Jiu Jitsu Trailer: Nicolas Cage Battles Aliens In New Sci-Fi Martial Arts Action Movie

Highland Film Group has released an official trailer for Jiu Jitsu, and it looks exactly how you think a movie starring Nic Cage fighting aliens in an insane mix of sci-fi fantasy and action martial arts would look. 

Every six years, an ancient order of expert Jiu Jitsu fighters faces a fearsome alien invader in a battle for Earth. When war hero and master Jiu Jitsu fighter Jake Barnes refuses to face Brax, the indomitable leader of the invaders, the future of humanity hangs in the balance. Injured and suffering from amnesia, Jake is captured by a military squad that has arrived on the planet and is rescued by Wylie (Cage) and a team of fellow Jiu Jitsu fighters who must help him recover his memory and regain his strength for an epic battle that will once again determine the fate of mankind.

Check out the first trailer for Jiu Jitsu which IGN premiered earlier this week:

Wally’s Wonderland Pits Nicolas Cage Against an Entire Amusement Park

There’s no denying that Nicolas Cage is something of an enigma. He’s arguably one of the best actors in Hollywood (there are arguments to be made for a lot of Cage’s acting choices, but that’s another article), and continuously relegates himself to starring roles in some of the – if not worst – most weirdly misguided projects possible. Many say it’s a result of Cage’s spending habits, which have landed him in deep trouble with the IRS on more than one occasion, but I don’t buy it.

Color Out of Space: H.P. Lovecraft and Nicolas Cage, Together At Last

In the next step of the bizarre and steadily busy acting career of Nicolas Cage, it was announced today that he would be joining Color Out Of Space, officially adding an H.P. Lovecraft story to his lengthy resume.

The story, which was first published by Lovecraft in a 1927 issue of Amazing Stories, and told the story of a meteorite that crashed to Earth and started poisoning the nearby area. Plant life grew large but tasted odd, animals developed abnormalities, and people were driven to insanity.

Stallone Confirms Nicolas Cage Is In ‘Expendables 3’

I have a shameful confession to make. I have not seen The Expendables 1 or 2. It’s unforgivable, I know. As much as I love ’80s actions movies and the stars in them, I just haven’t gotten around to seeing either film. More accurately, I haven’t gotten around to seeing the first one, and my nerd-completion neuroses have kept me from seeing the second without seeing the first. Fortunately, I’m fairly positive they’re exactly the kind of movie that is made for me. I’m a big fan of all the greats of ’80s action cinema; Commando, Universal Soldier, Cobra, First Blood, Roadhouse. All classics.

What with The Expendables 2 making a buttload of money at the box office, they’ve essentially given the green light for Expendables 3, which leads to speculation of just who will be joining the cast for the third movie. Well, it looks like Sly himself is letting us know at least one. [CMP]

It looks like his abs are melting.

 

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“We are preparing the film with the same passion and commitment as the previous two. We have confirmed Nicolas Cage, a master actor who gives a veneer intellectual group. Hopefully we can realize to Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes and Mickey Rourke. That is the great mission of the producer. We will continue with the same narrative scheme, the agility and the frenzy, which are inherent to the saga. What will definitely be the last? I can not guarantee. In principle it would be two deliveries, but the affection of the people encouraged us to work on a third. I guess as long as we amused ourselves by offering fun and people, we can continue playing ‘The Expendables’. For now we are not as expendable as it should and as some critics want.”

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Sly’s weird grammar aside, that sounds pretty awesome, because I’m a huge fan of Nicolas Cage. I know most aren’t, (people liking what I hate, and vice versa, is a running theme in my life it seems), but I sure do love the guy.  I see a self-referential, hilarious, capable actor with range and no sense of pretension whatsoever, where most see a washed up overacting blowhard. To me he’s the kind of guy who is challenged by every kind of role imaginable, especially genre roles. Rather than settle into being typecast, he’s consistently defied everyone’s expectations with a range of movies unlike any other actor. He’s the kind of actor who also understands his audience, knows what they expect of him, and plays into those expectations by either subverting them, or parodying them. He’s the ultimate mega-actor, trolling all of us and having a damn fun time doing it.

