Guns, Girls And Gambling Movie Review

Above Pic: Poster for Guns, Girls and Gambling. (C) 2012 Incognito Pictures


Not sure how to begin to tackle the mishmash of genres and movie styles that Guns, Girls and Gambling offers. The movie has a mix of Tarantino style humor mixed with violence, with double crosses like in The Sting. Throw in a group of Elvis impersonators, a stolen Hopi Indian Mask, Christian Slater, greedy sheriffs, a Swedish blonde assassin, a seemingly innocent girl next door, and blend together. In 90 minutes, ultimately what comes out, is an odd, eclectic, sardonic mix of Poe and Elvis inspired dialogue, interspersed with violence that is, Guns, Girls, and Gambling.

Guns, Girls and Gambling has one of those, watch the events unfold, then go back and witness what really happened timelines. GX3 as I will refer to it from this point forth opens with an older Elvis impersonator, portrayed by Gary Oldman, waiting for a bus in the middle of nowhere. The bus stops, and while the driver is out taking a link "The blond" assassin clad in black with two guns strapped to her back comes on the bus and shoots him, but the audience is not told why. The opening credits roll then Christian Slater, who does the narrative and plays one of the Elvis impersonators, appears. He is in the process of getting beaten, when the scene shifts to the past, to tell the whole story.

An ancient tribal mask is stolen from the chief's office at the local Indian Casino. The chief of course wants his mask back, and the rest of the film is a frantic search for all the Elvis impersonators, who were given a private suite next to the office. Christian Slater's John Smith character was the only one left in the casino the next day, they accuse him first.

Quite a tall tale, and a somewhat confusing story, on who does what, but as stated before GX3 delivers a decent mix of humor and action. There is a crazy cowboy, played by Jeff Fahey, who adds a western feel. Watch for just about every stereo type being mentioned and lampooned throughout the film.

Above Pic: Helena Mattson (C) 2012 Incognito Pictures Screen Cap: Dan's Movie Report


Although Slater and Oldman do a good job with their characters, I particularly liked Helena Mattsson's work as "The Blonde". She plays her divisive assassin character to perfection, clad in black, complete with stiletto heels. Helena not only looks the part she sounds forceful, along with her devious smile.

One of the main problems I had with the GX3 was the retelling of the plot too many times, almost to pad the film, facilitating a full 90 minute run-time. Another issue is just too many main characters. I mean, 5 Elvis impersonators, 2 corrupt sheriffs, a chief, a cowboy, a girl next door, a "college kid", and a blonde assassin all vying for screen time makes it tough to develop the characters let alone, bother to care about all of them.

Not a bad effort from writer/director Michael Winnnick. Despite of the flaws, GX3 is an entertaining 90 minutes, and the ending, which I will not spoil, has a few interesting twists, that finally tie some of the loose ends together.

Overall I give Guns, Girls and Gambling a 6.5 out of 10 definitely worth a rent.

Super Cyclone Movie Review

Above Pic: Super Cyclone Poster (c) 2012 The Asylum


As a writer and lover of under-ground, sometimes bad, campy movies, I can never understand why people rent movies from The Asylum and then bother to write about them trashing the fact that they are low quality, with bad acting etc. With miniscule budgets of around $200,000 or so, and two week shooting schedules, The Asylum manages to come up with a few amusing projects, don't expect high art, and disappointment will be minimized.

Another off-shoot of The Asylum is they provide an outlet for either upcoming actors or actresses, or ones who have done projects in the past to have an outlet to re-hone their skills. An example of upcoming person is actress Aurelia Scheppers who is in 11/11/11.

In Super Cyclone, TV veteran's Ming Na and Nicholas Turturro are the leads. Sultry Ming-Na plays Dr. Jenna Sparks, and Turturro plays Travis Verdon. The film is directed by Liz Adams who also directed another disaster style film for The Asylum called Air Collision Check review @ http://dansmoviereport.blogspot.com/2012/04/air-collision-movie-review.html

By upping the quality a bit on the CGI the Asylum have managed to create a new niche for themselves in disaster films in 2012. Is this studio quality, the answer is a definite no, but, Super Cyclone is translatable to TV, thus a natural market for SYFY channel type stuff.

