Focus your energy on a solution, rather than stressing about the problem. So many ways to get quick cash exist!
If you need money now, keep reading to learn how to get it!
Take Out a Loan
Whether your car broke down unexpectedly, you want in on a lucrative business opportunity, or you found yourself in over your head with bills, you might need money quickly. Take out a loan!
Filing for a loan means you borrow the money now and then pay it back later with interest. This means you probably want to only take out a loan for serious things you need. Learn more about a cash advance loan.
Sell on Sale Sites
Online sale sites can help you get money fast. You simply sign up and sell items you do not want or need.
While a yard sale limits the number of people who will see your items, selling online expands your reach and increases the likelihood that your items will sell. Where can you sign up?
Facebook contains a large number of garage sale sites that will connect you with buyers in your community. You simply follow the site, post a pic, description, and price for your item, and then meet up with your buyer.
Sign up for Poshmark to sell your clothing and accessories and reach more serious shoppers. This site makes selling simple for you to raise quick cash.
If you want to reach people all across the country, sign up for eBay. This site allows you to list a number of items that you ship to the buyer and get paid via Paypal.
Utilize Crowdfunding
Asking people directly for the money you need can make you feel embarrassed or ashamed. But, crowdfunding allows you to explain your situation and let those who want to help donate to your cause.
The Go Fund Me platform allows you to raise money for literally anything life throws at you, from funeral funds to life goals. You may want to opt for Kickstarter if you want to raise money for a clear project, like writing a book or starting an artistic business.
Shop
Shopping costs you money, right? Not if you shop for other people!
You can make quick and easy money by finding people in your community who want a personal shopper. Wealthy people who do not like to shop and elderly people who cannot easily do so make for the most likely customers.
Babysit
Parents often find themselves in a pinch needing a babysitter. Throw out that you are looking to babysit for a night or two o raise money fast.
You will get cash in hand for this. If you do not do well with children, then offer to pet sit for vacationing friends instead!
Get Creative With These Ways to Earn Quick Cash
Step outside of the 9-5 workbox when you want to find ways to make quick cash. Depending on your circumstances, you can choose between borrowing, raising, or earning money in creative ways.
Raising money also means finding savings! Find hot deals on our website!
Director: Philip Lui Co-director: Frankie Tam Cast: Andy On, Philip Ng, Vanness Wu, Carrie Ng, Nicholas Tse, Carrie Ng, Lam Suet, Aka Zhao, Jiang Luxia, Aaron Aziz, Joyce Feng, Jessica Cambensy Running Time: 90 min.
By Paul Bramhall
Before you’ve gotten through the plethora of production company logos that kick off Undercover Punch and Gun (and there’s a lot of them!), the title alone is enough to give an indication as to what kind of movie is about to hit the screen. Evoking the slightly goofy names that HK action cinema used to be littered with throughout the 90’s, Undercover Punch and Gun is the kind of grammatical car crash that you’d expect to find sitting on a DVD shelf alongside the likes of Tough Beauty and the Sloppy Slop. It’s not only the title that feels like a throwback to the 90’s low budget action genre though, with the movie itself feeling as if it’s been beamed directly from 1995 to 2019.
In fact while Undercover Punch and Gun was released in 2019, it was actually filmed in 2015. The first time directorial effort of screenwriters Philip Lui Koon-Nam and Frankie Tam Gong-Yuen (the pair worked on Gordon Chan’s The Four franchise, who also produces here), here they pair up kung fu thespians Philip Ng and Andy On. Quite what the trigger was for their debuts eventual release is mystery, perhaps it was the case that someone saw On’s performance in the Roger Corman produced Abduction, and insisted that the world was ready. It could also be the case that I’m clutching at straws.
Ng and On have worked together many times before, with roles in the likes of Star Runner, New Police Story, Dragon Squad, Invisible Target, Naked Soldier, and Zombie Fight Club. However their most notable collaboration came in the form of 2014’s Once Upon a Time in Shanghai, were they shared co-lead status, and went toe-to-toe under the choreography of Yuen Woo-Ping. Here they’re given the opportunity to once again share co-lead status and face off against each other, only this time with choreography handled by Ng himself, with assistance from Joe Chu Cho-Kuen.
The plot of Undercover Punch and Gun is cookie cutter fare. Ng plays an undercover cop in a gang run by Lam Suet (who should really put a pantent of these ’Gang boss who shows up for 5 minutes and gets offed’ roles – see also The Trough and The Brink). Ng, like any undercover cop in a movie, is in too deep, to the extent that he’s dating the bosses daughter and has formed a brotherly bond with another member of the gang (Vaness Wu, channeling a Dean Shek level of constant gurning and irritation). When Suet is killed in a shootout, Ng is made leader of the gang and is soon being pulled in every direction. His superior, played by Nicholas Tse in an all too rare screen appearance these days, wants him to go deeper, while Suet’s partner-in-crime, played by the legendary Carrie Ng (Naked Weapon) has her suspicions about Ng’s real motives.
