Man of Tai Chi (2013)

Film Title: Man of Tai Chi
Released: July 5, 2013 (China)
Directed by: Keanu Reeves
Written by: Michael G. Cooney
Starring: Tiger Chen, Karen Mok & Keanu Reeves

Plot: The rebellious last student of an ancient tai chi style uses his abilities in increasingly difficult underground fighting matches run by a mysterious businessman.

IMDb: 6.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 70/100
My Score: 3/5

Man of Tai Chi is the multi-lingual directorial debut of Keanu Reeves. Stuntman Tiger Chen plays tai chi student Tiger Chen, the last pupil of the ancient Ling Kong tai chi style. Against his master's wishes, Chen uses his abilities to enter into a fighting tournament, which brings him to the attention of wealthy businessman Donaka Mark (Reeves). Reeves offers Chen a job as a fighter with a huge pay raise over his menial delivery boy position. As his matches get more dangerous and difficult, Chen realizes that not everything is as it appears to be. Meanwhile, a Hong Kong police officer (Karen Mok) is investigating the elusive Reeves and his underground fighting ring. Partially based on Chen's own life story, Man of Tai Chi boasts some pretty spectacular fight sequences, which isn't a surprise given that the fight choreography was directed by the renowned Yuen Woo-Ping. Chen worked for many years with Master Yuen and in fact met Reeves on the set of The Matrix, on which Master Yuen was also the fight choreographer. Some unique editing make the movie seem fresh and there are a few beautiful CG-assisted shots that are really nice. Chen is decent in the title role but Reeves as the villain really left something to be desired. I really had a hard time buying him to be as sinister the role requires. In the end, the positives outweigh the negatives and even with the lackluster performance from Reeves, Man of Tai Chi certainly isn't the worst freshman film you'll ever see. Simon Yam costars as Mok's cop boss and Iko Uwais, star of Merantau and The Raid: Redemption (and it's sequel) makes an appearance as one of Chen's final opponents.

The Whistler (1944)

Film Title: The Whistler
Released: March 30, 1944
Directed by: William Castle
Written by: Eric Taylor based on a story by J. Donald Wilson
Starring: Richard Dix, Gloria Stuart & J. Carroll Naish

Plot: A depressed man hires an unknown killer to assassinate him. When he has a change of heart, he scrambles to call off the hit but has no way to do so.

IMDb: 6.6/10
My Score: 3/5

The Whistler was a long-running anthology mystery series on the west-coast regional CBS radio network from 1942 to 1955. The character of "The Whistler" was a kind of all-knowing, all-seeing entity that would narrate the stories and sometimes comment on the proceedings. In 1944, Columbia Pictures adapted the show into a film series that would eventually have eight entries in all. The first film, simply called The Whistler, stars Richard Dix (who appears as a different main character in seven of the eight films) as a wealthy businessman whose wife was lost at sea. Three years have passed and he has only grown more depressed since the incident so he hires an assassin (J. Carroll Naish) to kill him, not having the fortitude to do it himself. But when he receives the good news that his wife is alive, he needs to call off the hit. Desperately looking for the middleman who was his contact, he discovers that the man was shot right after their initial meeting and that he now has no way of contacting the killer directly. What ensues is a cat and mouse game with plenty of shadowy photography, dames with a grudge and crazy killers. I found this movie very entertaining, with enough twists and turns to keep me guessing, and am looking forward to watching the others in the series. Gloria Stuart co-stars as Dix's secretary who is in love with him, though Dix is oblivious. The film was an early effort of great B-movie director William Castle, only his third feature. The three main actors were all nominated for Oscars in their careers: Dix for Best Actor in 1931 for Cimarron, Stuart for Best Supporting Actress in 1998 for Titanic (she played Old Rose) and Naish twice for Best Supporting Actor; once in 1944 for Sahara and again in 1946 for A Medal for Benny. Watch the opening sequence below.

Nick Knight (1989)

Film Title: Nick Knight

Released: August 20, 1989

Directed by: Farhad Mann

Written by: James T. Parriott based on a story by Barney Cohen & James T. Parriott

Starring: Rick Springfield, John Kapelos & Laura Johnson

Plot: A centuries old vampire working as a homicide detective in Los Angeles investigates a series of murders that seem to be being committed by another of his kind.

IMDb: 6.5/10

My Score: 2/5

Nick Knight is a pilot for an unproduced television series of the same name starring Rick Springfield as the eponymous character. After this incarnation was passed on, the script languished for a few years until CBS recommissioned another pilot, with essentially the same story, that was picked up and turned into the series Forever Knight starring Geraint Wyn Davies as Knight. The only returning cast member from this production is John Kapelos as Nick's partner Det. Donald Schanke. The movie concerns Springfield, a vampire trying to become human with the help of his friend, forensic pathologist Dr. Jack Brittington (Robert Harper). Springfield is also a night shift homicide detective in Los Angeles in an attempt to repent of his past sins. A string of vampire-esque murders, including the break-in at a museum where a guard was killed and an ancient relic used for drinking blood was stolen, reluctantly teams Springfield with Kapelos to solve the case due to pressure from their higher ups. The film's relatively low-budget shows in shoddy sets and the soundtrack is painfully obvious (i.e., The Human League's "Human" and Steve Winwood's "Don't You Know What the Night Can Do?"). The acting isn't all that great either with Michael Nader giving an atrocious turn as Springfield's former vampire master Lacroix and Springfield's vampire side is completely unbelievable. This should really only be of interest to Springfield fans or fans of Forever Knight interested in seeing an alternate take of the series. Check out the scene using the song "Human" below.

