Bride of Chucky (5 Stars)

"Love between the ugly is the most beautiful love of all".

That quote must mean something to me. It's is the third time I've used it in my blog. Although I have to say, only Chucky is ugly. Tiffany is beautiful, even as a doll.

But I prefer her as a woman. Jennifer Tilly is one of the sexiest actresses I know. It's not just her voluptuous curves. It's not even her baby doll voice. Something about her oozes evil, and I mean that as a compliment. I wouldn't dare play poker with her. She'd take all my money and laugh at me as I leave.

Have you noticed that she always shows off deep cleavage when she plays poker? That's a deadly distraction to the men at the table. As they say, "If you've got it, flaunt it. If you've got a lot of it, use it as a weapon".

"Bride of Chucky" was made seven years after "Child's Play 3". Even though it's a continuation of the franchise, it has the feeling of a reboot. It's a new start with new dynamics, mainly due to the arrival of the Hong Kong director Ronny Wu. He's breathing new life into the series. Whatever he does turns to gold. I have enough of his films to do a mini-marathon. Maybe I'll start next month.

Success Rate:  + 0.0

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Oddity (2 Stars)

This is the 15th film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

Ted Timmis works in a hospital for the criminally insane. One night his wife Dani is murdered, and a recently released patient is found guilty. But Dani has a twin sister who's blind and psychic. When she touches an object she can see what happened to it. She wants to investigate and find out if the patient really was guilty.

This is the sort of film I don't like. There are lots of things going on; some are relevant to the plot, some aren't. There's a lot that the viewer has to accept. For me it was too much. Evidently it was too much for the other festival guests as well. Things happened that made them laugh, even though they were supposed to be terrifying.

This was the last film that I watched in this year's Nights Festival. I regret that the festival ended on a poor note.

Concrete Utopia (4½ Stars)

This is the 14th film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

This was Korea's entry for the best foreign language film at the 2024 Oscars. It takes place in Seoul in an area where there are a lot of residential skyscrapers, 15 or more floors high. There's a massive earthquake, and all the buildings are destroyed, except for one. The people from the neighbouring buildings flood to it, seeking shelter, and the question is whether they should be accepted or turned away. Soon they're divided into two groups: the residents and the cockroaches.

The film's message is plainly clear. What should we do with refugees? Let them in or turn them away? And how is our decision influenced when we don't have much ourselves? There was an incident in my home town a few years ago. There was a supermarket called Cap which employed mentally handicapped people. Only the manager was "normal". I often shopped there. The staff were friendly. They were disabled, but I liked them. Then the town was ordered to build a home for asylum seekers. Cap had received financial support from the council because the employees weren't able to work as efficiently as normal employees. The council wrote to Cap and told them that the social budget was exhausted by the refugee home, so they couldn't pay money to Cap for the next two years. Cap was closed, and the mentally handicapped people lost their jobs. It never re-opened.

I found that disgusting. The weakest people in our society, the ones who needed the most help, were the ones who had to pay for the refugees. It was wrong to stop funding Cap.

I'd better stop ranting. Back to the film. It's very good, though uneven in parts. There are subplots which I found unnecessary. Nevertheless, I intend to watch it again.

Bitten (5 Stars)

This is the 13th film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

It's a coming of age drama, and the vampire elements are only incidental. The year is 1967. Francoise is a 16-year-old girl who lives in a Catholic boarding school. Her best friend Delphine has just lost her virginity. Francoise is jealous, but she has other things on her mind. She has a premonition that she will die before dawn, so she wants to have a good time in her final hours of life.

Francoise and Delphine hitch a ride to a mansion in the woods where there's a big party. Lots of good-looking boys, but Francoise rejects their advances. She's more interested in a young-looking boy called Christophe. He tells her that he's a vampire, and he's really very old. Francoise asks him to kill her, but he's reluctant.

That's it! No more spoilers.

As I said above, the vampire element of the film is subdued. It's more about the feelings of two young girls, trying to deal with their hormones and the impending feeling of doom.

Cobweb (5 Stars)

This is the eleventh film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

"Cobweb" is a film within a film. The director Kim Ki-yeo, called Director Kim by all, has just completed a film called "Cobweb". It's a wrap. But the day after its completion he has ideas about improving the film by changing the ending. His films have all been called lightweight trash by critics, but his new ideas will make it a masterpiece.

