Despite the fact that Asian directors and Western actors (or vice versa) do not seem to always get along very well, at least in terms of the results of their collaborations, the effort to achieve a result that will finally work seems to continue perpetually. As such, it is with great joy to state that John Woo definitely succeeded this time, by including almost every fan-favorite action movie element in the book, in a title that also signals a return to form for the Hk veteran.
Silent Night is screening at Red Sea Film Festival
The paper-thin, ultra-cliched script begins with a man chasing after two cars of opposing gang members, who are just shooting at each other while speeding on the narrow streets of what seems to be an almost dystopian US setting. The result, however, is him getting shot in the throat (among other parts) and rushed to the hospital,...
Silent Night is screening at Red Sea Film Festival
The paper-thin, ultra-cliched script begins with a man chasing after two cars of opposing gang members, who are just shooting at each other while speeding on the narrow streets of what seems to be an almost dystopian US setting. The result, however, is him getting shot in the throat (among other parts) and rushed to the hospital,...
- 12/4/2023
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Let's be blunt: The current state of action cinema worldwide would not be what it is today without the work of director John Woo. While Woo is hardly the only influential filmmaker when it comes to action movies, he's undeniably one of the biggest figures in shaping the genre. Like any great auteur, Woo's style was developed film by film, working his way through his kung-fu features at Golden Harvest in Hong Kong and adding in more experimental techniques (gleaned from the likes of prior filmmakers such as Sam Peckinpah) until he ended up at his signature magnum opus, 1986's "A Better Tomorrow" and its style, which was dubbed "heroic bloodshed."
Over the next several years in Hong Kong and then through to his transition into Hollywood, Woo expanded his "heroic bloodshed" style, peppering in other influences along the way from some of his other favorite filmmakers like Jean-Pierre Melville and Alfred Hitchcock.
Over the next several years in Hong Kong and then through to his transition into Hollywood, Woo expanded his "heroic bloodshed" style, peppering in other influences along the way from some of his other favorite filmmakers like Jean-Pierre Melville and Alfred Hitchcock.
- 12/2/2023
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Plot: After his son is killed in a drive-by shooting, a grieving father (Joel Kinnaman) spends a year training himself to be an unstoppable killer so that he can take yuletide vengeance on the men responsible.
Review: Silent Night marks John Woo’s first American movie since 2003’s Paycheck, a now-forgotten sci-fi action film that starred Ben Affleck. Since then, he’s focused on the Chinese market, making the wildly successful two-part Red Cliff and the less successful romantic epic The Crossing. He also dipped his toe back into the heroic bloodshed genre he made famous with 2017’s Manhunt, which, despite some virtuoso action, played more like one of his big-budget American movies than his old-school Hong Kong ones.
In that vein, Silent Night is a return to an older-fashioned kind of John Woo film. Sporting a thriftier budget and an agreeably simple concept, Woo has the opportunity here to...
Review: Silent Night marks John Woo’s first American movie since 2003’s Paycheck, a now-forgotten sci-fi action film that starred Ben Affleck. Since then, he’s focused on the Chinese market, making the wildly successful two-part Red Cliff and the less successful romantic epic The Crossing. He also dipped his toe back into the heroic bloodshed genre he made famous with 2017’s Manhunt, which, despite some virtuoso action, played more like one of his big-budget American movies than his old-school Hong Kong ones.
In that vein, Silent Night is a return to an older-fashioned kind of John Woo film. Sporting a thriftier budget and an agreeably simple concept, Woo has the opportunity here to...
- 12/1/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Seeking revenge as a result of being wronged is akin to a crime of passion: you're miffed at being mistreated, and so your rage takes over your mind before (or unless) cooler heads prevail. Seeking revenge as a result of profound loss, however, hews closer to pre-meditated obsession, the hole in your life slowly but surely filling up with a need for retribution until your life isn't for you and your loved ones anymore: it's all about getting payback.
Many action revenge thrillers explore this concept, and they generally feature characters who are already well-versed in the ways of killing. The theme of revenge becoming an all-consuming force, however, is best expressed with characters who used to be ordinary average folks before an enormous wrong or loss changes them forever, and not necessarily for the better. John Woo's latest action opus "Silent Night" — his first in Hollywood since 2003's...
Many action revenge thrillers explore this concept, and they generally feature characters who are already well-versed in the ways of killing. The theme of revenge becoming an all-consuming force, however, is best expressed with characters who used to be ordinary average folks before an enormous wrong or loss changes them forever, and not necessarily for the better. John Woo's latest action opus "Silent Night" — his first in Hollywood since 2003's...
- 12/1/2023
- by Bill Bria
- Slash Film
Brian’s life was torn apart last Christmas. Brian’s little boy, Taylor, was murdered by a stray bullet from gang violence on Christmas Day. With little left to live for, Brian vows to kill all of those responsible for the death of his son the following Christmas Day. Joel Kinnaman plays Brian, portraying a man stricken with grief and the impact that the loss of a child has on a marriage and a life. The hook is that during the opening scene when Brian chases after the gang members who shot his son he is shot in the throat by gang boss, Playa. Unable to speak, unwilling to use a electrolarynx, Brian descends into a state of self pity and despair. In a drunken funk...
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[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/30/2023
- Screen Anarchy
The opening minutes of Silent Night promise something fun. There’s Joel Kinnaman, dressed in a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer sweater, sprinting in super-slow-motion through his neighborhood’s back alleys. There are the warring Mexican gang members he’s chasing, spraying bullets at each other as they rampage through residential streets. There’s the glittery soundtrack of a music box filtering out the distant sirens and tire-screeching. And then there’s a red balloon, floating above the chaos, doing its best Fritz Lang impression. It’s gloriously, ludicrously over-the-top.
