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What happened to Striking Distance Studios’ The Callisto Protocol? The spiritual successor to Dead Space launched in an apparent unpolished state, with performance issues on PC and poor execution in several gameplay areas. The result had the game scoring mixed reviews, publisher Krafton immensely scaling back sales projections, and eventually had Striking Distance Studios CEO Glen Schofield leaving the developer. And in a recent interview with PCGamesN, Schofield confirmed those suspicions regarding the release of The Callisto Protocol in a bit of a post mortem, stating that Krafton had pushed the game out too soon.

In the interview, Schofield claimed that initially, Striking Distance was given a lot of leeway when it came to developing The Callisto Protocol. However, Krafton later insisted on a December 2022 release.

“I wanted about three and a half more months [of development time],” said Schofield, who says that he was led to believe that Krafton agreed to the request.

When was Bruce Willis at the peak of his popularity? It’s hard to say because, truth be told, the man has been a superstar for almost as long as I’ve been alive. When I was in Kindergarten, he was rockin’ the airwaves on Moonlighting and cutting an album, peddling Seagram’s Wine Coolers and starring in hit movies like Blind Date, and this was Before Die Hard. Yet, that 1988 movie took him to another level, with Die Hard 2 and The Last Boy Scout solidifying him as a major, major action star. Yet, one movie almost always overlooked in his filmography is a thriller he did for Sony Pictures that was sandwiched between two against-type turns, one being in Death Becomes Her, the other being in Pulp Fiction. The movie is Striking Distance, and it’s the subject of this month’s The Best Movie You Never Saw!

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between.

Today we talk about Bruce Willis, one of our great American movie stars. A man with perfect angles and a perfectly imperfect hairline. The man who spoke up for Seagram’s Golden when nobody else would. It’s wet and it’s dry. Play that harmonica, Bruno!

Our guest today is the great Jen Johans, host of the Watch With Jen podcast. Our B-Sides include In Country, Mortal Thoughts, Disney’s The Kid, and Richard Donner’s final film, 16 Blocks.

We discuss Willis’ early career, his propensity to try new things, and the sad and unfair dismissal of Hudson Hawk. We examine how his acting chops evolved throughout a very turbulent ‘90s decade, culminating in an...

Andre Braugher, a two-time Primetime Emmy winning actor who made two notable appearances in the Stephen King Universe, has passed away this week at the age of 61.

The actor passed away after a brief illness, CNN reported last night.

Horror fans will remember Andre Braugher as Brent Norton in Frank Darabont’s The Mist, the 2007 adaptation of a Stephen King horror story. Just three years prior, Braugher had entered the world of King by playing Matt Burke in the 2004 “Salem’s Lot” miniseries.

Braugher’s two Primetime Emmy wins came courtesy of “Homicide: Life on the Street” in 1998 and “Thief” in 2006, and he was also nominated four times for “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” twice for “Men of a Certain Age,” once for “Gideon’s Crossing” and once for “The Tuskegee Airmen.”

Andre Braugher made his feature debut in the 1989 film Glory, and other notable film credits include Murder in Mississippi, Striking Distance, Primal Fear,...

Note: Today marks Bruce Willis’s 68th birthday. We wanted to take a moment to wish the icon a very happy birthday and reflect on his career:

Here at JoBlo – we love Bruce Willis. When we heard back in March of 2022 that he would step back from acting due to his tragic Aphasia diagnosis, we were as shocked as everyone else, even if there were signs that things weren’t great with Willis going back a number of years. His last truly prominent role was M. Night Shyamalan’s Glass in 2019, while his last lead role was in Eli Roth’s Death Wish. Since then, it’s been chiefly VOD movies for Willis, where his roles were secondary at best. With his recent frontotemporal dementia diagnosis, we now know the truth.

Whatever the case, we here at JoBlo Originals wish to extend our very best to the man and his family at this difficult time.

Bruce Willis was unquestionably one of the biggest movie stars of the 1990s, but it's difficult to think of another actor of his stature who racked up, and survived, more box-office bombs during their commercial heyday. Between 1990 and 1995, he appeared in more flops than hits. Any one of "The Bonfire of the Vanities," "Hudson Hawk," "Billy Bathgate," "North," "Color of Night" and "Four Rooms" could've killed his career. But when things were at their bleakest, he'd bounce back as John McClane or knock out an unexpectedly brilliant film like "12 Monkeys," and all would be forgiven.