So he tries to refilm the final scenes. But his studio refuses. The actors have already gone on to film other projects. What can he do to continue with his film?

I admit that I found the opening scenes boring. "What's this all about?" But as it continued I was more and more drawn in by the zany humour. I was soon sitting in awe, waiting to see what would happen next. I was also trying to figure out what "Cobweb" (the inner film) was about, but it just confused me. In the original ending a woman killed her husband. In the revised ending another woman killed him. The scattered footage just gave clues that are intended to puzzle the audience.

This is the best film in the festival so far. I can't wait to see it again.

Boy Kills World (unrated)

This is the tenth film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

It's not often that I decide not to rate a film. There's a lot in "Boy Kills World" that annoys me, but there's also a lot that I like. If I'd just averaged the film out with a three star rating, it wouldn't have accurately expressed my feelings.

The whole film has a post-apocalyptic feeling to it. It takes place in an American city that's controlled by Hilda Vanderkloy. Once a year she holds a ceremony called the Culling, in which she publicly executes anyone who opposes her rule. Bill Skarsgard plays an unnamed young man whose family was killed in a culling ceremony. He's been training all his life so that he can kill Hilda.

What I like about the film is the incredible fight scenes. They're a joy to behold. What I don't like is the film's post-apocalyptic premise and the stupid look on Bill's face. It's annoying. There are other things that annoy me which I can't reveal without giving away spoilers. Nevertheless, I'll watch the film again when I get the chance. Maybe I'll rate it next time.

The Empire (4 Stars)

This is the ninth film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

The film takes place in a sleepy French fishing village. Something big is happening beneath the surface, not even seen by the inhabitants. Aliens from two races are taking control of villagers. The races call themselves the ones and the zeroes. The ones are benevolent and intend to live on Earth in peace, helping humanity to advance. The zeroes are selfish and wish to exploit humanity for their own purposes. The two races are preparing to go to war against one another.

This is a ridiculous science fiction comedy, but it's enjoyable.

Riddle Of Fire (3 Stars)

This is the eighth film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

Jodie, Hazel and Alice are three young friends who live in Ribbon, Oklahoma. They ride around on motorbikes that look too old for their age, armed with paint guns. The girl sitting on the ground is Petal, but they don't meet her until later in the film.

The film is described as a fairy tale, but it reminds me more of the computer adventure games in which a series of tasks have to be performed in order to reach a goal. It's easy to explain. The children want to play a video game, but only their mother knows the password. She promises to tell them the password if they fetch her a blueberry pie. The cook at the only bakery in town is sick, but she says she'll give the children her recipe if they fetch her ice to cool her down. When they get her the ice (by stealing it) she gives them the recipe, but they can't get a speckled egg because a man buys the last box before their eyes. So they have to follow him to steal the eggs.

And it continues from there. It's a whole chain of tasks that have to be performed in order to play their video game.

This is probably suitable as a children's film, and it's pleasant to watch, but it's not a film I'm likely to watch more than once.

Sting (4 Stars)

This is the sixth film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

Charlotte lives in an apartment building in New York City. The house belongs to her grandmother's sister. That's a great aunt, isn't it? Most of the apartments are used by her family.

One night a small meteorite smashes its way into her grandmother's apartment. Charlotte finds a small spider and takes it into her room. She calls it Sting and feeds it bugs, but the spider is very unusual. It whistles when it's hungry. It grows rapidly, doubling its size within a few days. It's remarkably intelligent, opening the lid of its jar when it wants to hunt for food, then closing the lid again when it returns.

Sting feels affection towards Charlotte, but everyone else in the house is in danger. It's soon as large as a dog and able to wrap humans in a web.

In theory the film could be terrifying. The problem is that the picture is too dark for most of the film. Do you remember the good old days of the 1960's horror films? Or any films, in fact. Even if a scene took place at night, the picture was still clear, and shading was used to show that it was nighttime.

The Invisible Fight (4½ Stars)

This is the fifth film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

Wow! This is the first Estonian film I've ever seen. I wonder if it's typical.

The story takes place while Estonia was part of the Soviet Union, so it's some time between 1944 and 1991. My guess is that it takes place towards the end of that period.

