Category Archives: Movies

Am I Ok? (2022)

Posted in Movies by

Am I Ok? (2022)

Director: Stephanie Allynne & Tig Notaro

Cast: Dakota Johnson, Sonoya Mizuno, Jermaine Fowler, Kiersey Clemons, Molly Gordon, Whitmer Thomas, Sean Hayes, Tig Notaro

Lucy and Jane have been best friends their entire lives. Only when Lucy embarks on a personal journey, will she face a test of her friendship, and her sense of self, on a path she may not be entirely ready to take. – IMDB

Based loosely on screenwriter Lauren Pomerantz’ personal life and friendship and directed by Stephanie Allynne and Tig Notaro, Am I Ok has all that it needs to highlight the story about a woman entering her 30s who is starting to embrace that she isn’t interested in men and trying to step out reluctantly from her comfort zone to try dating women. Straddling the line between a romantic comedy and a coming of age drama, its never too late to figure out what is right for you and in many ways, this film captures that very well.

Dakota Johnson is the lead of this film and sometimes she reminds me a lot of my feelings for Kristen Stewart because they both being known because of some really ridiculous film trilogy but in reality, when you look at her filmography, she’s also popped up in some interesting titles like 2022’s Persuasion post-Fifty Shades of Grey and A Bigger Splash which was before that. Of course there are some titles in there that I’ve heard are pretty great films as well that is on my watchlist like Bad Times at the El Royale and much more. In this lead role as Lucy, Dakota Johnson’s character is a more closed off character who has to finally face this possibility in her life as she has to face a big change of her best friend and anchor accepting a job offer to go abroad.

Lucy and Jane’s opposite personality is what makes both of their uniqueness stand out even more throughout the film and it highlights the difference in how Lucy accepts new things especially when embracing this new revelation or at least testing it out seems like a much more fun experience to Jane who knows her own orientation but is willing to put herself out there. Except amongst their differences, as their friendship takes a break, their similarities also pop up.

Now, I have to talk about Jane played by Sonoya Mizuno because she is probably the biggest highlight of this film. While she’s not struggling with what Lucy is which is a primary storyline, she has her own issues to deal with as well about moving abroad for her job which is causing her own changes. As both a best friend and her own personal struggles, behind all the openness and support, the break in their friendship also brings on her own revelations. Her character has an intensity that is affected the same way. Its surprising that I don’t realize that I’ve seen her in so many of her beginning roles.

With that said, Am I Ok is a fun movie with some depth that has a decent balance of both drama and comedy. While it navigates the courage to embrace a love interest orientation, in many ways, the film’s strength is in the friendship between Lucy and Jane and how they embrace their own changes when they get a chance to find themselves without the other. Not to mention there’s one particularly fun part which was a highlight was with co-director Tig Notaro as cameo role as a retreat leader Sheila. Its well worth a watch.

Stalk-Afina – An Awkwafina Restropective Podcast

Posted in Movies, Movies and Tea by

2025 has been a little bit of a whirlwind over at my headquarters, even if posting over here has been a little more stable with the monthly posts making its appearance more normally. Trust me, more is in the works as reviews should resume soon.

However, as crazy as everything is, there is always time to start new projects, one that me and my co-host Elwood has been talking about for a while. Awkwafina is a musician, comedian and actor that we have loved for a while, in my case, thankfully my co-host. While we’ve seen a lot of Awkwafina’s work already, its a great way to truly dive through her career both in music and film.

We finally caved and here we are: Stalk-Afina – An Awkwafina Restrospective Podcast

Of course, I’m always a little bit of a procrastinator so here we are with 2 episodes since launch last week!

You should be able to find this in most places that you can listen to podcasts however here are the Spotify links!

Episode #1: Awkwafina is Nora From Queens (2020-2023)

Episode #2: Renfield (2023)

Hope you enjoy the show!

