Skate or Die (2008) Movie Review
European Movie Reviews, French Movie Reviews — By Gazz Ogden on April 7, 2010
Two pot smoking skaters are out doing something (probably skating), when they stop to have a cheeky puff of the naughty stick. So far, so stoned, until that is, they witness a murder and instead of hiding or running away, they film it on their cameras until they’re spotted. Thus begins an hour and a half long chase in which Seth Rogen and James Franco, I mean Mickey Mahut and Idriss Diop show us how good they are at skateboarding. Which incidentally is really good. Luckily. The film would’ve been over in a second if they were beginners.
That’s all you need to know about “Skate or Die” – it’s one giant chase sequence. Once the set-up is done and dusted, it’s chase after chase after chase after chase – all on skateboards. There’s a skateboard chase through a car park, there’s a skateboard chase through the streets, there’s a skateboard chase across roofs, there’s a skateboard chase through train stations and there’s even a skateboard chase through outer space (ok maybe not the last one, but there might as well have been). It’s all very silly – like why are there ramps on the roof right outside the window out of which they’ve just climbed? Oh so that they can SKATE up them and jump onto the building next door, stupid!
Then if it’s not quite silly enough for you, there’ll be a chase with policemen on roller skates, or one of their friends will pull some roller blades out of nowhere so that she can join in the four-wheeled-fun, or suddenly you’re witness to one of the most completely gratuitous and needless sex scenes you’ll ever encounter. The skaters also posses extra-special boards which enable them to outrun cars and the like, thus allowing the individual sub-chases to last more than the two minutes that they would actually last in real life.
*BUT IT IS STILL QUITE GOOD ACTUALLY*
Yes, somehow it’s still an above average action film. Most likely due to the fact that I think that the filmmakers realised how daft the film they were making was and so nothing is taken too seriously. It should be viewed for what it is – one long action sequence – and if this is up your street, then so is “Skate or Die”. It’s basically an action film in the vein of “Tom Yum Goong” but instead of fight scenes, there’s people doing stunts on skateboards. So make of that what you will.
Handy Ramp No. 1 (Marketplace Ramp)
The exact audience that this will appeal to is the early to mid teenage boy who has just started skateboarding and thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world man and they’re going to be doing it forever and they don’t care about rules and what you say and shut up you can’t tell them what to do and watch this kick-flip. Anyone serious about skateboarding will probably laugh at its blatantly juvenile treatment of the sport – but that’s not to say they won’t enjoy it.
That’s because it’s almost impossible not to enjoy. Yes, it’s childish, yes it’s utterly unrealistic, yes it’s impractical but so what? It’s just as harebrained and ridiculous as many of the blockbusters Hollywood puts out every summer – think of it as the ‘accelerator suit’ scene in “G.I Joe: The Rise of Cobra” stretched to feature length and without rocket launchers, robotic suits or Sienna Miller. And with skateboards.
Handy Ramp No. 36 (Roof Ramp)
On the whole, “Skate or Die” is a surprisingly exciting and unpretentious action movie (with a fantastic soundtrack by the way) that I’m sure will please those that like their action undiluted by exposition. It’s also telling that it comes from France, where Luc Besson seems to be leading the race for these brash, unsubtle and unassuming explosion-filled crash-bang-wallop rodeos, and it seems that there’s others following suit.
If you like the sound of this, it’s good news as “Skate or Die” is the first in a planned franchise covering other unusual methods of transport
, next up is “Pogo Stick or Die”, then “Segway or Die”, followed by finally “Pull Your Trousers up Really High and See How Fast You Can Run Without Bending Your Legs or Die”.
Skate or Die is out on Region 2 DVD on 5th April from Manga Entertainment
Mark Strong Promises a Comic Book-Faithful Sinestro in Green LanternMark Strong Promises a Comic Book-Faithful Sinestro in Green Lantern
Comic Book Movie News, Green Lantern (2011) Movie — By Nix on April 7, 2010
USA Weekend has a brief article on Hollywood’s favorite heavy, Mark Strong. The cinematically mean Brit is currently on location in England filming Disney’s “John Carter of Mars” (he’ll be flying to New Orleans in June to do his Sinestro gig for “Green Lantern” director Martin Campbell), but took time out to reassure fanboys about his comic book-faithful version of Sinestro.
“…for anybody who’s familiar with the Green Lantern and the origin story, the film closely follows the early comics. Sinestro starts out as Hal Jordan’s mentor, slightly suspicious and not sure of him because obviously Hal is the first human being who’s made into a Green Lantern. He’s certainly very strict and certainly unsure of the wisdom of Hal becoming a Green Lantern. He is a military guy but isn’t immediately bad. It’s the kind of person he is that lends himself to becoming bad over the course of the comics being written, but initially he’s quite a heroic figure.”
Strong fights it out with Ryan Reynolds in “Green Lantern” in 2011.
Young Chekov and Young Kyle Reese is the New Charley Brewster in Fright Night RemakeFright Night (Remake, 2011) Movie, Horror Movie News — By Nix on April 6, 2010
Apparently Anton Yelchin is trying to corner the market on playing younger versions of familiar characters in rebooted franchises. First he filled Chekov’s station in the “Star Trek” reboot, then Kyle Reese’s boots in “Terminator Salvation”, and now he’s set to take over the role of Charley Brewster in the “Fright Night” remake. THR reports that Yelchin is currently in negotiations to take the lead in the Craig Gillespie-directed horror/comedy.
In the remake, as in the 1985 original, Charley Brewster is a high school teen who becomes convinced that his new neighbor is a vampire. In order to prove his theory, Charley recruits a washed up actor who used to play a vampire hunter on TV. The actor agrees, mostly because he’s washed up and could use the cash.
William Ragsdale originally played Brewster in the 1985 original.
Alien vs. Ninja: The Coolest Concept Ever Conceived?Alien vs. Ninja (2010) Movie, Asian Movie News, Horror Movie News, Videos — By Todd on April 6, 2010
I wouldn’t put too much stock in that headline, as I tend to get a little excited whenever something like “Alien vs. Ninja” comes barreling down the cinematic highway. Still, the plot is definitely cause for elation — think McTiernan’s “Predator” meets Kitamura’s “Versus” — and the action seems to be suitably cheesy and appropriately bloody. And while you might immediately dismiss the picture as yet another entry in the “people fighting in the woods” genre, one must never forget that the film features ninjas stylishly fighting a homicidal alien hellbent on destroying anything that crosses its gore-encrusted path. Sold!
But Im Gonna Hit