Callan (1974)

Director:  Don Sharp

Writer:  James Mitchell

Composer:  Wilfred Josephs

Starring:  Edward Woodward, Eric Porter, Carl Mohner, Catherine Schell, Peter Egan, Russell Hunter, Kenneth Griffinth, Michael Da Costa, Veronica Lang, Clifford Rose, David Prowse, Don Henderson, Nadim Sawalha

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Callan... doesn't make friends - and all his enemies are dead!

Plot:  Greg Callan's cousin David Callan top agent/assassin for the S.I.S., was forced to retire because he had lost his nerve. Now, Callan is called back into service to handle the assassination of Schneider, a German businessman. His former boss promises Callan that he'll be returned to active status if he follows orders, but as always Callan refuses to act until he knows why Schneider has been marked for death.

My rating:   8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

A long while ago I watched the last of the Callan movies, WET JOB (1981), and I liked it.  Now that I've seen the first, I'm full-on ready to tackle the TV series that started it all.  This movie is great.  Woodward is great as top assassin, David Callan.  He's really good at his job.  The rest of the cast do a wonderful job, too.  Eric Porter is Hunger, Callan's old boss, Peter Egan kills it as Toby Meres, Hunter's right hand man and Callan's replacement, Carl Mohner as Schneider, Callan's target, Catherine Schell as Schneider's girlfriend, Jenny and Russell Hunter as Lonely, an old contact of Callan's who gets him what he needs and takes Callan's shit when there's no one around to beat on.  It's swell cast and they all step up to James Mitchell's tight and sharp script.  

This has got two very good action sequences; one is a fight between Callan and Meres and the other is the excellent car chase in the video above.  This is some good shit!  I did not expect them to be this good.  Because this is a movie I expect the show didn't live up to this kind of quality often but I sure hope it did.  The story moves along nicely without any fat needing to be trimmed.  It's satisfying throughout but there were only two things that bothered me.  One is the odd harmonica-heavy score.  It's just damn strange and felt weird from the first few seconds of the film.  I thought it would disappear after the opening but it didn't.  The other is Callan the man and the ending.  He indicates that he knows he's being set up and he goes through with it anyway.  Now, one would assume that he's prepared something special off camera for the viewer so that we be be surprised and be impressed by his cunning.  But he doesn't have anything planned.  If he did, we don't see what it is because something unexpected happens and Callan improvises.  What he does with his improvisation is brilliant in its own right.  Sadly, what happens next with his (unbeknownst to Callan) re-classification at the hands of Hunter we'll never know what happens next.  It's a neat little suspenseful set-up for a sequel ala JOHN WICK (2014).   Having not seen the preceding series, I feel like this movie as a stand alone story is a great watch and highly recommended. 

The Shooting (1966)

Director:  Monte Hellman

Writer:  Carole Eastman

Composer:  Richard Markowitz

Starring:  Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Jack Nicholson, Will Hutchins, Charles Eastman, Guy El Tsosie, Brandon Carroll, B.J. Merholz, Wally K. Berns, William Mackleprang, James Campbell

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  Suspenseful desert pursuit in the "High Noon" tradition.

Plot:  A mysterious woman persuades two cowboys to help her in a revenge scheme.

My rating:   8/10

Will I watch it again?   Yes.

That tagline is horseshit to bring up HIGH NOON (1952) like that.  The only thing they have in common is they're both Westerns and they both have suspense but the tension is quite different. And that trailer wasn't released until at least 1970, four years after this flick.  Anyway, I REALLY dig this movie.  I had a hunch about the ending early on because they kept avoiding the identity of their prey but that didn't take away from it's power much.  The film is masterfully directed by Hellman.  The cast essentially consists of four characters.  Coley (Hutchins), Woman (Perkins), Billy (Nicholson) and Willett (Oates).  Hutchins annoyed me at first but by the second half his goofiness had settled down and grasped the reality of the situation.  From then on he was great.  Perkins?  I'm not sure if I didn't like her character or acting.  She was a pissy little brat, the kind of character I don't like anyway.  I have my own ideas of what happened to her after the credits rolled.  That brings us to Warren Oates who, along with screenwriter Eastman and director Hellman (who I see died in April of last year at age 91), helped make this movie the great film it is.  He fucking kills it.  My only regret is the film is as short as it is.  I would be on board for another half hour of drama that goes beyond the end of the picture.  I'm sure it wouldn't take much to visualize that.  Don't misunderstand, I loved the ending it's just that I would like to see certain people get what's coming to them and all slow and painful like.  Get me?  A lot of this crew filmed this back to back with RIDE THE WHIRLWIND (1966).  I saw that one a long time ago and I remember liking it OK but after seeing THE SHOOTING, I think I should wait a minute as RIDE is probably the lesser of the two.  Plus Oates wasn't in it.