The Prosecutor (誤判, 2024)

Posted in Movies by

The Prosecutor (誤判, 2024)

Director: Donnie Yen

Cast: Donnie Yen, Julian Cheung, Francis Ng, Kent Cheng, Michael Hui, Michael Tin Fu Cheung, Adam Pak, Kang Yu, Locker Lam, Liza Wang, Mark Cheng, Ray Lui

A poor young man is wrongly charged with drug trafficking after being deceived. An ex-cop turned prosecutor investigates the case, uncovers a corrupt lawyer team’s scheme, and restores justice despite obstruction from evil forces. – IMDB

Directed and lead by Donnie Yen, The Prosecutor is inspired by a real Hong Kong legal case that explores the world of the courtroom especially through the side of the prosecution as a new cop turned prosecutor embarks on his first trial. The film makes the effort to section the film through its courtroom process to also educate its audience of the various stages of court process from its beginning trials to its retrial procedure in the Hong Kong justice system. At the same time, it highlights the key purpose of prosecution that in the film seems to have blurred as well as the changes in certain elements pre and post Hong Kong Handover in 1997.

While I am unfamiliar with legal cases in Hong Kong myself so how true to the real story this one is will require a lot more digging, the screenplay here does present effectively an engaging case from the beginning moments of what motivates Fok Chi-ho (Donnie Yen) to become a prosecutor to embarking on this first case where he butt heads with the Grand Judge (Michael Hui) and the chief prosecutor (Francis Ng) as he gives his all to dig out the evidence to help an innocent young man’s trial and retrial, taking an unusual path. The story itself doesn’t hide behind a lot of twists and turns. Its a straightforward look at presenting the story with less fringes but more on the hurdles of being a prosecutor and how some have lost sight of what its righteous purpose is.

While Donnie Yen turning to a lot more of these roles with slightly more variety in career (like Big Brother) and characters that use more reason than action and almost like an attempt as he gets older to step down a little but bring out some new talent, this film achieve it even though a lot of the big action scenes does fall on Donnie Yen’s shoulders. However, the film does bring out some younger actors like Michael Cheung Tin-Fu who delivers some exceptional action sequences despite achieving his stardom as a singer, among the stacked acting veterans in both supporting and cameo roles like Francis Ng, Kent Cheng, Ray Lui, Liza Wang and of course, Michael Hui who also recently acting in The Last Dance which has been receiving a lot of praise upon its release.

If you are looking for deep characters, this one probably won’t offer it. It is in the most direct way an action thriller/courtroom drama. The characters here are presented to do their jobs and they don’t have any emotional back story which works in this film because the investigation doesn’t necessary need it so much but rather hints of the character’s life from a trunk full of toys to the little details on the walls. The downside of this is that its becomes a film that sometimes feels like its on rails to build up the big action scenes but also making its villain played by Julian Cheung underused and one-dimensional. Julian Cheung has been in the business for a while and does a decent job with what his character is offered and hopefully will be an avenue to have more chances to do more villain roles.

With that said, the heart of The Prosecutor does lie in its action thriller elements. Its not surprising considering it is Donnie Yen’s bread and butter as right from the get-go, the opening action sequence features a well-executed first person shooting sequences almost like if you were watching a video game in real life. Its always tricky to execute these types of action scenes and yet this one does feel smooth with its gun angles and motions. Another big fight scene featuring a lot of people on a outdoor scene using an aerial drone shot was a visually appealing moment especially as it showed the grandeur of that scene before actually seeing the variety of the different forms of weapons and combat that came into play for that sequence. To be fair, we could sit here and talk about those great action moments like the parking lot chase sequence and the finale MTR sequence that was pretty fun to watch and felt a lot like watching SPL or Flash Point which makes sense as the action choreographers were all part of the Flash Point team. The action here is top tier Hong Kong action and stunts and there’s almost a grandeur to the whole film that deserves a lot of praise.

Overall, The Prosecutor is an exhilarating action thriller with memorable action sequences. Some of which feels like Donnie Yen paired his own Hong Kong action background with his experience on the John Wick 4 set and created this action film. The courtroom drama does have some over acting at parts but there is a show of restraint on the melodrama for the most part as it focuses on showing the case and investigation on hand. The film executes the story trying to balance the courtroom drama and the action thriller with some nice humor inserts from Kent Cheng and Michael Hui. It definitely feels like The Prosecutor has its heart in the right place. There are some shortcomings but also shows that Donnie Yen isn’t just an action star but has great vision as a director. It’ll be interesting to see what other projects he has planned for the future.

