Matt Edwards Dec 14, 2017
As action comedy thriller Jean-Claude Van Johnson arrives on Amazon Prime Video, Matt looks at the history of action movie star satire...
In the new Amazon series Jean-Claude Van Johnson, action star Jean-Claude Van Damme attempts to relaunch his career by playing a fictionalised version of himself. In the show, Jean-Claude goes to Bulgaria to star in a movie which has been set-up to allow him to undertake covert missions for the agency as his alter-ego name Jean-Claude Van Johnson.
See related The Oa: 10 questions (sort of) answered The Oa: Netflix renews for season 2 Netflix's The Oa: spoiler-free review
This might all seem a bit familiar, for a couple of reasons. Of course, it’s not the first time that hyper-flexible jaw-punter Van Damme has relaunched his career by playing a fictionalised version of himself. 2008's excellent Jcvd, where he plays a down-on-his-luck version of himself who...
As action comedy thriller Jean-Claude Van Johnson arrives on Amazon Prime Video, Matt looks at the history of action movie star satire...
In the new Amazon series Jean-Claude Van Johnson, action star Jean-Claude Van Damme attempts to relaunch his career by playing a fictionalised version of himself. In the show, Jean-Claude goes to Bulgaria to star in a movie which has been set-up to allow him to undertake covert missions for the agency as his alter-ego name Jean-Claude Van Johnson.
See related The Oa: 10 questions (sort of) answered The Oa: Netflix renews for season 2 Netflix's The Oa: spoiler-free review
This might all seem a bit familiar, for a couple of reasons. Of course, it’s not the first time that hyper-flexible jaw-punter Van Damme has relaunched his career by playing a fictionalised version of himself. 2008's excellent Jcvd, where he plays a down-on-his-luck version of himself who...
- 12/11/2017
- Den of Geek
Every week, IndieWire asks a select handful of TV critics two questions and publishes the results on Tuesday. (The answer to the second, “What is the best show currently on TV?” can be found at the end of this post.)
This week’s question: Which is your favorite scripted TV show about sports? Old and current shows are fair game.
June Thomas (@junethomas), Slate
I was a big fan of the Freeform show “Make It or Break It,” about the lives of a group of elite gymnasts working toward their dream of competing in the Olympics. Even typing that sentence, I know how hokey it sounds, and yes, it touched on all the clichés about women’s gymnastics – eating disorders, overburdened parents, inappropriate relationships with coaches – but you know what, all those things bubble up in the real sport with depressing regularity.
The show had more than its fair share...
This week’s question: Which is your favorite scripted TV show about sports? Old and current shows are fair game.
June Thomas (@junethomas), Slate
I was a big fan of the Freeform show “Make It or Break It,” about the lives of a group of elite gymnasts working toward their dream of competing in the Olympics. Even typing that sentence, I know how hokey it sounds, and yes, it touched on all the clichés about women’s gymnastics – eating disorders, overburdened parents, inappropriate relationships with coaches – but you know what, all those things bubble up in the real sport with depressing regularity.
The show had more than its fair share...
- 10/24/2017
- by Hanh Nguyen
- Indiewire
It’s ugly, it’s violent, it’s graphic novelist Frank Miller’s nasty vision through and through. Scream Factory’s Collector’s Edition brings out the amazing backstory of the production of this stop-motion- intensive first sequel to RoboCop. Druglord Caine is a menace, but we’re just as appalled by the film’s vivid depiction of a greater terror: Predatory Privatization.
RoboCop 2
Blu-ray
Shout! Factory / Scream Factory
1990 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 117 min. / Collector’s Edition / Street Date March 21, 2011 / 34.93
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Robert DoQui, Tom Noonan, Gabriel Damon, Belinda Bauer, Felton Perry.
Cinematography: Mark Irwin
Production Design: Peter Jamison
Original Music: Leonard Rosenman
Special Effects: Phil Tippett, Rob Bottin, Peter Kuran, Rocco Gioffre.
Written by Frank Miller, Walon Green from characters created by Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner
Produced by Jon Davison
Directed by Irvin Kershner
I wish I could say that 1990’s RoboCop 2 has been...
