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R.I.P. Paul Walker
R.I.P. Paul Walker
The actor most known for his role in The Fast and the Furious movies died yesterday afternoon (11/30/13) in a car accident in Valencia, CA. His friend Roger Rodas was driving. Walker had been at a charity event for his organization Reach Out Worldwide earlier in the day. Both men were found dead in the wreckage of a red Porche. Walker was only 40 years old.
It’s sad and shocking news. I’ve been a fan of Paul Walker’s movies ever since I saw him in Pleasantville (1998). It’s awful to see him go way before his time.
Paul was not known for dramas, rather he was most known for action movies and thrillers.
My favorite Paul Walker movie is Running Scared (2006). Other great Walker movies include Eight Below (2006), The Lazarus Project (2008), The Fast and the Furious (2001), Pawn Shop Chronicles (2013), and The Death and Life of Bobby Z (2007).
Walker was supposed to be in Fast & Furious 7 in 2014.
Hours (2013) will be Paul’s second to the last movie to be released. It is set to be released later this month. The last movie that he made was Brick Mansions (2014).
The world lost another great actor. He will be missed.
Paul Walker movies that I have reviewed include:
Trailer for Hours (2013)
Hours (2013)
Paul Walker keeps making basically one-man independent movies. At least this one looks better than Vehicle 19 (2013).
The film is about a man (Walker) who desperately tries to keep his premature newborn baby daughter alive during Hurricane Katrina.
The movie was written and directed by Eric Heisserer and the rest of the noteworthy cast includes Genesis Rodriguez, and Nick Gomez.
The film is set to release on 12/13/13.
Pawn Shop Chronicles (2013)
Pawn Shop Chronicles (2013)
Back in 2006 I was blown away when I watched the film Running Scared (2006). I saw that movie in theatres three different times. It was that good. Paul Walker was the main star and Wayne Kramer directed. Yesterday I watched a preview for Pawn Shop Chronicles and thought it looked like it could be pretty awesome and it has a solid cast. Paul Walker is one of the main stars, but when I found out Kramer directed, that made me want to see it.
Pawn Shop Chronicles follows multiple stories involving drugged-out hillbillies, newlyweds, and an Elvis impersonator as their lives all intertwine because of their transactions made at a pawn shop.
The noteworthy cast includes Paul Walker, Matt Dillon, Brendan Fraser, Kevin Rankin, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elijah Wood, Chi McBride, Thomas Jane, Norman Reedus, Lukas Haas, DJ Qualls, Michael Cudlitz, Ashlee Simpson, and Matt O’Leary.
The movie is a disturbingly dark comedy and weird, white trash, hillbilly adventure.
Kramer continues the trend of super intense filmmaking with unique, quirky, fun characters in a brutally twisted storyline.
Just like Running Scared, the camera work and editing is very unique and fast-paced which helps to make the movie more thrilling.
The movie is very graphic. It was pretty shocking at times. F-bombs, nudity, and disturbing images were all overused.
Within the first ten minutes of the film, I began to wonder what I had gotten myself into. But, then the movie hit its stride and got much better.
Walker plays a way different type of character than he has ever played. It was actually pretty refreshing to see him try something new for a change. It was a stretch for him, but he pulled it off nicely.
For you Reedus fans out there; his role will disappoint you because it is hardly noticeable. I felt like he was way underused.
This is Fraser’s best movie in over a decade. I was happy to see him in a likable role again.
Dillon stole the show, in my opinion. It never seems like he misses a stride. Every once in a while when he finds the right character, he gives a breakout performance that reminds us all that he still has the ability to take over a movie.
For the type of film that this is, it is an exercise in quality filmmaking. It will keep you guessing. It is a funny, messed up, shocking adventure like no other.
I rate this movie an 8 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? Buy.
Vehicle 19 (2013)
Vehicle 19 (2013)
I had no expectations before watching this movie. Paul Walker has made some surprising films in the past, so I thought that I would give Vehicle 19 a chance. Which movies has Walker surprised me in before? Good question. The answer is Running Scared (2006), The Lazarus Project (2008), and Eight Below (2006).
Vehicle 19 follows Michael Woods (Paul Walker), an American who travels to a foreign country. He is in for a bumpy ride when a mix-up with the rental car company lands him in a vehicle with a cell phone, a pistol, and a bound and gagged woman in the back seat.
The movie was written and directed by Mukunda Michael Dewil. There are no other noteworthy cast members.
Paul Walker is the lead in this boring waste of time, foreign, low budget one man show filled with cheap car chases, laughable special effects, a dull storyline, and uninteresting dialogue.
The soundtrack was painfully annoying and did not help the film’s cause.
For a movie classified as an action/thriller, it was deathly slow at times.
The plot was basically the equivalent to the punch line of a bad joke. It was not entertaining, it lacked a point, and I quickly wanted to change the subject. Often when the main character encountered a problem in the movie, the solution was all way too convenient.
The acting was bad. The writing was worse, but the filmmaking as a whole was just a disgrace. Luckily the movie’s runtime was only 85 minutes. However, that was an 85 minutes that I will not get back.
Do yourself a favor and steer clear of this train wreck that somehow became a movie. It is not worth your time or money.
I rate this movie a 1 on a scale of 1-10.
Buy, rent, or run? RUN!
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