Matt’s Ten Favorite Action Movies (at this moment)

    While talking about Die Hard on the ITMODcast, Brad challenged me to come up with my top five action movie list.  I thought I’d expand that, and list ten of my favorite action movies.   I’d certainly say that Die Hard is awesome, and totally deserves a spot on the list.  But as I realized while watching it last week at the Alamo Drafthouse, I have very little experience with it; it’s not a film I’ve ‘lived’ with like some of these.  Of course, like any of these lists I make, the order (and even the inclusion) of films is subject to change depending on the day and my mood.

10.  The Matrix:  Its massive popularity and the disappointment with the sequels have probably combined to create a backlash against the movie.  But I still love it.  To say the very least, it was a game changer.  Though if that change was good or bad may still be up for debate.  I love the culmination of so many cyberpunk concepts into a kung-fu filled, effects laden action adventure.

9.  Desperado:  Here’s a movie that I had NO interest in ever seeing.  The trailers made it look like some pseudo-Brad Pitt romance with a bit of action thrown in.  No thank you.  But then a friend told me to put my preconceptions aside and give it a try.  The movie started up, Steve Buscemi starts telling his story of the ‘biggest Mexican’ he’d ever seen, and I was hooked.  Way over the top violence, lots of bent humor, and a sense of wild excitement.  It’s so danged much fun.

8.  Conan the Barbarian:  Not surprisingly, I have a couple Arnold movies on this list.  This is probably my favorite fantasy genre film, featuring some of my favorite scenes.  The final battle, in spite of only featuring a relative handful of horsemen, is one of the most epic things I’ve ever seen.  And the music.  Oh, the music.

7.  Fist of Legend:  No wire work, no crazy effects.  Just fists flying at mind blowing speed.  The movie that taught me Kung Fu flicks could be more than just bad dubbing and unintentional fun.  Jet Li was a revelation, the movie had surprising heart and soul, and the action is top notch.

6.  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon:  A sweeping, martial arts period piece with some of the of the most pulse-pounding kung-fu I’ve ever seen.  Gorgeously shot, marvelously staged, and lushly crafted.  It’s not only an amazing action movie, it’s an amazing movie.

5.  Aliens:  Alien is one of the all time great horror films.  Aliens is one of the all time great action films.  Gone is the haunted house stalking, replaced by hoards of bugs eating a colorful team of wisecracking Colonial Marines.  This is, to my thinking, the peak of James Cameron.  He never even came close again.  But what a peak.  For all his bloated, soulless, time-sucks that came later, this movie remains a masterwork; untarnished.

4.  Escape from New York:  In the 80s, there was one thing people were pretty darned sure about, and that’s that the world was going to go right down the tubes.  This look forward into the corrupt police state of America circa 1997 is darned cool.  Snake is the Clint Eastwood channeling hero who goes into the prison world of New York City, where he has to save the President from the clutches of The Duke.  Lots of great supporting roles and a cool atmosphere make this one a classic.

3.  Commando:  Yup.  My fourth favorite movie of all time.  Yeah.  That’s right.  Obviously, the script is the strength of the film, but Arnold pounds the living crap out of a bunch of people, then cuts and shoots apart the entire army of an evil dictator all by himself, and all for the love of his daughter.  Let off some steam, don’t disturb my friend, and if you’re lucky, I’ll kill you last.

2.  Raiders of the Lost Ark:  Thrilling heroics and retro-fueled adventure are the name of the game in this, one of my all time favorite films (# 10, in fact) and one of my great cinematic influences (# 1 on that list).  Fistfights, foot chases, and that awesome truck fight.  It’s all the cliffhanger excitement of classic film crammed into one beautiful package.  Cool characters, cool story, and beautifully shot.  One of the greats.

1.  The Road Warrior: I’m a fan of the whole series, to be honest.  Yeah, I even like Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.  Actually, I love it.  But The Road Warrior (aka Mad Max 2) is a straight-up amazing film.  It’s gut punchingly savage, dark, depressing, and exciting as all heck.  The iconic final chase is a thing of beauty (so much so that they felt the need to directly lift it in Beyond Thunderdome), but the movie features several cool action scenes, not to mention a beautifully presented apocalyptic world, populated by interesting characters.  Like the best movies, I felt like it took pace within a much larger world.  While we’re watching the story of Max, I have no doubt that over the next hill, equally dramatic lives are being lived and snuffed out.