RoboCop 2
Blu-ray
Shout! Factory / Scream Factory
1990 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 117 min. / Collector’s Edition / Street Date March 21, 2011 / 34.93
Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O’Herlihy, Robert DoQui, Tom Noonan, Gabriel Damon, Belinda Bauer, Felton Perry.
Cinematography: Mark Irwin
Production Design: Peter Jamison
Original Music: Leonard Rosenman
Special Effects: Phil Tippett, Rob Bottin, Peter Kuran, Rocco Gioffre.
Written by Frank Miller, Walon Green from characters created by Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner
Produced by Jon Davison
Directed by Irvin Kershner
I wish I could say that 1990’s RoboCop 2 has been...
- 3/12/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Back in 1987 fans of G.I. Joe got an animated film that has gone on to become a pretty divisive movie during a time which was probably the height of the popularity for the G.I. Joe brand. Much like the Transformers animated film from the previous year it can quite plainly be seen as a feature length commercial for a new wave, maybe even a generation of characters. I was overseas as a kid when it was released and when one of my friends got this on VHS it was Huge news in my circle, a part of a close knit U.S. military community in Italy. Back then it was just awesome and when you click it on now you realize that the intro remains one of the best in cartoon history. Yes, there was a time when you watched this and afterwards you wanted and waited for a Pythona figure,...
- 4/28/2015
- by Jay Tomio
- Boomtron
Feature Ryan Lambie 25 Jul 2013 - 07:45
Is it possible to tame the infamously violent RoboCop for a PG-13 rating, like next year's remake? And if so, what would be left of it?
Nb: This article contains strong language and references to violent scenes, and is therefore rated R.
"Lose the arm". If there's one moment that, for me, sums up the tone of Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop, it's this one. Having been shot to death by a gang of sociopathic criminals, the still-twitching remains of Detroit cop Alex Murphy are swept up by the Omni Consumer Products Corporation, who begin the process of turning him into a cyborg.
During the latter stages of the procedure - shot entirely from Murphy's point of view - we see Ocp exec Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) strut into view and begin arguing with a scientist over the specimen lying before him. The scientist is...
Is it possible to tame the infamously violent RoboCop for a PG-13 rating, like next year's remake? And if so, what would be left of it?
Nb: This article contains strong language and references to violent scenes, and is therefore rated R.
"Lose the arm". If there's one moment that, for me, sums up the tone of Paul Verhoeven's RoboCop, it's this one. Having been shot to death by a gang of sociopathic criminals, the still-twitching remains of Detroit cop Alex Murphy are swept up by the Omni Consumer Products Corporation, who begin the process of turning him into a cyborg.
During the latter stages of the procedure - shot entirely from Murphy's point of view - we see Ocp exec Bob Morton (Miguel Ferrer) strut into view and begin arguing with a scientist over the specimen lying before him. The scientist is...
- 7/23/2013
- by ryanlambie
- Den of Geek
Today is the 25th anniversary of "Die Hard," a movie that forever changed the landscape of American action filmmaking. Director John McTiernan brought in European sensibilities and fluid camera movements that were unheard of at the time, adding an artistic edge and much-needed stylistic flourishes to a genre largely defined by hulking he-men and an almost complete lack of aesthetic embroidery (seriously — look at other action movies from 1988 and try not to fall asleep). It was as much a game changer as "Avatar," but never heralded as such; instead it was quietly acknowledged as an admirable achievement while its artistic merits went largely unheralded.
In honor of the film's anniversary, we thought we'd run down ten things that you probably don't know about "Die Hard," a movie whose legendary status was recently cemented when an entire wall of the Fox lot was painted up to resemble the sequence where Bruce Willis...
In honor of the film's anniversary, we thought we'd run down ten things that you probably don't know about "Die Hard," a movie whose legendary status was recently cemented when an entire wall of the Fox lot was painted up to resemble the sequence where Bruce Willis...
- 7/15/2013
- by Drew Taylor
- NextMovie
"Little did I realise that what began in the alleys and back ways
of this quiet town would end in the Badlands of Montana."
Terrence Malick dabbled in philosophy lecturing, journalism and Hollywood script doctoring before deciding to leap behind the camera in the early '70s with a crime drama ripped straight from the headlines. In 1958 Charles Starkweather tore across the heartlands of America, 14-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate in tow, on a killing spree that took 11 lives. The murders came to an end in Douglas, Wyoming, and Starkweather was eventually executed by electric chair with Fugate serving 17 years in prison.
