1/1/10
Star Wars
The 1977 original! The one where Han shot first! B-Movie? You betcha! Check out sets, the plot, and delicious evilness oozing out of the bad guys. George Lucas is a big film buff and this is a tip of the hat to multiple genres, including some Japanese classics and WWII flying Ace movies.
1/8/10
True Lies
From 1994 comes this action comedy, directed by James Cameron, with actual Middle Eastern Islamic terrorist bad guys with nuclear weapons! Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tom Arnold, Tia Carrere and Tom Paxton lead the casting, and are clearly having fun with this James Cameron flick.
1/15/10
Confessions Of An Action Star
Classic low budget B-Movie mockumentary film from 2005. It "documents" the career of major action star Frank Sledge. Starting from his humble beginnings as a dancer, don't laugh, David Carradine knew absolutely zero martial arts when he landed the lead role in Kung Fu. He got the part based on his skill as a dancer and the fact that he wasn't Chinese. There is also fun poked at Steven Seagal's films, who, while an actually highly trained and experienced martial artist, had no acting background when he did his first feature film (Above the Law). This is complete with delightful cameos by actual actors talking about their work with Frank Sledge.
1/22/10
Chocolate
So-so story, slow start, and then really cool martial arts action. Yanin Vismitananda stars as Zen, the mildly retarted girl who learns kung fu by watching movies. She doesn't have many lines, but oh, she kicks a lot of ass. The fights played tribute to Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan movies. There is even a battle between her and another autistic kung fu fighter. Not very PC, but frag it, it was really well done.
2/5/10
Forbidden Planet
This SciFi classic hit the screen in 1956. It had a very good cast, including Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, and Leslie Nielsen as the dashing young spaceship Captain. It was also the first time Robbie the Robot was seen! Beware the Creatures of the Id!