DVD Release - ONG BAK 2 - THE BEGINNING

ONG BAK 2 is the much anticipated follow-up to the 2003 break-out film for Thai martial arts actor Tony Jaa, who went on to star in the ridonkulous flick THE WARRIOR, memorable principally for the fact that what inspired all the craziness was a stolen elephant.

The original ONG BAK film followed rural teen Ting on his quest to modern Bangkok to recover a stolen bust of Buddha. The narrative was pretty weak but there was awesome Muay Thai kickboxing fight scenes, and it was a all a nice change of pace from those CGI filled movies. ONG BAK 2 feels very different indeed. For a start, it's a very slick, high budget, lavish epic set in Ancient Thailand, and works less like a prequel as a primer for Western audiences as to what Muay Thai is all about. Tony Jaa plays a Tien. When he was a kid, bandits killed his family and threw him to the crocodiles. Tien's ability to survive impresses the local warlord so much that he adopted Tien and taught him how to fight. As an adult, Tien (Jaa) goes on the predictable revenge mission, which takes him through various fight scenes and sets up the inevitable ONG BAK 3.

Tony Jaa has clearly taken a lot of pains over the costumes, sets, photography and fight choreography. But a medieval forest is no match for the back-streets of Bangkok as a high-octane setting, and fans of the original flick might feel mis-sold. But, while the film seems less exciting than the original, it is certainly more technically impressive. The fight scenes - incorporating the best of Thai, Chinese, Japanese and European martial arts - are simply amazing. There's a scene where Tony Jaa is fighting while skipping over elephants and IT'S NOT CGI. What Jaa needs is to harness his slick moves to proper plots. And then we'd be in business.

Additional tags: Tony Jaa, Panna Rittikrai, Sorapong Chatree, Saruny Wongkrachang, Nirut Sirihanya, Nattawut Kittikhun,

ONG BAK 2 was released in 2009 and will be released on DVD on February 15th 2010.

Random DVD round-up 2: HOW SHE MOVE

HOW SHE MOVE, from director Ian Iqbal Rashid and writer Annmarie Morais, is basically an African American version of those dance movies like STEP UP, but perversely set in Canada and with art-house aspirations. As usual, these dance movies are really all about class struggle. In this case, the protagonist Raya Green is trying to lift herself out of poverty by winning a scholarship to stay in private school - thereby leaving memories of her junkie sister behind her. Raya is a survivor, so she dumps one dance crew competing for a cash prize for another crew with a better chance of winning. It's all filmed in a grim, bleached out style and that pretty much sums up the tone of the film. Rashid and Morais have spurned the typically rom-com endings of other dance films and that's okay, but there's not enough meat in the social realism that's meant to take its place. Fundamentally, I just doubt whether we can take urban realist drama seriously when it's shoe-horned into a glitzy dance-off.

HOW SHE MOVE played Sundance 2007 and opened in spring 2008. It is available on DVD.

STEP UP 2 THE STREETS isn't going to capture the teen imagination in the same way that its predecessor did

STEP UP 2 follows much the same formula as the original dance-school teen romance. A girl from a rough neighbourhood gets into a performing arts school and clashes with the classical dance curriculum. She leads a posse of renegade misfits into competing in a street dance contest, hooking up with a hunky colleague in the process.

The sequel is weaker than the original in several respects. Channing Tatum was far more convincing as a kid from the streets that clean-cut Briana Evigan: the writers seem to think that by rolling up one of her trouser-legs to her knee, she'll look credible!. The love interest (Robert Hoffman) is so bland as to be boring and the Evil Dance Teacher (Will Kemp) may well be a talented dancer but his acting is wooden. Overall, the central love story is not going to capture the teen imagination in the way that the first movie did.

For all that, STEP UP 2 THE STREETS is still well worth seeing for the brilliantly choreographed dance scenes and music mixes in the final contest. It's truly impressive, and it's nice to see popular dance taken beyond a 3 minute backdrop to a rapper and given it's own show-case and soom room to breathe.

STEP UP 2 THE STREETS is already on release in the USA, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Iceland, Lithuania, Belgium, Luxembourg, the Czech Republic, Russia, Estonia, Greece, Poland, Romania, Germany, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand,Slovakia, Australia, Israel, the UK and Croatia. It opens in April in France and Italy; in Spain and Finland in June.

Overlooked DVD of the month - RAZZLE DAZZLE

If Chris Guest defines the spectrum of quality for mockumentaries, then RAZZLE DAZZLE lies somewhere below THIS IS SPINAL TAP and BEST IN SHOW but somewhere above FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION. By which I mean that RAZZLE DAZZLE is a brilliantly observed, witty addition to the genre. Director Darren Ashton sends up the world of children's dance contests, and with it the wider world of pushy parents, bitchy mentors and that business we call show. Given that popular culture has become infested with reality "talent" contests - super-ego judges and glossy dance routines, this movie couldn't have come at a better time.

