Tag Archives: action movies

1990: The Year of Failed Film Franchises

As far as I can tell, 1990 had more series-destroying sequels than any year before or since. And most of these sequels to popular films didn’t exactly go out on a high note, like, say, Return of the King. Most … Continue reading

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In Defense of Joel Schumacher’s Batman Movies

No one can mistake Joel Schumacher’s two Batman films for masterpieces. Nor can they call me a Schumacher fan, especially after I lambasted his atrocious St. Elmo’s Fire, which he took sole credit for both writing and directing. But I … Continue reading

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RoboCop (1987) Is an Almost Perfectly Symmetrical Film

The Old Testament is full of examples of chiasmus, which is a figure of speech used in ancient times to emphasize balance. It lists a bunch of ideas or things and then repeats each of them in reverse order. It’s … Continue reading

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10 Ridiculously Lopsided Hero-Villain Fights

This is the first time I’ve done something like this. I’m participating in the Great Villain Blogathon with dozens of other bloggers. We all staked out some famous villains to talk about in our own unique ways. Since I’m such an … Continue reading

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Movie Matchups: Dr. No vs. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)

Dr. No was the first true attempt to bring an Ian Fleming novel to the silver screen back in 1962. Eight years earlier, Buena Vista Distribution had debuted its first feature film – an adaptation of the classic Jules Verne … Continue reading

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Predator Is Surprisingly Deep for an Action Movie

Happy April Fools’ Day. I’m only half-joking when I say that the 1987 classic Predator is surprisingly deep for an action movie. It’s not exactly the kind of movie you watch hoping for a lot of subtext to analyze. Predator … Continue reading

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Top 10 Best Speeches in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy

What really sets Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy apart from Tim Burton’s and Joel Schumacher’s films isn’t necessarily their music (Danny Elfman arguably composed the definitive Batman theme music for the first Batman), action sequences (which are surprisingly few and … Continue reading

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The Best 3 Back-to-Back Years for American Comedy Films

I love a good comedy. Sometimes a few great comedies come out in a single year, like 1994, 1974, 1963, and so on. But rarely do we see a three-year stretch full of seemingly nonstop comedy gems. So I would … Continue reading

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Movie Matchups: Batman Begins vs. The Shadow (1994)

It turns out that the film that restored dignity to the Batman franchise has the exact same story as a failed adaptation of a 1930s radio show. I’m talking about 2005’s Batman Begins and 1994’s underrated action film, The Shadow. … Continue reading

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11 Movies That Actually Live Up to Their Hype

Hype is a necessary part of the movie industry. Theatrical film releases have to compete with home theaters, tablets, and various other means of enjoying entertainment that are more convenient than driving to a movie theater, buying an overpriced movie … Continue reading

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