The Expendables=jet li+sylvester stallone+jason statham

Martial Media, Culture and Other Arts Martial Media and Popular Culture
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Is Jet going to be the brunt of a lot of small man jokes?

Click for clip

Jet Li Uses His Size To His Advantage In A New Expendables Clip
By Katey Rich : 2010-07-30 17:31:36

The manliest movie of the summer is almost upon us-- are you prepared for the guns both euphemistic and literal? The Expendables hits theaters on August 13, and coming off their hit Comic Con panel, Sylvester Stallone and his burly men seem pretty confident that moviegoers will opt for their brand of machismo in the waning days of summer.

If you need any proof that this movie fulfills its claims of being the manliest movie ever, check out the new clip released by Lionsgate, in which Jet Li argues it’s harder for him to be a mercenary because of his size, but when the bullets start flying, it’s the small guy who’s the most useful for fighting back. Just goes to show you that even a drive down an average street can turn deadly–and awesome-- when Sly Stallone is behind the wheel.

They are releasing so much promo material on this flick that I almost feel like I’ve already seen it.

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Opens this Friday

Vanity Fair’s review

Is The Expendables a Good Movie? (And 24 Other Urgent Questions)
by Mike Ryan
August 11, 2010, 9:35 AM

Sylvester Stallone and an all-star cast of testosterone-fueled action stars (Jet Li, Jason Statham, et al.) storm into theaters this weekend in The Expendables. So it’s not really a question of if something will blow up or whether someone will be knifed in the throat. It’s more the question of how often **** will blow up and how many people will be knifed in the gullet. As a service, we try to answer every question that you could possibly have about The Expendables.

Q: What exactly are The Expendables?

A: The Expendables are a crack squad of mercenaries that are hired for various different suicide missions. Though they have no actual affiliation with the U.S. Government, it’s said that the C.I.A. will hire them, from time to time, for missions that the U.S. wants no official role in leading.

Q: Who are The Expendables?

A: The Expendables consist of Barney Ross (Stallone), Lee Christmas (Statham), Yin Yang (Li), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews), Toll Road (Randy Couture), and (for a little while) Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren). They travel to each mission on a pretty nifty sea plane. They are the Best of the Best.

Q: Seriously, those are their names?

A: Yes.

Q: The “Best of the Best” is led by a man who is 64 years old?

A: Well, we are in a recession.

Q: That’s the whole team? I thought there were a lot more action stars. What happened to Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, and Arnold Schwarzenegger?

A: They’re all in there. Rourke more than the other two, but none of them are actual members of the strike force. Rourke, who plays a man named Tool, is asked to join, but his days of fighting are over. He now spends his time winning his money on knife-throwing bets and spending his time with a revolving door of ladies, just as I imagine Mickey Rourke does in real life.

Q: Knife throwing? This is what The Expendable do with their free time?

A: Absolutely. Getting tattoos and throwing knives. Just another night out with the boys!

Q: Does Rourke still use the Russian accent he used in Iron Man II?

A: Thankfully, no.

Q: So, it’s confirmed: Arnold is in the movie?

A: Yes, it’s been confirmed for awhile. He’s only in the movie for about three minutes, and it’s with Stallone and Bruce Willis. Additionally, Schwarzenegger’s appearance makes him the only sitting United States governor who has ever made a cameo in a movie where the scene’s punch line involves an oral sex joke. (Unless there are some videos from Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell we’re not aware of.)

Q: Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Sylvester Stallone are all in the same scene? You know, there’s so much star power between the three of those guys, maybe they should all go into business together. If these guys opened a theme restaurant chain together, what would it be called?

A: That’s a tough one. Probably something with a Hollywood theme? Maybe something like “Planet Los Angeles” or “Hollywood World”?

Q: Is it weird watching Rocky and Drago fighting for the same team?

A: It doesn’t last long. In the opening scene, Lundgren’s character gets a little too barbaric while killing captured enemy soldiers. Stallone cuts him from the team, which doesn’t sit well with the former Drago.

