This is another entry in the sprawling Kurtherian Gambit universe, which must have well over a hundred books in it, by a slew of different authors. I’m gradually coming to a couple of conclusions: a) it’s a very loosely-tied series, and b) the quality varies. When you give your book a title like this, evoking the spirit of Judge Dredd, you are setting certain expectations. Unfortunately, this is a book which fails to meet them, with a heroine who never achieves the level of intensity necessary to live up to the series title: Judge, Jury, Executioner. It has reached 16 volumes, which suggests either there’s a market for it, or the author has too much time on their hands. No prizes for guessing my opinion.
I guess this is loosely “legal space opera,” with the heroine being Rivka Anoa, a barrister who has the talent to read people’s memories and feelings through simple physical contact. When a criminal she knows is guilty gets released, she can’t control herself and kills him. Arrested, she’s given the Nikita choice. Work for the government as an all-in-one justice system, or pay the price for her homicide. Not exactly a difficult choice, and she is quickly pumped full of nanomachines to enhance her physical abilities, trained in lethal arts by her mentor, Grainger, and sent off across the universe with a bodyguard, Red… to troubleshoot a family squabble.
Yeah, my disappointment was palpable. I get it’s a governor’s family squabble: still, it felt like James Bond being assigned to direct traffic. The other mission in this book, brokering a treaty between two squabbling planets, wasn’t particularly interesting, exciting or a good use of her newly-acquired talents either. Indeed, her original ability, being able to sense emotions and history by touch – something you’d think would make her unstoppable as a member of the legal profession – is hardly ever used. Speaking of which, in terms of law, this is so unconvincing, to the degree it can only be read as childish parody.
With the emphasis there firmly on “childish”. Rivka doesn’t sound at all like a barrister, and even less like a judge. You get absolutely no sense about the moral weightiness of having to hand down capital punishment, and the attempts at witty banter between her and Grainger are flat-out cringe inducing. Do not even get me started on an alien species being vulnerable to being kicked in the crotch. Yeah, we are literally at the “Ow! My Balls!” level of entertainment here, folks. I was quite glad the last 12% of the book was unnecessary filler like the author’s outline, which I could skip entirely. I don’t know how much input Anderle had into this, but I would strongly recommend he exercise a greater degree of quality control over the material which goes out under his imprint. This kind of rubbish leaves me very cautious about buying other Kurtherian Gambit books.
Author: Craig Martelle and Michael Anderle Publisher: LMBPN Publishing, available through Amazon, both as a paperback and an e-book Book 1 of 16 in the Judge, Jury, Executioner Book series.
I’d been aware of this movie for some time, through its innovative crowd-funding approach, which raised $3 million to cover the cost of production. After COVID hit, there were doubts it’d ever see the light of day, but here it is: the first “Swissploitation” film [If not quite the case, it’s certainly the first one with a seven-figure budget, as well as the first Swiss movie covered on this site] And it’s not bad: if you’re familiar with similarly crowd-funded spoof, IronSky, this is along similar lines of broad parody. It covers almost every genre of cult from kung-fu films through Starship Troopers to women-in-prison films, e.g. there’s an Asian prisoner sporting inmate number #701. It doesn’t all hit, yet safe to say, the more you’re a fan of B movies, the more you’ll get out of it.
The film takes place in s dystopian version of Switzerland, where the authoritarian government are the only ones allowed to produce cheese, under “very Swiss leader” President Meili (Van Dien, making the Troopers spoof propaganda film which opens proceedings, all the more amusing). They crack down harshly on black-market cheese dealers, and this includes shooting dead the boyfriend of Heidi (Lucy) in spectacularly gory fashion, blowing up her grandfather (Schofield) and imprisoning Heidi, under the tender care of warden Fraulein Rottweiler. The heroine eventually escapes, learns martial arts from two nuns and Helvetia, which I am guessing is the spirit of Switzerland. She then takes revenge, Gladiator style, on Meili’s second-in-command, Kommandant Knorr (Rüdlinger), and finally the big cheese himself.
There is a standard by which all nostalgic attempts at recreating grindhouse cinema are measured, and that is the near-perfection of Hobo With a Shotgun. I think the main area in which this falls short is the lead actress. While it’s almost unfair to compare anyone to Rutger Hauer, Lucy simply doesn’t make the same impression as the likes of the original #701, Meiko Kaji, Tura Satana, or even Dyanne Thorne. Although I cannot fault her effort, I was never fully convinced Heidi was the bad-ass necessary to the plot. However, the supporting cast are solid, led by Van Dien hamming it up to thoroughly entertaining effect.
