Furies

Revenge is a powerful tool but it could also be dangerous. If you revenge someone who harmed you personally or someone you loved, there might be consequences for the choices you make. I can absolutely understand if you would harm someone who harmed your child, because we all would protect our children no matter what it takes. The question is, would it be worth it if you might end up in jail for the rest of your life? What if you actually killed someone who you believe have done something horrible towards a child or children? When i think of films that brings up the subject of revenge there are a lot of titles to choose between. You have the classic vigilante revenge film such as Death Wish with Charles Bronson, or perhaps you enjoy the 1990 film Revenge with Kevin Costner and Anthony Quinn. One of my personal absolute favourite films that takes on the subject of revenge is the 2013 thriller film Prisoners from director Denis Villeneuve ( director of the latest Dune films ). Prisoners is not an ordinary revenge film in the sense that we get to follow a criminal case from different perspective, but there is a very powerful revenge thread in the film that is very important. Prisoners begins in Conyers, Pennsylvania, where carpenter Keller Dove ( Hugh Jackman ) and his family visit their neighbors, The Birches, for Thanksgiving. Keller´s daughters walk down the street and they later find out they have not be seen for a long time, and are simply vanished. Detective Loki ( Jake Gyllenhaal ) is informed that a suspiscious Van was seen in the are during the girls vanished where he arrest the driver Alex Jones ( Paul Dano ). Alex is intellectually disabled, with the IQ of a 10 year old. There is no physical evidence in the Van and Alex is released the next day. However, Keller believe that Alex is behind this and will make sure he gets answers. Prisoners is a very brutal revenge driven thrillerthat especially makes you think about, where do you draw the line between taking law into your own hands or leaving it for the police to handle? Director Denis Villeneuve knows exactly how to build up suspension in this revenge thriller, and it is a film you need to see. Revenge inspired action films do show up now and then, except with different plots and perhaps different backgrounds. One film i have been curious to see is from Vietnam and is called Furies, an action revenge story that´s on Netfilx. This is a prequel to a film called Furie and met film critics with positive words. Is this one of the better action films this year, or is Furies a prequel that didn´t need to exist?   

Bi ( Dong Anh Quynh ) lives with her mother who works as a prostitue to support them. One day, a drunk client arrives at the boat they are living on. While Bi´s moher is out shopping this drunk client decides to rape Bi. Bi´s mother returns and see what is happening and furiously pulls him of her daughter. During this struggle Bi´s mother is killed by the client, and Bi stabs the man to death. The boat suddenly begin to burn, leaving Bi homeless, and she flees to Ho Chi Minh City. After several years of living in the streets, earning money from odd jobs and pickpocketing. Bi is rescued from an attempt rape and is recruited by Aunt Lin ( Veronica Ngo ), who have trained two other sexual assault survivors and form The White Daises Together they train with Bi to take down gang leader Mad Dog Hai ( Thuan Nguyen ) who sells a lot of young women as sex slaves.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    How many of you remember the 2018 action revenge thriller Peppermint with Jennifer Garner who revenged her husband´s and daughter´s death against a drug cartel? That film had plenty of violence, action and Jennifer Garner kicking ass was a nice surprise and i think she did a great job. Furies is like a traditional revenge story but takes place in brothels in Vietnam instead, where a gang of females take out criminals and pimps with absolutely no human dignity at all. It´s not original in any way but that´s ok, because it is the background story of these girls that is interesting coming from broken homes and being sexually abused, as they take revenge on the people who use women as sex slaves. You could describe Furies as another version of the 2011 film The Raid combined with Charlie´s Angels and you pretty much would know what you are getting here. This is a really violent revenge action film with a lot of martial arts, where the colorful scenes of poverty becomes very clear. There isn´t much hope in this Vietnamese city where women are constantly being sold to be prostitues while drug dealers and brothel owners make a lot of money. The female cast in this film is really good and actors such as Toc Tien, Dong Anh Quynh and Rhima Thanh Vy, and each character that they play have gone through everything from being sexually abused, physically abused and not felt loved in the past. So to see these characters united and form a female assassin team is not only fun but shows the power of great team work. Regarding the plot of this film i wouldn´t call it anything special. but it is the colorful action scenes combined with great characters that makes Furies such a powerful action film. If you love Asian action movies from the past then i believe Furies might be exactly what you are looking for. Director Veronica Ngo proves with Furies that you can make a very effective female driven action film without holding back on violence. If you have not seen Furies on Netflix yet you simply have to check it out, this is how you make an action film about female revenge.

