Tag Archives: Action

21 Jump Street: A re-make you’ll thank God for

Posted on March 15, 2012 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

Whenever we as human beings are privy to something truly extraordinary, something that ignites an emotional power we usually only get glimmers of, we effusively try to convey the minutiae of that moment to others. 21 Jump Street is just such an occasion. With every new scene, every new cut, something hilariously brilliant and unexpected is lurking around the frame. Your throat’s going to go raw from cheering and your hands sore from clapping. This is what re-make dreams are made of.

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Posted in Filmsmith Faves, Reviews

Tagged 21 Jump Street, Action, Channing Tatum, Chris Miller, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Comedy, Jonah Hill, Michael Baccal, Phil Lord, scott pilgrim

Mission Impossible 4: Amazing fun without costing brain cells

Posted on December 23, 2011 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

Numerous films barely remain lively after their sequels, much less reach their fourth installment without going straight to DVD. Seeing Tom Cruise, closing in on fifty, return to the screen as super spy Ethan Hunt hardly seems a selling point, but The Incredibles director Brad Bird brings us a film that hearkens back to when action films produced real stunts and real thrills. In the words of James Lipton, it’s a delight. Continue reading →

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Tagged Action, Brad Bird, Jeremy Renner, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, Simon Pegg, Special Effects, The Incredibles, Tom Cruise

A sword-slashing trailer arrives for Takashi Miike’s “13 Assassins”

Posted on March 31, 2011 by Aaron Faulkner | Leave a comment

In 2002, Quentin Tarantino helped bring a marital-arts epic to the big screen, Yimou Zhang’s Hero. Starring Jet Li, the film featured a group of assassins desperately attempting to kill a tyrannical lord and in 2010, Japanese director Takashi Miike (Audition, Ichi the Killer) created a similar themed film, 13 Assassins.

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Posted in News

Tagged 13 Assassins, Action, Foreign, Samurai, Takashi Miike

Rare Exports a Christmas mess

Posted on January 17, 2011 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

The Finnish film documenting the true, ghastly nature of Santa Clause looked like it could be exploitation horror fun, but instead will leave you with question marks dangling over your head. The film makes huge leaps in narrative logic, in one case young Pietari deducing from explosions on a mountain, “Santa’s under there!”

What?!

Nothing implies such a statement and Pietari’s proclamation stands in for the film’s inability to expose such a key plot detail in any other fashion. Which is emblematic for the rest of the film, including the moment Pietari, hitherto a weakling, suddenly becomes Rambo as he organizes helicopter pickups and heroic gestures. Everything is inexplicable in Finland evidently.

Some of the issues could stem from a terrible subtitle translation, but most of the awful simply stems from bad storytelling. Cool idea, terrible execution. Don’t even bother renting.

-Remington Smith

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Tagged Action, Fantasy, Horror, Rare Exports, Santa Clause

“Unstoppable” an ok episode of Shining Time Station

Posted on November 14, 2010 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

Denzel Washington and Tony Scott. You hear those names and you immediately think of Man on Fire: Washington gets to kill bad guys in rectal ways, with Tony Scott providing stylistic verve that underscores his “Ass Kicker” credentials. Maybe if Washington could brandish a gun at some point in Unstoppable, the film might do more than chug along. Continue reading →

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Tagged Action, B-movie, Chris Pine, Denzel Washington, Disaster, Man on Fire, social commentary, Tony Scott, Train

Fall(ish) Movie Preview: September

Posted on September 3, 2010 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

The summer film season is coming to a close, but there is plenty to look forward to. Here is your complete mega movie fall preview.

:author’s note:

I believe that trailers reveal so much information that it can spoil or at least impede the experience of watching a film for the first time. I would recommend avoiding trailers if you know you’re going to see a film. If you’re unsure of a film, however, be my guest.

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Posted in News

Tagged 28 Days Later, Action, Alex Garland, Ben Affleck, Buried, Cheech Marin, Danny trejo, Devil, Documentary, Drama, Edward Norton, Gone Baby Gone, Grindhouse, Heat, Horror, Iraq, Jack Goes Boating, Jeremy Renner, Jessica Alba, Kazuo Ishiguro, Leaves of Grass, Lindsay Lohan, M. Night Shyamalan, Machete, Mark Romanek, Michelle Rodriguez, Mission Impossible 3, Never Let me Go, One Hour Photo, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Richard Dreyfuss, Robert De Niro, Robert Rodriguez, Ryan Reynolds, Steven Segal, Sunshine, Susan Sarandon, Synecdoche NY, The Town, they just fucked with the wrong Mexican, Tim Blake Nelson, Tom Savini, Waiting for "Superman"

The Expendables: Full of action, yes. Worth $10, no.

Posted on August 15, 2010 by The Filmsmith | Leave a comment

It’s harder to find straight up action packed cinema these days, with more and more studios walking the PG-13 line for bigger box office figures. Notably, Bruce Willis couldn’t even say his catch phrase in Live Free or Die Hard because an F-bomb is an R-rated offense. In contrast, The Expendables is a violent swearing sailor that pisses drunkenly on these sad sods that call themselves “action films” – but that doesn’t make it the best. Continue reading →

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Posted in Reviews

Tagged 80's, Action, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Dolph Lundgren, jet li, man on a mission, Mickey Rourke, Steve Austin, Sylvester Stallone, Terry Crews, The Expendables, violence

“Inception” is one of the most cerebral, kick-ass, poignant blockbusters you will ever see. Period.

Posted on July 19, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 8 comments

The main maxim of big budget Hollywood filmmaking is “Make it Safe.” Don’t stray from basic storytelling tropes and structures, and don’t be too smart in case you go over the audience’s head. In the end, you want to ensure that you will get a return on your investment. Thus, the prospect of losing hundreds of millions of dollars makes a lot of mainstream films ride along in the mediocrity lane of the film freeway. Continue reading →

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Posted in Filmsmith Faves, Reviews

Tagged Action, Blade Runner, Christopher Nolan, Drama, Dreams, Ellen Page, Hans Zimmer, Inception, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ken Watanabe, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cortillard, Replicant, Sci-Fi, Subconsciousness

“Predators” is a damn fine sequel to the original

Posted on July 18, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 2 comments

The original Predator (1987) is one of those films that is a defining moment for masculinity. I saw Predator when I was 8 years old and the mixture of mass muscled men, “bad” words, bullets, and bravado introduced me to what it meant to be male. The film is not a traditional work of art, but like director John McTiernan’s Die Hard, Predator is a quintessential action/sci-fi film. Continue reading →

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Posted in Filmsmith Faves, Reviews

Tagged Action, Adrien Brody, Aliens, Aliens vs predator, CGI, Clash of the Titans, Danny trejo, Daybreakers, Laurence Fishburn, Nimrod Antal, Practical effects, Predator, Predators, R Rated, Repo Men, Robert Rodriguez, Sci-Fi, Topher Grace

“Monsters” leaves audiences in shock and awe

Posted on June 20, 2010 by The Filmsmith | 6 comments

When you start watching films for a living, “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin'” becomes the haunting muzak filling the background of your consciousness. Films quickly pile up in the mediocre category, with few hitting genius, or even atrocious levels. When Monsters finished, however, I was covered with goose bumps and wanted nothing more than to sit quietly in the dark to mull it over. It is a film so powerful, fascinating and personal that it is a celluloid definition of why we go to the cinema.