Above: Vanguard Poster (C) 2020 CineAsia UK all rights reserved, image not monetized.
Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com readers. Let me preface
this review by saying I am a fan of Jackie Chan's work, yet recently
his prowess and choice of films has suffered significantly. The
movies are passable, barely yet seem to lack the vim and vigor of his
80s and 90s work. The comical aspect and action timing just seems to
lose a step. I am not one to say if he should just produce and direct
films, but maybe it is time to step back and allow the newcomers time
to shine and groom the next wave. Vanguard is sadly a new low in the
Jackie Chan realm. The villains and plot are so poorly executed that
it is not even worth time in this review to describe. Gone are the
timely jokes and high flying action. Very basic plot coupled with
rather boring execution makes for a really bad and bland film. Even
the most ardent fans of Jackie will want to skip this one, no real
redeeming qualities.
Jackie
is a legend in HK action films, yet in recent years the down-slide is
evident. The last great film he made, 'The Foreigner' was serious and
represented a tone not usually seen in a Jackie film. Actually I kind
of wish this was his new style thus leaving the slapstick action in
the past. Ho hum is Vanguard, not funny enough to be slapstick, nor
serious enough to be in the mode of 'The Foreigner' the movie is
really kind of boring and has that, when will it end, I want to shut
it off vibe. I just cannot find anything to like about this film,
rating this a 3 out of 10 is about as generous as I can be.
Trailer:
Vanguard
is set for a On Demand and theatrical release in the UK on January
8th, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on January 11th.
CineAsia Releasing. Pre-Order below:
Greetings
Dan's Movie Report readers. Finally 2021 has arrived! The Paris
International Film Festival
will
take place this February and the event will be held virtually on
Filmocracy website, details will come soon, in the meantime please go
to https://www.parisintlfest.com/
! The Festival will take place February 4th thru the 14th.
PIFF
2021 (Feb 4-14 2021) - Highlights
WORLD
PREMIERE Why Not Choose Love ?, A Mary Pickford Manifesto
(Female Gaze / Mary Pickford Anniversary on Feb 5th)
INTERNATIONAL
PREMIERE, Kiss The Ground (Environment/film green, with Woody
Harrelson and Patricia Arquette, World Premiere at Tribecca)
INTERNATIONAL
PREMIERE Cream (Female Gaze, Valentine’s Special)
EUROPEAN
PREMIERE Bad Candy (Horror Feature hitting 400+ cinemas in the USA in
2021)
WORLD
PREMIERE Invisible Love (Female Gaze, Indochine/Period Drama)
WORLD
PREMIERE Being Mortal (Female Gaze, Mental Health)
PIONEERS
IN SKIRTS European Premiere (Female Gaze, Female Filmmakers)
ALICE
IN PARIS TV SERIES
FEATURE
FILM PREMIERE STATUS
Bring
Change
Invisible
Love WORLD PREMIERE,
Green
Flake, INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Kiss
The Ground INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE,
Tyrants
of Tomorrow Telethon FRENCH PREMIERE
Why
Not Choose Love? A Mary Pickford Manifesto WORLD PREMIERE
Documentaries
For Change
Pioneers
in Skirts, EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Surviving
The Silence, EUROPEAN PREMIERE
The
Prison Within, INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
She
Should Run, PARISIAN PREMIERE
The
Race To Save The World, WORLD PREMIERE
Epic
Stories
Bad
Candy EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Cream,
INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Sum
Of Us, INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Soundtrack
to Sixteen, FRENCH PREMIERE
The
Big Kitty INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
Take
Care (Mental Health)
Being
Mortal WORLD PREMIERE
The
In-Between, EUROPEAN PREMIERE
Marcus
FRENCH PREMIERE
When
All That's Left Is Love, WORLD PREMIERE
Where
Hope Grows INTERNATIONAL PREMIERE
So
many films will be featured including these full length films:
Official
Selection, Features, Paris International Film Festival 2021
Soundtrack
to Sixteen fiction
feature directed by Hillary
& Anna-Elizabeth Shakespeare
Why
Not Choose Love ? A Mary Pickford Manifesto