But who are we kidding? Nobody does melodrama better than John Woo, returning to Hollywood after a 20-year hiatus (his last American movie was 2003’s Paycheck) to deliver some of his signature thrills and recapture the theatrical style that made him one of the world’s most influential directors. A few decades ago, thanks in part to Hard Boiled, The Killer,...
But who are we kidding? Nobody does melodrama better than John Woo, returning to Hollywood after a 20-year hiatus (his last American movie was 2003’s Paycheck) to deliver some of his signature thrills and recapture the theatrical style that made him one of the world’s most influential directors. A few decades ago, thanks in part to Hard Boiled, The Killer,...
- 11/30/2023
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
If John Woo had permitted the characters in “Silent Night” to speak, chances are that audiences would laugh them off the screen. Instead, the director gets right down to business, opening with a wordless chase sequence in which a sad dad (Joel Kinnaman) in a corny Christmas sweater sprints after a pair of speeding cars. Inside the vehicles, bad men blast machine guns, while our nameless hero is armed with … just his wits and the jingle bell around his neck.
By the time this guy — identified as Brian Godlock in the end credits — catches up to the gang members who murdered his son, “Silent Night” has already demonstrated that Woo has no intention of letting logic get in his way. And why should we expect any different from the director of “Face/Off,” whose title-says-it-all gimmick had two rivals swapping identities via plastic surgery? The movie dedicates a lot of time...
By the time this guy — identified as Brian Godlock in the end credits — catches up to the gang members who murdered his son, “Silent Night” has already demonstrated that Woo has no intention of letting logic get in his way. And why should we expect any different from the director of “Face/Off,” whose title-says-it-all gimmick had two rivals swapping identities via plastic surgery? The movie dedicates a lot of time...
- 11/27/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to action movies, dialogue is highly overrated. That’s one of the main takeaways from the new film about a father who goes into full vigilante mode to avenge the death of his young son at the hands of gang violence. Of course, it helps considerably when the film in question is directed by John Woo. Making a striking Hollywood comeback 20 years after the release of his last American film, 2003’s mediocre Paycheck, the veteran action director fully delivers the goods with Silent Night.
The title coyly refers both to the opening scene taking place on Christmas Eve and the film’s lack of virtually any dialogue, a bold choice that fully pays off. (As much as I adore the John Wick films, they’d lose a lot of their bloated running times if the villains would just stop talking.) We first see the protagonist, Brian, played by Joel Kinnaman,...
The title coyly refers both to the opening scene taking place on Christmas Eve and the film’s lack of virtually any dialogue, a bold choice that fully pays off. (As much as I adore the John Wick films, they’d lose a lot of their bloated running times if the villains would just stop talking.) We first see the protagonist, Brian, played by Joel Kinnaman,...
- 11/27/2023
- by Frank Scheck
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Magoo, the Virginia rapper best known for his work in the late-Nineties and early-2000s with longtime friend/super-producer Timbaland, has died. He was 50.
The Office for the Chief Medical Examiner for Virginia’s Tidewater District confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, though noted a cause of death was still pending. His wife, Meco Barcliff, told The New York Times that the rapper (real name Melvin Barcliff) had not been feeling well for the past week; but, she added, he had no known health problems besides asthma.
The rapper’s...
The Office for the Chief Medical Examiner for Virginia’s Tidewater District confirmed his death to Rolling Stone, though noted a cause of death was still pending. His wife, Meco Barcliff, told The New York Times that the rapper (real name Melvin Barcliff) had not been feeling well for the past week; but, she added, he had no known health problems besides asthma.
The rapper’s...
- 8/14/2023
- by Jon Blistein and Althea Legaspi
- Rollingstone.com
Melvin Barcliff, better known as the rapper Magoo of the duo Timbaland & Magoo, has died at 50 years old.
Digital Black, a member of the Timbaland-affiliated R&b group Playa, announced Magoo’s death. “Man can’t believe this Rih Magoo damn big bro wasnt ready for this at all #superfriends,” Digital Black wrote in the caption of an Instagram post with a photo of Timbaland & Magoo’s first album, Welcome to Our World. Playa contributed to multiple tracks on the project, including “Luv 2 Luv U.”
Timbaland honored his friend and collaborator in an Instagram post: “This one hits different,” he wrote in the caption of a video of the pair performing together. “Tim and Magoo forever. Rest easy my king.”
Timbaland and Magoo first met when they were teenagers in Norfolk, Virginia, and formed their group in 1989. They later became part of an R&b collective originally known as Da Bassment Cru alongside Missy Elliott,...
Digital Black, a member of the Timbaland-affiliated R&b group Playa, announced Magoo’s death. “Man can’t believe this Rih Magoo damn big bro wasnt ready for this at all #superfriends,” Digital Black wrote in the caption of an Instagram post with a photo of Timbaland & Magoo’s first album, Welcome to Our World. Playa contributed to multiple tracks on the project, including “Luv 2 Luv U.”
Timbaland honored his friend and collaborator in an Instagram post: “This one hits different,” he wrote in the caption of a video of the pair performing together. “Tim and Magoo forever. Rest easy my king.”
Timbaland and Magoo first met when they were teenagers in Norfolk, Virginia, and formed their group in 1989. They later became part of an R&b collective originally known as Da Bassment Cru alongside Missy Elliott,...
- 8/14/2023
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
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