BRUCE LEE'S TAO OF CHOP SOCKY

Let’s be real.  No one watches a Bruce Lee movie for the story.  The plot of The Big Boss (his first major role) and Enter The Dragon (his crowning achievement) are essentially the same, and decidedly threadbare.  Both films pit Lee against shadowy drug cartels.  He preaches fortune-cookie inspired anti-violence, before dispatching the goons in escalating video game-like fashion.  The Big Boss (aka: Fists of Fury) couldn’t be more low-rent.  Enter The Dragon is only superficial sophisticated, filling the frame with anonymous day-players, and flirting with a ham-fisted flashback structure.  Victims of the era in which they were produced, these films should be resounding failures. 

GOTHAM’S MAYOR SIGNS SWEEPING CRIME BILL

Gotham City Mayor, Anthony Garcia

This morning, Gotham City’s Mayor, Anthony Garcia, signed the controversial Dent Act into legislation.  The sweeping bill, which was passed unanimously by the City Assembly, targets organized crime.  Named in honour of Gotham’s deceased District Attorney, Harvey Dent, the act authorizes stiffer sentencing, including a moratorium on parole.  It also closes a loophole that hinders the city’s ability to prosecute individuals who commit crimes that are part of a larger network.  "[Harvey Dent’s] courage in taking on the criminal empires that ruled our streets saved our city.  It would be inappropriate for us not to honor his sacrifice", said the Mayor. 

DMZ: AN EXPLOSIVE LOVE-LETTER HURLED AT NEW YORK CITY

In the future, Manhattan isn’t a maximum security Federal penitentiary, nor is it ruled by costumed street gangs.  Instead, The Big Apple has become a Demilitarized Zone, the neutral no-man’s land in a second American civil war.  That’s the provocative premise of DMZ, Brian Wood’s long-running Vertigo comic-book series.  A rookie reporter named Matty Roth is our hapless tour-guide.  When stranded in this hellacious concrete jungle he has no choice but to navigate a warren of shifting alliances and ulterior motives.  Matty isn’t an iconoclastic gonzo-journalist like Transmetropolitan's Spider Jerusalem.  He’s a confused kid who has bit of more than he can chew, and is forced to man-up or be put down.  Elevated by Riccardo Burchielli's distinctive art-style,  the story investigates Matty's struggles as an embedded journalist in a terrifying what-if scenario, but it also chronicles the war for the soul of an entire city.

VAMPIRE BONES UNEARTHED IN BULGARIA

As zombie fever sweeps across North America, vampire mania is brewing in Eastern Europe.  The LA Times is reporting that the discovery of a 700-year-old skeleton, with its chest punctured by a metal stake, has visitors flocking to the Bulgarian town of Sozopol.  Increased tourism and interest from occult groups has prompted authorities to move the remains to a special display case at the Natural History Museum in the nation’s capital, Sofia. 

COSTLY DELAYS PARALYZE PARAMOUNT PICTURES

Paramount Pictures is celebrating its 100^th anniversary this year.  From Titanic to Top Gun, they've shown an uncanny ability to produce Oscar-winners and crowd-pleasers in equal measure.  Vanity Fair’s recent photo shoot, which assembled a diverse roster of Hollywood heavyweights, reminds us of the talent, both on-screen and off, who have contributed to Paramount’s legacy.  But after a century of hit-making, the studio that gave us The Godfather, Indiana Jones and Star Trek, appears to be in serious trouble.

“THE GIRL AND THE FOX” IS A MINI MASTERPIECE

Short films are the red-headed bastard step-children of feature-length motion pictures.  Over the years they’ve been relegated to the realm of experiment and curiosity.  All too often they’re half-hearted exercises produced by eager amateurs just  trying to get a foot in the door.  It’s obvious they’d rather be doing something else entirely.  It’s a rare feat when a short is able to convey a fully realized story, let alone display professional-quality production values.  But The Girl and the Fox, a new animated short from the talented team at Base 14, manages to do both, embracing short form storytelling with quiet confidence and gentle observation.  It’s a sublime marriage of image and idea that evokes the films of Hayao Miyazaki.   Although, director Tyler Kupferer hadn’t seen any of the Japanese master’s work when he began developing the story.

"PROMETHEUS" PROVES RIDLEY SCOTT IS LOST IN SPACE

The name Ridley Scott is synonymous with lowered expectations.  No other filmmaker has achieved more success, or is more respected, despite directing some of the shittiest mainstream movies of the last thirty years.  The past decade in particular, has not been kind to the prolific septuagenarian, who’s fumbled around in every genre except the one that jump-started his career.