Expendables 2 Teaser Trailer is up!

Not much of a trailer as it is more of a confirmation of who's actually in it this time around. 

First thing extremely noticeable is that the camera actually stays still, as opposed to Stallone's overly used shaky cam method in the first one. The action fan in me is still pretty excited about this one though. 

Review: Pulling John

2009
Directed by: Vassiliki Khonsari, Sevan Matossian
Category: Documentary

Casually browsing Netflix Instant this past weekend I came across this fascinating and completely engaging documentary about the world of professional arm wrestling. You know, I actually had no idea that this was even a "thing" anymore. But it is and apparently it's pretty huge all over the world. You don't hear or read about it in the news or sports pages and even more shocking to me is that outside of the United States, it is a government funded sport program. The U.S. is one of the only places in the world where it's not recognized by the government or funded, but elsewhere in the world it's even taught in schools. Crazy!

Right from the opening frame this documentary pulls you into the lives of amateur and professional arm wrestlers, all with one common goal; to beat John Brzenk. You see, the mild mannered and unassuming Brzenk has been the world champion arm wrestler for the last 25 years without having ever lost a match, no matter the size or stature of his opponents. Pulling John follows Brzenk as he contemplates retirement as he hits 40 and wonders if there is really anybody out there that could actually beat him. He notices also that because of his age, his endurance is lessening and if there is a much younger and stronger opponent out there worthy of a challenge, will he be able to last in a match of strength and endurance if he doesn't take him down within the first 5 seconds?

I remember when Over the Top came out in 1987, I thought arm wrestling was going to explode. It didn't. And that's a topic that they touch on in the documentary because everyone, including the filmmakers of Over the Top and the world of arm wrestling, thought it was going to also, but it didn't. Yea, the movie sucked, mainly because of the whole subplot involving Lincoln Hawk (Stallone) his son, and his ex-father in law, but the arm wrestling scenes were pretty cool and I remember thinking that after watching it arm wrestling was going to be the next big thing.

Synopsis via IMDB:
John Brzenk is troubled by when to call it quits; should he retire when he is on top or wait until someone takes his title. After twenty-five solid years of total world domination, John Brzenk, is aware that his dethroning may be near, he just doesn't know the cause. As the prodigal arm wrestler, Brzenk excelled in a way that seemed humanly impossible. Hungry for the best arm wrestling competition, Brzenk traveled the world beating every opponent. With a humble and understated character, his legend supercedes him in the hearts of arm wrestlers in over 120 countries. Among the super warriors of arm wrestling are 2 titans from opposite ends of the world, bonded by one defining goal, to beat John.

Sylvester Stallone and John Brzenk

In Pulling John, we're introduced to 3 main characters, John Brzenk, Alexy Voevoda and Travis Bagent. Brzenk (the world champion 25 years running) and fast rising up and comer Travis Bagent are both from the United States while Alexy Voevoda is from Russia. Both Travis and Alexy have grown to idolize John Brzenk in there young lives, knowing that if Brzenk continues to compete professionally each of them will have to likely face each other and ultimately attempt to defeat Brzenk if they ever want to claim the crown of arm wrestling champion of the world. No matter what part of the world you are from, John Brzenk is the all time reigning champ.

I think what's really fascinating is that Brzenk is so completely unassuming. He's not very big, yea you can tell he works out, but you'd never in a million years guess he's the all time world champion arm wrestler for the last 25 years just by looking at him. By trade, he's an airplane mechanic, and uses that career to be able to fly free anywhere in the world when he has to compete. Right there that shows you how smart this guy is. And he's so mild mannered and extremely humble too. That's one of the things that's always said about him whenever any of the amateur or professional competitors are talking about him, even the cocky arrogant guys. They look up to him because he's one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. There's no attitude or arrogance about him at all; he's just happy to be doing what he loves and somehow keeps winning. Unlike the young and rising up and comer Travis Bagent. He's loud, obnoxious, arrogant and completely cocky to a fault. It's one thing when you want to be the world arm wrestling champion, but it's another thing when your an ass and nobody likes you. In arm wrestling, they push sportsmanship and basically getting along and helping each other out. There's no reason it has to be ugly. But Bagent see's things differently. He's there to kick your ass. He's not there to make friends or be nice. Alexey on the other hand is the complete opposite of Travis Bagent. Though he's much bigger than both Bagent and Brzenk, Alexey is always calm, cool and collected 24 hours a day. Never losing his temper, talking smack or even getting excited. He's knows he alone is representing his country and cherishes that responsibility more than anything.

