Tuesday 23 July 2019

HARD BOILED: WHY JOHN WOO'S MASTERPIECE IS STILL THE GREATEST ACTION MOVIE OF ALL TIME (full article at Diabolique Magazine)

While the 1980s might generally be considered the heyday of the action movie, or at least the decade with the biggest wealth of nostalgia attached to it, the 1990s was an equal, arguably better decade for high octane, high concept celluloid. Action classics were hitting us left, right and centre and these films were made all the better for their unspoken but collectively loose regard for believability...

...John Woo’s prolificacy from the mid-80s onwards made his name synonymous with slow motion action, double gun wielding protagonists and a lot of agitated, flappy birds. He delivered several outright classics in the form of A Better Tomorrow (1986), Bullet In The Head (1990) and The Killer (1989) before his undoubted masterpiece, and the subject of this particular love letter, Hard Boiled (1992).

Hard Boiled a.k.a God of Guns a.k.a. Ruthless Super-Cop, sees tough, play-by-his-own-rules cop, Inspector ‘Tequila’ Yuen (Chow Yun Fat) on the trail of underworld gun runners led by the evil Johnny Wong (Anthony Wong). Unbeknownst to Tequila, one of Johnny Wong’s lieutenants, Alan (Tony Chiu-Wai Leung), is an undercover cop who has infiltrated the gang to such a degree that he behaves exactly as a genuine gang member. Justifying homicide in the service of a greater good. Not only that, but Alan’s undercover operation is being run in total secrecy by Tequila’s own boss, Superintendent Pang (played by real life ex-policeman Philp Chan).

Read the full article at Diabolique Magazine:
https://diaboliquemagazine.com/hard-boiled-why-john-woos-masterpiece-is-still-the-greatest-action-movie-of-all-time/

IMDB: Hard Boiled

Wednesday 17 July 2019

POINT BLANK (full review at Screen Realm)

Point Blank is a Netflix produced crime thriller from director Joe Lynch and a remake of the French thriller A Bout Portent, by Fred CavayƩ.

The story sees emergency room nurse, Paul (Anthony Mackie) tending to unnamed man brought in to the hospital with injuries sustained from a car accident. It transpires that the man is Abe Guevara (Frank Grillo), who is wanted by police in connection to the assassination of a district attorney. While Abe is under police guard, Paul’s pregnant wife, Taryn (Teyonah Parris), is abducted by Abe’s brother, Mateo (Christian Cooke), who gives Paul an ultimatum. Free Abe from the hospital or his wife will be killed.

With no choice but to do as he is asked, Paul takes Abe on the run, with two seasoned cops, Lewis (Marcia Gay Harden - The Mist, Miller’s Crossing) and Masterson (Boris McGiver – House Of Cards) in their tail. The story leads us down a winding path of corruption and duplicity.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/point-blank-movie-review-frank-grillo-anthony-mackie-netflix/

IMDB: Point Blank

Monday 15 July 2019

BUBBA HO-TEP (Issue #55 of Scream Horror Magazine)


Okay so here’s some cool news. I’ve written a piece on one of my all time favourite movies, Don Coscarelli's BUBBA HO-TEP,  for Scream Magazine. It’s also the first time my writing has appeared in print so that’s pretty exciting. The magazine is July / August issue #55, and is available in the UK in places like WH Smiths. For the Rest of the World you can get it on the internets or try your trusty comic shop.

Sunday 14 July 2019

SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME (full review at Screen Realm)

Spider-Man: Far From Home is the sequel to 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming and the second official Spider-Man movie since Marvel and Sony agreed to collaborate and bring their beloved wall crawler into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It’s also the first Marvel movie since Avengers: Endgame and as such, it must broach those events in what is essentially now a post-Avengers universe. Therefore, while you can enjoy Far From Home without prior knowledge, it goes without saying that if you’ve seen Endgame first, you’ll get a bit more out of it.

Read the full review at Screen Realm:
https://screenrealm.com/spider-man-far-from-home-movie-review/

IMDB: Spider-Man: Far From Home