Author Archive: Ruben Rosario
is a graduate from Columbia College Chicago with a degree in Audio for Visual Media. He works as a freelance location sound mixer, boom operator, sound designer, and writer in his native Chicago. He's an avid collector of films, comics, and anime.
Dragon (Wu Xia)
I know it will certainly seem like a bunch of hyperbole, but Peter Chan’s Dragon is one of those rare kung fu films that is pretty much perfect. Every fist thrown and every kick launched has meaning behind it and the film manages to blend both character development and plot progression that make something much [...]
The Four
Gordon Chan’s The Four, based off a Wu Xia novel by Wen Ruian, is a convoluted mess of a film, that still manages to entertain through its action and flair. The film focuses on the Divine Constabulary, a department commissioned by the Emperor himself, to handle secret missions and operate in the shadows. Zhuge Zhengwo [...]
Those Lovely Angels: A Dirty Pair Retrospective
Written by Haruka Takachiko and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, the Dirty Pair series is something that many newer anime fan’s have never heard of. Beginning in 1980, the series spans over eight novels in total, as of 2007, but has countlessly been adapted into many of the various outlets of anime. TV shows, OVA’s and [...]
Evil Dead (2013) Review
Fede Alvarez’s remake/reboot of Evil Dead is fiercely relentless and one of the best big budget horror offerings I’ve seen in awhile. While the film isn’t perfect, it gets the big epic moments right, which makes it extremely easy to look past its flaws. While it still retains the kids being cooped up in a [...]
Tormented 3D
Famous for 2002′s Ju-On: The Grudge, Takashi Himizu has now brought us Tormented 3D, which was literally called Rabbit Horror 3D in its native Japan. This 2011 film follows Kiriko (Hikari Mitsuhima), a mute girl who lives with her storybook artist father, Kohei (Teruyuki Kagawa) and her younger half-brother, Daigo (Takeru Shibuya). One day after [...]
Film Noir FAQ
Film Noir is a genre unlike any other in the history of cinema and has managed to fascinate people for over 70 years. With its dark alleyways and dames to die for, the genre only existed for about two decades, but managed to leave an indelible print on society and filmmakers around the world. In [...]
Easy Money (Snabba Cash)
Imagine if you will, a mixture of the grittiness found in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Pusher trilogy, mixed with the themes of honor amongst thieves in Jules Dassin’s Rififi and you’ll get to the heart of Easy Money. Known as Snabba Cash, in its native Sweden and based off of a 2006 novel, written by Jens [...]
Olympus Has Fallen
Olympus Has Fallen, Antoine Fuqua’s latest film can easily be summed up as Die Hard, set in the White House. While this may sound like a perfect reason to go see it, trading the amazing set piece of Nakatomi Plaza and replacing it with an iconic American staple, the film lacks all of the charm, [...]
The Other Son (Le fils de l’autre)
Imagine for a moment, that your entire identity, from a cultural and familial stand point, is erased. The person that you thought you were gets wiped away and you must find the means cope with being another human being. That is the dilemma that is the sole conflict in The Other Son (Le fils de [...]
The Great Magician
Full of whimsical performances by its fantastic cast, Derek Yee’s The Great Magician is an enjoyable romp of a film. Based off of the novel written by Zhang Haifan, The Great Magician is set in the early 1920′s in Beijing, where Zhang Xian (Tony Leung Chiu-Wai) has returned from studying magic abroad. To his dismay, [...]
Connect