A sure sign of the apocalypse - the new Van Damme is getting good reviews

[NewJeffCT]

It's a semi-autobiographical movie entitled "JCVD" - see below...

As a sophisticated moviegoer, you probably aren't thinking about seeing the new Jean-Claude Van Damme movie. But no. Really. Think about it.

"JCVD" is not an action movie but a shrewd satire about stardom and the cult of celebrity. It tells the story of an action star who is still famous, and yet something of a has-been. A man who still has fans, but who has serious career problems. A man who is recognized everywhere, but as much for his failures as his successes. A man who could probably spend the rest of his life making good money in pictures, but in low-budget, demeaning productions that are beneath him.

In other words, it's about Jean-Claude Van Damme, who is played by none other than Jean-Claude Van Damme, who does so with great self-effacement and a battle-scarred humility. Van Damme brings to the film a weary sense of humor and an emotional facility that we haven't seen from him before. Alert the media: Van Damme is an actor. Not just a muscleman, not just a martial artist, but someone with access to a rich internal life that's manifest on his once smooth and now rugged 47-year-old face. Seriously, if "JCVD" doesn't signal some kind of turnabout in Van Damme's career, there is no justice.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/11/13/DD88143A0I.DTL

Another review here:

A new film genre is being born. Bruce Campbell led the way last year with "My Name Is Bruce," a comic riff on his own B-movie action superstar persona. It put him in a faux-action setting, playing himself, and made goofy fun of his fame.

Now another aging B-list butt-kicker has made a similar movie, and it's just as fun. So if you're one of those people who swore long ago never to waste any hard-earned dollars on a Jean-Claude Van Damme flick, today is the day to rescind that vow.

In "JCVD," the Muscles from Brussels plays himself, Jean-Claude Van Damme, action star, driving through Brussels. He stops at a post office, interrupts a robbery in progress, and bullets start to fly. As he and the bad guys negotiate, the cops hole up in a video store. Van Damme fans start gathering in the town square, looking for a glimpse of their idol. As the movie progresses, chaos escalates.

http://www.courant.com/entertainment/movies/reviews/hc-jcvdrev.art.artfeb20,0,593738.story

[Forkboy]

1. I've actually heard this is really good.

I got my doubts, but you never know.