brileyvandyke

Much has been written and said of Sunset Blvd and for good reason. It's simply a masterpiece. Billy Wilder, William Holden, Gloria Swanson and Erich von Stroheim are all on top form.

Clearly Gloria Swanson steals the show here. She dominates and mesmerizes her scenes. She is simply unforgettable. Her portrayal of Norma Desmond as a mad, delusional, sad, manipulative yet charming, witty, regal sympathetic character speaks to her formidable skill as an actress. She is beautiful.

I really enjoyed the clever mix of reality and fictional elements in the film. Erich von Stroheim was powerfully understated and highly effective. Holden also pulls off being both flawed and likable to great effect. Can't say enough about this film.

If you haven't seen Sunset Blvd or haven't seen it in awhile I highly recommend watching the movie. Outstanding film.

The Grind Bin Podcast turned me onto The Van 1977, and this Crown International Picture is pure B movie gold!! It is a simple story of a red headed guy, Bobby, aka Stuart Goetz, who buys a garish yellow van in the quest of getting his jollies off with local women. We follow these exploits aided in part by Andy played by Danny DeVito. It's a fun romp back in time when van culture swept 70's American culture. Even the theme song, Chevy Van is great, even if the Van in this film ,known as the Straight Arrow, is a Dodge. This is made even better when listening to the Grind Bin Podcast who make hilarious reviews of exploitation films and make constant reference to The Van. I fully recommend The Van, Crown International Films and the boys over at the Grind Bin Podcast. Watching or listening to all three you'll find yourself saying, "run time, run time, run time", and "what's going on?" Enjoy!

I was immediately mesmerized by this film. A fascinating tale of obsession, of hustling, a tragic love story and a moral tale hinting that character is more essential than merely winning a game. Paul Newman as Fast Eddie and his partner Charlie, played by Myron McCormick, travel the nation hustling unsuspecting guys into wagering high sums on pool games. Fast Eddie is obsessed to meet, play and beat Minnesota Fats, perfectly cast in Jackie Gleason. Fast Eddie does meet and play Fats and big time gambler and money man Bert Gordon, George C Scott, is there to watch. Eddie wins early on in the marathon game, but gets cold and loses out in the end.

In the aftermath Eddie, now broke meets Sarah Packard, Piper Laurie, and the two immediately connect. Here the story slowly changes to a love tale and slowly we see Sarah confess the truth about herself and proclaims her love for Eddie. Eddie loves Sarah, but doesn't tell her. During this time we see Eddie give the boot to his long time partner Charlie, and partners up with Bert. Bert is a dark, intense character and George C Scott wonderfully portrays this. Bert fronts the money for the games and arranges a game with a wealthy man, Findley, in Kentucky. Sarah, accompanies Eddie on his trip and she supports him. She worries Eddie is hustling her, but she loves him and encourages Eddie to move away from Bert and the pool hustling game. Eddie is obsessed and won't listen.

Eddie beats Findlay and wins Bert a substantial sum and Bert tells Sarah he's taking Eddie. Poor Sarah, knows she's lost Eddie and she'll never be first in his life. She commits suicide. It's a powerful scene.

Eddie is distraught learning of Sarah's death and sadly realizes she was right about Bert. In the climax of the movie there is one more showdown between Minnesota Fats and Fast Eddie. This time Eddie is determined and he holds the hot hand throughout.

I love this film. Newman, Laurie, Gleason and Scott are masterful here. Even Murray Hami!ton and Myron McCormick play memorable roles. There's excitement, drama, sorrow, pain, and even joy in this remarkable film. One of the best films I have seen. I immediately got online and bought the blue ray.

For me this is the film that is the first true slasher. It has all the tropes: a holiday, pov of the killer, a killer whose face we never see, sex, a final girl and butchering innocents for no expressed reason.

Black Christmas is a very effective film and is a telling of the old legend of an ominous prank caller in one's own house. Bob Clark directed this and he got it right.

