Godzilla vs a Giant Dragonfly and a Black Hole Weapon. Honestly, sounds a lot more exciting than it was.

In this story, Godzilla didn’t die in 1954, only re-appearing in 1966 and 1996. It’s the same rubber suit from Godzilla 2000 though the stories don’t appear to be linked.

The scientists can’t figure out why Godzilla resurfaced after Japan went to completely clean energy sources eschewing nuclear and plasma energy. We as viewers know that Godzilla doesn’t come rampaging into town without a reason, but the afore-mentioned scientists decide to build a logic defying black hole weapon that is fired from space. I’m no scientist, but the “logic” behind a 2-meter black hole fired from a satellite would be enough to send real scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson on his own rampage.

I don’t need a rehash of Japan’s role in WW II and the US nuclear testing in the Pacific, but I do need a character to have a critical eye toward the bonkers deadly high tech they created to deal with Godzilla-a miniature black hole weapon fired from space that would contain him in another dimension? Forget Godzilla, think of the damage that such a weapon could cause to the planet or against other people, especially if something goes wrong or it’s enhanced. It’s the same dangerous hubris that caused Godzilla and his buddies to be created yet that point is completely ignored in this movie. Where is Dr. Serizawa when you need him? Godzilla didn’t come into town doing the Monster Stomp for no reason, better check out the secrety secrets going on with this version of the G-Force.

The miniatures were fine, there were creative miniature underwater scenes, and an aircraft that defied the laws of physics. The mix of regular scale, miniature scale, and CGI didn’t always transition smoothly but it was less jarring than other aspects in this movie.

One of the things I like about Godzilla movies is that there is usually a female character featured, sometimes sadly they are the reckless female reporter or someone added for scream affect. Kiriko was cold and emotionless and out for revenge against Godzilla, but a step up from said reckless reporter that has to be rescued type. Kudo, the tech geek was cute if not a great thinker outside of his inventions. I didn’t find the humans particularly interesting and honestly couldn’t root for them as they sought to kill Godzilla when it was their recklessness that caused him to attack in the first place. And any group stupid enough to unleash black holes as a weapon really needs to be eradicated. My loyalty is with Big G on this one.

A test black hole created a wormhole which let through Godzilla’s and Earth’s next foe---a giant dragonfly and/or egg. Again, no one asked whether the danger of using the weapon, letting something worse than Godzilla in, might be reason enough to not use it. While Megaguirus made a devious villain, the queen dragonfly didn’t get much screen time and neither did Godzilla. Her minions, the meganulon or smaller dragonflies made an appearance until Big G played Kaiju bug zapper to them. (They looked like the creatures from the original Rodan which killed a bunch of humans and also made a tasty treat for the hatchling Rodan.)


Aside from disregarding Godzilla’s past and the completely ridiculous pseudo-science, this movie made the cardinal sin of making me look at my watch wondering when it would be over. There wasn’t enough action or enough compelling human stories to keep my attention for much of the movie. Godzilla initially being swarmed by a bunch of the plane-sized dragonflies is annoying, I get it. How many times have I wished that I could fry mosquitos with my mind when they come after me? It took too long to get to the real menace and the real action. Once it did, the movie picked up but by then it was mostly over and the human’s smug use of an abomination of a weapon was all that was left.

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This was an interesting short film about an office worker who discovers the Sleep Bank in his dreams. Frustrated, exhausted, overworked and spending most of his days and nights at the office he takes out a sleep loan. What could possibly go wrong?

Bank of Seoul touches on the long hours salary men put into their jobs and how their lives, bodies, minds, and families suffer because of it. With the gift of not needing sleep and with the help of the Korean version of Red Bull he works around the clock to succeed and gain the promotion that had always seemed out of his grasp. Of course, the genie never gives a gift for free--what happens when the bill is due?

Most of the story centers directly on Seong Jae, played by Park Hee Soon. He gives a quiet performance of a man pushed to the edge of desperation and obsession.

The film is dark, both in mood and cinematography. Most of the shots are at night or under the cold glare of fluorescent bulbs.

Forty minutes was just about the right amount of time to tell Seong Jae's story as he and other sleep debtors strove to succeed and survive in a never ending night.

