Seydoux the latter becomes an important for defining the modern Bond character. It will be interesting to see how the saga continues with or without Craig.

Rating:

Very good

Starring: Daniel Craig, Christoph Waltz, Léa Seydoux, Ralph Fiennes, Monica Bellucci, Ben Whishaw, Naomie Harris, Dave Bautista, Andrew Scott, Rory Kinnear, Jesper Christensen, Alessandro Cremona, Stephanie Sigman, Tenoch Huerta, Adriana Paz, Domenico Fortunato, Marco Zingaro, Stefano Elfi DiClaudia, Ian Bonar, Tam Williams, Richard Banham, Pip Carter, Simon Lenagan, Alessandro Bressanello, Marc Zinga, Brigitte Millar, Adel Bencherif, Gediminas Adomaitis, Peppe Lanzetta, Francesco Arca, Matteo Taranto, Emilio Aniba, Benito Sagredo, Dai Tabuchi, George Lasha, Sargon Yelda, Andy Cheung, Erick Hayden, Oleg Mirochnikov, Antonio Salines, Miloud Mourad Benamara, Gido Schimanski, Nigel Barber, Patrice Naiambana, Stephane Cornicard, Gary Fannin, Sadao Ueda, Phillip Law, Wai Wong, Joseph Balderrama, Eiji Mihara, Junichi Kajioka, Victor Schefé, Harald Windisch, Tristan Matthiae, Detlef Bothe, Bodo Friesecke, Wilhelm Iben, Noemi Krausz, Noah Saavedra, Francis Attakpah, Michael Glantschnig, Marlon Boess, Marie Fee Wohlmuth, Lili Epply, Konstantin Gerlach, Lara Parmiani, Umit Ulgen, Amra Mallassi, Ziad Abaza, Walid Mumuni, Derek Horsham, Nari Blair-Mangat, Michael White, Adam McGrady, Nader Dernaika, Pezh Maan

Director: Sam Mendes

Clash of the Empires a.k.a Age of the Hobbits a.k.a Lord of the Elves a.k.a The History of Mankind
The Asylum, USA, Cambodia, 2012.

The bankruptcy of Finnish department store / online store Anttila caused that my order of movies including "The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies Extended Edition" vanished into limbo of undelivered packages. Luckily I didn't pay for it in advance. The package is now collecting dust in some warehouse:

But no worries, at least I can watch "Clash of the Empires" a.k.a "Age of the Hobbits"!

12,000 years ago in Indonesia a peaceful tribe of vegetarian little people (Tree People a.k.a Hobbits) is attacked by cannibal Rock Men (Java) and their flying lizards. Goben (Sun Korng) survives the attack and runs to warn the villagers. Only Giants (Humans) could help them but the hobbits do not want to ask them. The Rock Men capture the tribe and Goben's mother Suta (Tom Eurt) but she marks the path with her medicine stones. Goben, his father Tak Tek (Srogn) and little sister Omi (Khom Lyly) set out to save their tribe.

Goben

Lizard Attack!

The Rock Men

The resourceful 'hobbits' meet tribe of humans and save master hunter Amthar (Christopher Judge) from being stomped to death by ancient rhinoceros. King Korm (Antonis Greco) does not want to help. Amthar and female warrior Laylan (Bai Ling) along with a couple of other warriors join the quest to free the little people.

Amthar and Omi

Laylan

King Korm

The original title ripped off "The Hobbit" and caused a lawsuit and the title had to be changed to "Clash of the Empires." Not that it had anything to do with Tolkien's book. It is a prehistoric adventure, not like the more serious prehistoric films "Clan of the Cave Bear" or "Quest for Fire " but more like poor man's "10,000 B.C." However there is some anthropological foundation to the premise as race of tiny humans Homo Floresiensis once lived in Indonesia.

Rock Man Queen

The Tree People

Even for Asylum standards this is a weird film. The movie was filmed in Cambodia with mainly local actors. Then it was dubbed in English causing an awkward déjà-vu of watching cheap Filipino midgetsploitation movies. The over-acting is hilarious, the worst offenders being the Human King (Antonis Greco) and Rock Man Queen (Rachana). Also Rock Men's crazed pet midget Koto (Kreb) induces Achondroplasiaphobia. The Rock Man actors are fun to watch, they are always grimacing with their strange teeth. Arrr! Lots of unintentional humour there is. Action lady Bai Ling has also cheesy dialogue and she has had better action scenes. Still she looked good as a warrioress. Christopher Judge keeps his cool being basically a prehistoric Teal'c. However the little people family was sympathetic and something to root for.

