Enter the Dragon Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Enter the Dragon
Year: 1973 
Director: Robert Clouse
Country: Hong Kong
Language: English (dubbed)

Bruce Lee (Nov 27, 1940 - July 20, 1973) was a Hong Kong film actor, martial artist and filmmaker. The son of Cantonese opera star Lee Hoi-Chuen, he is widely considered by film historians as one of the most influential martial artists of all time. After Fist of Fury (1972) Lee became an iconic figure around the world, particularly to the Chinese as he reflected their political ideals. Unfortunately Lee would die due to "death by misadventure" (allergic reaction due to tranquilizer) shortly after a dubbing session of Enter the Dragon.

In the film, a martial artist agrees (Bruce Lee) to spy on a reclusive crime lord using his invitation to a tournament there as cover. 

 Had it not been for Bruce Lee and his movies in the early 1970s, it's arguable whether or not the martial arts film genre would have ever penetrated and influenced mainstream North American and European cinema. Artists like Jackie Chan would not have had any chance to break through into Hollywood during the 90's. Interestingly enough he actually injured Chan on the set of Enter the Dragon and, as an apology, offered the man roles in all of his upcoming films. Unfortunately he would never be able to deliver on this promise. 

Considered the first Chinese film to be backed by a major Hollywood studio, Bruce Lee wanted to use the film as a vehicle for expressing what he saw as the beauty of his Chinese culture, rather than it being just another action film. Lee is not merely content to let us watch him bash people, some of his philosophy penetrates the movie. He talks about spirituality with a young charge and even gives us an amusing and illustrative lesson in his 'art of fighting without fighting'. He is also against the power hungry and seeks to dispatch those who are only in martial arts to harm others.

Lee sought to show that martial arts was more than just high kicks and karate chops, instilling a world-view into his practice. Without a doubt Lee, with his near perfect physique, had an innate charisma and an ability to make his pictures seem timeless. It's a shame he died so early, as he did a great deal to dissemble Asian stereotypes in film.

Mr.Nice Guy Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Mr.Nice Guy
Year: 1997
Director: Sammo Hung
Country: Hong Kong
Language: English

Rumble In The Bronx showed a wider audience, at last, what fans of his Hong Kong filmography had known for years. That no one does action better. The outtakes at the end, showing Jackie breaking his leg and bashing his head and hanging off the backs of boats for dear life, are a reminder of just how much effort and passion went into making the film. He put that much effort into all of his films, even when they were guaranteed to be lesser known due to budget & location. In Mr. Nice Guy he put his neck at harm and broke his nose.

A Chinese chef (Jackie Chan) accidentally gets involved with a news reporter who filmed a drug bust that went awry and is now being chased by gangs who are trying to get the video tape. 

As seen in the credits, Jackie Chan chose to legitimately become a chef for the film in order to give him a sense for the character and a realistic appearance of a tv chef. This makes me wonder if Chan understands the concept of "acting", especially since the dialogue and non-action dramatic moments are pretty poor. Although, that is to be expected in his movies. If you want to see an Oscar winning performance watch Jack Nicholson's filmography. 

Jackie Chan's vehicle is filled to the brim with plenty of over-the-top action , thrills , explosions , ingenious stunts, tongue-in-cheek and an amusing score. Jackie Chan is top-notch as a one man army defending himself against waves of baddies. Though Mr.Nice Guy has an extremely thin plot, one's eyes are glued to the physical choreography at all times. While not being as fast as he was in the 80's, Chan's comic timing has greatly improved and thus makes the film quite funny. 

Should you watch Mr.Nice Guy? Yes, but not before Rumble in the Bronx and Drunken Master. Though a lesser Chan venture, it still inspires awe and makes us ask "how does he do it?" Certainly very few men over 40 can legitimately do these (quite literally) back breaking stunts.

Rumble in the Bronx Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Rumble in the Bronx
Year: 1995
Director: Stanley Tong
Country: Hong Kong/Canada
Language: Cantonese/English

While most film critics of the time knew of his masterful work in Hong Kong, Jackie Chan was disappointed that he had not become a draw in the North American market. He had tried quite a few times to kick his way into Hollywood, but the big companies did not budge. It wasn't until Rumble In the Bronx that his work caught the attention of the West. It was his first wide theatrical release in North America, it received critical acclaim and was a great box office success. 