The Prosecutor is currently available in theatres as of January 10th, 2025.

*Screener received by Well Go USA*

The Substance (2024)

Posted in Movies by

The Substance (2024)

Director (and writer): Coralie Fargeat

Cast: Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

A fading celebrity takes a black-market drug: a cell-replicating substance that temporarily creates a younger, better version of herself. – IMDB

Body horror is an interesting subgenre. While its supposed to explore the physical horror of deformation and transformation, it also sometimes easily falls into a world of inconsistency especially when facing how far the actual stomach-churning disgusting horror it can get to. If anything, there are very few body horrors that manage to deliver it to its full extent in recent years. The Substance delivers the body horror subgenre in spades as it embraces a story that while takes some familiar turns, also takes some unexpected ones.

While we’re not about spoilers here, the story is essentially split up in three acts of the three characters that the transformations at different levels we’re about to encounter. The story revolves around an aging fitness guru Elisabeth Sparkle when she loses her job for the studio to find someone younger to replace her with something more fresh when she is introduced to The Substance, a black market drug which births a younger second her. The rules of the drugs are exact and the dealer and users are strictly on a number basis and not on a name basis. The procedure itself is presented cold, much like the process of getting the drug and refills are equally demeaning. However, it feels like this is the sacrifice of bending down to get something she desires in return.

As with anything with rules, they are only meant to be broken and this is where the story heads expectedly but what director and writer Coralie Fargeat does is to deliver the unexpected not in the general path but in the details which highlights the lengths and struggles aging and beauty standards brings in this cruel world that makes her spiral. At the depth of it, it uses the world of fitness celebrities and aging as a take on the cruel beauty standards and the diminishing value it puts on its main character. The strength of the film lies in Elisabeth Sparkle’s character played brilliantly by Demi Moore, a role that fits her incredibly well. Demi Moore’s Elisabeth Sparkle builds a love-hate relationship with both herself and her second self, Sue (Margaret Qualley) as she spirals down as she loses the confidence, starts to doubt her beauty and shuts herself off from the world. The spiral that Demi Moore takes is not so much horrific as it is dreadful as her transformation is one that falls out of her control as the two loathe each other’s existence even if they are meant to be one.

Of course, a film like this can’t be without her second self Sue played well by Margaret Qualley who plays a shallow character as this new self replaces Elisabeth but also despises her “alpha”. The two only crossing paths while the other is unconscious and she also falls through a path of expected outcomes of wanting to be the alpha which has its expected consequences. Sue’s story is shallow as its meant to be as it dives into a youth thrown in fame and beauty and becoming full of herself that she wants to be the only one in the world. While its not a deep role and more expected, it does make a lot of sense for her character.

At the same time, Dennis Quaid does an exceptional job in a rather unexpected role for him as he plays the producer that is literally in your face all the time. The camera work makes sure that his disgusting actions and words are all over the top to emphasize his representation of his push for those beauty standards and the money that it brings in. Also highlighting a great point that as important as this man believes himself to be, class really can’t be bought. Its a pretty unique role for Dennis Quaid’s acting career.

While horror and body horror specifically doesn’t normally associate with a lot of depth (at least in my shallow experience), The Substance delivers some great character transformations from both a physical and psychological element. Demi Moore delivers a great performance and Coralie Fargeat shows that she is a director with a great vision and voice. The story has some expected plot points but also goes down some extreme cinema especially in its third act. I measure body horror by how much queasiness it can make me fell and for myself, that third act really did it. Its been a while, probably since my viewing of Raw a few years ago from another French director that I’ve felt this way and the first time in 20 years that I’ve taken off my headphones to not listen to the disgusting sound effects.

There is a sad reality of beauty standards and its sacrifices wrapped up in this film and a depth in story and performances that I wasn’t expected and I do love to be surprised. I might not be revisiting The Substance because of its final act and my lack of desire to throw up since thinking about it now still makes me nauseous but its a film well worth watching.

