Western Weekend: Edge

Stumbled across a random Facebook post showing off a violent clip from a new Amazon pilot, Edge. It caught my eye for many reasons; it was a western, it was really violent, it starred Max Martini (Pacific Rim & Sabotage) and directed by Shane Black. With those ingredients, how could you go wrong? Apparently it's Pilot season on Amazon where they produce a handful then viewers rate/vote/review to help them decide which series to move forward with. Based on a series of novels by George G. Gilman, Edge opens up with the murder of Jamie Hedges (Nate Warren), brother to thought dead Union solider Josiah Hedges aka Edge. Big Brother shows up to town, under the harsh rule of Big Bill (William Sadler). His son Little Bill served with Edge along with former comrade turned baddie Harknett (Ryan Kwanten). Edge gets hired on to help shepard the town, learning who's in control while meeting the locals like trophy wife Pilar (Alicja Bachleda) and Pinkerton detective masquerading as a working girl Beth (Yvonne Strahovski).

By the end of the 60 minute pilot, Edge has wasted plenty of fools with a straight razor, six shooter and a gattling gun. The violence is amped up and earns it's MA rating. Lots of blood, dismemberment, head shots, brutal beatings and a branch through the abdomen. The final shootout gets a bit over the top with Edge running across roofs and awnings, flying through the air and blasting every baddie in sight. Along with blood you also get Martini's muscular butt shot and some breasts so all bases are covered. Written by Black and former partner Fred Dekker, the show switches between hardcore violence and funny quips about dogs, sex and whatnot. Martini looks near unrecognizable with a mess of hair covering up his face and grumbles out his dialog but it's good to see the likable supporting player in the lead. Production value is high end with a great looking western town, huge natural vistas, dusty and crusty attire along with a couple of explosions. The episode's epilogue sets up the series as baddie Harknett is a sadist and a racist on the hunt for a fortune, ensuring his paths will cross with Edge once again. With no interest in any other Amazon show besides Ron Perlman's vigilante drama Hand of God, here's hoping we get more Edge.

Josh Brolin Double: Everest and Sicario

After seeing Snowpiercer the night before, it was time for another cold looking flick, the mountain climbing turned deadly expedition true story Everest. The third movie of our weekend took place at Cinemark's new theater in Playa Vista at The Runway. We frequent this spot frequently and the hostess called us regulars. It's generally slow and empty but on a Saturday night the bar and restaurant were pretty happening. Sadly it really slogged down service and our server could not keep up. It wasn't a bad experience per se but definitely not great, such a shame. In the 90's, climbing mount Everest had turned into a business where guides would take the rich and adventurous up to the summit, weather permitting. But at the cruising altitude of a 747, the body is literally dying so extreme caution and preparation are exercised. Rob Hall (Jason Clarke) heads up Adventure Consultants, he's kind, funny, level-headed and expecting a baby daughter. Scott Fischer (Jake Gyllenhaal) is more care free and a bit of a hippie but with so many climbers creating log jams at dangerous passes, they team up to get their clients up the mountain. Unfortunately Mother Nature has other plans as a surprise storm strands several climbers and tragedy strikes as multiple mountaineers meet their demise.

Directed by Baltasar Kormakur (TWO GUNS!) based on a script from William Nicholson and Simon Beaufoy, Everest plays out pretty straightforwardly; briefly introducing the characters along with the danger and majesty of the mountain. They go up, shit goes bad and sadly people don't make it home. Clarke plays Hall likable and intelligent while a deep cast of familiar faces includes Martin Henderson, John Hawkes, Josh Brolin as a likeable yet somewhat pushy Texan, Emily Watson, Sam Worthington, Keira Knightley and Gyllenhaal. Sure some of the mountain scenes look a bit like a set but there's also some stunning shots of the range, snow and avalanches. A scene involving a helicopter shot from the cockpit as it plummets is particularly intense. Two friends complained that the film had too many half baked characters you couldn't differentiate, even by their different colored jackets. It made me want to watch K2, the 90's rock and mountain climbing mini-epic featuring Michael Biehn and Matt Craven as best friends who join a billionaires crew heading up the second highest mountain in the world. That film benefited from focusing on two characters and their opposite attitudes but then again wasn't touted as a true story. It also made me wonder about the amount of bodies left on the mountain along with used oxygen tanks and trash.

On Sunday it was off to Century City's AMC for Sicario, the currently limited release thriller from Prisoners director Denis Villeneuve that tells the story of a female FBI agent recruited into a government task force out to shake things up with Mexican cartels. Blunt is Kate Macer and she's enlisted by the odd, funny and straight shooting Matt Graver (Josh Brolin again!) and the mysterious badass Alejandro (Benecio Del Toro) to cause a ruckus that will cause a prominent cartel leader to be called back to Mexico and hopefully unnerve the violent drug ring to the point they make a mistake. Like Everest it's a straightforward film but does a great job of revealing layers of story and character so you're always wondering where the film will go next. Like Prisoners, Villeneuve shows his skill at the slow burn thriller built on strong characters and shocking bursts of violence.

