Red Cliff II is a highly satisfying conclusion to John Woo’s two-part, epic retelling of the Battle of Red Cliffs. It’s a massive, sweeping melodrama full of style and cinematic bravado. This is the kind of movie-making that drew westerners to Woo’s films the late ’80s and early ‘90s; so it’s a real joy to see Woo come out from the other side of the Hollywood experience with the ability to create something of this scale and undeniable power. I gave up on him at least a decade ago, counting him lost to the Hollywood machine. I’ve rarely been so happy to be wrong about a filmmaker. I was one of those people that was obsessed with Woo's work in the early/mid 90s so it's like a weird cinematic homecoming to be able to feel like a fan of his again.
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I love action movies. Intelligent ones are my real passion, but ridiculous, over-the-top stunt-fests are a close second. With that in mind you will not be surprised that I loved Transporter 3. Like Transporter 1 and 2 before it and Transporters 4-15 after it (we can dream right?) this Jason Statham vehicle is a ludicrously paced adrenaline festival. The plot can be summed up in four words

car. girl. go! fight!

And who cares? It rips through action sequence after action sequence through its entire running time. It's not the level of Police Story, but it's still a lot of fun. And that's what this is all about, right? Fun.

Heck yes.

The good people over at Home Vision are releasing 17 (seven-freaking-teen!) Zatoichi movies on DVD starting with (the retitled) Zatoichi – The Tale of Zatoichi, Vol. 1 in May. They're priced fairly, so I can guarantee I'll be buying each and every one of these as they come out. Now if Animeigo can just get the Zatoichi movies they have the rights to (including the ultimate- Zatoichi meets Yojimbo) out on DVD the world would have a shining moment of perfection.