#fatal termination

As a martial arts cinema fan, I’ve seen loads of bonkers stunts over the years. Shit, Jackie Chan’s responsible for about twenty percent of them. But I don’t think anything tops this scene when it comes to being flat out dangerous.

That’s a real kid. That’s a real car. It’s really going that fast.

I liked the part with the child endangerment.

Slow and convoluted for the most part, then so action packed in the final act that it became comical. Also, I'm pretty sure the "arabs" were white guys with shoe polish on their faces.

There were way too many characters and the plot was basically impossible to follow, but they made up for it by having a guy toss an endless supply of frag grenades out the window of his car, two at a time. Most importantly, Moon Lee kicked ass and looked damn fine doing it.

Green’s Party is proud to be covering the 2024 Boston Underground Film Festival, which kicked off last night at the Brattle Theatre (Cambridge, MA).  I’ve been lucky enough to cover the festival since 2016. Here is my 2024 BUFF Preview.

me on the red carpet outside The Brattle

The festival kicked off with Opening Night film Immaculate. I did not get to see it, but my friends the Rasmussen Brothers (who had last year's Opening Night Film Unheard) tweeted that Immaculate star and current It Girl Sydney Sweeney got her start in John Carpenter's The Ward, which the Rasmussens wrote. Who knew?

Sweeney with John Carpenter circa 2010

Neon is opening Immaculate nationwide this Friday.

I did make it to the later night (not going to say late night, but 9:45 on a weeknight is later) of the 1990 Hong Kong action film Fatal Termination. This was the North American premiere of a new 4K restoration. I love 80s and 90s Hong Kong action movies, especially John Woo, so this festival selection got my attention immediately. The plot is a little hard to describe, but in a nutshell, there's gangsters, police and a married couple all at odds with each other. This pretty much defines what I love about BUFF, which is the communal experience that some films provide. If I had watched this on a screener in my house, I'd be disappointed and let down, but seeing it with an audience that's also laughing at the completely bonkers WTFery of it all made it a fun screening. Director Andrew Kam actually went to school with John Woo, though he is much lesser known. The gunplay and the action scenes (especially those with vehicles) were among the highlights.

Afterwards I hit the Opening Night Party at The Painted Burro (the former location of Border Cafe) and caught up with some friends.

Tonight: Films include Stange Kindness, Humanist Vampire Seeks Consenting Suicidal Person, and Femme.

For tickets and info on 2024 BUFF