Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982)

Director: Nicholas Meyer

Notable Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Ricardo Montalban, Kirstie Alley, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Bibi Besch, Merritt Butrick, Paul Winfield

So remember all the things you loved about the Star Trek television series that the first theatrical film conveniently left out? Adventure? Fun? Characters? Pacing? Well, it’s almost like the film makers of the second film, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Kahn, had heard you because they rectify ALL of those things for this smaller budget, but massively superior sequel. While it’s not the perfect film that many of my Trekkie friends and colleagues might claim it to be (don’t get your underwear bunched up, we’ll discuss that in a second) it is easily one of the best science fiction adventure films to exist. It’s a film that knows its audience and knows its strengths, and plays into them. Even if you haven’t seen the episode of Star Trek that this is also a “sequel” to, this film is remarkably effective at almost everything it does and remains perhaps one of the biggest leaps of quality for a sequel over its predecessor in cinema history.

Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979)

Director: Robert Wise

Notable Cast: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Stephen Collins, Persis Khambatta, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, Nichelle Nichols, George Takei

With the third Star Trek reboot film on the way, it was requested that we cover the original film series for review. It has been a good ten years since my last Star Trek marathon, so the timing seemed right to revisit them and take a gander at a series that has been part of my life since, well, essentially birth. To be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to reviewing the first film of the franchise, aptly called Star Trek: The Motion Picture, because it was never a film that interested me outside of kick starting the franchise again. Now I remember why I disliked the film so much. It’s a mediocre episode of the show elongated with needlessly artsy elements that desperately wants to be a theatrical movie going experience without the writing or pacing to make it a positive experience. The film is certainly one with its own positive features, but Star Trek: The Motion Picture is a boring and dragging cinematic experience that almost completely misses the mark.

Suture (1993)

Directors: Scott McGehee, David Siegel

Notable Cast: Dennis Haysbert, Mel Harris, Sab Shinmono, Dina Merrill, Michael Harris, David Graf, Fran Ryan, John Ingle, Sandy Gibbons, Mark Demichele, Sandra Lafferty

One of the beautiful things about doing coverage for cult cinema is that one gets to dig into the lost films. Films that are forgotten, overlooked pieces of ambitious and often edgy material. Sometimes they are forgotten for legitimate reasons, but sometimes they seem to be forgotten simply because they didn’t make a splash in the historical placement of film. Suture is one of those forgotten films, perhaps due to its lacking foundations as a film, but it’s one that carries such a strangely fantastical concept and an artful approach to it that it seems shocking that it hasn’t been one mentioned more often in the cinephile circles. The film is flawed, as many debut features from ambitious film makers are, but it’s something of an intriguing experience and one that more artful cinephiles will want to take another look at – particularly with this new Arrow Video Blu Ray that really presents it in such a strong manner. If anything, Suture is the kind of cult cinema that deserves to be uncovered…warts and all.

Killzone 2 (2016)

Director: Pou-Soi Cheang

Notable Cast: Tony Jaa, Wu Jing, Zhang Jin (Max Zhang), Simon Yam, Louis Koo, Ken Lo, Jun Kung, Dominic Lam, Unda Kunterra Yhordchanng

Also known as: SPL II: A Time for Consequences

The original Killzone (also known as SPL outside of its US release) is a film that only gets better with time. My original viewing was good, but the repeated viewings since then have proven that the Wilson Yip directed action thriller is a layered, complex, and robust film worthy of the mass praise it receives. When it was announced that it would receive a sequel, titled SPL II: A Time for Consequences overseas and Killzone 2 for the US, it was a bit odd. Particularly because it would star two people of the original film as new characters and have no connections to its predecessor. Truly, this is a film that is sequel in spirit and theme only. It’s also a sequel that matches the same kind of thoughtful, action packed layering that Killzone utilized and brings the series into a new and modern light. Once again, it’s a film that also seems to strengthen with repeated viewings and my latest one seems to be the best one for me yet.

Chonicles of the Ghostly Tribe (2016)

Director: Lu Chuan

Notable Cast: Mark Chao, Yao Chen, Rhydian Vaughn, Li Chen, Tiffany Tang, Daniel Feng, Wang Qingxiang, Wu Jun, Wang Deshung, Li Guangjie

It’s no secret at this point that the Chinese film industry is something of a juggernaut in the international box office. As their box office exponentially grows though, so does the size of the films that they begin to produce. I’ve touched on this subject in some previous reviews of newer Chinese films, but it’s probably most apparent in Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe. Like the odd focus of Hollywood to develop the next big fantasy driven franchise that’s build on spectacle for sheer box office revenue, Chronicles of the Ghostly Tribe desperately wants to lay the foundations for an expansive universe of fantasy/science fiction elements. This focus, however, makes for a film that ultimately feels a bit hollow and oddly structured to stand well on its own two feet. It’s fun and it has moments that sparkle, but this is pretty standard popcorn flick material and rarely more than that.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988)