Still the adventure story is clearly made with serious intentions without ironic nods that some of the craziest Asylum monster films often have. Probably some of the vitriol towards the movie came from the mockbuster title controversy. The sceneries are good and the monster effects look above average. Especially the lizard models look nice. Again the cover image makes the action look more epic than it really is. Still the end battle seems to use more actors than Asylum usually can afford. Not a good movie in traditional sense but quite entertaining cheapo fantasy that somehow brings back memories from Italian sword and sorcery films of the 1980s. Maybe the Asylum should make more sword and sorcery type films?

Rating:

Good (In cheapo film sense)

Starring: Bai Ling, Sun Korng, Srogn, Khom Lyly, Christopher Judge, Jerry Earr, Armani Nguon, Antonis Greco, Tom Eurt, Kreb, Savorne Horm, Neng Houy, Hak Hoy, Hun Soph, Ka, Brem Brey, Rachana, Sothorn Sith, Tol, Sopha Ok, Norm Phan, David, Channsadab Soth, Thavatt Sun, Vutha Yim, Suar Nou, Suon Nou, Ta Kley, Chean Prek, Am Sok, Salin Aon, Ra Bo, Pheab Chan, Rachel Anderson-Lebron, William Boodell, Courtney Branch, Brian Brinkman, Jon Kondelik, Matt Lasky, Joseph J. Lawson, Kelly P. Lawson, Kim Little, Kyle Morris, Jonathan Nation, Christopher Ortiz, Cody Peck, Sarah Restrepo
Director: Joseph J. Lawson

Snow Sharks a.k.a Avalanche Sharks a.k.a Sharkalanche a.k.a Avalanche Shark Attack
Titan Global Entertainment, Odyssey Media, Pulser Productions, Rogue State, The Cartel, Canada, 2014.

It is spring break and a group of brainless teens travels to Mammoth Mountain ski resort. Crazy mountain man Duffy (James Ouimet) tells that Skukkum-monster will kill those who go to the mountains. Sharks burrowing under snow start munching the unlucky party holiday goers. Soldier boy Wade's (Alexander Mendeluk) brother is missing as well Carol's (Nicole Helen) cousin.

Just when you thought it was safe to go skiing

Adam

Duffy

Sheriff Adam (Richard Gleason) does not believe in Skukkum but his girlfriend Diana (Kata Nauta) tells that the snow sharks are real. Of course the town officials are reluctant to close the resort before it is too late.

Madison (Kelle Cantwell) and Wade

Diana

From the producers of "Sand Sharks!" At least "Sand Sharks" had its moments. This one is utterly terrible and uses every single one of shark movie cliches. Scenes with cheap gore are at the same time predictable and surprising as the sharks can swim in snow that is only few inches deep popping out in locations where they shouldn't be. The characterizations are so weak that even the few potentially interesting characters are boring. This is so dumb that you will lose brain cells.

Rating:

Very bad

Starring: Alexander Mendeluk, Kate Nauta, Benjamin Easterday, Eric Scott Woods, Kelle Cantwell, Richard Gleason, Gina Holden, Jack Cullison, James Ouimet, Nicole Helen, Emily Addison, Mike Ruggieri, Erin Ross, Patrizia Cavaliere, Matt Gunther, Vinny Petengail, Richie Million Jr., Erika Jordan (as Yasmin Yeganeh), John Hundrieser, Amy Ninh, Haley Stewart, Michael Dostrow, Brett Reed, Charles Evans Jr., Abby Francis, Mika Brooks, Ryan Przestrzleski, Jonathan Widen, Spencer Brennan, Chris Prange, Blake Reistad, Jil Szewski

Director: Scott Wheeler

Fury
Columbia Pictures, QED International, LStar Capital, Le Grisbi Productions, Crave Films, Huayi Brothers Media, USA, UK, China, 2014.