Actor turned writer Taylor Sheridan crafts a factually inspired look into the workings of vicious drug gangs and how the U.S. has to act a bit nasty to keep up and make an impact. While I enjoyed the film, I couldn't help but think Sicario was like a classier version of Sabotage, the fantastic David Ayer-Arnold Schwarzenegger flop that explored revenge, money and the Mexican cartels. Both films have a mythical drug war lead who's good in a fight, a female character who gets caught up in the intricate web of deceit and revenge while showcasing the brutal reality of today's war on drugs. While Sabotage reveled in the grimy world special operators lived in with entertaining macho-ridiculous relish, Sicario keeps things high brow, looking to shock the viewer with the facts Sabotage just accepted as part of the world. It's nice to see Del Toro regaining some of his career steam after coming down from his Oscar win with underrated under performers The Hunted and The Wolfman. As for the second dose of Brolin, he exudes a tough charm that just borders on darkness. Or basically he's taken his role as the young Tommy Lee Jones in Men In Black 3 too far and morphing into the reliable yet grumpy cinematic standby. If you can't make it out to the theater, both K2 and Sabotage are on Netflix, enjoy!

2014 Cinema Round Up

Movies cost more to make and attend than ever.  Each of the six major studios crossed the billion dollar gross line but attendance slid to 1.2 billion admissions.  That's just above 1995 numbers.  3D upcharges, reboots, remakes, sequels, everything being based on something else, the so called rise of television, video games, no one will ever know what will please audiences.  Luckily I just like movies and saw dozens of them in the theater this year.  New ones, old ones, good ones, shitty ones, seeing a movie in the theater is still the best way to experience a film in my opinion as you have nothing to do but watch the movie.  Unless you're an asshole on a phone then I'm giving you to the count of 0.  Sometimes dealing with rude patrons is enough to make you not want to check out the cinema but being in Los Angeles where movies are such a key to the infrastructure, you tend to be able to get through most flicks without telling someone to go outside and seeing if their response is going to be compliance or getting into it.  I'm fine with either one.

In no order, some of the flicks I enjoyed this year:

Sabotage: "Look at you with your fucking 48% body fat!"
Arnold in a mature, raw, ridiculous action thriller.  David Ayer's street, bro-down style makes little sense but I loved it and told Sam Worthington so in person.

Snowpiercer: "I know what people taste like. I know that babies taste best." 
Crazy, sad, visual, violent, funny. Oh them Koreans and their post apocalyptic, 99% VS the 1% on a train tales. 

Frank: "Ginger crouton!"
Not so much a movie but more a sad/funny/weird experience about fitting in and mental health.  Michael Fassbender wearing a paper mache helmet for 95% of the running time shows you what kind of actor he is.

Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: The Winter Soldier: "It's real!"
Marvel again knocks it out of the park, giving audiences fun times without really challenging the genre and treating movies like television.

The Lego Movie: "Spaceship!"
One of the few kiddie movies I saw this year but uber cute, funny with a killer cast and interesting core message of everything being awesome.

Interstellar: "You don't believe we went to the moon?"
Something to be experienced and felt, in your heart from the emotions and your chest from the big ass sound system.  It's not a documentary so don't analyze it as such.  Otherwise I can punch holes in Guardians all day but since people had fun with it they don't think to nitpick it.

The Expendables 3: "I'll open up your meat shirt and show you your own heart."
Saw this thing 3 times in as many days.  Modern, sleek and entertaining it's less serious than I and not as weird goofy as II.  Gave up hope on a "good" Expendables movie after the first one and just went for the ride.  Wondering how it's failure will effect a potential fourth chapter.

Nightcrawler: "You're a lifetime too late!" and "Twerp."
One of the surprises of the year, funny, creepy and messed up Los Angeles movie about shock media and journalism.  Jake G is slowly turning me into a fan. Bill Paxton showing up always a plus.

Birdman: "I'm gonna crab up on your ass and choke you out!"
Beautiful, bizarre, Broadway.  Michael Keaton and Edward Norton are terrific.

Fury: "Best job I ever had."
David Ayer second appearance! Violent, brutal bromance of a World War II tank flick. Brad Pitt still has it.

The Almost Pacific Rim but Not Quite Award:  Edge of Tomorrow
Tom Cruise has yet to make a bad movie and this big sci-fi, time leaping, alien invasion romp is a lot of fun if a little repetitive.  Bill Paxton again.

Whoda Thunk: Let's Be Cops
Actually quite funny buddy action comedy with consistent laughs on a low budget and expectations.  Those New Girl guys are good together.

Surprised People Liked It So Much: John Wick
The moody, violent action flick was a nice run from Keanu Reeves but I honestly can't believe people liked the hitman flick as much as they let on. 

Almost Good But Not Quite: Robocop & Godzilla
Samuel L. Jackson opened and closed the Robo remake with gusto but in between it was pretty uneven and Joel Kinnaman ain't no Peter Weller, bro.  His faux Detroit tough guy turned lobotomized cyborg did nothing for me while Godzilla was hardly in his own movie and we're left with uninteresting human characters doing uninteresting things.  Godzilla was probably the biggest let down of the year.

Just Didn't Get It:
The Raid 2 - Amazing action yet mean spirited, overlong with a simple story that doesn't justify the running time.  Cut it down from 130 to 90 minutes and I'm sure there's a classic inside.
Gone Girl - A big budget Lifetime movie where serious adult actors utter "cool girl".
Lucy- Along with 3 Days to Kill shows that Luc Besson and company have an interesting method to crafting would be action movies but become a little too abstract while not sticking to their own made up rules.
Into the Woods - Beautiful yet boring, maybe if you like musicals.

