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Ônibus 174 [Bus 172] (2002) --> This documentary directed by José Padilha and Felipe Lacerda tells of a street kid (by this time a young adult) who enters a city bus to rob the passengers and becomes a hostage-taker when police arrive on the scene. Padilha has an agenda (as all great social documentaries do) which reveals itself through the film. In between live shots of the bus and Sandro do Nascimento's (the hostage taker) erratic behaviour, Padilha tells the history of this particular street kid. He expands it to include all street kids and their lives in and out of jail in Rio de Janeiro. He heightens the desperation as he shows that Sandro does not want to kill anyone (he just wanted the money) and the actions that led to the murder of a hostage and the supreme incompetence of the Rio police force. As Sandro was killed by police after the situation was over (in the back of the paddy wagon no less) the film shows the extreme powers the police have and their lack of control in using it. When the police and the jails are brutal, the creation of a brutal criminal is not far behind. This film shows that in full force.


Full Spectrum Staff

Vampire Assassins (2005) --> The first movie in a very long time that I watched 15 minutes of and had to turn off because of its direct insult to my intelligence, Vampire Assassins is directed, written and stars Ron Hall (Bloodsport II) who looks as though he wanted to remake Blade (1998) into a low budget B-movie. Who would want to watch that? No one, the movie is amateurish and begs to be forgotten. Avoid this movie and save yourself wasting 6 bucks on the rental.


Full Spectrum Staff

Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (2002) --> With few funny parts and little in the way of martial arts action, this film bombed in my opinion. The only fascination about the movie is how Steve Oedekerk (director, writer, lead actor) took a '70s kung fu movie and dubbed it and manipulated it to make a whole different film. The cow fight scene is what people usually remember, but for me the only humour was when Oedekerk found a way to make a scene work when the actor changed his clothing colour. Famous for directing and writing Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995), writing some of the "thumb" series of movie spoofs, and writing one of my favourite kid's movies: Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (2001), he is ambitious with this movie but it invariably fails.


Scott D. Brown

Cidade de Deus [City of God] (2002) --> Based on a Paulo Lins novel, City of God is a stunning and frightening representation of slum life outside the core of Rio de Janeiro. It tells of two kids who grow up and take different paths, one a photographer, the other a gang leader and drug dealer. Directed by Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, the movie shows what desperate poverty and a brutal willingness to survive can create in a poor uncaring society. It is a warning of sorts to the United States and the rest of the world as to what can happen if you ignore your poor.


Full Spectrum Staff

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Complete List of Short Movie Reviews