Last movie watched...

[Keef Monkey]

Appleseed Alpha, probably the most no-frills straight Hollywood-style action movie approach to Appleseed so far I thought. Liked the visual style more than XIII in a lot of ways, it looks pretty amazing on Blu-ray. Story didn't particularly grab me, but the action looked great and had some good weight to it. Not the best Appleseed movie out there but still pretty badass.

And rewatched The Raid 2. Was blown away by this in the cinema but have actually put off rewatching it for a long time because I felt like the greater length and increase in plot would make it drag on repeat watches. It really, really didn't though, if anything it feels snappier and more absorbing once you know what you're getting into. Plus you know what an incredible run of action scenes you have in store so there's always something awesome to look forward to. And what fight scenes. Just, the BEST fight scenes.

First time I was breathlessly trying to take it all in during the action scenes, but on a second watch you can really appreciate what the camera is up to during the fights, and it's truly incredible. The way it keeps the movement kinetic but always readable and gets coverage of every hit is actually astonishing, when you look at how poorly most Hollywood action scenes are shot and edited. The craft that went into this is staggering and the fact it's not up for Oscars and all-sorts just shows the genre-snobbery that action films are victim to at award season.

EDIT: Just saw Bear mentioning Universal Soldier, if you haven't watched Day of Reckoning then do it. Went in with no expectations and was taken aback by how intense it is. A really good visceral action film. Plot is nonsensical, or maybe I just haven't been following the series closely enough, but the fights are full-on.

[Famous Mortimer]

I like how you refuse to acknowledge American Ninja 5.  This is probably for the best.

Oh god! I did that one too, and I sorta liked David Bradley by the end. He improved as an actor quite a lot - although my favourite thing about them was sidekick Steve James, who ought to have been headlining movies himself (not helped by the racists in charge of Cannon Films - zero black leading men).

I never watched these films as a kid, I was all about sci-fi and arthouse stuff so it's been a pleasure going through them all.

Tiger Claws - Jalal "Yes, I Am Funding These Movies" Merhi could be the worst leading man of them all. Poor Cynthia Rothrock was reduced to spectator, pretty much.

If we're talking weird sequel paths, No Retreat No Surrender could be the best. Part 2 is genuinely brilliant, I think, and Loren Avedon is a great low-budget leading man. But that series..."King Of The Kickboxers" (with Billy Blanks, perhaps the worst actor ever) is known as NRNS 4, then there's "American Shaolin" which is known as NRNS 5 as well as King Of The Kickboxers 2; then there's "Fighting Spirit", also listed as King Of The Kickboxers 2 in some places . Not a single one of em even remotely related to any of the others.

Thanks for the "Rage and Honour", "In The Line Of Duty" and "Martial Law" suggestions, I'll give em a go. Even Mrs Mortimer doesn't mind cheesy martial arts movies, as they require little concentration and she can read her favourite magazines while they're on (I do suggest films she might like, honest, but she says our system works for her).

I'll pop on a Jackie Chan film every few months, and am always a little surprised / disappointed by the plot that surrounds the set-pieces. I know it's sort of silly to cry misogyny when it comes to 30 year old Hong Kong action movies, but the rotten treatment of women does somewhat dampen my enthusiasm for going through more of his stuff (I did like Jackie Chan as a kid). 

[ming]

How about 'They Still Call Me Bruce'?
It's a sort of teen comedy/martial arts film in which a bullied kid is trained to fight by the ghost of Bruce Lee.

And a sequel... The inevitable follow-up to 'They Call Me Bruce'

I loved that as a kid...

[von Boom]

Jupiter Ascending. Bloody awful. Just bloody awful.

[Dandontdare]

THE THREE STOOGES (2012)

Some inspired slapstick and a "has to be seen to be believed" fight with pissing babies had more chuckling quite a lot at this.

There's a good sort of gag about Nuns not ageing and Larry David in a habit.

Throw in Sofia Vergera as very 3 dimensional villain and dadnip and, well, what more do you want?

I didn't realise it was the Farrelly brothers until a funny post credits gag. Though there were plenty of clues.

I suppose with it being a 3 stooges movie, there was no real need for dadnip. Blokes would be willingly going to see it anyway. (At least American ones).

as someone who loves the Stooges, the trailer (and the very idea) of this film made me want to put my foot through the TV screen in the same way as the horribly pointless remakes of Bilko or Arthur. Was I mistaken? Sounds quite good from your review.

[Professor Bear]

I'll pop on a Jackie Chan film every few months, and am always a little surprised / disappointed by the plot that surrounds the set-pieces. I know it's sort of silly to cry misogyny when it comes to 30 year old Hong Kong action movies, but the rotten treatment of women does somewhat dampen my enthusiasm for going through more of his stuff (I did like Jackie Chan as a kid).

