Australian Politics Forum - Movies, recently seen

Vic

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #525 - Dec 13^th, 2023 at 3:16pm

Frank wrote on Dec 11^th, 2023 at 8:07pm:

Napoleon.

5/10

I am surprised that Ridley Scott has put his name to it. Yes, the material is rich beyond the scope of cinema but then that gives an artist a depth of material from which to make his own canvas. I have no idea what Ridley Scott wanted to show with this movie.
Joachim Phoenix is a significant actor but he is no Bonaparte.
Vanessa Kirby (splendid as Princess Margaret in The Crown) is no Josephine.

Characterisation- negligible
Historical accuracy - negligible
Dramatic drive - negligible.

Costumes, sets, music - great.
Cinematography, special effects - splendid.

Read War and Peace instead.

I watched it today as well Frank. I found it a good movie overall, albeit very long.

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Brian Ross

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #526 - Dec 14^th, 2023 at 1:53pm

The Mouse That Roared is a 1959 British satirical comedy film on a Ban The Bomb theme, based on Leonard Wibberley's novel The Mouse That Roared (1955).[4] It stars Peter Sellers in three roles: Duchess Gloriana XII; Count Rupert Mountjoy, the Prime Minister; and Tully Bascomb, the military leader; and co-stars Jean Seberg. The film was directed by Jack Arnold, and the screenplay was written by Roger MacDougall and Stanley Mann.

William Hartnell appears as Will Buckley, an ex-British Sergeant, reminiscient of his role in The Way Ahead. He plays the Major-Domo to the Duchess and keeps the Parliament running, as well as the rag-tag Army of the Duchy. The Duchy is facing a financial crisis, its main export, Pinot Grand Fenwick wine is on the rocks because of a cheap American imitator. So the Count hatches a plan, to declare war on the United States and reap the benefits of being losing and being occupied. So, in league with the heredictory leader of the loyal opposition, Benter, played by Leo Mckern, he orders that Tully Bascomb to organise an expedition. Tully is reluctant but agrees and they depart by ship from Marseilles. En route to New York they encounter the Queen Elizabeth which has just left the port. They bombard it with arrows, after they warn them that the port is closed for an Air Raid drill. They ignore the warning and continue on their way. They arrive to find the harbour, the entire city, deserted. The population is presently sheltering below ground in shelters. Unable to find anyone to surrender to, they make their way to a city Arsenal but get lost, find instead the Academy of Advanced Physics where Professor Kolkanz and his daughter are working on the Q-Bomb. They decide to take the Professor and his bomb back to the Duchy. After various shenanigans the United States decides to surrender to them in order to get the Q-Bomb back. Mountjoy has resigned as has Benter, leaving Tully as the Prime Minister. He negotiates a treaty where the wine is paramount and the Q-Bomb shall remain in Grand Fenwick, guarded by the minor powers. All in all a great satire on Cold War politiks and great power relationships. Well worth watching, only British know how to do great satire like this. 9 out of 10. Smiley

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #527 - Dec 19^th, 2023 at 7:36pm

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is a 1956 American science fiction film from Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Fred F. Sears, and stars Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. The stop-motion animation special effects were created by Ray Harryhausen. The storyline was suggested by the bestselling 1953 non-fiction book Flying Saucers from Outer Space by Maj. Donald Keyhoe.

It stars Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor and a load of other bit part actors as well as a host of American civil vehicles making out to be military vehicles. The movie starts with Marlowe and Taylor driving to Project Skyhook a space programme that Marlowe runs. They are newly married and encounter a Flying Saucer which buzzes their car. The next day they are to launch an orbiting satellite but another Flying Saucer appears and lands. Three aliens appear out of the Saucer and the military engage them, killing one. The aliens withdraw into their Saucer and it takes off and destroys the Skyhook installation,

Marlowe deciphers the message from their first encounter and discovers the aliens came in peace and want to talk to him. They have arranged a rendezvous, Marlowe secretly arranges to go with his wife and her father, a US General. Along the way they pick up a traffic policeman who the aliens kidnap. They reveal that they are an ancient species from another solar system and intend to take over the Earth. Marlowe and his wife leave the spaceship and flee. The aliens leave and jettison the policeman and the general at altitude.