It looks slick, with every cent squeezed out of the budget, and some startling bits of violence. Could have used more nudity, I’d say: the main source is Swiss performance artist Milo Moiré, who has quite the resume. I think I was hoping for it to be more outrageous. Operating entirely outside the confines of the studio system, it feels rather too safe. Yet I will admit to genuinely laughing out loud on occasion, and some of the sequences are fabulously deranged. For example, a prisoner is tortured with cheeseboarding – it’s like waterboarding, except with melted cheese – then finished off by being impaled through the head with a Toblerone, sorry, for trademark purposes, a generic, triangular bar of Swiss chocolate. Whether that concept has you appalled or intrigued, is likely a good guide as to whether or not you should watch this.
Dir: Johannes Hartmann, Sandro Klopfstein Star: Alice Lucy, Max Rüdlinger, Casper Van Dien, David Schofield
It’s always interesting to look back at the previous year’s entry in this series, and see what lived up to or even surpassed expectations, what didn’t, and what failed to show up entirely. The first category would include The Princess, the second is headlined by Bullet Train, which ended up not even qualifying for inclusion here, and also includes the dismal Interceptor. As for the the no-shows… pour one out for Batgirl, which the studio spent $90 million on, before deciding not to release it at all, even though it was already in post-production.
This should act as a salutary lesson that everything you are about to read is subject to change…
The Abyss (September)
This is the first major Swedish disaster movie: “At the center of events is Frigga (Tuva Novotny), who tries to balance her risky job as a security manager in the Kiirunavaara mine with her family life, her new love Dabir and her ex, who doesn’t want to let go. But when the ground suddenly starts to shake under their feet, the puzzle of life doesn’t matter and the struggle to not be pulled into the abyss begins.” I’ve enjoyed some of the other Scandinavian disaster-porn films, so this one has my interest.
Becky 2: The Wrath of Becky (TBA)
You will be unsurprised to hear that this is a sequel to Becky, which was an unexpected pleasure and a bit of a sleeper hit from 2020. While there are new directors, Lulu Wilson and Seann William Scott return for this: “Becky has been living off the grid for two years. She then finds herself going toe to toe against Darryl (Scott), the leader of a fascist organization, on the eve of an organized attack.”
Black Canary (TBA)
Unlike Batgirl, this project seems to have survived the carnage in the Warner Bros DC Cinematic Universe, even if I’m aware of nobody who was actually asking for this to be a spin-off from Birds of Prey. If you’d asked me who Black Canary was in that film, I probably couldn’t have told you. No plot details, Jurnee Smollett stars, and that’s about all we know: even the reported 2023 release date has not been confirmed.
Bond of Justice: Kizuna (TBA)
This one has been a long time in the making – it had a Kickstarter campaign back in 2015, and Sonny Chiba is in it, and he has been dead for 18 months! – but we do at least now have a trailer for this one. The synopsis says, “A rookie detective’s friend is brutally murdered by the Japanese mafia, she must take revenge for her and bring justice to the world, as an assassin.” As you do.
Dominique: Rise of the Phoenix (January)
“A Ukrainian woman, hunted by a Russian criminal, as she attempts to begin a new life in South America. But in a land plagued with violence and police corruption, Dominique will be forced to face her past to protect a family who takes her in.” I’m a bit confused. This is described as being a sequel to Dominique, which was mentioned in last year’s preview, but never seemed to show up. Either way, it’s from Michael S. Ojeda, who gave us The Russian Bride and Savaged, so has a track record here.
Heart of Stone (TBA)
“Rachel Stone (Gal Gadot) is a CIA agent, the only woman who stands between her powerful, global, peace-keeping organization and the loss of its most valuable — and dangerous — asset.” So, a bit vague on details: the above could have been generated by a fairly lazy plot generating AI. Still Gado, pictured top, is typically worth a look and the (equally vague) first look trailer suggests it’s certainly in our wheel-house. It will be a Netflix release: filming wrapped in July, so probably the middle to latter half of the year is my guess.
In the Lost Lands (TBA)
“A sorceress travels to the Lost Lands in search of a magical power that allows a person to transform into a werewolf. ” So this is what Milla Jovovich is doing, in her post-Resident Evil career. It’s directed by husband Paul W.S. Anderson, and is an adaptation of a short story by Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin. Milla was linked to this project a few years ago, and Dave Bautista plays her faithful sidekick. The budget is reportedly around $55 million, so should be able to pay for significant amounts of ass-kicking.
