Tag Archives: Action

Sign

16 October 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Silent Hour:

Boston homicide cop Frank Shaw (Joel Kinnaman) suffers permanent and progressive hearing loss while pursuing a murder suspect through shipping docks of Boston. After returning to duty, his ex-homicide partner volunteers him to interview a deaf witness, Ava (Sandra Mae Frank) who has information about two recent murders near her 10-story apartment building. Frank and Ava soon find themselves frantically running through her building trying to avoid the killers who are determined to silence Ava.

“The Silent Hour” is a low-budget movie with nothing new under the sun plot that doesn’t allow for many surprises, or I should say no surprises. When the story does make a few detours from the tried and true, it feels more like filler rather than substantive elements enhancing the narrative. However, it is competently directed and well-acted, and its brevity ensures it remains engaging enough to be watchable.

Genre:  Action—Crime—Mystery–Thriller

Directed by: Brad Anderson

Screenplay by: Dan Hall

Music by: Anton Sanko

Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Sandra Mae Frank, Mekhi Phifer, Mark Strong

Film Locations: Malta and Ontario, Canada

ElsBob: 5.0/10

IMDb: 5.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 64%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: –%

Metacritic Metascore: –%

Metacritic User Score: –%

Theaters: 11 October 2024

Runtime: 99 minutes

Source: IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic. Graphic: The Silent Hour poster, copyright Republic Pictures and AGC Studios.

Storm Chasers and Death Wishes

10 October 2024 By in Movies, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Twisters: Kate Carter (Edgar-Jones), retiring her youthful death wish as a storm chaser starts afresh in NYC as a cubical bound meteorologist. In the Big Apple we learn she really didn’t want to be there because it was a pointless plotline with her resolve having the staying power of a dust devil in a snowstorm. With that drama out of the way she’s back in the OK prairies chasing her dream in a Ram truck.

Glenn Powell as Tyler Owens is worth the price of admission, the CGI is impressive, and the cinematography astounding but the screenplay lowers the movie back down to pedestrian status.

Trivia: Downtown OKC was transformed into NYC to shoot Kate Carter’s away from life hiding place.

Genre:  Action—Adventure—Disaster—Fantasy–Thriller

Directed by: Lee Isaac Chung

Screenplay by: Mark L. Smith

Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glenn Powell, Anthony Ramos

Film Locations: Oklahoma City, USA

ElsBob: 6.0/10

IMDb: 6.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 75%

Rotten Tomatoes Popcornmeter: 91%

Metacritic Metascore: 65%

Metacritic User Score: 6.2%

Theaters: 19 July 2024

Runtime: 122 minutes

Source: IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic. Graphic: Twisters movie trailer and poster, copyright Universal and Warner Bros.

Future Apes

25 September 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes: In the future some apes remember Ceasar, some lord over their slaves, some covet man stuff, and some are for the birds–Animal Farm meets Captain Fantastic.

Kingdom is the 10th movie in the series that began in 1968 with Planet of the Apes starring Charlton Heston; still the best of the banana bunch, originality wise that is.  

This movie is the first in a planned new trilogy that attempts to build on the previous trilogy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t surpass them in either acting or plot except for the supporting work of Kevin Durand for his portrayal of the movie’s antagonist, Proximus. He is superb and worth the price of admission.

Trivia or Goof: The flooding the man cave defies gravity. Try not to think about it.

Genre:  Action—Adventure—Drama–Fantasy—SciFi–Thriller

Directed by: Wes Ball

Screenplay by: Josh Friedman

Music by:  John Paesano

Cast: Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand, Peter Macon

Film Locations:  New South Wales, Australia

ElsBob: 7.0/10

IMDb:  6.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  80

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  78

Metacritic Metascore: 66

Metacritic User Score:  7.0/10

Theaters: 11 May 2024

Runtime: 145 minutes

Budget:  $160 million

Worldwide Box Office:  $397.4 million

Source: IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic. Graphic: Movie trailer and poster, copyright 20th Century Studios.

Ride

11 September 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Bikeriders: To Kathy (Comer), Benny (Butler) was everything she wanted in a man, handsome, quietly romantic, and wild. She slipped into Benny’s life with the ease of a merge into 3 a.m. traffic, marrying him 5 weeks after first meeting him.

Benny was an enigmatic cross between Peter Fonda’s Easy Rider’s Captain America aka Wyatt and James Dean’s, Jim Stark in Rebel Without a Cause. He didn’t fit into life but Kathy, his bike and the Vandals’ motorcycle club was his universe except he couldn’t resolve their correct order of importance.