Rafael served in the Soviet army as a guard on the Russia-China border. While there he learned kung fu. After returning home to Estonia he wants to continue with his martial arts, so he applies to become a monk in an Orthodox monastery which teaches martial arts. I didn't know the Russian Orthodox Church encourages martial arts. I learn something new every day. Rafael only wants to stay a short while in the monastery, but the head monk sees something special in him. He says that Rafael will become a saint. Rafael doubts this, because he likes drinking vodka and listening to heavy metal, but maybe the head monk is right.

This is a hilarious film. Interestingly, no fun is made of the Christian religion itself. Christianity is assumed to be correct, and the humour comes from the way Rafael and the monks practise it.

It's already been released on Blu-ray in America.

Meanwhile on Earth (3 Stars)

This is the fourth film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

Franck Martens was an astronaut who took part in a space mission. The space ship disappeared. No explosion, it simply disappeared. Three years later he's considered a hero. A statue has been erected to him in his home town. His younger sister Elsa sits gazing at the stars every night wondering if she'll ever see him again.

One night she hears his voice talking to her. He tells her that he's the only survivor of the mission, and he doesn't know where he is. Then she hears a second voice telling her that they (whoever they is) will return Franck to her if she does them a favour. Over the next three days she has to take five people to a place in the forest, either one at a time or in a group. If they stand at the right place, or even just walk over it, their bodies will be occupied by them. They promise it isn't an invasion, they just want to live on Earth.

This is a quiet dreamlike film. Questions of morality aren't directly discussed. Elsa just wants her brother back. I found the film too quiet for my tastes.

Love Lies Bleeding (4 Stars)

This is the first film in the Stuttgart Nights Festival.

It takes place in an unnamed town in New Mexico, close to the Mexican border. Jackie is hitchhiking from Oklahoma to Las Vegas to take part in a body building contest. That doesn't look like the most direct route, but when you're hitchhiking you have to take whatever rides you can get. She's short of money and sleeping rough. In the opening scene we see her having sex with the manager of a gun club to get a job as a waitress.

Louise is the manager of a gym. When Jackie comes in to work out the two become lovers. They're both lesbians. Jackie only sleeps with men when she needs something from them.

It's a small town where everyone knows everyone. Louise's father is the owner of the gun club. The man Jackie slept with is Louise's brother-in-law JJ. Louise's father also makes money by illegally smuggling guns into Mexico. The FBI suspects him, but doesn't have enough proof to act.

Things start moving when Louise's sister Beth is so badly beat up by JJ that she ends up in hospital. Jackie takes revenge, breaking into JJ's home and killing him with her bare hands. Murder needs to be carefully planned. Spontaneously killing someone leaves clues. Jackie and Louise do their best to get rid of the evidence, but it's not easy.

The plot meanders on, with ever deepening conflicts. I shouldn't give away anything else, except that the film becomes even more fascinating as it continues.

I have a simple question. Is it normal for a bodybuilder to be a heavy smoker? I would have thought that Jackie would do without cigarettes in order to remain fit.

This was a good film to open the Nights Festival. I admit that I enjoyed the lesbian sex scenes with gratuitous nudity. What do you expect from me? I'm a man.

Mad God (4 Stars)

Mad God? Mad film.

"Mad God" was sold out in the cinema today. It's a visual treat, but I didn't understand it at all. I spoke briefly to the people sitting on either side of me, and neither of them had a clue what it was about.

After the film there was a live video conference with the director, Phil Tippett. There were several questions from the audience. In retrospect I regret that I didn't make a note of them all. One person asked the question that was on everyone's minds: "What's the film about?" Phil's reply was, "It's about 80 minutes". Further questions tried to tie him down, but his answers were always evasive.

There's no dialogue in "Mad God". Phil praised the golden age of silent movies. He claims that they were the days when directors were creative, unlike today when Hollywood just makes films according to standard formulas. When asked what silent movies he would recommend, his reply was "Google classic silent movies". He's a nice guy, but trying to get information from him is like squeezing water from a stone.

"Mad God" is Phil Tippett's lifetime work. He worked on it for 33 years from 1987 to 2010, continuing whenever he wasn't interrupted by other projects such as "Robocop" or "Starship Troopers". Mostly he worked alone, but other collaborators joined him for brief periods over the years. When asked how he knew the film was finished, he said that when the contract with Netflix was signed the film was complete.