The Ranger, the Cook & a Hole in the Sky (1995)

Film Title: The Ranger, the Cook & a Hole in the Sky
Also known as: Hole in the Sky
Released: June 15, 1995
Directed by: John Kent Harrison
Written by: Robert Wayne based on the story "USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook & a Hole in the Sky" by Norman Maclean
Starring: Sam Elliott, Jerry O'Connell & Ricky Jay

Plot: The coming of age tale of a young man who spends the summer working for the US forest service in 1919.

IMDb: 6.7/10
My Score: 3/5

The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky, also simply known as Hole in the Sky, is a 1995 TV movie based on renowned English scholar and author Norman Maclean's novella "USFS 1919: The Ranger, the Cook and a Hole in the Sky," a semi-autobiographical account of his time as a seventeen year old working for the United States Forest Service near Hamilton, Montana. The story appeared in the 1976 collection "A River Runs Through It and Other Stories," whose eponymous tale was famously adapted in 1992 into an Oscar-winning film directed by Robert Redford starring Craig Sheffer, Brad Pitt and Tom Skerritt. Hole in the Sky concerns seventeen year old Mac (Jerry O'Connell) and his third summer spent working for the Forest Service under ranger Bill Bell (Sam Elliott). Essentially the story is about O'Connell growing from a cocky, smart mouthed teen to a respectful, self-sufficient young man. There is also a subplot concerning the camp cook Hawkes (Ricky Jay) who is secretly a card shark, O'Connell's unwarranted rivalry with him and Elliott's plans to use Jay as a ringer in the end of the season poker game back in the town of Hamilton. Some beautiful shots of the forests of British Columbia (doubling for the Montana wilderness) and fine performances keep some of the slower moments interesting and Jay, who is a magician and sleight-of-hand expert, displays his card-craft in a memorable scene filmed in one long take to exhibit his skill. Small character studies seem to be director John Kent Harrison's bread and butter and Hole in the Sky won't disappoint those with similar inclinations. Co-starring Molly Parker, Don S. Davis, Tom Butler, Jay Brazaeu, & Callum Keith Rennie, the film won a Golden Reel Award for Best Sound Editing in Television Long Form - Dialogue & ADR. Check out the aforementioned scene of Ricky Jay doing his thing below.

The Pebble & the Penguin (1995)

Film Title: The Pebble & the Penguin

Released: April 11, 1995

Directed by: Don Bluth & Gary Goldman

Written by: Rachel Koretsky & Steven Whitestone

Starring: Martin Short, James Belushi & Tim Curry

Plot: A shy penguin goes through several adventures trying to present an engagement pebble to the girl of his dreams.

IMDb: 55/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 11/100

My Score: 2/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

The Pebble and the Penguin is one of the lesser known works of great animator Don Bluth, whose resume includes such beloved films as The Secret of NIMH, An American Tail, The Land Before Time and All Dogs Go to Heaven, just to name a few. The reason it is lesser known is simply because its terrible. An introverted penguin named Hubie (Martin Short) wants to present the girl of his dreams (Annie Golden) with a pebble to signify their betrothal. If she accepts, they will mate together for the rest of their lives. This story element is based on the actual mating rituals of the of Antarctic Adélie penguins. Competing for Golden's attention is Drake (Tim Curry), a big bully of a penguin who pushes around everyone, especially Short. Short manages to tell Golden how he feels about her and she reciprocates his affections. But a jealous Drake will not denied his chosen bride and pushes Short into the water where he narrowly escapes a leopard seal but is swept away from his home on an ice flow. He's captured by some humans and caged on their ship with several other penguin specimens, including the rebellious Rocko (James Belushi). Determined to get back to Golden, Short helps Belushi escape and the pair make their way back to Antarctica. This family animated musical falls short in several respects. First off, the original songs, written by Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman, are awful, wandering messes that are instantly forgettable. Tim Curry is a fantastic voice actor and has lent his talents to a number of memorable villains. In The Pebble and the Penguin however, he falls flat with a weird accent that is completely distracting. The production of the film was fraught with issues, including MGM cutting production values and animation companies working on the film being bought and sold, and neither Bluth nor fellow director Gary Goldman stayed on board and had their names removed from the final product. The 2007 "Family Fun Edition" DVD release of the film, supervised by Goldman, did receive a Satellite Award nomination for Best Youth DVD.

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Film Title: No Country for Old Men

Released: November 21, 2007

Directed by: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen

Written by: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen based on the novel by Cormac McCarthy

Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem & Josh Brolin

Plot: A man stumbles across the bloody aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, makes off with $2.4 million in cash and is pursued by a psychotic hitman.

IMDb: 8.2/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 94/100

My Score: 4/5

The Coen Brothers widely acclaimed adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's award-winning novel, No Country for Old Men is a beautifully shot crime thriller with a tour de force performance by Javier Bardem as psychotic hitman Anton Chigurh. Josh Brolin is an average Texan who comes across the remnants of a Mexican drug deal that has gone sideways, leaving everyone involved either dead or mortally wounded. He also discovers a satchel full of cash and makes off with it. Bardem relentlessly chases him, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake, which Tommy Lee Jones, as the local sheriff, must clean up. Co-starring Woody Harrelson, Stephen Root, Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, and Barry Corbin, the film is full of beautiful photography from award-winning cinematographer Richard Deakins and strong performances by everyone involved. I especially enjoyed the silence in one of the more tense sequences of the cat- and-mouse chase between Bardem and Brolin, making the situation that much more anxious. A taut and suspenseful neo-western, the film was on over 350 critics' top ten lists and laden with accolades from BAFTA, the Golden Globes, the American Film Institute, and the Screen Actors Guild as well as being nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning four of them, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem.

