The funny thing is, it’s difficult to find a straight up action or action/adventure franchise that doesn’t have sci-fi elements anymore. So wouldn’t it be nice to have these few series remain grounded in reality if they started that way? We think so. That’s why we’re going to beat Hollywood to the punch on a few action franchises that have yet to add aliens, monsters or whatever to their world.
The following five premises are completely ridiculous, and that is the point. Hopefully the series’ respective studios will thereby see that it would be a bad idea to do anything of the sort. …Read more
Now that Quantum of Solace has had some time to sink in, we get to the pressing questions is raises. Sure, it was a quality action movie, but was it spy movie? Where were the gadgets? The new Bond Girl kicked plenty of ass, but where was the deception? We dig into all this and more when we ask: what happened to Bond?
Meghan O’Hara, producer of The IFC Media Project, joins us to talk about the truth behind the news. The show, which is more cinéma vérité than TV news magazine, airs on the IFC channel Tuesdays at 8:00 PM.
Karina checks in before heading off to the Denver Film Festival. We talk about her panel regarding DIY filmmaking, and three titles worth catching at the fest: Intimidad, The Prince of Broadway, and Last Chance Harvey.
JCVD opens wide this weekend, and it’s no secret that I wasn’t a huge fan of the movie. Still, the screening I attended in Toronto was thronged with college students, howling at every mention of Van Damme’s name, so it’s safe to say that the Muscles from Brussels still enjoys a lot of popularity. It’s just unfortunate that people think that translates to JCVD being a good film. It’s not. So to swing the scales in the other direction, here are five moments from Jean Claude Van Damme films that are a lot more fun than anything in JCVD.
Flame & Citron, directed by former Dogme 95 auteur Ole Christian Madsen, walks a thin line between ass-kicking assassin movie and dense WWII period drama. The film recounts the true story of Bent and Jørgen, code names Flame and Citron, as they cruise around occupied Copenhagen offing Danish Nazis and German officers. In addition to action flick and period drama, the film also features a healthy dose of noir. The spare lighting and superb camera work showcase solid performances.
The film opens with several scenes of Bent and Jørgen carrying out their grim duty, knocking on doors, killing their mark, moving on, all overlaid with voice-over by Bent, which is both informative and moving. The plot steadily thickens, scene by scene, as more characters, each with their own motivations, begin to play a role. The ballooning cast of players is too much to keep track of in a first viewing, but this may well be the point. As the sabotage and double-crossing mounts, we’re forced to trust that Bent and Jørgen are doing the right thing, even if it’s confusing and ugly.
Word just came down the wire that Marc Forster has been hired to direct the next James Bond movie. According to Variety, the FInding Neverland director will “start work shortly” on a script polish with Paul Haggis, who wrote the (I think) very good Casino Royale and directed the (I think) very bad Crash.
It’s an interesting choice, considering Forster’s films a) tend have a lot of showy/Oscar bait-y roles for actors. and b) he has not previously directed anything resembling a franchise or mega-budget action film. But what does it mean? Reports surfaced earlier this year that Bond 22 (according to IMDb, it’s still untitled) will be a “direct sequel” to Casino Royale. The hiring of Forster could be an indication that the film take Casino’s “Bond is only human” angle even further, thus requiring a director who knows how to focus on an ordinary interpersonal drama set within an extraordinary circumstance (ie: Stranger Than Fiction). Still, the film’s primary IMDB “plot” keyword is “weaponry“, so I can’t imagine we’re talking about *too* much character drama.
If you’re a Bond fan (and, really, I think anyone who claims they get zero pleasure from these films is a dirty liar), you should check the Bond & Beyond group here at Spout. Or, if Forster’s casting has you super psyched (or super skeptical) about the sequel, you can start a new group devoted to Bond 22. Either would be a good place to talk about one of my favorite mashup videos, embedded above.
I talked with director Erik Canuel about his action-comedy, Bon Cop, Bad Cop at the Canadian filmmakers reception here at the Denver Film Festival. Canuel discussed how his film came into being and what filmmakers inspire him the most–essentially all filmmakers with real vision and passion.
Life doesn’t fit into neatly labeled packages. Neither do films. “Action, comedy, drama and horror” are sadly insufficient labels. Can you remember the last time you could neatly label a day in your life with one of those terms? Neither can we. That’s why we believe in embracing the messy complexity of life.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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