The movie concludes with a spectacular attack on Washington. Marlowe has developed a sonic weapon to use against the Flying Saucers and defeats the alien attack. When I was a young teenagers this used to be a favourite movie of mine. It would appear occasionally on Australian TV and I loved it. The acting was corny, the situation was silly and the monsters banal but it hit the spot. A blast from the past. 8 out of 10. Smiley

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Frank

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #528 - Dec 19^th, 2023 at 9:55pm

Brian Ross wrote on Dec 19^th, 2023 at 7:36pm:

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers is a 1956 American science fiction film from Columbia Pictures. It was produced by Charles H. Schneer, directed by Fred F. Sears, and stars Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor. The stop-motion animation special effects were created by Ray Harryhausen. The storyline was suggested by the bestselling 1953 non-fiction book Flying Saucers from Outer Space by Maj. Donald Keyhoe.

It stars Hugh Marlowe and Joan Taylor and a load of other bit part actors as well as a host of American civil vehicles making out to be military vehicles. The movie starts with Marlowe and Taylor driving to Project Skyhook a space programme that Marlowe runs. They are newly married and encounter a Flying Saucer which buzzes their car. The next day they are to launch an orbiting satellite but another Flying Saucer appears and lands. Three aliens appear out of the Saucer and the military engage them, killing one. The aliens withdraw into their Saucer and it takes off and destroys the Skyhook installation,

Marlowe deciphers the message from their first encounter and discovers the aliens came in peace and want to talk to him. They have arranged a rendezvous, Marlowe secretly arranges to go with his wife and her father, a US General. Along the way they pick up a traffic policeman who the aliens kidnap. They reveal that they are an ancient species from another solar system and intend to take over the Earth. Marlowe and his wife leave the spaceship and flee. The aliens leave and jettison the policeman and the general at altitude.

The movie concludes with a spectacular attack on Washington. Marlowe has developed a sonic weapon to use against the Flying Saucers and defeats the alien attack. When I was a young teenagers this used to be a favourite movie of mine. It would appear occasionally on Australian TV and I loved it. The acting was corny, the situation was silly and the monsters banal but it hit the spot. A blast from the past. 8 out of 10. Smiley

Sandy Stone at the movies.
A nice night of entertainment.

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #529 - Dec 20^th, 2023 at 8:49pm

Absolutely Anything is a 2015 British science fantasy comedy film directed by Terry Jones, and written by Terry Jones and Gavin Scott. It stars Simon Pegg, Kate Beckinsale, Sanjeev Bhaskar, Rob Riggle, Eddie Izzard and Joanna Lumley, with the nonhuman characters' voices provided by John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Jones, Michael Palin and Robin Williams. It was the first movie to feature all living Monty Python members since Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983), and the first without Graham Chapman, who died in 1989.

It is reminiscent of The Man Who Could Work Miracles, a 1937 movie but with a modern twist. Jones wrote it many years before and it surfaced apparently after a phone call from, "Mike Medavoy in 2010 or so and asked what scripts I had hidden in my bottom desk drawer. So I pulled out Absolutely Everything – not literally, of course – and here we are." This was the last film directed, written by and starring Terry Jones, five years before his death in 2020. It was also the last film with Robin Williams in the main cast, released a year after his death in 2014.

It features Simon Pegg who plays Neil Clarke a high school teacher who is randomly granted the power to literally do anything by some observing aliens. He teaches at a failing high school and particularly loaths his class 10c. He is friends with Ray a science teacher and neighbour to Catherine a BBC researcher. Ray is interested in Miss Pringle and upon hearing of Neils new powers ask him to have her worship him, which he does. Ray is then pursued by Miss Pringle. Neil is interested in Catherine and tries to use his powers to pursue her. She works for a BBC-TV book programme hosted by Joanna Lumley as Fenella whp wants Catherine to be more of a bitch. Catherine however is a nice person. She is being chased by Colonel Grant Kotchev, an American military officer who is infatuated with her.