Q: Which one was married to Brigitte Nielsen?

A: Stallone was married to Nielsen in real life. Lundgren was married to her in Rocky IV.

Q: What is the mission that The Expendables accept?

A: Bruce Willis, who goes by the name Church, offers the team a mission that involves going to a South American island named Vilena and overthrowing the island’s general. Stallone and Statham go on a scouting mission to the island first and discover that an ex-C.I.A. agent names James Munroe (Eric Roberts) is actually running the island from behind the scenes. The two agree the mission is too dangerous, but while he’s down there, Stallone falls in love with the general’s daughter, so he must return.

Q: Eric Roberts is the villain? Does his character resemble Salvatora Maroni in The Dark Knight?

A: Not at all. Actually, I could be convinced that Roberts’ character in The Expendables is the same apple throwing, checkers playing character that he played in the video for The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.”

Q: What’s the best part about The Expendables?

A: Well, a lot of things blow up and people seem to like that. And it is fun to see all those guys onscreen together (especially the aforementioned scene involving Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis) even though the plot is razor-thin.

Q: What’s the worst thing about The Expendables?

A: There are a few. One that stands out is Jason Statham’s subplot involving his ex-girlfriend that leaves him because, as she tells him, “we’ve been dating for a year and a half and I have no idea what you do?” I can see how that would be problematic.

Q: Did she leave Lee (Statham) for an abusive new boyfriend?

A: Of course.

Q: Does she ever figure out what Lee does for a living?

A: Well, at least he thinks she does. When Lee discovers that she has a black eye, he confronts the abusive new boyfriend while he’s playing a game of pick-up basketball. After beating up not just the boyfriend, but the entire team, Lee dramatically tells his ex, “now … you know what I do.” I have no idea how she gets “international mercenary” from “bully of over-40-basketball-league.”

Q: What’s another problem with The Expendables?

A: I was expecting more out of Jet Li. He’s reduced to a character that constantly complains he isn’t being paid enough. If these were scenes from a hidden camera and actual real life negotiations, it would explain Lee’s phoned-in performance.

Q: Since this is an unapologetic action film, is it safe to assume that The Expendables’ raid of the island comes pretty early in the film?

A: Surprisingly, no. The full Expendables team does not set foot on the island until 75 minutes into the film.

Q: Is The Expendables a good movie?

A: Absolutely not. But, to be fair, it’s not really trying to be a good movie.

Q: Considering all of Sylvester Stallone’s movies, where does The Expendables rank?

A: The Expendables is better than the softcore porn Stallone starred in, The Party at Kitty and Studs. It’s obviously not as good as his great movies like the first four Rocky films or the original First Blood. I’d rank it somewhere in between Rhinestone and Over the Top.

Q: Wait, Stallone was in a softcore porn? What was it about?

A: He was! As for the plot, well, Stallone plays Studs. As the title suggests, he and Kitty throw a party. You can probably guess what happens after that.

Q: If you are going to be blurbed in the commercials for The Expendables, what do you hope the quote will say?

A: “The Expendables is better than Stallone’s softcore porn! - Mike Ryan, Vanity Fair.”

Q: In the three-way battle for box office supremacy between The Expendables, Eat, Pray, Love, and Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World, why will The Expendables win?

A: If The Expendables does win, it’s because every male who does not own a hoodie will want to see this movie. Conversely, every female who does not own a hoodie will want to see Eat, Pray, Love. All male and females who own hoodies will want to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. It’s simple, the more you think about it.

Q: How many future divorce papers will cite August 13, 2010, as the day their marriages were effectively beyond repair?

A: The over-under is currently at 1,700.

Get your hoodies here. :wink:

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More from the LA Times

‘Expendables’ could be a hit for Lions Gate
A good performance at the box office by the action movie could help shore up the studio’s position as investor Carl Icahn tries to seize control of the company.
August 10, 2010|By Claudia Eller and Ben Fritz, Los Angeles Times

When a movie is about to open, its actors and filmmakers usually think only about whether audiences will show up and like what they see.

