When I think of my favorite movie heroes, it seems that I’ll often lean towards men who may not appear that heroic on the surface but always seem to find the courage to do what needs to be done. Now don’t get me wrong, I love larger-than-life characters like John McClane, John Rambo, and Indiana Jones, but my ideal hero isn’t like those guys. My favorite heroes are normal guys, that is, until fate forces them to be more. A perfect example is Chief Martin Brody from JAWS.
Brody isn’t fearless. In fact, one of the first things we learn about him is that he’s afraid of the water. He’s a former New York City police officer who moved his family to the quiet island of Amity, only to find himself facing an absolute nightmare. While so many movie heroes run toward danger because they know they can handle it, Brody runs toward danger despite believing he can’t.
What makes him heroic isn’t supersized strength or expert fighting ability. It’s his sense of responsibility. Brody is always trying to do the right thing. He wants to close the beaches, but politics and the tourist money get in the way. Even after he’s pressured into backing down, he doesn’t stop trying to protect the people on the beach. And when the time comes, he gets on board the Orca with Quint and Hooper to go hunt a great white shark, even though that’s the last place on Earth he wants to be. His courage isn’t the absence of fear. Rather, it’s choosing to take action even though he is afraid.
Of course, it doesn’t hurt that Brody is played by one of my all-time favorite actors, Roy Scheider, a man who has his own section in my massive physical media collection. Scheider deserves a tremendous amount of credit for making Brody feel so real. He doesn’t play Brody as tough. His facial expressions, body language, and nervous energy portray a man who is terrified. In other words, he represents how we might feel if we were in that position. Scheider’s performance reminds us that ordinary people are capable of extraordinary courage when others are counting on them.
That’s why Martin Brody is one of my favorite movie heroes. He doesn’t have superpowers, military training, or funny catch phrases, even if his “You’re gonna need a bigger boat” has become one of the most famous quotes in cinematic history. And he doesn’t stop being afraid, either. He’s just a decent man who keeps doing the right thing, even when he’s scared. That’s the kind of hero I can relate to.
I’ve never been that afraid of heights, but you’ll never catch me climbing up the side of a mountain or jumping out of a plane. I don’t have that daredevil gene that makes me want to do stuff like that. Back in 2023, our family visited Yellowstone, so we took a ride on the Beartooth Highway that runs through the Rocky Mountains in parts of Wyoming and Montana. As I was driving that gorgeous roadway, I will admit that I became quite “weak in the knees” a few times as I drove near some very steep edges. The more I think about it, I don’t really like heights that much, but I’m willing to deal with them as long as the payoff is awesome and the risk isn’t too crazy.
FALL is one of those movies that takes whatever fear of heights may be lurking beneath our surfaces and forces us to deal with them from the comforts of our own living rooms! I kept looking at my wife because it was hard for me to look at the screen, and my wife kept telling me her palms were sweating. This lady spent a decade as a flight medic, but she was still struggling.
The premise is about as simple as it gets. A year after a devastating mountain climbing tragedy, Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) reluctantly agrees to climb an abandoned 2,000-foot television tower with her thrill-seeking, social-media obsessed best friend Hunter (Virginia Gardner). Once they reach the top, the ladder collapses, leaving them stranded 200 stories above the desert with almost no supplies, no way to call for help, and only some vultures for company. This all happens in the first 30 minutes. For the remainder of the film’s 107-minute running time, the ladies will have to do whatever they can to survive.
The film succeeds because it understands exactly what it wants to be. This isn’t some deep character study about a person’s quest for the rediscovery of peace and happiness after unimaginable pain and suffering. No, this is all about creating tension, and sometimes nauseating tension at that. Every rusty rung and loose screw on the way up foreshadows the characters’ fate. Once they’re stuck at the tiny platform at the top, the camera constantly looks over the edge, forcing us to experience the mind-blowing heights and the growing desperation right alongside the characters. These are the scenes where I had to keep looking away to maintain my own sanity!
As you might imagine, this isn’t the most realistic movie in the world. It’s one of those movies that keeps setting you up to think something good is just about to happen only for things to continue to get worse. Then again, as an audience we know when watching these types of movies that things have to keep going wrong or the movie would be over way too soon. FALL definitely works best if you just go along for the tense ride, without thinking too much about some of the finer points. From that standpoint, I was able to really enjoy the film, even when some of the twists and turns along the way threatened to go too far.
