Bar Legend (2006)
Director: Beom-gu Cho
Writers: Beom-gu Cho, Jeong-su Park, Su-jin Park
Cast: Keon-hyeong Park, Cheon-hee Lee, MC Mong
MPAA Rating: Not Rated
Synopsis: Three lifelong friends reunite to take down a vicious gang that's slowly moving in on their old turf.
Thoughts: In the grand scheme of things, Beom-gu Cho's dramatic gangster outing Bar Legend (aka Three Fellas) seems more like a Korean version of Stand By Me than a full-on, no-holds-barred action extravaganza. The film focuses its narrative strength on the estranged relationship between three aimless twenty-somethings, which, in turn, causes the action to take a back seat to the plot. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. Of course, those who signed on for yet another whiz-bang South Korean actioner loaded with a metric ton of well-choreographed fisticuffs will no doubt be disappointed with the end result, as the director lenses these confrontations in a very subdued, realistic manner. Personally, I feel this frequently brutal and occasionally introspective endeavor rests easily in the same league as Shin Han Sol's infinitely underrated coming-of-age saga The Art of Fighting. It might not be what you were expecting, but it's fantastic nonetheless.
Recipe For Success: Three Charismatic Leads + Plenty of Kinetic Fights + You Don't Mess With the No Touch Gang
Operation Endgame (2010)
Director: Fouad Mikati
Writers: Sam Levinson, Brian Watanabe
Cast: Rob Corddry, Ellen Barkin, Maggie Q
MPAA Rating: R
Synopsis: A top secret team of highly-trained assassins wage hyper-violent war amongst themselves after their leader is murdered.
Thoughts: It may be loud, crude, and needlessly violent, but up-and-coming director Fouad Mikati's feature-length debut Operation Endgame is an ungodly amount of fun. The script is extremely witty, the action is surprisingly brutal, and the cast is simply top-notch. And while Ellen Barkin, Jeffrey Tambor, Ving Rhames, Bob Odenkirk, and Zach Galifianakis are in full force, the film pretty much belongs to Rob Corddry. His shtick is essentially one note -- deliver expletive-laden dialogue laced with obscene imagery -- but it certainly keeps the film afloat during its slower moments. Operation Endgame, much to this unapologetic action nerd's giddy delight, is thoroughly enjoyable, a near-perfect blend of unflinching action and mean-spirited humor. Quite the accomplishment for a filmmaker's first time out of the proverbial gate.
Recipe For Success: Rob Corddry's Foul Mouth + Some Surprisingly Brutal Fights + One Nose in a Paper Shredder
Date Night (2010)
Director: Shawn Levy
Writer: Josh Klausner
Cast: Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Mark Wahlberg
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Synopsis: After stealing a reservation a swanky New York City restaurant, a bored New Jersey unexpectedly find themselves hunted by the mob and the police.
Thoughts: Regardless of the picture's extremely impressive star power, director Shawn Levy's madcap comedy Date Night is a B-movie from top to bottom. The film begins with an unexpectedly heartfelt examination of a decaying suburban marriage, though Levy and crew quickly ditch this theme for a series of increasingly goofy set pieces that culminate in one of the silliest car chase sequences in recent memory. Oddly, Date Night excels when it takes time out of its zany schedule to ponder the quieter moments of the story, which are delivered with near-perfection by Carell and Fey. However, the funniest moments come not from the stars but from Mila Kunis and James Franco, whose unbalanced relationship could fuel its own motion picture. This is, essentially, Adventures in Babysitting for unhappy middle-aged breeders. Good, but not great.
Recipe For Mediocrity: One Grossly Uneven Script + Ugly Digital Cinematography + Not Enough Kunis and Franco
The Dark Backward (1991)
Director: Adam Rifkin
Writer: Adam Rifkin
Cast: Judd Nelson, Bill Paxton, Wayne Newton
MPAA Rating: R
Synopsis: A geeky garbage man with dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian discovers a third arm growing out of his back.
Thoughts: Writer/director Adam Rifkin's highly misunderstood 1991 cult favorite The Dark Backward is one of my all-time favorite movies. That being said, how this bizarre picture ever managed to see the light of day is truly anyone's guess. Although Rifkin's script provides the fuel, the film is powered by none other than Judd Nelson, an actor I once thought incapable of delivering such a bold, unorthodox performance. Cinematic goofball Bill Paxton is the demented Ying to Nelson's straight-laced Yang, which allows for copious amounts of over-the-top scene chewing and a plethora of memorable moments. Rifkin's garbage-choked universe is the perfect setting for these highly unusual characters; nothing ever seems forced or out-of-place, adding a sense of realism to even the most outlandish of sequences. I'll never tire of watching it.
Recipe For Success: One Truly Unique Script + A Striking and Unusual Visual Style + Judd "John Bender" Nelson
8mm (1999)
Director: Joel Schumacher
Writer: Andrew Kevin Walker
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Joaquin Phoenix, Peter Stormare
MPAA Rating: R
Synopsis: A private investigator is hired by a grieving widow to investigate the authenticity of a suspected snuff film.
Thoughts: When I saw director Joel Schumacher's nasty 1999 shocker 8mm in theaters eleven years ago, I was absolutely floored. Not only had Schumacher delivered a solid, seriously warped motion picture about an extremely controversial subject matter, he presented the material without turning the whole affair into a cheap exploitation flick. Even in this vile and explicitly violent day and age, this strong and emotionally devastating little thriller holds up surprisingly well. The cast -- including Peter Stormare as a pretentious porn director -- is a major reason for the film's success, though Andrew Kevin Walker's whip-smart script also deserves some of the credit. And while many tend to believe that 8mm is the poor man's Seven, labeling it a wannabe only serves to sell it short. Modern mainstream thrillers are rarely this edgy.
Recipe For Success: An Intelligent Take on a Touchy Subject + Joaquin Phoenix + When Tom Wells Calls Mary's Mom, I Cry
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