Samurai Fiction - 1998

Director: Hiroyuki Nakano

Cast: Morio Kazama, Mitsuro Fukikoshi

Genre: Foreign-Japanese, Samurai, Martial Arts

Rating: ** = "Didn't Like It"

I had read and heard good things about Samurai Fiction and was excited to see this movie. I was to be disappointed. The movie is well made, but once again I got sucked into a movie with a plodding pace and weak story that was just plain...well...boring.

Samurai Fiction is shot in black and white and is a throwback to the samurai movies of old. However, they have updated the movie with some modern themes and a strange, out of place, hard rock/metal soundtrack. The plot is pretty basic. A noble samurai is given custody of his clan's sword, which is then stolen by a renegade samurai who is a master swordsman. The samurai's naive and brash son decides to pursue the thief, vowing vengeance and to return the sword to his father's clan. The boy is beaten by the renegade, but not killed, and is rescued by a an old recluse and his daughter. Turns out the old man is a master samurai in hiding, having given up the trade a long time ago. He takes the young man under his wing who soon falls in love with his daughter. Meanwhile the renegade takes refuge under the wing of a local crime mistress and seeks to challenge the old samurai to a duel. You can guess the rest of the movie from there.

There is some decent swordplay action in the movie, but it's not great, and what little martial arts there are look slow and practiced. The movie is interjected with many moments of light humor and odd characters, and the acting is actually quite good. However, the pace is simply too slow and at times the movie just drags. The story is a bit too simplistic for my taste, which isn't a problem if this were a roaring, popcorn, action-flick, but it's not. I also didn't like the contrived and abrupt ending.

What Parents Need to Know:
Common Sense Media has not reviewed this movie. I would rate it a hard PG-13 in the U.S. for violence and some adult situations. There are scenes of violent swordplay and sexual situations, but it's a movie that does not take itself too seriously. I would be comfortable showing this to mature kids 14+, but doubt they would like it much.

Rotten Tomatoes has not rated this movie.

Deja Vu - 2006

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, James Caviezel, Adam Goldberg

Genre: Action, Thriller, Crime, SciFi

Rating: *** = "Liked It"

Denzel Washington is one of my favorite actors, he always seems to do a fine job and I can think of only a very few of his movies that I didn't like. Since his Oscar success with Training Day he has churned out a number of quality and enjoyable roles: Antwone Fisher, Inside Man, Man on Fire, and Out of Time (notice I didn't include Manchurian Candidate or John Q in there! - he still did a good job, but man, what awful movies.) So I was pretty excited to see Deja Vu, where Denzel and Tony Scott got to work together again (they previously worked together on Man on Fire, an excellent movie).

I must admit that I was a bit wary with Scott as director. After the shaky, stylized, hard to follow camera shots of Domino and Man on Fire, I was dreading another spectacle of trying to see what was actually happening in the movie through the frenetic, jerky camera movements of a style-obssessed Tony Scott. Someone must have had a strong sit-down with Scott and explained that his goofy style just made for annoyed movie-goers. The movie was cleanly shot with few of the herky-jerky stylized images of Scott's more recent movies, making for a nice, pleasurable viewing experience.

Denzel was quite good in a familiar role, playing a savvy federal investigator working with the FBI to determine what happened in a ferry explosion that killed hundreds. Through the investigation, he falls in love with the images of one of the victims, whom he views through a very hi-tech video surveillance system with the FBI. I won't spoil the movie for you, but Denzel finds out the FBI's surveillance system is more than it seems, and begins to wonder if there is a way he can change the past and prevent not only the ferry bombing but save the girl's wife as well.

James Caviezel, a totally underrated actor who deserves more credit, plays a good bad guy, who turns out to be an ultra-patriotic right wing nut job (of course, it wouldn't be politically correct to actually cast an Arab or muslim as a terrorist who blows up a ferry, killing hundreds. we might offend them.). His motives for doing the job are shaky at best and never really explained except that he somehow believes that he is a patriot for spilling so much blood. Val Kilmer is wooden as the FBI agent who cooperates with Denzel's character.

I gave this movie three stars, I liked it, but it wasn't fast paced enough for a thriller or action movie. There are some tense moments and some solid action sequences, but nothing we haven't seen before and far too little of it. Let's face it - people go to a movie like this to sit down, enjoy the popcorn, and see some tense action on screen. You can't go too far or it becomes laughable, but not enough and it's merely good, but not great.

What Parents Need to Know:
Common Sense Media rates this movie as:
14+ = for intense sequences of violence and terror, disturbing images and some sensuality.

Parents need to know that this violent thriller has been targeted more at adults than kids, but some teens will be interested. With the movie's terrorism storyline, it's not surprising that there are explosions, car crashes, fights, and shootings -- which result in burned, bloody, beaten, and drowned bodies. Weapons include knives, guns, bombs, and vehicles. In one scene, scientists and authorities watch voyeuristically as a woman undresses and showers in her apartment. Characters argue loudly and discuss motivations for terrorism alongside religious faith, and in one sad scene, a father grieves his daughter's murder. The language is very tame for a PG-13 film.

The only thing about the film that would give me caution as a parent is the underlying terrorist theme, but the language is indeed very tame and as I said there is less action than you would think. I would be comfortable showing this to mature kids 12+.

