Following the successful and critically acclaimed release last year of "Grindhouse Trailer Classics", Nucleus Films has managed to unearth a much-welcomed second batch of the craziest examples of cinematic sex, gore and violence ever to spill on to the screen.

Once again compiled by genre movie expert Marc Morris (co-author of Shock! Horror! Astounding Artwork from the Video Nasty Era), along with the assistance of director Jake West (Doghouse; Pumpkinhead: Ashes To Ashes; Evil Aliens; Razor Blade Smile), Grindhouse Trailer Classics 2 delivers a brand new selection of hand-picked trailers for the 1960s and 1970s cult movies that have inspired and informed the works of a whole generation of contemporary directors, including the likes of Quentin Tarantino (Death Proof), Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror), Eli Roth (Hostel) and Rob Zombie (The Devil's Rejects).

Among the disturbing delights this time around are such cinematic gems as The Black Gestapo, The Depraved, Bloody Pit Of Horror, The Pink Angels, Foxy Brown and many more.

When Andrew Jarecki undertook to make a documentary on New York’s most highly ranked children’s party entertainer, David Friedman, the story he uncovered was much deeper, darker, and more complex than he had bargained for. With the use of David’s own extensive home video footage, Jarecki pieces together the fragments of a family struggling to maintain a semblance of normality in the wake of a father and son’s arrests for child abuse.

Andrew Jarecki must have thought he’d struck documentary gold when his original idea gave way to a decidedly more sensitive and secretive subject and he’d certainly have been proved right when Capturing The Friedmans won the 2003 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance film festival. His film concerns the Friedman family whose outwardly and, evidently, inwardly pleasant and unremarkable middle-class Jewish, peninsula-dwelling existence blew apart on Thanksgiving 1987 as police raided their home in search of child pornography. Events took a bizarre turn and father Arnold and son Jesse were both arrested for sexually abusing boys in their care, a community was rocked and the family, consisting also of mother Elaine and further sons David and Seth, had to cope in the fallout.

What is probably most striking about this film is the level of objectivity it maintains, particularly when you consider the sensitive and prevalent nature of paedophilia in the media, striking as it does terror into the heart of every decent parent and disgust to the pit of every good citizen’s stomach. However, Capturing The Friedmans isn’t really about the crime but the family in free fall in the wake of allegations so catastrophic the family is destined inevitably, as a unit at least, to never recover. As the film opens with nostalgic home video footage coupled with scrawls of each family members name, it’s clear where the focus of the documentary will be and that this family is about to be players in its own sorry story. It is David’s own footage from the eye of the storm that provides much of our (sometimes uncomfortably) frank insight into the downward spiral of a family in the wake of serious allegations. Jarecki skillfully weaves the escalating devastation by interspersing the footage with his own ‘factual’ accounts from professionals involved in the case, witnesses and the alleged abused.

If ever the old 'it's not black and white' cliches were applicable it’s surely here, as the dubious investigation and ‘evidence’ paints the Friedmans case with a very dubious palette of murky greys indeed. Between the contradictions of the testimonies and the blatant shortcomings of the investigation, there is little factual evidence to uphold the case. For the Friedmans part, their side of the matter is every bit as frustrating; with no definite denial of the charges they are not so much in denial as in a refusal to accept the situation, instead remaining in horrifically static limbo, awaiting their fate as we are left to witness at first-hand the upsetting change in family dynamic. As Jarecki manages an unusual level of objectivism replacing the usual sensationalism, there is scant factual basis on either side for the viewer to make a judgement. There seems very little to indicate eighteen year old Jesse is guilty of anything at all and of Arnold we can be sure of only two things; that he is a paedophile and that he was in possession of the child pornography which set off this remarkable chain of events. To what degree he is guilty of anything further, of the large-scale abuse of which he was accused, we cannot be sure. Though this is why, amongst an undoubted witch-hunt even Matthew Hopkins himself would have been proud to have orchestrated, that this documentary is so difficult on the viewer; because it asks us to make judgement in the light of what is not only an abhorrent crime but one more linked to social ostracism and media-panic than any other in our society at present. Yes, we all hate a paedophile don’t we? But how willing are we to pin blame where there quite possibly is none just because this person has a dark and secret love absolutely unacceptable to the rest of us? Does that make them an immediate danger to their own children and any in their neighborhood they may come across, be preying on? Well that folks is something you are going to have to answer for yourselves, as Jarecki certainly isn’t going to do it for you, and for that matter neither will the Friedmans. We all take to this experience our own beliefs, judgements and moral values on this devastating crime, but how willing are we to let them go and see only the facts?

