BORN TO FLY: China's Top Gun

BORN TO FLY (Blu-ray)

2023 / 128 min

FROM WELL GO USA

Review by Pepper the Poopy😼

Born to Fly is China’s answer to Top Gun, with a heaping helping of nationalism thrown in for good measure. Let’s not hold the latter against it, since this is far from the first movie to trumpet its own country while vilifying others.

This is most blatantly depicted in the prologue, which has enemy jets buzzing into Chinese territory while deftly dodging China’s outdated aircraft. Though it’s never stated outright, the pilots are obviously Americans, cartoonishly trash-talking the good guys with taunts like “We can come & go whenever we want.” These faceless foes are the closest thing Born to Fly has to antagonists, serving the same narrative purpose as the anonymous “Jerrys” in countless World War II epics. Only there’s no apparent war going on here…just a couple of pilots being dicks.

So it’s a little ironic that the rest of the film liberally cops from one of the most distinctively “American” movies of the last 50 years. Only instead of the best-of-the-best competing for bragging rights, they’re jockeying to be test pilots for stealthy new aircraft that’ll shame their enemies. Born to Fly has its own Maverick in the form of Lei (Wang Yibo), a rebellious hot-shot pilot who goes through the paces of wowing his superiors, getting humbled, doing some soul searching and bouncing back to glory. He’s occasionally thwarted by the movie’s Iceman, Deng Fang (Yu Shi), his biggest rival. In the downtime, there’s even a female doctor who becomes personally invested in Lei (though these two never actually hop in the sack together).

"Dude, where'd you learn to clap?"

The rest of the narrative follows the Top Gun playbook step by step, right down to the climactic aerial showdown with their enemies, who appear to be the same asshole pilots who bullied them in the prologue. Okay, so Born to Fly is laughably derivative…but is it entertaining? Yeah, sometimes. Though one will certainly question these aircraft’s ability to turn on a dime, the flight scenes are generally good and one sequence involving the attempt to land after a bloody bird-strike is fairly suspenseful. The subplot where Lei is attempting to perfect anti-spin parachutes is also kind of interesting. 

Aside from Lei, characterization is minimal and most of the drama outside of the cockpit is uninvolving. Even the pilots’ commander, Zhang (Hu Jun), essentially exists to evoke national pride and create poignancy when he dies. That ain’t really a spoiler, folks. Whenever a movie like this introduces a supporting character’s family, that guy’s a goner. Elsewhere, Born to Fly is at-least a half-hour overlong, but there’s some amusement to be found in its strict adherence to the Top Gun formula (minus a catchy Kenny Loggins tune), along with a few decent action scenes.

IN SEARCH OF THE LAST ACTION HEROES: A Guided Tour Of Stuff That Goes Boom

IN SEARCH OF THE LAST ACTION HEROES (Blu-ray)

2019 / 141 min

FROM GRAVITAS VENTURES

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Stinky the Destroyer😺

In Search of the Last Action Heroes is an enjoyable retrospective documentary on the history of the action genre. But instead of a study by film scholars or writers, this is mostly presented from the perspective of those who’ve worked in the genre on both sides of the camera, though casual viewers may not be familiar with most of them.

Hence, we get commentary and anecdotes from the likes of actors Ronny Cox, Eric Roberts, Scott Atkins, Cynthia Rothrock, Bill Duke, Jeanette Goldstein, Vernon Wells, Alex Winter and Michael Jai White, as well as filmmakers Shane Black, Boaz Davidson, Paul Verhoeven, Graham Yost, Steven E. de Souza, Mark L. Lester and Mario Kassar. A slew of others are interviewed, all of whom discuss the films, actors or directors that influenced the genre, as well as some they were involved in making. A few authors and critics also offer their insights.

The genre’s history is more-or-less presented chronologically. One might quip that everything prior to the 1960s is virtually ignored, but really, this was the decade where action itself was beginning to be a prominent component in films. Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood, Bruce Lee and Steve McQueen were sort of the Mount Rushmore of action heroes throughout the 1970s and basically serve as this film’s starting point. 

With his first Commando residual check, Steven E. de Souza bought that hat.

Not surprisingly, a major chunk of the film covers the 1980s. As with horror, that decade is generally considered the “golden age” of action as we know it today. Not only were budgets, explosions and stunts much bigger, the VHS boom resulted in countless direct-to-video films and second-tier stars lining rental shelves. 