Choas ensues with Dennis the Dog being imbued with the power of speech and rational speech. The aliens decide that humanity is not worth sparing and decide to eliminate it on Neil's performance. However Dennis reverses the energy flow and blows them up. Overall an enjoyable movie. Well worth watching. 8 out of 10. Cool

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #530 - Dec 22^nd, 2023 at 2:18pm

Paul is a 2011 comic science fiction road film[4] directed by Greg Mottola from a screenplay by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Starring Pegg and Frost, with the voice and motion capture of Seth Rogen as the titular character, the film follows two science fiction geeks who come across an alien. Together, they help the alien escape from the Secret Service agents who are pursuing him so that he can return to his home planet. The film is a parody of other science-fiction films, especially those of Steven Spielberg, as well as of science fiction fandom in general.

The movie starts with a visit to the San Diego Comic Con where the two heros meet their hero, Adam Shadowchild an authour who is bored doing the rounds. They then leave and go on their road trip, visiting all the famous sites from SF and UFO visits. They visit the A'le'inn where they encounter the barmaid, Pat Stevens and two redneck customers, Gus and Jake. Fleeing them, they smash their pickup truck with their RV. They next visit the "Black Mailbox" which is now white and see in the distance a car with it's headlights on. Fearing Gus and Jake they take off to be passed by an ordinary car, which then crashes. They stop their RV and investigate only to find the car empty. They hear a voice which tells them to leave the area. Then Paul, the titular alien appears from the bushes. Clive pisses himself and faints. Paul convinces Graeme to help him and they load Clive into the RV. They then proceed along the road to an RV Park called The Pearly Gates run by fundamentalist Christians, Moses and his daughter, Ruth. Ruth sees Paul dancing outside the RV and confronts them the next morning when Paul comes out of the loo. Fed up with her Fundamentalist claptrap he touches her forehead and transfers all his knowledge to her brain. She faints and when she comes to is unsure of her position in life but gradually accepts Paul's knowledge as truth. She is convinced to stay with them in the meantime

They need to recover Clive's passport from the RV Office and Paul uses his ability to disappear to recover it. While he's doing that, he reveals himself to Moses, Ruth's father. He chases after the apparition with a shotgun. Paul makes it into the RV as it leaves the Park. Government agents appear, chasing Paul. They bug the Park's phone and give chase to the RV. When Ruth makes contact with father she is relayed to the Agents. They trace her call from the Bar where she made it. When they leaving the Bar they again encounter Gus and Jake and a fight ensues. Ruth also encounters her father who is chasing her. They get away and leave all the other protagonists fighting behind them. They again smash Gus and Jake's pickup truck. The Police arrive clear up the mess. Gus and Jake are cowering in an Ambulance where the Government Agents show them a handdrawn picture of Paul. They cower away. This confirms that they have seen Paul. The Agents again give chase.

They end up at Tara Walton's, the girl sixty years earlier who rescued Paul from his crashed spaceship. He landed on her dog, named Paul. The Agents catch up with there and one, in the process of shooting them blows the house up. Their next stop is Devils Tower National Monument, where they await the ship that will rescue Paul. However, the "Big Guy" arrives by helicopter, played by Sigourney Weaver. Lorenzo Zoil reveals himself to be Paul's friend and kills Agent Haggard and a fist fight ensues between the Big Guy and the others. Graeme get's shot by Moses and the Big Guy is knocked out by Tara. Paul does his repair on Graeme and saves him from dying. Just as the Big Guy waked up and threatens all the others, she is crushed by the spaceshp's landing leg. The final scenes are of Paul saying good bye and taking Tara with him into the spaceship. The actual final scenes are two years later at San Diego Comic Con where Clive and Graeme are being feted for their comic, named, "Paul". Ruth is their seated next to Pat Stevens who propositions her. Ruth is a little nonplussed by this but refuses her. Overall an excellent movie, well worth watching. 9 out of 10. Smiley

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Brian Ross

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #531 - Dec 30^th, 2023 at 6:34pm

Man of the Year is a 2006 American political satire film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by James G. Robinson, and starring Robin Williams. The film also features Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, and Jeff Goldblum. In the film Williams portrays Tom Dobbs, the host of a comedy/political talk show, based loosely on the real-life persona of Jon Stewart. With an offhand remark, he prompts four million people to e-mail their support; then he decides to campaign for President.