Sergeant Ryker (1968)

Director:  Buzz Kulik

Writers: Seeleg Lester, William D. Gordon

Composer:  John Williams

Starring:  Lee Marvin, Bradfor Dillman, Peter Graves, Vera Miles, Lloyd Nolan, Murray Hamilton, Norman Fell, Walter Brooke, Francis De Sales, Don Marshall, Charles Aidman

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  COMMIE MAJOR...or U.S. SERGEANT? There's a bullet at one end...and a hangman's noose at the other!

Plot:  During the Korean War Sergeant Paul Ryker is accused of defecting to Communist China and then returning to his unit as a spy. He's court-martialed and sentenced to death but his attorney believes Ryker's innocent and asks for a new trial.

My rating:   8/10

Will I watch it again?   Yes.

I've never seen a Lee Marvin performance I didn't like and this is no exception.  He owns it and I don't think I've ever seen him play so humble and defeated as he does here.  Sure, he gets lots of time to shine where his anger bursts out like a rabid dog but he's also shines as a softer man who's facing the hangman's noose for treason.  

 

Original airing on KRAFT SUSPENSE THEATRE in 1963, the two-episode broadcast was later combined and released as a film in 1968 after Marvin's massive success the previous year with THE DIRTY DOZEN (1967), the role that made him an overnight worldwide superstar.  Why not, right?  He'd been a solid character actor in films for 18 years.  Anyway, he gives the solid performance you've come to expect from him.  The rest of the cast does a fine job as well.  It's neat seeing some familiar faces like Vera Miles and Peter Graves.  Norman Fell and Murray Hamilton are pitch-perfect in their roles.  Hamilton plays a brash, slimy Army Captain that gets slimier as the film progresses.  Not enough can be said about the great Lloyd Nolan.  The more I see of him, the more I love this guy.  He's such a natural at this and he makes it look as easy as breathing, as if he IS that character.  When he pops up at the end with what he's there to do, I teared-up a bit with happiness.  I'd say half the movie is courtroom drama with the other half dealing with the events that led up to the trial with some breaks between court scenes.  The story gets better and better as it unfolds and I wasn't sure how it was going to play out.  It's a very good movie and worth a watch unless you hate courtroom dramas.  It's in the public domain and free to watch online.

 

 

 

Tales from the Hood (1995)

Director: Rusty Cundieff

Writers: Rusty Cundieff, Darin Scott

Composer: Christopher Young

Starring: Clarence Williams III, Joe Torry, De'aundre Bonds, Samuel Monroe Jr., Wings Hauser, Tom Wright, Anthony Griffith, David Alan Grier, Duane Whitaker, Corbin Bernsen, Rosiland Cash

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Where nightmares and reality meet on the street

Plot: A funeral director tells four strange tales of horror with an African American focus to three drug dealers he traps in his place of business.

 

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again? Yes.

Of all of the horror anthologies I've seen that were made in the past forty years, this is one of the best.  I loved it!

There are four main stories with a fifth one being the framing wraparound tale which is called...

 Welcome to My Mortuary sees three gangbangers approach a mortuary (in a house) around Halloween for a drug deal.  Once inside, Mr. Simms (hilariously played by Williams III).  Before he gives them the drugs he starts spinning tales of horror (as you would).  This sets the four main stories in motion with a little bit of stuff inbetween with the guys reacting to Simms' yarns.

 

Rogue Cop Revelation has a couple of horrible, white, drug-dealing, crooked cops pulling over a black man for no reason but to send him a message for speaking out against said crooked cops.  They fuck him up hard and it's painful to watch.  Anyway, his dead body gets his revenge.  The only thing fun about this one is seeing these assholes get their comeuppance and boy do they get it.

 

Boys Do Get Bruised is a depressing tale of a small boy often coming to school bruised up.  He tells his teacher a monster does it and shows him the picture he drew of the giant, scary green creature.  Naturally, being a kid and talking all fantastical, the teacher finally is concerned enough to visit the boy's single mother at her home to get to the bottom of this.  She's rude about it and seems to be hiding something.  She's got a touch of a violent streak but it's not until her boyfriend comes over for dinner that you find out he's the monster and the child has manifested his abuse as coming from an actual monster.  This story is fucking great all the way through with a fantastic finish.  There's some great storytelling going on here.