Genuinely worthy of its critical esteem, Capturing The Friedmans is fascinating, emotionally heartbreaking and beautiful. Not only a poignant reminder of the shortfalls of the legal system, but also of the workings of society and community when the panic of modern-day witch-hunt strikes. Utterly captivating and equally tragic, this is very powerful stuff 

Produced by Eric Névé (Dobermann) and directed by Frederic Schoendoerffer (director of the Monica Bellucci and Vincent Cassell thriller, Spy Bound), Paris Lockdown is one of the most graphically violent, sexually explicit and all-round shocking movies to come out of France since Virginie Despentes' Baise-moi and Gaspar Noé's Irréversible.

The Shogun's former decapitator-in-chief turns Lone Wolf with his young son as they wander the dusty tracks as masterless samurai, always keeping an eye out for the Shogun's nasty ninja’s.

Shogun Assassin must surely be one of the most infamous video nasties, a product of an age not so long ago but which now seems curiously nostalgic to our desensitised modern eyes. “Blood gushes out all over the screen – as if being hosed into the camera!!” Vipco proudly announces on the cover of it’s previously banned 1980 rehash of the first two instalments of the Baby Cart series, itself a version of the original Lone Wolf and Cub manga comics.

Shogun Assassin is basically a violent repackaging of the Sword of Vengeance and Baby Cart at the River Styx films, edited together to maximise the violence and minimise the story for we bloodthirsty Westerners who, in the golden age of gore, didn’t want to be distracted by such mundane things as dialogue, storytelling or historical background. And so we have this bloody classic, re-released for the gore-devouring British general public in the early 90’s who by that time were presumably much more equipped to deal with such levels of violence post 80’s onslaught.

Director Kenji Misumi tells a grave and bleeding tale narrated with the solemn frankness of the aforementioned Cub (Masahiro Tomikawa.) “What a time you chose to be born, Daigoro”, the soon to be Lone Wolf tells his baby son, born into a time of unrest in the empire under the suspiciously unbalanced rule of the Shogun, sporting the obligatory dodgy grey hair and eye brows of the typically outsized proportions. With the tragedy that follows the expert, infamous and feared samurai takes to the road with his young son in tow as they both resolve to live the life of “demons”, making a living en route with the odd spot of contract killing.

What this intro does is set up a rather vague and slow but nevertheless effective build up to the violence it is working towards in the latter parts of the film, which borrows more heavily from the second Baby Cart film. This beginning is a much darker affair than the rest of the film and heavily tainted by the sadness of Lone Wolf, as we find out from Daigoro’s narration. The strange and silent but solid bond between father and son is both fascinating and touching from the eyes of a western society where such a situation would be unthinkable, let alone the subject of a film. But rather than feeling exploitative there is a peculiarly lovable edge to this bond of honour so alien to our society.

As the film moves towards the inevitable extreme violence the pace quickens and the editing becomes as choppy as the swordplay, which is all, of course, set to some pretty decent cheesy 80’s synthesised music. Despite there being much heavier levels of violence towards the end as the murderous duo are sent the Shogun’s most feared and so far undefeated ‘ Masters of Death’, the tone feels lighter and much less serious as the film moves away from the emotional element and gets well and truly into gear as the no holds barred execution it’s marketed as. This certainly hits the spot with the ridiculous levels of extreme violence and silly behaviour we’ve come to expect from this type of film, complete with intentionally humorous throat slitting monologue-“Ridiculous!”

