Faster (2010)

After spending the last three years making family-friendly movies and comedies, such as GET SMART, RACE FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN, THE OTHER GUYS, and TOOTH FAIRY, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson finally returns to the action genre in Director George Tillman, Jr.’s (Soul Food, Men of Honor, Notorious) action-crime film FASTER. In the film, Johnson plays James Cullen aka Driver, an ex-con who got released after serving ten years in prison and is hell-bent on getting revenge of his brother’s murder by going after the people responsible for it, while a troubled, days from retirement, veteran cop Slade Humphries (Billy Bob Thornton) and a young egocentric hitman (Oliver Jackson-Cohen – Going the Distance) are on his trail. The film also stars Carla Gugino (Sin City) as Humphries’ partner Detective Cicero, Matt Gerald (Avatar) as Driver’s brother Gary, Moon Bloodgood (Terminator Salvation) as Humphries’ wife Marina, Maggie Grace (TV’s Lost) as the assassin’s girlfriend Lily, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) as The Evangelist, Jennifer Carpenter (TV’s Dexter) as Driver’s ex-girlfriend, Xander Berkeley (Air Force One) as Sergeant Mallory, Tom Berenger (Platoon) as the Prison Warden, and Mike Epps (Next Friday) as Roy Grone. I thought this was a very entertaining action film, with a great look that reminded me of some the old Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen action films from the 1970’s, with some great car sequences and I enjoyed the scenes when Johnson gets out his revolver and guns down his targets. This movie was filmed entirely on location in Los Angeles, Pasadena, and Santa Clarita, California from February 8th to April 27th, 2010, with an estimated budget of $ 24,000,000. When FASTER opened at #7 on Thanksgiving week on November 24th, 2010, it earned $12,200,000 and gone up against family films like HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS: PART ONE and TANGLED. If you’re a fan of The Rock, action flicks, or both, I would recommend FASTER to you and all movie lovers.

The Next Three Days (2010)

From Paul Haggis, The Academy Award winning director of CRASH, comes the smart, well-crafted crime thriller THE NEXT THREE DAYS. Based on the 2007 French film Pour Elle (Anything for Her) by Fred Cavayé, The film tells the story of John and Lara Brennan (Russell Crowe and Elizabeth Banks), a happily married couple from Pittsburgh, he’s a college professor and she’s a successful business woman, whose perfect life gets turned upside when Lara is accused of a gruesome murder she did not commit. As it affects their relationship three years later, John, who also believes that Lara is innocent, devises an elaborate escape plot and plunges into a dangerous and unfamiliar world, ultimately risking everything for the woman he loves. The film also stars Olivia Wilde (TRON: Legacy) as single mother Nicole, Brian Dennehy (Tommy Boy) as John’s father George Brennan, Daniel Stern (City Slickers) as John’s lawyer Meyer Fisk, RZA (American Gangster) as Mouss, Lennie James (Snatch) as Pittsburgh Police Lieutenant Nabulsi, Jason Beghe (G.I. Jane) and Aisha Hinds (Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail) as Pittsburgh Police Detectives Quinn and Collero, Kevin Corrigan (The Departed) and Jonathan Tucker (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) as criminals Alex and David, Ty Simpkins (Revolutionary Road) as John and Lara’s son Luke, and a special appearance by Liam Neeson (Schindler’s List) as ex-prison escapee Damon Pennington. When I went to see this movie, I thought it was both entertaining and had some comedic humor to it. I really enjoyed the scenes when Crowe and Banks try to escape from the Pittsburgh authorities. Do they make it? You’ll have to see for yourself. Filmed entirely on location in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with a budget of $35 million from October to December 2009, the film was originally intended to be released in 2011. Instead it was released on November 19th, 2010, opening at #5 at the box office with $6,542,779. Although the film received mixed reviews by film critics, such as Roger Ebert and Peter Travers, I still think Paul Haggis’ THE NEXT THREE DAYS is a very entertaining thriller and I recommend it for all movie lovers to see.

