ActionFest Buffet 3.0: Leftovers

On the Menu: THE RAID: REDEMPTION (2011)

Aftertaste: Possibly the best action flick of ActionFest 2012.

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On the Menu: THE DAY (2011)

Aftertaste: Like THE ROAD, but with young peeps, including the lovely Shannyn Sossamon.

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On the Menu: BAD ASS (2012)

Aftertaste: A real-life viral video becomes a vigilante flick starring Danny Trejo. It's WALKING TALL with a fanny pack.

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On the Menu: COMIN' AT YA! 3D (1981)

Aftertaste: The most fun movie at ActionFest 2012 not named MANBORG, but it's not purposefully ridiculous. It's just ridiculous.

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On the Menu: SLEEPLESS NIGHT (2011)

Aftertaste: This secret screening was a nice surprise. You'd never know Tomer Sisley is a stand-up comedian by trade. Dude rocks the action-thrillers.

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On the Menu: THE LOST BLADESMAN (2011)

Aftertaste: A little confusing with all the characters, and I was hoping for more action. More of a drama until the second half.

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On the Menu: GOD BLESS AMERICA (2011)

Aftertaste: Goldthwait's stuff is always risky/ballsy. Twisted and over-the-top, but I agree with most of the soapboxing when it comes to how our culture has devolved.

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On the Menu: WONDER WOMEN! (2012)

Aftertaste: A well-done mix of comic book history and girl power. Sometimes inspirational, too. I'm still waiting for the live-action Wonder Woman summer blockbuster. I vote for Gina Carano.

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Let the Bullets Fly (2010) - ActionFest Buffet 3.0: Plate #1

On the Menu: LET THE BULLETS FLY (2010)

Ingredients: Chow Yun-Fat, Wen Jiang, Ge You, Xiaogang Feng, Kun Chen and Carina Lau. Directed by Wen Jiang. Run time: 132 minutes. Rated: Not rated.

At First Bite: Chose this as my first Saturday film of ActionFest 2012. Seemed like it could be this year's THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD.

A group of bandits, led by Pocky Zhang (Jiang), ambushes a "train" carrying, Ma, the next governor of Goose Town (You), his wife (Lau) and his counselor. The counselor perishes, but, to avoid death, Ma poses as the counselor. Ma tells Pocky he can be the governor of Goose Town and split the taxes with Master Huang (Yun-Fat), the local mobster.

Zhang would rather just take from Huang, not the townspeople.

But, it's just not that easy.

Tough to Swallow: In the opening, regular titles and subtitles conflict in telling the year. One reads 1919. The other reads 1920.

Often, the subtitles go by pretty quickly.

Not sure it had to be two hours and twelve minutes long.

Something to Chew On: LET THE BULLETS FLY is China's highest-grossing film (domestic) of all-time, passing Xiaogang Feng's AFTERSHOCK.

Feng plays the counselor in the opening scene of this movie.

Jiang is also credited as one of the film's six screenwriters.

The budget was an estimated $18 million.

Aftertaste: LET THE BULLETS FLY was much funnier than I had expected. And, the laughs start right off the bat with the "train" robbery. Ge You is the comic relief, but Yun-Fat gets some chuckles because he plays two roles: the mobster and his double. For the most part, it plays like a black comedy -- since the death scenes are funny as well.

I don't know enough about present-day China, but I've read how this movie is a commentary on the corruption they've seen. Maybe that's why it broke the box-office record there.

Even though the movie runs long, its pace is pretty frenetic. The back-and-forth dialogue is tough to follow at times. If you don't like subtitles, this might be a tough film for you (unless the dubbed version stays true to the script).

The game of one-upsmanship between Zhang and Huang grows and grows as the movie progresses. The laughs are entertaining, sure, but it's this battle that keeps you interested. They are great, well-written characters, and they're pretty badass, too.

Comedy, violence and mind games: A winning trifecta.

This is one of the first of the ActionFest 2012 flicks to get a DVD release (April 24, 2012), and I'm definitely planning on getting one.

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The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008) - ActionFest Buffet: Plate #1

On the Menu: THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD (2008)

Ingredients: Kang-ho Song, Byung-hun Lee, Woo-sung Jung and Dal-su Oh. Directed by Ji-woon Kim. Run time: 130 minutes. Rated: Not rated.

At First Bite: Back on July 31 of last year, my friend Brandin asked me if I had seen this movie. I had not. Enter ActionFest.

The first and only film festival devoted to action movies kicked off in Asheville, NC (April 15-18, 2010). This intriguing flick was on the schedule, and it became the first I decided to see.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD is set in 1930s Manchuria. The Bad, Park Chang-yi (Lee), is a hired gun sent to steal a "treasure" map from the Japanese. The Weird, Yoon Tae-goo (Song), stumbles upon the map first. The Good, Park Do-won (Jung), is a bounty hunter looking for The Bad and the map.

The map itself is said to hold the key to winning World War II, but The Weird believes it to be a run-of-the-mill treasure map that will help him retire from his bandit ways and purchase a farm.

Eventually, a group of Chinese bandits and the Japanese army join in the search for the map, and all hell breaks loose.

Tough to Swallow: Sometimes the subtitles are hard to read. White words over golden sand or a white, cloudy sky doesn't really work.

The end is a little lackluster.

Something to Chew On: Theater audience = 35. I recognized the voice of one of the guys sitting behind me. He was in 2 or 3 of my film classes at NC State, and actually wrote movie reviews for The Technician.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 24, 2008.

The film is, of course, inspired by Sergio Leone's THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY.

To date, it is the most expensive South Korean ever made with a budget of over $17 million.

The film took more than two years to produce, and was mainly shot in Manchuria, Mongolia and Vladivostok.

You may recognize The Weird. Song also plays the lead roles in THE HOST and THIRST.

Jung broke his arm during filming.

The film currently has a 7.4 user rating on IMDb.com (4,430 votes).

Aftertaste: This movie is pure entertainment. It's fast-paced with lots of action. My favorite scenes include the opening train robbery, the rooftop shootout and the epic desert chase near the end, which is full of explosions, gunfire and horses. Seriously, most of the stunts are wowing. I sat through the credits, but missed the end credit disclaimer about animals (of course, that's normally an American Humane Association thing). I find it hard to believe no horses were hurt in the crazy desert scenes.

The sets look great and the cinematography is breath-taking.

The Weird will probably be everyone's favorite character. He's the comical, chubby guy, who is still pretty handy with a gun. Personally, I like The Bad; he's stylish and sometimes only needs a piercing look to get his point across. The Good might be the weakest character, but it's hard to hate on the one who is patterned after Clint Eastwood. The backstory involving The Weird and The Bad is a nice touch.

Oh, and the grandma is hilarious.

The end might not be the payoff you expect after 2 hours, but that ridiculous 2-hour ride you took to get there makes up for it.

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