British actor Ben Miller is superbly under-stated and dead-pan as the kind-hearted perpetual runner-up Mr. Jonathan. He shepherds his girls through insane routines that aim to entertain, but also to instruct. From the environment to the Taliban, Mr Jonathan has a routine to prick our conscience. Mr Jonathan comes up against Miss Elizabeth, a prim dance teacher who wants to win at all costs, and pushes her girls to perfection by way of anorexia and harsh rejection. Along the way to the state finals, we'll meet a rogue's gallery of recognisable but exaggerated characters but the real stars of the film are the costume designer, choreographer and young kids who pull off such absurdly brilliant dance routines.

RAZZLE DAZZLE does better than most mockumentaries in maintaining the fiction that this is real footage that captures people unawares. But there are just one or two over-the-shoulder shots that look too posed and not enough of the through-the-blinds camera-work that made THE OFFICE so credible. Still, for sheer wit and warm-hearted enjoyment, it's hard to beat.

RAZZLE DAZZLE played Berlin 2007 and was released in Australia, New Zealand, Irealand, the UK and Norway last year. It opened in January in france. It is now available on DVD.

DVD round-up 1: STEP UP

From the writers of SAVE THE LAST DANCE and episodes of THE OC we get a teen romantic drama as formulaic and gauche as one might expect. Beefcake du jour Channing Tatum plays a Vanilla Ice-style inner city kid who trashes a school for the performing arts and gets landed with 200 hours' community service cleaning out dustbins. When Jenna Dewan's ambitious dancer gets stuck for a partner she recruits the rough kid and sparks fly. Unsurprisingly, ex-boyfriends turn out to be scoundrels, there's a last minute fracas as to whether the show will go ahead and all ends happily bar the gratuitous and melodramatic exit of a side character. This movie has neither the wit of SHE'S THE MAN nor the emotional pull and on-screen chemistry of DIRTY DANCING. Still, there are worse things in life for a teenage girl than looking at Channing Tatum in a wife-beater for two hours.

STEP UP was originally released in the US in August 2006 and in the UK in October 2006. It is now available on DVD.

TAKE THE LEAD - step away from the ticket booth and put your Visa card down

Once upon a time there was a great feel-good documentary called MAD HOT BALLROOM that did something few studios ever achieve: it told an unusual and interesting story that was emotionally engaging without being manipulative. The true story was about a bunch of inspired ball-room dance teachers that ran programmes in inner-city schools, and through teaching kids the basics of ball-room dancing, also taught them self-respect and respect for others. It really was a fantastic film. I guess it was inevitable that faced with an original story featuring cute kids and great music (for which read sound-track revenue) Hollywood would not take long to sink its teeth into the neck of MAD HOT BALLROOM, and here we have the ghastly result. TAKE THE LEAD is a horror of a movie - a sort of insipid, formulaic, glitzy re-packaging of a film whose success was largely down to its authenticity. By contrast, this plastic disaster is all PC cliche and no balls. Shame on Liz Friedlander (maker of videos) for agreeing to helm it. Shame on Dianne Houston (writer of nothing of note) for "novelising" the documentary. And yes, I admit, Antonio Banderas is one of the few men who could make ball-room dancing an aspirational activity for hardened kids, but no, his good performance still does not make this a film worth watching.

TAKE THE LEAD opened in the US on April 7th 2006 and opens in the UK on Friday. It opens in France on July 5th. However, you can do yourself a favour and just rent MAD HOT BALLROOM instead.

RIZE - Spinal Tap meets Mad Hot Ballroom

RIZE is a documentary made by famous US photo-journalist Dave LaChapelle. It tells the story of the rise of a new form of dancing called "Krump" in the worst parts of Los Angeles - and the ability of this form of dancing to give oppressed black kids some self-respect and an aim in life. It is well shot, has lots of energy, and my only slight criticism is that the balance is too much toward showcasing the hot dance moves and too little towards analysis and substance. After all, when four year old girls start doing "str*pper dance" we might want a little social context! Still, RIZE is worth checking out - it's a lot of fun, the music is fantastic and it has its fair share of laugh out loud moments.

However, the weirdest thing about this documentary - and what took me by surprise - is that this dance craze was originated by a man called Tommy the Clown, who, no kidding, wanders around the 'hood in a clown suit, multi-coloured afro wig and full face paint. On the one hand, we see that this is not a safe place to live: little kids get gunned down going to the store. On the other hand, we have to believe that no one slaps the bejesus out of Tommy for wearing a clown suit! (I grew up in rural, Tory England which is about as far removed from Compton as you get, but a guy walking down the street in a clown suit would get slapped silly there.) The completely bizarre nature of the craze had me wondering whether this doc was really a gigantic hoax. I just read the Ebert review and he wonders the same thing. If it is, then it is superbly done, and if it isn't then it is tremdendously heart-warming. Either way, go check it out, and if you need a second opinion, check out my mate Nik's review.