The plot should be well known by now. I won't spend much time on it, but I love how this film ends with the police taking Jess to an upstairs bedroom to recuperate from her boyfriend who she believes is the killer. He's not and the poor bastard is killed because of this misunderstanding. Jess is resting on a bed. Mr Harrison, father of one of the sorority house girls, has fainted and is taken to a hospital. The camera never breaks frame. We see Jess lying in bed. Off camera we hear the commotion of the police and other officials milling about their business. Eventually an officer turns off the bedroom light in the room where Jess is resting. Camera never breaks frame. Then the house is silent. Evidently the officers have vacated the house thinking all is settled and well. The camera now pans right to a vacant bedroom where Barb was murdered. We see a sheetless mattress with bloodstains, still the camera pans right. Another bedroom; here we see a suitcase packed at the foot of a made bed. Camera pans right to the end of the hall. We see a wall ladder leading to the attic. Camera settles here. Suddenly we see a faint shifting of movement in the attic and a light. Now we are in the attic. We see Clare dead with a plastic bag over her face in a rocking chair. We see Mrs Mac, the house mother, dead swinging on a grab hook; we hear a voice 'it's me Billy'. Camera pans outside away from house. A serene scene. Night sky, Christmas lights, a lone police officer milling about outside the house, suddenly we hear a phone ring and ring. Credits roll.

Very effective and creepy ending. The antagonist is never caught. The case isn't settled, but the actors think it is. Bravo, well done, that's how tension and horror are produced in a film.

Paul Schraeder's Hardcore is his follow up from his highly successful Taxi Driver, and this film deals with the tensions between traditional American values and a world of seedy, decay.

George C Scott is Jake Van Dorn who is a successful business owner and pious man from Grand Rapids Michigan. Jake is a faithful member of the Dutch Reformed Church who holds strict views of life and morality. While on a church trip to California Jake's Daughter, Kristen goes missing and is discovered by a hired detective, played by Peter Boyle, to be involved making adult films. The balance of the movie sees Jake going to Los Angeles California in a long search for his daughter. In this process Jake is forced to assume another identity and traverse the pornographic underworld, eventually partnering with a lost soul of that sub culture Niki, played well by Season Hubley.

This is a film that is likely to stick with you awhile after viewing it. It is very gritty and doesn't hold back on theme or subject. Interestingly, while a sex scene is filmed we don't see any sex in the movie, but it is strongly implied. Schraeder stated later that the studio changed the ending of the movie and he has professed a dislike of the movie because of those changes.

Indeed, one of the weaknesses of the film is the ending. It seems like its a story that doesn't know how quite to resolve itself. Regardless of this, Scott is a very strong character and plays it quite nicely. In the third act of the film Scott is juxtaposed with Hubley who helps him navigate the pornographic underworld and those two bounce philosophies off one another that is not only striking but absorbing to witness.

I felt bad for Nicki as she states she doesn't want Jake to forget about her once he finds his daughter, implying she too is longing for something else than a seedy life in that world. She rather drifts off dejectedly after Jake is reunited with Kristen and that was difficult to see. There is much more I would like to say about the film, but I leave it at this. In spite of its weakness I enjoyed the film and if you ever have a chance I believe it's well worth your time to watch Hardcore.

The plot of this film has already been ably detailed in other reviews, so I shan't repeat what's already known. What I will say is within the first ten minutes of this movie I was fully absorbed. Lawrence Tierney was outstanding and played his character Sam as a completely anti social psychopath who was prone to sudden, unpredictable violence. He was truly convincing. Claire Trevor was not to be outdone as she gives a standout impression of an equally cold psychopath but her method of operation was more with guile and deceit. There's a scene where Sam and Helen, Claire's character, are embraced and kissing. Sam tells Helen how impressed he is that she witnessed his murder scene replete with blood and corpses and that she didn't scream. They immediately start kissing!!

Later in the film another scene that got me was Mrs Kraft, a rambunctious old woman who is determined to find the killer of her friend Laury, and just surviving an attempt on her life, is accosted by Helen. Helen through manipulation attempts to have the old woman abandon her detective's search for the murderer. Mrs Kraft relents and cries out "I have failed you Laury." Something in her delivery was sad and believable. Lastly the detective reciting the Ecclesiastical Biblical verse describing how a deceitful woman is more bitter than death; which goes in conjunction with Mrs Kraft telling Helen she's a cold, rotten woman.

This film depicts the depravity of the human heart quite well, and if you've not seen Born To Kill go see it! This immediately became a favorite of mine.

