After having sat through the enjoyable but mind-numbingly violent Machete, I’ve come up with a new movie category: bloodbath porn. From the very first scene in this Robert Rodriguez homage to 70s action films, Machete has a body count that I can’t recall seeing an equal of since the Rambo series. Not into decapitation? Then this probably isn’t the film for you. Machete is played by scary-looking character actor Danny Trejo, whose entire career seems…Read More
Review: Despicable Me
Despicable Me is a surprisingly violent animated movie that suffers from being released within a few weeks of the film Toy Story 3. Where Toy Story 3 has warm characters who seek to do well by each other, Despicable Me is populated by characters who constantly hurt each other as the filmmakers clearly sought a cheap laugh and tried to string together a series of hit-or-miss sight gags. The story has Gru (voice of Steve…Read More
Review: Predators
The 1987 film Predator inspired a number of spinoffs from the inane (Alien vs. Predator) to the ghastly (Predator 2), and it was definitely time for a reboot before the titular hunter became a tedious cliché. I’m not a huge Robert Rodriguez fan, but this is one time where he’s assembled the perfect team for the job, and Predators is a non-stop thrill ride of an action film, laced with satisfying violence, exotic weapons, and…Read More
Review: The Spy Next Door
Modern writing is all about disclosure, so in that spirit, let me disclose that I’m a lukewarm Jackie Chan fan. He’s been in some terrific action and comedy films, notably Rush Hour and The Forbidden Kingdom, but he’s also been in a lot of dreck, movies that are just downright stupid, like the Rush Hour sequels, Shanghai Knights, and the worst of the lot, Around the World in 80 Days. He’s a successful action star,…Read More
Review: Shorts
If you’ve seen any of the Spy Kids movies, you already know that director Robert Rodriguez has a knack for making frenetic kids films that have extraordinary, wacky special effects, all harnessed — often loosely — into telling a story that’s exciting and a bit goofy. There’s a certain glossy sheen to his films, an extruded plastic sort of sense that’s uniquely his, and it’s delightful when it’s not too far over the top. His…Read More