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The Celtic Predator

I love movies, writing, and big, scary creatures.
The Celtic Predator has written 791 posts for Express Elevator to Hell

‘A History of Violence’ (2005): Nature Over Nurture

Directed by: David Cronenberg || Produced by: Chris Bender, J.C. Spink Screenplay by: Josh Olson, David Cronenberg || Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bello, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Ashton Holmes, Peter MacNeill, Stephen McHattie, Greg Bryk Music by: Howard Shore || Cinematography by: Peter Suschitzky || Edited by: Ronald Sanders || Country: United States, Germany, Canada … Continue reading

‘Layer Cake’ (2004): Matthew Vaughn’s First Kingsman

Directed by: Matthew Vaughn || Produced by: Adam Bohling, David Reid, Matthew Vaughn Screenplay by: JJ Connolly || Starring: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham, George Harris, Jamie Foreman, Sienna Miller, Michael Gambon, Tom Hardy Music by: Lisa Gerrard, Ilan Eshkeri || Cinematography by: Ben Davis || Edited by: Jon Harris || Country: United Kingdom … Continue reading

I watched ‘Terminator: Genisys’ trailer and I got sad, then I watched ‘Mad Max’s trailer and I got really, really happy…

This is a random, kneejerk-reaction post, so I’ll try to be brief. The other day, I decided for some masochistic reason to rewatch the original trailer for the upcoming remake/sequel/reboot/prequel, Terminator: Genisys (Q3, 2015). Here it is: My reaction to it the second time was roughly the same I had when I first watched the … Continue reading

Diamonds in the Rough: Four Underrated Filmmakers

This is a companion piece to my other director-centric article, my picks for the Top Five Overrated Filmmakers, in which I discussed movie-directors who get way more critical support and fan-credit than they deserve. Today I’ll tackle the opposite end of the spectrum: Directors who have proved their worth, have made good (in some cases, … Continue reading

‘Pan’s Labyrinth’ (2006): High Fantasy Melded with Historical Fiction

Directed by: Guillermo del Toro || Produced by: Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, Bertha Navarro, Frida Torresblanco, Alvaro Augustin Screenplay by: Guillermo del Toro || Starring: Ivana Baquero, Sergi Lopez, Maribel Verdu, Doug Jones Ariadna Gil, Alex Angulo Music by: Javier Navarrete || Cinematography by: Guillermo Navarro || Edited by: Bernat Vilaplana || Country: Spain, Mexico … Continue reading

‘Joint Security Area’ (2000): A Stage Play on Film Done Right

Directed by: Park Chan-wook || Produced by: Shim Jae-myung Screenplay by: Kim Hyeon-seok, Jeong Seong-san, Lee Moo-yeong, Park Chan-wook || Starring: Lee Byung-hun, Song Kang-ho, Lee Young-ae, Kim Tae-woo, Shin Ha-Kyun, Herbert  Ulrich Music by: Jo Yeong-wook || Cinematography by: Kim Seong-bok || Edited by: Kim Sang-beom || Country: South Korea || Language: Korean, English … Continue reading

‘Berandal’ (2014, Re-evaluated): Gareth Evans’ Reach Exceeds His Grasp

Directed by: Gareth Evans || Produced by: Ario Sagantoro, Nate Bolotin, Aram Tertzakian Written by: Gareth Evans || Starring: Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Oka Antara, Tio Pakusadwo, Alex Abbad, Julie  Estelle, Ryuhei Matsuda, Kenichi Endo, Kazuki Kitamura Music by: Fajar Yuskemal, Aria Prayogi, Joseph Trapanese || Cinematography by: Matt Flannery, Dimas Imam Subhono || Editing … Continue reading

‘Shiri’ (1999): A Korean Take on 1990s Hollywood Action

Directed by: Kang Je-gyu || Produced by: Byeon Moo-rim, Lee Kwan-hak Screenplay by: Kang Je-gyu || Starring: Han Suk-kyu, Choi Min-sik, Yunjin Kim, Song Kang-ho, Yoon Joo-sang, Park Yong-woo, Johnny Kim, Lee Seung-shin Music by: Lee Dong-joon || Cinematography by: Kim Seong-bok || Edited by: Park Gok-ji || Country: South Korea || Language: Korean Running … Continue reading

‘Elite Squad 2’ (2010): The Most Disappointing Sequel Since ‘Alien 3’ (1992)

Directed by: Jose Padilha || Produced by: Marcos Prado Screenplay by: Jose Padilha, Braulio Mantovani || Starring: Wagner Moura, Irandhir Santos, Andre Ramiro, Milhem Cortaz, Andre Mattos, Maria Ribeiro Music by: Pedro Bromfman || Cinematography by: Lula Carvalho || Edited by: Daniel Rezende || Country: Brazil || Language: Portuguese Running Time: 116 minutes Readers may … Continue reading

‘Stalingrad’ (2013): When Color Grading Goes Mad

Directed by: Fedor Bondarchuk || Produced by: Alexander Rodnyanksy, Dmitriy Rudovskiy, Sergey Melkumov, Natalia Gorina, Steve Schlair Screenplay by: Illya Tilkin, Sergey  Snezhkin || Starring: Petr Fedorov, Maria Smolnikova, Dmitriy Lysenkov, Aleksey Barabash, Andrey Smolyakov, Yanina Studilina, Vladmir Kurlovich, Thomas Kretschmann, Heiner Lauterbach Music by: Angelo Badalamenti || Cinematography by:  Makism Osadchiy || Edited by: … Continue reading

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