One Mysterious Night (1944)

Film Title: One Mysterious Night
Also known as: Behind Closed Doors (UK)
Released: October 21, 1944
Directed by: Budd Boetticher
Written by: Paul Yawitz based on the character created by Jack Boyle
Starring: Chester Morris, Janice Carter & Richard Lane

Plot: Inspector Farraday recruits Boston Blackie to help him find a stolen diamond.

IMDb: 6.1/10
My Score: 3/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

The seventh in Columbia Pictures Boston Blackie series of films, One Mysterious Night shakes things up in more ways than one. First of all, several new actors are present in roles previously established in the series by other actors. Present as ever are Chester Morris as Blackie, Richard Lane as Inspector Farraday and George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick the Runt but the newcomers to the series include Lyle Latell as Farraday's assistant Detective Matthews, Harrison Greene as Arthur Manleder and Joseph Crehan as pawnbroker Jumbo Madigan. Another change is the formula of the script as One Mysterious Night actually has Morris working with Lane on the case instead of at odds with him (although, by the middle of the movie Lane is as much chasing after Morris as he is the real culprits). The film opens with a famous diamond being stolen from its display case in broad daylight. The police are baffled and when asked by reporters, Lane says that the only person possibly responsible is Morris. The story gets printed and then brought to the attention of Morris who heads right down police headquarters to talk to Lane. It turns out the story was Lane's way of getting Morris' attention and to ask for his help in the case. Morris goes undercover but is recognized by a beautiful reporter (Janice Carter) and "arrested." He then tells Lane to let the reporters know that he "escaped," allowing him to keep up his rogue persona to the real culprits. Relentless on the case is Carter, who complicates things for Morris more than once. One Mysterious Night is a bit of a shot in the arm for the series and nicely changes the predictability that the scripts have fallen into. The change in so much casting is bit disheartening, though, as I had come to enjoy the familiarity of Blackie's extended cinematic family. Co-starring Robert Williams and William Wright as the crooks behind the caper and Mark Roberts (billed as Robert E. Scott) and Dorothy Malone as a brother and sister embroiled in the robbery. Malone won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Written on the Wind in 1956. Director Budd Boetticher (billed here in his first credited directorial role as Oscar Boetticher Jr.), was known later in his career for a string of westerns starring Randolph Scott, but was also nominated for an Oscar for his story of The Bullfighter and the Lady in 1951, which he co-wrote with Ray Nazarro and James Edward Grant. Watch the opening sequence below or the whole movie here.

Movies I Want to See: The Crime Doctor series

The Crime Doctor, a criminal who suffers amnesia and subsequently becomes a criminal psychologist, was created by Max Marcin in 1940 for a radio series that ran on Sunday nights on CBS until 1947. In 1943, Columbia Pictures translated the character to the screen in a series of films, that would end up totaling ten in all, starring Warner Baxter. Baxter started his career in the silent film era, starring notably in The Awful Truth and The Great Gatsby, but it was his turn as the Cisco Kid in the western In Old Arizona, the first major talkie western and the first talkie to be filmed outdoors, that garnered him the second ever Best Actor Oscar. Baxter, when not acting, was also an inventor, creating a revolver searchlight to allow gunman to shoot in the dark and a radio device that allowed emergency crews to change traffic signals from up to two blocks away. In declining health, he only made three films after the Crime Doctor series ended in 1949. He died in 1951 from pneumonia. The only film of the series I have so far been able to find has been the second entry, The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case. The movie, which has some nice twists, turns and convolutions, makes me very interested in seeing what other adventures the Crime Doctor found himself embroiled in. Here is the list of the films in the series:

Crime Doctor (1943)

The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case (1943)

Shadows in the Night aka The Crime Doctor's Rendezvous (1944)

The Crime Doctor's Courage (1945)

The Crime Doctor's Warning (1945)

Just Before Dawn aka Exposed by the Crime Doctor (1946)

Crime Doctor's Man Hunt (1946)

The Millerson Case aka The Crime Doctor's Vacation (1947)

The Crime Doctor's Gamble (1947)

The Crime Doctor's Diary (1949)

Helen of Troy (1956)

Film Title: Helen of Troy
Released: January 26, 1956
Directed by: Robert Wise
Written by: Hugh Gray & John Twist based on an adaptation of Homer's Iliad by Hugh Gray & N. Richard Nash
Starring: Rossana Podestà, Jacques Sernas, Cedric Hardwicke & Stanley Baker

Plot: While on a diplomatic mission, Prince Paris of Troy falls in love with Helen, Queen of Sparta, and the two flee from her jealous husband, King Menalaus, sparking the Trojan War.