Malick's lovers-on-the-lam film Badlands shared more than a passing resemblance with the Starkweather story, along with Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, a violent, stylish film that arrived like a thunderbolt in 1967 to shake up American cinema. Yet through Malick's eyes this was a more lyrical, quietly disturbing...
of this quiet town would end in the Badlands of Montana."
Terrence Malick dabbled in philosophy lecturing, journalism and Hollywood script doctoring before deciding to leap behind the camera in the early '70s with a crime drama ripped straight from the headlines. In 1958 Charles Starkweather tore across the heartlands of America, 14-year-old girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate in tow, on a killing spree that took 11 lives. The murders came to an end in Douglas, Wyoming, and Starkweather was eventually executed by electric chair with Fugate serving 17 years in prison.
Malick's lovers-on-the-lam film Badlands shared more than a passing resemblance with the Starkweather story, along with Arthur Penn's Bonnie and Clyde, a violent, stylish film that arrived like a thunderbolt in 1967 to shake up American cinema. Yet through Malick's eyes this was a more lyrical, quietly disturbing...
- 2/23/2013
- Digital Spy
The first Chicago bar I drank in was the Old Town Ale House. That bar was destroyed by fire in the 1960s, the customers hosed off, and the Ale House moved directly across the street to its present location, where it has been named Chicago's Best Dive Bar by the Chicago Tribune.
I was taken to the Ale House by Tom Devries, my fellow college editor from the Roosevelt Torch. It was early on a snowy Sunday afternoon. I remember us walking down to Barbara's Bookstore to get our copies of the legendary New York Herald-Tribune Sunday edition. Pogo. Judith Crist. Tom Wolfe. Jimmy Breslin. I remember peanut shells on the floor and a projector grinding through 16mm prints of Charlie Chaplin shorts. I remember my first taste of dark Löwenbräu beer. The Ale House was cool even then.
I returned to the North Avenue drinking scene on New Year's Eve...
I was taken to the Ale House by Tom Devries, my fellow college editor from the Roosevelt Torch. It was early on a snowy Sunday afternoon. I remember us walking down to Barbara's Bookstore to get our copies of the legendary New York Herald-Tribune Sunday edition. Pogo. Judith Crist. Tom Wolfe. Jimmy Breslin. I remember peanut shells on the floor and a projector grinding through 16mm prints of Charlie Chaplin shorts. I remember my first taste of dark Löwenbräu beer. The Ale House was cool even then.
I returned to the North Avenue drinking scene on New Year's Eve...
- 2/18/2013
- by Roger Ebert
- blogs.suntimes.com/ebert
After spending untold amounts of cash on hundreds of dramas and comedies — most of which will never make it to your living rooms — the five broadcast networks will begin announcing in New York next week which projects are good enough to earn a coveted fall pickup. (NBC and Fox will present their fall schedule to advertisers on Monday, followed by ABC on Tuesday, CBS on Wednesday and the CW on Thursday).
Buzz is already strong for several projects (for more on the hot ones, click here). But every year, we always wonder what diamond-in-the-rough was left on the cutting room...
Buzz is already strong for several projects (for more on the hot ones, click here). But every year, we always wonder what diamond-in-the-rough was left on the cutting room...
- 5/10/2011
- by Lynette Rice and James Hibberd
- EW - Inside TV
And they’re off! Casting is all but completed and production has already begun on scores of pilots for the five broadcast networks. But not every comedy and drama will go the distance. Which project has the right stuff? What pilot already has you feeling like you popped a Lunesta? Check out the mammoth slate for fall consideration. (And remember, all projects are whittled down in late April/early May before the nets present their fall slates to advertisers in New York):
CBS
The Doctor (Rina Mimoun, David Nutter). A mother (Christine Lahti) reconnects with her adult children when...
CBS
The Doctor (Rina Mimoun, David Nutter). A mother (Christine Lahti) reconnects with her adult children when...
