Cinapse

Cinapse is not a Tomatometer-approved publication. Reviews from this publication only count toward the Tomatometer® when written by the following Tomatometer-approved critic(s): Dan Tabor, Ed Travis
Rating Title/Year Author
Max Cloud (2020) Ed Travis There are moments when it springs to life as it goes hard on a fight scene... letting Adkins do his thing, or when it doubles down on its 16-bit roots. But there's just not enough here to sustain a feature, unfortunately. EDIT
Posted Dec 28, 2020
The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) Ed Travis For Cummings to come along and make something this fascinating and this distinct amidst this well-trodden of a genre truly speaks volumes. EDIT
Posted Dec 18, 2020
Skylines (2020) Dan Tabor O'Donnell delivers a spectacular indie sci-fi epic. EDIT
Posted Dec 7, 2020
The Godfather, Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone (1990) Ed Travis This would be a KILLER bonus feature to make yet another physical and digital media re-release of these historic films a must-own. As a solo release, however, Coda is a bust. EDIT
Posted Dec 6, 2020
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999) Ed Travis Ghost Dog has retained all of the cool, the quirk, the profundity it captured in a bottle in 1999... One gets the sense that never before Ghost Dog could this film have been possible, and, never since. EDIT
Posted Nov 21, 2020
Anything for Jackson (2020) Dan Tabor Anything For Jackson is a disturbing supernatural thriller with the jump scares and gore you'd expect, but it's also a deeply empathetic and human story as well. EDIT
Posted Nov 17, 2020
Train to Busan Presents: Peninsula (2020) Ed Travis I... felt entirely dialed in to the breakneck action/adventure vibe Yeon was able to achieve with this film and it hit the spot in a most satisfactory way. EDIT
Posted Nov 15, 2020
Bill & Ted Face the Music (2020) Ed Travis I needed the persistent, buoyant optimism of Bill & Ted Face The Music. EDIT
Posted Nov 14, 2020
Seized (2020) Ed Travis If you want to see Scott Adkins punch, kick, and shoot things... as I do... Seized will have a little something for you. [But it] doesn't achieve the heights of some of [Adkins and Isaac Florentine's] earlier collaborations. EDIT
Posted Oct 31, 2020
Def by Temptation (1990) Dan Tabor Def by Temptation is a sold slice of horror that thanks to a great cast and visual effects that will definitely surprise any genre fan who missed this film the first time around. EDIT
Posted Oct 26, 2020
The Mortuary Collection (2019) Dan Tabor It's smart, it's scary, and it's legitimately got something it's trying to say. EDIT
Posted Oct 21, 2020
The Doorman (2020) Ed Travis The Doorman provides perhaps just enough fun (with Kitamura's style) and flair (with Rose's edgy female spin) to become a mild recommend. EDIT
Posted Oct 10, 2020
Invincible Dragon (2019) Ed Travis While [Max] Zhang very much shined as the lead in Master Z, he can't save this outright dud. EDIT
Posted Oct 9, 2020
The Hard Way (1991) Ed Travis Everyone in the formidable cast of The Hard Way seems to have gotten the memo that this was to be a "good time at the movies". EDIT
Posted Oct 9, 2020
The Stylist (2020) Dan Tabor The Stylist is a satisfying yet uncomfortable slow burn, that relies heavily on the performance of its lead to communicate with the audience her constant struggle with her innermost demons and impulses. EDIT
Posted Oct 1, 2020
How to Deter a Robber (2020) Dan Tabor How to Deter a Robber is a confident first time feature that delivers a fresh and hilariously charming take on a well worn genre premise. It's home invasion with a heart. EDIT
Posted Sep 30, 2020
Crazy Samurai: 400 vs 1 (2020) Ed Travis Crazy Samurai Musashi is an astonishing failure as a narrative feature, but a technical exercise undertaken by a clearly talented crew and star. EDIT
Posted Aug 22, 2020
Tribal Get Out Alive (2020) Ed Travis [Zara Phythian] doesn't waste her chance at the lead and cuts quite a striking presence as an ass-kicking heroine with her own agency. EDIT
Posted Aug 22, 2020
Gundala (2019) Ed Travis While slick and well choreographed Indonesian martial arts sequences sure do help... the rest of the film feels very familiar to anyone who's seen even a handful of superhero movies. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2020
Game of Death II (1981) Ed Travis By spinning its own narrative and crafting its own "Shaw Brothers meets James Bond" style, it at least doesn't feel like it has to hide its "not Bruce Lee" protagonist and kill any hope for a few fun martial arts scenes in a classic villainous lair. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2020
Game of Death (1979) Ed Travis Game Of Death would be an unconscionable tragedy if it weren't for those glorious moments when the true legend shines so brightly for one last fight. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2020
Enter the Dragon (1973) Ed Travis Iconic and record shattering in every way, there's no doubt that Enter The Dragon is the film most Bruce Lee fans immediately associate with him and which largely introduced him as a superstar and cultural icon in the western world. EDIT
Posted Aug 5, 2020
Legacy of Lies (2020) Ed Travis This here is a message movie, a genuine Ukrainian thumbing of the nose at Vladimir Putin, and it's packaged as a Scott Adkins movie loaded with thrills and spills. I can get behind that. EDIT
Posted Jul 28, 2020
Return of the Dragon (1972) Ed Travis With the ability to write, direct, and perform, The Way Of The Dragon gave [Bruce] Lee his greatest opportunity to distill his essence down into a motion picture, and the results are absolute dynamite. EDIT
Posted Jul 21, 2020
The Chinese Connection (1972) Ed Travis Glorious dojo battles with one man versus dozens, expert nunchaku displays, righteous anger, technical prowess... it's all here. If The Big Boss broke Bruce Lee out as a star, Fist Of Fury cemented him as a legend. EDIT
Posted Jul 21, 2020
