Released: November 2018

Director: James Nunn

Rated R

Run Time: 85 Minutes

Distributor: Sony Pictures/WWE Films

Genre: Action/Thriller

Cast:
Mike “The Miz” Mizanin: Jake Carter
Shawn Michaels: Luke Trapper
Rebecca Quin a.k.a Becky Lynch: Maddy Hayes
Louisa Connolly-Burnham: Sarah Dillon
Terence Maynard: Shawn Taylor
Tim Woodward: Tommy Walker

Back in the day, I used to watch professional wrestling quite a bit.  It was either WWE’s(then WWF)Monday Night Raw or WCW’s Monday Nitro, depending on my mood and which wrestlers I wanted to see.  WWE had legends like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Triple H, Edge, and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.  WCW had superstars like Sting, “Macho Man” Randy Savage, Hulk Hogan, and “The Nature Boy” Ric Flair.  That was all before WCW got bought out and folded into the WWE.  Now, professional wrestling is really nothing more than a soap opera except with body slams, clotheslines and piledrivers.  I didn’t much care for the melodrama between matches.  I watched the shows to see people beat the shit out of each other on live television.  Obviously, some of it was stage and planned, but sometimes things got really physical and wrestlers got hurt; some to the point of forced retirement, so it’s not all fake.  I want to make sure that is clear.  Getting thrown from the top of a steel cage is not something you can just walk away from unscathed.  That being said, I stopped watching wrestling after The Rock left when he started getting into his film acting career.  A number of wrestlers have followed suit, some successfully, some not.  So imagine my surprise when John Cena got his own action movie called The Marine in 2006.  It wasn’t actually a terrible movie.  It was fun, action-packed, and had a lot of massive explosions.  The problem was with Cena himself.  He just didn’t have the charisma needed to carry a movie like that.  Still, the film was fairly successful and spawned a number of sequels.  For this review, I have selected the latest entry in the franchise: Close Quarters.

The film opens as a young girl is kidnapped by a group of Irish gangsters to force her father into causing a mistrial for the gang’s boss.  Later, two former marines, Jake Carter and Luke Trapper, end up at an abandoned factory to check up on an old veteran who has taken up residence at this factory.  Unwittingly, they run into the same Irish gang and girl that was kidnapped.  The group is led by Maddy Hayes, the daughter of the mob boss that’s on trial.  It’s a simple set up that doesn’t offer much in the way of twists, except for one major shift in direction that I didn’t see coming.  It surprisingly works, but I won’t spoil it here.  You have to see it for yourself.  While the overall plot is mostly predictable, there are a few issues that I have with it that don’t make sense to me.  How did they find the girl’s father and why was he specifically targeted? On top of that, we don’t get to actually see the main Irish boss, whom I thought would be important considering the lengths that Maddy is going to get him freed.  While those details aren’t necessarily that important, it does affect the film when certain situations don’t make a whole lot of sense.  It’s just something that I noticed that kinda bugs me a bit, but the film moves at a quick pace, so it’s not a huge detriment.

I don’t think anyone in this film is going to get an Oscar for their acting.  There’s not enough characterization to really drive those performances.  That being said, the acting in this film isn’t actually that bad.  In fact, I think it’s actually pretty good for a film of this type and budget.  After I stopped watching wrestling, a whole lot of new folks showed up including Stu Bennett, A.J. Styles, and Mike “The Miz” Mizanin.  Stu Bennett kind of left wrestling for the acting bug when he starred in Eliminators and I Am Vengeance, both of which were surprisingly good.  The Miz has been in action films before, namely, the last three Marine films playing the same character.  Now, I haven’t seen a Marine film since the original back in 2006, so my expectations for this film were fairly low.  Not only am I surprised at how decent of an actor The Miz is in a film like this, he’s kind of likable here, which is more than I can say for his wrestling persona.  Shawn Michaels has been one of my favorite wrestlers since I was a kid.  He had a natural flair for the business and he stole the show, because he could.  Seeing him in action movie is actually kind of cool.  I’m surprised he hadn’t branched out in that direction earlier.  He’s clearly still got the physicality for something like this.  What surprised me was the chemistry that he had with The Miz.  Now, the two had obviously worked together in the WWE before, so there was already a connection between the two, and that actually translates to the film surprisingly well.  Rebecca Quin, or as she’s known in the ring, Becky Lynch, plays the main villain, Maddy.  She’s not half-bad, but she’s not that great either.  It’s her first movie, though, so I can forgive her for some issues.  She’s clearly a talented athlete, as well as being a very stunning woman and that comes across pretty well.