KKK Comeuppance - Corbin Bernsen stars as Duke Metger, a former KKK leader who is running for office and is one racist mother fucker.  He lives in a Southern mansion where slaves were slaughtered in the 19th Century.  One racist thing after another and the ancestors of the dead (in the form of a doll) fuck Metger's shit up real good.  Bernen throws himself into the role and brings out the relentless asshole of the character.  It's a fun one.

Then there's Hard Core Convert where a gang member who, after a shootout with another gang when the police show up, finds him self severely wounded and taken to a hospital.  Some time later he's recooperated and Dr. Cushing (Rosalind Cash) tells him he will be released from prison hospital if he accepts to go into a behavior modification program, which he accepts.  Then it gets into A CLOCKWORK ORANGE (1971) territory where the big takeaway is he's spent his life killing black people and that needs to stop.  That's the gist.  He sees horrifying actual vintage photographs of the KKK, lynchings and murders of black men, often times with smiling whites (including children) surrounding them, proud of their deed.  The images flash so quickly that you get the message, but after the movie, I went back to this part and slowed it down so I could see more clearly what was shown and it's some severely fucked up shit.  

 

But wait, the movie's not over yet.  We've still got the mortuary story to wrap up and that one was fun as hell.  The looks on their faces when they find out what's really going on are priceless.

These are, unfortunately, real life situations that far too many people regularly face which makes this even scarier than your typical monster movie anthologies.  Writer, director Cundieff did a marvelous job of going beyond what typically satisfies a horror anthology and brought to the screen something that is real world horrifying while still fulfilling the scary movie stuff we usually get, and each story satisfies each side of the fence equally well.   It digs deep and remains a fun, scary movie.  It's sad that all of these stories are just as relevant today, if not more so, as they were when the picture was made 25 years ago. 

I see that it took Cundieff and Scott 23 years to make a sequel in 2018 and another just last month!  The more you know.  I'm going to have to check those out.  And I almost forgot, Christopher Young's score is great!

A Great Ride (1979)

Director:  Don Hulette

Writers:  Walter Dallenbach, Thomas Pope

Composer:  Don Hulette

Starring:  Perry Lang, Michael MacRae, Michael Sullivan, Margo Ann Berdeshevsky, Hal Bokar, Jan Burrell, Bryan Englund, Ben Fuhrman, Ernie Garrett

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  They road across the back country looking for a dream ... that became a nightmare!

Plot:  Cocky, overconfident motocross champion Jim Dancer and his more mature and levelheaded bike racing buddy Steve Mitchell decide to trek from Mexico to Canada via an unmarked off-road route. During their eventful pilgrimage the carefree fun-loving (and seeking) protagonists encounter a mixed bag of folks who include a perky middle-aged lady who wrecks cars for a living, two sexy swinging babes, a friendly farmer, and a hotshot aspiring motocross rider teen who challenges Dancer to a race. It gets crazy from there.

My rating:  8/10

Will I watch it again?  Absolutely!

This flick was outstanding!  What a nice surprise!  The two leads, Lang & Sullivan, have such a natural chemistry together.  They're so likable.  The movie starts with the pair's motocross bikes' tires up against the chain link fence on the US/Mexcio border...and they're off!  They get into all kinds of little adventures, some fun, some kind of dangerous.  There is some very good acting going on here, too.  Hal Bokar plays a rancher the boys stumble upon.  He knocks it out the park with a natural performance that you'd swear he was a seasoned character actor with hundreds of credits under his belt.  Nope, he wasn't and doesn't.  He showed the chops in the movie to make me think he could've been a solid B-list actor at the very least.

I don't want to spoil this movie because I watched it knowing absolutely nothing about it but early on, some teenager challenges Jim to a race and it doesn't end like wants it to.  The kid's father is a stern asshole with an M-16 and a souped-up pickup truck and he's out for blood.  The ONLY problem I have with the movie is that his truck is tricked out with a computer that not only tells him how much fuel he has with the miles left (which I'm down with) and things like oil pressure and the like, but it also tells him how far he is from the boys and dumb shit like that.  How the hell could it or anything else know where they are to calculate that shit?  It couldn't and it's dumb.  Other than that, what happens to the father was shocking and very satisfying.  I so much want to talk about it but I can't.  It's this sub-plot the provides the film with tension that you don't expect and it oddly works nicely among the other little things that Steve & Jim get into and they don't even know who this guy is.  This cat & mouse game adds a lot to their adventure. 

