Posted on 08/30/2009 1:07:59 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A new reality television show about the life of actor and martial arts expert Steven Seagal became the subject of a federal lawsuit filed on Monday in a dispute over who thought up the idea for the show.
A&E Television Networks sued California-based Genuine Entertainment claiming that Genuine has wrongly asserted the idea for the reality show was stolen from Genuine by A&E after a series of meetings between the two parties.
Seagal rose to fame in the 1990s as a star of action movies such as "Under Siege," but in recent years has failed to find much success at box offices.
The show, called "Steven Seagal: Lawman" due to air later this year on cable channel A&E, focuses on the 57-year-old actor's real life experiences including duties as a deputy sheriff in Louisiana, the suit said.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
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As if he was a rather large and sweaty product on the Generation Game, The Fat Lord returns on his own personal conveyor belt of mediocrity with this new direct to video stinker. Anyone still reeling from the sheer lunacy of his last effort ''Kill Switch'' (which to be fair I actually enjoyed in a ''what the hell?'' kind of way) will come down to earth with a fast, large thud as Seagal's latest is nothing more than an overly long dull pseudo horror flick which barely has any running time with our favorite pony tailed video master.
The story has the world (well, Bulgaria or some other non american location) engulfed by a plague which has turned us humans into low rent extras from '28 Days Later'. The rest of humanity are huddled into small groups attempting survival and escaping the marauding vampire/zombie combo. Into the fray, comes our leather jacketed hero, brandishing a sword which would normally take 3 blokes to carry and ''swooshing'' everything in sight. The Fat Lord's acting style consists of two levels of expression: Silent grimace as if he was stuck on the toilet or a quick piff paff puff - he's swooshed his sword again. Then, back to grimace.
Anyway, I digress. Back to the story. Our hero The Fat Lord leads a team of hunters who travel with him across the scorched landscape taking out the undead and trying to help the remaining survivors and bring them to safety. Across another part of the city, a team of survivors have banded together in a disused hospital where they attempt to make their way out and survive the night, dodging being attacked by the undead and trying to emote any form of emotion out of a one note script which asks nothing more of them except to look attractive whilst screaming or run away from a stunt man covered in blood with large rubber fangs. To be fair to the cast, they all do try to make the best of their roles (lead Jenna Harrison is really good in her role and you do at points want to follow her character), its just that the script is so 'been there, done that' and very sneakily for us fans - The Fat Lord is hardly in the movie! I counted his sporadic running time only adding up to a total 10 minutes - the rest of the movie is split between the human survivors caught in the hospital and a pointless military base sequence with a bored Linden Ashby and a pay cheque cashing Keith David squabbling over who to bomb first. (Note to the film makers; you missed a trick. You should have had the Fat Lord 'swooshing' the bomb away with his sword. Might have made a rather amusing ending. Just a thought).
All in all, another direct to video dud which will surely disappoint his legion of fans. Granted, The Lord is hardly in this one so I guess we can't fully blame him again - but, he did produce the thing and those damn distributor's trade off his name stating he is indeed the star whereas in reality, it's merely an extended cameo. So, to sum up: The cast are quite good for this kind of thing, the script is pedestrian and Richard Crudo's direction is slick but obviously hampered by a dollar ninety five budget and another dull, uninspired location.
Obviously, if you are a fan - you will have no choice but to watch The Lord's latest epic, but for casual viewers drawn in by the horror/action style scenario depicted on the cover (looking like a 'Blade' for the middle aged, if you will) then maybe its wise if you approach with caution. Or, just rent 'Out for Justice'. Again.
He always blows stuff up real good tho.. and has a certain personal charm as he snaps the neck of his adversary.. a style all his own and unique in his own way..
From Rotten Tomatoes-—>>
A paunchy and bored looking Seagal (who’s barely in the movie) fights generic vampire-zombies. Not nearly as cool as it sounds.
Every 15 minutes a few blood-covered stuntmen leap out from the shadows and get involved in some uneventful carnage. You’ll hardly notice.
“Chuck, nice guy and good American has lost his foo in his kung foo.in my opinion “
I disagree. Chuck is still in great shape.
How many guys do you know in their 60’s who can do a back spin hook kick? Chuck still can.
A huge triple “P”...Pretty Piss Poor.
I really liked Steven Segals first four movies. Dittos for Jean Claude Van Damme
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