It's that (Jesus) time again! The Street Preacher op-ed!
It's been awhile since I did one of these, but with The Action Reaction finally slowing down for the month as well as my growing restlessness to shoot the shit, I thought the time was right.
So, first off, I'd like to begin with a quick overview of the action-oriented films that I'm excited for over the next year and a half. The first one should be pretty obvious:
The Expendables (Sylvester Stallone, 2010)
Sylvester Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts, Brittany Murphy, Danny Trejo, Terry Crews, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Randy Couture, AND none other than the Governator himself. Need I say more?(!!!)
Avatar (James Cameron, 2009)
The last film this man made was Titanic. Before that, True Lies. Before that, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. Before that…well, you get the picture. Also features Michelle Rodriguez and Sigourney-frickin'-Weaver for hot-badassness's sake. It's the kind of film you're pretty much excited for by default.
Give 'em Hell Malone (Russell Mulcahy, 2009)
When I finally got around to seeing the teaser trailer for this, I almost shit my insides out. I haven't seen an action movie that looked like this in years (emulating A Better Tomorrow II, anyone?). It's old school, low-budget, and it's Russell Mulcahy teaming up with his new Christopher Lambert in Thomas Jane (the resemblance is uncanny!). I can't wait, big screen or DVD, I'm there.
The Tournament (Scott Mann, 2009)
In the always-great vein of Mean Guns and Battle Royale, we have a poor-man's Expendables cast (Scott Adkins, Kelly Hu, Ving Rhames, and Robert Carlyle, among others) coming together to kill each other for no apparent reason. Could you really ask for more?
Brooklyn's Finest (Antoine Fuqua, 2009)
After being pimped by John Woo, Antoine Fuqua hit a high note with Training Day. Since then, he's failed to return to that level, but this looks promising. Reuniting with Hawke (and the cop genre), Fuqua’s brought together a great New York cast (Richard Gere, Don Cheadle, Vincent D'Onofrio, Ellen Barkin, Lili Taylor and Wesley Snipes as a gangster(!)) and a story by a newcomer that might just flow in the same way Training Day did. We'll see what happens.
Takers (John Luessenhop, 2010)
This has 'ghetto Heat' written all over it. Pretty-boys Paul Walker and Hayden Christensen team up (it's like Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview with the Vampire, kind of, at least) as a young gang of bank robbers being pursued by a wily old detective (Matt Dillon, former pretty boy, awesome). Also features bad-boy Chris Brown. I don't care what anyone says—I'm genuinely excited for this. For now, at least.
The Book of Eli (The Hughes Brothers, 2010)
A "post-apocalyptic Western" pitting standard-hero Denzel Washington against standard-villain Gary Oldman. Sounds pretty awesome to me. And just look at this awesomely dystopian cast: Ray Stevenson, Jennifer Beals, Michael Gambon, and Tom Waits. And, with the Hughes Brothers at the helm, this may just be, well, awesome.
Rogue's Gallery (Fouad Mikati, 2009)
Yet another killfest, but this time with seemingly-comic elements. Apart from the silly tarot-card names, the film also features a spree of comedic actors (Jeffery Tambor, Rob Corddry, Bob Odenkirk, Michael Hitchcock, Zach Galifianakis, Beth Grant, and Brandon Jackson of Tropic Thunder). I really like the prospect of witty comedians put in action-oriented situations, though this is the kind of idea that hangs by a thread. We'll see how long it can hang on.
Note: Ving Rhames is in three of the above titles. Hence, Ving Rhames is awesome.
In other news, last weekend I caught Observe and Report. It was, as many have said, Taxi Driver trying for a laugh, and thus extremely disturbing in that respect. I'm not even going to try to write a review (pussying out, yes), because, frankly, the movie repulsed me in every way, but it did so in a strictly professional manner. It was consistently inconsistent in being a comedy or simply just a disturbing drama. I would say it was beyond the realm of dark comedy; it was something else entirely. To see 14-18 year old kids laughing their asses off when a character shoots someone point blank (and in no way a cool Tarantinoesque fashion) is more disturbing than the film itself. A horrible, disturbing trashfest I never plan to revisit again. Goodness.
In further news, I couldn't help but notice the (Twitter?) announcement of a future fourth Bourne film...To me, it's like making a fourth Lord of the Rings, or something; it just doesn't work. The three Bourne films were solid, fresh and innovative entertainment that shouldn't be tattered by excess sequels. Leave that to Kickboxer, or Critters, or some other ungodly series.
Finally, I want to bring to note something of a more serious nature. Recently, it was brought to my attention via the Film Experience Blog that my (everyone's) long-time favorite online shopping website, Amazon.com, has strangely and enigmatically filtered their search results against gay and lesbian material. The whole thing is pretty complicated (head over to Film Experience and its links for more info), but regardless, please take the time to sign this petition against the whole mess. If Amazon actually okay'ed this, I won't even know what to think. It's beyond embarrassing. Whatever professionalism Amazon once represented would now be gone. I really hope this is just some kind of fluke that can be fixed ASAP.
On a personal note, like with what happened over December-January, I will be out of the country from May 20th-June 13th. This time I'll be heading down to New Zealand (13-14 hour flight!?!?), again on a global seminar (mini study-abroad program). The Action Reaction might screech to a halt during that time, but, as always, I'll be back better than ever when summer rolls around. And since I'm already on the subject, I should also be moving out of my engimatic home state and down to Los Angeles by September of this year. Big plans, man, big plans.
~ Street Preach out!
No comments:
Post a Comment