Say what you will about Cage, but every single movie he’s in is at least entertaining, if still awful. Those National Treasure movies are terrible, but man do I find them watchable. The same can’t be said for other actors who may have lots of prestige, but consistently star in boring, pretentious snoozefests. Meryl Streep is a great example I can immediately think of.

I guess it’s about time I catch up and watch these movies soon, because I’ve yet to miss a single Nicolas Cage movie in theaters since Matchstick Men, and I don’t wanna break the streak just yet.

Dr. Kronner’s Joy: THE EXPENDABLES 2

I was born in 1983, which means that by the time I was old enough to watch and actually understand what was happening in movies, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were the 2 biggest names in Hollywood. Those two were churning out some of the greatest action movies of all time, stuff like Predator, Conan, Terminator, the Rambo series, and the Rocky movies. However, they were also rolling out crap like Cobra and Red Heat too. As young as I was, I couldn’t really tell which ones were destined to be remembered as classics and which were fated to be forgotten (Raw Deal? Lock Up?) but I loved all of them. I was just a kid, but I can remember many an evening spent on the couch with the old man watching Rocky IV or The Running Man and through that, I grew attached to the genre and its stars. The action movies of the era were totally over the top (get it?) and I couldn’t get enough.

Here is Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis back when Bruce was still wearing hats everywhere to hide his hairline. This particular one he probably got from the ‘Hudson Hawk’ set…

As the ’80s came to a close, a third action icon would emerge – Bruce Willis. His breakthrough role in Die Hard, still arguably the greatest action movie in existence, placed him rightfully in the conversation with Arnold and Sly, and for years, that was the hierarchy. But, as with every hero, age took its toll. Stallone did Cliffhanger in ’93 and Arnold had True Lies in ’94, but after that they both turned out a series of near unwatchable garbage – The Specialist, Assassins, Daylight, End of Days, Collateral Damage, The 6th Day – the list goes on and on. While Willis would find success in a few more Die Hard movies, even he started to shy away from the genre for a while. That is until 2006 when Stallone, desperate for a hit, went back to the role that made him with Rocky Balboa. At 60 years old, he proved he could still draw audiences and he repeated the feat 2 years later with a 4th Rambo movie. Suddenly, the gears started turning and the movie I had prayed for 20 years earlier began to take shape…

In 2010, Stallone started recruiting his aging contemporaries to make a star-studded action movie that revolved around the idea that they could all still fire guns and blow shit up, and it was great. Ok, so maybe not ‘great’, but it was entertaining as hell and pure nostalgia was often enough to power you through the weak dialogue and thin plot. Then on Thursday night, August 16th, at about 11:55 pm, I loaded myself into a theater seat and got ready for the sequel to begin. I was not disappointed.

This time around, we were given not only Stallone (66) and Jason Statham (45) again, as well as much larger roles for Willis (57) and Schwarzenegger (65), but we also get the return of Jet Li (49), Dolph Lundgren (55), Randy Couture (49), and Terry Crews (44). Not to mention the inclusion of Chuck Norris (72 years old!), Thor’s little brother (22), and a 52 year old JCVD! It was awesome. Norris told a ‘Chuck Norris’ joke while going by the moniker ‘Lone Wolf’ (like Lone Wolf McQuade), Van Damme did multiple roundhouse kicks as the villain named ‘Vilain’, and Dolph Lundgren’s backstory was that of his real life – a chemical engineering degree from MIT…it’s like Stallone was writing the script while watching an action marathon on SpikeTV and reading Wikipedia.

The movie also featured Nan Yu, who’s mostly Chinese resume I’m unfamiliar with. While she wasn’t bad, I would’ve gone with Maggie Q instead. With her resume already boasting adrenaline fueled flicks like Live Free or Die Hard, Mission Impossible: III, and the action-packed TV show Nikita, it just felt like a missed opportunity to grab the biggest cast they could. However, Nan Yu probably has more global pull and that could be why the decision was made. That being said, Yu did kick some ass in here.