Fall Flicks: Fury

It was a guy's night out for Brad Pitt's latest, the World War II set, tank riding action-drama, Fury.  Written and Directed by future Dammaged Goods Hall of Famer David Ayer, Fury opens up deep within Nazi Germany in 1945 where a desperate Hitler has every man, woman and child fighting for their dying cause.  We meet the crew of Fury, a Sherman tank that has treaded a bloody path through Africa into Europe.  Leading the outfit is Wardaddy (Pitt), a hard ass who whips his men and kills the bad guys but suffers in solitude.  Behind him is Bible (Shia LaBeouf), bespectacled, respectable, little brother type to Wardaddy who always seems to be on the verge of tears.  Loading the cannon and fixing Fury is the scary and brutish Coon-Ass (Jon Bernthal) while been there, done that know it all Gordo (Michael Pena) drives the big rig.  When their gunner is killed in a skirmish, meek administrative typist Norman (Logan Lerman) is assigned to the crew and learns the ways and horrors of war from the experienced team and first hand.

To start, I found Fury to be terrific.  If you read this online journal regularly you know that World War II movies are among my favorites.  So one with a big budget and a talented cast and crew behind it is right up my alley.  Fury is brutal, it's intense and it's funny.  If you're familiar with any of Ayer's previous work like Harsh Times, Street Kings, End of Watch or Sabotage, you know to expect a gritty, reality based tale of (mostly) men working in violent professions and the bond between them.  While that hard edged machismo can come off near ridiculous in modern affairs, it suits Fury perfectly as Ayer doesn't glorify violence as much as show you the consequences, physically and mentally, in a time when the enemy was clear cut and soldiers were asked to execute and endure harsh realities.  Wardaddy pushes his men to stay on their toes and do their jobs, which is to kill Nazi's.  Especially crime against humanity extremist members of the Schutzstaffel or SS.  They get it first and they get it bad.

Story wise, Fury doesn't explore anything we haven't seen in World War II movies before.  War is hell, our troops were spread too thin, under trained and the finale is a few versus many.  What makes it resonate into it's own memorable feature is the camaraderie between the crew members, the depiction of brutality of what these men had to do in order to survive and ultimately win the war.  Brad Pitt is solid as Wardaddy, in a sense he's like the father of his men, riding them so they'll rise to the challenge and not get themselves or others killed.  He's also surprisingly still yoked for 50 years old as a lingering shirtless scene shows Pitt's still got it and must have his Troy workout routine written down somewhere.  LaBeouf is like the sensitive little brother and doesn't have the same kind of necessary mean streak as his comrades.  Jon Bernthal is straight up terrifying as the savage of the group and I wondered if he was going to end up squaring off with Wardaddy or turning on the team.  Ayer alum Michael Pena gets a lot of laughs as the wise ass while Lerman injects his role as the greenhorn who must adapt or die with believable nervous, boyish humanity.

All of Ayer's work focuses on the daily lives of characters who live and work in dangerous worlds.  End of Watch and Sabotage neared docudrama levels as it felt like the audience was basically along for the ride.  Fury, with it's period setting, shares the same closeness but doesn't come off quite so mechanical as just tagging along.  The action is violent with faces and limbs being blown off and people being burned alive.  There's a great fight between the Sherman and the German's faster, better armored Tiger that must be among the best depictions of close quarter tank battle ever put on the big screen.  There's a mention of tracer rounds so you can see what you're shooting at but it seemed like every shot fired in the film was traced in a green or red line, giving it a strange, laser beam like feel.

While some might find the film nihilistic, I found it to be inspiring and a reminder to the great men and women who gave up their daily lives and were transported halfway around the world to fight, suffer and die for the greater good.  Ayer continues to be one of my favorite directors working today with his unrelenting, raw and realistic approach to familiar genres where punches aren't pulled and an R rating is guaranteed.

(Still) Cinema Swole: Arnold Schwarzenegger

Remember that time I said Arnold was looking surprisingly swole at Cannes in May riding a tank to promote The Expendables 3?  Well the King of Kings has kept up his training regimen because he's looking more and more jacked.  Recent snaps show him traveling the world and hitting the weights at Muscle Beach in Venice, California as well as staving off jet lag in India by getting a pump.  At a car show of some sort, a beefy and vascular Arnie checked out sports cars with son Patrick and Taylor Lautner (?!), I'm guessing they're buddies from Grown Ups 2...With a short haircut and blondish locks, Arnold looked like Dutch 2.0, his character from 1987's Predator.  Although I feel like that character should probably be a bit of a crumpled, shell of his former self in the developing Shane Black driven sequel, after losing his entire unit and brothers in arms (literally and figuratively, Jesse Ventura, Sonny Landham and Carl Weathers all sport some strong pipes in arguably the most macho film of all time).

While Arnold's recent cinematic conquests Sabotage and EX3 have been met with disappointing and plain embarrassing results, the flicks were enjoyable and the former Governor is still busier than ever.  Whether it's finishing up shooting on the latest Terminator installment, traveling to Sacramento to catch up with Governor Jerry Brown and be on hand for his portrait unveiling, to his Symposium for State and Global Policy holding a Climate Change Summit to visiting Bakersfield to check out a fuel additive that reduces emissions, The Oak, like his trademark T-800 persona, just won't stop.