I would say pictures like this don't generally have the luxury of quality acting because I've never seen a picture like this.  It's a biker flick in the sense that the two leads ride bikes but it's not like any biker flick out there.  It's more of a road film with Jim & Steven having a cross country adventure.  It's more than that, though.  Director Hulette strings all of these vignettes together in such a smooth way that it all feels so natural.  I've seen so many low budget movies that struggle to keep your interest and to form a reasonable narrative and this one does it better than a lot of larger budget pictures with hardened professionals working on it.  This isn't some hidden masterpiece that sits up there with the greats but it's a most enjoyable and satisfying picture.  It's got racing, sex, scenery, bonding, death, humanity and revenge.  They chose an appropriate title for sure.   Oh, and there's nudity for those of you who like that sort of thing.  Ick.

The Set-Up (1949)

Director:  Robert Wise

Writers:  Art Cohn, Joseph Moncure March

Composer:  Roy Webb (stock music)

Starring:  Robert Ryan, Audrey Totter, George Tobias, Alan Baxter, Wallace Ford, Percy Helton, Hal Baylor, Darryl Hickman, Kevin O'Morrison, James Edwards

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  I Want a Man... Not a Human Punching Bag!

Plot:  Because aging boxer Bill Thompson always lost his past fights, his corrupt manager, without telling Thompson, takes bribes from a betting gangster, to ensure Thompson's pre-arranged dive-loss in the next match.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again? Yes!

This is one of the great ones.  Robert Wise masterfully sucks you into the picture from start to finish.  This picture moves so smoothly that it's over before you know.  The flow of this flick is remarkable.  The performances all around are top notch.  Robert Ryan (as Stoker) is so sympathetic, it hurts and you really feel for Julie (Audrey Totter) in a way that's genuine.  These actors aren't playing roles, they ARE their characters.   Even the secondary and tertiary roles are solid and from a lot of familiar faces.  The first thirty-five minutes sets the picture up.  You get the big fight for the next twenty.  Then it's the aftermath for the last fifteen.  And that soft fade out.  Nice.  The Warner Bros. DVD has a commentary track with Wise & Martin Scorcese.  For as many times as I've seen this, I can't believe I haven't listened to it yet.  I should get on it.

Sicario (2015)

Director: Denis Villeneuve

Writer: Taylor Sheridan

Composer: Johann Johannsson

Starring: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Victor Garber, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya, Jeffrey Donovan, Raoul Max Trujillo, Julio Cesar Cedillo

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The border is just another line to cross.

Plot: An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I don't know how this escaped three years ago but thanks to the sequel's trailer getting shown before just about every theatrical film I've seen this year, I had to check it out and boy am I glad I did.   It's brutal in a way that elicits realism.  You get the idea that this is probably how this shit goes down in real life.  I like the professionalism of the characters.  Every main character is very serious and very good at their job.  There's a good deal of action.  The film looks great, the shots are lined up nicely, the overhead tracking shots are a nice touch, the score is great as is all other aspects of the picture.  It's just a damn good action thriller.  An hour after we watched this one we were at the theater for SICARIO: DAY OF THE SOLDADO (2018) and it was just as good but in a slightly different way.

Deadpool 2 (2018)

Director: David Leitch

Writers: Rhett Reese, Paul Wenick, Ryan Reynolds

Composer: Tyler Bates

Starring: Josh Brolin, Ryan Reynolds, Marena Baccarin, Zazie Beetz, Brianna Hildebrand, Brad Pitt, Bill Skarsgard, T.J. Miller, Terry Crews, Rob Delaney, Alan Tudyk, Julian Dennison, Lewis Tan, Eddie Marsan, Shioli Kutsuna, Leslie Uggams, Stefan Kapicic, Karan Soni

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Prepare for the second coming.

Plot: After surviving a near fatal bovine attack, a disfigured cafeteria chef (Wade Wilson) struggles to fulfill his dream of becoming Mayberry's hottest bartender while also learning to cope with his lost sense of taste. Searching to regain his spice for life, as well as a flux capacitor, Wade must battle ninjas, the Yakuza, and a pack of sexually aggressive canines, as he journeys around the world to discover the importance of family, friendship, and flavor - finding a new taste for adventure and earning the coveted coffee mug title of World's Best Lover.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Someone: Who.  Are.  you?
Someone else: I'm Batman!

SPOILER FREE...