 A young man (Jackie Chan) visiting and helping his uncle in New York City finds himself forced to fight a street gang and the mob with his martial art skills. 

Despite being set in New York City, the picture was filmed in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Jackie and his crew found production quite difficult as it initially meant putting up fake graffiti and making sure that no mountains made it into the background. Eventually Jackie decided to focus solely on the action and as a result, mountains can be seen in the background. The decision to make action a focal point proved wise, as the physical performances in this film shine. Both hero and villain(s) are entrancing; keeping you mesmerized with their actions throughout the run time. 

Jackie's brand of kung fu comedy brings life to inanimate objects. Only he can turn pinball machines, trolleys, ladders and fridge doors into weapons. Only he can make us sympathize with the protagonist as he's getting beaten up by thugs, while simultaneously making us laugh at him. In addition to a great stuntman/choreographer, Jackie also knows how to use his camera well and is a masterful editor. He doesn't do fast cuts or cut on an inappropriate moment, rather he gives the fight scenes a rhyme and allows us to see action and reaction of each character. 

If you haven't seen a Jackie Chan film, you MUST do so. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest performers of all time. While Drunken Master is my favorite, Rumble in the Bronx is also a great film to start at. This honestly could not have been made better.

Legend of the Drunken Master Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

 Title: Legend of the Drunken Master
Year: 1994
Director: Chia-Liang L-u\
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese

While Snake in the Eagle's Shadow made Jackie Chan a star in his home country and Drunken Master made the actor/director/producer/stuntman known on an international level, it would be a while before he could break into the US Market. Jackie played a minor role in the commercially successful film Cannonball Run, but was overshadowed by established American actors. In 1985 he attempted to star in The Protector, but it failed to make an impact. It wouldn't be until the mid-late 90's until we would see our kung-fu hero grab foothold in the North American film industry.  

In the sequel to Drunken Master, a young martial artist (Jackie Chan) is caught between respecting his pacifist father's wishes or stopping a group of disrespectful foreigners from stealing precious artifacts. 

One reason for why Jackie Chan took nearly 20 years to achieve fame in Hollywood is because he refused to be typecast or stereotyped due to his Hong Kong heritage. Throughout Hollywood history Asians have been portrayed as villains to their Caucasian counterpart, which is why Jackie refused to take Wesley Snipes place in Demolition Man. His hesitancy proved to be the correct decision, as Jackie became the comedic kung-fu hero for a new generation of filmgoers. Despite being 40 years old when making the film, Legend of the Drunken Master showcases Jackie perform astounding acts of physical agility which must have taken hundreds (if not, thousands) of hours to practice. 

The plot isn't, and shouldn't be, the main focus of this film. Jackie Chan's films are best viewed as mindless action, even though the cinematography, choreography and sound mixing is quite complex. The pleasure of the fight sequences is not seeing the antagonists brutally beaten, but rather in watching physical coordination and precise choreography of our hero. Every moment makes us wonder "how does he do it?"

While there are many edits, camera angles and special effects in this film, we must not discredit Jackie. There is a scene in which he falls into a pit of burning coals in this movie, that is really Jackie Chan, and the coals are really burning. He insisted doing several takes of this scene as well. Say what you will, but the man is dedicated to his near masterpiece of a film.

Drunken Master Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Drunken Master
Year: 1978
Director: Yuen Woo-Ping
Country: Hong Kong
Language: Cantonese

Born April 7, 1954 Jackie Chan is one of the most prolific actor/director/producers from Hong Kong. Trained in Kung Fu and Wing Chun, he is known for his comical fighting style which is closely associated to slapstick comedy. Chan's first major breakthrough was called Snake in the Eagle's Shadow.  It established the comedic kung fu genre. His second success, Drunken Master, catapulted the man to the mainstream. 

The father of Wong Fei-hong, has been attempting to teach his son (Jackie Chan)  kung-fu, but has found him too disobedient to teach and decides to send him off to his uncle, a cruel and torturous master of the Zui quan (drunken style)  kung-fu. After much suffering the son comes back to rescue the father from an assassin who has also previously humiliated him.