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 57% (Rotten)

Harsh Times

Director: David Ayer

Cast: Christian Bale, Freddy Rodriguez, Eva Longoria

Genre: Independent, Drama, Crime

Rating: ** = "Didn't Like It"

I like Christian Bale and the premise of the movie sounded interesting - returned soldier carouses around town with his best friend before heading off to a job with the DEA in Colombia and they get into trouble. But it turned out to be a pretty boring movie with some very unlikeable characters - if I can't like the characters, then I can't get into the movie.

Christian Bale plays Jim David, a gung-ho ex-soldier who has failed in his numerous attempts to join the LAPD. His best friend is pal Mike Alvarez, who lives with (and off) his beautiful lawyer girlfriend, played by Eva Longoria. Jim just wants to get a badge and be "the man" and volunteers to drive Mike around job hunting, as his girlfriend is not happy living with a jobless boyfriend. Instead of helping Mike look for a job, Jim convinces him to blow it off and the two of them spend most of their cursing, drinking, smoking pot, robbing street hoods, and generally being complete idiots. Christian Bale's talent is wasted in this role, a completely one dimensional psycho hot-head who seems more concerned with screwing up his life even more then it already is and scaring his friends with his violent, psychotic outbursts. He is completely unbelievable as a street thug, spouting the same lame street/gang slang over and over again spliced with numerous expletives.

The movie drags at a tedious pace with Jim and Mike getting into and out of one mess after another. Throughout the whole movie all I could think about was what losers these two guys were and looking at my watch wondering when it was going to end.

The end of the movie finally got interesting and it was obvious that first-time director David Ayer was trying to tie up everything that had happened to Jim and Mike into a tidy little ending. The last 15 minutes of the movie were actually quite interesting and Bale and Rodriguez finally got to do some decent acting. A very sad, dark movie that made little sense, the only reason this movie gets two stars is the ending somewhat redeemed the boring mess the movie was up til then.

What Parents Need to Know:
Common Sense Media rates this movie as:
17+ = For strong language, violence, and drug use. (Common Sense Media claims there are over 200 utterances of f--k - who has time to count all that?? Good grief.)

Parents need to know that this movie isn't for kids in any way, shape, or form. Full of bloody violence, drug use, lawlessness, and physical abuse, it follows the experiences of a traumatized Afghanistan war veteran and draws connections between what happened to him during combat and his behavior back home in Los Angeles. Weapons include guns of all kind, knives, and grenades; the brutal violence results in gaping wounds and lots of blood.

Definitely not for kids, but there wasn't nearly as much violence as Common Sense Media portrays. It's not so much the violence that should convince parents to keep this away from kids but the mature themes and the sometimes glorification of a criminal, violent lifestyle.

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 48% (Rotten)

Curse of the Golden Flower - 2007

Director: Zhang Yi Mou

Cast: Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li,

Genre: Foreign-Chinese, Martial Arts, Tragic Drama

Rating: ** - "Didn't Like It"

I have been watching and following Chinese movies since the time I lived in Hong Kong some 15 years ago. I always liked Zhang Yi Mou, and Gong Li as well, but recently his movies have been, well, rather boring. I expected big things out of Hero, which was a well shot but ultimately boring movie. House of Flying Daggers had outstanding martial arts direction and superb editing, but a laughable story - the ending was so over-the-top and cheesy the audience was laughing in the theater I saw it in.

Well, I guess I still haven't learned my lesson as I sat through yet another gorgeously shot, visually stunning movie with sumptuous sets and costumes and incredible art direction that was, simply put, a boring, sad spectacle. Like so many Chinese movies this one features a lot of tragic drama and family member vs family member conspiracy and evil plots. At the end of the movie pretty much everyone dies a horribly sad and tragic death. There are no good guys in this movie, only a corrupt family plotting against one another for the emperor's throne. The emperor is played by the always great Chow Yun Fat who is the supreme a-hole of the universe, for reasons that are never totally explained although it's obvious he treats most of his family with disdain.

Those expecting martial arts action along the lines of House of Flying Daggers, Hero, or the outstanding Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon will be sorely disappointed. Nearly the entire movie takes place in the royal palace where we are treated to scene after scene of extravagantly dressed royal family members walking swiftly from one room to another as they all connive with and against each other. How exciting! What little action there is takes place in the last 20 minutes of the movie and is sadly reminiscent of some low-budget Hong Kong spectacle from the 80's.

The only reason this movie gets 2 stars is because, like almost all Zhang Yi Mou movies, it is beautifully shot with unbelievably gorgeous sets.

What Parents Need to Know:
Common Sense Media rates this movie as:
16+ = Violent, operatic saga of cruelty and revenge:

Parents need to know that kids who liked Hero or House of Flying Daggers will want to see this movie. But while Zhang Yimou directed all of them, this new film is very different -- it's less focused on the martial arts action than on adult themes like betrayal and revenge. Violence includes poisoning, swordfights, knifings, and armies of assassins mustered for combat on palace. There are plenty of bloody results all around.

Personally, I think it would be fine for mature kids ages 12+, although it would more likely bore them to sleep.

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 65% (Fresh)