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Next week, we will go to vote.

I hope that our voters will do the right thing and kick the current government to the kerb as they have ruined this country.

If this doesn't happen, our country will die.

If it does happen, there is a faint hope for renewal.

I love my country: I do not want it to die.

Viva South Africa and voetsek the ANC.

🇿🇦🇿🇦✌️

Pretty much the same my Turkish colleagues at work say about Turkey, and my Russian colleagues at work say about Russia. Though Putin will most likely be Russia's forever president, sadly.

The Last Kumite (2024)

A Karate champion is forced to participate in an illegal underground fight tournament in order to save his kidnapped daughter.

German martial arts movie paying homage to 1990s martial arts movies. A fan movie made for fans, starring legendary Matthias Hues as the evil one, Billy Blanks and Cynthia Rothrock as the good ones supporting the hero, German martial artist and stunt actor Mathis Landwehr. There are also sightings of Kurt McKinney (No Retreat, No Surrender 1985), Michel and Abdel Qissi (van Damme regulars in many van Damme movies), German martial arts legend Mike Möller, and German martial arts YouTuber David Kurzhal, Dirk Rabe and David Ruessel.

French wrestler and cage fighter Mike Derudder plays the big bad final opponent, representing the spirit of Bolo Yeung physically, and van Damme with the looks.

The Last Kumite had a brief theatrical run in May 2024 before going to streaming platforms and physical media.

So, is it any good? Not worse or better than all those 1990s direct-to-video martial arts movies and sequels. The film is played straight and serious. Hues has a few bad acting moments, and Rothrock has a great moment at the end. The fights are alright, though the final confrontation between Landwehr and Derudder ends way too abruptly, with Derudder reduced to a (final) joke before the end credits roll. There's also a semi-cheesy theme song.

The IMDb rating is surprisingly low, and it should be I guess, if that makes any sense. The Last Kumite is not a stroke of genius, but it delivers what fans of the genre enjoy and like to see.

Real world rating: 1/5 (poor)
Fan rating: 3.5/5 (very good)

Darby O'Gill and the Insignificant Proletarian Masses

True Crime s**t. Antiques Roadshow. Old movies- good and bad.

We got just the opposite problem- things are sliding a bit easier- but if Trump wins- I dunno wtf will happen!
That guy- he scares me.

^ Not my favorite Dario Argento movie- that would be DEEP RED (1974).

Tenebrae (1982) - I've seen a couple giallos that I liked, but I'm always very cautious with Italian cinema. It's a beautiful country with a rich history, but no one phones it in like Italian directors. Once they've got enough for a trailer it's like they lose interest. And to say the good movies are overrated is an understatement.

Tenebrae, by one of those famous guys who I don't care about, had some really good grindhousey energy, beautiful women ( the number one selling point for any Italian movie always), and the same Scooby Doo plot 75% of the ones I've seen had. The camera work and the shots are good, I guess, but I'm more of a story guy. I can see the thrill of owning this on VHS or seeing it at 2 in the morning in Times Square, though.

4/5

Next week, we will go to vote.

I hope that our voters will do the right thing and kick the current government to the kerb as they have ruined this country.

If this doesn't happen, our country will die.

If it does happen, there is a faint hope for renewal.

I love my country: I do not want it to die.

Viva South Africa and voetsek the ANC.

🇿🇦🇿🇦✌️

OT
SNL Digital Short: Giraffes!
https://youtu.be/srMePRL0aIQ?si=xGOtob3dkLiMpk8o

BEGINING OF THE END (1957)