While the original film was a completely over-the-top experience, The Marine 6 is basically the polar opposite.  This is a grittier and far more violent film than John Cena’s movie.  For one, there’s quite a bit more blood and bone-breaking here.  The action is pretty brutal and hits pretty hard.  What makes the action work in this film is a number of reasons.  One: The camera-work is fantastic.  Instead of the whole shaky-cam that we tend to see in movies like this, we can definitely see what’s going on and it’s pretty close-quarters, hence the film’s subtitle.  Two: The actors are obviously well-trained in terms of physicality because of what they have to do in the ring on a daily basis.  That means you don’t see a lot of stunt-doubles here.  There are obviously some, especially for Shawn Michaels, but that’s because he’s getting older, but he still manages to hold his own when he needs to.  The Miz goes all in feet first.  Even Rebecca gets to do some really solid fighting.  The fighting is staged by one of my current favorites, Tim Man, who stage fights in films like Ninja: Shadow of a Tear, Undisputed 4, and Accident Man.  He knows what the hell he’s doing and the fights are grounded in a gritty and realistic fashion.  So, yeah, no wires.  There is some CG involved, but it’s nothing terribly obtrusive.  Overall, the action is really solid and it keeps on coming.

I have to be truthful:  I wasn’t expecting a whole lot from this film when I first saw the trailer.  The only reason I was actually curious was because of Shawn Michaels.  I hadn’t seen him since he retired from wrestling, so it was pretty awesome seeing him in an action film.  Does this mean I’m going to go back to watching wrestling?  Not really.  I’ve long since let that ship sail, it’s not something I’m big on anymore.  I pay attention once in a great while, but it’s not the same as it used to be for me.  The days of the Attitude Era are long gone and most of the great wrestlers have retired and moved on with their lives.  That being said, I’m actually glad that the WWE has branched out into the film business with WWE Films, because some of this stuff is actually pretty damn good, so I’m paying attention to the film division of the WWE, just not the actual wrestling.  Before I wrap this up, I want to give a shout out to Richard Hawes and Mike Parkin of The DTV Digest and their podcast.  I met these two when I was in London for the Fighting Spirit Film Festival, and they were incredibly knowledgeable and fun to talk to.  Their coverage of the film convinced me to check it out for myself, and I’m glad I did.  It’s a pretty solid action flick.  It’s not perfect, but it’s a lot better than I was expecting it to be, so I’m looking forward to seeing what The Miz does next.  I would also love to see Shawn Michaels in another action movie, as I think he’s pretty good at it.  I actually recommend this one.

My Final Recommendation: Why do I like this movie?  Because I can. 8.5/10

Released: August 2018

Director: Steve Mitchell

Not Rated

Run Time: 110 Minutes

Genre: Documentary

When it comes to reviewing movies, there are very few genres that I tend to avoid.  It doesn’t mean that I don’t watch them, it’s just that I find it rather difficult to review them given my particular mindset and how I approach movies.  Straight-up comedies I flat-out refuse to review, because the humor in those films completely subjective.  What I find funny in one movie is not going to be funny to someone else.  Documentaries are another genre that I have a problem with.  It’s not because I hate them, far from it.  I’m going to be completely honest:  Documentaries are difficult for me.  They’re difficult for me, because they tend to fall outside of the regular format that I use to review movies.  Most of the movies I review tend to have certain qualities like a plot, story, special effects and other small things.  Documentaries generally don’t have those, as they tend to be far more non-fictional than anything else.  Don’t get me wrong, I love documentaries and I am open to new challenges on this site, but you’re not going to see a whole lot of documentaries reviewed on this website for some of the reasons I mentioned.  That being said, King Cohen is a documentary that I have been very interested in covering here, so I’m willing to step out of my comfort zone for this one.