Events lead to Ng being sent to meet On, a former special agent who’s gone rogue, and now runs a meth lab from a cargo ship in international waters. On believes that Suet must have been running his own drug factory somewhere local, and wants Ng to find the person that was making the drugs, and deliver whoever it is to him for gainful employment. With only a cringe inducing Vaness Wu and a special agent (Joyce Feng, Project Guttenberg) for company, Ng sets out to claim his life back, and take out On in the process. The ingredients are all there to replicate the charm of those 90’s contemporary HK action flicks (the likes of Angry Ranger and Retreat of the Godfather – I’m looking at you), however even by 90’s HK standards, structurally Undercover Punch and Gun frequently becomes a baffling experience.
Suet’s daughter (Aka Zhao – who notably hasn’t appeared in anything since) is a tattoo artist, and when the time comes for Ng to break the news that her father has been killed, he does it when she’s in the middle of tattooing one of her customers. It’s hilarious, even moreso when she threatens her customer when she asks to leave and come back another time. The whole runtime is full of bizarre moments like this, some intentionally humerous, others not. In one scene we meet a group of kidnappers who sport a permanent creepy grin and seem incapable of blinking, in another a character is interrupted by a spam sales call from a bank, and in another On takes the time to point out that he’s unfriending Ng from the WeChat application.
In total 7 scriptwriters are credited, of which 2 are directors Koon-Nam and Gong-Yuen, and it kind of feels like they were all writing separately, including parts that they probably felt were guaranteed to be re-written by one of their colleagues, but somehow got left and slipped through the net. However, let’s be honest, nobody is clocking into Undercover Punch and Gun expecting Shakespeare, this is a movie sold on reuniting two of this era’s brightest fighting talents (and, ok, in some circles also as a Star Runner reunion). On the action front, Ng’s choreography, relating both to the choreography itself and his delivery of it, is on the mark. This isn’t mind-blowing stuff, and in an era were movies like The Raid franchise and The Night Comes for Us have shifted the bar higher than it’s been held for a long time, that may not satisfy everyone.
However, Ng eschews any temptation to resort to wirework, and delivers a fight flick that shows a commitment to staying grounded throughout, relying on the skill of the performers rather than the spectacle of assisted kicks or falls. It may be this lack of the spectacular which led to Undercover Punch and Gun staying on the shelf for so long, but as a fan of grounded exchanges that highlight the skills of those performing them, there’s a lot to enjoy here. At one point Ng unleashes a sweet set of chain kicks, and a fight which takes place in a drug lab clearly shows the influence of Jackie Chan’s ‘run and gun’ style of choreography, complimented by multiple prop usage being incorporated into the fray.
Ng and On aren’t the only skilled screen fighters, with the likes of Jiang Luxia (Operation Red Sea, Bad Blood) and Aaron Aziz (KL Gangster, Special Female Force) rounding out the cast as members of On’s entourage. While for the majority of the runtime they have little to do beyond lingering in the background, when it comes to the finale they both get their chance to shine. Luxia faces off against Ng in a furious open hand fight, while a kukri knife wielding Aziz gets to battle against a butterfly knife wielding Vaness Wu. The best is saved for last, with Ng and On throwing down within the confines of a container, and contains plenty of wince inducing impacts. While the requirements of the NRTA mean there’s a distinct lack of blood or any real signs of bodily damage, thankfully this doesn’t become too much of a detriment to the scene itself.
On himself steals the show whenever he’s onscreen, instilling his character with a childlike enthusiasm towards his villainous ways, and likewise for former Shaw Brothers bombshell Susan Shaw, who makes a playful appearance as the chemist Ng is seeking out (oh, and look out for a 2-second cameo by Jessica C, Ng’s co-star from Zombie Fight Club). Ultimately though Undercover Punch and Gun struggles to hit the 90 minute mark, with various scenes reeking all too obviously of filler. One in particular has Vaness Wu pretending to be the chemist, which takes a bizarre turn into a cookery show format, and consists of Wu dancing and other punch-the-screen inducing shenanigans. Others have Ng and On staring at each other for just a tad too long, while watching Joyce Feng searching the ship quickly becomes a chore.
