Isis Rising: Curse Of The Lady Mummy Movie Review

Crossing over into her first "mainstream" film, popular, exotic, adult movie star Priya Rai tries to expand her fan base and explore new horizons in Isis Rising. Priya's adult films often include a few moments of  "scene scenario" acting. For research purposes, of course I sampled a few of them prior to this review, ok many, whatever haha.

Isis Rising's opening sequence almost mirrors the first 'Mummy' film, where a ultra sexy Patricia Velazquez, gets caught up in a love triangle that ends up in murder. Most of the rest of the movie takes place in the present day, in a museum, with the contents of the tomb being explored, by a handful of students and a professor.

Priya portrays the lead character Isis, although, Isis appears as a ghost, and breathes spirit breath into various students, forcing them, by spell, to collect body parts to raise Osiris, her ancient, murdered lover. Actually Ms Rai has kind of a smaller role then I anticipated, especially given top billing. She only appears for brief moments scattered throughout 'Isis Rising', which focuses on the students in the museum, deciphering the ancient artifacts. Priya fits the description of the salacious title character Isis, she is beautiful, and has a devious smile.

The acting in 'Isis Rising' is typical B-movie, a bit more overly dramatic than necessary. Supposedly the film is supposed to be a somewhat of a horror-comedy, maybe it was intentional, or perhaps just due to inexperience with the young cast. None of the performances detracted from the film, in fact reading trough the credits, Lisa Palenica takes on a quadruple role in the production of Isis Rising. Palencia, wrote, directed, starred, and is a producer on the project, a daunting task to be sure. 

Sadly though, the film is rather predictable, the plot follows too closely to 'The Mummy', and several other films in the 'raised from the dead genre'. The special effects, definitively due to budget limitations, distract from the story, and perhaps it even would have been better to have more of the effects laden scenes to be implied, happening off-screen. 

Overall, I know the cast and crew of 'Isis Rising' tried hard, it is excruciatingly difficult to make a feature film on a shoestring budget, with an inexperienced cast and crew. I give the film a 5 out of 10, a rent for B movie fans. Also check out the Tomcat films website, the seem to have a myriad of films in various stages of production, in several genres @ http://tomcatfilmsllc.com/

Man Of Tai Chi Movie Review

Above Picture: Poster of Man of Tai Chi 


Hard to believe that it has been nearly 15 years since The Matrix was unleashed on the world. That film solidified Keanu Reeves as an action star, surprisingly, however, after two somewhat tepid sequels, he was relegated to a variety of lower profile material. Man of Tai Chi represents a leap of for the nearly 50 year old actor into uncharted territory  directing. The daunting task of wearing two hats, (Reeves stars as Donaka Mark, a ruthless underground fight promoter) on a production is difficult, especially when the production takes place in China and English is your native language.

Above Pic: Reeves as Donaka Mark, a stoic businessman. (C) 2013 Village Roadshow Pictures

Man of Tai Chi opens very brutally with an underground fight taking place and the winning fighter stopping just short of maiming or killing his opponent, he is ordered by Donaka Mark (Reeves) to "finish him", when he refuses, not only is his opponent killed by Mark wearing a black face mask, but Mark later dispatches the winning fighter, calling him a coward while stabbing him! Keanu is his usual self, stoic, expressionless, and unemotional, but for his ruthless villain character, it works to some extent.

Above Pic: Karen Mok says "This isn't About Fighting" HAHA! It is about fighting! (C) 2013 Village Roadshow Pictures

Hot on the trail of this underground fight organization is Sun Jingshi, portrayed by Karen Mok. She is trying to look for an angle to break up the ring. Jingshi is a no-nonsense Hong Kong policewoman, leading the investigative team against Donaka. Karen is a long time veteran of a variety of HK action and dramatic films, and her performance in Man of Tai Chi represented a willful determination, breathing life into the "cop" role, often portrayed as a bumbling, unsympathetic character.

