Texas, Adios (1966)

Original title: Texas, Addio

Director: Ferdinando Baldi

Writers: Ferdinando Baldi, Franco Rossetti

Composer: Anton Garcia Abril

Starring: Franco Nero, Alberto Dell'Acqua, Elisa Montes, Jose Guardiola, Livio Lorenzon, Hugo Blanco, Luigi Pistilli, Antonella Murgia, Gino Pernice

More info: IMDb

Plot:  A Texan sheriff and his younger brother travel across the frontier into Mexico to confront the man who killed their father.

My rating: 7.5/10

Will I watch it again?  Yes.

One of the only reasons anyone might seek this one out is that it stars Franco Nero in one of his earliest starring roles which came out the same year as his most famous picture, DJANGO.  Unlike Django, this Spaghetti Western is more like a traditional Western than a lot of his others.  It's still violent (love it!) and they're not afraid to kill just about anyone in this film.  The performances are very good (I've only ever seen the English dub).  Even the dubbing is good except for one character, Cisco Delgado (Suarez).  His is really bland.  I watched a few moments with the Italian dub and it's MUCH better but the character still comes off like he's tired and doesn't care.  They could've done so much better in matching a quality voice to his image.  The next time I'll watch the Italian Dub.  Still, it's a good movie with a good story, locations, action (Franco Nero's fighting looks more realistic than most actors) and the score is fantastic.  It's got one of my all-time favorite Spaghetti Western cues. The ending is bleak and it's not the standard finale Hollywood was cooking up back then.  The Blue Underground DVD, from the Spaghetti Western Collection OOP box set, looks great.  It's anamorphic widescreen and you even get a few extras in a 6 minute interview with Nero about his picture and his getting into films and Westerns and the English theatrical trailer (anamorphic widescreen).  This picture probably won't list on anyone's top 20 Spags but it's definitely worth a look for fans of the genre.

 

The Maiden Heist (2009)

Director: Peter Hewitt

Writer: Micheal LeSieur

Composer: Rupert Gregson-Williams

Starring: Christopher Walken, Morgan Freeman, William H. Macy, Marcia Gay Harden, Todd Weeks

More info: IMDb

Tagline: They're not bad guys. Just bad thieves.

Plot: A comedy centered on three museum security guards who devise a plan to steal back the artworks to which they have become attached after they are transferred to another museum.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

It's cute and harmless.  Suspension of disbelief can be a beautiful thing.  There's no way these guys could have gotten anywhere close to doing what they did but that's not required to enjoy the picture.  It's a light-hearted heist movie with some really fun actors doing their fun thing and that's OK by me.  There's some neat stop-motion business when the boys are discussing their plan with the makeshift model of the museum.  That was neat.  There are a couple of scenes that go on too long as though they should've been tightened up some and there's more than a few moments that are predictable but, again, that doesn't mean you can't sit back and enjoy the film for what it is.  And the ending bit with Roger's (Walken) wife on the beach was beautiful and touching.  The same goes for what follows just before the credits roll.  The Sony DVD comes with a few extras (more than you'd think for this release) in the way of a commentary track with the director, writer and Rob Paris (producer), a making-of featurette (18 min), 13 deleted scenes with option commentary, a 3 minute blooper reel and trailers for 9 films that aren't this one.

The Destructors (1974)

Original title: The Marseille Contract

Director: Robert Parrish

Writer: Judd Bernard

Composer: Roy Budd

Starring: Michael Caine, Anthony Quinn, James Mason, Maruice Ronet, Alexandra Stewart, Maureen Kerwin, Catherine Rouvel, Marcel Bozzuffi, Patrick Floersheim

More info: IMDb

Tagline:  They Live the Sweet Life But They Play a Game of Sudden Death!

Plot: When a US intelligence agent is unable to bring a ruthless drug baron to justice, he resorts to hiring a contract killer. But the man he is put in contact with turns out to be an old friend.

My rating: 6.5/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Hmmmm.  Sometimes you watch movies only for the cast regardless of the quality.  This one has a great leading cast and they're fun to watch (especially Caine) but it's a flawed film.  The pacing is good as are the location, chases and the overall plot but none of these aspects are very good.  It's entertaining.  I like how close Deray (Caine) gets to his target, Brizard (Mason), and how he's playing the long game.  The thing I thought that could've been improved upon was having Caine hold back a little.  He plays the character so care-free and free of consequence in killing folks, plus his charismatic gleeful demeanor, that he comes across more of a James Bond-lite figure which, while kind of fun to watch, it seemed like the picture called for someone that's a bit more gritty.  He also gets away with a lot of deaths and it's shocking that he's not accountable for any of them.  Then there's the finale with how easily and impossible it was for Ventura (Quinn) to do what he did and slip away without anyone the wiser.  Other than that it was a pretty fun time and it's certainly worth a look for fans of these cats.  You might feel a little hungry for something edgier at the end but you wouldn't have wasted your time.

Salem's Lot (1979)

Director: Tobe Hooper

Writers: Stephen King, Paul Monash

Composer: Harry Sukman

Starring: David Soul, James Mason, Lance Kerwin, Bonnie Bedelia, Lew Ayres, Julie Cobb, Elisha Cook Jr., George Dzundza, Geoffrey Lewis, Fred Willard, Marie Windsor, Barbara Babcock

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Iconic terror from the No 1 bestselling writer.

Plot: Vampires are invading a small New England town. It's up to a novelist and a young horror fan to save it.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Good flick, especially for a TV movie.  I just saw it for the first time and I can't imagine having to sit through commercials like audiences did in '79.  It breaks up the horror and suspense way too much.  But then it also gave people who frightened easily a break from the scares.  For a picture that's just over three hours long it's surprisingly well-paced and held together.  The visual scares are great.  The vampire kid floating outside the window, scratching on the glass was really well done.  The makeup effects for the main vampire, ala NOSFERATU (1922) was a nice touch, too.  Having James Mason in your picture classes it up a couple of notches.  Love that guy.  Good flick. 

