Sean’s movie thoughts

 The John Wick spin-off The Ballerina is called, at least on the trailer, From the World of John Wick the Ballerina. That just seems tacky. If I go to see it at a theater I am not saying “From the World of John Wick” when asking for the ticket. I will buy the ticket at a self-service machine if need be to avoid saying that. There is a movie called Master Z Ip Man Legacy. That title feels a bit better. Maybe it is because the actor and his character appeared in Ip Man 3. The title does not seem tacky. Master Z is a good film. I hope the Ballerina is good. Maybe it will be good but it will at least have Ian McShane to bring class/gravitas to the project. The trailer looked decent at least. How large a role Keanu Reeves has in this is unknown at this time. This takes place between John Wick chapters 3 and 4. It was nice to see Lance Riddick even briefly in the trailer. I still don’t know if John Wick  chapter four needed more of Riddick. Maybe he was in it was much as he was in t...

I have a backlog of movies to rewatch, and it is football season. There are some movies I have not seen in 10 to 15 years. However, I wonder if I should give Rebel Moon another chance. I tried the first one and I lost interest after an hour or less. I am not a fan of this director Zack Snyder (Man of Steel is a bad Superman movie) but some people are and I have Netflix, maybe I should give Rebel Moon another chance. I looked at my review of the first Rebel Moon and I wrote that I liked hearing Anthony Hopkins as the robot. That might have been the only thing I liked about it, I cannot think of another at a moment. That is not a lot for a 100 million dollar movie. I like, maybe even love, Battle Beyond the Stars. Battle Beyond the Stars is the original Star Wars meets the Magnificent Seven. I have called Rebel Moon “Battle Beyond the Stars without the charm”. 

This is the sequel to One Shot. Enough will be explained if you have not seen One Shot. A terrorist suspect is going to be handed to the CIA for interrogation. However some mercenaries take over the airport where the exchange will take place.  I thought this was good. It is nice to see Tom Bringer in a supporting role. Michael Jai White is one of the mercenaries, and he and Adkins get to square off. This is not revolutionary but I thought the action was good. A couple of the supporting performances were really good. https://www.blu-ray.com/One-More-Shot/1785254/#Review I liked that review.  I think this film is worth checking out. I might watch it again before the year is out.

This is an old movie, maybe early 90s. Stephen Dorrf stars as a high school student obsessed with a cheerleader. He teams up with Michael Dudikoff’s Mac when the cheerleader, Ginny, is kidnapped.  I am not claiming this is a lost classic. It is not lost and not a classic. I would say it is underrated but maybe it is not well known enough to be underrated. It was a fun action comedy. I know Dudikoff from the American Ninja movies, so I probably like this movie more than someone who isn’t a fan of that series. I also liked his film the Platoon Leader (which is a budget Platoon).  I thought Dudikoff and Dorrf had a good chemistry. I have seen Dudikoff  in five or six other films over the years, and this might the only one where he plays a father figure. The movie might be a bit corny but not overly corny. I might watch this again next year. There was one cliche that I am surprised the movie did not use. 

 I have no interest in seeing Deadpool and Wolverine. At least not yet. This could, and probably will, change at some point.  Maybe I am a bit actioned out and need to watch a couple of romantic comedies. It feels like a while since I watched a romantic comedy. It feels like the last romantic comedy I saw was the one with Lucy Hale and Nat Woolf. I liked that one. Or maybe I keep hoping that the Salem’s Lot remake will come out soon, I feel like I’ve been waiting for it for a long time. I am still a little disappointed that film is not going to theaters. I am glad Deadpool and Wolverine is making money. That should kill a few articles about how superhero movies are in a slump. (I suspect those articles will come back if the new Superman flops in 2025. Sigh.) Oh well, I will probably see Deadpool and Wolverine before the year ends.

This is a good movie if you like Bloodfist and Bloodsport. It stars some actors from that era such as Billy Blanks, Cynthia Rothrock, and Kurt McKinney. A rich man is holding a kumite and he has fighters kidnapped and forced to participate. He has a champion who looks unbeatable. The fight scenes are fun. Some are better than others but I don’t think any fight scene was subpar. There is one female fighter. It is a bit odd that there is not another female fighter.  It was nice to see Blanks acting again. It has been a while. Maybe he never made a classic movie but some of his old films like Talons of the Eagle and Showdown hold up.  He made a couple of movies with Rowdy Roddy Piper and I think I saw them both. The male lead here is better in fights than in the non fighting scenes but  he has a likable screen persona. Another actor in the cast might made a better lead but I still enjoyed the movie. If you have no nostalgia for Bloodsport or Bloodfist or similar films, perha...

 I liked Life After Fighting. This film is set in Australia. Actor Brent Foster directed and wrote this movie. He stars as a former professional fighter named Alex who now teaches martial arts. He gets involved with a student’s parent, probably not the wisest idea. She has a ex-husband, who seems like a bad guy. Two girls, one is the daughter of a woman who works for Alex, are kidnapped. The plotting is not great. Perhaps the movie is 30 minutes longer than it needs to be. There is one subplot the movie could have (and maybe should have) dropped .  Foster is likable in the lead role and the last thirty or forty minutes are amazing as Alex fights the villains as they invade his dojo.  The last 30 or 40 minutes are as almost as good as the last act of City of Violence. If you have never seen the City of Violence, you might not appreciate this comment but I really like the City of Violence. I am not familiar with Foster but if he gets to make another movie, I’d be really int...