Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Taraparain Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Janis One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

Comeuppance Reviews John Nguyen (Le) has all sorts of problems. After serving his country in Iraq, he comes home to L.A. and has to deal with not just his PTSD, but also his lazy, none-too-bright roommate (not sure of his name, but he could possibly be in the next casting for Jersey Shore, if his acting was better). One night Nguyen unleashes his Martial Arts skill on some toughs harassing local prostitute Tanya (Evigan, daughter of My Two Dads' Greg Evigan), and some of the guys die. This upsets crime boss Hollis (Dolph). So Hollis sends some more of his goons to kill Nguyen's family. Now in full revenge mode, Nguyen vows to go after Hollis - but to get there, he must get info from Bennett (Jones) and figure out what the detectives investigating the case know. Will Nguyen get revenge? Will someone die of PUNCTURE WOUNDS? Man, this Cung Le guy looks like Cuba Gooding, Jr. I mean, he REALLY looks like him. Note how on the box art, his Cuba-face is strongly emphasized, while no actors' names are present. Could this be a trick? Well, that aside, it's a dark day in DTV-land once again, as these modern-day productions prove time and again they cannot hold a candle to their far-superior 80's and 90's counterparts. You know it's a bad sign when two separate directors get two separate credits (and on the version on Netflix streaming at least, it's shown under its alternate title, A Certain Justice). Here is no exception. The stupidity is all-encompassing, as everywhere you turn in this movie, something dumb is happening - with the possible exception of Dolph. Whenever he's on screen, things are better, but he and his walrus 'stache can't save this turkey from its own sophomorically-written ways.It is indeed hard to believe someone over the age of 14 actually wrote this inanity down on pieces of paper. Hey, writers - instead of writing down to us, how about writing UP to us for a change? We're action movie fans, not automatons that will just accept any old slop. From the unnecessary narration, to the gratuitous use of slow motion, to the puzzling stylistic choices such as quick cuts and foggy, blurred edges on screen, to printing the names of the characters on screen as if that matters/has never been done before, to the nu-metal-esque soundtrack, the whole thing seems targeted towards the 'stupid market'. It all screams "NEW DTV production", to its detriment. Yes, we're glad Dolph is still working, and it's nice to see mainstays like Vinnie Jones and Robert Lasardo (who is in one scene), so we don't want to seem ungrateful, but Puncture Wounds is just not enjoyable to watch. We're sorry, but there's no getting around that, no matter how hard we try.The premise is even very similar to fellow Cung Le vehicle Dragon Eyes (2012) - Cung moves into an apartment complex in a bad neighborhood in L.A., beats up a bunch of people, and there are crackheads running around. But thankfully Dragon Eyes was directed by John Hyams, so it was better than Puncture Wounds. While we liked seeing Dolph as the baddie, and we thought that was a nice change of pace, it was really a wasted opportunity.So, yes, Puncture Wounds does have some action, but at what cost? The movie typifies some of the worst aspects of modern-day DTV, unfortunately. We thought it was a tough sit

Destroyer Wod I managed to find this movie because i wanted to see a Cung le vs Dolph Lundgren Movie for sure... It was not easy to find but i did.The start of the movie is a bit anti climatic and even tough i saw this formula of presenting the guys one after the other with there name stamped on a freeze frame, it was kinda chaotic in that movie. I also didn't like the blurry camera in some part, i guess they wanted to go artistic but ended up just bad.The script is as unoriginal as it may get but i usually like that kind of stuff and overall liked it. On the other hand some scenes really does not help the movie, bad decisions made by the characters and "roll your eyes" moment where you are really wondering why didn't he just shoot...Also the relation between the characters looked very forced and the wooden acting of Cung Le and his army buddy didn't help get into those guys as characters either. Dolph is Dolph, he is enjoyable and he play a good enough villain. Vinnie Jones is there to be Vinnie Jones and add "star power" to a DTV movie.Now for the spoiler, and this really bugged me out, the Vin guy, who is the one killing the family, ending out showing remorse and we do not know if he died or not, that really was bad... There was so much potential, they could had made so much in the movie with that, as will he forgive him for having kill his family when he want to repent and do a good deed, it may had been cliché but the whole movie is very cliché anyway.So in the end, a good time if your drunk by Jeremy Jahns standard, the fights are nice, and even tough not spectacular in any mean, it fill a Friday night pretty good.

OneView Puncture Wounds is another depressingly familiar C-Grade film with a plot we have heard many times before – innocent man's family is killed in a brutal fashion by a bad guy. Innocent man hunts down bad guy, kills him and his henchmen. Film over. This kind of storyline can be done well if writer, director and cast are willing to create some areas of deviation or innovation to make their mark. Sadly, Puncture Wounds is limply paced with actors mouthing dubious dialogue without conviction. A key scene is meant to show the innocent man's decency through a speech delivered by his ex commanding officer. That said officer appears on set in an ill-fitting uniform and facial hair that would never be permitted in the American armed forces removes the said scene of any impact. Dolph Lundgren is the nominal star but plays the bad guy in an unconvincing wig and fake moustache. (Indeed the fake hair in this film has to be seen to be believed.) It is an interesting performance from Lundgren whose character displays some particularly vile misogyny towards a prostitute in his employ. Cung Lee is our good guy but simply does not have the acting skill to sell his roll convincingly. Vinnie Jones is second billed but plays little more than a glorified cameo. His contribution to the film is reasonably effective but hardly career definining. What the film does benefit from is a number of solid character actors in small supporting parts. James. C. Burns. as Sergeant Mitchell conveys a subtle humanism as well as conflict between his duty and what he knows to be A Certain Justice (to use another title the film was released under.) Briana Evigan brings humanity to what was likely on-paper the fairly vacuous role of the used and abused prostitute and the ever-reliable Robert LaSardo adds a touch of gravitas in a single sequence mid film. Probably the best performance though is from Mario Melchio as Shady, a disreputable neighbour of Cung Lee. He sweats constantly in the thrall of his drug use, twitches and paroxysms of pain evident as torture is inflicted upon him. There is also a memorable yet just death scene. Production values are efficient but far from memorable. Action scenes are overcut and lack any impact. Little production errors (like the woman seen wearing underwear seconds after being pack-raped offscreen by the bad guys are numerous. Puncture Wounds is watchable action fodder but lacks memorable elements or effective cohesion. Four out of ten is a fair representation of its value and demerits.

Jesse Boland Dolph Lundgren is pumping these out pretty fast these days. This one is one of the better ones that has come out with him in it. The camera work is not anything special, the lighting needs to be worked out, but when it gets down to the action Lundgren is his usual rock against which all of the waves think they can make a mark, and the addition of Chun Le only ever makes things better. The supporting cast do a decent job of giving us a reason for all of the drama, and the final showdown though a bit short, and sudden does play out well Vinnie Jones is always a good bad guy. I Enjoyed this for what it was, an afternoon action movie, no tear jerking around here. I recommend this one to action fans who have already run through the top 500, this is getting pretty close to scraping the bottom of the barrel, but there has been much worse in the past few years than what you are given here.