I checked Netflix as soon as I got home, and it's not available. Maybe it'll be streamed at a future date. It's not the sort of film that can be given a big run in the cinemas. True, it was sold out today, but we were an audience of film freaks who'll watch anything weird.

Brotherhood of the Wolf (5 Stars)

After watching this film in the cinema in January I said I would buy it straight away. I ordered it the same evening, but it was temporarily out of stock, and it only arrived yesterday. Better late than never.

It's a strange film. A cult in 18th Century France that combines Christianity, politics and an adoration of wolves? I agree, it's infeasible, but somehow I have no difficulty accepting it in the context of the film.

And the most fascinating but infeasible character is Mani, played by Mark Dacascos. He's a Native American who's skilled in martial arts. Does he look like an American? He was born in Hawaii, but he's a multi-racial cocktail. His father is part Spanish and Chinese. His mother is part Irish and Japanese. He can pass for anything with a bit of makeup. In "John Wick 3" he plays a Japanese man.

But here's something curious. This warning is shown at the beginning of the film. Are they crazy? It should be obvious to anyone that not everything shown in films is meant as a recommendation. For instance, "Django Unchained" supposedly uses the word "nigga" 109 times. Quentin Tarantino isn't a racist, far from it, but it's a film about racism. Even Samuel L. Jackson defends the use of the word in the film. It's correct in its context. If racists use bad words in real life, why should films portray them as polite and gentlemanly?

Anyone who's offended by a film shouldn't watch it. It's not forced down our throats.

Success Rate:  + 0.4

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The Mummy [1999] (5 Stars)

After watching "The Mummy" again last month, I decided to buy the remastered 4K collection. Wow! The picture quality is far superior. I have no more complaints. The picture does justice to the wonderful film. Look how beautiful Rachel Weisz is as Evelyn.

Evelyn Carnahan isn't just a pretty face, she's also very intelligent. She can read Egyptian hieroglyphics. Or is she really intelligent? After opening the Book of the Dead she reads it aloud, reassuring Rick O'Connell, "It's only a book. No harm ever came from reading a book". That's a dumb thing to say. Has she never watched "Evil Dead"?

And this is the result, only 40 seconds later. Here's my advice to my readers: if you ever find an old book, whatever language it's written in, don't read it aloud!

And a few days later she's tied to an altar doing a Betty Page impersonation. "No harm ever came from reading a book"? Now she knows better. I hope.

Success Rate:  + 3.2

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Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro (4 Stars)

I was totally unprepared for this film in the cinema today. I thought it was a Japanese children's film, but it's actually the restored version of a classic 1979 anime. I realised that I'd misjudged the film when I looked around and saw that Oliver was the only child in the audience. Having an age rating of 6 doesn't mean a film is made for children.

Fortunately Oliver enjoyed the film, so it wasn't a wasted visit.

Lupin III is a master thief from Japan. Together with an accomplice he robs the casino in Monte Carlo, but as they drive away he examines the loot and finds the notes are all counterfeit. He dumps the cash, and he heads to the nearby Kingdom of Cagliostro, which he deems to be the source of the counterfeit cash. This is the first of many things I don't understand about the film. Why should he go to Cagliostro? What's in it for him?

On arriving he sees a young woman being attacked. He tries unsuccessfully to protect her. She's taken away by the attackers, but she drops her ring. It's a signet ring, and Lupin deduces that she's the Princess of Cagliostro. Further investigations reveal that she's being forced to marry the Duke of Cagliostro against her will. He wants to inherit a hidden treasure, which is strange, because not even the Princess knows where it is. And why does he need to inherit it? He could simply steal it.

Other characters arrive in the kingdom. There's an Interpol agent who wants to arrest Lupin. There's a Samurai warrior of uncertain allegiance. There's a spy called Fujiko who seems to be a romantic interest of Lupin. "The Castle of Cagliostro" is the second film in a series. Maybe I would have understood it better if I'd seen it first.

I found the film very good, despite not understanding everything. The opening titles reminded me of the Batman TV series, which is always a positive. I've read reviews that call it the greatest anime of all time. Shall I watch it again? I don't know. I'd like to watch it accompanied by a fan of the film, not sitting alone in my room. It's a film that needs to be explained to me.

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Bodyguard Kiba 2 (4 Stars)

"Bodyguard Kiba 2" was released in October 1973, only six months after the original film. Those were the good old days. They didn't waste time, they brought out sequels before the public had time to forget the original films.