He starts to run a non-campaign where he goes on the road and has meetings in various places. The crowds love his willingness to talk about issues, whereas his opponents avoid them. He is included in the first Presidential debate and takes it over. He floors everybody by his unwillingness to stop talking about issues. The response is huge and he decides to take on his opponents on the issues. Come election day, he wins as unlikely as it seems. Eleanor Green who walks for Delacroix the software company responsible for the voting system which the US has gone whole hog for has become suspicious of the system and starts running tests on her own. She identifies problems with it, basically it promotes Dobbs whose name has a double D over all the others whose names have double L or double G in them. In the middle of the night someone breaks into her apartment and injects her with a cocktail of drugs. The next day she freaks out in the company cafeteria and is fired.

She goes to Washington to tell Dobbs where she is traced by Delacroix executives who dispatch a couple of "fixers" to fix the problem. She sees Dobbs and tells him about the Delacroix system's problems. He is unsure to believe her. She is found by the fixers but eludes them, only to have the telephone box driven over. Dobbs hears and attends and she tells him what she has found. He flies to New York to appear on Saturday Night Live, which he does. He blows the lid on Delacroix Systems and is lauded as an honest man. The next thing we know, he has hooked up with Eleanor and she has become his producer.

Now I am going to venture into real life politics for a moment, so please excuse me. Trump seems to believe that he was cheated out of the Election. It is as if he has seen this movie and believes it has happened to him. Robin Williams touched on a real life situation with this movie and one which needs to be addressed. Trump needs to learn the lesson of this movie, that honesty prevails in the end. 9 out 10, well worth watching. Smiley

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« Last Edit: Dec 30^th, 2023 at 9:10pm by Brian Ross »

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greggerypeccary

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #532 - Dec 30^th, 2023 at 7:01pm

Brian Ross wrote on Dec 30^th, 2023 at 6:34pm:

Man of the Year is a 2006 American political satire film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by James G. Robinson, and starring Robin Williams. The film also features Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, and Jeff Goldblum. In the film Williams portrays Tom Dobbs, the host of a comedy/political talk show, based loosely on the real-life persona of Jon Stewart. With an offhand remark, he prompts four million people to e-mail their support; then he decides to campaign for President.

He starts to run a non-campaign where he goes on the road and has meetings in various places. The crowds love his willingness to talk about issues, whereas his opponents avoid them. He is included in the first Presidential debate and takes it over. He floors everybody by his unwillingness to stop talking about issues. The response is huge and he decides to take on his opponents on the issues. Come election day, he wins as unlikely as it seems. Eleanor Green who walks for Delacroix the software company responsible for the voting system which the US has gone whole hog for has become suspicious of the system and starts running tests on her own. She identifies problems with it, basically it promotes Dobbs whose name has a double D over all the others whose names have double L or double G in them. In the middle of the night someone breaks into her apartment and injects her with a cocktail of drugs. The next day she freaks out in the company cafeteria and is fired.

She goes to Washington to tell Dobbs where he is traced by Delacroix executives who dispatch a couple of "fixers" to fix the problem. She sees Dobbs and tells him about the Delacroix system's problems. He is unsure to believe her. She is found by the fixers but eludes them, only to have the telephone box driven over. Dobbs hears and attends and she tells him what she has found. He flies to New York to appear on Saturday Night Live, which he does. He blows the lid on Delacroix Systems and is lauded as an honest man. The next thing we know, he has hooked up with Eleanor and she has become his producer.

Now I am going to venture into real life politics for a moment, so please excuse me. Trump seems to believe that he was cheated out of the Election. It is as if he has seen this movie and believes it has happened to him. Robin Williams touched on a real life situation with this movie and one which needs to be addressed. Trump needs to learn the lesson of this movie, that honesty prevails in the end. 9 out 10, well worth watching. Smiley

Ah yes, I remember that movie.

It's available for free on SBS:

Comedy, Film, Romantic Comedy
1h 50m
2006
English
Expires in 2 months

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #533 - Dec 31^st, 2023 at 5:24pm

Swallows and Amazons is a 2016 British family adventure film directed by Philippa Lowthorpe and written by Andrea Gibb, based on Arthur Ransome's 1930 children's novel of the same name. The film stars Andrew Scott, Rafe Spall, Kelly Macdonald, Jessica Hynes, and Harry Enfield. Principal photography began on 21 June 2015 in the Lake District. The film, which was released on 19 August 2016, is the third audiovisual adaption of the novel; the first being a 6-part BBC TV series in 1963 and the second a 1974 film version.

