Okay, best thing ever: Star Wars nights at local karate/kenpo dojo, February 12 and 26

It’s just like a Star Wars movie, live, happening right in front of you! Only with better acting and dialogue, probably.

Strongsville’s AA Kenpo Karate Studios, following the lead of various similar classes and cosplayers nationwide, now offers “Jedi Lightsaber” classes, a sort of modified form of Japanese swordsmanship tied in with the Star Wars film series.

It’s actually pretty clever, really; arguably one of the best ideas George Lucas had in all of Star Wars was to tap into the Asian martial-arts traditions and conflicts of good master/bad master, an Eastern vibe that most mainstream movie critics didn’t even take very seriously as drama at all until CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON came along. Lucas was way ahead of mainstream tastemakers on that score.

The Assassin (opens in Akron October 30th at the Nightlight Cinema)

[THE ASSASSIN opens in Akron on Friday October 30^th exclusively at the Nightlight Cinema.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Based on what one can gather of the plot, THE ASSASSIN could very easily have been a straightforward wuxia, or Chinese swordplay film. Yinniang (Qi Shu) is a trained female killer whose compassion often makes her reluctant to do her job. That proves especially true when Yinniang is ordered by her master (Fang-Yi Sheu) to kill her cousin Tian Ji'an(Chang Chen), governor of the Weibo district. As Yinniang cases her intended victim, she learns of various intrigues taking place within Tian Ji’an’s government and family, and begins to have second thoughts about her mission. Occasionally the plot gets to a point where some sort of action scene is necessary, but these are dispensed with as quickly and blandly as possible.

Kung Fu Killer (now on video)

[KUNG FU KILLER is now available on home video.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.



I did not know there was a 2008 Spike TV movie called KUNG FU KILLER as sort of a David Carradine career-achievement tribute and unofficial KILL BILL spinoff. But I did believe that the title KUNG FU KILLER existed long before that, as some kind of 1970s drive-in/grindhouse-chopsocky deal, that directly inspired the KFK we discuss here, Teddy Chen's 2014 actioner.

Like I say, I thought this title had been in circulation ever since the old 42nd Street fleapit days of the Nixon Administration, and Chen's big-budget martial-arts spectacular was either a remake or a reboot of one of those scratchy celluloid fightfests from the Bruce Lee era. But O my brothers, a search of the archives - even my cherished paperback compilation of the classic 'zine Asian Trash Cinema - does not disgorge a "Kung Fu Killer." And that book's even got South Korea's wonderfully titled GRUDGE OF THE MOON LADY.

It's as though an archetype of every cheapjack Hong Kong action quickie had formed in all our minds. Though a "Kung Fu Killer" was never made, Teddy Chan comes along and does a handsomely mounted tribute. Which, in actual fact, was called KUNG FU JUNGLE, but somehow gained that fateful retitling. 

Repost: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (September 5th at the Cedar Lee Theatre)

[TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES screens Saturday September 5th at 9:30 pm and 11:59 pm at the Cedar Lee Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Andrew Sarris may have invented the Auteur Theory, Sergei Eisenstein the "revolutionary" style of film editing, James Cameron everything else. But me? My big contribution to cinematic thought? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theory. I hold that were it not for these campy cartoon characters, martial-arts cinema would have had to wait even longer than it did to get wide acceptance in the west. That's right, no CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, no Jet Li a household name, no Tsui Hark or Cory Yuen an idol to yankee-dog film students without Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Splinter the Rat.

DragonBall Z: Battle of Gods (now on video)

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Anything left of interest in the movie theaters in the dreadful year of 2014? While I'm sure some of you are looking forward to the WW2 nonfiction drama UNBROKEN as a holiday release, the latest mind-bender from Christopher Nolan INTERSTELLAR and, I guess, CARS 3: CARS SAVE CHRISTMAS (Pixar sure has fallen, if you ask me), I recently got my abused eyes on the 105-minute import from Japan, DRAGONBALL Z: BATTLE OF GODS, released here direct to video.

