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Den of Geek sums it up well:

There are some guns, too, some fire, some more guns, a few baseball hats, and a bit of sweat too. The only scene we get is Bruce Willis being all sinister with Sylvester Stallone, but it’ll do for now.

(more…)

Yes, I know. This post is a few weeks late. Unfortunately I don’t have the time to see everything as soon as it comes out and only caught up with “Salt” and “Eat Pray Love” this last week. So please be kind and rewind your brains to early August. Or pretend that what you’re reading here is a way-early DVD review from a real go-getter. My original plan was to wait for the DVD releases, but that was before witnessing the surprise box-office stamina of “The Expendables.” My expectation was that Stallone’s ode to the 80s would top off somewhere below $80 million, and yet after three weeks of release it continues to chug right along earning another $10 million this weekend for a total of $83 million.

That’s pretty impressive for a non-sequel, non-franchise action film, especially one with the added weight of being R-rated. You’ll never catch me trying to publicly predict the how and why of the box office, but a look at “Salt” and “Eat Pray Love” did bring to mind certain elements of “The Expendables” that helped me to respect it as something more than just a thick-necked gun and run (not that that’s a bad thing) and maybe help somewhat to explain its unexpected shelf-life.

There’s a lot to like about Angelina Jolie’s PG-13 “Salt,” and even though the Oscar-winner looks a little frail to be dispatching nameless henchmen, there’s no doubt she’s one of the few movie stars, male or female, still able to artistically and commercially carry a picture all on her own. Better yet, after a ten-year absence from the action genre, director Philip Noyce returns in fine form with his old-school skill of putting together the kind of exciting action sequences that made Harrison Ford’s two Jack Ryan pictures so memorable. In this awful era of The Paul Greengrass, what a treat it is to comprehend what’s happening during a car chase, what a rarity to enjoy gunfights structured in a way that allow you to understand the geography of who’s killing whom. (more…)

Only in present-day Hollywood would a filmmaker have to try and cut off the media-created narrative that his creation was too patriotic. And it was this article written by left-winger Steven Zeitchik of the L.A. Times that created the kerfuffle Stallone responds to below. Obviously, this was Zeitchik’s goal. Yet again, our cultural enforcers attempt to toxify a hit film that doesn’t adhere to their left-wing worldview in order to make those thinking of reproducing the same think twice about the media misery that always comes with it. 

How far Hollywood has fallen. Today, accusations of making a patriotic film must be defended against. But there’s no political blacklisting or anything…  

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I can’t find the link and I’m already late for a screening, but earlier this week, someone at a fairly high-profile film-site claimed I had declared “The Expendables” the most patriotic film ever, or something similar to that. After reviewing the only two pieces (here and here) I’ve written since seeing Stallone’s box office hit, what I can declare is that she’s just making that up (I do remember she was a she). Nowhere did I state “The Expendables” was flag-waving or even patriotic — unless clear storytelling lines between good and evil and masculine heroes who selflessly risk their own lives are now considered, by default, elements of America jingoism. Which is kind of a terrible thing to say about the rest of the world. (more…)

I have to admit I never cared for the action films back in the eighties. They seemed silly and mindless. The two biggest stars of the genre, Schwarzenegger and Stallone were barely capable of English; and the plots were as predictable as the wigs on a metal band.

It was the Reagan era, and I wanted no part of it, or it’s popular films. Looking back I realize that I was probably too hard on both the President and the genre. Most of my opposition to Reagan was his crackdown on drugs, and that probably came from his youth. In old Hollywood, it was the communists who tended to be dope fiends, so in his mind there was a correlation. (Come to think of it, most of the dope fiends in MY youth were communists as well.)

Looking back I realize that I agree with much of what Reagan stood for. His opposition to an ever growing government, matches mine; and his love for America’s promises of freedom prosperity and liberty, are things I cherish as well. Today, I can also enjoy a good action film. (more…)

Like any other red-blooded, rock ribbed, slightly overweight and out of shape movie loving American man, I am waiting to see “The Expendables.”  I am waiting for the body count of the summer to begin with all of my favorite 80’s and 90’s actions stars! I heard they were in there. I went over to IMBD to take a look at any early information about the movie and sure enough there were Stallone and Lundgren. One can only hope that there is some homage to Rocky IV in the movie.

The new tough guys Li and Statham are in the movie along with extreme fighter Randy Couture and fake fighter Steve Austin. There are cameos by Willis and the Democrat Governor of California Schwarzenegger. All the action heroes are there…except my favorite, Chuck Norris!

