I loved Nick de Semlyen’s The Last Action Heroes which took readers behind the scenes of the big 80s action heroes, their successes and blunders. When I heard he’s also written one about the big comedy stars of the 80s I sought out a copy of Wild and Crazy Guys immediately. The focus of this…
Tag: action
Escape Plan (2013) – Mikael Hafstrom
Escape Plan feels like a bit of an action throwback and leans into the escapist (pun intended) entertainment of the 80s and early 90s. And what better way to do that than with two of the biggest stars of the 80s Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a professional escape artist. He…
Southern Comfort (1981) – Walter Hill
Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine star alongside Peter Coyote, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales, Alan Autry, T.K. Carter, Les Lannom, Lewis Smith and Brion James in this gritty action thriller that finds a squad of nine National Guardsmen fighting for their lives in the Louisiana Bayou in what was supposed to be just a training exercise….
Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny (2023) – James Mangold
James Mangold is not Steven Spielberg. No one said he was. But stepping into a film series whose other four instalments were directed by Spielberg, comparisons will be drawn as Harrison Ford grabs his whip and fedora and settles into the iconic role of Indiana Jones one last time. There are lots of things to…
Shaolin Soccer (2001) – Stephen Chow
Writer/director Stephen Chow delivers another highly entertaining live-action cartoon that shows what happens when some washed-up Shaolin masters rediscover their powers and come together to play in the Chinese SuperCup competition. Chow is Mighty Steel Leg Sing. Despite his abilities, he can’t make a living and is trying to find a way to turn Shaolin…
Rush Hour 2 (2001) – Brett Ratner
So the racism, sexism and homophobia are back on display in the follow-up to the break-out hit, Rush Hour. Rush Hour 2 brings Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker back into action as Lee and Carter in a sequel that looks worlds better than the first but is still steeped in the same racist issues as…
The Kaiju Preservation Society (2022) – John Scalzi
John Scalzi knows how to tell a great story, and he proves it with The Kaiju Preservation Society, which is a thunderously enjoyable tale that gives us a fun and unique look at the horror/science fiction subgenre that is populated with stories of kaiju. Throwing nods to classic kaiju like Godzilla and newer ones like…
Batman (1966) – The Joker Trumps an Ace, and Batman Sets the Pace
The Joker (Cesar Romero) in The Joker Trumps an Ace. Written by Francis M. Cockrell and Marian B. Cockrell this episode was first broadcast on 6 April, 1966. The Joker is on a strange crime wave, and he’s doing a lot of it with mirrors, enough so to even baffle Batman (Adam West) and Robin…
Kung Fu Hustle (2004) – Stephen Chow
Stephen Chow not only directed Kung Fu Hustle, but he starred in it and had a hand in the script. And what he delivers is a wild action-comedy seasoned with some pop culture references as well as seeming to exist in a Warner Brothers cartoon. Set in 1940s China, the story follows a troubled man,…
The Witch: Part 2 – The Other One (2022) – Park Hoon-jung
The Korean actioner, The Witch: Part 1 – The Subversion was very engaging and I loved how it built a world and introduced the viewer to genetic manipulation, enhancing the human state, the variety of parties involved and a hint of the plan at its heart. The first film ended with some interesting reveals about…
The Mind Reels 