Much ink has been spilled recounting the nightmarish productions of most of the above titles, but "Striking Distance" has generally flown under the radar since its September 17, 1993 release. Perhaps this is because the 30 million production offset its poor domestic 24 million take with a respectable 53 million international gross. Or maybe it's due to the Rowdy Herrington...

Veteran cameraman Lou Barlia, whose film credits include “Superman” and “Steel Magnolias,” died in his home in Las Vegas on Saturday, June 25, after a brief battle with mesothelioma cancer. He was 92.

Born and raised in New York, Barlia started his photography career in his early teens after his father brought home a camera he spotted on the train tracks. During and after his high school years, Barlia worked in a photo studio at the School of Industrial Arts in New York. He was later drafted into the army, where he received the Bronze Star and other citations for his service as a combat cameraman during the Korean War.

In the 1950s and ’60s, Barlia worked on several commercials, documentaries and TV shows before starting his career in feature films in the 1970s. He worked behind the camera for dozens of films between the ’70s and late ’90s, including “Serpico,” “Slap Shot,...

The new year is continuing apace at Hulu. The streamer’s list of new releases for February 2022 is highlighted by one very interesting project.

Pam and Tommy is set to premiere on Feb. 2. Perhaps the Groundhog Day release date is intentional as the show will cover a particular moment of celebrity, sex, and exploitation from the early ’90s that seems to have repeated itself over and over. Sebastian Stan and Lily James star as Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson and the series follows the events and fallout of their homemade sex tape being stolen and unleashed on a nascent internet. If nothing else, getting the promo photos of Stan and James as the ’90s stars was worth it.

Read more Movies Willem Dafoe on Noir, Fate and Geeks in Nightmare Alley By David Crow Movies Matthew Vaughn on Finding The Man Who Would Be King’s Man By David Crow

Another Hulu original,...

Fresh off her historic Daytime Emmy win, actress Jodi Long is running for president of SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles Local to succeed Patricia Richardson, who is not seeking re-election. Long, a longtime national and L.A. Local board member who’s running on the opposition party’s Membership First slate, will be facing off against Yvette Nicole Brown, who’s running for local president on the ruling party’s Unite for Strength’s slate.

Two years ago, Long ran for national secretary-treasurer as presidential candidate Matthew Modine’s running mate, but they lost to Gabrielle Carteris and her running mate, Camryn Manheim, who are not seeking re-election. This time, Modine and running mate Joely Fisher are squaring off against Fran Drescher and Anthony Rapp to succeed Carteris and Manheim.

“As a SAG-AFTRA national and Local board member working on numerous national committees over the past 10 years, I have been a longtime champion for diversity,...

Photo: Sony Pictures Animation A once unheralded studio, Sony Pictures Animations is quickly revolutionizing the animated subsect of film through their unique storytelling and innovative distribution. 2018 saw the release of the high flying ‘Spider-man: Into the Spiderverse’ which, immediately upon release, was lauded as a masterpiece of Western animation and would revolutionize how artists use the medium thereafter. This success was just the first step to the studio’s plan for market domination through a creative new style instilled within the companies business model and offerings, alike. Related article: ’The Mitchells vs the Machines’: Animation Where Technology Has Emotions of its Own and Takes Over the World Related article: A Tribute to Dreamworks: The Rise of the Animation Company that Created ‘Shrek’, ‘Shark Tale’, and ‘The Croods’ Humble Infancy The year is 1993; The film ‘Striking Distance’ starring Bruce Willis has just been released. This moment in time represents...

Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Peacock has landed for development After School Special, an hourlong drama from Lucifer writer-producer Aiyana White, Lucifer executive producer/co-showrunner Ildy Modrovich, Keshet Studios and Universal Television where Keshet is based.

After School Special is created and written by White loosely based on her real-life experiences as a low-income high school student working as a part-time nanny.

