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Juice , a review by samuelrichardscott

Juice (1992) R2 UK

Shortened Review:
Films about inner city life, and in particular, street 'thugs' or gangs, can go one of two ways. You get the good ones; gritty, close to the bone with violence shot in a certain way and with a story that can be quite deep about anything from revenge to sticking together. And then you get the bad ones; usually low budget knock-offs that use inner city violence and strong language with a formulaic story and a big name to sell discs whilst the film itself will generally have no real 'meaning' (Snitch'd being a great example). Usually, one thing both of these genre types have in common, is the appearance of a rap star, be it Ice Cube, Eminem (8 Mile), Snoop Dogg, Treach or Sticky Fingaz. Juice, has Tupac.

Tupac plays Bishop, one of four friends from the harsh streets of Harlem who spend their days in a local pool hall (ran by Samuel L. Jackson) hustling, playing truant from school, fighting and shoplifting. Although they take part in lower end criminal activity, they run away from anything more. However, hungry for power and happiness (which they refer to as 'the juice'), they decide to rob a local convenience store where Bishop shoots dead the owner. As things spiral out of control, their lives are changed forever.

Omar Epps (TV's House), Tupac Shakur (Poetic Justice), Jermaine Hopkins (Lean On Me) and Khalil Kain (TV's Girlfriends) play the four friends; Q, Bishop, Steel and Raheem well and their characters gel together perfectly. The characters themselves are developed throughout the film enough to get you to know their personality strengths and weaknesses fast, especially in the opening few scenes. We also get cameos from Samuel L. Jackson (Jackie Brown) as the owner of the local pool hall/arcade where the kids hang out when cutting school and from Queen Latifah as the owner of the club holding the Mixxmaster competition that Q enters. Both Jackson and Latifah appear a couple of times and although their screentime is short they are both welcome additions.

Director Ernest R. Dickinson, who was cinematographer on Spike Lee's early films, made a good first impression for his first feature length movie, working well with cinematographer Larry Banks to give the film that gritty, dark feel. As he also co-wrote the screenplay with Gerard Brown, it is obvious he achieved the look and feel he was aiming for.

As far as the story goes, it isn't the most original, however the character development, above average cast and gritty feel make this one of the better films based around inner-city life and what people feel they must do for respect of the nineties.

Full Review:
http://www.dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=2503

Released 3rd October 2011.

(From Never Ending Movie Marathon (short reviews) on August 19th, 2011)

Taken, a review by KinkyCyborg

Title:Taken
Year: 2008
Director: Pierre Morel
Rating: NR
Length: 93 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround, French: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Liam Neeson
Maggie Grace
Leland Orser
Jon Gries
David Warshofsky

Plot:
Prepare to get Taken for the ride of your life! "Liam Neeson is an unstoppable force" (Premier) in this action-packed international thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. When his estranged teenage daughter (Maggie Grace) is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.

Extras:
Scene Access
Feature Trailers
Closed Captioned
Theatrical Version


No random pick tonight.... I picked Taken. I've heard from just about everyone who watched this how great it was and I have to agree.

Already a huge Liam Neeson fan to begin with, seeing him in an action film of this magnitude brings his game to a whole new level. He has had many tremendous dramatic roles in his career and yet he flawlessly makes the transition to action star... and a great one. I hope to see more from him. The ruthless edge to his character makes this movie so memorable and a keeper in anyone's collection with unlimited rewatchability. The human trafficking theme has been a popular one on screen these past 5 or so years but most of them have been of the dramatic variety.... good, but not nearly as memorable as Taken.

One of the best movies I've watched this year. 


Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on August 7th, 2010)

Tom's TV Pilots marathon, a review by Tom

Full Metal Panic? FUMOFFU (2003/Japan) IMDb | Wikipedia (United States) Length: 300 min. Video: Full Frame 1.33:1 Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Japanese: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo Subtitles: English

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Plot:furumetaru panikku? fumoffu
1.01 Minami Kara ki ta Otoko / Dakyou Muyou no Hosute-ji (2003-08-26)
Writer: Shouji Gatou (Original Material By), Shouji Gatou (Screenwriter)
Director: Yasuhiro Takemoto
Cast: English Vocal Cast), Chris Patton (Sousuke Sagara (voice)), Luci Christian (Kaname Chidori (voice)), Hilary Haag (Teletha Testarossa (voice)), Chris Ayres (Atsunobu Hayashimizu (voice)), Monica Rial (Kyoko Tokiwa (voice)), Kira Vincent Davis (Ena Saeki (voice)), Nancy Novotny (Ren Mikihara (voice)), Christine Auten (Mari Akutsu (voice)), Tiffany Grant (Yoshiki Akutsu (voice)), Kelly Manison (Principal Tsuboi (voice)), Andy McAvin (Vice Principal (voice)), Jason Douglas (Juvenile Delinquent A (voice)), John Gremillion (Juvenile Delinquent B (voice)), Kyle Jones (Juvenile Delinquent C (voice)), Nomed Kaerf (Juvenile Delinquent D (voice)), Christine Auten (Additional Voices (voice)), donaldo (Additional Voice (voice)), Jason Douglas (Additional Voice (voice)), Chris Hawley (Additional Voice (voice)), Nancy Novotny (Additional Voice (voice)), Mike Vance (Additional Voice (voice)), Mike Yantosca (Additional Voice (voice)), Japanese Vocal Cast), Tomokazu Seki (Sousuke Sagara (voice)), Satsuki Yukino (Kaname Chidori (voice)), Yukana (Teletha Testarossa (voice)), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Atsunobu Hayashimizu (voice)), Ikue Kimura (Kyoko Tokiwa (voice)), Mizuka Arima (Principal Tsuboi (voice)), Shiho Kikuchi (Ena Saeki (voice)), Rie Tanaka (Ren Mikihara (voice)), Mayumi Asano (Mari Akutsu (voice)), Masumi Hamada (Yoshiki Akutsu (voice)), Ikuya Sawaki (Vice Principal (voice)), Yasuyuki Kase (Juvenile Delinquent A (voice)), Katsuhiro Harasawa (Juvenile Delinquent B (voice)), Junro Maruyama (Juvenile Delinquent C (voice)), Yasuhiko Kawatsu (Juvenile Delinquent D (voice))

This is the comedy spin-off to Full Metal Panic. I think it is really funny. A must-see after having seen Full Metal Panic.

Rating:

(From Tom's TV Pilots marathon on June 20th, 2011)