Movies that deserve more press - The Losers (2010)

The Losers is probably the best example of a movie that deserves more press all summer. And conveniently for you, it just came out on dvd! Do you like action movies of the people-making-quips, ridiculously detailed heist schemes and humorously over the top action variety? Good. Now imagine that precise brand of humor turned up to eleven, and done perfectly. Congratulations, you are thinking of The Losers.

And that's, unfortunately, why it didn't get good press, I'm afraid. No one let the critics know it was a comedy, and without a laugh track or Will Ferrell, apparently they couldn't tell. Philistines.

Basic plot? Oh so basic. Covert ops team sold out and framed* by a villain, back to clear their name. But oh, the style, the plot twists and characters. Sheer action movie gold.

Not sold yet? Just look at the cast. Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Idris Elba, Jeffrey Dean Morgan. I will elaborate.

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Short Subjects - Yea: Ultimate Adventures, Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon Nay: Grimrose Path, Patriot Witch

This past week I've come down with a dreadful and terminal case of unfunny. Everything has come out perfectly uncontroversial, utterly harmless and deadly boring. Rather than subject you to that, I've 86ed the lot and decided to review my targets all over again.

So now, for your amusement, a palette of short subjects, arranged by thumbs up or thumbs down, yea or nay.

Yea

Ultimate Adventures: One Tin Soldier by Ron Zimmerman and Duncan Fegredo (comic)

Now this is a comic that deserves more press, if there ever was one. Well, more good press. Generally reviled, personally, I think Ultimate Adventures is brilliant.

Basically, it's a gleeful swipe at the ever popular "orphaned rich man dresses funny and fights crime" genre, with every possible cliche of the type thrown into one plot

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Spidey senses tingling - Do I sense Runaways casting fail on the horizon?

So goth, she was born with black hair.As caught by Racebending.com, the casting breakdowns have gone out for the upcoming Runaways movie. And guess what! While Alex's casting call requires him to be black, there is no mention of the fact that Nico is Japanese-American.

Guys, don't go down this route, please. Nico is awesome, and also Nico is of Asian descent. Do not assume that we can't tell under all the Goth makeup, seriously. Would it kill you to have an Asian-American superhero in a movie whose powers have nothing to do with Kung-fu?

If it can go wrong, it will - Salt

On a very bad day, this is what she does with office supplies.Tom Cruise did not play the lead role in Salt. Good show there!

Salt is a no-frills, no awesome gadgets, espionage is brutal and hard and will probably destroy you sort of movie. Tom Cruise raditating "Why yes, I am that good, I am the great Tom Cruise" would have both undermined it and made the movie an insufferable paean to himself. So yes, even though Angelina Jolie is not my favorite actress, as far as I'm concerned, the movie could only win from the switch.

Salt is fairly well done and relatively original as far as spy action movies go. It has the added novelty value of being a movie about a female spy with no seduction or supposedly hot undercover scenes in it, which is always refreshing. It is also massively a depressing movie. I don't consider it a spoiler to say... no, the movie did not end in nuclear war. And that's the only thing happy about this movie.

Beyond this point lie spoilers.

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