Van Dammage: Arnold Belt

"He makes sense when he talks.  He doesn't talk with complicated words, he's direct.  You look into his eyes, they are good.  He will never try to hurt you or take advantage of you.  He's too busy and too rich, he has his own focus, his own mission.  He's not looking at how your arms are so big and the way you dress.  He's above all that.  I like him a lot."

Jean-Claude Van Damme on Arnold Schwarzenegger

When Jean-Claude Van Damme's movie career first started picking up steam, he was immediately compared to the established Austrian Oak.  It was easy to see why of course as Arnold was king of the action film along with Sylvester Stallone.  But with a European heritage and background in bodybuilding, surface comparisons were easy to make between The Muscles From Brussels and The Schwarz.  I'm not sure if the two interacted much on the 1986 Mexico set of Predator when JCVD was playing the original creature before dropping out.  Jesse Ventura gives Van Damme a shout out in one of his books, saying he was impressed with the young martial artist and thought he had a promising career ahead.  After JC left Predator and the suit was redesigned, the two would meet again on the set of Red Heat where Van Damme was unknowingly sitting in star Schwarzenegger's chair.  Cut to the Hoover Dam location of Universal Soldier in 1991 where by now Van Damme was a million dollar leading man opposite Dolph Lundgren in his first big budget studio effort and Arnie showed up with former bodybuilding champion/best friend Franco Columbu to wish co-star Ralf Moeller a happy birthday.  Apple juice and cigars flowing, the duo continued to build their rapport and when producers of Arnold's big budget summer release The Last Action Hero were looking for stars to cameo, Jean-Claude Van Damme answered the call and received a quick, speaking part while Chevy Chase, Damon Wayons, Sharon Stone and Robert Patrick among others were silently seen.

While the two stars might share vague similarities in the sense they're both European white guys who lift weights and do action movies, the likenesses more or less stop there.  Van Damme was always flattered to receive the comparison but knew he was his own man with his own plan.  Besides, it's better to be compared to a king than a pauper, right?  Whereas Arnold broke into the mainstream with his mix of hyper masculine physique, looming presence and boisterous sense of humor, Van Damme always played it a bit quieter and a bit more sensitive.  Arnold's first signature roles showcased him as unstoppable barbarians and cybernetic killing machines in Conan and The Terminator while Van Damme burst into the scene playing a mentor honoring karate fighter and revenge seeking kickboxer in Bloodsport and well, Kickboxer.  As Arnold was usually meting out violence with a sword or sub-machine gun in hand, JCVD was busy kicking people in the face and doing the splits.  Whereas Arnold had a square, muscular jaw and a physique that was difficult to hide, Van Damme's smaller stature and baby face made him less menacing and more apt to aspire to be a romantic, dramatic and comedic leading man.  As Van Damme's profile grew, his films became more action oriented than martial arts driven and put him into the same cinematic turf as Arnold and Sly.  While we never saw Van Damme mow down a field of baddies with a machine gun or win a war, hybrid action/martial arts flicks like Timecop, Hard Target and the pure action, Die Hard style Sudden Death attempted to bring him into the full mainstream to unfortunate diminishing results.  As the era of the 80's and 90's action movie came to a close, Arnold was the last man standing who never went Direct to Video and after a few under performers, left the business on a high note with Terminator 3's $433 million dollar worldwide gross.

Today, Arnold's return to film has produced solid flicks like The Last Stand, The Tomb and Sabotage but he's only struck box office gold in small cameos in The Expendables franchise.  Since his last starring role wide release in 1999's Universal Soldier: The Return, Van Damme has kept his filmic output to a minimum compared to DTV factory Steven Seagal and for the most part has challenged himself as an actor in dark and serious efforts like In Hell, Wake of Death and Until Death before playing himself in 2008's meta-mockumentary breakthrough JCVD which earned the Belgian his highest praise to date.  Subsequent branching out included a voiceover role in Kung Fu Panda 2, a return to the big screen as the villain in The Expendables 2, playing dumb in ensemble comedy Welcome to the Jungle and finishing up his directorial effort Full Love/Soldiers/The Eagle Path.

I like Conan:

Oak and Biehn: Birthday Bros

"Come with me if you want to live."  "I didn't build the fucking thing!"  "Fuck you, asshole." 

"I'll be back."  "I came across time for you."  "Wrong."  "Nice night for a walk."

Sorry, was just thinking of some lines that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Michael Biehn have in The Terminator...  (clears throat) Today marks the 67th birthday of one Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger while his co-star and James Cameron cohort Michael Connell Biehn celebrates turning 57 tomorrow.  The perfect yet opposite duo of all things kick ass, 80's and 90's style, The Oak and The Biehn are both busier than ever 30 years after the release of the seminal film which will celebrate it's own "birthday" in October.  Of course, The Terminator helped Arnold transition from the bodybuilding meathead and stoic Conan to more modern and mainstream roles in hits like Predator, Twins, Total Recall and his greatest box office success, Terminator 2: Judgment Day.  If being the world's biggest movie star, a successful businessman and all around king of kings wasn't enough, Arnie went and got himself into politics starting in 1990.  Appointed Chairmen of the President's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, Arnold crossed the country on his own dime lobbying all 50 governors to promote kids getting off their asses after school.  Then in 2003, The Schwarz won a Recall Election for the Governorship of California by a landslide, garnering 48% of the vote and serving until 2009. 

