Primer - A movie made for less $7,000 that looks like a movie and not some amateurist home video. It's a really dense time travel movie - confusing at times, but ultimately, impressive. Shane Carruth, an engineer turned filmmaker worn many hats - he starred, directed, produced, wrote, composed the soundtrack,
storyboarded, shot, and edited the film. It took him a little more than three years, but the end result definitely showed his talent. It won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance 2004. Hoop Dreams - Great documentary following the lives of two teenagers as they persue their dreams to become professional basketball players. It's great to see undiscovered stars in the background, like Chris Webber and Juwan Howard amongst others. Still, it just shows how tough it is to make it in the NBA, and how tough it is to make your dreams a reality. You could be the best player in your school, your city, or even your state, but you still might not be good enough to make it to the NBA. Or you could be the best player in the nation, but a knee injury can end it all. I guess the moral of the story is you can follow your dreams, but always have a backup plan. Best of the Best 4 - Not bad for a direct to video. Phillip Rhee is very graceful and is a great martial artist. The fight scenes are pretty realistic. There's even a scene that's very similiar to the one in Kiss of the Dragon where Jet accidentally walked into a martial arts school and ends up kicking everyone's arses. I think this film came out a lot earlier though. That's easily the best fight scene in the film. It's old school, though, meaning Phillip Rhee gets to take out the baddies one at a time, while the other twenty baddies just kinda chill in the background. Still, the fights are pretty good. Phillip Rhee's moves are fast and clean. To me, this is the second best of the series.
August 2, 2005
