Big Trouble in Little China [Blu-ray]

Big Trouble In Little China: Special Edition Rocks!
...People back in 1986 did not understand Big Trouble In Little China. It's the kind of film you either "get" or you "don't get"...They were ahead of their time. Big Trouble In Little China is no different. Basically a Hong Kong action picture with stabs at humor, magic, mysticism and a touch of romance, "Big Trouble" clashed with the heroic heroes of the time... and instead gave us a lead character who's big on talk but usually not good at much else. Kurt Russell's Jack Burton is the type of character with an over-evolved sense of ego that never seems to match his less than perfect grasp of how to deal with real situations. The other difference here is that Jack is not the real hero, it's really Wang Chi(Dennis Dun), who shows us all the great Kung Fu moves and sword fighting styles... Jack Burton is more of the sidekick who thinks he's the head honcho but never seems to do anything right and when he does do something right it's usually because of blind luck. But that's the...
Two parts comedy, one part action
Director John Carpenter teams with Kurt Russell in this wonderfully unique spoof of the martial arts movie genre, and they hit on all cylinders in a film that is incredibly funny, surprisingly well-crafted, and just plain fun.

Russell takes advantage of Gary Goldman and David Weinstein's script to deliver the best comic performance of his career as his swaggering trucker Jack Burton blunders through Chinatown in an attempt to recover his stolen truck and his friend's kidnapped fiancee.

Masterminding the badguys is demon/ghost David Lo Pan, played wryly by James Hong. Hong parodies practically his whole career in this role, and has some priceless lines in so doing. His motive in the kidnapping is to marry a girl with green eyes, which will appease his demon-god and restore his lost vitality.

The plot grows more absurd and hilarious as the movie progresses and Burton and his companion, Wang (Dennis Dun) enlist the aid of local magician Egg Shen (Victor Wong) to thwart...
Welcome to the Hell of the Upside-Down Sinners!!
The Critics shredded and diced this movie so I really went to the theatre expecting to see one sick puppy. Instead, I was delighted and I continue to be delighted every time I watch this marvelous movies. John Carpenter created an original howl of a time, with tongue firm planted through the cheek and simply went wild with fun and throw away lines, that will keep you coming back again and again. The Critics just did not get the JOKE!! Sigh...fortunately, the public did not agree.

A great cast Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall, Dennis Dun, Kate Burton (Richard's Daughter), Victor Wong and James Hong take several wrong turns and end up in a war - kung fu style - kidnappings and all sorts "some very unreasonable things". Originally the manuscript for the second Buckaroo Banzai movie, Big Trouble hits bulls eye where BB just missed. It's over kill to the max, but such a great way to go as Jack Burton - Russell doing a BAD John Wayne Imitation - runs headlong into the magick...
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Life of Pi (Blu-ray + DVD + Digital Copy)

"Which story do you prefer?" A film review from a literary perspective
Wow, this has been an exciting fall for literary adaptations! I read Yann Martel's Life of Pi a decade ago and thought it was fantastic storytelling. I cheered when it won the Man Booker Prize. So, I was quite excited to attend an advance screening recently with several members of my book group. I remembered the novel quite well in broad strokes, but not the fine detail. I didn't refresh my memory before watching the film, but was curious enough to reread Life of Pi in its entirety before writing this review. The film is very true to the novel in spirit and tone, but there are small changes, additions (generally positive), and elisions (some noteworthy).

The film opens similarly to the novel. The idea is the same, but the execution is slightly different. Different mediums require different storytelling tools. For instance, I believe most film-goers will readily recognize The Writer (portrayed by actor Rafe Spall, who replaced a distractingly famous Toby Maguire) as...
Beauty and Spirit, Both Beyond Words
This may be the hardest movie review I've ever written, somehow words don't
express it quite right ...

To begin, I saw Life of Pi in 3-D. A week later I went back and saw it again,
because I don't foresee having another chance. I expect the color and detail
will remain gorgeous in 2-D, and I definitely intend to buy the disc.

However the 3-D in this movie is spectacular. The tiger, Richard Parker, is
at the top of the list, but in fact the entire movie benefits tremendously
from 3-D. If you liked Avatar, you probably liked the marvelous animals.
And I'm sure in some scenes, Richard Parker is CGI'd to some extent. But
Life of Pi has a real earthly animal to work with, and you can argue there
is no animal on earth more beautiful or fierce than a tiger. That's part
of the genius of this movie, and I'm sure one reason James Cameron liked
it so much.

That brings me to another point about this movie, its...
A must-see masterpiece of the beauty of being alive
Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" is a masterpiece with some of the most beautiful and unforgettable images ever displayed on film. Not only did it give me an experience of the wonder in being alive while moving me to tears, but its story also encompassed a human life from childhood to mature age while dealing with pain and guilt that are part of the human experience.

Ang Lee isn't thought of as an Asian auteur in the class of Wong Kar-wai, Zhang Yimou or Lee Chang-dong. He's actually more of a commercial director than a personal artist, but what he does in transferring the "Life of Pi" from novel to screen is miraculous. Perhaps no director has ever captured the beauty and fear of the power of life, and when you look deep into the eyes of the tiger "Richard Parker", you see what Marlowe saw in Kurtz's eyes in Conrad's "The Heart of Darkness": a power so vast it dwarfs you with an awareness of your mortality, showing you your insignificance beside the powers of all life. What Ang...
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