The Raid: Redemption

The Raid: Redemption
(2012) [Trailer]
Director: Gareth Evans (IMDB)

I was lucky enough to check out the NYC premier of this film at MOMA last night. The director Gareth Evans was there afterwards to do some Q&A. I learned that on average it took 15 takes to generally lock down an action scene, one guy from the film was hospitalized for a few weeks, and all while shooting in the ridiculously high temperatures in Indonesia. Was it all worth it? Read on, find out.

The Raid is pretty straight forward. Cops enter a tenement building run by a ruthless crime boss. They think the mission will be quick and easy. Get in and shut shit down, but things don't go according to plan.

This movie is awesome, especially if you're into action and martial arts. It's got some pretty insane stunts, fight sequences, and kill scenes. Imagine if John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13 slept with John Woo's Hard Boiled and you'd get an idea of where this movie stands, especially when you factor in the cool 80's-esque synth score that plays throughout The Raid. It does have it's issues however. I felt the pacing was a little off. The action is best served in short spurts and when the longer, more dragged out fight scene occurred, I found myself pulled out of the movie a little bit.

It's an extremely solid action flick and opens in theaters today actually.

The Limey

The Limey
(1999) [Trailer]
Director: Steven Soderbergh (IMDB)

I have seen this movie; however, before I put it on last night I was certain that I hadn't seen it. After a half hour into it, I realized I had watched it awhile back. Is that a bad thing? I'm not sure.

The Limey centers around Terence Stamp, an ex con who has come to LA from England to kill the man responsible for killing his daughter. 

There's not a whole lot to complain about with this movie. Steven Soderbergh's direction is pretty fantastic and extremely standoutish. He manages to weave scenes of the past (it's pretty cool that he used footage from one of Stamps older movies 'Poor Cow'), the present and future into a pleasant narrative. Also the out of sync dialogue, score, interesting cinematography, sporadic action and plotting all help to create a very interesting film. Terence Stamp is pretty rad in this, and a solid casting choice. Overall I found myself really entertained, however it starts to slow down a bit for me towards the end. Real good stuff, go find it on Netflix or whatever.

The Return of the Living Dead

The Return of the Living Dead
(1985) [Trailer]
Director: Dan O'Bannon (IMDB)

My parents did a pretty good job raising me up right. I'm not a drug addict, I'm pretty polite, I would consider myself of average intelligence... all and all a stand up guy. One thing that they definitely didn't do was restrict me from watching movies like Return of the Living Dead, Halloween or Killer Klowns from Outer Space. There's a lot of people out there overly concerned about kids playing violent video games or watching crazy ass movies, that's not a real problem, just don't be a douche bag parent and things will work out fine.

Synopsis: The movie starts up when two guys at a medical supply company unleash the undead and all hell breaks loose...that's good enough.

This film is a bit dated, but it still holds up for the most part. It's a solid run for a zombie flick, and sticks to all the tropes of that genre, except it injects comedy into the mix which was a little different for the time. Clu Gulager is pretty awesome in this but the punkers are a bit over the top. It was also pretty sweet to see Turtle from North Shore up in the house. Nobody listens to Turtle. I loved the practical effects, especially the slimy zombie in the basement, very good stuff there. This is now on blu-ray and definitely worth picking up.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
(2005) [Trailer]
Director: Shane Black (IMDB)

This movie is up there on a lot of people's best of for 2005 and all time. It was recommended to me by a few different people and I was pretty excited to sit down with it. Let's see if it lived up to the hype.

Robert Downey Jr is a small time crook posing as an actor, Madmartigan is a private eye, and Michelle Monaghan is a struggling actress. All three of them get tangled up in a murder mystery... The end.

So... I'm not won over by this; however, it was pretty entertaining. It's very meta or self aware, and that starts to get old as the movie progresses. The story isn't too unique and to me, the acting and style of the film are what really saved it. I did enjoy Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr in this, but one thing that also got old was the constant referring to Val being gay. It's brought up over and over, as if no one in the movie has ever hung out with someone who's gay. It's weird because I would expect something like that from a comedy in the 80's, but this came out in 2005. To wrap this up I'll say that it's pretty funny at times and definitely worth a watch, I just don't think it's 'best movie' material.

Date with an Angel

Date with an Angel
(1987) [Trailer]
Director: Tom McLoughlin (IMDB)

This is the end result of letting my wife pick a movie to watch on a lazy Saturday night. I can say I wasn't too excited about the selection, but I consider myself an equal movie watching opportunist.

This guy is planning to tie the knot with Phoebe Cates. He wakes up after his bachelor party to find an Angel (played by Paris Hilton) has fallen from heaven into his swimming pool. He then falls for her and the comedy ensues.

This movie is a piece. It's main problem for me is that it's not funny. I sat through the whole thing without one chuckle. Phoebe Cates is made out to be this crazy girl, when in reality, she's really done nothing wrong. Her shitty fiance just left her for another girl. Sure she's an angel, but she's a home wrecker too. His friends are assholes, seriously... who has friends like this? [SPOILER] The ending is retarded... angels get a leave of absence? Even if I believed in angels, you're telling me they are up there punching in on a time clock and get to ask God for time off? I thought they were people who died and went to spend their after life in the clouds. Now this movie is telling me that after I die, I can come back to earth, find some chick, and then get the ability to come back to life and live with her. GTFOMF! I know it's only a movie, but I'm calling bullshit.

Immortals

Immortals
(2011) [Trailer]

Director: Tarsem Singh (IMDB)

It's weird how you never hear about people believing in Greek or Roman Gods anymore. Why is it that those religions died out but Christianity and Buddhism stood the test of time? Someone please educate me on this matter. Thanks.

Theseus is a mere mortal picked by Zeus to lead an army against Mickey Rourke and a bunch of heathens. Rourke is a ruthless tyrant looking for a super bow & arrow that will make him invincible.

I've really enjoyed all of Tarsem Singh's movies, and I felt the same about this as I did the others... it's good but not amazing. Singh takes a stab at the sword and sandals genre with Immortals and puts his spin on it. Some of the visuals and effects in this are incredible. I loved the costume design as well, especially the Gods and Mickey Rourke. The story line isn't too inspired, and seemed a bit middle of the road to me. I guess the easy comparison would be to 300 and there's definitely similarities, especially with the action, but I'd say they're on same level for me. Where if you compared this to Clash of the Titans (the remake), which is the other easy comparison, it's far and above a greater film then that turd. Check it out, it's available on blu-ray or VOD.