Arnold's return to Hollywood has yielded buzz worthy appearances in friend Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables trilogy while excellent headlining efforts The Last Stand and Sabotage were largely ignored by moviegoers.  But like the robotic Frankenstein style monster that is shot, beat and blown up yet keeps coming back that he played in the first film, The Terminator franchise refuses to die.  Since 1984 audiences have been given 3 live action sequels, a television show, comic books, video games, toys and much more.  In 2015, The Terminator will be back...again...with a big budget sequel/reboot/standalone flick helmed by Game of Thrones and Thor: The Dark World's Alan Taylor featuring Arnold as an aging T-800 along with original hero Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney), heroine Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and their progeny John Connor (Jason Clarke).  Story details are under wraps but it looks like adult aged versions of Reese, Sarah and John will be hopping in and out of the Terminator timeline we saw from the first films. 

Equally important and arguably the real star of The Terminator, Michael Biehn has carved out a solid niche for himself as a versatile performer, low-watt leading man and the ultimate example of a physical yet vulnerable cinematic hero.  Starting with the first of four collaborations with James Cameron, The Terminator took former model and movie heavy/stalker Biehn into new territory as the mysterious hero and father of the future Kyle Reese, a hardened yet sensitive soldier sent on a suicide mission to save humanity.  Outspokenly as not the hero type, Biehn's convincing and inspiring performance as Reese has led to many a soldier/cop/secret agent type role and the only actor to ever play a Navy SEAL in 3 different films resulting in the Navy deeming him an honorary Frogman.  His quiet intensity and physical prowess have been put to excellent use in titles like Aliens, The Abyss, Navy Seals, Timebomb, K2, Tombstone, The Rock, The Magnificent Seven and Grindhouse: Planet Terror where his cool guy attitude and heroic good looks make you wish he was in a lot more movies.  Director Robert Rodriguez purposely gave Biehn's Sheriff Hague a hero shot introduction in Planet Terror, knowing that genre fans would eat it up and easily establish the badass-ness of the local law enforcement.  In 1987, video game giant Konami based the box art for Metal Gear's Solid Snake on Biehn while 2013's Far Cry 3 expansion pack Blood Dragon features the actor as uber 80's and 90's style hero Sergeant Rex "Power" Colt, a shit talking, wise cracking, girl getting, bad guy killing world savior that was released to widespread acclaim and over 1 million digital sales.

Lately, Biehn and wife Jennifer Blanc have seized control of their destinies and opened their own production company, churning out low budget genre flicks that give actors and directors a stake in the film to insure best efforts.  2011's The Victim sold to Anchor Bay and the Biehn's toured the globe for screenings and meeting the fans.  With 2 more films in the can and at least half a dozen more in various stages of production, Blancbiehn recently acquired office space to centralize their efforts and ensure much more Biehn screen for years to come.

Happy birthday, gents.  Now get back to work and give me more movies to watch!

Hey Arnold: Body Fat Guys & Sabotage Blu-Ray

*HARSH YET HILARIOUS LANGUAGE AHEAD*

"Don't fucking scream at me!  You dumb fuck, you.  Look at you, with your fucking 48% body fat!  And you, scrawny little bastard.  Fuck you guys!"
     - Arnold Schwarzenegger as John "Breacher" Wharton in Sabotage

Oh man Sabotage hits digital download this week and disk on the 22nd of July.  Dammaged Goods brought in July 4th in true Dammaged Goods style and sat down to view the flick on home video after seeing it twice in theaters on two consecutive nights with different factions of friends.  While the story was a bit confusing upon the first viewing, I think I got it the 2nd time around and definitely the 3rd, maybe...Basically Arnold is a drug war god for the DEA who has found and brought down the man(s) who couldn't be found or brought down.  When his team starts to get killed off after skimming $10 million from a cartel bust, Breacher and local Atlanta detective Caroline investigate who is coming after his guys and gal.  Bro-down, talking all raw, gunfights, betrayals, head shots, Chevy cars and trucks, Oakley visors, McClure's Whiskey and vehicular mayhem on the streets of Atlanta ensues.  The flick looks great on the small screen with the high definition, hand held style very smooth if not epically cinematic as we're more or less a fly on the wall following these characters.  The gunshots are super loud and it's a fun yet brutal flick that has a solid performance from Arnold in a role that uses his baggage as an actor and icon to push him in a more serious direction versus the simple, crowd pleasing, muscle flexing, machine gun toting, one liner tossing caricature we knew and loved from the 80's.  Headlining a terrific cast that includes Sam Worthington, Joe Manganiello, Olivia Williams, Terrence Howard, Josh Holloway, Max Martini, Mirelle Enos and Harold Perrineau, Arnold continues to show us his business and career intelligence by aligning himself with talented cast and crew.

Ably directed by Harsh Times, Training Day and End of Watch's David Ayer, Sabotage packs the same gritty yet bro-funny feeling of the above titles and paints a slice of life insight into the dark dealings and thin line our protectors and criminals tread.  Co-written by blunt action guy Skip Woods of Wolverine: Origins, A Good Day to Die Hard and The A-Team fame, Sabotage seems like a simple story but feels a little too complicated for it's own good as I still couldn't tell you EXACTLY who kills who or is responsible for what.  In the end it's a very enjoyable flick with a nice mix of action, thrills, laughs and mystery.  I'm sure Sabotage will find it's audience on home video after being sadly left high and dry at the box office.  Like the under performing Harsh Times, people are just missing out.

