action movie freak    
 

     

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

May 6

Aliens starring Bill Paxton as Private Hudson in Game Over moment after landing craft crashes

"Game over, man. Game over!"


HOW TO TELL . . .
Are you a FREAK
or just a
FAN?

Action Movie Fans can watch
other genres in comfort.
Action Movie FREAKS will start shifting in their seats 10 minutes into a movie where nothing has crashed or been blown up yet . . .


Action Movie Fans
can quote
a few one-liners from a few
 popular action movies.
"I'll be back!" 
"Make My Day!"

Action Movie FREAKS try to work
their favorite quotes into
conversation all the time! 
"God has his tricks, but getting
[paper jams out of copiers],
that's one of mine.*"

Action Movie Fans
have watched their favorite action movies
a handful of times.
Action Movie FREAKS can recite
the entire opening scene
word-for-word from at least 2 movies they're obsessed with!

"The Hovitos are near, the poison is still fresh𔃋 days, they're following us . . . "

"They are an army, unlike any other, crusading across the stars toward . . . "


And if you can easily finish
this entire quote: 
"I know what you're thinking,
did he fire 6 shots,
or only 5 . . . "


.44 magnum 

just admit it now,
you're an Action Movie
FREAK!
(That quote should be required memorization if you're going
to call yourself an

Action Movie FREAK
!)

Action Movie Fans can stomach
most movie violence.
Action Movie FREAKS will clap when the action reaches its gross-out best! Remember the incredible opening of Ninja Assassin . . . 
What's that? You didn't see
"Ninja Assassin"?
Then you're an
Action Movie Fan.
Let's start again.

Remember the incredible opening of Ninja Assassin, which ended when the blood splatter becomes the title 
 Ninja Assassin blood splatter title
you knew it was coming, but you clapped anyway! (Yes, true Action Movie FREAKS clap when the violence is really good like horror movie fans laugh when it gets really gross)  If, right about now, you're shaking your head or laughing,
you're an Action Movie Fan.
If you're all fired up . . . 
"HELL YEAH!"
"Welcome to the Jungle!"

You're an
Action Movie FREAK!

*from CHRONICLES OF RIDDICK
"God has his tricks, but gettin' outta places no one else can, that's one of mine."

 

 

Greatest Action Movie moment ever Rambo: First Blood Part II wall of mud

Wonder Woman

Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible

Aliens one of the greatest ever Action Movies

Sylvester Stallone The Untouchables

Trinity in the phone booth in The Matrix

Michael Jai White, Never Back Down: No Surrender

Ilsa Faust motorcyle behind the scenes

Lucy Lawless and stunt double Zoe Bell as Xena Warrior Princess

Tom Cruise Edge of Tomorrow

Jet Li Unleashed

Dwayne Johnson as Hercules

Dina Meyer as Dizzy Flores from Starship Troopers bad ass action movie chick

Jeannie Epper, Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman stunt double, holds her like a bride

The Terminator Arnold Schwarzenegger

Felicity Jones as Jyn Erso in Rogue One

Tom Cruise rock climbing in Mission: Impossible II

Amy Barnes as Doomsday warrior girl

Chris Hemsworth as Thor

Cobie Smulders throws down in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back

Action Movie Bad Ass Chick Jennette Goldstein as Vasquez in Aliens

Terminator Salvation with Christian Bale aka Mumbles

stunt double Heidi Moneymaker as Black Widow

Jean-Claude van Damme bites the tail off a rattlesnake in John Woo's Hard Target

bad ass action movie chick Kate Nauta in Transporter 2

Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool

Sylvester Stallone as John Rambo in Rambo

Geena Davis in The Long Kiss Goodnight

Andrea James Lui bad ass action movie chick in close space fight in Bail Enforcers

Peter Weller as Robocop-an Action Movie Classic

The incomparable Jackie Chan's clocktower stunt in Project A

Milla Jovovich as Alice in Resident Evil Apocalypse bad ass action movie chick

stunt double Dayna Grant as Furiosa

Keanu Reeves as John Wick seeing double

Dolph Lundgren Universal Soldier Action Movie Classic

The immortal Bruce Lee

Wesley Snipes Gallowwalkers

Olga Kurylenko as Etain from Centurion bad ass action movie chick

Keanu Reeves as Neo in The Matrix bullet time

Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando

Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor

Mission:Impossible III starring Tom Cruise in the bridge scene

Joyce Godenzi in Eastern Condors

Predator starring Arnold as Dutch and Arnold's biceps

Michelle Yeoh in Tomorrow Never Dies

Chuck Norris with guns in both hands in front of an American flag

JeeJa Yanin in Chocolate with a kick to the head

Sammo Kam-bo Hung in Eastern Condors

Chris Pine in Jurassic World

Steven Seagal holding a machette in Above the Law

Gina Carano in Haywire

Scott Adkins as Boyka

Ronda Rousey in The Expendables 3

Act of Valor swamp scene

Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2 ejector seat scene

   

. . . everything you love about ACTION MOVIES

The Essentials that make a great Action Movie
The gotta-have-it Trash Talking of the Action Movie BAD ASS
The Good and the Bad Action Movies by your favorite Action Figures
Looking for something specific? It's on the Hit List, and . . . 

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE!

Netflix is 'On the Nose' with Michael Bay's 6 Underground
December 17, 2019

"With loneliness comes freedom to go where you please, do what you want."

Disney had good reason to be worried that Netflix got Michael Bay!  Michael Bay delivers a stunning Action Movie with an unparalleled opening 20 minutes. Within the space of that first 20 minutes, I had said "Holy shit!", "Oh my God!", "How did they do that?!" (twice), "Jesus!", and another two "Oh my Gods!". The killcount was at least 23 at that point and rated "R", and that is awesome

I love when Action Movies introduce a team like players in, for example, The Rundown. I also liked the numbers-instead-of-names thing too.

6 Underground number one the billionaire

 "One" The Billionaire
 
played by Ryan Reynolds

  (10/23/76 age 43, 6' 2" born in Vancouver)

6 Underground number two the spy

 "Two" The Spy aka "Cami"
 
played by Mélanie Laurent

 
(2/21/83 age 36, 5' 2" born in Paris)

6 Underground number three the hitman

 "Three" The Hitman aka "Javier"
 
played by Manuel Garcia-Rulfo
 
 
(2/25/81 age 38, 6' 2.5" born in Guadalajara)

6 Underground number four the skywalker

 "Four" The Skywalker aka "Billy"
 
played by  Ben Hardy
 
(skills: parkour, electronics)
 
 
(1/2/91 age 28, 5' 8.5" born in Bournemouth)

6 Underground number five the doctor  "Five" The Doctor aka "Miliam?"
 
played by Adria Arjona

 (4/25/92 age 27, 5' 7" born in Puerto Rico
   Ramirez in Fortnite, singer Ricardo Arjona's daughter)

6 Underground number six the driver  "Six" The Driver
 
played by Dave "Davy" Franco

 (6/12/85 age 34, 5' 7" born in Palo Alto
   actor James Franco's brother
  "
I don't wanna be just James Franco's little brother.")

6 Underground number seven the soldier

 

 "Seven" The Soldier/Sniper aka "Blaine"
 
played by Corey Hawkins

  (10/22/88 age 31, 6' 1" born in D.C.)

The movie begins like a Redbull Commercial in a Mission-Impossible-II-cliff-climber opening setting. The Netflix logline reads "After faking his death, a tech billionaire recruits a team of international operatives for a bold and bloody mission to take down a brutal dictator."  The movie introduces them and later gives us a little more on each. [SPOILER] One of them dies so they have to replace him.

The premise is all of them would rather be "dead" to the world so they can do good. As "One" puts it:  "Our job as ghosts is to do the dirty work the living can't, or won't." The group has a target hit board of 9 men. Target number one is the "first mission" (this movie). Does that mean we get 8 more movies?! I hope so.

Some things I loved about this movie were . . .

In the opening sequence, when One has to bail out of his aircraft to fake his death, in true Michael Bay fashion, the plane circles around him as he falls (must be seen to be appreciated).

6 Underground redbull crash

 

The "glorious clusterfuck" first chase scene in a 2016 Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio (IMCDb.org) in "day-glow green" is something that not only showcases the skills of the team, but how they work, plan ahead for contingencies, get along. It's Michael Bay mayhem at its finest.

Right after a car full of bad guys gets T-boned by a (rig/oil truck?) and they bounce a pedestrian off the hood of the car, the second how-did-they-do-that sequence was this motorcyclist who takes a headshot and winds up on the hood of their car.

