Point Break (1991)

If you could make a new tagline for the film it would be: "Tank Girl trains Neo to surf." Back when Keanu Reeves really couldn't act all that well, this action film about an FBI agent that takes down a group of bank robbing surfers.

Starring Reeves, with support from Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey, and Lori Petty. This action film was actually pretty good. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and nominated for some MTV movie awards [you know back when MTV was still cool]. The film was a good addition to the Action 101 book, sadly I watched this on from a standard DVD from the library unaware that the blu-ray came out the following week.

Skydiving, surfing, shootouts, car chases, beach football, and fist fights. Pretty good film for a 20 years old action film.

Vote: 8/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102685/

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Ip Man 2: Yip Man 2 (2010)

I had high expectations of this film after enjoying the first film. Sadly I found this one very disappointing. A film clearly set up for a trilogy since it didn't even get to the part we all want to see... Ip Man training Bruce Lee.

The film focuses on his migration from China to Hong Kong after World War II. The migration isn't enough to fill up a movie so they dramatized a struggle against Western boxing to fill the movie. This killed the movie for me. Darren Shahlavi was horrible as "Twister," I'm not sure if he is just a bad actor since he has an awful resume or if it is a matter of the director asking him to be an over-the-top unbelievable bad guy. Either way the end result is crap and makes this a bad Asian Rocky film.

Part 3 better be about him training Bruce Lee. 

Vote: 4/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1386932/

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In the Line of Fire (1993)

I can't say that I even knew what an Oscar was in 1993, but after watching this film I completely agree with the nominations it received. John Malkovich was nominated for best performance in a supporting role... perfect because he made this film worth watching. Film editing, because it was a well cut movie that keeps you in suspense and isn't drawn out. Best Screenplay is kind of a stretch though, it must have been a weak year.

One of the more current action films that I had yet to see on the Action 101, this action film jokes about Eastwood being out. Pretty amazing, since this was almost 20 years ago, and films like Gran Torino are still playing on the Eastwood being funny because he is old.

The premise of the movie is that this old Secret Service agent was there the day Kennedy was assassinated and it still haunts him all these years later. the only one still around protecting the president he has a hunch that the latest threats on the President are very serious. Not a bad action film with some pretty good scenes. Rene Russo is ok, but like I said earlier John Malkovich as the villain make this one worth checking out.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107206/

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Incendies (2010)

A powerful and sometimes hard to follow [at least for me] film about a mother's final wishes from her will. This Canadian film gave In a Better World a run for the Oscar this year after winning a number of film festivals.

I am unfamiliar with anyone associated with the film. The leading actress was in 2005's Paradise Now which was a nominee, other than that they were all new to me. So a brother and sister [twins] are in a lawyers office as he is reading them, their mothers will. It is clear that there was a strain in the relationship between the mother and the two kids and it is revealed that they have a brother. Her final wishes are that the two go back to the Middle East, where she grew up, and find their brother and father. The daughter goes first as the brother is unwilling, and while she visits different places we are flashed back to the mothers life and the seriously tragic things she experienced.

It is hard to see from the poster, but that is her kneeling on the ground while a bus full of Muslims is burning in the background. She grew up with a lot of Christian and Muslim warfare around here and there are a number of scenes that will stick with me. This film is a little difficult to watch, and well deserving of its nomination.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1255953/

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Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010)

Not only is this an action film based on a video game, but is was also produced by Disney. The two contradict each other in so many ways, video games are all about "lives" and killing, and most Disney action movies have little to no death. The first HD movie I watched on my new 7" personal movie player and one of the first new releases for action month.

The film stars Jake Gyllenhaal who really buffed up for this film. Ben Kingsley who looks scary enough to be a henchman, and the very attractive Gemma Arterton [who you wouldn't recognize as a redhead in Quantum of Solace, a British actress that has been in very minor roles in a number of films now]. The premise is that King Sharaman find a boy risking his life while standing up for a stranger in the market. He takes him in as a son, who fearlessly helps lead in his army. A magic dagger that can turn back time falls into his hands and he has figure out how to right some wrong against the king that he is being accused of.

Cheesy and cookie cutter in many ways. A mix between action, adventure, and fantasy it was just ok in many ways. It was an exciting watch and not too long, predictable but no big plot holes for a fantasy with time travel. I wouldn't suggest this one though.

Vote: 6/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0473075/

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Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer (2010)

For a second year I've been really into the documentary category of the Oscars and try and watch a handful of short list picks that didn't get a nomination. It really helps me get a feel for what the academy thinks is worthy and if going beyond there picks is worthwhile. For the most part I like all documentaries, and as you have probably seen from my ratings they usually get at least an average rating. It quickly drops into an avoid watching (5/10) if I felt I gained nothing from the film. Unlike fiction films, I want to learn something from a documentary. When I feel I'm being lied to I start to really hate the film. 3/10 might be generous for a documentary that really pissed me off.

Eliot Spitzer was a powerful man in New York who did a lot of good in terms of regulations on Wall Street, he was also an asshole. Maybe that is what it takes to go up against the likes of AIG and these corporations, but when you are also doing illegal stuff you lose all credibility yourself. Spitzer is interviewed in this film and has no problems talking about all the good things he did in his career. He immediately tells the interview he does not want to talk about all of the illegal things he did. Come on. YOU MADE THIS DOCUMENTARY. If you aren't willing to get it out in the open, apologize, and move on how are you going to gain any credibility. This documentary is more of a campaign ad of Spitzer's telling us to forgive him because others were so much worse than him.

I learned nothing from this documentary, which is horrible considering that it pushes 2 hours. Interviews with call girls that just drag out, and air-headed girls that run these call girl organizations was almost painful to sit through. One of the first documentaries that I severely disliked.

Vote: 3/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1638362/

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Fair Game (2010)

Director Doug Liman [The Bourne Identity] brings together Naomi Watts and Sean Penn for the first time since 2003's 21 Grams in a film dramatizing the Valerie Plame incident.

Valerie [Watts] is a CIA operative who is exposed by Scooter Libby and Karl Rove when her husband openly criticizes the Bush administration and their lies about Weapons of Mass Destruction. The film does a great job showing what the Plame family did on a daily basis, something severely skewed by Fox News. It was interesting to see actual footage from the network with no moral compass slandering the Plame family.

I teetered between 7 and 8 here. I could see going back and give this an 8 in a year if I still remember it well. So how about a 7.5/10 or recommended with some reservations.

Vote: 7/10

IMDB Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0977855/

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