Still, it’s an admirable effort, with the only real difference between now and those 90’s HK flicks of old being that we don’t watch these more recent efforts with the rose-tinted glasses that we do the latter. It’s a straight laced story that unfolds in the usual container yards and warehouses of old, contains plenty of familiar HK faces, and delivers frequent bursts of vintage HK kickboxing style action. For those that frequently bemoan the fact that Hong Kong doesn’t make movies like it used to, well, here’s one that delivers exactly that. As the expression goes, be careful what you wish for.
On March 31, 2020, buckle up for The Captain (aka The Chinese Pilot), which will arrive on Blu-ray from Well Go USA.
Directed by Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs trilogy, Young and Dangerous series, The Storm Riders), The Captain is based on the true story of a pilot who had to ensure the safety of 128 passengers and crew members on the plane when its windshield became damaged mid-flight. The incident is regarded as one of the miracles in aviation history.
Advancements in technology are transforming how we watch TV. This can be seen by the rise of IPTV services, which is now competing directly with traditional TV. However, despite the popularity of IPTV, many people still have a preference for the traditional satellite and cable TV. If you belong to this group, here are three reasons why you need to migrate to IPTV.
1. Access to Live Television and Video on Demand
One of the main reasons why you should consider subscribing to IPTV services is the nature of content that you will access. Like traditional TV, IPTV allows you to access live television, which means that you don’t have to worry about missing your favorite channels.
But, with IPTV, you get much more than just live TV. You are afforded access to video on demand, a service that is not available in traditional satellite and cable TV.
Video on demand allows you to access videos from various categories such as sports, TV shows, movies, and music whenever you have the need. They are arranged with title, which allows you to search for the video you want and play and pause at will.
Therefore, with IPTV, you will enjoy watching television even more since you will have access to more content, both live and pre-recorded. Furthermore, you will get the services at an affordable price since paying with Bitcoin gives you an IPTV subscription btc discount.
2. Ability to Watch Using Various Devices
If you find yourself complaining every time you are forced to move away from the TV due to different reasons, then it is time you considered migrating to IPTV. This is because, with IPTV, you can watch your favorite program from a variety of devices, which include laptops, PCs, tablets, and smartphones.
Therefore, you won’t have to complain each time you have to leave your TV since you can continue following your program on any of the portable devices. Furthermore, if you are unable to follow due to commitment such as work, IPTV allows you to record and then watch it later.
3. Access to Video Quality of Choice
One of the main disadvantages of traditional TV is that you have no control over the quality of the videos that are aired. Hence, if you don’t like the quality of the images, you have no choice but to watch with the bad quality. However, with IPTV, it is different.
In each of the subscription package, IPTV providers give you the option of adjusting the quality of the video to SD, HD, and FHD. This ensures that the videos you watch have the quality that you want, which then enhances your viewing experience.
In conclusion, it is time you considered abandoning traditional satellite and cable TV for IPTV. This is because IPTV will give you access to live TV and video on demand, allow you to watch using various devices, and give you access to the video quality of choice. Migrating to IPTV does not have to be expensive since you get an IPTV subscription btc discount when you decide to pay using Bitcoin.
On May 26, 2020, Shout! Factory will release the Collector’s Edition 4K Blu-ray for the 1978 Academy Award-winning film, The Deer Hunter, from writer/director Micheal Cimino (Year of the Dragon).
The Deer Hunter follows a group of friends – played by Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Meryl Streep and Christopher Walken – who go from their blue-collar lives to the hell of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.
Hong Kong film connection: John Woo and Sammo Hung cited The Deer Hunter as their influence for their classic films Bullet in the Head and Eastern Condors, respectively. Need we say more?
Special Features:
Disc One – 4K Blu-ray
Feature Film
Audio Commentary with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and journalist Bob Fisher
Disc Two – Blu-rau
Feature Film
NEW We Don’t Belong Here – an interview with actor John Savage
NEW The War At Home – an interview with actress Rutanya Alda
NEW A National Anthem – an interview with producer Michael Deeley
NEW This is Not About War – interview with post-production supervisor Katy Haber and Universal Marketing executive Willette Klausner
Audio Commentary with cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond and journalist Bob Fisher
We always see them as perfect on- screen. Some even land themselves on the online casinos nz slot games list.
But, they are a lot of things that happen behind the scenes that will show you that it is a long road to perfection.
Still, in light of all these improvising and fun facts, there is always that one thing that is missing when it comes to movie critics.
Let’s go on to see some of the fun facts that come with some of these Hollywood movies.
The Titanic Portrait Drawn by the Director Himself
This is such a high level of perfectionism shown by the director to the biggest movie in Hollywood history. Well, this explains how it rose to such a status.
Titanic director James Cameron found no one good enough to make the portrait, therefore he decided to just handle it on his own.
But did he manage to bring it out perfectly? Well, this is a debate for another day.
One would think that a famous artist would be hired for the popular portrait since it played a vital part in the movie and in the mo.
