White Crane Chronicles: Kung Fu Killer Parts 1-2 | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

Posted on March 24, 2020 by JJ Bona
White Crane Chronicles: Kung Fu Killer Parts 1 and 2 | Blu-ray (Mill Creek Entertainment)

White Crane Chronicles: Kung Fu Killer Parts 1 and 2 | Blu-ray (Mill Creek Entertainment)

RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2020

On June 9, 2020, Mill Creek Entertainment will release the Blu-ray for 2008’s The White Crane Chronicles, starring the late, cult film icon David Carradine (True Legend). This double feature includes Kung Fu Killer Parts 1 and 2 (not to be confused with the Donnie Yen film of the same name).

This 2-part TV movie follows a monk (Carradine) in Shanghai who infiltrates the underworld to find the killers of his spiritual female Grandmaster.

Co-stars include Daryl Hannah (Kill Bill series), Jimmy Taenaka (Dead Mine) and Shaw Brothers legend Cheng Pei-pei (Come Drink with Me, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon).

Pre-order The White Crane Chronicles from Amazon.com today!

Posted in DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, Martial Arts Titles, News |

What to Do When You Get a DUI? A Helpful Guide

Posted on March 23, 2020 by JJ Bona
What to Do When You Get a DUI? A Helpful Guide

What to Do When You Get a DUI? A Helpful Guide

In 2016 alone, over 1 million drivers across the U.S. got arrested for driving under the influence.

If you fall under this category, you might feel your world has crumbled. However, you can come out of a DUI and get your life back on track.

If you’re not sure what to do when you get a DUI, you came to the right place. Read on to get started.

Write Everything You Remember Down

After you’ve been arrested for a DUI, everything might feel like a blur. It’s normal for you to try to piece everything together so you can make sense of what happened the night before.

As you piece together the night before, make sure you write everything you remember down. Even if you think a detail is too small, it might help you in the future.

Start by writing down everything that happened by the hour. For example:

  • 8:00 p.m. left house to meet friends
  • 8:30 p.m. arrived at the party
  • 11:30 p.m. decided to go home
  • 11:45 p.m. got pulled over by cops
  • 12:15 p.m. got arrested

Making a timeline is helpful because it will allow you to make your case when you show up in court.

Aside from writing down the timeline, you should also write down any relevant information you remember.

  • Location where you got pulled over
  • Speed you were driving
  • Time you got pulled over
  • Initial conversation with the police
  • Sobriety tests the police made you perform
  • Your answers you gave the police
  • Unusual or unfair treatment

Once you have sobered up and settled down, write as much information as you remember.

Call a DUI Attorney

If you were arrested for a DUI, you will need to call an attorney even if it was your first offense. You might want to contest the charges or help you with your guilty plea, so the right DUI lawyer should be on your side.

While the court might assign you a public defender, it’s advised you get a lawyer who will focus on your case. If you don’t have the funds to pay for an attorney, you might be able to find a pro bono lawyer.

Make Your Information Private

Those convicted of a DUI should set their online profiles as private. The last thing you want is for the state to try to build a case against you by looking at your social media accounts.

If you posted photos of the night you got the DUI, you should delete all of those photos. It’s also a good idea to ask your friends to delete any photos from the night.

Opposing counsel might also use things on your social media to make a case about your character. The last thing you want is for them to use old Twitter posts as a reflection of your character.

If you have questions about whether or not you should delete your social media accounts, your DUI attorney should be able to advise you. Of course, you could also delete all of your social media accounts until everything has been settled.

Get Ready for Your Court Date

As the date of your court date approaches, make sure you’re well prepared for it. Talk to your attorney a few days before if you have any questions about what to say or do.

When you show up in court, you have to look your best. The judge won’t be as sympathetic if you look like you just rolled out of bed.

  • Don’t wear baggy pants
  • Women should avoid showing cleavage, legs, and mid-section
  • Men should wear a button-down shirt, slacks, and tie
  • Women should wear a nice blouse, slacks, and a professional skirt
  • Clothes should be clean, well-fitted and wrinkle-free

It’s also important to arrive on time for your court date, so leave your house with plenty of time to spare.

Also, you should remain well-composed and only speak when spoken too. Try to keep a neutral face and avoid smirking, laughing, or anger gestures.

Accept the Consequences

No matter if it was your first offense, you will receive a punishment for driving under the influence.

Although the severity and conditions of a DUI punishment vary by the state, they are generally the same for a first-time DUI offense. You can expect some of the following:

  • Up to $500 fine
  • 50 hours of community service
  • Up to six months in jail
  • Up to one-year probation
  • Up to 180 days without a license
  • Driver education course

It’s up to the judge to decide which of the above you will receive. Having a good DUI lawyer will also play a part in you receiving a lesser punishment.

Whatever your punishment is, make sure your punishment is, make sure you begin right away. If you have to complete volunteer hours, make sure you get started right away.

Work on Getting Your License Back

If you get convicted of a DUI, you can expect to lose your license for up to 180 days.

It’s important you carry out your sentence as the court mandates. Failure to do so will only add more time to your punishment.

However, if your need to drive to get to school or work, it could be possible for you to obtain a hardship license. With a hardship license, you will be able to drive under certain conditions.

