Джейки Чан в новой драме сыграл пожилую жертву болезни Альцгеймера

Jackie Chan excels as aging man with Alzheimer’s Unexpected Family (China, 2026, BayView Entertainment, Blu-ray, NR, 121 min.). In the film, directed and cowritten by Taiyan Li in his feature debut, Zhong Bufan, a young man from a small town, flees his home to try to reach Beijing. On the way, he crosses paths with Ren Jiqing, an old man suffering from Alzheimer's disease who mistakes him for his son. Ren is played by an excellent Jackie Chan (“Rush Hour,” “Police Story,” “The Shadow’s Edge”). Ren is a former runner-up national school champion weightlifter, who still exercises his body, but cannot exercise his mind, which is losing memories from the disease. He still has physical strength and often stops to help others lift heavy objects, such as large bottles of water. Ren also is a landlord in Wuhan, helped by two of his tenants, especially Auntie Jin (Li Ping of “Soul Mate,” “Love Island”), who constantly gives him reminders and warnings. Another helper is car wash owner/mechanic Jia Ye (Pan Binlong of “A Cool Fish,” “Busted Water Pipes”), an ex-hoodlum. Ren was instrumental in setting up his business. We see Zhong arrive in the city, but have trouble finding a job until he comes to the car wash, where Jia hires him after a tryout. When Jin and Jia realize how advanced Ren’s condition is and they see Ren mistake Zhong for his son, Zhuangzhuang, who left home 20 years ago, Jin comes up with the idea that Zhong should act like Ren’s son, including living with Ren in the son’s old room. Helping with the plan is Su Xiaoyue (Zhang Jianing of TV’s “Tribes and Empires: Storm of Prophecy”), a younger tenant who agrees to be Ren’s daughter-in-law. A reluctant Zhong gets more than he expected, when Ren starts waking him up at 6 a.m. each morning for weightlifting training. Ren even throws out all his old clothes – without first emptying the pockets. Chan shows he still has some of his old moves when, during a visit to the bank by Ren and Zong, he fights two policemen, who try to arrest Zhong for trying to steal from Ren. (Zhong lacked ID as Ren’s son). However, things like an exploding microwave oven, Ren making a “borrowed” car run backwards and his near drowning result in more memory loss. At one point, Ren tries to eat the fruit decoration on a table cloth. This leads to the four deciding to recreate the 1995 weightlifting championships for Ren, with Zhong competing as his son. The film is a poignant, funny and wise dramedy that is equally heartbreaking and heartwarming. The ending, in particular, is very emotional. Chan’s performance is one of the best of his 151-film career. Grade: film 3.75 stars Rating guide: 5 stars = classic; 4 stars = excellent; 3 stars = good; 2 stars = fair; dog = skip it Purchase link for some titles: https://moviezyng.com?bg_ref=ApLKdWV51k Ping Pong (Japan, 2002, 88 Films, Blu-ray, PG, 114 min.). An adaptation of Taiyo Matsumoto’s cult manga series, the film is the story of punkish ping-pong prodigy Peco and his friend Smile. That friendship started when, as a child, the introverted Smile was being bullied by a gang of kids until the brash Peco came by and chased them all away. Peco then took Smile under his wing and taught him how to play ping pong. This creates a lifelong best friend relationship between the two polar opposite types. Most of the film takes place a decade later, when Smile and Peco are to compete in a high-stakes regional ping pong tournament. Peco (Yosuke Kubozuka of “Silence,” “Go”) has always wanted to be the best ping pong player in the world, but has never had the drive to fully devote himself to the game. Rather than practicing in the high school gym, he would often be hustling other kids out of money at the local ping pong parlor. In contrast, Smile (Arata Iura of “Tokyo Cowboy,” “Like Father, Like Son”) has the God-given talent to actually become the world’s best ping pong player, but is too humble to destroy his opponents. Often, Smile allows his opponents to win points and even entire games out of sympathy for them. The film, the directorial debut by Fumihiko Sori (“Fullmetal Alchemist,” “Tomorrow’s Joe,” visual effects for “Titanic”), has lots of early time jumps, but settles down by the time it comes to the tournament. Three of the competing players are top Shanghai