Described as “Cinderella meets The Sopranos,” After School Special centers on Callie who is about to enter her freshman year of high school as the lone scholarship kid at the most exclusive prep school in tech boom Palo Alto. She’s under-dressed, under-educated, and under-supervised… until an after-school nanny job turns her life around. Her new employers are wealthy, sophisticated, and most importantly, involved in her life. In addition to paying her a ridiculous hourly rate, they teach Callie how to drive (in the Bentley), what to wear...

As you prepare to say aloha to CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 on April 3, how well do you remember first saying aloha to the high-octane reboot? Take our quiz and find out.

It was a little over nine-and-a-half years ago when TV’s second iteration of Five-0 made its debut, then airing Mondays at 10/9c (where it led out of a sitcom block that included How I Met Your Mother, Rules of Engagement, Two and a Half Men and Mike & Molly). Its time slot competition at the time was Season 3 of ABC’s Castle and the launch of NBC’s short-lived...

Rob Leane Jul 2, 2019

A new Pubg game is on the way and it could fall outside the battle royale arena...

PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, more commonly referred to as Pubg, is one of the biggest titles in the burgeoning battle royale gaming landscape. But the company behind the game, Pubg Corp, seems to have plans to branch out into other types of gaming experiences.

This news comes as Pubg Corp sets up a new studio, named Striking Distance, which will be overseen by former Call of Duty and Dead Space developer Glen Schofield. The first project for Striking Distance will be an "original narrative experience within the Pubg universe," which Schofield hints could fall outside the battle royale world.

Striking Distance's existence and Schofield's new job were announced with this video...

Schofield has said this about his new gig as the overseer of Striking Distance: "As a creative, the freedom to explore...

Pasquale Buba, a film editor on Day of the Dead and several other efforts from the zombie movie maestro George A. Romero, died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 72.

A proud son of Pittsburgh, Buba cut the Steel City-set thriller Striking Distance (1993), starring Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker, and worked on Michael Mann's Heat (1995), starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, and The Brave (1997), directed by Johnny Depp and starring Depp and Marlon Brando.

Buba also collaborated with Pacino the director on Looking for Richard (1996) —...

Pasquale Buba, a film editor on Day of the Dead and several other efforts from the zombie movie maestro George A. Romero, died Wednesday of cancer at his home in Los Angeles, his family announced. He was 72.

A proud son of Pittsburgh, Buba cut the Steel City-set thriller Striking Distance (1993), starring Bruce Willis and Sarah Jessica Parker, and worked on Michael Mann's Heat (1995), starring Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, and The Brave (1997), directed by Johnny Depp and starring Depp and Marlon Brando.

Buba also collaborated with Pacino the director on Looking for Richard (1996) —...

Talk about amicable exes! Demi Moore was surprisingly the center of her ex-husband Bruce Willis' Comedy Central roast over the weekend, and she made some very funny digs at the actor during her performance. First, she joked that she was "married to Bruce for the first three Die Hard movies, which makes sense because the last two sucked," according to Variety. (Photo Credit: Getty Images) She then went on to explain why they split after 13 years of marriage in 2000. "People wonder why our marriage came to an end, and in all honesty I think it was because some jealousy started to creep in. I think Bruce never really got over the fact that I rocked the bald look better than he did," she said. Demi continued by making jokes about Bruce's career, "After our divorce, he said he considered the end of our marriage his biggest failure, but Bruce,...

As the focus of this year’s Comedy Central Roast, Bruce Willis was hit with repeated jabs about his age, his marriage, his Planet Hollywood business venture, his side music career and his recent string of less-than-spectacular films — and most of them came from the surprise appearance of ex-wife Demi Moore.

Saying that she was “married to Bruce for the first three ‘Die Hard’ movies, which makes sense because the last two sucked,” Moore served as an impromptu roaster as she recounted memories of raising their three daughters, who were also in attendance, together.

“People wonder why our marriage came to an end, and in all honesty I think it was because some jealousy started to creep in. I think Bruce never really got over the fact that I rocked the bald look better than he did,” Moore joked. “After our divorce, he said he considered the end of our marriage his biggest failure,...