Get Your Life Back

Once you’re done serving your sentence and got your license back after a DUI, it’s time to move on with your life.

First, you will need to work on getting car insurance back. If your current car insurance drops you, you will have to find a new one. You can expect to have a higher monthly payment and deductible.

Once you deal with all of the paperwork, it’s time you focus on making different decisions, so you don’t end in the same situation twice.

What to Do When You Get a DUI: The Bottom Line

Now that you know what to do when you get a DUI, it’s time you start moving forward with the process.

After you get a DUI, you should write everything down, contact an attorney, appear in court, accept the consequences, get your license back, and move on with your life.

If you enjoyed this article and would like to learn more, check out the rest of our blog.

Posted in News |

Metamorphosis (2019) Review

Posted on March 20, 2020 by Paul Bramhall
"Metamorphosis" Korean Theatrical Poster

“Metamorphosis” Korean Theatrical Poster

Director: Kim Hong-Sun
Cast: Bae Sung-Woo, Sung Dong-Il, Jang Young-Nam, Kim Hye-Jun, Cho Yi-Hyun, Kim Kang-Hoon, Jung Yun-Ha, Baek Yoon-Sik, Kim Lee-Kyung
Running Time: 113 min.

By Paul Bramhall

The current South Korean fixation with bad-ass priests continues with Metamorphosis. Capping off the holy trilogy of 2019, following the release of The Divine Fury (MMA priests!) and Svaha: The Sixth Finger (occult detective priests!) earlier in the year, the latest entry is easily the most straightforward of the trio, in that it pits a priest whose struggling with his own demons against, you guessed it, an actual demon. So far, so The Exorcist (or for a more recent example, Korea’s own The Priests).

The fourth movie from director Kim Hong-seon, since his 2012 debut The Traffickers Hong-seon has stuck to what he knows best with the crime genre, helming middling efforts like The Con Artists and The Chase. Known for his gritty aesthetic, it’s not entirely unreasonable to believe that the horror genre could be the one for him to shine. Hong-seon has enlisted Bae Sung-woo as the priest in question this time. Arguably one of the busiest working actors in Korea, Sung-woo is instantly recognizable from the myriad of supporting roles he’s played over the last 10 years, with perhaps his most impactful one being that of an office worker who murders his own family in 2014’s Office.

Metamorphosis opens with Sung-woo performing an exorcism of a girl who’s been possessed. The scene is an effective one, with some welcome usage of practical effects for gore, and in many ways it’s an opening which sets the tone for the remaining duration. As effectively executed as it is, the sight of a girl tied down to the bed and firing off expletives like they’re going out of fashion is one we’ve seen a hundred times before, so if Hong-seon’s latest isn’t looking to break the mould, it better do what it does exceptionally well. Nearing the culmination of the exorcism, a moment of weakness causes proceedings to take a turn for the worse, climaxing in the demon promising it’ll return to tear Sung-woo’s family apart.

It’s a line that shifts the narratives focus to the family in question, as we’re introduced to Sung-woo’s estranged brother (Sung Dong-il, RV: Resurrected Victims), along with his wife (Jang Young-nam, Confidential Assignment) and three kids (Kim Hye-jun, Another Child, Jo Yi-hyun, Homme Fatale, and Kim Kang-hoon, Exit). After the families affiliation with Sung-woo sees them need to relocate, they settle into a house purchased through an auction over the other side of town, where they believe a fresh start awaits. Of course, this is a horror movie, so their expectations are dashed pretty quickly. From a mysterious neighbour who keeps them up all night with what sounds like some kind of sawing, to the fact that certain members of the family begin to act in increasingly disturbing ways.

The change in focus proves to be a good move, as Hong-seon displays a deft hand at ramping up the suspense in what’s supposed to be the safety of the new family home. What exactly is the neighbour doing every night that’s so noisy, and why are certain family members acting so out of character. It’s not a spoiler to say that the demon in question manifests itself as a shape shifter, able to take on the form of anyone in the family unit. As a result, the tension the scenario brings is closer to the type found in John Carpenter’s The Thing than it is your typical supernatural horror flick. Both ourselves as the audience and the characters onscreen begin to question if who they’re interacting with really is who they look like, or is it the demon?

In all fairness, when it is the demon it should be rather obvious. From Dong-il’s visit to his daughter’s bedroom in the middle of the night to eye her up and down, to Young-nam’s feral eating habits at the breakfast table, it’s clear that somethings not right. The fear of the unknown, combined with the more traditional visceral shocks, keep Metamorphosis a suitably edgy experience, and one that successfully plays on the fear of those closest to us not being who we think they are. Events eventually lead to the family giving Sung-woo a call, in the hope that he’ll be able to get to the bottom of what’s going on, and have things return to normal.

Ironically it’s Sung-woo’s return that begins to show cracks in the coherency of Metamorphosis. Sung-woo himself puts in an admirable performance, but there are aspects of the plot which raise certain question marks. The best example of this is a scene in which he explains that Hye-jun must be the demon, as he reveals the water he poured for everyone is holy water, and she’s the only one that didn’t touch it. By the logic established so far, then the assumption is that the real Hye-jun is somewhere else, however the implication is that the demon has actually possessed Hye-jun, which up until this point hasn’t been the case.