Accompanying the commentary are hundreds of film clips dating from the 1970s through the 2000s. Most of the usual suspects are featured and, unsurprisingly, influential classics like Die Hard, Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Terminator are discussed in more detail than others, as are certain actors who made action their bread & butter. Not a lot of this is particularly revelatory, but as a guided tour of stuff that goes boom, In Search of the Last Action Heroes is an entertaining journey through time.

WEDNESDAY - SEASON 1: Not All Together Ooky

WEDNESDAY - SEASON 1 (Blu-ray)

2023 / 480 min (8 Episodes)

FROM WARNER BROS / #InPartnershipwithWB

Review by Pepper the Poopy😽

It seems like the first season of Netflix’s überpopular Wednesday is getting a physical media release a lot faster than many of the platform’s other shows. Perhaps it’s a matter of striking while the iron is hot, since I can’t imagine the basic premise has much of a shelf life. 

Not that Wednesday is a bad show. Quite the contrary. Despite aiming for a demographic far younger than yours truly, these eight episodes were more entertaining than I expected. It feels a little more padded out than necessary - creating an entire season when a single movie could have sufficed - but when focused on the droll, cryptic world view of its titular character (wonderfully played by Jenna Ortega), it’s highly amusing. It’s also the only time the show resembles anything related to the original Addams Family.

Season 1 is basically a murder mystery, with Wednesday forced to attend Nevermore Academy, a school for “outcasts” such as vampires, werewolves, sirens, telepaths, gorgons and shapeshifters. Gomez & Morticia’s alma mater, the school has long been viewed with suspicion and disdain by the “normals” in the nearby town of Jericho. When a vicious beast begins to murder people, Wednesday, who’s as brilliant as she is morbid, becomes obsessed with solving the mystery, which reveals connections with the town’s dark past, as well as her own family history.

While shooting Season One, Jenna works on Season Two.

Along the way are numerous subplots, mostly related to Wednesday’s classmates (and one episode where she clears her dad of a decades-old murder rap). The suggested love triangle with her and a couple of hunks is perfunctory teen soap fodder, but the relationship between Wednesday and roommate Enid (Emma Myers) is both humorous and charming. Overall, the show is less interesting when things turn serious, which is often. It also grows increasingly derivative, with episodes conceptually and aesthetically similar to the likes of Harry Potter, Scooby-Doo (even referenced in one episode), Ghostbusters, Carrie, Twilight, director Tim Burton's own work and, of course, any CW drama you’d care to name.

Other Addams Family members show up throughout the show, with Thing being quite funny as Wednesday’s sidekick, while the appearance of Luis Guzman & Catherine Zeta-Jones as Gomez & Morticia are essentially glorified cameos. Wednesday is all about its main character. As such, the show is fairly entertaining, at least for these episodes. It ends with the usual set-up for a second season (which has already been announced), but how long can Wednesday’s creepy, kooky, all together ooky persona carry an entire show?

POLAR RESCUE Doesn't Deserve Donnie

POLAR RESCUE (Blu-ray)

2022 / 103 min

FROM WELL GO USA

Review by Mr. Bonnie😾

Ever since starting this site and reviewing more Asian action films than I care to remember, I’ve become a pretty big fan of Donnie Yen. Not only is he a consummate modern era ass-kicker, he’s got the acting chops to back up the fighting skills. It’s probably a big reason he’s been tapped for quite a few American films of late (though Hollywood still hasn't had the balls to give him a lead role).

Conversely, 2022’s Polar Rescue is the first film - of those I’ve seen, anyway - that is totally devoid of Yen’s badassery. He actually gets his ass handed to him on a few occasions. As De, he’s simply a desperate dad trying to find his eight-year-old son, who’s gone missing in the snowy mountains during a storm. As such, he nails the role and is easily the best part of the film. In fact, Yen is the only reason it might - might - be worth watching at all.

The rest of Polar Rescue is undone by a messy narrative, clunky dialogue and a slew of irritating, unpleasant characters…beginning with De’s own son. The opening set-up firmly establishes the kid as an obnoxious little shit before conveniently disappearing. And it gets worse. When De and wife Xuan (Cecilia Han) go for help, the police almost immediately badger & berate him for wanting to be involved in the search. In fact, as the rescue effort grows increasingly perilous, damn near everyone blames De for endangering them in the first place. How dare he hold out hope that his boy is still alive!