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I thought I should give a contrasting opinion to the glowing reviews for those who might have had a different experience with this film as I did. I might have liked this movie more if I was familiar with the source material, especially in relation to the characters. Without a background in it, I found the characters to be underdeveloped and the plot overly complex with big plot holes in it. The movie relied heavily on CGI to carry the story along. If Chen Kun and Shu Qi hadn't starred in this movie I would have rated it lower, but they are two of my favorite performers which gave this movie a bump in the score.

I've seen reviewers compare it to Lord of the Rings and Indiana Jones. The plots in those films were laid out more clearly than this one and the characters were more fully developed. Though they relied on CGI and mythology they were also character driven. In this movie, Shu Qi's character felt plopped into the story with no background of where she came from, what her skill sets were, and much of anything about her except that she had been in a complex intimate relationship with Chen Kun's character. They dressed her like Lara Croft, but instead of being a badass she more often than not ended up at the mercy of someone else. We're given plenty of flashback scenes of Chen Kun's relationship with Angelababy which felt thin instead of like an epic or all consuming story of innocent love that would have haunted him for twenty years. It was strange to have all the romantic flashbacks while they are trying to make me care about his bickering relationship with Shu Qi. Sometimes I can just go along for the ride even when the story is all over the place but this was not one of those times. I didn't care for the side kicks at all, finding them more annoying than funny. The villains were completely lacking in spark for me as well as all the red shirts (Star Trek reference). And time and time again most of the characters behaved in illogical manners that caused many of the dangerous situations. Without their reckless behavior I suppose there wouldn't have been the opportunity for all the moments of once again escaping death with spectacular special effects.

The special effects were actually pretty good and there were plenty of scenes where they pulled out all the stops to display them. I just wish that I'd cared enough about the characters to feel a sense of tension when they were running for their lives or dangling by a thread. I don't mind the old tropes of booby trapped tombs, swarms of ravenous creatures, and buildings crumbling apart, just give me some people to care about as they save the world from destruction---again.

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What happens when scientists discover a planet hiding behind Jupiter that is home to Ghidorah and a bunch of devo sunglasses wearing aliens? Unfortunately, not a lot.

I would only recommend this movie to completionists or people who enjoy early 1960's sci-fi movies. When Godzilla does a little dance after a fight and uses his boxing method, there's also little doubt this movie was not made for adults.

Godzilla and Rodan have almost nothing to do until the last three-tenths of the movie. Most of the movie explores the story of the aliens attempting to take over Earth which might not have been so bad if they hadn't tried to overtake humans by boring them to death. There was a plot to use Godzilla and Rodan in their conquest, but let's be honest, Godzilla moves pretty slowly, it was going to have to be a long game. The plot was thin and convoluted even for a Godzilla film from this era right up to the ending. A thin plot can often be overcome by some interesting monster action. Even in that area this movie failed as parts of the action scenes were recycled from earlier movies.

I may be a Big G fan but even grading on a curve like I do with all of his movies, this one was disappointing.

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Relentlessly dark and tragic, Killer Constable lives up to its name. Chen Guan Tai gives a strong performance as the constable who plays judge, jury, and executioner to those he is called upon to hunt down. Few characters are likeable and those character s who are learn at a terrible price why the Killer Constable is so ruthless.

The action choreography is not intricately laid out. The early fights were done at night making it almost impossible to see the action. Instead of it feeling claustrophobic, it was more frustrating. This is an ugly hack at each other with swords with blood spewing and body parts flying kind of fighting. Fire is used in some fights and bodies are shown badly burned. It’s a war of vicious attrition between the handful of constables and the seemingly endless supply of bandits. I fully expected KC to cry out a quote from another movie, “Worse! How could it get any worse? We’re at the threshold of hell!”

KC may have been self-righteous, loyal to his superiors and men, and utterly ruthless to his enemies, but his true enemies knew that and used it against him. In his narrow view of the world, he completely missed who the real enemy was.

I thought Ku Feng gave a particularly sympathetic performance as the father of a blind daughter who is being hunted by KC. Chen Guan Tai conveyed a range of emotions as an obsessive constable doing his duty, as a man who cares for his men and also as a man who tastes the bitter bile of betrayal. Director Kuei Chih Hung and writer Szeto On were able to make me care about these two characters who were not easy to care for.