John Mahoney, the actor who played the role of Martin Crane on Frasier for 11 seasons, died in Chicago on Sunday while in hospice care, his manager confirmed to Variety. He was 77.

The British-born Mahoney, who moved to the Chicago area at the age of 19, didn't fully enter acting until decades later, when John Malkovich and Gary Sinise enlisted Mahoney, then in his 40s, to join their Steppenwolf Theater Company. After winning the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 1986 for his role in the Broadway production of The House of Blue Leaves,...

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now only the 2nd movie to ever gross more than $700 million domestically, and it got there 56 days earlier than Avatar. Star Wars: The Force Awakens continues to defy all expectations, this time with $90.2 million, more than any other film ever made in a single weekend in […]

Read Box Office: The Force Awakens Within Striking Distance of Avatar on Filmonic.

The 1990s: a time when Sleepwalkers, Burt Reynolds, No Escape, Chevy Chase and F/X/2 could top the Us box office...

By the 1990s, studios were waking up to movie marketing, and the era of the blockbuster. Tim Burton's Batman, released in summer 1989, had introduced the idea of a big opening weekend, and modern movies now target their promotional work to get just that. As such, it's harder and harder for smaller films to snare the top slot at the Us box office, even for one weekend.

In the 1990s, particularly the first half of the 1990s, that wasn't so much the case though. In fact, many films that have long since fallen from the public conscious topped the chart. And in this piece, I've tried to capture some of them.

Inevitably, you're going to have heard of some of them, and what a UK dweller sees as a...

Has Sjp's role as Kira Supernova in Escape From Planet Earth fostered a belief in aliens? Is it the best-named character she has ever played? And is she sick of being asked about Sex and the City 3?

Hello Sarah. Is Escape From Planet Earth your first animated movie?

I think it's the first full-length theatrical release. I don't recall any more, to be honest. I've probably done short-form voice stuff before. (1)

And this is your third space-themed movie.

It is? Remind me.

Well, there was Flight of the Navigator, and then Mars Attacks!

Ah, yes, you're right. I seem to be drawn to the genre, even though I don't even remember that I am.

In some ways, would you see this as the completion of a trilogy?

Oh my God, I love that you're looking at it with such a scholarly approach. Yes! Let's pretend that that's exactly why I did it.

Odd List Ryan Lambie Simon Brew 31 Oct 2013 - 07:01

We train our sights on the year 1996, and the 25 underappreciated films it has to offer...

Independence Day managed to revive both the alien invasion movie and the disaster flick in 1996, and just about every other mainstream picture released that year lived in its saucer-shaped shadow.

Yet beyond the aerial battles of Independence Day, the flying cows in Twister, and the high-wire antics of Tom Cruise in Brian De Palma's Mission: Impossible, there sat an entire library of lesser-known and underappreciated movies.

As part of our attempts to highlight the unsung greats of the 90s, here's our selection of 25 such films from 1996 - the year chess champion Garry Kasparov lost to the might of the computer Deep Blue, and the year comedy star Jim Carrey starred in an unexpectedly dark tale of obsession...

25. The Cable Guy

We can't sit here and...

What had ETonline readers buzzing this week?

1. Prince William & Kate Name the Royal Baby

One day after leaving the hospital with their newborn son, Prince William and Kate Middleton have named the royal baby!

The news came Wednesday in an official statement from Kensington Palace: "The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are delighted to announce that they have named their son George Alexander Louis. The baby will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge."

The royal baby was born Monday afternoon and introduced to the world on Tuesday when William and Kate emerged from London's St. Mary's Hospital carrying their son, who was swaddled in a white blanket.

There have been six previous reigning British monarchs with the traditional name George -- which was the sovereign name of Queen Elizabeth II's father, George VI, and is also a middle name of William's father, Prince Charles.

Alexander is a popular name in Scotland -- where...

Film and TV actor Dennis Farina has passed away at the age of 69 in Arizona. The cause of his death has not been released at this time.

Farina came late to the acting game, working as a cop for eighteen years before turning to acting at 37 years old.

Throughout the late 1980s and all of the 1990s, the actor was rarely out of work thanks to various feature film supporting roles.

