Scott Adkins at CLOSE RANGE

Action star Scott Adkins (Ninja, Ninja 2, El Gringo, Undisputed 2 & 3, Expendables 2) has a new modestly-budgeted but high-octane thriller coming out, directed by his Ninja/Undisputed collaborator, Isaac Florentine.

Florentine (a former Power Rangers director!) is probably the best action director working in the indie action realm, and his previous films with Adkins have been so much better than they had any right to be. These two make a fantastic team, consistently raising the bar of what can be accomplished on low-budget, direct-to-video genre fare.  

Close Range looks like another winner; check out the trailer below.

Mad Max: Fury Road

I have to say, the trailer for next year's Mad Max: Fury Road, starring Tom Hardy as Max Rockatansky and directed by series creator George Miller, is the best film preview of the year. Visually awe-isnpiring, marvelously edited, and featuring an incredible soundtrack, it really has me revved up to see the long-promised (I first saw a reference to it as being in development in a film magazine back in the late 90s!) post-Apocalyptic adventure.

So, next year, there's a new Star Wars movie, a new James Bond movie, a new Terminator movie, a Man From U.N.C.L.E. movie, a new Avengers movie (and Ant-Man!), and a new Mad Max film. Too bad they couldn't have gotten new Planet of the Apes and Godzilla flicks made in time. Still, looks like a helluva year, movie-wise.

The Expendabelles: MERCENARIES Trailer

Here's the trailer for Mercenaries, The Asylum's distaff take on the uber-manly Expendables franchise. The trailer looks pretty good - promising, even - but as it's an Asylum picture, I'm not letting my expectations get too high. The studio hasn't had a great track record for quality in any genre, really, and has fared especially poorly with action fare (stunts are expensive).

Cool to see Brigette Nielsen as the Big Bad, though it is disappointing to see that Cynthia Rothrock appears to have a non-fighting role. I'm hoping that Zoe Bell and Kristina Loken can raise the bar here. It can't hurt that Zoe can do her own stunts.

We'll see....

The Return of Jack Deth!

Back in the late 1980s, producer/director Charles Band shot an anthology film called Pulsepounders for his company, Empire Pictures, but it was never released. Pulsepounders was comprised of a handful of stand alone shorts that were all sequels/tie-ns to other Empire features. One of these, The Evil Clergyman - a nifty H.P. Lovecraft adaptation starring the leads from Re-Animator and From Beyond, Jeffery Combs and Barbara Crampton - finally got a DVD release a year or so ago.

Now it looks like another segment - a sequel to the studio's Trancers, with Tim Thomerson and Helen Hunt - is also making its way out of limbo, and I couldn't be happier. I have a soft spot in my heart and head for that series; not so much for the plots, but for Thomerson's characterization of future cop Jack Deth. His film noir-inspired, wry, tough guy portrayal balances precariously on the fine line between parody and pastiche, but the talented (and perfectly-cast) Thomerson walks that line with assurance. It's a great character and performance, and I'm looking forward to seeing him in the role again.

The DVD is only available (I believe) through Band's current company, Full Moon Entertainment. I hope to order myself a copy soon.

MACHETE KILLS AGAIN... In SPACE!

Hard to imagine a concept more tailor-made to my tastes...

Return Of The Ninja

I enjoyed 2009's Ninja, starring British martial arts star Scott Adkins. It wasn't a great film, nor even particularly original, but I thought it was a better-than-average direct-to-DVD action flick, and an entertaining throwback to the 80's heyday of Cannon's classic ninja movies. Well, director Isaac Florentine and Adkins have reunited to chronicle another adventure of Occidental ninja, Casey Bowman, with the oddly-titled sequel, Ninja: Shadow Of A Tear.

From the trailer, it looks like it could be fun. I'm particularly pleased to see little Kane Kosugi all grown up and playing the evil ninja in this entry. As a child, Kane frequently appeared alongside his father, the legendary "ninja star," Sho Kosugi, on films like Revenge Of the Ninja, 9 Deaths Of The Ninja, Black Eagle and Pray For Death. His presence just adds to the nostalgia factor for me. Looking forward to this.

Monster Cereals Return From The Grave

When I was a kid growing up in the 1970s, my favorite breakfast cereal was General Mills' Count Chocula. I can't even guess how many boxes of that sugary, chocolate-flavored cereal I consumed between 1975 (when the product was introduced) and, say, the mid-80s, when I finally stopped eating cereal regularly.