It is April 1945. Don 'Wardaddy' Collier (Brad Pitt) and his crew 'Bible' Swan (Shia LaBeouf), 'Gordo' Garcia (Michael Peña) and 'Coon-Ass' Travis (Jon Bernthal) are the sole survivors of a battle. After fixing their damaged Sherman tank Fury somewhere in Germany they manage to return to the base only to be assigned to another mission. Rookie Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman) replaces the tank's dead assistant driver and machine gunner. The harsh reality of war is made clear to him when he has to scrape the remnants of the previous gunner off the tank's interior.

'Wardaddy' Collier

Norman Ellison

Shia LaBeouf as Boyd 'Bible' Swan

War is ugly and brutal and so is Fury's crew. The older crew members are cynical and mean and it is a hard time for idealistic and religious Norman. Although the German Army is almost beaten the ranks are filled with kids, women and old men. War crimes occur on both sides. Inexperienced Norman gets a brutal lesson in killing Germans. To survive the war terrible things are done and it leaves marks on the men. Surprisingly the crew grows together and what Norman begins to lose in humanity the rest of the crew members gain.

The movie divides into two parts: the first part depicts the dehumanizing effect war has on the soldiers and the second part presents the heroic last stand battle. And there is nothing wrong with that, the same recipe has been used more or less since "Saving Private Ryan", "Band of Brothers" and "The Pacific." The characters are more complex than it first seem, showing both their cruel and soft sides. The 'father' of the crew, Wardaddy is like Pitt's character from "Inglourious Basterds" only being slightly tamer. The battle scenes are gory, visceral and realistic. Although the story is fiction it is easy to believe as a composite of real war stories told by veterans. Some of the last surviving WW2 tanks were used in some scenes. The tank duel Fury vs Tiger alone makes it a tank film classic.

Rating:

Very good

Starring: Brad Pitt, Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman, Michael Peña, Jon Bernthal, Jim Parrack, Brad William Henke, Kevin Vance, Xavier Samuel, Jason Isaacs, Anamaria Marinca, Alicia von Rittberg, Scott Eastwood, Laurence Spellman, Daniel Betts, Adam Ganne, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Osi Okerafor, John Macmillan, Saul Barrett, Marek Oravec, Kyle Soller, Jake Curran, Jack Bannon, Branko Tomovic, Orion Lee, Vivien Bridson, Christian Contreras, Stella Stocker, Jacob Vonhendial, Lukas Rolfe, Leon Rolfe, Harry Hancock, Daniel Dorr, Bernhard Forcher, Edin Gali, Jaime FitzSimons, Chris Wright, Charlie Rotheram, Nick Beattie, Jimmy Carroll, Chip Dale, Dickon Leigh-Wood, Hugh Vere Nicoll, Xander Rawlins

Director: David Ayer

Ardennes Fury a.k.a Battle of the Ardennes: Fury a.k.a Fury
Tiki Terrors, LLC, The Asylum, USA, 2014.

The Asylum makes a film that has a tank and a similar title to a high profile film with a budget that would have gone to Brad Pitt's hairdo alone! Who would have thought of that?

Sergeant Lance Dawson's (Tom Stedham) tank gets stranded behind enemy lines in summery Ardennes (wait wait the Battle of the Bulge was during wintertime). The crew splits up with couple of guys left to guard the tank and Dawson and few others go scouting. They meet a nun in distress (Lauren Vera) and decide to save orphans before the Nazis kill them. Nasty Nazi Major Heston Zeller (Tino Struckmann) and Sergeant Gretsch (Eric C. Schmitz) try to catch them all.

Sgt. Nathaniel Rose (Larry Gamell Jr.) and Sgt. Lance Dawson

Tank battles!

Sister Claudette (Lauren Vera) and the kids (Carl C Klug and Jenna Klug)

Usual war movie cliches are used plenty. Camera shakes like it has a bad hangover. The epicity of the battle scenes is diminished by the fact that there are about five soldiers in the Wehrmacht and also the American Army is badly undermanned. The tank battles mix decent prop vehicles, terrible CGI and some cheap gore effects. Historians and militaria enthustiastics will chew the movie apart for the inaccuracies. As an old reader of "Commando" comics (known in Finland as "Korkeajännitys") it is not without some entertaining qualities and there is a good pace of war adventure. Some scenes look like they really tried to push the budget to achieve some epicity. However the individual good scenes can not remove the feeling that it is a really cheap war movie.

