Category: Action
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Green Hornet: Stoners aren’t very compelling heroes
The Green Hornet – 2011 Directed by Michael Gondry Starring Seth Rogen, Cameron Diaz, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Edward James Olmos, Tom Wilkinson, David Harbour Written by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg based on The Green Hornet by George W. Trendle, Fran Striker “So what if we had a hero movie, where the hero is a semi-conscious…
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The Next Three Days feels like a week or so
The Next Three Days – 2011 Directed by Paul Haggis Starring Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Liam Neeson, Brian Dennehy, Olivia Wilde, Jason Beghe Written by Haggis and Fred Cavayé The Next Three Days is a well-intentioned, methodical, and ultimately plodding remake of a French film (written and directed by Cavayé) called Anything for Her. It follows its…
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Unstoppable is a long train running for Denzel, Pine
Unstoppable – 2010 Directed by Tony Scott Starring Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson, Kevin Dunn, Ethan Supplie, Kevin Corrigan, Lew Temple, T.J. Miller, Jessy Schram Written by Mark Bowen Lew Temple is someone I cannot recall having seen before, although he has been in a handful of decent films in bit parts. His role…
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The Fighter is tailor made by Wahlberg
The Fighter – 2010 Director David O. Russell Starring Mark Wahlberg, Amy Adams, Christian Bale, Melissa Leo and a horde of Irish Sisters Written by Scott Silver, Paul Tamsay, Eric Johnson Every Oscar season is back loaded with all types of movies like The Fighter. They ought to just call every fall the Reader’s Digest…
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Millennium Trilogy, Part 3: The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest, but good
The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest – 2009 Directed by Daniel Alfredson Starring Noomi Rapace, Michael Nyqvist, Mike Spreitz, Annika Hallin, Aksel Morisse, Georgi Staykov, Anders Ahlbom Written by Jonas Frykberg, Ulf Rydberg, based on the novel by Stieg Larsson There is a moment early on when Lisbeth Salander (Rapace) lays nearly helpless in the…
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The A-Team rates a solid C+
The A-Team – 2010 – Unrated Edition Director – Joe Carnahan Starring – Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Wilson, Quinton Jackson, Sharlto Copely, Jessica Biel, Gerald McRaney, Brian Bloom, Henry Czerny, John Hamm Written by – Joe Carnahan, Brian Bloom, Skip Woods Of course I avoided The A-Team this summer when it came out, and…
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Machete is a political softball and hardcore action
Machete – 2010 Directed by Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis Starring Danny Trejo, Robert DeNiro, Jeff Fahey, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba, Don Johnson, Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Lindsay Lohan Written by Robert Rodriguez, Alvaro Rodriguez Machete was the goose that laid the golden eggs, but that changed to just an ugly duckling with the political climate of…
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RED (Retired Extremely Dangerous): Kicking Ass, Taking Geritol
RED – 2010 Directed by Robert Schwentke Starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, Mary-Louise Parker, Karl Urban, Brian Cox, Morgan Freeman, Ernest Borgnine, James Remar, Rebecca Pidgeon, Julian McMahon, Richard Dreyfus Screenplay by Jon and Erich Hoeber RED is a movie that is in no way in love with itself. There are many people…
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Samuel L. Jackson stares down the Unthinkable
Unthinkable – 2010 Director – Gregor Jordan Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Carrie Anne Moss, Brandon Routh, Stephen Root, Michael Sheen, Gil Bellows, Martin Donovan Screenplay by Oren Moverman, Peter Woodward There is a scene early in Unthinkable where special interrogator named “H”, played with a simple, elegant wisdom by Samuel L. Jackson, interrupts a standard…
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Scott Pilgrim vs. The World doesn’t require an explanation
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World – 2010 Directed by Edgar Wright Starring Michael Cera, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kieran Culkin, Alfie Rackley, Ellen Wong, Anna Kendrick, Alison Pill, Mark Webber, Johnny Simmons Screenplay by Edgar Wright, Michael Bacall based on the comic book series by Bryan Lee O’Malley The first best thing about Scott Pilgrim vs.…
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 