You Can't Keep a Good Damme Down

3 years ago Jean-Claude Van Damme showed audiences he wasn’t quite ready to just make crap and appeared in a film called WAKE OF DEATH. It was a tale of brutal revenge and allowed Van Damme to truly emote. Seriously, it was quite good. Since then he’s made a couple of forgettable flicks but now he’s back to flexing his acting chops with UNTIL DEATH which comes to DVD tomorrow. It’s the story of a heroin-addicted cop who winds up in a coma and eventually comes out of it to correct his life’s biggest mistakes.

I haven’t seen UNTIL DEATH but I’m looking forward to it for a couple of reasons. First, I’m a sucker for films about crooked cops. From NARC to TRAINING DAY to even DARK BLUE it’s always fun to watch an actor revel in portraying corruption in law enforcement. In addition to that Van Damme’s nemesis is played by Stephen Rea who’s had memorable roles in THE CRYING GAME and INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE. I’d say Rea was slumming by doing a Van Damme film but he was in FEAR DOT COM. It’s impossible to slum after that.

Early reviews I’ve read have been positive but they all seem to be shocked at the lack of martial arts on display by Van Damme in this one. I for one welcome his desire to change things up a bit and not rely on his old bag of tricks. Unless of course the movie blows in which case I’ll crucify it for not having enough flying side kicks.

Hot Fuzz In Los Angeles

About two weeks ago, I was lucky enough to get tickets to a special triple feature at the Aero in Los Angeles. The headlining feature was Edgar Wright's "Hot Fuzz", followed by "Point Break" and "Hard Boiled". Now, if you are reading this and you haven't seen "Shaun of the Dead" yet, I suggest you go watch it right now. Wright, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost created an instant classic with SotD. They managed to make a spot-on homage to classic Romero zombie flicks that was also a very accessible comedy for regular moviegoer. That was probably one of the most impressive things I remember about SotD. I am not a huge zombie movie fan, but I absolutely loved the movie.

Now, the trio's second effort "Hot Fuzz" tackles a genre that I am very familiar with...the American buddy cop movie. I was a little curious what kind of film this was actually going to be. Was it going to be a total spoof of the genre? A parody? Or a its own self-sufficient movie? It turns out its all 3. I am not even sure how to classify the movie besides calling it a comedy. Obviously, Wright and Co. love the classics e.g. Lethal Weapon, Die Hard, etc but they didn't do the easy thing and just spoof those movies like the underrated "National Lampoons: Loaded Weapon 1".

Simon Pegg plays "Nicolas Angel", a London supercop, who is sent to the countryside because he is making everyone else look bad. He befriends another guy on the force, "Danny Butterman (Frost)" and the hijinx ensue. The plot in itself takes such a ludicrous turn near the climax that I don't want to spoil any of it for you. The movie itself starts out as a slow burn, but covers a lot of the classic story beats from cop movies. There is even some homo-erotic tension between Angel and Butterman that is played up for some good comic effect. You might get a little anxious about an hour in because the action quotient is basically non-existent, but its all building up to one of the wildest finales in movie history. After you see the last 20 minutes, it just makes you love everything about the movie a million times more.

"Hot Fuzz" singles out "Point Break" and "Bad Boys II" most obviously as examples of cliche cop work in movies. I think being familiar with both films before watching Fuzz will make you appreciate it infinitely more. Frankly, I can probably guarantee fans of the action classics from the 80s and 90s will instantly fall in love with this film. But like "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" doesn't require any outside film knowledge. It is just a well made film that will have you laughing all the way through the end even if you don't know how "radical a dude" Johnny Utah maybe.

"Hot Fuzz" opens TOMORROW, April 20th!

P.S. After the screening of "Hot Fuzz", we were treated to a Q&A with a panel that included Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg, Edgar Frost, and Sir Timothy Dalton (who is freaking brilliant in this film as well). We found out some interesting tidbits about how they managed to get such a cavalcade of British TV and Movie stars into the film. We also find out that "Dirty Harry" is probably Edgar Wright's fave cop film, and everyone in the panel thought "Bad Boys II"'s second ending that had them rampaging through Cuba was as ridiculous and stupid as I thought it was.

Stone Cold Mania Begins

Usually if I write about a new DVD it’s a day or two before it’s released. Well I’m going to make an exception to that rule. That exception is STONE COLD.

If you’re not familiar with STONE COLD then your life must be in shambles. Allow me to fill you in. It was former football “star” Brian Bosworth’s major big screen chance at movie stardom. The Boz portrayed Joe Huff, a lawman given the assignment to infiltrate a murderous biker gang named The Brotherhood. The Brotherhood is made up of many colorful characters with colorful names, most notably the gang’s leader Chains (Lance Henriksen) and his right hand man Ice (William Forsythe). Bosworth’s undercover journey is full of many ups and downs and along the way every vehicle you can imagine is destroyed. That’s a lie, no hydrofoils are destroyed.

For years STONE COLD has flown under the digital radar. If someone was inclined, me for instance, they could track down a bootleg but it just wasn’t the same. Finally the folks at MGM have realized the gem they’ve been sitting on and have decided to release this opera of mayhem on June 12th.

I know what you’re saying to yourself. “What are we supposed to do for the next two months while we wait for STONE COLD to come out on DVD?” I’m glad you asked. To pass the time you can visit a site dedicated to appreciating the film. At this site you can access a couple clips from the movie, get a rundown of the main characters, and view a detailed account of the product placement found in the film. Visit the site by clicking here.

So Close!!!

I cannot wait for tonight's episode of "24" to end. No, I'm not really interested in whether Jack Bauer has found more mentally challenged people to help him save the world. But once "24" ends tonight it will be 10 PM. That means we will be within one day until a new season of "The Shield."

The wait for this show has been brutal. Not just because of how great it is but because of the powerful punch in the nuts that they gave the audience in their final episode last year. Obviously they're not going to immediately tie up all the loose ends right off the bat. I wouldn't want that. But it's going to be a real relief to see the gang breaking the rules at the Barn again.

Oh, and if you haven't heard Carl Weathers will make a return appearance as Vic Mackey's former partner at some point this season. Can this show be any better?