Friday 24 May
 
 

The Burning

It speaks to the strength of The Burning’s reputation among cult-film fans that what’s most memorable about the 1981 slasher is not that it was written by the Weinstein brothers, nor that it represents early appearances of the likes of Jason Alexander, Holly Hunter and Fisher Stevens. It’s that its Cropsy is just a damned good villain.
05/24/2013 | Comments 0

Dexter: The Seventh Season

There's no way to discuss the seventh and penultimate season of Showtime's hit Dexter without acknowledging how the previous year ended. Therefore, if you haven't finished the sixth season, stop reading now. You've got work to do.
05/21/2013 | Comments 0

Nightfall

As Simon Lam gets older, he gets better. The veteran actor has appeared in such in seminal HK action films of the 1990s as Once Upon a Time in China (opposite Jet Li) and Bullet in the Head (directed by John Woo); in the aughts, he graced audience and critical favorites Election and Ip Man.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

Grand Duel

Lee Van Cleef enjoyed a secondary career in Italy cranking out spaghetti Westerns, with little regard to quality. However, 1972’s Grand Duel — aka The Big Showdown — is deserving of its Grand label. No wonder Quentin Tarantino borrowed its sweeping theme song by Luis Bacalov for Kill Bill; you'll recognize it in two notes.
05/20/2013 | Comments 0

The Last Stand

Early in The Last Stand, the small-town sheriff played by Arnold Schwarzenegger says, "It's my day off. Should be a quiet weekend." That's the new way of saying, "I've got one week to retirement," because it signals — with flashing neon and everything — that life is going to royally upend those plans.
05/17/2013 | Comments 0
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Action
 

Fast & Furious 6

Not so ‘Fast.’


Action

Rod Lott
Right down to the dramatic shot of the cast members walking in a single row toward the camera, the title sequence for Fast & Furious 6 feels every bit like that of a TV series. It’s only natural, given how episodic this entry is — all it lacks is the “Special Guest Star” credit. (But on that note, don’t leave as soon as it ends.)
 
Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Iron Man 3

This metal is still precious.


Action

Rod Lott
You’ll hear the phrase “hot mess” bandied about the whole of Iron Man 3. For a while — the entire first act, really — the film embodies it, minus the hot.
 
Thursday, May 2, 2013

The Bourne Legacy

The spy franchise is 'Bourne' again with a new leading man.


Action

Phil Bacharach
Just because you don’t have Jason Bourne, Matt Damon or a Robert Ludlum novel to crib from doesn’t mean you can’t still wring some thrills out of the Bourne franchise. With the dog days of the summer box-office season comes The Bourne Legacy, a respectable spy actioner, even if it falls short of the standard set by its predecessors.
 
Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Dark Knight Rises

Christopher Nolan directs a fitting send-off to his Batman trilogy.


Action

Phil Bacharach
Due to the twisted savagery of a young man in a Colorado movie theater, The Dark Knight Rises will forever be a footnote in American history. Hopefully, that horrific massacre will not influence perceptions of this epic conclusion to writer-director Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy.
 
Monday, July 23, 2012

The Amazing Spider-Man

It's amazing that this remake works as well as it does.


Action

Rod Lott
 I still don’t know why Hollywood felt that Spider-Man, all of 10 years young, needed to be remade — I suspect it has to do with selling toys. Enough of calling The Amazing Spider-Man a “reboot,” too; this is a remake through and through.
 
Monday, July 2, 2012

The Avengers

So many superheroes, so little satisfaction.


Action

Rod Lott
I swear I’m not playing the contrarian card for the sake of doing so, but I disliked The Avengers — not with a passion, but mere disengagement. With the exception of Thor, I loved all the films leading up to this ultimate one, from 2008’s Iron Man to last summer’s Captain America: The First Avenger. I even entered this one carrying next-to-no expectations.
 
Friday, May 4, 2012

The Raid: Redemption

Up and at ’em!


Action

Rod Lott

Fans of pure action cinema are apt to grow delirious with glee over The Raid: Redemption, an Indonesian crime thriller that relies so much upon the universal language of violence, one could enjoy it without subtitles.

 
Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Viral Factor

Catch a rare opportunity for infectious Asian action on the big screen.


Action

Rod Lott
Attention, fans of Asian blockbusters: You have a rare opportunity to see one play on the big screen, when The Viral Factor opens Friday exclusively at AMC Crossroads Mall 16, 1211 E. Interstate Highway 240. Provided you’re already into the genre, it’s worth the drive.
 
Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol


Action

Rod Lott
One need not worship Xenu to enjoy “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol,” starring America’s most famous Scientologist, so check your religious beliefs and Operating Thetan levels at the door.
 
Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Drive


Action

Rod Lott
To race right to the finish line, as it were, “Drive” is — so far — the year’s best film and a new crime classic.
 
Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Captain America: The First Avenger

Enlist in 'Captain America,' the final and finest superhero adventure of a summer season flooded with them.


Action

Rod Lott
"Captain America: The First Avenger" is Marvel's third — third! — superhero movie just this summer, following "Thor" and "X-Men: First Class," so it would be reasonable to expect audiences to be burned out on men in tights.
 
Monday, July 25, 2011

Thor

Unneccesary 3D, and too long, but other than that...


Action

Rod Lott
By god (pun intended) did “Thor” ever give me a headache.
 
Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Fast Five

The most entertaining of ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise


Action

Rod Lott
Some would equate the statement “the most entertaining of ‘The Fast and the Furious’ franchise” with “the best time I got punched in the face.”
 
Friday, April 29, 2011

Hanna

The action-thriller ‘Hanna’ is all stylish teen angst ... with a body count.


Action

Phil Bacharach
Life can be hard for a 16-year-old girl. Clueless parents, frenemies, boy trouble, pressure over grades, zits: The dramas are nearly Shakespearean. And that doesn’t even take into account the shadowy government agents out to get you.
 
Wednesday, April 6, 2011

The Mechanic

Jason Statham. You know the rest.


Action

Rod Lott
Whether “The Transporter” or now “The Mechanic,” Jason Statham has one job in Hollywood, but he does it quite well: being cinema’s most reliable action star of the 21st century.
 
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
 
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