Toy Story 2 was Almost Wiped out
By wiped out we mean it was literally deleted for the Pixar servers. To the joy of Toy Story fans, the technical director had an extra copy she was working on from home.
The master machine which stored Pixar’s animations of the popular cartoon movie deleted 90 % of the movie animations, some of the animation you can get from https://www.casinous.com/and stand a chance to win.
The back system they relied on the failed meaning they would have to start again. But all thanks to the director everything was put back in order.
Ratatouille Made Pet Rats Famous
Unlike some people who cringe at the thought of a rat up in your hat. Some people were actually fascinated by it.
Mostly, kids fell in love with the idea that they turned from asking for dogs to rats for pets. So instead of killing that rat, keep it and hope for a sequel of the movie.
Dogs have their own way of communication. Just like humans they can say different things through their bodies as they cannot be vocal. Not only that they have been part of the human world for a long time which makes them part of us. They help us and inspire us in so many ways. Moreover, they are good companions too. Here is a list of dog movies that animal lovers should watch. These will make you appreciate dogs.
Marley & Me
This movie just teaches patience and acceptance when you playing games at bestcasinositesonline online casino usa. It’s about two people who adopt a dog that was not so obedient and they named it Marley. After the struggles and not getting along, they eventually learn to live and love the dog. They understood it and in turn, it understood them and they started getting along.
A Dog’s Purpose
This movie teaches that not only in humans do we find resilience, courage, and drive. This movie is about a dog that discovers its own existence. It goes out of its way to show people its true purpose in life which is to teach love and laughter. He did not only influence the life of humans but also the life of another pet.
Dog Days
A dog is a great companion how about we call it a great connection too. We learn all about it in the Dog Days movie which was released in 2018. This movie is about dog owners who are braided together because of their dogs. They managed to discover each other and become connected because of the dogs that brought them together.
Benji
This movie has since become a hit since the first version was released in the 1970s. It is about a dog that tries to communicate with humans in order to save lives. When not understood Benji would go out of his way and find ways to help the situation whilst at the same time trying to communicate so people can figure out what is wrong. Yes dogs can save us too that is why we hear that dogs need training just like we do n before playing australian sports betting games, we train.
On March 31, 2020, Arrow Video will release the Blu-ray for The Ringu Collection, which will include Ringu, Ringu 2, Ringu 0 – as well as the ‘lost’ original sequel, Spiral.
In 1998, director Hideo Nakata (Dark Water) unleashed a chilling tale of technological terror on unsuspecting audiences, which redefined the horror genre, launched the J-horror boom in the West and introduced a generation of moviegoers to a creepy, dark-haired girl called Sadako. The film’s success spawned a slew of remakes, reimaginations and imitators, but none could quite boast the power of Nakata’s original masterpiece, which melded traditional Japanese folklore with contemporary anxieties about the spread of technology.
A group of teenage friends are found dead, their bodies grotesquely contorted, their faces twisted in terror. Reiko (Nanako Matsushima, When Marnie Was There), a journalist and the aunt of one of the victims, sets out to investigate the shocking phenomenon, and in the process uncovers a creepy urban legend about a supposedly cursed videotape, the contents of which causes anyone who views it to die within a week – unless they can persuade someone else to watch it, and, in so doing, pass on the curse…
Arrow Video is proud to present the genre-defining trilogy – Ringu, the film that started it all, plus Hideo Nakata’s chilling sequel, Ringu 2, and the haunting origin story, Ringu 0 – as well as the ‘lost’ original sequel, George Iida’s Spiral, gathered together in glorious high definition and supplemented by a wealth of archival and newly created bonus materials.
Special Features:
Brand New 4K restoration of Ringu from the original camera negative, approved by director of photography Junichiro Hayashi
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations
Lossless Japanese DTS-HD master audio 5.1 and PCM 2.0 soundtracks
Optional English subtitles
Bonus feature: Spiral, George Iida’s 1998 sequel to Ringu
New Audio commentary on Ringu by film historian David Kalat
New Audio commentary on Ringu 0 by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
The Ringu Legacy, a series of new interviews from critics and filmmakers on their memories of the Ringu series and its enduring legacy
A Vicious Circle, a new video interview with author and critic Kat Ellinger on the career of Hideo Nakata
Circumnavigating Ringu, a new video essay by author and critic Kat Ellinger on the evolution of the Ringu series
Spooks, Sighs and Videotape, a new video essay by critic Jasper Sharp on the J-horror phenomenon
The Psychology of Fear, a newly edited archival interview with author Koji Suzuki
Director James Campbell, who is currently prepping his feature-length debut, The Moonshine Gang of Cheyenne, is developing Tiger Man, a martial arts actioner to star professional wrestler Paul London as Elvis Presley.
