Category Archives: Brian Cox

ActionFest 2 Redux

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Well it’s no secret at my house that I love ActionFest. Every year Carolina Cinemas of Asheville, NC hosts Actionfest, the film festival with a body count. I’ve been to (and thoroughly enjoyed) the first two and am looking forward to ActionFest 3 next spring. Where else can you see a dozen premieres in between watching people set themselves on fire and meeting stars like Michael Jai White (that’s my wife and I below with Mr. Black Dynamite himself).

Half a year later many of the premieres are now on instant Netflix (often thanks to deals with Magnolia Pictures). I’ll just touch briefly on some of them.

Ironclad (2011) – Rated R for strong graphic brutal battle sequences and brief nudity.

Backed by his “Magnificent Seven,” a principled Knight Templar (James Purefoy) defends Rochester Castle from the ruthless King John (Paul Giamatti) and his advancing armies, who seek to rule England’s free men by force — no matter what the Magna Carta might say. Charles Dance, Kate Mara, Jason Flemyng, Brian Cox and Derek Jacobi co-star in this action-packed period piece set at the height of the Middle Ages.

This was the ActionFest 2 premiere film. Ironclad is a lot of fun – the action is wonderful (if cut a bit too frenetically to hide the number of stuntmen), the overall plot is interesting (King John tracking down and destroy copies of the Magna Carta along with the nobles who forced him to sign it), and the movie is filmed at a few real castles.

The cast is great BUT is not used at all well and are saddled with a lot of preposterous dialogue. James Purefoy makes a good action hero and I’d love to see him headline some more films. Paul Giamatti, who I normally like, chews up the scenery as King John. Brian Cox and Derek Jacobi are largely wasted.

Hobo with a Shotgun (2011) – NR – Not rated but either a really strong R or perhaps an NC-17

This gory, gleefully over-the-top revenge fantasy stars Rutger Hauer as the Hobo, a bum who rolls into town hoping to start over, only to find his adopted city saturated in violence and ruled by a vicious crime lord known as the Drake (Brian Downey). The Hobo’s answer? Pick up his handy pump-action scattergun and start laying waste to crooks, corrupt cops and every other lowlife who crosses his path.

“You and me are going on a car ride to hell and you’re riding shotgun”

I actually missed this one at ActionFest because I went to see a reprise of the marvelous Machete introduced by the fight choreographer. Hobo was financed after director Jason Eisener won a best trailer competition for the Canadian release of Grindhouse.

Unfortunately Rutger Hauer is the star. He is actually perfect for the part but having him in the film shows off how truly terrible all the other actors in the film are. This one actually is reminiscent of grindhouse films in that it is poorly scripted and acted and only exists to showoff mayhem (of which there is plenty). Honestly I’d recommend just skipping it and maybe watching the trailer for it (which isn’t bad).

13 Assassins (2010) – Rated R for sequences of bloody violence, some disturbing images and brief nudity.

To stop a tyrant from murdering and exploiting innocent civilians, 13 samurai warriors unite and prepare to end his life. But to kill the evildoer, the assassins must contend with an army of deadly bodyguards who outnumber them by a wide margin. Directed by acclaimed and prolific Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike, this action-packed samurai remake features Yusuke Iseya, Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada and Tsuyoshi Ihara.

One of the joys of Actionfest is catching foreign action films. As long as you don’t mind reading subtitles, 13 Assassins is the best of the instantly available films from ActionFest 2. There is some of Takashi Miike’s trademark body horror on display (somewhat like a Japanese David Cronenberg) but thankfully it is toned down and doesn’t detract from the overall story.

The entire first half of the film is an engaging set up for the unbelievable end battle sequence. The village battle that is the climax of the film runs for almost 40 minutes and is riveting from beginning to end and the two final confrontations ( no spoilers) are actually quite brilliant in execution. I heartily recommend this Samurai film.

Red – Seeing Red week

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I am not now nor have I ever been a communist but this is Seeing Red week. Red is currently available on instant Netflix.

WATCH: Red (2007) – Rated R for violence and language.

“When it becomes apparent that the three teenage miscreants who murdered his dearly loved dog, Red, wont be held accountable for their senseless deed, the normally reclusive and affable Avery Ludlow (Brian Cox) resolves to take matters into his own hands. Trygve Diesen and Lucky McKee direct this disquieting thriller that also stars Tom Sizemore, Robert Englund, Richard Riehle, Noel Fisher and Amanda Plummer.”

“I learned one thing during the war: that you fight with whatever you have got, whatever you can lay your hands on… and you never stop. The minute you do, that is the minute the world rolls right over you.”

First let me say that I have not read any of the Jack Ketchum novels. From what I have seen of the movie versions of The Lost and The Girl Next Door, Ketchum seems to specialize in all the ugliness of the world. Cannibalism, child abuse, rape – everything that makes me feel uncomfortable.

I can certainly see the market in this. These are topics that are way scarier than the Stephen King stories I love because they can really happen. On the other hand a huge part of why I love horror, fantasy, and science fiction so much is because it is not possible (or not possible yet for science fiction). This is much the same as how you can enjoy a rollercoaster (the illusion of danger without actual danger) but not a runaway car with no brakes.

The advantage of the Ketchum tales is that they seem firmly rooted in realism. Suspension of disbelief is not hard because the background to the stories is true. The Girl Next Door is a good film but it is not a pleasant one.

Lucky McKee was originally hired to film this adaptation but was fired after a few weeks (reason not given) and replaced with Trygve Allister Diesen. At the same time Angela Bettis was replaced as Carrie with Kim Dickens. Both Lucky McKee and Trygve Allister Diesen are given credit as director. Trygve is also a producer on Red.

Red works so well because of Brian Cox. He is a great character actor but almost always only has small parts (X-Men 2, The Ring, The Bourne movies). Here he has to carry the whole film on his shoulders. He does a marvelous job. He has to convey determination, fear, anguish, bravery, and bewilderment and manages all of them.

Robert Englund and Amanda Plummer are excellent in very straight roles. They do a very admirable job of avoiding the camp that is usually present in their roles. It is actually a shame that their roles are so brief.

Tom Sizemore does a fine job as Mr. McCormack but it is his normal role. He can sleepwalk through a sleazy role so well that that seems like all he is given any more. His real life antics often amusingly reflect those of some of his characters.

I recommend this grim little revenge thriller for both the realism and the leading performance by Brian Cox. The climax is a little anti-climactic and rushed but overall the film is well done and the portion of the denouement that is not telegraphed is very well-handled.

People Watch: Mrs. McCormack is played by Ashley Laurence. Ashley was Kirsty in Hellraiser, Hellbound: Hellraiser II, and the more recent straight-to-video Hellraiser: Hellseeker.

People Watch 2: Did you know that Brian Cox played Dr. Hannibal Lecter/Lecktor long before Anthony Hopkins? Cox has a supporting role as Lecter in Manhunter.