Oh how nice it is to count on the negative reviews of Indian movie critics! This is one of the poorest-reviewed movies which actually turned out to be better than expected. Indian movie critics just don’t like anything different than their usual “masala Bollywood lovey-dovey schmaltz”. I have no understanding why they have no interest at all in bizarre, weird, or fantasy/sci-fi flicks. This is what DRONA is: excellent direction and editing, weird, bizarre, action-packed with great choreography, Bollywood’s hottest actress Priyanka Chopra is in the film kicking ass, and it’s got the charm of a 1980s fantasy flick a la Highlander, Conan, or Excalibur without forcing it into mediocrity(Scorpion King 2 or Uwe Boll films).
DRONA is currently one of the most expensive Bollywood films and you can tell – the special effects, as well as the production, in this film are top-notch. Not an original story – we’ve seen it all before -but this time the film is based around Indian mythology, and Drona is a superhero that doesn’t quite know his powers yet. He goes on a journey to discover he’s “the one” (Neo) and has to stop evil in the process.
The positives in the film:
– excellent creative directing and editing
– the musical score was not the usual Bollywood-type music
– exciting car chase
– exciting Sikh martial arts, choreographed by the dude who worked on Troy, The Dark Knight, Stardust, and the Golden Compass
– amazing and crazy set designs
– just two locations – Prague and a desert
– good acting
– a nice pace (critics have called it boring…I call it “not being filmed” like an MTV quick-cut Bollywood action film)
The Eros NTSC Region-free DVD has pretty decent video and audio quality. The anamorphic video is very good, considering Eros’ poor quality past, and the DD 5.1 Hindi is awesome. The English subtitles are pretty good as well – not too many mistakes. For extras, there is a bunch of “making of” film clips running around a half hour total, and some trailers.
I see this movie as the equivalent of Japan’s CASSHERN. I think that DRONA is the better film, but I see them as similar-type films, in which they were both overhyped, huge expensive epic flicks, but disappointing. I can understand why people would be disappointed, but I’m totally not disappointed by DRONA though. It’s a great fantasy B-movie. What do people expect from this genre? I thought that Stardust was disappointing too, but for some reasons critics loved that film. That’s the thing with fantasy films – you can’t fault them for not being Oscar material. If you like fantasy films of the 1980s, then I highly recommend DRONA.
Whatever Lola Wants is an excellent French-produced, Moroccan-directed English-language film, starring the very underrated Laura Ramsey (most would know her from The Ruins or Middle Men) and a whole slew of great Arabic actors. This 8-million dollar film is like an epic indie film. One can tell that it’s an independent film, but it’s extremely ambitious and if it wasn’t for its group of unknown actors, it would seem like a very good blockbuster film starring someone like Amy Adams. Whatever Lola Wants is basically a good sports movie – A Brooklyn dancer is tired of her life and job in NYC and moves to Cairo, Egypt where she trains under the wing of a former famous Egyptian belly dancer. And the other story is about how different cultures handle each other – both are great interesting stories. The direction by Nabil Ayouch is really good and the Arabic actors (once she gets to Egypt) are excellent. Laura Ramsey is not a great actress, but she has tons of potential. This is one of those films where she would do better if she was improvising. The way she delivers her lines is almost like she was told that she has to stick to the script, but behind her eyes, she is a good actress, especially when she is dancing or emoting with her eyes. The best way I can describe her is that she is sort of like a combination of Jenna Elfman, Renee Zellweger, and Isla Fisher – in looks and acting style. And she is extremely hot and attractive with a great face and perfect shapely body. And she has an unbelievable amount of energy that makes her really likable. As a person from Brooklyn, I was pleased that they actually filmed in cool parts of Brooklyn (Dumbo and Williamsburgh) that we don’t often see when movies take place in NYC, all the apartments were furnished really nice, and the street scenes of Cairo make one want to visit Cairo.
Whatever Lola Wants is a totally touching and feel-good film. If this was a Hollywood blockbuster, it probably would get criticism for being a typical dramedy romantic film. But this film is not that. It’s a European film in the English language. And it’s more unique because of the Arabic flavor and showing the traditions and pop culture of Egypt. I don’t even know if it ever played in the USA, but it does feel like one of those nice light-hearted indie films that get a good word of mouth (a la Kissing Jessica Stein, Chasing Amy, Brothers McMullen, or Big Fat Greek Wedding).
