Jason Statham is younger today than he was yesterday.  Nobody knows how this works.

Other than Bob Dylan.

“Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats
Too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking
I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I’m younger than that now.”

Statham.  yummy.

Friend of mine posted this story on her blog (she didn’t include a source so I don’t know where it’s from):

Fans of the Transporter films aren’t usually looking for a lot of subtlety and nuance, not unless those are codewords for “butt-kicking” and “car crashes.” But Louis Leterrier, the whimsical Frenchman who directed the second film and co-directed the first one, said in 2005 that he had a subtext in mind for Jason Statham’s title character: He was gay.

“If you watch the movie and you know he’s gay, it becomes so much more fun,” Lee quotes Leterrier as saying in 2005. “It’s so great—the first gay action movie hero! ... Action fans in general are pretty homophobic. You see these tough guys who say, ‘The Transporter, that’s such a great movie!’ If they only knew they’re really cheering for a new kind of action hero.”

annejumps, that’s ridiculous. Everyone knows Frank Martin came out of the closet in the first movie during the oil fight.

I actually take a lot of shit from my friends for it, but I love all the Transporter movies. They are great movies. I guess it’s because a lot of the time, I watch movies for fun and not to learn something.

1L exams are the worst. The next year around, you should have the ability to choose your classes with greater ability, if your school is anything like mine.

“What Bill Murray whispered to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation is known only to Jason Statham.  And was about Jason Statham.”

Hee.

““It’s because of who I am.” Leterrier said, “That’s him coming out!””

I’m torn between saying “That’s bullshit, his romantic relationship with the sympathetic cop has been obvious from the get-go” and saying “That’s a bullshit way to have a character ‘come out,’ and Jesus Herbert Christ, why is it that an action hero who turns down the girl he’s pretty clearly into and spends the movie protecting a child has to be fucking gay?”

(sigh) I love it when he takes his shirt off in the fight scenes….Ummm, I mean THAT CAR IS AWESOME!!!!!

his position is a little side-on.  you could get him with a good roundhouse kick to the belly.

“...there’s a particular charisma that he brings to every role and the belief that somewhere inside of him, there’s an actual actor waiting to be let out…”

Get thee to The Bank Job

I love “Transporter”.  I never saw the second one but will see the third.  Jason Statham is a thinking person’s action hero. 

“The Bank Job” isn’t an action movie but I liked it.

*Spoiler alert*
he died at the end of “Crank” but they’re making a sequel with him in it.  Ah, Hollywood )

Yup!  I luvs me some Jason!

you could get him with a good roundhouse kick to the belly

Nuh-uh!  Mr. Statham fights ninja-style, where each of the dozen guys fighting him has to wait patiently for their turn, and as it’s one on one times a dozen, there’s no surprising him…...haven’t you seen ANY of his movies?

you could get him with a good roundhouse kick to the belly

Maybe if your foot is made of cement.  Don’t just look at those abs, take them in.

What Bill Murray whispered to Scarlett Johansson at the end of Lost in Translation is known only to Jason Statham.  And was about Jason Statham.

Not so. What he whispered was, “If Sofia wanted to sleep with her dad so badly, why didn’t they just get a room instead of making a movie about it?”

The main actor (card player) in Lock, Stock, etc…. has he been in anything recently?

BTW, if you want to see a young(er) Hatchet Harry, check out The Long Good Friday, starring Bob Hoskins and Helen Mirren.

The accent only matters if he says it matters.  And given that he’s playing Shakir, a Philly-born basketball star who’s also vice-president of the local NAACP in his next movie, it doesn’t matter.

It’s funny you mention that because I’ve been pondering the fact that he’d really make a good Jack Reacher, in a casting decision that matters only to me. Ironically, the Reacher series could be considered hard-boiled Americana, but written by an Englishman.

“The main actor (card player) in Lock, Stock, etc…. has he been in anything recently?”

He was apparently the dude in Amazing Grace.

I was disappointed with Transporter 3 (not enough Statham fighting) but it was better than two. Could have done without that horrid attempt at a love story as well. I hate when characters are allowed to be spoiled brats and put people in danger and get away with it and that love interested grated on my nerves. But it’s a great thing to numb your mind to after exams.

Don’t just look at those abs, take them in.

My abs are exactly like his, only MUCH LARGER. Yes, you’re allowed to be impressed.

RiM sez:
“My abs are exactly like his, only MUCH LARGER”

Hm. If by “much larger” you mean “rotund and curving out over my belt” then, yes, so are mine.

Three—three!—posts by RiM in one thread! I think we’ve found something liberals and a conservative dental floss rancher can interact agreeably over.

