1. “Kamui (2009)” movie review.

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    I don't know how closely "Kamui" followed its source material, but somehow there is so much story that it ends up feeling like there was no story at all. This isn't a bad flick and I will concede that there were some cool moments, but "Kamui" tries too hard to be something it's not- a manga. Wong medium, guys.
  2. “Solomon Kane (2009)” movie review.

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    “Solomon Kane” is an interesting hybrid of action, fantasy, drama and horror, its presentation being reminiscent of “Conan the Barbarian”. It’s not perfect though. I personally felt it required a bigger budget and it crams too much story into a single movie. Still, it’s a worthy start to what can become a pretty cool franchise.
  3. “Perkins’ 14 (2009)” movie review.

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    “Perkins’ 14” is too absurd to take seriously, but too bleak to be entertaining. Yet sometimes- and I stress sometimes- the film strikes gold. But then again, sometimes that gold turns out to be feces…metaphorical feces…there isn’t any actual feces in this movie...so...yeah...
  4. “Dread (2009)” movie review.

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    Much to my surprise, “Dread” was more about the victims themselves than it was about them being victimized. Believe it or not, that doesn't automatically cement "Dread" as a success, but you've got to respect the effort.
  5. “Ninja’s Creed (2009)” movie review.

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    I've seen plenty of bad movies in my time. In fact, I like to describe myself as a cinemasochist. Yet nothing could prepare me for “Ninja's Creed”, a film so insanely bad that the mere thought of its existence sends a shiver down my spine.
  6. “The New Daughter (2009)” movie review.

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    It is so by the numbers and conventional that you almost start to wish that it was atrocious, so you could actually feel something about it. Instead, we just have to wallow in its mediocrity. The big shocker is how they somehow roped Kevin Costner into participating in something so blandly forgettable.
  7. “Bodyguards and Assassins (2009)” movie review.

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    Sometimes the wrong kind of marketing can really sink your movie. I'm not just talking about something like "The Grey" either, where it promises an awesome scene that we never get to see. Sometimes we expect a completely different kind of movie than what we get. Sometimes a romance markets itself as a comedy, sometimes an actioner markets itself as horror and sometimes a melodrama markets itself as a martial arts film. I don't know how "Bodyguards and Assassins" was advertised in Hong Kong, but in the west it presented itself as a martial arts vehicle for Donnie Yen. IT IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT THAT KIND OF MOVIE.