Hello all, I had a bit of a kung-fu marathon Wednesday after reviewing Rise of the Planet of the Apes (http://wp.me/p43Tw9-8k) with a revisit to The Raid (http://wp.me/p43Tw9-63) before watching the sequel which just came out on DVD.

The Raid 2 is such a phenomenal action film. Many are calling it one of the greatest action movies of all time, and they aren’t really stretching that fact too far. It IS a great movie. It picks up literally minutes after the first film, and then sprawls ahead several years in a tale of revenge. The fight scenes are on a much bigger scale, thanks to the big budget, and there are many scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat and reeling in shock and horror at the amount of pain and blood you see. It is certainly not a movie for the weak of heart, but if you’re a fan of action and kung-fu movies, please do yourself a favor and check it out.

Last night I watched a little film from 2005 starring the man everyone loves to hate on, Nic Cage, called The Weather Man. It is an odd film, featuring some pretty solid acting, and some rather strong subject matter including child obesity, child molestation, and the such. When the credits appeared and showed that Gore Verbinski (Pirates of the Caribbean) had directed it, I was certainly shocked. Nic Cage endures a lot of heat for some of the roles he picks, but this is one of his better movies.

Finally, this morning I watched Sansho the Bailiff, an old Japanese film from the director of Ugetsu. It follows the story of a family who is separated. It mainly follows the children who are sent to work in slavery, and it spans about 10 years. It is a heartbreaking an beautiful film.

Be on the look out for my review of Dawn of the Planet of the Apes within the next 24 hours.