If you loved the first one, you'll love the second.  It's more of the same but they're not re-hashing old jokes (mostly) and when they do they're doing something different.  There are a lot of surprises and a shitload of laughs.  It does drag a little in the middle, mostly for the lack of funny, but that's my only complaint, if you can even call it that because it was still entertaining.  The new characters are fun and the old ones have some more fun stuff to do than the last time.  I LOVED the James Bond opening credits complete with the Celine Dion ballad.  I LOVE that song and I hope it gets nominated at the Oscars for Best Song.  It's really a well written song but with intentionally lame lyrics and it fits the Bond-style titles to a T.  There were a lot of things that caught me off guard but I was mostly struck when I found myself tearing up from the emotional moment in the last act.  It was really nicely handled.  There's also a BASIC INSTINCT moment complete with composer Tyler Bates providing a score that resembles Goldsmith's from that film.  I LOVED that little touch.  I'll definitely catch this again in the next week.  This was part of a double feature, back to back with the first film and it was nice to revisit it on the big screen.  It also helped reminding me of some of jokes because they continue in the sequel.  HINT:  one of them involves a lot of cocaine and the cure for blindness.  

Ban the Sadist Videos! (2005) Parts 1 & 2

Director: David Gregory

Writer: David Gregory

Composer: Mark Raskin

Starring: Chris Theobald, Jesus Franco, Wes Craven, Ruggero Deodato, Dario Argento

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Likely to deprave and corrupt!

Plot: Part one presents an in-depth analysis of the "Video Nasty" scandal of the early 1980s in Britain and part two presents an investigation of UK video censorship after the video recordings act was introduced.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Probably not.

I've seen a few documentaries about England's "Video Nasties" and this one is the best...and last one that I'll see.  I think I'm done with this topic but I'm not done watching the funner'n'hell movies that are on the list.  It's a well produced film that not only covers the origins, as you would expect, as well as the massive controversy surrounding it and the subsequent arrests, trials and even murders attributed to watching these films, it also covers the aftermath and brings us up to date to the time this was made.  It's interesting and horrifying how bullshit coming from these prudish, ill informed and power hungry censorship assholes could get away with so much.  It's amazing what ignorant people will do when frightened by something they know little to nothing about. 

Watchmen: Motion Comic (2008)

Directors: Richard Zangrande Gaubert, Chris Gregory, Jake Strider Hughes

Writers: Dave Gibbons, Alan Moore

Composer:  ???

Starring: Tom Stechschulte

More info: IMDb


Plot: An outlaw superhero's investigation of a possible conspiracy against his colleagues changes all their lives even as evidence builds toward a horrific conclusion.

 

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Maybe.

Man, this was great.  The score, voice acting, the whole shootin' match.  After having seen the movie a few times (which I love) it was time to give this a whirl.  Now I'm jonesing to read the comic which is pretty much what this is.  The only difference is someone else is doing all the work but it's a top notch production all around.  For those of you too lazy to read, give this five and a half hour show a go. If you have read the book then this will probably be a glorified curiosity but still worth a look.

Robert "Willy" Pickton (The pig farm killer)

Director: ???

Writers:Christie Elwin, Jane Petrof

Composer: ???

Starring: David Riley

More info: ???

Plot: This British TV documentary covers the life and crimes of Canada's most prolific serial killer, Robert "Willy" Pickton.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

This 45 minute British TV documentary is on YouTube and I can't find any information outside of the credits at the end of the program.  It shows that it was produced for Bio. The Biography Channel in 2009 but since A&E is American and this program is British, A&E most likely bought this for their channel.  Anyway, it's British and making cracker jack compelling TV documentaries about serial killers is what they do.  I've seen a lot of them and rarely have I come across one that wasn't concise, loaded with information, well-paced and compelling as shit.  This is no exception.  After watching THE PIG FARM (2011) I found this 43 minute gem on YouTube and watched it immediately after and it's a much better made film.  Sure, the production is much more dramatic and urgent but that helps ramp up the horror.  I also learned some stuff from this one that I didn't from THE PIG FARM and the latter is twice the length this one is.  I would recommend watching this shorter documentary first and then moving onto THE PIG FARM to get more out of it.  It's not a contest but this doc is more compelling, interesting and entertaining.  I loved it!

Black Panther (2018)

Director: Ryan Coogler

Writers: Ryan Coogler, Joe Robert Cole

Composer: Ludwig Goransson

Starring: Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong'o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Sterling K. Brown, Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Long live the king.