RIZE was premiered at Sundance and shown at Cannes. It is already on release in the US, Germany, France and the UK. It goes on release in Austria on the 27th January 2006.

MAD HOT BALLROOM - A wonderful, genuinely "feel good" movie

Here's yet another great movie to come out of this year's Sundance Film Festival, although I have to confess that it completely slipped under my radar. So first of all, let me give big mad props to that audacious fellow, Swedish Philip, for the "hot tip". I am really happy to be able to pass on the tip - MAD HOT BALLROOM is glorious piece of work and I strongly recommend it, if only for the fact that it is a very rare thing in Hollywood - a genuine example of a feel-good movie.

So, on to the nuts and bolts: MAD HOT BALLROOM is a documentary film about a bunch of eleven-year olds from deprived backgrounds in New York City. Many of them are on track for teenage pregnancies and a career in petty crime, and it is heart-breaking to see them speak with such candour and wisdom about drug dealers, adultery and shattered families.

However, this is not a downbeat documentary. In fact, it is one of the most relentlessly upbeat films I have seen all year, but not in an annoying, manipulative, sacharine way. The big heart of this movie stems from two things. First, a lot of the warmth derives from the sheer brilliance of the children on which it focuses. They have wonderful and winning personalities and their musings on life, love and the opposite sex are often unintentionally hysterical. In particular, the little kid on the left in the photo above cracked me up, especially when he got paired up with a ridiculously tall girl at dance class - "She was practically an adult!" he complains, before running away as fast as he can. And then there is a really cool kid called Cyrus who is truly the Zen master of the eleventh grade with a righteous ginger 'fro. Believe me, I don't normally find kids "cute". I am not a warm and cuddly person. And even *I* found this kids charming!

The second reason why this is such a "feel good" movie is that we are witness to a little miracle at work. A group of Latin American ballroom dance teachers have gotten together to run in-school dance classes in around 60 public schools in New York City. The programme runs for 10 weeks and is a complusary part of the school curriculum so even the toughest kids have to take part. At first, the boys are reluctant to dance and the girls think the boys are dumb, but sure enough they start to respond to the attention they are getting from perhaps the only male role models in their lives as well as the joy of dancing itself. The lessons go way beyond how to tango. The kids are learning how to be a partner to someone, how to tuck their shirt in, how to make eye contact, how to have some self-respect. You watch these teachers at work and feel very humble about whatever money-grubbing day-job you happen to be in. And believe me, I don't often get pangs of guilt about my own self-indulgent lifestyle. (You will be pleased to know that they have since passed.)

So what more can I say? It's a film that made me like kids and respect people who choose to earn minimum wage. I call that something of an epiphany. Go check it out, and if you need a second opinion, check out my mate Nik's blog

MAD HOT BALLROOM was released in the US in May, in France and Germany on the 25th October and in the UK and Austria on the 26th November 2005. It is already available on region 1 DVD

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE - quirky to the point of genius

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE is, I suspect, the kind of movie that you either love or hate. But for me, this movie is kooky, quirky and eccentric to the point of genius. It is sweet, hopeful and yet never schmaltzy or obvious. And it's key message: that there is someone out there for all of us, is a fantastic way to start the year. The movie is a super low-budget indie flick by Jared Hess. And I mean Indie in the fullest sense of the word: from the eccentric characters in boon-dock America, to the pop-culture references, to the focus on the geeks and freaks at High School, to the cooler than thou sound-track, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE wears its Indie heart on its sleeve. However, all these features are never grating and, compared to some recent movies, NAPOLEON DYNAMITE never feels like it is trying too hard. Indeed, the story seems to unwind without effort and enchant us. The eponymous hero is a high school nerd, with big glasses, big teeth and a righteous 'fro. He says "gosh" a lot, draws cartoons of cross-breed animals, and is the star of the movie in his mind To wit, 'You know, there's like a butt-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I'm pretty good with a bo staff." Genius. Napoleon is brought to life in a comic performance of real subtelty and brilliance by newbie Jon Heder. I have no doubt that his dance routine is destined to become as famous as Ricky Gervais' routine in British cult classic, THE OFFICE. The story, such as it is, follows Napoleon as he gets his first girlfriend, who is equally geeky. We also see Napoleon's brother Kip hook up with an internet date and Napoleon help his best mate, Pedro, get the student presidency. What links all these stories is the triumph of outsiders over the conventional without compromise. Like I said, this movie is one you either love or hate so it's hard to recommend. But if you find that off-beat comedy sets you giggling, you should check it out.

NAPOLEON DYNAMITE played at Sundance and London 2004 and is currently on release in the UK. It opens in Germany on May 18th 2005.