Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) Review

By Paco McCullough

Mission Impossible is back, whether you wanted it or not. The over-the-top action franchise returns, but has made some much needed changes along the way. Eschewing the standard facemask disguises and betrayals from within, the format of this film is a nice change of pace for a franchise that has grown stale. While far from a perfect film, MI: Ghost Protocol may be the best MI since the first one.

13 Assassins (2010) Review

By Jason Haskins

Takashi Miike may not be a household name, but he sure is one on the streets. Through the last twenty odd years, he’s crafted some of the most depraved (Ichi the Killer ), disturbing (Visitor Q), and downright bizarre (The Happiness of the Katakuris) films, whilst also redefining Japanese shock cinema. Call him a genius or pervert, but he’s had a varied career. Perhaps the film he's best known for stateside is a beloved horror/romance movie: Audition.

Comic Movie Collection: Hulk (2003)

By Jason Haskins

No comic film has gotten the flack that the original Hulk movie did. Sure, you have your Daredevils and what have you's, but when Hulk came out in 2003 everyone was expecting a SMASH hit. I mean, there was a fresh new face with Eric Bana, fantastic-looking special effects, and a director who had proven himself with some outstanding movies in the past.

Immortals (2011) Review

By Paco McCullough

Tarsem Singh is one of the most visually interesting directors in Hollywood today. His obvious care and detail to every minut of every shot may only be surpassed by David Fincher. While both of his previous films (The Cell, The Fall) were incredibly beautiful, story was never focused to the level it should have been. Unfortunately, this shortcoming continues in Immortals, perhaps the worst of Tarsem's films.

Cult Films: True Romance (1993)

By Jason Haskins

I’ve never been a fan of romances, but with True Romance you have a romantic movie for the whole family—action for dad, romance for mom, and plenty of fucks flung around for the kids.

Martial Arts Madness: Hero (2002)

By Jason Haskins

There are few movies that come along that leave you out of breath once the credits begin to roll. Hero is one of those great movies that you watch expecting a decent action picture, but finding a wonderful movie instead.

Martial Arts Madness: Operation Condor (1991)

By Jason Haskins

I was a kid in the mid to late nineties and I remember being at my aunt's house when Jackie Chan swept the place. All of my random cousins were hugely into him, but I hadn't even heard of him...until they put on Operation Condor, which got me hooked. Now, he has become a colossal box office hero...though he has succumbed to Hollywood in recent years--making cheap films that have indubitably weakened his image. I will put my cards on the table and say that eighties/nineties Jackie Chan is still the man and this movie is one of the reasons why.

Killer Elite (2011) Review

By Paco McCullough

Killer Elite left me more conflicted than any movie I have seen in a long time. Simply put, I could not decide how to feel about this movie. More importantly, I don't know whether or not I can recommend it to you. What makes this movie so difficult to pigeonhole? Find out after the jump.

Colombiana (2011) Review

By Paco McCullough

Luc Besson has a spotted past with action films. He's made some classics (The Professional, La Femme Nikita) and some real stinkers (From Paris With Love). His new film, written and produced by Besson, directed by the awesomely named Oliver Megaton, opened this weekend. So how does Colombiana compare to his other films? Find out after the jump.

Crapsterpieces: Shoot 'em Up (2007)

By Paco McCullough

2007’s SHOOT ‘EM UP knows exactly what it is: a big, dumb action movie. In fact, it may be one of the biggest, dumbest action movies of the past decade, which is saying a lot, considering the grindhouse revival and the CRANK franchise. In other words, if you’re looking for a big, dumb, action movie, SHOOT ‘EM UP is worth checking out.

Comic Movie Collection: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

By Jason Haskins

Hugh Jackman's first break was replacing Dougray Scott in the original X-Men film while becoming a household name in recent years with some top notch movies like The Fountain and The Prestige and others like Australia and Van Helsing. He was the proponent who most wanted an X-Men spin-off film around his character, Wolverine, in order to fill in some of the back story that was mostly left vacant from the trilogy. Then again we all wanted this--and with Jackman in the producer's seat I figured this would be a golden opportunity.

For the longest time I looked forward to this movie as Wolverine's a great character and I had a solid trust in Hugh Jackman's ability, but as the credits rolled after my most recent viewing I couldn't help but think that he had forsaken himself as the big cheese. This is a big stubbed toe in the comic book movie world and I can't help but question why the filmmakers chose to go about it this way. This, of course, is 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine directed by Gavin Hood (Tsotsi, Rendition).