The Tesshin School wins a karate tournament. A rival school disputes the tournament and issues a challenge. The school's master (whose name I've forgotten, sorry) refuses to accept the challenge, but Kiba is hot-headed and engages in a fight to the death. After he kills his opponent he's arrested and imprisoned. It's not said how long, but I assume it was a relatively short sentence. After his release he says he's retired as a bodyguard, but he's hired by a nightclub owner called Akamatsu.

Once more, the noble man Kiba is working for an evil boss. Akamatsu bought the nightclub with money that he stole from ambushing an American military transport. Kiba comes into personal conflict when Nanjo, one of his prison friends, is released. Nanjo also participated in stealing from the Americans, but he was the only one arrested. He threatens to kill Akamatsu if he doesn't give him his share of the money. Kiba says that he'll kill Nanjo if he tries. It's his job.

The sequel isn't as trashy as the original film, but I'd still label it as Japsploitation. The fights are very stylised. What I mean is, before opponents begin a fight they stand with their arms raised in a fighting pose watching one another. When the fights begin, there are only a few strikes before one of them falls over.

Bodyguard Kiba 1 (4 Stars)

This 1973 film has been released with different names over the years, including "The Bodyguard". "Karate Kiba" and "Karate Killer". Today it's best known as "Bodyguard Kiba 1".

Naoto Kiba is a member of the Tesshin Karate School. A few years previously his master emigrated from Japan to America, but now he and his school have come into disrepute. There was some sort of incident in which his master killed a bull. It's not specified any closer.

When Kiba is flying to America there's an attempt to hijack his plane. Kiba easily overcomes the armed hijackers, using only his bare fists. In America he holds a press conference, in which he offers his services as a bodyguard. A day later a mysterious Japanese woman approaches him and hires him for four days. Despite repeated questions, she refuses to say who she is or who is trying to kill her. Kiba realises it's serious when four masked men attack her on the first evening.

Kiba accompanies her to Japan, and the attempts on her life continue. Finally he finds out what's happening. She was the lover of a Mafia boss in New York. After he was gunned down in public she stole a suitcase of heroin and has arranged to sell it to a Japanese gang. Kiba doesn't take a moral standpoint. He's been hired as a bodyguard, and he'll do his job whether or not he approves of his client.

I've long known about "Bodyguard Kiba 1", but today is the first time I've seen it. I was surprised how trashy it is. The soundtrack is brash and aggressive, like the blaxploitation films of the 1970's. If anything, I'd call it a Japsploitation film. It's enjoyable, but at several points I had to shake my head in amazement. Was this typical of early 1970's Japanese martial arts films? I don't know.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes (5 Stars)

I wanted to take my grandson Oliver to the cinema today. Shortly before we were due to leave he changed his mind. The only children's film in the cinema today is "Paw Patrol", and he's getting too old for it. He used to watch "Paw Patrol" videos on YouTube, but now he's eight.

Looking at the films lying around my room, he told me that he wanted to watch "Planet of the Apes", by which he meant "Rise of the Planet of the Apes". Fortunately, my English edition of the Blu-ray contains a dubbed German track. Oliver understands English, but he prefers to watch films in German.

So I watched the film in German today. The dubbing is top quality, as is usual in Germany. It can't be compared with the poor quality dubbing of foreign films in England. In Germany leading theatre actors are hired for dubbing.

Oliver loved the film. He was excited by everything he saw. But do you know what happened next? He went back to his mother (who lives in the same house as me), and he watched it again on Disney Plus. I don't know the full story. Maybe she was curious and wanted to know if the film was suitable for him. But the bottom line is that he watched it twice in a row. Anyone who does that is a real film fan.

And my daughter liked it as well.

Success Rate:  + 3.2

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Seeking Justice (3 Stars)

This is a 2011 action thriller that takes place in New Orleans. Will Gerrard is a meek English teacher. One evening his wife is raped on her way home. In hospital he's approached by a man who says he knows who the rapist is and can deal with him. It's not certain that the police will find him, and even if they do it will mean a harassing trial for his wife, and he might not get more than a year in prison. The stranger, who introduces himself only as Simon, says that the rapist is currently on parole after a previous offence.

