Best Movies about Self defense

Movies about Self defense

Everything about Casey Davies is blandly brown: his clothes, his home, his dog, his demeanor. Even the bag of dog food he picks up at the grocery store on the night his life changes forever is brown—with generic labeling, naturally.

But soon, another color will come to define Casey: yellow. That’s the first belt he earns once he starts taking karate lessons, giving him a burst of confidence he’s never known. But instead of a sunny, cheery yellow, this hue comes to represent something more sinister: bright flashes of anger and a burning aggression.

Writer/director Riley Stearns explores this particularly masculine form of toxicity in “The Art of Self-Defense,” a dark comedy that’s equal parts amusing and disturbing. Stearns is ambitious in the tricky tonal balance he aims to strike here – shocking us in detached, deadpan fashion—and his story wobbles a bit by the end, but the points he’s making couldn’t be clearer or timelier. And he draws an inspired performance from Jesse Eisenberg as the meek accountant who finally finds the sense of self-worth that’s long eluded him, misguided as it may be.

This is an exciting departure from the quick-witted, jittery fast-talker Eisenberg so often has played. There’s a gentle sadness to his understated timidity. Before Casey undergoes his transformation, you can feel him quietly quavering as he struggles to make small talk with the idiot bro dudes in the break room at work. When he comes home, he’s visibly relieved that all he has to do is enjoy the company of his sweet dachshund waiting for him on the couch. And when he gets beaten and robbed in the middle of the street while making a grocery store run for that dog, he doesn’t even begin to fight back; rather, he willingly gives up his wallet to the helmeted motorcyclists who’ve terrorized him. (The fact that Casey’s attacked at night by a band of thugs on motorbikes feels like one of many clever ways Stearns tweaks “The Karate Kid” mythology.)

Once he walks into a strip-mall karate studio in hopes of learning how to protect himself, though, a totally different side of Casey breaks loose. And the person coaxing out this hidden monster is a charming manipulator who insists his students address him simply as Sensei. Alessandro Nivola is both hilarious and chilling as the self-serious instructor; he’s a cult-like figure who has a keen sense of the weak and knows how prey on their vulnerabilities. Casey shows no discernible talent for martial arts, but Sensei wisely recognizes him as easy pickings, and alternately breaks him down and butters him up to earn Casey’s fervent loyalty. Stearns smartly explores the ways in which men seek to gain one another’s approval through both dominance and acquiescence. Casey suddenly begins barking out orders at strangers and behaving violently at the office, but he also starts listening to speed metal at Sensei’s urging rather than his beloved adult contemporary.

But if this fable begins life as a twisted take on “The Karate Kid,” it quickly morphs into a cautionary tale in the vein of “Fight Club.” As Casey gets drawn deeper into Sensei’s world—with its secret night classes and mysterious stripe system—he initially becomes more fascinated and desirous of his acceptance. And yet, Stearns still keeps us at arm’s length, framing and shooting his characters with minimalist precision and having them speak to each other in a self-consciously stilted manner. Their delusional enthusiasm for embodying extreme manly-man tropes would be hilarious if it weren’t so pathetic. This is especially true of one of Sensei’s most rah-rah clientele, a grown-up played with teenage-boy idealism by David Zellner. (He’s also an executive producer alongside his brother and indie filmmaking collaborator, Nathan; you can see traces of their low-key, surreal style at work here).

One of Sensei’s tried-and-true bits of instruction is telling his students to kick with their hands and punch with their feet. This notion and many others may seem contradictory, but the dojo’s regulars are so deeply in his thrall and so desperate for his approval that they’ll buy whatever he’s selling. Within this insular, testosterone-heavy world, Imogen Poots is a welcome source of female strength, even as her character, Anna, strains to retain her dignity amid the misogyny as both a student and teacher.

«The Art of Self-Defense» doesn’t build to the kind of feel-good finale that you’d expect from a more traditional type of movie about the transformative power of sports. But it definitely sweeps the leg in its own way.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire je dlouholetá filmová kritička, která od roku 2013 píše pro RogerEbert.com. Předtím byla téměř 15 let filmovou kritičkou pro The Associated Press a spoluhostila veřejnoprávní televizní seriál «Ebert Presents At the Movies» po boku Ignatiye. Vishnevetsky, přičemž Roger Ebert slouží jako výkonný redaktor. Přečtěte si její odpovědi na náš Dotazník filmové lásky zde.

American films about self-defense

List of the best American films about self-defense according to the audience: Wrong Side of Town, Nasty Baby, Green Room, The Curse of Downers Grove, Open Road, Badge of Honor, Snatched, Edge of Winter, The Keeping Room, Seeking Justice.

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Ex-Navy Seal Bobby Kalinowski lives a quiet, peaceful life as a landscape architect in an LA suburb with his wife Dawn and 16 year old daughter Brianna. Tonight they are invited out for an evening on the town by new neighbors clay and Elise Freeman to a happening club downtown. Little did they know that this would be the start of a life or death ordeal for the group.

