himboy32
Joined Jul 2004
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Dexter Morgan works for the Miami Dade County Police Department as a blood spatter expert of the forensics department. He is currently dating Rita,a former victim of an abusive drug addict, has a sister who's just joined the homicide devision and a superior officer who enjoys busting his balls whenever the opportunity arises. Oh and he's a completely sociopathic serial killer.
But instead of quenching his thirst for murder on the innocent citizens of Miami, he carefully chooses gangsters, drug dealers, paedophiles, murderers. Individuals all of which Dexter feels have long outlived their purpose in the world because they are simply bad people.
I first became aware of this series after seeing posters advertising it in a local comic book store in my home town. now the idea of a forensics expert who's also a serial killer screams comic books origins and you'd be on the right track to assume that. It's based on a novel or rather a series of novels. I haven't read them myself but I've read several positive reviews.
Getting back to the series. It's nice to see television putting some effort into their programming these days. With the reality TV bug dieing, thankfully, a slow and painful death. Shows such as this, Heroes, Supernatural, Lost etc have proved that the writing seems to be getting better and much more entertaining.
Dexter is basically could the result of Brett Easton Ellis ever wrote an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in which Gil Grissom goes insane and starts killing off the bad guys or if The Punisher wasn't so wild about big guns. When the viewer watches Dexter they can't help him but find the guy somewhat likable. Given he's a complete sociopath and a killer we should be repelled by his actions but the fact that he only punishes those who deserve it, we are forced in some ways to support his "fight" against evil.
Dexter's emotional well being or lack there of, often feels conflicted whenever in the presence of his girlfriend Rita. As stated earlier she was a victim of an abusive husband and has zero interest in sexual intercourse. Something which, Dexter admits, is comfortable which. Yet he often finds himself having thoughts which he can't understand, could they be feelings? or something much more sinister? we don't know but this creates definitely the most complex and deep character driven relationships in the entire series.
The reviewer only wishes the other interactions between Dexter and the other characters were this fascinating. Another relationship which played out very well in the series was between Dexter and his adoptive father, backed up brilliantly by James Remar's wonderfully understated performance as a detective who's own emotional reserve has been burnt out by the justice system allowing the wrong people getting away with crimes they were so obviously guilty of. This is a state of mind which, for better or worse is instilled within Dexter.
What probably stands out most is the writing and of course the acting. Michael C. Hall, James Remar and Julie Benz are fantastic in this. It's outstanding to see their hard work hasn't gone un-noticed with Hall, Benz and Remar picking up awards for their tremendous effort on what has to be one of the best TV shows in this past decade.
I can't recommend this series enough. Fans of American Psycho will really enjoy this or people who enjoy TV that can be both engaging and entertaining at the same time. Please, watch at least one episode, I'm sure there'll be something in there that will get your attention and keep for the run of the series.
But instead of quenching his thirst for murder on the innocent citizens of Miami, he carefully chooses gangsters, drug dealers, paedophiles, murderers. Individuals all of which Dexter feels have long outlived their purpose in the world because they are simply bad people.
I first became aware of this series after seeing posters advertising it in a local comic book store in my home town. now the idea of a forensics expert who's also a serial killer screams comic books origins and you'd be on the right track to assume that. It's based on a novel or rather a series of novels. I haven't read them myself but I've read several positive reviews.
Getting back to the series. It's nice to see television putting some effort into their programming these days. With the reality TV bug dieing, thankfully, a slow and painful death. Shows such as this, Heroes, Supernatural, Lost etc have proved that the writing seems to be getting better and much more entertaining.
Dexter is basically could the result of Brett Easton Ellis ever wrote an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in which Gil Grissom goes insane and starts killing off the bad guys or if The Punisher wasn't so wild about big guns. When the viewer watches Dexter they can't help him but find the guy somewhat likable. Given he's a complete sociopath and a killer we should be repelled by his actions but the fact that he only punishes those who deserve it, we are forced in some ways to support his "fight" against evil.
Dexter's emotional well being or lack there of, often feels conflicted whenever in the presence of his girlfriend Rita. As stated earlier she was a victim of an abusive husband and has zero interest in sexual intercourse. Something which, Dexter admits, is comfortable which. Yet he often finds himself having thoughts which he can't understand, could they be feelings? or something much more sinister? we don't know but this creates definitely the most complex and deep character driven relationships in the entire series.