In the film, Elvis (London) is seeks revenge for the murder of martial arts legend Bruce Lee. “There are two things that people have never known about these two pop culture icons. First, is that they intended to produce, and star, in a film about two undercover agents taking down a huge drug organization. Second, is that the film they were about to shoot was based on a True Story,” says Campbell.
Other cast members include Cornelius Geaney Jr (Escape Room, Homeland), Kris Saddler (Await Further Instructions), Jacob Anderton (13 Graves), Natasha Goulden (Wolfblood), and – last, but definitely not least – rising martial arts star Jean-Paul Ly (Jailbreak, Nightshooters, The Division), who’ll also be choreographing the film’s fight scenes.
In real life, Elvis was passionate about Karate. He was first exposed to the martial art in 1958 after he was drafted into the Army and stationed in Germany. His first instructor was a German shotokan stylist named Juergen Seydel who taught Elvis at his off-base housing in Nauheim until 1958. During his vacation in Paris he would take private lessons with Tetsugio Murakami, one of Japan’s top shotokan stylists, who would help pioneer shotokan in Europe (via EA).
His next Instructor was Japanese Shotokan Master Tetugio Murakami who became the Shotokan master of Europe. In 1960 Elvis, with Japanese style training under his belt, Elvis met the Father of American Kenpo, Ed Parker at the Wilshire Beverly Hills Hotel after a Karate demonstration. Mr. Parker introduced Elvis to Hank Slomanski, an Instructor at Fort Campbell to test for his black belt. It was Hank who promoted Elvis to ‘Black Belt’ on July 21, 1960 and personally gave Elvis his own personal Black belt when he promoted him. He is said to have sent word back to Ed Parker ‘Your boy ain’t pretty anymore, but he’s a black belt’ (via EA).
For more details on how you can make Tiger Man happen, visit the production’s Indiegogo page. Otherwise, check Tiger Man’s New “Proof-of-Concept Action Short” below (via FCS).
And don’t you dare miss this fight scene featuring the REAL Elvis from the 1968 Comeback Special:
Cop Killers + Project: Kill | Blu-ray (Dark Force)
RELEASE DATE: April 28, 2020
On April 28, 2020, Dark Force Entertainment will release the 2-Feature Blu-ray for 1977’s Cop Killers and 1976’s Project: Kill.
Cop Killers: Jason Williams (Flesh Gordon) and William Osco (Night Patrol) star as two hippies on their way to a cocaine deal get stopped by the police at a roadblock, resulting in a shootout where they kill the cops. They then go on a crime spree of robbery and murder.
Project: Kill: A former government assassin (Leslie Nielsen, The Naked Gun) flees a mind-control program in the Philippines, pursued by his ex-partner, the local police and Asian gangsters. This U.S./Philippine production, directed by cult filmmaker William Girdler (Grizzly), also stars Gary Lockwood (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Nancy Kwan (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story),
In Police Story: Lockdown (read our review), Zhong Wen (Jackie Chan) knows all about sacrifice. He’s always been too busy chasing bad guys to be a father to his daughter Miao (Jing Tian). Tonight, he’s seeing her for the first time in years and meeting her fiance, club owner Wu Jiang (Liu Ye). But Wu knows Zhong. And his plans for the evening include taking Miao, Zhong, and the entire club hostage…
Director: Bong Joon-Ho Cast: Song Kang-Ho, Jang Hye-Jin, Choi Woo-Sik, Park So-Dam, Lee Sun-Kyun, Cho Yeo-Jeong, Jung Ji-So, Jeong Hyun-Jun, Lee Jung-Eun, Park Seo-Joon Running Time: 131 min.
By Paul Bramhall
The following review for Parasite was originally posted on COF in July of 2019. Because the film took home four Academy Awards at the recent 2020 Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best International Film and Best Original Screenplay), we decided to re-post it.
If there’s any director out there whose work refuses to be categorised into any one genre, it’s Bong Joon-ho. Whether it be a monster rampaging along the Han River in The Host, a constantly moving train hurtling through a frozen Earth in Snowpiercer, or following the journey of a giant pig in Okja, his movies are always much more than what they appear to be on the surface. Usually imbued with a social commentary that incorporates pitch black humor and unexpected consequences, both of these elements come to the fore in the director’s latest production, Parasite.
It’s the first time for Joon-ho to return to a pure Korean production since Mother, made 10 years earlier. In between there’s been flirtations with Hollywood for the Chris Evans starring Snowpiercer, and with Okja he appeared to understand the benefits of making a Netflix movie even more than Netflix itself, leveraging the platform to be given complete creative freedom in a way no other director has. However there’s an undeniable excitement not only to see him back on home soil, but also working once more with leading man Song Kang-ho. This is the fourth time for them to work together, having previously collaborated on Memories of Murder, The Host, and Snowpiercer, with Kang-ho headlining all but the latter.
