I'll admit, I have not have seen much Eastwood. I also have not have seen this film for quite sometime. But you know what, I have yet to be convinced that this film is poor. The make-up? Supported by the films play of reality and illusion. Acting? All solid. Script/this never happened? Good script/does not matter. I am growing more confident this is (MASTERPIECE) upper echelon Eastwood. I'll confirm on a re-watch.

Sure, the trio is a lot of fun together and Jackie/Benny is good. But everyone ignores a crucial element, that beautiful machine that enables the films title. The van is a unifying force of family and love, without it they would be lost. This is shown when the family kicks Sammo's mission away which results in a photograph that frames only the family and the van, then one last cut to just the van. Credits roll on.

Hill captures everything spectacular that I love about the 80's aesthetic flawlessly. The vivid neon colors, kinetic editing, electric mise en scene, the vivacious music and an awesome (and young!) Dafoe and Lane that bring it. If I ever had to shoot a concert film I would prepare with this film along with Singin' in the Rain and An American in Paris. Sorry for all theridiculous adjectives guys, I am just pumped.

Korean Pop Sensation Rain mother fuckers. Woooo!

Interesting how much more experimental he is with this. Editing wise, Regen is emphasizing the unrelenting, pointless brutality while this is more playing with speed, finesse and his stars prowess. JCVD's 'badass' action one take is nicely undercut, this scene is definitely more in line with Hyams true interests and the melancholy stylings of Regen.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeah

"In that moment of conflict, Evans conveys that life is only ever valued conditionally in contemporary late capitalist society. The choice eventually made is less important than the fact that a grim cost-benefit analysis came into play, with a real human life at stake." http://spectrumculture.com/2012/03/the-raid-redemption.html/

I once dreamed it would kickstart a nostalgic interest in the Shaw Brothers style martial arts film in Hong Kong, maybe a few great films would get made out of this. Then I woke up and found out it won a ton of awards and has even got recent recognition as being one of the great HK films of all time. Paired with the timely arrival of Kar-Wai's The Grandmasters, we may be on the verge of a massive revitalization.

Tony Jaa can't act, has no presence and can't direct, but god damn is he perhaps the most fascinating athlete in martial arts film. His body is athleticism at its peak form, similar to Jackie, but while Jackie is the king clown that risks everything, Jaa is the poetic brutality with delusions of grandeur. That is what sets him apart, yet keeps him below the rest.

She has the potential to be one of the great pop musicians.

It may be morally vacant and fairly gratuitous but it does have some inspired satire. The Bingo sequence alone makes me curious about Boll's other works. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiGRbF-GXvU

One day I am going to have to be true to myself and lower you to a four. I'm not sure when or how this will come about and this may be hard to admit right now, but you know this will be good for the both of us.

This is going to be a flagship film for us genre buffs, just wait. Hyams is the next Holy Idol of genre cinema.

The seed of hope was planted but now it has grown to fruition, Anderson has got some fuckin' skills. Haters gonna hate.

If Neveldine/Taylor got the R rating and wrote it themselves, this would have been glorious. The haters still have the predictable cons to choose from ("narrative sucks bro!") but they also have to respect N/T's incredible camera work or admit they know shit about cinema. Nic Cage is incredible here, this is the insanity I dreamed of from him working with these guys. Fuck Cage haters. "It's scraping at the doooooor!"

One of the most fascinating musicians does not have a picture, bio or even a film to their credit? This is some slunk ass shit right hur.

Gene Kelly is a genius and anyone who says otherwise has no understanding of film, dance, entertainment or life. The Broadway Melody sequence is one of the most mind-blowing moments in all of cinema. I have never felt color like that in my life, the key word here being 'felt'. I don't say this lightly and maybe I'm coming off of a high like I've never experienced before but...this has changed the way I look at film.

Statler and Waldorf are still the coolest mother fuckers ever.

Best action sequence of 2011, bar none. Spielberg working in the realm of the unlimited camera is something to behold.

Every time I look at this page, I get a boner.

This isn't really even his film, it lacks his stylistic stamp as he is far too distracted by the switch to live-action and everything it entails (Actors, DP's and superstars with ego if I had to guess). His set pieces are rougher and confused, he shoots pointless close-ups (loves real faces) and doesn't seem to have a firm sense of what he wants action wise. Give him one or two more films though, he'll get it.

Carpenter brilliantly evokes voyeurism to critique the morally reprehensible interests of the audience. This is most strongly shown in the first sequence where he uses POV to draw upon audience desires and the final sequence showing the aftermath of Michael's rampage layered with his heavy breathing drawing everything full circle "...the idea was that you couldn't kill evil." - writer Debra Hill.

What Wilder and Diamond did with comedy is unthinkable and may never be equaled. That wasn't enough though, then they had to take one of the most towering characters in literature (Sherlock Holmes) and write him in ways no one had ever fathomed, creating his definitive work. Nobody's perfect, but they came damn close.

The most misunderstood director in Hollywood makes the most misunderstood and personal attack on Hollywood. Perfectly demonstrates how north america has accepted violence (Robocop, Total Recall, Starship Troopers) but fears and misunderstands sex.

Can act and play the ukulele? Hell yeah!

This film plays with your expectations of what it can and should be, while you are second guessing it is enveloping you slowly without your realization. This is incredibly confident and subtle filmmaking for a debut feature. One of the greatest performances of the year is also accompanied by perhaps the song of the year.

And now that I have watched the father, I know more of the sons. (Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, pretty much all of Billy Wilder)

Am I the only one who gets the impression this was a parody? The first bit was obviously riffing off of the state of American action cinema but then it seems to switch gears and take shots at his own style. It's either that or he just went nuts with enthusiasm after Hollywood finally took the leash off.

Thank you Mubi for reminding me this exists. If the car trip is even half as good as I remember, it is brilliant.

After the trailer, I have little hope for this reboot. The Spectacular Spider-Man animated show ('08-'09) did everything this show hopes to do. Action wise, it is incredibly smooth, fast paced and exciting. Character wise, it captures Peter's struggle to grasp his new powers and high school life effortlessly. I sense Webb does not understand action and I fear his drama will be overwrought with hip indy music cues.