I will not pretend to be anything of a follower of the long-running Dragonball franchise, which encompasses comics, videogames, TV shows and, of course, movies - both theatrical features in the Far East such as this one and made-for-video specials. In fact, starting with BATTLE OF GODS may be optimum, as I can't simply see where this addictive franchise can go from here.

Brush With Danger (opens September 19th in Cleveland exclusively at Tower City Cinemas)

[BRUSH WITH DANGER opens in Cleveland on Friday September 19th exclusively at Tower City Cinemas.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

Following in the footsteps of countless martial artists before them, Indonesian brother and sister Ken and Livi Zheng try to translate their fighting prowess into screen stardom in BRUSH WITH DANGER. In the film they play siblings as well, Alice and Ken, just recently arrived illegally in Seattle. To make money, they set up in a park and try to sell Alice's paintings, with Ken doing his best to drum up business. They only get attention, however, once they put on a martial arts and acrobatics demonstration.

The demonstration catches the eye of local gallery owner Justus Sullivan (Norman Newkirk). When he comes over to give the duo some money, he finds himself impressed by Alice's artwork and offers to take the girl under his wing. He also helps Ken find work as a fighter. It truly seems, as Ken himself declares, that they're, “living the dream!”

Bushido Man: Seven Deadly Battles (now on video)

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I am nervous about a lot of things these days. Mounting debts, Ebola virus, Ukraine, Gaza, Cleveland sports (all those ought to go well together). One of my anxieties is the upcoming release of the movie version of Laura Hillenbrand's nonfiction bestseller Unbroken. Wow, what a read.

Author Hillenbrand doesn't let the Japanese off easily in this one, listing the incredibly vile and hideous atrocities perpetrated by those Sons of Heaven upon opposing soldiers and civilians alike during the savage rampages of their Empire in the Pacific in the 1930s and early 1940s. Nobody who reads that book can doubt that dropping an A-bomb or two as an apocalyptic Allied show of force was the only way to force a surrender and avert an invasion and a Japanese-directed bloodbath on a scale unimaginable (slaughtering every single POW in their clutches was a planned opening move by these modern samurai. In the case of Korean POWs, the move was carried out anyway).

I Am Bruce Lee (now on video)

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

I remember hearing ages ago that the surviving family of martial-arts icon Bruce Lee had officially licensed his image for a full, photo-realistic CGI recreation. Thus we would be seeing all-new `Bruce Lee' movies starring this silicon-based celebrity resurrection. The thought gave me the creeps at the time. But I had to reflect a bit and tell myself, well, Lee died at 32, leaving his wife and children behind. I can't know what that was like, and if that's one way for the guy to provide for them from Beyond, carnie-exploitive as it sounds, I can't blame the Lees for at least looking into it.

Still, one could well imagine it might set a horrific precedent among showbiz's performing-arts vultures (Coming Soon! BRUCE LEE VS. AMY WINEHOUSE IN DALE EARNHARDT SR.'S CIRCLE OF DEATH, directed by Ingmar Bergman!). Don't ask me how the digital revival of Bruce Lee panned out - especially since computer-generated imagery wasn't anywhere near advanced as it is today. But I like to think that cool heads and dignity prevailed in the long run, and I AM BRUCE LEE appears now as a more reasonable alternative.

Haywire

Review by Bob Ignizio

Since his feature film debut SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE in 1989, Steven Soderburgh has had a career both interesting and varied. He effortlessly bounces back and forth between big budget Hollywood hits like ERIN BROCKOVICH and the OCEANS series and low budget indie films like BUBBLE and THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE. Along the way, he's dabbled in just about every conceivable genre, racking up more hits than misses.

