REVIEW: Act of Valor [2012]

“You’re always trying to get home” Asked by the Navy to create a film to honor the fallen Seals since 9-11 who gave their lives to protect our country, Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh took six months to gain the active team’s trust and begin to understand exactly what they do on a day-to-day basis. As the directing pair’s brief interview playing before my Act of Valor screening explained, once it became time to make the movie neither could fathom doing it with actors who simply could never understand the…

Read More

REVIEW: Redbelt [2008]

“There’s always an escape” David Mamet is back with his new film Redbelt. After four years away from Hollywood, producing the television show “The Unit,” Mamet has followed up his solid thriller Spartan with a drama of intelligence that only he can capture. Complete with the trademark, metered language—every word timed and delivered with precision—this tale may be billed as a mixed martial arts actioner, but it is so much more. The sport itself lends heavily to the plot for sure, but rather than with its moves and choreography, it…

Read More