His earliest roles included FBI chief Jack Crawford in Michael Mann's "Manhunter," playing a detective in the Chuck Norris action film "Code of Silence," and the memorably foul-mouthed Jimmy Serrano in "Midnight Run".

Key roles in films like "Get Shorty," "Another Stakeout," "Striking Distance," "Little Big League," "The Mod Squad," "Out of Sight," "Saving Private Ryan," "Snatch," "Reindeer Games," "Bottle Shock," and "What Happens in Vegas" followed.

He was also a regular and/or recurring guest star on shows like "Crime Story,...

A tough guy with a winning smile. A master of controlled frustration. A versatile character actor with a range of great performances on his CV despite getting into performing as a second career. A champion swear-slinger. The world has lost all of these with the death of Dennis Farina at the age of 69.Originally born Donaldo Gugliermo in Chicago, Farina didn’t start out wanting to become an actor. After serving three years in the military, he worked in the Chicago Police Department for 18 years, once cracking wise that he was such a bad shot, he earned the nickname “The Great Wounder".And then he happened to cross paths with Michael Mann. Originally hired as a consultant on Thief, Farina became interested in acting, and eventually scored the role of Carl, and launching a successful second act. He turned to theatre to hone his chops, and worked on films such as Code Of Silence,...

Actor Dennis Farina compiled over 70 film and television credits in his lengthy career, playing a variety of tough guy roles in films like "Midnight Run," "Get Shorty" and "Saving Private Ryan." Farina died on Monday at the age of 69.

"I realize that no one is going to come to me and ask me to be Julius Caesar or a romantic lead, but I think I'm a certain type of guy who looks a certain way and that's just the reality of things," Farina told Moviefone in 2011.

Born in Chicago, Farina didn't start acting at a young age. He was actually a Chicago police officer for 18 years, and was hired by Michael Mann to consult on the 1981 film "Thief." Mann gave Farina a small role in the film, kicking off a career that spanned three decades. Farina would work with Mann again a number of times, including on the film "Manhunter...

Et confirms that versatile film and television actor Dennis Farina passed away this morning from a reported blood clot in his lung while in Scottsdale, Az. He was 69.

Pics: Double-Take Celeb Lookalikes

With a plethora of cop and gangster roles to his credit, Farina was known for his tough-guy persona but capable of displaying the heart and soul of his characters. Some of his well-known projects included the films Midnight Run and Get Shorty and TV's Law & Order, in which he played Detective Joe Fontana.

Related: Dennis Farina Sentenced to 24 Months Probation on Gun Charge

Born in Chicago to Sicilian-American parents, Farina served for close to two decades in the Chicago Police Department's burglary division before turning to acting. Working as an advisor to director Michael Mann on the 1981 James Caan drama Thief, Farina was cast in a small role in the film and caught the acting bug. He did the stage rounds and bit TV parts...

Review Luke Savage 8 Mar 2013 - 06:22

The moment has arrived: it's a film with both Bruce Willis and Vinnie Jones it. Here's our review of Fire With Fire...

Who’s ever wondered what an ‘oeuvre’ is? Anyone? The writers of Fire With Fire’s production notes obviously think that the term must have passed a lot of people by since they include a handy definition of it in director David Barrett’s biog. A ‘substantial body of work in the entertainment industry’ apparently, which is good to know. Thanks guys.

It goes some way to understanding the type of person who might enjoy Barrett’s directorial debut – if you’ve not read much in the way of stories, or seen any films in the last 20 years, Fire With Fire is a revelation. A rip-roaring, edge of your seat, unpredictable thrill ride.A searing portrayal of a really, really good-looking man...

"Yippee ki-yay, motherf****r!"

Legendary action movie icon Bruce Willis can currently be seen on the big screen in his fifth go-round as John McClane, the perpetually "wrong guy in the wrong place at the wrong time," in A Good Day to Die Hard. In his 28-year career as an actor, Willis has starred in more than 60 movies — five last year alone — playing such diverse characters as a time travelling hitman, a deep-sea oil driller (in space), a taxicab driver (in space), a dead child psychologist, an honorable boxer with a killer hook, an assassin named "Mr. Goodkat," a professional gambler named "Dink," and a charming killer named "The Tulip." Some of his movies have become classics, while others...not so much, but they all boast one thing: Willis himself, a bonafide movie star the likes of which are rarely seen in Hollywood anymore. Pour yourself a refreshing glass of Seagram's Golden Wine Cooler,...