-Matthew J. Constantine

A Fistful of Road Rage! (Brad's Picks)

The Fast and The Furious franchise has to be one of the few cinematic endeavors in which each subsequent film gets better and better.  Sure, dumber and dumber too but dang!  Justin Lin knows how to string together some serious vehicular slaughter.  And when he added The Rock into that volatile mix of blood, bullets, & octane he hit upon something epically macho and utterly bro.  This series is a goof.  And I didn't start to pay attention until Mr. Johnson hopped on board, but as I've spent most of this past week prepping for Friday's Furious 6 release, I've found quite a bit of fun in the over-the-top absurdity of the Lin trilogy...soon to be quadrilogy!  To celebrate this mondo gonzo action saga, here are my top five favorite moments of Road Rage!

5.  Bonus Points (Death Race 2000):  Set in the far flung future of 2000 AD, the American government and the world's religions have crashed into each other forming The Bipartisan Party.  To keep the masses in line and glued to their television sets, The Party hosts an annual Transcontinental Road Race in which celebrity combatants like David Caradine's Frankenstein and Sylvester Stallone's Machine Gun Joe crash & smash their way to a gory finish line.  As much fun as it is to watch these gladiators go up against each other, the real hateful blood lust commentary comes from the Bonus Round.  Along the way if they hit innocent bystanders each driver is given a few extra points towards their victory.  Special Bonuses are awarded to dead children & the elderly.  Yes, before Grand Theft Auto there was Death Race 2000.  A real sick puppy, but funny as heck if you're blessed with a dark heart.

4. Open Season on the L.A. Freeway (L.A. Story):  Steve Martin's struggles in the land of weird are painful in their comedic attack, but no scene is as uncomfortable or as a accurate than the First Day of Spring in Los Angeles.  Martin's wacky weatherman with delusions of grandeur finds himself trapped on the LA Freeway, and his petty arguments must take a break for gunplay.  Thankfully he's got his revolver in the glove box and he can fend for himself as those around him discharge their hate upon his car.  Damn funny, but real sick humor.

3.  Popeye Doyle's Train Chase (The French Connection):  You can't talk about car chases without talking about the granddaddy of them all.  Gene Hackman's narcotics cop attempts to pursue a suspect after he's boarded the New York Subway.  The Detective nearly kills half a dozen people as he rams his Pontiac through garbage dumps and takes to sidewalks.  The brilliance is not the chase itself, but how it represents Doyle's reckless anger; all he has in life is the pursuit and it really doesn't matter what good or bad comes from it.

2.  Stuntman Mike's Collision Course (Death Proof):  As the second half of the ambitious Grindhouse, Death Proof is easily my least favorite entry in Quentin Tarantino's directorial canon (yes, that includes Four Rooms & that episode of CSI he helmed), but the one thing its got going for itself is that horrendous crackup at the center of the film.  While terrorizing Rose McGowan in the passenger seat, Kurt Russel's Stuntman Mike drives his tricked out death machine right into oncoming traffic.  His victim, the self centered Jungle Julia & her drunk cronies.  Tires go through faces, legs are ripped from windows, glass cuts through throats.  It is withoutadoubt the most graphic car crash ever put on screen. And it's essential viewing for driver's ed classes everywhere. Grisly, nasty stuff.

1.  Mad Max's Decoy (The Road Warrior):  You could easily snatch 6 or 7 great moments of road rage from this film or the original Mad Max, but the king daddy of tarmac warfare has to go to Lord Humungus' climactic tanker assault.  It is a breakneck chase, with Max behind the wheel attempting to swerve villains off the road and jamming his shotgun in their faces when they get to close to the bucket.  Director George Miller is a madman himself, putting his camera right up on the whiplashing action and at any moment the viewer feels like they too could plummet to their own road rashing death.

--Brad

Dork Art: Mad Max 2

Tommy Good is at it again with these already Sold Out Mad Max 2 prints from Rhys Cooper.  And yeah, they're badass.

--Brad

Alamo's Summer of '82!

Alamo Drafthouse is cooking up something special for Texas.  Starting in May, they'll relive the greatest summer run of genre films to ever hit cinemas:  1982.  We're talking Conan The Barbarian, Road Warrior, Rocky III, Poltergeist, Star Trek II, E.T., The Thing, Blade Runner (hopefully, rights pending), and Tron.  And before each movie will be trailers specially catered to the era and film.  So cool.

Man oh man.  Don't you wish you lived in Texas.  But us DC residents don't have to be glum for too much longer.  An Alamo Drafthouse is currently underway to be up & running in 2013.  Hopefully, we'll be attending bitchin' events like this next year.



--Brad

Dork Art: The Road Warrior

Check out the fairly brilliant print for The Road Warrior by the WonderBros.  Lord Humongous would be proud.

--Brad

Dork Art: Bargain Bin Collected

You can have the above print by Gimetzco by simply popping over to Soceity 6's website and plopping down just $32 bucks.  I love this amalgam of EC Comics sensibility and cult film.  My favorite, of course, is the Road Warrior image.  Thanks to Posterocalypse for blowing up the images.

--Brad