obsession boyfriend i'm psyched girl crush i'm dreading enemy

(need an explanation?)

advertisements





when in Stratford-upon-Avon, U.K., I stay at
Adelphi Guest House

Chocolate (review)

Alas that the most intriguing thing about this martial-arts kickfest is its wave-of-the-future release schedule. It opens in limited release in U.S. theaters on Friday, February 6 -- it will play at New York City’s hip arthouse Landmark Sunshine at midnight shows only, for one -- then arrives on DVD and HDNet Ultra VOD just days later, on Tuesday, February 10. (It’s already available on DVD in the U.K.) We’re going to see a lot more of this kind of thing, I have no doubt -- I only hope it’s for better films. I quite liked Thai director Prachya Pinkaew’s Ong Bak: The Thai Warrior, which appeared to herald a new era in martial-arts flicks, but this followup is nothing but mindless bone-crunching pretending to hang on the slimmest frame of a story. Zen is an autistic teenager, a “special child” whose parents hail from rival gangs of Thai and Japanese gangsters -- and when Mom suddenly falls ill and needs expensive hospital treatment, it falls to Zen to round up the cash needed to pay for it by beating the living holy crap out of everyone who owes her money. See, simple and removed from reality as she is, Zen has somehow absorbed all the martial-arts training she needs from watching actual fighters on TV and at the gym next door, so she is fully prepared to kick ass, with some assists from the extra-meaty-sounding FX that accompany her beatdowns. Zen is not a character at all, just a fighting machine, and indeed star “Jija” Yanin Vismistananda comes with the high recommendation that she trained for five years for this part... for the fighting part, that is. Pinkaew sets her loose in as many unusual locations as he can find because, hey, in a meat-packing plant, you can wield sides of beef as weapons and hang bad guys on meat hooks! Uncritical devotees of martial-arts flicks who don’t require even the barest of stories will probably get some visceral, ahem, kicks out of this, but everyone else can avoid. (The making-of featurette promised for the DVD was not made available for review.)

(more below the ad... scroll down...)

[buy at Amazon U.S.]     [buy at Amazon U.K.]

viewed at home on a small screen
rated R for violence throughout, and brief sexuality/nudity
official site | IMDB | trailer | more reviews at MRQE
(links here are good for finding recent posts, but will not be fully functional till I finish tagging 11 years worth of reviews and blog entries; I'll post a notice when tagging is done)
(more below the ad... scroll down...)



comments

[url=http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2001/01/chocolat_review.html]Duplicate Review[/url].


:D

@JoshDM
Not the same movie. Actually, anyone who picks this one up thinking it is the one you linked is in for quite a shock.

So she's like Monica on Heroes S2.

Could someone explain the title, if it's not a spoiler? Why is the movie called "Chocolate"?

Ide Cyan, she eats a lot of chocolates while watching TV I guess. At least, that's what I got from watching the trailer.

@Ide Cyan
As a girl her mother bribed her with chocolate to stop her from crying. As a young woman she eats chocolate nearly non-stop as a substitute for love.

She has friends and people who are for her but she is as blind to them as she is blind to the violence she commits. Like chocolate, she satisfies but does not nourish.

At least that was my take.

post a comment

who I am


I'm MaryAnn Johanson: writer and ponderer in New York City who drinks too much wine and thinks way too much about such inconsequences as movies, TV, books, and the meaning of life.
[email me]
[become a Facebook fan]
[visit my personal Facebook page]
[follow me on Twitter]
[give me whuffie]

FlickFilosopher.com is available on Kindle

• contributor, Film.com
• member, International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
• visit my scratchpad blog, MaryAnnJohanson.com
• read my Doctor Who fan fiction

photo by David Speranza

(postings feed)