I wasn’t really familiar with their prior work, but Grace Caroline Currey and Virginia Gardner do fine jobs in the lead roles. As the grief-stricken Becky, Currey does the heavy lifting as we see her go from being completely broken, to almost giving up hope, before finally finding the courage and resilience to battle for survival. As the free-spirited, certifiably insane Hunter, Gardner has plenty of enthusiasm and charisma. Once they’re stuck at the top, she also shows a lot of bravery as well. The movie spends almost its entire runtime with these two actresses, so their chemistry has to work, and it does. I’ve always liked Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and it was nice seeing him as Becky’s dad, even though it’s a small role.
One of the best things about movies is that they have the ability to take us places we would never go on our own. Not in a million years would I ever climb the rock cliff of a mountain or a 2000-foot TV tower. But FALL took me up that tower and made me feel something. It made me uncomfortable, it made me a little sick, and it made my hands sweat… and I liked it. And all from the comfort of my own living room.
Today is Hong Kong film star Donnie Yen’s 63rd birthday. The first time I remember seeing him on screen was in Yuen Woo-Ping’s 1993 film IRON MONKEY. He kicked butt then and he’s still kicking it to this day!
Celebrate with me by watching this clip from the martial arts classic!
Legendary character actor Walter Brennan was born on July 25th, 1894. Brennan had one of the most recognizable voices in the history of cinema, and he won three Oscars for his incredible body of work. He’s simply one of the best!
Here are my 4 personal favorite Walter Brennan films:
Walter Brennan & Gary Cooper in SERGEANT YORK (1941)Walter Brennan & Henry Fonda in MY DARLING CLEMENTINE (1946)Walter Brennan & Jimmy Stewart in THE FAR COUNTRY (1954)Walter Brennan with John Wayne & Dean Martin in RIO BRAVO (1959)
July 25th is the birthday of actor Woody Strode. In celebration of what would have been the icon’s 112th birthday, I’m sharing one of my favorite scenes in the history of cinema, which was made greater by the presence of Strode. One of the genius movies that Sergio Leone made when filming ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968) was casting Jack Elam and Woody Strode as two of the three men waiting for Harmonica to get off the train in the opening scene. It’s a classic!
My favorite living actor is the Hong Kong legend Chow Yun-Fat. His heroic bloodshed gangster films with John Woo turned me into a Hong Kong superfan. I’m also a big fan of Jackie Chan. His kung fu action-comedies eventually led to him being one of the biggest movie stars in the world. But did you know that when they were at the peaks of their careers in Hong Kong in the early 90’s, neither was the biggest star in their homeland? Nope! The true box office champion in Hong Kong was the comedian Stephen Chow. From 1990-1995, Stephen Chow led the box office every year except 1994, when Chow Yun-Fat barely edged him out. In the 2000’s, Stephen didn’t make a lot of movies, but when he did, they were record breaking box office smashes. The first of those was SHAOLIN SOCCER.
The film has a pretty simple concept… a former soccer great, known as Golden Leg Fung (Ng Man-Tat), has been down on his luck for 20 years after his leg was broken in a soccer match. Drunk and at his lowest, he runs into the Mighty Steel Leg Sing (Stephen Chow), a poor Shaolin disciple who spends his time trying to figure out a way to make the teachings of Shaolin popular again. When Fung sees the power with which Sing can kick a soccer ball, he comes up with the idea of recruiting and coaching a soccer team of Shaolin kung fu masters. He wants to challenge Team Evil, the reigning Chinese soccer champions, and their arrogant Coach Hung (Patrick Tse), the man responsible for his crippled leg. Can they win the Chinese Cup, restore the legend of Golden Leg Fung, and bring Shaolin Kung Fu into the modern world?
No matter what you think of my summary above, I can assure you that it doesn’t even come close to doing the film justice. What may sound like just a kung fu comedy is actually a kung fu comedy, a sports movie, and an effects driven, fantastical live-action cartoon all rolled up into one. As funny as I thought he was in the James Bond parody FROM BEIJING WITH LOVE (1995), writer-director Stephen Chow proves himself to be a comedic genius with SHAOLIN SOCCER. Apparently the citizens of Hong Kong agreed as the film broke all of their previous box office records when it was released in the summer of 2001. Chow would break his own records a few years later when he wrote, directed and starred in the international hit KUNG FU HUSTLE (2004).
As the film kicks into gear, we’re treated to a succession of “Magnificent Seven” like scenes where Fung and Sing try to build their soccer team from Sing’s former Shaolin “brothers.” These aren’t obvious badasses like Charles Bronson and James Coburn, though. These guys may be Shaolin masters, but in the world they live in now, they’re a bunch of beaten down losers. They all initially turn the guys down due to their complete lack of confidence in themselves, but something has undeniably stirred in them again. With Fung and Sing sitting alone and thinking all hope is lost, Chow brilliantly parodies John Woo, and the brothers join them in stylish, wind blown slow-mo!