Director: John De Bello

Notable Cast: Anthony Starke, George Clooney, Karen Mistal, Steve Lundquist, John Astin, J. Stephen Peace, Michael Villani, Frank Davis, Harvey Weber, Charlie Jones, John De Bello, Ian Hutton, Rick Rockwell

Comedy is already a very difficult genre to get “right.” It’s highly susceptible to the taste preference of its audience, it’s usually a very timely genre that’s dependent on its context, and even then it requires a kind of vision from its creative elements to execute it. This, of course, is just for a basic comedy. To make matters even more difficult is to aim for one of the fringe subgenres of comedy for your film. For example, absurdist comedies. The original Attack of the Killer Tomatoes was the kind of film that found its cult audience for being able to align all of these elements in an impressive manner for such a low budget and off beat film. However, it’s the first sequel Return of the Killer Tomatoes that really flies with the absurdity to capitalize on its bat shit insane concept. Attack laid the ground work, but it’s Return that really smashes out a home run absurdist comedy worthy of the massive cult audience that backs this silly franchise.

River (2016)

Director: Jamie M. Dagg

Notable Cast: Rossif Sutherland, Douangmany Soliphanh, Sara Botsford, Ted Atherton, Vithaya Pansringarm

Thrillers, in this day and age, are rarely as pure as they used to be. They usually fringe on elements of action, horror, fantasy, or whatever genre they need to give the film a fresh feeling to stand out from the rest. This is because thrillers are one of the older and most utilized styles in cinema. It’s not that blending the thriller elements into another genre degrades a film, but that’s just how the genre has evolved over the last handful of decades. This is also what makes River feel so different from its thriller cohorts. It’s a film that certainly uses modern techniques in its approach to tap into the tension and energy of its concept, but it’s a film that remains largely pure in its focus. It’s not some big conspiracy film. It doesn’t throw in explosions and gun fights. It’s not based on supernatural lore. It’s a man on the run from a bad situation. Simple. It’s this simplicity that can both its highlight and its problems as a film.

Conjuring 2, The (2016)

Director: James Wan

Notable Cast: Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Frances O’Connor, Madison Wolfe, Simon McBurney, Franka Potente, Laruen Esposito, Patrick McAuley, Benjamin Haigh, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Simon Delaney, Shannon Kook, Sterling Jerins, Bob Adrian, Abhi Sinha, Bonnie Aarons, Javier Botet

James Wan remains the king of modern mainstream horror. We should all just admit it now. He takes low budget horror and makes it financially viable with Saw and Insidious. He takes cliché elements and throw back style and gives it the strength to compete against summer blockbusters with his last horror film, The Conjuring. So it’s no wonder that The Conjuring 2 put a dent into the June box office. He accomplishes these kinds of things as a director by going back to basics and not into the realm of popcorn film making that horror so readily focuses on. He focuses on story and on atmosphere. That’s why The Conjuring 2 works so well. Sure, the critics might call it a disappointment because it doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first one, but The Conjuring 2 is better than I expected. In fact, I feel it’s only a smidgen weaker than the original one and matches it in a lot of ways. No, this film is not “original” as I have seen so many reviews claim, but it’s a film that crafts a balance with execution and heart worth seeing.

EXCLUSIVE MOVIE CLIP: River (2016) - "On the Run"

Well Go USA has always been on the cutting edge of bringing the best of new Asian films to the US, but lately they have been digging into some great underground and artistic genre films. Their latest release, the atmospheric thriller River, has already done the rounds at some film festivals (including the Toronto International Film Festival, which is always a great sign) and it will be making a splash for some limited theatrical showings along with the usual VOD release.

Today, Blood Brothers has the EXCLUSIVE premiere of a new clip from the film called “On the Run” and it looks to capitalize on some great suspense and tension from the Laos set thriller from director Jamie M. Dagg. Check out the clip embedded below and look for our review for River tomorrow!

River is available on VOD through a variety of outlets and it premieres in a handful of theaters today around the United States! Check out the list of theatrical showings and get some information about the film at the following link: RIVER WELL GO USA SITE. 

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Inside Men: The Original (2015)

Director: Woo Min-ho

Notable Cast: Lee Byung-hun, Jo Seung-woo, Baek Yoon-sik, Lee Kyeong-yeong, Kim Hong-pa, Bae Seong-woo, Lee El, Jeong Man-sik, Kim Byeong-ok, Kim Dae-myeong

I will say after seeing this film, my 1st thought was that it was one of the best Korean films I've seen in quite some time, and I stand by that. Inside Men: The Original a.k.a The Director's Cut, is a 3 hour long gangster film with a political bite to it and it's brilliant.

There is so much that happens over the course of this 180 minute film, that there is no way to remember every single detail, and I am glad, because already (minutes after just finishing it), I am quite excited to give it another visit. I feel it is a film that one can appreciate more after repeat viewings.