My favorite Chuck Norris movie is the 1985 cop drama “Code of Silence.” “Delta Force” and “Missing in Action” have better action and more blowing up of stuff, but they lack something that “Code” had: me! I got my first chance to be in a major film when they shot “Code of Silence” in Chicago. I was cast as an extra and later got to be an uncredited cop in a scene with Mr. Norris. It was an awesome experience for a young comic. He was friendly and personable and chatted between takes with everybody. (more…)

After the moribund Carter years, the age of Reagan issued in a new era of American confidence. And with that confidence came a wave of films full of male bravado after a decade of paranoid, navel gazing films with negative endings.

Carter capped off the sad decade of the 70s, where America bailed on Vietnam, a president resigned in shame and Carter let Iran fall into Islamo-Fascist hands and then failed to rescue our hostages, which Iran humiliated before the world. His economy was as terrible as this one. And the Democrats of his day echoed the same defeatist sentiments of this period, claiming people better get used to high unemployment and an moribund economy because it’s here to stay. American cities were decaying. The Big Apple was said to be rotting and it’s best days were over.

The 70’s movies, echoed the sentiments of many film makers of that era, which showed a government that was corrupt and predatory. America was seen as a hopeless, crime ridden nation where the little guy had to fight corruption at every turn. Hollywood cranked out revenge films, crime films, conspiracy films. Many of them had an unhappy ending. The few exceptions, like Star Wars were a huge hit, but they were an exception to the rule. (more…)

Love or hate them, the 1980s had an impact on pop culture that the world has never quite shaken. From the advent of music videos to ridiculous hair to flashy films and TV shows, everything seemed bigger, louder and brasher back then.

But no other genre of that time divided people’s loyalties as much as the decade’s testosterone-fueled action films. Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Chuck Norris were three of the muscle-bound wisecrackers laying claim to the title of World’s Toughest Man. But none of those guys ever held a candle to the toughest guy of all, Sylvester Stallone.

With the Rocky franchise going full bore and Rambo first making the scene in 1982, it was a great time to be Sly. But then came the ’90s, and moviegoers were offered a menu of sensitive heroes and spectacular special effects taking the place of stars and stuntmen risking their necks onscreen. Stallone himself actually blames the ability of Michael Keaton to put on a suit full of fake muscles and become Batman as the moment that his own juiced-up muscles ceased to be important to audiences.

But if there is one thing Hollywood loves more than a mere winner it is a successful comeback. And in the past three years, Stallone’s been slowly building one, mainly through reprising roles he created and knows best, first in 2006’s “Rocky Balboa” and then “Rambo” in 2008. (more…)

It was the summer of Uncle Buck, of Parenthood, The Abyss, and Honey I Shrunk the Kids; the summer when Harry met Sally, Batman arrived, James Bond once again kept his promise to return and the Ghostbusters simply did.  With my then-fiancée at my side and while settled into the threadbare front seat of a 1972 Buick Riviera (with more miles on it than I can recall), we would watch them all, and many more. 

1989 didn’t just mark the end of a decade. It was also the greatest movie summer of my life. There was Lethal Weapon 2, Field of Dreams, and Star Trek V. But it should be remembered that these were different times in America, the last gasp of the outdoor drive-in movie theatre, that place where films that might not have seemed so great or even good while viewed in a proper cinema, achieved their own special kind of grandeur when watched under the stars through a windshield, and heard through a steel speaker that hung on your car door window. 

So without any embarrassment I will also say that this was the summer of Lock Up, of Turner and Hooch, The Package, Casualties of War, and what might have been the greatest drive-in movie ever made. 

We would be married that September and like most couples starting out and paying for their own wedding and honeymoon, money was tight and frivolous expenditures impossible. Our entertainment would have to come cheap and in the early mornings we would walk, because walking cost nothing but also for the exercise and to enjoy that time together before real-life intruded on our new romance in the form of jobs. As we made our way around the neighborhood, the excited discussion was of the future, our future. Because there is nothing more thrilling than realizing that your whole life lies ahead of you, except in the knowing that you have found someone to share it with.  (more…)

[Ed. Note: This is the first part of a series expressing our affection for the kind of unpretentious, action entertainment Stallone is hoping to revive to with "The Expendables."]

There are few greater joys than ‘80s action films.  When I was younger, my brother and I sought out the craziest ones we could find for marathon viewing.  The appeal is obvious:  these movies are pure; they don’t waste time trying to excuse their existence.  There are no hackneyed back stories that reduce the protagonists to simpering man-babies in third act monologues; there are no juvenile progressive sucker punches (usually); and, most importantly, there’s no pretension. 

