So, one year before Casino Royale, xXx is back. Vin Diesel is not, but yeah, the Franchise soldiers on. Although both Diesel and Rob Cohen were both signed on, they eventually dropped out. In a bit of irony, the film is directed by the director of Die Another Day, Lee Tamahori. Replacing Diesel’s Xander Cage as the new xXx is Ice Cube’s Darius Stone.
Samuel L. Gibson’s Gibbons is back in charge, and they face a situation that requires someone tougher than Cage. That is Darius Stone. Stone is a highly decorated Marine who tried standing up to his corrupt commanding officer and was locked up for it. Stone is pretty much a one man army, as evidenced by his prison escape.
It turns out, his former CO is part of a dark plot that needs Stone, as xXx, to take him and his cronies down. And that is pretty much it. Like it’s predecessor, State of the Union is mostly a showcase for outrageous stunts and action sequences. And snappy comebacks. Ice Cube is always reliable for attitude fueled quips.
The film was very obviously setting itself up for a sequel, setting the franchise up to have a different actor in the role each film. This seems like a setup of necessity. This is a serviceable sequel with the expected performances from it’s cast. If you are looking for deep espionage, xXx: State of the Union is not going to be all that satisfying. It is, however, a pretty fun popcorn action spy movie.
Vin Diesel was a star on the rise. 2000 to 2002 really cemented him as a certain type of action star. He had a hit with the Fast and the Furious. He followed up with the action spy thriller xXx. The film re-teamed Diesel with his The Fast and the Furious Director Rob Cohen.
At the time when Disney was still experiencing their 2D Renaissance, Tim Burton and Director Henry Selick brought us this stop motion classic.
Disney decided to make the series a Trilogy. Well, at least until they come up with a Santa Clause 4 or maybe a series reboot with Chris Hemsworth as Scott Calvin. In this film, we are introduced to Jack Frost, who feels like the most under appreciated of the Legendary Figures. He schemes to find a way to be famous and sets his site on the throne of Santa Clause.
The Santa Clause 2 takes place about eight to ten years into Scott’s run as Santa Claus. He is informed that somehow a Clause has been missed. The Mrs. Clause. Scott needs to find a wife before Christmas. And to top it off, his teen son Charlie is on the naughty list.
At the height of Tim Allen’s power, he was tapped by Disney for this family comedy. Surprisingly, it is not simply a transplant of the Tim Taylor character into a movie. Scott Calvin is, in fact, a very effective toy executive. But as a father, he is not so successful. When his ex-wife and her husband drop Scott’s son Charlie off for Christmas Eve, Charlie asks if he has to stay. Scott struggles to make the night fun for Charlie, but he does a pretty terrible job. Fatherhood feels like a distant skill for him.
Taking it’s plot from about two sentences of Star Wars: A New Hopes Opening Scrawl, this Star Wars Story focuses on the Rebels who got the Death Star plans carried by R2-D2. Focusing on Jyn Erso, daughter of a brilliant engineer, Rogue One follows her forced recruitment by the Rebel Alliance in an attempt to get the information. Along with her father, Erso has another connection the Alliance wants to take advantage of. After escaping the clutches of the Empire, Jyn was raised for a time by Saw Gerrera. The Alliance parted ways with him over his extremism, but feel they now need his help.
EC was the controversial publisher of crime and horror comics in the 1950’s. The comics code kind of killed them. Funny enough, the EC Comics stories were very “moral”. Each story involved people doing evil and getting their comeuppance. In 1972 there was a film based on the comics, adapting the stories. And All Through the House was included in the anthology…it was a very serious affair with Joan Collins. It is extremely serious. In 1989, HBO brought the Crypt Keeper to the television scream, I mean, screen. Using popular actors of the time (episodes featured Tom Hanks, Arnold Schwarzenegger and John Lithgow, among others). Some were big stars, some were rising stars, some waning and some unknowns who were discovered much later. It was a popular show that was eventually brought to the networks (albeit in an edited format) through syndication.
Tales from the Darkside was a creation of George Romero. It ran for four seasons, with each episode being half an hour. It was a more horror themed take on the Twilight Zone.
Of all the movies I have watched for this series, this Finnish production is the best of the lot. It is a terrific and creative movie. In the Korvatunturi Mountains two young boys spy on an excavation mission to locate the grave of Santa Claus. Pietari is concerned by this, as he still believes in Santa Claus. But he finds books in the attic telling the truth about Santa Claus. Santa and the Krampus are the same myth. Santa is not a perversion of sainthood here, but rather, a strange and frightening creature, long buried in the mountains. The excavation is a plan to raid the tomb of Santa.
Tripping Through Gateways 