fiction feature directed by Jennifer DeLia
Pioneers
in Skirts
documentary feature directed by Ashley Maria
Sum
of Us fiction
feature directed by Anthony Meindl
Bad
Candy fiction
feature directed by Scott Hansen
The
In-Between fiction
feature directed by Mindy Bledsoe
Kiss
the Ground
documentary fiction directed by Josh and Rebecca Tickell
When
All that’s Left is Love
documentary feature directed by Marilyn Gordon
The
Race to Save the World documentary
feature directed by Joseph Gantz
Awauta
fiction feature directed by Mile Nagaoka
Where
Hope Grows
documentary feature directed by Linlin Zhu
SURVIVING
THE SILENCE: The Untold Story Of Two Women In Love Who Helped Change
Military Policy fiction
feature directed by Cindy Abel
Invisible
Love fiction
feature film directed by Nancy Hanzhang
The
Big Kitty experimental
feature directed by Lisa Barmby and Tom Alberts
Cream
fiction feature directed by Nóra Lakos
Marcus
fiction feature directed by J.R Poli
Being
Mortal fiction feature
directed by Lily Huo
Green
Flake fiction feature
directed by Mauli B.
The
Prison Within
documentary feature directed by Katherin Hervey
She
Should Run documentary
feature directed by Petra Terzi
Watch for more exclusives coming
leading up to the festival on Dan's Movie Report.
Above image: Poster for Boss Level (C) 2020 Hulu, all rights reserved image not monetized.
Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com readers. I must say,
Hulu is really rising in popularity, especially with many more people
being home. Unlike Netflix and Disney, Hulu does not yet have a huge
library of films and shows to entice new viewers. Of course Hulu does
offer one huge advantage, live TV. Things are going to change in 2021
as Hulu aims to be a bigger player on the streaming stage, starting
with a huge buy of 'Boss Level', giving the service exclusive North
American rights to the film. I am sure that 2021 will see a
heightened competition between the streaming services for eyeballs.
Once the pandemic subsides, I am sure that many viewers will perhaps
limit their streaming services to one or two, perhaps dropping the
ones they watch the least. Please adjust your browsers to desktop mode.
'Boss
Level' skirts the line between action and science fiction, while
keeping audiences entertained. Frank Grillo plays Roy Pulver a man
one the edge of madness and forced to relive the events of a
particular day over and over. In a modern day 'Groundhog Day' Roy
must navigate the day to try and decipher why this is happening to
me. His wife Alice, played by Annabelle Wallis is some sort of
scientist, who is working on some top secret technology. The science
is never fully explained, the the plot is a bit thin, that said, what
the film lacks in plot and story it makes up in action and thrills.
Roy
has to survive the day, and this fact alone makes the journey of
'Boss Level' entertaining. From the moment he gets up, throngs of
thugs are after him. He must dodge bullets, cars, swords, and big
guys with big weapons. The day starts with him waking up to a thug in
his bed wielding a machete trying to kill him, then flies off the
handle with him having to leap out of his apartment and land inside a
refuse truck to break his fall. Needless to say, he dies, a lot, over
and over. With each reset he tries to learn from his mistakes, thus a
slightly different outcome. Grillo narrates the entire movie, which
normally I would hate, but in this film the humor works and keeps the
ride rolling along.
Above image: Guan-Yin (Selina Lo) gets rough with Frank Grillo (C) 2020 Hulu, all rights reserved image not monetized.
My
favorite encounter Roy has is with a sultry Asian assassin named
Guan-Yin played by Selina Lo, who is like a guard for Mel Gibson's
lead bad guy Clive Ventor. Roy has a gun and Guan-Yin has a sword,
sometimes two, but even with a gun, Guan-Yin is faster and always
manages to slice up Roy proclaiming: “I am Guan-Yin and Guan-Yin
has done this.” Each time is more brutal than the last, and she
always has a quirky line thrown in for good measure. Even though the
film repeats sequences, each time the outcome is slightly altered,
either by the way he dies or ends up surviving.
