The B Action Movie Thread - Page 1629

You're probably right.  JACKIE BROWN is probably destined to be his most genre-relaxed work.  That's cool.  I loves me some Jackie Brown.

Edit: Yep.  I'll still see it, though.  :)

From wikipedia: Development on Django Unchained began in 2007, when Quentin Tarantino, speaking with The Daily Telegraph discussed an idea for a form of spaghetti western set in America's Deep South which he called "a southern", stating that he wanted "to do movies that deal with America's horrible past with slavery and stuff but do them like spaghetti westerns, not like big issue movies. I want to do them like they're genre films, but they deal with everything that America has never dealt with because it's ashamed of it, and other countries don't really deal with because they don't feel they have the right to."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

I don't think Django is going to tackle race and slavery in a serious manner.

It's been done, lets have some fun with it!

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

Four Rooms, while not terrible, isn't very good.  Some nice performances within though.

 

 

Most Looking Forward To: 2012 Edition....

 

1. Prometheus

2. Django Unchained

3. The Dark Knight Rises

4. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

5. The Avengers

 

.......................and then a TON of other flicks.  There's A LOT of good shit headed our way this year that any cinephile worth their salt should be excited about.

1) Prometheus.
2) Cloud Atlas.
3) Universal Soldier 4.
4) Django Unchained. 
5) G.I. Joe 2.
6) Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance.
7) Haywire.
8) Safe/Parker.

9) The Raid.
10) Bullet to the Head.
11) Hunter Killer.
12) Gravity.
13) Dragon Eyes.

14) Lockout
15) Ted.

That should be awesome!

Spike Lee visits Wesley Snipes in Prison.

Counting down the days till the Snipester gets out. No more Art of War sequels though.

With regards to INGLORIOUS BASTARDS. The "Putting Out The Fire" scene with Shoshana is one of the most iconic and well shot sequences in recent memory. Melanie Laurent looks awesome in that red dress and the David Bowie song fits the scene perfectly.

Hey Guys, Aside from...Kill Bill, Kill Bill 2, and Pulp Fiction, the other Tarantino Film I...Love, is...Death Proof!  I disliked Jackie Brown, and was let down by how much the uninteresting lead actresses story was.  There are plenty of serious WW2 films, I wanted Inglorious Basterds to be like it's inspiration...The Dirty Dozen, like Tarantino was originally discussing.  It didn't have to be...All Action, just...All Basterds!  Brad Pitt, and The Bear Jew, were my...2 favorite characters from that film!  I have...ZERO interest in Django!  If there is a...Kill Bill 3, I would...Love to see that!

He's about 1 year, 4 months from freedom. Hopefully he calls in favours from Guillermo Del Toro, or Antoine Fuqua and comes back with a bang.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

I see DRIVE made over $13 million in France, Jox. That's a huge amount for this kind of movie, considering the population.

Yeah that was a huge surprise hit over here (and about the same as THE EXPENDABLES for comparison) for some reason, big opening week and word of mouth, totally unexpected though it's totally deserved of course.

I figured this would be of interest: Billy Drago, an appreciation. :)

Nice find.  

It's the team up you've all been waiting for.  Van Damme and that psycho stalker chick from FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.   Maybe his new reality show will be about her stalking him around the world... 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

 

Nice find.  

 

It's the team up you've all been waiting for.  Van Damme and that psycho stalker chick from FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS.   Maybe his new reality show will be about her stalking him around the world... 

 

Beautiful.

Going back to the QT talk, my annoyance sometimes has less to do with the films themselves, but more with people over-reaction to them.  I have felt that despite certain moments/performances, he has been hitting below target since Pulp Fiction.  Films like Lethal Weapon and The Matrix may have been heavily influenced by other titles, but they feel like their own films.  QT's insistence on non-linear narratives compound the feeling that you're sometimes watching a cut-and-paste exercise.  His strength is the Elmore Leonard inspired character exchanges, but in Death Proof, this was pure agony when Kurt Russell wasn't around.

What soured me on him personally was his Best Of lists for last year.  He's fully entitled to like/hate what he wants, that explains some of odd choices in his bottom and top 10s.  His 'Nice Try' list reeked of someone who has bought his own hype.  Two of the films he listed (Hanna and Drive) are, to me, better then anything he done in a while.  It's almost as if he finds a little subtlety offensive.

The positive things about his work include: Making Sam Jackson a star and giving him some of his best roles; giving Kurt Russell his best role in YEARS; raising awareness for the film he 'borrows' from, as a result they get bigger releases then they otherwise would have; giving forgotten or undervalued actors a big role in his films, David Carradine's Bill is the best example.

