Molly (Julia Batelaan, “Kill Mode”) is Max Rockatansky, Furiosa and Katniss Everdeen all rolled into one. Sounds pretty spectacular, right? While totally rad(iated) in concept, this micro-budget action epic, Molly, from directors Colinda Bongers and Thijs Meuwese is pretty unwatchable in execution. The setting is “Sunder Land,” which will greatly amuse fans of Northern English…
Family love and honor are forged in steel for Haofeng Xu’s dazzling generational epic The Hidden Sword, which crisply chronicles China’s early-to-mid 20th century history of war as seen through the eyes of blade-bearing walnut farmers. One family has the film’s focus while Xu allows a curious concoction of quirky humor, astonishing action, and rippling…
The late great martial artist and legendary dynamo Bruce Lee has been spotlighted in countless biopics detailing the iconic fighter’s trials and tribulations as an international movie star. Both casual and fanatical fans of the crafty martial arts superstar can certainly boast their knowledge of the chiseled, one-man wrecking crew that challenged global movie audiences…
Following the well-laid plans of just about every pugilistic biopic ever made (with the exception of “Raging Bull” and “The Fighter”), director Jonathan Jakubowicz with Hands of Stone, plods along (just like his subject’s boxing style) in this familiar telling of the rise of a famous boxer, in this case, Roberto Durán (Edgar Ramírez, “The…
The battle for man’s mind, body and soul has waged since the Garden of Eden and nearly as long on film. It’s not necessarily the easiest theme to convey properly but one infinitely easier to do well using martial arts as the catalyst. I’d gather this is one of the driving reasons Keanu Reeves, a…
Rust and Bone, directed and co-written by Jacques Audiard (writer/director of Oscar nominated, “A Prophet”) depicts the slowly developing love story of Stephanie (Marion Cotillard, “The Dark Knight Rises”) and Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts, “Bullhead”) who, despite being an unlikely pairing, form a bond through tragedy and life’s misfortunes. When Stephanie is first introduced she appears…
I can hear it now, the all encompassing theme to “Rocky” — “Gonna Fly Now.” Whenever, I hear that music I get goose-pimples all over my ass. And after five installments of the “Rocky” franchise, that’s about all that gets me excited about the movies anymore. Needless to say, most of the sequels have been…
