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DVD Kung Fu Hustle (UMD Mini For PSP)
Movie-kinetics genius. Kung Fu Hustle takes the gleeful mayhem of Hong Kong action movies, the deadpan physical humor of silent comedies, and the sheer elasticity of Wile E. Coyote cartoons and fuses them into a spectacle that is simple in its joys and mind-boggling in its orchestration. A run-down slum has been poor but peaceful until a bunch of black-suited gangsters called the Axe Gang show up to cause trouble--and discover that, hidden among the humble poor, are three kung fu masters trying to live an ordinary life. But after these martial artists repulse the gang with their flying fists and feet, the gang leader hires a pair of assassins, whose arrival leads to the unveiling of more secrets, until both the screen and the audience are dizzy with hyperbolic fight artistry (choreographed by Yuen Wo Ping, who also choreographed The Matrix). Weaving through this escalating fury is a loudmouthed loser (writer/director/actor Stephen Chow) who suddenly finds himself having to live up to his bragging. Kung Fu Hustle more than lives up to the promise of Chow's previous film, Shaolin Soccer--it's a movie made by an imagination unfettered by the laws of physics. Hugely entertaining. --Bret Fetzer
I love this movie. It's imaginative and fast-paced. It's very, very funny. The action sequences are great. I am not normally a kung fu aficionado, but I like the offbeat, and I was intially attracted to see this movie because I saw the promo with the slum landlady in curlers and the mobsters dancing in sequence. Then what a pleasant surprise to meet Sing... what a great character! The movie exceeded all of my expectations and I hated to see it end. Stephen Chow is brilliant.
Thrill to the Toad Style of Kwan Lun and the long lost Buddhist Palm
For the most part, I like my martial arts films to be as realistic as possible, but I have no problem taking a walk on the cinematic wild side, especially when the special effects are as impressive as those in this film. Kung Fu Hustle can't be compared to any other single movie or genre. Regardless of its excesses, the martial arts action in the film is something to behold. Underneath all of the comedy and over-the-top visual delights (and it can be almost cartoonish at times), there's also a seriousness to the film. It's all about good vs. evil, self-realization, and stepping up to meet your destiny. And, as much as I hate to say it, I thought the ending was quite sweet. The extraordinary special effects dominate the film and any viewer's discussion of it, but don't let that fool you into thinking there isn't a substantive story behind all of the flash.
The toughest hombres around are the members of the Two Axe Gang; put a Japanese face on John Dillinger, give him a pair of axes, and you've the old-time mobster look and feel of these guys down. They usually leave the slum areas alone, but Pig Sty Alley, run by a seemingly wimpy landlord and the toughest landlady you'd ever want to meet, ends up in the gang's crosshairs thanks to a couple of bad guy wannabes (and perpetual screwups) trying to insinuate themselves into the gang. Sing (Stephen Chow) desperately wants to be a bad guy, having paid a price as a child for trying to live up to his destiny (a rather questionable one, at that) of bringing peace to the world. The landlady's mean attitude isn't enough to hold off untold dozens of axe-wielding gangsters, but the town is saved by three kung fu masters who had moved there in search of a peaceful life. Rest assured there are repercussions, as the Two Axe Gang brings in some of the world's most deadly killers to exact revenge - starting with a pair of musicians with a unique, decidedly deadly playing style. Later, they have Sing engineer a breakout of the Beast, the deadliest killer of them all. He doesn't look like much, but the Beast is an almost unstoppable force. The only person who can possibly take him on with any chance of success is a natural-born, kung fu genius - and those are pretty darn rare.
The special effects of the many fight scenes go way beyond the kind of wire work seen in, say, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, and also out-Matrix The Matrix; on occasion, you'll see stuff right out of Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Does this make the movie too goofy for its own good? Somehow, it really doesn't. If you're going to go to the extreme with your action, you might as well go all the way - and that is most certainly what Kung Fu Hustle does. From a chase right out of Road Runner cartoons to the perfectly ridiculous Toad Style of fighting perfected by the Beast, you'll laugh - but you'll also be in awe at how well the scenes play.
Basically, Kung Fu Hustle is just a complete hoot of a movie. As writer, director, and star, Stephen Chow has produced a pure winner capable of entertaining fans across a range of genres. Even he cannot steal the limelight from Leung Siu Lung, however, as this landlady, with a cigarette perpetually hanging out of her mouth, truly roars - both literally and figuratively.
Do the Hustle!
It's not as slick as most big budget Hollywood films, but KUNG FU HUSTLE is easily more entertaining than many of them! A film that plays along slightly off center, making it often difficult to figure out, eventually becomes simple and clear. At its heart it's a story heroes arising from adversity. But it's also got great wire work fighting, a bit of KILL BILL, some movie musical material and a surprising chunk of Warner Brother's cartoons.