But Sylvester Stallone, who stars in and directed this coming weekend’s “The Expendables,” is acutely aware of a pressing matter of an entirely different nature: the behind-the-scenes war raging between the movie’s distributor, Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., and corporate raider Carl Icahn, who has been trying to seize control of the company for more than a year.

“It’s like the sword of Damocles hanging there as you walk through the front door,” said Stallone, referring to the Greek legend about imminent peril faced by people in power. “If the movie does perform, it could help take some of the pressure off. It’s been tense over there.”

Mounting fear of a hostile takeover by Icahn permeates the executive suites at the Santa Monica studio led by Chief Executive Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns as the company struggles to fend off its largest shareholder and keep focused on producing and releasing movies and TV shows.

“The Expendables” holds particular significance right now for Lions Gate, whose movie performances are being closely scrutinized by Icahn. The activist investor has criticized the studio’s film strategy and publicly lambasted management for overspending on productions such as the June box-office disappointment “Killers,” starring Ashton Kutcher and Katherine Heigl. Lions Gate hasn’t had a breakout hit since early 2009 with Tyler Perry’s comedy “Madea Goes to Jail.”

But based on its strong prerelease buzz, “Expendables” may turn out to be a movie that even Icahn can’t disparage. The high-octane action movie is generating strong interest among men of all ages and is likely to open to more than $30 million. That’s not to say it’s a slam-dunk, as the studio learned recently when its comic book adaptation “Kick-Ass” failed to live up to the mega-hype the film generated among fanboys before its release.

Perhaps this is why Expendables has been pushing forward such an aggressive marketing campaign.

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And from the NYT

I wasn’t even aware of this and here I live in CA…:o

California Unions Take Pay Protest to Movies
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: August 10, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO — State workers across the country have long complained about budget-cutting by way of furloughs and pay cuts. Now California’s state employee unions are taking the fight to the wellspring of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s popularity: the big screen.
Enlarge This Image

A satirical poster criticizes Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger for making California employees take unpaid time off.

The workers, scheduled by the governor to be on unpaid leave on Friday, say they will demonstrate outside theaters across the state showing the new action thriller “The Expendables,” which features a rare cameo by the actor turned governor, who is likely to become an actor again when his term expires early next year.

“While state workers are being asked to do their job with less money, he is restoring his movie star status,” said Jim Zamora, a spokesman for Service Employees International Union Local 1000. “It’s another slap in the face.”

Mr. Schwarzenegger and about 150,000 state workers are at loggerheads: he wants them to continue taking furloughs to help close the state’s huge budget gap, while they are declining the honor of making such a sacrifice.

The service workers, the Association of California State Supervisors, the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association and other unions are suing to stop the furloughs. The cuts amount to a 15 percent reduction in pay.

Alameda County Superior Court Judge Steven A. Brick said Monday that the unions had raised “serious questions” about the governor’s ability to order the unpaid vacations. Pending a resolution of the court case, Judge Brick canceled the furloughs.

Lawyers for the governor appealed the decision on Tuesday.

Whatever the outcome, state workers are trying to raise a little havoc with “The Expendables.” The title alone is a gift from Hollywood, allowing the unions to post such declarations on their Web sites as, “Tell Arnold We’re Not Expendable.”

A demonstration on Aug. 3 during the premiere of “The Expendables” at Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood forced Mr. Schwarzenegger to skip the red carpet and enter the building from the back, the service workers said.

The governor’s spokesman, Aaron McLear, said Mr. Schwarzenegger often enters buildings from the back as a security measure. Mr. McLear said he had not heard of any demonstrations against the movie, but said that the state workers “are certainly free to do whatever they want.”

From the evidence of its trailer, the Sylvester Stallone comeback vehicle employs every action movie cliché (“A job no one wanted is becoming a mission no one expected”) and every aging action movie hero this side of Steven Seagal (Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li and Jason Statham, and Mr. Stallone himself).

