// Category Archive for: Action Movies

SXSW Movie Review: Pod

By Brad Henderson

Does every horror film need some originality in order for it to be good? I think half of people surveyed would say yes and the other half would say no. Personally, I’m a “no” because I feel if the film has the right elements, it can be just as good as something completely original. Do we constantly have to be surprised or shown something new each and every time we see a new film? I think as long as the film has a good script, solid acting, good characters, and a decent soundtrack it will be successful to me. This is how I feel about Pod.

(more…)

Best Of 2014: Carol Borden

Red Sonja

I am terrible at lists and ranking art against other art, so I’m taking some liberties with the concept of “Best of 2014” and sharing six comics and five films that I enjoyed or found thought-provoking in 2014.

Comics:

Alex + Ada (Image, ongoing) Sarah Vaughn, writing; Jonathan Luna, art/story.
After a rough break-up, Alex’s aunt gives him a female android for “companionship.” Alex is disturbed by Ada’s seeming humanity and takes her to an underground network to have her sentience illegally unlocked. Alex + Ada cleverly subverts the fembot trope, exploring the complexity of relationships and being human, passing, being closeted, and the history of dehumanizing people into property. Luna’s calm artwork is perfect for an android coming into her own in a world terrified of her.

Gotham Academy (DC) Becky Cloonan & Brendan Fletcher, writing; Karl Kerschl, art.
If you like girl detectives in creepy old private schools, Gotham Academy might be for you. At Gotham City’s fanciest private school, Olive Silverlock investigates strange goings on, including a ghost, and her sorta-ex-boyfriend’s little sister Maps tags along. It’s Manga-influenced with neat coloring and just plain fun, and if you like girl detectives, you’ll probably like Gotham Academy.

Red Sonja (Dynamite) Gail Simone, writing; Walter Geovani, art.
Like Saga, which I wrote about last time, Red Sonja is a comic I read every month. Unlike Saga, I never expected that. It’s a subversive, funny, and action-packed barbarian comic. Read as Red Sonja duels a master swordsman, rescues a beautiful dancer (who is also a gay man), refuses to bathe, and desperately tries to get laid. And always make sure to get Jenny Frison’s covers. Her work is gorgeous. (She’s also doing some great covers for Revival.)

Showa: A History of Japan (Drawn & Quarterly) by Shigeru Mizuki.
Showa is a stunning achievement. Mizuki presents the history of Japan from during the reign of Emperor Hirohito (1926 – 89) in four volumes. He covers Japan’s descent into fascism and Imperialism, the Second Sino-Japanese War, World War II, the American occupation, post-War unrest, and Japan’s rise as an economic power. Mizuki’s draftsmanship is extraordinary, rendering his personal history and Japan’s history in almost photorealistic drawing and in expressive cartoons. And his writing is almost transparent, smoothly presenting a tremendous amount of material that mixes the personal and the political, local and global, the supernatural and the mundane.

The Wicked & The Divine (Image) Kieron Gillen, writing; Jamie McKelvie, art.
The Wicked & Divine comes across as almost a sequel to Gillen and McKelvie’s Phonogram—books about people whose magical power derived from music. Pop music. Club music. But where Phonogram was a testament to the personal power of music and to a certain time in the London club scene, The Wicked & The Divine is more cosmic in scope. Every 90 years, gods return to earth. They live for three years, putting on amazing concerts, and then they die, only to return again 90 years later. This time, someone dies when the Bowie-esque Lucifer snaps her fingers, turning humans against the gods, and the gods against each other.

Velvet (Image) Ed Brubaker, writing; Steve Epting, drawing; Elizabeth Breitweiser, colors.
Velvet is almost the secret life of Miss Moneypenny, if Miss Moneypenny were framed for murder and, possibly, treason. She’s been working as the secretary to ARC-7’s director, she’s still a deadly field agent, and she uses all her skills to find out who framed her and why. After years of paperwork and dealing with flirtatious, hotshot agents, her colleagues underestimate Velvet, but only for a little while. If you’ve always wanted to discover that Miss Moneypenny has a secret life, you’ll probably like Velvet. As with Brubaker’s Fade-Out, Fatale, Criminal, and Incognito, it’s worth buying Velvet in single issues to get each issue’s closing essay.