When two small time hoods harass a poverty stricken area by claiming to be representatives of "The Ax" (an organized crime group), they inadvertently awaken unlikely Kung Fu masters. These masters use their dormant abilities to protect their tenement building to great, fun effect. Unfortunately, their actions also draw attention to themselves and they soon become targets of the "ax" themselves. Their powers are still impressive but it becomes obvious that it is time they hand down their standing to a successor. Who that will be is the films greatest surprise.
The biggest star of the film is in the creative wirework and often violent fight scenes. They are always creative and quite often fun.
This is a foreign film (the dialogue in Cantonese), but the DVD comes with an option to watch using an "English Language" dubbed version. My recommendation is to watch with the original language reading the subtitles. Much of the dialogue doesn't work with the dubbed version and the film is more action and movement then talking. The DVD also has a running commentary and some making of materials.
This film is at times very violent so should be considered in deciding the age appropriateness for younger viewers.
Brutal and breathtaking, Sin City is Robert Rodriguez's stunningly realized vision of Frank Miller's pulpy comic books. In the first of three separate but loosely related stories, Marv (Mickey Rourke in heavy makeup) tries to track down the killers of a woman who ended up dead in his bed. In the second story, Dwight's (Clive Owen) attempt to defend a woman from a brutal abuser goes horribly wrong, and threatens to destroy the uneasy truce among the police, the mob, and the women of Old Town. Finally, an aging cop on his last day on the job (Bruce Willis) rescues a young girl from a kidnapper, but is himself thrown in jail. Years later, he has a chance to save her again.
More Info about this DVD DVD Release Date: Released the 16 August 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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No one uses color like Chinese director Zhang Yimou--movies like Raise the Red Lantern or Hero, though different in tone and subject matter, are drenched in rich, luscious shades of red, blue, yellow, and green. House of Flying Daggers is no exception; if they weren't choreographed with such vigorous imagination, the spectacular action sequences would seem little more than an excuse for vivid hues rippling across the screen. Government officers Leo and Jin (Asian superstars Andy Lau and Takeshi Kaneshiro) set out to destroy an underground rebellion called the House of Flying Daggers (named for their weapon of choice, a curved blade that swoops through the air like a boomerang). Their only chance to find the rebels is a blind women named Mei (Ziyi Zhang, Crouching... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Yimou Zhang DVD Release Date: Released the 19 April 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Batman Begins discards the previous four films in the series and recasts the Caped Crusader as a fearsome avenging angel. That's good news, because the series, which had gotten off to a rousing start under Tim Burton, had gradually dissolved into self-parody by 1997's Batman & Robin. As the title implies, Batman Begins tells the story anew, when Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) flees Western civilization following the murder of his parents. He is taken in by a mysterious instructor named Ducard (Liam Neeson in another mentor role) and urged to become a ninja in the League of Shadows, but he instead returns to his native Gotham City resolved to end the mob rule that is strangling it. But are there forces even more sinister at hand?
Co-written by the team of David S.... More Info about this DVD Director(s): Christopher Nolan DVD Release Date: Released the 18 October 2005 This item is currently not available.
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After creating the last great traditionally animated film of the 20th century, The Iron Giant, filmmaker Brad Bird joined top-drawer studio Pixar to create this exciting, completely entertaining computer-animated film. Bird gives us a family of "supers," a brood of five with special powers desperately trying to fit in with the 9-to-5 suburban lifestyle. Of course, in a more innocent world, Bob and Helen Parr were superheroes, Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl. But blasted lawsuits and public disapproval forced them and other supers to go incognito, making it even tougher for their school-age kids, the shy Violet and the aptly named Dash. When a stranger named Mirage (voiced by Elizabeth Pena) secretly recruits Bob for a potential mission, the old glory days spin in his head, even if... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Holly Hunter - Samuel L. Jackson - Jason Lee - Craig T. Nelson DVD Release Date: Released the 15 March 2005 Usually ships in 24 hours
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Computer generated special effects have seldom been so giddy as in Shaolin Soccer, a gleeful fusion of kung fu and a classic Bad News Bears sports story. A former soccer star--whose "golden leg" was broken by a hired mob--assembles a team of former students of Shaolin martial arts, whose assorted skills (indicated by their nicknames, like Mighty Steel Leg and Iron Head) lend themselves to the swift interplay of the world's most popular game. Along the way, the team's leader (Hong Kong comic superstar Stephen Chow) meets a sticky bun baker (Vicki Zhao) whose kung fu is the equal of any of his teammates. Shaolin Soccer is supremely silly--in the final match, their opponents are called Team Evil--but that's part of the fun. American movies rarely achieve this perfect... More Info about this DVD Actor(s): Stephen Chow - Vicki Zhao Director(s): Stephen Chow DVD Release Date: Released the 24 August 2004 Usually ships in 24 hours
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