Action – Page 4 – cinemescope

100 Word Review – Fight Club (1999)

June 3, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, ThrillerTagged Action, Brad Pitt, Chuck Palahniuk, Comedy, David Fincher, Edward Norton, Fight Club, Helena Bonham Carter, IMDb, Jared Leto, Meat Loaf, Psychological, ThrillerLeave a comment

Knowing that I am breaking the first rule of Fight Club just writing this, proves what a great film this is.

Edward Norton plays an insomniac office worker whose life is disrupted when he meets the formidable, effortlessly cool Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt).

Helena Bonham Carter, Meat Loaf and Jared Leto make up part of the amazing supporting cast to this classic psychological thriller.

Based on the best selling novel by Chuck Palahniuk (Choke, Snuff), directed by the indisputably brilliant David Fincher (Se7en, Gone Girl); it combines paranoia, dark humour and violence and currently proudly sits at #10 of IMDb’s Top 250.

100 Word Review – Tank Girl (1995)

May 31, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Comedy, F-Rated, Fantasy, Sci FiTagged Action, Alan Martin, Comedy, f-rated, Fantasy, feminist, IMDb, Jamie Hewlett, Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell, MGM, Naomi Watts, post apocalyptic, Rachel Talalay, Sci FiLeave a comment

This film is the epitome of 1990s grunge.

In a post-apocalyptic world where water is scarce, Rebecca (Lori Petty) teams up with Jet (Naomi Watts) to fight against the mega-corporation (run by Malcolm McDowell) controlling all the water and power. She’s foul mouthed, completely barmy and hilariously funny.

Based on a British comic strip by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett, directed by Rachel Talalay, it is a brilliant piece of feminist filmmaking, despite the extensive cuts made by MGM before release (see the trivia on IMDb for some interesting reading!).

It’s brutal yet highly entertaining with a wonderful 1990s soundtrack.

100 Word Review – Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

May 25, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Fantasy, Sci FiTagged Action, Charlize Theron, Fantasy, feminism, George Miller, IMDb, Mad Max, Nicholas Hoult, post apocalyptic, Sci Fi, Tom Hardy1 Comment

Despite the criticism that this film has received from a small corner of the internet, this film is epically awesome!

Part 4 of the Mad Max saga sees Max (Tom Hardy) caught up in a fight between Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) and Furiosa (Charlize Theron) in a stark desert post-apocalyptic world.

Although Tom Hardy is a strange choice, the rest of the cast is shiny and chrome! Nicholas Hoult is superb as Nux.

Writer and director George Millar clearly has an eye for the visually breath-taking, managing to highlight simultaneously the beauty and ridiculousness of ultra violence. I didn’t blink once.

100 Word Review – From Dusk Till Dawn (1996)

May 18, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., DramaTagged Action, crime, Danny Trejo, Drama, George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis, Mexico, Quentin Tarantino, road, Robert Rodriguez, Salma Hayek, Vampires2 Comments

I do not like Quentin Tarantino. That said, I think Robert Rodriguez is amazing, and I think his hand in this film really shows.

When the Fuller family (Harvey Keitel, Juliette Lewis) find their RV high-jacked by notorious criminals (George Clooney, Tarantino) they think that smuggling them across the boarder into Mexico is going to be their biggest problem.

Salma Hayek and Danny Trejo turn up as some very unsavoury characters south of the boarder, and the question becomes will our heroes survive the night?

Part crime flick, part undead, gory nightmare, this is not for the faint of heart.

100 Word Review – Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind (1984)

May 16, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., F-Rated, Sci FiTagged Action, animation, Anime, eco-friendly, eco-warrior, Hayao Miyazaki, IMDb, Japanese, Nausicaa, pokemon, politics, Sci Fi, Studio GhibliLeave a comment

From the makers of Howl’s Moving Castle, comes a fantastic piece of Japanese animation.

Following the eco-theme familiar to Studio Ghibli narratives, this film is about Nausicaä, a pacifist princess, who turns warrior in an attempt to save her planet.

It has Sci Fi for genre fans, including some wonderful creatures not dissimilar to Pokemon, and some epic battles and alien international politics.