6 Underground motorcycle headshot crash

6 Underground motorcycle headshot crash

6 Underground motorcycle headshot crash

6 Underground motorcycle headshot crash

6 Underground motorcycle headshot crash

 

The third unbelievable stunt was this death-by-pipes impaling:

6 Underground bricks and pipes impaling

6 Underground bricks and pipes impaling

6 Underground bricks and pipes impaling

6 Underground bricks and pipes impaling

6 Underground bricks and pipes impaling

 

Then there was this guy who got caught between cars in the chase. Photos don't do it justice since it happens so quickly, the cyclist's body is just flung against the Maserati.  Seriously, HOW do they do that?!

6 Underground motorcycle crash between cars

6 Underground motorcycle crash between cars

6 Underground motorcycle crash between cars

6 Underground motorcycle crash between cars

 

The next gnarly kill was also hard to imagine how they did it.

6 Underground man dragged into excavator

The guy gets dragged. That part looks real/possible/incredible.

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

Once you see the excavator in the distance, you know what's going to happen.  As the bad guy (whose leg is stuck somehow in the car) gets swung all over the road, he is headed straight for the bucket.

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

How he flails about and moves his arms looks real, and this looks so painful but in this screencap, it shows it's a dummy.

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

He hits and gets thrown back 90 degrees (owch) . . .

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

And then there's the shoe . . .

6 Underground man dragged into excavator>

 

Gnarly kills are best when it hurts to watch! On the heels of this death is another incredible scene. This is one hell of a chase sequence. We can see it coming, but Michael Bay really puts his mark on it. It's like the worst imaginable car crash movie that they show you in traffic school (yes, someone's been to traffic school more than once).

6 Underground car split in half

Here we see the car breaks in half.

6 Underground car split in half

And, of course, the passengers come flying out.

6 Underground car split in half

6 Underground car split in half

Somehow the driver's still inside and (it's hard to see here) gets something through his neck! Sweet! LOL

It's all Final-Destination-2 good, or maybe I should say Transformers-Dark-of-the-Moon good, because nothing I've seen since has topped the last 45 minutes of the eye-popping 3D of that movie!

Another how-did-they-do-that scene was this 'on the nose' shot through the window at high speed. It looked like tit took half his nose off in real time, but in these pictures, it just gets smooshed to the side.

6 Underground on the nose shot

 

In this crash, they 2 men in the car come crashing through the windshield. Then, the green car sideswipes them as they try to move. They are knocked into the air and thrown into the wooden slat wall below. Again, timing makes it look so real. I really think 2 stuntmen did this, just don't know how. Looked so real.

6 Underground guys knocked into wall

There's so many more incredible moments in this movie, but that first 20 minutes is packed!!!! The soundtrack is great and there is plenty of humor. This is BY NO MEANS all the crashes or kills, it's just my favorites.

 Some critics complained there wasn't enough story. I think that just translates to they wanted more. You want more. Watch it yourself. The rest is just as good.

 

And "Two" is a total bad ass! #grrrlpower

6 Underground Melanie Laurent

6 Underground Melanie Laurent

 


 

At Last—Black Widow Movie
December 3, 2019

Black Widow 2020 movie poster

I thought for a while it wasn't going to get made, that they had given up. But, here's the trailer. Sounds like an excuse for her to kick ass. Super excited for the female stunt work on this.  Don't even care if it's a good movie, it's MARVEL! 

 


"I Won't Be Back" Terminator: Dark Fate
November 13, 2019

So, YES, you need Arnold Schwarzenegger if it's a Terminator movie, BUT they don't get what made it cool in the first place: MUSCLE. I saw it in theatres when Arnold was a phenomenon. It was like "What's the big guy gonna do next?" "Oh, they turned him into a robotic killing machine—cool!". We were afraid of him BEFORE we found out he was a killing machine, but none of the Terminators have been scary since. Yes, they've been relentless and indestructible, but still ordinary-looking men/woman—meh!

And this was yet another Terminator movie that gave us only a glimpse of the battle we are all still waiting to see . . . How do they still not get that we want to see THAT movie?!

Terminator: Dark Fate answered a question you didn't want answered: "What would your Dad look like as The Terminator?" Not only did the robot 'become' human, but so did Arnold Schwarzenegger. And yet, he's the still best thing in it. Schwarzenegger humanizes the "Cyberdyne Systems Model 101" in the best/worst way possible.  If just his exterior 'skin' aged but his physique was the same, it would be different, but we are all too painfully aware our heroes are aging. You can't escape reality there and that knowledge/baggage made it suck for me. As he finally says, he won't be back . . . (I'm not crying, you are!)

There were amazing moments but they were just other versions of things we've seen before. Not original, like the "unscathed" moment the liquid metal Terminator stomps out of the burning semi wreckage, but another level version of that. It's the coolest moment in the film (what happens with the—I call him the "tar" version; tar is not scary—REV 9) when he explodes out of burning wreckage, but . . . it's still like this. This photo cold be high school, guess who's the nerd and who's the bully?

Diego Luna looking scrawny next to Arnold Schwarzenegger

As for the women, Linda Hamilton's character is made fun of IMO. The new Sarah Connor character doesn't have a son that will save the world, SHE will save the world. It feels like they just wanted to cast a Latina to attract a demographic (like the choice of Diego Luna). That's great, I'm all for diversity, but this girl is tiny. Again, where's the MUSCLE?! If you're going to have two other average women, bring on a super-bad-ass-beefy-augmented Super Soldier! But "Grace" is just tall. She would look more at home on the runway. I like her androgynous look, but I just don't get why another opportunity for a muscular Vasquez-from-Aliens type was lost. 

Here's a character poster of the tiny and skinny chicks. ACTION MOVIE!!!! <--screaming in Gary Oldman as Stansfield in "Léon: The Professional" way. Where's the muscle? Women are fighting MMA and UFC. Isn't that proof enough, women want to see truly strong women?  

Terminator Dark Fate character poster of tiny and skinny chicks

 


New Action Movie Trailers
October 25, 2019

Maybe just new to me, but, here we go, here we go . . . As we all countdown to Terminator: Dark Fate (11/1), these look like the-real-deal Action Movies:

Primal  (8 November 2019)

First, let's start with Primal (of course) #becauseNicolasCage, but Kevin Durand might steal the show as the walking wall of villain. Famke Janssen plays (Army) Dr. Ellen Taylor. "A big-game hunter for zoos who has booked passage on a Greek shipping freighter with a fresh haul of exotic and deadly animals from the Amazon, including a rare white jaguar - along with a political assassin being extradited to the U.S in secret. Two days into the journey, the assassin escapes and releases the captive animals, throwing the ship into chaos." And I don't give a damn how fake the white jaguar looks. Rated "R" and it looks like it will have a High Killcount, lots of Gnarly Kills, and because Nicolas Cage, lots of Trash Talking.

 

Line of Duty  (No Release Date Yet)

This looks exciting (love when they "put a clock on it")! Aaron Eckhart in Line of Duty—"A disgraced cop finds himself in a race against time to find a kidnap victim whose abductor he accidently killed."—succinct. I see explosions, stunt driving, and in the vein of Heat (1995), a gun battle in the streets. Director Steven C. Miller's career speaks volumes for his passion for filmmaking as he hit the ground running (10 years to 'the big time'). He directed Escape Plan 2: Hades, First Kill (Bruce Willis, Hayden Christensen), Arsenal (Nicolas Cage, John Cusack), Marauders (Bruce Willis, Christopher Meloni, Dave Bautista), and Extraction (Bruce Willis, Gina Carano, Kellan Lutz).  No release date listed yet.

 

Bad Boys For Life  (17 January 2020)

And #becauseMIAMI (the Magic City always looks so pretty in movies, but it's even cooler in real life) Bad Boys For Life brings back the dynamic duo of Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, in theatres January 17, 2020. Joe Pantoliano plays that stereotypical police captain (love that). He's been a favorite of mine since Midnight Run (1988) and The Fugitive (1993).

 

Bloodshot  (21 February 2020)

If you're a Vin Diesel fan, you're excited about this, if not, you're missing out as it looks like Vin does his version of RoboCop. For good or bad, two words: Man's man. Go see it. Bloodshot.  And P.S. Riddick fans, Furya has been announced.

 


 

6 Underground—Michael Bay on Netflix!
October 4, 2019

AdWeek ran a story that "Disney Will No Longer Run TV Ads From Rival Netflix on Its Entertainment Networks". I guess you must be #winning if you have Disney worried. And so they should be! Netflix has Michael Bay. His new Action Thriller 6 Underground starring Ryan Reynolds comes to Netflix on 12/13/2019, and true to Michael Bay's #shutupandeatyourawesome ways, the trailer looks FANTASTIC!