Overall, i'm glad he's becoming more productive.  But a great film-maker he is not.  Yet............

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macready 

What soured me on him personally was his Best Of lists for last year.  He's fully entitled to like/hate what he wants, that explains some of odd choices in his bottom and top 10s.  His 'Nice Try' list reeked of someone who has bought his own hype.  Two of the films he listed (Hanna and Drive) are, to me, better then anything he done in a while.

I liked Drive enough to put it on my top 10, but I've heard some well-reasoned arguments against its style, so Tarantino is not alone. I mean, for all the things Refn says about it being a homage to To Live and Die in L.A. or Thief, it's honestly nothing like those films. In any way. And I think that was a problem the film's detractors from this thread had. There was a great negative review somewhere -- I'll never find it, since I linked to it when the movie was in theaters -- by someone who really refuted the idea that a foreigner should devise an American action film that was frequently the antithesis of action.

I loved Drive and Hanna, but to suggest they're better than Inglourious Basterds is wrong wrong wrongity wrongensons.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Clark 

I loved Drive and Hanna, but to suggest they're better than Inglourious Basterds is wrong wrong wrongity wrongensons.

Just my opinion.  I found them to be more efficiently told stories and less pretentious.  An argument could made that they're all Fairy Tales/Fantasy films.

Also, Eli Roth isn't in either of those films.  That problem has been covered here several times, though.

New LOCK OUT Clip with Guy Pearce.

Yeah, thats the smart ass dialogue we were expecting.

Bumped to the top of my queue:

Just saw the Pilot Episode for Person Of Interest.

Never expected to like this procedual. But its well shot and Jim Cavizel makes an effective badass as well.

HANNA is better than anything QT has done in a decade.

thought you gents also might enjoy this stallone interview

http://www2.macleans.ca/2012/03/06/on-feuding-with-arnold-schwarzenegger-and-whats-wrong-with-todays-action-heroes/

Didn't outright hate, but didn't love Drive. Inglourious Basterds was well made and the long talks never sounded boring at all. Can't say the same for Death Proof. First half of that movie is BOOOORRRRRIIIIINNNNGGG, and the second half is awesome. Yeah, I'm one of those people.

The Last Hunter is pretty great, Elvis. You'll love it. David Warbeck is awesome as always.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tyler Foster 

No arguing that Tarantino probably gets unwarranted levels of praise from people who have not and won't ever know of a filmmaker edgier than Tarantino. At the same time, after two years of slogging through nearly 100+ genre pastiches via DVDTalk, I can say without a doubt that 19 out of 20 of these things don't even have a good moment in them, and significantly less are actually worth watching. What Tarantino has that 99.9% of his imitators don't is an encyclopedic knowledge of the films he's referencing and where those filmmakers came up with the riffs, and the influences that inspired them, and so on and so forth. Too many filmmakers just replicate what they saw, and usually what they saw was endearingly shitty already, so then you have a bunch of people doing a spoof of something they all just think is shitty, and the result is even shittier.

 

--

 

Also, my memory has always been that Rourke was supposed to do Death Proof. Doesn't matter either way, Kurt is great.

 

--

 

I saw John Carter, which was pretty good, and 21 Jump Street, which might be (for me) the funniest action-comedy since Hot Fuzz.

Completely agreed on QT.  He could easily point to any reference in his film and tell you exactly what he was referencing and every other film that references the same bit or was heavily influenced by the same material.  The biggest difference between Tarantino and his imitators is that 99.9% of the time he knows how to use those references in a different and interesting way, as opposed to simply regurgitating what came before.

On Death Proof...........................Quentin wrote DP with Mickey Rourke in mind for Stuntman Mike.  The early faux promo poster that he had done up even has Rourke's name on it.  My understanding is that Rourke flirted with signing on, but decided to get really ballsy and demanded a bunch of changes to the script.  They ended up having a falling out and I really doubt Tarantino will be going back to Rourke again anytime soon with a role.  Mickey has burned that bridge.  Hell, Mickey has burned most of the bridges he had with talented filmmakers.  The only ones actively pursuing him for roles still are Tony Scott and Robert Rodriguez...............and I suspect the latter is about to give up on him as well.  I suspect that within the next five years, Mr. Go Play With Yourself is going to find his career in the same shitpile it was in at the end of the 80s......................and for the expect same reasons: ego and greed.  I find it hilarious reading any interview with him around the time The Wrestler caught on.  He seemed so humble and dead set on making the best of his comeback.  So much for that!  Anyway, Rourke passed and Quentin took the role to Sly.  Stallone passed due to scheduling conflicts and Quentin was supposedly out of ideas at the time.  Apparently Rodriguez was the one who suggested he try to get Kurt Russell and the rest is history!