Once the Shaolin masters get together on the team, director Stephen Chow cranks up the CGI and special effects to 10 to illustrate their true powers. This is all done for entertainment purposes, so don’t expect anything that resembles real soccer. Their first practice begins with Mighty Steel Leg Sing kicking a ball straight up in the air, so the team just has to hang out and take naps while they wait for the ball to finally come back down. As the guys discover their true CGI-enhanced Shaolin soccer superpowers, they seem unbeatable… that is, until they run back into the superdrug-enhanced Team Evil and their unethical coach Hung. Part of the fun of these types of movies is in seeing how they deal with adversity and overcome the bigger, badder team. I want to shout out Patrick Tse, who played Coach Hung. He’s deliriously over-the-top here, and we definitely want to see him get his comeuppance. One of the reasons I decided to rewatch SHAOLIN SOCCER is to celebrate Tse, who passed away on July 16th, 2026, at the age of 89, after a 7-decade film career in Hong Kong. Rest in peace, sir.
I think that the best thing I can say for this film is that underneath the entertaining craziness of the comedy and special effects is a sweet underdog story of unappreciated greatness being unleashed. The various characters may seem like jokes in their day to day lives, but they’re not, and it’s a joy to behold as the world sees how special they really are. This theme runs through several of Stephen Chow’s films. In his best movies, he doesn’t just prove that he’s a brilliant comedian, but he also shows us that he’s got a good heart.
I’m not sure how many of you are aware of this, but I love Charles Bronson. I don’t mean I just enjoy his movies, either. I have been obsessed with him for most of my life, well at least for about the last 40 years. During that time, I have watched all of his movies, I have driven 17 hours just to watch a Bronson triple-feature at the drive-in, I’ve visited the Colorado filming locations of MR. MAJESTYK, and I’ve visited his gravesite in Vermont. I’m currently a co-host of the “This Week in Charles Bronson Podcast” where I’ve been able to be parts of interviews with his co-stars and even a family member. For a man in his early 50’s, I think an awful lot about a movie star who passed away over 20 years ago. I call it a healthy obsession, but you can feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Well, it all began sometime in ’84 or ’85 when I stayed up one night with my Dad, and we watched the late movie. The movie that night was the TV edit of the Bronson classic, DEATH WISH. Before that night I had never heard of Bronson, but as the movie progressed and bad things happened to his family, Dad assured me that Bronson would take care of the bad guys. Looking back now, it’s ironic since Bronson didn’t kill any of the actual bad guys who brutalized his wife and daughter. Regardless, I didn’t know anything about Bronson, but my Dad certainly did, and that intrigued me as a boy. This also coincided around the same time when our family got our first VCR. Every time we’d go to the video store, I’d see that same guy from DEATH WISH, and I would beg mom and dad to rent one of his movies. I can assure you that no junior high kid in Arkansas knew as much about Charles Bronson in the 80’s than I did.
DEATH WISH premiered at the movies on July 24, 1974! It was an immediate, controversial smash hit, and in today’s dollars, it earned the equivalent of around $150 Million in America and approximately $300 Million around the globe. It cemented Bronson as a bonafide box office star in his home country and spawned the series that he would be most connected with for the remainder of his career. In honor of the 52nd anniversary of DEATH WISH, I’m sharing this iconic scene from the classic:
Do y’all remember when Best Buy had a good selection of DVD’s and blu-rays? This was sometime around the turn of the century and every time we’d go to Little Rock, I’d stop by Best Buy and check for the newest titles. I remember running across the South Korean movie SHIRI (1999), and the description on the cover made it sound like it would be an amazing action film. I didn’t know anything about South Korean cinema, but it looked good, so I bought it. And I absolutely loved it. I spent the next decade immersed in the country’s film industry, watching every movie that looked good to me. Titles like JOINT SECURITY AREA (2000), OLDBOY (2003), A BITTERSWEET LIFE (2005) and so many others became staples of my movie watching life. I remember when I first read about THE MAN FROM NOWHERE. It looked like it would be right down my alley…
Won Bin stars as Cha Tae-sik, a quiet pawnbroker who seems completely content spending all of his time by himself. He makes one exception, and that’s for So-Mi (Kim Sae-ron), the neglected young girl who lives next door and has no friends. She likes Tae-sik though and we see them slowly building a sweet relationship. When So-mi is kidnapped because her addicted mother steals from a drug dealing, organ harvesting criminal organization, we find out that Tae-sik possesses incredible fighting skills, and he will use them in every way possible to get her back. What starts as the quiet story of an unlikely friendship will soon turn into a brutal quest to find the girl before it’s too late.