Full disclosure I only watched this film because I admire Warren Oates and I had recently watched The Paper Chase and enjoyed Timothy Bottoms in that movie. I had only a vague notion of the theme of White Dawn and checked it out from my local library.

To begin I disapprove of seeing this film as good vs bad or savage vs civilized. I see far too many summaries of this film through that lens. The story, evidently, based on real events and was subject of a novel of the same name White Dawn, tells of four men who were part of an American whaling vessel in the Baffin Bay and while on a whale hunt are wrecked and stranded on the Baffin Island. The ship thinking those men dead turn about and sail home. One of the four stranded men died early on and we know nothing of him. The three remaining men struggle across the frozen barren until fortuitously they are discovered by some Inuits. The men are taken in and fed and provided shelter. Over time the men are initially given respect and are given wives, although Oates character is a devious man who wins his wives in a game. Naturally there are cultural misunderstandings and this eventually turns to friction. The Inuits are occasionally visited by a shaman who warns the tribe the newcomers are trouble. Somewhat a slow film but it builds to a tragic end.

The film is beautifully shot. We see a seal and walrus hunt and it appears to give an authentic look at Inuit life. I say appears because I am no authority on the Inuits, but the author of the novel, James Houston, on which the film was based lived with the Inuits to learn their ways, so I am trusting his observations. We see the Inuit life is hard and simple. It alludes the Inuits occasionally suffer from starvation. The film was shot on location where the events happened. You get a sense of the isolation of the place.

Overall I enjoyed the film, mainly because I was fascinated with a look at a people oftentimes forgotten and of the location which is isolated and formidable. Oates, Gossett and Bottoms deliver great performances.

I see a number of negative comments about this film and most seem to stem from the viewpoint that Kiss Me Goodbye isn't a good reproduction of the Brazilian film that inspired it. That maybe so, but I am a big fan of Jeff Bridges and James Caan and because of that I really liked this movie.

There were a number of scenes which were funny and light. I have also read that according to Caan he didn't enjoy making this movie and took time away from acting afterwards. Regardless of that I really enjoyed him in his role as Jolly.

I try and accept this film as an independent work and not view it in the shadow of the Brazilian movie, that maybe difficult for some, but I recommend Kiss Me Goodbye as a fun entertaining film.

White Lightning is a very enjoyable, Southern gothic, gritty film. Set and filmed in Arkansas, Burt Reynolds plays Gator, an ex con turned "stool pigeon " in order to implicate and bust corrupt Bogan County sheriff JC Connors played by Ned Beatty.

There is a host of strong Southern actors who play supporting roles and lend credibility to the story. Burt Reynolds is very likable and dynamic and I really enjoy when he plays a serious and dramatic role. Bo Hopkins and RG Armstrong give strong support, but for me beyond Reynolds, Ned Beatty as the corrupt sheriff Connors, is outstanding. I am from a small Southern town and there is a "good ole boy" persona to law enforcement in such places, and right off Beatty captures this essence perfectly. I am not suggesting all cops are corrupt, but commenting on the feel of the office in such small towns.

Without giving away too much there is a great car chase and a poetic conclusion to the movie. I happened to see Gator before seeing White Lightning and I much prefer White Lightning. There's a serious tone to the movie and it's also a great revenge flick. Definitely suggest watching if you haven't already.

I really wanted to like this film. I guess I am disappointed, but this film just let me down. It's not terrible, Ti West is too good for that it' just didn't hit me. I found the old couple silly and very unconvincing. The scene where Maxine inside the old woman's house for lemonade. That scene went nowhere, explained nothing. Jackson's off screen death...what?? The filmmaker is really upset because his girlfriend wants to participate in the film? You didn't see that possibility? Come on, lame! I know many liked the film. To each their own. I didn't hate it, but I didn't like it. Just a let down.

Walkabout is a film I had heard much about, and after watching it I felt a deep sense of letdown. While the film is beautifully shot and Jenny Agutter is gorgeous, I find the response to her and her brother's predicament and subsequent trek back to civilization to be unconvincing.