Shogun Assassin is definitely worth a watch as it does pretty much what it sets out to do. Although it is very violent and bloody it’s not of course as shocking as it would have been back in those heady gross-out days of the 80’s. In that respect, however, it feels like a little bit of celluloid history what with all the re-editing and re-releasing and so it has a kind of funny quaintness about it in that respect. In the post-80’s age of liking my violence diluted with a touch of story I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed with the move from the more emotive beginning towards the cheesier end. But, this isn’t the Baby Cart’s this is Shogun Assassin and that folks is what it’s meant for, lots and lots of violence, yeah!

A classic piece of “previously banned” cinema, inevitably rather disjointed through editing but nonetheless a rather enjoyable and inventively violent treat - "Ridiculous!"

Shogun Assassin - trailer

Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow. (IMDB)

Ed Harris directs and stars in this western adapted from the novel Appaloosa by Robert B. Parker.

Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons and Lance Henriksen also star.

The Babylon A.D. Myspace announced that French movie site Premiere.fr had 6 new clips from Mathieu Kassovitz's epic sci-fi thriller. All six are online over at Filmstalker so you can jump over there and let Richard know what you think.

Six Clips From Babylon A.D.

Babylon AD - Trailer

michelleyeoh.info has a tonne of pictures and info about the movie. 

www.myspace.com/babylonadmovie | www.babylonadmovie.com | www.bad-lefilm.com (Official French Website)

A minor traffic accident causes a heated spat between easy-going Tung Choi (Tony Leung) and instantly dislikeable Deborah Fok (Sammi Cheng.) In an attempt to make amends the two end up spending the night together which is the beginning of a tentative love/hate relationship in Joe Ma’s romantic comedy.

Tony Leung (Chungking Express, 2046, Hero) is a third generation beef noodle restaurant owner with a speciality in tripe dishes and a secret 30 year old sauce recipe. Sammi Cheng (Infernal Affairs, Everlasting Regret) is a cold workaholic who is not averse to the odd cruel outburst of threatening behaviour. When coincidence and bad manners bring the two together the clash of personalities makes for a fiery pairing. In an attempt to sort out their vehicular feud the two find common ground over a mutual taste in beer. However, when this drunken peacemaking ends up in a night spent together it’s the start of a sometimes difficult but surprisingly strong friendship which must stand the test of Choi’s meddling family and emotionally manipulative TV personality girlfriend, Mindy (Niki Chow.)
There is something about Fighting for Love that feels vaguely reminiscent of 1992’s Martin/Hawn rom/com vehicle HouseSitter. Possibly it’s the instantly dislikeable and ill-matched nature of their relationship. Like the earlier American film, Fighting for Love develops the unlikely love match into something decidedly rather likeable and surprisingly sweet against the odds. It is this development of both the relationship and the characters that drives the film rather than the actual plot and as this gathers momentum it becomes more engaging. As a result, the film is a little hard and quite slow to get into but improves considerably in the second half.

Whilst Leung and Cheng do have a lovable on-screen chemistry and some genuinely sweet moments together, director Ma (who also plays Deborah’s father and owner of dog with the temperamental bowels, Happy) allows too few of these scenes and too many with Choi’s bizarre dysfunctional family which perform more as an annoying irritation than a source of comedy, which was presumably their purpose. Niki Chow also works well as the beautiful but vacuous Mindy, whose selfish and manipulative ways threaten to become very destructive. Leung’s character remains reassuringly stable throughout the film as the affluent but down-to-earth guy whose character performs like an anchor to all the upheaval. Cheng’s character, Deborah, unfortunately makes the transition from total bitch to decent human being in implausibly quick time making this feel a little rushed and not particularly believable. Ma does portray the distant father/mildly unhappy home life as a catalyst for change and her shocked reaction at Choi’s affluent lifestyle in contrast to her own less fortunate one as a possible reason for her ruthless and cold business persona. However, this doesn’t quite work but the realisation of the growing bond and affection between the two does and is surprisingly engaging. Comedic moments are pretty thin on the ground but the cruel anti-romance of a scene involving a diamond bracelet did actually rather amuse me, but maybe that’s more an indication of my taste in romance than my taste in comedy.