In Parasite he plays the patriarch of a family living on the bottom rungs of Korean society. The family of four live in a ‘semi-basement’, a dingy dwelling nestled in the corner of a dead-end street, its sole narrow window subject to drunken salary men regularly relieving themselves nearby after a few tipples too many. Despite their circumstances, the family unit is an undeniably cheerful one, their unemployed status temporarily put on hold one evening when a pizza store outsources the folding of its pizza boxes, and the discovery of a wi-fi signal (even if it is next to the toilet) heralding a reason to celebrate with cheap beer.
When the opportunity arises for the son, played by Choi Wooshik (Big Match), to take over privately tutoring a rich families daughter in English, it opens up a world of modernist mansions set in the hillsides of Seoul, complete with live-in housemaids and neurotic housewives. Wooshik proves to be a quick-witted individual, equal parts highly intelligent and opportunistic, and soon finds the trust he builds with the mother (Jo Yeo-jung, The Concubine) as a means to find gainful employment for the rest of the family. This starts with his sister (Park So-dam, Run-off), who enters under the guise of a U.S. educated art major now specialising in art therapy, an approach Yeo-jung believes will benefit their hyper energetic son.
To go into any more detail on the plot of Parasite would no doubt spoil the ride, a fact enforced when director Joon-ho made his own personal appeal in a short clip released in June 2019, requesting for those who have seen it not to give away any spoilers for others. The fact that a director would go on-camera requesting audiences to refrain from spoilers may make it seem like Parasite comes loaded with a twist on the magnitude of The Sixth Sense, however this is far from the case. Rather, the rest of the plot plays out by slowly revealing a number of unexpected truths about the household our thrifty family gradually find themselves a part of, and its these that pack Parasite with its emotional punches.
Joon-ho is a director whose name and movies will always be associated with kick-starting the Korean Wave, and the domestic setting that Parasite unfolds in harks back in some ways to his 2000 debut Barking Dogs Never Bite. Kang-ho’s role also feels like he’s come full circle from the similarly themed The Quiet Family, Kim Jee-woon’s 1998 black comedy, in which he could well be argued to be playing the role that Wooshik has taken on here. Like a pair of dancers that know each other’s strengths inside out, Joon-ho provides Kang-ho with his best role since Thirst. While he rarely puts in a bad performance, most of the roles Kang-ho has played in recent years haven’t exactly stretched his acting muscles, leaving those of us who’ve been waiting for a return to his performance in the likes of Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance frequently disappointed.
Like all of the classic movies mentioned, the most challenging aspect for the audience in watching Parasite is that there are no good or bad guys to root for or against. Kang-ho and the rest of the family do what they need to do in order to survive and put bread on the table, and are never driven by sinister motives. Likewise for their ‘host’ family, as the well-off patriarch played by Lee Sun-kyun (A Special Lady), his CEO status may make him slightly aloof and seemingly takes his lifestyle for granted, however neither of these things make him an inherently bad person.
The moral ambiguities that unfold throughout Parasite serve to keep the tension constantly bubbling just underneath the service, and the question of how much where we stand in society is based on circumstance or luck is never far away. Perhaps Parasite’s greatest achievement though, is how much of a fantastic ensemble piece it is. Ensemble acting has always been a key component in many of Joon-ho’s best work, from the family looking to save a loved one in The Host, to the relationship between the various passengers in Snowpiercer, and here Joon-ho’s orchestration of his performers is another prime example of a master at work.
Wooshik has worked with Joon-ho before in Okja, however he did little else apart from irritate in The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion, so his role here feels somewhat redemptive, and he owns the screen whenever on it. Likewise for rising star Park So-dam, who after turns in the supernatural horrors The Priests and Silenced in 2015, here clocks in her most mature role to date, and she owns it. After being a Hong Sang-soo mainstay for many years, I thought we’d be seeing a lot more of Lee Sun-kyun after his frantic turn in 2013’s A Hard Day, but he’s mostly remained a solid player in largely unremarkable productions, so to see him here feels like a role worthy of his talent. Playing his daughter, Hyun Seung-min hasn’t done much since her role in 2015’s The Tiger: An Old Hunter’s Tale, however she’s clearly a talented actress, and based on her performance here I hope we’ll be seeing more from her in the future.