 

 


 

RAMBO: LAST BLOOD—Don't Try To Run!
September 19, 2019

Is there ANY movie we waited more anxiously for?! It seemed short, but oh so sweet!  Aaaah, Rambo. We love him so much. How nostalgic were the closing credits. Nobody left the theatre. Really glad they didn't kill him off, but, he did 'ride off into the sunset'.

There is nobody like Sylvester Stallone (not even Arnold). There is no character as bad ass as Rambo. I can dream of creating a female character that 'sick' (you know what I mean). Someone who has become war for all the right reasons.

"I haven't changed. I just try to keep a lid on it every day." Not this day. We got to see the lid come off, and it was spectacular! Is that what we really wanted to see? You betcha. A line from Pitch Black comes to mind: "Did not know who he was fucking with." The knife work. Seriously, the knife killings are the best. He even opens a door with a knife. LOVE that "Boy Scout shit".

You're a fool if you don't go see it. Sylvester Stallone is an Action Movie treasure. Burning it down . . .

 


 

ANGEL HAS FALLEN Sets Up a Franchise
August 24, 2019

(Love that poster. It says so much visually.)
The end of a trilogy, but the start of a franchise? Angel Has Fallen ends with Gerard Butler's character set up to be the head of the Secret Service. Since GB is getting older, this just ensures he can oversee a crop of younger agents and stay in the movies. He produces his own action movies now. #gbknowsaction (Hunter Killer was excellent and along the same lines of what it means to serve/honor/duty). 

An action movie series based on the Secret Service. Yeah, I'd love that. Reminds me of To Live and Die in L.A., In The Line of Fire, Guarding Tess, and a host of other great movies. Current issues and scandals aside, also current sad state of the Office of the President, there's still something noble about the job of putting your life at risk in such a visible way to protect the government, the people in it, and all the country stands for. As much as I love Gerard Butler, Nick Nolte stole the show in a deeply emotional and moving performance. He's weak but he's strong, he's flawed but he cares. He even undergoes a transformation. Never seen an actor with more range than Nick Nolte. Just compare him in Extreme Prejudice to his character in Q & A. What a total bad ass actor. Of course, Action Movie Freaks will always love him for his role in 48 Hrs.  

But back to Angel Has Fallen. The explosions, and I mean EXPLOSIONS! were so cool. The sound effects were a notch above. Like when you heard that new "rumbler" police siren for the first time. Explosions are a big part of the Action Movie Essentials. If I go to a movie and nothing has blown up in the first ten minutes, I'm bored. Gerard Butler brought in the new tech and it worked beautifully. Gadget me! I don't know what they were thinking when they took that away from Bond. In this day and age?! We finally got to where anything's possible (even if it's faked in CGI) and they did that massive cop out. There's none of that here. They have something big and new twice, and it's a huge part of what makes the movie work. But what really makes the movie work is Gerard Butler. "We're gonna make a move. People are going to fall. But not you."  His character is just so damn capable. And now, in this movie, we see he gets that from his Dad. LOL  Don't want to spoil that scene, but I haven't thought "HOLY SHIT!" in a movie in a long time.  And even though the trailer gives away the drone scene, it's unexpectedly intense when you watch it.

Also unexpected, they poke fun at white-boy-militia types. Not as tough as they think they are, and totally not tough without a weapon is the message. I really like the preachy, message heavy Action Movie. Isn't that what it's all about? The good guy wins and shoves it in the bad guy's face. Where that departed from this was in Bannon's relationship with his former buddy/turned villain. Bannon indulges Jennings' "lions" moniker. It rang a little false to the character that Bannon sits with him as Jennings dies. But then, maybe that's how deep his friendship/loyalty to Jennings goes. I guess I might think differently of Bannon if he took pleasure or vengeance in killing his former friend (he did try to kill him multiple times). After all, the movie's subtitle is "Loyalty is Under Fire".

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and despite this tidbit from IMDb Trivia that this is the last movie, the ending begs to differ:

 "Gerard Butler stated that this film will be darker and more character driven than either of its previous installments, even going so far as to compare it to "Logan" (2017). He also expressed hope that this will be the final installment in the "Olympus has Fallen" series."

If you don't like this movie, take it from me. You're a too-hard-to-please, glass-is-half-empty kinda guy.

 

 

 


 

HOBBS & SHAW: Chasing Lethal Weapon
August 2, 2019

[Fast & Furious Presents:] Hobbs & Shaw tapped into Lethal Weapon's vibe with their cantankerous relationship, plus Kevin Hart thrown in for a little Joe Pesci comic relief. Are we going to get a series now with the three of them? Judging by the box office, I'd say it's a sure thing. Dwayne Johnson is making his way through movie history and re-making/re-imaging all his favorites/blockbusters starring him—How much fun must that be? Loved how he and Jason Statham had their own styles.

The whole movie was worth the chase scenes. The first one where the (car and the) motorcyle went under the semi was my favorite. How the f did they pull that off? Talk about threading the needle . . .

The second one, where do I begin? It had some Expendables feel to it, plus they did a little Hopper smokestack homage (BTW 2nd video below @2:09—that was timed in real life):

 

The motorcycle riding and stunt driving is as good as it gets. I was pleasantly surprised by Vanessa Kirby's believability/commitment to the action scenes. Really can't get past the eyelashes though. Sigh. Will women ever not be 'pretty things' in Action Movies?

Rob Delaney as Agent Loeb was unexpected and hilarous. A little Die Hard "Agent Johnson-ish" and so squaresville-CIA-movie-agent-stereotype, especially how he looks, kinda Patrick Warburton "Puddy" from Seinfeld/The Tick.

What a ride—Loved it! Can't wait to watch it again. Definitely want to own it. Most enjoyable The Rock movie since The Rundown. This movie creates a worldwide machismo vacuum! Hobbs & Shaw is a "shock to the system":

 

 


Zoe Bell Supervising Stunt Coordinator for Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood

ZOË BELL takes on the Supervising Stunt Coordinator role
July 27, 2019

Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood credits list Zoë Bell as Stunt Coordinator and Supervising Stunt Coordinator along with Robert Alonzo as Co-Stunt Coordinator and Fight Coordinator, and Steven J. Bagnara as Action Coordinator. Here in this The Hollywood Reporter video she speaks about her journey from a tree-climbing little girl to stuntwoman to what it means to lead a stunt team.

"Being a stunt coordinator, it was like a perspective shift. A stunt coordinator oversees the production's entire stunt department—from budgets to equipment to on-set safety to, of course, hiring. When it came time to build out her crew, Bell, now a department head, made a point to hire inclusively. [She] posed the question: "What about girls for safety [positions]?" [Bell says she] had to ask it only one time before [her] team, men and women, started throwing out names. But it took [her] stopping to realize that [she] hadn't asked the question."

While female stunt coordinators are a rarity, Bell says she hasn't had any issue commanding authority." A search for female Stunt Coordinators revealed:

Female Stunt Coordinators


Maja Aro  (Her 13-year stunt career began in 2006.)

Maja has Stunt Coordinator credits mainly for TV with her first credit for a short in 2013, and a Second Unit Director credit for a short in 2019. Her third feature Stunt Coordinator credit is Netflix's Police Drama Coffee & Kareem (2020) starring Taraji P. Henson. She has a Supervising Stunt Coordinator credit for her first feature Bella Ciao! (2018). 

Maja was a 2015 Artemis Women in Action Film Festival Honoree receiving the "Artemis STUNT WARRIOR Award". She was nominated in 2014 for a Taurus World Stunt Award for "Best Overall Stunt by a Stuntwoman" for Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (Second Unit Director: David Leitch / Gemma Arterton's stunt double). Other Awards

In this VICE article, Maja says : "But of course, some double standards are still so firmly entrenched that it's hard to imagine a road forward. Let's just have it be across the board and let's not have it be just these gorgeous women in these tight sexy costumes that are beating up guys. Paul Rudd [who plays Marvel's Ant-Man] is a good-looking guy, but he's not the biggest stud in the world. Let's start having characters like that play these superheroes." [emphasis added]



Jill Brown (Her 30-year stunt career began in 1989. She began working as a Stunt Coordinator in 2007 on the TV Documentary Series America's Most Wanted: America Fights Back.)

Jill has been a Stunt Coordinator (or Assistant Stunt Coordinator) on 10 feature films (including Zombieland and Premium Rush, a lot of TV Series, and TV Movies.  She's listed on istunt.com and is a member of SWAMP.

