Little Big Soldier (Bluray + DVD Combo) (2010)

"Little Big Soldier" (original title "Da bing xiao jiang") is a Chinese/Hong Kong action adventure film starring (and written by) Jackie Chan. The story is set in the last days of China's Warring States Period, just before the Qin Dynasty's first unification of the country in 221 BC. Jackie Chan plays an unnamed old "Soldier" of Liang State, who, feigning a death in the battlefield, captures a young, injured "General" (Leehom Wang) of Wei State.

All the elderly "Soldier" wants is to stay alive, go back to his homeland, and hopefully, to have a small piece of land as a reward. But things are not so easy especially when the Wei troops looking for the General are closing in on them. Also, there are tribal warriors living among the mountainous area where the Soldier and the General have to travel.

Co-produced by Jackie Chan himself, the film has a few nice trademark comic set-pieces using props, but the film's overall tone is rather serious, though not too serious as entertainment. Both leading stars did great jobs here. Jackie Chan, whose acting abilities are often underrated, gives humanity to the character, a blend of comic and tragic elements. Leehom Wang is also good as the proud "General," a young man who still has to learn a thing or two from the old "Soldier" and vice versa.

There are some lapses in his storytelling, but chemistry between the two leads will make you almost forget about it. Director Sheng Ding adds a poignant touch to the adventures by using beautiful locations and songs as the backdrop of the war-time story. With the now familiar end credit bloopers, "Little Big Soldier" is an enjoyable ride film with a bit of bitter taste thrown in.

I caught this film just last night at a local film festival and had to go online to see when the blu-ray would be available. Alas, it isn't available yet, but I will be the first in line to buy it when it is available. This was a fantastic movie overall and, in my opinion, one of Jackie Chan's best. I'd rate this up there with Drunken Master and for a recent Hong Kong film I'd say it was better than Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, but not quite as good as Hero. Jackie Chan's physical comedy is perhaps the best in the business and is definitely showcased here, but there are so many more layers to this film. The story line is fantastic and the cinematography is top notch. My two cents is that this is a must-see.

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After watching a portion of an earlier version of this film with NO subtitles and no dubbing, I ordered this new DVD version which DOES have the English dub audio, but will probably listen to the Chinese with the English subtitles, admittedly.

Jackie may be getting older, but shows no slowing down in his directing, acting and comic relief! I highly recommend "Little Big Soldier" to everyone!

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Far from playing the clown and other trade mark antic , this Jackie Chan film is acually touching , and ends on a melancholic existentialist human condition sequence not unlike Kurosawa's endings

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Others will review this deeper so I'll keep mine short. Some people used to nonstop Chan action and comedy throughout and up to the end credits may be a little taken aback by this film (which is why I gave it four instead of five stars) but if you look at the ending bringing a resolution to the early charge of disgrace regarding Chan's character, the ending makes sense. The two leads work fantastic against and with one another. As I am only acquainted with Chan's previous work, I will write this is the best acting I've seen from him. There's none of Crime Story's solemness and none of the (for a better word) mugging of Chan's early comedies (though I also love that Chan as well). Add to that an excellent script, fantastic cinematography and music and this movie is a winner. Comparing this with Chan's last American movie "The Spy Next Door" is like night and day. I wish THIS movie would have gotten a wide theatrical release in the States. It surely deserves it.

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A League of Their Own (20th Anniversary Edition) (1992)

The 2-Disc DVD Special Edition of 1992's "A League Of Their Own" (released on April 20, 2004) scores a grand-slam on my DVD Scorecard. Sporting a fun array of bonus features, a beautiful anamorphically-enhanced widescreen picture, and very clever menu screens, this DVD version of this timeless motion picture is a winner all the way around.

Although the film has a relatively-lengthy run time of 2 hours & 8 minutes, it never wears out its welcome or gets tiresome. The first-rate cast sees to that -a cast that features the likes of Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, Lori Petty, and Jon Lovitz.