There are also throwaway lines in the script that indicate deeper meanings, but never come to fruition, such as when Dong-il muses on how lucky they were to secure the house, and how he couldn’t believe no one else bid on it. Presumably that’s because there’s some kind of evil associated with the house itself, but no, the line is never re-visited. I can only guess it really was the case that it just so happened nobody else bid on it. The biggest faux pas in Metamorphosis though comes when a main character is killed off, and not only does it cause literally no impact whatsoever, but nobody even seems to notice they’ve gone! Whether it’s a pacing issue, or that somehow it looked like it was adequately covered in the script, onscreen it comes across as completely bizarre.

Sung-woo’s return also introduces a character played by the legendary Baek Yoon-sik (Inside Men). Both Yoon-sik and Dong-il co-starred in Hong-seon’s previous movie, The Chase, and clearly enjoyed working with him enough to return. Yoon-sik plays a senior priest residing in the Philippines, who’s called upon by Sung-woo to come and assist with exorcising the demon. Yoon-sik’s presence is always a welcome one, and brings a sense of gravitas to proceedings the same way an actor like Ahn Sung-ki does. Tragically the Philippines settings also has him wrestle with a scene that involves a sermon being delivered in English, and a round table discussion that has a group of foreign priests arguing amongst themselves as to what kind of demon it is comes across as unintentionally amusing.

With an effectively tense build-up, Hong-seon ultimately can’t sustain it for the duration, and while the finale of Metamorphosis ticks all the boxes to conclude the tale, it still feels underwhelming in its execution. With such a saturated market for exorcism movies, being able to conclude one effectively in a way that feels fresh must be a challenge for any director, however here there’s no real sense of impact or catharsis. Not for the first time in a Korean production (Train to Busan, I’m looking at you), the elements that deliver the most entertainment – in this case the gory imagery and the uneasy tension – are forsaken in the finale to indulge in some unwarranted melodrama.

Despite this though, Metamorphosis still manages to be an entertaining slice within the exorcism sub-genre (disclaimer: I’m not even sure if that’s a thing, but let’s assume it is). The gory effects work is a highlight, particularly the neighbour’s house and the discoveries that reside inside it, harking back to the likes of early 00’s thrillers like Tell Me Something. My main issue with Hong-seon’s latest is that it should have been so much more.

Metamorphosis is at its best when witnessing the demons effects on the family, as tempers begin to fray and seeds of discord begin to bear fruit, with legitimate scares being wrung from the demons outbursts of violence in the guise of different family members. When these elements are the focus then the tension is palpable and there’s a genuine sense of fear, both of which dissipate once the script decides to play with its own logic, sacrificing the one thing that gave it a unique slant compared to its contemporaries. With the right expectations, or if you’re simply a fan of watching men in dog collars take on the forces of evil, then there’s enough here to warrant a watch.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 6/10

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged |

Tony Todd to join all-star Indonesian action film ‘Blood Rush’?

Posted on March 20, 2020 by JJ Bona
"The Raid" Theatrical Poster

“The Raid” Theatrical Poster

Indonesian writer/director Ranjeet S. Marwa (Godforsaken) is currently hard-at-work preparing his next film, Blood Rush, which starts filming later this year. Timo Tjahjanto (director of The Night Comes for Us, Killers) will act as the film’s production consultant.

Currently, plot details for Blood Rush are being kept under wraps, but Marwa is describing the action/thriller as “a symphony of chaotic violence…. unlike anything that has come before.”

So far, action stars on board for Blood Rush are Zack Lee (The Night Comes for Us, The Raid 2), Sunny Pang (Headshot, The Night Comes for Us), Yayan Ruhian (The Raid, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Yakuza Apocalypse), Nick Khan (Marvel’s Secret Project), Nathan Jones (Mad Max: Fury Road), Cecep Arif Rahman (The Raid 2) and Singapore’s Grace Teo.

We’ll keep you updated on Blood Rush as we learn more.

Updates: FCS reports that horror icon Tony Todd (The Crow, Candyman) is in final negotiations to star in Blood Rush. The same source adds that production has since scaled back from plans for a summer shoot, now aiming closer to a Fall season start date due to the Coronavirus outbreak.

Posted in News |

Bayview Films to release the DVD for Sang-Hoon Ahn’s Chinese remake of his own Korean thriller ‘Witness’

Posted on March 19, 2020 by JJ Bona
"The Witness" Chinese Theatrical Poster

“The Witness” Chinese Theatrical Poster

On March 24, 2020, Bayview Films is releasing the DVD for Sang-Hoon Ahn’s 2015 thriller, Witness. It stars Yang Mi (Reset) and Lu Han (The Great Wall).

Here’s an excerpt about Witness from Paul Bramhall’s feature, Made (& Remade) in Asia:

This movie is unique for the fact that both movies were made by the same director, Ahn Sang-hoon. While it’s not the first time for a director to re-make one of their movies for a different territory (notably Takashi Shimizu directed the American remake and its sequel of his early 2000’s J-horror series Ju-on: The Grudge), it is the first time for an Asian director to remake one of their movies within the region.

The story itself is based on the Audrey Hepburn starring 1967 thriller Wait Until Dark, and sees a police trainee who loses her sight become the target of a psychopathic killer, of whom she’s the only witness to one of his murders. While the Korean version progressively heads into darker territory, with a finale that’s more representative of a gory slasher than the thriller it starts out as, the Chinese version goes the opposite direction. How opposite? Well, it ends with a completely misguided pop concert performance by teen idol group member Lu Han. Go figure.