This was a movie that didn’t take itself too serious and delivered on the action. There were a few parts that might have come off as cheesy dialogue-wise, and it’s doubtful many people under the age of 18 could really appreciate most of the references, but for me, at the wise age of 29 – I was thrilled. The Expendables 2 delivered exactly what was promised and didn’t try to be something it wasn’t. The ‘R’ rating is barely warranted as the language wasn’t super harsh, there were zero female chesticles exposed (as Aaron pointed out), and much of the violence was so stylized it wasn’t intensely gory.

There is also something I want to give them credit for – something that seems to be a lost art form in most newer action movies – HOLDING THE GODDAMN CAMERA STILL!  Ever since Spielberg wow’d everyone in ’98 with the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan, directors have been shaking the camera around so much you can’t tell what is happening. Perfect example would be ALL of the Bourne sequels. This time around the camera stayed stationary long enough for us to actually see the action happen – so thank you Simon West (Con Air, The Mechanic).

Overall, while the plot was a little thin and, quite often, the characters just seem to appear out of nowhere for the purpose of delivering a one-liner, this movie was a fun ride, and I think trumped the first movie easily. I give it 4/5 Grizzlies for delivering on its intended purpose and staying fun.

 

Despite the movie only being out a day in its spread its seed of unabashed 80s magnificence, there are already rumors that for the 3rd movie Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, and Nic Cage are all wanted.

As sweet as Eric Roberts and JCVD were in the first 2 movies, Nic Cage could be the greatest villain since Hans Gruber if written correctly (Editor’s Note: Honestly, he’d be the best villain ever if written incorrectly, which is what I’m rooting for.-C Tan).  PUT HIM IN A BEAR SUIT!!!

Personally, I’d like to maybe see Linda Hamilton or Sigourney Weaver pop up as they were the baddest ass action heroines around when I was a kid. You could also see if Uma is busy, let her do some more sword play as it will have been over a decade since Kill Bill…

And, it may just be my movie-riddled mind drawing connections where there are none – but I spotted references to all the following movies – did anyone catch one that I missed?

– Good Guys Wear Black (1978)
– Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
– Conan the Barbarian (1982)
– First Blood (1982)
– Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
– The Terminator (1984)
– Die Hard (1989)
– Total Recall (1990)

I’m sure there are more, I just have to go see it again…

Machete Kills: Starring ‘President Charlie Sheen’

So it’d seem that Charlie Sheen has temporarily gained enough wherewithal to admit he was pretty goddamn insane all of last year, and along with landing a new gig as the lead in FX’s Anger Management, has also gotten a role in Robert Rodriguez’s sequel to Machete.

And what a great president he’d be!

The basic outline of the plot for the sequel is pretty out there. It involves Machete being hired out by the US to find a bad arms dealer guy who plans to launch a weapon into space. Because Robert Rodriguez is an insane person, he’s decided to throw space weapons in a movie about a guy who uses knives as his primary weapon of choice. I know, I know, machetes aren’t knives, but bear with me.

So while the original Machete was over the top example of faux-grindhouse, this looks to up the ante in ways that’ll make the original probably seem downright subtle. In those terms, I think Charlie Sheen is a great casting choice. Who else but Charlie Sheen would give a presidential decree to hire out an insane knife wielding ex-cop Mexican for international arms espionage? Combine that with the returning cast of Jessica Alba and Michelle Rodriguez, (Not a Lohan in sight, thank christ), and I think you’ve got the potential for a pretty great sequel here.

Now as long as Rodriguez is making real movies out of fake trailers, let’s get Werewolf Women Of The SS made already huh? Nicolas Cage as Fu-Manchu? BOX OFFICE DYNAMITE!

 [Pics from Jessica Alba’s Twitter via Collider via Film Drunk. Boom.]