Above Pic: Tiger Hu Chen demonstrating his handy-work (C) 2013 Village Roadshow Pictures

The real star in Man of Tai Chi is Tiger Hu Chen. He portrays the title character of Chen Lin Hu, Man of Tai Chi. His character is pulled in several directions. His hi stress job as a priority package delivery guy, he is constantly being pressured by his boss. Chen tries to focus his energy to Tai Chi, delivered artfully by his master Yang, played by Yu Hai. Hai serves as a grounding point, later in the film his temple is threatened by demolition, and Tiger feels obligated to help financially. Finally his longtime girl/fiance Qingsha, played wistfully, caring, and innocently by Qing Ye. Chen is an excellent fighter, and obviously is working hard to potray the difficult character, with a few more films under his belt his acting ability should be on par with his fluid fighting ability.

Although the underground fight film has been beaten like a rented mule lately, Man of Tai Chi tries, somewhat to portray the inner struggles of a fighter as he turns from honor to greed. To save his master's temple Chen turns to Donaka Mark, who promises him a high paying 'security job'. In the first part of the film a car is sent to pick Chen up, he goes all be it reluctantly. Near the end Chen revels in the fight game, and the audience never really knows if it is the fighting or the money he likes more.

Where Man of Tai Chi excels is in most of the fights and filming. Although it does appear a few of the fights were cut down to achieve the 101 minute running time, this film offers far more fight action than the average American  film. With longtime choreography veteran Woo-Ping involved in the fight mix get ready for some solid action in Man of Tai Chi. My minor complaint is that there is some wire work in some of the fights and none in others, either way I wanted to see a bit of consistency. Several fighting styles are represented, which is a plus, along with the creative angle camera work, made for enjoyment for the action in Man of Tai Chi.

Due to the fact that Man of Tai Chi had a bit of a larger budget, the scenery and fight locations were more creative and opulent than the standard gritty underground fight club film. For one of the fights Chen was helicoptered to this floating barge, where a luxury club had been set up for patrons to watch his fight. Hiring a sexy female fight announcer also added a bit of flare to Man of Tai Chi. Normally I try to stay away from minor characters, unless important to the film, but having an actual onstage announcer for the main fights is a wise choice. Helene Leclerc exudes sexiness, with her looks and commanding speaking voice, she pushes the Man of Tai Chi pre-fight build-up to a crescendo. 

Above Pic: Helene Leclerc brings a bit of sexiness to the announcing role, thank goodness Michael Buffer never wears an outfit like that! (C) 2013 Village Roadshow Pictures

Overall I liked Man of Tai Chi, despite the minor quips of some of the fight scenes being cut, some wooden acting, the underground fight-club plot being played out, and the back and forth between English and Chinese language being used throughout. The film is a wall to wall fight-fest that should please any action junkie,  I give Man of Tai Chi a solid 7 out of 10. 

"Epic Chick Fight" A Parody of Family Guy's Epic Chicken Fight!!!! Feathers Will Fly!

Above Photo: Jessie Graff and Tree O'Toole promo photo for Epic Chick Fight!

YES! You heard it! Several top flight stunt people in Hollywood, including Debbie Evans and  are attempting to do a live action, yes live action short, Called Epic Chick Fight, a parody based on this video, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4WGQmWcrbs

The are not actually looking for the Space Shuttle, although that would be freakin' awesome. Just $2,800 is their goal to cover expenses, as this has to be a short fan film. However if the group collects more it will be epic! The two main combatants are Jessie Graff as Ernesta the Genetically Modified Chicken, and Tree O'Toole who will be portraying Petra Griffen. They have started a flexible funding campaign at on indiegogo @ http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/epic-chick-fight?c=home

Above Pic: Promo for Epic Chick Fight! Ernesta smacks Petra!