While I can appreciate how this movie tried to show the bleak suffering of the times, I can’t say I particularly enjoyed it. I enjoyed the performances I mentioned. I prefer the lightning fast and well-choreographed fight sequences in other martial arts movies better than these slower fights. Without a clear-cut hero to root for or characters who are on screen long enough to be invested in them, I found myself unable to connect emotionally to most of the characters. Having said that, I can see why some people really like this movie and its bleak message, if you are a fan of martial arts movies, especially from this time and from this director, it is worth giving a try. For me, though a movie I’m not sorry to have watched, it’s one I won’t revisit.

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Shanghai Fortress had pretty special effects, but they forgot to show us the most important part about an alien invasion-the aliens!

We are told somehow, somewhere, someway humans found a magical alien crystalline energy source in outer space and it transformed human society. We are told some alien Big Bads decided they wanted it and started attacking the earth. We are told about major cities being devastated world wide. We are told about loving longings between characters. We are told about friendships between characters. Another important thing this movie forgot---showing is more important than telling.

I found it utterly impossible to emotionally connect with any of the characters. Shu Qi is a beautiful and talented actress who was given the job of standing around looking at a monitor and giving orders. The four young pilots featured didn't have enough charisma or meaningful interactions with each other to have me invested in their lives or even remember who they were half the time. The rest of the cast acted in such a reserved manner as to feel almost lifeless.

Much of the CGI was good, even if the part of the alien spaceship they showed looked suspiciously like the ship from Independence Day. Too bad they forgot the part where we were shown what the actual aliens looked like from that movie, to make the battles seem even more personal and real. In Shanghai Fortress with all the amazing weaponry the humans had developed to combat the aliens, I'm at a complete loss why they still fought the alien robots on the ground using ineffective bullet shooting guns. There were several plot developments that made no sense.

Sometimes I can check my brain at the door and just enjoy the ride if the characters are compelling enough but this felt more like a hologram that was all visual with no substance.

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Come Drink with Me is considered a wuxia classic and it did not disappoint. This is the movie that set the bar for future martial arts movies that often was not met during this era.

The characters were well rounded and even the supporting cast had weight and depth to them. The main leads had proper character development, unlike many cardboard cut-out characters from other martial arts movies.

Cheng Pei Pei was only 19-years-old and already she showed she could carry a movie. Though she lacked in fighting experience her grace and steely gaze made her character someone to be reckoned with when she drew her blades. A truly strong female lead who faced danger head on and dispatched her enemies on her terms. Yueh Hua was convincing as the Drunken Cat and leader of the beggar children who always showed up when needed and fought without fighting for the most part.

If I had one complaint, it was the number of musical scenes. I had to keep in mind that the songs were a subterfuge and means of passing along messages which would have made more sense to me the first time it happened if the copy I watched had subtitles for the songs.

The fight scenes were crude compared to later movie sword-fights but this was cutting edge at the time. Pei Pei's fight scenes were often stylized and dance-like, maybe not realistic but beautiful. Camera angles enhancing the actors' movements as well as attachment for the characters' well-being kept the fights interesting and also moved the story along. The story was well-written and was surprisingly well-layered.

The cinematography, sets, and costumes were definitely a notch above many of the wuxia movies from the time and even those that followed.

Come Drink with Me is an entertaining and well made movie, a worthy grandmother to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and other movies which benefited from it's storytelling.

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Chivalrous Forever is a low budget 2021 wuxia film featuring a swordswoman. A badass female lead is usually all it takes to perk my interest, however, this movie led me into a trap of mediocrity.

Most of the cast does a decent job of acting. The female lead gave it her all throughout the film and committed herself to the role. There were others who seemed to be reading their lines.

The biggest problem was with the production values. The first 10-15 minutes weren't bad. The cinematography and fights were okay. Then the quality plummeted. Some of the costumes and wigs were downright awful. The evil Japanese couple seeking to steal the list of corrupted officials from the swordswoman and the man she was protecting had wigs that looked like they came out of a bad comic strip. They tried speaking Japanese at one point and then gave up and went back to Mandarin. The evil eunuchs laid it on thick with the high pitched voices to the point it sounded like they'd breathed in helium before some scenes began. I rarely notice music unless it's really bad or really good. I noticed the music in this movie and it wasn't really good.