Pre-order Witness from Amazon.com today!

Posted in News |

Katsuhiro Otomo’s ‘Akira’ to explode onto IMAX Theaters

Posted on March 19, 2020 by JJ Bona
"Akira" IMAX Theatrical Poster

“Akira” IMAX Theatrical Poster

Katsuhiro Otomo’s seminal Anime classic Akira will soon be exploding onto IMAX screens in its full, newly remastered 4K glory.

Akira revolves around a secret military project that endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psionic psychopath that only two kids and a group of psionics can stop.

IMAX and Toho Studios released a poster that has a release date set for April 3rd, but considering the circumstances, our bet is that this re-release has been has been pushed back indefinitely.

For now, check out a recent promotional Trailer for Japan’s 4K Ultra HD blu-ray release:

Posted in News |

Take Point | aka PMC: Private Military Company (2018) Review

Posted on March 18, 2020 by Paul Bramhall
"Take Point" Theatrical Poster

“Take Point” Theatrical Poster

Director: Kim Byung-Woo
Cast: Ha Jung-Woo, Lee Sun-Kyun, Jennifer Ehle, Kevin Durand, Malik Yoba, Spencer Daniels, Shin Hyun-Bin, Ahn Seong-Bong, Kim Sun-Hyuk
Running Time: 124 min.

By Paul Bramhall

The Korean film industry has an interesting relationship with the action genre. A mainstay of the countries cinematic output for a long time, it was ultimately an action movie which brought Korean cinema to international attention with 1999’s Shiri. Skips forward 20 years, and the dynamic has changed considerably. Korea consistently cranks out movies containing some of the most innovatively bone crunching action scenes around, however rarely do the productions that such scenes appear in brand themselves as action. Instead, the art of action has become an integral part of a wide range of genres – thrillers, crime, gangster flicks, and police procedurals to name a few.

So where does that leave the action genre itself? There have been a few titles which have fearlessly branded themselves as action movies – in 2006 Ryoo Seung-wan unleashed City of Violence, a stylish but poorly paced fight flick, and in 2013 Won Shin-yun gave us The Suspect, a well-staged action spectacle undone by overly eager editing. In short, it’s a genre that’s struggled to be what it says on the tin, too frequently undone by overly bloated plots, or people in post-production who don’t understand that how action is shot is just as important as how it’s performed. With that being said, we still seem to get a movie out of Korea every few years that proudly labels itself as an action flick, and the latest of those is Take Point.

The third movie from director Kim Byeong-woo, Take Point reunites him with leading man Ha Jung-woo, who anchored his sophomore feature The Terror Live in 2013. The opening credits lay out an intriguing premise through a mix of news clips and phone calls, as we learn that the year is 2024, and the U.S. economy has been plunged into chaos. The cause, as it turns out, began with the U.S. lifting the sanctions off North Korea after a successful meeting between the two countries leaders. Without the political restrictions, North Korea partnered with its economic juggernaut of a neighbour, China, and their combined manufacturing industries come to supply most of the world’s economies, leaving the U.S. trailing behind. Unwilling to leave things as they stand and with an election on the horizon, the U.S. president orders the CIA to orchestrate a change to the North Korean regime, and he doesn’t care how they do it.

It’s a smart premise, and one that plugs directly into current fears on the Korean peninsula, as the power-plays of both the U.S. and China often find South Korea in the crosshairs due to circumstance. As smart as it may be though, as soon as the credits stop rolling, it becomes clear that Take Point is more likely to be described as a glorified action B-movie than it is an intelligent action flick. Taking a leaf from the likes of The Dirty Dozen and Eastern Condors, a cynical CIA operative played by Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty, Fifty Shades of Grey) enlists an off-the-radar black-ops unit comprising of illegal aliens residing in the U.S.. With the promise of citizenship as a reward, the crew gather in a sprawling underground bunker that resides between the two Korea’s, where a key meeting will take place between both countries. Their job? Kidnap an important North Korean General, and bring him to the South. Of course, things don’t go to plan.

Led by an ex-paratrooper played by Ha Jung-woo (The Handmaiden, Assassination), the rest of the group comprises of various nationalities, all of which means that for the majority of its runtime, Take Point plays out in English. Thankfully we’re a world away from the foreign ‘talent’ that used to populate HK flicks of old, instead featuring a cast with names like Kevin Durand (Legion, Resident Evil: Retribution) and Malik Yoba (Cool Runnings, Cop Land). Bizarrely, director Byeong-woo has decided to lumber them with a variety of dodgy accents. Despite this though, they’re still more comprehensible than Jung-woo. Jung-woo is one of Korea’s brightest acting talents, and while he does an amicable job, the sheer number of lines he has to get through in his non-native tongue inevitably leads to instances of needing to rely on the subtitles.

