Action/Adventure
Roadracers
Whenever there’s a genre parody or ode to a specific era of films, such as Black Dynamite’s mocking of Blaxploitation films or Quentin Tarantino’s Death Proof, the second half of Grindhouse, the danger is that the film might fall into the trap of either being condescending without any particular insight, or so faithful that it […]
Megaforce
The initial financial failure of Disney’s Tron (directed by Steven Lisberger) was attributed to the enormous expectations based on the egregious expense of the project because of the complicated computer effects. Tron was simplistic story-wise, and the replication of the feel of a video game would become commonplace not long after its 1982 release. The […]
Bullet in the Head
A filmmaker like Larry Clark puts a viewer in a tough spot. When watching a movie like Kids, Bully, or Wassup Rockers, are we to believe that Clark has perfectly portrayed the aimlessness and idiocy of bored, wayward teenagers in search of a good time? Or is Clark just lazy himself, and he simply hasn’t […]
X-Men: First Class
An actor who is in dire financial straits, whether because of divorce or other negligence, often results in some rather interesting choices with regards to which roles they accept. Ben Kingsley appeared as villains in both the big screen version of Thunderbirds and in Uwe Boll’s Bloodrayne and why Nicolas Cage has found himself pounding […]
The Challenge
It’s not that hard to imagine a young Steven Seagal, pre-ponytail, chins, and widow’s peak, thinking of himself as the most important crew member on the set of John Frankenheimer’s The Challenge. Hired to do the Akido stuntwork, Seagal could easily see himself as Scott Glenn’s lead character, the towering white American respectfully learning all […]
Battle: Los Angeles/Skyline
It’s nearly impossible not to feel sorry for someone who is only made aware that they’ve lost their job through the press. It happens with TV actors all the time, the only way they know that their show has been canceled is when they read about it in Variety or see a report on an […]