junior Kong Wenge (Sam Lee of “Made in Hong Kong,” “Dog Bite Dog”), Dragon (Shido Nakamura of “Fearless,” “Death Note,” “Letters from Iwo Jima”) and Demon (Koji Ohkura of “Sinking of Japan”). When Peco decides to get serious for the tournament he is trained by Granny (Mari Natsuki of “Legend of the Eight Samurai,” voice role in “Spirited Away”), who runs the ping pong parlor. The film is an engaging watch, with some outstanding ping pong action. Extras include audio commentary by Zack Davisson; Michael Arias discussing the director and film (21:30); a video essay by Jasper Sharp (13:43); and a 12-page booklet with an essay by Jonathan Clements. The limited edition of 4,000 copies includes an Obi strip. Grade: film 3.25 stars; extras 3 stars Lionheart (1990, MVD Rewind Collection, 4L Ultra HD + Blu-ray, R, 104/110 min.). Both the 4K disc and the Blu-ray contain the 104-minute theatrical version, while the Blu-ray also has the 110-minute extended version. Star Jean-Claude Van Damme (“Double Impact,” “Kickboxer”) came up with the original story, then fleshed out by director Sheldon Lettich (“Double Impact,” “Only the Strong”) and Stefani Warren (“Angel Town”). Van Damme plays Lyon, a member of the French Foreign Legion in Africa, with six months left in his service. In California, his brother Gaultier is beaten and set on fire. When Lyon learns of this and is not allowed to leave, he fights off several Legionnaires, steals a Jeep, walks across the desert and sneaks aboard a ship, whose captain offers him passage for work. The ship, however, docks in New York City instead of the promised Los Angeles, making Lyon jump off. While wandering the streets, Lyon comes across an underground fight, run by Joshua (Harrison Page of “Bad Ass,” TV’s “Sledge Hammer!”), who becomes his fight manager as he tries to earn money to get to Los Angeles and see his brother, sister-in-law Helene (Lisa Pelikan of “Return to the Blue Lagoon”) and young niece Nicole (Ashley Johnson of TV’s “Blindspot”). Joshua introduces Lyon to Cynthia (Deborah Rennard of TV’s “Dallas”), who runs large-purse fights. Russell (Brian Thompson of “The Terminator,” “Cobra”) is her assistant. I found the fights somewhat comical, even if they were brutal, with Van Damme taking his licks. One fight damages two cars and another ends after one blow. Lyon takes his winnings and Joshua to Los Angeles, only to find out his brother died the week before and Helene is too angry to speak with him. Lyon, now known as Lionheart, decides to continue fighting to support Helene and Nicole. That means working with Cynthia. His fourth LA fight is a brutal, painful-to-watch one against Attila (Abdel Qissi, who would also play the bad guy against Van Damme in “The Quest” and “The Order”). Meanwhile, two members of the Foreign Legion, including Sgt. Hartog (Vojislav Govedarica), have flown to Los Angeles, with the intent of capturing Lyon and bringing him back to Africa. Extras include a new audio commentary by Lettich on the 4K theatrical cut; an archival audio commentary by Lettich and actor Page on the extended Blu-ray cut; the detailed “Lionheart: The Inside Story” with interviews with Van Damme, Lettich, producer Eric Karson and actors Page, Rennard and Thompson (47:28); “Inside Lionheart” with filmmakers and cast (25:52); a look behind the fights (10:19); an archival making-f (8:53); archival interviews with Lettich (25:51) and Page (13:05); five promotional TV clips; a behind-the-scenes photo gallery; and a collectible mini-poster. Grade: film 2.75 stars; extras 4 stars Death Warrant (1990, MVD Rewind Collection, 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray, R, 89 min.). In this follow-up film, Jean-Claude Van Damme stars as Los Angeles Police Detective Louis Burke, sent undercover as a new armed robbery inmate at Harrison State Prison, where the assistant warden and nine prisoners have been murdered. Burke used to be a cop in Quebec, Canada. First, in the intro, we see Burke take down serial killer The Sandman (Patrick Kilpatrick of “Minority Report,” “Eraser”) with five bullets. The film then jumps forward 16 months and to Burke’s dangerous new undercover assignment, as no one in the prison has been notified of his true identity. Only Attorney General Tom Vogler (George Dickerson of “Blue Velvet,” “Psycho II”), another official