"Deal with him"? The word "kill" isn't used, but it's obvious what he means. After short hesitation Will agrees. As a condition he has to agree to do a favour at some time in the future. So there's a catch? Never mind, Will wants justice for his wife.

We see a man shooting the rapist at home. Gradually the plot unravels. Simon runs an organisation that seeks justice for rape victims. A man is sent to kill a rapist. Next time there's a rape, the victim's husband is asked to kill the criminal. It's a chain of killings. The killer can never be found, because he has no connection to the rapist. The person who has been wronged always has an alibi.

Six month's later it's Will's turn to kill someone. He's given the photo of a paedophile and told to kill him.

By this point, I was having problems with the film's premise. It's very infeasible. Will isn't a killer. Probably many of the other men in the chain weren't killers. The film made me think about myself. I'd be happy if someone came to me and offered to kill my wife's rapist. He deserves to die, doesn't he? But if someone asked me to kill a rapist, I couldn't do it. I'm not a killer.

Will only consents to commit a murder after his wife is threatened. So Simon isn't such a good guy after all. After killing the man he finds out that he wasn't a paedophile, he was a reporter who was gathering information on Simon's gang.

This is a strange story. I kept shaking my head as things were uncovered. I just couldn't believe it. I enjoyed Nicolas Cage's acting, but a good actor doesn't make a good film. In fact, all of the main characters are played well, but the story still doesn't hold up.

Success Rate:  - 2.2

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Immaculate (2 Stars)

Sydney Sweeney plays Cecelia, a young American woman who enters a convent in Italy. The convent contains a hospital for elderly nuns who are in their last years and are no longer able to serve. Many of the old nuns are demented.

Cecelia is an outsider in the convent. Everyone else is Italian. Things change when she's discovered to be pregnant, despite still being a virgin. The other nuns begin to worship her, and it's expected that she will be the mother of the new saviour.

I'll stop there. I have nothing against religious films. "Immaculate" could have been a good film, but many of the final scenes were so horrific that I felt like walking out. Somehow I remained until the end. I was surprised that there was applause when the film ended. How could anyone possibly have enjoyed the film? It's well crafted, a visual splendour, but so tasteless.

Police Story 3 (5 Stars)

This is the third film in the Police Story series. It was originally released with the title "Supercop".

The Hong Kong police force wants to break up an opium smuggling ring and arrest the leader, Chaibat. One of the ring's leaders, Panther, is in a prison work camp in mainland China. Ka Kui is sent as an undercover operative, posing as a petty criminal to win Panther's trust and help him break out of prison. He's assisted by Yang, a Chinese police officer played by the magnificent Michelle Yeoh.

Back in Hong Kong, Ka Kui joins Chaibat's gang and takes part in his activities, waiting for the right time to reveal who he is.

This is (in my opinion) the best film in the series so far. There are car chases and fights on top of a train, as well as pursuits by a helicopter. The film's budget was less than a million dollars. How did they manage it?

The reunification of China and Hong Kong is a topic. When it's asked whether the money from the gang's Swiss bank account should be given to Hong Kong or China, Ka Kui says it should be given to Hong Kong, because after reunification China will get it anyway. Smart thinking!

Success Rate:  + 36.2

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Police Story 2 (4½ Stars)

This is a sequel to "Police Story", made three years later in 1988. Despite his success in the first film, Ka Kui Chan has been demoted to a traffic cop because of the excessive property damage caused in his fights. Come on, guys, it was the fault of the criminals!

The story is in two parts. Maybe the first part is abandoned too soon. The drug dealer Chu Tao is released from prison on compassionate grounds. He only has three months to live, supposedly, but we soon find out that his illness was faked. Chu Tao's men attack Ka Kui at home. After fighting them off, Ka Kui finds them in a restaurant and attacks them, causing yet more property damage. His superiors threaten to discipline him, so he quits the police force.

This is when the second part starts. Ka Kui decides to take his girlfriend on holiday to Bali. But he never gets that far. While buying plane tickets he overhears that there's a bomb threat in the shopping mall. Despite having quit the Hong Kong police force, he's still a policeman at heart, so he takes control of the evacuation of the mall. There's an explosion just after the regular police force finally arrives. They beg Ka Kui to return to the police force, which he gladly does.

The rest of the film is about Ka Kui's search for the gang that blew up the mall.