There is so much eye and ear candy in this film as well: hot Laura Ramsey, hot Lebanese milf Carmen Lebbos (a la Monica Bellucci or Sophia Loren), sexy belly dancing, awesome music, flattering cinematography of New York City, Brooklyn, and Egypt, and so on.
The Taiwanese Region-Free blu-ray is excellent quality. Don’t get discouraged that it’s only 1080i – the 2:35.1 video quality is just beautiful. Great popping colors, crisp, good blacks, totally problem-free. The audio is excellent as well, just make sure to listen to the right audio which is the English: LPCM 5.1 track (which it automatically starts at). Do NOT listen to the DTS-HD 5.1 track which is totally messed up – it sounds like listening to something in an echo-filled tunnel. The LPCM 5.1 track rocks – clear audio and the music just wants you to get up and dance. This is a really excellent blu-ray. There are no extras. There are also Chinese and English subtitles. Please note that there are some scenes of just Arabic spoken, which is when you will have to manually turn on the English subtitles to see what they are saying. When watching this blu-ray, watch the NYC scenes without the English subs and then turn on the English subs when Laura Ramsey moves to Egypt.
The blu-ray also comes with a slip-cover.
Overall, this movie is an underrated gem and a total steal for 7 bucks on Taiwanese blu-ray. Whatever Lola Wants comes highly recommended!
There are tons of respectable French comic books that have existed since the 1930s, but it’s quite surprising that only a few have been adapted into live-action films. I think I’ve seen all of them since I do love my French-Belgium comic books. I only know basic French so I was always thrilled to hear that a new Tintin, Asterix, or Lucky Luke book got an English translation released in the USA or UK. I remember that was one of my highlights of my childhood. I would come home from school to find a new Asterix book on the table – a present from my mom. It felt like a new Franco-Belgium book would come once every three years so each one was like treasure. Sure, I loved Spiderman and Transformers comic books/cartoons/toys, but nothing could compete against getting a brand new comic book from France, which would bring a lifetime amount of entertainment (as these books are still fresh and exciting every time they are re-read).
I didn’t read Jacques Tardi’s comic books till I was older. I remember first seeing his material in an underground comic book when I was a kid and thought they were pretty realistic, creepy, and nightmarish. I certainly was intrigued by his style but I didn’t read Adele Blanc-Sec until I was an adult. His artwork is excellent and he’s one of the best in the business of drawing beautiful women (I’ve seen his work in clothing stores when I’ve been in France and Italy), but I was always put off by the coldness of his style. So basically, I’m generally not a fan of his work or Adele Blanc-Sec. But Luc Besson has created an excellent live-action movie adaptation of two of Tardi’s books – Adèle and the Beast and Mummies on Parade. This film is one of the best live-action adaptations of a French comic book. I not only think that this is an excellent adaptation, I prefer Besson’s movie version over the books. As I said before, Tardi is a bit cold. Besson has given the characters life and energy without compromising Tardi’s work. Those expecting tons of action like Indiana Jones and an army of mummies (as falsely advertised on the back of the UK blu-ray) will be disappointed. Just because Adele Blanc travels to Egypt and steals a mummy from a tomb doesn’t make her Indiana Jones – similar yes, but not Indiana Jones. She’s more like Sherlock Holmes and her comic books are more like Sherlock Holmes graphic novels. If anything, I would compare the movie more to Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes than to the Indiana Jones movies – only that this film is 100 times more exciting and more interesting than the Guy Ritchie film.
Luc Besson is one of the most consistently satisfying filmmakers since the early 80s. Natalie Portman, Jean Reno, Anne Parillaud, Milla Jovovich, Marion Cotillard and now Louise Bourgoin can most likely thank Besson for starting up their careers. Louise Bougoin is a very beautiful and talented actress that will go far – she gives Adele Blanc-Sec so much more heart and personality than the comic book version. Even though this film is pretty much rated PG-13 for nudity, it is basically a film for everyone. It is so funny that the movie was slightly marketed that you will see Bougoin’s tits. Yes you do see them, but you will have to be patient. In the trailer, we see her nude taking a bath. As you watch the film, you will look forward to that scene. Especially since the bath scene is teased throughout the film. Adele Blanc-Sec wants to take a bath from the very beginning, but she is interrupted at least 2 times before she can finally be left alone to take a bath later on in the film. I found that really funny and a tease to the male viewers! Besson has a great sense of humor.