Lovitz is fall-down hilarious as the scout who plucks Geena and Lori off of their Oregon farm to join the first professional girls' baseball league. He offers up one zinger after another during his short stint in this movie, such as his explanation to the other girls as to why he can't sign up second baseman Marla Hooch (who isn't likely to win the Miss America Pageant anytime soon) -"You know General Omar Bradley? Well, there's too strong a resemblance."

DVD Special Features for the 2-Disc "Special Edition" ..............

>> A very nice 52-minute documentary on the making of the film, "Nine Memorable Innings", featuring new interviews with the cast and crew, and some behind-the-scenes footage.

>> 15 Deleted Scenes. Many of these cut scenes flesh out some of the movie's shorter scenes. Some very interesting stuff here too. You can play each of these scenes separately, or via a "Play All" option. And these can be played with or without a "Director's Introduction" preceding each clip from Penny Marshall. Total run time: 36:02 with intros, or 32:39 without them.

>> Commentary Track, with Director Penny Marshall and some of the cast members.

>> 3 Trailers -Including the excellent and funny trailer for this movie, plus bonus trailers for two other sports films ("Brian's Song" and "The Natural").

>> Madonna Music Video -"This Used To Be My Playground" (run time: 5:02).

>> Cast & Crew Filmographies (text only).

>> A French Language Track (in 2.0 Dolby Surround).

>> English Subtitles.

VIDEO -The movie is presented on Disc #1 (which is dual-sided with no disc art), with Side A being the Widescreen (2.35:1 aspect ratio) version and Side B being a Full-Screen (1.33:1) Pan-and-Scan version. Now why anybody on the planet would prefer the Full-Screen (aka: "butchered all to hell") variant is beyond my comprehension. (Especially a super-wide 2.35:1 ratio film like this one, where, in the 1.33:1 version you're missing about 45% of the screen image at all times.) But, to each his own. IMO, however, the Widescreen is the ONLY way to go here (or with any other movie, for that matter).

The Widescreen transfer here looks A-1. Very clear, no "jaggies" in the background that I could see, with great color.

AUDIO -The box shows a "4.0 Surround" English audio track. But my Player reads the sound as "3.1 Dolby Digital". Kind of strange, I thought. But, regardless of the individual number of discrete channels here, it sounds great. The previous DVD version of this movie was done in 2.0 Dolby Surround; and this SE is at least up to par with that older disc, IMO.

MENUS -A really well-done "baseball-themed" Menu design here. The "Scene Selection" screens are designed so that each scene choice looks like a baseball card, complete with an "AAGPBL" ("All-American Girls Professional Baseball League") logo in the corner. Also shown on each of the Chapter screens is a simulated "baseball card" featuring one of the "players" (or manager) that appears in the movie.

The Main Menu for disc #2, which holds all the bonus material, is cleverly laid out to represent a page of a newspaper, with the menu choices integrated into the "headlines" of the paper. Very cool. As is the disc art for the second disc, which is made up to look like a baseball.

This flick beckons to be viewed a minimum of once per year. And perhaps even more frequently thanks to this fine two-disc SE that is now available. It's a movie that is just plain fun to sit through. And that's not likely to change, even many years down the road.

"A League Of Their Own" will remain in a class all its own for a long, long time to come.

