I had to walk away from FTP file transfers, control panel settings and PM’d requests from one writer after another asking me to sort out flawed permission settings. Birthing pains, man. Love the new site. Hate being in labor for days and days. The end result will be so worth it, even if several of us lose some hair in the process.

So when my roommate and her boyfriend mentioned they were about to watch Shoot ‘Em Up, everything switched off. Never got to see the flick (skipped the Comic Con screening Jeremy went to, was in Toronto when it opened) and had felt like I was probably missing something. Turns out I was, at least in parts.

The movie was a lot like Cloverfield for me. It’s got sequences that are jawdropping, just the sort of thing I’d want from that movie. Then there’s the almost interminable connective tissue; as soon as plot explanations come around I’ve only got Giamatti’s delicious grimace to keep me going. Well, that and Monica Belucci.

But the handful of truly inspired action sequences are so much fun. The Crank / Running Scared / Shoot ‘Em Up trilogy gives me new hope for the future of dirt stupid, Looney Tunes inspired movies. I don’t need these flicks to be smart; I only want them to realize that we’ve seen all the basic shit before and consequently go above and beyond. A few scenes in Shoot ‘Em Up do just that, and with huge flaming balls. Plus: ‘Ace of Spades’! This was my first time with the flick, but it won’t be the last. Blu-Ray disc, here I come.