To help celebrate Memorial Day, I have a great giveaway for you that includes some of the best video releases you’ll find. I’ve reviewed these titles before (WWII in HD review), and they’re real treasures.

Kicking off we have WWII in HD, which is as much a full-fledged experience as anything else. The footage put together to create this incredibly detailed account of the history of the entire war, and period, is simply amazing.

You’ll also get Wwi The Great War, which is just as good, and a unique documentary effort that covers a wide variety of topics over four discs.

Finally, Conquest of America is a wonderful collection of region-by-region documentaries, and the behind-the-scenes featurettes are some of the best such bonuses around.

Let’s take a look at what I’ve got in the bundle, and then you can enter to win via the widget below.

A good movie tagline can, at the very least, help in the promotion of a film. But what about when it goes wrong? Er…

The art of the movie tagline is a tricky one that generally involves locking clever people into a room until they come up with something catchy. Yet, sometimes the coffee machine isn't working. Everyone is in a bad mood. There's no Toby Ziegler figure to come in and solve everything.

And that's when you end up with this collection of oddities. Here, we're looking at taglines that just do little to sell the film. In all truth, we quite like some of the ones we're about to show you (Hombre is a corker). But do they do their job? Er, not really.

Without further ado...

Earthquake

This Charlton Heston-headlined 1974 disaster movie was, in fairness, released at a point where poster taglines were just a little bit minimal.

ITV2's Celebrity Juice set a new all-time high of nearly 1.7m on Thursday evening, the latest audience data has revealed. The comedy panel show, presented by Keith Lemon, amused 1.4m (7.4%) on ITV2 from 10pm and 287k (2.6%) on ITV2+1, beating 10 O'Clock Live's 730k (4.1%) for Channel 4, and Striking Distance's 987k (7.3%) for Channel 5. Elsewhere in the multichannel world, BBC Three's Misbehaving Mums-To-Be shocked 1.01m (4.4%) at 9pm, then Russell Howard's Good News entertained 971k (6.2%) on the channel from 10.30pm. On the terrestrials, James Nesbitt's Monroe continued with 4.27m (18.7%) for ITV1 in the 9pm hour, ahead of both a repeat of New Tricks, which grabbed 3.79m (16.6%) for BBC One, and The Somme's Secret Weapon: A Time Team Special on Channel 4 which was seen (more)...

This Week in DVD & Blu-ray is a column that compiles all the latest info regarding new DVD and Blu-ray releases, sales, and exclusive deals from stores including Target, Best Buy and Fry’s. 127 Hours It would be easier to dismiss the showiness of the overwhelmingly manic, pulsating style of 127 Hours if it weren't so perfectly characteristic of its protagonist. With his earnest zest for life and self-proclaimed superhero status, Aron Ralston refuses to let anything keep him in one place for too long—save for, you know, a big rock. Viewers already know exactly how the movie is going to end the moment his arm gets lodged against that boulder, but the tale remains thrilling all the same. Boyle's cinematically charged approach ensures that not a sensation or hallucinatory memory goes by without the viewer experiencing it in as intimately vivid of detail as the medium will allow, appropriately putting...

Have you ever wished there was a sequel to one of your favourite films, but you were worried that maybe the filmmakers would just screw it up? Or are you confident that there’s a surprising story further down the road for that character that demands a Rocky to Rocky Balboa type lurch out of retirement? Maybe sometimes it seems like a pipe dream that these fantasy sequels will happen, but strangely and occasionally – they happen by accident.

I was first struck by the notion of ‘Imaginary Sequels’ when I finally got around to watching Ferris Bueller’s Day Off about five or six years ago, and as I watched the film I had this strange bizarre feeling that Alexander Payne’s film Election (also starring Matthew Broderick) was the sequel to this film.

I’m sure that by casting Matthew Broderick as Jim McAllister an embittered high school teacher...