As for 21 Jump Street, I think both you and Joon have finally convinced me to make it a point to see that sucker in theaters.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Engineer 

Again, I'm a Tarantino fan.  What he does, he does exceedingly well.  And I'd love to see him do something truly uniquely personal.  Something about who he is and what he's lived through in his life, for example.   This DJANGO UNCHAINED sounds like a step in the right direction in that it could be his chance to tackle themes of race and slavery, if it's not too pulped-up.  Maybe I'm off base, though.  Either way, I'm looking forward to it!  :)

Unless he shoots it in a crazed fashion, Django isn't going to be "pulpy".  Quick and brutal with a dark sense of humor is a better way to describe the script as written.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dude hallenbeck 

11) Hunter Killer.

Unless this sucker gets off the ground in the next couple of months, there's no way it's getting released in 2012.  I don't even think they have leads yet, unfortunately.  A few current action star-esque actors have flirted with the project, but as far as I know none of them officially signed on yet.

So fucking sad that Mickey "Go play with yourself" Rourke burned that bridge with Tarantino. Guy is TAILOR MADE for being a sleazy degenerate in Django Unchained.

Can't really find fault with much of anything Tarantino has done behind the camera. DOGS through KB2 is a legendary run. DEATH PROOF is a bit uneven and committed the cardinal sin of making Zoe Bell believe she should act, but Kurt alone is enough for me to enjoy it. INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS is pretty much perfect as is.

If I had one knock on Tarantino it would be I don't enjoy listening to him being interviewed as much as I used to. When PULP came out it was fascinating to hear him talk about film. That interview he did with Charlie Rose that's on the PULP DVD and Blu-Ray is still something I watch every couple of years. But now he definitely has a smugness about him that is sort of a turn-off. I can see why he exudes that aura, nearly 20 years of people telling you that you redefined cinema will lead you to actually believe it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Engineer 

Quote:

I don't mean to slam...  Hmm, how shall I put this...?

 

People thought Sergio Leone could only do westerns, until he made a classic gangster picture (Once Upon A Time in America).

People thought Mel Brooks only cared about comedy and parody, until he produced David Lynch's The Elephant Man.

People thought Scorsese could only make gritty New York films, until he made (among others) The Last Temptation of Christ, Kundun and eventually Hugo.

 

I'm always fascinated when a filmmaker steps outside his comfort zone.  Sometimes, the results can be a wreck but sometimes the artist can bloom when they leap into a larger world.

 

Again, I'm a Tarantino fan.  What he does, he does exceedingly well.  And I'd love to see him do something truly uniquely personal. 

 

I understand what you're saying... I just think that his movies ARE deeply personal.  That's him, the film geek, through and through.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macready 

 

Overall, i'm glad he's becoming more productive.  But a great film-maker he is not.  Yet............

 

I'd say he's there.  Kill Bill is quite astounding, really.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

I think DOGS, PULP FICTION, KILL BILL and BASTERDS are more than enough to qualify QT as a great film-maker.

Exactly.  And I hope he's only gonna get better.

Honestly, the fact that he is FINALLY tackling spaghetti western territory full-on has me as giddy as a school girl.

I'm still rooting for Mickey Rourke. I mean I've been down since DINER. But this bridge burning is legendary for its self-destructive insanity. I hope there's another talented filmmaker out there allowed a chance to get a performance such as THE WRESTLER out of him.

About to watch TAKE SHELTER, and there was a trailer beforehand for a movie that I'd never heard of, but looked pretty interesting RETREAT. There's a worldwide apocalyptic epidemic, and the survivors on a vacation spot island must try to deal/escape. I'm curious to give it a shot next time I'm in the video store.

Quote:

Originally Posted by S.D. Bob Plissken 

Honestly, the fact that he is FINALLY tackling spaghetti western territory full-on has me as giddy as a school girl.

Me too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macready 
In celebration of the Perlman drag, I give you another individual who should never have tried it.

 

Bolo Yeung.

