Posts filed under 'Action!'
May 26th, 2009
Sure, you think TERMINATOR SALVATION is just a movie (and one that got beat by the NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM sequel, at that), but as military tech expert P.W. Singer points out in this Slate.com article, it’s not completely, totally, utterly impossible for robots to take over the world.
If robots, Singer explains, (a) had a survival instinct or “will to power,” (b) were smarter than us but lacked empathy and/or ethics, and (c) could fuel, rebuild and reproduce themselves, well, get ready for life in a robot-ruled world. But here’s the thing — the very movies that illustrate this scenario might save us from it…
Finally, a robot invasion could only succeed if humans had no useful fail-safes or ways to control the machines’ decision-making. We would have to have lost any ability to override, intervene, or even shape the actions of the robots. Yet one has to hope that a generation that grew up on a diet of Terminator movies would see the utility of fail-safe mechanisms.
And, if that doesn’t do the trick, good ol’ human laziness and ineptitude probably will…
Plus, there’s the possibility that shoddy programming by humans will become our best line of defense: As many roboticists joke, just when the robots are poised to take over, their Microsoft software programs will probably freeze up and crash.
Whew! That’s a relief!
April 17th, 2009
Over at Slate.com, Jody Rosen examines how Jason Statham became “The Last Action Hero.”
It’s an interesting article, and Rosen makes a good case for Statham’s talent, athleticism, charisma — and acting ability — power making him a genuine star in the mold of Jackie Chan and Harold Lloyd. Naturally, as evidence, Rosen cites Statham’s finest (and most fun) film, CRANK:
Like Chan, Statham is madcap—never more so than in his best film, Crank (2006). Crank has a ludicrous premise: Statham plays Chev Chelios, a hitman who is injected by a rival with a poison that stops the flow of adrenaline, gradually slowing the victim’s heartbeat to a standstill. To stay alive, Chev must keep his adrenaline surging, which he accomplishes by rampaging across Los Angeles, leaving a trail of shattered glass, ruined shopping malls, decapitated lawn jockeys, and dead Triad gangsters.
Read the rest here.
April 17th, 2009
Hard to believe, but it was 10 years ago that THE MATRIX arrived in theaters. It’s become more than part of modern pop culture — it’s become a pop cultural cliche, with all those cool black outfits and bullet-time effects getting used and over-used in so many movies (including the two disappointing MATRIX sequels) that they lost most of the effectiveness they once had.
But you know what? That original MATRIX hit like a thunderbolt when it opened on April 2, 1999, changing the face of big-screen sci-fi (and making the eagerly anticipated PHANTOM MENACE, which opened not long after, looking pretty silly by comparison). And you know what else? That original MATRIX is still a great movie. Here’s the trailer they originally used to get us jazzed about it…Â
And here’s the famous “dodge this” scene, where we first see Neo using his powers to move out of a bullet’s path.
April 13th, 2009
Over at his blog, David Bordwell writes about the 25th anniversary of Hong Kong’s Film Workshop and the man behind it, director/producer Tsui Hark. Though Hark has made several American films in recent years (the Jean-Claude Van Damme action flicks DOUBLE TEAM and KNOCK OFF, to name two), it’s the movies that he made in Hong Kong that deserve to be remembered. Back in the 1980s and early 1990s, Hark (along with director John Woo and actor Jackie Chan) did a lot to create the sort of Hong Kong films that changed the face of action movies all over the world. (I just watched WANTED this weekend, and it’s safe to say it owes a huge debt to Hark’s work, even if it came by that influence second hand through movies like THE MATRIX.)
Here’s a sample of Tsui Hark’s work, from 1992’s ONCE UPON A TIME IN CHINA PART 2. It’s a good example of how the fight scenes in Hark’s movies (and other HK movies of the era) just kept going and going, topping themselves and raising the stakes over and over again. And yes, that’s a young Jet Li, years before he’d make his debut in 1998’s LETHAL WEAPON IV.
