Recently I was listening to a podcast with Alicia Vikander, one where she talked about her role as the new Lara Croft and how the character has been rebooted as a more realistic heroine for modern women. She mentioned how it seems there’s momentum these days, indeed appetite, towards high quality, well put together, action-driven… Continue reading The rise of the action woman
Tag: action
Top 10 elevator scenes in movies
Is your screenplay complete without a good elevator scene? Probably not. As a director can you forgive yourself for not including one? No. So there’s the argument, an open-and-shut case. Any film worth its salt has an elevator scene, so here are a few I’ve picked out I rather like. What would make your list?… Continue reading Top 10 elevator scenes in movies
Spy: McCarthy prods buttock
After lengthy success in TV (Gilmore Girls, Mike & Molly), Melissa McCarthy finally broke through to film in 2011’s Bridesmaids, almost stealing the whole thing from the rest of the cast. In 2013 she received critical and commercial acclaim for The Heat with Sandra Bullock and, last year, starred opposite Bill Murray in quirky comedy… Continue reading Spy: McCarthy prods buttock
Fast & Furious 7 review
Continuing the story from Fast 6, this one sees Toretto and the gang tackle a very angry Jason Statham in full fight back mode.
Trailer park: monster, soldier, secret service
Time for a quick look ahead at the trailers of some films coming up. If you’re unfamiliar, I do these little ‘trailer park’ blogs from time to time of upcoming films that I’d like to see. For this one, I’m focusing on one out now and two out soon: a gritty historical action tale, an… Continue reading Trailer park: monster, soldier, secret service
The Guest: introducing the English Ryan Gosling
The latest Downton Abbey export to head to Hollywood is Dan Stevens. I don’t watch the show, but I hear his character is a nice guy who’s good at seducing the ladies. Now actors often like to break the mould when it comes to roles – to avoid being typecast and all that. So if… Continue reading The Guest: introducing the English Ryan Gosling
Is Darren Aranofsky modern cinema’s Noah?
There’s no denying Darren Aranofsky is a unique filmmaker. Prior to Noah his most accessible work (if you can call it that) was probably The Wrestler followed by Black Swan, the latter which – let’s face it – had many moments of ‘out there’ insanity. Audiences expecting more of the former kind of storytelling will… Continue reading Is Darren Aranofsky modern cinema’s Noah?
300: Rise of an Empire – Green brings the pain!
Is it fair to say that Zack Snyder’s film 300 in 2007 was, stylistically, a breath of fresh air? All sculpted six packs and slow-mo violence. It also introduced many of us to Gerard Butler as we’ve never seen him before. However the story by Frank Miller, whilst great in graphic novel form, came across… Continue reading 300: Rise of an Empire – Green brings the pain!
The Raid – Uwais, Evans and kick-ass silat!
How does one go about creating a kick-ass action film these days that makes you sit up and take notice? Take a Welsh Director (Gareth Evans), an Indonesian martial art (silat), throw in a breakout action star (Iko Uwais), then set it in a grimy tower block. Action perfection all the way! The plot is… Continue reading The Raid – Uwais, Evans and kick-ass silat!