Crank is easily the best movie of all time.  It beats Highlander, and that’s saying a lot.

Granted, I saw it in theaters and was usually the only one laughing.  But if you watch it like you’d watch Hot Fuzz, it’s perfect.  Sublime.

Ferox, are you secretly me? You just referenced two of my other favourite movies in a comment about another favourite (just wrote a blog post that featured two of them right here. You should check out Punisher: War Zone. It was a positively gleeful experience.

Frank is a reluctant heterosexual in T3.  Why he would fall for such an airhead as the blackmailed minister’s daughter is beyond me.  And the major blackmail scheme in the movie is sooooo silly as is the psycho bad guy who invents the scheme.  The more reasonable blackmail scheme is the minor one to get Frank to strip.

Is it true that Jason Statham’s tears cure cancer?

Surprised noone’s mentioned Snatch yet.  The line fragment I always remember from Statham is “...zee Germans?”

It wouldn’t work with the newer style of the franchise, but I’ve also thought Statham would be great in a Bond movie as either a villain or partner.

I apparently really need to get out of the house more and play less WoW, given that the only movie title I recognize in this thread is “Highlander.”

Screw it, phat purples.

Transporter #1 was good. In Transporter #2 (and, if I’ve heard correctly, also in #3), Frank Martin committed the sacrilege of driving a car with an automatic transmission. Statham has been dead to me ever since. Real action heroes drive stick shifts.

I developed a crush on him during Snatch.  My love is so pure, I didn’t even need to see that hot bod.

And Andrew, roll a Drood. There ain’t no armor up in Northrend for Boomkins.  Gives me time to do other stuffs.

why is it that an action hero who turns down the girl he’s pretty clearly into and spends the movie protecting a child has to be fucking gay?

Word.  There are an awful lot of people, gay, straight, asexual, and poseur academics* who hate a LOT of emotional energy invested in the myth that, between men**, things like deep subtlety, restraint, emotional bonds and even love are the exclusive preserve (all rights reserved) of Teh Gayz.  Het males don’t have deep feelings for each other, you see, or have the capacity to have multiple levels to their personality.  They really don’t develop lasting and important emotional relationships with their own gender, or know anything about love, devotion and loyalty to men, or even have any non-sporting, non-homicidal*** physical contact—or, hell, even close proximity****—with each other without immediately sucking their cocks.  Well known fact.  Ask Holmes and Watson.

* - Not many Ph.D.s awarded for saying, “yeah, they were straight after all” about any well-known male duo.

** - Given the million books and movies about the deep emotional bonds between women who don’t fuck each other we can be sure—and thankful—that women aren’t held to this bullshit.  Nice to know that there’s some hypocritical bullshit out there that they aren’t made to carry.

*** - Subnote: About the only time men are allowed to feel anything deeper for each other than that is when they are killing people or about to be killed.

**** - I was at a Christmas dance recently and found myself in deep conversation with the bf of my of my gf’s (female) co-workers.  They looked over, and watched us leaning close, heads very close so that we could have a few minutes quiet talk, mouths about an inch or two from the other’s ear as needed.  The two women looked at each other as said, more or less simultaneously, “should we be worried?”  Both women are gay-poz, but the programming is there.

It wouldn’t work with the newer style of the franchise, but I’ve also thought Statham would be great in a Bond movie as either a villain or partner.

It’s an interesting theory.  During an endless car ride a conversation with one of my law partners once turned to Bond.  His comfy theory was that there was no “James Bond” as a person.  It was a cover identity reserved for the best of the double-ohs, with different agents “being Bond” over the years.  It’s a fascinating idea because it gives the franchise the opportunity to run along two rails: the mainstream ones, and sort of “alt” minor films (like non-canon comic books, and with much lower budgets and higher profit margins than the Big Bond movies) with different actors exploring the role in wildly different contexts.

Statham’s accident is pure East End rough, period.  To an English ear it is uncultured, uneducated and very much more than a tad “barrow boy”.  (They hinted at that in Casino Royale, but, sadly, didn’t develop the premise.)  He is, to an English ear, as ludicrous a choice for Bond as, say, an uncultured Queens accent would be.  But take my friend’s suggestion, and have one-off Bonds outside the canon and Statham would be a great pick.  I’d love to see him adjusting to the cover identity.

in deep conversation with the bf of one of my gf’s (female) co-workers.

Ummmmm..  One co-worker.  My original phrasing might lead one to think that there were multiple co-workers and one bf between them, which is more than just a wee bit too progressive for rural Ontario.

