Nov 11 SAIGON ELECTRIC (REEL ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL, Royal Cinema)

From the director of OWL AND THE SPARROW, another Vietnamese hit at the festival comes SAIGON ELECTRIC, giving us a look into the Hip Hop scene of the famous Asian city. As far as dance movies goes it was not too bad, but with only a little of the actual dancing shown. AS just a movie it is also pretty good with good characters and nice flow to the story. The really interesting thing was that because their Hip Hop scene is about 25 years behind North America's the movie becomes nostalgic for Westerners and a little bit of an unintended comedy.

Nov 11th IMMORTALS (Scotiabank Theatre #1)

I was really looking forward to seeing the IMMORTALS, especially since it was from the producers of 300. However, I was a little disappointed. Although the look of the movie is great, it is the story that falls a little behind. There is not enough action and not enough depth to the characters or the story. There were certainly a lot of good looking, fit people hired to be in the movie.

Nov 10th BOY WONDER (DVD)

Not since Charles Bronson was there a really good vigilante movie. People nowadays just don't know how to give in to their hate and despair and no care about anything else. BOY WONDER is about a young man who is looking for the killer of his mother, along the way he also takes care of a few other criminals, but really needs to work on his preparedness. The saving grace of this poorly acted movie is in the story and the conclusion.

Nov 9th CARS 2 (DVD)

CARS really impressed, especially the immensely detailed background, and in spite of Owen Wilson doing the voice of Lighting McQueen. CARS 2 on the other hand was not all that great considering it was a PIXAL movie. Before they did not do sequels which was a good thing, so maybe now they are owned by Disney, we may be seeing more of these second versions that are just not as good as the first. Would have liked to seen more detail not only in the look but also in the story and characters.

Nov 9th TRAILBLAZERS (REEL ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL, INNIS TOWN HALL)

Five short movies about people who have made a difference in someway in the past in the area they live in.

TOTTE MITSU, LET'S GO TO RUSSIA: A young Western man, his host mother and her friend, make two very quirky movies while on a trip to view the changing colours of leaves in Japan.

BABAH NO ROCK (GRANNY'S ROCK): a doc about a local artist who is as bizzare as her artistic method's and her bar antics.

GRANDPA'S WET DREAM: A doc about a 70 year old Japanese man and his porn career he has hidden from his family all these years.

A DRUMMER'S PASSION: A doc about a famous South Korean drummer who now lives in Toronto. A drummer whose personality is larger then life and even bigger then the youtube video that made him famous in the West.

THE SUGAR BOWL: A documentary about a small island in the Philipines, that was one of the world's largest producers of sugar cane. Focuses too much on the descendents of the few families who got rich off this crop and shows almost nothing of the actual crop and how it is grown or harvested.

Nov 9th CROSSROADS (REEL ASIAN FILM FESTIVAL, NFB Building)

Six shorts about young people reaching a crossroad in the lives and how they deal with it. Also followed by a PSA (public service announcement) animation made by students of a Lakeshore highschool, about making friends and including others in activities.

SEARCHING FOR WONDER: A 12 year old college student discovers the wonder of not knowing everything in life.

FARAWAY: A young Asian woman deals with her inability to communicate with her Chinese speaking Grandmother.

PAPER WINGS: A Grandfather imparts his love of flying to his young grandson.

SAENG-IL (BIRTHDAY): A young Korean man deal with his lack of friends and his all too busy commitment at the family's corner store.

SUNDAY MENU: A German Thai woman deals with her distant mother in the family resturant and her grandmother who dwells in the past through memories of food.

CANOPY CROSSING: A pseudo doc about a market in Thailand made on a train track that must move everything every time a train comes by.

NOV 8th PUSS IN BOOTS (Carlton Cinema)

Usually when they take a character from a different movie and make their own, they really screw it up. PUSS IN BOOTS is an exception to this rule as our beloved cat in SHREK really shines in his own movie and brings us a very funny and entertaining escape. The other characters in the movie and the jokes, some of which are thankfully way over little kids heads, really keep the laughs going throughout.

NOv 6th BURNT OFFERINGS (DVD)

Another one of the 80's horror films recommended by a co-worker. BURNT OFFERINGS is about a family who rents a mansion for the summer and deals with the old lady it comes with. Not a very scary movie but it does have its interesting parts. Was obviously made with a sequel in mind, cause it leaves more questions unanswered then answered.

Nov 5th FORKS OVER KNIVES (DVD)

FORKS OVER KNIVES is a documentary about two American doctors who did research in the 60s and 70s about people being healthier while eating no meat. There are a few points that are interesting and well made but one big question comes to mind. If this is actually true, why are we just hearing about it now 60 years later?

Nov 5th THE WARRIOR'S WAY (DVD)

Trying to make a Eastern martial arts movie set in the West is never a good idea. THE WARRIOR'S WAY starts out really well but then loses steam when the "Ninja" goes to the West and meets people living in a dessert town. Not as good as it could have been with a little more effort. To me this is like making an outer space alien movie and having too many humans in it.