This is the description for the film, check this out: 

Professional stuntwomen/actresses Jessie Graff and Tree O'Toole do a live action parody of the Family Guy Epic Chicken Fight.  In true "Family Guy" style, these 2 women will beat the snot out of each other while tumbling from one ridiculous scene to the next, destroying everything in there path.  Expect brutal fighting, broken windows and walls, tackles, high falls, car hits, and wipe-outs!  The best stunt performers in the business are volunteering their time.  All we need are locations, insurance, and things to smash!  This rumble is going down no matter what, but the more funds we collect, the more spectacular it will be!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/epic-chick-fight?c=home

Any amount is ok, over $20 gets a film credit, $500.00 gets the chicken dress, and 2,000 gets the 2001 stunt toyo! Also they are looking for items to smash, so like them on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/EpicChickFight?fref=ts

Ok now support this, or be like a mother-clucker and lay an egg, haha!

New Civil War Movie Copperhead Coming To Theaters!

Merchandise from the movie Copperhead was provided as compensation for this post.

Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation Movie Review Happy Halloween!

Update 10-31-13 Happy Halloween! I recently watched a newer screener of the film and have amended my earlier assessment. I made the change and reccomended Scarlet Samurai is a purchase. The additional finishing touches are solid and enhance the film.
One of the great pleasures of being an independent writer, is being able to review films which have yet to be sold to a distributor. The film-makers are often forced to wear many hats on the production, sometimes toiling away for years until a finished product is reached, and at times, the film still barely sees the light of day.

Tara Cardinal wears several hats in Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation. Tara is credited as the director, writer, and also plays two characters in the film. Sean Wyn has many diverse jobs on the production, including: visual effects, editor, and wardrobe, in addition to acting.

Scarlet Samurai opens with sisters Feng and Ikari (both portrayed by Tara Cardinal) Ikari is failing in college and has not shown up for school in a few weeks and professor Harrison comes over to the house to check up on her. Harrison says that her family will have to pay back the scholarship money unless she passes. Harrison comes up with a unique idea since she is an archaeology major, a field trip to a haunted Buffalo terminal, to record and document the findings.

Above Pic: Michael, Ikari, Tavi, and Becks all explore Buffalo Central Terminal.

Eventually Ikari and a small group of explorers set out to find out about the mysteries of the terminal. A teacher's assistant named Lindsey (Catherine Scrivo), Ikari's old lover Becks (Alicen Holden), who is also failing, and yes, ex lesbian lovers, and Tavi (Patricia M. Dunn) , a women who also trains with Feng are all along for the journey. To photographically document their explorations Michael (Justin Irwin) is the lone male in the group. I do like that the film does explore the lesbian angle, and the fact that the lone male in the group is a cross-dressing guy. This reflects the open attitude of today's society, that people are not the white picket fence perception of reality like in the 1950s.

The exploration of Buffalo Central Terminal occurs a few minutes into the film, and at many turns, reveals gnarly souls,who are scrounging around in the shadows. Scarlet Samurai, plays like an action horror film, though the pace which the film progresses is not frantic, which might have been better for some parts. Although we don't learn much about the lead characters in the beginning of the film as the journey through the  terminal takes place, their individual traits are revealed, through some truculent, and often humorous banter. The monsters are lost souls from a fire disaster on the 17th floor many years back, and they are condemned to live out this hell stuck in the terminal for eternity.

The monsters become more aggressive as the film moves into the second act. Apparently they have some kind of poison, which renders the victims immobilized. Obviously, small defenseless women are easy prey, or are they? Tara Cardinal's alter ego type twin, Feng, is a sword slinging wild woman, with fire red hair, haha The Scarlet Samurai. 

The original print of Scarlet Samurai I watched was a "work in progress" Cannes Screener, and finishing touches were still being applied. This 10-31-13 review adds in the new print of the film and additional screen captures! The acting and scene set up are quite good for an indie film, and all the elements of story are also present. Monsters, bad attitude, outlandish costumes, samurai swords, and a very cute lead actress, makes for a rather unusual and entertaining 90 minute outing, which should do well in the DTV market. I rate Scarlet Samurai: Incarnation a 7 out of 10, worthy of a purchase.

For more info, slice your browsers over to the official Facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/ScarletSamuraiIncarnation?fref=ts