The movie played out like a wuxia sketch show complete with errors that no one bothered to correct. At one point an unconscious character lying in the road rolled away to avoid being hit by a carriage and then went back to being prone. The sword fights were slow, very slow and badly choreographed. Quite honestly, I laughed out loud several times during the movie at scenes that were not supposed to be funny.

Despite all the errors and bad fight choreography, there was an interesting story hidden beneath the rough appearance. The movie played out in earnest with many heroes and bad guys falling. Normally, I would have scored a modern movie of this quality lower, but because a swordswoman was prominently featured I gave it a little bump because a woman with a sword is my weakness. Unless you are looking to watch a very low budget wuxia you might want to give this one a pass.

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I am a big fan of Godzilla movies, especially the older ones. Having said that this movie failed to keep my attention for most of it. There were a couple of places so utterly ridiculous that I did crack up laughing, but much of the movie dragged for me.

Once again, aliens are looking to take over the earth using monsters to help them defeat Godzilla and the puny humans. In this movie they summon King Ghidorah and Gigan, two formidable enemies. Their base is a children's theme park with a Godzilla tower supposedly to promote peace but like Nick Fury said in The Avengers, we know they mean the other thing. The humans working against them are an oddball bunch including a clutzy, inept manga artist, his black belt girlfriend, a weird hippie guy and a scientist and his sister.

The funniest and most surreal bit in the movie is when the good guys get hold of one of the alien computer tapes and play it. They can't figure out what it means but Godzilla and Angilas hear it on Monster Island. Using cartoon bubbles, Godzilla asks Angilas to go check it out and they have a short "conversation". It happens again later in the movie as well. Weird even for a Godzilla movie.

After KG and Gigan stomp through Tokyo, Big G and Angilas enter a tag team match with them. The movie intertwines clips from earlier movies and they don't always mesh very well. I'm all for the monster grappling matches but this had to be one of the longest ones in Godzilla history and honestly, was a little boring. Angilas was pretty useless as a partner and Godzilla spent most of his time on the ground and seemed to forget he had that destructive atomic breath. Godzilla's design and size also didn't seem formidable reflecting how ineffective he was for much of the movie.

Godzilla vs Gigan had it's entertaining moments, too bad they came few and far between.

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The 8 Diagram Pole Fighter or Does Anyone Know a Good Dentist?

Famously known as the film Alexander Fu Sheng died while filming, in a car accident off set. The script had to be re-worked leaving him out of the final fight scenes.

The themes of loyalty, family, honor and betrayal are woven throughout the movie. Out of seven sons, only two survived a betrayal by a family friend and ambush. One was driven mad and the other hid in a Buddhist temple and refined his pole fighting skills. The mood is bleak and dark throughout the film as the surviving family members seek justice and revenge.

I look forward to movies directed and choreographed by Lau Kar Leung. His fights are always fast and creative. Brutal, too. Gordon Liu is a gifted fighter and with every film of his I see I am more and more impressed. The pole sparring session between Liu and Phillip Ko Fei is not to be missed. Not to be outdone, Kara Hui shines as the sister who has to fight through her own ambushes and entrapment on her way to find her brother. The final fight is a bit gruesome as the monks practice their non-lethal moves that extract an opponent’s teeth. The action is almost non-stop from the opening credits to the end.

The story didn’t move me as much as I hoped it would. The fight scenes were, however, spectacular and worth watching this movie for.

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This movie changes some of the traditional Godzilla legend. Instead of the American atomic bombs empowering Godzilla, this time it's the souls of all who perished at the Japanese war machine's hands. Ghidorah, who is usually a world destroyer, instead plays a Guardian along side of Mothra and Baragon. The unlikely trio's job is to guard the homeland, but not the people.

Once again we have a plucky female heroine, this time the intrepid reporter, Yuri. More often than not she ended up playing the damsel in distress in need of rescuing no matter how brave and spunky the writers intended her to be. Alongside the guardians, the humans led by Yuri's father, have also developed a weapon they hope will put an end to Godzilla's reign of destruction.

Instead of random, almost unseen people getting killed, Godzilla's victims are often shown close up or are characters who have been introduced. There are real stakes with the humans' and guardians' lives. Godzilla has returned to being the terror that he was in 1954. The monster fights are actually quite good and entertaining as each Guardian does their best to take down Godzilla. Once the action starts around thirty minutes into the movie, it never lets up. Overall, this was an entertaining kaiju movie.