Unstoppable (2010)

It’s SPEED on a train when Academy Award winner Denzel Washington (2001 – Best Actor, Training Day) and Director Tony Scott (Top Gun, True Romance, Days of Thunder), the team that brought us 1995’s CRIMSON TIDE, 2004’s MAN ON FIRE, 2006’s DÉJÀ VU, and 2009’s THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123, reunite for the fifth time in 20th Century Fox’s 2010 adrenaline rush, action film UNSTOPPABLE. Inspired by true events, the film tells the story about a railroad company frantically working to prevent a major disaster from an unmanned, half-mile-long freight train, essentially a missile the size of New York’s Chrysler building, that’s dangerously carrying a cargo of combustible liquids and poisonous gas while a veteran locomotive engineer Frank Barnes (Washington) and a young rookie conductor Will Colson (Chris Pine) race against time to stop it. The film also stars Rosario Dawson (Sin City) as train yardmaster Connie Hooper, Ethan Suplee (TV’s My Name is Earl) as train engineer Dewey, T.J. Miller (Cloverfield) as train hostler Gilleece, Kevin Corrigan (The Departed) as Inspector Werner, Jessy Schram (Hallmark Channel’s Jane Doe TV films) as Will’s wife Darcy, Lew Temple (Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects and Halloween) as railroad welder Ned Oldham, Aisha Hinds (TV’s Detroit 1-8-7) as the Railway Safety Campaign Coordinator, and Kevin Dunn (Transformers) as Hooper’s superior Oscar Galvin. I really enjoyed this film the same way when I saw THE A-TEAM in the theater. I thought both Washington and Pine’s performances as the two were both funny and fantastic. Tony Scott said, in his own words, “that this for me was physically and mentally, the toughest movie I’ve ever done”. Why? Because he had make this movie, with a budget of $100,000,000, filming everything practically in-camera, from big action sequences, lots of stunts, 360 camera shots, use very little CGI as possible while a real moving train was going 50 mph, all throughout the state of Pennsylvania and some selective towns in New York and Ohio. Make no mistake when you see Denzel’s character running on top of a moving train, That really is Denzel doing that and he did wear a safety harness while filming it. Not only did Tony reunite with Denzel, he reunited with certain crew members he worked before in the past like Music composer Harry Gregson-Williams (Enemy of the State, Man on Fire, The Taking of Pelham 123) and Film Editor Chris Lebenzon (Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, Crimson Tide). With incredible action sequences and amazing stunts, UNSTOPPABLE is one of the best movies that Tony Scott has ever directed and one of the best films I’ve seen in 2010. I totally recommend it to all movie lovers and again from the words of Tony Scott: “It never lets you off the hook”

The Hunter (1980)

He made his film debut in 1956’s SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKES ME, starred as the soft hearted bounty hunter Josh Randall on CBS’s WANTED: DEAD OR ALIVE (1958-1961), and became one of Hollywood’s greatest actors with hits like: THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960), THE GREAT ESCAPE (1963), THE SAND PEBBLES (1966), THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR (1968), BULLITT (1968), THE GETAWAY (1972), PAPILLON (1973), and THE TOWERING INFERNO (1974). Who am I talking about? The King of Cool himself: Steve McQueen, who stars in Director Buzz Kulik’s 1980 action/comedy/thriller THE HUNTER. Based on real-life exploits, the film tells the story of Ralph “Papa” Thorson (McQueen), a professional bounty hunter, going through modern-day life between tracking down bail jumpers, his relationship with his pregnant girlfriend, and being pursued himself by a psychotic, revenge-driven killer. The film also stars Eli Wallach (The Magnificent Seven) as bail bondsman Ritchie Blumenthal, Kathryn Harrold (TV’s The Rockford Files, Chicago Hope) as Ralph’s pregnant girlfriend Dotty, LeVar Burton (TV’s Star Trek: The Next Generation) as Ralph’s bounty Tommy Price, Tracy Walter (Tim Burton’s Batman) as the psychotic Rocco Mason, stuntman Thomas Rosales, Jr. (The Lost World: Jurassic Park) as Ralph’s Chicago bounty Bernardo, and Academy Award Winner Ben Johnson (1971 – Best Supporting Actor, The Last Picture Show) as Sheriff Strong. Filmed in around Chicago and Los Angeles with an estimated budget of $8,000,000, McQueen was 49 years old when he worked on this movie from September 10th to November 28th, 1979. Sadly it was to be the very last movie he ever did. After the end of filming that year, McQueen was later diagnosed with a rare type of cancer, caused by exposure to asbestos, called Mesothelioma. He died from a cardiac arrest one day after having an operation to remove or reduce several metastatic tumors in his abdomen on November 7th, 1980 in Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico at the age of 50. THE HUNTER was released four months before his death on August 1st, 1980, grossing over $16,274,150 domestically. As I was watching this film, McQueen was both funny and entertaining to watch as “Papa” Thorson going after all the criminals in this film. I also thought there were some cute moments between him and his girlfriend. One scene to point out that I thought was very frightening was seeing Walter’s character scaring Kathryn Harrold in the school classroom. Being that McQueen was an avid car and motorcycle enthusiast, he came up with the idea of going against his famous car racing abilities and having Papa to be a terrible driver. Watch out for the real life Papa Thorson making a cameo in the film as a bartender, talking to McQueen’s character. As I end this review, Steve McQueen is one of my favorite movie actors and THE HUNTER shows how great this legendary actor did, both heroic and comedic ally, for one last time. GOD BLESS YA, KING OF COOL (1930-1980).