Trivia: In real life, the motorcycle gang that inspired the Vandals in the movie “The Bikeriders” was the Chicago Outlaws Motorcycle Club, a criminal enterprise. The film is loosely based on that club in which Outlaw member Danny Lyon dramatized in his 1968 photobook, ‘The Bikeriders.’

Genre:  Action—Biographical–Crime–Drama—Historical

Directed by: Jeff Nichols

Screenplay by: Jeff Nichols

Music by:  David Wingo

Cast: Jodie Comer, Austin Butler, Tom Hardy

Film Locations:  Cincinnati, Ohio

Els: 7.5/10

IMDb:  6.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  80

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  75

Metacritic Metascore: 70

Metacritic User Score:  6.3/10

Theaters: 21 June 2024

Runtime: 116 minutes

Budget:  $30-40 million

Worldwide Box Office:  $35.8 million

Source: IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic. History vs Hollywood. Graphic: Movie Poster, Focus Features.

Hamlet Plays Conan

4 September 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Prince Amleth, ‘The Northman’, losing his royal inheritance with the murder of his father the king, vows vengeance against his uncle, killer of his father, and kidnapper of his mother.

‘The Northman’ is loosely based on the Norse legend of Amleth, son of King Horwendil and his wife Gerutha. Horwendil was murdered by the king’s brother Feng, who then married Gerutha. Amleth feigned madness to retain his head and to plot his vengeance upon his uncle for murdering his father.

Amleth was Shakespeare’s inspiration for Hamlet in his most famous tragedy ‘Hamlet, Prince of Denmark’. Hamlet is the son of the late king of Denmark and the king’s wife Gertrude. He is also the nephew of the present king, Claudius who killed his father and took Hamlet’s mother as his wife. Hamlet is told by his father’s ghost that Claudius murdered him and that he must exact revenge for his death. The play climaxes where Hamlet, Gertrude, and Claudius all meet a tragic end.

Genre:  Action—Adventure—Fantasy—Historical—Mythological–Tragedy

Directed by: Robert Eggers

Screenplay by: Sjon, Robert Eggers

Music by:  Robin Carolan, Sebastian Gainsborough

Cast: Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy

Film Locations:  Ireland and Iceland

Els: 7.5/10

IMDb:  7.0/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  90

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  64

Metacritic Metascore: 82

Metacritic User Score:  7.2/10

Theaters: 22 April 2022

Runtime: 136 minutes

Budget:  $70-90 million

Worldwide Box Office:  $69.6 million

Source: IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic. Viking.Style. Shakespear’s Tragedies, 1980. Graphic: Movie Poster, Focus Features.

Wolverine: The First X-Men Movie

21 August 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

In the beginning there was the 2000 cinematic introduction of all things mutant, some good and some excessively proactive. The good were the Xavier’s X-Men and the excessively proactive belonged to Magneto’s unsympathetic Brotherhood of Mutants.

Wolverine, not necessarily part of the good or proactive, is living in the Canadian wilderness as an outsider just trying to make a buck by winning a cage match here and there. With a body full of adamantium with rather remarkable healing powers he is a formidable opponent in the ring.

Wolverine quickly becomes entangled in Magneto’s plans for annihilation of humans, forcing him to team up with Xavier’s X-Men. He ultimately plays a crucial role in the epic battle against Magneto and the Brotherhood.

Genre:  Action—Adventure–Fantasy—Sci-Fi

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Screenplay by: Tom DeSanto, Bryan Singer, David Hayter

Music by:  Michael Kamen

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen

Film Locations:  Ontario, Canada

Els: 8.5/10

IMDb:  7.3/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  82

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  83

Metacritic Metascore: 64

Metacritic User Score:  7.5/10

Theaters: 12 July 2000

Runtime: 104 minutes

Budget:  $75 million

Worldwide Box Office:  $296.3 million

Source: IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic. Graphic: Movie Poster, 20th Century Fox.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

7 August 2024 By in Movies Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

I’m currently working my way through the 10 X-Men Wolverine flicks.

In the 2009 X-Men Origins: Wolverine, exhibiting twisted bureaucratic logic, the U.S. Army takes a seemingly immortal and invincible mutant and makes him into the more immortal and more invincible Wolverine. Not a logical plot line but it does make for an enjoyable movie.

This is the 4th X-Men film and the 1st solo Wolverine project of a planned trilogy.  