We are acquainted with the girl, Jenny Agutter, her father and young brother driving out into the outback for ostensibly a picnic. The father, for reasons unclear assassinate Jenny and her brother. Failing this the father turns the gun in himself after burning the family car. Stranded in the outback, two young, Anglo Australians, prim and proper now wander alone fending for themselves. We see them struggle from exposure, fatigue, hunger and thirst. After a time elapse they encounter an aborigine boy who is set upon his rite of passage into aboriginal manhood on his walkabout. Unable to communicate with the aborigine, although the young brother does seem somehow to get his point across, the two wayfarers are shown how to survive in the hard environment. Towards the end the aborigine tries to woo the girl, is rejected and the two Aussies find their way back to civilization.

For me the lack of urgency by the girl, who is charge for her young brother, to get back to civilization is implausible. We are expected to believe that after the trauma of near death, and suicide of their father that they are completely at bliss climbing trees and swimming blissfully with a stranger. Also, during the mating dance naturally the girl will reject it. She would find it threatening, and the reverie at the end while she is talking to her husband, longingly remembering the aborigine and brother and her swimming I find absolutely maudlin, idealistic and just not real.

The film is interesting, but the ending especially I just groaned and rolled my eyes.

What can I say about Weekend? It simply isn't a film I enjoyed or really think much of. I confess some of the cinematography was interesting and for some reason I found the intermittent title cards amusing and interesting, and the long shot of the traffic jam was memorable, but that is all of the pleasantries I can give this.

I understand this film has some importance in the history of French New Cinema, but honestly I found it juvenile and annoying. The constant blaring of car horns, the bickering of the characters, and all the car wrecks and ridiculous, gratuitous blood was just cartoonish to me. Well, it wasn't for me, but perhaps someone else will enjoy it. I can't recommend it.

A very enjoyable film with a great cast. I was surprised at the violence and it must have caused a stir in its day although by today's standards is somewhat tame. Ben Johnson as Melvin Purvis and Warren Oates as John Dillinger are absolutely excellent. Harry Dean Stanton, Geoffrey Lewis and Richard Dreyfuss as Babyface Nelson also give colorful performances and help really drive the film. It's not the most accurate, but not egregious in my opinion anyway.

I think the film was well made and for me it was fun to see the rural countryside and the old cars and Tommy guns. All performers were dressed appropriate for the time period, again the cast really is spectacular and seeing the depiction of some of the big gangsters of the era and how they came to their end was great. Very enjoyable. Check it out!

I admit I watched this only because I am a huge James Caan fan. I came away really loving this film. It follows the lives of a French couple who are photographers who come to the American west and also of an American couple already settled in the west. We follow these characters and see how lives separately lived and the events that unfold in those lives and how it all comes together to entwine people who otherwise wouldn't meet. Fascinating film a very European feel to this one. Caan is excellent as is Bujold and Huster. Fun supporting cast. Watch this if you haven't. Gotta see Caan shooting pool from horseback!

Andy Griffith in his film debut gives an outstanding performance as Larry "Lonesome " Rhodes a country boy and small town Arkansas drunkard turned powerful influencer during the early days of television. What a debut performance by Griffith. He is captivating in this movie. Absolutely commanding his scenes. As someone who only knew Griffith as "Matlock" or that kindly, mild-mannered sheriff from Maybury, this made me see Andy in a whole new light.

Patricia Neal, as Marcia, who discovered Rhodes in a jail cell and gave him his nickname and start in radio, was magnetic. A young Walter Matthau plays a prominent role as a writer.

In short this movie is about a man, Rhodes, who has a colorful personality, is eloquent in a home spun manner and has singing ability is discovered by chance by Marcia, who operates a small radio station in Arkansas. She is taken with his charm and gives him a chance in the radio and naturally he becomes a hit which bring attention and advertising opportunities to the station. In turn Rhodes and Marcia are given opportunity at in Memphis and more advertising opportunities. This leads to him going to NY and becoming a huge influential tv personality. Soon he is counseling politicians for their presidential bids with a promise that he will hold a position in the cabinet should the candidate win.

Remarkable that a film over 60 years old still holds quite a lot of relevance to our day and age as it pertains to the cult of personality and the power it holds over people. I found it highly interesting that even in those days presidential candidates were viewed as consumer products to be packaged and sold to the public at large.

In the end things come crashing down for old "Lonesome " Rhodes and the ending scenes were quite powerful. I definitely recommend seeing this movie if you haven't already.