In  the world of film-making, especially Hollywood, you have filmmakers that adhere or are forced to adhere to certain rules and restrictions in order to get their films made and out to audiences.  Filmmakers like Steven Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, and James Cameron are all amazing filmmakers, but even they tend to kowtow to the Hollywood system.  However, every once in a while you come across a filmmaker that is not only willing to disagree with the system, they are willing to step outside of said system and say, “Fuck you, I’m doing this my way.”  Filmmaker who take that stance either see their careers cut short, or are forced into a very small clique where they don’t bother the big-wigs in Hollywood.  Larry Cohen is one such filmmaker.  Born in New York in 1941, Larry Cohen would go on to become a major player in the independent film scene.  He’s even had a huge hand in making blaxploitation a significant genre during the 70s.  What makes Larry Cohen so unique as a filmmaker is not just his movies, but his unyielding stance on the Hollywood system and it’s blatant corruption.  His attitude towards Hollywood has gotten him into trouble over the years, but it also has allowed him to make the films that he wanted to make….mostly.

King Cohen is a very interesting documentary in terms not only entertainment, because let’s face it, watching Larry talk about his experiences within and outside of the Hollywood system are not only entertaining, but they are very informative.  He doesn’t hold back in his criticism of the established system.  He understands the system better than most people which allows him to share some insight into how the system works, as well as its benefits and detriments.  If you really want to get into mindset of the Hollywood system, this is the guy you might want to talk to.  Not only does the documentary feature extensive interviews with Mr. Cohen himself, but it also has interviews from film historians and other filmmakers themselves, like Martin Scorsese and actors like Eric Roberts and Fred Williamson.  Each person interviewed has their own unique anecdotes that gives a look into the mind of Larry Cohen and what its like to work with him.

I’ll be truthful:  I haven’t actually seen any of Mr. Cohen’s work in their entirety, but I have seen bits and pieces: Black Caesar, The Stuff, Q: The Winged Serpent, and the Masters of Horror episode, Pick Me Up.  I don’t think you really need to have seen any of his films to understand the contributions that he’s made to the indie film scene.  This is a guy that refuses to take large amounts of money to make a movie.  Instead of 50 million bucks for a movie, Larry would rather take 1 million for a movie so he can have total control over how its made.  One of the things that he has said, and I absolutely agree with, is that the more money that you get for a movie, the less control you end up having, because you have to allow producers and the higher-ups to have more of a say in your film.  Mr. Cohen hates that idea with a burning passion, which is why nearly every movie that he’s made is a low-budget feature.  That’s because with a smaller budget, he has more control over what shots are made, the lighting, the locations and overall story.  Mr. Cohen also writes, produces, and directs, usually at the same time.  That’s not a skill set that many filmmakers have, not even today.  Most modern filmmakers tend to focus up to two of those, but not all three.  Directing is a very physical and tough job as it is, but to throw writing and producing into the mix?  That’s absolutely nuts.  But he’s done it, and he was good at it, even though now he tends to focus more on writing.

Larry Cohen is such a unique personality that you really can’t help but get behind what this guy has done over the years.  Say what you will about some of the films that he’s made, some good, some bad, there is no denying the passion he has for filmmaking.  Not only is he very passionate about the medium, but he’s also incredibly smart about it.  He knows more about the system and how to navigate than most people could ever imagine.  That’s how he’s managed to be successful at what he does.  Getting back to the documentary, it’s extremely well-paced and very informative.  It goes from how he started out to being an icon of the horror and indie film scene.  Larry Cohen is a maverick in every sense of the word, it even says so on the poster for the film, but it is a quality that has garnered him a pretty large fan base, while pissing other people off.  If you’re a fan of horror movies, the indie film scene, or documentaries in general, you owe it to yourself to check out King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen.  It’s a fantastic documentary on one of the most unique filmmakers that the film industry has ever seen.