One of the most fascinating aspects of Pulling John is how Brzenk is able to keep winning, even though he's almost twice there age and smaller in size. And that's a big issue in this documentary. Somehow, some way he's able to possess this incredible strength that defies explanation. What the documentary ultimately boils down to is a final "big" match at the end where all three of these guys meet for the biggest arm wrestling championship to date. Whoever wins this match becomes arm wrestling champion of the world and the directors here have gotten you invested so deeply into all of there lives that when the final showdown hits, you don't know who to root for and it's completely riveting. We were actually screaming at the television during this final showdown because it was so intense. I hadn't had that kind of reaction from a film, let alone a documentary, in a very long time. I think more shocking than anything for me is that this documentary is two years old and I've never heard of it until now. Do yourself a favor and check out this thoroughly entertaining documentary while it's currently still available on Netflix Instant. If you're like me, you'll be screaming and hollering at the television by the end and wanting to arm wrestle everyone in your family.

Review: Nighthawks

1981
Directed by: Bruce Malmuth
Category: Badass Cinema

After watching pretty much nothing but horror flicks these past few weeks (Halloween always gets me in the mood), I am somewhat burned out on that genre and felt I needed some good ol' action to balance it out. This one has been in my queue for months now and I thought now is a good time as any to revisit a film I remember liking a lot back in the 80's and one I felt was a major shift in Stallone's choice of roles.

Nighthawks is insanely badass and such a severely underrated piece of Badass Cinema. We're so used to seeing Stallone play characatures of real people or play characters with super human abilities in films like Cobra, Demolition Man, Rambo: First Blood Part 2, Cliffhanger and a plethora of other films in his awesome career. But in Nighthawks he plays a regular New York City cop with real problems who does mess up quite often like a real human being would, which is really different compared to a lot of the other characters he's played throughout his lustrous career. Nighthawks also marks a couple of firsts for geeks like me who keep tabs on shit like this. It's the first time we see Stallone sport a rockin' beard all the way through the entire film. He had one in the workout montage of Rocky IV, but shaved the sucker when it was time to fight Drago. It's the first time Stallone played a cop in a film. It's Rutger Hauer's first American film. It's the first solo feature directing gig for Bruce Malmuth who many years later would ignite Steven Seagal's career with Hard to Kill. Yea I know Seagal did Above the Law two years before, but that's not the film that made him famous ( I never even heard of that film until "after" Hard to Kill ), it was Hard to Kill.

Rutger Hauer plays Wulfgar, an International terrorist who's fled France and relocated to New York City ready to cause some chaos. Deke DaSilva (Stallone) and Mathew Fox ( Billy Dee Williams) are two undercover cops who, because of there track record and skills at getting the job done, are assigned to a new anti-terrorism task force specifically made to track, hunt and kill Wulfgar as they "assume" New York would be his likely hunting ground for International coverage. Wulfgar is used to getting the upper hand and getting things done his way but may have finally met his match in Deke DaSilva. 

Everything in this film works perfectly. The look and design of the film. Keith Emerson's sometimes funky, sometimes dead on serious score. The hard action/cop thriller tone made famously and frequently during this time. And most importantly, the casting of Stallone and Billy Dee Williams. Stallone steals the show and proves without a doubt that he can play more than an over the top action star. This is Stallone between Rocky II and III and two years before First Blood would make him an international action star. I loved how he looked in this film. Just check him out with that big hair, oversized tinted specs and leather jacket. 1981, gotta love it!
Sad thing is that this type of film, while rampant in the 70's to early 80's, wouldn't make it to the theater these days which is sad. It's an intense story and character driven film and those unfortunately aren't the type of films producers or studio's want to waste there money on promoting these days. Now it's all about spectacle, budget and how to outdo the previous years biggest picture.
While there might not be any special effects or huge action set pieces in Nighthawks, this film grips you right from the beginning and doesn't let go until the very last frame because it's made so damn well from David Shaber's (The Warriors) razor sharp script to Bruce Malmuth's no frills direction.

There's a scene in the film where, after Wulfgar has fled to New York after having plastic surgery to change his face, DaSilva and Fox are in a nightclub after learning that Wulfgar has a pattern of picking up pretty girls at nightclubs and using them for a place to stay. After learning he's recently had plastic surgery they're not sure what he might look like, but scour the nightclub anyway after following a tip that he picked up his last victim there. DaSilva (Stallone) thinks he spots someone who "could" resemble Wulfgar and within a minute Wulfgar and DaSilva lock eye contact for what seems like forever to The Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar"* before a shootout ensues. That scene makes the fuckin' movie for me. It's intense and brilliantly staged and sets the overall tone for the entire film. I loved that sequence.

