The Red Army (2014)

Written and Directed by Gabe Polsky
Featuring Viacheslav Fetisov, Alexei Kastonov, Anatoli Karpov and Vladislav Tretiak

The story of the Soviet Union's famed Red Army Hockey team through the eyes of it's players.

An eye opening and personal look behind the Iron Curtain from the unlikeliest of political influences. The Red Army hockey club was once the best hockey club in the world (Although they couldn't beat the Broad Street Bullies! GO FLYERS!). I knew that this was gonna be a great hockey documentary. But I didn't expect the intimate details of what it was like being a hero to your countries citizens and a prisoner to their government.

Gabe Polsky developed a brilliant take on the infamous team. Interviewing key members of their many medals and championships, he breaks down their lives starting from the front of being a soldier on a hockey team and digging little by little into their tightly controlled lives.

Through interviews, Polsky gets the aging athletes to not only discuss life in the Soviet Union, but to also show the emotional impact it had. The pride, fear, loathing and love and all other complex feelings about their homeland came pouring out. It helped me to understand a sense of pride for such a tyrannical system, even in the slightest regard.

On top of all that, it showed how the same game could be played in two completely different ways just by being divided by oceans and a military standoff. The grace in finesse of the Russians was overpowering to the brutal way of the Canadians and Americans (even though brutality is what makes hockey interesting). 

An informative and touching documentary on the world's greatest game, this is a movie for all hockey fans.

My Rating: 8/10

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

Directed by George Miller
Written by George Miller, Brendan McCarthy and Nick Lathouris
Starring Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult and Hugh Keays-Byrne

In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland.

Let me just start off by saying this. Anyone who does not like this movie is stupid!

The fourth installment of the Mad Max franchise originally created by George Miller, this film takes the dreams of what George Miller probably wanted in the 80s but didn't have the technology for, straps dynamite on it and blows it up. It is seriously the most fun movie I have ever seen. It just doesn't care!

Just when you think that the movie couldn't get even more ridiculous than it already is, it exceeds itself. It is a 100% adrenaline fueled thrill ride. The world that George Miller has created with this film trumps all over the worlds he created in both Road Warrior and Thunderdome.

And to think that that same man directed both "Happyfeet" and "Babe: Pig in the City" is remarkable. He is truly a versatile man. Creating a talking pig and a dance penguin, then going back to his roots. Only this time, the ladies kick some serious ass! All of the female characters in this film are more tough and bad ass than Black Widow in "Avengers". And she is still pretty tricking tough! 

The visuals of this action packed film are second to none. Every punch, explosion, crash and line of dialogue is filmed perfectly and compliments the shots before and after it. There isn't a dull frame in it's entire two-hour running time. And the vibrance of the colors makes the world that much more enticing.

As far as blockbuster, mindless action movies go, this is hands down the best I have seen. At least in the past decade. No film comes to mind that can even touch this. It's dark and edgy, but still ridiculously fun. Something Marvel and DC can learn from it. And I am dead serious when I say if you don't like this movie, we can't be friends anymore.

My Rating: 10/10

Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

Directed by George Miller and George Ogilvie
Written by Terry Hayes and George Miller
Starring Mel Gibson, Tina Turner, Robert Grubb and Angelo Rossitto

After being banished from a town in the desert and forced to travel through the dry wasteland with no provisions, a former Australian Policeman is rescued by a tribe of children who inhabit an oasis in the center of an apocalyptic dystopia.

It is remarkable how three films in the same series can be so similar, yet so unique in their own way. To the point where it feels as though they are different stories set in the same universe.

The second movie of this series completely abandoned any form of civilization that the first film had established. And in this third movie, civilization has begun to grow again. It’s almost like a complete evolutionary cycle revolving around the destruction and rebirth of man.

As it has already proven to be a fun and enjoyable action series, the final chapter (at least until this May) is no different. Filled with intense chase sequences, interesting characters and remarkable machines, it still holds up as a great adventure, even by today’s standards. And while there is undoubtedly little gasoline and water in this world, there is definitely no shortage of hairspray.

The 80s were a much simpler time.

What I love most about this movie series is each film’s ability to completely ignore its predecessor, while at the same time flow as a single, coherent story. That and the ridiculous, over-the-top style. In a civilization where mohawks are apparently uniform for law enforcement, this film delivers exactly what it promises: Action. Violence. Australian accents. It doesn’t try to be anything else, and that makes it oh so sweet.

My Rating: 7/10