Based on the folk tales Jack the Giant Killer and Jack and the Beanstalk
Story by: Darren Lemke, David Dobkin
Written by: Darren Lemke, Christopher McQuarrie, Dan Studney
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Starring: Nicholas Hault, Ewan McGregor, Stanley Tucci, Eleanor Tomlinson, Ian McShane, Bill Nighy
US Release Date: Friday, March 1, 2013
In Short: A guy called Jack slays giants.
Recommended: Yes and no.
[Jack hesitates while jumping from the beanstalk]
CRAWE: Wanna know a little trick? When I’m afraid I imagine a big piece of cake floating right in front of me.
JACK: Brilliant. Thanks.
CRAWE: Like a reward, …

Based on The Eaters of the Dead by Michael Crichton
Written by: William Wisher, Warren Lewis
Directed by: John McTiernan
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Vladimir Kulich
Movie Marathon: Gods
In Short: Some Norsemen. An Arab. A bunch of crazy folk who eat the dead. Hijinks ensue.
Recommended: Yes.
HERGER: When they come, we form a circle in the center of the room, backs to one another.
IBN: I am not a warrior.
HERGER: Very soon, you will be.
I’m probably going to sound mildly disturbed when I say that The 13th Warrior is a very enjoyable movie. Sure, sure, it can get …

A look at what has made the great man so great for so long.
by Amy Sharma
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger
Born: July 30, 1947 in Thal, Styria, Austria
“You have to remember something: Everybody pities the weak; jealousy you have to earn.”
Oh Arnold. Where to begin? A few years ago, The Daily Show named Charlton Heston “Man of the Century” (good gravy that was in 2000 – I am old!). I wouldn’t go so far as to give that title to Arnold. But he is so versatile of an actor as to be able …

Written by: Skip Woods, Roderick Thorp
Directed by: John Moore
Starring: Bruce Willis, Jai Courtney, Sebastian Koch
In Short: Avoid if at all possible!
Recommended: Die first.
JOHN McCLANE: You wanna hug?
JOHN GENARRO: We’re not a hugging family.
JOHN McCLANE: Damn straight.
In case you’ve been on another planet since 1988, A Good Day To Die Hard is the fifth Bruce-Willis-as-New-York-cop-John-McClane movie. The same cop who in every one of the five movies just happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time (or right place/right time) whenever there’s a worldwide nutcase psychopath bad guy planning …

Based on Transformers toys, created by Hasbro
Story by: John Rogers, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Written by: Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Directed by: Michael Bay
Starring: Shia LeBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel
Movie Marathon: Artificial Intelligence
In Short: Way to ruin my childhood, movie!
Recommended: No.
OPTIMUS PRIME: Are you Samuel James Witwicky, descendant of Archibald Witwicky?
MIKAELA: They know your name!
SAM: Yeah.
OPTIMUS PRIME: My name is Optimus Prime. We are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the planet Cybertron.
RATCHET: But you can call us “Autobots” for short.
SAM: Autobots.
JAZZ: What’s crackin’, lil’ bitches?
As a kid, one of the many cartoons I …

Created by: Glen A. Larson
Starring: David Hasselhoff, Willian Daniels, Edward Mulhare, Patricia McPherson, Rebecca Holden, Peter Parros, Richard Basehart
Number of Episodes: 90 (4 Seasons)
NBC
TV on DVD: Artificial Intelligence
In Short: Michael Knight and his futuristic car KITT solve crimes, plus defeat baddies of the human and motorized kind. Oh, did I mention the car can talk? IT CAN TALK!!!!
Recommended: Yes!
MICHAEL: Keep your scanners peeled, buddy!
– Almost every episode
Who wouldn’t want to drive around in a car that can talk? (Even one that does sound a little on the soft side.) I …

Based on the graphic novel by James O’Barr
Written by: David J. Schow
Directed by: Alex Proyas
Starring: Brandon Lee, Michael Wincott, Ernie Hudson, Bai Ling, Rochelle Davis, David Patrick Kelly, Angel David, Laurence Mason, Michael Massee
Movie Marathon: Romance
In Short: On the one year anniversary of his death, rock star Eric Draven returns from the dead to avenge his and his fiancée’s murder.
Recommended: Hell yes!!!
SARAH: People once believed that when someone dies, a crow carries their soul to the land of the dead. But sometimes, something so bad happens that a …

Based on Red Dawn (1984), written by Kevin Reynolds and John Milius
Written by: Carl Ellsworth and Jeremy Passmore
Directed by: Dan Bradley
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki, Josh Peck, Isabel Lucas
US Release Date: Wednesday, November 21, 2012
In Short: High school athletes take on trained soldiers and win.
Recommended: Die first. (Like a North Korean soldier.)
JED: Marines don’t die, they just go to hell and regroup.
In preparation for a viewing of this remake, I went back and watched the original 1984 Red Dawn for the first time in years. Starring Patrick Swayze, …

From fighting for your life to fighting for a cool $10 mil to fighting for the respect of Cobra Kai, we pay tribute to all the underdogs who ended up champions…
by K. Burtt, Rachel Hyland, Jason Murdoch and Kim Sorensen
There’s just something about watching skilled exponents of a martial art going at it, mano-a-mano. And it’s even better when the battle is joined in some form of ring or cage scenario, in which there are at least a modicum of rules and where there is some form of prize up …

A Shaw Brothers classic, AVENGING EAGLE (1978)

Let it go on the record that I have a deep seated passion for movies from this particular genre. From early Shaw Brothers films, through to modern day blockbusters, nothing quite tickles my pickle like a good (or really bad) martial arts action film. Now, I understand that this particular style of cinema isn’t for everyone, that’s fine. But let’s not let an ignorance of the brilliance behind the scenes shape our distaste.
The thing is, if you look hard enough, there’s something here for …