Customs Frontline (海關戰線, 2024)

Posted in Movies by

Customs Frontline (海關戰線, 2024)

Director: Herman Yau

Cast: Nicholas Tse, Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam, Francis Ng, Yase Liu, Brahim Chab, Michelle Wai, Melvin Wong, Amanda Strang

“After boarding an unauthorized cargo ship and finding its entire crew dead, Hong Kong customs officers discover a hidden cache of illegal weapons and trace them back to an ongoing and highly volatile international conflict. But when elite agents go undercover abroad to locate the source of the smuggled firearms, they uncover a complex transnational operation with roots far closer to home than they ever imagined.”- Well Go USA

Directed by Herman Yau and seeing the return of Jacky Cheung onto the big screen after a 7-year hiatus as an actor as well as Nicholas Tse’s first time as action director, Customs Frontline is an action thriller with a focus on illegal trade and smuggling with a focus from the angle of the Customs and Excise Department of Hong Kong. With an action-packed plot and an impressive cast along with a look at mental disorders and international turmoil.

The focus using the Hong Kong Customs Department as the pivot point is a good angle as it brings in the internal politics between the characters but also as a central focus to educate the audience a a little about this department and its duties while also shedding some light on the negative impact of illegal trade on an international scale. There are some minor writing issues that make the script feel a little clunky especially around the foreign dialogue and some little CG issues which feel below standards which take away from the moment. With that said, there is a lot of great moments in execution and the film does have a decent pacing to push all the events forwards with characters on one hand, investigating abroad but also the Hong Kong officers also finding more evidence to piece together the mystery of the tanker and the mastermind while having their own personal issues to deal with especially in terms of Jacky Cheung’s character.

There’s no doubt that the pull of bringing back Jacky Cheung to the big screen for the first time in years is going to be a big selling point. While Jacky Cheung is much more renowned for his singing, his filmography is equally impressive with the beginning of his acting career in Once Upon a Time in China and a handful of Wong Kar-Wai’s films as well as his his early collaboration with Stephen Chow as well as 2002’s July Rhapsody and 2016’s Heaven in the Dark, two films that he acted with Karena Lam to see them here again in another collaboration except this time in a much more conventional relationship than the previous films. Jacky Cheung has one of the more prominent roles in the leading characters who also has a harder role as his character Wan-nam suffers from bipolar disorder but also has a high EQ that makes him mask it from everyone around him and as the film moves forward, it ends up being a personal struggle. In some ways, this element adds to the plot but at the same time, there’s a few moments here that truly feel like there wasn’t enough time and depth given to his character as the film’s plot gets busier.

On the other hand, Karena Lam’s Madam Siu does make for an interesting pairing as she plays a higher ranking commissioner fighting for a chance to be promoted in competition with Francis Ng’s character who is a rougher character as he pushes his harshness on Wan-nam and Ching-Lai which gives these two characters their own respective intrigue as the film turns its suspicion on them possibly collaborating with the illegal group run by Dr. Raw (Amanda Strang).

Nicholas Tse’s character Ching-Lai does get a lot more space to grow as he moves through loss, war, investigation and trust. As Ching-Lai pairs up with the Thai special agent Ying, played by Yase Liu whom I previously saw in Sakra and I Did It My Way and delivers a decent role here, he ends up being the center of investigation and action which works well as Nicholas Tse also has the action director role. Nicholas Tse as an actor is almost always impressive as he truly does excel in his acting. As action director, it works for the most part. If there was anything to criticize it would be one of the earlier scenes that probably had too much cuts in his shot making the camera work feel like it was either covering up for the use of stunt double or something else which is the only instant as most of the other action scenes are well choreographed especially in the big finale with the fight against Dr. Raw’s minion Leo (Brahim Chab).

Overall, Customs Frontline has its heart in the right place. As an action thriller, it delivers a lot on the action part with a lot of fast-paced action-packed scenes driving the film’s execution. However, what does truly grab for this film is its staked cast from Nicholas Tse, Jacky Cheung, Karena Lam and Yase Liu being top billed to the supporting roles for Shek Sau, Michelle Wai and Kenny Kwan and the guest role from Francis Ng. Hong Kong films have changed from its heydays but while it seems like a lot of it is dominated by veteran actors, Customs Frontline brings in a different line-up that still has enough star-power and acting experience to deliver a satisfying film experience.

