DVD Review: Kung Fu Hustle

I loved this movie. It was exceptionally directed and choreographed. While in theaters, it was being promoed as a comedy, and while there were some funny parts, I thought it was a standout action movie with more martial art ballet than alot of kungfu movies. The plot involves a small town filled with cast-offs and ruffians that lies in the poor section, therefore it's never had problems with the big city gangs that plague the rich section. However, certain events lead to the Ax Gang waging a war on the seemingly helpless people. They find out that they're not so helpless after all and a hero is born from an unlikely place. Like I said, watching the ads for this film had me expecting a Kung Pow type of movie but I was pleasantly surprised. It's beautiful to watch and the ending is touching. I give it ***** out of *****.

DVD Review: Dead and Breakfast

I was chock full of joy when I found out this film finally came out on DVD. I was waiting over a year for it and it looked promising. You can see, on the cover it's touted as being the U.S. answer to Shaun of the Dead. Not by a long shot. Just because a movie is funny and has zombies in it doesn't make it Shaun quality. The fact is, it's not really that funny and it's definitely not scary. But I can't say it's all bad, it's decent in spots, and there were some chuckles here and there (mostly delivered by the Something about Mary-type singer between the scenes). For a B-movie, it has some familiar faces in it. David Carradine, Jeremy Sisto (May), Gina Philips (Jeepers Creepers), Eric Palladino (Strange Frequency) and Portia de Rossi (TV's Arrested Development) in a tiny role. The plot involves a bed and breakfast that is a local bad spot, everyone talks about the strange things going on up there. When a group of young friends, on their way to a wedding, decide to stop for the night, one of the does something bad and unleashes an unearthly evil. The evil will stop at nothing before it turns the entire town into a bunch of wisecracking, dancing zombies. Well shot and well intended, I just didn't feel it delivered on a horror level. I'm going to give it *** out of *****.