IMDb: 6.2/10
My Score: 3/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Helen of Troy is a 1956 epic from venerated director Robert Wise. Paris (Jacques Sernas) leaves from Troy on a diplomatic mission to the Greek kingdom of Sparta, against the wishes of his priestess sister Cassandra (Janette Scott), who fortells that his journey will spell doom for Troy. With his mission blessed by his father, King Priam (Cedric Hardwicke), Sernas leaves for Sparta but a sudden and violent storm causes him to be swept overboard. He is found ashore by Helen (Rossana Podestà) who nurses him back to health but does not reveal her identity as the queen of Sparta. Cernas is smitten with her and she returns his affections but knows that they can never be together so she urges him to abandon his quest. Not dissuaded, he continues on the the court of King Menalaus (Niall MacGiniss), where the king has gathered the rulers of the Greek kingdoms to start a war on Troy and take their riches. When MacGinnis sees how Podestà reacts to Cernas, he knows that they have met and infers her feeling for the Trojan. As MacGinnis prepares a treacherous end for Cernas, Podestà sends her handmaiden (Brigitte Bardot) to aid his escape from the palace. She also arranges his safe passage out of the country but when they two of them get cornered by soldiers and threatened with death, they both make their way to the boat that carries them away. A grief-stricken MacGinnis calls for war to retrieve his bride and the fellow his Greek rulers use the opportunity to rally all of Greece against Troy, thus beginning the Trojan War. Entertaining if a bit overlong, Helen of Troy evokes a time in American film history when costumed epics were the rage and in true Hollywood fashion, this version differs quite a bit from Homer's Iliad. Major changes include casting the Greeks in such an unfavorable light, essentially as pirates, and making Paris a heroic leader. The large supporting cast is filled by many distinguished European actors, including Stanley Baker as Achilles, Robert Douglas as Agamemnon, Torin Thatcher as Odysseus, Maxwell Reed as Ajax, Marc Lawrence as Diomedes, Nora Swinburne as Queen Hecuba (her real-life husband Esmond Knight appears as a high priest), Harry Andrews as Hector, Ronald Lewis as Aeneas, Robert Brown (who would go on to play M in four James Bond films) as Polydorus, and Eduardo Cianelli as Andros. 

Ender's Game (2013)

Film Title: Ender's Game
Released: November 1, 2013
Directed by: Gavin Hood
Written by: Gavin Hood based on the novel by Orson Scott Card
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Harrison Ford, Hailee Steinfeld & Ben Kingsley

Plot: In the wake of an alien attack on Earth, the International Fleet pin their hopes on young Ender Wiggin to save the human race from the extraterrestrial threat.

IMDb: 6.8/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 60/100
My Score: 4/5

Let me first say that I love the book Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and have read just about every entry into the various series of subsequent novels that have expanded the Enderverse, as it has been fashioned. I first read the novel when I was in junior high and have reread it every few years or so since then, gleaning something different from it each time. It is one of the few books that I given several times to numerous people as a gift and stands as one of my favorite novels of all time. With such an emotional attachment to the source material, needless to say I was extremely skeptical of a Hollywood adaptation and dreaded watching it. My fears, however, were unfounded. Ender's Game is the story of Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a boy who is given the responsibility of saving all of humanity. In a future where Earth has been attacked by an insectile alien species known as the Formics, the world has banded together and formed the International Fleet, a world military force dedicated to preserving our planet and our species. Children are trained from a young age in military academies and then in a floating space station known as Battle School, commanded by Col. Graff (Harrison Ford). In his many trials at Battle School, Butterfield is honed into the greatest military commander humanity has ever known, equal parts compassion and killer instinct. The film is incredibly acted not only by Butterfield, who brings the beloved character to life better than I could have hoped for, but also by the fantastic supporting cast, including Ford, Viola Davis, Hailee Steinfeld, Abigail Breslin (all Oscar nominees), and Ben Kingsley (an Oscar winner). Moises Arias gives a chilling performance as Bonzo Madrid, an arrogant and somewhat sadistic fellow student who takes an immediate dislike to Butterfield due to his own insecurities. Top notch effects combined with the social and moral questions raised by the script, and to which it gives no answers, makes Ender's Game a underrated film adaptation of a young adult novel in a market that now seems to be flooded with films using this type of source material (The Hunger Games, Divergent and The Giver to name just a few). The film was the source of controversy due to author Card's religious views, namely his opposition to homosexuality and same-sex marriage stemming from his Mormon faith. Several groups and individuals called for a boycott of the film in protest. In response, Card, who was also a producer on the film, did not take part in the marketing campaign. Ender's Game was nominated for three Saturn Awards (Best Science Fiction Film, Best Supporting Actor: Harrison Ford and Best Performance by a Young Actor: Asa Butterfield) and Butterfield was nominated for Best Young Actor awards by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Phoenix Film Critics Society and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association. While it is nearly impossible to adapt a novel of any type to the screen word for word, Ender's Game succeeds more than it fails and distills the essence of this incredibly powerful novel better than most.

The Return of the Incredible Hulk (1977)

Film Title: The Return of the Incredible Hulk
Also known as: The Incredible Hulk: Death in the Family
Released: November 27, 1977
Directed by: Alan J. Levi
Written by: Kenneth Johnson
Starring: Bill Bixby, Laurie Prange & Lou Ferrigno

Plot: While travelling, Dr. David Banner meets a crippled girl who collapses. When he takes her to her home to recover, he notices the questionable medical treatment she is receiving and decides to stick around to investigate.

IMDb: 6.9/10
My Score: 2.5/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Originally called The Return of the Incredible Hulk, this TV movie sequel to the pilot of the television series, that also saw a theatrical release in markets overseas, was subsequently broken into two parts and retitled Death in the Family when rebroadcast in syndication. In the wake of the pilot, Dr. David Banner (Bill Bixby) has been presumed dead in the same explosion that killed his partner Dr. Elaina Marks (Susan Sullivan) and has been blamed on his alter ego, the Hulk (Lou Ferrigno). He does not challenge the claim, instead he becomes a nomad and searches for a way to reverse his condition. While walking along a highway heading to the town of Everett, CA, Bixby comes across a crippled girl (Laurie Prange) in an orchard. After a brief discussion, she heads towards her home but collapses and Bixby comes to her aid, carrying her up to the house. Once inside, he meets the girl's stepmother (Dorothy Tristan) and notices that a medication that her nurse is giving her is not what the label on the bottle says that it is. Despite objections from Prange's boyfriend (Gerald McRaney), the farm foreman, Tristan offers Bixby a job as a fruit picker. His interest piqued by the false medication, he agrees, and meets Prange's doctor, Dr. Bonifant (William Daniels). What he ultimately uncovers is a plot by Tristan and Daniels to kill Prange so that they can inherit her considerable wealth. With the help of a drunkard (John McLiam), and Ferrigno, of course, Bixby is able to get Prange to safety in the end. Co-starring Jack Colvin and Mills Watson, The Return of the Incredible Hulk is not nearly as emotionally impactful as its predecessor. In fact, there are some scenes that are just down right hokey, for instance when Ferrigno is fighting a bear in the swamp; its actually almost a little embarrassing to watch. While most of the performances are decent enough, Prange really struggles and brings down many of those scenes in which she appears. Watch the scene of Ferrigno fighting the bear below and give me your own point view.

