action movies

Review: Avatar

By Allen Holt ⋅ July 7, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a ginormous corporation wants to strip a lush, beautiful (but primitive) environment of all of its natural resources, and the people who live there are none too happy about it. Or this one: a military man finds himself spending time with a beautiful (but primitive) civilization, falls in love with a woman from said civilization and eventually chooses to side with them against his own people. Add those two stories together and stir in quarter of a billion dollars of groundbreaking special effects, and you’ve got James Cameron’s AVATAR.

Review: District 9

By Allen Holt ⋅ June 6, 2010 ⋅ 2 comments

Twenty-some-odd years ago, an alien spaceship parked itself over Johannesburg, South Africa, presumably because the alien intelligence knew that was the single best place to go if it wanted to make itself into a heavy-handed metaphor for apartheid.

Review: Hancock

By Allen Holt ⋅ September 3, 2009 ⋅ One comment

Dear Will Smith: You’re a naturally likable guy. That’s why you’re one of the biggest movie stars in the world — because people like you. So why in the world would you want to appear in a movie in which you’re so not likable — especially in a disaster like HANCOCK?

Trailer Park: New Inglourious Basterds Trailer

By Allen Holt ⋅ June 25, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

The second full trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s INGLORIOUS BASTERDS is out, and for those of you who remember my iffiness on the movie based on the extraordinarly levels of violence implied in the first trailer…well, this second full-length trailer looks much more like the kind of Tarantino movie I’d like to see.

LINK: New Sherlock Holmes Posters

By Allen Holt ⋅ June 19, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Empire Magazine has new one-sheets for the upcoming Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.

Trailer Park: 2012

By Allen Holt ⋅ June 18, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Roland Emmerich, director of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow,won’t rest until he’s virtually destroyed every significant landmark on Earth.

Trailer Park: Sherlock Holmes

By Allen Holt ⋅ May 22, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

And now, presenting the trailer for one of my most heavily-anticipated movies of this winter: Sherlock Holmes. Starring Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes, Jude Law as Watson, and Rachel McAdams as…er, some scantily-clad woman. And directed by Guy Ritchie, who’s way overdue for making a good movie again. Cannot wait for this one. Enjoy! ETA: [...]

Review: Star Trek

By Allen Holt ⋅ May 11, 2009 ⋅ Post a comment

Now this is what I want out of a summer blockbuster. Star Trek delivered all of the action, all of the spectacle, all of the emotion, all of the characterization I could have asked for and then some. [1] I found myself immersed in the world, in the stunning visual design and the engaging characters, [...]

Review: War of the Worlds

By Allen Holt ⋅ December 26, 2005 ⋅ Post a comment

One of the things I most admire about Steven Spielberg is his ability–and his willingness–to balance his desire to make his deepely personal Films with his desire to make big-budget crowd-pleasing popcorn-chomping Flicks. He’s equally adept at making both kinds of movies and has created classic examples of each, though I have to admit I [...]

Review: Serenity

By Allen Holt ⋅ May 29, 2005 ⋅ 6 comments

I found myself experiencing the same problem trying to decide on an approach for this review that I’d imagine the creators of Serenity faced: how to gear the movie/review so that it pleases both the rabid fanbase of the “Firefly” TV series from which the movie spawned and people who’ve never seen the show. It’s [...]