Reviews

Just picked up the dvd after it was sold out at numerous stores around the LA area, and for good reason. See this movie, it deserves to do well after it got butchered by the studio's lack of advertisement. Bale is terrific, giving one of the richer and textured performances in an action film in recent memory (Nic Cage in Face/Off comes to mind). The gun kata scenes are incredibly original, and considering that it takes a lot of creativity to compose an original gun fight, credit must be paid to the filmmakers. I know that it's a pipe dream to end all pipe dreams, but I would love to see the continuing adventures of the Clerics and what their next step is. Damnit, if this had been able to make fifty mil that might have been possible. As it is, we're stuck with Daddy Day Care and more PG-13 tame recycled action flicks. . .

While ultimately a standard expose on the rich and decadent lifestyles of disaffected youth in an affluent environment that at times resembles a poor facsimile of Bret Easton Ellis' Less Than Zero, "Bliss" nevertheless comes through with some unique characters and solid acting. Perry is a far cry from Dylan McKay and once again shows his talents far outweigh the gloriously contrived 90210. Pic partially follows the downward spiral of his character who was given everything and still takes it for granted, especially his friendship with the Tim Owens character. Oddly a lot of the actors haven't done anything since this movie, which is surprising since some seemed to have legitimate talent. A good early 90s teen movie that left me satisfied but not entirely happy.

When I was younger I paid actual American currency to purchase what I thought would at least be escapist action entertainment. The only service this film has done me is collect dust that might have accumulated on more precious things such as my Shannon Tweed collection or my sister's episodes of Full House. Movie has so little action, no point, and Brewster's Millions feel to it that the point was to spend what little money they had as quickly as possible to churn out the least entertaining item possible. Check out the first one instead, a very serviceable Death Wish-type revenge flick.

Late one night "Summer Catch" turned into a gauge measuring how much personal punishment I could withstand before breaking. I watched the entire movie except the closing 3 minutes or so, that was my breaking my point. Never have I watched an entire film and just turn off the ending because I couldn't take it anymore. As a baseball fan and Red Sox junkie I find the majority of the playing unconvincing; so few shots actually have Prinze actually delivering a fastball to home plate. Instead we get weak cutting and ostentatious slow motion or CU's of balls hitting the mitt or exasperated Prinze mannerisms which grew cringe-inducing after 4 minutes. Please, please, please- attempts at the New England accent should just stop. Unless you grew up here you arent going to have it. Even Williams couldn't pull it off in Good Will Hunting, and it's an embarrassment watching Jason (Rooftops) Gedrick, Freddie, and a good actor like Fred Ward trying to pull it off. Also, as they shot the movie in NC there is little feel for what the Cape is actually like in the Summertime. Good for laughs (unintentional), and maybe as an alternative to Tylenol PM.

A neo-Western with the charismatic C. Thomas Howell surpassing his other notable performances as Ponyboy in The Outsiders and the lawyer/volleyball stud in Side Out. Kid will always have a spot on my video shelf as I caught it back in the day while I was still in the early years of High School and I loved it then and love it now. It even has David Silver as an outdated Metalhead who speaks in 80s cliches, and the gorgeous older sister who makes washing a horse look like the most appetizing chore this side of the Mississippi. Topping off the cast is the drill Sergeant from Full Metal Jacket and Dale Dye, both adding credibility to what could have been an otherwise cheap Cinemax snooze-fest. A lean, well-paced and sometimes laughable "flick" that could have benefited from a more intense climax, but works very well within its own means.

Ridiculously good martial arts choreography combined with laughably bad dialogue and an outlandish plot that borrows heavily from Kickboxer add up to a very enjoyable fighting movie. Seeing the film in Middle School when it was on cable I had trouble getting past the poor film stock, and substitution of water in the mouth as fake blood was probably too expensive to use. Coupled with lousy acting and poorly-lit sets, I just enjoyed the fighting scenes (probably on a day when I had my fill of Van Damme and Seagal). Looking back on it recently, the choreography is some of the best ever put on celluloid, and it holds up tremendously against just about all of the other fight scenes from the 90s. A combination of beautiful foreign locales, some pretty intense stunts, and a sense that the director was going for a "let's be satisfied with the first take of any non-action scene" attitude, the movie is a guilty, but VERY impressive martial arts film.