The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case (1943)

Film Title: The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case
Also known as: Strangest Case (UK)
Released: December 9, 1943
Directed by: Eugene Forde

Written by: Eric Taylor based on the character created by Max Marcin

Starring: Warner Baxter & Lloyd Bridges

Plot: Dr. Ordway, the Crime Doctor, must help a young man falsely accused of killing his employer with poison.

IMDb: 6.4/10
My Score: 3/5

The character of the Crime Doctor, created by Max Marcin, first appeared on a radio program of the same name starting in 1940. In 1943, Columbia Pictures started a series of B-movies starring Warner Baxter as the eponymous character that ran for a total of ten films. Criminal Phil Morgan suffers amnesia and becomes a criminal psychologist by the name of Robert Ordway. In the first film, Crime Doctor, he regains his memories, captures his former gang and turns them over to the police. In The Crime Doctor's Strangest Case, the second film of the series, Baxter helps out a young man (Lloyd Bridges) accused of killing the man he works for, a claim that was leveled against him about a former employer that Baxter had helped prove false. In both instances, the victims were poisoned so Bridges goes on the run instead of facing the accusation yet again. While investigating the case, Baxter comes across a whole cast of characters who all have something to hide. The film has a bevy of co-stars including Reginald Denny, Lynn Merrick, Gloria Dickson, Barton MacLane, Jerome Cowan & Constance Worth. A brisk but fun film with enough mystery and intrigue to keep things interesting until the end, I'm saddened that this is the only movie of the series which I have been able to find. Director Eugene Forde is probably best known for his five Charlie Chan films between 1934 and 1940 and screenwriter Eric Taylor added entries to several different film series throughout his career including Frankenstein, Dracula, The Whislter, Ellery Queen, and Dick Tracy as well as co-wrote the Oscar-winning 1943 version of The Phantom of the Opera. Watch the opening of the film below or the whole movie here.

Level Up (2011)

Film Title: Level Up
Released: November 23, 2011
Directed by: Peter Lauer
Written by: Derek Guiley & David Schneiderman

Starring: Gaelan Connell, Connor Del Rio, Jessie Usher & Aimee Carrero

Plot: A group of disparate online gamers must band together when villains from their favorite video game invade the real world.

IMDb: 4.3/10
My Score: 2/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Level Up, released on DVD with the subtitle The Movie, served as a pilot for a television series of the same name that ran on Cartoon Network for two seasons starting in January 2012. Three walking high school clichés (Gaelan Connell as the geek, Connor Del Rio as the goof-off slacker and Jessie Usher as the popular jock) all have one thing in common: they all play a World of Warcraft-like MMORPG (or massive multi-player online role playing game, for the uninitiated) called Maldark: Conqueror of All Worlds. Not only do they play the game but they are all in the same clan and go to the same school but have no idea of their true identities in the real world. The film opens with a janitor accidentally bouncing a beam of energy from some kind of device on a military base off of a satellite and hitting a room full of computer servers. Then we are introduced to the main characters, who all hate each other and are made fun of individually for playing the game. Later that night they all log on and play the game together, enter a new area and defeat a dragon (which is later stated represents the server's firewall). This action, coupled with the beam earlier, allows the game's eponymous villain, Maldark (George Faughnan), to send his minions into the real world. It also conversely allows the the teens to enter the video game world and bring their weapons with them back into reality. The trio must eschew the high school social structure and band together to defeat the threat and save their town. Helping them out are a fellow high-schooler/gaming noob (Aimee Carrero, a girl!) and the neurotic creator/designer of the game (Eric André). The interesting, if not entirely original, premise is really wasted with bad jokes, some terrible acting and an awful script full of embarrassing stereotypes of high school cliques and role paying games. Watcher beware. Here's a trailer for the movie with a short peek behind the scenes.

Johnny's Girl (1995)

Film Title: Johnny's Girl
Released: May 27, 1995
Directed by: John Kent Harrison
Written by: John Kent Harrison based on the book by Kim Rich
Starring: Treat Williams & Mia Kirshner

Plot: The coming of age tale of a teenage girl and her hustler father in Anchorage, Alaska, circa 1969.