Movies

Cold In July (2014) dir. Jim Mickle, starring Michael C. Hall, Sam Shepherd, Don Johnson, and Vinessa Shaw.
Richard (Hall), a husband, father, and framing store owner, shoots and kills a burglar in his home. When the burglar’s father, Ben (Shepherd), shows up at the funeral and threatens Richard very congenially, Cold In July seems like it will be a straightforward revenge thriller. Then the story doesn’t so much take a twist as it takes a turn and the next thing you know, Jim Bob (Johnson) is walking into Richard’s store looking to get a pin-up framed. The chemistry between Hall, Shepherd, and Johnson is fantastic and Don Johnson does some engaging and entertaining work with his character, Jim Bob. Cold In July might be my favorite movie of 2014. It’s based on a book by Champion Mojo Storyteller Joe R. Lansdale, which always helps. Jim Mickle really comes into his own with Cold In July. The visuals are a nice blue and red homage to late Eighties film. The exposition isn’t overstated. And the soundtrack is almost perfect, and leaves some room for silence.

Snowpiercer (2014) dir. Bong Joon-ho, starring Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Ed Harris, Tilda Swinton, Octavia Spencer, Ko Ah-sung, John Hurt. . . and it’s probably best to go check IMDb.
Snowpiercer is a satisfying dystopian film serving as an allegory for general global inequality and state violence as well as a very particular criticism of South Korean politics and society. Curtis (Chris Evans) leads an uprising of the train’s tail end lumpenproletariat against the elite in the front of the train―with a little help from Namgoong Minsoo (Song Kang-ho). Bong Joon-ho is one of my favorite directors and he made two of my favorite films, The Host (2006) and Memories of Murder (2003). But while Snowpiercer is not as good as either, there are two things I love that put it on this list: Song Kang-ho and Bong Joon-ho’s idea of a “cinema republic.” I am so excited to see these actors working together in an adaptation of a French graphic novel shot in the Czech Republic with South Korean and American writers and producers, a British action choreographer, a Korean cinematographer, and a cast of fine actors from all over the world. It’s like Bong Joon-ho picked every every actor he ever wanted to work with and put them on a train hurtling toward the cinema republic. In a time with so many bland blockbusters inspiring bland imitations in global cinema (*cough* China’s bloated historical epics *cough*), Snowpiercer is just plain heartening.

The Duke Of Burgundy (2014) dir. Peter Strickland, starring Sidse Babette Knudsen and Chiara D’Anna.
An homage to the ”Eurosleaze” films of the 1960s and 1970s, The Duke of Burgundy quietly subverts its genre. Cynthia (Knudsen) and Evelyn (D’Anna), colleagues in the study of insects, explore their kinks in a small village. The film explores how fantasy is negotiated in relationships and how relationships, like D/s scenes and films, have their scripts. And I find it remarkable that a film focusing on formal film structure can be so warm and compassionate when so much formalism comes off as cold and misanthropic. (There is also “specially designed furniture” and mole crickets.)

The Raid 2: Berandal (2014) dir. Gareth Evans; starring Iko Uwais, Arafin Putra, Yayan Ruhian, Tio Pakusodewo, Oka Antara, Alex Abbad, Cecep Arif Rahman, Julie Estelle, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endo.
The Raid 2 gives everyone all the amped-up fighting we were looking for, with brutal new twists: Hammer Girl (Estelle) fighting half a dozen yakuza brothers and killing them with her two claw hammers; an amazing karambit-carrying silat master (Cecep Arif Rahman); prison shivvings; and harrowing car stunts. But Raid 2 is much more of a thriller in the mould of John Woo’s Hardboiled (though without the whimsy) or Andy Lau’s Infernal Affairs. Rama (Iko) survives the events of The Raid only to go undercover in one of Jakarta’s most powerful gangs. Rama serves two years in prison to earn the trust of Uco (Arifin Putra), son of the gang’s boss. But things get complicated, as they always do. There’s another Jakarta gang plus the yakuza involved, and the police themselves might be setting Rama up. If you were curious, Mad Dog (Yayan) might not have survived that fluorescent tube through the throat, but Prakoso (Yayan) really seems to take after Mad Dog in terms of his skills and his singular focus on fucking people up.

What We Do In The Shadows (2014) dir. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement; starring Taika Waititi, Jemaine Clement, Rhys Darby, Jonathan Brugh, Jackie Van Beek, Cori Gonzalez-Macuer, and Stu Rutherford.
Deacon, Viago, Vlad, and Peter are vampire roommates in Wellington, New Zealand. A documentary crew follows them as they deal with daily life, encounter stinky werewolves, make friends, try to get into Wellington’s clubs, and prepare for the annual Unholy Masquerade Ball, bringing the vampire, zombie, and witch communities of Wellington together. Who knew the undead community in Wellington was so active? Clever, fun, and hilarious.