Jill won a 2001 Taurus World Stunt Award for "Best High Work" for The Cell (doubling Jennifer Lopez), and a 2005 "Best Specialty Stunt" for Taxi. Jill was the first female Stunt Coordinator to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy. In 2017, she was nominated for Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Comedy Series or a Variety Program. Other Awards

Jill's first movie break came in Die Hard 3 where she did nondescript (ND) work (from WomenInStunts.com).  She did stunt work in (these are just my picks) The Peacemaker, Titanic, Starship Troopers, Godzilla, Armageddon, Lethal Weapon 4, Small Soldiers, Enemy of the State, Spider-Man 2, The Devil Wears Prada, My Super Ex-Girlfriend, Enchanted, I Am Legend, The Green Hornet, 21 Jump Street, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Dark Knight Rises, The Bourne Legacy, and Ghostbusters (2016)
Jill was a Stunt Driver in The Green Hornet, Tower Heist, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Bourne Legacy, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit, and others.

 

Shauna Duggins (Her 33-year stunt career began in 1986.)

Shauna has done a lot of work on TV, including as Second Unit Director, and she made history as the first female stunt professional to win an Emmy for her work on Netflix's "Glow" in 2018.

She doubled Cameron Diaz in Charlie's Angels (2000). According to IMDb, she is the personal stunt double and friend of Jennifer Garner since 2001, doubling her on Daredevil, 13 Going on 30, Elektra, Alias, The Kingdom, Arthur, and 2018's Peppermint. Shauna began as a Stunt Coordinator in 13 Going on 30, and went on to coordinate 22 episodes of Alias. She has since done a ton of TV movies and series as Stunt Coordinator and doubled an impressive list of actresses in major action movies. Shauna also has 3 credits as a Second Unit Director for TV series.

Shauna was a 2019 Artemis Women in Action Film Festival Honoree receiving the "Artemis STUNT POWERHOUSE Award". She was nominated three times for an Emmy for Outstanding Stunt Coordination. She was nominated for a Taurus World Stunt Award in 2008 for "Best Fight" for The Kingdom and in 2012 for "Best Specialty Stunt" and "Best Overall Stunt by a Stunt Woman" for Drive Angry. She won a Taurus World Stunt Award in 2001 for "Best Aerial Work" on Charlie's Angels, and in 2012 for "Best Work With a Vehicle" for Fast Five.  Other Awards
 

Monique Ganderton

Monique is MARVEL'S first-ever female Assistant Stunt Coordinator / Stunt Coordinator: Additional Utility Stunts on Avengers: Infinity War, Stunt Coordinator on Captain Marvel

Deven MacNair

A professional wrestler under the names "FIRE!" and "FREEDOM" (GLOW), Deven has a Stunt Coordinator credit under 12 feature-length films, plus a ton of shorts and TV. She has a Stunt Driver credit for Jack Reacher: Never Go Back.

Deven filed a complaint over "wigging". Good for her! I can't speak to the allegations about her driving but one thing that stood out to me was when Nick Gillard says "I have six sisters, I probably know more about women than you do." Raise your hand if you've heard crap like that before. Come on. He's saying he's more qualified to play a woman?! You must be kidding me. Here is the most informative story on her complaint and subsequent events (a must read for women!). She has a point about doing a fishtail. It's something even I learned to do in high school. If she drove on Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, I think she can handle it.

Atlin Mitchell

Listed in this VICE article "The Stuntwomen Working to Change the Face of the Entertainment Industry" as Co-Coordinator for Supergirl on the CW. She has Stunt Coordinator credits for Supernatural, Fight Coordinator for The Flash, and Stunt Coordinator on Arrow and Supergirl. She has also been listed as Cover Stunt Coordinator multiple times (not sure what they do and neither is Google).

Dorenda Moore

From her IMDb bio:  Dorenda Moore is a Stunt Coordinator and Stunt Performer with 24 years of television and feature film experience. She is the recipient of the 2009 "Stunt Woman of the Year" Diamond-Action Icon Awards and also, a two-time nominee for the Taurus World Stunt Awards for "Best Overall Stunt by a Stuntwoman. In addition, she was a 2009 Winner of the SAG-Stunt Ensemble Award for the feature film Star Trek. Dorenda she received the 2010 Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Stunt Coordination, the first and only female Stunt Coordinator to ever receive this honor.

profile on istunt.com

Janell Vela Smith

Janell Smith aka Janell Vela Smith

Producer, Stunt Coordinator, and CEO of Iron Dragon Productions

PeiPei Alena Yuan

Fight Coordinator, 2nd Unit Director, Stunt Woman, Film Maker, Animator, Educator, Dancer, Choreographer

From her IMDb profile: 
Peipei's background as a competitive gymnast, competitive springboard diver (Columbia University), martial artist/Kung Fu, breakdancer, and her work in musical theatre inspired her career. As a kid, PeiPei enjoyed watching Hong Kong Kung Fu Films. As a dynamic, strong, feminine, lovable, and diverse female, PeiPei desires to authentically represent Asian American women in the Industry. She was a 2016 Stunt woman of the year Nominee, Action Icon Awards, and Best Director for 2017 Artemis Film Festival Action Short for "Yoga Pant Brawl." Full bio at peipeialena.com

StuntPhone.com profile  |  YouTube playlist of PeiPei's hard-hitting videos . . .

Here is the trailer for the hilarious "Yoga Pant Brawl" starring PeiPei.
 

 . . . back to Zoë Bell

Brad Pitt's character plays Stunts Unlimited founderr Hal Needham, which brings Hooper to mind. Kurt Russell and Martin Kove are in it, and Mike Moh plays Bruce Lee.

Zoë's Stunt Credits include (grouped by role):

Supervising Stunt Coordinator, Stunt Coordinator, Fight Choreographer

  • 2019 Once Upon a Time . . . in Hollywood (stunt coordinator) / (supervising stunt coordinator)

  • 2018 Mother, May I Dance with Mary Jane's Fist?: A Lifetone [sic] Original Movie for Adult Swim (TV Movie) (stunt coordinator)

  • 2011 Nice Guys Finish Last (Short) (stunt coordinator - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2009 Bitch Slap  (fight choreographer) / (stunt coordinator)

  • 2008/III Reflections (Short)  (stunt coordinator - as Zoë Bell)

Zoe Bell doubles Uma Thurman in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and 2

Stunt Double

  • 2017 Thor: Ragnarok  (stunt double: Cate Blanchett)

  • 2009/I The Proposal  (stunt double: Margaret - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2009 Inglourious Basterds  (stunt double: Shosanna and Bridget)

  • 2008 27 Dresses  (stunt double - uncredited)

  • 2007 Death Proof  (stunt double: Zoë Bell)

  • 2006 Penny Dreadful (stunt double - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2006 Devil's Den (stunt double - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2005 Alias (TV Series)  (stunt double - 1 episode)
    - Solo (2005) ... (stunt double: Amy Acker - uncredited)

  • 2004 Catwoman  (stunt double: Laurel - uncredited) / (stunts - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2004 Kill Bill: Vol. 2  (stunt double: The Bride - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2003 Kill Bill: Vol. 1  (stunt double: The Bride - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2003 The Extreme Team  (stunt double - as Zoë Bell)

  • 1998-2001 Xena: Warrior Princess (TV Series)  (stunt double - 66 episodes)

Zoe Bell double Lucy Lawless as Xena

Zoe Bell doubles Cate Blanchett

 

Stunts, Stunt Utility, Stunt Performer

  • 2013 Iron Man 3  (stunts - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2009 Blood and Bone  (stunts - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2009 The Final Destination  (stunts)

  • 2009/I The Collector  (stunt utility - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2007 The Kingdom  (stunts - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2007 Planet Terror  (stunts)

  • 2007 Grindhouse  (stunts - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2006 Poseidon (stunts - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2005 Lovewrecked  (stunt performer - as Zoë Bell)

  • 2004 Catwoman  (stunt double: Laurel - uncredited) / (stunts - as Zoë Bell)

 

Zoe Bell Camino movie poster Zoe Bell Raze movie poster Zoe Bell The Big Take movie poster Zoe Bell Double Dare movie poster

Zoe Bell Imbroglio movie poster Zoe Bell Angel of Death movie poster Zoe Bell Mercenaries movie poster

Zoë Bell movies on iTunes

Here is her IMDb bio:

As an established and extremely talented stunt double and actress, Zoë Bell has made a name for herself through her unparalleled dedication, skills, and focus.

Zoë Bell was born on Waiheke Island, New Zealand, to Tish, a nurse, and Andrew Bell, a doctor. She has a background in gymnastics and martial arts. She began working as a stunt woman when she doubled Lucy Lawless on the cult favorite TV series Xena: Warrior Princess (1995). Bell also appeared as a double in the ABC thriller Alias (2001) and on an episode of Cleopatra 2525 in 2000 as a double for Vicki Pratti. In the action packed-documentary Double Dare (2004) (watch on YouTube), Bell, along with legendary stunt-woman Jeannie Epper, give an insight into the career of women who take falls and punches for a living. Double Dare also gives a glimpse into the struggles of stunt-women to stay thin, employed, and sane in a male-dominated career.