The reviewer only wishes the other interactions between Dexter and the other characters were this fascinating. Another relationship which played out very well in the series was between Dexter and his adoptive father, backed up brilliantly by James Remar's wonderfully understated performance as a detective who's own emotional reserve has been burnt out by the justice system allowing the wrong people getting away with crimes they were so obviously guilty of. This is a state of mind which, for better or worse is instilled within Dexter.
What probably stands out most is the writing and of course the acting. Michael C. Hall, James Remar and Julie Benz are fantastic in this. It's outstanding to see their hard work hasn't gone un-noticed with Hall, Benz and Remar picking up awards for their tremendous effort on what has to be one of the best TV shows in this past decade.
I can't recommend this series enough. Fans of American Psycho will really enjoy this or people who enjoy TV that can be both engaging and entertaining at the same time. Please, watch at least one episode, I'm sure there'll be something in there that will get your attention and keep for the run of the series.
STORY Chinese Tall Story tells the story of righteous monk Tripitaka, who, along with his guardians Monkey, Sandy and Pigsy make their journey west on a quest to recover ancient Sutras, finally, they reach the final leg of their journey in Shache City But all is not as it seems when the city is attacked by evil tree demons. Monkey tries his best to battle them but is overwhelmed, knowing his master is in grave danger, he uses his trusty golden staff to thrust Tripitaka to safety.
The monk ends up being knocked out when he land and when he wakes up he finds himself in the presence of a young lizard imp named Maiyan who takes quite a shine to our young hero, after many verbal misunderstandings Maiyan becomes convinced Tripitaka loves her, so when the monk decides he must rescue Monkey and the others, she insists on accompanying him. So the mismatched pair begins their adventure together.
REVIEW Okay, so, it's another Journey To The West movie, which isn't a bad thing to me since I love the story and the characters associated with it, so I was a little excited to get my hands on the DVD. So I think I'll start off my review with the story, which is all over the place, at first it was your standard fantasy film, then it became a ridiculous comedy then suddenly became full blown sci-fi, if the director Jeff Lau was experimenting with mixing genres then he did a pretty scatological job with this movie. I think it's a pretty unique approach by having the story centre on a character other then the infamous Monkey King, especially taking a character as pacifistic as Tripitaka and then putting him into what is at it's core a love story. So overall, I liked it.
The acting is for the most part solid, with leads Nicholas Tse and Charlene Choi putting in some really good performances, though Ah Char does spend most of her screen time behind some rather ugly make up. The supporting cast is nicely put together, it includes all the usual EEG main stays so Boy'Z and Isabella Leong make appearances, one actor I'd like to mention is Wilson Chen, who plays the Monkey King, he did a good job with the limited material he seemed to have been given, he played a version of the Monkey King who was subdued yet arrogant, I had a feeling he'd be retreading Twins Effect II territory but fortunately that's not the case here. I hope he gets to do a follow up to this with himself in the central role, since the film does leave itself open for a sequel.
Okay, so let's get down to the directing, which again is kinda all over the place, Lau gives too much time to the Stephen Chow-esquire nonsense comedy, which includes a scene where Tripitaka in order to toughen himself up, dresses up as Spider-Man, which I assume lead to many a head scratching moment since the film is meant to be set in Ancient China. He does create some really nice and tender moments between the two leads and does delve into sappy territory but this reviewer does enjoy a bit of sap on occasion so it didn't bother me in the slightest.
Right, now onto the CGI, which for the most part is quite bearable, there are a lot of moments which probably belong on a PS2 like many other reviews have stated but there are some cool moments particularly the scene in which Monkey battles a flying minion. A lot of the CG gags are provided in the form of the golden staff which turns into a range of different things, ranging from a giant fly swatter to a mech suit straight out of The Matrix Revolutions. So yeah, it sounds crazy but I guess you'd have to see it to believe it.
Right, so in closing A Chinese Tall Story isn't a movie without it's flaws but it keeps itself together long enough to be able to entertain and generally be a overall enjoyable movie. If all of the above doesn't swing you to see it how about I put it this way, it's much better then Twins Effect II.
The monk ends up being knocked out when he land and when he wakes up he finds himself in the presence of a young lizard imp named Maiyan who takes quite a shine to our young hero, after many verbal misunderstandings Maiyan becomes convinced Tripitaka loves her, so when the monk decides he must rescue Monkey and the others, she insists on accompanying him. So the mismatched pair begins their adventure together.
