Jax C.'s Reviews

Disturbing, deadpan camp horror from Japan. I'd have to say this film has the most realistic anatomical gore that I've ever seen. Surreal!
Review Date: 4/13/2008

Not another Mad Max ripoff, this movie is worth seeing. Well-shot (especially the battlegames), good music, and atmospheric. The plot is character-driven, but a single-track ride, and achieves near-elegance in its simplicity. The filmmakers took the material seriously, and it comes off unpretentious and earnest.
Review Date: 2/8/2008

Bryan Genesse chews up the scenery with relish & mustard as the villain, while Gary Daniels looks grimly annoyed as the protagonist (and somewhat gentler as the twin brother). He has a Dark Secret which is quite sad albeit handled clumsily. Scream queen Barbara Crampton has a decent turn as a scared but resilient woman. The action is really worth seeing at least once, with furious hand-to-hand fights that almost make you feel the punches. I gather the post-apocalyptic wasteland is supposed to be in America, but a mish-mash of accents and atmosphere leave it up in the air (turns out it was South Africa). I've seen worse.
Review Date: 4/28/2018

Firstly, whether this is appropriate for your kid depends entirely on the individual child, you should know what your child is reading/watching/finds scary. I liked it a lot and found some parts very creepy; my friend agreed that if we saw it in 3D we might have screamed (grown women). It's definitely an age group above Nightmare Before Christmas, not only for content but because of the pace. There are parts that seem slow, but it's due to being tethered to Coraline and revealing things from her viewpoint. Much of the action springs from her being bored and isolated, so the audience has to experience some of that.
The stop-motion work is gorgeously macabre and imaginative, and the voices are spot-on. Another reviewer is tired of sassy kids solving all the problems while adult characters are clueless or absent--where have you been, that's the premise of almost any fantasy with a child protagonist or there'd be no story. No Oz, no Alice, Zathura, Spiderwick, Narnia, etc. Lighten up; I still identify with those protagonists and I'm almost 30. Coraline's love for her parents gives her the courage to face a very powerful wicked force, and to forgive her mom for losing her temper under stress.
Review Date: 4/4/2010

The main feature is about 1 hour long: an intro/interview with Atkins, followed by "behind the scenes" footage taken in the studio during the recording of The Damage Manual's first release, the EP. Personnel at this time included Jah Wobble, Martin Atkins, Lee Frasier, Geordie Walker, and Chris Connelly. See the musicians record, jam, experiment, mess about with a video intercom, and take photos. Meg Lee Chin is seen briefly when she stopped by to visit. Also included:

Damage Dubs -- 4 dub remixes by Martin

Studio Archive -- listen to DM songs and view original recording notes and Connelly's handwritten lyrics.

Music videos -- 2 for Sunset Gun, 1 for Laugh Track (on the Limited Edition LP, but video was assembled from this session's intercom antics)

Live performance -- 2 songs performed @ Double Door in Chicago
Review Date: 4/10/2011

This is the funniest movie! It's like Army of Darkness, on a shoestring. Unlike the brutal, tasteless original Deathstalker, this crew plays for laughs--mostly at themselves. Don't miss the commentary track!
Review Date: 2/13/2008

Another hit-and-miss affair by BCI. By far the best of the bunch is Assassin, a made-for-TV thriller with better-than-average acting and some suspenseful twists and turns.
Hands of Steel also has its moments, and features the inimitable George Eastman as a villainous trucker.
The New Barbarians, also called Warriors of the Wasteland, is a bleak, exploitative ride from wasteland point A to wasteland point B, lent color by imaginative vehicular manslaughter and George Eastman's usual relish for the Machiavelli role. He gets away with some very evil things before the heroes are ready to face him.
I'm not sure why anyone bothered filming Bronx Executioner.
Review Date: 2/5/2008

Had no idea what to expect with this movie...dumb teen date movie, right? Wrong! Very sly, very very funny, and well-acted, it's a wild ride to who-knows-where. GND deals primarily with Matthew's tough choices between looking good to conformist adults and doing the right thing for his conscience. Of course, the x-factor is Danielle--the former porn actress next door is a hell of a curveball for the straight-A virgin. The film refuses to judge and deals very obliquely with the realities of the porn industry and its degradation of women (and men). Matthew is determined to help Danielle start over, but her past has followed her into his sheltered world.
Review Date: 1/16/2008