The movie is expected to be a big commercial hit, not because of the governor. His role is uncredited.

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Here’s an interesting promo

I just got this from a publicity rep for The Expendables.

Lionsgate is holding eBay charitable auctions for FIVE posters from THE EXPENDABLES signed at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con by actors Terry Crews, Steve Austin and Randy Couture, benefiting The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. The winning bidders will receive studio certified posters signed by the cast along with a signed letter verifying their authenticity. In addition to the poster, each winning bidder will also receive an EXPENDABLES t-shirt, EXPENDABLES bandana, beer cup, 3 temporary tattoos, and an action DVD pack including RAMBO, TRANSPORTER 3, POINT BLANK, WAR and TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY. The auctions are currently running and will end Monday, August 16th, 2010.

Please click on the following links to view the auctions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180544922850&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180544922942&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180544923131&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180544923239&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=180544923340&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT

I want an Expendables beer cup!

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A bazillion Expendable reviews are out now

I’m cherry-picking a few - especially looking for ones focusing on Li and Couture. Here’s an odd Li intro (is that really needed?):

The Expendables: Heroes today. Legends forever.
by John Black on August 10, 2010
in Film, National

The tagline for Sylvester Stallone’s new movie, The Expendables — “Heroes today. Legends forever” — will mean a lot to fans old enough to remember going to theaters and seeing the films that made the majority of the cast action movie legends in the first place.

But what about today’s young action movie fans, the ones who think Christian Bale and Tobey Maguire are action heroes because they look good in a padded costume and have plenty of post-production trickery (not to mention stunt men) to make them look heroic on the silver screen. Does that audience appreciate why it’s so cool to watch a 64-year-old guy like Stallone kicking bad-guy ass on the big screen?

To give new fans a better appreciation of why these guys deserve the label of action movie legend, here is a quick list of some films that the stars of The Expendables made back when they were the box office studs who would become legends.

Sylvester Stallone (64 years old).

Stallone in First Blood

First Blood made Stallone into an action hero
He won an Oscar nomination for his acting in Rocky, but if you want to really watch Sly in awesome action movie mode then watch First Blood, the first of the Rambo movies. The action is first rate, and much more believable that the cartoon antics of the second and third movie in the series. Stallone’s performance as a troubled veteran who gets pushed too far is strong, too.

Mickey Rourke (58 years old).

Although he’s on a bit of a career role these days, thanks to strong performances in Iron Man 2 and The Wrestler, to get a real sense of why Mickey Rourke rocks watch him in The Pope of Greenwich Village. It may not be an ‘action movie,’ per se, but the film spotlights just how cool a character Rourke is on screen. Seeing him as a young, handsome and much smaller version of the muscular man he is today is shocking. As a bonus, you get to see The Expendables bad guy Roberts (54 years old) as Rourke’s skinny young punk buddy.

Jet Li (47 years old).

Martial arts legend Jet Li is a relative newcomer to mainstream American movie audiences, although Hong Kong action fans have been watching his high kicking style of fighting for years. His excellence as a fighter often overshadows the fact that Jet Li is also a good actor. To see him excel in both action and drama, watch the epic movie Hero, the story of how one man (Li) defeated a trio of assassins who plan to assassinate a powerful warlord in pre-unified China.

Jason Statham (38 years old).

While certainly not ‘old’ by most standards, Jason Statham is reaching that cinematic age where a lot of less-fit action movie actors have to start looking for roles that don’t require them to do too much heavy lifting. Statham’s love key personality and high energy fighting skills have never been better showcased than in the frantic film Crank, the Speed-like story of a man with a bomb in his chest that will explode if his heart rate drops too much. It’s a silly idea, sure, but Statham makes it believable.

The Expendables opens in theaters nationwide Friday, August 13.