Why is Geena Davis an Oscar-winner? Watch this flick; you won't need to ask that again. Her sensitive portrayal of Dottie Hinson highlights the many facets of Davis' talents as an actress. I loved watching a piece of history (however dramatized) which took place during my early childhood. Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell were surprisingly good as the loudmouth-but-secretly-caring-and-feeling Mae and Doris. You'll fall in love with Ann Cusack's "Shirley Baker", and poor, homely but super-star batter Marla Hooch is someone you just gotta root for. Tom Hanks gives us his usual fine performance as the arrogant, boozy and cynical (but in for some surprises) coach Jimmy Dugan. The chauvinistic/sexist way the female players were treated (professional baseball in a cocktail waitress costume!?) by management, the public and the press ("...after all, they're only girls.") will incense many viewers, but it's the way things actually were then. For the movie to be made any other way would be less than truth. The way that the real Dotties, Kits, Maes, Dorises and the others dealt with those attitudes surely contributed to social change and enlightenment about the abilities of the female half of our population. A compliment, also, to the casting people; where did they find the older look-alikes? Notably, Lynn Cartwright as "Older Dottie" and Eugenia McLin as "Older Ellen Sue". This movie is for everyone. Comedy with poignant drama. If you like teary endings, bring the Kleenex. The nostalgia scenes will start the flow. Great, great movie.

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A League of their Own was one of the best movies I've ever had the pleasure to see. I had seen it years ago and recently bought my own copy of it. This movie is one of the best that Penny Marshall has ever directed. The casting was superb. Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell were perfect as street-wise, but loveable May and Doris! Geena Davis did a wonderful job playing Dottie Henson, who had a genuine love for the game, yet had responsibilities and priorities that were more important to her. Lori Petty was great as Kit, Dottie's little sister who fought so hard to get out from under her sister's shadow. Marla Hooch, what a great character!! Evelyn and her little boy Stillwell "Angel" will keep you in smiling all the time you want to bean him with a baseball bat. Ellen Sue, Helen, Betty Spaghetti, I feel like I know them all!! And Tom Hanks plays one of his best roles ever, as Jimmy Duggan, an ex-ball player turned coach. Not too thrilled with the job of coaching "girls", he accepts the job and finally comes to respect them as a team and as baseball players. I think one of the best parts of the movies is when the ball players reunite after 40 years and the casting of the older woman to play the parts of the aging ball players is a masterpiece. It is remarkable how these older "look-alikes" were all brought into this movie. This is a movie worth watching, owning and recommending. Very few come along in a lifetime that provide so much good, positive entertainment, but this movie has it all. I recommend it highly!

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I was reading the comments about the DVD version of this movie, and noticed some comments from another viewer that I could not let go by without my two cents:

"Notice that we first see Kit as a softball pitcher. How she made the transition from throwing underhanded to being one of the best overhand hardball throwers in the league in just a few months is...well, doubtful."

The original league did play a modified form of softball/baseball that changed over time. It was originally a modified fast pitch softball which was played with baseball rules, including leading off bases. The pitching distance and the base paths were, however, longer than regulation softball. It was originally called The All-American Girls Soft Ball League, then it was All-American Girls Base Ball League. Finally it became the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. I'm sure that they learned the official rules in spring training.

"And the outfits they wore! Ever try to slide into second trying to break up the double play without sliding pads or even jersey pants? I don't think so. The girls were bare-legged. To Marshall's credit she does show one girl with a huge strawberry bruise on her thigh."

The girls did play in skirts. Their official uniform consisted of short flaired tunic, satin tights, knee-high baseball socks and cap. They did nurse strawberry bruises. They did wear their "Red Badge of Courage"... red lipstick. In the early years, they did attend charm school, received a makeup kit, and the league contracted Helena Rubenstein's Beauty Salon to meet with the girls during spring training.

"for those viewers who have actually played baseball, the way many of the young women threw and caught the ball was again, shall we say, doubtful. Marshall employed as extras some young ladies who could actually play a little and we see some shots of their style and grace, but the only star who could even pretend to play at that level would be Rosie O'Donnell. Madonna has some athletic ability, but to imagine her patrolling center field and hauling down long drives strains credibility."

Well, do you expect professional actors to become professional ballplayers overnight?

I suggest that anyone interested in this interesting era of women in sports visit the official AAGPBL website. I have paraphrased much information that I read on their site and hope that they do not object.

Okay... buy the movie, but learn the real story, too. The movie isn't EXACTLY the way it was.