When you make the effort to hide but no one seeks you.

Ridiculously, authorities and the media focus more on De’s shortcomings as a dad than the rescue itself. Even Xuan gets into the act, asking point blank if he ever loved his son at all, to which De doesn’t reply. Instead, we get flashbacks showing him as an indifferent father, thus making the movie’s lone sympathetic character someone not entirely likable. By this time, the story has grown repetitive and interminable, despite a late effort to liven things up with an avalanche.

A shame, really, because Yen’s performance is excellent, deftly conveying the frustration, determination and desperation any parent would feel in this situation…all without delivering a single body blow or roundhouse kick. Unfortunately, Polar Rescue repeatedly sabotages his efforts, resulting in a movie that isn’t worthy of such dedication.

THE CONTENDER: The White House Has A Bowling Alley?

THE CONTENDER (Blu-ray)

2000 / 125 min

FROM ALLIED VAUGHN

Available at www.MovieZyng.com

Review by Mr. Bonnie😺

Allow me to recap my favorite scene from The Contender…

President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) must select a new vice president because the previous one just died. He passes on the most popular choice, Jack Hathaway (William Petersen), who just made heroic headlines by attempting to rescue a woman trapped in a submerged car. He prefers Laine Billings (Joan Allen), a woman senator.

When Laine and her husband arrive in Washington for a meeting, the President happens to be rolling a few frames in the White House bowling alley. 

First of all, I didn’t know the White House even had a bowling alley. Second…is this scene intended as an homage to Bridges and his greatest role, The Dude in The Big Lebowski? Probably not, but I like to think so. It’s also kinda fun to imagine this is ultimately what became of The Dude once those pesky George H.W. Bush years were over.

The president abides.

Anyway, Bridges is the best part of the movie, which is about the opposition Laine faces from congress during the approval hearings led by conniving Republican chairman Sheldon Runyon (Gary Oldman). With help from ambitious young senator Reginald Webster (Christian Slater), Runyon digs up dirt on Laine from her wild college days and leaks it to the media during the hearings. Riding his moral high horse, which includes condemning her stance on abortion rights, Runyon’s true agenda is clearing the way for Hathaway to be selected.

Overall, The Contender tells an interesting story and features a lot of excellent performances. Both Bridges & Allen were nominated for Oscars, but Sam Elliott as Chief-of-Staff Kermit Newman is just as noteworthy. And what more can be said about Oldman? He’s deliciously hateful here as a (very) thinly veiled example of the agenda-driven Republicans we regularly see on TV, tearing apart rivals over personal indiscretions that have nothing to do with one’s actual job performance.

In fact, we’ve seen a lot of this stuff play itself out in the real world. It’s no accident this film was released amidst a similar White House scandal and the trivial hearings related to it. Not a hell of a lot has changed in Washington or the media since then. Some could argue it's even worse.  Thus, The Contender may not seem quite as provocative as it did 24 years ago, playing more like a summative analysis than cautionary commentary. Still, it’s an entertaining film with one shocking revelation: There’s a bowling alley in the White House. 

EXTRA KIBBLES

TRAILER

MOON GARDEN: Scenic Horror

MOON GARDEN (Blu-ray)

2022 / 93 min

FROM OSCILLOSCOPE LABORATORIES

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

There’s a lot to like about Moon Garden. 

First, it’s aesthetically striking, which is all the more impressive when you realize this is a fairly low budget film fueled more by ambition than resources. The imagery, special effects and production design create a surreal atmosphere that manages to be both beautiful and nightmarish. If nothing else, simply looking at it is an engaging way to kill 90 minutes.

Then there’s Haven Lee Harris, the film’s five-year-old star and writer-director Ryan Stevens Harris’ daughter. It’s a remarkable performance that’s genuinely affecting, which is quite a feat considering she’s on-screen nearly the entire running time…often by herself. Our engagement in the narrative rests entirely on her little shoulders and she pulls it off wonderfully.