Rip Torn plays Maury Dann a drifting country singer. The film covers only a short period of Dann's life, but during that time we discover that Dann is a conceited, manipulative, abusive man, who manages to put on an amicable face for his fans. Rip Torn is quite excellent in this film, and though Dann is hard to like he commands every scene and we see a man fueled by ego, alcohol, pills and junk food.

We get a sense of the poverty and desperation of Dann's roots when he goes to visit his mother, who relies upon her son for her financial support and her pill addiction. We see the disconnect Dann has with his children, as he visits an ex wife hoping to see his kids, who aren't there, Dann is unable to remember their birthdays or their ages.

Later in the movie Dann is at a restaurant eating with his entourage and is confronted by a man who is unhappy with the singer for a tryst he had with the man's girlfriend. Things spiral badly out of control from there and soon trouble looms over him as he finds it isn't easy getting free of the mess he created.

The film concludes with a memorable scene of chaos as Dann drives wildly through the countryside. There is a brief flash of Dann's crazed, almost psychotic eyes peering in the rear view mirror of the car as he drives. That brief moment gave me chills.

Payday is an obscure film, perhaps cult film, and belongs in the pantheon of effective Southern gothic movies, a genre that is dear and relatable to me. This film is worth your time if you are able to find it.

Darker Than Amber stars Rod Taylor as Travis McGee, a Florida part time detective and scavenger who witnesses an attempted murder of a young woman, played by Suzy Kendall, saves that woman, has a short affair with her only for her to later get killed by the very men who tried killing her the first time, then are tracked and hunted down by McGee.

The film is a bit uneven with some parts being awkward and some parts being very good. That said I found Taylor great in this and for me he along with William Smith made the film very enjoyable. There is a James Bond like quality to the movie and William Smith is very convincing as a psychotic killer and altogether great villain. The film is most noted for the fight scene between Taylor and Smith which evidently turned real as both men sustained injuries during the fight. Heck, none other than Bruce Lee was impressed with the fight as he wanted Robert Clouse to direct his film Enter The Dragon, solely on the fight scenes alone.

It is shame the film flopped at the box office because I would have enjoyed more from Taylor playing McGee, as it stands, this film enjoys a cult status and I hope it will someday get a dvd or blu ray release.

It is well known that Midnight Cowboy was given an X rating upon release and it's the only X rated film to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. It's a sobering tale by modern standards, so it must have been shocking to the sensibilities of people in 1969.

Jon Voight was excellent as Joe Buck, a country boy from Texas who decides to go to NYC and work as a male prostitute. He soon finds out that people in that big city aren't as accommodating and far too cynical for a naïve young man out of his element. A chance encounter with Rico Rizzo or " Ratso", played wonderfully by Dustin Hoffman, is a ne'er do well bum who is also sick with some unspecified illness, initially also takes advantage of Buck, but later on the two iron out their differences and come to rely on one another.

The darkness of the film is in the desperation the two men face for survival, and Buck's career as a gigilo withers on the vine. Buck deigns to homosexual encounters, thinking it will lead to pay, only it nets more trouble. At one point Buck gets a paying client which eases their plight some. Rizzo's health deteriorates rapidly and the two set off for Florida where there is a sad ending to the film.

Hoffman and Voight were fantastic in this, and I was especially impressed reading about Hoffman and the chances he took with this role. Hoffman had a clean, good boy image coming off of 'The Graduate', and his agent wasn't pleased with Hoffman having a secondary role to Voight. But no matter, both men distinguished themselves nicely and Hoffman particularly had an outstanding career. Excellent shots of NYC, wonderful music in this bleak but excellent film. Go see it!

The Cremator is a powerful, dark and disturbing Czech film from 1969. I was thoroughly unaware of this movie and knew nothing about it. It's shot in black and white and naturally the dialog is in Czech. Don't let that scare you off.

I find there is so much to say about The Cremator, but I hope to keep this succinct. The movie revolves around Karel a crematorium employee who is obsessed with death and sees death as a means to prevent suffering and a means to purity. The film is set during the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia.