IMDb: 5.9/10
My Score: 2.5/5

Johnny's Girl is a small Canadian film from director John Kent Harrison, who wrote the teleplay based on the memoir of the same name by journalist Kim Rich. The beautiful Mia Kirshner gives an excellent performance as sixteen year old Amy, the new girl in Anchorage, AK, moving from Los Angeles to live with her father. Her mother was a B-movie actress who was committed for years to an asylum for schizophrenia before dying of liver cancer. Treat Williams is Johnny, Kirshner's father and a player in the burgeoning underworld of Anchorage, who runs a gambling den and whorehouse. It is immediately clear that Williams and those in his social circle love Kirshner deeply, so fortunately this isn't one of those movies where the child protagonist is treated like dirt and has to overcome her oppressors. Instead, what unfolds is the love story between a father and daughter where isn't always clear who the mature one is. The performances of these two are the best thing in an almost excruciatingly slow moving film that sanitizes strip clubs and mob violence into family-friendly entertainment. All of these critiques are similar to the ones I had of Harrison's freshman film, Beautiful Dreamers. Both movies deal with some harsh issues with kid gloves, are slow moving and have great performances from the leads. Not an absolute waste of ninety minutes of your time, particularly if you are a fan of either Kirshner or Williams. Gloria Reuben, Shirley Douglas, Jay Brazeau and Barry Pepper co-star. Watch the trailer below or the whole movie here on Hulu.

The Incredible Hulk (1977)

Film Title: The Incredible Hulk
Released: November 4, 1977
Directed by: Kenneth Johnson
Written by: Kenneth Johnson based on the character created by Jack Kirby & Stan Lee
Starring: Bill Bixby, Lou Ferrigno, Jack Colvin & Susan Sullivan

Plot: A scientist researching feats of superhuman strength in ordinary people performs an experiment on himself that causes him to become a raging green Hulk.

IMDb: 6.9/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 57/100
My Score: 3.5/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

This is the pilot episode of The Incredible Hulk television series. It premiered as a TV movie on CBS in the beginning of November 1977 and was followed by another TV movie at the end of the same month but it wasn't until March of 1978 that the series began running weekly. Despite it being a made-for-television pilot, the film did see a theatrical release outside of the US, including France, the Philippines, Germany and Finland. This version of the character(s) sees some significant changes in the origin story from the comic books and subsequent incarnations. In the comics (The Incredible Hulk #1, May 1962), Dr. Bruce Banner is a scientist caught in the blast of an experimental gamma bomb while saving teenager Rick Jones from the explosion. Initially, the transformation of Banner into the Hulk, whose skin was gray, happened from sunset to sunrise but this only lasted a short time as he was cured in issue #4 of the series. Afterward, he used a gamma-ray machine to induce the transformations and allowed him to harness the Hulk's power with Banner's intelligence intact. However, the machine created side effects that made him sick and weak for a time when becoming human again and the eventual overuse led to the most popular version of the Hulk, that of the rampaging, child-like green-skinned brute whose appearance is caused by anger or stress. It is this incarnation that Lou Ferrigno portrays here and in the ensuing television series and TV movies. This film introduces us to Dr. David Bruce Banner (Bill Bixby), a scientist studying regular people who exhibited extraordinary strength in times of great stress, something he could not produce when he and his wife were involved in a car accident that took her life. Bixby and his partner, Dr. Elaina Marks (the luminous Susan Sullivan), are searching for the causes of such displays of power to learn how to tap into those reservoirs of strength at will. To that end, Bixby discovers that gamma radiation plays an integral part of the manifestations and exposes himself to an unintentionally large dose of gamma rays. At first, there are noticeable effects but when he is on way home in the rain, a flat tire causes him to lose his temper and triggers his change into the Hulk. As an origin story that sets up the television series to follow, you can't get much better than The Incredible Hulk. Well plotted and well acted, the movie even sets up Jack Colvin as the unscrupulous tabloid journalist who chases Bixby/Ferrigno for the next several years. As good as Sullivan and Bixby are (both are wonderful and have a really great chemistry), the best performance for my money is from Susan Batson. Batson is the mother of a child who had an almost identical experience to that Bixby's but succeeded where he failed. Her delivery is natural and organic and the emotion she exudes in the climax of her tale almost brings one to tears themselves. Watch the clip of her speaking to Bixby and Sullivan below and see if you agree with me.

The Chance of a Lifetime (1943)

Film Title: The Chance of a Lifetime
Released: October 26, 1943
Directed by: William Castle
Written by: Paul Yawitz based on the character created by Jack Boyle
Starring: Chester Morris, Richard Lane & Erik Rolf

Plot: Boston Blackie has to help a parolee when his old partners come looking for the money they stole four years earlier and one of them ends up dead.

IMDb: 6.3/10
My Score: 3/5

The sixth film in Columbia Pictures Boston Blackie series was also the first not to contain the main character's name in the title. The Chance of a Lifetime marks the feature-length directorial debut of B-movie legend William Castle and gathers the same cast of characters that we have grown to know and love over the previous five entries: Chester Morris as Blackie, Richard Lane as police Inspector Farraday, George E. Stone as Blackie's sidekick the Runt, Walter Sande as Farraday's assistant Detective Matthews and Lloyd Corrigan as the easily flustered millionaire Arthur Manleder. Cy Kendall also returns as pawnbroker Jumbo Madigan after appearing as a villain in the last film, After Midnight with Boston Blackie. This time around, the movie opens with Morris making a case to the Governor (Pierre Watkin) to parole a group of prisoners with skills needed in the war effort. Lane is on hand to rebut Morris' proposal but when even the prison warden backs Morris up, the motion is granted and the parolees are set to stay with Morris in his apartment. When he allows one of the men (Erik Rolf) to go see his wife and child on the first night out, Rolf's former partners come looking for the $60,000 they stole together, which Rolf has just recovered. When they tussle with a revolver, one of them ends up dead and the other (Douglas Fowley) runs off when Morris shows up. Knowing that no one would believe the death occurred in self-defense, Morris agrees to help Rolf out of the predicament but when Lane catches he and Stone with the body, Morris then spends the rest of the movie trying to prove his and Rolf's innocence. Full of the comedy, drama and action that the series is known for, The Chance of a Lifetime is another fine entry into the series. If watched back to back, I can see how the films would really start to get tiresome but due to the stand alone nature of each, if watched individually they don't wear out their welcome. Co-starring Jeanne Bates as Rolf's wife, it also has appearances by Sid Melton, who would later appear on the long running Danny Thomas sitcom Make Room for Daddy, and Ray Teal, best known as Sheriff Roy Coffee on the long running western series Bonanza. Rolf went on to appear in Disney's Song of the South a few years later with his real-life wife Ruth Warrick but he died he 1957 at the age of 45. Fowley is probably best remembered as movie director Roscoe Dexter in the classic Singin' in the Rain. Watch the opening sequence of The Chance of a Lifetime below or the whole movie here.

