Blog Archives

The Forbidden Kingdom (2008)

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The Forbidden Kingdom attracted huge attention from the moment it was rumoured that the world’s two biggest names in martial arts cinema would be working together. The J & J Project, they whispered. Yuen Wo Ping’s choreographing, they typed. There were naysayers, too: It’s American, from Miramax, and from the director of… Stuart Little, of all things. The trailers looked OK, though, with a strong emphasis on the action sequences, and it had Jet Li in … (read more)

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Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

When big films get released, the studios releasing them will often look for different ways to market their new product to get as many people to see it as possible. The usual way is to release trailers and posters to tempt people; a newer unusual way to do things is make a tie in animated film. This was done with The Animatrix and the release of The Matrix Reloaded. So with the release of The Dark Knight sequel to … (read more)

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Imprint (2005)

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I had a difficult time reviewing this one. Why? For starters, writer’s block. The words didn’t come to mind to properly describe the experience easily. Secondly it is a little bit unconventional in that it’s not actually a film from our neighbors from the north. It’s an episode of a cable television series, from the USA — the Masters of Horror series. So why is there a review being written for it? This question brings me to the hardest thing … (read more)

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Witchblade (2006)

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For a change of pace now, instead of reviewing an anime series based off a popular manga series, I’m going to review an anime series based off an American comic. After seeing one episode of this anime re-imagination of the original comic – the main character, location and plotting has been changed – I wanted to love the show. It really felt like something I could enjoy; unfortunately as I kept watching I felt less inclined to keep watching.

It … (read more)

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Samurai Jack: the Movie (2001)

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Samurai Jack is one of the many popular cartoon series from the Cartoon Network, and also one of the best. Created by Genndy Tartakovsky, who was well known for making Dexter’s Laboratory and The Powerpuff Girls, Samurai Jack is arguably the most successful of his creations. Samurai Jack: The Premiere Movie tells the story about the origin of the title character, and how he turns from a prince into a powerful samurai and the arch rival of the evil … (read more)

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Highlander: The Search For Vengeance (2007)

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The Highlander franchise has been around since the mid eighties. It is famous for the catchphrase: “There can only be one”, referring of course to the centuries old battle of the Immortals that die only by having their heads removed form their shoulders. They really should have had that catchphrase in mind when they decided to make four more live action films, three Television series (one animated) and various novels and comic books, and that includes this anime entry directed … (read more)

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Robotech: Shadow Chronicles (2006)

I have been a Robotech fan. I followed the Macross Island saga religiously and my affection for anime has no doubt been largely influenced by my one-time membership amongst the fanatics of Robotech.

However, once the Macross Saga ended, the enthusiasm that had driven this obsession waned, and interest in the adventures of Maya Sterling declined in parallel to Saturday morning Television programmers’ willingness to air just the episodes, without the long and uninteresting fluff of ‘kid’s TV’ in amongst … (read more)

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The Protector (1985, Jackie Chan)

Don’t watch this film. Really. If you do, I may have to come around and slap you silly.

First, the plot: my garden furniture could do better. That probably goes for a lot of the acting as well. Add in racism, sexism, an overwhelming sense of anti-humour (that cancels out, ohhh, years of humorous things), crap action choreography, filming apparently cunningly designed to miss every single bit of action in the fight scenes, some ridiculous caricatures, and a complete wastage … (read more)

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