The Marvels (July 23)
The sequel to Captain Marvel, which in case you had forgotten, was one of the more underwhelming of the superhero comic-book movies. Wikipedia says, “Following the events of Ms. Marvel, Carol Danvers, Kamala Khan, and Monica Rambeau begin swapping places with each other every time they use their powers and must team-up to figure out why.” Which might make more sense if I’d seen a single minute of Ms. Marvel. I feel no great sense of loss at this omission. File this review under “contractual obligation,” and keep expectations in line with that.
The Mother (May)
“While fleeing from dangerous assailants, an assassin comes out of hiding to protect her daughter she left earlier in life.” At least this one seems to have a bit of an excuse for being carried forward, with shooting being shut down last January due to the COVID variant. In addition to Jennifer Lopez in the title role (insert “Jenny with a Glock” joke here), the case now includes Joseph Fiennes, Omari Hardwick, Gael García Bernal, and we now have a teaser trailer for the film, directed by Niki Caro, of Mulan fame.
Night Train (January 13)
“A single mom struggling to make ends meet as a Hollywood teamster evades capture by a ruthless FBI Agent while running black market medical supplies in her legendary souped-up pickup truck.” This looks to be the first entry of 2023, but looks kinda bland and fairly cliched. However, it stars Danielle C. Ryan, who has shown promise before, but if her recent Double Threat (review pending) is any guide, is an action actress in need of better material. Maybe this will be it? Or maybe not.
The Street Avenger (TBA)
As suspected, this one was a no-show, and I note that the IMDb page has replaced previous lead actress Mischa Renee with Karina Encarnacion. The supporting cast is a veritable who’s who of straight to video names, including Tom Sizemore, Kevin Sorbo and Robert LaSardo. But, hey, it’s still got Danny Trejo. The IMDb page now says, I suspect more in hope than anything, “This is a raw, action-packed adventure that shows the inner strength of a young woman that will stop at nothing to avenge her father.” Release date: 25 December
Trigger Warning (TBA)
According to Deadline, “Trigger Warning, directed by Mouly Surya, tells the story of Parker (Jessica Alba), an active-duty Special Forces officer described as a female John Wick. Parker takes ownership of her grandfather’s bar shortly after he dies, and soon finds herself at odds with the violent gang that killed him.” I did find an interview from May 2022 with co-star Alejandro De Hoyos, who plays Grandpa, where he says, “Jessica Alba kicks ass. It’s nice to see a female role that shows so much strength and training. Sometimes you see movies with fighters doing action and they don’t seem very efficient. You know they’re not really trained. But Jessica had plenty of physical and mental preparation for this and it shows.” We’ll see this one on Netflix at some point.
Wildwood (April 23)
“Beyond Portland’s city limits lies Wildwood. You’re not supposed to go there. You’re not even supposed to know it exists. But Prue McKeel (Carey Mulligan) is about to enter this enchanted wonderland. Her baby brother Mac has been taken by a murder of crows into the forest’s depths, and she — along with her hapless classmate Curtis — is going to get him back. Prue might think she’s too old for fairy tales, but she’s just found herself at the center of one.” What’s interesting about this is it’ll be stop-motion animation, from renowned Laika studio (Coraline and Kubo and the Two Strings).
Below are the available trailers, first looks, etc. for some of the films discussed above.
This is another entry in the sprawling Kurtherian Gambit universe, which must have well over a hundred books in it, by a slew of different authors. I’m gradually coming to a couple of conclusions: a) it’s a very loosely-tied series, and b) the quality varies. When you give your book a title like this, evoking the spirit of Judge Dredd, you are setting certain expectations. Unfortunately, this is a book which fails to meet them, with a heroine who never achieves the level of intensity necessary to live up to the series title: Judge, Jury, Executioner. It has reached 16 volumes, which suggests either there’s a market for it, or the author has too much time on their hands. No prizes for guessing my opinion.
I’d been aware of this movie for some time, through its innovative crowd-funding approach, which raised $3 million to cover the cost of production. After COVID hit, there were doubts it’d ever see the light of day, but here it is: the first “Swissploitation” film [If not quite the case, it’s certainly the first one with a seven-figure budget, as well as the first Swiss movie covered on this site] And it’s not bad: if you’re familiar with similarly crowd-funded spoof, Iron Sky, this is along similar lines of broad parody. It covers almost every genre of cult from kung-fu films through Starship Troopers to women-in-prison films, e.g. there’s an Asian prisoner 
It’s always interesting to look back at the 
Dominique: Rise of the Phoenix (January)
Night Train (January 13)