James Couche

About James Couche

Posts by James Couche:

Streaming Sleepers: In THE BIG HIT, A Gleeful Late 90s Action Throwback

Once upon a time, Hong Kong and Hollywood were the best of friends… Hong Kong was the poor-but-spunky upstart and Hollywood was the rich, aloof asshole who’d taken a shine to its charms. For about half a decade, the two would collaborate in ways that would change the action genre forever. In the early days, this meant trying to bolt Hong Kong action scenes onto standard, low-brow Hollywood action tropes; the results may not have been earth-shattering, but damn were they entertaining… And The Big Hit may have been one of the best (and strangest) of the bunch. The Big Hit came at the perfect time in my life; I was 16 years old and had recently discovered the charms of Hong Kong action through films like Rumble In The Bronx and Face/Off. By the time the film hit theaters in 1998, the name John Woo was synonymous with top-level action and the film’s distributor, Columbia […]

THREAT LEVEL MIDNIGHT: Seven Great Lessons For Filmmakers (Seriously)

James Couche

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Steve Carrell’s exit from the wildly popular (and perpetually streamed) sitcom, The Office. After seven seasons of good natured mayhem, Michael Scott was preparing to leave the Scranton, PA branch of Dunder Mifflin forever, but not before one final loose end was to be tied up; the premiere of his indie action masterpiece, “Threat Level Midnight”. First revealed as a B-plot in season two when the employees stumbled upon (and did an impromptu table read of) its script, TLM would continue to be mentioned and teased throughout the following seasons. At the request of Carrell himself, “Threat Level Midnight” was made a reality for the whole world to see. This is the story of super-agent Michael Scarn (Michael Scott), a man with a history of saving the All-Star games of various sports leagues from the evil Goldenface (Jim Halpert). But everything falls apart […]

ACTION CINEMA BOOKENDS: 90s Schwarzenegger

James Couche

The rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980s is a thing of legend. After a highly successful bodybuilding career (and a not so successful film career) in the 70s, “Aunold” would break out onto the scene in a big way with 1982’s Conan the Barbarian. His ascension through the ranks of Hollywood was driven by the equally meteoric rise of action cinema in general. More than any other action star, Arnold was a brand unto himself; and with the 90’s fast approaching, he and the genre he now dominated were poised to take over the cinema landscape. WHERE IT STARTED June 1, 1990. Summer movie season is in full swing and Arnold is about to unleash his biggest movie to date: Total Recall. Based on the Philip K. Dick novel “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” and directed by master of violent satire, Paul Verhoeven, Total Recall is about […]

SEIZED Review: The Latest Adkins/Florentine Affair Signals A Dooming Farewell To The Magic

James Couche

In the history of cinema, there have been director / actor partnerships that reliably produce legendary results: John Woo and Chow Yun Fat, Scorsese and DeNiro, Scorsese and DiCaprio, Martin Campbell and whoever happens to be playing James Bond at the time, etc. For over a decade, if you were in a video store and saw the names Isaac Florentine and Scott Adkins on a DVD, then you just knew you were in for a great time. From 2003’s Special Forces to 2015’s Close Range, these two would almost single-handedly elevate DTV action cinema in ways that would put it above its theatrical competition (budget be damned). Now, after a five year hiatus they’re collaborating on the new actioner, Seized. This is exciting for so many reasons but is absolutely terrifying for one big reason… That lingering question: What if the magic is gone? Long story short, bad guys kidnap […]

Review: HARD KILL, Aging Action Heroes Die Hard

James Couche

With the proliferation of streaming services, a new kind of action movie has risen to prominence; the low budget thriller featuring an aging A-list action star. From Mel Gibson to Russell Crowe, former box office titans found a second life as the marquee stars of DTV or direct to streaming actioners made on the cheap; though few have been as prolific as Bruce Willis. With over a dozen credits within the past decade, Willis is quickly becoming the king of this particular sub-genre. Hard Kill is his second offering of the year and his third with director Matt Eskandari. But with this many recent credits under his belt, one has to wonder; is Willis honing his craft or diluting his brand? Ultimately, it all comes down to the quality of the film itself. Hard Kill is as potboiler as potboiler gets. Willis plays an ex-military turned industrialist named Chalmers (leave […]

Killing Time With HARD KILL Director Matt Eskandari

James Couche

Aging A-list stars showing up in low budget actioners is quickly becoming a genre unto itself. From Mel Gibson, to Russel Crowe, to Bruce Willis, these box office titans of yesteryear are finding a robust second life in the DTV and direct to streaming space. I had the pleasure of speaking with Matt Eskandari about his most recent directorial effort, Hard Kill with Bruce Willis and Jesse Metcalfe. He gave great insight into the unique challenges of making these types of films as well as the artistic opportunities the genre can provide. It’s been a crazy year for film, especially with the pandemic turning the entire industry upside down. Exactly. I’ve already had one film released during the pandemic, so to have a second one come out is really interesting. We’re not competing with any big budget Marvel movies, and people are in real need of things to watch. There’s […]

LEGACY OF LIES [DVD Review]: Adrian Bol Crafts A Lean, Mean Scott Adkins Spy Vehicle

James Couche

Back in 2007, fans of rising action star Scott Adkins were given reason to celebrate. After years of hard work in the DTV action scene, he would be appearing in the sure-to-be blockbuster film, The Bourne Ultimatum. Our boy had finally MADE IT. That feeling of elation was replaced by disappointment when Adkins is easily dispatched by Matt Damon after less than five minutes of screen-time. Since then, many of us have wondered how great it would have been to see Adkins star in his own globe-trotting spy thriller. It would be 13 years before this wish came true in the form of Legacy of Lies; but now that it has, was it worth the wait? Legacy of Lies is a very timely spy thriller from award winning writer/director Adrian Bol. Bol’s story makes heavy use of current events (namely, an alleged nerve-agent attack by the Russian government on British […]

BECKY Review: An angry, nasty bit of violent cinema that is as exhilarating as it is frustrating.

James Couche

If you’ve been on any movie sites of late, you may have heard whispers about “that movie where Kevin James plays a Nazi” or “Paul Blart plays a scary white supremacist fighting a teenage girl in the woods”. There’s high concept, and then there’s casting an actor to play so hard against type that it forces you to look at them in a different light; that’s this movie. Becky is an angry, nasty bit of violent cinema that is as exhilarating as it is frustrating. Lulu Wilson (Annabelle: Creation) plays Becky, a troubled girl trying to navigate the already volatile world of adolescence while mourning the death of her mother. Her father, played by Joel McHale (Community), is taking her out to the family cabin to get away from it all but he has an ulterior motive; he intends to break the news that she’ll soon have a new stepmom […]