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Reviews
American Chinatown (1995)
Another reason to rent Jet Li and Jackie Chan instead of unknowns.
I've made it a habit of recent years to walk through the video store and try to find the lower budget movies that might have some of the new names of directing, acting, or producing. There has been some really cool movies coming out of Korea lately, and I thought this was one of them.
I haven't seen a movie this bad with martial arts in it since "The Vault" with Bas Rutten. Goes to show that all the martial arts ability in the world doesn't mean jack in the world of acting. If this movie was a vehicle to demonstrate the Martial Art or the abilities of the performer (Think Tony Jaa in "Ong Bak, Thai Warrior" or Bruce Lee in "Enter the Dragon") it was a really poor job. I can't think of a single reason to make a movie this bad except sheer boredom. And a desperate need to drop $30,000 dollars hard earned cash without leaving for Las Vegas. And no, that wasn't a compliment! Was there anything I can say about the good? American Chinatown's cast (with the noted exceptions of Robert Z'Dar and Liat Goodson) are all current or previous practitioners of Hwa Rang Do,(thank you, Yahoo! Search Engine!) If you can get past the terrible acting, terrible script, lack of characterization and any financial backing what-so-ever, some of the fight sequences have the usual Korean flash of outstanding kicks and joint locks that we've seen from Tae Kwon Do and Hapkido. Depressingly, the stuff on their web site was more entertaining then the film. There are some quick, (and by quick I mean SHORT) fight scenes in the movie with weapons demonstrating disarms and take downs. Yep, and there is a sword duel as well in there.
First rule of making a great movie: Great script. After seeing this movie and some of the other steaming piles of garbage in Hollywood I'll even lower my standards to 'okay' script and this movie still wouldn't cut it. Before I can even harp on the acting I have to say that NO actor would have been able to save the dialog of this movie. Had Bruce Lee risen from the grave looking to do this as a film, one read through of the script would have put him right back in the grave. Yes, its THAT bad! Second Rule of making a great movie: Great Talent. That usually refers to actors, but it extends to everybody on the production crew. The movie is terribly lighted, horribly sounded, and the editing is a sheer nightmare. There are virtually no cut-aways, no multiple angles, and no effects what-so-ever. What you end up with is a single shot, single frame, 15 seconds to a minute long take of action from 1 (!) angle from which to see anything. I guess it solved that little problem most big budget movies call, 'Continuity.' (As if this movie was worried about continuity... how's that Eyepatch, Eric T. Lee? Wait, which character are you playing now...? it changes every few scenes when I fall asleep...) There's nothing I like seeing more in a low budget film than actors playing multiple roles...badly.
And the acting! ****SPOILER ALERT**** The scene with Goodson's character getting attacked by the two thugs/ blue haired (!) rapists in the alley... Yeah, I was rooting for the rapists at that point. At least THEY were convincing. Oh man, and how much tough guy posturing can one movie have? I felt like the director's main note to the actors was "If you forget a line, just mumble, smoke, and look tough." There is a lot of mumbling, smoking, and people trying to look tough in this movie.
Third Rule of making a great action movie: If it's an action movie, showcase the action! This movie's entire script (I use the term 'script' loosely) is honestly just there to string together fight scene to fight scene. So, if the production crew was at least being honest with themselves, they would of thrown every cent into multiple camera angles, decent lighting, and some added FX for the fights. Since they didn't, you have martial arts that would have the possibility of being pretty good on film if we could: A) see what they were doing when the shot isn't being blocked by someone's body, wall or shadow, B) have realistic battle wounds ****SPOILER****(Yes, Taejoon, I am talking about you... how does a slash across the belly give you a limp?! My God, Igor lurches more convincingly!) C) have some effects that really show the subtitles of what you are doing, I.E. Slow motion, quick cut aways, and for Pete's sake, multiple angles! And lastly, D) Coherency... but I can't fault them too much on that with a script that bad.
A great set of fight scenes should be able to tell you about both the characters in the movie and how their character is expressed in the way they fight. The end duel in 'Rob Roy', The Duel in "The Empire Strikes Back", even the street brawl in "They Live" can all be watched separately from the rest of the film with the sound off and people are able to tell who these characters are and what they are feeling from what we see. ****SPOILER**** With American Chinatown, you can only tell who the good guy was at the end of the movie because he is the last guy left... limping.