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning (2012)

Film Title: Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning
Released: September 22, 2012 (Austin Fantastic Fest)
Directed by: John Hyams
Written by: Jon Greenhalgh, John Hyams & Doug Magnuson based on a story by Moshe Diamant & John Hyams based on characters created by Dean Devlin, Christopher Leitch & Richard Rothstein
Starring: Scott Adkins, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren & Andrei Arlovski

Plot: After a man recovers from a severe beating in which his family is murdered in front of him, he goes on a quest to find the one responsible but soon discovers that nothing is what it seems.

IMDb: 5.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 51/100
My Score: 3/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning is the sixth film in the Universal Soldier franchise but only the third to be recognized as canonical. John Hyams, director of the previous film Regeneration, returns to helm this entry, which he also co-wrote. Also returning are stars Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dolph Lundgren and Andrei Arlovski. In past installments, the main character has been Luc Devereaux, usually portrayed by Van Damme, but his time, however, the focus is on series newcomer Scott Adkins. In the opening sequence, filmed in first-person perspective, Adkins is awoken by his young daughter telling him that there are monsters in the house. At the urging of his wife, he searches the house and discovers a group of masked individuals in his kitchen that proceed to viciously beat him with a crowbar. His wife and child are then dragged into his view and one of the assailants (Van Damme) removes his ski-mask before shooting the woman and little girl in the head. Fast forward nine months and Adkins awakens in a hospital from a coma. He is visited by an FBI agent (Rus Blackwell) that asks him if he remembers the attack and the man who killed his family, showing him a picture of a Van Damme for clarification. Adkins is released from the hospital and proceeds to piece together the gaps in his memory, said to be caused by his head injury, and to track down Van Damme for revenge. What follows is bit of fresh air for the franchise but the results fall somewhat short of the intentions, not quite reaching the heights it aims for. A few decent plot twists, which really shouldn't be that surprising to anyone familiar with the series, a couple of excellent fight scenes (the Adkins/Arlovski fight in the sporting goods store is definitely a highlight) and more blood and guts than the entire rest of the series combined try to compensate for the weaker points of the film. Repeated several times is an almost nauseating strobe effect that should be a concern to anyone who suffers from epilepsy and Adkins and female lead Mariah Bonner, who plays a stripper, have zero chemistry. I mentioned in my review for Regeneration that one doesn't watch a Universal Soldier film for depth. As if in response to that criticism, Day of Reckoning attempts not just to be a action film but also a violently gritty psychological thriller full of conspiracies, dilapidated locations and seedy characters, including prostitutes, governments agents and a memorable disfigured guy who has an office inside of a meat locker. Having now watched every film in the series, I realize that the script recycles many tropes from the previous entries, like cloned soldiers, messianic leaders and sleeper UniSol agents infiltrating the government. Not a terrible entry but also not as entirely new as it would appear at first glance.

Beautiful Dreamers (1990)

Film Title: Beautiful Dreamers
Released: March 1990
Directed by: John Kent Harrison
Written by: John Kent Harrison
Starring: Colm Feore & Rip Torn

Plot: Dr. Maurice Bucke, the head of the London, Ontario, insane asylum in 19th century Canada, meets American poet Walt Whitman and his world and that of those around him are never the same again.

IMDb: 6.8/10
Rotten Tomatoes: No score
My Score: 2.5/5

Beautiful Dreamers is the 1990 feature length directorial debut of John Kent Harrison. A largely fictionalized account based on an actual events, Colm Feore is Dr. Maurice Bucke, appointed head of the provincial Asylum for the Insane in London, Ontario, in 1877, a post he held for almost the rest of his life. That same year, he also met American poet Walt Whitman (Rip Torn) and the two formed a lasting relationship. In fact, Bucke would become a noted Whitman biographer. The film opens with Feore beginning his duties as superintendent for the small asylum in Ontario. We are introduced to his repressed wife (Wendel Meldrum) and the stuffy local moral authority, Rev. Haines (Colin Fox). While attending a symposium in America, he encounters Torn and they bond quickly over a disdain for "modern" psychiatric practices, including restraining and beating the mentally ill and the surgical removal of the clitoris and ovaries to "cure nymphomania and moral insanity" and to "compose the high-strung, hysterical woman." Feore and Torn, whose brother (Jeff Braunstein) is mentally ill, believe that all people, regardless of their mental faculties, should be treated humanely and with compassion, much to the chagrin of the established medical and religious majority. When Feore brings Torn to stay with him in his small town, Torn's freethinking philosophies and views of life enrapture Feore but challenge everyone else in the city, causing chaos. Torn gives a fantastic portrayal of Whitman and is really the highlight of the movie. Feore walks through the film with a look of smitten wonder toward Torn, quickly becoming a disciple of Whitman's worldview. The whole piece ends up a saccharine saturated fluff piece about breaking the restraints of preconceived societal prejudices. A feel good movie that skirts the dirtier aspects of both main characters real life counterparts, Beautiful Dreamers is a passably entertaining, if somewhat slow moving, period piece co-starring Sheila McCarthy as one of Feore's mental patients. The film was nominated for four Genie Awards in 1991, including Best Achievement in Art Direction, Best Achievement in Costume Design, Best Sound Editing and Best Overall Sound, which is kind of funny to me since the sound on the copy I watched was terrible.