Director
Joe Carnahan keeps things flowing along, playing up how 'Boss Level'
would make a good video game by setting it up like a video game,
including transitions and characters. The action and virtual movement
from scene to scene without much story filler makes 'Boss Level' a
fast paced film. With
many scenes repeating multiple times it feel like the movie is
shorter, yet still is 100 minutes.
Above Image: Mel Gibson as Clive Ventor (C) 2020 Hulu, all rights reserved, image not monetized.
Mel
Gibson's sinister bad guy Ventor has a few wordy diatribes, yet has
limited screen time, and his character is a bit under developed. In
addition to the smaller amount of time spent in the movie, there is
no back story on Ventor, his underlying motivation, and why he is the
way he is. Even with minimal time to shine, Gibson does deliver the
pensive older boss, never yelling and screaming, more seething
underneath.
There
is some sort of technology, which is also very vague, yet with all of
the action, it really does not matter. Some sort of time shifting
technology is shown, yet for the life of me, I just can't decipher
what sort of technology it is, definitely not a time machine.
Actually I thought about how 'Boss Level' would play out if it was a
regular linear movie with no time shifting, obviously plot
development would have the be put in, as more time for the side
characters.
Behind
the scenes, 'Boss Level' is given the “Hollywood” treatment. There are
big action sequences, car chases, fights, exaggerated villains and
heroes, bombastic music and huge stunts. Generally, films fall into
three budgetary categories, the blockbuster 75 million dollar plus,
low budget under 10 mil and mid-range 10-75 million, “Boss Level'
probably was in the middle of the mid range category, yet has a more
independent feel, though I would say it is not a 'B' movie. Actually
by having the film on Hulu, 'Boss Level' will have a more prominent
push on on the platform than it would have had as a theater movie.
'Boss
Level' is a fun film to watch, yet even though it would have been a
mid level theater movie, I feel that a streaming service is a better
fit, as the audience for the film is more of a niche market. Hulu
stepped up to the plate, thus 'Boss Level' will have a wider audience
than if it got a limited theatrical release and faded to obscurity.
Overall, even though I am a bit critical. I liked 'Boss Level' the
film had some clever action bits and sardonic dialogue, rating a 7
out of 10.
I
watched the twelve minute short film, here are my brief thoughts. The
film's opening scene features a masked back robbery with three men
who are dressed like Mexican Wrestlers. They get out, jump into the
getaway car only to realize one guy is shot in the chest, needless to
say, the three way cut becomes two. The two remaining guys make it to
this farmhouse. The house has two ladies who are very devious and
adorable at the same time. Sparkle Soojian as Starletta and Nikki
Curtis Jones as Violet, have violence and control on their mind!
I
really liked the premise of the film, the acting, settings and
cinematography have room for improvement. The ladies sold the sexy
vampy stuff, yet the guys just did not have enough sense of urgency
for a type of film. The genre is supposed to be horror, but for me it
felt campy and humorous, which is not necessarily a bad thing.
Sparkle Soojian perhaps is the most enjoyable to watch, a bit fun,
and sultry.
Overall,
I want to see more of the premise developed into a series or movie,
with a larger budget and full crew. 'Day of The Pigs' rates a 5 out
of 10, average, with a side of sexy Sparkle!
Above: Huong Ga (Rise) Promotional Poster (C) 2014 TNA Entertainment All rights reserved, image used for promotional purposes only not monetized.
