 |  | |||||||||||
 |  |  |  |  | ||||||||
 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
 | Planet Extras! | | Rollerblading Crime Wave Spreads Across DVD World! New DVD Release "Steal" Features Skate Punks, Clothing Malfunctions By Robert "Just the Factoids" Burnson Last fall came the release of "Paranoia Agent," a Japanese anime film featuring a bat-wielding rollerblader in the midst of a one-kid crime wave. Now comes the DVD In the film, Stephen Dorff ("Alone in the Dark") plays the leader of a gang of extreme sports skate punks who vault stairways, climb walls and don parachutes as they make off with the loot. Natasha Henstridge ("Species") steams up the screen as a cop who falls for the bad guy and has lots of clothing malfunctions. So how good is this movie? One review says it contains some of the "most atrocious acting seen this year" and describes it as "moronic." Another is less harsh. It says the stunts and Henstridge "go a long way towards a fun Saturday night. ... So open a beer and give thanks for brevity." (The film is only 84 minutes long.) "Paranoia Agent" No doubt "Steal" is Kon is one of a small group of Japanese directors, among them Hayao Miyazako ("Princess Mononoke"), who have elevated anime to an art form. Kon's best known films are "Toyko Godfathers" and the nonstop love story "Millennium Actress." "The Legend of the Rollerblade 7" For some reason, inline skates have a history (mercifully short) of showing up in schlocky films. One of their most ignoble appearances is in "The Legend of the Rollerblade 7," a film costarring Karen Black, which is sometimes featured on lists of the worst films of all time. The film is set in a post-apocalypse world in which inline skates are the chief means of transportation. An evil Pharaoh, who happens to play banjo, sends his thugs out to abduct a beautiful psychic, who fortunately has been trained as a samurai, but unfortunately has renounced all violence. ... Fortunately for us, the movie has yet to be released on DVD. (posted April 5, 2005) |
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
... Copyright © 2005 by Robert Burnson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| | | | | | | | | | | ||||||||||||||||
