Friday, October 31 2008
Director John Woo takes on China’s greatest literary work and a Western audience
Friday, October 12 2007
Stranglehold
Stranglehold resembles Hard Boiled in that it, like the film, seems largely a series of very pretty, very stylish action sequences unified by only the thinnest veneer of a plot and motivations for characters.
Thursday, September 13 2007
Face/Off
This may be the last time the Woo signatures -- slow-mo gun battles flanked by slo-mo birds; "balletic" leaps through the air; two-man Mexican stand-offs -- were effective in a remotely serious manner
Monday, May 17 2004
Paycheck (2003)
'A true hero,' says John Woo on the commentary track for the Paycheck DVD, 'always reaches out a helping hand to others.'"
Thursday, January 8 2004
Paycheck (2003)
Michael (Ben Affleck) doesn't set out to control anything: he just wants to get paid.
Thursday, June 13 2002
Windtalkers (2002)
Though it might be argued that Nicolas Cage roaring and contorting in slow motion makes for good action cinema, it's hardly the basis for a thoughtful interrogation of how war works, how it shatters (or otherwise forever changes) participants, and reinforces systemic racism.