Giants of Rome: by far the best of the bunch. Richard Harrison's Dirty Dozen in togas.
Ursus: Dan Vadis always tries so hard! He has a beard in this one. Ursus refuses to kill for the Emperor as he has found a new faith.
Duel of the Champions: very serious throughout, as the hero wishes Rome & Alba would both crumble and be forgotten.
Gladiators 7: Richard Harrison again, leading a revolt in Roman-ruled Sparta.
Review Date: 2/1/2008

Judy Lee IS the Iron Phoenix, a police captain who is supposed to be on vacation, but finds the corrupt casino owner Chao Dah abusing her friends and threatening her family. She has to draw on all her skill and training to defeat Chao's mob and clean up the town. Li Tung co-stars as a penniless kung fu fighter hired by Chao as extra muscle, but he soon has second thoughts. Like many of these movies, it starts with a lot of comic relief, then turns serious with tragic encounters and 20 minutes of straight pow-pow-bang-whap. There are some good acting moments when the leads get furious, and good shots during the many fights.
Review Date: 5/16/2017

Looks terrible, right? But I can never switch away when this one is on TV, thanks to a few wicked gags and Kirstie Alley's unabashed hamming. Not to say there isn't some filler and predictability involved, but keep an open mind and it may surprise you. It isn't apparent on the cover, but this is really a (secular) Christmas movie. Give it a shot for some cheap laughs and heartwarming moments.
Review Date: 1/16/2008

In many ways, this movie is terrible...in an awe-inspiring DIY kind of way. The dinosaur animations do come off very well, and the later part of the plot has some parallels to Reign of Fire. What would you do? Hide, and keep finding new places to hide, or face the monster in pitched battle? It's this crucial decision that divides the small band of survivors.
Review Date: 2/1/2008

I don't know where that guy on the cover came from, or the title for that matter, but this is bargain bin gold. This movie is much better than any other low-budget post-apocalypse flick I've seen. Narrow escapes, tragic deaths, and gritty atmosphere carry the viewer through a simple enough plot: Bandits roam the wasteland, terrorizing the settlements. A madman leads his army to conquer what's left of civilization, and a few brave soldiers seek out a way to keep the good guys in the fight.
I fully expected a tasteless spectacle of dumb characters, gratuitous nudity, bad effects, and groan-inducing dialogue. I was wrong on every count!
Review Date: 1/15/2008

Are you afraid of anime? Then start here, because this series actually makes sense! A compelling setup: Years after a devastating war, humans start to develop awesome mutant powers. A totalitarian peacekeeper organization is determined to control or destroy all those who display such powers.
Review Date: 1/15/2008

The usual kung fu antics bring a Chinese protagonist to Japan in search of revenge on the Screaming Ninja. Sumos, dojos, and thieves, oh my! The intense final battle is not to be missed: a long, brutal affair, fought first on top of a moving train and then between 2 raging waterfalls.
Review Date: 1/31/2008

Unforgettably weird characters and intense gunplay make this an edgy, enjoyable action flick, yet Smokin' Aces also has more than its share of gritty, gory moments and moving scenes of private tragedy. The ensemble format (like Go and Ocean's 11) effectively puts the viewer in many places, many pairs of shoes at once, and the result is a wild pinball machine where a dozen human grenades are hurtling on a collision course. Who will be thrown clear, and will there be any pieces left to pick up?
Review Date: 2/17/2008

We enjoyed this movie a lot, with its swashbuckling swordfights, secret passages, and the tirelessly upbeat hero who goes undercover as a myopic city fop.
Review Date: 11/9/2008

