Movie Review: Killer Joe (2011; Voltage Pictures/Lionsgate)

...it's a bygone truth in considering that the impact...the very vibrancy of the hero of the story is directly proportionate to, reciprocative of...and in most cases...is outright dependent upon the often times greater impact and vibrancy of the villain. Let's face it: we have certain expectations, when it comes to the hero, and without fail...unless that hero takes total leave of his senses...the hero typically performs as expected, with no real surprises; however, without a worthy and polar-opposite comparable adversary, the hero really has nothing to do, right?? The old story of 'there's no good, unless there's bad...and vice-versa. And how about the villain?? A picture of self-interest...relentless...conniving...often times, violent...clearly knowing right from wrong, but not caring...quite literally carefree, in fact. And there's no denying that in each and very one of us, there's a spark of envy, in that respect...though, it's intervening morality, which keeps us 'normal people' in check...

Movie Review: The Four (2012, Well Go Entertainment)

...this viewer recalls quite well, the first time being privy to the jaw-dropping martial arts action style and dynamics of filmmaker Gordon Chan...and that one film, which I saw at the time, had me indelibly hooked on his films, from then on. It was 1994, and my local mom-and-pop, hole-in-the-wall cult film movie revival theater (...now, regretfully, a stuffy, experimental/independent/art-house movie theater, which I rarely visit) was running it's yearly, two-week long Asian film festival. One of the films on the double-feature bill, on the particular day of my theater patronage, was "Fist of Legend", starring the up & coming, flavor-of-the-moment martial arts star, Jet Li; now, I had heard of Jet Li...knew of his growing film presence, long before he was revered by a general movie-going audience in the U.S. Heck, this viewer even had a couple of his older films, in an ever-swelling film collection (...a paltry 3,000 or so titles, at the time; don't EVEN ask the official number, now...lest your jaw drop to the floor). "Fist of Legend", without a doubt, gave Li a respectability in film, nearly equal to that of the late great Bruce Lee. However, as far as behind the camera, and relatively unknown to this viewer at the time, was director Chan...and WHOA!! What a place to start!! The viewer could assuredly scribble a pretty lengthy review, praising the greatness of "Fist of Legend", and how well it was filmed & put together. In short, to say that I was blown away, would be an understatement. After that, I made it a point to seek out any of Chan's earlier directorial efforts, as well as any future film endeavors, which bore his name. Notable titles in his respectable repertoire include..."18 Golden Destroyers", "Fight Back to School", "Royal Tramp", "King of Beggars", "Beast Cops"...but in this viewers mind, it always came right down to the fact that "Fist of Legend" was (...and as you will soon read, STILL is) the pinnacle triumph of his career...his absolute finest achievement. Admittedly, I have not been particularly privy to anything notably stand-out, deriving out of Gordon Chan's still prolific film making arena, over the past several years. And unfortunately, if his latest...the 2012 martial arts fantasy actioner, "The Four" is any indication of his furthered evolution...well, I guess that this viewer will have to continue hoping that one day, Chan will top, or at the very least match the likes of his celebrated "...Legend"...'cause "The Four" sure as heck ain't gonna cut it, in that respect...

Movie Review: Food, Inc. (2009)

I held off on watching this movie for quite a long time. I already knew a decent amount about how disgusting our food is. A friend of mine told me once about his brother who worked for the company that supplied Taco Bell its meat. According to him, they use a processed F grade meat that's mixed with a caking agent that holds in all of the grease so that the food doesn't drip. That means you ingest every little drop of grease, and whatever the fuck it is that holds it together. Do you want to know what we were doing while he was telling me this? We were eating in a Taco Bell. No bullshit.

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Movie Review: The Tillman Story (2010)

Before the deaths of Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, the biggest story of the Iraq/Afghanistan wars was the death of Arizona Cardinals star Pat Tillman. The NFL favorite made the surprising choice to leave the league and millions of dollars behind to become an Army Ranger with his brother, Kevin. It seemed like the most selfless and patriotic act someone could commit at the time. In his death, he was lionized as a hero, given the Silver Star, and held up by the government as a true patriot. That was all great, until the truth came out.

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