Rating: DDDD

Project Wolf Hunting

Back in the autumn of 1998 i worked in the harbour of my hometown in Sweden. It was for a company called Odal who took care of wheat, corn and other cereal. I had my own room where i did water samples especially for wheat and corn, and each time the machine have read the water levels in certain samples i would write them down for hand in a document. So in this small room i sat there taking water samples, and for the salary i got for it wasn´t too bad. Sometimes when we had leaks in pipes where they run the corn and wheat, we would have to take a shovel and put the product somewhere else since you could not pack it lying on a floor. Not just because of the dirt but you could not use the product in case the corn or wheat were affected from a quality perspective. It may not be the most fun job i ever had but trying different jobs is good for you. Plus with shoveling spilled wheat you got some great exercise as well. Speaking about the harbour there are several films that reminds me of harbour work. Most films doesn´t take place in the harbour for a long time, but the 1991 action film Double Impact with Jean-Claude Van Damme did have a couple of really cool scenes in an harbour. If you have not heard of this film, it basically tells the story of Twin brothers Alex and Chad, who were seperated as babies when their parents were brutally murdered in Hong Kong. As an adult Chad ( Jean-Claude Van Damme ) is running a sucessfull martial arts dojo in Los Angeles with his Uncle Frank ( Geoffrey Lewis ). Chad finds out from Frank during a meeting that he´s not his real uncle, that he was his father´s friend and bodyguard in Hong Kong 25 years ago. Frank takes Chad back to Hong Kong claiming it´s a buisness trip, but he is actually reuniting the twin brothers for the very first time, to revenge the people who were behind their parents death. This is a fun action film with a lot of classic fighting scenes, funny dialogue and Jean-Claude Van Damme playing 2 different characters. Since i mentioned a harbour earlier this is one of the films i really relate to when it comes to harbour scenes. Definetely worth picking up on physical media if you want to have a fun 90´s nostalgic trip. South Korean films have proved to be really good over the years, and there are a handful of very talented director´s out there who have delivered high quality films such as one of my personal favourites known as the 2010 psychological thriller I Saw The Devil. I have been reading positive reviews about the action thriller Project Wold Hunting since earlier this year and i finally got a chance to see it on a physical copy. Is this one of the films you should see this summer, or is Project Wolf Hunting not as fun as you might have hoped for?

A group of very well known criminals are being transported on a cargo ship from The Philippines back to South Korea. Every criminal will be under watched by police officers on board and must never be left withot supervision: What they don´t know is that someone have already planned to let the prisoners go, and now they are left out in the sea with no help, and forced to try and survive against serial killers and rapists.

Hoe many of you remember the 1992 action film Uner Siege with Steven Seagal, Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones where a bunch of terrorists took over the U.S. Navy battleship Missouri? It was definetely the best film in Steven Seagal´s career and as a terrorist on a battleship it had some really good action scenes. So imagine a similar idea but instead we are on a cargo ship with chained criminals who escape and you pretty much get the same idea. There is one other twist in this story that actually adds something extra to enjoy. I think we might as well talk about one of the biggest highlights of Project Wolf Hunting and that is how violent this film is. There are some extremely brutal killing scenes in this film where they don´t hold back at all. People are killed in so many different ways that you can never be bored, and you get to have some fun as well if you enjoy some really gory kills. You can tell that they really did hard work to make these violent scenes work since a lot of the scenes are suprisingly effective. The acting in this film are quite powerful from most characters, but there is especially one character that really stands out in the whole film and that is the character known as Park Jong-doo ( played by actor Seo In-Guk ). If you love really sick serial killers, you are in for a treat. This guy does not care at all how many people he kill and is clearly a sick individual. An acting performance such as this fits perfect in a film like Project Wolf Hunting. The plot may not be anything unique or special but it is thanks to the great casting and the chemistry between the actors that really make this film work. You can have lots of violence but you need to match it well with the characters, otherwise it won´t work. Luckily that´s not a problem in this film. Director Hongsum Kim does not only give us one of the most brutal action films i have seen in several years, but he also give us the South Korean version of Under Siege. And he does it really well with very effective action scenes and great camera work. If you think action films are completely dead i can tell you that there is still hope for this genre. Project Wolf Hunting makes sure to show how an action film should look like and don´t care what is politically correct or not. I am very grateful for that, a must buy on DVD or Blu Ray.

