GeneChing
12-15-2008, 11:52 AM
Ash vs. Guan Di. Is that sacrilegious or what? Guan Di is the patron saint of martial arts. That's where we get the name Guan Dao (http://www.martialartsmart.net/45-81cs.html). Imagine Simon Yam playing himself and fighting Saint Francis of Assisi. Maybe we should rally for a kung fu protest... .:rolleyes:
'My Name is Bruce' stars B-movie king Bruce Campbell in a Z-level film (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-my-name-bruce-1128_nov28,0,4169258.story)
Rating: 1 star (poor)
By Christopher Borrelli | Tribune reporter
November 28, 2008
"My Name Is Bruce," a celebration of the B-actor and cult legend Bruce Campbell directed by Bruce Campbell and co-produced by Bruce Campbell and possibly catered by Bruce Campbell, tells the story of the B-actor and cult legend and how he saves a small mining town from the homicidal incarnation of the Chinese lord of bean curd. It includes a nod to nearly every TV show and straight-to-video distraction and real movie (well, realish) in which Campbell has appeared, including (but not limited to) a quick plug for his entertaining autobiography ("If Chins Could Kill"). A cynic might say that never before has a smart, charming actor gone so far to position himself for more of the same—except this appears to have been shot in a mad dash over a weekend, and Campbell is clearly in charge of his small corner of schlockdom.
Indeed, Campbell has thrived in the Grade-Z horror-sci-fi cheapie genre for more than 25 years—giving googly-eyed anvil-jawed performances in Sam Raimi's fantastic "Evil Dead" series, top-lining beloved cult TV shows ("The Adventures of Brisco County Jr."), and never taking himself or his movies as seriously as Bruce Campbell fanboys do. There is a natural end to a career like this—the inevitable wink-wink-nudge-nudge piece in which Bruce Campbell confronts William Shatner, preferably on a desert planet made of chicken wire and sparkly stuff. Sadly, "My Name Is Bruce" is not inspired—it is, instead, as broad and redundant, as laughably bad as anything he'd be hired to star in. The goal, however, seems to be likably bad.
In fact, I am struggling here to find a way to slip in the word endearing. Can't do it. Campbell clearly knows the wobbly path to B-movie cult leader ("I made a movie in Bulgaria," he says. "I'm up for anything.") and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of every amateurish horror movie impulse in the book ("Let me get out of the car and see what's in those woods"). But there's a line where self-deprecating slides into self-serving, and "My Name Is Bruce," well, it doesn't seem to recognize that line exists. Campbell is kidnapped by a fan and brought to an Oregon town to fight a cheap-o monster, and though the actor is portrayed (by the actor) as a preening, fleeing Hollywood phony—drinking whiskey from a dog bowl, drunk-dialing his ex-wife—the film has neither the sheer invention of Campbell's best films nor the obliviousness of his more entertaining bad pictures.
'My Name is Bruce' stars B-movie king Bruce Campbell in a Z-level film (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/movies/chi-my-name-bruce-1128_nov28,0,4169258.story)
Rating: 1 star (poor)
By Christopher Borrelli | Tribune reporter
November 28, 2008
"My Name Is Bruce," a celebration of the B-actor and cult legend Bruce Campbell directed by Bruce Campbell and co-produced by Bruce Campbell and possibly catered by Bruce Campbell, tells the story of the B-actor and cult legend and how he saves a small mining town from the homicidal incarnation of the Chinese lord of bean curd. It includes a nod to nearly every TV show and straight-to-video distraction and real movie (well, realish) in which Campbell has appeared, including (but not limited to) a quick plug for his entertaining autobiography ("If Chins Could Kill"). A cynic might say that never before has a smart, charming actor gone so far to position himself for more of the same—except this appears to have been shot in a mad dash over a weekend, and Campbell is clearly in charge of his small corner of schlockdom.
Indeed, Campbell has thrived in the Grade-Z horror-sci-fi cheapie genre for more than 25 years—giving googly-eyed anvil-jawed performances in Sam Raimi's fantastic "Evil Dead" series, top-lining beloved cult TV shows ("The Adventures of Brisco County Jr."), and never taking himself or his movies as seriously as Bruce Campbell fanboys do. There is a natural end to a career like this—the inevitable wink-wink-nudge-nudge piece in which Bruce Campbell confronts William Shatner, preferably on a desert planet made of chicken wire and sparkly stuff. Sadly, "My Name Is Bruce" is not inspired—it is, instead, as broad and redundant, as laughably bad as anything he'd be hired to star in. The goal, however, seems to be likably bad.
In fact, I am struggling here to find a way to slip in the word endearing. Can't do it. Campbell clearly knows the wobbly path to B-movie cult leader ("I made a movie in Bulgaria," he says. "I'm up for anything.") and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of every amateurish horror movie impulse in the book ("Let me get out of the car and see what's in those woods"). But there's a line where self-deprecating slides into self-serving, and "My Name Is Bruce," well, it doesn't seem to recognize that line exists. Campbell is kidnapped by a fan and brought to an Oregon town to fight a cheap-o monster, and though the actor is portrayed (by the actor) as a preening, fleeing Hollywood phony—drinking whiskey from a dog bowl, drunk-dialing his ex-wife—the film has neither the sheer invention of Campbell's best films nor the obliviousness of his more entertaining bad pictures.