Sergeant Gretsch and Major Heston Zeller

German base

Oorah!

Rating:

Average

Starring: Tom Stedham, Bill Voorhees, Tino Struckmann, Larry Gamell Jr., Lauren Vera, Yaron Urbas, Analiese Anderson, Trey Hough, Elvin Manges, Kyle Golden, Eric C. Schmitz, Jenna Klug, Carl J. Klug, Colleen Sinor, James Poule, Savannah Kiefer, Logan Kiefer, Eric s Wilson, David Effler, T.J. McDonnell, Steve Effler, Aidan Devillier, Kendrick Blinn, Anthony Roberts, Billy Colwell, Brian Miller, Brian S. Moe, Charles Breeden Sr., Charles Breeden Jr., Collin Cliburn, Devin Litaker, Childress Dustin, Ethan H. Diggs, Jared Nabinger, Jacob Cook, Jaden C. Johnson, Jackson Smith, John Dieter Diggs, Jonah Nabinger, Joshua Nabinger, Justin Courville, Kellans Copell, Lee Tingey, Matthew Pendergraft, Phillip Agee, Raphael Edmond, Shane Leon, Sean Higgs, Thomas Marzocchi, Vin Manges, Frank Arend

Director: Joseph J. Lawson

Love and a .45

Trimark Pictures, USA, 1994.

Friendly outlaw Watty Watts (Gil Bellows) and his sexy girlfriend Starlene Cheatham (Renée Zellweger) make a living by robbing convenience stores. Everything they need in the life is love and a .45. Watty has a rule of never making a robbery with a loaded gun so no one can get hurt. He has debts to mobsters so he has to make a robbery with his psychotic junkie friend Billy (Rory Cochrane). That's a bad idea as Billy snaps and shoots the cashier girl.

Watty Watts

Starlene Cheatham

Billy Mack Black

Chased by Billy, crazy gangsters and dirty cops Watty and Starlene have to flee. Things get worse and soon the bodies start to pile up when meth-head mobsters Dinosaur Bob (Jeffrey Combs) and Creepy Cody (Jace Alexander) join the chase. Due the true crime TV coverage Watty and Starlene become local celebrities.

Dinosaur Bob and Creepy Cody

Made in the wake of ultraviolent crime films "Wild at Heart""Reservoir Dogs" and "True Romance" this is not bad lower budget example of the genre. With good characters and fun dialogue it is one of the better Tarantino imitations. It is not very well known film but has become a kind of cult classic and not only because of Renée Zellweger's role as hottie Texas outlaw. This was one of Renée Zellweger's bigger roles before becoming an actor in romantic comedies and drama movies so it is quite different film to see her in. Rockabilly and psychobilly filled soundtrack is good. The story is pleasantly sleazy white trash crime story with dark humour and entertaining dialogue. The characters are crazy and over the top. Billy is wild as insane and unpredictable criminal, a perfect nutcase. Road movie crime film veteran Peter Fonda appears as Starlenes crippled hippie dad Vergil and 'Re-animator' Jeffrey Combs as mob enforcer Dinosaur Bob who sticks to his old habits and still likes to play with needles.

Peter Fonda as Vergil Cheatham

Rating:

Good

Starring: Gil Bellows, Renée Zellweger, Rory Cochrane, Jeffrey Combs, Jace Alexander, Ann Wedgeworth, Peter Fonda, Tammy Le Blanc, Wiley Wiggins, Jack Nance, Charlotte Ross, Michael Bowen, Scott Roland, Todd Conner, Richard Rothenberg, Stopher Finley, Brad Leland, Augustin Solis, Kevin Berve, Reverend Horton Heat, Darin Scott, C.M. Talkington

Director: C.M. Talkington

Hot Pursuit (2015) a.k.a Miss Bodyguard a.k.a Don't Mess with Texas
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, New Line Cinema, Pacific Standard, Warner Bros, USA, 2015.

Cooper (Reese Witherspoon) is a tough but goofy Texas cop who has dating problems as men are afraid of her. Her father was also a cop so trying to follow his legacy puts pressure on her. Wife of drug trial witness and former gangster Felipe Riva (Vincent Laresca) needs protection, so Cooper must escort his wife, cranky diva Daniella Riva (Sofía Vergara). When Felipe gets whacked Cooper and Daniella must hit the road and escape the killers. Dirty cops frame them also for murder so they can not trust the officials. They get a helper from nice rogue Randy (Robert Kazinsky).