 

Wow. I can't say I had ever heard of him appearing in drag in any of his movies, but after looking it up, he did indeed do that in 1991's Breathing Fire, something that I understand is pretty terrible but besides him being in drag, he fights Short Round from Temple of Doom! That almost makes me want to watch it now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 
Here's the synopsis:
http://m.totalfilm.com/news/first-look-at-ryan-gosling-in-only-god-forgives

I hadn't even heard of the movie until just now but it does sound interesting, even if I say Drive wasn't as awesome as others say it is. Hopefully it'll at least have a lot of style and a cool soundtrack.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat Elvis 

Bumped to the top of my queue:

A movie about Vietnam directed by the guy who gave us Cannibal Apocalypse (oh, and also Yor: Hunter from the Future)? Sounds rather interesting.

Interesting discussion going on regarding QT, from all sides.

If someone gave me a chance to make movies. Well, I think we all know what kind of brilliant insanity I'd create. I'd never let myself turn into a smug bastard though. I'd want to be like Sly and be funny and humble. Even though Sly at one time was as smug bastard.

Bob Plissken and I were discussing Rourke on facebook, and that led me to pop on Year Of The Dragon since I haven't seen it in a while. It was one of my picks in the action draft we did a few years back. A poster of Year Of The Dragon was also my first avatar on here when I joined back in 2006. So yeah, it's kind of one of my favorite movies of all time.

Here's a picture of Rourke I found on Google.

"Go play with yourself."

Weinsteins to remake THE MAN FROM NOWHERE:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-us-manfromnowherebre828058-20120308,0,320667.story

As I always say, when you want to remake a nifty Korean action flick you hire the writer of ABDUCTION.

Truly the Gold Stamp of Quality.

Scott Adkins remarked on Facebook

"The Raid is the best action film I've seen since The Matrix, it truly lives up to the hype. Me, Gareth Evans & Larnell Stovall at a screening."
 

Van Damme tries method acting on his new movie THE BUTCHER:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Perfect Weapon 

 

Wow. I can't say I had ever heard of him appearing in drag in any of his movies, but after looking it up, he did indeed do that in 1991's Breathing Fire, something that I understand is pretty terrible but besides him being in drag, he fights Short Round from Temple of Doom! That almost makes me want to watch it now.

 

The film has Jerry Trimble in it as well.  Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan) is the lead and it was reasonably fun b-picture.  

The drag disguise is for a Bank robbery and he makes his mean face when he springs into action.  Very scary!  

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moltisanti 

Weinsteins to remake THE MAN FROM NOWHERE:

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/sns-rt-us-manfromnowherebre828058-20120308,0,320667.story

 

 

 

As I always say, when you want to remake a nifty Korean action flick you hire the writer of ABDUCTION.

Rated PG-13, no doubt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by felix 

Truly the Gold Stamp of Quality.

 

 

Scott Adkins remarked on Facebook

 

"The Raid is the best action film I've seen since The Matrix, it truly lives up to the hype. Me, Gareth Evans & Larnell Stovall at a screening."
 

 

Making friends.  That Scott Adkins is no fool.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

 

Van Damme tries method acting on his new movie THE BUTCHER:

 

Looks good.  All we need is for JCVD to start doing for actual martial arts in his films.  Then again, in Behind Closed Doors I remember his doctor telling him he had worn out his hip joints.

I think the doctor said he shouldn't do his sweeping roundhouse kick too much when training 3 or 4 hours per day for the fight, which now appears to be cancelled.   He can still do it though - practically every 10 minutes in the program - especially if it's only a few times for a fight scene.

But you're right, VD should do more martial arts in his movies.  I haven't seen ASSASSINATION GAMES though.  Does he do many kicks in that one?

Some more info from Sly's Q & A about VD in EX2:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

I think the doctor said he shouldn't do his sweeping roundhouse kick too much when training 3 or 4 hours per day for the fight, which now appears to be cancelled.   He can still do it though - practically every 10 minutes in the program - especially if it's only a few times for a fight scene.

 

But you're right, VD should do more martial arts in his movies.  I haven't seen ASSASSINATION GAMES though.  Does he do many kicks in that one?

Thanks for clarifying. 

No kicks whatsoever in Asassination Games.  In fact not much hand to hand at all from him.  If he's saving himself for a better film, I can't complain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluelouboyle 

Some more info from Sly's Q & A about VD in EX2:

 

 

I met Claude back when he was 21 years old, he was at my house...and doing splits. And I was thinking, can I drive you to the bus stop or something? ;D

Now it's funny that 25 years later we're in this movie.

JCVD was like Sly "beee careefulll now, of my kickkk, it will take off your head. it just goes up like that, whoosh."

