Saat Po Long

2005 Hong Kong



Diagnosed with a brain tumor, a police detective decides that after years of failure, he'll do anything it takes to put a notorious crime boss behind bars, even if it means breaking the law. Joined in his mission by Officer Ma Kwan (Donnie Yen), veteran cop Chan (Simon Yam) sets out to snare the gangster Po (Sammo Hung), leaving a trail of badly beaten henchmen along the way. Martial arts ace Yen also choreographed the explosive fight scenes.
10/10



Woah. This is where Donnie Yen should keep going. Major build up, really intense fight scenes as well as brutal. Plot is alright. Nothing exceptional. The way it's delivered and the development of the characters builds tension and sweat in the palms. Check this out! Sammo Hung is incredible. Also check out "Flash Point". Also with Donnie Yen. Save "Fatal Move" for last, it's stupid and almost exactly like SPL, but not very good.

Save the Green Planet!

South Korea 2003



Believing that aliens in human form are systematically destroying the planet and all humankind, Byung-gu sets out to capture an alien leader and force him to confess. Because all the aliens look like humans, Byung-gu makes an educated guess and kidnaps the head of a chemical company. Byung-gu desperately tries to wring the truth from the man before the police close in and aliens destroy the world. Ha-kyun Shin and Yun-shik Baek star.
8.9/10



Took me by surprise as many reviewers suggest this is for sure, not a frivolous journey into a crazy Korean man's mind. It's a straight up dramedy, thriller, horror, sci-fi romp. Intense, inventive and profound. The end kind of went a little too far, considering you felt it had ended or should have 4 times already. But I'm completely satisfied with it overall. One of my favorite Korean movies to date. Definitely worth a rent, a watch and a referral.

S A U N A

Finland 2008



While mapping the new border with Russia in 1595, Finnish soldier brothers Erik (Ville Virtanen) and Knut (Tommi Eronen) stumble upon a spooky, almost-childless undocumented town. There, they find a mysterious sauna that forces all who enter it to face their past sins. Finnish director Antti-Jussi Annila's masterfully atmospheric horror film screened at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival.
8.8/10



Here is a tense atmospheric horror film without all the conventions of horror other than the mystery tactic of what the actual force of the evil presence may or may not be. A nice cast of rough characters of many depths making this thriller multi dimensional and sensationally interpretive art house cinema. The conclusion is abstract, genuinely creepy, imaginative and overall brilliantly done. A true maverick of what horror has been standardized to be. Do not pass this up.

Left Bank

Belgium 2008



Shit, this film has the best slow burn build up I
have ever come across other than
Once Upon a Time in the West or Bielinsky's EL AURA.
The title refers to a trendy new suburb on the shores of Antwerp's River Schelde. Built up with new luxury high rise apartments and miles of running trails through lovely wooded parks, it seems an unlikely place to find evil flourishing. Yet the neighborhood has a dark past and a darker secret.
9/10



The film can be summed up with "Each beginning is a new end"
for which you would have to see this to understand.
I had absolutely no idea what was going on in this film until the last 8 minutes.
They eventually hint around to the occult using actual historical stock footage through out the film. But beautifully atmospheric and depressing backdrops that really put a damper on the main characters life. And it's totally someone you can relate to on many levels because it's very believable and spot on acting really takes you there.

Das Experiment

Germany 2001



An artificial prison has been built as part of a psychological experiment
(a la 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment) in which 20 male participants are asked to take roles as either prisoners or guards. As psychologists watch the results unfold, our focus is on a former journalist who was intrigued by the experiment and volunteered to be one of the prisoners, thinking there might be a big story in it for him. But he ends up getting a lot more than he bargained for...
9/10



This film builds tension robustly. Unsettlingly vague character development seers a suspenseful climax that scabs over with a fulfilling ending and an eccentric romance that never gets in the way of the films intense structuring but only feeds the nail biting into a gnawing. Great acting, intriguing storyline. Minor flaws but without them, the climax would not have been as big of a tidal wave impact. Flaws were actually gifts to lay out the tension thicker. Get it, see it. Love it.

A Tale of Two Sisters

South Korea 2003



Terrified sisters try to exorcise their home of two dark forces -- their evil stepmother and a vengeful entity -- in this ghostly tale. Hospitalized after their mother's death, young Su-mi (Im Su-jeong) and Su-yeon (Mun Geun-yeong) return home to find a nasty new stepmother (Yeom Jeong-ah). The girls suffer terrifying events, but their father doesn't care, even though evil lurks around every corner. Can the girls free their home from its demons?
4.2/10



This movie was good until the apparent twist came into the ever so obvious open. The camera work in this and the acting is at the top notch. But when the movie takes a turn to explain what is going on it fails miserably. Nothing spoils a film for me than an attempt at over accentuating a profound turn around. This film should have ended 5 times but lagged and dragged on way beyond the plot twist. On top of that the twist was stupid and nothing special. The camera work was so good though. I put this film off for a few years because it didn't look good to me. Then I saw The Good The Bad and the Weird and loved it, so I figured I would love this as well. Bad assumption on my part. No good.

The Vanguard

United Kingdom 2008



Set in the year 2015, this apocalyptic thriller finds rebels Max (Ray Bullock Jr.), Rachael (Emma Choy) and Zac (Steve Weston) caught in the midst of a raging war between the Biosyns -- a race of primitive people engineered by scientists -- and the all-powerful Corporation. With civilization on the verge of extinction, due to oil depletion, the trio sets out on a dangerous journey to locate and join a growing resistance movement.
7.9/10



Do not follow any negative reviews on this low budget indie feature shot on DV. The reviewers obviously had no idea what they were getting into before seeing this film and just thought the cover "looked cool". Expecting a super ceding zombie gory romp with one on-going plot of eating brains is definitely not what The Vanguard is trying to portray. In fact it's not "trying" it's very much succeeded in portraying the flaws of our species and our ignorance to the role nature plays in keeping our order in check. I really liked this film. It was modest, humble, low budgeted and surprisingly well acted. It's very serious. And it is a film that can be taken serious by a well rounded viewer. There are a decent amount of kills not over doing it and some very, very minor CGI effects. Bare minimum budget with a really misanthropic message that flips 180° to a substantial morale and prolific ending. A very subtle and fresh digital video feature that should not be over looked or passed aside due to a poor review by some one with little or no appreciation for good film making. B++