DVD Collectors Online

Cradle 2 the Grave, a review by Silence_of_Lambs

Summary:
When his daughter is kidnapped and held in exchange for priceless diamonds, Fait (DMX), the leader of a crew of highly skilled urban thieves forges an unlikely alliance with a Taiwanese Intelligence officer (Jet Li) to rescue her. Their race against the clock to find the precious stones ultimately unravels a plot to distribute a deadly new weapon of war.

My Thoughts:
This film comes in the tradition of Exit Wounds (with better acting, since there's no Steven Seagal) and Romeo Must Die and just like them it's a festival of martial arts scenes.
The story comes along as a classical "No-Brainer" (and because of some severe plausibility leaks it's actually better to leave your brain in "StandBy), nevertheless this flick is highly enjoyable.
Not much to say against this movie: Decent story, decent acting, decent directing, ...
If you like the movies above and/or flicks like Bad Boys this film is highly recommended to you.

My Rating: (out of possible 5)

(From Michael's random reviews on October 29th, 2010)

So Close, a review by Tom

So Close (2002/Hong Kong) IMDb | Wikipedia Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment (United Kingdom) Director: Cory Yuen Writing: Jeff Lau (Writer) Length: 106 min. Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 1.85 Audio: Cantonese: Dolby Digital 5.1, English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian: Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: Dutch, English, Hindi, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish

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Stars:
Shu Qi as Lynn
Zhao Wei as Sue
Karen Mok as Kong Yat-hung
Song Seung Hun as Yen
Michael Wai as Ma Siu Ma

Plot:
GET READY FOR ONE OF THE MOST DYNAMIC, ACTION-PACKED FILMS OF THE YEAR!

Directed by famed action choreographer Cory Yuen (The Transporter, Jet Li's The Enforcer) SO CLOSE is a thrill-a-minute shootout, with lightning-quick action sequences and great performances by Qi Shu (The Transporter), Zhao Wei (Shaolin Soccer) and Karen Mok (Black Mask).

A crooked businessman brings in a pair of high-tech assassin sisters to murder his elder brother so he can take over the family's business empire. When a determined policewoman starts to put the pieces of the puzzle together, the businessman realizes that he must destroy all evidence... including the assassins and the cop! The three women are left to fight for their lives, while helping each other along the way.

With some of the best action scenes to appear on film this year, SO CLOSE is a high-octane blockbuster hit!

Awards:
Nominated:

Love Hong Kong Film Awards (2002)

Best Action

Extras:

• Bonus Trailers
• Scene Access
• Trailers

A fun movie. Great fight choreograpy and a story which is not as silly as I have expected. This movie also put much effort on cinematogrophy. The one thing which would have made it more enjoyable would have been, if they would have talked in the more pleasing (to my ears) Korean or Japanese instead of Cantonese .

Rating:

(From 2010 December Marathon - Discussion thread on December 5th, 2010)

Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews, a review by Tom

Star Trek: Voyager
2.01 The 37's
Writer: Jeri Taylor (Writer), Brannon Braga (Writer)
Director: James L. Conway
Cast: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Kathryn Janeway), Robert Beltran (Commander Chakotay), Roxann Biggs-Dawson (Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres), Jennifer Lien (Kes), Robert Duncan McNeill (Lieutenant Tom Paris), Ethan Phillips (Neelix), Robert Picardo (The Doctor), Tim Russ (Lieutenant Tuvok), Garrett Wang (Ensign Harry Kim), John Rubinstein (John Evansville), David Graf (Fred Noonan), Mel Winkler (Jack Hayes), James Saito (Nogami), Sharon Lawrence (Amelia Earhart)

I have to admit, that I like this episode, even though it is not really good. sfdebris had a field day with it. But I always liked stories about characters confronted with the future.
What I don't like about this episode is the ending. The crew is given the choice to stay back on the planet and make a new life there or continue with Voyager. Many are thinking about it, but none actually stay behind. I find it hard to believe. It would have been more realistic if at least a handful of people decided to stay on the planet.

Rating:

(From Tom's Random Star Trek Reviews on November 27th, 2011)