tháng 6 2011 ~ The Larsen Film Review

Paul (2011)

The comedy team responsible for films like Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead are back with this alien comedy. Starring and written by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost with voice work for Paul thanks to Seth Rogen. With supporting characters played by Kristen Wiig [from Saturday Night...

It is not often that you encounter action films that break the 2 1/2 hour barrier. Most of the time you would expect such a film to be boring and drag on, but this film managed to maintain its intensity from the first flames out breaking to the closing scenes. Starring an impressive...

This film is a good example of watching something because of the director and not the main actor. Edgar Wright who is responsible for films such as Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz made this "video game" movie starring Michael Cera, an actor I'm hesitant to give a chance. Thanks...

James Coburn stars in this 1960's James Bond spoof film that later became a series with In Like Flint and a TV movie a decade later. Coburn passes away back in 2002 a year after doing voice work on Monsters, Inc. He won an Oscar in 1997 for Affliction, and although I can't...

Not to be confused with the American "sequel" The Legend of Drunken Master. This original Jackie Chan Hong Kong film came out 16 years before the sequel. Let's start by saying that the American version I gave a 7/10 and this one not good at all. Yet again an Action 101 film...

A character than has been portrayed in over 60 films or television series now, how on earth do you single out the best? How about the one nominated for an Oscar, in the National Film Registry, and starring Tyrone Power. A classic film, in color, that focuses on the story and...

Remember when Eddie Murphy was a good actor? Nope. Me neither. That is because I wasn't alive when this came out and just a toddler when the rest of his good movies came out [Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, Coming to America]. If you can't stand Murphy you can thank this...

Director George Nolfi and Matt Damon are paired up once again on a action film that bleeds over into fantasy. One of the more popular movies of the first half of the year with just lukewarm reviews. A nice break for me from the action 101 book. The film starts with Matt Damon...

I just saw the remake back in January [here] with Denzel Washington and John Travolta. The original, which is in the action 101 book recently came out with a blu-ray release which I enjoyed on the big screen at home. Walter Matthau plays the same character as Washington, and...

A lesser known Sean Connery film made the same year he returned to the Bond series with Diamonds Are Forever. Part of the Action 101 book and with pros and cons that I will get to. Connery plays Duke Anderson, a thief, who is finishing a 10 year prison sentence and wastes no...

Just like Cannonball! which was hard to find, I actually had to purchase a "rental" on itunes to find this one. A new method for me to watch films, but easy and inexpensive so I liked how it worked. The film stars Jim Brown, a fullback from the Cleveland Browns NFL team that...

I've found that when the library, netflix, and friends do not have old movies there is probably a reason. This film, which is kind of the middle film between Death Race 2000 and The Cannonball Run was incredibly difficult to find. Using the same director and star as Death Race...

I've struggled with finding something to say about this film for over a week now. A film like this typically gives me writers block because I really have nothing important to say. Sadly. This Shaw Brothers film which was selected to the 101 Action films book was just a typical...

My first non-documentary 10/10 for the year comes from the second Tom Clancy book about Jack Ryan starring Harrison Ford. Why was this better than Patriot Games 9/10? Because there wasn't an incredibly fake boat chase scene. Jack Ryan is back, this time he has to clean up a...

Let me start by saying that I can see how some people would like this film and how a 30 or 40 something would put it on their top action movie list. Second this is not what I expected at all from George A. Romero or the movie poster. I thought this was going to be like Army...

For me this was one the most anticipated films of the first half of the year. This year has left a lot to be desired as zero movies have cracked the imdb top 250 in the first 5 months [X-Men: First Class is in the 230's right now from a June release]. So this action flick that...

This is the first Shaw Brothers Studio Production for me, probably one of the most famous Hong Kong production studios. Directed by Cheh Chang who has about 100 films to his name, this is easily the one to watch from both this accomplished director and studio. The story is...

On vacation visiting family we decided to take a break from action movie month with this George Hamilton comedy. Hamilton who was in a number of films in the 1960's and 1970's started making his transition to television in the 1980's with the exception of a few spoof films: Love...