Almost identical to Steel Rain which was released the year prior, the plot device of North Korea’s Supreme Leader (amusingly referred to here as ‘King’) showing up where he’s not supposed to is used to crank up the tension, and also like in that movie, he ends up critically injured and in the hands of the South. Onscreen this all plays out via a lot of gratuitous gunfire, with Jung-woo and his crew heavily outnumbered, in a series of entertaining set-pieces which incorporate a number of high impact first-person shots. Much like The Terror Live was restricted to a studio, almost all of Take Point is restricted to the confines of the underground bunker, indicating that director Byeong-woo is a fan of one-location scenarios (and if you also consider Tunnel, Jung-woo is becoming the go-to actor for featuring in them).

For the most part it works, however Byeong-woo’s obvious fondness of ‘Boy’s Own’ style adventures leads to some painfully clichéd scenes. Jung-woo’s smoking habit comes across as more to do with looking cool than it does a genuine character trait, and if you think that’s bad wait until he whips out his whiskey hip flask as they prepare to start the mission. At its worst, when the Mexican member of the team is marked as the guy who’ll bust down the doors and secure the Take Point, we have to sit through Jung-woo giving him a stirring speech about how soon he’ll be able to open that farm he’s been dreaming of, and live a peaceful life with his family. As expected, said character bites the dust a few minutes later.

Thankfully Lee Sun-kyun (Jo Pil-ho: The Dawning Rage, A Hard Day) is on hand as a member of the North Korean entourage that becomes dependant on Sung-woo to survive, and also provides an opportunity for them both to converse in Korean, offering a welcome refrain. It’s when a member of Jung-woo’s team double crosses them that provides a pivotal moment in Take Point’s structure, as after a well-staged shoot-out that displays some great camerawork, Jung-woo finds himself incapacitated and unable to leave the room he’s in. Thanks to the technology available, involving plenty of monitors and hi-tech looking devices, he can still communicate with the rest of the team, however Byeong-soo inexplicably takes the decision to keep the audience in the room with Jung-woo as well. What this means for us is that, for almost half the movie, we’re essentially watching a series of video calls.

Sure, they may be video calls with people running around corridors firing big guns, but at the end of the day, they’re still video calls. The format unfortunately removes some of the impact we should probably be feeling to what unfolds, instead acting to remove the sense of immediacy from the action. As the majority of Jung-woo’s team lack any kind of real characterisation, they also become largely interchangeable. It often feels like the most meaningful time we spend with them is when we see the red cross get stamped across their image on a large monitor, signifying they’ve been killed off. All of this culminates to create an experience where it’s difficult to connect with the blatant crisis at hand. The stakes are sky high, but really, we just want Jung-woo to complete his video call and move onto the next one.

Byeong-woo seems to realise that, and decides to overcompensate with the finale, which ditches the bunker setting and becomes a bombastic sky-diving spectacle. Let’s have the conversation – sky-diving finales are risky. Released in a year when Tom Cruise performed a HALO jump in Mission: Impossible – Fallout (which wasn’t even the finale!), and following on from the likes of Jackie Chan’s own sky-diving finale in 2012’s CZ12, if you’re going to do one, it has to be spectacular. That starts with being done for real, which Take Point’s clearly isn’t, even if the green screen work is stellar. However the real crime here is that the pacing of it is off, and the attempt to connect it to an earlier flashback sequence fails to resonate. In short, it would have been better if they’d stayed in the bunker.

Despite these criticisms, with the right expectations Take Point is a decent enough action flick. What it could really have benefitted from, is spending less time on trying to convince us it’s a big blockbuster, and more time on embracing its B-movie roots. Wedged between Ha Jung-woo’s performance in Park Chan-wook’s The Handmaiden, and Lee Sun-kyun’s performance in Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite, if nothing else, it’s an opportunity to see both actors have some fun in an unpretentious slice of mindless action cinema.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 5/10

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , |

The H-Man & Battle in Outer Space: Double Feature | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

Posted on March 17, 2020 by JJ Bona
The H-Man & Battle in Outer Space: Double Feature | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

The H-Man & Battle in Outer Space: Double Feature | Blu-ray (Mill Creek)

RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2020

On June 9, 2020, Mill Creek Entertainment will release a 2-Disc Double Feature for 1958’s The H-Man and 1959’s Battle in Outer Space – this release marks the Blu-ray debut for both films.

Travel back to the days before CGI, when special effects were real and the results were spectacular! Director Ishiro Honda (Godzilla) and special effects wizard Eiji Tsuburaya ( Godzilla and Ultra Series) bring these wildly colorful kaiju eiga to life in this high-definition double feature presentation.

In The H-Man: Brought on by hydrogen bomb fallout, H-Man is a slimy green monster that dissolves human tissue and anything else in its path on contact. Scientist must figure out how to stop this creation. Contains both the American and Japanese edits for The H-Man; In Battle in Outer Space: The nations of the Earth unite in a common cause to fight off an invader from outer space.

Pre-order The H-Man & Battle in Outer Space from Amazon.com today! 

Posted in Asian Titles, DVD/Blu-ray New Releases, News |

Series and movies that are leaving and Concluding on Netflix soon

Posted on March 15, 2020 by JJ Bona

There are a number of Netflix series that are set to leave while some are set to be concluded. Atypical is set to conclude while Chewing Gum, Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War, The L word and Happy Valley are set to be excluded from the Netflix playlist.

Hence, you will now have plenty of time to focus on your https://www.toponlinecasinos.co.za/ games. Since there will not be that many distractions now.