Rating: DDDD

15 Years Anniversary Review Of Ip Man

Back in the late 80´s i actually trained the Japanese martial arts sports known as Judo. I can honestly say i wasn´t really good at it but i did train it for a while. In a way it was an attempt to try something different from the tennis tournaments i used to do with a tennis team i played for in my youth, so i decided to give Judo a chance. My Judo teacher was great and he noticed that it was taking me some time to learn Judo, but thanks to his kindness he tried to take time to teach me so i was able to understand how i was supposed to practise Judo. I remember one time where i actually suprised my teacher and that was when i made a Judo throw against another guy named Roger. I could tell that Roger was not prepared so i took the chance to go harder than he expected, and i got him down pretty good. Roger looked at me very surprised, and the teacher said it was a good throw but perhaps a bit too hard. I probably wanted to show the other students that even if it took me some longer time to learn than other students, i was able to do this sports as well as everyone else. After i while i decided to quit anyway and focus on tennis instead, since this was the sport i grew up to play. Looking back today it was actually fun to have tried Judo at least because you learn a lot from doing martial arts, no matter what kind of martial arts sport you prefer to do. It was in the late of the 80´s i really got into martial art films in many different categories starting off with Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan and of course Jean-Claude Van Damme movies. It was also during the 90´s i discovered other martial artist action actors such as Donnie Yen in the 1993 film called Iron Monkey from director Woo-Ping Yuen. At that time i did not know much about Donnie Yen, but i was really impressed over his martial arts skills on the big screen. The martial arts fights in this film are really fun, very fast and i guarantee you will not fall asleep. I have not seen the sequel Iron Monkey 2 yet, but i have seen a lot of Donnie Yen films over the years. One of his most beloved films Ip Man from 2008 have now turned 15 years old and i thought it would be a good time to revisit this film to see if i still enjoy it. Is the very first IP Man film still solid entertainment or has this film aged a lot more than i expected?

In 1935. Foshan is a hub of Southern Chinese martial arts where the various schools´students compete against each other Ip Man ( Donnie Yen ), the most skilled martial artist in town, maintains a discreet profile while building a reputation for skill through friendly, closed-door competitions with other masters. One day, a local troublemaker named Yuan ( Wong You-nam ) loses his kite, which lands in a tree in the Ip family´s back yard. While retrieving it, Yuan witness Ip Man defeat fellow kung fu master Liu ( Chen Zhihui ) in a sparring match. Although Ip Man and Liu had agreed that the news of who won would remain a secret, Yuan unwittingly spreads the story around town, inadvertently embarrising Liu. This only cause more problems as Ip Man tries to deal with the situation. As the Second Sino-Japanese War force Ip Man and his family to move into a new home after the Imperial Japanese Army confiscates their house for use as military headquarters. Running out of valuables to sell for food, Ip Man have no other choice than accepting a job at the coal mine in 1938. Not only does he have to survive this war but is also forced to deal with other challenges as well.

Ip Man really gave Donnie Yen a bigger platform worldwide through his martial art skills. Even though a lot of people have seen him in several films before Ip Man was released, this was his real ticket to stardom across the world. I remember when this film came out and the buzz surrounding Donnie Yen back in 2008, you could read about it in newspapers and movie magazines so it was clear that this film made an impact. Looking at the very first Ip Man today i think there is especially one thing that still works really well in this film. And that is the professional martial arts fighting scenes that includes a lot of power. You can feel the punches as well as fall in love with the sound effects during the fight scenes. The combination works so well and you just want the fight scenes to continue longer than we get. The time period of the year 1935 is captured well, especially through the set design, costume design as well as the Chinese weapon design. I also enjoy the look of the film with cinematography from O Sing-Pui ( who also did cinematography on the great Hong Kong film The Pye-Dog ) who clearly knew what this film needed to look good on the big screen. When it comes to the acting in this film i would say we have a very mixed bag. I am not saying some of the actors are all bad, but when it comes to some of these martial arts films from Hong Kong they usually act out very loud and with a lot of body language. In some scenes this works well, while in some scenes you feel that they might overdoing it in certain scenes. The most charming acting performance comes without from lead actor Donnie Yen as the main character Ip Man. I especially appreciate that they show a completely different side of him when times are tough, and he is forced to try and find work to provide for his family. It doesn´t matter how good he can fight unless he can help his son and wife live an ordinary life. In war you have to do what you can to survive, so i really appreciate that this film capture the struggles of war. I really enjoy the evil character Jin played by actor Siu-Wong Fan. Not only is his fighting skills really powerful but i like the angry tone that he delivers in the dialogue. Director Wilson Yip proves with Ip Man that you can make a powerful martial arts movie and combine the story with a historical war that gives this film some depth. Ip Man may not be the most iconic martial arts film in history but is definetely one of Donnie Yen´s most beloved and respected films in his career. If you are a fan of this genre and Donnie Yen as a martial artist and actor, you simply have to experience Ip Man.