The Expendables
Stallone and his band of macho men
By Ty Burr
Globe Staff / August 13, 2010

THE EXPENDABLES
Directed by: Sylvester Stallone
Written by: Stallone and David Callaham
Starring: Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Eric Roberts, Randy Couture, Steve Austin, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, Giselle Itié
At: Boston Common,
Fenway, suburbs
Running time: 103 minutes
Rated: R (strong action and bloody violence throughout, some language, unreconstructed ’80s machismo)

‘Rocky Balboa’’ in 2006, “Rambo’’ in 2008 — Sylvester Stallone has been trying to recapture his youth, or comment on his distance from it, for several years now. With “The Expendables,’’ the writer-director-star may have finally found the magic formula. A testosterone-fueled all-star action orgy that wouldn’t be out of place on the Cinemax late-night schedule circa 1986, “Expendables’’ is the closest thing to movie Viagra yet invented. It’s reprehensible. It’s stoopid violent. It’s a lot of unholy fun.

As the film opens this weekend, it’s easy to picture lobby crowds splitting by gender, women streaming in to see “Eat Pray Love’’ while the men queue up for Stallone’s all-you-can-eat red-meat buffet. “Expendables’’ wastes no time: The opening scene is set aboard a Somalian pirate ship, with the rough, tough mercenary team led by Stallone’s Barney Ross using extreme prejudice to rescue US hostages from badly accented, badly acted villains. Bodies and knives fly through the air, limbs are separated from their owners, obscene amounts of ordnance are deployed. It’s all so . . . uncomplicated.

Barney’s team is made up of a who’s who of meathead culture: “Transporter’’ star Jason Statham as Christmas, a hotheaded British blade expert; Dolph Lundgren, who came to fame fighting Stallone back in 1985’s “Rocky IV,’’ as unreliable psycho Gunner; martial arts legend Jet Li as Ying Yang (!), getting all the short jokes they didn’t use up on Shaobao Qin in “Ocean’s Eleven’’; former NFL man-mountain Terry Crews as gun-crazy Hale Caesar (!!); Randy Couture, the UFC mixed-martial-arts topliner, as the amusingly neurotic Toll Road.

So it’s half “Dirty Dozen’’ remake, half ’80s class reunion; Bruce Willis and a certain bodybuilder-politician are among the surprise alumni who put in unbilled appearances. As Tool, Barney’s semi-retired best friend, Mickey Rourke mostly sits around tattooing the other characters and indulging in misty, what-does-it-all-mean monologues. He still gets the biggest applause from the audience, as befits the survivor with the most scars.

Stallone, who wrote the script with David Callaham (“Doom’’) and directs the mayhem with flat-footed efficiency, knows the villains in this kind of movie have to be even dumber than the heroes. The Expendables accept a mission to save an island nation — it’s called Mandala or Vindaloo or something — where an evil ex-CIA agent played by a rabid Eric Roberts (yes) has corralled the local general (David Zayas) into basing the country’s economy on cocaine production. Just to even the odds, Roberts’s henchmen include wrestler “Stone Cold’’ Steve Austin and kickboxer Gary Daniels. Before the good guys arrive, the rebel forces appear to consist solely of the general’s lissome daughter Sandra (Giselle Itié).

Itié is on hand to remind us that everyone’s heterosexual here — trust me, some of the dialogue has you wondering — but otherwise this is a boy’s night out all the way, from the preposterous amount of bullets fired and vehicles exploded to the towel-snapping locker room banter to the pump-it-up classic rock goosing the action. (“Mississippi Queen’’? Creedence’s “Keep on Chooglin’ ’’? If this soundtrack isn’t available on 8-track, there’s no justice in the world.)

What makes “The Expendables’’ bearable and even enjoyable is that Stallone and most of the cast maintain exactly the right attitude toward this nonsense. There’s a certain lumbering grace to the movie that comes with age and experience and the urge to not take oneself too seriously. There’s also an awareness of when he-man posturing crosses the line into genuine moral ugliness on the part of the villains. I was not expecting the waterboarding scene.