Almost every Jackie Chan flick is a blast to watch (not you, Rush Hour 3) but Drunken Master may be his greatest achievement, it's certainly my favorite. In this, Chan utilizes the art of Drunken style boxing quite gracefully. Even though he staggers and stumbles, like the typical drunkard, it is clear that Jackie has put plenty of thought into his movement and spent hundreds of hours perfecting his craft. He's at a constant high energy and his performance is memorable. 

Though Drunken Master considerably lacks in plot and logic, all is forgiven because each scene is guaranteed to make the audience laugh. Directed by legendary kung fu choreographer Yuen Woo-Ping, the film has a distinct rhythm to its nonsensical violence. In modern action films the editing is frantic and rapid which makes the fights look quite dull , whereas Woo-Ping's camera lingers on the actors allowing us to see the both the emotional turmoil of the characters involved and the amazing stuntwork of the actors. 

Jackie Chan's charm is undeniable, even when he has had too much to drink we still want to root for him to win the fight. While many attempted to be the next Bruce Lee, Jackie set out to be very different and was successful in doing so. Critics may consider Drunken Master to be "mindless" , but does it matter when it's so fun to watch?

While We're Young Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: While We're Young
Year: 2015
Director: Noah Baumbach
Country: US
Language: English

If conversations with the aged are anything to go by, getting older is a tough business. We are constantly aware of what is happening, yet it tends to sneak up on us when we least expect it. Suddenly what's "in" is "out", what was fascinating is now mundane, and we're constantly trying to catch up with the latest technology. It is happening and will happen to all of us regardless of how much we try to deny it. This is the main peril of the characters in While We're Young.  


Josh and Cornelia Srebnick are a middle aged couple who find their personal, as well as professional, lives dwindling with each passing moment. Things change when they meet a much younger couple who are glaringly hipster. Both couples express their admiration for each other & try to include the opposite in their lives. 

The plot gets somewhat complicated, much involving the ethics of creating a legitimate documentary. Jamie (the younger Adam Driver) offers to assist Josh (Ben Stiller) with his project, and then proceeds both to fool and trump him. The film is full of sharp observations about aging and the desire to remain youthful. Josh tries to mimic Jamie, but only looks like a goof in doing so.Their relationship is a great contrast as it forces Josh to reflect on the man he has become. 

It's always nice to see Ben Stiller embrace a deeper darker role than Hollywood usually gives him (Zoolander anyone?) He lends great weight and an unexpected vulnerability to Josh's insecurities. Naomi Watts also lands a memorable performance in one of the best written female roles of the last decade. I rather enjoyed the variety of film-making styles that Noah Baumbach has injected into this film. It's a comedy, a drama, a romance and a thriller at times. 

While We're Young is very reminiscent of a good Woody Allen movie.  It's engaging, well-written, and thought provoking. While there are many comedies about the mid-life crisis, few are done with the care and sophistication of a Noah Baumbach film.

Nanook of the North Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: Nanook of the North
Year: 1922
Director: Robert Flaherty
Country: US
Language: N/A

Nanook of the North is commonly considered to be the first feature length documentary, a genre of film-making which obviously did not exist until that time. There is a problem with this labeling this film a "documentary" however as the Director himself was very candid about many scenes being staged. The most exciting part of the movie involve typical Inuit hardships like constructing an igloo or hunting a seal, but Flaherty admitted that these scenes were exaggerated for entertainment value. Audiences and critics did not notice, as the film was a financial and critical success in its time. 

The film documents one year in the life of Nanook, an Eskimo (Inuit), and his family. It describes the trading, hunting, fishing and migrations of a group barely touched by industrial technology. Nanook of the North was widely shown and praised as the first full-length, anthropological "documentary" in cinematographic history.

Though much of the film was staged, we shouldn't diminish the actual work Flaherty put in. He dragged a camera to the Arctic, not a Hollywood set as the subtitles would note, and struggled right along with Nanook and the family for the duration of filming.He journeyed to the harshest climate on earth to film its inhabitants in semi-geniune situations. There is a meta-narrative about the making of the film reflected in the struggles of this Inuit family.

