Posts Tagged ‘Action’

 alt=

Order Now!

Blu-ray Review: Guns, Girls and Gambling – Been There, Done That

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Guns, Girls and Gambling – Been There, Done That on Blogcritics.

In the mid ’90s, mainstream cinema and the direct-to-video market alike both experienced a significant change in their product — due largely in part to the worldwide success of Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, a movie that dared to toss out the traditional formula of ABC filmmaking in favor of a more nonlinear style of storytelling. Granted, any well-read (or well-viewed) disciple of film knows that Tarantino did not solely create the genre of hip features. There were numerous avant-garde artists before him — most of whom did it far better than he could have ever hoped to, but whose methods of moviemaking did not become as hugely popular in the fact that they simply weren’t as popular. (more…)

 alt=

Order Now!

Blu-ray Review: Universal Soldier – Day of Reckoning

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Bored to Death – The Complete Third Season on Blogcritics.

As anyone who has ever paid even so much as a dollar to sit down and watch an action movie knows, it’s always nice to have said moving picture grab you by one portion of your anatomy or another and not let go until it’s all done and over with. Sometimes, filmmakers take that extra cautious step of waiting a tad bit longer to start the adrenaline injection — giving you just enough time to get your drinks and snacks well situated for the ride ahead. Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning goes several steps further than that — bestowing upon us a film so bold and innovative, that it never actually succeeds in being even so much as remotely interesting. (more…)

 alt=

Order Now!

Blu-ray Review: Hawaii Five-0 – The Second Season

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: Hawaii Five-0 – The Second Season on Blogcritics.

Anyone who even watches mainstream television on an irregular basis should be more than aware that certain genre shows tend to follow the same formula, no matter which network they air on. Some comedies like to employ the wittily-written Arrested Development approach to laughter. Many dramas take the House M.D. misfit protagonist to the nth degree of shame. And then there’s that so-action-packed-it’s-painfully-tedious procedural show that takes every cliché imaginable from shows that not only preceded it, but which are currently on the air as well, and outright dares you to take it in on a weekly basis. (more…)

 alt=

Order Now!

The Robert Mitchum Film Collection DVD Review: A Gallant Line-up of Shamelessly Repackaged Releases

In keeping up with their recent line-up of Film Collection releases (box sets featuring highlights from Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Denzel Washington, Liam Neeson, et al), the folks at Twentieth Century Fox have once again assembled a set of classic, well-known titles from one of Hollywood’s most legendary bad boys: the one and only Robert Mitchum. The Robert Mitchum Film Collection repackages ten of the most famous titles from the Fox and MGM libraries (in two volumes) to star the iconic actor (any actor who shares the same name as my deodorant is A-OK in my book), and includes feature films that cover an impressive thirteen year span in his near-legendary career.

[Read the rest at Cinema Sentries.]

 alt=

Order Now!

DVD Review: NCIS – Los Angeles, The Third Season

Article first published as DVD Review: NCIS – Los Angeles, The Third Season on Blogcritics.

When I first dropped my jaw to the unbelievably laughable backdoor pilot for NCIS: Los Angeles on the original (slightly more plausible) NCIS, I had hoped that the cruel, unforgiving, and powerful figure who fancied him/herself a deity that commissioned the series in the first place would realize its mistake, and pull the plug on the project before unleashing the obviously failed television entertainment equivalent of an abortion on an otherwise unsuspecting public. [Yes, I do talk like this in real life.] Alas, unlike the Dane Cook series Next Caller, such a thing did not happen — and TV viewers have been suffering ever since. (more…)

 alt=

Order Now!

DVD Review: Federal Men (aka Treasury Men in Action)

Article first published as DVD Review: Federal Men (aka Treasury Men in Action) on Blogcritics.

If there’s one thing the United States of America has never been in short supply of, it’s the element of crime and the ne’er-do-gooders that enable such a component to take place and thrive — from a common hood on the corner to an entire corporation’s treatment of its employees. But we only go after the bad guys on the streets: and the horribly-named early ’50s television classic Treasury Men in Action — which was also broadcast under the much-more-alluring Federal Men — exploited actual cases wherein the U.S. Treasury said “Hey, you can’t do that, Mr. John Q. Criminal!” and turned them into primetime TV drama. (more…)

 alt=

Order Now!

Blu-ray Review: 4.3.2.1

Article first published as Blu-ray Review: 4.3.2.1 on Blogcritics.

Imagine a heist movie without a heist. A multifaceted story without the multiple facets. Or, if you really want to sell it: a hip British action/drama that looks like it could have been made by a couple of your average paint-by-number trendy American filmmakers. Either three would describe 4.3.2.1 — a title that absolutely begs your forgiveness, and which also takes you gently by the hand in order to count backwards to the number wherein you should raise your expectations to in the event you have opted to view this particular motion picture. (more…)

 alt=

Order Now!

DVD Review: Battleground (2012) [aka Skeleton Lake]

Article first published as DVD Review: Battleground (2012) [aka Skeleton Lake] on Blogcritics.

In the world of deceptive home video marketing, a simple title change is all it takes to get people’s attention. Granted, that attention might not be positive interest, but there’s no such thing as bad publicity, right? Shot under the somewhat ambiguous title, Skeleton Lake, the indie horror/action flick Battleground received a new name prior to its less-than-eagerly-awaited home video release, conveniently timed with the just-as-unwanted Battleship. Apart from the use of guns, there are no similarities between the two movies. Well, other than they both suck, that is. (more…)

 alt=

Order Now!

Blu-ray Reviews: Next of Kin / Murder in the First / A Perfect Murder

Article first published as Blu-ray Reviews: Next of Kin / Murder in the First / A Perfect Murder on Blogcritics.

In the late ’90s, the illustrious format of Digital Versatile Discs took off with movie lovers near and far — and the folks at Warner Home Video were one of the first major studios to really capitalize on the craze, releasing many snapcase DVDs of new and old titles alike. Sadly, many of these titles were presented in the dreaded Full Frame format (when the movies were originally in widescreen) with extremely generic menus, and, since DVD was still a new niche, the overall quality of these discs simply didn’t measure up to the Standard-Definition criterions we have today. (more…)

Order Now!

Leverage: The 4th Season DVD Review: Like a Needle Stuck in a Groove

When Leverage first aired on TNT several years back, the modern-day spin on the classic espionage series Mission: Impossible seemed like a novel one. Sadly, by the time the second season rolled around, the show’s writers had already found themselves becoming formulaic and repetitive — a routine that kept on going until, finally, the whole series felt like a needle stuck in a groove. So, when you roll around to the fourth season, where do you take your characters when you don’t have all that much going on in terms of writing and delivery (not to mention plot) in the first place?

[Read the rest at Cinema Sentries.]