azche24

If there ever was a crossover between Chinese opera, comedy, traditional marital arts film and Disney-like "kids film" - this is it!

Distributed also as "Meister der Shaolin 2" and "Shao Lin xiao zi" this is about the most charming, playful and athletic martial arts film i have seen so far. The plot about 2 rivaling families each consisting of boys and girls only is driven by about 20 young Chinese kids from 6 to 20 years old, who are already experts in all kinds of marital arts. The film develops as a light crossover between comedy and opera (which makes it strange for western audiences) and never lets down. Full of amazingly strange, awkward and funny jokes (sometimes not "correct" in our definition, when kids are whipped or such), outstanding "hand-made" action without any wires or FX and a light-hearted playful performance by the kids. Jet Li (then about 20 years old as a young man already very charming and the girls don't fail either. Very much recommended if you can get a copy.

What starts as an interesting view into the backyards of a noveau-rich basketball player and his family covering topics of social and political relevance like health-insurance, costs of upbringing kids, anger-management and black lives matter turns out to becomes a misogynic view at overall neurotic women, who fill the ears of their friends and families with endless trash-talk about blessings, racism, vaginal reconstruction and other stuff topped with tons of swearwords. The negative culmination was a scene discussing advice on the proper amount and techniques of sexual service to get a relation with a high profile man going. Really - has it come so far?

This is a documentary about HN and his work, driven by some short BTS and interview sequences shot in LA, Monte Carlo and Berlin. The main focus of the film is the models - how Newton chooses them, why they stalk him for being portrayed and how his former famous models like Karl Lagerfeld, Catherine Deneuve, Charlotte Rampling and Faye Dunaway experienced the sessions with Newton (and in most cases) experienced this work as revealing for themselves and the rest of the world. It also throws a spotlight on Newton's obsessions with vouyeurism, lingerie, high-heels, nipples and tall women in special and personal childhood memories in general. It also becomes obvious, that Newton was sly in avoiding to pay his models by simply exploiting his own fame as a photographer - a strictly commercial artist he was.