 After the cancellation of Xena, Bell's next gig was working with Quentin Tarantino in Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) and Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004), playing the stunt double for Uma Thurman's role, The Bride. Bell was nominated for her work in Kill Bill, Vol. 1 in the categories of Best Stunt by a Stunt Woman and Best Fight for the Taurus World Stunt Awards, both of which she would win the following year for Kill Bill: Vol. 2. Bell also showed off her stunt-woman skills as a double for Sharon Stone in Halle Barry's Catwoman (2004).

Bell was injured in the final days of filming, requiring surgery, but she has since recovered and returned to work. Bell appeared along with legendary stunt woman Jeannie Epper in Amanda Micheli's acclaimed documentary Double Dare (2004), which offers a glimpse at the lives and careers of both women, as well as the friendship they share.

Bell debuted her acting career, with her already famous stunt skills, in the double feature Grindhouse (2007) written by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. She was hand-picked, by Tarantino himself, to star in his segment of the double feature, Death Proof, about four women working in the film industry that are stalked by a murderer in his Death Proof car.

Bell, a native of New Zealand, resides in Los Angeles, but hopes to someday own a home in New Zealand.

Waiheke Island, New Zealand

 

 


 

TERMINATOR: DARK FATE Featurette from Comic Con
July 19, 2019

Tim Miller is fanboy-excited over his directing role in this super-exciting action-packed featurette on the sequel to Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Terminator: Dark Fate, which played yesterday at Comic Con 2019's first day. This is refreshing and builds my hopes because Miller has an interesting background. He is an American animator, film director, creative director, and visual effects artist with an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film under his belt, who made his directing debut with Deadpool [source: IMDb]. That's impressive! The action in Deadpool was so refreshingly creative it felt like it reawoke the genre. Miller is also famous for creating opening sequences of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Thor: The Dark World." (Check out more videos at Miller's BLUR Studio vimeo channel.)

 

Perhaps most exciting is this Terminator Salvation game trailer (set between Terminator 3: Rise of the the Machines and Terminator Salvation):

 

Here's Miller's you-can't-take-your-eyes-off-it Opening Title Sequence for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo:

 

And here's the Blur Studio Thor: The Dark World VFX Breakdown from Vimeo.

 

Show more love for Tim Miller's Blur Studio on social media: BLUR on FB | @TheBlurStudio on twitter | @the_blur_studio on Instagram | Blur Studio on vimeo.

 

 

TOP GUN: MAVERICK "A love letter to aviation"
July 18, 2019

Oblivion Director Joseph Kosinski is sure to make Top Gun: Maverick a feast for the eyes if the trailer is any indication. I love the look of the trailer (dropped at Day One of Comic Con International: San Diego today—Tom Cruise made a surprise appearance during Paramount Pictures' Terminator: Dark Fate panel in Hall H 11:00-12:00 AM),  and it seems to not give anything away (gotta love that).  Kosinski won three AICP (Association of Independent Commercial Producers) Awards for his commercials Gears of War "Mad World", Assassin's Creed "Unity" and Destiny "Become Legend", all of which are now featured in the Department of Film at the Museum of Modern Art (source; IMDb).  Loved rewatching these . . . (continues below)

Gears of War Mad World Commercial (2006)

 

Assassin's Creed Unity Commercial (2014)

 

Destiny Become Legend Commercial (2014)

 

Under Kosinski's "Personal Quotes" the first one is something that's weighed on my mind a lot lately: "You never watch movies the same as you do when you're a kid, ever again." Part of why that is is our perception of time. Sure, in the summer of 1981 I rode the bus and paid to see Raiders of the Lost Ark 11 times (the first 8 times I was late and missed the spiders in the opening sequence!). Could any movie make me do that now? Even with AMC A-List softening the price blow of admission and snacks, that investment of time is unthinkable now.  Back then, my only care was to do something enjoyable. Now, the 'price' of the time is weighed against everything else I could be doing. Even two hours seems like a waste when a movie sucks or disappoints as they so often do these days. I wonder where my sense of wonder went . . . Movies can still wow me, but rarely do they transport me to another world like The Thing or Chronicles of Riddick. Most of the reason I love Action Movies is they leave me feeling good/pumped up. I'm definitely not spending my time and money on Drama.

And speaking of other worlds, this movie has big shoes to fill, HUGE. And the trailer seemed to get the look of the first one so right with the sunset shots, the military color palette, the silhouettes in shadow, and just about every damn cool thing a jet can do. Another quote: "An established property can be a blessing and a challenge. On one hand you have all those fans of the original that you can pick up with and continue on with, but then you have a lot of people out there who haven't seen the first and might feel like this isn't a movie for them because of that." And here's where the Tom Cruise haters usually come in. They just don't get it. He's larger than life . . . In fact, he tells a story that a lady said her favorite movie of his was "An Officer and a Gentleman" but that was Richard Gere in 1982. Just 4 years later, I guess Tom encapsulated that role for her, and eclipsed Richard Gere. You can't dismiss Top Gun. It is a classic! 

 

 

In the trailer Ed Harris says "The end is inevitable Maverick, your kind is headed for extinction."  Kind of makes you think of our Action Movie heroes. Who's stepping up? 

On a final note, this is a Jerry Bruckheimer movie (of course it is) Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media. Bruckheimer holds a special place in my Action Movie Freak heart for his excellent taste in movies. Just picking my favorites: American Gigolo, Flashdance, Beverly Hills Cop, Top Gun, Beverly Hills Cop II, Days of Thunder, Bad Boys, Crimson Tide, The Rock, Con Air, Enemy of the State, Gone in 60 Seconds, Black Hawk Down, Bad Boys II, National Treasure, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, and Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. Coming up we have: Bad Boys for Life, National Treasure 3, Beverly Hills Cop 4, and Bad Boys 4.

 


Expendables 4 teaser on instagram
July 5, 2019

Post-Rambo V filming Mr. Stallone is thinking about Expendables 4! Happy 4th!!!!

 


Rambo V . . . prequel?
June 14, 2019

Doesn't this poster make you crazy excited to see Rambo V, as if you weren't already? But I mean, Rambo: First Blood Part II excited . . . massive EXPLOSIONS . . . the bow (so stealthy, so deadly) . . . If you love weapons, sign up for the IMFDb (Internet Movie Firearms DataBase) newsletter.  They recently posted about Rambo V, here's an excerpt: 

This film had been in development hell for over 11 years. At that time (2009), the plot focused on Rambo battling human traffickers and drug lords to rescue a young girl abducted near the U.S.-Mexico border. The working title of the film was supposed to be Rambo V: The Savage Hunt; with a plot loosely based on Hunter by James Byron Huggins and Rambo was supposed to lead an elite special forces kill team against a genetically engineered creature.

Yeah, I'd watch that.  They tell us more about various other story possibilities and then explain "Stallone wanted a 'soulful journey' for the character". Of course he did! The Rambo movies have always been standouts for the social consciousness aspect, issues that we should care deeply about. Yet another reason to be excited that this movie will all it should be. Can't wait!

Read the full article: https://mailchi.mp/imfdb/rambo-v-last-blood?e=97615f2316  

Sign up for the newsletter (a box will pop up as you scroll)  | Follow them on twitter @imfdb

 


Avengement: Film or Action Movie?
May 26, 2019

Writer/Director Jesse V. Johnson has been promoting Scott Adkins and their film, Avengement, heavily on his facebook fan page posting quotes from glowing reviews—of which there are plenty, and rightly so. A review Johnson posted from Salon.com asks if Avengement will be a "breakthrough role for fan favorite" Scott Adkins. There are two issues that get to the heart of that: 1) Scott Adkins is already a huge Action Star. He and Jesse Johnson are not hard sells to Action Movie Freaks. We're in. And 2) Action Movies are never going to 'break through' with the film community #becausesnobbery. So, what does that leave to say about Scott Adkins in Action Movies?

Scott is awesome in this role. But then, Scott has always been awesome. Ticket sold. He doesn't need to prove anything. He's already top notch at action and at acting. What he needs to "break through" (and for me that means to be at Schwarzenegger or Stallone's level, or The Rock, or Statham for that matter) is to be in a series of trash talking Action Movies where he's the HERO who kicks ass. Brag a little or better yet, have someone else brag about you (like in Triple Threat), shove it in the bad guy's face—so satisfying! That's a real Action Movie (as opposed to a movie with action). That's how we want to see him. Not beat up/beat down like this. Not bleeding out on the sidewalk at the end.

