Compare and contrast.
Category: Action Movies (Page 121 of 165)
Every year about this time, my thoughts turn to a movie that is actually not very well made. Director Peter H. Hunt apparently had no clue how to turn “1776” from a Broadway musical into a movie back in 1972, but I still love the thing. An incredibly sharp, if still very theatrical, script by original writer Peter Stone (1974’s “The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3”) and really fun performances seal the deal, even if the director can’t. Besides, if the Founding Fathers were great, how much greater would they be singing and dancing their way to freedom from English tyranny? It’s like the “John Adams” miniseries only funnier and with a quasi-18th century beat. Are you with me? Are you??? Well, take a look, anyway.
If you live in the Los Angeles area and this seems like your thing, it just so happens that the American Cinematheque is screening the restored version of the film tonight at Hollywood’s Egyptian Theater, with director Hunt in attendance (don’t tell him what I said). However, if it’s not your thing — and I understand that may be the case — perhaps you’d prefer a more, er, manly retelling of how our nation came to be.
A few odds and ends as we head into the big holiday weekend…
* It’s not really about the reviews (neither film was liked by critics), but as a human being who likes to watch movies about human beings (and anthropomorphic animals, too), I find it somewhat reassuring to report that, according to Variety and everyone else, “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” edged out “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” $13.8 to $10.9 million.
In other mildly good news for movies that at least attempt to tell actual stories, “Public Enemies” came in an unsurprising third, but performed somewhat above expectations with $8.2 million on its first day. I’ll give you more definitive box office info on Sunday, as usual.
* The Hollywood Reporter says that the very old video game, “Asteroids,” is being turned into a movie. I guess “Pong: The Movie” was already taken. (That joke can’t be original, can it?) Begging the question: Why?????????!!!!!!! I’m not saying it couldn’t turn out to be a fun movie — miracles happen. However, in a world where we have thousand of science fiction novels, comics, and TV shows of all levels of quality to adapt, why use a game only old guys like me remember as an excuse to make a silly sci-fi flick? I don’t see even a small marketing advantage here.
With the ongoing box office behemoth that is “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” seemingly devouring everything in its path, the studios are nevertheless allowing two potentially vulnerable major productions to venture out of the nest a couple of days ahead of the big July 4th holiday weekend.
For the family trade, we have a 3-D CGI animated sequel, “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs,” which will be showing on a record number of 3-D screens. (Which I guess means that if you haven’t seen “Up” in 3-D by now, which I finally managed just last night, you may be SOL until at least such time as we start seeing 3-D retrospectives.) In a saner world, this would be the #1 movie this week because of family appeal, I think it’s safe to say. Carl DiOrio of The Hollywood Reporter is calling it at between $45 and $50 million for Friday through Sunday (not counting weekdays), which he thinks will be somewhat below the “Transformers” take based on a very modest 50% drop-off.
Renny Harlin used to be good for the occasional guilty pleasure in the 90s (“Die Hard 2,” “The Long Kiss Goodnight”), but lately, he’s become little more than a go-to guy for genre flicks better off being released straight to DVD. In his latest film, Harlin teams up with WWE Superstar John Cena in an action thriller so ridiculous that its shameless forgery of “Die Hard with a Vengeance” will be the least of your worries. Cena stars as Danny Fisher, a New Orleans detective whose girlfriend (Ashley Scott) is kidnapped by a dangerous terrorist (Aidan Gillen) he arrested a year before. Now, he must play a twisted game with the criminal (lasting 12 rounds, natch) if he ever wants to see his girlfriend again. The idea that someone as threatening to national security could even break out of prison is a bit of a joke, but the story is filled with so many of these silly coincidences that you eventually have to just let it go – especially when Cena’s character is allowed to practically destroy an entire city in the name of saving a single life. The dialogue is terrible as expected, but what will really surprise viewers is just how dull the action scenes are. Cena might not be a good actor, but his previous effort, “The Marine,” at least had a couple of cool set pieces to keep you entertained. Unfortunately, “12 Rounds” can’t even offer that.
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