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

Original title: Janghwa, Hongryeon

Director: Kim Jee-woon

Writer: Kim Jee-woon

Composer: Lee Byung-woo

Starring: Kim Kap-su, Yum Jung-ah, Lim Su-Jeong, Moon Geun-young, Woo Ki-Hong, Lee Dae-Yeon, Lee Seung-bi, Park Mi-Hyun

More info: IMDb

Tagline: Our sorrow was conceived long before our birth

Plot: Two sisters who, after spending time in a mental institution, return to the home of their father and cruel stepmother. Once there, in addition to dealing with their stepmother's obsessive and unbalanced ways, an interfering ghost also affects their recovery.

My rating: 7/10

Will I watch it again? No.


It took two nights to finish this South Korean drama/thriller/horror.  In fairness, I should know better not to start watching a movie super late at night.  On the other hand, this is a VERY slow moving film but it's deliberate and it's necessary in telling the story.  I thought I had it figured out early on but there were some monkey wrenches thrown in to dispel my theory...only to turn out to be half true.  No spoilers here but this is definitely a film that demands repeat viewings.  It's well-acted and it looks fantastic.  Some will be blown away by the ending, others won't even make it that far before shutting it off.  The last twenty minutes lasted two hours and it was confusing and disorienting.  Again, I shouldn't finish watching a movie at 2 am, having been sleepy for a couple of hours to begin with.  Afterward I asked the internet to help me out and it did.  I partially understood what was going on with the last act but it took a few answers to some complicated questions to make full sense of what I saw.  I'm a little curious to see how it would play out on a second viewing but I can't see that happening anytime soon.  Plus, by waiting a few years, I will have completely forgotten everything about it and I'd still be semi-confused.  It's a vicious cycle that has no brakes...but the banana seat is super sweet.  The Red Sun 2-disc DVD set has loads of extras and the anamorphic widescreen print looks gorgeous.  I've seen a couple of Jee-woon's pictures and I like what he does but this one is just on the border of will I watch it or not.  It's a good film if you can stay awake for it.  Oh, and don't go into this thinking it's a horror film.  It's more drama with thriller and horror elements but people who dig psychological, cerebral horror should get a kick out of it.

Dune (1984)

Director: David Lynch

Writers: Frank Herbert, David Lynch

Composer: Toto

Starring: Kyle MacLachlan, Richard Jordan, Francesca Annis, Brad Dourif, Jose Ferrer, Linda Hunt, Freddie Jones, Virginia Madsen, Everett McGill, Kenneth McMillan, Jurgen Prochnow, Paul L. Smith, Patrick Stewart, Sting, Dean Stockwell, Max von Sydow, Sean Young

More info: IMDb

Tagline: You are about to enter a world where the unexpected, the unknown, and the unbelievable meet.

Plot: A Duke's son leads desert warriors against the galactic emperor and his father's evil nemesis when they assassinate his father and free their desert world from the emperor's rule.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  Nope.

I recently watched this for the first time since seeing it in the theater in the Winter of '85.  I remembered a little from then but not much except that it was OK which is about how I feel about it now.  It's neither horrible nor great.  I've not read the books or explored anything else from the series.  There's a lot of narration in this picture which only works sometimes.  When it doesn't, it's bad and bad in the way that it feels like they're trying to get way too much from the thick novel it hails from.  Cinematically it gets in the way and I would have preferred either a longer film or a stripped-down version to help the pacing flow more easily.  That's easy for me to say since I haven't read the book.  Still, it's got some nice moments.  It's neat seeing so many familiar faces.  My biggest issue is the slow as snails tempo the film takes.  I was fighting sleep more than a couple of times.  It was neat seeing a lot of steampunk before steampunk was a popular thing.  I realize this was from thirty years ago but the effects could have been better.  They don't hold up well.  The set and costume designs are great and lovely to look at but that's about it for me.  The Universal Blu-ray looks great (some might be turned off by the grain but that's film for you) and there are lots of extras, none of which I was interested in checking out after watching it.

Orphan (2009)

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Writers: David Johnson, Alex Mace

Composer: John Ottman

Starring: Vera Farmiga, Peter Sarsgaard, Isabelle Fuhrman, CCH Pounder, Jimmy Bennett, Margo Martindale, Karel Roden, Aryana Engineer, Rosemary Dunsmore, Jamie Young

More info: IMDb

Tagline: There's something wrong with Esther.

Plot: A husband and wife who recently lost their baby adopt a 9-year-old girl who is not nearly as innocent as she claims to be.

My rating: 6/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

Cliches-ridden but not a bad horror/thriller.  Probably the best part of the picture is near the end when you see all of the black light paintings.  Those are deliciously grisly.  The gimmick is neat but that's about it.  It's well-made but it's just loaded with tropes you've seen dozens of times from other troubled child films from the past 60 years.  The wife discovers the truth, the husband thinks she's over-reacting, the more-than-obvious of who's going to die as soon as the characters are introduced, the baddie coming back from near death at the last moment to strike one more time, shit like that.  If the story weren't so by-the-numbers it'd be a much better film.   It's got a nice atmosphere but you need more substance in your stories to elevate pictures like this into a really good horror/thriller and this one doesn't do it.  I'm probably in the minority on this one as it seems the public at large praised it when it came out.  The Warner Bros. DVD has a nice anamorphic widescreen print but the only extra you get is in the way of deleted scenes and an alternate ending (4 minutes total).  The alternate ending is different but it's not a game-changer by any stretch.