Action Movies should leave you feeling pumped up. As much of a beating as he took, he should dish it out even more and he didn't quite get there. Should someone who kills (an "anti-hero" as Adkins says is more fun) in self defense and then kills for revenge get off Scot free? Oh hell yes. His fucking brother SO had it coming to him, it just pissed me off when he even opened his mouth. You don't get to speak. When Cain finally kills the big mouth guy (you know who I mean), I wanted him to shut him up so bad it felt like if Cain didn't shoot him, I would shoot him if I could. (Yeah, the movie's that intense!)

As a film, what is missing here is about another 5th of the story. How the two brothers were 'brawn' (Craig) and 'brains' (Cain) from the time they were little, and how their mother treated them accordingly. Maybe she sheltered Cain and admonished or ignored Craig assuming Craig could fend for himself. And fend he did. Making money through violence made him feel smart, especially since all Cain's schemes seemed to fail. Craig ignoring his mother at the very end makes sense in light of this, and Cain not making it to see her in time is more meaningful since she was all he had left (someone who believed in him) when his own brother had turned against him. In being "successful" Craig felt he had become the smart one, and in trying to kill his brother, he forced the real "brain" to become the "brawn". If Cain had been just a little smarter//nerdier, and had a little more difficulty (mentally) descending into the physical side of himself, it might have been a Coen-esque study in brains versus brawn the way The Big Lebowski is, artfully, a study in passivity versus aggression.

So, it may seem nitpicking when there is SO MUCH there to watch and enjoy. I couldn't take my eyes off Scott as he careened his way through every situation. When they put him in the back of the police car, the look on his face at what he had done just crushed me. I mean like a boot to the chest. It doesn't get any better than his acting in that moment. And you did want to root for him . . . We just needed to feel something for the character first—finding out he was double crossed later wasn't enough in order to feel more outrage at what he went through and to hate Craig even more. Also, the ending was ultimately unsatisfying as Cain doesn't get away. That's a Tragedy. Action Movies are not Tragedies. 'Cain kills his brother' is not enough for a movie. And just naming him Cain doesn't make Craig Abel.

No matter. Whether the movie is a film or an Action Movie, the other 4/5ths of what is there is poetry in motion as far as violence is concerned. The fight scenes are flawless. I think only once I thought I might have seen a stunt double but how Scott moves (and kudos to all those he fought against) looked so damn real. It is hard to put in words how much great Fight Choreography adds to fight scenes (Dan Styles is listed as Fight Coordinator) but THIS, my friends, is Oscar worthy.  Dan Styles bio says "As the eldest of three children Dan has been play fighting for as long as he can remember. As a child he was a fan of WWF (now WWE) wrestling, martial arts films, and historical epics." Of course he was!  His nickname is "Action Dan".

Dan Styles Fight Coordinator AvengementDan's bio continued . . .  Through his teens and early 20s he trained in fencing, re-enactment fighting, martial arts, archery and was a member of the ATC (air cadets) where he was able to learn to shoot rifles, fly planes and gliders, and perform military drill and combat maneuvers. Dan choreographed his first fight for a dramatic context in his GSCE drama practical performance exam in 1998. He continued his studies in media production and drama at college and then went on to pursue a career in acting. Dan continued his combat training in historical European martial arts (HEMA), boxing, kick boxing, fencing and archery and reached the highest grades in stage combat. He later went on to take a 2 year stage and screen combat teaching apprenticeship and is now a qualified accredited teacher for the British Academy of Dramatic Combat. His acting work provided many opportunities for action/fight roles and choreography work and slowly he moved more towards coordinating fights and action. In recent years Dan has been taking his training further into stunt skills and progressing towards the British stunt register and fight directors register.

I thought this movie would be hard to watch, but it's so well done even the teeth breaking scene is mesmerizing. Nobody had any doubt about Scott's action skills, but after this, well, this video came to mind. To any naysayers I say:

Shut Up and Eat Your Awesome!

 

 


Avengers: Endgame Game of Stones
May 25, 2019

Am I the first to use that title?  It took me too long to get to the theatre to see this.  REALLY glad I finally made it. I thought it was great that it was 3 hours. I think all movies should be at least 2 hours. They had some fun with the time travel. It really had that "Avengers" feel. Fat Thor was hilarious, although I feel like superheroes should just always magically be in shape without trying. He's still Thor. I'll take him.

So many deaths, though. Now that Stan Lee is gone, that was part of it. I think what really killed me was Steve Rogers finally getting back to the love of this life. And now, we'll have a black Captain America! How cool is that?! Bring him on.

I had so much fun watching, there was no time for taking notes. There were 3 magic "Avengers Assemble" moments: First, when they were in ordinary clothes and decided to go get the stones; second, when we see that epic first time they assembled in New York via time travel; and third, in the final battle.

Plus, they gave us this epic all-female moment  . . .

Avengers: Endgame the women

We care so much about each of their stories, their relationships, friendships, and dynamic within the group, that when they die, it's almost like losing a family member . . . well, not really but I had to try super hard not to cry. The character of Iron Man was really the driving force in these movies. THOSE are some big shoes to fill.

 


Avengement + Escape Plan: The Extractors
May 13, 2019

Two great Action Movies to look forward to! 

Avengement  |  May 24, 2019  action crime

"While released on furlough from prison, a lowly criminal evades his guards and returns to his old haunts to take revenge on the people that made him a cold-hearted killer. It's an epic, bloody battle to search for the soul he lost years ago on the streets of an unforgiving city." Avengement is Scott Adkins unleashed. Writer (with Stu Small)/Director Jesse V. Johnson knows what Action Movie Freaks want to see. 

Despite the synopsis above, the fights in this trailer seem to take place mostly in prison.  Limited Release :-(  [Why God?!]

 

Escape Plan: The Extractors  |  July?, 2019  action

Escape Plan: The Extractors is rated "R" (as it should be). Release dates listed so far are only for other countries (Russia 6/20, Netherlands 6/27, and Hungary 7/11). Stars include Sylvester Stallone, Dave Bautista, Daniel Bernhardt, 50 Cent, Russell Wong, and Jing Zhang. The Stunt Coordinator is stuntman Justin Yu who has also been a Fight Coordinator. He worked on John Wick, and John Wick: Chapter 2, as well as Captain America: Civil War.

Here's the hard-hitting trailer . . . love that voice!

 


Triple Threat: ACTION movie motherfucker!
March 19, 2019

Triple Threat action movie poster

Triple Threat made Action Movie history tonight. A MUST-OWN Action Movie, it delivered on everything you want in an Action Movie. It would really drive home the non-stop Action if I listed all the fights except I didn't think of that until right now. But seriously, non-stop to the point where it's almost exhausting to watch, and it moves fast! First, there's Iko Uwais versus Tony Jaa, which sets the tone for all the epic shit that's about to go down. Then Iko Uwais fights Tiger Chen. Man, is Tiger Chen fluid. The whole time, you're kind of pinching yourself that you get to watch these amazingly talented people fight for your entertainment all in one movie. The fight choreography (by Tim Man) is nearly flawlessly executed. The speed looks real and the hits look real and painful. What I particularly enjoyed is anytime one of the Triple Threat fought a villain because there's a mismatch on their physicality. This made me wonder if the speed you lose being bigger is worth it because when you connect it's harder or if it's better to be smaller and faster, then you can get more hits in and get out of the way easier.

Don't even imagine the movie starts out slow. They literally blow shit up, and before long the Killcount is HIGH! The guy in the seat next to me (I was pleased that the theater was filled) said, at one point "'U' chained up and shit!" If they call Iko Uwais "U" that's awesome. I had never heard that before. Anytime I was thinking the plot was a little thin, they brought us back in with a twist to make it solid again. I like that they told the story the way they wanted to (not in service to the audience). Even though he is the main character, "U" isn't presented as the star of this movie—everybody shines.  (I was writing furiously which makes my handwriting bad, so I may not have gotten this dialogue 100% right, but as comic relief, it was great:)

COLLINS     Who are these guys?

JOEY            Villagers.

COLLINS      Yeah, from the Village of Fucking Ninja Warrior Land.

It's so enjoyable to see the three get under the skin of the bad guys. They break a lot of desks in this movie. LOL And the gun play is out of hand! Not even counting all the intro fights, you get to see Michael Jai White versus Iko Uwais, Scott Adkins versus Tony Jaa, Michael Bisping versus Tiger Chen, then Iko and Tony versus Scott. There are Gnarly Kills enough to make the audience groan and laugh out loud. Love that. Tony Jaa does one kind of corkscrew/windmill move that is an I-can't-believe-my-eyes moment; even beyond Marko Zaror's signature move.