Once more, it's a high octane Hong Kong police film with spectacular action from Jackie Chan. The humour is toned down, or maybe it's just less silly. If anything, this is a slightly better film overall. Maybe I should go back to using quarter stars in my ratings.

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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (3 Stars)

This is a sequel to "Ghostbusters: Afterlife". I went to see it with my son Benjamin in the Lichtspielhaus in Schwäbisch Hall, one of Germany's oldest cinemas, dating back to 1913. The cinema was busy on Saturday evening, but most of the guests were there to see "Chantal im Märchenland". I was shocked to find that Benjamin and I were the only people watching the Ghostbusters film. That was a very poor showing for a blockbuster film on a Saturday evening. If this is typical, it means the film will be a flop.

This is the Lichtspielhaus. Like the Tardis, it's bigger on the inside. The room we sat in was spectacular. It was below ground, like a cave with rounded walls.

All I'll say about the film is that I was disappointed. I've been a fan of the Ghostbusters films from the beginning, but something is missing from "Frozen Empire". For the first hour hardly anything happens. It's just talking, talking, talking. The various characters explain one thing after another, while I was thinking to myself, "Will the action never start?" Yes, there was eventually action, the fighting with ghosts that we've grown to love, but by then I was already bored.

What happened? Don't they know how to make better films than this?

Police Story (4½ Stars)

I've finally got round to watching "Police Story". It was made in 1985, so I'm almost 40 years late. I'd already read that Jackie Chan considers it to be his best film, so I was excited when I sat down to watch it. The stunts are incredible. Knowing that he always does his own stunts made each scene look more exciting. Would a modern American studio allow him to take such risks? Maybe, maybe not.

The story takes place in Hong Kong. Jackie plays a police sergeant called Ka Kui Chan (or Kevin Chan in the dubbed version). In the opening scene he's part of a team that's sent to take down a gang of drug dealers. Ka Kui himself arrests the leader, Chu Tao.

Chu Tao's secretary Salina offers to testify against her boss. Ka Kui is assigned to protect her, even though she insists that she doesn't need protection.

The action scenes are dazzling. I've only deducted half a star because there are comedy interludes that I find silly. Maybe I'm being unfair. I'll think it over next time I watch it. Yes, I'm sure to watch it again. If I ever get round to it. So many films, so little time. Maybe I should put that on my gravestone.

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John Wick 4 (5 Stars)

I watched this film two days ago, but I didn't write much because I was getting ready to go away for a weekend holiday. I took the Blu-ray with me because I wanted to watch it again. Now I'm not writing much because I'm away from home and have even less time. It's a terrific film, probably the best in the series. I say probably because it's difficult for me to make up my mind. Visually, it's in a class of its own. New York, Morocco, Osaka, Paris, Berlin. The action switches from country to country like a James Bond film.

Donnie Yen plays Caine, a blind assassin who's an old friend of John Wick. He enjoyed making the film so much that he's asked to return, either in a sequel or a spin-off. No decision has been made yet. I hope he's given a chance.

Success Rate:  + 2.4

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The Mummy [1999] (5 Stars)

This is a brilliant film on so many different levels. It's the best fantasy film I know, that matches the style of the fantasy films made in the 1960's.

The mummy himself, Imhotep, is a tragic character. Is he evil? He wasn't evil to begin with. He started out as a man in love. He loved Anck-su-namun, the wife of the pharaoh. This love was his downfall. It led to his death, and when he was revived 3000 years later he was obsessed with bringing his lover back to life. A man can be driven to extreme things for love.

One of my few quibbles with the film is that the picture quality isn't ideal. It's an old Blu-ray disc, and it shows. Imagine my surprise when I googled and found that there's a remastered 4K release that fans and critics have been raving about. Now where's my credit card?

Success Rate:  + 3.2

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John Wick 4 (5 Stars)

Farewell to Charon, as played by Lance Reddick. In "John Wick 4" he's executed in a senseless act by the Marquis de Gramont. A short while after making the film the actor himself died of a heart disease.

This is truly a wonderful film. I don't know why I only gave it a four star rating when I saw it in the cinema last year. The only thing negative is that I'm annoyed by Scott Adkins' bloated appearance. I barely recognise him. All I can say is that I'm glad he was killed, because it means I don't have to see him in a future sequel.

Or do I? John Wick was killed, but the fifth film in the series has already been announced. You can't keep a good man down.

Success Rate:  + 2.4

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