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First Strike (1996)
They thought they possessed the ultimate weapon. They hadn't counted on Jackie Chan.
Filmmaker(s): Stanley Tong

Hong Kong cop Chan Ka-Kui returns, working with Interpol to track down and arrest an illegal weapons dealer. Chan later realizes that things are not as simple as they appear and soon finds himself to be a pawn of an organization posing as Russian intelligence.

Step by Step Watching Jackie movies is sometimes a real challenge, especially the English language ones. This barely qualifies as English, but is the best one. What he does with ordinary objects is absolutely amazing. There’s a classic ladder bit here. Ignore the plot —...
Published May 13, 2022
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JFK (1991)
The story that won't go away.
Filmmaker(s): Oliver Stone

Follows the investigation into the assassination of President John F. Kennedy led by New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrison.

Conspiracy of the Simple I have my own theory about film. There is always an explicit acknowledgement that what you are seeing is a film, distinct from reality. Many films incorporate that recognition into their being; the simple ones are just films about films and...
Published May 13, 2022
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Army of the Dead (2021)
Survivors take all.
Filmmaker(s): Zack Snyder

Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble: venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

Legionnaire’s Disease I was completely taken by “Sucker Punch”: layered, visually imaginative. Narrative ambiguity and engineered parallel causality. “300” on the other hand seemed an unadorned testosterone arc. In both cases, the visual composition was notable, in terms of mastery of rhythm. This is more...
Published May 13, 2022
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Wandavision (2021)
Experience a new vision of reality.
Filmmaker(s): Martin Ťapák

Wanda Maximoff and Vision—two super-powered beings living idealized suburban lives—begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.

Humans vs Robots I work in military AI. As in ordinary domains where AI is applied, we have two camps. One is smitten with the future of what AI can do, and foresee a day where nearly everything we do as humans can be done...
Published May 13, 2022
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Extraordinary Measures (2010)
Don't hope for a miracle. Make one.
Filmmaker(s): Tom Vaughan

Working-class father John Crowley is finally on the fast track to corporate success when his two young children are diagnosed with Pompe disease—a condition that prevents the body from breaking down sugar. With the support of his wife, John ditches his career and teams with unconventional specialist, Dr. Robert Stonehill to found a bio-tech company and develop a cure in time to save the lives of his children. As Dr. Stonehill works tirelessly to prove the theories that made him the black sheep of the medical community, a powerful bond is forged between the two unlikely allies.

Dying You can see the pitch: real life, dying children, desperate father, two bankable actors who have made money in action movies but who sputter otherwise. In other words, there is no intent to put anything of value into this: it intends to milk us...
Published May 13, 2022
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The GrandMaster (2013)
In Martial Arts there is no right or wrong, only the last man standing.
Filmmaker(s): Wong Kar-wai

Ip Man's peaceful life in Foshan changes after Gong Yutian seeks an heir for his family in Southern China. Ip Man then meets Gong Er who challenges him for the sake of regaining her family's honor. After the Second Sino-Japanese War, Ip Man moves to Hong Kong and struggles to provide for his family. In the mean time, Gong Er chooses the path of vengeance after her father was killed by Ma San.

Uppercut I’ve been in training of a sort and unable to view serious movies, so it was difficult to arrange for this, and the anticipation built. Now I regret not having prepared better. Filmmaking for me is calligraphy on water. A filmmaker’s art can be...
Published May 13, 2022
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Haywire (2011)
They left her no choice
Filmmaker(s): Steven Soderbergh

A black ops soldier seeks payback after she is betrayed and left for dead.

Needles I saw this years ago and could not find anything useful to say about it. I saw it again because I am trying to understand what Soderbergh is doing with his life. He worries me because I have invested part of my life to...
Published May 13, 2022
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Vantage Point (2008)
8 strangers. 8 points of view. 1 truth.
Filmmaker(s): Pete Travis

The attempted assassination of the American president is told and re-told from several different perspectives.

Unbraided Gosh what a seductive idea. Gosh what a spasm of waste. The problem is that clever ideas were borrowed and spliced together with no annealing. So we have this business of recorded movies and the movie we watch overlap. The movies within are by...
Published May 13, 2022
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The Illusionist (2006)
Nothing is what it seems
Filmmaker(s): Neil Burger

With his eye on a lovely aristocrat, a gifted illusionist named Eisenheim uses his powers to win her away from her betrothed, a crown prince. But Eisenheim's scheme creates tumult within the monarchy and ignites the suspicion of a dogged inspector.

Flight Club We know what’s coming with this and we even know how. At least I think most viewers will. It is a con movie, but with more explicit folding. In the usual con genre, there is a mark who is fooled along with us...
Published May 13, 2022
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21 Grams (2003)
How much does life weigh?

Paul Rivers, an ailing mathematician lovelessly married to an English émigré; Christina Peck, an upper-middle-class suburban housewife and mother of two girls; and Jack Jordan, a born-again ex-con, are brought together by a terrible accident that changes their lives.

Every Hair on your Head One of the key things a storyteller needs to decide is the tense of the story. Is it something that happened in the past, is happening now or will/could happen? Each of these bestows riches on a film and we...
Published May 13, 2022
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