Customs Frontline is currently screening in selected theatres in North America. You can find more information on Well Go USA HERE.

**Film screener provided by Well Go USA**

Sting (2024)

Posted in Movies by

Sting (2024)

Director (and writer): Kiah Roache-Turner

Cast: Alyla Browne, Ryan Corr, Jermaine Fowler, Nona Hazlehurst, Robyn Nevin, Penelope Mitchell, Danny Kim, Silvia Colloca

After raising an unnervingly talented spider in secret, 12-year-old Charlotte must face the facts about her pet-and fight for her family’s survival-when the once-charming creature rapidly transforms into a giant, flesh-eating monster. – IMDB

Sting is the latest creature feature featuring a fairly underused creature, spiders. Having fairly recently completed the creature feature season on Movies and Tea Podcast and looked at two of these films, the spider world is fairly underused despite having the Arachnophobia remake to look forward to. Directed and written by Wyrmwood director Kiah Roache-Turner, Sting is a more personal journey for the director with both his personal experience as a stepfather and as a person with a fear of spiders making this an interesting territory for him to explore and craft this tale. At the same time, it also sets the story in one location confined inside by a snowstorm.

The film takes place in an apartment complex in Brooklyn spanning over a few days when the creature lands spontaneously into the dollhouse in the grandmother’s home. The story focuses around this family centered around 12-year-old Charlotte (Alyla Browne) living with a newborn baby brother, her mother Heather (Penelope Mitchell) and stepfather Ethan (Ryan Corr). With the building being owned by her grand-aunt (Robyn Nevin) and her fascination to share the vintage things her grandmother Helga (Noni Hazlehurst) owns, she maneuvers the apartment via the vents. The story tries to strike a balance between the struggling family dynamic in Charlotte’s family unit as well as the acceptance of the struggling artist career that Ethan is dealing with which ends up creating a lot of tension aside as the underlying threat, the alien spider ends up growing up under the care of Charlotte. For the most part, the script is fairly well-paced and executed. There are some little bits of the family drama and feel like could be left out for a tighter execution and have more of a focus on the creature feature element however, the film never forgets the core of the film and keeps the creature development as a central plot.

The character dynamics work pretty well also. There are some pretty neat executions and use of the character especially in the starting sequence with grandmother Helga who hears noises around the house and calls the exterminators to end the scene with a well-timed, slightly fourth wall breaking shush towards the audience. Its a nice place to say that Noni Hazlehurst does a charming job with Helga as the aged grandmother who is losing her memory. The same can be said about Alyla Browne who plays as the main young lead as 12 year old Charlotte. Younger roles tend to have the threat of being annoying however Alyla Browne does a great job at maintaining the balance of being a normal 12 year old but also delivering the more emotional elements as she tries to find her sense of belonging in this new family unit. Another wonderful mention does go out to the supporting role as the exterminator Jermaine Fowler who delivers the comedic break in the film that helps tie up where it starts to when the story heads back into the present after it flashes back to how the whole spider situation started in the first place.

The spider design is definitely worth a mention as the director wanted the spider to have a physical presence in the film hence, the spider Sting is a puppet made by 3d printing material and maneuvered by a few puppeteers to make the whole creature move as are the venom spitting capabilities and the webs also implemented physically. There’s something so fantastic about creating a physical creature that makes it all the more believable and it definitely pays off in Sting. The spider scenes are done very well, not only from the element slowly revealing the creature as a whole after its initial size, but also have the growth progress and using the light and shadows to add tension to scenes as it interacts with the cast.

There’s a lot to love about Sting. While the creature feature does try to add in a more personal story element here and at times, it does seem to add more than this film actually needs, there are a lot of other elements that work well from having a great use of the one location concept to building and executing a horrific spider story. To be fair, Sting does have a few minor details that feel like its been inspired by other horror or creature features but in some ways, it does add to the film as a whole. In the world where the eight legged arachnid is not used sufficiently in all its creepy glory, Sting does a great job at rectifying that situation a little.