A short film description of Super Cyclone not to "spoil" anything: Dr. Sparks warns everyone of the oncoming situation even though they are powerless to stop it. An outlying oil rig provides one of backdrops to the action and headstrong military are brought in to attempt to control the situation. Some odd science ensues, including releasing a massive amount of nitrogen to super-cool the storm to sap it of energy. Apparently this storm was man-made, when an oil rig drilled too deep, let that be a lesson to all men out there never, drill to deep, haha! Man-made efforts to stop the man-made storm. Everyone tries frantically to escape, in typical disaster style. Explosions, high waves and winds ensue, I am assuming my readers get the picture.

Above Pic: Dan's Movie Report Screen Cap of Ming-Na in Super Cyclone (C) 2012 The Asylum


Ming-Na is enjoyable  to watch, even in this Asylum effort. She has an expressive face, natural beauty and a strong speaking voice. Even though she has made her mark on TV in shows like Stargate SGU and E.R.,  Ming-Na has not starred in many feature films since playing Chun-Li in the ill conceived 1993 Street Fighter film.

As for the acting on Super Cyclone, not the worst Asylum has to offer, but I kind of wish there were more realistic emotions from most of the characters involved. Not just upon eminent doom type shots, but throughout the film, sometimes characters had just a blank stare kind of look, also at other times they were overacting, almost screaming their lines. The short shooting schedule on The Asylum films often don't allow for many re-shoots, Super Cyclone looks like a plethora of one-take shots.

Overall, I say Super Cyclone is worth a rent, yeah a bit ridiculous, but fun. The CGI and action make for a somewhat decent movie night rental, I rate the film a 5 out of 10. The first link below is for the Amazon instant video:



Link to purchase the film: (Some sources have it for as little as 8 dollars)

Naked Soldier Movie Review (Hong Kong)

Above Photo: Poster of Naked Soldier (C) 2012 Mega-Vision Pictures


A bit of history about the "Naked" series story-line, no this is not a porn film ha, in fact, ironically the first film was released in 1992, Naked Killer, check IMDB link http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0109412/  The film starred a slinky and violent, feline-like lady named Chingmy Yau. In 2002 a new film Naked Killer was released, effectively launching the career of Maggie Q, and marked one of the final films of HK actress Almen Wong. Fast forward to 2012 Naked Soldier marks a return of sorts to classic late 80s early 90s martial arts chop-socky with a few salacious undertones. I happen to enjoy movies of this type, so before a myriad of negative anonymous comments are posted, read up on other films of this type and draw your own conclusions.

Naked Soldier is a story of revenge and follows the entire series premise is loosely based on the concept of sultry girls programmed at a young age to reject all, and train to become hired killers. By the time the ladies are adults, they are refined sexy and most of the "kills" are either call girl style or sneak up and attack.

Above Pic: Sammo suggests Let's eat out! hmmm! Sammo is #1 in action and mass consumption, haha!

Naked Soldier opens in 1995 with Sammo Hung as a Police inspector CK Long solving a big drug case. Shortly after the case is broadcast on TV, during a family celebration a team of assassins merge on his house and murder his entire family. Long escapes, wounded from the blast. His daughter, is kidnapped and brainwashed, to think the only family she has ever known is Madam Rose's sniper organization.

Fast forward 15 years, the greying Long returns to the force and is once again back collaring drug organizations and his daughter, portrayed by the sexy Jennifer Tse, becomes a ruthless assassin named Phoenix. She is sent one a mission to killer her father.

Above Pic: Towel Fu! A well placed foot, a wrapped up towel, blam, out go villians three times your size.