Combined with the cinematography of Hong Kyung-pyo, who apart from also lensing Joon-ho’s Mother and Snowpiercer, was also the man behind the camera for the likes of such classics as Burning, The Wailing, and The Good. The Bad. The Weird, Parasite looks fantastic. The camera isn’t only there to capture the images onscreen, but also serves to add layers of depth to the situations that unfold before us. Stairs pop up frequently in Parasite, an omnipresent feature in any movie shot in Seoul due to the nature of the landscape, but here they’re given an extra layer of meaning by Kyung-pyo’s lensing.
Parasite became the first Korean production to walk away with the Palme d’Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, an accolade which is well deserved. Like the best of Joon-ho’s work, over the course of its 130 minute runtime I found myself laughing, cringing, and every other emotion that’s possible to be wrung out of a human. The level of creativity and boldness that permeated the Korean film industry in the early 2000’s has been lacking in recent years, so for many of us Parasite will serve as a reminder as to why we fell in love with Korean cinema in the first place.
While some may find Joon-ho’s critique of the social classes lacking subtlety, it’s an element that’s always been a part of his work, although admittedly never pushed to the forefront quite like it is here. It’s an approach which will likely divide fans of the auteur, depending on what titles in his filmography resonate the most. One thing that can’t be argued though, is that it’s unmistakably a movie which could only have been made by Joon-ho, and here’s hoping anything he makes after this will also have an opportunity to be shown on the big screen, as that’s where his movies belong.
AKA: Unity of Heroes 2 Director: Marco Mak Cast: Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo, Miya Muqi, Kenya Sawada, Na Wei, Lubing Li, Huanhuan Wei Running Time: 92 min.
By Paul Bramhall
To many kung fu fans in the west the genre may be regarded as dead and buried, but in China streaming channels like Youku and iQiyi have been providing a steady stream of original kung fu flicks for a number of years now. A place for kung fu stars of yesteryear to maintain their workload (Fan Siu Wong is a mainstay), or titles to riff on their more mainstream counterparts (Ip Man and the Four Kings), these flicks rarely travel beyond the streaming platforms they’re made for. Apart from the lack of English subtitles reducing their accessibility to wider audiences, the underlying reason behind their lack of exposure is down to the fact they simply don’t need to travel any further.
In the 1980’s Hong Kong movies needed international distribution. It’s a small population, and with Mainland China still off-limits, securing distribution in nearby neighbours like Korea, Japan, and further afield to western shores, ensured the productions costs would be covered and a profit would be made. Skip forward to 2019, and with a population of 1.4 billion, the Mainland market has no need to hassle itself with finding overseas buyers for their product, when breaking even based purely on domestic viewing figures is practically a given. With that being said, some titles have found their way to western shores, with 2018’s Unity of Heroes being one of them, which saw Vincent Zhao returning to the role of Wong Fei Hung for the first time since the 90’s.
The turnaround time on VOD titles is alarmingly fast in China, and while Unity of Heroes was released in May 2018, before the year was out a follow-up was already good to go in December, this time under the no less bombastic title of Warriors of the Nation. Zhao is back as Wong Fei Hung, in what was ridiculously his 3rd appearance as the character within the year, featuring in Jeff Lau’s Kung Fu League in-between. Gone is newcomer director Lin Zhenzhao, and in his place is Hong Kong stalwart Marco Mak. While Mak’s filmography as a director is hardly awe inspiring, his last time to helm a movie was 2012’s Naked Soldier, what makes him an interesting choice is that he served as the editor on all 6 of the 1990’s Once Upon a Time in China series (as well as the aforementioned Kung Fu League).
I’d hoped having Mak at the helm would add more of that classical Hong Kong flavour that Unity of Heroes was so blatantly striving for, but fell short of the mark, and proceedings start off promisingly enough. Much like Unity of Heroes kicked off with an almost shot-for-shot recreation of Jet Li training his disciples on the beach, so Warriors of the Nation kicks off with some White Lotus Clan shenanigans lifted directly from Once Upon a Time in China II. While the inclusion of the White Lotus Clan is initially a welcome one, it soon becomes clear that this instalment is going to concern itself more with internal corruption and Japanese devils (is there any other type in a recent Chinese flick?), than it is the pulpy super powered zombies of Unity of Heroes.
The shift to a comparatively more grounded storyline runs the risk of making Warriors of the Nation take itself more seriously than it deserves too, but thankfully Mak has the sense to fill the runtime with far more action than his predecessor. However even this is a double edged sword (pun intended). While the action in Unity of Heroes was sporadic, its gimmicky nature made for entertaining viewing, from the no-shadow kick bullet time to x-ray shots of internal impacts. Here the frequency of the fights has increased, however the execution of them never feels anything more than pedestrian.