As with all Miyazaki’s work, this is beautiful as well as being emotionally meaningful. It sits comfortably within the top 250 films on IMDb. Don’t let the fact you haven’t heard of it stop you from watching it.

100 Word Review – The Heat (2013)

May 10, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Action, Comedy, F-RatedTagged Action, buddy, Comedy, cop, FBI, Katie Dippold, Melissa McCarthy, Paul Feig, Sandra Bullock2 Comments

Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarty star in this truly excellent F-rated film, one of the biggest grossing movies of 2013.

Ashburn (Bullock), an uptight FBI agent, is paired with Mullins (McCarthy) a rough-around-the-edges street cop. They must learn to work together to bring down a ruthless drug lord.

Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) and writer Katie Dippold (currently writing Ghostbusters (2016)) work together brilliantly, bringing in the best bits of cop dramas and buddy comedies to create the best action comedy of recent years.

This is not a “nice” film nor a “girly” film, but one which will have you laughing for days.

100 Word Review – Romancing The Stone (1984)

May 4, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Action, Comedy, F-Rated, RomanceTagged 1980s, Action, adventure, Comedy, Danny DeVito, Diane Thomas, Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas, Robert Zemeckis, RomanceLeave a comment

With promotional images like this, what’s not to love?

Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas star in this romantic action adventure about a novelist (Turner) who sets off to rescue her sister from Columbian smugglers. On the way she encounters a soldier-of-fortune (Douglas) and becomes embroiled in an adventure she could never have imagined.

I’ll admit to being rather sceptical going in to this, but it is actually brilliant. Think Indiana Jones, but with more romance and a three dimensional female lead. Why all adventure films aren’t like this one, I don’t know. A wonderful escapist film, and it’s on Netflix.

100 Word Review – Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)

April 29, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Sci FiTagged Action, adventure, Arnie, Arnold Schwarzenegger, computers, Edward Furlong, James Cameron, Robert Patrick, robot, Sci Fi, t-800, t1000, Terminator1 Comment

This might be my all time favourite film. Who wouldn’t love a film with scenes like this in it?

Arnie is back. But this time he’s the good guy.

The T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger) has been reprogrammed by John Connor in the future and sent back to defend his younger self (Edward Furlong) from the latest terminator, the T-1000 (Robert Patrick).

Linda Hamilton is back as Sarah Connor and, far from the shy waitress of the first film, she is kicking serious butt.

It won 4 Oscars in 1992 including Best Sound and Visual Effects and is unsurprisingly currently voted number 41 on IMDb.

100 Word Review – Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

April 27, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., Action, Sci FiTagged Action, adaptation, adventure, Age of Ultron, Avengers, Avengers Assemble, Black Widow, Captain America, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Comic, Hawkeye, Hulk, Iron Man, James Spader, Jeremy Renner, Joss Whedon, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Sci Fi, Stan Lee, Thor2 Comments

Everything that Joss Whedon makes is beautiful, and this is no exception.

Following on from The Avengers (2012), we catch up with the gang still coping with the fallout from Loki. Stark (Robert Downey Jr) more than most.

I won’t give away any more plot. The script is as full of humour, emotion, action and fully formed characters. There’s action, romance, family ties and a whole lot more besides.

The cast is wonderful, as always. Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson and Jeremy Renner are all superb. James Spader is in his element as the ultimate artificial intelligence, Ultron.

100 Word Review – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 (2014)

April 26, 2015March 6, 2016Posted in 100 Words..., F-Rated, Sci FiTagged Action, adaptation, Donald Sutherland, dystopian, Elizabeth Banks, future, Hunger Games, Jennifer Lawrence, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sci Fi, Stanley Tucci, Woody Harrelson1 Comment

You’ve seen the first one and the second one.

You are ready to follow Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) into District 13, the heart of the resistance. What will Snow (Donald Sutherland) do to punish her betrayal? Does she really have the moral high ground? Is she fit to be Mockingjay?

Heavily built on the sturdy foundations of the previous films, don’t start with this one. However, it takes a good hard look at the intricacies of rebellion and the power of propaganda which is covered so well in the book (Read. The. Books.).

It’s the things we love most that destroy us.