Action goddess Gina Carano tries her hand at a “Taken” style action romp, and for the most part, it delivers big time. “In the Blood” is an interesting spin on the formula where Carano plays a heroine that’s vulnerable but never helpless, and she’s willing to do whatever it takes to ensure the safety of her husband. Carano is more than capable on this role, playing a woman that’s spent her entire life learning how to fight thanks to a survivalist father. Surely enough it comes in handy when her one chance at happiness is put in jeopardy.
Tag Archives: Action
The Baytown Outlaws (2012)
You know your cast has done a great job with their respective roles when they’ve successfully turned three dumb, ignorant, gun loving red necks in to charming heroes you root for until the bitter end. Surely enough, director Barry Battles’ grindhouse redneck chic romp isn’t an easy sell as, after the first ten minutes, I was ready to toss this aside and look for something better on my plate. But surely enough after spending time with it, “The Baytown Outlaws” eventually won me over, completely. In fact, I kind of fucking loved it, all things considered.
Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000)
How do you take one of the more unique race car films from the seventies and destroy it? Remake it with a bland story, add a very adult cast of Nic Cage, Angelina Jolie, and Vinnie Jones, and slap a PG-13 rating on it. Also, turn it in to a lame ass action comedy, for extra insult to injury. “Gone in Sixty Seconds” from 2000 is an uneven and fairly tedious action comedy that has all the edge of a crime thriller, except it’s suitable for teenagers, a crowd that will appreciate director Dominic Sena’s insistence on imitating Michael Bay.
Repo Man (1984)
I sat watching Alex Cox’s “Repo Man” with a gaping mouth and sheer bewilderment from beginning to end. Director Cox assembles a slew of various sub-genres and sub-sub-genres, along with a seasoned cast of brilliant actors to concoct a surreal mind fuck that I was never bored by. In fact, I loved it right through to the very end. It’s existentialism, it’s social commentary, it’s punk rock, it’s action, it’s dark comedy, it’s comedy, it’s musical, it’s aliens, it’s crime, it’s a road trip movie, it’s a one of a kind anomaly with Emilio Estevez at his best.
Kill Zombie! (2012) (DVD)
Eventually the way film culture is progressing, every country, continent, and region in the world will have their own zombie film. The problem is that the great zombie movies are so few and far between that we’re left with a lot of really terrible wastes of potential. “Kill Zombie!” is the perfect example of great potential and no pay off. Granted, the concept is creative, and the surprise ending is ridiculously clever, but the movie is much too tedious and uneventful to really consider the aforementioned elements redeeming factors. “Kill Zombie!” is the Belgium set horror comedy about the zombie apocalypse that channels a lot of its favorite zombie movies.
Martial Arts Movie Marathon (The Skyhawk, The Manchu Boxer, The Dragon Tamers & The Association) (DVD)
Shout! Factory has been very good about compiling films that are otherwise tough to find, tough to acquire, and or not usually on these compilations. These DVD assemblies aren’t anything remotely new to the format, but Shout! takes advantage by bringing together four really interesting old school kung fu movies. While they’re not masterpieces by any stretch of the imagination, they’re solid mid-70’s terrain from Golden Harvest Studios that should peak the attention of even Blu-Ray converts.
Three O’ Clock High (1987)
It’s surprising how “Three O’ Clock High” is about much more than a kid who gets himself in deep with a bully in high school. Deep down while it’s definitely a dark comedy about high school, it’s also about facing your problems. What “Three O’ Clock High” is ultimately about is that bad day that everyone has, and that horrific revelation that if something bad is going to happen to you, it’s going to happen to you, and most times you can really do nothing but try to get through the storm as neatly as possible.