Category Archives: Action Packed April

Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection “F” (2015)

Posted on by

d45972cf1d9f68982bc60acbc05

“Dragon Ball Z” is back and it’s about as niche as ever! Which is to say that only hardcore fans of the series will love with “Resurrection ‘F’” has to offer them; everyone else will likely just appreciate the animation. It’s a truncated and very fast paced feature length film and one that I quite enjoyed. While I’ve always been hard on the series over the years, “Resurrection ‘F’” was a slimmed down and very breezy action film that reminded me why I was a fan such a long time ago. It also has a really good sense of humor about itself with folks like Piccolo, Krillin, and Gohan settled in their domesticated roles, forced in to combat with a superior foe.

Continue reading →

Paying Tribute to Roddy Piper (1954-2015)

Posted on by

Roddy1

I would love to tell you that my first experience with Roddy Piper was with his time as a wrestler, but damn it, it was watching “They Live.” Yes, the movie that basically turned Piper in to a bonafide action star is the movie I knew Piper from, originally. I must have watched “They Live” a billion times on television when I was a child. As Nada, Roddy Piper was a force to be reckoned with, and it was an easy role to fit in to, mainly because Piper was a grade A entertainer who knew how to act. Sure he didn’t act on films or TV shows in his early days, but he played a character, and he was damn good at what he did.

Continue reading →

Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal (2015) [Fantasia Film Festival]

Posted on by

001FANTASIA FILM FESTIVAL

Peter Pau and Zhao Tianyu’s “Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” is nothing short of a mesmerizing and surreal romance epic. It’s a marvel for the eyes, and the ears, and provides one of the most engrossing tales of good versus evil I’ve seen in a long time. “Snow Girl and the Dark Crystal” has a meaty narrative that requires a lot of back tracking and flashbacks, but thankfully the sharp writing prevents the narrative from falling apart by the second half. I was worried I was losing track of the story but the movie would always come full circle and really explain a lot of the twists, leaving no loose ends.

Continue reading →

The Substitute (1996)

Posted on by

Robert Mandel’s action thriller is one part “Rambo,” one part “Blackboard Jungle,” and one part “Lethal Weapon” that really never quite comes together in to anything impressive. When the dust has settled it’s merely a mediocre shoot em up with a gimmick that director Mandel only rolls with until mid-way in to the narrative. “The Substitute” really only presses the idea of a mercenary posing as a substitute teacher until it runs out of steam. Then it becomes a monotonous movie about mercenaries battling a drug cartel.

Continue reading →

Point of No Return (1993)

Posted on by

PNR_Bridget_Fonda

The biggest difference that sets John Badham’s remake apart from Luc Besson’s original “La Femme Nikita” is the context of the decade. Even set in the late eighties to early nineties, Besson’s original has a very timeless appeal to it and is still a template for many action films. John Badham’s remake though is very soaked in nineties ephemera, to the point where you can almost hear “90210” playing in the background of every scene. Thus it distracts from the story Badham is trying to tell. Which is a stacked deck, considering “Point of No Return” is a weak retread of an action masterpiece.

Continue reading →

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie (2014)

Posted on by

AVGN_Movie

“The Angry Video Game Nerd,” for the uninitiated, is an online personality and character created by James Rolfe, who plays really bad vintage video games on his show usually by request of his fans. He then provides insightful commentary (along with excellent comedy) that also includes a lot of rage, anger, and bafflement as to how what he’s played could have ever been allowed for public consumption. “The Angry Video Game Nerd” is a wildly popular and influential online series that is mostly familiar to gamers and pop culture fans alike, so it’s wise that director James Rolfe takes the big screen debut of his beloved character, and broadens it to appeal to more general indie audiences alike. Director James Rolfe and Kevin Finn’s movie is still a niche comedy with loads of cult potential, but will also catch the eye of movie goers in the mood for meta-comedy, and an honest to goodness indie road trip film.

Continue reading →