That’s as far as it goes, but it’s enough. The movie’s macho swill but it’s honest macho swill, and it wears its nostalgia lightly. “The Expendables’’ takes us back to those halcyon days when all you needed to launch an action career was a body, some steroids, and a really bad script.

“It’s reprehensible. It’s stoopid violent. It’s a lot of unholy fun.” sounds like our kind of film.

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**** gets blown up !!
Noses get punched !!
Necks get broken !!
Faces get kicked !!
Blood gets spurted !!
**** story line !!
this is old school groin kicking and face punching !!!

Count me in !!!

BOOYAAAHHHKKAAASSSAHHHH !!!

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Opening day reviews are poor

‘The Expendables,’ Living Entirely Up To Their Name
by Mark Jenkins
August 12, 2010

An ex-CIA rogue has taken control of a pretty Caribbean island nation, transforming it into a repressive narco-state. Who ya gonna call?

Well, the Losers might be available. And then there’s the A-Team. Or maybe the Expendables. All three groups of ragtag yet invincible mercenaries are pretty much equivalent. In fact The Expendables’ director, co-writer and star Sylvester Stallone might just as well have called his squad of grizzled bad boys The Interchangables.

If Barney (Stallone) and his crew don’t exhibit much personality, it’s partially because they’re too busy fighting. The movie opens breathlessly on a ship in the Gulf of Aden, where the Expendables dispatch a group of ruthless Somali pirates. Depicted partially in low-def video, the showdown resembles a ultraviolent video game, complete with spurting gore and exploding flesh.

After the triumphant bloodbath, Barney banishes one of his team, Gunner (Dolph Lundgren), for lack of restraint. (Scruples; it’s nice to have scruples. Though as it turns out, Barney’s top lieutenants — played by Jason Statham and Jet Li — aren’t exactly career diplomats; when the final battle arrives, they and the other Exes [Terry Crews and Randy Couture] will exterminate scores of soldiers with no more qualms than they might swat mosquitoes.)

In the lull following that pirate shootout, the Exes retire to their garage/clubhouse, a shrine to tattoos, motorcycles, '70s blues-rock and knife-throwing contests. (There’s no visible “No Girls Allowed” sign, but it must be there somewhere.) This macho theme park is supervised by Tool, played by Mickey Rourke, who appears not to have showered since Iron Man 2. Don’t get attached, though; his role is only slightly bigger than those of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who share one amusing, in-jokey scene with Stallone.

Statham’s Lee is the one Ex allotted his own subplot: He’s distraught because his girlfriend dumped him for being too mysterious and too absent. Yang (Li) is reduced to a Dagwood-like tagline: He’s always asking for a raise.
Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Randy Couture
Enlarge Karen Ballard/Lionsgate

The Improbables: Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone, center) is the most blandly named member of the Expendables. His compatriots include Lee Christmas (Jason Statham, left) and Toll Road (Randy Couture, right).
Jason Statham, Sylvester Stallone, Randy Couture
Karen Ballard/Lionsgate

The Improbables: Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone, center) is the most blandly named member of the Expendables. His compatriots include Lee Christmas (Jason Statham, left) and Toll Road (Randy Couture, right).

In a quick attempt to convey mercenary motivation, Tool reminds Barney of how they lost their humanity while fighting — he doesn’t say for whom — in Bosnia. It’s one of several weightless geopolitical references in a movie that treats current events as mere fodder. (Waterboarding? Yeah, that could be a cool scene.)

Barney may have left his soul in the Balkans, but he’s about to get a nobility injection. When he and Lee undertake a scouting mission to dictatorial Vilena, Barney meets Sandra (Giselle Itie), a fetching young revolutionary. Her fervent dedication to liberty (among other arousing qualities) inspires Barney to lead a mission to replace the local strongman.

That means also tangling with the power behind the Vilenian throne, cocaine-peddling Yank James Munroe (Eric Roberts). His Munroe doctrine? Greed is good.

