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The Killing of America, a review by Jimmy

Title: The Killing of America (1982)

Genre: Documentary
Director: Sheldon Renan           
Rating: Unrated
Length: 1h31
Video: Full Frame
Audio: English
Subtitles: No Subtitles

Stars:
Chuck Riley - Narrator   

Before I start my review I will be honest with you, I've not wrote a review for so long and my last one was so bad that I feel a lot of pressure this time. But I'm not here for that so here we go with the review.

I've decided for this one to go with one genre that I don't think that I've reviewed here : the documentary. I have some of them in my collection, but not that much (many mondo movie, the faces of death serie, the first 3 of Michael Moore, ...) and one that I can't really name as a documentary that show footage of people death (this is the only movie in my collection that I'm not able to watch. I've bought it to shock my relatives, but finally this one is too much for me). The movie that I review here was made for the Japanese market after the success of the first Faces of Death (a rites of passage for all the teenagers when I was young). But there are no real comparison between the two : much of FOD is fake. So what we see in the movie is real, I'm sure that some find that it will be a bad taste documentary. Surprise, this is a very well done movie about the culture of violence in the United States. The film start with the assasination of John Kennedy that are the end of the innocence for the country (I tend to agree with that). That continue with the mention of many others political murder : Martin Luther King, Robert Kennedy, Georges Wallace, Ronald Reagan (I know he was not murdered). After they continue with an analysis of many others tendancy : the sniper (Charles Whitman), the serial killer (Ted Bundy), the cult murder (Jim Jones) and the random killer (Brenda Spencer). Most of the footage came from the tv station or the police, except for 2 interviews : Thomas Noguchi (a well known LA coroner) and, a particulary good one, with Ed Kemper (a serial killer). Some of the footage can be hard to watch for some viewers (we talk of dead person here), but like I've said most of the image came from the news.

The documentary is more neutral than Bowling for Colombine that covers the same subject. The director didn't manipulate the image or the editing to convince the viewer, he present the facts and let the archives do the talking.

Sure, he mentions that the guns culture are a part of the problem (even the most gun crazy guy can agree with that) but not the only one. Another part of the problem is the media themselves (the more they talk about those murders the more they happen). Just to quote one of the killer (Robert Smith) that have killed many women in a beauty school when he was caught : I want to be somebody, I want to be known.

The film end with the John Lennon memorial at Central Park when we learn that 2 person were killed. To leave us on a positive note at the end the narrator told us that five people were killed while we were watching the documentary. This movie was made more than 20 years ago and sadly this is worst than ever. Even in a little town like where I live we don't feel secure, not that a murder happen everyday but more and more crime happen.       

The bad thing is that this movie is not available at all in America, my copy is a bootleg but it was released in Europe many years ago on dvd. Since I don't want to end my review with a bad news : the movie is available on youtube (can't understand since they have closed my account for a couple of trailer ).

Rating :

Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9FtOlVp5wo

(From The little known movie review depot on September 3rd, 2008)

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)

Fear Itself Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

8. New Year's Day (Director's Cut)
A young woman wakes up in a post apocalyptic world overrun by terrifying zombies and struggles to survive the day.
Director: Darren Lynn Bousman (Saw II, Saw III, Saw IV, Repo! The Genetic Opera)

Stars:
Briana Evigan
Zulay Henao
Niall Matter
Cory Monteith
Shelene Yung

My Thoughts:
While watching this one I must admit I found myself a little lost more then once.  What with the flashbacks going back and forth all the time. But for me at least... the end reveal made the episode. Thinking back maybe I should have... but I just didn't see it coming.

My Rating:

(From Fear Itself Marathon on April 7th, 2010)