Fists of Fury (1971) Ed Travis It's clear why The Big Boss became a smash hit... the unprecedented furious star power of an unleashed Bruce Lee. EDIT
Posted Jul 21, 2020
The Cameraman (1928) Ed Travis The Cameraman is a delightful romp that would easily appeal to folks like me who've experienced very little silent film, and probably appeals to hardcore silent film fans as well (as a lesser known work from one of the era's greatest talents). EDIT
Posted Jun 28, 2020
I Am Vengeance: Retaliation (2020) Ed Travis Ultimately I was entertained by I Am Vengeance: Retaliation, and I'd recommend it to fans of Stu Bennett or really any fans of bread and butter action cinema. EDIT
Posted Jun 17, 2020
The Deer Hunter (1978) Ed Travis The depiction of Vietnam, and then the subsequent aftermath in the third act of the film, is more potent and visceral because we feel the impact of the war on an entire community, not just on the three men we follow there. EDIT
Posted Jun 13, 2020
Fulci for Fake (2019) Dan Tabor As the film comes to a close, you're still left with plenty of questions, but you do have more of an understanding to just what made him tick and what drove and inspired him. EDIT
Posted Jun 5, 2020
Jumbo (2020) Dan Tabor Oddly touching and completely sincere is its depiction of this outsider love story, Jumbo is cinema in its purest form. EDIT
Posted Jun 5, 2020
15 Things You Didn't Know About Bigfoot (Number 1 Will Blow Your Mind!) (2019) Dan Tabor Director Zach Lamplugh dialed in the tone in perfectly for the modern news organization, while also highlighting the absurdity in some of its more click-bait-esque tactics. EDIT
Posted Jun 5, 2020
German Angst (2014) Dan Tabor German Angst is a transgressive treat for fans of extreme cinema EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears (2013) Dan Tabor It's a rich tapestry of beautifully horrific visuals, intricate production design, and jarring sound design that cohesively deliver an experience that is the purest example of cinema as art as I have ever seen it. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Wetlands (2013) Dan Tabor Wetlands is gross, complicated and dysfunctional and honestly I wouldn't want it any other way. The film, much like its protagonist, isn't an easy film to love, but those who look beyond the shock will find it has a heart. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Dwarves Kingdom (2014) Dan Tabor Matthew Salton tells a compelling and thoughtful tale of these little people with big hearts and the strange fantastical world they inhabit. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films (2014) Dan Tabor Electric Boogaloo is a great in-depth look at one of the strangest studios that was not only churning out films, but filling video store shelves, with a brand of insanity or madness that has yet to be seen since. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Kung Fu Elliot (2014) Dan Tabor Kung-fu Elliot is equal parts American movie, Gambler and Overnight and a must for filmmakers and genre fans alike. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Open Windows (2014) Dan Tabor Open Windows is compelling in a the most voyeuristic way possible as we see Chord's exploitation of Jill through Nick's eyes, which given recent events seems eerily ripped straight from the headlines. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Waiting for August (2014) Dan Tabor Waiting for August is gorgeously shot and compelling in its narrative as the director manages to remain completely subjective in her portrayal of this situation, allowing us as an audience to draw our own conclusions. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Blood Machines (2019) Dan Tabor Simply put, Blood Machines will melt your face off. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
The Golden Glove (2019) Dan Tabor he Golden Glove was both revolting and remarkable in how it told a brutally true story of one man struggling with the illusions of inadequacy, alcoholism, and his need for violence in an attempt to gain control. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
4x4 (2019) Dan Tabor 4X4 is a tense 90 minute white knuckle thrill ride that delivers in almost every way possible. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Satanic Panic (2019) Dan Tabor Satanic Panic was a rock-solid horror banger. It's gory, it's hilarious, and it makes you genuinely care about the characters on screen, the good and the bad. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Crawl (2019) Dan Tabor Crawl is a nearly perfect horror film. It runs 87 minutes; there isn't a single wasted frame of film in the entire runtime, and every setup gets the payoff you'd expect. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Chiwawa (Chiwawa-chan) (2019) Dan Tabor Ken Ninomiya has taken the source material and adapted it into a hybrid of Twin Peaks and Spring Breakers that feels like it's more authentic that it should be. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Porno (2019) Dan Tabor The film is unpretentious and a bit unwieldy at times, but is a fun goretastic romp that felt like a mash-up of Mary Jane's Not a Virgin Anymore and Demons if it was directed by a young Lloyd Kaufman. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Sadako (2019) Dan Tabor Sadako shows promise and is a return to form for the series, but it ultimately falls short of what you would expect given over 20 years has passed since the director tackled a Ring film. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
The Crossing (Guo Chun Tian) (2018) Dan Tabor A nuanced character drama about a young girl who loses and then discovers herself in the gray market world of iPhone smuggling. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020
Zombie for Sale (2019) Dan Tabor I found The Odd Family: Zombie on Sale to be a surprisingly hilarious and moving take on the zombie genre that still traffics in the familiar tropes you'd expect. EDIT
Posted May 29, 2020