cityonfire.com | Movie News & Developments |
- Buddha’s Palm and Dragon Fist (1980) Review
- New ‘Mad Max Fury Road’ Japanese trailer is pure insanity!
- It’s official: District 9′s Neill Blomkamp is making ‘Alien 5′
- 1990: The Bronx Warriors | Blu-ray (Blue Underground)
- Escape From the Bronx | Blu-ray (Blue Underground)
- Killers | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA)
| Buddha’s Palm and Dragon Fist (1980) Review Posted: 19 Feb 2015 01:37 AM PST  "Buddha's Palm and Dragon Fist" DVD Cover AKA: Roving Heroes By Martin Sandison By the mid to late 70's Taiwanese made kung fu films were exploding, with movies such as The Hot, The Cool and the Vicious leading the way. Buddha's Palm and Dragon Fist is a welcome addition to the genre. Despite the extreme low budgets of Taiwanese flicks, they created some of the absolute classics of of the era including the aforementioned The Hot, the Cool and the Vicious (which Buddha's Palm references in its opening scene) and the genius Green Jade Statuette. The stars of Buddha's Palm are two of the brightest in the genre at the time. Chi Kuan Chun starred in numerous Shaw Brothers classics including Disciples of Shaolin and Shaolin Temple in the early to mid 70's, and went on to star in numerous Taiwanese productions, including directing The Big Rascal. Li Yi Min was one of the most versatile martial artists of the time, and he of course starred in the all time classic Seven Grandmasters, a movie that needs no introduction. Buddha's Palm has a pretty perfunctory plot, that in the grand tradition is an excuse for lots of action. Basically Chi and Li are sent by their master to try and find a killer in a small town, and they encounter lots of martial artists and the main villain, Suen Shu Pau. Li's character is a pretty strange one; he is goofy and mischievous, but beats up and tortures a monk in a bizarrely violent scene. It's a welcome change from the usual predictable character behaviour of old school movies. Chi's character is much more archetypal, the strong silent type who talks with his fists. Both leads have good chemistry and the silly comedy is pretty entertaining. One amusing scene has Li trying to put Chi off training by throwing various things at him, eventually throwing a recently used chamber pot at him! In another scene the two leads have a drinking competition, with Li drinking from an insanely large pot of wine. The fights are choreographed by the film’s villain, Suen Shu Pau, a veteran old school actor who also appeared in numerous Shaw Brothers films of the 70's. It's definitely a case of the fights get better as the film goes along, with some of the early ones lacking in bite and too dance like. Li's acrobatics and kicking are put to the fore, and he comes out with some dizzying stuff. A mid film fight has some brilliant acrobatic kicking in slow motion, despite the rest of the fight being pretty pedestrian. Chi's handwork is as intricate and powerful as always, and he proves his real ability throughout. The end fight is where the action really hots up as our two heroes take on Suen. This sends the shapes fan into pure heaven, with each element completely complimentary. Two uses of wire work really bring in some impact, and the sound effects enhance this greatly. I noticed a rip off from the masterpiece Drunken Master in one piece of choreography, wherein Suen rips off a shred of jacket and punches the same point immediately. It's pulled off with almost the same gusto as Jackie. Unfortunately the movie suffers from a lot of the same problems that dog the old school independent martial arts movie. Namely terrible sound editing, silly dubbing and bad editing. In one scene Chi throws a guy from a balcony on the street, and when he hits the ground Chi is miraculously beside him! As we all know the real fan looks past these to concentrate on the traits that make old school movies so great: the charm, atmosphere and great action. Despite not being up there with the classics, Buddha's Palm has its moments and is an entertaining watch. Martin Sandison’s Rating: 6.5/10 |
| New ‘Mad Max Fury Road’ Japanese trailer is pure insanity! Posted: 19 Feb 2015 12:38 AM PST  "Mad Max Fury Road" Teaser Poster THE MOVIE: George Miller (Mad Max Trilogy) returns to the post-apocalyptic-action franchise that put him on the map. Tom Hardy is taking over the role of Max Rockatansky, formerly played by Mel Gibson. Also starring Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough and Hugh Keays-Byrne. Note: this will be the first Mad Max to incorporate CG elements. Updates: Batch of set photos. | Collider reports that Megan Gale – who almost played Wonder Woman in Miller's cancelled Justice League film – will finally get to team up with the director in Mad Max 4: Fury Road. Director George Miller finally revealed something of a summary via this official press release. Quote: “Mad Max (Tom Hardy) is caught up with a group of people fleeing across the Wasteland in a War Rig driven by the Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron). This movie is an account of the Road War which follows.” | New set photos. | The first look at Tom Hardy as Max. | Production video. | The Playlist reports that Dutch electronic composer and producer Junkie XL (aka Tom Holkenborg) will