In two little trivia nuggets, keep a look out for the Tintin-related cameo! Tintin fans will know it when they see it! And also, this is Louise Bougoin’s second movie from a famous Franco-Belgium comic book writer. Her other was the live-action film Little Nicolas, not a comic book, but written by René Goscinny who is more famous for the comic books – Asterix, Lucky Luke, and Iznogoud.
One of the biggest surprises in the film is that there is a famous French actor playing the villain. Even though I briefly looked at the cast before watching the film, I didn’t realize it was this actor until I watched the making of the film on the blu-ray. We have all seen him and he’s an amazing actor. I just can’t remember his name yet, which is why I was surprised. But he is totally unrecognizable in this film due to the make-up and his acting.
The make-up of the characters by the way are excellent and spot on – matching the characters looks in the comic book. The movie should get some award somewhere for make-up and costume design.
The Limited Edition (yeah, right) Region B Steelbook blu-ray is a great blu-ray. The 1080p 2:35.1 image is beautiful – sharpness and and details are first rate. Actors skin and individual hairs have excellent clarity. Colors are rich and reproduced without flaws. The special effect characters merge pretty well with the rest of the film – the mummies look a lot better than the pterodactyl. The CGI character movement and perspective in relation to the real actors is very impressive. Blacks and whites are pure. Look closely at any scenes with the beautiful Louise Bougoin and you will know this is a very flattering-looking blu-ray. The French DTS-HD 5.1 is totally satisfying as well – the use of surrounds and bass effects for action scenes, backgrounds, and music are pretty much what you would expect from an action film as this. The audio really comes to life with the pterodactyl scenes swooping around and attacking characters all over the place. The extras are pretty good for a French film released on a UK blu-ray – plenty of interviews with actors, featurettes, “making of” which includes the involvement of the comic book creator, Tardi, who approved of this live-action adaption as well, and also a trailer.
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec is a totally entertaining, original, and exciting film with tons of eye candy, especially Louise Bougoin. You don’t have to be a fan of the comic book to enjoy this film. I know the comic book and I’m not even a fan of the comic book, but the movie is quite good. Overall, these are currently the live-action film adaptations of French comic books from best to worst:
1. Asterix & Obelix: Mission Cleopatra
2. The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec
3. Michel Vaillant
4. Asterix and Oblelix Take on Caesar
5. Iznogoud
6. Immortal
7. Blueberry
8. Lucky Luke
9. Largo Winch
10. Barbarella
11. Sky Fighters
12. The Smurfs (first ten minutes in Smurf Land was excellent though)
13. Asterix and the Olympic Games
If anyone is interested in a seeing a good Japanese animated movie influenced from Miyazaki/Ghibli films, I highly recommend SUMMER DAYS WITH COO.
SUMMER DAYS WITH COO is sort of like a darker version of E.T. Coo is a cute little water sprite (aka kappa, which is some sort of Japanese mythological nature beast) that has some adventures with a nice family – more or less the same premise as E.T. The movie is well written with an interesting story, is highly entertaining, and is one seriously tear-dripping, touching flick. The animation and editing of the film is beautiful, very reminiscent of a typical Miyazaki/Ghibli film.
Those Japanese kids certainly get some darker stuff than American kids. Even though SUMMER DAYS WITH COO is a family film, the film has one bloody Ninja Scroll-like decaptitation/arm chopping scene and some other dark, violent issues (bullying, suicide, etc.). I wouldn’t play this for a young kid – maybe more appropriate for a kid older than 10 years old.
After waiting for this film to be released on English-subtitled DVD for two years, it finally has been released on English-subtitled Thai DVD. There’s a Japanese DVD that exists as well but that version doesn’t have English subtitles.