He essentially said how Claude insisted on getting beat up for their fight scene. It was hilarious when Sly put the French accent on and said "Sly, c'mon...vee are men. let's do this" Sly said OK sure...do you want to go first? Claude was like yes. Sly then said to the audience **** **** **** ! And they took so much pain and he just said it's going to be epic and memorable. 

 

Despite the PG13, I am still hoping this turns out OK.  It nice to hear that Van Damme is bringing it.  Let's hope his role gives him plenty of opportunities to be a badass.

He fights Adkins and there's no kicking??  What the hell were they thinking?   At  least THE SHEPERD had a half-decent VD - ADKINS showdown.  Too short though.

This is the JC vs Adkins fight we got instead.

And looks like we'll be getting another BURIED rip-off again. With Stephen Dorff this time!

Video Store Adventures: The Blu-Rays of THE SKIN I LIVE IN & THE GUARD + DVD of RETREAT

(plus borrowed from a buddy the much maligned Kirk Douglas/Harvey Keitel/ Farrah Fawcett sci-fi thriller/ ALIEN rip-off SATURN 3. I'm hoping for hilariously bad, I mean Keitel is dubbed by a British actor)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moltisanti 
As I always say, when you want to remake a nifty Korean action flick you hire the writer of ABDUCTION.

Oh yes. At least it's not Screen Gems who is making it; otherwise, though, I don't have high hopes for it.

Meanwhile, I think part of my childhood just died after watching this:

If you ever wanted to see HULK HOGAN sing Lady Gaga and wear his goofiest outfit since Mr. Nanny, then this is perfect for you. Otherwise, though, man do I feel SO bad for The Hulkster the past 5 years or so. I don't even want to go through all of his problems, but just this week there's this video and the news that someone filmed a SEX TAPE of him from a few years ago when he was allegedly on a few month bender after he split up from his wife and lost his mind. Sigh...

Well, he's got to pay the alimony somehow I guess.

Granted I haven't seen it in at least 15 years, but I recall enjoying Saturn 3 and parts of it being somewhat fucked up.  My memory is hazy though, so don't take that as gospel.  I've often looked forward to revisiting it at some point in the near future.  I need to track down a copy of it somehow.
 

True Justice Season 2 Promo shot.

Terrible.

Gents, I don't know which of you are gamers like me but I finally bought Kane & Lynch: Dog Days and it was four hours of superb action. Really great handheld style to go along with the violence and naked sprinting through the rain as angry Chinamen shoot at you! I recommend this game enthusiastically.

The first game was also a great emulation of action films up until you enter the jungle. Fuck that section.

Either Seagal slimmed down a bit, or they did some enhancing, because he doesn't look as portly as he has in some of the recent interview footage we've seen. Probably enhancing. His face continues to get more orange though. He needs to tone down the make up.

Spring Break officially started for me about 2 hours ago. It's cold right now and rainy. Still, I made a trek out to the comic book store to get my comics, stopped off at KFC, and listened to the first disc of the Apocalypse Now Soundtrack while I did all this. Got the soundtrack in yesterday, and I already own both cassette tapes after finding them around 1998/99 at a Half Price Books. Just wanted to own the cd set.

Now I'm revisiting one of the classic action films that never gets old. Predator. Felt like it would be a good way to start Spring Break, and I also just ordered the soundtrack from Buy Soundtrax.com.

"Time to let ol' painless out the bag."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macready 

 

Despite the PG13, I am still hoping this turns out OK.  It nice to hear that Van Damme is bringing it.  Let's hope his role gives him plenty of opportunities to be a badass.

 

I know I've been ripping a lot on the PG-13 rating, but the old school Action fan in me still wants to see this.

Quote:

Originally Posted by felix 

True Justice Season 2 Promo shot.

 

Looks like they'll be using CGI to get actors to do a photoshoot with him.

Hey Guys, After Seeing John Carter, understand...Dejah View, must have been named after the first time John...VIEWed Dejah Thoris!  John Carter...PULPS, all other Pulp Science Fiction Films and Series!  MARSch 9TH is...Carter Country!  It is an...Awe-Inspiring Spectacle, with Spectacular Adventures, on...Barsoom!  Lynn Collins is a...Revelation, as Dejah Thoris!  She doesn't...Reveal as much of her as a...R Rated John Carter film would, but the...View of Dejah in the Zondagian Wedding Dress is...Jaw Dropping!  Whilist there will not likely be a sequel, this is a Pulp Science Fiction Spectacular with no Equal!