Plot: When King T'Challa returns to his home nation of the secluded but technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda, he is put to the test as both king of his country and Black Panther when he is drawn into a conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the world at risk. To defeat his enemies and protect his countries, the king must rally his allies and unleash the power of Black Panther.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I can't find any fault with this flick...not that I ever look for faults.  It's just good all the way around.  There's so much about it that's refreshing to see and hear from the look, costumes, story, music, sound design, the works.  The MCU keeps getting better.  And after this and the latest Thor movie, the next Avengers flick had better deliver and not take a step back like AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015).  The acting is solid.  Hell, I even teared up a couple of times.  It was touching.  Winston Duke had some funny moments.  He reminded me a little of Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan from FLASH GORDON (1980), so much so that I wished he'd gone full Blessed and run with it.  He would've stolen the show which is probably why he didn't.  Damnit.  The future tech was cool.  Somebody needs to open up a WakandaWorld so I can go hang out there.  It's beautiful.  Stan Lee's cameo is hilarious as usual.  I'm glad they didn't go full GotG with the comedy.  That would've hurt but there are some laughs and they're earned.  I'm looking forward to seeing Black Panther in AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR in a few short days.  It's remarkable how the creative team behind these flicks are able to manage/juggle so many wonderful characters.

Laura (1944)

Director: Otto Preminger

Writers: Vera Caspary, Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, Elizabeth Reinhardt

Composer: David Raksin

Starring: Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, Clifton Webb, Vincent Price, Judith Anderson

More info: IMDb

Tagline: The story of a love that became the most fearful thing that ever happened to a woman!

Plot: A police detective falls in love with the woman whose murder he is investigating.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

When I last saw this twenty-five plus years ago, I didn't get how this was considered a classic (and one of the best) of the film noir genre.  Sure, there's a murder and the culprit is probably a jealous lover but it's missing some of the other staples you expect and get from the other greats of the era like a femme fatale and lots of ominous shadows and seedy people and places.  This picture is almost entirely brightly lit and there's not a single bad news dame.  Watching it now, I still got the same feeling but I'm watching it with older, wiser and much more well-rounded eyes so I'm starting to get it.  I at least think it's a fantastic film and I can understand why it's so great but I'll continue to struggle a little with the whole noir classic part. 

The cast is fantastic.  It's neat seeing Vincent Price as a charming whore and man, oh, man is that dude tall.  I knew he was 6'4" but I'd never really noticed like I do in this picture on how he towers above the rest of the cast and some of the shots have him standing in the background.  Clifton Webb owns every scene he's in.  I can't see anyone else but him in that role.  It's one case where The Academy Awards got it right by giving him the Oscar for Best Supporting Role for this picture.   The other actor that got my attention and grabbed me was Judith Anderson who plays a wealthy, and older, socialite, Ann Treadwell.  She's got the hots for Shelby (Price) but Shelby wants to spend his carnal time with hotter, younger rich broads.  Her best moment is when she's straight up with another character to leave Shelby because he's a whore dog who is accustomed to a certain lifestyle and he's a bad news serial slut.  She should know, she continues, because she likes being shit on.  It's a great moment.  Her candor is cold but content in knowing her place and his.  David Raksin's score is famous for a reason.  He wrote one hell of a tune.  You may find yourself getting a little tired of hearing it because it's all throughout the film in various pop arrangements and orchestrations but you should find comfort in knowing that it made him a very wealthy man and he surely loved the residual checks it brought him for the next sixty years!  If only I could have an evergreen like that.

Red Sparrow (2018)

Director: Francis Lawrence

Writers: Justin Haythe, Jason Matthews

Composer: James Newton Howard

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Charlotte Rampling, Mary-Louise Parker, Ciaran Hinds, Joely Richardson, Bill Camp, Jeremy Irons, Thekla Reuten, Douglas Hodge

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Seductive. Deceptive. Deadly.