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The girls of the All American Girls Baseball League were an impressive bunch. The league, formed to fill the gap left by the canceling of the Major League season while the players were at war, was not the most popular idea at its inception. . . The story is good. Have no doubt, this movie is not a "guy" picture, but it is a great "date movie."

Gina Davis, Tom Hanks, and Lori Petty are all really amazing actors. Madonna and Rosie O'Donnell make great supporting cast members. Hey, it is a movie that Madonna didn't kill! The story is special and rather touching. There is good suspense in the movie. Generally, I am remarkably anti-suspense as I find it rather annoying. It is present in this film at times, but never long enough to become annoying. . .

I have never been a huge baseball fan. But I must admit; I love baseball movies. There is something special about baseball that makes the movies great. Don't get me wrong, bad baseball movies exist, but for someone who is not a fan of the game, I can get behind movies about the game. "A League of Their Own" is no exception to this logic. There was a purity to the game back then.

epc

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Carnage (2011)

This was a great and fun/funny film. A drama where two kids parents meet at ones apartment to decide "how to handle" the situation where one of the boys hit another boy with a stick, knocking out teeth. Who's fault was it? Who should apologize to whom? Should the parents get involved? Should they also take responsibility for their kids aggression and the others timidness? We learn the issue of aggression and short comings might be more so with the parents, than with the kids. And that poor hamster? A film by Roman Polanski, more so a short dinner theater type play brought to film. The shortest film I've seen in a theater. 1 hr 15 min. But great stars, fun plot. Things go from simple casual attempt(s) between two sets of parents with coming to an agreement concerning responsibility for their kids actions, to the parents engaged in something close to total WWIII. With a little apple cobbler tossed in (and up) along with way, plus way too many social cocktails in the mix. And a busy cell phone adding to the never ending comedy-drama.

With stars this wonderful, this film is a must see hit. And again... that poor hamster.

There are great court room dramas that keep you engaged. This is not a court room drama, but equal to such as a social drama between agreeing/disagreeing, then agreeing then back to disagreeing sets of parents.

With everyone carrying, then unloading, a lot of psychological baggage.

And YOU are the fly on the wall.

Great! Very fun! Interesting! Too short. I wanted more, a lot more. But what Roman Polanski gives us is totally worth experiencing.

Great directing mixed with great actors/acting really does make the difference.

NOTE: And just who was that peeking out the next door apartment at all the ruckus going on in the hall way? Could it have been by chance a VERY FAMOUS DIRECTOR's face????

And no... it wasn't Alfred Hitchcock. lol

What a good film. What good acting. Great stars. Great director. Great directing. But I'd totally skip the cobbler...

So what happens in NYC when parents of two boys decide to have a private meeting in order to resolve a conflict between their children? Meet two couples, who are equally concerned about well being of their 11 year old sons. Two boys got into a fight and the fight got physical. Before long, one boy is grounded and another one nearly looses his tooth. Surely, these young people need to be punished and thought a lesson; so their parents decide to meet and assess what to do next.

The entire movie is entirely set in a NYC apartment of one of the couples. It starts as civil and cordial meeting between two pairs of concerned parents and turns into, well carnage. In nearly two hours, we see these four people fighting it out with each other in words. It starts as one pair of parents against the other, but then lines become blurry as aliences between them start to shift. Every now and then, pairs would re-group, but then things would fall into a chaos again. It is witty, contemporary story about modern life, alienation between people, parents and their children; greed, glutony, assessment of our priorities and purpose in middle life. Great cast of actors, wonderful verbal duels. I truly enjoyed this movie. I always loved Roman Polanski's movies and this one adds to the wonderful collection of his already prized work.

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"Carnage" opens like the play it is adapted from and is directed by Roman Polanski. Penelope Longstreet (Jodie Foster) along with husband Michael (John C. Reilly) invite the Cowans to their apartment; Nancy (Kate Winslet) and her work-consumed husband, Christoph Waltz.