Five Deadly Venoms posterI was too busy enjoying the hell out of the movie to take as many notes as I usually do, but there are some things said in the post-credits scenes that were great and I wanted to share. A ringing endorsement from Michael Jai White was that it was the most epic Martial Arts Action Movie since the Five Deadly Venoms.  No lie!  Scott Adkins fanboyed over Tony Jaa and said he is the best martial artist in the world, and praised his speed and power. Seeing that was worth the ticket price alone. I had to laugh when Scott said "It's supposed to be painful if you're doing it right."

While there are tons of weapons in this movie, Iko's character Jaka wants to kill the bad guys with his bare hands. LOVE that. Seriously, anyone can fire a gun, but if someone's really worth killing, don't you want to beat the crap out of them first? Besides the incredible fights, there were lots of funny moments, and seeing the three stars (from China, Thailand, and Indonesia) speak English made them seem like the big Action stars they should be in the States. Would love to see the movie again in the theater. Wish it wasn't a limited release.

The Action Elite calls it "A near perfect blend of fistfights and firepower."

 


 

Triple Threat 1 NIGHT ONLY 3/19 (in Miami at AMC Sunset Place, Aventura, and Regal South Beach). A MUST SEE!
March 17, 2019

THIS is THE Action Movie we've all been waiting for ever since we first heard about it. So many amazing Action Figures in one movie. I have not watched the trailer because I want to see it all on the big screen. I've heard it has like every kind of fighting and that it's funny. I REALLY am hoping for some Cheesey One-Liners rubbing it in someone's face. Yesssss!

 


 

Captain Marvel with glowing hands

Action Adventure SciFi Captain Marvel Sizzles!
March 7, 2019

Tonight's Captain Marvel Fan Event was sold out and the theatre buzzed with excitement and anticipation. There's nothing better than seeing a movie with an enthusiastic audience of true fans.

Brie Lawson was perfect. No one stole the show because it was her show. Without laying it on too heavily, Captain Marvel was heroic in every way. What kept it from being bad cheesy, in my opinion, was her human side. This was the first time that having a superhero be human first (and super not just by accident but through a heroic act of self sacrifice) really meant something to me. All the back story from when she was a little girl and she got hurt and got back up again made 'the every woman' such a huge part of who she is that you felt she was 'super' not just as a powerful hero but as a human girl/woman. She was also super because she tried, because she did the right thing.

The movie was BIG on space adventure. The look of things was original, and they had fun with the retro aspects. It reminded me at times of Robocop. The suits were cool, the weapons were cool; even the aliens, forcefields, and space travel seemed original—not the lately-all-too-common hodgepodge of things we've seen in other movies. Sure, the cat was named "Goose" and she was a 'top gun' singing along with the jukebox in a bar, but it was short and sweet and the tie-in only made her seem as cool as Maverick, without the bravado and skirt chasing aspects. 

Women are certainly central to this movie. [SPOILERS] The Supreme Intelligence image Carol sees is a woman: Dr. Wendy Lawson who "cracked the code on light speed tech" and had a secret, cloaked space station lab. She is alien but it's still important that she's female. Carol has no romantic interest, boyfriend, husband, neither does her best friend. The movie isn't concerned with that. They keep it to the mission she is on and her back story is woven, cleverly, into that in stages. The movie was very well written and is entertaining all the way through. The special effects added to the overall feel of the movie and didn't seem like filler. When there's a dogfight with two planes it's with two women pilots. Also, both people in the plane on the side of good are black. It was awesome when they high fived. The only laying-the-goodness-on-thick was with the character Maria Rambeau's daughter Monica (11), but the audience seemed to love it.

There was a lot of humor. I loved the script by Writer/Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck.  Also listed were Geneva Robertson-Dworet ("Screenplay by"), plus Nicole Perlman, Meg LaFauve as well for "Story by". 4 women and 1 man. Refreshing that it wasn't just a male director and male writers.

The Blockbuster video store was perfect and it seemed like the audience knew that it would be Radio Shack next. That got a huge laugh. I guess my audience was older because they loved the time travel back to 1995 with computers and the internet showing just how far technology has come. Coincidentally, I had just watched this . . .

There were so many funny moments. I love situational comedy. Earth aka "C53" got a big laugh when described as "a real shithole." The Stan Lee moments were poignant from the opening credits to "Thank You Stan" to his cameo

How cool was it that Captain Marvel (and Carol) was female and powerful without resorting to her sexuality or without exposing too much flesh. Her outfits covered her completely (as completely as her male and other female counterparts), which keeps the focus on what she's doing. Even her regular clothes are regular clothes. No Daisy Dukes or tank tops. She's a total bad ass when she comes out strutting in the first green outfit as one of the Kree, it's her "The Right Stuff" moment and it kills. Later, when she learns to use all her power and she glows with energy, it's palpable in the theater. I loved the movie. Every minute of it.

Brie Larson was perfect!

 


#StandUpForStunts Facebook Event LIVE on Sunday 2/24
February 22, 2019

This Facebook Event hosted by Stand Up for Stunts, Jessie Graff , Stunts Unlimited, and featuring some of the top Stunt Coordinators (including the legend Buddy Joe Hooker) in the country begins on Sunday at 5:00 PM Pacific Time and 8:00 PM Eastern Time. Join the event to discuss why The Academy continues to snub stunts and how to change that.

Also, please add your name to this Petition, shared by The Rock's double Tanoai Reed. This comment by Duke DuQuesnay really makes the point: "I have a lot of friends I consider my family in the stunt industry. IT IS ABSOLUTELY INSANE they are not recognized by The Academy. If it wasn't for these men and woman LITERALLY PUTTING THERE LIVES ON THE LINE day in and day out in the film industry you WOULD NOT have ANY of the action packed blockbuster movies you love. THATS A FACT!!!! Please show your appreciation for these hard working individuals and sign this petition ASAP and forward to ANYBODY and EVERYBODY YOU KNOW!"

Stand Up For Stunts and #BoycottOscars!


 

Chokehold movie poster

Chokehold . . . Yeah! Female Fight Movie  
February 14, 2019

"Chokehold, directed by Brian Skiba, is an action-packed, revenge caper telling the story of an up and coming mixed martial arts fighter named Zoey. After her father is killed by the Russian mob, she gives up her dream to fight professionally and instead enters the seedy, underground fighting world to get closer to the people responsible for her father's death and bring them to justice." Available now for pre-order on Amazon.com, releasing March 5th.

When I found out about this movie, I wondered: is women's underground fighting a thing? Apparently, and it's not new . . . I was intrigued!  And who doesn't love Casper Van Dien?!

The trailer shows only women fighting, no male fighters and lots of women watching, yet the 3 male stars were the only names printed on the screen. I understand that's how it works (use stars we have heard of) but "Story of a woman" . . . Nitpicky on my part, but it stood out to me (as a woman), and made we want to know who the women of Chokehold are.

The Women of Chokehold
After compiling this, I want a fighting name! Here are the actors (female only), the characters they play, and some real-life facts.

Melissa "Scare" Croden plays "Zoey, a rising MMA star" (5' 10"/135 lbs.)
Canadian Bantamweight MMA Amateur, Primary Care Paramedic
Casper Van Dien plays her trainer.

Corinne Van Ryck de Groot  as "Renee" (5' 5"/128 lbs.)
Canadian Former police officer, learned stuntwork and did personal training before being bitten by the boxing bug, and made her pro debut in 1999. "Panther" on American Gladiators

Krissy "The Punisher" Pomerleau as "Tatiana" (5' 10"/140 lbs.)
Canadian Featherweight MMA Amateur

Kelsey "The Kraken" Andries as "Everest" (6' 0"/147 lbs.)
Canadian Muay Thai Fighter   Stunt Reel on vimeo (photo of Kelsey, below, punching Jamie Droeske)

Stephanie "Snafu" Essensa as "Fighter Zero"  (5' 5"/116 lbs.)
Canadian Strawweight (shown here on right with Eloisa Martinez)

Sheena Flamand  (aka Sheena Kaine) as "Fighter Grace" (5' 10"/147 lbs.)
Mom teaching her daughter (Alexis) to box "I was always fighting... A few people had recommended that I check out boxing, basically just to prevent getting assault charges. I thought it was crazy. I'm like, there's no way I want to join boxing.  As soon as I start punching on somebody, I don't want to stop. Like I don't know what it is, I just learned to love fighting."  (SOURCE: YouTube video)

Michelle "Massacre" Massicotte as "Fighter Sonya"  (5' 9"/170 lbs.)
Canadian Welterweight IKF Heavyweight Champion

Sy "Lady Dragon" Jewett as "Fighter Rip" (5' 9"/135 lbs.)
Canadian Kensei MMA Bantamweight or Featherweight, Karate, Weapons, Muay Thai, Kickboxing Jui Jitsu

Charmaine "Not Too Sweet" Tweet as "Fighter Harley" (6' 0"/145 lbs.)
Canadian MMA Featherweight with Invicta FC

Brianna Rose as "Kendra"

Ilona McCrea as "Natalia"
(McCrea's Stunt Double is Jess Elverum aka Jess "Valhalla" Hopkins MMA Amateur)

Riza Santos "ADR"
Miss Universe/Canada

Someone in Canada had great fun getting all these female fighters together. I am thrilled to see another female-focused fight movie with so many big, strong women. The instagram blurb reads "The story of reconciliation, redemption and revenge told through the eyes of a woman MMA fighter!" Co-writer/Director Brian Skiba's IMDb bio describes Chokehold as "a fast-paced female empowerment action fight movie". Another good sign (also from his bio) is this: "Brian's favorite quote from the highly regarded Director, Alfred Hitchcock is, 'To make a great film you need three things - the script, the script, and the script.'"