and go-between Amanda Beckett (Cynthia Gibb of “Short Circuit 2,” TV’s “Fame”), pretending to be Burke’s wife for prison visits and information swaps, know who he really is. As a newbie, Burke is instantly picked on by many of the inmates and tough head guard Sgt. DeGraf (Art LaFleur of “The Sandlot,” “Cobra,” “Field of Dreams”), but he generally uses his muscles to stave off injury as he begins investigating. Konefke (Conrad Dunn of “Stripes,” “Alien Nation”) is his cellmate. Burke eventually earns the trust and help of prisoner Hawkins (Robert Guillaume of “Lean on Me,” TV’s “Benson,” “Sports Night”), who introduces him to The Priest (Abdul Salaam El Razzac of “Malcolm X,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day”), who runs illegals and women from his unlocked basement cell. The film, directed by Deran Sarafian (“Terminal Velocity,” TV’s “House”) and written by David S. Goyer (“The Dark Knight,” “Batman Begins,” “Dark City,” TV’s “Flashforward”), is a pretty basic prison undercover movie, until The Sandman is reintroduced as a new transfer prisoner who lets all the other inmates know that Burke is a cop. Their final showdown has the usual brutality of Van Damme’s film fights. Note that in “Lionheart,” one man was set afire. Here, it is two men. Also, the film has one of the worse English subtitles I have ever seen, especially mangling names, but also other words. Extras include audio commentary by director Sarafian on both the 4K and Blu-ray versions; interviews with actors Kilpatrick (9:59), LaFleur (7:20) and Gibb (35:05); a photo gallery; a Van Damme trailer gallery; and a mini-poster. Grade: film 3.5 stars; extras 2.5 stars The Paper: Season One (2025, Universal Studios, 2 Blu-rays, NR, 288 min.). The documentary crew that immortalized Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch in TV’s “The Office” series discovers a new subject in The Toledo Truth Teller, a dying historic Midwestern newspaper that is owned by a company more known for its toilet paper, which shares the same general offices. The publisher hires new editor-in-chief Ned Sampson (Domhnall Gleason of “Ex Machina,” “About Time”), who gets rid of the AP news wire and tries to revive the newspaper with volunteer newbie reporters from other employee positions. As I wrote and worked for newspapers for half my life (38 years and two summers), I find a lot of humor in the 10-episode series. The mockumentary is a smart, breezy, good-natured sitcom. In many ways, it is a love letter to the noblest aspects of newspaper journalism, especially before the invasion of the Internet. As with “The Office,” multiple camera crews lurk around corners and film mostly unobtrusively, although there are straight-to-camera, talking head “confessionals.” One such confessor is Oscar Martinez (Oscar Nuñez, reprising his “The Office” character), now head accountant for Enervate, the owning conglomerate. When Oscar sees the documentary crew approaching, he exclaims, “I’m not agreeing to any of this!” and at other times fills his sentences with swears so the footage cannot be used. Unfortunately for Martinez, the release he signed in 2005 has no end date. The rest of the newspaper staff consists mostly of malcontents, although one works actively against Sampson. She is the self-involved managing editor Esmerelda Grand (Sabrina Impacciatore of “The Passion of the Christ”), who is more interested in her online gossip column. She cancels all the wire services without telling Sampson and fails to notify him of budget meetings. The only two staffers with reporting experience are Mare Pretti (Chelsea Frei of TV’s “The Moodys”), who wrote for the military paper Stars and Stripes, and Barry (Duane R. Shepard Sr. of “Batman: Return to Arkham”), a curmudgeon who has been at the paper since the 1970s and seems too tired to care about anything. For the rest, they are staff members of the newspaper or Softee’s Tissue who volunteer to be reporters for a couple of hours here and there. Worked into this comic stew is occasional biting commentary about the nature of today’s journalism business, including practices that would not have been allowed in the past. Grade: season 3.75 stars Presenting Lily Mars (1943, Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray, NR, 104 min.). Judy Garland (4 years after “The Wizard of Oz”) plays