I remember seeing a couple of different interviews back around 1997 after the failure of Judge Dredd, The Specialist and Assassins, but before he started doing DTV stuff that he wanted to shift his career and get more into films like Nighthawks and Daylight. Films that were more about the characters than action. I guess feeling his big budget movie choices were waning he wanted to shift gears and concentrate more on story driven films. I think he tried and succeeded with Copland, but the majority of his efforts fell into the DTV world before revitalizing his career all by himself by writing/directing/starring in Rocky, Rambo and The Expendables. Good thing too because we definitely needed some more badass Stallone in our cinema's.
Rutger Hauer is of course awesome as the villain Wulfgar. He hadn't yet made the splash he did in Blade Runner, that was the following year. But as with every role he chooses, he delivers the goods and turns in a creepy performance as the terrorist Wulgar who can kill randomly, willingly and often, but stops when it comes to babies as in one standout sequence in a cable car when Wulfgar demands the asshole cop (DaSilva) come retrieve the baby because he doesn't want the headlines to read "Wulfgar: Baby Killer".
Billy Dee Williams (yes, Lando Calrissian himself) plays DaSilva's wisecracking partner Fox with just the right amount of smoothness that made his portrayal of Lando Calrissian such a standout character. Top notch work from everybody involved.

Most people have heard of this film but have never seen it, which is such a travesty because this film easily ranks as one of the best cop thriller's to come out of that era. I think Stallone will impress anybody who thinks he's just a larger than life action hero with his role in this film. Do yourself a favor and check this sucker out and tell me that nightclub stare-down between DaSilva and Wulfgar doesn't give you chills.

* Depending on which version you watch as different releases of this film had different music for that sequence. The theatrical version contains The Stones "Brown Sugar" as well as the full frame Good Time 2001 release. But the 2004 Universal Widescreen release changed that song for some reason. Maybe copyright issues or something like that. In any case, The Rolling Stones "Brown Sugar" playing to that sequence makes such a drastic difference and it's a shame Universal changed it for the most recent and far superior in quality release. Currently it's available on Netflix Instant "with" the classic Stones song intact. So see it while you still can. 

Review: Judge Dredd

1995

Directed by: 
Danny Cannon

Category: Sci-fi

I know i'm in the minority with this, but I happen to really love this film.

And after finishing my last post, it got me to thinking about other Stallone films that i'd like to see redone or sequalized. Cobra is one of them, and Judge Dredd the other. Cobra i'd like to see done into a sequal. But Judge Dredd was one of those completely missed opportunities, where it could have been one of the seminal sci-fi flicks of the 90's, but ultimately didn't satisfy any fans of the comics. There was so much that was done right with this one, but a few bad choices are what ultimately sank it.

I personally still enjoy it, quite a lot actually. And there is a lot to like. Stallone cast as Judge Joseph Dredd for one. The character is just plain badass. Tall, big, tough and doesn't give a fuck about anybody or anything. He handles the law his way and you take it or leave it. This was at the height of Stallones career, where he was larger than life and hadn't yet been relegated to the Direct-to-DVD market. He plays him so over the top, so stoic and brash that he almost came out like a cartoon. And that's what was most peoples complaints. If they only knew that they actually held back so much compared to the Dredd character of the comics. His interpretation was pretty tame in comparison. And besides, who else could scream out "I Am The Law" better than Stallone with that slight slur? Nobody!

The look of this film is another. It looks great. Right from the opening credits they blare the Judge Dredd logo with pages of Judge Dredd comics (just in case you didn't know it was indeed based on a comic book) flipping behind the credits, Alan Silvestri's hard hitting and thunderous theme song pounding your ear drums, and the movie kicks into gear right from the get go. I love the look of this film. The effects are some of the best i've seen.........ever. You can quote me on that! I"m dead serious, the effects team here did an outstanding job. Mega City One looks simply amazing, whether it be the breathtaking, sweeping city skyline or the dark, crime ridden and gritty underbelly below, it just all looks amazing. I just wish they had put as much work into the script as they did with the effects, but i'll get to that later. The costume design work by Emma Porteus and production design by Nigel Phelps is outstanding, just simply outstanding. Everything from Dredd's outfit, to his Lawgiver, to his Motorcycle were all done perfectly. Director Danny Cannon's visual style worked perfectly here, especially if you consider this was his first big budget film. All in all, this is a really great looking sci-fi action flick. Oh! And that fucking robot! All done completely with animatronics and not one bit of CGI and looks cool as hell. And for all of these reasons, I can watch it over and over as i often do.