Flaherty goes to great pains to stress the gentleness, resourcefulness and humour of the Inuit. He commands the support and sympathies of the audience when demonstrating the difficulty of their situation, while also demonstrating the heroic nature of their survival. Through crafty editing he turns a seemingly mundane life into an action adventure drama with many perils. It's quite exhilarating to say the least. Brimming with energy and remarkable crafstmanship, Nanook of the North is very worthy of the praise it gets. 

Moana Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

 Title: Moana
Year: 1924
Director(s): Robert & Frances Flaherty
Country: US
Language: n/a

Nanook of the North (1922) was such a success at the box office, that it inspired Director Robert Flaherty to sign a contract with Paramount Pictures, who wanted him to make a similar movie set in the South Seas. In 1923, Flaherty took his family to Savai'i, a volcanic island which at the time was part of British Samoa. Flaherty and his wife Frances worked with locals until 1924  to recreate rituals and traditions that decades of missionary zeal had tried to erase.

In Moana, customs of Polynesian natives on a Samoan island, centered on the daily life and on the coming of age ceremony of the young man Moana. It reconstructs Polynesian culture before the coming of Western culture. Flaherty treats the Samoan life as almost that of a paradise - the only discomforts being wild boar and the pain of tattooing. 

Despite selling less tickets than his first film, Moana's influence over the years has been incalculable. It was for this movie that critic John Grierson first used the term "documentary." Of course to call it a documentary in the purest sense would be incorrect, rather it should be considered a masterpiece of "docufiction". Indeed it has a narrative and a goal; to show the world just how beautiful a seemingly "primitive" culture can be.

Flaherty's views on the subject are quite ahead of his time. America was 40 years away from the civil rights movement and for the most part minorities were demonized in the press and considered less civilized than their white counterpart. The film portrait of people unencumbered by modern society. Mainly, the director sees the Samoans as complex, fully formed personalities, and treats them with respect and appreciation, even during the movie's charged erotic encounters.

In 19975, Flaherty's daughter travelled back to Savai'i to create a comprehensive soundtrack for her father's silent work.  Despite the compromised visuals, her work was championed by film historian Kevin Brownlow and composer Virgil Thomson. In 2014, archivist Bruce Posner and Finnish filmmaker Sami van Ingen finished a restoration of Moana and have since shown it for the world to see. This work of art is more beautiful and more accessible than ever before. Praise it! 5/5

The K Foundation Burn A Million Quid Review- By Michael J. Carlisle

Title: The K Foundation Burn A Million Quid
Year: 1994
Director: Gimpo
Country: UK
Language: English

The KLF (also known as The Justified Ancients of Mumu, The Jams, and The Timelords) were a British acid house band of the late 80's and early 90's. Beginning in 1987, the KLF sought out to  release sample heavy records which would become international hits and make them pioneers of sampling. Notorious avante garde anarchists, their performances were nothing less than shocking, sometimes resorting to throwing firing blanks from a machine gun at the audience. 

The K Foundation Burn a Million Quid was an action on 23 August 1994 in which the K Foundation (an art duo consisting of Bill Drummond and Jimmy Cauty) burned cash in the amount of one million pounds sterling in a disused boathouse on the Ardfin Estate on the Scottish island of Jura. The money represented the bulk of their earnings during the brief time they were on top of the British charts. 

Initially Drummond was unrepentant in his decision to burn the money, stating that he couldn't imagine ever feeling regret unless his child was ill and only "an expensive clinic" could cure him. Ever since 2004 he was been slightly wary about the decision, claiming that it's hard to explain why he did it to critics of his actions. The film is an emotional roller-coaster, because it urges the viewer to think about their principles. Is burning a million quid an ethical dilemma? Is it selfish? Surely the money could have gone to charity. Although would a million quid make any difference in the long run?

The film is a meditation into the morality and artistic merit of burning a million quid. Even the people setting pound after pound on fire debate whether this action has any meaning consequence or expression. Perhaps their action is meaningless and they aren't making any grand gesture against the establishment or capitalism in general. 

While this is a generally forgotten film, I think The K Foundation Burn A Million Quid is rather riveting and thought provoking, if not inspiring. As Drummond himself has said, "We realized that struggling artists are meant to struggle, that's the whole point." Praise it! 4/5