REVIEW Okay, so, it's another Journey To The West movie, which isn't a bad thing to me since I love the story and the characters associated with it, so I was a little excited to get my hands on the DVD. So I think I'll start off my review with the story, which is all over the place, at first it was your standard fantasy film, then it became a ridiculous comedy then suddenly became full blown sci-fi, if the director Jeff Lau was experimenting with mixing genres then he did a pretty scatological job with this movie. I think it's a pretty unique approach by having the story centre on a character other then the infamous Monkey King, especially taking a character as pacifistic as Tripitaka and then putting him into what is at it's core a love story. So overall, I liked it.
The acting is for the most part solid, with leads Nicholas Tse and Charlene Choi putting in some really good performances, though Ah Char does spend most of her screen time behind some rather ugly make up. The supporting cast is nicely put together, it includes all the usual EEG main stays so Boy'Z and Isabella Leong make appearances, one actor I'd like to mention is Wilson Chen, who plays the Monkey King, he did a good job with the limited material he seemed to have been given, he played a version of the Monkey King who was subdued yet arrogant, I had a feeling he'd be retreading Twins Effect II territory but fortunately that's not the case here. I hope he gets to do a follow up to this with himself in the central role, since the film does leave itself open for a sequel.
Okay, so let's get down to the directing, which again is kinda all over the place, Lau gives too much time to the Stephen Chow-esquire nonsense comedy, which includes a scene where Tripitaka in order to toughen himself up, dresses up as Spider-Man, which I assume lead to many a head scratching moment since the film is meant to be set in Ancient China. He does create some really nice and tender moments between the two leads and does delve into sappy territory but this reviewer does enjoy a bit of sap on occasion so it didn't bother me in the slightest.
Right, now onto the CGI, which for the most part is quite bearable, there are a lot of moments which probably belong on a PS2 like many other reviews have stated but there are some cool moments particularly the scene in which Monkey battles a flying minion. A lot of the CG gags are provided in the form of the golden staff which turns into a range of different things, ranging from a giant fly swatter to a mech suit straight out of The Matrix Revolutions. So yeah, it sounds crazy but I guess you'd have to see it to believe it.
Right, so in closing A Chinese Tall Story isn't a movie without it's flaws but it keeps itself together long enough to be able to entertain and generally be a overall enjoyable movie. If all of the above doesn't swing you to see it how about I put it this way, it's much better then Twins Effect II.
Film: Dragon Squad Year: 2005 Genre(s): Action/Drama Director: Daniel Lee Language(s): Cantonese, Madarin, English Running Time: 111 Mins Format: DVD(Hong Kong Release) Cast: Venness Wu, Shawn Yue, Xia Yu, Eva Haung, Lawrence Chou, Sammo Hung, Micheal Biehn, Simon Yam, Huh Joon Ho, Maggie Q
Synopsis: Five interpol agents are drafted into Hong Kong to keep watch over a witness in an important trial, while being transported the convoy is ambushed by a gang of masked gun man.
The agents, come together to solve who attacked them and, while being mentored by an almost retired officer, decide to take out the gang before more people are killed.
Review:
So this film has been receiving a lot of negative press, both from fans living in Hong Kong and those who live in other countries, having seen the flick, i's easy to understand why, the pacing is chaotic and the camera work as extremely frantic during it's many action sequences, add in some awkward attempts at character development and some repetitive flashbacks and you'd have a stinker on your hands right?
Well, I hate to break it to you guys but no, despite some of the films superficial flaws, it does not fail in being one of the finest films to come out of Hong Kong in 2005 and while it didn't get the box office reception it deserved, this reviewer felt refreshed to find some creativity among the watered down Rom-coms the local film industry have seem to be putting out this past year. So let's start with the plot.
It's your typical by the numbers tried and tested plot, there's the bad guys and there's the good guys, they fight, bad guys win, good guys get mentored by wise senior, fight again, good guys win.
So really the plot is an excuse for director Daniel Lee is experiment with some very Micheal Mann-esquire camera work, about that, the camera work for the most part does the job right, it creates excitement and tension which kept this reviewer glued o the screen throughout, as it suited the style of the action scene s very well.
Now the action, well, the good news is, there's plenty of it, lots of gun play with the odd martial arts sequence thrown in for good measure, the fighting mostly being done by Huh Joon Ho and Sammo Hung who confront each other twice, the second encounter being the most bloody and brutal. The shootouts are very well put together.