I enjoyed this movie when I was a kid--the V'Ger "twist" is pretty jaw-dropping if it hasn't been spoiled for you, and the V'Ger interior special effects were leaps and bounds beyond the TV series. Later came to find that most people considered it boring, and that production was wrapped in a panicked rush, effects shots were missing and the film never even got test-screened. When it was televised, extra footage was often added in, slowing the pace down even further.
32 years later, The Director's Edition remedies much of that, taking a page out of Lucasfilm's book and sprucing up the visual effects in sometimes startling fashion--always to fulfill Robert Wise's original vision. Much of the film has been re-edited for pace and coherence, with newly finished scenes integrated and some molasses removed. The astonishingly emotional Goldsmith score is still intact, but new sound fx flesh out the audio atmosphere. Overall, the tone is still rather sedate, and at times feels like a heavily padded TV episode (which it essentially is), but for me this one holds up better than films V and VI. There are no fisticuffs, and the only time the Enterprise fires weapons is to detonate an innocent asteroid, but not every adventure needs to be Rambo. Ironically, this may be more in line with Roddenberry's original concept of Trek as seen in the "too cerebral" TV pilot.
Review Date: 4/26/2010

Right up there with Star Trek IV The Voyage Home and the 2009 blockbuster, this is a Trek film with mass appeal. Lots of action, lots of laughs, easy to follow plot, great guest cast, impressive special effects. In the Enterprise-E's screen debut, the Borg travel back in time to stop Earth's first warp spaceflight and prevent first contact with the Vulcans--in effect preventing the formation of the Federation and assimilating the whole Alpha Quadrant unchecked. Luckily, this crew knows a thing or two about fighting Borg.
This DVD release is missing all the special features found on the 2-disc Collector's Edition, but has added new ones. The Blu-ray version of this release has all the old and new extras, but if you still do plain DVDs and want the best extras the 2-disc is the one to choose. Some of the new extras are worth seeing, probably the best is the ILM feature, but the new commentary is a real waste of time. The commentators had nothing to do with the making of the film, and aren't very informative or entertaining. The Trek Roundtable is also a "why did I pay for this?" feature. I did like the Academy Briefing but thought it could have been expanded some.
If extras aren't your thing, this release is just fine. The new menu screen is pretty nifty. Hardcore completists will either want both versions or go for the Blu-ray; the rest of us will likely stick with the Collector's Edition.
Review Date: 4/25/2010

I remember coming out of the theater in a daze--I felt like I'd just seen Star Wars for the first time! Action, wit, character development, and a great soundtrack, combined with top-notch visuals make this an experience to repeat. Definitely recommended--either for kids, or to feel like a kid again.
Review Date: 1/29/2008

This is the pilot of the short-lived Showtime Channel show--I would love to see the rest of the series released on DVD. A smart, grim, and suspenseful plot propels a police detective through the future world of Total Recall and Blade Runner.
Review Date: 2/18/2008

Van Damme fans have been getting a vindication of sorts; he's done some compelling acting in Replicant, In Hell, JCVD, and now Regeneration. This film thankfully sweeps all the other sequels under the rug, using only the original as a basis. You really should watch the original first, since no flashbacks are shown.
I applaud the acting, the haunting music, the cinematography that stalks through the incredible Chernobyl environment (shot in an actual abandoned city). The plot isn't over-complicated, but the filmmakers also don't assume the audience is stupid and needs everything spelled out in neon, so they don't brake often for exposition. The only returning roles are Luc and Sgt Scott, and the dark translation of their characters from the first film to this one is incredible. The 2 Unisol scientists are a little hammy. Mike Pyle (in his first role) steals a few scenes, and Arlovski is completely dialed into his role as the Next Generation Unisol (NGU).
While the original is a popcorn action flick with a scifi slant and a lot of humor, this film is unrelentingly grim, with a conscious effort not to seem scifi or futuristic, but to ground the premise in our own reality. There's a car chase and some explosions, but the majority of the action is close combat--hence the casting of so many martial artists. The film tends to beat you up a little, compared to Roland Emmerich's frequent winks, nudges and one-liners. I do miss the comedy, but it would have been inappropriate here and sure didn't help any of the other sequels.
Review Date: 4/19/2010

Fun--one of those old film serials where the hero appears to die at the end of every chapter, then is shown to jump out of danger at the last second. This "Zorro" is a vigilante known as "The Black Whip", who is fighting some corrupt men trying to keep their territory from becoming a US state. If they succeed, they can write their own laws and keep a stranglehold on the money. When the Black Whip falls in battle, his sister takes up the fight both in the public forum and in costume.
The acting is nothing to speak of, especially the villains, but there are a lot of good stunts: fistfights, trashed sets, explosions and high-speed horse/wagon chases.
Review Date: 11/9/2008

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