- 3/23/2011
- by Lynette Rice and James Hibberd
- EW - Inside TV
And on the seventh day, God rested. But not EW’s Big Shill bracket game. Which is apropos when you think about it: Always be selling! Today’s matchups in the advertising mascot throwdown are about as equally matched as they come: In the Creatures Division, you’ve got Hawaiian Punch’s Punchy vs. Kool-Aid Man, and Tony the Tiger vs. Joe Camel (sorry, kids). In the Human and the Human-Like division, it’s a battle between cute children (“the Pepsi Girl” Hallie Kate Eisenberg and Life cereal’s Mikey) and grumpy old men (Dunkin Donuts’ Fred the Baker and Charmin’s Mr.
- 1/11/2011
- by Mandi Bierly
- EW.com - PopWatch
With the biggest, greatest, most over the top action film of all time coming out on 19th August in the form of The Expendables (our review here), HeyUGuys is bringing you the ultimate run down of the kill count that these historic action actors have each tallied up.
From throat rips to decapitations, martial art assassins to robotic killers and Yippee Ki-Yay’s to Asta La Vista’s, they have dealt death in every way possible with every weapon imaginable.
Each death reaches the same conclusion but each actor carries it off in their own unique style, often adding a personal touch. Be it an Arnie verbal send off like “Stick Around” after being stuck with a huge knife against a post or adding some humour by playing games with the baddies like John McClane in Die Hard ” Now I have a machine gun, Ho Ho Ho”. A memorable death...
From throat rips to decapitations, martial art assassins to robotic killers and Yippee Ki-Yay’s to Asta La Vista’s, they have dealt death in every way possible with every weapon imaginable.
Each death reaches the same conclusion but each actor carries it off in their own unique style, often adding a personal touch. Be it an Arnie verbal send off like “Stick Around” after being stuck with a huge knife against a post or adding some humour by playing games with the baddies like John McClane in Die Hard ” Now I have a machine gun, Ho Ho Ho”. A memorable death...
- 8/12/2010
- by Gary Phillips
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The company that has given us countless goodies this year including a bevy of Roger Corman titles along with the resurrection of Gamera, Shout! Factory, is not only one of the first out of the gate with its San Diego Comic-Con news, but Shout! is ready to tackle the show with a vengeance!
From the Press Release
Shout! Factory returns to Comic-Con International San Diego 2010 with a stellar lineup featuring upcoming and current home entertainment juggernauts that will be showcased in a special panel discussion, media appearances, special signings, interactive fan activities and Comic-Con exclusives at the Shout! Factory booth (#3749, main show floor) throughout the convention. Fan favorite filmmakers, creators and select stars from Shout! Factory’s branded properties scheduled to attend include: Roger Corman, Julie Corman, Joe Dante (Piranha, Trailers from Hell, Gremlins), Allan Holzman (Galaxy of Terror, Forbidden World), Sid Haig (Galaxy of Terror, The Devil’s Rejects), Mary Woronov (Death Race 2000,...
From the Press Release
Shout! Factory returns to Comic-Con International San Diego 2010 with a stellar lineup featuring upcoming and current home entertainment juggernauts that will be showcased in a special panel discussion, media appearances, special signings, interactive fan activities and Comic-Con exclusives at the Shout! Factory booth (#3749, main show floor) throughout the convention. Fan favorite filmmakers, creators and select stars from Shout! Factory’s branded properties scheduled to attend include: Roger Corman, Julie Corman, Joe Dante (Piranha, Trailers from Hell, Gremlins), Allan Holzman (Galaxy of Terror, Forbidden World), Sid Haig (Galaxy of Terror, The Devil’s Rejects), Mary Woronov (Death Race 2000,...
- 6/25/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
I was just reading that Corey Haim's family asked for donations to pay the costs of his funeral. Wouldn't he receive residuals from all the movies that he was in, especially the hit ones like The Lost Boys? —McAllen1, via the Answer B!tch inbox Well, sure, he'd get residuals. But so would Gary Coleman, Kim Basinger, Don Johnson, Margot Kidder, Larry King and Burt Reynolds, all of whom, at one time or anther, fell on very high-profile financial hard times. Even still-popular stars like Nic Cage have faced serious money problems—like millions of dollars in owed taxes. So is it all that insane that a former child actor, who publicly discussed an expensive drug habit and who was far...
- 3/17/2010
- E! Online
This morning's Daily TwitPic has absolutely nothing to do with "New Moon." I know that was the weekend highlight for many of you, but no one on the Twitter-Wood feed last Friday seemed will to share pics of their glittered-covered selves. Go figure.
