When the weather turns chilly, most cyclists accept the reality of more time on the indoor trainer as a way to stay in shape. The trainer is effective, but boring, so a DVD player helps. Watching anything makes the time go by quicker, but some folks like cycling-specific fare such as Tour de France highlights or one of the few cycling movies like “Breaking Away.” Somewhere in between is the cycling documentary “Blood, Sweat & Gears: Racing Clean to the Tour de France,” which premiered on the Sundance Channel earlier this year. The movie follows the upstart Garmin-Chipotle Slipstream team, a ragtag group which includes a famous ex-doper, fading names and rising stars (plus a guy nicknamed “Meatball”) all with one goal - get invited to cycling’s premier race completely clean in a sport tainted by drugs. It’s an entertaining behind-the-scenes look at the intense training and racing, which can wreck dreams, marriages and careers. The movie’s secret weapon is team director Jonathan Vaughters, a profane and painfully honest cheerleader/coach/pr man who isn’t afraid to ask questions of his riders such as “what the fuck are you thinking?”

Click to buy Blood Sweat + Gears: Racing Clean to the Tour de France

Based on the anime of the same name, “Blood: The Last Vampire” isn’t exactly a terrible film, but it’s pretty bad considering it was actually given a theatrical release. Set in the 1970s, the story follows a half-human/half-vampire demon hunter named Saya (South Korean film star Jeon Ji-hyun, now going by the stage name Gianna) as she tracks down the head bloodsucker who murdered her father. When her undercover identity is blown by a military brat (Allison Miller), however, she’s forced to play babysitter as she prepares for the biggest battle of her life. I’m not exactly sure how Miller continues to get work, because although she has a much better understanding of the English language than her Asian co-star, she fumbles over her lines like she’s the one in need of a dialogue coach. That might be forgiven if the special effects weren’t so noticeably low-budget, but between the CG blood that sprays out of every character and the gargoyle-like creatures that the vampires transform into, this film has B-movie written all over it. So why the generous rating? Because in the right hands, this could have been a half-decent movie. The stylish swordfights alone make “Blood: The Last Vampire” more entertaining than it should be, but it’s still only worth seeing if you’re a fan of the anime.

Click to buy “Blood: The Last Vampire”

“Triangle” is one of those films where the concept is more promising than the final product. Told in three 30-minute segments -- with each one helmed by a different director -- the movie stars Simon Yam, Louis Koo and Sun Hong Lei as a trio of drinking buddies who are down on their luck. But when a mysterious man approaches them one night with information about an ancient treasure buried underneath a government building, the three friends attempt to pull off the perfect heist. Unfortunately, just about everything that can go wrong does, and while that certainly makes for an engaging crime thriller, it’s also the film’s biggest problem. There are simply too many people with their hands in the pot, from the three directors (Tsui Hark, Ringo Lam and Johnnie To) to the six writers credited for the script. As such, the story is confusing as hell at first, testing the audience’s patience with very little background info and numerous subplots. By the time Lam’s second third has run its course, however, the pieces are all in place for a tension-packed final act that To masterfully directs with equal parts action, comedy and drama. “Triangle” isn’t one of their finest films, but fans of the directors will no doubt enjoy watching how it evolves in the hands of some of Hong Kong’s greatest filmmakers.

Click to buy "Triangle"