The Blu-Ray comes with some decent special features like deleted scenes, 2 alternate endings and a short making of.  *SPOILERS*  Deleted scenes give us a subplot of Atlanta PD working a missing child case that Breacher helps crack, the aftermath of Caroline and Breacher's one night stand complete with Arnold side butt shot, quick glimpses of Sugar (Terrence Howard) and Lizzie (Mirelle Enos) partaking in some debauchery, etc.  None of the scenes are overly interesting and if included, would have made the film even darker and made you feel grimier.  Alternate endings really turn Arnold evil with a surprisingly brutal fight scene between Breacher and Caroline then Breacher shooting it out with local cops to escape.  *END SPOILERS*  The under 10-minute making of is packed with info as we learn Arnold wanted to work with Ayer after seeing End of Watch 4 times.  Ayer wanted to make Arnold a complex character and step away from the heroic roles audiences knew him for and do something different.  The Oak liked the fact that it was an ensemble piece and not just an action picture.  Given Ayer's military background, all on screen tactics and maneuvers were by the book with the actors participating in two months of training that taught them law enforcement basics as well as bonding them.  I think the flick could have used a commentary from Woods, Ayer and some of the cast but ah well.  I'm definitely happy to have the flick as is.

Grudgement Day: Beastie Boys and Jack White

*WARNING: Grudgement style language ahead*

"Jack White has just done a song for Coca-Cola. End of. He ceases to be in the club. And he looks like Zorro on doughnuts. He's supposed to be the poster boy for the alternative way of thinking… I'm not having that, that's fucking wrong. Particularly Coca-Cola, it's like doing a fucking gig for McDonald's." - Noel Gallagher

Oh sup man?  You want to talk some shit?!  It's a musical guest week here at Grudgement Day, my personal vendetta against all things I find BS.  Apparently, Jack White of The White Stripes did an interview with Rolling Stone recently where his comments about The Black Keys, Adele, Lana Del Rey, Amy Winehouse and his own former wife and bandmate Meg White were heralded as insults.  Shortly after, White offered a massive apology to all involved.  It's not the first time White has lost his temper and then come crawling back like a puppy asking for forgiveness.  There was the celebrity filled audience he called "hip mother fuckers" and chastised for not "rocking out" before apologizing at the end of the night.  Then there was his take on the superficiality of Lady Gaga's music which he quickly explained was not an insult.  Do you see a pattern forming here?  I'm not much of a White Stripes fan but a little research tells me they were formed in 1997, released their first album in 1999 and after 6 albums, broke up in 2011.  So let me get this straight, a guy who has been living the dream for over 20 years, made millions, has a fanbase and is world famous is apologizing for his opinion on other artists?  What a bitch ass.  Say what you feel and feel what you say, Jack!  Aren't you a little too old and too rich to care?

This is just another reason why Noel and Liam Gallagher are awesome.  Even in their early days, OASIS proclaimed to the biggest and the best band in the world.  This instantly made them targets to naysayers and Don'ters but hey, they're in the Guinness Book of World Records as the UK's Most Successful Band for a 10 year span.  Anytime a journalist asked them an honest or insult baiting question, the brothers Gallagher responded truthfully, not to come off as insulting but let's face it, nobody in the world likes everything or everybody so why act like it?  Remember that time Noel's comments about Jay-Z playing Glastonbury were taken out of context and all of a sudden he was a racist, out of touch, old man?  And did he apologize?  Hell no!  When asked, he simply reminded lazy journalists to refer to verbatim quotes where not a single derogatory thing was said about Jay-Z and it all went away and he's still a top selling artist.  Ska-doosh!  #NoGrandmaMode

A couple days ago, a blurb about The Beastie Boys and Arnold Schwarzenegger caught my eye.  According to them, the marketing team of Arnold's Sabotage approached them with a lucrative offer to use their song of the same name in the movie's promotional efforts on TV in trailers, etc.  The Boys turned down the offer, citing deceased member Adam Yauch's request that their music never been used in commercials or ad campaigns.  Pretty highfalutin ideals coming from a trio of dudes whose music about partying, girls and brass monkeys have become anthems for white, suburban frat boys around the country.  But it's fair, you don't want to turn into Coldplay or The Black Keys and have your shit blasted over everything from Network spots, NASCAR advertisements, and commercials for cars, computers, underwear and clothes to whatever else the fuck marketing low foreheads use trendy music for.  But then they had to throw in a line about not being fans of Schwarzenegger's recent work.  The Boys went on to state they can't make new music or tour or make money.  So you won't sell yourself out or pursue new ventures but then you complain about not being able to make money. Sounds like self induced starving artist shit to me.  Ironically, Sabotage is the only song of theirs I like, remember the music video?

Smooches.

