2010: A Year in DVD

I'm not much of a new year's resolution kinda guy but I suppose you could refer to this as one. I've been a dvd owner since October of 2002. As those 7 years have gone on, I've amassed one hell of a collection. Being a movie geek like I am, it was virtually impossible not to. I've got more movies than an average person could watch in a lifetime. Seriously. Even if a geek like myself were to watch a single dvd every single day, it would take decades to watch everything I own. That doesn't mean I'm not going to try. Thus, 2010 is going to be devoted to dvd. I fully intend to watch at least one dvd a day from January 1st through December 31st. This blog is going to switch from a review blog to a blog tracking what I'm watching. I might still drop an occasional review but that won't be what this is about. I might post thoughts about what I've watched and I might not. I guess it all depends on my mood when I'm updating.

12 Rounds

12 Rounds is the latest action vehicle produced by WWE Films. This one stars perennial top dog John Cena. In his first flick, Cena portrayed a former US Marine. In this one, he plays Danny Fisher, a New Orleans police officer. While patrolling the streets one night, Fisher and his partner wind up involved in an FBI pursuit of notorious arms dealer Miles Jackson. As fate has it, Fisher manages to apprehend Jackson but in the process Jackson's girlfriend is killed. Flash forward one year later and Jackson has broken out of prison to exact his revenge on Fisher.

Alright...first of all, 12 Rounds is not a good movie. Is it an entertaining movie? Sure. It's not the type of movie that will spark endless debate amongst friends. It is the type of movie that might spark a drinking game however. Everytime something completley implausible happens, take a shot. I guarantee that within 20 minutes, you'll be suffering from acute alcohol poisoning. Cena's last flick suffered from this as well. I think it kind of ties into his WWE persona. At one point in this movie, a character takes control of a helicopter. Now, how this character knows how to pilot a helicopter is absolutely beyond me. It's certainly not mentioned in the script. It just kind of happens. Odd. If there is one thing this movie does well, it's mindless action. Shit, between Jackson and Fisher, the two combine to practically destroy the city of New Orleans. There are lots of explosions, car chases and gunplay. You've got a falling freight elevator and an out of control trolley car. The director of this is Renny Harlin. Harlin had a good string of action flicks in the 80s and 90s so the man definitely knows his stuff in that regard. He's probably most well known for Die Hard 2. Story-wise, this one takes a Die Hard-esque twist in the last reel that I probably should have seen coming but somehow missed. Must have been dazzled by the pretty fire.

To sum it up, 12 Rounds is a mindless action flick. If you have a tolerance for that kind of thing, you'll probably dig this. If you prefer your flicks to make you think, it might be for the best to skip this one.