For a movie which could be considered a mainstream film in Hong Kong, it isn't afraid to be extremely violent when it wants to be, there's plenty of blood on offer here, so if the acting doesn't grab, the blood soaked action will.
The acting ranges from sleepy to extremely good. Micheal Biehn, who's a familiar face to Hollywood movie fans as Kyle Reese in James Cameron's seminal classic The Termintor, stars as the lead villain, for a man who's been working in the film industry for so long, I thought he would have brought some much needed acting to the movie but really he seems to be almost sleep walking in his role but one may interpret Biehn's characterisation as a person who's so cold, he shows very little emotion.
The actors who played the five interpol agents where all very good, although, really, I would have liked it if they had a little more personality, they all came off as a little bland in place. Eva Huang is extremely easy on the eyes, definitely a face to look out for in future movies. former pop star Vanness Wu gives a credible performance, while Shawn Yue gives his usual calibre of acting but this reviewer felt the best acting had to go to the one and only Sammo Hung, who plays a character reluctant to get involved but realises if he wants to leave the past behind him, he must confront his demons, it's also worth mentioning he has the best fight in the entire movie against Huh Joon Hoo, who plays a chillingly sociopathic villain.
So, overall I really liked it, I think it's nowhere near as bad as everyone seems to be making it out to be and deserves at least one viewing by anyone who's a fan of Hong Kong cinema or Micheal Bay.
Synopsis: Five interpol agents are drafted into Hong Kong to keep watch over a witness in an important trial, while being transported the convoy is ambushed by a gang of masked gun man.
The agents, come together to solve who attacked them and, while being mentored by an almost retired officer, decide to take out the gang before more people are killed.
Review:
So this film has been receiving a lot of negative press, both from fans living in Hong Kong and those who live in other countries, having seen the flick, i's easy to understand why, the pacing is chaotic and the camera work as extremely frantic during it's many action sequences, add in some awkward attempts at character development and some repetitive flashbacks and you'd have a stinker on your hands right?
Well, I hate to break it to you guys but no, despite some of the films superficial flaws, it does not fail in being one of the finest films to come out of Hong Kong in 2005 and while it didn't get the box office reception it deserved, this reviewer felt refreshed to find some creativity among the watered down Rom-coms the local film industry have seem to be putting out this past year. So let's start with the plot.
It's your typical by the numbers tried and tested plot, there's the bad guys and there's the good guys, they fight, bad guys win, good guys get mentored by wise senior, fight again, good guys win.
So really the plot is an excuse for director Daniel Lee is experiment with some very Micheal Mann-esquire camera work, about that, the camera work for the most part does the job right, it creates excitement and tension which kept this reviewer glued o the screen throughout, as it suited the style of the action scene s very well.
Now the action, well, the good news is, there's plenty of it, lots of gun play with the odd martial arts sequence thrown in for good measure, the fighting mostly being done by Huh Joon Ho and Sammo Hung who confront each other twice, the second encounter being the most bloody and brutal. The shootouts are very well put together.
For a movie which could be considered a mainstream film in Hong Kong, it isn't afraid to be extremely violent when it wants to be, there's plenty of blood on offer here, so if the acting doesn't grab, the blood soaked action will.
The acting ranges from sleepy to extremely good. Micheal Biehn, who's a familiar face to Hollywood movie fans as Kyle Reese in James Cameron's seminal classic The Termintor, stars as the lead villain, for a man who's been working in the film industry for so long, I thought he would have brought some much needed acting to the movie but really he seems to be almost sleep walking in his role but one may interpret Biehn's characterisation as a person who's so cold, he shows very little emotion.
The actors who played the five interpol agents where all very good, although, really, I would have liked it if they had a little more personality, they all came off as a little bland in place. Eva Huang is extremely easy on the eyes, definitely a face to look out for in future movies. former pop star Vanness Wu gives a credible performance, while Shawn Yue gives his usual calibre of acting but this reviewer felt the best acting had to go to the one and only Sammo Hung, who plays a character reluctant to get involved but realises if he wants to leave the past behind him, he must confront his demons, it's also worth mentioning he has the best fight in the entire movie against Huh Joon Hoo, who plays a chillingly sociopathic villain.
So, overall I really liked it, I think it's nowhere near as bad as everyone seems to be making it out to be and deserves at least one viewing by anyone who's a fan of Hong Kong cinema or Micheal Bay.