Cult Films: Apocalypto (2006)

By Jason Haskins

Mel Gibson sure has been in and out of some controversy the past handful of years. Going from the clean-cut action/thriller go-to guy role he displayed in such classics as Braveheart and Ransom to the man responsible for the biggest marketable movie of all time: The Passion of the Christ (hey, I enjoyed it!) and later getting buzzed for being buzzed (and driving no less with anti-Semitic motives!).

However, we all forget that some people lose themselves when drunk and mistakes happen. Obviously his public persona has been bashed for years, but Apocalypto proves that he actually has some talent behind him as a filmmaker instead of a man simply trying to cash in on Jesus Christ.

Martial Arts Madness: Enter the Dragon (1973)

By Jason Haskins

Bruce Lee was the late great martial arts expert/philosopher who was one of the first Asian American actors to hit it big onscreen and introduced a culture to smarter kung fu flicks. While he only made a handful of pictures in his lifetime, these stand up as some of the best the genre has to offer. Enter the Dragon was the last completed picture he starred in and was released a little bit after his death in 1973 of cerebral edema. While the last movie he worked on was The Game of Death, I find the film (though great) much unfinished and certainly not a high note of this caliber to end his career on.

Another Take: Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011) Review

By Jason Haskins

Believe it or not it’s been 10 long years since the last Planet of the Apes movie…remember the one Tim Burton directed starring Mark Wahlberg? Yeah, I wasn’t a big fan, either. After that terrible release I was very skeptical on what direction the series was going to go from there. I mean, the Apes movies have been a fun little science fiction detour for years (none coming close to the finesse of the original, of course). This summer we see the release of Rise of the Planet of the Apes—the inevitable prequel to the series. The big question on everyone’s minds is whether it’s good or bad.

Comic Movie Collection: The Punisher (2004)

By Jason Haskins

Those who do evil to others-- the killers, the rapists, psychos, sadists--you will come to know me well. Frank Castle is dead. Call me...The Punisher.

Poor Punisher. Right out the gates back in 1989, at one of the heights of the Punisher's popularities in the comic books, they made a film adaptation starring Dolph Lundgren that didn't do so well (I might be one of the few people on Planet Earth who actually dug it). Fifteen years later after the colossal success of the comics again due to Garth Ennis' treatment of the character they decided to go ahead and give it another go--Marvel actually responsible for making another R-rated comic book offering? Yes, please.

Videogame Bits: Double Dragon (1994)

By Terry Cleveland

Double Dragon starts out with two brothers, Jimmy (Mark Dacascos) and Billy (Scott Wolf) who happen to be martial artists and douche bags. The brothers find themselves stuck in a plot to control New Angeles City, with the help of an ancient medallion split into two pieces (like the wonder twins), perpetrated by a Vanilla Ice look alike with a lot of money (Robert Patrick aka Liquid T-1000 from Terminator 2).

Another Take: Cowboys & Aliens (2011)

By Jason Haskins

On paper, or at least in my head, the concept of mixing cowboys and aliens is an awesome one. Some may scoff at the title of the film, but it literally explains everything you need to know about this movie. Daniel Craig plays a bandit cowboy who wakes up in the desert without his memory, but with a weird contraption on his wrist that turns out to be a weapon of some kind.

Crapsterpieces: On Deadly Ground (1994)

By Paco McCullough

It’s very easy to call Steven Seagal a talentless hack capable only of making horrible movies (I just did). However, after watching 1994’s On Deadly Ground, I’m fairly certain that Steven Seagal not only is the most intelligent man in the action movie business, he is also one of the most aware what the target audience of an action movie wants. After seeing this film, I realized my expectations for action movies are far too low.

Comic Movie Collection: X-Men: First Class (2011)

By Jason Haskins


X-Men: First Class is the newest X-Men movie since 2009's disastrous X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which also happened to be the worst since 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand. On a positive note, this movie is the best X-Men flick since X2: X-Men United, but is it related to any of these above-mentioned films? Well, kind of.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011) Review

By Terry Cleveland

The Harry Potter film franchise has finally drawn to its epic conclusion after nearly a decade. As it is the conclusion to a series of films that started when the principal characters weren’t even old enough to drive a car, this one had some hefty shoes to fill.