Karel is clearly off balance to begin, but he seems to be further manipulated and influenced by a friend who is a Nazi party member. This friend reminds Karel how important blood and heritage are and we see Karel change from a pro Chech viewpoint to a pro German viewpoint. We see Karel view his family very differently. At the beginning of the film he is loving towards them, but as his viewpoint changes he seems disturbed at his wife's and Children's Jewish heritage. He also expresses regret that his son is "effeminate, and not like him." I will leave the plot points there so as not to give anything else away. I see this film listed as a comedy, and humor is different for different people. I found no humor in this. Yes, Karel says ridiculous things, but to me it's not funny. His madness is disturbing. He believes what he says. His thoughts immerse him. There is a surrealism to this movie. Beautifully shot, expertly edited.

Madness, manipulation, murder and the casual even mundane nature in which these things are felt by Karel is both powerful and unnerving. This is a fantastic film. I could go on and on, but I will leave it as is. Go see this film.

The early to mid 70's saw a boom of detective films and in 1973 The Laughing Policeman, directed by Stewart Rosenberg, was released as a hard hitting whodunnit.

The film begins with a horrific machine gun wielding mystery man opening fire on a public bus in San Francisco. Once the police are on the scene they are especially shocked to see among the victims one of their own killed in the slaughter. The fallen officer was a partner of Jake Martin, played by Walter Matthau. The story focuses on detectives Martin and Leo Larsen, played by Bruce Dern, as they hit the underbelly of San Francisco searching for suspects of this crime. Matthau vacillates between taciturn and belligerent and plays Jake Martin as a man who has seen a lot and is affected by little. Bruce Dern plays Larsen with a kind of energy and zeal. He is both tough and wise-cracking. The two play off each other quite effectively.

Louis Gossett Jr has a role as a detective and his character is quite strong and intuitive. You really get a feel for San Francisco's dark side in this picture. All kinds of shady characters are sought after and shook down, however if you aren't paying attention closely you may find yourself lost with the twists and turns of the plot. The case is finally solved and the mystery man revealed, but I will leave it at that.

Finally, as an honorable mention Paul Koslo has a small role in this as, what else a shady drug dealer? Koslo is a favorite character actor of mine and I enjoy seeing him in films.

Overall this is a good film, but you must stay with it or it may lose you. Fun to see Matthau play non comedic roles, and Bruce Dern is damn good. No laughing, just a complex and intense story.

Fred Walton's debut feature length directorial film is an outstanding one and really deserves its reputation as a gem in the horror genre. This is all the more impressive because it's basically a bloodless film. There are a few flashback scenes containing blood, but beyond that it's a pure tight, gripping suspenseful tale of the man-in-the-house urban legend. The opening 20 minutes is iconic in horror film legend and indeed was taken from a short film by Walton called The Sitter. So suspenseful, so powerful are the opening 20 minutes that you are impelled to watch the rest of the film.

Tony Beckley plays the psychopath Curt Duncan and does such a masterful job that he becomes the star of this movie. Sadly, Beckley was terminally Ill during filming and he would die shorty after the release of When A Stranger Calls. It's a shame because though he had a great career in Europe I feel he was certain to have a breakthrough to stardom in America.

Carol Kane , Charles Durning and Coleen Dewhurst all give notable performances in the movie and the film's score is amazing too.

Director Fred Walton was inspired by the success of Halloween in 1978 to write a full script of his short The Sitter, which became this film. It's amazing because early on we know who the killer is and what's wrong with him, yet it is written and performed by Beckley in such a way that keeps us glued to the screen.

For me the final third drags a little and requires a bit of suspension of logic. This is reconciled, however, by the final shot of the film which is haunting. Outstanding film. I recommend it.

Aguirre, The Wrath Of God is an odd film, and while I was watching it I couldn't decide if it was a great film or a poor one; that was until it ended and I was certain it was a great film. Clearly, the film is technically sublime. The jungle itself is a character and the overall mood of this movie seemed to me to be dark, yet somehow striving to be positive.

Kinski was really quite good as Aguirre, who leads a group Spanish Conquistadors and some Indian captives down the Amazon River in an Ill-fated quest for the mythical city of El Dorado. Yet only hardship, insanity and death await. There are many quiet scenes throughout and Kinski himself seemed to understand the power of understatement of both word and action.

