The Movie: Running Scared, directed by Wayne Kramer
Recommendation: The Internet!
Reason: I've read that this movie comes highly recommended as an action movie and as a tense drama.
This movie is what Crank should have been. Though Crank was solid, it lagged in parts. Running Scared does no such thing. The movie is a freaked out neo-noir fairy tale with a breakneck pace that combines horror, fantasy and other elements into a demented morality tale about shades of grey from dark to light. I'm not kidding on this. Running Scared is FAST.
Paul Walker is deadpan, but believable as Joey Gazelle, a low-level wiseguy with a wife and a kid. When he's given a gun to dispose of...well, that's how this whole thing starts. Where it goes from there is unexpected to say the least. It ignores the limits of sanity and breaks out the big guns, scrambling from one confrontation to the next. No one is safe, either-every primary cast member, from Gazelle's wife and son to his mob connections gets involved.
See it. You might not agree with me on how good it really is, but I can honestly say this movie pushes the limit the way recent action movies have been trying to. It succeeds. It does well.
-176/365 down, 189/365 to go
Showing posts with label paul walker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label paul walker. Show all posts
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Where is Devon Aoki actually from?
The Movie: 2 Fast 2 Furious, directed by John Singleton
Recommendation: Nobody.
Reason: Much was playing the movie, and I need to start catching up. :)
Just to lay some controversy to rest? Aoki's from New York. I've been trying to figure this out since D.E.B.S., since she was so godawful in that. I was under the assumption that she was in a similar situation to Milla Jovovich-a very lovely foreign woman who was 'imported' because she was hot and could speak marginal english. Never assume, I suppose is the lesson here. Regardless, she's just as bad an actress in 2 Fast 2 Furious as she was in D.E.B.S.. The only performance I've seen where she was any good was Sin City because she had no lines. Who fails to properly emote a shout of victory?
Vin Diesel had the opportunity to become a serious action star, back in the early part of the 2000's. He was in xXx, The Fast and the Furious and Pitch Black, all of which had his star shining. In a move considered bold by many and insane by a few (that's me right there) he chose not to continue with his two action franchises (xXx and The Fast and the Furious), bearing ahead with the sci-fi Pitch Black series instead. He abandoned what could have been a pretty cool car-chase franchise, and left us with Paul Walker. Walker's not interesting enough to power the plot, though his passion for street racing makes his character quite believable.
Thank god for Tyrese Gibson, I suppose. He was actually interesting in the movie, probably the high point of a film that was just another sequel. The car chases were pretty top notch. The stuntwork was pretty cool, and having taken a look at the imdb trivia page, I'm pretty impressed. Apparently a few of the crashes weren't choreographed, but they were so well done and the stuntmen emerged unharmed, so the crashes were kept. If you're going to watch this film, watch it for the car work. The rest just isn't as interesting.
-109/365 down, 256/365 to go
Recommendation: Nobody.
Reason: Much was playing the movie, and I need to start catching up. :)
Just to lay some controversy to rest? Aoki's from New York. I've been trying to figure this out since D.E.B.S., since she was so godawful in that. I was under the assumption that she was in a similar situation to Milla Jovovich-a very lovely foreign woman who was 'imported' because she was hot and could speak marginal english. Never assume, I suppose is the lesson here. Regardless, she's just as bad an actress in 2 Fast 2 Furious as she was in D.E.B.S.. The only performance I've seen where she was any good was Sin City because she had no lines. Who fails to properly emote a shout of victory?
Vin Diesel had the opportunity to become a serious action star, back in the early part of the 2000's. He was in xXx, The Fast and the Furious and Pitch Black, all of which had his star shining. In a move considered bold by many and insane by a few (that's me right there) he chose not to continue with his two action franchises (xXx and The Fast and the Furious), bearing ahead with the sci-fi Pitch Black series instead. He abandoned what could have been a pretty cool car-chase franchise, and left us with Paul Walker. Walker's not interesting enough to power the plot, though his passion for street racing makes his character quite believable.
Thank god for Tyrese Gibson, I suppose. He was actually interesting in the movie, probably the high point of a film that was just another sequel. The car chases were pretty top notch. The stuntwork was pretty cool, and having taken a look at the imdb trivia page, I'm pretty impressed. Apparently a few of the crashes weren't choreographed, but they were so well done and the stuntmen emerged unharmed, so the crashes were kept. If you're going to watch this film, watch it for the car work. The rest just isn't as interesting.
-109/365 down, 256/365 to go
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