Atypical

Netflix is set to air the fourth and final season of Atypical. The film which focuses on the Garner family and their tribulations was well received on Netflix.

Their most recent season was released in November last year. However, the date of release of the last season is still set to be announced.

Chewing Gum

The British comedy series which stars Michaela Coel is set to leave Netflix. The season which premiered 2015, is about a 24-year-old shop assistant named Tracy.

Freemantle, who are the owners of the series’ licence, still have a decision to make on whether or not the season streams next.

Happy Valley

Happy Valley is set to leave Netflix this month. The series is about a British police Sergeant who obtains information about a crime that would lead to an old case involving her late daughter.

Both season 1 and 2 are set to exit Netflix on March 16, 2020.Did you know that you can play a slot game that is related to happy Valley at new zealand online casinos and stand a chance to win big.

Marvel’s Avengers: Infinity War

Infinity war will leave Netflix in June 2020. It will be aired on its new home, Disney+.

The L Word

The series is set to leave Netflix on the 20th of this month. The L Word currently has six seasons and is about a group of lesbian friends. Among the group, there are lovers also. Netflix’s streaming licence of the show has come to an end.

Dad’s Army

Dad’s Army will be leaving Netflix this month. The series which has nine seasons is about an armed British citizen militia made up of two old and tow young men who fight in the front line of World War 2.

Father Brown

Father Brown is a crime drama about a Catholic priest who solves crimes. The series has nine seasons but only six are available on Netflix. The series will expire from Netflix in March 2020.

Posted in News |

Horror Movies Too Scary to Repeat

Posted on March 15, 2020 by JJ Bona

Movies are fun, entertaining and therapeutic just like online roulette game. There are different genres to watch depending on what you like. Talking of genres, horror movies are fun. They keep you glued to your screen, entertained and they keep you on the edge of your seat. There are some that are too scary that repeating or watching that movie again you would think twice. We are going to talk about horror movies that are too scary to watch again.

Lake Mungo

This 2008 movie is one of the movies that is difficult to watch again. It is about a family trying to put information together trying to find what led to the drowning and death of their daughter. The images that come up when they recover the phone are not something you can watch twice. They leave chills and unforgettable pictures in our heads. Which is one reason that this movie made it to this list.

The Orphanage

The Orphanage was released in 2007. It is still one of the scariest movies. From the concept, the scenes and the graphics they look and feel so real that you would imagine meeting the ghost in real life. This movie is about when Laura’s son goes missing in her orphanage. There are spirits that she hears, are they there to help her find her son or not?

Whistle And I’ll Come To You

This ghost story was adapted from a story, Oh Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad. After coming across a whistle as he was exploring, an introverted academic’s life changed as the whistle would unleash spirits that would terrorize whoever discovers it. Unlike the book the movie is horrifying. The graphics, the images of the ghosts and supernatural spirits are something you would not enjoy watching twice , just like best sports betting websites.

Black Christmas

This movie was released in 1974 but it still gives chills. Knowing that people are getting killed and going missing every day. You suspect a serial killer but you just have no idea how close he is and how far he can go in killing his victims. That is what this movie is about. The killing scenes, the brutality is so disturbing you would not watch again.

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Deal on Fire! Ip Man Trilogy | Blu-ray | Only $7.99 – Expires soon!

Posted on March 14, 2020 by JJ Bona
Ip Man Trilogy | Blu-ray (Well Go USA)

Ip Man Trilogy | Blu-ray (Well Go USA)

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray set for the complete Ip Man Trilogy, which contains 2008’s Ip Man, 2010’s Ip Man 2 and 2015’s Ip Man 3.

One Great Man. One Inspiring Story. And now, one quintessential collection. This biographical martial arts film based on the life of Yip Man (played by Donnie Yen), the grandmaster of the martial art Wing Chun and teacher of Bruce Lee.

The trilogy also stars Gordon Lam (Trivisa), Fan Siu Wong (Bounty Hunters), Simon Yam (The Midnight After), Sammmo Hung (The Bodyguard), Darren Shahlavi (Kickboxer: Vengeance), Dennis To (Wu Dang), Max Zhang Jin (SPL II), Danny Chan (Monk Comes Down the Mountain) and Mike Tyson (The Hangover).

Order the Ip Man Trilogy from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |

Extended Preview for that reboot of a remake of ‘The Grudge’

Posted on March 13, 2020 by JJ Bona
The Grudge | Blu-ray (Sony)

The Grudge | Blu-ray (Sony)

On March 24, 2020, Sony Pictures is releasing The Grudge on Blu-ray & DVD. Directed by Nicolas Pesce (The Eyes of My Mother), the film is a reboot of Takashi Shimizu’s The Grudge (2004), which itself was a remake of Shimizu’s own Japanese horror film, Ju-on: The Grudge (2002).

After a young mother murders her family in her own house, a single mother and detective tries to investigate and solve the case. Later, she discovers the house is cursed by a vengeful ghost that dooms those who enter it with a violent death.