Zhao is given the spotlight to show-off his talents in a variety of scenarios. Be it fighting off bladed rings while balancing on an elevated bamboo pole, pitting a spear against a Guandao, or engaging in a sword duel, fans shouldn’t be left wanting. There’s even a brief skirmish with some sumo wrestlers thrown into the mix. The issue is there’s no real wow moment in any of the fights, and the occasional moments of clunky camerawork betray the obviously tight shooting schedule the crew was working with. The no-shadow kick is portrayed here no less amusingly than it was in Unity of Heroes, with Zhao now able to take off vertically from a standing position, hover for a moment, before flying forward feet first like some kind of kung fu drone. While it was a pleasant diversion to see the inclusion of some actual exchanges within the choreography, the finishing moves still entertain more for the wrongs reasons than the right ones.
Despite Zhao’s presence, the previously stoic figure he cut in Unity of Heroes here seems to be that of someone who’s lost interest, and dare I say phoning it in. There’s no real spark to his character, to the point that I was wishing for a return to the anger he showed at being presented with a western style cake in the previous instalment. The subtle as a hammer patriotic speeches are still there, from mentions of how the Chinese need to fight for every inch of Chinese land (thankfully there was no sighting of the Nine Dash Line in the South China Sea), to a ridiculous pre-closing credits speech about how all Chinese people need to come together to defeat imperialism. As pleasing as these scenes may be to the NRTA, Zhao looks bored reeling them off, making them induce even more eye rolling than normal.
Zhao’s dour demeanour results in the ladies of Warriors of the Nation stealing the show whenever they’re onscreen. Returning cast member Wei Xiaohuan shines in her fight scenes, and despite having little to do apart from occasionally burst into action, she’s the only one who conveys a real sense of power and grace in her movements. Clearly the real deal, here’s hoping she headlines a kung fu flick soon, regardless of if it’s straight to streaming or not. Yoga instructor Miya Muqi, last seen in (ironically enough) Kung Fu Yoga, brings a welcome touch of sexuality to proceedings as the villainess of the piece, and this time around actually gets a fight scene that incorporates her yoga talents. Just ignore the fact that she performs it in modern yoga gear.
Kenya Sawada is also on-board as the Japanese bad guy, a face no doubt familiar to fans of 90’s Hong Kong cinema thanks to his roles in the likes of Thunderbolt and Extreme Crisis. Here Sawada plays a similar role to the one he portrayed in the highly entertaining Hidden Man, released the same year, and gets to face off against Zhao in the finale. It’s the lengthiest duel in the movie, and allows us the opportunity to witness some of Zhao’s wushu prowess, clearly showing that he’s still got it. While some of the movements are obscured due to poorly placed camera angles, it was still enough to make me draw a sigh, and imagine what could have been if he’d never left Special ID. Alas what we do get is a finale which see’s Wong Fei Hung brandishing a sword to face off against his opponent, which I believe may be a first for the finale of a movie featuring the character.
While there’s an undeniable nostalgic pleasure in seeing Zhao back in the role, that nostalgia ultimately doesn’t extend to being able to recommend Warriors of the Nation. The plot fails to engage, and the low budgets rears its head just enough for it to be a distraction, from the 90’s computer game CGI ships, to the extra’s meaninglessly flailing their swords around in the background of certain scenes. In the right hands, the lack of budget on these types of movie should be an enabler that allows the kung fu movie to go back to basics. Bring together performers who can fight, an action director who knows what he’s doing, and all you need after that is a forest, there are plenty of examples from the golden era that fit that exact description and are considered classics. But as long as the budget also dictates the shooting schedule, I don’t expect this latest incarnation of Wong Fei Hung to become more entertaining any time soon.
Martial arts star Scott Adkins (Ip Man 4, Triple Threat) and William Kaufman (Jarhead 3: The Siege, Sinners and Saints) are re-teaming for Vigilante.
The film follows a disgraced soldier (Adkins) who wages war against the city’s most dangerous criminals only to end up endangering the lives of the very same people he initially set out to help protect.
Vigilante also reunites Kaufman with his frequent writer Chad Law (Black Water, Jarhead 3: The Siege) with Josh Ridgway (Howlers) co-writing.
The film is currently in development phase, but we’ll keep you in the loop as we learn more. For now, we leave with the Trailer for Abduction (aka Dangerous Chase):
10 years ago, Ja-yoon escaped from a secret government facility in the midst of an inexplicable incident. An old couple finds her alone near death in the woods and takes her in even though she has no memory of who she is or how she got there. She grows up to be a bright high school student and enters a nationally televised audition program to win the top prize and help her struggling family. But as soon as she appears on TV, strange people start appearing in her life and Ja-yoon falls into turmoil as her seemingly ordinary life turns upside down in a blink of an eye.
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