Successful on some levels and disappointing on others, Fighting for Love is still worth a look if character driven romantic comedies are your thing.

A couple of pachyderms make for an awful lot of trouble in this post Ong-Bak Tony Jaa vehicle. Growing up in a remote village in Thailand, a young Kham (Nutdanai Kong) learns the ways of man's interaction with nature, that co-operation and respect on either side makes for a productive and happy relationship. This is played out with his beloved elephant, Yor Pai, and Yor Pai's baby, Korn, whom Kham loves like family. When Yor Pai is inspected as a token of devotion the King of Thailand, he and Korn are stolen by a mafia syndicate and shipped to Sydney, Australia. Kham, who has by now grown up into formidable Muay Thai master Tony Jaa, is on the trail of the tusky twosome, but this is no easy mission when he finds deeply-rooted corruption and all-round unsavoury goings on with the network headed by the deadly Madame Rose (Xing Jing).

What begins earnestly enough as a simple revenge story showcase for some fantastic fight scenes unfortunately quickly develops into somewhat of an unnecessarily encumbered mess. Opening scenes bode well for a martial arts set-up, with beautiful cinematography of lush landscapes and a sweetly engaging story of familial harmony between man and elephant. However, once director Prachya Pinkaew cranks up the action in Sydney the plot goes to pot in a cluttered muddle taking in corruption, drugs, prostitution and slavery, when trade in endangered species was not only of integral relevancy but would have been quite enough of a device in its own right.

Of course, plot devices are merely a means of engineering the action and showcasing Jaa's talents in spectacular fight scenes, and indeed spectacular they are. Following a very Bond-like treat of a good old-fashioned high speed chase laced with multiple explosions, Jaa proves in no uncertain terms where his talents lie. Once the fighting begins it comes thick and fast in some expectedly impressive scenes, and none more so than the incredible four-minute single take which boasts jaw-dropping choreography and camera work.

Man mountain Nathan B. Jones makes for some great 'Kham versus the incredible brawn' scenes and  Jackie Chan pops up in a 'blink-and-you'd-miss-him' cameo, though  this really only serves to highlight another problem, that Jaa has yet to develop 'star' quality. Where he is certainly skilled in Muay Thai, he has no real screen presence and it's a little hard to gel with him beyond the fact that he is the hero of the story. It's a bit premature to afford him status as a young Jackie Chan. Performance wise, it's the elephants and Xing Jing in another Bond-like touch as a transsexual villain who between them steal the show. Warrior King is likewise commendable for its environmental message which, albeit as a bit of a sideline, is still worthily evident. If only it had stuck with this simplicity there would be a film  more worthy of beautifully choreographed fight scenes.

Cracking (literally) fights, impressive cinematography and some great elephant action can only go so far in hiding the messy plot and Jaa's lack of presence.

www.warriorkingmovie.com

As part of their "Jack Hill Month" Analog Medium have an interview with the man himself.

Often working with Pam Grier and Sid Haig, Jack Hill is a "B movie" legend, writing, directing and producing a string of bonafide cult classics. From W.I.P. features like The Big Doll House and The Big Bird Cage shot in the Philippines. Blaxploitation classics Foxy Brown and Coffy, the girl gang classic Switchblade Sisters and of course the legendary Spider Baby amongst others.

Read the interview at Analog Medium.

We Heart Stuff, posted a feature on this short film directed by Nicolas Randall and Joe Stevens which played at the Edinburgh International Film Festival. The film which may be set to become a feature length documentary looks at a group of Trinidadian kids in New York, who are combining the sound-system / bass culture of their homeland with bicycles.

Last summer in a cramped, rented garage on the outskirts of Queens, NY something incredible was happening. Nicholas Ragbir, an imaginative tinkerer from Trinidad was working late into the nights creating something nobody had ever seen: enormously powerful stereo PA systems jerry rigged onto ordinary bmx bikes. It wasn’t long before Nick assembled a small crew of like-minded riders. Traveling together, each behind the handlebars of his or her own massive homemade creation, they treat the neighborhood to an outrageous impromptu music and dance party on wheels.

You can view the trailer on the films official website www.madeinqueensfilm.com