First, the story:

In the year 2139, crime has completely taken over Mega City One, with the justice system powerless to control it. In this time, there was a new breed of officers called Judges. They were given the power of judge, jury and executioner with Judge Dredd being the most celebrated and most powerful Judge. Judge Dredd is framed for murder and sent to prison, (a bad move on the script writers part) where he ultimately has to escape so he can clear his name. And that's what this movie basically becomes, a "chase movie". He ends up finding out that he was framed by his brother who he didn't even know he had, also a former judge named Rico. It has something to do with Rico working with a few other bad guys trying to create clones using Rico's DNA, which also happens to be Dredds, to take over the city and whatnot.

Now on to the bad. There are two main problems I and most other people have with this movie. Actually, lets make that three. The fact that he did "NOT" wear his helmet or judges outfit for like 90% of the movie, the casting of Rob Schneider as his sidekick (obviously for comic relief), and the R rating.

The outfit:

The appeal of the comics and the character in general is that he's just simply a badass don't you dare fuck with me kind of character. In his judges outfit, he exudes threatening. All you ever really see is his mouth, the rest of his head being covered with that awesome helmet. You don't even see his eyes. Why the studio, writers, producers or whoever thought that it was a good idea to not have him wear his custom for most of the movie is beyond me. I know Stallone was one of the biggest and highest paid action stars at the time, but you still know it's fucking Stallone. Did you think we would forget? It just simply amazes me that somebody thought it was a good idea to have Judge Dredd look all super cool and badass for the first 10 minutes of the movie and then take him out of his outfit for the rest of the film. THAT is my number one biggest complaint.

The casting of Rob Schneider:

One of the biggest missteps I have ever seen. I can just see the studio suits sitting there in there office, watching the daily's coming in.

Studio suit #1:"You know, this movie looks so dark and violent".

Studio suit #2:"We need something silly and funny in here to lighten the mood, and who knows, maybe it'll appeal to a broader audience?".

Studio suite#3:"Hey! What about that funny guy from Saturday Night Live?" "The one that makes those funny comments by the fax machine in those skits!" "That's hot right now isn't it?".

Unfuckingbelievable! That one stupid decision ruins the entire vibe of this movie. This is a movie about a character who kills without hesitation, who dispenses punishment without remorse, and the powers that be decide to add a wise cracking sidekick in the mix to lighten things up. Unfuckingbelievable!

The dreaded R Rating:

The MPAA (your worst enemy if you were a filmmaker back then) thought that the film was too violent and refused to give it a PG-13 rating, feeling the dreaded R was more suitable. By today's standards, it would have been given a PG-13 for sure, but back in 1995 maybe it wasn't so acceptable. And to this day, I don't know what the problem was. It's violent, but in a fun way. It's not bloody, gory or anything where you have heads, limbs and blood spraying all over the place. Though I wish it was. A lot of people get killed, but theres rarely any blood. And I say "dreaded R" because receiving an R rating pretty much guarantees to cut your audience in half, and when your target audience is teenagers, that's a deathblow. I only wish that if they knew there was no way of getting out of that R rating, why not just go all out then and bloody the thing up? It's a violent character, it's a violent comic, why not make an Ultra-Violent film? Bah!!

And who knows who is ultimately responsible for all of these bad decisions? Director Danny Cannon was a die hard Judge Dredd fan and championed for the job of directing this and was intent on making the best Judge Dredd movie he possibly could. But Stallone was one of the biggest stars in the world back then and you often hear stories about the constant butting of heads between the two over creative differences during the production. I honestly don't think they (meaning Stallone and the studio suits) knew what kind of property they had. A few changes could have turned this movie completely around, because inevitably it was a bomb. It cost $90 million dollars to make and only made a third of that, $34 million to be exact. Ouch!

All in all, this film deserves much more respect than it's gotten. If you can look past Rob Schneider's stupid character and the fact that Judge Dredd doesn't look like Judge Dredd for most of the movie, you could actually enjoy it, because it is quite entertaining.

There is good news though. There is currently a remake in the works, filming as I type this I believe, simply titled Dredd. With Karl Urban taking over the role of Judge Dredd, and vowing to fans and loyalists of the comic that Judge Dredd will never take off his helmet for the entire movie, I think we finally might have the Judge Dredd movie we've all been waiting for.