Nonetheless, today's pic made me do a little bit of a double-take. These three guys may have history on television, but they couldn't have come from more different places. There's Larry King of course, armed and dangerous in this pic, and celebrating his birthday party. Then you've got Ryan Seacrest, "American Idol" host and "E! News" fixture. And finally there's Don Johnson. Some of you younger folk might not recognize him, and that's a shame. He was one half of the crime-fighting super-team on "Miami Vice." It's an odd lineup... hit the jump to see it.
Remember to check out Brian Warmoth's Twitter-Wood column every day for...
Nonetheless, today's pic made me do a little bit of a double-take. These three guys may have history on television, but they couldn't have come from more different places. There's Larry King of course, armed and dangerous in this pic, and celebrating his birthday party. Then you've got Ryan Seacrest, "American Idol" host and "E! News" fixture. And finally there's Don Johnson. Some of you younger folk might not recognize him, and that's a shame. He was one half of the crime-fighting super-team on "Miami Vice." It's an odd lineup... hit the jump to see it.
Remember to check out Brian Warmoth's Twitter-Wood column every day for...
- 11/23/2009
- by Adam Rosenberg
- MTV Movies Blog
Oprah's announcement that her show may end its 25-season run in 2011 was almost enough to unseat "New Moon" as the top trending topic of the Twitter-Wood feed today. Kevin Nealon and Wil Wheaton both had a opinions on her possible bow out of syndication, while Eli Roth and Kevin Smith helped keep "Twilight" alive in Twitter conversation.
Two big names celebrated birthdays last night in very public fashion, as P. Diddy entertained a few folks on my follow list and Larry King got a little rowdy in my pick for Twitter Pic of the Day. Check that out after the jump along with Jeremy Piven's Calgary Flames trip and Danny DeVito's wholesome moment with Carrie Fisher. I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is the Twitter-Wood report for November 20, 2009.
Twitter Pic of the Day:
@kingsthings http://twitpic.com/q94op - Who is that masked man? @RyanSeacrest with Don Johnson at my b-day party.
Two big names celebrated birthdays last night in very public fashion, as P. Diddy entertained a few folks on my follow list and Larry King got a little rowdy in my pick for Twitter Pic of the Day. Check that out after the jump along with Jeremy Piven's Calgary Flames trip and Danny DeVito's wholesome moment with Carrie Fisher. I'm @brianwarmoth, and this is the Twitter-Wood report for November 20, 2009.
Twitter Pic of the Day:
@kingsthings http://twitpic.com/q94op - Who is that masked man? @RyanSeacrest with Don Johnson at my b-day party.
- 11/21/2009
- by Brian Warmoth
- MTV Movies Blog
Eric Bana, RZA, Anna Faris also walk the red carpet.
By Larry Carroll
Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen at the "Funny People" premiere in Hollywood on Monday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Hollywood — When your first two movies are "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," it's hard to top yourself. But Monday night at Hollywood's famed Cinerama Dome, Judd Apatow brought some very "Funny People" along to the premiere of his latest directorial effort — and admitted to feeling some extra love for the film's semi-autobiographical characters.
"These are terrible people; we're good people," grinned the filmmaker, who based much of the film on the days when he and Adam Sandler were roommates and struggling comedians. "But there are elements that are similar to us, in that we love comedy and hanging out with comics — and now that we're older, we're trying not to become [Sandler's bitter character] George."
Attendees on the star-studded, somewhat...
By Larry Carroll
Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen at the "Funny People" premiere in Hollywood on Monday
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
Hollywood — When your first two movies are "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up," it's hard to top yourself. But Monday night at Hollywood's famed Cinerama Dome, Judd Apatow brought some very "Funny People" along to the premiere of his latest directorial effort — and admitted to feeling some extra love for the film's semi-autobiographical characters.
"These are terrible people; we're good people," grinned the filmmaker, who based much of the film on the days when he and Adam Sandler were roommates and struggling comedians. "But there are elements that are similar to us, in that we love comedy and hanging out with comics — and now that we're older, we're trying not to become [Sandler's bitter character] George."
Attendees on the star-studded, somewhat...
- 7/21/2009
- MTV Movie News
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