You can’t tell someone who didn’t like Die Hard that they didn’t “get it” or use your love of Rowdy Herrington flicks to passive-aggressively show off to your friends.  You’re not watching these movies to groom your image or impress anyone.  All you’re doing is marveling at the most sensible use of a medium that consists of moving images:  incredible feats performed by tough, charismatic men.  You’re laughing at the goofy charm (or genuine stupidity) of whatever insane premise is holding it all together. 

As noted previously on BH, Hollywood has abandoned these fundamentals, and the result has been a decade of hum-drum, camera-shaking clunkers with no personality and virtually no special effects created for real-life cameras to capture.  That is, Hollywood has abandoned these fundamentals, with one exception:  Sylvester Stallone.  (more…)

Thanks to commenter ScottDS for bringing this to our attention. From a series of Q&As Stallone is doing over at AICN, we’ll start with a question asked by a fan, a question many of us have been asking for nearly a decade now:

BRIAN: So now my question. As I grow older one of the major things I enjoy about the 80’s action films are their high level of optimism about America and its place in the world. Whether it was Rambo 2, Rambo 3, Rocky 4, Red Dawn, etc. they made American’s feel invincible (and a bit cocky) but also proud of whom we are. The unbelievably ripped action heroes were a great physical manifestation of who we were as a nation. Post 9/11 I think many would love to feel that way again as we have transitioned from the great action heroes to action stars such as Matt Damon, Nic Cage, and Tom Cruise. All great actors but I can’t buy them as action heroes. Movies today seem to have the opposite effect and are focused too much on our flaws as nation and our failed foreign policy (Avatar, Green Zone). Do you feel this is simply because of the changing generations in Hollywood, a true reflection of the national temperature, or just an overall loss in optimism following the end of the American century that is reflected in the stories told on screen? (more…)

July is probably a little early to declare any year the worst movie year ever, but I haven’t had the opportunity to see enough films these past few months to mount any kind of argument either way with the Wall Street Journal’s Joe Queenan’s belief that Hollywood hit the bottom of the bottom in 2010. I would most certainly argue, however, that this decade has far and away been the worst ever — a perfect storm of soulless, bloated blockbusters, 140-minute “comedies,” self-consciously indie indies, and the last dying gasp of anything resembling the charismatic movie star. Two words Queenan and I would surely bond forever as blood brothers over: Shia and LaBeouf.

Though he’s a little hard on “Grown Ups” and awkwardly avoids rendering a judgment of any kind on Christopher Nolan’s much-debated “Inception,” give Queenan credit for at least managing to avoid the self-referential while creating a somewhat hyperbolic frame that’s obviously meant to draw attention to Hollywood’s bigger problems (which essentially boils down to the fact that those who make the movies are completely out of touch with these who watch the movies). Because if 2010 was the worst year ever for anything, it was the oh-so precious and nearly-extinct Critical Community’s masturbatory need to write about themselves. Honestly guys and gals, if entertainment is the least necessary industry in the history of the world, what does that make those of you who spend your lives intellectualizing over why it isn’t?

My personal realization that everything that could possibly go wrong with Hollywood has, occurred about halfway through a matinee of “Predators” I ducked into earlier this week. No offense to Adrien Brody who’s a fine actor and probably a very nice guy, but after he won an Oscar in 2002 for “The Pianist,” do you really think he saw himself  just a few years later spending an inordinate amount of time under the leadership of a personal trainer in order to get properly ripped because his next gig was stepping into Arnold Schwarzenegger’s shoes?

Brody deserves better and so do we. (more…)

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Wait a minute, wait a minute…

Did I just see no meterosexuals?

Did I just see bad guys that aren’t white Czechs, or some other contrived nonsense?

Was that a crucifix not dipped in urine?

Men and guns and badassery portrayed as good things?

(more…)

As you’ve heard, over at National Review Online, we’re going through a list of the best 25 conservative movies of the last 25 years. If you’re a reader of our print edition, you might have seen the full list by now, which includes a list of movies that almost but quite didn’t make it. And here’s my problem.

Well – first – here’s the “Also Rans” list:

Air Force One, Amazing Grace, An American Carol, Barcelona, Bella, Cinderella Man, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Hamburger Hill, The Hanoi Hilton, The Hunt for Red October, The Island, Knocked Up, The Last Days of Disco, The Lost City, Miracle, The Patriot, Rocky Balboa, Serenity, Stand and Deliver, Tears of the Sun, Thank You for Smoking, Three Kings, Tin Men, The Truman Show, Witness. (more…)