Count Chocula was one of five monster-themed cereals manufactured by the company. The most popular one, after Count Chocula, was the strawberry-flavored Franken Berry, followed by the blueberry-flavored Boo Berry. I never cared for those berry-flavored cereals, but I seem to remember my sister sometimes ate Franken Berry. Two more fruit-flavored cereals were introduced later - Yummy Mummy and Fruit Brute (immortalized in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction), but I don't recall those being sold in my area, and in any case, they didn't last long. Count Chocula, Franken Berry and Boo Berry were manufactured for decades, but in recent years, those three products have only had limited distribution, and only during the month of October.

This year, General Mills is offering all five flavors during October. The packages will apparently feature truly hideous new artwork, but the Target chain will exclusively sell the products in "retro" packaing featuring the original 70s art. I'm actually thinking about visiting Target (a store I generally avoid) and picking up one of each....

 

Anyway, I recently stumbled across this half-hour video compilation of vintage monster cereal television commercials. Man, these really bring back memories! I had just about every single toy/premium shown in the video! I don't know who voiced these characters, but the Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre impressions (for Franken and Boo, respectively) in the early spots are terrific!

Machete Don't Tweet

Get Ready...This is For Real!

Booyah! This is the best Pacific Rim trailer yet! Apparently, it's not testing well with mainstream audiences, who see it as a "Transformers rip-off." I feel very sad for anyone whose pulse doesn't race in anticipation of witnessing giant robots battling giant monsters on the big screen. Poor devils.

"Taco Time!"

I'm there.

Diabolik Returns!

A very stylish trailer for a new, Italian Diabolik television series, based on the classic Eurocomic. I wonder what the chances are of ever seeing this on my side of the Atlantic?

The Last Stand Of Arnold Schwarzenegger

Well, here's the new trailer for Lionsgate's The Last Stand, Arnold Schwarzenegger's action movie comeback (aside from his extended cameo in The Expendables sequel). I don't know about you, but it looks like fun to me, with some terrific action sequences and a nice, self-deprecating wit. Plus, Luis Guzman and the Conan sword. I'll definitely be seeing this one.

This Just In...

David Lo Pan Style

"Hey, green-eyed lady..."  I really need to go watch Big Trouble In Little China now.

Brandon

Was thinking about the great Brandon Lee this evening. Still saddened and haunted by the knowledge that he passed away so young. Hard to believe he died almost twenty years ago now (March, '93). Man, I feel old.

He was terrific in The Crow - and clearly had the charisma and talent to be a mainstream star. But he also made a couple of highly-enjoyable B-action flicks. In fact, Rapid Fire and Showdown In Little Tokyo (with Dolph Lundgren) are among the best of the early 90s. I'd like to think he would have made a lot more, had he lived.

Nowhere Fast

Awesome poster by Patrick Leger!

Seriously, why isn't Walter Hill's Streets Of Fire on Blu-ray? Universal released it on HD-DVD; would it be that hard to port it over to Blu?

The "D" Is Silent...

The first trailer for Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained hit the web today. Quite coincidentally, I've been watching a lot of vintage Spaghetti Westerns* over the last couple of weeks, including several that were clearly among Tarantino's inspirations for his forthcoming homage, starring Jaimie Foxx, Chistophe Waltz, Don Johnson and Leonardo DeCaprio.

Keep an eye out for the original "Django," Franco Nero, in the new trailer above. Really looking forward to this one!

* Specifically: The Grand Duel, Keoma, A Bullet For The General, Django Kill!, and Death Rides A Horse.

New EX2 TV Spots

My wife doesn't get it -- but I'm more excited about The Expendables 2 than I was for The Avengers (and I'm a big super-hero nut) and the new Bond film (card-carrying Bondophile since I was 15) combined.

From these two TV spots, it looks like EX2 is going to have a lot more (intentional) humor, and the action will be better-lit - which addresses the two most frequent complaints I read about the first movie. Personally, I can't wait!

"Skyfall?" "Done."

Well, it's an intriguing teaser, I'll give it that, and visually, it looks good. But I haven't really been much of a fan of the Craig era of 007, and was really disappointed in Quantum Of Solace. I also miss the James Bond theme. But... I look forward to seeing more, and hope that the producers surprise me in a more positive way with Skyfall....

You're Going To Need A New Plane

I strongly recommend watching this in fullscreen mode.