By the time this post appears on the blog I will have read this book about a month and a half ago while I was on a vacation in the Caribbean. Consequently, surrounded by an environment Crichton’s characters inhabit, the ride was an adventuresome delight. In the year 1665, Captain Charles Hunter is in Port…
Tag: violent
Red Heat (1988) – Walter Hill
Red Heat has quite the pedigree. It has Walter Hill directing. It has a score by James Horner. And look at this cast, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Belushi, Peter Boyle, Gina Gershon, Laurence (as Larry) Fishburne, Brion James, Ed O’Ross, Pruitt Taylor Vince, and Mike Hagerty. That’s insane. Red Heat keeps Hill solidly in violent, and…
The Accountant (2016) – Gavin O’Connor
Ben Affleck headlines in this solid actioner that co-stars Anna Kendrick, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons, John Lithgow, Jean Smart and Cynthia Addai-Robinson. Intercutting with flashbacks to his childhood, we are introduced to Christian Wolff (Affleck) a forensic accountant who has no problem working for the underworld, and occasionally clashing violently with them as well. Wolff…
Land of Bad (2024) – William Eubank
Land of Bad is a crisp military actioner. With a solid cast that includes two Hemsworth brothers, Liam and Luke, Russell Crowe and Milo Ventimiglia, the film takes us on a high-tension, tightly-crafted mission that sees a Delta Force team, and it’s accompanying drone (and operator) on the run after things go pear-shaped. The Delta…
Death Rides a Horse (1967) – Giulio Petroni
Lee Van Cleef stars alongside John Phillip Meceita in this spaghetti western from Giulio Petroni. My knowledge of spaghetti westerns is pretty slim, so it should come as no surprise that I had never heard of this one, but with Lee Van Cleef in it I figured why the hell not? What it is, is…
Monkey Man (2024) – Dev Patel
Dev Patel directs and stars in Monkey Man, an action revenge film that makes sure to add in emotion, trauma, as well as some commentary on religion and politics. It’s all done without losing the driving, pulse-pounding action sequences that make this film incredibly enjoyable and watchable. As the nameless hero of the film, known…
King of New York (1990) – Abel Ferrara
Christopher Walken is completely captivating as Frank White, a recently paroled drug dealer who is using violence to get his way on the streets even as he tries to position himself as a possible political force in the city. Filled with now classic rap tunes, the film is gritty, violent and features a stellar cast…
The Hitman’s Bodyguard (2017) – Patrick Hughes
Ryan Reynolds leads a pretty solidly packed cast in a fairly paint-by-numbers action film that despite its predictability is a lot of fun, largely in part because of the casting. Ryan Reynolds, Samuel L. Jackson, Salma Hayek, Gary Oldman, Richard E. Grant, and Joaquim de Almeida. That’s some pretty top-drawer talent, and they all look…
Drive (2011) – Nicolas Winding Refn
It’s taken me a while to get around to watching Ryan Gosling in Drive, I’m not sure what was holding me back, but I finally settled into this one, and I have to admit, I really dug it. First off, let’s mention the cast that surrounds Gosling in this film, there’s not an actor that…
6 Underground (2019) – Micheal Bay
Micheal Bay films can be very hit-and-miss, and when you factor in his almost seizure-inducing editing style you know the film is going to have a certain look and pacing, To be fair, there are Bay films I do enjoy, but unfortunately even with Ryan Reynolds exuding as much charm and humour as he can,…
The Mind Reels 