Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

Title: Kung Fu Hustle (2004) (R)

Starring: Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, Qiu Yuen
Director: Stephen Chow
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Action, Fantasy
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: 90%, Audience: 85%
IMDB: 7.7/10
Language: Cantonese
Runtime: 1 Hour 39 Minutes


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Recommended
Subtitled
Available on Crackle.
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I feel like this movie is a little underrated. The people who have heard of it love it, and most other people simply haven't heard of it. It wasn't exactly a blockbuster, but it is an extremely charming movie.

This movie centers on the character Sing (played by Stephen Chow) who tries to act tougher than he really is. He wants so badly to join the "axe gang", but he is generally incapable of doing anything without screwing up. Add into this his friend Bone (played by Chi Chung Lam) who is completely incapable of any intelligent thought, and you have a pair constantly overshadowed by despair.

This movie is hilarious. It is very slapstick type of humor, and there are plenty of parts where I would be laughing uncontrollably. I wouldn't really call this a.. realistic movie.. as it does have fantasy elements (especially in fight scenes), but it is a great movie to watch nonetheless.

The action is decent, the humor of the movie adds a nice twist to the fight scenes, and all in all the movie is incredibly enjoyable to watch. There are of course versions of this movie available with dubbed English, but I am personally not a fan of watching dubbed movies. So if you have the opportunity I would recommend watching it in Cantonese with English subtitles.

As of this post I don't believe this movie was available for streaming on Netflix or Amazon Instant Video, but if it is available for purchase from your various streaming providers. This is definitely worth checking out, especially if you like a little kung fu action. This is definitely a stylized kung fu movie, but it is sure to leave your sides most assuredly split from laughter.

This movie is available on Crackle for free streaming.

Harry Brown (2009)

Title: Harry Brown (2009) (R)

Starring:  Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, David Bradley
Director: Daniel Barber 
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Rotten Tomatoes: Critic: 63%, Audience: 74%
IMDB: 7.3/10  
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes



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I'm a little torn on this movie. On the one hand I loved Michael Caine's character. On the other hand there is no hand. Michael Caine makes this movie work. This is your typical former military serviceman (now old guy) gets pissed off by the lack of justice in his neighborhood and goes vigilante. So, Michael Caine's character lives in this rotten place and he feels like the police aren't getting things done. So he takes matters into his old.. hands.

Is this movie watchable? Absolutely. In fact it's very watchable. Is it astounding cinema destined to be remembered forever? Probably not. In fact within a few years nobody will probably remember this movie.

One thing I appreciate that they did with Caine's character the balance they gave him. Sometimes in these "turned vigilante" movies they make the main character relatively invincible throughout the whole movie. However, this movie takes into account the fact that Caine's character is an old guy and he struggles with his physical incapacities throughout his attempts to garner justice.

Really, the only reason I even watched this movie was because it has Michael Caine in it, and I am a fan of Michael Caine in general. Really, not much about this movie is worth watching, except for Michael Caine. So there you go.

As of this posting the movie is no longer available on Netflix, but I believe it's available on Crackle.

Enjoy.