The Thai PAL DVD is anamorphic, Japanese Stereo 2.0, and has excellent English subtitles (unexpected for a Thai DVD). The anamorphic video is excellent. The movie is so pleasantly bright that I was able to watch this movie from midnight to 2:30 AM and not fall asleep (the film is a bit long at over two hours, but it’s okay because the film is so entertaining). There’s a dubbed Thai DD 5.1 audio I didn’t listen to, but the original Japanese 2.0 stereo sounded very nice. The only extras on the film are a couple trailers for the film.
If you are seeking out a good animation film reminiscent of Hayao Miyazaki, then check out this DVD of SUMMER DAYS WITH COO.
Third time is a charm! After trying to sit through two Philippines big-budget action films (Exodus and I forgot the name of the other), I’m relieved to finally find a professionally-made, watchable Filipino blockbuster action film. But RESIKLO certainly gets a grading curve for being a moderate success. It’s the first Filipino action film that looks professionally filmed, edited, and has respectable CGI and special effects. The acting isn’t that bad depending how you watch this film. If you decide to watch this film, be in the mood for the following types of films:
THE RUNNING MAN
THEY LIVE
ROBOT JOX
WATERWORLD
TANK GIRL
JUDGE DREDD
TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES
JOHNNY MENOMIC
DEMOLITION MAN
If you know what I’m getting at, RESIKLO is actually an ode to some entertaining sci-fi, action big-budget films of the 80s/90s. It’s basically a mid-90s period-piece, action/sci-fi flick. What I like about this film is that it’s fun and takes itself seriously (if it took itself jokingly, then it would be like a “wink-to-the-audience” spoof film which I’m not crazy about – Space Balls is an exception). It seems like it’s a kids film, but it’s actually very violent with stabbing, blood, heavy machine gunnery. So, it’s basically an action film for everyone I guess, but more marketable for teens.
The special effects are very impressive and the spaceship/robot machinery scenes are pretty awesome – not up to the level of robots in a movie like Terminator Salvation, but pretty close. RESIKLO is more stylishly done like a live-action anime film. The people blend very well with the CGI elements which is a huge plus for me (poorly done in Star Wars prequels).
The star of the film is none other than Philippines superstar Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. You gotta love that name. He’s known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger of the Philippines. Besides acting, he’s also a popular senator in real life. He ain’t the greatest actor but he has an interesting presence about him – sort of reminds me of Roddy Pipper.
The Thai PAL DVD is very good. It’s anamorphic widescreen with original Tagalog DD 5.1 audio. The video is excellent, bright and crisp – nothing really problematic with it. And the audio is pretty active. RESIKLO is one of the first Filipino films to have surround sounds. As it played in theaters in Philippines, I read online that Filipinos were excited that RESIKLO was the first film of their own that had a Dolby Digital sound design.
The English subtitles were very good with a slip up here and there, and there are no extras on the DVD.
There is also a Full Screen Philipines NTSC Region 1 DVD, but I prefer my movies to be not chopped up, so the only anamorphic widescreen version that exists is the DVD from Thailand.
Okay Philippines! Now you are getting somewhere! Good job!
SNOW WHITE AND RUSSIAN RED is one of the most creative, bizarre, dreamlike, crazy films that I’ve seen from Eastern Europe that’s made more for the mainstream crowd rather than purely being for the art-house crowd. It’s sort of what I expected from the trailer: The adventures of a POLISH PSYCHO and his RULES OF ATTRACTION. The writer of the book is either inspired by Bret Easton Ellis or Hunter S. Thompson or certainly taking the same drugs as they did. The writer of the book, Dorota Masłowska (who also plays herself in the movie), is clearly taking some inspiring drugs as we can see how she is in the movie, how she writes, and how she acts in real life in the featurettes found in the DVD extras. But that’s okay. There is nothing better than seeing a drugged-up person getting their ideas onto film or novel. The director Xawery Zulawski – who actually looks like and films like Spike Jonze – is an excellent director. I can’t wait to see what he does next. He knows how to piece together a movie!
So what is SNOW WHITE AND RUSSIAN RED about? It’s basically like a live-action cartoon come to life with wacky, dreamlike adventures of a Polish psychopath looking for his girlfriend and meeting crazy drugged-up characters along the way. This movie reminded me of American Psycho, Rules of Attraction, The Neverending Story, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Truman Show, and Stranger than Fiction. If you like those types of movies, I highly recommend this film.