Although there is some dialogue this Wong Jing film, like most of his earlier films, Naked Soldier is about the action. The fight scenes are tight and very well choreographed, the highlight being the originality. There are several weapon types used, including sai, swords, knives, some cleverly concealed ones, and a towel? Yes a towel! Naked Soldier first in the art of towel-fu haha! The ladies are of course in on the action. Phoenix and Selina, portrayed by a platinum blond Ankie Beilke, have quite a memorable one in the final portion of the film, full of peril on all sides.

Unlike the first two the sexuality in Naked soldier is downplayed except for a scene where there is the towel fu, because it is filmed in a hot tub. Pushing the sexuality a bit to the back allows more time for story and action. Sammo is solid and actually his brand of humor the script even pokes fun at his heaviness. Watch for actor Andy On. Andy had his HK film Debut in Black Mask 2.

Above Pic: Phoenix is ready to dispatch purple clad villains crazy 88s style!

Lighting, camera work and scenery are all well thought out, and intersperse seamlessly into the production of Naked Soldier. Many shot angles are used, above, below, and around the fights, offering a cool perspective on them. Some slow-mo some fast action, Naked Soldier mixes things up to keep things different. This is only Jenn Tse's third film, and overall I think she does a decent job with the acting and the action, she has room to improve of course, and I look forward to witnessing the progression. Her brother is HK film veteran Nicholas Tse.

Overall I really like Naked Soldier, and recommend it as a must buy for martial arts film fans. I rate the film an 8 out of 10. The film is currently available in HK, hopefully a US release date. 

Check out the official Website @ http://www.nakedsoldier-movie.com/

Facebook @ 

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Naked-Soldier%E7%B5%95%E8%89%B2%E6%AD%A6%E5%99%A8/223579017652430

Jennifer Tse Official Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/JennTseTingTing

New Krystal Vee Film "Nighthawks In Bangkok"

Above Pic: Krystal Vee in Nighthawks In Bangkok.


Look for actress Krystal Vee in the new film directed by Kosai Sekine entitled Nighthawks In Bangkok. Krystal is playing a waitress and Shogen Itokazu plays a drifter.

Above Pic: Shogen and Krystal chatting in Nighthawks In Bangkok.


The official site is with the trailer is:  http://www.kosai.info/en/works/english-nighthawks-in-bangkok-official-trailer-english-subtitled

The direct HD vimeo link is @ http://vimeo.com/44145498#

Watch for more news on Nighthawks In Bangkok, as soon as it is available, on Dan's Movie Report!

Actress Lilly Melgar Interview (Exclusive!) (POST #300!!)

Exclusive Photo! Click to wallpaper size! Actually all of the photos in this interview are exclusive!

Update 1-4-13: Lilly Melgar appears on Spanish language show Milena Tu Amiga https://www.facebook.com/MilenaTuAmiga

Above pic: Lilly on Milena Tu Amiga

Sultry and talented, the effervescent Lilly Melgar made a name for herself cast in the award winning daytime soap General Hospital. Lilly takes a turn behind the camera this year, producing and co-directing her first feature film entitled Black Cobra. The 2012 year of action continues, as Lilly takes time out of her busy schedule to chat about Black Cobra on Dan's Movie Report. Hard to believe this is already post number 300!

Describe a bit how you got into  film  and TV acting. How were you cast on General Hospital, if you can remember the audition process.. Is auditioning for daytime soap operas different from movies? 