Transporter IV: Your Pizza’s There in 30 Minutes Or It’s Free

Transporter V: The Kids Need a Ride To Soccer Practice

I had tickets to third movie in my hand, but I also had a full tummy from my fave Italian joint and a new game.  Curse conveniently designed small town shopping centers!  Needless to say, sleep and video games won.  It was a matinee and we’re only out $7.00.

REacher? I don’t see Strathan as reacher. He’s not huge enough—R. is really a big guy. And I think he’s also a little bit funnier than R is. R has a sense of humor, but nothing that would take him to the place of S’s acting in Crank when he has to persuade his girlfriend to leave her apartment and kill all the guys who are stalking him without letting her know what is going on. R. is fundamentally not a funny person.

aimai

hard-boiled Americana, but written by an Englishman

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hadley_Chase

Norbizness, you just made me think of the Deliverator opening in Snow Crash.

And it was AWESOME.  Jason Statham would make an excellent Deliverator.

For all the fans in this thread, here’s UK critic Mark Kermode waxing lyrical about the very special joys of Jason Statham:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2008/12/jason_stathams_body_of_work.html

I say Cellular was underrated and nothing anyone says can change my mind.

*arms crossed defiantly*

I’m not a huge fan of action films, but I will watch anything with Jason Statham.  He’s yummy.

I think The Bank Job was his best film yet probably because it allowed him to do more acting and less fighting (though more shirtless action would have been lovely).

“his position is a little side-on”

He can have any position he wants.
More photos like that and you’ll get more traffic from manly men like me and Rugged.

Regarding Crash: He didn’t actually die at the end; he was falling, but it blacked out before the sudden stop at the end. I believe the first scene in the sequel’s gonna be: HE GETS UP.

Have people here seen the clip on Apple’s trailer site where he fights by first entangling an opponent with his jacket, which comes off, then with his tie, which comes off, and finally with his shirt, which, of course, comes off as well?

“I see you managed to get your shirt off”, indeed.

I look forward to seeing Statham attacking his enemies with all his clothes.

His comfy theory was that there was no “James Bond” as a person.  It was a cover identity reserved for the best of the double-ohs, with different agents “being Bond” over the years.

That’s essentially the thesis of Casino Royale, the 1967 version.

Inasmuch as that movie has a thesis, point, or coherent anything.

REacher? I don’t see Strathan as reacher. He’s not huge enough—R. is really a big guy.

Well, yeah. But then again, it wouldn’t be the first time Hollywood’s done that, and I can’t think of a single person in Hollywood big enough to be Reacher’s actual size, who can also carry off the acting. The Rock would actually work, except that at least a couple of the plots rely on Reacher’s whiteness including my personal favorite, Echo Burning.

I look forward to seeing Statham attacking his enemies with all his clothes.

Only if he takes off all his clothes and uses the individual articles as weapons.

There are rumors that Mr. Statham is being considered for the part of Augustus Stanley Owsley III in the upcoming Jerry Garcia biopic, but his contract states that he must remain shirtless at all times.

Statham is a sexy beast. I think he should just do an entire movie without his shirt on, fight or no fight. Please.

Maybe that movie could also star an entirely shirtless Hugh Jackman. It could be a wrestling movie. With kissing.

“Statham’s accident is pure East End rough, period.  To an English ear it is uncultured, uneducated and very much more than a tad “barrow boy”.  (They hinted at that in Casino Royale, but, sadly, didn’t develop the premise.) He is, to an English ear, as ludicrous a choice for Bond as, say, an uncultured Queens accent would be.”

Yes, that is true.  But I always thought that the movies were clear that many of the Bonds were raised up, some by unknown benefactors.  In many of the films, this has been thrown in Bond’s face as a low insult.  Part of Bond’s bite is that the spies are very aware of the class structure circles in which they have to move in, that they aren’t part of it (both as a spies and RL backgrounds) and all of them lash out at it in different ways.

If Statham played Bond, it would be all about having his background being beaten out of him.  He would transform from street boy into Eton boy.  I think it would probably be frightening to watch that transformation.  It would in essence mean Statham’s Bond is giving up everything he is.

I look forward to seeing Statham attacking his enemies with all his clothes.

He’s supposed to swat them with his boxers? Throw socks at them?

his position is a little side-on.  you could get him with a good roundhouse kick to the belly.

jennifer cascadia

It’s called a “False Opening”  watch Transporter 1 to see how well he uses it.

Why couldn’t Statham be Bond’s boyfriend for a film or two?  I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m ready for a Bond Boy(friend).

Yeah, I used to watch a lot of kung fu movies when I was in music school and pulled all nighters getting scores ready.  I know how you feel, Jesse.