RED (2010)

The first time I saw the teaser trailer, I really wanted to see this film just because I’m a Bruce Willis fan, but of course I thought all the other actors would be very entertaining to watch. From Summit Entertainment and DC Entertainment comes the 2010 action comedy RED. Directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, The Time Traveler’s Wife), Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers) and Based on the three issue, graphic mini-series DC comic book by Warren Ellis and Cully Hamner. The film tells the story of former C.I.A. agent Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), living an idyllic life of retirement, till one day a high tech assassin shows up intending to kill him. With his identity compromised, Frank puts together his old team and fellow retirees: the charming handler Joe Matheson (Morgan Freeman), the paranoid Marvin Boggs (John Malkovich), and the high caliber Victoria Winslow (Helen Mirren), who will all embark on an impossible mission to break into the top secret C.I.A. headquarters, where they will find out the truth behind it all. The film also stars Mary-Louise Parker (TV’s Weeds) as the federal pension agent Sarah Ross, Karl Urban (Star Trek) as C.I.A. agent William Cooper, Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws) as wealthy man Alexander Dunning, Brian Cox (The Bourne Identity) as former Cold War spy Ivan Simanov, Rebecca Pidgeon (State and Main) as C.I.A. agent Cynthia Wilkes, Julian McMahon (TV’s Nip/Tuck) as the U.S. vice president Robert Stanton, and special appearances by James Remar (48 Hrs.) as Gabriel Synger, and Ernest Borgnine (The Dirty Dozen) as C.I.A. records keeper Henry. The 1977 song “Back in the Saddle” from the hard rock band Aerosmith, that was used in the trailers and TV spots, I became so addicted to that song and I’ve been listening to it ever since. Out of all the actors and next to his 1997 performance as Cyrus “The Virus” Grissom from CON AIR, which I loved, I really enjoyed Malkovich’s performance as Marvin. He almost didn’t do the movie because originally it was to be played by John C. Reilly, but dropped out just before filming began. I thought Helen Mirren was good, and seeing her as a version of Martha Stewart firing machine guns was cool to watch. Filmed on location in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and New Orleans, Louisiana from January 11th to March 8th, 2010 with a budget of $58 Million, RED took the #2 spot behind JACKASS 3-D on the opening weekend of October 15th with $22,000,000 and got mostly positive reviews by the film critics. With a cast of well known actors, good action, and hilarious John Malkovich moments, RED is a very entertaining action comedy. I recommend it to all movie lovers and as it said in the TV spots “There’s no substitute for experience”.

Judgment Night (1993)