Eventually, the Exes arrive in force, butchering the baddies and setting off abundant petroleum-fueled explosions. As in most current action movies, hyperactive editing substitutes for coherent movement. Li brought along his usual stunt choreographer, Corey Yuen, but their joint efforts seem to have been wasted.

Instead, the battle scenes rely on brutality so over the top that it verges on the farcical. Essentially, The Expendables is a comedy, although one that elicits genuine laughter less often than chortles of OMG shock.

Next to the hopelessly inexpressive Stallone and the English-impaired Li, Statham emerges as the movie’s principal wit. But the script furnishes him with only a few deadpan quips. Besides, it’s no great accomplishment to be the funniest guy in a Sylvester Stallone flick.

We’ll have ours up in a few. Stay tuned…

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I guess I was right about the small man jokes

Just posted for opening day: THE EXPENDABLES: Perhaps They Are by Craig Reid

70

Bah !!
Critics !!
It is a movie about people getting punched, stabbed and shot and **** getting blown up.
Period !
Story and logic?
Read a freaking book !
Pussified critics !

71

Gosh,

Some of those guys look so geriatric that they should change the title to the movie to

“The Depends-ables”

mickey

72

steamy interview
http://www.youtube.com/expendables

73

LMAO !!!
Well done !!

74

My wife took me out on a date tonight to see the movie. I give it a thumbs up.

75

cool

article DR. reid did a another good job my only comment is :

And now with RAMBO 5 being announced as a green-lit project, the absolute final part of the franchise.

when did that happen cause as recently as last month stallone said that he wasnt doing another rambo film, also he has a few projects ahead of that, its not even listed in his imdb. he’s publically stated that if expendables succeed(and it looks like its going to do at least 35-40 thats smash for this film that i think was made for between 25-35mil) it will be his new action franchise. so while im not doubting the doctors sources, just saying he must have better ears then me.. cause i didnt hear about it and i usually do lol.

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My son was quoted on one of the trailers! “manliest movie ever” Paul Tassi jo/blo

It was from an article he wrote on the trailer a long time ago…lol!:smiley:

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I thought it was a pretty good diversion for 100 minutes or so. Not something that you think too deeply about after it’s over. I thought the Jet Li short man jokes were very lame, though, esp. the one from Crews. Jason Statham isn’t exactly a tall man either, and neither is Stallone (who wrote it), he’s just muscular.

I think Donnie Yen might have looked more at home in Jet Li’s role. Donnie’s onscreen persona is a lot harder. But unfortunately, Donnie’s not a known name with the general American audience. And he still would have gotten the little man jokes. Plus, with the bad, jumpy camerawork, Donnie’s MA would have probably been wasted, too. IMO, the best fight scene in the film was Jason Statham’s about halfway through.

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Still #1

Given last weekend’s offerings, I suppose that was to be expected. It’s all about timing for releases. There’s not much this upcoming weekend either - Takers might unseat Expendables. There’s also the Last Exorcism. The following weekend is Labor Day so there’s the American, Machete and more.

Stallone’s ‘Expendables’ retains crown with $16.5M
By DAVID GERMAIN
The Associated Press
Sunday, August 22, 2010; 1:53 PM

LOS ANGELES – Sylvester Stallone’s “The Expendables” fought off an onslaught of newcomers to finish on top of the weekend box office again.

Lionsgate’s “The Expendables” remained No. 1 for a second straight weekend with $16.5 million, according to studio estimates Sunday. Directed by and starring Stallone, the action romp about mercenaries aiming to overthrow a dictator raised its total to $64.9 million.

Five new wide releases debuted to crowd the market, but none managed to pack in huge audiences and knock off “The Expendables.”

“Given all that competition in the marketplace, I don’t think there was any guarantee we would hold this strong, but we did,” said David Spitz, head of distribution for Lionsgate.

