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By Furious, on March 6th, 2009
 When is a door not a door? When it’s ajar. When is a remake not a remake? When it’s an update.
Missing in Action, basically the same as Rambo: First Blood Part II but released a year earlier, was reasonably popular back in it’s day. Vietnam movies were in vogue and everyone loves the idea of a man risking his life to rescue forgotten MIAs. There’s not a more noble premise for a war movie, is there? It was popular enough that the following year a prequel, filmed consecutively with the original, was released, and a sequel a couple years after that. Since Braddock: Missing in Action III, no one’s really given much thought to resurrecting the [...]
Continue reading Why Bother Remaking Missing In Action If It’s Direct-To-Video?
By Furious, on February 18th, 2009
 It’s been a while since Jackie Chan has been relevant. Once he broke into the US market, he was too bankable to keep on performing all his crazy stunts and seems to have put much more effort into coming up with a wider array of expressive faces to mug at the camera.
His next movie will be a departure from most anything else he’s done, playing a mechanic who goes in search of his girlfriend and ends up working as a killer for the Yakuza. It’s supposed to be heavy on drama and very light on action. Chan himself says it might be about 1% action.
But it looks like even 1% action is too much for China. [...]
Continue reading Jackie Chan Exposes China’s Softer Side
By Furious, on January 28th, 2009
“In 1972 a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.”
 Has there ever been a better premise for a TV show? The A-Team worked because it was exciting (at least to a little kid), silly, and perfectly cast. Could you find two actors as disparate as George Peppard and Mr. T? Doubtful, but the characters really played to [...]
Continue reading A-Team Movie Nearing A Reality
By Furious, on January 7th, 2009
 I previously posed that Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables might be the greatest movie ever made. With every tidbit of news that seeps out about the movie, that idea moves from postulate to fact.
The latest news on the greatest movie is that Mickey Rourke is joining the cast. He’ll play an arms dealer that outfits the mercenaries in their attempt to overthrow a South American dictator. Rourke will join Stallone, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Jason Statham, and Randy Couture, with Forest Whitaker and Sir Ben Kingsley also contemplating roles.
The buzz surrounding Rourke’s performance in The Wrestler couldn’t have hurt, but Stallone and Rourke have been on good terms since Get Carter, Rourke’s return to legitimate movies. It’s [...]
Continue reading The Expendables Gets Better
By Furious, on December 13th, 2008
 After the moderate successes of Rambo and Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone is continuing his trip down memory lane. He’s writing and directing a movie about mercenaries in South America attempting to overthrow an evil dictator- The Expendables. By all accounts the plot is as simple as the one sentence summary. It’s simple, but totally awesome. It reminds me of (obviously) Rambo, Missing in Action, Commando- all the great 80′s military-ish action movies.
But it’s not just the plot that kicks ass, it’s the cast. Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Dolph Lundgren have all already been announced. Now Forrest Whittaker and UFC hall of famer Randy Couture have been added to the cast. This is [...]
Continue reading Sylvester Stallone Is Making The Greatest Movie Ever
By Furious, on December 2nd, 2008
 One trait common to all Kung Fu masters is that they practice a distinctive style of Kung Fu- Monkey, Crane, Hamster. But when you’re a big, cuddly Panda, the options are limited: either sneeze and try to scare the hell out of everyone or develop your own style around your enormous gut.
In Kung Fu Panda, Po (Jack Black) is charged with the task of discovering his own style of Kung Fu as he tries to fulfill his destiny as the Dragon Warrior, which he tackles with great enthusiasm. Vicious beatings by Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) and the Furious Five, all chagrined that they were not chosen to be the Dragon Warrior, cannot crush his spirit, and he’s [...]
Continue reading Kung Fu Panda: My Fat Belly Style Can Defeat Whatever You Got
By Furious, on September 27th, 2008
As October looms ahead, we can only prepare for the great month of quality movies ahead of us. But, to celebrate the late season of blockbusters, I had to go back to the basics and see the much-hyped Shia LaBeouf in “Eagle [...]
Continue reading Eagle Eye Decoded
By Furious, on August 5th, 2008
Yep, this looks to be Michael Madsen’s directorial debut. His co-director, Bret Davidson, is a long time stunt man/stunt coordinator, crossing paths with Madsen several times over the years. Madsen will probably be remembered for the ear cutting ability on display in Reservoir Dogs, but while reading about him, it sounds like he’s always just on the verge of breaking through to the [...]
Continue reading News of the Atypical: Volume 1
By Furious, on July 28th, 2008
So, Times Online got a little interview with George Lucas, talking Star Wars and Indiana Jones- sequels, of course! He’s noted for being very private and somewhat reclusive, granting few [...]
Continue reading Star Wars vs Indiana Jones: Deathmatch!
By Furious, on July 27th, 2008
Then the calendar turned to 1985- Dudikoff’s career, and heck, all of human history, would never be the same. He was cast to play Joe Armstrong in American [...]
Continue reading All Eyes On: Michael Dudikoff
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