Presented by Cinemax and adapted from Michael Lesy’s book of the same title, true crime lovers and watchers of the real and macabre will bug-out big time at the shopping list of bad luck, ill fate and fatal superstition presented by this Hands On / BBC2 Arena documentary which concerns itself with a rash of strange suicides, murders and misdeeds committed around the town of Black River Falls in Wisconsin between the years 1890 and 1900.
As Clint Eastwood nears his eighties I found it curious that the iconic movie tough guy would choose to take on a role where the trailer shows him as a cranky old man, shouting that cliched old line at some teens: "Get off my lawn!" Taken out of the context of the film the line is funny, and I admit it's one of the things that piqued my interest in Gran Torino.
In the context of the film it's not funny at all. It's not the only thing Walt Kowalski (Clint Eastwood) says to the hoodlums that have ventured onto his lawn, and it's a downright chilling moment in one of the best films I've seen this year.
A fast talking con-man with ‘the gift of the gab’ (Noel Madison) forms a hate group called The Avenging Angels, and with the help of a fat, crooked governor, attempts to take over America (state by state) by selling fascism disguised as patriotism and national pride (sound familiar?).
The now almost varnished Mark Gregory is still Thunder, the quiet, loving, crazy-ass Navajo Indian who takes about 70 minutes to indulge in a bloody massacre. He battled racist cops and big business in part 1, and got a girlfriend and a shot at being a part-time cop in 2. Here, the Italian crew are still in Arizona, USA and this time Thunder is fighting a group of OAP mercenary/survivalists commanded by a mental, war-scared renegade general called Magnum (Horts Shón).
John Woo was one of the reasons I got into watching Hong Kong films many years ago. Unfortunately it's been ages since he's put out anything that I've been able to tolerate, let alone enjoy. His constant use of Woo-isms (just give the doves a rest, already) and attempts to go Hollywood left me cold.
So I didn't have high hopes for Red Cliff, especially after I heard Chow Yun Fat walked off the set right at the start.
Mark Gregory is back as Thunder, the homicidal-when-pushed Red Indian who likes to blow things up after about an hour. In a practical xerox of the first outing (so similar in fact, that they’ve basically just added a ‘2’ to the title), Thunder is banging heads with racist sheriff Bo Svenson again and is stuck facing a similar hate-crime folly when violence erupts after the tanned terror is called a “Dirty Injun Bastard” and locked up in jail after a scant 8 minutes.
Planky Mark Gregory (Bronx Warriors—82) is Red Indian Thunder Warrior, a passive and lethal ex ‘Nam vet Navajo who travels home to his ancestral lands to find evil bankers and redneck lawmen are dynamiting his tribal burial grounds.
I've got questionable taste in films but fortunately for everyone the world is safe from me ever making one. You can all sleep a bit easier at night knowing that I have no desire to inflict a film on you.
The same can't be said of Kim Jong-il. Yes, that Kim Jong-il, dictator of North Korea, who also happens to be the country's film dictator. Did I say dictator? I meant Happy Fun Time Coordinator. Not only does he love crappy movies more than I do, he's willing to go to incredible lengths to make them, including kidnapping a director and his wife to make a Godzilla ripoff.
Tropa de Elite is an amazingly good film; by turns brutally real, disturbing, and horrifyingly funny.
It claims to be based on a true story (which occurred around 1997) and I find that sadly believable. The main plot revolves around the captain of an elite police unit trying to find a replacement for himself. At the same time he's also dealing with the imminent birth of his first child, the horrendous stress of his job, and a mission to clear out a dangerously violent slum so that the Pope can stay there overnight.
Doris Wishman wrote, produced, edited and directed this B+W pant filled 'Adults Only' outing with her usual inept ill will and utterly abysmal film making skills, meaning it's yet another gem from the back of her thrift store crown.