My Final Recommendation: 9.5/10

Stan Lee
December 28, 1922-November 12, 2018

Stan Lee, the face of Marvel Comics for the past 60 plus years, passed away this morning, November 12, 2018 at Cedar-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.  While I’ve never been a big comic book reader, the influence that Mr. Lee had on the comic book industry is unrivaled.  Starting his business in 1939, Stan Lee would go on to co-create and write for characters such as Black Panther, Thor, Spider-Man, X-Men and many others with long-time partner Jack Kirby.  He even contributed to some of the comics within DC Comics.  The man has done so much for the comic book industry, he even indirectly had a hand in revamping the Comics Code, which was established in 1954 to provide a guideline for what was appropriate in comics at the time.  He wrote a Spider-Man story in 1971 that dealt with the dangers of drugs and addiction.  That was at the behest of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, but it forced a change in the code to adapt for the times.  Stan Lee used his comic books and characters as a form of social commentary on our world, which included racism, bigotry, drugs and other issues that our kids were confronted with.  His legacy goes well beyond the comics that he helped create, however.

In 2010, the Stan Lee Foundation was founded as a non-profit organization to provide access to literacy, education, and the arts in the United States.  The foundation also provides resources to high-quality education programs to help children not just to read and write, but also to help them create a better future for themselves and for everyone around them.  Comic books are a much easier way to reach and help educate the disadvantaged.  Obviously, Stan Lee has also had a hand in the film-making and television industries by co-producing films like X-Men, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, and The Avengers.  He’s also known to be cast in most of Marvel’s films in a small but noticeable cameo appearance, which tended to be nods to Stan Lee’s fans.  To me, Stan Lee was an exceptional human being that not only cared deeply about the industry that he had such a huge part of, but also his fans that supported him every step of the way.  While some of his comics and writing weren’t the best, his passion for the subjects that he wrote about is undeniable.  He was a true humanitarian and he will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him not only personally, but by the stories that he wrote.  Stan Lee is survived by his daughter J.C. and is preceded in death by his wife of 69 years, Joan.  Thank you, Stan, for not only providing decades of entertainment through comics and movies, but also for being a genuinely great human being.

15 years ago, if someone were to say to me that some of my favorite movies ever would have gone direct to video, I would have either laughed at them, or smacked them upside their fool heads.  There would be no way for that to happen, not after watching crap like Darkman III or Dragonheart: A New Beginning.  However, over the past 10 years, I’ve seen a number of direct-to-video films that have been surprisingly decent, if not outright fantastic.  So, why would a film go direct to video in the first place?  There a number of reasons, some are more practical than others, especially in the last 8 years.  From my point-of-view, one of the reasons why some movies skip the whole theater phase, is because the distributor sees the quality of the film and they feel that the film isn’t good enough to put people into seats.  That’s a small answer and not entirely indicative for movie studios to push movies onto home video instead of theaters, but the full answer is actually a bit more complicated than that.  Sometimes, the film in question is controversial, reviews are extremely negative, or there is simply a complete lack of interest on the public’s part, so going direct to video is a way for a production studio to still make money, even though profits are going to be pretty small.  Nowadays, a film-maker that opts to push their film direct to video is for a number of legitimate and practical reasons.  With the advent of social media like YouTube and streaming services like NetFlix, Hulu and Amazon Video, being able to make your film available to the public is a lot easier than it used to be.  Before, at least in the United States, in order for a film to be released it had to be vetted by the MPAA(Motion Picture Association of America) before it could even be properly financed.  Today, going straight to video allows film-makers to avoid that particular part of the process.  The MPAA only real deals with films that go to major theater chains.  They can’t really do anything about movies that skip the theater entirely.  Indie film-makers have a better shot of being noticed on platforms like YouTube.