 I remember being maybe 6 years old and telling people that when I grew up I wanted to be a Charlie's Angel (lol). I didn't realize that meant being an actress at the time :). I realized I wanted to act when I would watch GH and I felt this immense desire to be on that show. So much so that I went on to tell all my friends "when I grow up, I'm going to be on General Hospital!" they'd say, "how are you going to do that?" I'd answer "I don't know ... I just know I'm going to". I officially got into acting at the age of 16. I had won a beauty pageant and an aspiring director graduating from UCLA film school saw me and cast me as the lead in his short film. His film went on to win the the best short film at UCLA that year. After that experience, winning the award and seeing myself on the big screen, I 'knew' it was what I was meant to do. I not only tapped in to my passion for the craft but this experience gave me the confidence to pursue my dream. I went on to do a couple dozen commercials, booked a spanish pilot, a lead in an independent film and screen tested for a couple of soaps. I was seen on one of my commercials and called in to screen test as a host for the very successful Univision music video show "Tu Musica". I was cast and we took the show to number one. I consider this to be the true beginning of my career. A few years later, My friend Ricky Martin who I had met during my time as a vj on Tu Musica, had just been cast to be on General Hospital. I went to see his concert and went backstage to say hello. The producers saw us together and loved our look and chemistry so much that they decided to make us the first latin leading daytime couple in the history of soap operas. My dream had come true :) 

Big changes to go from acting on day time soap like General hospital to wear a producers hat on Black Cobra. How did you decide to begin producing films? Did the demise of many of the daytime soaps lead to your decision.

I got into producing because I had done a few independent films as an actress and was feeling compelled to create my own. Shortly thereafter, my very good friend Stephanie Cheeva shared a script with me and asked me to produce it with her. That became "Black Cobra" :) ... At the time, we had no way of knowing soaps would be going off air so the demise of soaps had nothing to do with my decision. 

Chat about some of the early obstacles you had to deal with prior to the principal photography on Black Cobra. Any unusual Pre-production stories?

A few days before we started shooting we lost one of our leads! Everything was set to start shooting and we were freaking out! Thankfully I work best under pressure and personally called Cary Tagawa in Hawaii and convinced him to do our film. It only took two hours! lol

How about the casting process, I asked the question of Steph, was it easier to work with friends, or more pressure? How about auditioning additional cast members and unusual auditions or stories from that process?

I can only speak for myself of course but I feel it is absolutely easier to work with friends. Good friends that is :). There's established trust, chemistry and respect. It was such a blessing for me to work with Stephanie in particular since we've always had similar taste, a deep bond, incredible trust in each other and a huge passion for the art of acting. It's a beautiful thing to work with people with such integrity. As far as the auditioning process, that went smoothly :)

What about difficulties of finding the proper locations and settings, did the budget constraints alter any of the locations used on Black Cobra?

We were so blessed to get the locations we got. It was truly a team effort and everyone came together and used all our connections to make it happen.

  

Maybe share a funny or unusual story from the filming process of Black Cobra.

There are sooo many! It's funny because we were sooo exhausted by the end of filming that when I read Steph's interview, I didn't even remember that story! lol ... I remember we filmed a few days at my house, and I was going INSANE! EVERYONE came to me for EVERYTHING. I did my best to keep it together but, I finally snapped at a PA when she came and asked me where an extension cord was at for crafts services. I went into a low voice and very slowly stated "I am a 'producer' NOT crafts services. If something is needed for 'crafts services' then go to 'crafts services' and figure it out" .... I'm not quite sure why I'm sharing 'this' story of ALL stories but if you could of felt my frustration and heard my tone .. you may be laughing as well ;)

Did you ever have the desire to be in front of the camera or was Black Cobra strictly a producer role in your thoughts from the start?

It was my first time producing, executive producing and co-directing a film. I felt I had enough on my plate :). 

How about additional producing projects in mind, any ideas?

Absolutely. Working on one with my fiance' about the El Salvadoran war. I noticed you are starring in an independent film called Untold.Untold is based on a true story. It's about a successful entrepreneur waking up to the reality of being a victim of a hate crime, she then begins to have a startling recollection of her childhood stranger abduction, which her family denies. I play her older sister. I am also currently on the Emmy nominated web series "The Bay" which you can view on  www.thebaytheseries.com

Thanks Lilly for the insight. Watch for more from Lilly, exclusively on Dan's Movie Report! Now wipe that smile off your face, and keep reading the #1 independent movie site on the web!