*Screener provided by Well Go USA*

Oh My Horror Challenge Week 4: The Strangers: Prey At Night (2018)

Posted in Movies by

The Strangers: Prey At Night (2018)

Director: Johannes Roberts

Cast: Christina Hendricks, Martin Henderson, Bailee Madison, Lewis Pullman, Damian Maffei, Emma Bellomy, Lea Enslin

A family of four staying at a secluded mobile home park for the night are stalked and then hunted by three masked psychopaths. – IMDB

The sequel of 2008’s The Strangers comes a decade after with 2018’s The Strangers: Prey At Night which takes the initial vacation home setting into an open space mobile home park. While the initial film wasn’t impressive enough for myself to feel this was long-awaited, this sequel does have a few elements that end up being a much more satisfying horror film as a whole.

While certain films benefit and use a single enclosed location really well, its a tough one to use when its based around a home invasion and not some type of discovery or deeper location secret however, The Strangers: Prey At Night increases the scope of the film by opening up the location to a mobile home park which gives it not only multiple mobile homes to explore but common space area and lots of open space to increase that sense of isolation. Adding in the darkness from the night setting, the film is able to create a lot more surprises and unexpected scares from the trio of The Strangers.

While the film is set 10 years after its predecessor, The Strangers are essentially the same as they also are a trio with the same masks: Man in the Mask, Pin-Up Girl and Doll-face. The concept of having killers initially inspired by true events makes it unsettling especially with their masks which also help add to the creepy factor. The first film set up this trio’s purpose which gives them all the more freedom to truly do everything to further extents in the sequel. Prey At Night does take that element to give these characters a lot more than just creeping around but gives them a little more room to play and toy around their victims as they stalk and prey on the family of four that make their stop at this mobile home as an invitation from their family who they soon realize has been murdered. If there were any little issues with this character is the Man in the Mask feeling like a classic slasher which takes a lot of effort to get rid of.

The Strangers: Prey At Night does have a small cast which works to its advantage. The family of four including the mother played by Christina Hendricks eventually does dwindle to an even smaller cast as it switches it focus to the survival of brother Luke (Lewis Pullman) and sister Kinsey (Bailee Madison). There is no doubt that the focus of the survival is on Kinsey as a lot of the chase and escape focuses on her side of the story. Bailee Madison is known for a lot of her child actress roles in my knowledge so its refreshing to see her in this role, even, the characters as a whole don’t really have a lot of depth. However, the film does deliver on the entertaining horror moments that build up in their intensity as the film heads to the finale. The general store and swimming pool scene being one of the more memorable of the film.

Overall, The Strangers: Prey At Night is a better horror film than its predecessor mostly because it manages to be more well-balanced and increases in its intensity. Its not a perfect film by far but it does utilize a lot of its great horror potential to create something that has some great moments and add in a little creepy and unsettling feeling. The acting could be better as a whole but its sufficient to keep it engaging.

*Part of the 2010s Horror pick for Oh My Horror Challenge 2024*

Wolf Pack (狼群, 2022)

Posted in Movies by

Wolf Pack (狼群, 2022)

Director (and writer): Michael Chiang

Cast: Max Zhang, Aarif Lee, Luxia Jiang, Ye Liu, Yi Zhang, Gianluca Zoppa

While seeking answers about his father’s suspicious death, a tactically trained physician infiltrates a mercenary group and soon uncovers a dangerous international conspiracy that could threaten the lives of millions of civilians. – Well Go USA

Wolf Pack is the directorial debut of Singaporean screenwriter-playwright Michael Chiang while also penning the script of this action thriller which follows a young physician that gets caught up in a mercenary group as he tries to learn about his father’s death which gets thrown into an international conspiracy.