Rating: DDD

30 Years Anniversay Review Of Demolition Man

Action stars are not what they used to be in the 80´s and 90´s. Nothing wrong with skinny action stars in one way, but the action films of the 80´s showed us how it should be. You should have big muscles, a lot of guns, plots that didn´t make much sense and of course characters who were cool. It didn´t matter how cheesy the dialogue was because that was the way it should be. I remember when i had a very bizarre dream as a teenager in the early 90´s. There was a postman i didn´t like delivering letters in our neighboorhood and he was not friendly at all. Everytime i saw him he looked so mean and it felt like he wanted to kill me ( he had a very evil look ). So in this dream i had i was walking downtown with a grenade launcher to see this postman at his job. I went inside the building and asked for him and post office workers were terrified and as they pointed to where he was, i raised my grenade launcher and said:- You gave me the wrong letter, here is the right one. I shot him with the grenade launcher so he exploded and as i walked out i saw the building begin to burn. This is honesty the best dream i have ever had and i still remember it almost 30 years later. I understand that it might be difficult to do today in 2023, but in 1993 things were much more easier. There was a lot of things you could do back then like blow up smaller mountains ( yes we made like pipe bombs in a friends home ) and decapitate manequin dolls at a garbage station. Those were the good days when everything made perfect sense compared to today. Speaking of 1993 this was really a golden year for action films, no matter what your favourite action star was at that time. You had Jean-Claude Van Damme kicking a lot of ass in John Woo´s film Hard Target, Sniper with Tom Berenger and Billy Zane as snipers in the jungles of Panama, True Romance with Patricia Arquette and Christian Slater, or how about the classic American Yakuza with Viggo Mortensen? The list just never ends so i have to say there are a lot of films you have to see if you have not seen the ones that i mentioned. You all know legendary action star Sylvester Stallone right? Of course you do as John Rambo in the Rambo franchise, and in 1993 he released a huge action film under the name of Demolition Man. A futuristic action film where he battled against Wesley Snipes on screen. This film turns 30 years this autumn so it felt like a perfect time to do a 30 Years Anniversary Review of Demolition Man. Is this still one of the better action films of 1993 or have Demolition Man aged more than i want to admit?

The year is 1996, and psychopathic criminal Simon Phoenix ( Wesley Snipes ) kidnaps a busload of hostages and takes refuge in an abandoned building. LAPD Sergeant John Spartan ( Sylvester Stallone ), nicknamed "The Demolition Man" enter the abandoned building without any permission. He manage to capture Simon as the building blows up, but he finds out that all civilians are dead and they don´t believe he checked the whole building. As punishment for the death of all the civilians Spartan is sentenced together with Phoenix to lengthy terms in the city´s new "California Cryo-Penitentiary", a prison where you freeze down prisoners by using subliminal rehabilitation techniques. In 2032, the city of Los Angeles - a megapolis formed from the merger of Los Angeles, San Diego and Santa Barbara - is a seemingly peaceful utopia designed and run by Dr. Raymond Cocteau ( Nighel Hawthorne ). Phoenix is thaowed for a parole hearing and escapes the Cryo-Prison thanks to a secret password. With Simon Phoenix out on the streets all hell breaks loose. No one is used handling a criminal as he kill police officers and civilians, so they only have once choice, they need to wake up John who really knows who Phoenix is and how he functions.

If you look at Demolition Man today you might think that there are some details that may be strange, thinking this was supposed to be the future. But in the 90´s they had their way to predict the future so i would advise you not to think about that too much. If you leave certain details behind and just look at the full picture of what Demolition Man really is, this is an action feast that does not only smell like the 90´s but looks very 90´s as well. Since i have always been a big fan of Sylvester Stallone he knows exactly what he needs to do to make a film like this entertaining. His character John Spartan is just as tough and loud as you want him to be, and he clearly doesn´t take shit from anyone. Stallone always knew how to make certain moments funny with his comedic timing, and the future version of how people are having sex is definetely a highlight. Never have i seen a man so disappointed finding out that in the future 2 people don´t have physical sex together. I also enjoy the scene where John finds out they have a Arnold Schwarzenegger library, dedicated to President Scwarzengger . Actress Sandra Bullock is not only charming as Lieutenant Lenina Huxley but she also deliver some funny dialogue as well when she´s trying to be cool, just as they were in the 90´s ( that im sure not everyone would agree on ). Wesley Snipes as the bad ass evil charactor Simon Phoenix is perfect in this role. He knows how to say his dialogue in a smooth unique way that matches his character so well, and his physical performance kicking ass looks really good. The action scenes are bombastic and you get plenty of shooting scenes and explosions as well. Director Marco Brambilla knows exactly what the audience wants in a film like this, and he manage to balance this in a professional way, Demolition Man may have turned 30 years but it is just as much fun as it was back in the cinema in 1993. There is just something special about seeing Stallone in the future and Demolition Man proved that you can combine comedy and action and make it work. Demolition Man is without a doubt still today one of the big classics of Sylvester Stallone´s amazing career and will continue to be so.