There’s plenty of guns, violence and one-liners, as we count down the best 12 Hollywood action movies of the 1990s…

What is an action film? That's been the tricky question that we've had to unconvincingly answer before putting this list of titles together.

Personally, I'm a massive fan of the Harrison Ford movie Clear And Present Danger, but have held off including it here because the action moments are few and far between (there's one really good sequence, but not too much else action-wise). And to be fair, one or two of the movies that have made the cut here could have a similar argument at least wafted in their direction. It's not been an easy list to compile.

But the 12 I've picked here - and I've kept it to Hollywood blockbuster flicks - are action movies at heart, even if the accelerator is relaxed for periods within the films chosen.

Carrie Bradshaw will forever be her most identifiable role, but remember Sarah Jessica Parker before Sex and the City? No, not in Striking Distance. Even before that. Back when she seemed so free-spirited and kinda cool -- as much for the boys as the girls. The era when she appeared in dance movies like Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Footloose and when she showed up with awesome '80s hair as an intern in Flight of the Navigator. She was only in that movie for a few minutes, but she left an impression on my young mind, enough that I was really hoping the film would end with David (Joey Cramer) meeting the younger version of Parker's character after he returns to 1978.

Well, after that breakthrough period, she did some TV work before returning to the big screen for what I consider her most memorable performance, in the Steve Martin comedy L.A. Story.

Shhhhhhhhh.

Bruce and I both need to rest. It's a holiday weekend. Our cats don't make sleeping very easy, though. Why must they always need food? It's called fasting, kitten, look into it.

These image are from Striking Distance (1993) which is one of those movies too mediocre for anyone to remember it ever existed. I wonder if Sjp or Bruce even remember that they made it? I didn't remember that they made it! This is the only movie I know of where a cat wakes up the lead character in a realistic way. Yes, my cat sometimes wakes me up like this... though usually he employs the paw rather than the tongue. Either way: highly annoying.

Cats on the brain this morning since my fuzzy one is sick again (maybe I should give How to Train Your Dragon another cheer-me-up visit). The second his medicine runs out, illness returns. More...

'I get to talk about one of my films that's supposed to be a comedy and go, 'This is really funny,' ' he tells MTV News.

By Larry Carroll, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Bruce Willis

Photo: MTV News

Mix Bruce Willis and law enforcement together, and you get a potent mix that's been fueling box-office dollars and action-hero fantasies for the last several decades: The "Die Hard" movies, "Striking Distance," "Hostage," "16 Blocks," "The Last Boy Scout" — Ok, he was a fallen Secret Service agent in that last one, but you get the idea.

Factor in his comedies, however, and the quality drops off a bit. "Death Becomes Her," "North," "Hudson Hawk," "The Kid" — ouch.

Now, Willis is hoping one genre's success blends into the other, as he's playing a funny cop for the first time in his lengthy career in the Kevin Smith-directed "Cop Out," co-starring Tracy Morgan,...

I'm a Bruce Willis fan from way back. While my friends had pictures from Tiger Beat of Kirk Cameron and Ralph Macchio lining their walls, I was indifferent to their 'non-threatening' boy charms, because I had a thing for David Addison. Sure, there were some strange times, and as the years passed Willis kind of dropped off my radar. But in 1995, he turned in a performance that was unlike any of his other work when he took on the role of James Cole in Terry Gilliam's remake of the French sci-fi classic, La jetèe, and in 12 Monkeys I was shown a side of Willis that I had never seen before (and unfortunately, haven't seen since).

Now before we get to Willis' turn as the doomed time-traveler, we have to talk about the 800-pound gorilla that is John McClane. Believe me when I tell you that I struggled long and...

By my count, Bruce Willis has taken on some sort of law-enforcing, crime-solving, humanity-protecting, uniform-wearing big-screen role 18 times in his career. You might say the guy has something of a cinematic Messiah complex.

Today, the sci-fi graphic novel adaptation "Surrogates"—in which Willis plays an FBI agent in a world where humans uses robotic doppelgangers in everyday life while they chill in the safety of their homes—brings the actor's total to 19 and climbing. Here are some of our favorites.