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An interesting slice of life movie which used mostly non-actors in the telling of this story. The cinematography was beautiful, centering on the rice paddies, mountains, and village where A Qiu, a 12 year-old girl, lives with her grandparents and brother. The story of A Qiu and her dreams of a life beyond her village revolves around the life cycle of the rice they plant and harvest.

Her mother wants her to find a husband who lives in the valley where they are able to get two harvests a year and attain slightly greater wealth and stability than the one harvest they are limited to in the mountains. A Qiu desires so much more for her life and studies hard to be eligible for a quality secondary school. She knows that education is the opportunity for a life not tied to the rice paddies. Unfortunately, that education costs more than the little family has to spare.

Without being overly dramatic the film shows how precarious life and dreams are when the cost of education can be too high when measured by grains of rice.

I enjoyed this film largely because of the family unit who worked together and looked after each other. The score and loving shots of the characters and land wove together with the narrative to make a compelling, spare film about life, family, and dreams.

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Back in his bad boy days when Gojira would roll into town looking to stir up trouble by knocking over some buildings and crushing the local citizens, the people would call on Mosura to help them out.

I enjoyed this movie, it's one of the last Mothra movies to be aimed at adults as well as children. Later, the movies became obviously aimed at kids.

The miniatures were good and Godzilla was given a menacing face to make sure you knew he was the bad guy in this tale. I did worry a little for the actor inside when it looked like his costume caught on fire!

Mothra was at the end of her life cycle and her appearance showed it. Though ragged around the edges she was still her graceful, mystical, environmentally conscious self even if she was not at the top of her game.

The twin Shobijin fairies were once again played by the Peanuts, singers from the 1960's. Mothra's besties always know when to call on her for help and when to encourage her.

There was a rather lengthy subplot about greedy investors wanting to use Mothra's egg that washed up during a typhoon as a tourist attraction, but we all know the main attraction was watching the two leads fight! The fights were short but effective and a reminder to never underestimate a Butterfly.

These movies were made before CGI and you have to let your mind travel back into a simpler movie time to enjoy it. But enjoy it I did.

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Ashes of Time is a highly stylized Wuxia Western featuring an all star cast. The themes of love, loss, memory, regret, and redemption are played out in a tiny run-down inn/tavern in the middle of the desert run by Ouyang Feng. Swordsmen and swordswomen and the people who love and left them deal with their feelings, losses and the band of bandits that seem to go on forever.

There are times this film tries too hard to be "artistic" and other times it succeeds. The fight scenes are blurry using a slide-show technique I wasn't overly fond of because it was nearly impossible to tell what was going on. Other times the grainy colorization worked and was beautiful.

Most of the characters are dealing with the consequences of the bad choices they've made or the problems created by inaction. Only one character seems to overcome this dilemma by making choices that guide him away from being simply a cold-blooded killer and able to love as well.

Yo Yo Ma does a great job of re-imagining Frankie Chan's original score from the 1994 movie. The music enhanced the scenes and the emotions being played out.

This film can be confusing as the characters' faces are often half-hidden and the story doesn't always play out in chronological order, making heavy use of flashbacks. I honestly need to watch it again to make better sense of the story.

Ashes of Time is often thrown into the love it or revile it category because of it's different artistic take on the classic wuxia tales. If you enjoy wuxias it's worth a try, you might be pleasantly surprised.

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If you are in the mood for a movie with--an assassin disguised as a tree and another who hides underground; cannibalism; explosive go pieces, baskets, and peacock feathers; poisoned blades, darts, food, drinks, creeks and incense; people cleaved in half and blown up; people literally disarmed; a human chess battle (long before Harry Potter); and almost non-stop sword action and kung fu this might be for you.

Lo Lieh isn't dressed in black as usual but a fashion conscious lord of some sort. Fast swordsman but not exactly the sharpest blade in the drawer. Ti Lung is fast and smart. Good thing because they have to fight for their lives against greater forces from beginning to end. Few people are who they seem to be and betrayals abound. As do plot holes. It seems like everyone is an assassin in disguise-an old woman, children, women, men, a man with a woman's voice. Hidden underneath the blood and subterfuge is a sad morality tale about power and money. The sets and costumes are top-notch for a kung fu film. It's one of those fun, forgettable kung fu flicks that makes for an entertaining 90 minutes if you don't ask too much from it.

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