Harris plays Emma, the daughter of parents whose marriage is falling apart. During one of their heated arguments, she falls down a flight of stairs and drifts into a coma. Doctors try to save her life while Mom & Dad stay by her side. Meanwhile, Emma is trapped in a dreamworld between life and death, struggling to regain consciousness while being pursued by a faceless, tear-drinking monster with hellishly chattering teeth (an impressively malevolent creation). 

Why some kids hate bath night.

The rest of the episodic narrative is Emma’s journey through a netherworld of her own mind’s creation, meeting several strange characters who try to help her before being devoured by Teeth (the monster's title in the credits). What some of these characters and sequences are supposed to symbolize is generally ambiguous, sometimes frustratingly so. And while the film is rife with creativity and features some great sequences, the story does feel a little repetitive at times.

Still, Moon Garden is an enjoyable horror-fantasy that might even be great for kids as an introduction to the horror genre (sort of like Poltergeist was for some of us). While the visuals might evoke the work of Guillermo del Toro or Terry Gilliam (maybe even Clive Barker’s Hellraiser, to a certain extent), it’s never particularly violent or flat-out terrifying…though Teeth could possibly cause a few nightmares.

EXTRA KIBBLES

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FEATURETTE - This is a very interesting piece with plenty of behind-the-scenes footage and interviews, which makes one appreciate what they were able to accomplish with limited resources.

SHORT FILM - “Every Dream is a Child with Teeth.” The basis for this film.

DELETED SCENES

TRAILER

THE POOP SCOOP: Spring Kibbles!

😺BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE Now Available To Buy Or Rent And On 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray/DVD May 28th from Paramount.

Discover the story behind the icon whose music and message inspired millions when BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE arrives to buy or rent on Digital March 19,2024 from Paramount Home Entertainment.  The film will debut on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD on May 28. BOB MARLEY: ONE LOVE explores the music you know and the legend you don’t through the inspiring and powerful story of how Bob Marley went from humble beginnings to spread his message of love and unity throughout the world. Fans will have access to in-depth, behind-the-scenes interviews and footage detailing the making of this extraordinary and uplifting film. Hear from Ziggy Marley and other Marley family members about the process of telling Bob Marley’s story with artistry and emotional authenticity.  Discover how Kingsley Ben-Adir prepared to become the iconic musician while also portraying his humanity. Join the cast and crew as they talk about filming in the real locations where Bob lived in Jamaica and England and explore the genuine musicianship woven throughout the film.  Plus, see deleted scenes not shown in theatres.

♠THE OCEAN'S TRILOGY Arrives on 4K Ultra HD and Digital April 30 from Warner Bros.

The trilogy of beloved crime heist films – Ocean’s Eleven, Ocean’s Twelve, and Ocean’s Thirteen - from Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh and starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and Andy Garcia, will be available for purchase on 4K Ultra HD Disc and Digital for the first time on April 30. Inspired by and based on the 1960 heist film Ocean's 11, the three films are directed by Soderbergh from screenplays by Ted Griffin, George Nolfi, and Brian Koppelman & David Levien respectively, and produced by Jerry Weintraub. The Ocean’s trilogy will be available to purchase on April 30 on Ultra HD Blu-ray Disc from online and in-store at major retailers and available for purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more. The individual films will also be available individually as 4K SteelBooks.

🙀The Cult Classics, THE GATE and THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM available on Blu-ray SteelBook May 14 from Lionsgate.

In The Gate, best friends Glen and Terry stumble across a mysterious crystalline rock in Glen's backyard. They quickly dig up the newly sodden lawn searching for more precious stones. Instead, they unearth The Gate — an underground chamber of terrifying demonic evil. The teenagers soon understand what evil they've released as they are overcome with an assortment of horrific experiences. With fiendish followers invading suburbia, it's now up to the kids to discover the secret that can lock The Gate forever . . . if it's not too late. Hugh Grant, Amanda Donohoe, and Catherine Oxenberg star in The Lair of the White Worm, a mix of heart-stopping horror and campy humor. James D’Ampton returns to his country castle in England. Legend has it that James’s distant ancestor once slayed the local dragon — a monstrous white worm with a fondness for the sweet flesh of virgins. The young lord dismisses the legend as folklore, until archaeology student Angus Flint explores James’s property and unearths a massive reptilian skull and a pagan snake god’s ancient site of worship. When James’s virtuous girlfriend, Eve Trent (Oxenberg), suddenly disappears, James and Angus set out to investigate the foreboding cavern said to be the worm’s lair, where a centuries-old mystery begins to uncoil. Both films are available exclusively at Walmart on May 14, on Blu-ray SteelBooks designed by artist Vance Kelly.