The film while interesting owes little beyond general direction to the book. I read the book when a child and was enchanted by it and by all the other ones by Arthur Ransome that I managed to find. Indeed one of the film's characters appears more to be based on Ransome than anyone in the novel. Kelly McDonald as usual does an excellent job as the mother of the Walker family but she doesn't really have many lines or scenes. We see the antics of a couple of Soviet agents as they seek Jim Turner / "Captain Flint", as well as the encounter between the "Amazons", the Blacketts and the Walkers over Wildcat island. All is resolved in the end with the Soviet agents sent packing and the conflict between the Blacketts and the Walkers resolved. All in not a bad family movie, harking back to the days of Empire and saluting the Union Flag. 7 out of 10, worth watching more for nostalgia than anything else. Smiley

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #534 - Dec 31^st, 2023 at 7:55pm

greggerypeccary wrote on Dec 30^th, 2023 at 7:01pm:

Brian Ross wrote on Dec 30^th, 2023 at 6:34pm:

Man of the Year is a 2006 American political satire film written and directed by Barry Levinson, produced by James G. Robinson, and starring Robin Williams. The film also features Christopher Walken, Laura Linney, Lewis Black, and Jeff Goldblum. In the film Williams portrays Tom Dobbs, the host of a comedy/political talk show, based loosely on the real-life persona of Jon Stewart. With an offhand remark, he prompts four million people to e-mail their support; then he decides to campaign for President.

He starts to run a non-campaign where he goes on the road and has meetings in various places. The crowds love his willingness to talk about issues, whereas his opponents avoid them. He is included in the first Presidential debate and takes it over. He floors everybody by his unwillingness to stop talking about issues. The response is huge and he decides to take on his opponents on the issues. Come election day, he wins as unlikely as it seems. Eleanor Green who walks for Delacroix the software company responsible for the voting system which the US has gone whole hog for has become suspicious of the system and starts running tests on her own. She identifies problems with it, basically it promotes Dobbs whose name has a double D over all the others whose names have double L or double G in them. In the middle of the night someone breaks into her apartment and injects her with a cocktail of drugs. The next day she freaks out in the company cafeteria and is fired.

She goes to Washington to tell Dobbs where he is traced by Delacroix executives who dispatch a couple of "fixers" to fix the problem. She sees Dobbs and tells him about the Delacroix system's problems. He is unsure to believe her. She is found by the fixers but eludes them, only to have the telephone box driven over. Dobbs hears and attends and she tells him what she has found. He flies to New York to appear on Saturday Night Live, which he does. He blows the lid on Delacroix Systems and is lauded as an honest man. The next thing we know, he has hooked up with Eleanor and she has become his producer.

Now I am going to venture into real life politics for a moment, so please excuse me. Trump seems to believe that he was cheated out of the Election. It is as if he has seen this movie and believes it has happened to him. Robin Williams touched on a real life situation with this movie and one which needs to be addressed. Trump needs to learn the lesson of this movie, that honesty prevails in the end. 9 out 10, well worth watching. Smiley

Ah yes, I remember that movie.

It's available for free on SBS:

Comedy, Film, Romantic Comedy
1h 50m
2006
English
Expires in 2 months

Watched half of it, not that impressed. Guess watch the other half tomorrow night.

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #535 - Jan 4^th, 2024 at 9:44pm

Poor Things is a 2023 movie starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael, with Kathryn Hunter, Hanna Schygulla, Margaret Qualley, and Vicki Pepperdine appearing in supporting roles. Its plot focuses on Bella Baxter (portrayed by Stone), a young Victorian woman who, after being crudely resurrected by a scientist (Dafoe) following her suicide, runs off with a debauched lawyer (Ruffalo) to embark on an odyssey of self-discovery and sexual liberation.

It is a bit "interesting", with Stone ending up a whore in Paris and basically screwing every one she encounters. Her "God" played by Dafoe dies of cancer and her ex-husband appears just as she is to be married to Ramy Youssef. She goes home with him instead and She quickly discovers Alfie's violent and sadistic nature; and comes to the realization that she had committed suicide to escape their abusive relationship. Alfie confines Bella to his mansion and threatens her at gunpoint to submit to genital mutilation, demanding she drink a chloroform-laced cocktail to sedate her for the procedure. Bella tosses the cocktail in his face, causing him to shoot himself in the foot before passing out. She swaps he brain for a goat and the movie ends with her in the garden with Toinette and Max and Felicity. It isn't a movie I would recommend. 7 out of 10. Not one for the kids.

