Most recent talks Film talks A-Z Before viewing talks Deep talks Sign up: email updates About the film talks Stay up on new talks Join the community
What's this site about? Inside out: Heart Inside out: Beauty Inside out: Love Thoughtful: a film's heart Thoughtful: film content Thoughtful: films to watch Who's behind this?
Register and login General PttH updates Film review sites Film site quick views Quotes The PttH seminar

Film Talks Tagged ‘Action’



Argo (2012)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — November 3, 2012

Argo succeeds quite well as an action-suspense film, with excellent storytelling and filmcraft. Beyond that, it admirably touches on issues of trust, loyalty, and the difficulty of …more »»


Avatar (2009)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — January 15, 2010

To a large degree, the environmental morality play contained in Avatar is painted in broad and simple strokes. Still, there is something compelling in the film’s embodiment of connection to and respect for the land. …more »»


Batman Begins (2005)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — January 17, 2010

Batman Begins is an superb example of what excellent screenwriting and directing can do for a familiar story. Batman can easily be (and has been) produced with simple action and black-and-white morality. Christopher Nolan …more »»


Batman Begins (2005)   
(After viewing)

by Randy Heffner — January 17, 2010

Watching Batman Begins, seeing Bruce Wayne’s internal struggle to find the right response to evil, and seeing the contrast with Ducard’s definition of justice, I want to find a clearer and better response to the offenses …more »»


Cloud Atlas (2012)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — November 11, 2012

Loosely weaving many lives together over a period of perhaps 500 years or more, Cloud Atlas explores the interconnectedness and interdependencies of our lives. Across past, present, and future, the film presents varying embodiments of …more »»


District 9 (2009)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — February 19, 2010

District 9 finds a compassionate — and violent — angle from which to explore shallow and ugly prejudice. As it pits the supposed goodness and wisdom of “the authorities” against the supposed brainlessness and vulgarity of …more »»


Drive (2011)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — October 1, 2011

The trailers for Drive promise an action flick full of intensity and fast driving. There is indeed plenty of intensity and also some very good driving. There are some very bad bad guys, and great peril of life and limb. If that’s all one wants in a film, …more »»


The Hurt Locker (2009)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — February 17, 2010

Three quite different men; three different experiences of war. The Hurt Locker takes us inside a fictional Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team — a bomb squad — in Iraq. I can understand complaints from …more »»


Inception (2010)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — July 28, 2010

What do you remember? Or, was it in a dream? Do you have reality straight in your mind? In your subconscious? The confluence of such questions is the space Inception perceptively explores. Part of the genius of Christopher Nolan’s writing and directing is …more »»


Inglourious Basterds (2009)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — February 20, 2010

If you take pleasure in revenge and you choose to go on taking pleasure in it, Inglourious Basterds will give you plenty to feed your pleasure. I don’t want that to be me, yet there is truth in what the film …more »»


Insomnia (2002)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — September 30, 2010

“This is why I did that…it wasn’t so bad.” Insomnia, another fine piece of work directed by Christopher Nolan, cunningly explores self-justification from multiple angles. …more »»


Sucker Punch (2011)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — May 21, 2011

With a mix of chagrin, delight, and mock ignominy, I must say that Sucker Punch really had something going on. Much of the film is pure video game in its construction, and the narration …more »»


Surrogates (2009)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — September 28, 2009

Surrogates is an interesting mix of science fiction, action, and crime genres with a bit of the romantic as well. I’d like to say that it explores our struggle to be authentic humans, but …more »»


Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — December 28, 2011

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy comes off with an intriguing mix of the slow and unemotional pace of the main character, Smiley, who is driving the action, countered by an emotionally charged, rapid-paced plot, while having little rapid or suspenseful onscreen action. Multiple subplots, as well as the film itself, are built around …more »»


Zero Dark Thirty (2012)   
(Before viewing)

by Randy Heffner — January 15, 2013

Zero Dark Thirty is tense, tight, and deep into the uncertainties and risks of intelligence work in a post-9/11, terror-ridden world. Indeed, the film’s exploration begins and ends with that fact: that our world is …more »»