Hey Arnold: Winning Team

"I knew I was a winner back in the late sixties.  I knew I was destined for great things.  People will say that kind of thinking is totally immodest.  I agree.  Modesty is not a word that applies to me in any way.  I hope it never will."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold's "can do" attitude and never say "can't" vocabulary has taken him to the heights of fame, fortune and notoriety.  While he's one of history's biggest movie stars and most familiar faces on the globe, his post Governor headlining movie roles have yet to yield a hit.  Latest offering Sabotage has limped it's way to a $10 million dollar gross which then caused financier QED International to layoff some of it's staff.  Sadly, Sabotage's disappointing performance shows that the world just isn't in a rush to see Arnold in a movie theater.  His career will receive a nice boost with this summer's sure to be worldwide hit The Expendables III while a Terminator reboot/sequel is in the works and is more or less a guaranteed healthy investment.  On the leading man front, the failure of Sabotage doesn't bode well for a return to Conan or the oft mentioned Triplets, the sequel to 1988's hit comedy Twins that featured Arnold and Danny DeVito.  For part II, Arnold has met with 80's funny man Eddie Murphy to become their long lost brother.  Your guess is as good as mine on how they'll explain that.  But hey, Twins is hilarious and Eddie Murphy still has it so I'm in.

Respect:

Ask Me A Question: Joe

This past weekend, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica hosted a three night tribute to one Nicolas Coppola aka Nicolas Cage, the eccentric dramatic and comedic Academy Award winning actor turned tentpole action movie star turned What Not To Do With Millions of Dollars example turned internet meme sensation.  Bad Lieutenant and Adaptation were the weekend's first programs with Cage and director Werner Herzog appearing after the former. Tonight was a preview of Joe, a Southern Gothic Western or whatever they're calling these, from director David Gordon Green based on a novel by Larry Brown and adapted by Gary Hawkins.  Cage plays Joe, a former convict trying to keep a low profile in rural Texas who runs a tree poisoning business for a lumber company.  One day, 15 year old Gary (Tye Sheridan) approaches Joe and asks for a job.  Gary is hard working and trying to provide for his burnt out mother and mute sister because his father is a drunk, abusive loser.  Both Joe and Gary have run afoul of crazed local loudmouth Willie (Ronnie Blevins) and after some gritty coming of age, whiskey and Coke, dog fighting, whore housing, cop fighting and GMC truck fueled shenanigans, Joe must decide if he's going to give up his relatively peaceful existence or risk it all to help Gary.

I was only familiar with director Green's work on comedic fare like Eastbound and Down, Pineapple Express and The Sitter.  But his resume includes many low budget thrillers which Joe is more akin.  While it's a slow paced serious drama, there's also room for many laughs to keep you from feeling pummeled by the country ass, redneck, sad vagrant setting and characters.  Cage's Joe is a guy just trying to get by but hates when people try to tell him what to do, especially cops, which of course gets him into trouble.  His performance is excellent as he plays strong and stoic just as well as he does nurturing with his trademark zaniness mixed in.  Tye Sheridan also acquits himself nicely as the uneducated but motivated Gary trying to protect his family.  Non-actor Gary Poulter is fantastic as Gary's pitiful piece of shit dad Wade aka G-Daawg.  Hopefully this marks a new era for Cage following his financial woes and he can remind the public of what a talented actor he is.  I always thought his performance in Face/Off was overlooked in 1997.  Sure the movie was a big hit but go back and watch Cage's bi-polar turn as a crazy, globe trotting terrorist and as a sensitive, brooding father.  He excels as both.

After the film, director Green and Cage took to the stage for a Q & A session moderated by former Maxim and current Deadline.com reporter/critic Peter Hammond.

Origins:  The novel was written by one of Green's former college professors.  Green sent the script along with a letter to Cage who loved it and came on board.

Performances:  Cage didn't mention his outright troubles of the last few years but said he had reached a point where he had gone through a western kabuki, baroque, Andy Warhol style of acting and wanted to start fresh with an honest performance with no baggage.  He doesn't believe in over the top, you tell him what the top is and he'll tell you where he is.

Cage was all you'd expect him to be:  thoughtful, funny, articulate, intense, weirdcool, etc.  Watching him even when he wasn't speaking was interesting.  You could tell things were running full speed in his brain and when he spoke, it was like the flood gates opened.

Actors:  Green filled the film with many non-actors.  Poulter was found at a bus stop on his way back to Texas after a stint in a traveling circus.  One guy owned a local BBQ joint in Austin, another was Green's neighbor who plain "talked cool" while many others were found at the local Day Labor office.

Setting:  Green is from the south and loves all the bullshitters and storytellers therein.

Fame:  Cage feels imitation is the highest form of flattery but laments that movie stars are people who make mistakes too and that Brando and Bogart didn't have to worry about someone in a coffee shop videotaping them making a mistake that then becomes world news.  He gave a very honest and interesting answer to the question and then referenced the YouTube videos of him going crazy and reciting the A-B-C's, which I had been talking about all week.

Of course more was talked about but hey, get yourself a membership to the American Cinematheque or live in Los Angeles.

Then, as an added bonus, we spotted Avatar and Sabotage's Sam Worthington with some suit clad agent types exiting the theater.  I quickly told him I had seen Sabotage twice that week and it was awesome as we shook hands.  He was chill and very svelte.

So there you have it, an overall great night and perfect ending to my 6 movie week.  High phalanges to Lionsgate, The Aero, Gordon and Cage.