2002’s Ju-on: The Grudge (there were two direct-to-video productions before it) revolved around a vengeful spirit that pursues anybody who dares enter the house in which it resides. The film spawned several sequels (including the recent “The Ring vs The Grudge” thriller, Sadako vs Kayako) and the aforementioned 2004 U.S. remake starring Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Special Features:

  • The Cast of the Cursed featurette: Take an inside look at the evil that lurks behind the doors at 44 Reyburn Dr., as key creatives and cast members explore The Grudge characters and discuss their experience working with Writer/Director Nicolas Pesce.
  • Designing Death featurette: From a slightly paler version of themselves to being completely mangled and rotted, to the incredible death scenes; like Faith Matheson’s (Lin Shaye) epic leap off of the staircase, explore the character make-up design process and the film’s visual look involved in creating the myriad of ghosts caught in the grips of the Grudge!
  • Easter Egg Haunt featurette: Join Writer/Director Nicolas Pesce as he brings to light the plethora of hidden Easter Eggs throughout the film which are homages to the previous works in the Ju-On franchise.
  • Extended Scenes & Alternative Ending: Experience the scenes too disturbing for theaters, like Peter Spencer’s terrifying encounter in the attic of 44 Reyburn Dr., or the uncovering of the gruesome truth behind the Landers’ family deaths.
  • Optional English SDH, Spanish, and French subtitles for the main feature

Pre-order The Grudge from Amazon.com today!

Posted in News |

Blood spills in the Season 2 Trailer for Netflix’ series ‘Kingdom’

Posted on March 10, 2020 by JJ Bona
"Kingdom" Season 2 Poster

“Kingdom” Season 2 Poster

Some will fall. Some will rise. Blood will spill. A bloody war between the living and the dead that no one can escape! The fate of Joseon hangs in the balance…

The long-awaited Kingdom Season 2 arrives on March 13th. The series stars Ju Ji-Hoon (Asura: City of Madness), Bae Doo-Na (The Host) and Ryoo Seung-Ryong (Seven Years of Night).

Kingdom Season 2 is directed by Kim Seong-Hun (Tunnel) and written by Kim Eun-hee, who also wrote Land of the Gods, the webcomic series of which Kingdom is based off.

Kingdom Season 2 premiers this March 13 on Netflix. Check out the New Trailer below:

Posted in News |

Tazza: One Eyed Jack (2019) Review

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Paul Bramhall
“Tazza: One Eyed Jack” Theatrical Poster

“Tazza: One Eyed Jack” Theatrical Poster

Director: Kwon Oh-Kwang
Cast: Park Jung-Min, Ryoo Seung-Bum, Choi Yu-Hwa, Woo Hyeon, Yoon Je-Moon, Lee Kwang-Soo, Lim Ji-Yeon, Kwon Hae-Hyo, Choi Dong-Hoon, Kim Ye-Eun
Running Time: 139 min.

By Paul Bramhall

It’s probably a stretch to say that anyone was clamouring for a third entry into Korea’s Tazza series. The original entry, 2006’s Tazza: The High Rollers, marked director Choi Dong-hoon’s sophomore feature, and its colourful energy combined with performances from the likes of Cho Seung-woo and Kim Yun-seok made it an instant classic. In many ways it was representative of where Korean cinema was in the latter half of the mid-00’s. With the Korean Wave that kicked off the millennium marking the film industry as one to watch, by 2006 there was an assured confidence reflected in much of the country’s output.

A TV series followed in 2008, utilising some of the characters from the big screen version with different actors, but audiences would need to wait until 2014 for a sequel to hit the screens, which came in the form of Tazza: The Hidden Card. A standalone tale, the sequel was a disaster, beginning with the decision to cast K-pop group Big Bang’s T.O.P (who’s at least billed by his real name of Choi Seung-hyeon) as the lead. Proving that musical charisma on stage doesn’t always translate to acting presence onscreen, Seung-hyeon pouted his way through a cumbersome runtime, one which struggled to find the balance between being a breezy caper and a violent gangster flick. It seems more likely that the return of Kim Yun-seok’s iconic character from the original turning up for the last scene was a result of director Kang Hyeong-cheol calling in a favour, rather than a legitimate cameo.

So it came as a surprise when in 2019, it was announced we’d be getting a third big screen instalment of Tazza, this time titled Tazza: One Eyed Jack. I imagine my reaction to the announcement was reflective of many others, which was one of indifference, however there were a couple of names that were enough to pique my curiosity. First was the man who’d be sitting in the director’s chair, Kwon Oh-kwang, who had been on my radar since the release of his 2015 debut Collective Invention, a wry commentary on Korean society told through the framework of a man who finds himself tuning into a fish. You read that correctly. While far from perfect, Collective Invention marked Oh-kwang as a director to keep an eye on, and like Tazza: The High Rollers marked the sophomore feature for Choi Dong-hoon, so Tazza: One Eyed Jack marks the sophomore feature for Oh-kwang.

The other name that grabbed my attention was that of the title character, One Eyed Jack, who would be played by Ryoo Seung-beom. A name synonymous with many of the classics to come of out of the Korean Wave (his small but meaningful role in Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance has always been a personal favorite), to featuring in almost all of his brother Ryoo Seung-wan’s movies (the restaurant fight in Arahan is still a classic of Korean action cinema), Seung-beom is instantly recognizable. Since returning to Korea after a sojourn to Paris, during which he spent a couple of years modelling, Seung-beom has mostly stuck to working with the controversial auteur Kim Ki-duk. Taking roles in both 2016’s The Net and 2017’s Human, Space, Time and Human, his role as One Eyed Jack will be the first time for him to feature in a mainstream production since 2015’s poorly received Intimate Enemies.