It is amazing that Jackie Chan isn't crippled, I can't think of any actor who performs more of his own stunts with this high of a difficulty level since the silent era. In this film alone he dislocated his pelvis, was taken to the hospital after breaking through stunt glass,...

James Caan stars as Jonathan, the superstar of Rollerball, the only futuristic sport the corporation allows. This film is barely an action film at all. More drama and science fiction than anything, the plot really centers around a futuristic world were corporations have taken...

Anne Parillaud plays Nikita in this French film that introduced the world to Luc Besson's writing and directing, and eventually lead to an American TV series that made a 5 season run. The movie starts with Nikita, drugged up and following a gang around. They decide to rob one...

The release date of this film is a little muddied to me. By imdb accounts this is a 1982 film, and the first Jet Li feature film. Produced in Hong Kong, and one of the most widely successful films in China. The plot goes like this: Chien Yuan [Li] and his father fight for their...

As the dvd tagline goes, before there was Jackie Brown there was Foxy Brown. Pam Grier stars in this blaxploitation film as the sexy Foxy Brown. 23 years later Quentin Tarantino starred Grier as Jackie Brown, his homage to blaxploitation films. The plot is... interesting......

This Hong Kong film became popular in the United States when its funding was lead by Quentin Tarantino. Yet another Action 101 film, sadly I could only get the dubbed version. Rongguang Yu [The Karate Kid] and Donnie Yen [Ip Man] star in an Asian version of Robin Hood [as imdb...

I'm a little hesitant to get behind another foreign action film given my recent track record. Schneider can't make a book that isn't 1/3 world cinema [even if English equivalent's are much better], so I was skeptical of this from the start. I was more than pleasantly surprised....

This is the most perplexing inclusion on the Action 101 list for me. Directed by Johnnie To, nothing of which is familiar to me, and starring a trio of famous Hong Kong ladies. Michelle Yeoh [Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon], Anita Mui [The Legend of Drunken Master, Rumble in...

Of all the action movies I had lined up, I probably made fun of this one the most. Ironically it wasn't all that bad. Steven Seagal and his "no one can hit me in the face on film because that isn't realistic," attitude crack me up. This is easily his most popular film followed...

I hate to say it, but I was greatly disappointed by this 70s action film that spawned so many films. Credited by some as the source of the joke of running people over for points. This film is a futuristic fantasy film were sports have been reduced to a cross country car race. Directed...

Ryan O'Neal and Bruce Dern star in one of the most simplistic film I have seen. It is said that O'Neal says less than 350 words during the entire film, and the characters have no names, just "The Driver" and "The Detective." This action film is all about the getaway driver....

John Carpenter is probably best known for his Halloween series, a franchise that got its birth two years after this film. Before he started making horror movies he bounced around in sci-fi and action. This action film is just as much action/suspense as it is horror. The premise...

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Paul (2011)

The Towering Inferno (1974)

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)

Our Man Flint (1966)

Drunken Master: Jui kuen (1978)

The Mark of Zorro (1940)

48 Hrs. (1982)

The Adjustment Bureau (2011)

The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974)

The Anderson Tapes (1971)

Slaughter (1972)

Cannonball! (1976)

Five Fingers of Death: Tian xia di yi quan (1972)

Clear and Present Danger (1994)

Knightriders (1981)

Unknown (2011)

Five Deadly Venoms: Wu du (1978)

Zorro, the Gay Blade (1981)

Police Story: Ging chat goo si (1985)

Rollerball (1975)

La Femme Nikita: Nikita (1990)

The Shaolin Temple: Shaolin Si (1982)

Foxy Brown (1974)

Iron Monkey: Siu nin Wong Fei Hung ji (1993)

District B13: Banlieue 13 (2004)

The Heroic Trio: Dung fong saam hap (1993)

Under Siege (1992)

Death Race 2000 (1975)

The Driver (1978)

Assault on Precinct 13 (1976)

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