I give this movie one star out of respect that people tried to make a movie. What we got was American Chinatown. They may be great martial artists, but there is an art to film making too... one that takes a whole lot more respect then we see it given here. Invest in some acting lessons, talk with production on HOW to showcase the martial arts, and spend some actual money next time around and you might have something worthy of 'Straight To Video.'
Smallville (2001)
This is show isn't just for the comic book fans...here's why.
Smallville is an adaptation of a body of work that has been around since early in the 20th century. It is the story of the DC Comics character we all know and love, Superman. For many fans of comics out there, the body of existing knowledge of who this character is, what he has done, and how he will progress to become the man of steel is something that is already written and should be followed letter for letter by the writers of both TV and Film.
I've been reading comics since I was a child, and hold a special place in my heart for all the characters from DC. Their stories are a mythology of the modern age; tales of epic struggles, dashing yet flawed heroes and heroines battling the despots of the planet earth and sometimes the most terrifying creatures in the universe.
So how do we tell the story of DC comics greatest champion while he was still in his teens discovering his powers? The WB's creative solutions have been well executed making Smallville watchable by hardcore fans and first timers alike.
The real trick, as movie makers have been finding more and more in the cinema, is to realize that TV and Film aren't comic books. It is a different medium through which the story can be communicated, with different strengths and weaknesses. The strength of TV and Film is that we can actually see a representation of the character of myth interacting with others from the mythology and begin on some level to care. It ceases to be characters on a page when you can look and see a person being called Clark Kent, Lana Lang, or Jon and Martha Kent.
The series has been extremely innovating at revising and re-touching the original body of work; the cast is much more diverse with it's ethnicity than before, Lex Luthor has been added into Clark's life as a part-time mentor and Friend, and Smallville as a town was affected by Clark's arrival; the whole town was now showered by Kryptonite fragments.
In this way the show cleverly set up story lines that add a level to all the characters. Clark will feel guilt over the effects of the arrival and a certain obligation towards the cleanup, while others will seek to harness the power or powers they received.
The town isn't the only part of the story to receive an update. New Characters such as Lionel Luthor and Chloe Sullivan add foreshadowing into the stories to give us glimpses of who Lex will become, and show how Clark's desire to seek the truth will eventually lead him to become a reporter.
Overall, the show takes nothing in the body of comic work for granted. They have given themselves the leeway to change what they may for more surprising and dramatic storytelling and to give Superman fans something to look forward to. It is fresh, exciting, and not afraid to take risks. So strap in, sit back and enjoy the show!
The Flash (1990)
A great TV series, just a little before it's time...
The Flash is one of DC comics most endearing heroes for this simple reason; even though he has been given a tremendous gift of super-speed, he is still only human. Superman always could do the incredible tasks of saving the world and managing to rescue Lois Lane from the bad guys... The Flash is always trying to beat the clock. Batman makes detective work look easy, The Flash spends the majority of his day painstakingly analyzing evidence in a lab. Imagine one of the crew of CSI spending the whole day collecting evidence and then trying to stop villains in whatever time he had left of his day: all of this while working in a police station that is hunting down his alter-ego! For those who were not comic book fans, this series is still worth a look. It was ahead of it's time in many ways: X-men, Spiderman, and the upcoming Batman Begins all focus in on the people behind the masks and the costumes to reveal the true character of the Hero.
The Flash Series had a hero who was fast, but not too fast. He had weaknesses and limitations and problems with his love life. And no matter how fast he was he never seemed to be on time! Memorable performances from John Wesley Shipp, Amanda Pays, and Mark Hamill as the Trickster.
Budgetary reasons were the reason the show had to shut down, which was unfortunate. The show was definitely hitting a good stride between good characters and great plots. There was a large body of rogues to choose from, and I personally loved the adaptations of Captain Cold and the Mirror Master. No need for flashy outfits for these guys, the writing and action was so stylish that there was no need to put these two in ridiculous colored spandex.
If you can find either the Pilot or the Trickster episodes to rent, give them a look. You will be able to see where the movies of today were able to prosper for the ideas that either flew or fell in this show.