the title character, a small-town girl with big-city ambitions. She heads to Broadway hoping for stardom, but after a series of disappointments, the best she can manage is an understudy job. Van Heflin costars as young producer John Thornway from her hometown who falls in love with Lily, but who avoids bestowing upon her instant stardom for fear of being accused of favoritism. Garland has some early fun scenes as she tries to impress Thornway with her talent, including a hammy version of Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene. Lily, only 19, does impress Thornway when she sneaks in and sings at his birthday party. The other interesting member of Lily’s family is younger brother Davey (Douglas Croft of 1943’s “Batman”) who collects doorknobs. The light, entertaining film has 16 musical numbers, including two that Garland sings with Bob Crosby and His Orchestra. The final medley, “Where’s the Music,” including “Broadway Melody,” she performs with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra and dances with future director Charles Walters (“Easter Parade” with Garland). Garland also has a nice duet with the theater's cleaning lady (Connie Gilchrist), a former star, of "Every Little Movement." Extras include the complete sequence of “Where’s the Music” (6:29); the short “Heavenly Music” (21:44); the Tex Avery cartoon “Who Killed Who?” as part of the “Crime Does Not Pay” series of shorts (7:48); the audio of June Allyson and Van Heflin in Lux Radio Theater’s “Presenting Lily Mars” (55:28); stereo audio of Garland singing “Where’s the Music” (10:17); the Garland outtake song “Paging Mr. Greenback” (4:52); and the ability to go directly to any of the 16 musical numbers. Grade: film 3 stars; extras 2.5 stars A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935, Warner Archive Collection, Blu-ray, NR, 143 min.). In this William Shakespeare comedy, Theseus, the Duke of Athens, is going to marry Hyppolyta, the Queen of the Amazons. Demetrius is engaged to Hermia, but Hermia loves Lysander. Meanwhile, Helena loves Demetrius. Oberon and Titania, of the kingdom of fairies, have a quarrel about whether or not the boy Titania is raising will join Titania's band or Oberon's, so Oberon tries to get him from her by using some magic. Also in the forest are Lysander and Hermia, who are running off, as her father insists she marry Demetrius. Also in the woods are Helena and Demetrius, as well as some actors, who are practicing a play for the ongoing wedding of Theseus and Hippolyta. Puck applies a love potion in Lysander’s eyes instead of those of Demetrius, leading to a lot of confusion. In addition, one of the actors, the weaver Bottom, has his head transformed into that of a donkey. The lavish film was directed by William Dieterle (“Salome,” “Peking Express”) and Max Reinhardt (“A Venetian Night”), based on Reinhardt’s acclaimed stage version. The all-star cast includes James Cagney as Bottom, young Mickey Rooney as Puck, Ian Hunter as Theseus, Verree Teasdale as Hippolyta, Ross Alexander as Demetrius, screen-debuting Olivia de Havilland as Hermia, Dick Powell as Lysander, Jean Muir as Helena, Victor Jory as Oberon, Anita Louise as Titania, and Joe E. Brown as actor Flute, the bellows mender. The film ends with the farce by the low comedians as they present the tragic history of Pyramus and Thisbe, played by Bottom and Flute, respectively. The musical arrangement of Felix Mendelssohn’s score is by Erich Wolfgang Korngold, while the ballet scenes are directed by Nijinska. There is both an overture (6:30) and exit music (15 min.). Extras include an audio commentary by film historian Scott MacQueen; a vintage making-of look (7:30); de Havilland’s screen tests for “Danton” (8:38); and eight TV shorts, including six teaser trailers showcasing cast members. Grade: film 3.25 stars; extras 2.25 stars About this blog: My music review column, Playback, first ran in February 1972 in The Herald newspapers of Paddock Publications in Arlington Heights, IL. It moved to The Camden Herald in 1977 and to The Courier Gazette in 1978, where it was joined by my home video reviews in 1993. The columns ran on VillageSoup for awhile, but now have this new home. I worked at the Courier Gazette for 29 years, half that time as Sports Editor. Recently, I was a selectman in Owls Head for nine years.