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Grappler Truth Teller Feller Gold Member Online Australian Politics Posts: 83694 Proud pre-1850's NO Voter Gender:	Re: Movies, recently seen Reply #536 - Jan 9^th, 2024 at 11:58am This one falls into the category of "Movies, recently avoided".... Barbie... in a couple of year's time there will be articles out titled "What Happened To Ryan Gosling?" ... it appears his studio bosses made him an offer - "Either your signature is on the contract, or your brains are!"
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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #537 - Jan 9^th, 2024 at 12:00pm

Brian Ross wrote on Jan 4^th, 2024 at 9:44pm:

Poor Things is a 2023 movie starring Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef, Christopher Abbott, and Jerrod Carmichael, with Kathryn Hunter, Hanna Schygulla, Margaret Qualley, and Vicki Pepperdine appearing in supporting roles. Its plot focuses on Bella Baxter (portrayed by Stone), a young Victorian woman who, after being crudely resurrected by a scientist (Dafoe) following her suicide, runs off with a debauched lawyer (Ruffalo) to embark on an odyssey of self-discovery and sexual liberation.

It is a bit "interesting", with Stone ending up a whore in Paris and basically screwing every one she encounters. Her "God" played by Dafoe dies of cancer and her ex-husband appears just as she is to be married to Ramy Youssef. She goes home with him instead and She quickly discovers Alfie's violent and sadistic nature; and comes to the realization that she had committed suicide to escape their abusive relationship. Alfie confines Bella to his mansion and threatens her at gunpoint to submit to genital mutilation, demanding she drink a chloroform-laced cocktail to sedate her for the procedure. Bella tosses the cocktail in his face, causing him to shoot himself in the foot before passing out. She swaps he brain for a goat and the movie ends with her in the garden with Toinette and Max and Felicity. It isn't a movie I would recommend. 7 out of 10. Not one for the kids.

Allegory for modern feminism.... **snores** ... fifty years a victim................

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Re: Movies, recently seen
Reply #538 - Jan 19^th, 2024 at 10:08pm

Vic wrote on Dec 13^th, 2023 at 3:16pm:

Frank wrote on Dec 11^th, 2023 at 8:07pm:

Napoleon.

5/10

I am surprised that Ridley Scott has put his name to it. Yes, the material is rich beyond the scope of cinema but then that gives an artist a depth of material from which to make his own canvas. I have no idea what Ridley Scott wanted to show with this movie.
Joachim Phoenix is a significant actor but he is no Bonaparte.
Vanessa Kirby (splendid as Princess Margaret in The Crown) is no Josephine.

Characterisation- negligible
Historical accuracy - negligible
Dramatic drive - negligible.

Costumes, sets, music - great.
Cinematography, special effects - splendid.

Read War and Peace instead.

I watched it today as well Frank. I found it a good movie overall, albeit very long.

I found it pretty disappointing too.

I'd give it a "meh" out of 5.

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Reply #539 - Jan 30^th, 2024 at 9:24pm

Shaolin Soccer (Chinese: 少林足球) is a 2001 Hong Kong sports comedy film directed by Stephen Chow, who also stars in the lead role. The film revolves around a former Shaolin monk who reunites his five brothers, years after their master's death, to apply their superhuman martial arts skills to play soccer and bring Shaolin kung fu to the masses.

On a superficial level it is amusing and well worth watching. At a deeper level it is a criticism of modern Chinese society with it's emphasis upon wealth and status. The Soccer team start out the usual way, disunited and quarrelsome but each is able to master a different aspect of Kung Fu and excel. They are teamed up against a amateur team of miscreants who specialise in dirty tricks to try and defeat them but fail. They are next set into the professional league and slowly work their way up to the final where they face Team Evil, a drugged up professional team. Along the way Stephen Chow discovers love. They finally defeat Team Evil and their manager for trying to fix the game is sentenced to five years in prison. An interesting film, 8 out 10. Well worth watching. Cool

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