Firstly, I should probably point out that up until recently the high-kicking 1989 cult classic has eluded me - or maybe it was me eluding it. Who knows? Anyway, seeing that Doug Liman and Jake Gyllenhaal have taken it upon themselves to remake Road House  and put a 21st century spin on solving every problem by kicking, I figured; 'why not make it a double feature?' View the two movies for the first time one after the other and see how they measure up.  Naturally I took the chronological approach, starting with the original movie and then moving on to the remake. Watching this cult classic for the first time, I was struck by how much it feels like a feature length episode of The A-Team . Typical 80's good guy arrives in town, where he comes to blows with the rich guy/your typical A-Team  bad guy who thinks he owns the place. Seriously, stick that famous opening monologue on the beginning and have Patrick Swayze's 'Dalton' build some weird weapon from parts acquir

When Country Singer Jackson Maine (Bradley Cooper) meets Ally (Lady Gaga), a talented singer performing in a bar, he is instantly captivated. A romance between the two quickly grows and Jackson encourages Ally to sing with him at gigs. But as her star rises, his begins to fade and as it does, his struggles with addiction only worsen. Bradley Cooper's directorial debut is nothing short of a triumph. The word "masterpiece" gets thrown around a lot these days, But A Star Is Born truly fits that bill. This is a love story. But more than that, it's a beautifully candid and respectful look at addiction, and how it affects those relationships we hold most dear. Cooper never shy's away from the ugliness of the disease, which makes for a very moving and authentic viewing experience. But it's thanks to some outstanding performances by the two leads that addiction's destructive effect is really felt. Cooper and Gaga are perfect together, both on an

For this month's Genre Grandeur on Bestselling/Popular Novel Adaptations I chose to review Randall Wallace's We Were Soldiers. On 14th November 1965, the men of 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, led by Lieutenant Colonel Hal Moore landed at LZ X-Ray in the Ia Drang Valley. Immediately surrounded by 2000 soldiers of the North Vietnamese Army (NVA), the Americans fought for three days to defend the landing zone - their only lifeline to the outside world. Based on the book We Were Soldiers Once...and Young by Lt. General Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and Joe Galloway, We Were Soldiers tells the story of the first major battle between US and North Vietnamese forces. "Hollywood got it wrong every damned time", those are the words used by Hal Moore to describe every movie ever made about the Vietnam war. They're the same words that inspired writer/director Randall Wallace (Braveheart) to get this one right.  Rather than attempting to glamorise warfare, Wallace wen