Besides writing about comics for The Cultural Gutter and movies for various places, Carol Borden’s short story, “The Itch of Iron, The Pull of the Moon” was just published in Fox Spirit Books’ anthology, Drag Noir.

DVD Review: Day Of The Mummy

By Brad Henderson

Remember PC games in the ‘90s that were very story based with a ton of cinematics and limited gameplay? For the most part, the cut scenes were actual actors and not animation and they were poorly acted. I was always a big FPS fan and I disliked the type of games that included just a lot of walking around, pushing buttons, and someone who popped up in your HUD and told you what you were doing wrong or right. I’m guessing this is why I disliked Day Of The Mummy.

(more…)

The ScreamCast: Episodes 37, 38, and 39

There are three new episodes of The ScreamCast up for your listening pleasure.

Episode 37 – Prom Night (1980): Podcast includes Canuxploitation.com founder Paul Corupe in a discussion of this new reissue from Synapse.

Episode 38 – Monkey Shines (1988) & The Dark Half (1993): Brad and Sean discuss whether or not these films hold up on their new Scream Factory reissues.

Episode 39 – Raw Force (1982) & Christmas Evil (1980): Brad, Sean, and Brian discuss these two reissues from Vinegar Syndrome.

Blu-Ray Review: Ragnarok

By Brad Henderson

Norwegian cinema has yet to disappointment me. They’ve caught my attention with horror films such as Manhunt, the Cold Prey series, Dead Snow, Trollhunter, Bitter Flowers, Dark Souls, and a few others. Last year at Fantastic Fest a little film called Ragnarok was announced and all I knew about it going in was that it was from Norway. Nothing else mattered.

(more…)

Blu-Ray Review: Stunt Squad

By Brad Henderson

I don’t know if I would be the same person today if not for Italian cinema. My film school was watching Italian action and horror movies; they taught me everything I know. Some people have a beef with the stories, while others can’t stand the dubbing, but that’s just how it is. Some of the original Italian tracks were lost and some were made for America with Italian actors who were then dubbed over during post-production with audio that was never meant to be released. Even if the dubbing is bad, I try to overlook that because it can’t be helped. I’m just thankful I can actually see the films because some weren’t preserved very well. Luckily, there are still some companies keeping these films alive by exposing the world to them.

(more…)

Podcast Alert: The ScreamCast

By Less Lee Moore

Our very own Brad Henderson has been unusually busy these last few months. When he’s not writing reviews for Popshifter, he’s also working on movie scripts, and producing a podcast called The ScreamCast, along with Sean Duregger and Brian Saur (a.k.a. Bob Freelander and Rupert Pupkin).

Although The Screamcast was initially created to review horror and other genre releases from Shout Factory, they have expanded the scope to cover releases from labels like Synapse, Vinegar Syndrome, Cult Epics, and others. The podcast also includes special guests, celebrity interviews, top ten lists, and more.

Now on Episode 36, The ScreamCast is something you really should be listening to. We’ll be updating you every time they put up a new podcast, so stay tuned!

Here are the most recent episodes:

Episode 36 – Soultangler (1987): Podcast includes Joe and Zach from Bleeding Skull Video who brought the movie back from VHS hell.

Episode 35 – Nekromantik (1987): Podcast includes Nico B. founder of Cult Epics.
(Check out Brad’s Popshifter review of Nekromantik, too.)

DVD Review: Misfire

By Brad Henderson

What do you say when a film doesn’t have any redeeming qualities at all? Ugh.

(more…)

Blu-Ray Review: Drive Hard

By Brad Henderson

I first discovered Brian Trenchard-Smith when I saw Night Of The Demons 2. I didn’t know it was him at that time but I later recognized his name when I saw a film called Turkey Shoot (a.k.a. Escape 2000) and since then his name has been imbedded into my mind.

(more…)

DVD Review: Autumn Blood

By Brad Henderson

Autumn Blood is another film that suffers from a silly looking cover and not enough publicity. I probably wouldn’t have heard of Autumn Blood if I didn’t receive a review copy and an email stating what it was. The plot sounded OK and it does have Peter Stormare who is great even in bad movies. I knew I would be entertained at least.

Holy crap.

(more…)