The run time is 1 hr 38 min. It currently has only 3.6 stars on IMDb—Let's raise that after watching. Order your DVD today and support strong women in film. I really like Casper Van Dien and I'm hoping I will be rooting for his character to help the heroine avenge her father.

Follow @chokeholdfilm on twitter | Like Chokehold Film on Facebook | Follow them on instagram @chokeholdfilm 

 


 

The Wandering Earth: Chinese Sci-Fi Blockbuster   
February 8, 2019

An interesting read on the future of Chinese science fiction by The Verge's Andrew Liptak makes the point that "Just as America is looking to make inroads into the Chinese market, Chinese filmmakers are increasingly looking for global appeal and international-scale releases" [emphasis added], citing The Meg (Jason Statham), The Great Wall (Matt Damon), and Bleeding Steel (Jackie Chan), all starring Action Figures, and this movie is no exception. I can't wait to see this movie, just for Jackie Wu (Wu Jing), but the visuals, oh my gosh, the visuals . . .  Released today, it's a must see, even if it turns out not to be an "Action Movie".

The movie is adapted from The Wandering Earth a book of short stories by award-winning author Cixin Liu. In the same article, Liptak explains the plot: "The sun is on the verge of turning into a red giant, and when it does, it'll expand beyond the orbit of Mars, incinerating all of the solar system's potentially habitable planets. They concoct a desperate plan to move Earth out of the solar system to a new star, Proxima Centauri." This brought to mind an explanation from a book I happen to be reading right now called Planet Hunters: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life, wherein a teacher tries relate the size of the universe by building a one-ten-billionth (1/10,000,000,000) scale model of the universe with vegetables, and then spacing them proportionately by their distance from the sun (planet sizes are to scale in this photo below, but not distance from the sun).

planets by size

With the Sun as a red cabbage, and the Earth as a peppercorn, Earth has to be placed 15 meters (49.2126 feet) away. The farthest planet, Neptune (a raisin) has to be a little over a quarter mile away (450 meters or 1,476.38 feet or 0.2796174242 miles) [pp.41-43]. Using this scale, the distance between Earth and the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, is 41,306,000,000,000 kilometers or 24,854,847,689,493.36 miles—almost 25 trillion—away (a distance represented in the book as the distanace from Haarlem, Netherlands to Tehran, Iran).

Alpha Centauri, Alpha Centauri B, and Proxima Centauri [aka Alpha Centauri C] are part of a trinary system, with Proxima circling the other two. The distance between these three seems irrelevant when you realize (according to Planet Hunters) that getting to Alpha Centauri B would take 160,000 years [pp.57-59]. However, Inquisitr.com mentions that "Using Stephen Hawking's Breakthrough Starshot project, a fleet of small nanocraft could reach the Earth-like world around Proxima Centauri in [20] years" where a potential Earth-like planet has been spotted, sending back photos so we might learn if it's habitable or not. "The proposed [nano] spacecraft, called a Star Chip, would be just a few centimetres in size with a lightsail weighing a few grams. It would be powered by an array of lasers based on Earth that would drive the tiny probe 'on a beam of light' at about 100 million miles an hour, a fifth of light speed." Fascinating! "Once there, the nano craft could image any planets discovered in the system, test for magnetic fields and organic molecules, and send the data back to Earth in another laser beam. This tiny signal would be received by the same array of dishes that were used to transit the launch beam, and return is estimated to take about four light years."

Looking at the size of Earth compared to Jupiter in (2) and then Jupiter compared in Proxima Centauri in (3) gives an idea of the size.

planet sizes including proxima centauri

Giving a relatable distance from Earth to the nearest star puts the idea of moving the Earth into perspective. What an undertaking to try to move the Earth. 

Of course, I will have to read The Wandering Earth book after I watch the movie. And, I highly recommend  Planet Hunters: The Search for Extraterrestrial Life by Lucas Ellerbroek because it imparts a lot of knowledge in a very entertaining read.


 

Raunchy,Gorey, and Action-Packed: POLAR on Netflix
January 25, 2019

Do yourself a favor and don't play the trailer first, they totally ruin the ending. Just watch. It's a little like In Bruges meets John Wick, with a little of The Rundown, colored by Michael Mann.  It reminded me most of this Biting Elbows video that lead to Hardcore Henry (which had one great action scene, and was an amazing cinematic achievement, but was not a good movie), and somewhat of Brian de Palma's Snake Eyes.

Too many movies have disappointed me of late, so I was pleasantly surprised by POLAR. As Action Movies go, it delivers and then some. And while it is not nice to women, the (how do I say this) seediness and simulated sex didn't bother me like it usually does*. It went a long way to show what lowlifes we're dealing with. So how seedy? They make sure you know someone died with a boner. Mads gets a rectal exam in a very strangely endearing scene where he eats pie after with his doctor, which humanizes Mads' character completely. And strip clubs, nudity, sex, a bunch of sex. Some of it pitiful, some of it funny, some of it hot LOL—I kid, but Mads is in amazing shape and, BTW, nice ass. It's just kind of stupid, like you're supposed to not take it seriously. For the most part, it all works because it's situationally funny. And that's because . . .   

The script is great! It's written by Jayson Rothwell and Victor Santos (Victor Santos Montesinos based on the Dark Horse Comics, Inc. graphic novel "Polar: Came from the cold" he wrote and illustrated). There are some great lines. That's missing a lot in most movies. 

The direction (Director: Jonas Åkerlund), costumes, and characters are all entertaining, no matter how 2-dimensional they are. What they lack in backstory, they make up for in presence. It's a band of mistfits versus a professional. And the man can kick ass. The gnarly kills are almost as high as the killcount. There were some creative cuts and it was always interesting visually.

As for the women's take on the 'typical' Action Movies "anti-vagina" angle (as AllOuttaBubbleGum.com phrased it), women who like Action Movies don't relate to the bimbos you put in these movies, we relate to the hero. That's what Sucker Punch got so wrong. We're not looking to find the sexiest outfit and accessorize our guns, we just want to kick ass.

What they do best, is make you root for Duncan. His kinda shitty, lonely, boring life (despite the killings), is contrasted with the colorful craziness of the others. They throw in one hell of an ending. Since I didn't watch the trailer, I thought it was one of the coolest things ever.

For more of Victor Santos:

 

*Nobody really cares like I do about this kind of stuff. So I just have to say what I have to say. It's because the world is not safe for women that I object to showing (even simulated) sex. I object to nudity in general as well. In this case, both Mads and the girl "Sindy" were naked so that's fair. I am not a voyeur so I half looked both times I watched (seen it twice now). What I got from it was that it's entertaining for men. Even though I "got" to see Mads ass, and I looked, I'd have rather not had him show it. Would it have been the same movie without all the tackiness? No. When [SPOILER] Duncan kills Sindy with an axe to the head, that's one thing, but then when they show her naked with the axe in her head, that's the one moment I felt it was grindhouse. Where the trouble is with that is when men are aroused by violence against women. Ted Bundy said exactly that, so I feel validated. (And I heard what he had to say long before it was a thing on Netflix.) Are there women like Sindy in the world? Probably less than you would imagine. The saddest part to me is that women who act that like were often abused. If the world were safe for women, if both men and women were objectified equally, I would still have a problem with it for the sake of morals. I really think it cheapens the human experience to make it so public. If there wasn't so much of this stuff around, men would get out of house and have to meet and touch real women to get off. And in doing that, they might have to build a relationship first, and then it might be love instead of sex. And love is SO much better!


 

 

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