Tazza: One Eyed Jack is notable for being the first entry for the screen that hasn’t been adapted from the original comic, which was published in 2000. Introducing a completely new set of characters also thanks to Oh-kwang, who writes as well as directs, Tazza: One Eyed Jack comes with the freedom (and the risk) of creating a story that feels thematically connected to its origins, while also establishing its own direction. Not an easy task when considering just how off-course Tazza: The Hidden Card set the series, which if nothing else succeeded in highlighting how tricky it can be to balance a narrative that’s equally about card games as it is gangsters.

Despite the title, One Eyed Jack actually isn’t the main character, although he is a pivotal one. Leading man honours go to Park Jung-min, who takes on the role that’s an essential part to any Tazza tale – the young card sharp who thinks he knows it all, only to lose everything, and be taken under the wing of a mysterious master, where he’ll learn the skills that’ll allow him to take on a ruthless enemy. In this case, the master is the One Eyed Jack the title alludes to. Jung-min makes for an effective lead, having last been seen in Svaha: The Sixth Finger. The fact that he doesn’t fall into the pretty boy category that the sequel decided to opt for, neither with his looks nor his acting, being a big advantage. Instead, Sung-min exudes a kind of world weary charm, one which often emanates from behind a layer of cigarette smoke.

The plot for One Eyed Jack sees Jung-min’s encounter with a big time gambler, played by Yoon Je-moon (Missing You) leave him stripped of most of his winnings, which leads to a chance meeting with Ryoo Seung-beom. Offered an opportunity to win big, Jung-min becomes part of a team Seung-beom is putting together to swindle an elderly businessman (Woo Hyun, Exit) out of the money he’s going to make from a property deal. Joined by fellow swindlers Lee Kwang-soo (Collective Invention), Lim Ji-yeon (Luck.Key), and Kwon Hae-hyo (The Day After), together they put the wheels in motion on a high risk plan.

Connecting everything together is a mysterious lady known as Madonna, played by Choi Yu-hwa (The Truth Beneath), who was seen accompanying the big time gambler who defeated Jung-min, and also shows up again with Woo Hyun. Exactly who she is, and what all of this has to do with the death of Jung-min’s father, are questions Oh-kwang banks on the audience wanting the answers to. To a degree, Oh-kwang’s own gamble is successful. His plot has a lot going on, and its focus is constantly switching, however its strength is that it stays coherent throughout. The cost of that coherency is some of the characterisation. Many of the cast are painted with broad brushstrokes, which is ok for actors like Ryoo Seung-beom who can get by on charisma alone, but in the case of Yu-hwa, what’s supposed to be a mysterious character ends up coming across as a plot device and nothing more.

For some then One Eyed Jack may well be perceived as an exercise in style over substance, and it’s a fair observation. However the style in question undoubtedly works. Korean productions have gotten increasingly glossy over the years, to the point that the grittiness which drew many of us to certain genres of Korean cinema in the first place has gotten lost under the sheen. One Eyed Jack feels like a movie which could also have come out in 2006, with Oh-kwang showing a keen understanding that high production values and grit can be exclusive of each other, and not everything needs to look so clean. The only other director I’ve seen who understands this in recent years is Kim Sung-soo, who delivered the goods with 2017’s Asura: City of Madness. There’s violence in One Eyed Jack, and some of it gets particularly bloody, but unlike in The Hidden Card here it doesn’t feel forced, and plays an integral part of the plot.

The conversation around how well Korea makes revenge flicks feels like one that belongs in the 00’s, and recently Korean cinema has arguably moved away from the genre it seemed so enamoured with at the start of the 21st century. As much of a clichéd statement as it eventually became, Tazza: One Eyed Jack proves once more that Korea knows how to put together a killer revenge flick, and doesn’t shy away from showing the messiness of it. A welcome return to the tone that was established in the original Tazza: The High Rollers, Oh-kwang has created a 3rd instalment that breathes new life into the series, as well as feeling like a homage to it. As if to offer up his own stamp of approval, the director of the original Tazza: The High Rollers Choi Dong-hoon shows up in the final scene, in a role that can’t help but raise a smile. If you’re willing to take a gamble, Tazza: One Eyed Jack could well turn out to be worth your time.

Paul Bramhall’s Rating: 8/10

Posted in All, Korean, News, Reviews | Tagged , |

Deal on Fire! Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | Blu-ray | Only $9.67 – Expires soon!

Posted on March 10, 2020 by JJ Bona
Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)

Today’s Deal on Fire is the Blu-ray for Tsui Hark’s Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon (read our review), the prequel to Detective Dee & the Mystery of the Phantom Flame.

Young Detective Dee is the captivating tale of Dee Renjie’s (Mark Chao) beginnings in the Imperial police force. His very first case, investigating reports of a sea monster terrorizing the town, reveals a sinister conspiracy of treachery and betrayal.

Young Detective Dee also stars Feng Shaofeng, Kenny Lin Geng Xin, Kim Bum, Angelababy, Deng Chao, Carina Lau Kar Ling.

Order Young Detective Dee from Amazon.com today!

Posted in Deals on Fire!, News |
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