To be fair, the amount of bad direct to video movies generally outnumber the good ones.  A lot of it has to do with blatant cash-grabbing by movie studio to cash in on a potentially popular film.  Let’s look at The Scorpion King for example.  The first film starring Dwayne Johnson was already a spin-off of the Mummy movies by Stephen Sommers.  While The Scorpion King wasn’t the success that Universal Pictures was hoping for, it did launch the film career of Dwayne Johnson, whose star has been rising ever since.  So, imagine my surprise when a new film was released in 2008, Rise of A Warrior.  The film was directed by Russell Mulcahy, the guy who directed Highlander, so how bad could it be?  I watched it once in 2008 and hadn’t seen it until two days ago.  It is NOT a good movie, and the production values are laughable.  I hated the movie when I first saw it.  Watching it again after a decade, I don’t hate it as much, but it is still not a good movie.  For some odd reason, Universal still kicked out multiple Scorpion King films that includes the recent Book of Souls film, which is an improvement over the previous films.  Same thing with Dragonheart, which had three follow-ups, only one of which was remotely decent: The Sorcerer’s Curse.  On the flip-side, Universal’s Tremors films have enjoyed a cult following ever since the original film starring Kevin Bacon and Fred Ward.  The follow-up films, of which there are five, are surprisingly pretty decent.  Why is that?  I think that Universal knew that there was a market of sorts for Tremors and there were fans that were willing to shell out money for those films, myself included.

Now, the films that get released direct to video are generally going to be restricted to specific genres, specifically action, horror, and thrillers.  Horror movies in particular are more likely to find success on home video than they are in theaters, although, there are exceptions.  Again, the reason goes back to the MPAA dictating what kind of content goes into a film with a particular rating.  A movie with a PG-13 isn’t likely to see people getting raped or disemboweled.  On the other hand, a film with an R-rating isn’t going to get the financing that it may need to really push the envelope in the way that the film-makers want, so there is a bit of a conundrum.  These days, getting a film released to video doesn’t require the blessing of the MPAA or whatever ratings board that’s in charge for a specific region.  I understand the purpose for these rating boards, but as time goes on and technology advances, these boards and lobbies are become more and more irrelevant.  We’ve even seen movies get a simultaneous theatrical and video-on-demand release.  Now, there are some big film-makers like Christopher Nolan who speak out against movies skipping the theater and going to Netflix.  I get where he’s coming from, and I appreciate the movie-going experience, but it’s gotten worse over the years, with people and their smartphones just jabbering away while I’m trying to watch a movie.  I still go to the theater for certain movies, but I’ve been more looking more towards the direct-to-video market for movies these days.

We’re starting to see a lot more direct to video movies that are getting more attention.  Warner Bros. has been making a killing with their DTV animated DC movies, some of which I own and are incredible.  Another thing that most people don’t take into consideration are foreign films.  While these movies have a theatrical release in their home regions, they tend to go direct to video here in the states, and that’s a shame, because some of these movies put OUR big-budget titles to shame.  Movies like The Raid or I Saw The Devil are some of the best movies of their kind, and yet they don’t get a release in our theaters.  Why?  Is it because of the content?  It’s hard to say.  The MPAA may not be able to stop a film from being released, but they can stop a film from going to theaters, and that’s where platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu come in.  They’re willing to finance these movies and give them a proper way of getting people to see them.

The direct to video market is expanding in a way that I never thought possible.  It used to be a dumping ground for studios to drop their movies because they had no faith that these movies would be successful, and while they may not have been successful in theaters, there is an audience for these movies.  It’s a lot bigger than you would think, and while these movies may not have the success of a theatrical release, people are starting to pay more attention to the DTV market.  Not as many as I would hope, and I want to cover some the better DTV films in the future to show people that a movie doesn’t have to be theatrical to be a quality film. That is a standard that is quickly becoming outdated.  20 years ago, I would have said that DTV movies were the worst kind of tripe.  These days, I’m far more open-minded, because I’ve seen DTV movies that actually rival their theatrically released cousins.  While theatrically-released movies aren’t going away any time soon, we have more options than ever when it comes to movies.  I think that the DTV market deserves more attention than it has been getting.  So…expect me to start covering some of these films specifically over the next couple of months.  You might find something you like.