Rating: DDDD

Living With Chucky

Toy stores, it can be paradise for children but a pure nightmare for parents. It all depends on how wild your child is and how much they love toys. I have personally visited a lot of toy stores as an adult since we have quite a lot of kids in our family. Sometimes when im standing there i get flashbacks back to the early 80´s, when i was a kid myself and visited the toy store. Back in those days i really loved The Hulk and had Hulk figures, Hulk comic books, a Hulk towel and i also had Hulk stickers that i even put on on my wall in my room at my mother´s home. She would go insane when she saw how many Hulk stickers i put up there, but she didn´t remove them since she knew i loved Hulk so much. I did rent Hulk cartoons on VHS as well, i just loved him so much. Apart from Hulk stuff at the toy store in the 80´s, i remember seeing like an old styled 1950´s doll on a shelf. It had a very strange look and i remember staring at it. And the lady working at the toy store smiled and said:- Creepy isn´t it? She could tell i was too old to play with dolls but i had to agree with her. How do i describe this doll i saw ? Imagine like a porcelin doll with a very bizarre smile, as if there was something wrong with her. I have never seen a doll like that in a toy store before so i can not forget about it. Since we are talking about dolls i still remember the first time i saw the horror film Child´s Play on VHS. It was the first time i saw the killer doll Chucky come to life, and i can tell you i fell in love right away. The film begins with Detective Mike Norris ( Chris Sarandon ) hunting down serial killer Charles Lee Ray ( Brad Dourif ) into a toy store where he shoot Charles Lee Ray. Before Charles pass away he performs a voodoo chant to transfer his soul to one of the Good Guy dolls. Lightning suddenly strikes down in the store and explodes, and Mike finds Charle´s lifeless body next to the doll. Widow Karen Barclay ( Catherine Hicks ) knows her son Andy Barclay ( Alex Vincent ) wants the Good Guy doll but she can´t afford it. Until she finds out a homeless man has one for sell and she manage to buy it. Andy is really pleased but has no idea that this doll is possessed for real. Child´s Play is not only a classic horror film but i also think the character of Chucky is awsome. His dialogue by actor Brad Dourif is brilliant and the horror scenes by director Tom Holland works really well. Child´s Play grew into a big franchise with a lot of sequels and Chucky became a horror icon worldwide. Some of the sequels are good while others are....ok but not more? I actually have not seen the TV series yet but plan to do so. So here we are in 2023 with a documentary film about the legacy of Chucky and the Child´s Play franchise. Is this one of the best documentary films of this year, or is Living With Chucky not as good as i was hoping it would be?

In 1988 a slasher film called Child´s Play introduce a killer doll like no one have ever seen before a Good Guy doll possessed by serial killer Charles Lee Ray. Living With Chucky is a documentary film digging into the past of the Child´s Play franchise as well as talk about the future for Chucky.

I have to say i really love how they dive right into the first Child´s Play movie in the beginning of Living With Chucky and really show the love for the original film. You hear people who actually were involved with the film including the actors and i love hearing how this film started out from the beginning. I also love the detail that this film was inspired by a book called The Dollhouse Murders from 1983. Now, if you didn´t expect we would find out interesting information about the following sequels i can tell you that they actually did a really good job interviewing actors from each film. You get to hear details on how they got the role and their experiences working on a Chucky film. This is in my opinion a very important detail if you are making a documentary film on a very beloved horror franchise, you have to bring something interesting to the fans as well as make people fascinated in the stories. We do find out a little bit of information about Child´s Play 3 but you can tell they didn´t really want to talk about this sequel for some reason. Maybe it was because it was quite different from the previous films and took place at a military school. I personally don´t mind the film but i can see why some people have issues with it. It is when we finally get to Bride Of Chucky and hear actress Jennifer Tilly talk about her character Tiffany things become really interesting. I personally love this sequel and thing they did a wonderful job with it. Living With Chucky have a lot of different stories to tell and as you go along you will probably find details that you may not know. This is one of the reasons why i really enjoy this documentary film and to hear legendary actor Brad Dourif talk about Chucky is just magical. If you are a true fan of Chucky and have seen all the films so far you just have to see this documentary film. Director Kyra Elise Gardner does not only bring us a lot of really interesting interviews but you get some very interesting details about the making of these films. Chucky will forever be a horror icon and we need him in society. If any killer doll should be allowed to go on a rampage i believe Chucky is the one that deserves the chance to do so. Living With Chucky is definetely a worthy potrait of a horror legacy that will live on forever in our hearts.