Soderburgh's latest effort is HAYWIRE, a martial arts action film with an arthouse sensibility. The plot is yet another take on the old “honest cop/soldier/whatever gets framed by their corrupt employers” scenario we've seen dozens of times. Every action hero or heroine has to do a movie like this at least once, and this time it's Gina Carano's turn.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (September 17th. at the CWRU Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium)

[KILL BILL VOL. 1 screens Saturday September 17th at 7:00 pm and 9:30 pm at the Case Western Reserve University Film Society, Strosacker Auditorium.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Hard to recall now, but there was a time when Quentin Tarantino seemed like a two-hit wonder. After the cult-immortal RESERVOIR DOGS and the popular smash PULP FICTION the fellow had a high-profile yet paradoxically rather muted decade. His underrated, mature crime drama/character study JACKIE BROWN didn't quite thrill his fanbase, and he made mostly cameos in his friends' movies (FOUR ROOMS, anybody? Didn’t think so…), spearheaded re-appreciations of overlooked genre stuff and imports like SWITCHBLADE SISTERS, FIST OF LEGEND and DETROIT 9000, and looked alarmingly as though his most actively productive era was behind him.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (August 20 at midnight at the Capitol Theater)

[TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES screens Saturday August 20th at 11:59 pm at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.

Andrew Sarris may have invented the Auteur Theory, Sergei Eisenstein the "revolutionary" style of film editing, James Cameron everything else. But me? My big contribution to cinematic thought? The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles theory. I hold that were it not for these campy cartoon characters, martial-arts cinema would have had to wait even longer than it did to get wide acceptance in the west. That's right, no CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, no Jet Li a household name, no Tsui Hark or Cory Yuen an idol to yankee-dog film students without Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael, Leonardo and Splinter the Rat.

Enter the Dragon (July 16 at the Capitol Theater)

[ENTER THE DRAGON screens July 16 at midnight at the Capitol Theater.]

Review by Charles Cassady, Jr.


I was about 10 years old when Bruce Lee died, and my dawning awareness of the media and mushrooming adolescent interest in movies (why didn't I just stick with dinosaurs, dammit? Probably would have a better job by now) coincided with Bruce Lee-mania at its height. Bruce Lee imitators at the drive-ins, Bruce Lee imagery in comics, and the wide release of ENTER THE DRAGON - a breakthrough as a joint US-Hong Kong big-budget martial-arts extravaganza, filmed in English, its repute only enhanced by the sudden death of star Bruce Lee immediately before its blockbuster debut. Bruce Lee was all over the early 1970s mediascape, rivaled I think only by Nixon and THE EXORCIST and the Manson Family. Even when I got my first apartment on the west side of Cleveland (why didn't I just continue to live with my parents, dammit? Could have saved up some money for the lean times now) I'd see an old Bruce Lee poster up in some storefront and get a twinge of adolescent nostalgia.

Ip Man 2: The Legend of the Grandmaster (May 5th and 8th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[IP MAN 2: LEGEND OF THE GRANDMASTER screens Thursday May 5th at 8:55pm and Sunday May 8th at 8:40pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady Jr.

Periodically the entertainment-corporate media will do a big story bemoaning the tragedy of our time: Where are all the next-generation action-heroes? Eastwood, Schwarzenegger, Stallone, Van Damme, Steven Seagal, Bruce Willis are all AARP cover guys now, and Jason Statham is hardly a household name. Where's the next action-hero to be box-office messiah and open DEATH COP VII 1/2 with record numbers on all 24 screens at the multiplex? Where is he? Where is Obama's blue-ribbon committee to look into this outrage? Nice to know all other problems in the world have been solved.

Ip Man (May 5th and 8th. at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[IP MAN screens Thursday May 5th at 6:45 p.m. and Sunday May 8th at 6:30 p.m. at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Charles Cassady Jr.

I forget if I read this or was told by someone much better-traveled than myself, but the essence was this: You know how Chairman Mao and other Beijing despots have been able to rally the Chinese masses against the USA from time to time? It's because of an anti-American grudge the Chinese had with US foreign policy during the Second World War. It seems a generation of Chinese citizens can't forgive the fact that America dropped two atom bombs on Japan, at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The Chinese would rather it have been 20. Or 40. However many it took, if you catch the meaning. But a mere two nukes? The Chinese considered that practically siding with Hirohito.