list/discuss/rate - your recently watched movies

Rivalries between the 'Canton Tigers' and the Shaolin flesh out this 1980 classic from writer/director Chang Cheh and the Shaw Brothers Studio.   High quality martial arts as Hong Kong kungfu flicks go, and a good cast & storyline.

One of the weirdest and darkest of the early wuxia ['martial hero'] films coming out of Hong Kong, Bandits of Shantung (1972) plays more like Spaghetti Western than it does Kung Fu spectacle, could easily pair with an Italian gunslinger flick at a Saturday matinee, and is part of a genre of low budget antihero movies that closely parallel the "Macaroni Westerns" of the 1960s and early '70s.   It also features one of the longest one-on-one fight scenes in martial arts cinema at over eight minutes.

The dazzling John Liu carries this straightforward revenge flick as he high-kicks his way through the gang that blames him for the murder of an elder.   When the Mings send their most skilled enforcer, Shen Yu, to hunt him down, Chow Lung Fu (Liu) teaches everyone a lesson in kung fu.   Liu's athleticism and spidery, long-legged kicking prowess is unequaled in Chinese film and here gives one his greatest performances.   Definitive wuxia from 1977.

Creepy Australian film with some good moments but not one for those who prefer more up front gory stuff , this is more psychological drama involving a single Mum and her misbehaving 6 yrs old son. Good performances from the 2 main actors and an ending that makes you think a bit. 7/10 

Ancient period kung fu melodrama from '77 with lots of robes and spears and wigs and pottery and chopsticks and tea and fake beards... and Monkey Kungfu, of course.   Directed by and starring martial arts champion & Shaw Brothers property Chen Kuan-tai as the monkey master.

'Coda' stands for Children of Deaf Adults. This is the story of a young women wishing to pursue her ambition of going to music college. The only catch is that she is the only member of her family without hearing impairment and they need her to help with the family business. It's as predictable as the day is long and you know exactly what is going to happen but I cried quite a lot. Admittedly I am total sucker for this kind of thing with sentimentality not in short supply. 9/10

Just released on Amazon , this is a dramatisation of the events surrounding a trial that took place of the military elite commanders (''The Junta'') who had run Argentina for a considerable time. This was near the beginning of democracy taking hold of this country with its very troubled past. If focuses on the chief prosecutor who doesn't even himself believe that a trial can be won. That is until the witness testimonies (well over 700 were given) of torture and brutal treatment come to light. If ever there was a film that was bang on the money in so many ways this is it. The 2 hrs 20 minutes flew past. Unusually its filmed in 4:3 aspect ratio but I didn't mind. Beautiful film making.10/10

Nick Cage plays, well...Nick Cage in this movie about Nick Cage movies. The roles have dried up and Cage is considering retiring from acting but because he is in debt, he decides to take a well-paying gig to appear at a super fans birthday party, ostensibly so the super fan can show him a script he's written. So far so meta.

The first two thirds of the movie are fun but unfortunately the third act turns into a (poorly made) action movie and although it tries to redeem itself at the very end, by then it has sunk under the weight of its own cleverness.

American Blackout - 10/10