Casey Chong on the essential action movies from Cannon Films… If you lived through the 80s and 90s era, you’d likely have been familiar with Cannon Films, an indie production company synonymous with low-budget, B-movies that focused on certain niches such as action, martial arts and sci-fi & fantasy. Cannon initially got off to a […]
The Essential Action Movies of the 1980s
Tom Jolliffe with his picks of the essential 1980s action movies… Cheesy, excessive, over the top and funny. Something about the 1980s action movie marks it as the most extravagant, bold and explosive era of the genre. The 90s infused MTV stylistics into the genre and certainly went for a flashier style of shooting and […]
The Essential Action Movies of 1985
Time for a tooling up montage, as we travel back 40 years to look at the essential action movies from 1985… We’re midway through the decade now and I can’t be alone in finding it almost unfathomable that 1985 was 40 years ago. No, not 10, not 20… 40 years ago man! The midpoint of […]
The Essential Cannon Films Scores
Tom Jolliffe looks at some of the best musical scores from Cannon Films’ oeuvre… A good film score can elevate the picture and manipulate the viewer. It can illicit excitement, fear, intrigue, melancholy and more. It’s not uncommon for a film score to become just as legendary an aspect of a particular film as anything […]
An Action Christmas: Ten Action Movies Set At Christmas
Tom Jolliffe offers up ten action films set at Christmas… It’s time to pull your cracker and polish your baubles. Yep, Christmas is upon us. This means a festive period with a watch list of decidedly Christmassy films. By law we’ll all be watching Home Alone, The Snowman and It’s a Wonderful Life. Christmas is […]
Cinema and the End of the World As We Know It
Tom Jolliffe takes a look at cinema’s end of the world fascination… As we sit in the age of Trump (currently unfazed by the plight of climate change, and skating on a sheet of thin ice as far as North Korean relations) and Brexit, aforementioned climate issues, and a general sense that democratic systems aren’t […]
The Essential One Man Army Action Movies
We take a deep dive into the explosive brilliance of the one-man army action movie with ten essentials you have to see… The 1980s were a glorious time for action cinema. They took all the tropes of the Western with near indestructible and stoic heroes taking on hordes of bad guys. They moved completely away […]
An Ode to Chuck Norris
Tom Jolliffe pays tribute to movie legend turned internet meme God Chuck Norris, who recently turned 80… Earlier this month, a cinematic icon turned 80. Likewise, after something of a lull in recent years with Chuck Norris themed ‘facts’ and memes, his internet meme-worthiness has gone through the roof once more in the face of […]
Flagrant Misuse of a Bazooka, the Cannon Films Way
Tom Jolliffe looks back at two action films from Cannon which perfectly encapsulated the company… Those with a working knowledge of Cannon Films, the independent studio cranking out low budget genre fare through the 80’s, before over-extending themselves, will have a pretty good idea of their raison d’etre. After getting footing in the early part […]
The A-Z of Action Movies: I-L
In the latest instalment of our action A-Z, Tom Jolliffe offers up a selection of films from I to L… Coming to a midpoint in our action A-Z, something becomes clear. I have seen way too many action films. Let’s face it, all you need is Die Hard repeated ad nauseam. That said, for carnage […]