Here's the duo making the festival circuit:

(Pre) Summer Cinema: Expendables III

If Arnold in Sabotage wasn't enough machismo for the week, Lionsgate is kicking down the door and driving up our T (testosterone, keep up), 90's style in preparation for this summer's Expendables III.  First they released 16 character posters showing off the new and old cast featuring Stallone, Statham, Li, etc plus new faces Rhonda Rousey, Kellan Lutz and Kelsey Grammer?  Along with fellow 90's juggernauts Harrison Ford and Mel Gibson.  Today, another teaser trailer touting the huge throwback cast hit the internets promising "one last ride" while totally aping the Fast and Furious font.

In this installment, Stallone's Expendables get into trouble with former colleague Conrad Stonebanks (a swole Mel Gibson) and enlist the help of a young group of mercenaries led by Hercules himself, Kellan Lutz.  From the early footage, director Patrick Hughes seems to be headed in the right direction as EX3 looks slick and exciting with a few huge explosions and violent set pieces waiting I'm sure.  Expendables II introduced an odd credit scheme as Jean-Claude Van Damme received an Also tag before With Willis And Schwarzenegger.  This time around, we get With Gibson, With Ford And Schwarzenegger.

See ya at the Comic-Con panel!

Vernal Viewing: Sabotage

I've been looking forward to Sabotage for quite some time.  Writer/Director David Ayer has had a hand in some great flicks from Training Day to fucking classic Harsh Times to enjoyable cop thriller Street Kings to the surprisingly solid End of Watch.  He takes a reality based approach to the seemingly tired genres of cops and soldiers but delves into the nitty gritty of the highly trained, under cover agents that operate in the shadows of society's shitholes.  So when I heard Ayer was doing a movie with Arnold, I knew it would be something different that wouldn't try to recapture The King of Kings' former glory and would move him into a new direction. 

Sabotage follows John "Breacher" Warden (Ah-nuld), a living legend in the DEA's under cover unit who has taken down a top cartel leader but lost his family in a retaliatory kidnapping and double murder.  Now, Breacher is obsessed with taking down the bad guys and finding the man who killed his wife and son.  The movie starts with his team taking down a safe house with $200 million in cash sitting in the basement.  Breacher's team hides $10 million and blows up the rest but when they go to retrieve it, the money is gone and soon they are all under investigation by the DEA.  After being cleared of the charges, Breacher's team begins getting killed off one by one in extremely gruesome manners, attracting local Homicide detectives.  After that, it's a slow burn mystery thriller with bits of debauchery and tactical military style action placed throughout.

Hands down, this has to be Arnold's darkest, craziest, bloodiest, funniest, macho-ist, raunchiest, filthiest, bro-down of his career.  His turn as Breacher is more realistic than anything he's done in years, maybe ever.  As a highly trained, motivated leader and operator; Arnold's trademark physicality, sense of humor (an interrogation scene and a remark about 48% body fat had us laughing for 5 minutes) and penchant for cigars makes him badass with a touch of menace instead of a cartoon character.  The supporting cast is superb as well as you get a nearly unrecognizable Sam Worthington (Avatar) as Arnold's 2nd in command Monster, TV star and all of a sudden Arnold BFF Joe Manganiello's Grinder shows off his impressive size and gets one of the best/worst lines in the movie, Josh Holloway from TV's bullshit Lost puts in a funny/wise ass performance as Neck, Pacific Rim's Max Martini shows up as trouble maker Pyro, Terrence Howard plays smooth devil's advocate Sugar, World War Z's Mireille Enos convincingly plays an action and controlled substance junkie while real life military advisor Kevin Vance gives some honest credibility as Tripod.

Co-written by Skip Woods (A Good Day to Die Hard), Sabotage plays like an amplified version of Ayer's directorial debut, Harsh Times, where Christian Bale and Freddy Rodriguez basically drive around Los Angeles drinking and getting into trouble.  That "up to no good" vibe is cranked up here and every character is raw, every other word of dialog is "fuck" and there's booze, tits and guns galore.  Once Breacher's team starts getting killed off, the mystery is well done but when everything is revealed and we head into the final act, the movie can't top itself and seems to shift down gears.  Parts of the flick confused me, such as the inciting incident where Breacher's team steals the money then blows up the rest.  His superiors have a rough idea of how much was there from a parallel FBI investigation but if some of it burned up, how would they know what was missing?  And is the cartel upset that they blew up the money or that they might have stolen some?  Or both?


Sabotage comes on the heels of Arnold's comeback starring vehicle The Last Stand bombing at the box office then his team up with Stallone, Escape Plan, which did peanuts in America but cleaned up overseas.  Opening up this past weekend in a crowded market against Darren Aronofsky's Russell Crowe starrer Noah, defending YA champ Divergent and faith based God's Not Dead, Sabotage opened at # 7 with a pitiful $5.3 million take.  That makes it Arnold's worst opening since the early 80's behind titles like Raw Deal and Red Sonja.  Open Road Films, a relatively new distributer owned by AMC, has had trouble marketing their films in the past as The Killer Elite, The Grey and Sabotage are not your typical slam-bang action picture but instead are actually dramatic thrillers with action.  Props to them for trying to sell the movie on Ayer's past credits and the supporting cast but it just wasn't enough.  Arnold seemed to be everywhere to promote the film and while his internet videos rack up millions of views, that exposure isn't driving patrons to the theater, sadly.  A friend didn't want to see the movie after hearing it tanked but I told him to stop being a mainstream sheep of the masses.  He ended up joining us and having a blast while learning new life skills.

Listen all y'all its a Slap da Chop!