When we look at the script of Wolf Pack, its not necessarily the most original idea about mercenaries and international conspiracies, not even how the whole issue pans out. However, what does stand out is the little moments that add together to create a lot of variety and maybe a little unintended comedy to lighten up the mood in an increasingly tense plot. Despite that, the film does keep a steady tone and keeps things focused on a different view of mercenaries and focuses a lot on having good and bad guys in any spectrum whether its political or solely in the mercenary world.

As we follow the main character Ke Tong (Aarif Rahman) and learns more about this mercenary group which he basically got kidnapped into by one of the members called Monster (Luxia Jiang), he realizes that there’s a strong sense of belonging, loyalty and righteousness in this group that extends further than simply making money under the leadership of Lao Diao (Max Zhang). Loyalty and righteousness, good and evil are usually common themes in Chinese films which root from classic Chinese stories and the fact that its implemented here fairly subtly does work well. What doesn’t work as well is the melodramatic bits which is a normal staple in Chinese cinema but loses a little bit of its momentum when not executed well.

Wolf Pack does hit a lot of good elements where it counts. The casting here is pretty solid. Max Zhang has been in the business for a long time starting out as a stunt actor and eventually getting his own films. He has been part of some Hollywood films in minor roles like Pacific Rim Uprising. His wushu training from when he was an athlete lends well to his action sequences. While this film leans heavily on the firearms elements, there were a few close combat moments which was able to show off some of his skills.

The same applies for Luxia Jiang who is also trained in martial arts and wushu. However, her role of Monster has a lot more room to play around as the character brings in a little charisma to the group of men in this mercenary crew. Both Max Zhang and Luxia Jiang deliver pretty decent roles here. The mercenary crew as a whole work well while the other members have less screen time outside of the action scenes, they each do represent their role in the crew well. The cast on the whole is pretty decent especially since this involves an international plot and the English dialogue all lands pretty well.

For fans of mercenary films with lots of shootouts and infiltration, Wolf Pack is a fun choice. Of course, for those less familiar with Chinese films, perhaps there might be a little bit of dramatic moments that might feel more than what the film needs. However, Wolf Pack is a surprisingly satisfying and entertaining action film. While its a little thin on the hand to hand combat which is what Max Zhang and Luxia Jiang is trained in, there’s still enough action to keep this a thrilling film experience.

*Wolf Pack is currently available digitally on Well Go USA*

Oh My Horror Challenge Week 3: The Neon Demon (2016)

Posted in Movies by

The Neon Demon (2016)

Director (and co-writer): Nicolas Winding Refn

Cast: Elle Fanning, Jena Malone, Bella Heathcote, Abbey Lee, Karl Glusman, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Desmond Harrington

An aspiring model, Jesse, is new to Los Angeles. However, her beauty and youth, which generate intense fascination and jealousy within the fashion industry, may prove themselves sinister. – IMDB

Its been a long while since I’ve seen a Nicolas Winding Refn film. The first (and last one) being Drive back before I was reviewing movies on this blog. Heading back into his world, the only thing I expected was a neon saturated and visually stunning film from Neon Demon as I headed into this knowing absolutely nothing about what it was about other than I like the poster and really enjoyed Elle Fanning in Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere. The Neon Demon hit the two elements I expected from it and even exceeded my expectations as this film truly is a mesmerizing and stunning visual experience even if I spent most of the film confused with what the end game was going to be with everything going on.

Cinematography is a great place to start when we look at The Neon Demon. Its a film that starts off with one of the darkest but stunning shots with Elle Fanning’s character Jesse lying covered in “blood” motionless on a sofa. The contrast of the colors and the whole set up of the shot is such a mesmerizing way to start the film. As the film moves on, the outfits and the lighting of the film capture the spiral of Jesse as she dives further into the model world and starts diving into her own narcissistic nature. There’s so much art to the how light is used in each shot from flashing lights that amplify the moments between everybody at the start to the mind-boggling scene that defined Jesse’s narcissism on her catwalk, the film is a feast for the eyes.

