Speed of lightening, power of thunder…there’s no need to fear …UnderThor is here. But seriously, this is a well Thor-t out film and it is quite obvious that our pure Thor-oughbred Hammer Time hero is a Thor-n in the dark forces trying to knock out the Nine Realms with Aether, pronounced like the anesthetic ether, […]
Martial Arts
The Grandmaster: Martial Arts Secrecy
By Dr. Craig D. Reid Since Hong Kong director Wong Kar-wai’s dynamic epicpiece The Grandmaster was released in January 2013, reviews on both sides of the Pacific and Atlantic rims have been a plenty and it’s quite obvious, especially from Western critics, that they just didn’t get it and certainly missed out on the many […]
PACIFIC RIM: GODZILLA VS. POWER RANGERS
By Dr. Craig D. Reid Yes, I hear you, most of you will undoubtedly want to say, “Pacific Rim, it looks like the Transformers.” Oh yee little minds being held at bay (Michael Bay, that is). But once you realize that the leather, space-suited human warriors are operating the robots inside their metallic shells, there […]
MYSTERY KUNG FU THEATER @ 2013 Pacific Arts Spring Showcase
By Dr. Craig D. Reid Those of us from the real “first” American generation of kung fu cinema watchers, you know who you are, will remember tuning in every Saturday 1:00 pm or 7:00 pm Eastern time to Kung Fu Theater on the fledgling USA network to watch those poorly English-dubbed, cheaply made kung fu […]
13th San Diego Asian Film Festival: Three Landmark Changes
By Dr. Craig D. Reid Yes, I hear you all out there, I am of course rather biased toward martial arts films, but in the words of Steve Martin, “Well, excuuuuuuuuse me.” As most of you know by now, they only literally saved my life. But the 13th San Diego Asian Festival (SDAFF), which runs […]
CLOUD ATLAS: Yellow Facing Racism?
By Dr. Craig D. Reid Now before everyone get’s all wowee-zowee with the make up jobs, where each main star plays 4-6 characters (which is actually rather neat), or gets confused by a typical Wachowski sibling (Lana and Andy) writing and directing event (yes Larry and Andy’s Matrix was cool but even the actors didn’t […]