If you like action movies and you’ve never seen any of these classic Hong Kong movies, by all means check one out. Back in the day (said the old man movie critic), you had to catch them in rare Chicago screenings or buy them on (ahem) bootleg videotapes. But now they’re readily available on DVD — so you’ve got no excuse to miss them.
April 3rd, 2009
Just to put a little life in your Friday, here’s one of my favorite fight scenes — the final battle of Stephen Chow’s KUNG FU HUSTLE. It’s almost 10 minutes long, but well worth watching.
March 19th, 2009
Have you heard about JCVD? Those initials stand for “Jean-Claude Van Damme,” and the movie itself is, by all accounts, the best thing the Muscles from Brussels has ever done — by a long shot.
Sure, his other movies don’t offer much in the way of competition for that honor, but this movie is supposed to be very, very good, and Van Damme is seriously good in it. He plays himself — or, at least, a version of himself - facing money troubles, custody hearings, bad movies cashing in on his name and, in the movie’s central scenes, a hostage situation. There’s action, drama, comedy and an apparently amazing scene where Van Damme addresses the camera — and addresses the mess he’s made of his life.
It arrives on DVD next month. Here’s the trailer:
February 13th, 2009
Here’s a trailer for STREET ANGEL, a short film based on a very funny comic book by Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca.
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Learn more about the film here, and buy a copy of the comic book here.
January 28th, 2009
Apparently the movie is back in green light territory. Joe Carnahan, who directed the so-so SMOKING ACES and the excellent NARC, will be sitting in the director’s chair, with brothers Ridley and Tony Scott and original A-TEAM producer Stephen J. Cannell handling producing duties.
Here’s a bit from the Hollywood Reporter report…
Carnahan seems like an ideal candidate for A-TEAM which told the adventures of a group of US Army Special Forces who are on the run for a crime they didn’t commit. The team included Hannibal, the leader whose favorite line was “I love it when plan comes together; Face, a ladies man; Howling Mad Murdock, an unstable pilot; and B.A. Baracus, the surly muscle (B.A. stands for “Bad Attitude”).Â
And here, in case you’ve forgotten the glory that is THE A-TEAM, here’s the opening from the TV show.
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Sidenote: I once interviewed Mr. T over the phone, and he was hilarious. The guy never stopped chuckling or cracking jokes for the entire interview.
December 8th, 2008
Here’s a link to my video review of Guillermo del Toro’s HELLBOY II, a comic book-based movie that I really liked. If you’re looking for something a little different with some comedy, action, monsters and offbeat characters, I think this will fit the bill nicely. (I’d post the actual video, but we’ve got bugs on the blogs that lock things up when there’s a video on the site. Don’t worry, we’re working on it!)
And here’s the print version. More words, fewer images.
August 14th, 2008
One of my favorite film critics, Glenn Erickson, has an interesting article over at his DVD Savant site. It’s titled “Whatever Happened to Great Fight Scenes?,” and, as you may have guessed, it looks at modern movie fight scenes and finds them lacking. I agree with Glenn that many modern fight scenes are editing so frenetically that its impossible to tell what’s happening. Like dance scenes in modern movies — think CHICAGO — this editing allows less-than-perfect dancers (or, in our case, fighters) to look like real pros. I’m a fan of THE DARK KNIGHT, but I agree with Glenn that the fight scenes are arguably the weakest part of the movie. (And that bulky Batman costume ain’t helping any.)
If you want to see some stunning fight scenes, check out any of the battles from Jackie Chan’s prime period (i.e., before he starred in RUSH HOUR). Jackie was a trained fighter and acrobat, and so were his co-stars. Here, for instance, is a fight from POLICE STORY 2…
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Notice how most of it is in a wide shot, allowing you to (a) keep track of what’s happening, and (b) appreciate the artistry of the stunts. The Hong Kong influence has been felt in Hollywood for years (think of THE MATRIX), but there’s still nothing like the real thing.
And, if you want to see some real fisticuffs from old Hollywood, here’s a clip from the 1954 DRAGNET movie. Jack Webb isn’t known as a great screen brawler, but I think you’ll agree this is a pretty impressive battle. Love those POV shots!
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