Nasty Baby se točí kolem brooklynského páru Freddyho a jeho přítele Mo, kteří se s pomocí své nejlepší kamarádky Polly snaží o dítě. Freddy je umělec a jeho poslední práce je celá o dětech – je jasné, že touží být otcem. Polly je rodinná lékařka, která má větší zájem o dítě než o muže. Mo nad celým nápadem váhá, zvláště když Polly nemá úspěch s Freddyho spermatem a odpovědnost dárce se přesune na něj. Zasazeno téměř výhradně do multikulturní vibrace Fort Greene v Brooklynu, trio proplouvá myšlenkou stvoření života, když je konfrontováno s nečekaným obtěžováním ze strany obzvláště agresivního souseda, přezdívaného The Bishop. Biskup je obtěžující malými, ale vytrvalými způsoby, s náznakem nebezpečí. Jak se jejich střety stávají stále agresivnějšími, někdo musí být zraněn.

Self defense movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant self defense movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out realistic, serious, suspenseful, tense, psychological and suspense films and TV shows about / with self defense, murder, blood, vengeance, rivalry, revenge, death, violence, beating and deadly plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Crime genres shot in USA, Germany, Canada and other countries.

TOP 10 movies tagged as self defense: Enough (2002), A History of Violence (2005), The Sensei (2008), The Brave One (2007), The Purge (2013), Black Ice (2007), Cairo 678 (2010), Black Rock (2012), Nuts (1987), Drillbit Taylor (2008).

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List of self defense movies

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Žánr: Krimi, Drama, Thriller
Země: USA
Délka: 115 min.

Story: Working-class waitress Slim thought she was entering a life of domestic bliss when she married Mitch, the man of her dreams. After the arrival of their first child, her picture perfect life is shattered when she discovers Mitch’s hidden .

Style: suspenseful, psychological, serious, intense, scary .
Publikum: dívčí noc, chick flick

Plot: domestic violence, abusive relationship, self defense, violence against women, violent husband, strong female character, abusive husband, life is a bitch, woman in danger, husband wife relationship, revenge, stalking .

Čas: rok 2002, 21. století
Place: san francisco, usa, seattle, los angeles
je relevantní?

Žánr: Akční, Krimi, Drama, Thriller
Země: USA, Kanada, Velká Británie, Německo
Délka: 96 min.

Příběh: Průměrná rodina je vržena do centra pozornosti poté, co otec spáchá ve své restauraci zdánlivě sebeobranou vraždu.

Styl: neo noir, drsný, znepokojivý, napjatý, psychologický.
Publikum: rande, mužný

Děj: maloměsto, gangster, sebeobrana, mafie, sexuální scéna, násilník, pomsta, mafián, pokus o loupež, organizovaný zločin, vykoupení, šikana.

Čas: rok 2005, 2000s, 21. století
Místo: Indiana, Philadelphia, USA, Pennsylvánie
je relevantní?

Žánr: Akční, Drama, Sportovní
Země: USA
Délka: 103 min.

Story: Lonely gay teenager, McClain, struggles to fit in with his classmates in a small, conservative Colorado town. After he’s severely beaten at school, Karen O’Neil, a martial arts Sensei, secretly trains him to defend himself. When the town .

Style: captivating, exciting, suspense, psychological, independent film .
Publikum: teenageři

Plot: martial arts, gay, small town, family relations, high school, rivalry, self defense, leadership, society, aids, teenager, mentor .

Čas: rok 1985, 21. století
Místo: Colorado, USA
je relevantní?

Žánr: Akční, Krimi, Drama, Thriller
Země: USA, Austrálie
Délka: 122 min.
Story: A woman struggles to recover from a brutal attack by setting out on a mission for revenge.
Style: suspense, detective, psychological thriller, realistic, serious .

Plot: vigilante, vengeance, vigilantism, woman with a gun, revenge, death, tragedy, loss of loved one, female protagonist, self defense, police station, tragic event .

Čas: rok 2007, 2000s, 21. století
Místo: new york, usa, manhattan new york city
je relevantní?
Seznam souvisejících filmů

Žánr: Horor, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Země: USA, Francie
Délka: 85 min.

Story: Given the country’s overcrowded prisons, the U.S. government begins to allow 12-hour periods of time in which all illegal activity is legal. During one of these free-for-alls, a family must protect themselves from a home invasion.

Style: scary, suspense, tense, psychological, twist ending .
Publikum: chlapecká noc, dospělí

Plot: home invasion, survival, self defense, violence spree, danger, survival horror, family in danger, society, social decay, security system, killing spree, dystopian future .

Time: future, year 2013, 2010s, year 2000, near future .
Místo: Kalifornie, USA
je relevantní?

Žánr: Drama, Thriller
Země: Finsko, Německo
Délka: 110 min.

Story: Saara is a middle-aged doctor who one day finds out that her architect-husband Leo is having an affair with a younger woman, Tuuli. Instead of revealing her true identity, Saara pretends to be someone else and makes friends with Tuuli. At the same .

Style: psychological, serious, captivating, tense, erotic drama .

Plot: love affair, infidelity, older woman teenage boy sex, lesbian, self defense, lesbian seduction, love triangle, sex scene, dishonesty, mistrust, male teacher female student affair, pretense .

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