Leading the newcomers was 20th Century Fox’s “Twilight” spoof “Vampires Suck” with $12.2 million, raising its total to $18.6 million since it opened Wednesday. The movie mocks the blockbuster franchise with a parody about a moody schoolgirl in a love triangle with a vampire and a werewolf.

“Vampires Suck” was in a photo finish for the No. 2 spot with another holdover, Julia Roberts’ drama “Eat Pray Love.” The Sony film about a divorced woman traveling the world in search of fulfillment pulled in $12 million to lift its total to $47.1 million.

The Warner Bros. comedy “Lottery Ticket,” featuring rapper Bow Wow as a young man besieged by neighbors after he wins a $370 million jackpot, opened in fourth place with $11.1 million.
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Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg’s cop comedy “The Other Guys” held up well in its third weekend, with the Sony release taking in $10.1 million and boosting its total to $88.2 million.

“The Other Guys” was in a tossup for No. 5 with the Weinstein Co. horror remake “Piranha 3D,” which opened with $10 million. Inspired by the low-budget 1978 “Piranha,” the update is set at a lake where spring-break partiers are consumed by prehistoric man-eating fish.

Universal’s sequel “Nanny McPhee Returns,” with Emma Thompson back as the homely title character whipping a wartime family into shape, opened at No. 7 with $8.3 million. The first film, 2006’s “Nanny McPhee,” debuted in fewer theaters but managed to pull in $14.5 million over opening weekend.

Bringing up the rear among new wide releases at No. 8 was Jennifer Aniston’s single-mom comedy “The Switch,” which debuted with $8.1 million. The Disney release features Aniston as a woman whose drunken friend (Jason Bateman) switches her sperm specimen at a party to celebrate her artificial insemination.

Surprisingly, the overall box office was down only slightly compared with the same weekend last year, when “Inglourious Basterds” fired up the normally quiet late summer with a $38.1 million opening and “District 9” held up well with an $18.2 million second weekend.

Revenues this weekend came in at $125 million, down just 1.7 percent from the same weekend a year ago, according to box-office tracker Hollywood.com.

“It was the collective strength of these five newcomers, plus the holdovers,” said Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. “Inglourious Basterds” and “District 9” were “so unusually strong for August that it should have made the comparison tough for this year. But the industry threw everything they had at the wall this weekend and tried to see what would stick.”

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

  1. “The Expendables,” $16.5 million.

  2. “Vampires Suck,” $12.2 million.

  3. “Eat Pray Love,” $12 million.

  4. “Lottery Ticket,” $11.1 million.

  5. “The Other Guys,” $10.1 million.

  6. “Piranha 3D,” $10 million.

  7. “Nanny McPhee Returns,” $8.3 million.

  8. “The Switch,” $8.1 million.

  9. “Inception,” $7.7 million.

  10. “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” $5 million.

79

this is the weekend scott pilgrim should have came out it would have dominated.

80

Calling someone out on twitter doesn’t count.

That’s lamer than calling someone out on the forum here. If you’re going to call someone out, you got to do it to their face.

Sly Stallone Calls Out Van Damme on Twitter
StarzLife
By Charley on August 30, 2010 at 3:45 pm 0diggsdigg Buzz up!

Sylvester Stallone lives and dies by the man book, and in typical guy fashion, hes been calling out rival action star Jean Claude Van Damme on Twitter today.

Van Damme turned down a part in Stallones #1 movie, The Expendables, and Sly is not letting him hear the end of it.

EXPENDABLES still blasting away. Thank you. Need a shoulder operation in two weeks. Another souvenir. No pain no gain. Remember that, Claude

I dont mind getting hurt, its part of the job..please,. remember that, j claude..

If you not breaking things get a skirt and take up ballroom dancing you men get it. we break things or get broken..

Stallone was probably hit with a thousand replies wither applauding him or calling him out for dissing JCVD, so he followed up with:

relax please, all action guys are bloody brothers, a brotherhood of respect

Now that #1 was a success, well see if Jean Claude signs on for the sequel!