Genre:  Action—Fantasy—Sci-Fi

Directed by: Gavin Hood

Screenplay by: David Benioff, Skip Woods

Music by:  Harry Gregson-Williams

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Liev Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds

Film Locations:  Australia, Canada, New Zealand, U.S.

Els:  7.5/10

IMDb:  6.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  38/100

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  58/100

Metacritic Metascore:  75/100

Metacritic User Score:  8.0/10

Theaters: 1 May 2009

Runtime: 107 minutes

Budget:  $150 Million

Worldwide Box Office:  $373.1 Million

Source: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Wikipedia. Graphic: Movie Poster by 20th Century Fox

No Rules:

31 July 2024 By in Movies, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , Leave a comment

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

The British are losing to Hitler’s Atlantic U-Boat campaign systematically sinking Allied military and commercial shipping. Churchill is under pressure from his military to surrender but demurs and goes unconventional by creating a small cadre of misfits to destroy the U-Boat program with a no-rules program and James Bond daring.

A well told story of British humor meeting up with Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant. Lots of gratuitous violence and no sex.

Genre:  Action– Comedy–Drama–Thriller–War

Directed by: Guy Ritchie

Screenplay by: Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, Arash Amel, Guy Ritchie

Music by:  Christopher Benstead

Cast: Henry Cavill, Elza Gonzalez, Alan Richson, Alex Pettyfer

Film Locations:  Turkey and England

Els:  7.5/10

IMDb:  6.9/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  69/100

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  93/100

Metacritic Metascore:  55/100

Metacritic User Score:  6.6/10

Theaters: 13 April 2024

Streaming: 10 May 2024

Runtime: 120 minutes

Budget:  $60 Million

Worldwide Box Office:  $27.8 Million

Source: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic, Wikipedia. Graphic: Movie Poster by Lionsgate

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

24 July 2024 By in Movies, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Furiosa, prequel to Mad Max: Fury Road, documents the psychological development of Furiosa (Taylor-Joy) as she channels her hate and vengeance towards Dementus (Hemsworth), destroyer of her mother in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian tale of fiefdoms and control.

Furiosa finds peak vengeance against her antagonist around the 2 hour and 15-minute mark of the movie when Dementus, somewhat incidentally, asks her if she was able to ‘make it epic’. The question really is posed to you the viewer and the short answer would be no. The long answer is the movie is needlessly long but not as long as it seemed.

Genre:  Action – Adventure – Drama — Sci-Fi

Directed by: George Miller

Screenplay by: George Miller, Nico Lathouris

Music by:  Tom Holkenborg

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke

Film Locations:  Australia, USA

ElsBob:  5.5-6.0/10

IMDb:  7.7/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  90/100

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  89/100

Metacritic Metascore:  79/100

Metacritic User Score:  7.3/10

Theaters: 23-24 May 2024

Streaming: 16 September 2022

Runtime: 148 minutes

Budget: $168 million

Box Office: $172.8 million

Source: IMDb. MetaCritic. Rotten Tomatoes. Graphic Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga movie poster, 2024, Copyright Warner Brothers.

Fear the Night

8 May 2024 By in Movies, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , , , , , , Leave a comment

Arcadians.

Theaters: 12 March 2024

Streaming: 1 May 2018

Runtime:  92 minutes

Genre:  Action – Horror

Els:  6.0/10

IMDB:  5.6/10

Rotten Tomatoes Critics:  83/100

Rotten Tomatoes Audience:  55/100

Metacritic Metascore:  60/100

Metacritic User Score:  5.6/10

Awards: —

Directed by: Ben Brewer

Music by:  Kristin Kontrol and Josh Martin

Cast: Nicholas Cage

Film Locations:  Ireland

Budget:  – $–

Worldwide Box Office:  $0.9 Million

In an apocalyptic world Paul (Cage) and his two sons live a normal farm life during daylight hours and lock themselves into their fortress home during the night, when fuzzy anorexic creatures with extreme dental abnormalities roam in the darkness to kill and feed on humans.

The acting is very good with excellent visuals, but the story is weak on details and inspiration. An OK movie dreaming of a sequel which will never happen.

The name of this movie intrigued me since it was never actually referenced unless I missed it. Arcadia is a district in the central Peloponnesian plane of ancient Greece, which meant refuge or an idyllic place. A place of refuge seems applicable for this movie but not a safe refuge. Or it could just be the city of Arcadia NE of Los Angeles.

Source: IMDb. Rotten Tomatoes. Metacritic. Wikipedia. Graphic: Movie poster for Arcadian.