Posts Tagged ‘social commentary’

Short Take: Action packed and emotionally arresting. Rivals "X2" for best of the series.

Director: Matthew Vaughn

Screenwriters: Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Jane Goldman, Matthew Vaughn – Sheldon Turner and Bryan Singer (story)

Cast: James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Kevin Bacon, Rose Byrne, January Jones

Length: 2h 12m

Synopsis: It is 1963 and the world is still largely unaware of the presence of mutants. This is not to say that they are few in number, but most are still very much in the closet. There are a few, however, that are not shy about their abilities. Sebastian Shaw (Bacon), an ex-Nazi who ran the concentration camp where Erik Lehnsherr (Fassbender) was separated from his family, is a mutant who is trying to manipulate the American and Soviet governments into nuclear war. Meanwhile, mutants Charles Xavier (McAvoy) and Lehnsherr are attempting to recruit a special team of fellow gifted individuals to stop Shaw before it’s too late. But while Xavier is determined to avoid violent methods whenever possible, Erik is looking to get revenge on his former captor by any means necessary. How their battle concludes will not only affect how mutants will be looked at for years to come – as friends or foes – but whether humans will continue to outnumber mutants across the world.

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Short Take: Has everything an exploitation movie requires, including controversiality

Directors: Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror, Sin City), Ethan Maniquis

Screenwriters: Robert Rodriguez (Planet Terror), Ãlvaro Rodri­guez (From Dusk Till Dawn 3: The Hangman’s Daughter)

Cast: Danny Trejo (Spy Kids, Heat), Jessica Alba (Good Luck Chuck), Robert De Niro (The Good Shepherd), Jeff Fahey (Grindhouse, The Lawnmower Man), Michelle Rodriguez (TV’s Lost, Avatar), Steven Seagal, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson, Lindsay Lohan

Length: 1h 45m

Synopsis: A widowed ex-Federale who relegates himself to being a day laborer on the border between Texas and Mexico gets offered an opportunity to earn $150,000 if he assassinates a senator hell bent on closing the border between the two nations. Double-crossed after taking the job, the man, known only as Machete (Trejo), must do what he can to stay alive and avoid capture. He receives help from an understanding Customs officer named Sartana (Alba) and an underground pro-immigration network headed by Luz (Rodriguez), a food truck worker. Together they will try to clear Machete’s name and uncover a conspiracy that aims to make voters sympathetic to the bigoted senator’s platform. It would appear that the bad guys just f****** with the wrong Mexican. Read the rest of this entry »