The narrative of The Neon Demon is almost like a character study of Jesse, a young model who finds herself as others appreciate her natural youthful beauty in the model world and quickly get taken over by her own narcissism. The film takes a little magnifying glass into the world of models and the perception of beauty. While I think its just my lack of depth into this world that stops me from understanding the film more but The Neon Demon’s biggest flaw probably is its plot which takes a lot of interesting moments in Jesse’s life and leaves a lot of space to wonder where its going and what its intentions are. With all that was going on, the biggest mystery was where the whole film was going and how it would end. The ending though, as a whole, is a big shocker which dials up the surreal horror element quite a bit and has probably an equally nauseating scene compared to Raw.

The cast is pretty small here with Elle Fanning being the main focus and she does a fantastic job capturing the aspiring model Jesse. Her expressions and build in confidence and those little movements that define her character are done impressively. However, after watching a bunch of Hunger Games films and Jena Malone, she is one of the shining points in The Neon Demon right from the start when Ruby enters that first scene. Ruby is such a mysterious character and even when the film ends, there are still so many questions about her that are unanswered which normally would be considered a lack of development but somehow it adds to the mystique.

I’ve watched many surreal horrors during my festival covering days pre-pandemic so I’m not completely unfamiliar with how weird it can get. The Neon Demon is probably one of the most visually stunning films I’ve seen in a while and the film has such an unexpected and shocking twisted ending. In general, the final act was odd and crazy in a good way however, there was a good chunk in the middle which just lacked a lot of engagement and took some turns that left this film feeling a little underdeveloped to head into that final act. With that said, The Neon Demon has made me realize the underrated actress that is Jena Malone and I’m going to seek out more of her films this year.

Oh My Horror Challenge Week 2: Puppet Master (1989)

Posted in Movies by

Puppet Master (1989)

Director (and co-writer): David Schmoeller

Cast: Paul Le Mat, William Hickey, Irene Miracle, Jimmie F. Skaggs, Robin Frates, Matt Roe, Kathryn O’Reilly, Mews Small, Barbara Crampton, David Boyd

Psychics find themselves plotted against by a former colleague, who committed suicide after discovering animated, murderous puppets. – IMDB

The Puppet Master film series is one that I’ve only recently heard about and since puppets (and not dolls) are actually fairly slim pickings as I’ve covered a few of the bigger ones, here we are watching the first film released in 1989 which goes on for another fourteen more films with the latest released in 2022. I’m not going to cover all the films consecutively this time around but its definitely peaked an interest to seek out the films gradually.

The film starts in the past as we watch a puppet maker craft his latest creation while his previous creations are animated around him and on the lookout for impending threat for his capability. This past scene acts as the introduction to set up both the story and the location of the present setting. As the group reunites together, the story does have its fun moments but the general plot is fairly predictable. Some of the spooks don’t land too well especially with the dead friend’s body moving around constantly. Even the kills feel more entertaining to watch than horrific especially since the more gruesome deaths are showed off-screen.

While the acting is a little over the top at times, there is some good elements for the character structure. They all have their own unique capabilities that we gradually learn from their actions like Dana, who we see in the opening as a fortune teller telling the fortune to a young Barbara Crampton which is a lovely cameo especially watching it now as she’s been part of many notable horror films in much more prominent roles, but at the hotel does a few more psychic things which give an idea of her abilities. However, the main character in this film is not her but the university professor who can see the future in his dreams.

The strength of The Puppet Master not surprisingly are the puppets. Not only do they expand the “villain” pool since its a group of them killing together but they all have their own abilities that make them distinctive like strength or leeches or knives. Also, their parts are stop-animated which makes it really neat and fun to watch especially since the camera likes to go into their perspective to film to keep the puppets a mystery before they are revealed. While there are definite technology differences which shows the age of the film, the sequences are well-executed. Plus, the puppets themselves have a nice mischievous personality which adds to these characters.

The Puppet Master sets a good foundation for the film. While the plot itself isn’t too exciting and at times, feels little awkward, the introduction of the puppet villains do add to the film a lot. Its not exactly a scary film, but it does hit a lot of the campy 80s horror entertainment elements. While I’m not a fan of horror films adding in the open endings suggesting something else is at work, cliffhangers and such, I was pretty satisfied with how this one chose to end which hopefully is a nice stepping stone to the next film. Fingers crossed.

*Oh My Horror Challenge 2024*