After Midnight with Boston Blackie (1943)

Film Title: After Midnight with Boston Blackie
Released: March 18, 1943
Directed by: Lew Landers
Written by: Howard J. Green based on a story by Aubrey Wisberg based on the character created by Jack Boyle
Starring: Chester Morris, Richard Lane & Ann Savage

Plot: Boston Blackie is accused of killing a recent parolee over some stolen diamonds and sets out to clear his name.

IMDb: 6.6/10
Rotten Tomatoes: No score
My Score: 3/5

After Midnight with Boston Blackie is the fifth in Columbia Pictures Boston Blackie series and the second to be directed by the prolific Lew Landers. Chester Morris returns as Blackie along with Richard Lane as police Inspector Farraday, Walter Sande as his assistant Detective Mathews, George E. Stone as as Blackie's sidekick the Runt and Lloyd Corrigan as affable millionaire Arthur Manleder. When Diamond Ed Barnaby (Walter Baldwin) is paroled, he goes after his stash of diamonds to give to his daughter Betty (Ann Savage). But when his former criminal partners (Cy Kendall, Al Hill and George McKay) get to him first, Savage contacts Morris to help her find her father. When Baldwin is killed while on the telephone with Lane, the inspector automatically assumes Morris' complicity. There's also a subplot thrown in of Stone trying to get married to burlesque dance Dixie Rose Blossom (Jan Buckingham) but the nuptials keep getting interrupted by the main plot line. The heavies in After Midnight are no strangers to the series. Cy Kendall, who appears as nightclub owner Joe Herschel, is also recurring character Jumbo Madigan in Alias Boston Blackie and Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood and George McKay also appeared in Alias as Roggi the Clown. Mostly fun and fast paced in the style that the series is known for, After Midnight was the first Boston Blackie film that I actually cringed while watching. This is due to a scene in which Morris sneaks past Sande by using soot from a car's tailpipe to make him appear to be a black musician. While I'm not sure that it quite constitutes blackface, I still found myself wincing while watching it, especially when he delivered lines in a racially stereotypical voice. I understand that it was a vastly different time period socially but still for me, watching the film from my modern social perspective, it still stings. What do you think? Watch the clip which I'm referring to below or the whole movie here and let me know your thoughts.

The Invincible Iron Man (2007)

Film Title: The Invincible Iron Man

Released: January 23, 2007

Directed by: Patrick Archibald & Jay Oliva supervised by Frank Paur

Written by: Greg Johnson & Craig Kyle based on a story by Avi Arad based on characters created by Stan Lee & Larry Lieber

Starring: Marc Worden, Gwendoline Yeo & Fred Tatasciore

Plot: When industrialist Tony Stark is critically wounded by insurgents as he is raising an ancient Chinese city, he creates a suit of armor to escape. He then uses this armor, becoming the superhero Iron Man, to fight an ancient evil that has escaped from the Chinese ruins. 

IMDb: 6.0/10
Rotten Tomatoes: No score
My Score: 2.5/5

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD

Appearing almost a year and a half prior to its live action counterpart, The Invincible Iron Man offers a similar but variant origin story of the titular character than either the later film or the original comic books. In all three versions, the basics are the same: billionaire genius Tony Stark is injured by villains who kidnap him; severely injured, someone saves his life with a device that is the only thing keeping him alive; once stabilized, the villains force him to build weapons for them but instead of weapons for the bad guys, Stark builds a prototype armor with the help of the person who saved his life and escapes his captors. In the comics (Tales of Suspense #39, March 1963) Stark is kidnapped by a group led by Wong-Chu and saved by Ho Yinsen who dies in the escape attempt. As Stark is making his way back to the American forces, he comes across a wounded Marine fighter pilot, James "Rhodey" Rhodes. In the live action film, Stark is kidnapped by the terrorist organization the Ten Rings, led by Raza, and saved by Yinsen, who dies in the escape attempt. Stark is then found by Rhodey, with whom he was already friends with. In this animated feature, Stark and Rhodey are both kidnapped by the insurgent group the Jade Dragons, led by Wong Chu. Rhodey saves Stark's life and they both escape their captors alive. The Jade Dragons are a group of guerrilla warriors trying to sabotage Stark's attempts to raise an ancient Chinese city because they believe that in doing so, the spirit of the Mandarin, an ancient dictator and mass murderer, will be released to wreak havoc upon the world once more. I have to say that I wasn't overly impressed with The Invincible Iron Man. The marriage of computer and traditional hand drawn animation isn't all that seamless and it takes the movie quite a while to really get rolling. In spite of that, there were a few moments where I was surprised by the hard edge the film took, like when Wong Chu shoots a fellow prisoner in the head to persuade Stark to build his weapons for him. A few small plot twists are refreshing but not really enough to overcome the fairly two-dimensional characterizations of most of the cast. Certainly not the worst animated film I've ever seen, but if you want to be satisfied by an Iron Man feature, I'd suggest the live action Jon Favreau version over this one. The movie features the talents of several accomplished voice actors including Marc Worden as Tony Stark, Gwendolyn Yeo as Li Mei, Fred Tatasciore as the Mandarin, Rodney Saulsberry as Rhodey Rhodes, Elisa Gabrielli as Pepper Potts and James Sie as Wong Chu.