John McClane (the "Die Hard" films): Any conversation about Bruce Willis and cops must begin with McClane, whose foul-mouthed catchphrases have entered the pop culture lexicon and whose barefoot-on-broken-glass disregard for his own well-being continues to set the bar high for adrenaline-raising action flicks. Heck, it was enough to earn McClane a Greatest Movie Badasses Of All Time" nod.

Joe Hallenbeck ("The Last Boy Scout"): Co-starring Damon Wayans...

Have you wondered/dreamed/fantasized about having a robot do your bidding? A better looking version of yourself doing your dry cleaning, murdering your enemies, writing content for your site, washing dishes and so on? In Jonathan Mostow’s upcoming sci-fi film, Surrogates, viewers will be able to live out said fantasies through Bruce Willis on September 25th.

You feel so real.

The last time we were able to live out fantasies through Bruce was when he was a river cop in Striking Distance. He bedded Sarah Jessica Parker. No, no, I wasn’t dreaming of seducing Parker, my fantasy was being the dirty cup of whiskey in the sink of his house boat. I long to be a cup of booze savagely sipped by a disheveled detective…

Ahem…

In this featurette from Wired (via Superhero Hype), we can see the current technology surrounding the zaniness in Surrogates. The robot...

DVD Playhouse—July 2009

By

Allen Gardner

Do The Right Thing: 20th Anniversary Edition (Universal) Spike Lee’s groundbreaking fable about race relations in an ethnically mixed Brooklyn neighborhood during a sweltering New York summer remains as potent, timely and prescient as it was in 1989. Lee is among the cast, which also includes John Turturro, Danny Aiello, Samuel L. Jackson, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, and Rosie Perez (to name a few), that provide the tableaux-like framework for this stunning work. Criminally ignored by Oscar (it wasn't even nominated for Best Picture, but did garner nods for Supporting Actor Danny Aiello and Lee’s screenplay), it endures as a timeless classic. Also available on Blu-ray disc. Bonuses: Commentary by Lee, Ernest Dickerson, Wynn Thomas, Joie Lee; Documentary; Deleted and extended scenes; Featurettes. Widescreen. Dolby and DTS 5.1 surround.

Coraline (Universal) A young girl moves into an old Victorian house with her parents...

It's a terrible week for new DVDs, although there are a bunch of pretty high-profile releases on Blu-ray that are bound to sell more than a few copies. The only real major releases are the Friday the 13th remake and Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail, and... The Cell 2. Yikes. Also out is the little-seen documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, and the Criterion Collection re-release of Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (on both standard DVD and Blu-ray). Other major Blu-ray titles include Ghostbusters, Spaceballs and the first two seasons of Lost. Will you be spending any money this week? Friday the 13th (2009) [1] (DVD, Blu-ray [2]) Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail [3] The Cell 2 [4] (DVD, Blu-ray [5]) Hydra [6] Killing Ariel [7] The Perfect Sleep [8] Born [9] Body Armour [10] Dough Boys [11] Cherry Blossoms [12] Operation Valkyrie [13] The Strange One [14] What Goes Up [15] Robbin' In Da Hood [16] Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter: Deluxe Edition [17] Friday the 13th,...

Here is the list of DVD releases for this week. Be sure to check out our podcast special on the Friday the 13th series. Just click on the link below. Friday the 13th (2009) (DVD, Blu-ray) [1] Tyler Perry’s Madea Goes to Jail The Cell 2 (DVD, Blu-ray) Hydra Killing Ariel The Perfect Sleep Born Body Armour Dough Boys Cherry Blossoms Operation Valkyrie The Strange One What Goes Up Robbin’ In Da Hood Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter: Deluxe Edition [2] Friday the 13th, Part V: A New Beginning: Deluxe Edition [3] Friday the 13th, Part VI: Jason Lives: Deluxe Edition [4] The Seventh Seal: Criterion Collection (DVD, Blu-ray) Bergman Island: Criterion Collection The Diary of Anne Frank: 50th Anniversary Edition (DVD, Blu-ray) Scott Walker: 30 Century Man Morning Light (DVD, Blu-ray) Family Guy: Vol. 7 Everwood: The Complete Second Season Saving Grace: Season Two Burn Notice: Season Two (DVD, Blu-ray...