😺THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT Comes to Blu-ray/DVD and a deluxe 4K UHD + Blu ray combo set on 4/9 from Capelight.

Capelight Pictures proudly announces the Deluxe 4K UHD + Blu-ray release of the blockbuster crime thriller THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT. The action-packed award winner, the highly anticipated sequel to the 2022 box office phenomenom The Roundup, will arrive in both a Blu-ray/DVD and a deluxe 4K UHD + Blu ray combo set. Featuring tons of action and martial arts hand-to-hand combat​, THE ROUNDUP: NO WAY OUT will thrill fans of Asian action cinema as well as international hits like the John Wick series. The film is set seven years after the events inThe Roundup, which saw South Korean police detective Ma Seok-do and his team dispatched to Vietnam to extradite a dangerous Korean fugitive who was suspiciously eager to be incarcerated back home. In the new film, the lovable lunk Ma (Don Lee) joins a new squad to investigate a murder case at home. He soon learns this case involves busting dealers of  a new synthetic drug called Hiper, and he starts to dig deeper. Meanwhile, the Japanese mafia boss behind it all, Ichizo (Jun Kunimura) won’t stop looking for trouble, and the Japanese drug distributor Ricky (Munetaka Aoki) and his gang come to Korea to join the chaos.

DARK WATER (4K) and the Bathtub Ring

DARK WATER (4K UHD)

2002 / 101 min

FROM ARROW VIDEO

Review by Josey, the Sudden Cat🙀

Director Hideo Nakata is the guy largely responsible for the global popularity of J-Horror, especially once Hollywood got its mitts on his most famous film, Ringu, and cranked out of comparatively decent remake. And because The Ring was so successful, we were subsequently inundated by Americanized J-Horror adaptations…most of them terrible. 

Nakata himself once even jumped across the pond to direct The Ring Two. While I wouldn’t go so far as to call it terrible, it paled in comparison to both The Ring and the original film (as did his own Japanese sequel Ring 2).

In the interim, Nakata sort-of bounced back with 2002’s Dark Water. While seldom as creepy or unnerving as Ringu, at least it had the earmarks of what made that film a J-Horror classic. It also treads similar narrative ground, with single mother Yoshimi (Hitomi Kuroki) moving into a decaying apartment complex with five-year-old daughter Ikuko (Rio Kanno). Water is perpetually leaking from the ceiling, coming from the apartment upstairs, which happens to be the former home of a little girl who disappeared two years before. Yoshimi is soon tormented by visions of that girl, whose disappearance turns out to be directly tied to the water flooding the place (and putting Ikuko in danger).

Well...at least it isn't blood in the elevator.

Deliberately paced and atmospheric, the film relies on well-rounded characters, somber performances, a foreboding score and unusually creepy locations rather than jump scares and gore. The film is slow to lay all its cards on the table because the journey is more important than the destination. Atmosphere and ambiguity are always far creepier than loads of exposition. While not quite as accomplished or scary as Ringu (I've always been somewhat disappointed by the resolution), Dark Water is a fine film worth rediscovering…certainly better than the artless American remake.

Arrow Video put out a pretty decent Blu-ray edition back in 2016, with quite a few new and archival bonus features. All that supplemental material is carried over for this 4K UHD release, though nothing new has been included. So the only upgrade here is the picture, which is a noticeable improvement. The audio is the same DTS 5.1 track featured on the original Blu-ray.

EXTRA KIBBLES

NOTE: Free Kittens Movie Guide was provided with a promo disc for review purposes. Physical supplemental material included with the final product (booklets, artwork, inserts, etc) were not available for review.

MAKING-OF FEATURETTE

INTERVIEWS - Individual interviews with director Hideo Nakata, original short story author Koji Suzuki, cinematographer Junichiro Hayashi, actors Asami Mizukawa (teenage Ikuko) & Hitomi Kuroki (Yoshimi), songwriter Shikao Suga

TRAILERS & A TV SPOT

REVERSIBLE COVER & BOOKLET INSERT (not reviewed).