Greetings
valued Dan's Movie Report and Action-Flix.com readers across my desk
today comes a film from Vietnam from Executive Producer and Actress
Truong Ngoc Anh. Directed by Cuong Ngo (Truy Sat )and debuting way
back in 2014 this movie is rather hard to find, some areas of the
world have it on Netflix. Essentially what Huong Ga boils down to is
a female gangster film, told from the perspective of lead character
Huong Ga – (Truong Ngoc Anh). Writers Minh
Ngoc Nguyen & Dinh
Tu Nguyen craft a provocative yarn fraught with the seething
gangster underworld. Minh penned another Truong Ngoc Anh movie in
2011 called 'Pearls of the Far East' also directed by Cuong Ngo .\
Actually
this is Truong Ngoc Anh's first foray into the action realm and it is
quite entertaining. Of course, the story begins here. As in the
beginning of 'Rise' we see Huong Ha as a youngster. A coming of age
story, yet unlike 'The Lost Boys' or 98 percent other coming of age
stories this one is more a personal female rise to power story. Yes
guys are in the movie in prominent roles but the perspective if
purely feminine. Of course a guy can enjoy 'Rise' as there are drug
deals, pretty stylized yet gritty violence, and some decent action.
Truong Ngoc Anh clearly used this film as a springboard to various
other skills including learning wire work for her Vietnam Next Top
Model and the 2016 film 'Truy Sat' to work harder on the action. In
fact we just chatted and she still tells me she works out two hours a
day to stay in shape.
Huong
Ga sadly no real spoiler loses her mom in the early portion of the
film and is forced to live with her grandmother. Her grandmother is
barely scraping by with a small stand selling nick knacks, but she
wants better for her granddaughter. The big plot point comes when a
scuffle breaks out and Huong Ga has to defend herself and ends up
burning part of the market down. Literally the movie progresses into
a downward spiral of despair as the film deals with sensitive
subjects such as rape, a self defense killing, and loss of a loved
one.
Interspersed
with action, 'Rise' really works well when the emotions are
displayed. More often than not, action films are just that all
action, and not much of a story. 'Rise' focuses on the story, the
play between rival gangs and the human toll it takes. Worthy of note,
Vietnam has very strict firearm laws so much of the action is
visceral and involves sticks, hands, feet, elbows, or in one extreme
case a BMW running over the gangsters!. With so much gun play and
Gun-Fu in films 'Rise' offers a 'Gangs of New York' feel, angry and
personal. Small crimes lead to bigger ones, spiraling out of control,
luring the audience in to see what is next for Huong Ga and her gang.
Actor Kim Ly as Tung gives a soulful performance as a gangster with a
soul, understated, yet aggressive. With each death and prison
sentence, she becomes hardened. As hard as she is, she still has to
deal with rival gangs and she gets beat up pretty bad about 55
minutes in, no spoilers. Some gangster dialogue a rival gang leader
tells Huong Ga “ There is only room for one tiger in the jungle.”
She says to him, “Don't you think it is time to give up the
jungle... since you've already been declawed. Well that escalated
quickly note to self be nice to TNA at all times! Needless to say
after that wordy exchange a fight broke out, a big one!
'Rise'
rolls in at just under 93 minutes, the length allowed for a good mix
of dialogue and action, never really bogging down. The emotional
level is high, even if the action is a bit unpolished. Given the
recent rise of Vietnam in action films with 'Truy Sat' and 'Furie',
the sky is the limit when in 2021 Truong Ngoc Anh sets her sites on
producing a follow up film to 'Rise'! Yep that is true, Initially it
was supposed to film in 2020, but do to the global pandemic all
productions in Vietnam and for that matter everywhere else has been
halted. Only now December 2020, can things progress filming in
Vietnam, and they are!
Overall
'Rise' rates a strong 7.5 out of 10, it is very good, and I am sure
the sequel will also be well received. In addition to 'Huong Ga 2”
'Aka Rise 2', Truong Ngoc Anh looks to ramp up production on 'She
Kings' in 2021. Keep it locked on Dan's Movie Report and
Action-Flix.com for production updates!
The film screened in the USA in early 2016, below is an official trailer from Houston Screening, with English subtitles.
