Justin Chon

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Revenge of the Green Dragons Trailer

Brothers Sonny and Steven travelled over to New York as humble Chinese immigrants with dreams of a better life in the late 1980s. However, as they struggled to find a path that would lead them to the so-called American Dream, they quickly became involved in the brutal Chinatown gang The Green Dragons, which soon became their only answer to their crippling poverty. Before long, they are in the high ranks of the group and struggling to evade the ever watchful eye of the New York Police Department who a constant threat to their hedonistic and violence-fuelled lifestyle. However, when Sonny embarks on an illicit affair, his brother soon turns on him resulting in a tragic death. Thus, he decides to set out on a vengeance mission against the group of people who transformed him into the lawless killer he has now become.

Continue: Revenge of the Green Dragons Trailer

21 And Over Review

By Rich Cline

The writers of The Hangover stick with the same formula for this university-aged romp about three young guys who get far too drunk for their own good. It even opens on the morning after (they're walking naked across campus) before cycling back to piece together what actually happened. But all of the humour is as cheap as it can be, merely laughing at stupid behaviour rather than mining much genuine comedy out of the situation. At least the actors find some chemistry along the way.

Our three chuckleheads are party-boy Miller (Teller), smart-guy Casey (Astin) and their pal Jeff Chang (Chon), who is turning 21 at midnight. This prompts Miller and Casey to propose a night of drunkenness to celebrate his legal drinking age in style. But Jeff has his med school interview in the morning, so they have to sneak past his terrifying dad (Chau) to have just one drink together. Unsurprisingly, this drink turns into an epic bar crawl, culminating in Jeff's unconsciousness. And since Miller and Casey can't remember where he lives, they go on a ludicrously convoluted quest to find his address. This involves enraging a sorority house, releasing the university's mascot buffalo and tormenting the tough-talking boyfriend (Keltz) of a cheerleader (Wright) who catches Casey's eye.

Obviously, there's one massive problem with this whole premise: a cold shower and a cup of coffee would revive Jeff pretty easily. But then, Miller and Casey wouldn't need to go through, say, eight levels of frat-house drinking games to find a guy who might know Jeff's address. At least all of the antics give Teller and Astin a chance to deepen their characters a bit, mainly in the way they interact with each other as childhood pals who have taken unexpected turns along the way. Chon doesn't have quite as much to do with Jeff. Sure, he's been pushed into studying medicine by his fearsome dad, but he spends the entire movie in a drunken stupor.

Continue reading: 21 And Over Review

21 And Over Trailer

Jeff Chang is a typical high-achieving college student with a strict and proud father who is determined to get his son into medical school even if that means making him stay in on his 21st birthday in order to prepare for a crucial medical exam the next morning. However, Jeff is visited by his two best friends, who he has known forever, on his birthday night determined to drag him out for a night of fun, frolics and fraternisation with females. Predictably, the night turns into chaos as the three boys' antics spin out of control and Jeff finds himself being attacked by girls at a slumber party, drinking himself into a vomit soaked stupor, running through the streets in ladies underwear and having a run in with the cops. A typical night in the life of a college boy, however with Jeff's father on the warpath, Jeff's friends are feeling the pressure to get him to his exam the next day.

'21 And Over' serves as the directorial debut of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore (collaborators on 'The Hangover' and 'Four Christmases') who were also responsible for writing the screenplay. The hilarity will be very familiar to those who know of the writing duo's previous projects and it's definitely set to be as much of a hit on its release on March 1st 2013.

Directors: Jon Lucas, Scott Moore

Continue: 21 And Over Trailer

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Trailer

Breaking Dawn is the final chapter from the Twilight series and picks up where Eclipse ended. Bella and Edward are deeply in love and they have decided to make a commitment to one and other and wed. As Jacob looks on from the side-lines the newlyweds embark on their honeymoon.

Continue: The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 Trailer

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse Trailer

Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Taylor Lautner once again take up their much loves roles for the latest instalment in the Twilight series. Eclipse is the third part to the saga and the script stays loyal to Stephenie Meyer's book of the same name.

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Crossing Over Review

By Rich Cline

Good

Crash meets Babel in this multi-strand Los Angeles immigration drama. The film is well-made and benefits from a very strong cast, but it's both overly worthy and rather pushy about its perspective.

Immigration cop Max (Ford) clearly has compassion for the illegals he rounds up with partner Hamid (Curtis), a naturalised citizen from Iran. But visa official Cole (Liotta) is exploiting the desperation of a wannabe Aussie actress (Eve), while her British friend (Sturgess) finds a loophole in the law. Meanwhile, Cole's wife (Judd) is an immigration lawyer trying to help a 15-year-old Bangladeshi girl (Bishil) picked up by the FBI on suspicion of terrorism due to a school project. And Yong (Chon) is a Korean teen caught up with an Asian gang.

There are several other storylines, and each touches on a specific aspect of immigration, with a range of ethnicities, visa situations and personal issues, all of which come up against the rigid rule of law. Even harsher are FBI tactics that throw out rights such as privacy, free speech and the presumption of innocence, not to mention simple human decency. But then, their paranoia is echoed by people on the streets and in the classrooms.

In other words, the film is packed with thought-provoking material; it's vitally important simply because filmmaker Kramer is airing such complex issues. The Bangladeshi family is the most involving story, with a lovely, understated performance by Bishil as a girl whose whole life comes undone because she dares to think deeply. This story could have supported the whole film, and sometimes sits at odds with Sturgess' more comical tale, Eve and Liotta's sordid encounters, or Curtis' increasingly disturbing journey.

The entire cast gives offhanded, natural performances that hold our interest.

Ford is good as the everyman, brushing against the various plots. Despite the insipid Mark Isham score, there are some seriously powerful emotional scenes along the way, although a couple of strands get lost in the shuffle, disappearing for long stretches and only coming back to fit into the final tidy mosaic. Ultimately, Kramer strains to make it gel together, but we still hear his cry for understanding and compassion in a world filled with bigotry and ignorance.