The Polish PAL DVD is very good. The anamorphic video and Polish DD 5.1 are very solid, and the English subtitles are good but not great – some missing letters here and there, but nothing that bad. For this type of film, the English subtitles are very important because it’s such a wacky talkative movie. The dialogue shoots out non-stop. It’s good to see an Eastern European movie with so much to say. And I am happy to see that the English translation was not screwed up. The extras are basic stuff, but the majority of them are English subtitled which is a surprise: a photo gallery, a 15 minute making-of-the-film (very interesting), trailers, music videos, and a montage of the characters cursing in some made-up language (very funny).
SNOW WHITE AND RUSSIAN RED is certainly one of the most creative and entertaining Polish movies I’ve ever seen. The movie has a little of everything – action, drama, some seriously funny scenes just worth it to buy the DVD, and some touching scenes. I didn’t totally understand the film, but it’s the type of film that will be clearer after a couple viewings and/or reading the book (which I think is translated into English).
MEGA MONSTER BATTLE: ULTRA GALAXY LEGEND THE MOVIE (MMBUGLTM) is one epic Ultraman movie. If you want to see a non-stop action movie which is like a mish-mash of Green Lantern, Star Wars, martial arts, Godzilla-style monsters, then this movie is for you! If you’ve watched commercial Japanese movies, then you know what to expect from the story and the depth of characters…meaning, there is none. But at least the filmmakers stick to what they know how to do best – just make anime-style action. I’m also glad that there is not an ounce of filler in this film – it’s just straight-up non-stop action mayhem.
Since Ultraman is one of Japan’s most popular superheroes, I was curious to see this movie. I’ve never seen an episode of the Japanese show, and I’ve only seen another Ultraman movie, ULTRAMAN THE NEXT, which was released in 2004. That movie was somewhat entertaining. After seeing this new Ultraman film, I now perceive ULTRAMAN THE NEXT as a Japanese interpretation of the Hal Jordan Green Lantern origin story. In ULTRAMAN THE NEXT, the main character is a pilot that becomes Ultraman, so it’s very similar to Hal Jordan’s origin. With this new Ultraman film, MMBUGLTM is basically Green Lantern and Corp fighting Sinestro and his henchmen monsters in outer space to prevent Sinestro from taking control of the universe. There’s even a supreme light power in this film just as with Green Lantern’s Central Power Battery.
There are tons of Ultramen superheroes (which I was not aware of and explains the countless different-looking Ultramen Japanese action figures) – they are basically a race of Earthling-type people that have to live as Ultramen (it’s not a suit, it’s something they transform into) on their planet because of their bright sun or something dangerous in their environment. The villain of the movie was a former Ultraman (a la Sinestro) and just tries to kill all the Ultramen throughout the whole film. There are even some Star Trek-like space travelers that help out the Ultramen. MMBUGLTM has tons of characters and it’s a bit hard to keep track of all the different kinds of Ultramen, but it doesn’t really matter because this movie is all about the action.
For Japanese commercial movie standards, the special effects are excellent in this film. It’s a lot of green screen CGI, which is not up to standards of Hollywood CGI, but what it has is creativity, so the special effects are worth seeing, especially since outer space and different planets are used as the main backgrounds.
MMBUGLTM is directed by Koichi Sakamoto, the director of the Power Rangers tv show. Not surprising, the movie is a bit like a big-budget tv episode, but it works just fine. MMBUGLTM is mainly impressive for its visual creativity. If you are looking for story, character arcs, and originality, don’t even watch this film. I’ve realized long ago that good Japanese screenwriters for commercial films are non-existent in Japan.
This Ultraman movie makes a good double feature with any of the Green Lantern films (one live-action, and two animated films).
The Japanese DVD is pretty good quality. The anamorphic widescreen and DD 5.1 Japanese audio are all solid – just what you would expect from an outer space action flick – crisp, clean video and with very active surrounds. The English subtitles are excellent as well. There’s a Japanese Region A blu-ray release of this film as well, but that would cost a fortune. There are also cheaper Hong Kong DVD and blu-ray versions but with no English subtitles available. If you are not a huge Ultraman fan, then just stick with the Japanese DVD.
couchpotatofarm 