You know what's great? Travel movies. The kind of film where folks move from city to city, country to country, enjoying the sights, talking with the locals, researching people they don't know, getting involved in sordid tales of crime, espionage, murder, and eventually ending the matter in a filthy, condemned apartment in Paris with a … Continue reading The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
I love action movies with completely nonsensical, ridiculous plots that exist purely to put some completely miscast action star directly in the path of danger, possibly alongside an equally miscast comedian in a sidekick role. Lo and behold, here's exactly what I want in a film: Knock Off. Jean-Claude Van Damme is a member of … Continue reading Knock Off (1998)
Ah yes, Tenet, the movie Christopher Nolan felt would be best in theaters packed full of plague lungs. Love it, hate it, but never forget: you'll leave with your memories, possibly a headache, and even a potential hospital visit. Thanks, Chris. Despite the back and forth debacle over worldwide release dates, it's still a big … Continue reading Tenet (2020)
Australian stuntmen engage in covert missions, perform death-defying stunts, and drink and shag women whose names they don't remember! Huh, the “stuntmen” part of that sentence seems redundant. Steve Hall and Rodney Cann are a couple of stuntmen working in the Australian film and TV industry in the 1970s. The two are undeniable thrill seekers, … Continue reading Deathcheaters (1976)
Always remember, no matter how tough life can be, there isn't any kind of problem, big or small, that can't be helped by sending in a CIA hit team to kidnap someone's kid. Seriously, I use them to handle my grocery shopping. Major Vic Davis is a special forces super soldier and not the best … Continue reading The 2nd (2020)
Mel Brooks once told Jerry Seinfeld some years ago that he liked to eat dinner with Carl Reiner once a week and watch what he called “secure the perimeter movies,” meaning the kind of movies where at some point someone would utter the line “Secure the perimeter.” Two of the greatest comedic minds of all … Continue reading American Assassin (2017)
Serious question: why does the super-powerful Mandroid need breathing tubes? It doesn't breathe. What is the point of those tubes? Eastern Europe, 1993. The Cold War has ended, and tons of technology and military hardware is now up for grabs to the highest bidder. Dr. Karl Zimmer happens to be a scientist with a new … Continue reading Mandroid (1993)
A US nuclear sub is loaded with a bunch of US Marines and a British spy and sent on a rescue mission to the arctic circle to find Ice Station Zebra. Unfortunately, the Soviet Union is performing the same mission. Why? Because a satellite has fallen on the station, a satellite containing photographs from a … Continue reading Ice Station Zebra (1968)
I heard this movie was created specifically because the practical effects guys wanted to showcase their work. What's funny is that there is some CGI involved here, and it looks terrible, so kudos to the practical effects folks; their stuff looks amazing here. Unfortunately, the rest of the movie comes down to being a poor … Continue reading Harbinger Down (2015)
Movie Reviews by a Mook 