Chan did do some flirting with more complex plotting, but his films' plots are deliberately simple and easy to follow, his version of events being that he did this to make them similar to silent western slapstick comedies such as those made by Harold Lloyd - but if he's as canny an operator as he seems, he most likely wanted access to a wider audience.
I wouldn't say Chan's films are without the casual chauvinism of the era and occasionally baffling scenes of sexism that just make no sense even in context, but I would say they aren't so far gone as to be misogynistic , as long-suffering girlfriends of Chan's characters tend to get punched in the face or thrown through windows for the same reasons such things happen to anyone else in the movie: because the baddie is an utter rotter, or because Chan's character is a buffoon.
Although since we're mentioning his characters' better halves, Chan's frequent collaborator Maggie Cheung might also be worth checking out in HK superhero movie Heroic Trio and its sequel Executioners.

[Famous Mortimer]

Yes, you're right, my words were picked slightly poorly. "Dragons Forever", for example, is still an amazing film, even with the baffling treatment of women in it.

Love the "Heroic Trio" movies. Was Maggie Cheung in "Saviour of the Soul" too, or was that Anita Mui? That was thoroughly bonkers, as I recall.

Back to the USA, I've not covered them both yet, but I'd recommend the "Omega Cop" / "Karate Cop" double bill of future-set martial arts movies. Ron Marchini couldn't act worth a damn, but he gave it his all, bless him.

[Daveycandlish]

I'm not a diehard fan of the Three Stooges but do enjoy catching up with them now and again. The recent film is nowhere near as bad as I expected it to be and is definitely worth a watch with some laugh out loud moments in it. I wasn't sure how it would work in a 21st century setting, but it does. Give it a view, I say.

[Theblazeuk]

Transcendence - better than I expected, quite slow-paced but with all the 'a-list cast' of a more action-driven movie. I enjoyed though fails ultimately because you never get a chance to see Will Castor before the upload, so his odd robotic behaviour does make him seem like a computer pretending to be a person rather than a person who has become a computer.

[I, Cosh]

Last thing I saw was a double bill of documentaries about East European electronic music!

15 Corners of the World was about a guy, Eugeniusz Rudnik, who was basically the Polish Delia Derbyshire. A nice old bloke with a massive enthusiasm for finding unusual sounds and splicing tapes. Alright If you like that kind of thing. Lots of footage of abstract footage to a soundtrack of his stuff.

Elektro Moskva, on the other hand, begs to be seen by anyone with the slightest interest in either weird noises or crazy Russian dudes. From Leon Theremin inventing instruments as a byproduct of surveillance technology to some teenager circuit-bending cheap Chinese toys, it does what all good documentaries do and digs up some great characters to fill in an obscure but interesting story.

From Soviet engineers to 70s synthpop acts, unscrupulous synth dealers to artists it's continually fascinating, laugh out loud funny in that bleak Russian way and drenched in buzzes, whirrs and drones. Magic.

[Recrewt]

Transcendence - better than I expected, quite slow-paced but with all the 'a-list cast' of a more action-driven movie. I enjoyed though fails ultimately because you never get a chance to see Will Castor before the upload, so his odd robotic behaviour does make him seem like a computer pretending to be a person rather than a person who has become a computer.

I thought Transcendence was a bit of an odd one and I was never really sure what kind of stance the movie was making.  [spoiler]The anti-technology people were not very well explained so it just seemed odd and over the top when they poisoned Will and others.  It then seemed to be going down the route of Will turning bad, and I do get that some of the stuff he was doing later on definitely crossed the line but ultimately he still ended up being one of the most decent people in it, who ended up getting killed again!
[/spoiler]

[Tiplodocus]

Jupiter Ascending. Bloody awful. Just bloody awful.

I normally find something to like in a Wachowski siblings movie but aside from fancying Channing Tatum something rotten, I struggled here.

It doesn't help that his character is an impervious jedi from the get go or that the threats are never clearly defined and uou have no investment in the action sequences.

I think it wants to be Dune, Star Wars, 1980 Flash Gordon, Twilight and Hunger Games all at once but manages to shitty pick from each.

When the most engaging sequence is when they have to battle against mindless future bureaucrats, you film is in trouble.

And they don't even kill[spoiler] Sean Bean[/spoiler].

[Tiplodocus]

ROBOT AND FRANK
On the other hand was a joy. It's more drama than comedy and has a great performance from Frank Langella (who must have been glad not to be playing his ten thousandth authoritarian villain). It's still twenty minutes too long. And I totally did not see the twist coming.

[Jim_Campbell]

And they don't even kill[spoiler] Sean Bean[/spoiler].

Now that, my friend, is fucking radical film-making.

Cheers

Jim

[von Boom]

Jupiter Ascending. Bloody awful. Just bloody awful.

When the most engaging sequence is when they have to battle against mindless future bureaucrats, you film is in trouble.

The problem with that whole sequence is that it didn't even so much as raise a smile. Too bad.