The Young Vagabond (1985)

Director: Lau Shut-Yue

Notable Cast: Gordon Liu, Jason Pai Piao, Johnny Wang, Wong Yu, Ku Feng, Kwan Hoi-San, Kwan Fung, Wong Man-Ying

One can tell that the Shaw Brothers studio was panicking by the time the mid-80s rolled around simply due to the unfocused films they created. The 80s did produce some of their most entertaining (and solidly crafted) films too, but the majority of the material being produced seems to pale in comparison to the heights of the studio in the 1970s. The Young Vagabond is a film that had so much potential. Whether it’s the stellar casting or the ambitiously fun concept of telling the origin story of one of China’s best folklore heroes, Beggar Su, The Young Vagabond could have been one of those cornerstone Shaw Brothers films that fans fawn over for decades down the road. It could have been. It should have been. Instead, the film tends to stumble over its own feet in finding a tone and balance. Leaping from some drawn out subplots to dramatic emotional material with little in regard of fluidity. The Young Vagabond has some very intense and well executed moments, but they all sit in a film that doesn’t quite know how to put it all together.

Tideland (2005)

Director: Terry Gilliam

Notable Cast: Jodelle Ferland, Brendan Fletcher, Janet McTeer, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Tilly, Dylan Taylor, Wendy Anderson, Sally Crooks

Terry Gilliam is a director who rarely sacrifices his vision of a film for anyone. That includes the audience. Sometimes it lends itself to a critically acclaimed film that finds a dedicated and enthusiastic audience (Brazil), sometimes it results in a rather intriguing cult film like Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and sometimes it results in a film like Tideland. Even though the director has always pursued eclectic and unusual films for his filmography, Tideland remains the black sheep that never really found its audience. There are those out there that love the film, certainly, but for the most part this was a film that fizzled out due to diverse reactions from both fans and critics. This is also the reason that it was so surprising when Arrow Video announced that they would be releasing a new Blu Ray for the film. Gilliam has had his fair share of material released in iconic collectors’ releases (even the hit or miss Jabberwocky received a prestige Criterion Collection release,) but Tideland represents a film in his catalog that really does draw lines in fans. It’s also a film that is very much deserving of a reassessment now that the film is over ten years old.

Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Director: Peyton Reed

Notable Cast: Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michael Peña, Hannah John-Kamen, Laurence Fishburne, Walton Goggins, Bobby Cannavale, Judy Greer, TI, David Dastmalchian, Abby Ryder Fortson, Randall Park, Michelle Pfeiffer

As much as I thought the first Ant-Man film was, you know, ‘just fine,’ the choice to drop the sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, after Avengers: Infinity War was inspired. The last Avengers film inherently took the Marvel formula and undercut it by inverting the role of the protagonist and taking the series into some shockingly serious and darker territory, but Ant-Man and the Wasp represents the polar opposite. This is a film that doubles down on the Marvel formula instead of trying to subvert it and the film changes the pace from the last MCU film. It's a welcome maneuver after the impact of the last film. Like the first Ant-Man film though, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a mixed bag of execution, once again being a film that’s certainly enjoyable, entertaining, and easy to consume, but it’s also a film that falters from some of the same problems that prevented its predecessor from hitting its potential heights. Fans will definitely find plenty of things to love in the light-hearted demeanor and outlandishly silly premise, but compared to some of the more intriguing paths of the MCU in the last handful of films it does pale in comparison.

Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich (2018)

Directors: Sonny Laguna, Tommy Wiklund

Notable Cast: Thomas Lennon, Nelson Franklin, Jenny Pellicer, Michael Pare, Barbara Crampton, Charlyne Yi, Matthias Hues, Udo Kier

Hype is a cruel mistress. When the Puppet Master reboot was announced there was general shock from the horror community. Not only was Charles Band still going strong with his own Puppet Master series, but he made it very clear that he would not be ending his series in light of this reboot. If anything, Puppet Master was a franchise that desperately needed the reboot retreat and probably has for decades. The announcement, along with inclusion of genre auteur S. Craig Zahler as the writer, was somewhat refreshing. When you add that the film was directed by Sonny Laguna and Tommy Wiklund, who delivered the stylish if flawed Blood Runs Cold which was made for the amount of money someone might collect from couch cushions, then there was hype. Too much hype. As the credits rolled on Puppet Master: The Littlest Reich, it was hard not to feel a sense of disappointment. So much potential and the film was focused on delivering a silly, tongue-in-cheek experience that Band’s series is known for instead of delivering something a bit different.

What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (1974)

Director: Massimo Dallamano

Notable Cast: Giovanna Ralli, Claudio Cassinelli, Mario Adorf, Franco Fabrizi, Farley Granger, Marina Berti, Paolo Turco, Corrado Gaipa, Micaela Pignatelli, Sherry Buchanan, Attilio Dottesio

Although it is often paired up with What Have You Done to Solange? when being referenced by fans and critics, What Have They Done to Your Daughters? is its own beast of a film. Having not seen the film prior to its Blu Ray release from our friends at Arrow Video, my expectations for the classic Italian thriller were fairly lofty. Solange is one of my favorite giallo films, even if it’s more of a fringe giallo than anything, and coming from the same director and period, while being referenced in conjunction with Solange, it simply lifted the expectations. However, What Have They Done to Your Daughters? truly is more of its own thing and more of a spiritual cousin to the previously mentioned classic than a replication of it. Very little of the film is done in the stylistic and trope laden giallo formula and instead it ramps up the realism and grittiness of its concept to almost documentarian like levels. What Have They Done to Your Daughters? is shocking and surgically precise while backhanding its audience with its story and approach. It’s another truly cinematic and powerful film from this golden age of Italian cinema.

The Song of Solomon (2018)

Director: Stephen Biro

Notable Cast: Jessica Cameron, Scott Gabbey, David E. McMahon, Gene Palubicki, Mareen Pelamati, Jeff Shedden, Josh Townsend, Jim Van Bebber, Scott Alan Warner, Andy Winton

Also known as: American Guinea Pig: The Song of Solomon.

There was one key thing that I missed before sitting down to watch The Song of Solomon the other evening for this review. Despite the fact that the box art does not say it anywhere on it, The Song of Solomon is also known as American Guinea Pig: The Song of Solomon. What does this have to do with anything, some might be asking. Well, if you know what the Guinea Pig series of Japanese exploitation films is, then you absolutely know what to expect from the film. You expect it to push the limits of its exploitative nature and do its damnedest to make its audience gag with its content and realistic special effects. However, I did not know this until after the film ended. What I expected was another hum-drum exorcism film. What I got was a rip-roaring gore fest, loosely tied together with a thinly guised plot, and enough in-your-face exploitation violence to make die hard horror fans feel light headed. To say that I was taken back might be an understatement. This film has all of the subtlety of a of an 18-wheeler barreling down the interstate with the gas petal stuck to the floor while the horn remains blaring. Truthfully, that’s a compliment. The Song of Solomon, for all of its issues, accomplishes what it intends to do with little regard on whether or not the audience has the will power (or gag reflex) to keep up.

The Island (2018)

Director: Huang Bo

Notable Cast: Huang Bo, Shu Qi, Wang Baoqiang, Zhang Yixing, Yu Hewei, Wang Xun, Li Qinqin, Lee You-Lin, Teddy Chan