be doing the soundtrack. Dark Horizons reports that Tom Hardy is going back for more filming. Here’s what he told Flicks and the City: ”[The movie]‘s great. It’s a big old piece; it’s a behemoth of a piece. I’m off there next week to do some reshoots, well not reshoots actually, but doing more. We’re building, building more Mad Maxes, even more spectacular and cool stuff.” | According to EW, Mad Max 4: Fury Road is set to hit theaters on May 15, 2015. The new theatrical date makes it 30 years since Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome was released. Let’s hope it’ll be worth the wait. The Sydney Morning Herald recently interviewed George Miller where he debunked rumors of a Mel Gibon cameo. However, he did mention that Max’s famous Interceptor will appear. As far as the movie, here’s what Miller said: "Our film, luckily after a ridiculous amount of work, is testing extremely well…We're very happy. There has been a lot of doubt about it, [people saying] 'it took so long', but Warners have delayed it until 2015 to go into the top weekend of the year." Director George Miller told EW that the film has very few digital effects, intense action, linear story, very little dialogue and "a chase that starts as the movie begins and continues for 110 minutes." Check out the latest cover of Entertainment Weekly for a Mad Max: Fury Road image, courtesy of EW (via Collider). | New photos from George Miller’s Mad Max Fury Road: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | First poster is here! In addition, here’s the newest official image of Max. | Feast your eyes on 4 action packed posters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Watch the first trailer. So, is Tom Hardy playing the same Mad Max, or is it a completely different and new Mad Max? Here’s what George Miller told Collider: “Yes and no. Yes, of course, it's based on the same character that Mel [Gibson] played… But naturally, Tom brings his Tom Hardy-ness to it. He brings another quality. And the character is different, to some degree, because the story is different. So, it's a yes and no answer. Yes, it's different, but no, he's essentially grown out of the same material.” | New photos reveal Charlize Theron as a one-armed warrior! In case you missed it (shame on you!), catch the latest trailer for Mad Max Fury Road. BREAKING NEWS: Watch the new Japanese trailer! |
| It’s official: District 9′s Neill Blomkamp is making ‘Alien 5′ Posted: 18 Feb 2015 05:58 PM PST  "Alien" Japanese Theatrical Poster Today, writer-director Neill Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium and the upcoming Chappie) took to Instagram to confirm that his next movie will be an Alien (aka Alien 5) film. This exciting news comes a month after Blomkamp shared some “personal” concept art for an Alien movie that had been running around his mind. The artwork – featuring the return of both Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and Corporal Dwayne Hicks (Michael Biehn) – was a warm welcome to fans of the franchise, especially given the acclaim Blomkamp has received for his influential work. We’ll keep you updated on Blomkamp’s Alien 5 as we hear more. Stay tuned! |
| 1990: The Bronx Warriors | Blu-ray (Blue Underground) Posted: 18 Feb 2015 12:59 AM PST  "1990: The Bronx Warriors" Theatrical Poster RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2015 Blue Underground presents the Blu-ray for 1982′s 1990: The Bronx Warriors (read our review), directed by Enzo G. Castellari (Street Law). In a post-apocalyptic New York City, a policeman infiltrates the Bronx, which has become a battleground for several murderous street gangs. 1990: The Bronx Warriors stars Mark Gregory, Fred Williamson, Vic Morrow, Christopher Connelly, “Betty” Elisabetta Dessy and Stefania Girolami. Watch the trailer. Pre-order 1990: The Bronx Warriors from Amazon.com today! |
| Escape From the Bronx | Blu-ray (Blue Underground) Posted: 18 Feb 2015 12:23 AM PST  "Escape From the Bronx" Promotional Poster RELEASE DATE: June 30, 2015 Blue Underground presents the Blu-ray for 1983′s Escape From the Bronx (aka The Bronx Warriors II), directed by Enzo G. Castellari (1990: Bronx Warriors). In Escape From the Bronx, a rag-tag group of people must fight extermination squads amid their ruined city. The film also stars Mark Gregory, Henry Silva, Valeria D’Obici, Giancarlo Prete, Paolo Malco, Ennio Girolami and Antonio Sabato. Watch the trailer. Pre-order Escape From the Bronx from Amazon.com today! |
| Killers | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA) Posted: 18 Feb 2015 12:01 AM PST  Killers | Blu-ray & DVD (Well Go USA) RELEASE DATE: April 7, 2015 Well Go USA presents the Blu-ray & DVD for Killers, a Japanese/Indonesian thriller directed by Timo Tjahjant and Kimo Stamboel (Macabre) – the duo also known as The Mo Brothers – and produced by Gareth Evans (The Raid 2). Killers (read our review) follows a well-dressed serial killer who preys on women in Tokyo, as well as the ruthless Indonesian vigilante he begins engaging in a twisted ‘competition’ with – over the internet! The film stars Kazuki Kitamura, Oka Antara, Rin Takanashi, Luna Maya and Mei Kurokawa. Watch the trailer. Pre-order Killers from Amazon.com today! |
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