Rating: DDDD

Creed III

I have always been a big fan of boxing and back in the early 90´s i used to watch a lot of boxing fights with my grandfather Ingvar. We had a TV channel called TV 1000 and very late nights they were showing live boxing fights from America ( adult films were playing first at midnight, so we had to watch something else between.....i promise ). Sometimes we would sit up very late to watch some of the fights while other times i recorded the fight on VHS. The important thing was to watch the fight no matter what, and i especially remember one time when we watched a live fight that would shock the whole world. It was June 28, 1997, when Mike Tyson was fighting Evander Hollyfield at the MGM Granden Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It was in the third round when something completely unexpected happened when Mike Tyson bit Evander Hollyfield on the right of his ear. I can still remember the chaos this caused, not only in the ring but by the audience and the commentators. Both me and my grandfather was of course completely shocke as well, what the hell did Mike Tyson just do? The fight was not ended right away even though they took away 2 points from Mike Tyson. As the fight continued Mike bite Hollyfield again and they ended the fight. A massive fight in the ring between Mike and police officers was insane, i have never seen anything like it in a boxing match before. This is one of the most unforgettable fights ever since no one could have ever imagined that this could happen. For me personally i lost all respect for Mike Tyson as a fighter at that point. I used to be a big fan but that really changed my opinion about him. Not only did me and my grandfather enjoyed boxing matches but we did enjoy the Rocky films with Sylvester Stallone. We used to watch the classics over and over again and we always agreed that the original film was the best. In 2015 the Rocky Balboa legacy continued with a new character called Adonis Creed ( son of legendary boxer Apollo Creed, played by legendary actor Carl Weathers ). Michael B. Jordan proved that he was perfect in the role as Adonis Creed, getting trained by his father´s good friend Rocky Balboa ( Sylvester Stallone ). The first film turned out to be really good, and a sequel came along that brought back Dolph Lundgren as the iconic Russian boxer Ivan Drago. So, here we are in 2023 with a third film in the Creed franchise and this time without Rocky Balboa. Considering what a great chemistry Adonis Creed had with Rocky Balboa in the previous Creed films, does this third film manage to work better than expected or should this film have been cancelled from the very beginning?

In 2002 Los Angeles, a young Adonis "Donnie" Creed sneaks out with his best friend, Golden Gloves champion Damian "Diamond Dame" Anderson to watch him compete in an underground boxing match. After Dame´s victory, he tells Donnie about his dreams to become a professional boxer and also become a world champion. But all of those dreams are crushed for Donnie when he is arrested after attacking a man named Leon. In present day, Adonis ( Michael B. Jordan ) has retired from boxing to focus on his family life with his wife Bianca Creed ( Tessa Thompson ) and their deaf daughter Amara Creed ( Mila Davis-Kent ). Adonis runs Delphy Boxing Academy with Tony "Little Duke" Evers Jr. ( Wood Harris ). One day outside the boxing gym, Adonis meet his childhood friend Damian ( Jonathan Majors ) who was recently released from prison. Adonis offers to help him get a fresh new start, especially by working out at the gym so he can start boxing again. Tony doesn´t like the idea but let Adonis handle him. Damian is becoming better as a fighter until he gets a chance to prove himself. What Adonis does not know is that Damian have already planned to destroy his legacy.

It is always difficult making a sequel to a really good first film. The second Creed film managed to work thanks to the connection between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago, where the legacy of these fighters continued through a new generation of fighters. This third film almost feels like it might have been inspired by Rocky 3 from 1982. Not in the sense that they have tried to copy the film and just tell a different version of Rocky 3. But the character Damian ( played really well by actor Jonathan Majors ) definetely turns into a modern James "Clubber" Lang ( Mr T ) version with the same kind of bad attitude. That was actually the best choice that they did for this sequel because we needed a strong bad guy. So what about the boxing scenes, are they any good in this film? I would say that they are more effective than i expected and i really enjoy seeing that it actually feels like they are fighting for real ( except for the slow motion scenes of course ). If you are making a boxing film make sure you make it pleases the fans of the sport. The camera angles during the fights works well and the atmosphere surrounding each fight feels effective. There are some very dramatic moments in this film that affects Adonis Creed very personally, and no matter how famous you are we all have to face reality. You can not always escape sadness and have to find a way to deal with it. Lead actor Michal B. Jordan deliver once more a strong performance as Adonis Creed and i find it interesting that he also directed this film. He clearly have worked hard to make this boxing film feel worthy to this franchise and not repeat himself too much. Actress Tessa Thompson as Bianca Taylor is such a perfect match for this role that i enjoy every scene that she does. Is there anything missing in this sequel that we could have had? I do think we could have had a connection with Rocky Balboa instead of not having him included at all. After all, he did help Adonis become the fighter he is. Otherwise i can´t really complain since Creed III have a lot to offer fans of this franchise. Director Michael B. Jordan proves that not only is he a great director but he also know how to act powerful, especially when he struggle against his inner demons. Creed III may not be the best boxing film i have seen but it is definetely one of the better ones in the last 7 years. If you already own the following films you should pick up a physical copy of this film as well, Creed III will definetely fit in your boxing film collection.

