Dropping their hard R rating, The Expendables are back for a third go round, and Sylvester Stallone returns with a star studded cast that kind of makes up for the lack of gore, but you still find yourself wishing for it anyway. This time it’s personal when Barney Ross (Stallone) leads his mercenary team on…
Tag: villain
Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) – Richard Donner
The gang is back together one last time for a less than stellar send off, but still a mostly satisfying conclusion to the Lethal Weapon series. With age creeping up on both Riggs (Mel Gibson) and Murtaugh (Danny Glover) they are thrown into a case that is going to push them to their limits. The…
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) – Lamont Johnson
Produced by Ivan Reitman, a score by Elmer Bernstein, a cast that includes Micheal Ironside, Ernie Hudson, Molly Ringwald, (an uncredited) Harold Ramis, and Deborah Pratt, Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone is an odd little b-movie science fiction film that tried to cash in on the re-blossoming fascination with 3D back in the early…
Live Free or Die Hard (2007) – Len Wiseman
Except for one blatantly over the top moment that completely destroys credulity, the fourth entry in the Die Hard series is pretty damned solid entertainment. Bruce Willis returns (without his hair) for a fourth time as NYPD John McClane who gets swept up in what appears to be a techo-terrorism plot to bring down as…
Dick Tracy (1990) – Warren Beatty
It’s been a long time since I sat down to watch this film, it may be since it first came out, or at least when it first hit video. I remember wanting to really get into this one when it first came out, I wanted it to be the next big summer blockbuster. So did…
Cloud Atlas (2012) – Lana & Lilly Wachowski and Tom Tykwer
I remember hearing about Cloud Atlas while it was in production and that Tom Hanks was being associated with it, as well as the directors of The Matrix. Consequently, I made sure to pick up a copy of the novel, by David Mitchell from the local library and worked my way through it, enjoying how…
The Secret Adversary (1922) – Agatha Christie
This week’s Agatha Christie novel, her second, introduced me to characters I’d never met before. I was aware of Poirot (in fact he was the only character of hers I did read when I was originally introduced to her books as a child), Miss Marple, of course, but I had never heard of Tommy and…
Collateral (2004) – 4K Review
Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx headline the fantastic Michael Mann film, Collateral that gets its 4K release from Paramount Pictures this week. A crisp thriller that was shot in high definition to begin with, looks nothing short of stunning in your home theatre. Cruise, playing against type, is the villain of the piece, a hitman…
Saboteur (1942) – Alfred Hitchcock
Hitchcock delivers a fantastically paced thriller, that stirs in some patriotism and humour as every man Barry Kane (Robert Cummings) finds himself caught up in a conspiracy on the eve of war. Kane works in an airplane factory, and is doing his part for the blossoming war effort. But when he inadvertently helps a fellow…
Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020) – Blu-Ray Review
DC Comics and Warner Brothers brings Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) back to the screen in Birds of Prey, the latest blu-ray/DVD release in the DC universe. And I won’t lie, I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had with this one. It’s quite amazing to see how far the character has come and…
Star Trek: Enemy Unseen (1990) – V.E. Mitchell
The Human Adventure continues, but they aren’t always outstanding. Sure, of late, there has definitely been an uptick in the quality of stories in the series of late. Unfortunately, Enemy Unseen by V.E. Mitchell didn’t do it for me. Originally written to be part of the five year mission, Paramount and Pocket Books changed the…
Black Widow: Secrets of a Super-Spy (2020) – Melanie Scott
Don’t despair Marvel fans, just because the new Black Widow film had to be delayed due to the pandemic, doesn’t mean you can’t learn all there is to know about her in the new Black Widow: Secrets of a Super-Spy now available from DK Canada. This one is a great read, and author Melanie Scott…