As far as I’m concerned, THE MAN FROM NOWHERE is a must watch for several reasons. The best South Korean films for my money can accurately be described as “slow burners.” Writer-Director Lee Jeong-beom really takes his time setting up the story. We get scenes that help set up the action, but his focus for the first thirty minutes is the developing relationship between two broken human beings in Tae-sik and So-Mi. By the time she is put in danger, we care about her and understand why he will do whatever it takes to save her. Even as the action and violence kicks in hard, the story continues to pause long enough to let us learn more about Tae-sik’s past. Based on what we’ve learned about the characters, every fist punch, knife slash, and fired bullet acts as both a means to finding So-Mi and a cathartic emotional release.
If you enjoy brutal, badass action like I do, this delivers in spades. The action itself is extraordinary, some of the best in the cinema of South Korea, and the world, for that matter. There is gunfire at times, but this film mostly relies on close-quarter combat and the use of sharp blades. The fighters kick ass, but they also end up exhausted and in a lot of pain, often accompanied by a lot of blood. Because these scenes are somewhat grounded in reality, they’re both powerful and hard to watch at times. The film builds to a final knife fight between Tae-sik and Ramrowan (Thai actor Thanayong Wongtrakul), and when it finally comes, we can see and feel the two experts in violence engaged in a battle to the death. The action is tense and bloody, saving its very best for last.
THE MAN FROM NOWHERE has an excellent cast, led by Won Bin, possibly the most selective superstar in the history of cinema. I knew him from his prior South Korean hits GUNS & TALKS (2001), TAE GUK GI: THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR (2004), and MOTHER (2009). As of today in 2026, he has only six film credits to his name, and he has not acted in another film since this one. He’s excellent here as Cha Tae-sik, even if I don’t like his haircut for most of the film. It’s a very satisfying moment when he grabs some clippers and gets all that hair out of his eyes! He says very little, but beneath his cold exterior is a man carrying deep pain. It’s a restrained performance that exudes more emotional turmoil than pages and pages of dialogue ever could. And he’s a badass action performer when the time comes as well. I hope he comes back at some point, but if he never does, he goes out on top!
Kim Sae-ron, who was ten years old at the time, is very effective as So-mi. Her performance is very natural and vulnerable, stealing our hearts with ease, and I think we can all understand why Tae-sik would want to protect her. On a very sad note, while doing research for this review, I discovered that she took her own life on February 16, 2025, at just twenty-four years of age. Watching her in the film and discussing her work feels different now, serving as a poignant reminder of both her incredible talent at such a young age and the complexity of the human condition.
THE MAN FROM NOWHERE was a massive hit in South Korean cinemas in 2010, with only the worldwide smash AVATAR having more ticket admissions. Between Won Bin’s transformative performance, the irresistible “protect the innocent child” dynamic, and the brutal, in your face action, the film still had me on the edge of my seat when I watched it again this week. If you like your action filled with blood, sweat, and tears, I can’t recommend this more highly.
As of the date of this review, it’s streaming on Amazon Prime.
I have about a 35-minute commute to work every day, so I often listen to various podcasts as I’m driving in. There are several that I really enjoy, with “Fanacek” being one of my very favorites. I pretty much always listen to his new episodes on the same day they come out. He’s been talking about the book he’s been working on for quite a while, and it’s finally come out. The name of the book is BOXED IN – TRAPPED IN 80’s TELEVISION, and it’s a monster, coming in at 750 pages. One of the best things I can say is that he’s captured the fun of the podcast in the book, with it being both incredibly funny and informative. I laughed out loud frequently while I was reading it. I also made quite a few notes as the book reminded me of shows I wanted to revisit or shows I may not have ever even heard of. I recommend the book to any person who grew up in the 80’s. There’s a lot of nostalgia here. I also recommend the book to everyone else who just enjoys the history of TV. There’s so much to learn, and Fanacek’s exhaustive research is a great start!
If any of that sounds good to you, just search for BOXED IN – TRAPPED IN 80’s TELEVISION on Amazon. I don’t think there’s any way you’ll be disappointed!
Today would have been the 89th birthday of actor Richard Jordan. Jordan was an excellent actor who died way too soon back in 1993. I’ve always liked him though, and he’s been in some excellent movies including CHATO’S LAND (1972), THE FRIENDS OF EDDIE COYLE (1973), THE YAKUZA (1974), and LOGAN’S RUN (1976).
Today, I share one of his great scenes from THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER, where he accurately portrays a politician. Enjoy my friends!
Through the Shattered Lens 