A number of scenes are memorable. The opening shot of the Conquistadors traversing the mountainside, the arrival at the cannibal village, but the closing scene was stark for me. Aguirre, the madman who proclaimed himself to be the wrath of God, floating aimlessly down river. Hostile natives ostensibly surrounding him unseen in the jungle around. His crew and daughter lie dead or dying, a hoard of monkeys scurrying around his feet, yet there he stands, alone striking a noble and regal pose, plotting with no one how he will conquer all the possessions of New Spain. Aguirre, The Wrath Of God is a forceful portrait of madness and cruelty, and it was captivating to watch.

It seems Scarecrow is a film that divides people. You either love it or hate it. For me I loved the film. Gene Hackman plays Max, an ex con who is by his own admission a mean, angry man always willing to fight who trusts no one and loves no one. He is drifting in California on his way to Pittsburgh to open a car wash using money he has saved while in prison. Along the way he meets Al Pacino who plays Francis, otherwise named Lion in the film. Lion is an ex sailor who has abandoned his girlfriend who was pregnant at the time Lion abandoned her.

Max and Lion are polar opposite's in personality and it fascinating to watch how the two men respond to the world around them. The plot of the film is somewhat meandering, but I feel that's the point. The film focuses on two drifters, so we shouldn't expect a tight structure. We watch as they drift along going East, but things, of course, don't go as planned. There is both humor and tragedy along the way. Regardless both Hackman and Pacino turn in excellent performances. Max is a serious, hard man with a focus on saving money and planning his life. He's a fighter, a misanthrope. Yes, he's hard to like. We don't know what made him this way. Lion sees humor as a way of getting through life. Not as rigid with the details of life. Anyway, Max tries to loosen up as the film goes on and poor Lion suffers a terrible episode while on a prison farm. Pacino's role as Lion is a departure from the more serious, hard boiled characters we're used to seeing from him, and he delivers nicely. Hackman is excellent as usual. It's a different kind of film. Don't expect a tidy, easy to understand conclusion, but it's an enjoyable film and one I believe is worth your time.

Both Pacino and Hackman have cited this film as a personal favorite of theirs. For many years this film was unavailable on dvd, but was given an updated physical media release in 2013.

I had seen The Wicker Man years ago on VHS, and remembering the basic premise and the unbelievable ending I decided to revisit the film. I am so glad I did. I absolutely love this film. A very unique kind of movie of any era and most certainly a very different kind of Hammer Film ever made that I highly recommend watching.

A Scottish police officer, Sgt. Howie, played by Edward Woodward, is not just a police officer he is also a pious Christian who travels by plane to a remote island off the Scottish coast to investigate complaints of a missing child. Once on the island, Howie is disgusted and shocked by the hitherto unknown pagan culture of the island's citizens. The islanders have forsaken Christendom only to re-embrace the old Celtic religion of centuries before and they are led by Lord Summerisle, played by the incomparable Christopher Lee. Without spoiling the plot I will say the islanders have all colluded to draw an unsuspecting victim to the island to play a part in their rituals which they hope will make them bountiful. It is hard to explain the film without spoiling the plot and the ending is a shock which I don't want to dilute for those who haven't seen the film.

Both Lee and Woodward command their parts so adroitly that you are engrossed in what they say or do next. There is fascinating tension between Summerisle and Howie and how they view the world around them through their religious views. When the two are engaged against one another you simply can't look away.

This is a horror film unlike others because there is no blood, no "monster". It's an intelligent film about human tension with a horrifying ending. A must watch.

Nighthawks pairs Sylvester Stallone and Billy Dee Williams as a pair of NYC city cops, who due to their effectiveness against street crime are chosen by Interpol to hunt down Wulfgar, a European terrorist who has come to NY to cause havoc. Wulfgar is played by Rutger Hauer and Hauer gives an amazing performance as a homicidal maniac who uses social causes to simply kill. Stallone, I thought, was very good in this and Williams turns in a solid effort too. This was a departure for Stallone from the kind of roles we had seen from him at that point in his career, and he handled it well. He played his character very cool but not over the top. This was a serious film, so not much humor, but there was a fine tension between Hauer and Stallone.

I really enjoyed Nighthawks and definitely believe it should be seen. I was not familiar with Hauer, but he was so good in this I literally am actively seeking out other films of his. Also, would like to mention that Joe Spinell plays a lieutenant of the NYC police department and I mention this because Spinell was a fine character actor and he gives his usual strong effort. I recommend Nighthawks for anyone who hasn't seen it and if you have think about revisiting it.