When you're feeling sick, sometimes you'll be lucky enough to get to stay home and roll back over and try to sleep thru it. That actually worked pretty well today. That and some applied OTC medication. And several cups of tea. Today's DVD: Seven Swords. Directed by Tsui Hark, based on a wuxia novel, starring Donnie Yen (and many others). The movie's got too many characters and too much plot getting in the way of the story. Literally. There are several points when the movie just stops for some scene or other that's hardly advancing the story at all. It's over-long and yet still feels like there are sections missing, as much of the plot is hard to follow and makes little sense. I mean, it doesn't reach Bollywood level of confusion and coincidence but it certainly doesn't have the clarity of storytelling of, say, House of Flying Daggers. What it does have are some amazing fight scenes, including one between Donnie Yen's character and the Big Bad in a narrow hallway that's worth the price of admission all by itself. And I was sorry Tsui didn't give us more of the army of Fire-Wind (the Big Bad) who come on like a cross between Cenobites and Chinese goth kids with lots of leather, face painting, tribal tattoos, knife licking, and drug-induced slaughter -- they are as full-on freaky as the villians in Bride with White Hair but they get killed off or spend much of the movie offscreen. So, yeah, the movie is a bit of a mess but still quite fun.

Rodney sez: check it out.