Plot: Dominika Egorova, a famous Russian prima ballerina for the renowned Bolshoi Ballet, sees her brilliant career end abruptly--and as a result--she is faced with a difficult decision when her shady uncle, Vanya Egorov, sends her to serve the State. Now, as a secret agent or, a Sparrow, Dominika after intensive training to learn how to use her body as a weapon to sexually manipulate prestigious targets, is recruited to make contact with CIA Agent, Nate Nash, to reveal the identity of his unknown Russian informant.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I saw the trailer only once and I couldn't help but think this is the Marvel Black Widow origin story.  But then I saw it and that notion fell fast.  This movie is fantastic.  I loved it.  It is a well made picture in every department.  Lawrence's performance is quiet and reserved and that serves her character's deception well.  I didn't know where her loyalties lay until shortly before the end credits rolled.  The story is intriguing without being overly complicated but it's strength is playing to the danger and deceit.  I can see how people might be turned off to the length and deliberately slow pacing but I found it necessary to tell the story properly.  Every scene has a purpose and the character moments and actions serve the story.  Yeah, it's two hours and twenty minutes but every minute adds to the characters, their motivations and to the picture as a whole.  I wouldn't change any of it.  At first I was struck by how much time was spent with Dominika and her build up to becoming a Sparrow but as I got more into the picture I realized that there wasn't a wasted moment.  It's not an action filled spy thriller but there are moments when it's necessary like the knife fight in the final act.  It's brutal and everyone is getting cut.  I cringed a lot.  It's a beautifully shot film and it needs to be seen on the big screen.  It's only been out two weeks but with the speed at how fast movies leave these days unless it's making seriously large dollars, it's not likely to be around much longer.   I'm looking forward to spending more time with this one and I hope the Blu-ray is loaded with extras and a commentary.  I saw that the novel this is based on has two sequels.  I sincerely hope this picture does well enough that those that matter film them but I suspect, without having read them, that they might be more traditional spy thrillers than this one. 

The Unknown (1927)

Director: Tod Browning

Writers: Tod Browning, Waldemar Young, Joseph Franham, Mary Roberts Rinehart

Starring: Lon Chaney, Norman Kerry, Joan Crawford, Nick De Ruiz, John George, Frank Lanning

More info: IMDb

Plot: A criminal on the run hides in a circus and seeks to possess the daughter of the ringmaster at any cost.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

I'm embarrassed to admit this but I just watched my first Lon Chaney picture.  I'm shocked that I haven't seen any of his films before, despite the number of horror classics he starred in.  It's criminal, I know.  He's utterly amazing in this.  I was captivated by his presence in every single scene.  He demands it almost.  Joan Crawford is so young that she's unrecognizable (to me, anyway).  Wow.  What a picture this is.  It's remarkable how Chaney was able to hide his arms.  I mean, you really believe he's armless.  He really sells it.  The story might sound simple but there's a lot more to it plus it's got heart right along side the horror.  You feel for Alonzo (Chaney) even after you uncover his past and you see his actions.  There's some messed up stuff going on.  This was the second of three excellent movies I watched in a row over the course of three nights which is rare.  There's usually a crappy movie that breaks up the good stuff.  I sift through a lot of garbage searching for that hidden gem but every once in a while I go blind into pictures only to come out the other side seeing a whole new world in front of me and this time, that new world belongs to Lon Chaney. 

Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994)

Director: Ted Newsom

Writer: Ted Newsom

Composer: James Bernard

Starring: Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Roy Ward Baker, James Bernard, Martine Beswick, Veronica Carlson, Michael Carreras, Hazel Court, Joe Dante, Freddie Francis, Val Guest, Ray Harryhausen, Anthony Hinds, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews, Ferdy Mayne, Caroline Munro, Christopher Neame, Ingrid Pitt, Jimmy Sangster, Yutte Stensgaard, Raquel Welch

More info: IMDb

Plot: The history of Hammer Films and their legacy, narrated by the studio's most beloved stars, Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

This is a must watch for any horror fan.  I've seen every Hammer horror film and some of them multiple times.  This excellent documentary covers the history of the studio from the beginning to its sad end with most of their horror films covered.  The real treat, besides being narrated by Cushing (who died the same year) and Lee is the amazing amount of people who worked in front of and behind the camera for the studio in its heyday.  It's a fascinating look into the foremost horror movie making machine.

Legit (2013)

Creators: Jim Jefferies, Peter O'Fallon

Director: Peter O'Fallon

Starring: Jim Jefferies, Dan Bakkedahl, DJ Qualls, Mindy Sterling, Sonya Eddy, Nick Daley, John Ratzenberger, Ginger Gonzaga, Andrea Bendewald, Richard Ruccolo, George Lazenby, Bob Sagat, Marlon Wayans, Carrie Fisher

More info: IMDb

Tagline: He wants to help in the worst way.

Plot:  Jim and his put upon friends try to learn what it means to be a good person.

My rating: 8.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

This is happening so often it's pissing me off.  I find a show that I absolutely love and it's cancelled far too early.  It's hilarious.  I've been a fan of Jefferies for a while and seeing this makes me dig this guy even more.  The whole cast is hilarious and I've got a whole new level of appreciation for John Ratzenberger.  Damn, this shit is funny!