Cooper

Daniella Riva

Randy

Old idea of putting a mismatched pair together sometimes works and sometimes not. In Sandra Bullock's "The Heat" the buddy comedy worked. This time it doesn't as the jokes are mostly weak. Surely Reese Witherspoon can do better than this. Sofía Vergara's spoiled Latino character was kind of annoying. However the Scarface joke was quite funny and also the running jokes about Cooper's height and Daniella's age. The plot is quite standard for the genre (Trivial Pursuit?) There is a crime and partners who first hate each other but become buddies. There's nothing wrong with the idea but the chemistry of the main characters was mainly absent due the lazily written script. Still it is not the worst kind of comedy, but mostly forgettable and formulaic.

Rating:

Average

Starring: Reese Witherspoon, Sofía Vergara, Matthew Del Negro, Michael Mosley, Robert Kazinsky, Richard T. Jones, Benny Nieves, Michael Ray Escamilla, Joaquín Cosio, John Carroll Lynch, Jim Gaffigan, Mike Birbiglia, Vincent Laresca, David Jensen, Evaluna Montaner, Marcus Lyle Brown, Manolo Gonzales-Vergara, Kim Collins, Harlon Miller, Rachel Wulff, Phil Anaya, Jannette Sepwa, Joe Camp III, Kathleen Fletcher, Anne Fletcher, Oscar Gale, Jaylen Moore, Carol Sutton, Peaches Davi II, Alejandra Pérez, Fallingstar Locke, Kayla Cangiamilla, Leslie Ivette Quezada, Millarel Ormazabal, Natalie Legendre, Zachary Woodlee, Keaton Margaret-Marie Luster, Maggie Hance, Abigail James Witherspoon, Harley Graham, Noel Rathe, Precious Roberson, Bryce Romero, Josué Gutierrez, Leticia Magaña

Director: Anne Fletcher

On the Border a.k.a Coyote Rain
Nu Image / Millennium Films, Webster & Montague Production, USA, 1998.

Jaded security guard Jake Barnes (Casper Van Dien) guards a bank located near Mexican border. Bank manager Ed's (Daniel Baldwin) wife Rosalita (Rochelle Swanson) has a steamy affair with Jake. Ed wants to kill the other man but doesn't know who he is. Ed is also laundering South American drug money. Jake and Rosalita plan to rob the bank as a big shipment of dirty money is arriving soon.

Jake Barnes

Rosalita

Jake meets a suspicious hitchhiker girl Kristin (Camilla Overbye Roos) on the road and offers her a temporary housing. Violent criminal Barry Montana (Bryan Brown) forced her to seduce Jake as he also plans to rob the bank. Jake's old 'friend' Sykes (Bentley Mitchum, Robert's grandson) is released from the prison and arrives to town to further mess things up. Can you guess what he is up to?

Kristin

Sykes

The film offers 1990s direct to video B-movie goodness. It is a noirish thriller with some steamy erotic scenes. It is a slightly better Casper Van Dien film if you are willing to forget the plot holes and some recycled script ideas. The border town setting offers some nice cinematography. Nothing is as seems and just about everyone wants the money. The ending is hilariously over the top with double-crosses and double-double-crosses! The femme fatales are ambiguous and it is difficult to see how it will end. Van Dien is wooden but still has more facial expressions than Kristen Stewart. Actually he fits the role as a bored guard who is stuck in the desert town. Bryan Brown chews the scenery with some weird scenes, that is a dangerous way to answer a phone:

Barry on the phone

Rating:

Good

Starring: Casper Van Dien, Bryan Brown, Daniel Baldwin, Rochelle Swanson, Camilla Overbye Roos, Pedro Armendáriz Jr., Heidi Jo Markel, Bentley Mitchum, John Bishop, Bridget Wilkes, Gina Angela Ritchie, Elizabeth Bradley, Bill Stuart, Valentin Sandoval, Alma Nava, Ruth Bastillos, Gary Paul, Frank Bowles, Pavel Jezek, Fernando Fuentes Sr., Heidi Carrasco, Judith Van Vleet, Daniel Zubiate

Director: Bob Misiorowski

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