Rating: DDD

Infinity Pool

I have always been fascinated in films that dare to provoke, no matter if it is psychological, sexual or disturbing subjects. A film that dares to take chances is far more interesting than any mainstream movie that is released in cinema. There are only a handful director´s out there who i feel have managed to pull this off, making films that can´t be compared to anyone. Let´s just take a perfect example of this and bring out legendary director David Cronenberg. Not only is this man a brilliant director but he proved that you can push the limits of boundaries and choose any direction that you want to go. No matter what story he decided to tell, he always knew how to make interesting films. We could probably talk about several films of David Cronenberg and we would have to go on for a very long time, because he have done so many classics over the years. But let´s focus on one specific film that i feel you don´t hear much about these days and that is the 1988 film known as Dead Ringers. I remember when i first saw this film back in late autumn of 1990 on a rental VHS and it was ay my grandmother Maj´s home. I am not sure if it was my aunt Laila who rented the film or not, i just remember we watched the film together. Dead Ringers turned out to be a very fascinating film about two identital twins called Elliot Mantle ( Jeremy Irons ) and Beverly Mantle ( Jeremy Irons ) who are gynecologists. They run a very sucessfull clinical practise in Toronto that specializes in treating fertility problems. Eliliot, the more confident twin, seduces women who come to the Mantle Clinic. When he is tired of them he let his twin brother Beverly sleep with them. As this goes on things are getting out of control between these brothers, and it also affect their private lives as well as their career. Dead Ringers is a very fascinating medical psychological thriller that digs deep into your mind. I highly recommend you pick this film up on DVD or Blu Ray, especially if you work or have worked in health care. David´s son Brandon Cronenberg released his first film Antiviral in 2012, a very interesting film regarding viruses and medical treatments. He contuned to fascinate the audience in 2020 with the film Possessor and here we are with the third film from director Brandon Cronenberg. Knowing the style of Brandon in previous film i had a feeling that Infinity Pool could be a unique experience. Is this the best film so far in Brandon Cronenberg´s career or is this film extremely bad?

Novelist James Foster ( Alexander Skarsgård ) and his wife Em Foster ( Cleopatra Coleman are on vacation in the seaside country Li Tolqa. At one moment a woman named Gabi Bauer ( Mia Goth ) starts a conversation with James, where she turns out to be a fan of his only published book so far. He also meet her husband Alban Bauer ( Jalil Lespert ) and Gabi suggest that they all should have dinner together. They all get a long just fine and one day they decide to explore the countryside, even though they have been warned to leave the resort compound.

If you don´t like odd films or films where you have to think for a moment, you will not enjoy Infinity Pool. This is the kind of film where you have to try imagine what the main message of this film is. How do i describe Infinity Pool ? Let´s just put it this way, that if you are a fan of the most odd films in David Cronenberg´s film career you can clearly see that his son Brandon Cronenberg is inspired by his father´s work. You have a story that seems to be pretty ordinary about a couple on vacation, but as the film goes on you realise that everything you thought was normal will turn out to be completely different. I love movies that dare to take twists and turns and take chances, instead of just telling another story we have seen so many times before. In that sense i can tell you that Infinity Pool actually feels more original than most films these days, because it is difficult to predict anything. I am not completely sure but i wonder if director Brandon Cronenberg was inspired by his father´s film Deadringers since both of these films have a sexual body undertone and fascination in human flesh. One specific detail i find especially fascinating about Infinity Pool is the suggestion that a criminal can be cloned and watch your cloned human being be executed infront of you. A very bizarre and strange take on execution, but i definetely feel that Brandon Cronenberg wanted to take a different approach on this subject. The acting is really good from most of the actors and lead actor Alexander Skarsgård proves once more that he can take any role just like his legendary actor father Stellan Skarsgård. Actress Mia Goth is not only incredible sexy but i really enjoy her sensual performance as the character Gabi Bauer. The cinematography from Karim Hussain is gorgeous and i just love the LSD tripping scenes inside a sexual world with no limits. Brandon Cronenberg is without a doubt one of the best director´s out there at this moment and Infinity Pool might be his finest work so far. Even if i love his previous film Antiviral and Possessor, i feel that Infinity Pool have everything that i wished for. There is no excuse not to buy this film, Infinity Pool is like an addiction you just can´t get enough of.