top critic on Movie Review Query Engine


as seen on Rotten Tomatoes


member, Online Film Critics Society


member, Alliance of Women Film Journalists

Large Association of Movie Blogs

Add to Technorati Favorites

Local Directory for New York, New York

monthly archives

recent screenings and hot movies

just opened (U.S./Canada)
green for go Brooklyn's Finest
red for no Alice in Wonderland
green for go The Secret of Kells [trailer]
yellow for maybe A Single Man (expanding)
green for go The Ghost Writer [trailer] (expanding)
just opened (U.K.)
red for no Alice in Wonderland
red for no Legion
green for go Crazy Heart [trailer]
yellow for maybe Chloe [trailer]
red for no Motherhood
box office top 5 (U.S./Canada)
red for no Alice in Wonderland
green for go Brooklyn's Finest
yellow for maybe Shutter Island
red for no Cop Out
green for go Avatar
top limited releases (U.S./Canada)
green for go The Ghost Writer [trailer]
green for go The Last Station
green for go The Hurt Locker
yellow for maybe A Single Man
green for go An Education
box office top 5 (U.K.)
red for no Alice in Wonderland
green for go Avatar
yellow for maybe The Crazies
yellow for maybe The Lovely Bones [trailer]
yellow for maybe The Princess and the Frog
coming soon (U.S./Canada/U.K.)
red for no She’s Out of My League [trailer]
green for go Remember Me
green for go Hubble 3D [trailer]
yellow for maybe Green Zone [trailer]
red for no Our Family Wedding
green for go The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo [trailer]
green for go The Runaways [trailer]
green for go Mother
other current flicks
(U.S./Canada/U.K.)
yellow for maybe Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
red for no Astro Boy
yellow for maybe The Blind Side
green for go Blood Done Sign My Name
red for no The Book of Eli
yellow for maybe Broken Embraces
green for go Creation
green for go Daybreakers
red for no Dear John
red for no Edge of Darkness
red for no Extraordinary Measures
green for go Fish Tank
green for go From Paris with Love
yellow for maybe The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
green for go Invictus
red for no Leap Year
red for no Nine
yellow for maybe Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
green for go A Prophet (Un Prophète) [trailer]
green for go Precious
green for go Red Riding Trilogy
green for go Sherlock Holmes
red for no The Spy Next Door
red for no Tooth Fairy
green for go Up in the Air
red for no Valentine's Day
red for no When in Rome
yellow for maybe The White Ribbon [trailer]
yellow for maybe The Wolfman
green for go The Young Victoria [trailer]

2010 screening log
2009 screening log

new on dvd

02.16 (Region 1/U.S.)
green for go Hunger [buy]
yellow for maybe Coco Before Chanel [buy]
red for no Law Abiding Citizen [buy]
red for no Women in Trouble [buy]
02.16 (Region 1/Can.)
green for go Hunger [buy]
yellow for maybe Coco Before Chanel [buy]
red for no Law Abiding Citizen [buy]
red for no Women in Trouble [buy]
02.15 (Region 2/U.K.)
green for go Up [buy]
green for go Ong Bak 2: The Beginning [buy]
yellow for maybe Adam [buy]
red for no Life on Mars (U.S.) [buy]
02.09 (Region 1/U.S.)
green for go A Serious Man [buy]
green for go The Song of Sparrows [buy]
green for go The Time Traveler's Wife [buy]
yellow for maybe Serious Moonlight [buy]
red for no Couples Retreat [buy]
green for go Stargate SG-U: 1.0 [buy]
02.09 (Region 1/Can.)
green for go A Serious Man [buy]
green for go The Song of Sparrows [buy]
green for go The Time Traveler's Wife [buy]
yellow for maybe Serious Moonlight [buy]
red for no Couples Retreat [buy]
green for go Stargate SG-U: 1.0 [buy]
02.08 (Region 2/U.K.)
green for go The Time Traveler's Wife [buy]
green for go Goodbye Solo [buy]
yellow for maybe Adventureland [buy]
yellow for maybe Disgrace [buy]
red for no Couples Retreat [buy]
red for no The Ugly Truth [buy]
red for no Love Happens [buy]
red for no My Life in Ruins (aka Driving Aphrodite) [buy]
red for no I Love You, Beth Cooper [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora [buy]
02.02 (Region 1/U.S.)
green for go Zombieland [buy]
green for go Amelia [buy]
green for go Ong Bak 2: The Beginning [buy]
yellow for maybe Adam [buy]
yellow for maybe New York, I Love You [buy]
red for no Love Happens [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The Complete Specials [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The End of Time Parts 1 and 2 [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars [buy]
02.02 (Region 1/Can.)
green for go Bright Star [buy]
green for go Zombieland [buy]
green for go Cold Souls [buy]
green for go Amelia [buy]
green for go Ong Bak 2: The Beginning [buy]
green for go No Impact Man [buy]
yellow for maybe Adam [buy]
yellow for maybe New York, I Love You [buy]
red for no Love Happens [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The Complete Specials [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The End of Time Parts 1 and 2 [buy]
green for go Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars [buy]
02.01 (Region 2/U.K.)
green for go The Soloist [buy]
green for go The Invention of Lying [buy]
green for go Away We Go [buy]
yellow for maybe Broken Embraces [buy]
red for no Aliens in the Attic [buy]

my book (Amazon U.S.)

my book (Amazon U.K.)

advertisements

search

Google
flickfilosopher.com
web