The Seven Five (2014)

Director: Tiller Russell

Composers: Amy Marie Beauchamp, Jose Cancela

Starring: Mike Dowd, Ken Eurell, Walter Yurkiw, Chickie, Dori Eurell

More info: IMDb

Tagline: In 1980's Brooklyn, The Most Dangerous Gangsters Were New York City Cops.

Plot: Meet the dirtiest cop in NYC history. Michael Dowd stole money and dealt drugs while patrolling the streets of 80s Brooklyn.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

This documentary had my emotions going.  For a while I hated these guys because they (the two crooked cops this focuses on, Dowd & Eurell) were so cocky but that changed.  I never admired them but they are very likable and entertaining.  Their exploits are sickening but fun in the way they tell it.  It's incredible how they were able to get away with so much for so long.  At least one of them doesn't seem to have any regrets and one of them has that hard-wired loyalty to cops that he would never rat out another cop regardless of the crimes.  He has a sense of pride and honor which I find to be abhorrent.  He's a scumbag piece of shit to claim to have so much honor while he completely disrespected the badge and the citizens by his actions as a hardcore criminal.  This film is interesting as hell and I've just about talked myself into watching it again today having only watched it last night.  This is good shit!

Godless (2017)

Director: Scott Frank

Writer: Scott Frank

Composer: Carlos Rafael Rivera

Starring: Jeff Daniels, Jack O'Connell, Michelle Dockery, Scoot McNairy, Merritt Wever, Thomas Brodie-Sangster, Tantoo Cardinal, Adam David Thompson, Samantha Soule, Kayli Carter, Audrey Moore, Keith Jardine, Rio Alexander, Samuel Marty

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Welcome to no man's land.

Plot: Frank Griffin, an outlaw terrorizing the 1880s American West, hunts down Roy Goode, his partner turned enemy. Roy hides out at a ranch as Frank's chase leads him to La Belle, New Mexico - a town mysteriously made up almost entirely of women.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

This Netflix miniseries of sorts (7 episodes for a total length of about 7 hours) is outstanding.  The characters are well crafted and likable and sometimes even fun.  My two favorites are Mary Agnes (Wever) and her brother Bill (McNairy).  They're fabulous.  I want more with these two.  The story unfolds with a lot of flashbacks and you don't really know all of the backstory until almost the end and that works just fine.  It's got a great sense of time and place, the locations are beautiful, the town feels lived in and there are a lot of characters that are easy to identify and follow.  It's written and directed by the same guy that brought us LOGAN (2017), DEAD AGAIN (1991) and OUT OF SIGHT (1998).  While I liked how he turned a lot of Western cliches upside down and played around with them, I bothered the piss out of me with little dumb shit like when during the big shootout in the town during the final episode, one of the women is shooting six irons in each hand and then spins them like a trick shooter.  It's dumb horseshit like that that smacks of stupid Hollywood movies.  Anyway, that's just a tiny peeve I have but the overall show is fantastic.  I'm not sure if this was only ever meant to be a 7 episode run or if maybe it's a 'wait and see how it does' kind of a thing that might continue if it's popular enough.  Well I definitely want to see more, A LOT MORE!

Jigsaw (1962)

Director: Val Guest

Writers: Val Guest

Starring: Jack Warner, Ronald Lewis, Yolande Donlan, Michael Goodliffe, John Le Mesurier, Moira Redmond, Christine Bocca, Brian Oulton, Ray Barrett, Norman Chappell, John Barron, Joan Newell

Tagline: The most baffling whodunit ever filmed...!

Plot: A woman is found murdered in a house along the coast from Brighton. Local detectives Fellows and Wilks lead an investigation methodically following up leads and clues mostly in Brighton and Hove but also further afield.

My rating: 8/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

Here's one crime thriller that's very smart and a little different than the usual fare of its time.  The two detectives work well together as they uncover a murder and try to solve it with barely a clue.  Little by little, through some boring (for them, not me), routine police work tiny clues add up that lead them to a short list of suspects.  I like how the detectives work well together and their matter-of-factness.  There's very little time wasted on screen and the mystery remains one until almost the end.  And even then they don't have the evidence to finish the job...or do they.  It's only in the final few seconds that closure is made and it's not in a way you'd think.  If it were made these days the filmmakers would've kept going to give you more information, information you don't need.  This is a tight little picture that deserves a look.