One of the stranger aspects of reviewing foreign cinema is that, as a regular consumer, a lot of the marketing and hype build for certain films may never reach over here. Outside of following some of the actors involved in this film, The Island, it was a film that generally never crossed into the areas of information that I frequent. Once Well Go USA announced the intention of releasing the film in limited theaters in the US, some marketing hit over here, but even then, it was rather minimal compared to some of the Asian titles that pop up in theaters. Expectations for the film were rather open for me as I sat down to finally see the film that was dominating the box office in China. To my surprise, not only did The Island work for me on both a dramatic and comedic level, but it took a surprisingly hard angle with the thematic and emotional lens of how people live their lives. Featuring some impressively ranged performances and a knack for sly comedic timing in a wholly heavy and dramatic film, The Island feels far more connected with its audience and intentions than the titular setting would indicate. It’s a film that works as well on an entertaining cinematic level as it does with its character and emotional throughways to create an impressive hodge podge of laughs and tears. The Island is certainly a cinematic delight that ought not to be overlooked this year.

Street Mobster (1972)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Noboru Ando, Asao Koike, Hideo Murota, Kyosuke Machida, Mayumi Nagisa, Noburo Mitani, Asao Uchida, Takeo Chii, Mayumi Fujisato

Arrow Video has made a statement when it comes to bringing some of the best of old school Japanese action films to its fans. Most of these are attached to the more popular auteur cult directors and, as of recently, they have tripled down on the films of Kinji Fukasaku. If you’ve followed this site for any length, then you already know that Fukasaku is a regular staple here and we attempt to run coverage on new releases for the director as much as possible. The latest from Arrow Video – thus, the latest review for Blood Brothers – is for his groundbreaking film, Street Mobster. While the film is not quite the epic tale as his Battles Without Honor and Humanity and doesn’t hit the thematic and heavy levels of some of his later yakuza films like Graveyard of Honor, it does have this raw and energetic approach that allows it to flow. Featuring some fantastic performances and a devil may care attitude, Street Mobster is another classic to add to Fukasaku’s gangster classics that any fan of Japanese cinema will want to add to their collection.

Blast (1997)

Director: Albert Pyun

Notable Cast: Linden Ashby, Andrew Divoff, Kimberly Warren, Rutger Hauer, Norbert Weisser, Tim Thomerson, Yuji Okumoto, Sonya Eddy

The success of Die Hard left a tidal wave of knock offs and various action films that attempted to recreate the iconic film’s brilliance. As with most big cultural films, this is a trend that happens. Some of these replications were effective in their own ways, films like Speed or Sudden Death stand out as fun spins on the premise, and some of them, sadly, were not. In the latter category, we have films like Blast. While Blast is definitely influenced by Die Hard, it’s not the replication to the extent that the cover would indicate. Blast uses the basic concepts about terrorists and a one-man battle against them in a sealed off building, but the lacking sense of humor and a very dry and serious approach to the material does not necessarily do the film any favors. It hits a lot of the right ideas in the formulaic approach (and it does have moments of B-grade action awesomeness,) but ultimately Blast tries too hard to be too dramatic to effectively entertain.

Walking Tall (2004)

Director: Kevin Bray

Notable Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Johnny Knoxville, Neal McDonough, Michael Bowen, Kevin Durand, Kristen Wilson, Ashley Scott, Khleo Thomas, John Beasley, Cobie Smulders

There are some films that seemingly get lost in the shuffle of time. Usually, these are films that run the middle of the road, not bad enough to be spit on and not good enough to make the lasting memories, but sometimes these are films that do eventually find their audiences. 2004’s Walking Tall, starring Dwayne Johnson while he was still credited as The Rock, is one of those films. When it was released, Walking Tall received generally negative reviews, but the film garnered enough of an audience to make two sequels (neither starring The Rock, who was replaced by Kevin Sorbo (?).) Yet, time was not necessarily kind to the film and it eventually disappeared from the mainstream consciousness, despite the eventual mega-stardom that Dwayne Johnson would achieve as an action star. That is, until now. MVD’s newest distribution arm, MVD Marquee, has selected Walking Tall as one of their first releases and rewatching the film for the first time since it’s release was interesting. Although, it’s still obvious why the film was forgotten. It does have its merits as a fun and entertaining little film, but it’s hardly the action classic that The Rock now puts out almost on a yearly basis.