The Longstreets feel it necessary to discuss the reason why their "victim" son was struck, and badly hurt, by the "maniac brutalizer" Cowan's son. Michael would simply appreciate an apology from their child, although Penelope seems to have her own agenda and intends to push it.

Penelope and Nancy have a tremendous amount of tension between them which is palpable from the onset. Michael appears personable, overly generous and friendly ... at first. Mr. Cowan is on the cell phone constantly as a pharmaceutical lawyer and much more absent in the genesis of the conversation.

The 'go-around' all plays out in the living room as you can sense the air suck right out of the room. It becomes almost claustrophobic, in feel, as the couples begin wildly talking, accusing, and definitely getting far off-the-topic of their sons.

In this obvious stress inducing situation, especially for Nancy and then Penelope, anxiety builds and the topics get verbally and emotionally out of control. The discussion of the children's situation is quickly set aside, as marital issues insidiously invade the 'conversation'. More like spouting-offs!

The husbands slowly get involved, by first defending their wives, arguing with each other and then challenging each other. The 'Scotch' comes on the scene, as they decide it would be a great time to take a vintage bottle out for a ride. Nancy demands a drink of her own, while defending Penelope, and challenges a reluctant Michael to pour his wife some also.

Alliances are formed and broken then reattached almost as fast as the mercurial, rapid-fire dialogue. The words are shot between them as bullets from a gun and land as caustically. The husbands start to turn on their wives while getting pretty frustrated; "you think too much...women think too much" and "yes, I feel like being completely despicable".

The talking and commenting becomes amazingly ludicrous in the verbal smack-down. All four actors are on top of their game in this; tightly wound, inflammatory, taut and hilarious 'study', as one topic is flying into another then back again.

At the very end of the film, before the credits roll, there is one of the best scenes for tying-up all the loose ends and a good shot in the arm of laughter for myself. It does put seemingly huge things in perspective in a very scant amount of time.

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I though this was one of those slasher movies until I saw the names of the stars. This is actually very similar to the classic Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Two-Disc Special Edition). All of the action takes place during one afternoon after a schoolyard fight between two boys leads to a meeting between both sets of parents to settle the tiff. Very different socially, the two couples at first perform the usual polite dance of parents everywhere, trying to remain polite and civil. A bottle of single-malt scotch, and some expensive cigars, lead to a loosening of social norms and shifting alliances among the group. I found this to be among the most intelligent films that I have seen in quite some time, especially since it is not an "art film" and is readily accessible to a mass audience. This is like attending a well done one act play right in your living room.

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...despite his, er, private behavior, but gah! What awful people. Yes, it was funny in a very, very unpleasant way, but I think I watched it with an expression of horrified disgust pasted to my face. Don't we all know people like this? Completely tense, unable to stop the diarrhea of boring small talk about cobbler recipes and toilet parts while their restrained hostility growls audibly below the polite chatter? I felt like taking a hot bath after watching this. Yes, and becoming a hermit in a cave somewhere so I'd never have to see a human being again.

I will never, ever watch this movie again; it was like fingernails on a blackboard to me. And yet it was a great movie. I saw no flaw in the acting or direction. There was an ugly fascination in seeing how four people could all be arrogant bourgeois thugs, yet so different. Four different shades of awful.

I loved the hilarious irony of the scene in the park as the credits roll. You could almost miss it, but it beautifully sums up the ludicrousness of the situation that has just played out between the four adults.

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Money Train (1995)

Myself and my wife loved this movie! Woody Harrelson plays a down-on-his-luck gambler who falls foul of the local Mafia with his gambling debts. Wesley Snipes plays his brother, a New York Transit Authority cop, who guards the so-called Money Train, an armoured subway car which collects the takings from each station. When Woody's character gets a good beating for failing to keep up repayments, he feels the only way out is to rob the Money Train, with or without Wesley's help! And we are treated to a host of spectacular action sequences on the rails! Jennifer Lopez(BABE!) also features as a cop with whom both Woody and Wesley's characters try to have more that a friendship with as well! Overall, this movie is action-packed and funny, with enough stunts to satisfy the most jaded connieuseurs of slam-bang flicks, and contains great cinemantography and SFX with the train scenes in the climax! DVD enhancement inmproves it even more, with sound FX that'll blow away your living room!

Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson rekindile their teamwork fromWhite Men can't Jump in an action packed thriller which packs punch but lacks focus. This story is all over the place involving two interracial step brothers competeing for a female partners affection (Lopez). The story includes a gambling problem, a bosses irrational behavior, and saving ones brother from the law as he tries to rob a NYC transit money train. Unfortunately firebug scenes were copied and killed a token booth clerk in Brooklyn after this movies release. One problem with this movie is that it alleges it's using a letter B train to Coney Island when the trains used for filming were 4,5 and 6 number cars. The movie was said to be filmed in North Carolna studios however the stations resemble those of the Lexington Ave. Line. Any consious New Yorker knows that they're not passing De Kalb Ave. Why after spending millions of dollars is the simplest research messed up? They should have gotten their subway legend right! Jenifer Lopez looks real good and acts well in a movie that indirectly refers from her the self motivated title of her cd "On the 6" which refers to the 6 subway line. Lot's of mistakes for anyone who knows the subway but some good action scenes aside from the movies implausibility.

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This film had one good intention: a decent cast. It lacked direction, however, and seemed to be adrift in a sea of identity confusion. Is it a thriller? Not quite. Is it a "buddy" film. Well, not really. It it a romance? Uh-uh. It is a mish-mash of all of the above. There were some excellent action sequences (many incredibly unbelievable), especially in the last 20 minutes. Some of the comic interplay between Wesley and Woody was amusing, but far from their chemistry in "Jump". J-Lo's character served no purpose except to show a little skin. She slowed the pace down for the first hour of the movie, it seemed like watching it in slow motion. It could have been an excellent action-packed buddy film of the Lethal Weapon genre if only the writers offered us a decent script. Instead, we got disconnected plotting and a whole lot of far-fetched antics. And Robert Blake should have "Virginia Baked" tattooed on his forehead. And what was up with Cooper's character? It seemed like the writers of the script came up with an idea for a serial killer/robber plot, but then couldn't figure out what to do with him and wrote him out of the film halfway through without any resolution for his motive or background. Instead, the writers might have just recently spent an evening watching "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3" and switched tracks, so to speak, and said "hey, this might be a good idea for that new Harrelson/J-Lo/Snipes film we have to provide a script for tomorrow." The writing and direction seems to be spontaneous, and NOT in a good way.

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I did not expect much from this movie, but since I got a real good deal on it I said why not. Contrary to my original thoughts about this movie, it was actually really good. There aren't many action scenes in this movie, and there shouldn't be. The makers of this did a very good job in balancing action, drama, and suspense themes. Harrelson and Snipes do a spectacular job, as well as Jennifer Lopez. There is one really good fight scene that involves Snipes that you will enjoy. The ending scenes were exciting and suspensful and it has you going for the train robbers. That's all I can say without giving away the movie. But I can say that this movie was perfectly balanced, not too much acton, and not too much drama; you will definetely like this one, especially if you want a break from the typical Hollywood Action crap that is out there today.

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This is an explosive cocktail of chemistry that pulls the plot from "The Taking of Pelhan 1-2-3 that triggers the rush for the Money Train. If you've ever been to New York City during Christmas season, you will feel the nostalgia of ringing Salvation Army Santas, Squeeching overhead L trains and faceless people rushing home through the dark cold iron city, renders its charm and mystery. You will love it, and just maybe identify with one or more characters. The train robbery will keep you at the edge of your sofa each time you watch it. This is a film that you can add to your inventory and play time and time again especially during the Christmas season.

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