Rating: DDDD

65

Science fiction have always turned out to be a difficult genre if you don´t belong in the Star Wars franchise or the Star Trek franchise. I personally appreciate interesting sci fi films if the story is fascinating or if the special effects are alright. Needless to say this is not always the case and a perfect example of that is the 2013 film After Earth from director M. Night Shyamalan. This film is not only incredible dull but you don´t care about the characters or the story. It didn´t matter that the film had Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith in big roles when this film struggled with so many other issues. I did rewatch this film after many years just to see if my opinion have changed since the film came out in cinema, and i still feel the same way. There is one sci fi action film i feel should be talked about more often, and that is a film that seems to be forgotten called Outlander from director Howard McCain. Released in certain countries in 2008 ( while in the rest of the world the film went to cinema in 2009 ), Outlander tells the story of  Kainan ( Jim Caviezel ), an alien warrior whos spacecraft crashes in a lake in Vendel-era Scandinavia (550-790). Kainan is captured by viking warrior Wulfric ( Jack Huston ) and taken to his village. Not knowing who this unknown visitor is the vikings keep him prisoner, until they are forced to fight against a creature that caused Kainan´s ship to crash on Earth, known as "Moorwen". Outlander combines vikings and a survival story that reminds us of the 1987 action classic Predator. I think this is actually a fun combination that helps Outlander become a fun sci fi action film that is not supposed to be taken seriously at all. The film was a massive box office failure back in 2009 but i actually appreciate this film for what it was trying to do. If you get a chance to pick this film up on DVD or Blu Ray you should, it is definetely worth checking out of you are a sci fi fan. How many of you love actor Adam Driver? Everyone? I am not suprised at all considering how many great acting performances he have given us over the years. I really enjoyed his performance in Spike Lee´s powerful film BlacKkKlansman ( a film you have to see ) and i can easily recommend him in several aother films as well. I have been curious about his latest science fiction film 65 for a while and finally got a chance to see it. Is this a film that deserves to be seen by a larger audience or is 65 the most boring sci fi film in the last century?

A long time ago before mankind´s history, pilot Mills ( Adam Driver ) convinces his wife Alya ( Nika King ) that he should take a two-year space expedition to earn money needed to threat their daughter Nevine´s ( Chloe Coleman ) illness. However, on the way back to Somaris his spaceship, the Zioc, is hit by a mass of asteroids and he is forced to land on an unknown planet.

Outlander may have been the Predator version with vikings and you could say that 65 is another version of Outlander that includes dinosaurs instead. There is of course a big difference between these films when it comes to the plot, but both films does includes crashlandings on Earth and historical time differences. If you happen to be a fan of the Outlander film ( as i clearly have proved that i am ) then i have a feeling you will apppreciate what 65 is trying to do. What if humans with technology landed on Earth while dinosaurs lived, how would that have been 65 million years ago? A very interesting idea for a science fiction film and i have to say i think this film manage to pull this off without feeling too predictable or boring. Is it original in any way? I suppose not and that is completely fine, since i would rather have a story that feels interesting than make me fall asleep. From a technical perspective i do feel that 65 manage to combine a cool look, both of the space technology and the space suit that Adam Driver´s character Mills is wearing. If you are a dinosaur fan then i have some good news for you. The dinosaur effects are actually not that bad and you get a sense that they tried to capture a few of the classic looks of dinosaur species. We are of course not talking about the same level of CGI dinosaur effects as the Jurassis Park / Jurassic World films, and i have no problem with that. Adam Driver proves that he can take on any genre and i actually appreciate his performance as the lead character Mills. He is not your typical hero type and seems to be a loving man, and i do think it was a good choice not to go for the stereotypical hero character. Actress Ariana Greenblatt gives a solid performance as the character Koa, and i especially enjoy her chemistry wth Adam Driver on the big screen. You can feel a daughter / father relationship here even though they are not related. 65 is a sci fi film that will definetely be appreciated if you love this genre and love dinosaurs as well. Directors Scott Beck and Bryan Woods deliver a film that might not bring anything fresh to the table but is definetely worth a watch. 65 is exactly how i would want a Runaway Bride remake to look like if they ever decided to do one since the original film with Julia Roberts in 1999. What are you waiting for? Go get your Blu Ray copy of 65 today and i swear you will thank me later.

Rating: DDD