From Universal Pictures and Largo Entertainment, Director Stephen Hopkins (Predator 2, Blown Away, Lost in Space) brings us the riveting 1993 action thriller JUDGMENT NIGHT. The film tells the story about four middle-class friends from Chicago: happily married family man Frank Wyatt (Emilo Estevez), big kid-like Mike Peterson (Cuba Gooding, Jr.), Frank’s younger brother John Wyatt (Stephen Dorff), and over-confident businessman Ray Cochran (Jeremy Piven) go on a night out on the town to a boxing match. Stuck in a heavy traffic jam en-route, the boys get off the first exit they find and to find another way to get to the match, Instead they get lost in a gang-way part of town, where they encounter four psychopathic drug dealers, led by the vicious, wise-cracking drug lord Fallon (Denis Leary), and witnessing them commit a brutal murder. When Fallon wants no witnesses, the four friends become his unwilling prey as they are mercilessly stalked by the killers throughout the hostile city streets. The film also stars Peter Greene (The Mask), rap artist Erik “Everlast” Schrody, and Michael Wiseman (Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes) as Fallon’s men Sykes, Rhodes and Travis, with Michael DeLorenzo (TV’s New York Undercover) as Teddy, Galyn Görg (Point Break) and Angela Alvarado (Freedom Writers) as overprotective women Clarissa and Rita. I was five years old when this film came out, and I would never hear about it till I was eighteen. When I saw the film’s theatrical trailer on a movie website, I wanted to see it. I finally did and I enjoyed it. Sadly it didn't do well at the box office when it was released in 1,545 theaters on October 15th, 1993 with an opening gross of $4,088,955 and remained in theaters for three weeks, ending it with a total gross of$12,136,938. Although the film takes place in Chicago, half of it was filmed in Los Angeles from October 19th, 1992 to January 13th, 1993. And as you watch the film, you might recognize L.A.’s skyline in the background in some scenes like for example: a long high crane shot of the boys running one by one. For years I’ve seen Denis Leary as his usual comedic self in such films: THE REF, DEMOLITION MAN, OPERATION DUMBO DROP, SMALL SOLDIERS, and his television show RESCUE ME, his performance as Fallon was pretty intense and he played a good bad guy. Samuel L. Jackson was the first choice for that character, but dropped out to do JURASSIC PARK instead. Alan Silvestri composed the film’s score, but some of it in the chase sequences was from the 1987 action hit film PREDATOR, for which he composed for himself. With riveting action and suspense, I consider JUDGMENT NIGHT a very entertaining thriller and I recommend it to all movie lovers.

James and the Giant Peach (1996)

From Producers Tim Burton, Denise Di Novi and Director Henry Selick, the creators of the 1993 smash hit THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS, comes Roald Dahl’s beloved 1961 children’s book called JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH. Released in 1996, the film tells the story of a young English orphan boy named James Henry Trotter, who lives with his horrible aunts Spiker and Sponge, enters into a gigantic and magical peach where he meets and befriends a group of enormous human like bugs and embark on a fantastic journey, filled with thrills and adventure, to New York City. As the film is shown both live action and stop motion animation, Academy Award winners Richard Dreyfuss (1977 – Best Actor, The Goodbye Girl) and Susan Sarandon (1995 – Best Actress, Dead Man Walking) provide the voices of the boisterous Mr. Centipede and the sassy but decent Miss Spider. The film also features a cast of well known English actors: Jane Leeves (TV’s Frasier) as the motherly and good-natured Mrs. Ladybug, Joanna Lumley (BBC’s Absolutely Fabulous) as the cruel, malicious, and thoroughly repulsive Aunt Spiker, Miriam Margolyes (Martin Scorsese’s The Age of Innocence) as both the selfish and morbidly fat Aunt Sponge and the voice of the quiet but little deaf Glowworm, Simon Callow (Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls) as the voice of The Old Green, music loving Grasshopper, Pete Postlethwaite (The Lost World: Jurassic Park) as the mysterious stranger/Old Man, David Thewis (the Harry Potter trilogy) as the voice of the shy and timid Earthworm, and one time actor Paul Terry as James. Twelve years it took for this book to get to the big screen, Selick initially considered doing the whole film in stop-motion, but decided to blend it with using live action and to cut down costs. With an award winning team of animators, illustrators, set designers, camera operators on twenty two soundstages, and an estimated budget of $38,000,000, the making of this film was made over a three year production schedule from November 15th, 1994 to January 19th, 1996 in San Francisco, California. When it was released three months later on April 12th, the film grossed over $7,539,098 its opening weekend and domesticated over $28,946,127 in North America alone. As USA TODAY says its “A Stunner with a Breathtaking Array of Eye-Teasers”, Entertainment Weekly’s Owen Gleiberman gave the film a positive review, praising the animated part, but calling the live-action segments "crude". Randy Newman, the award winning composer for the TOY STORY films, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Musical or Comedy Score and his song “Good News” is one of my favorite songs of Newman’s. This is one of my childhood favorites growing up; I even remember watching the VHS trailer preview so many times on some of my other Disney videos and the day it was released: October 15th, 1996. As I said before about Paul Terry acting only one time in this film, the then nine year old quit after being bitten by a spider in the live action scene when we see James finding it building a web by his window. JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH is to me one of the greatest Disney movies of all time and it’s a true favorite to all movie lovers whether you’re a kid or a grown up.