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This was a perfect vehicle for self-professed cad George Sanders and he found a gal more than his match in cold blooded Gail Patrick here. They share some surprisingly frank and witty badinage about criminal psychology along with their mutual oily distaste for humanity which transcends the occasionally breezier aspects of this quasi noir and gives it a nicely crusted edge. The movie veers back and forth between crime drama and something a bit lighter but overall, it hits a lot of good notes and has dated surprisingly better than many far more famous movies from the same era. The library antics are amusing enough, but the real selling point of this movie is Sanders, whose effortless cool is right up there near his best and far more recognized roles.

3 Days to Kill is getting eviscerated by some critics and it's kind of like fighting the tides to suggest it's not as horrible as you've been led to believe, but there it is. It's not a solid movie or even an entirely competent one but that's not to say it's not enjoyable on some level. Motivational and credibility problems abound. Confusion over Amber Heard's increasingly and utterly unexplained transformation from mousy, anonymous CIA analyst to naugahyde-spandex-painted femme in day glo wigs and lipstick is a nagging problem. The forehead smacking coincidence of The Wolf randomly winding up at the climactic Costner family evening / dance is on the level of searing gas pains. And yet... there are virtues that make this movie surprisingly watchable if your expectations are low (and they surely are, right?)

Costner is definitely a plus. He's far from the fresh-faced kid who bluffed his way through a CIA manhunt in the far superior NO WAY OUT, but he's got a certain vulnerable charm and grizzled gravitas that makes us care about him now in middle age. Given what we know about Costner's real career flame out, it's almost like this Costner is the same Yuri from NWO had he never been detected. He's older and not necessarily much wiser, pretty broken down by life and nearing the end, but he's finally realized what's important to him and it's not saving the world. He's not going to even save his job; in fact, he's going to die pretty soon and probably be instantly forgotten by the world (we never see any friends or family.) Naturally he wants to reconnect with his estranged wife and daughter before he goes and it gives him purpose. That well-worn premise might be eye-rolling on the page, but there's something about Costner's performance that makes you buy it here full retail. His scenes with daughter Steinfeld are mostly effective and affecting. He sells the helpless vulnerability of deeply loving someone who can't trust him based on their history with just the right touch of angst and exasperation. While the walls are broken down a bit too quickly, it is ultimately a relationship we care about and there is some good humor along the way that helps the experimental medicine go down.

Amber Heard is not particularly helpful. She's way too young to have such apparent autonomy and confidence from the CIA, including unlimited funds for flashy, unnecessary cars and dominatrix wardrobes and accessories as well as access to experimental drugs and classy / seedy nightclubs where she apparently moonlights in exotic dance choreography. For an agency famous for not trying to stick out, Heard's fetishistic exhibitionism feels deeply at odds. The producers probably threw in her outfits in a panic when they realized there was basically no sex in the story, but it's one of the least successful conceits in the movie, which is saying a lot.

The action sequences aren't bad, though they're mostly confined to the loud opening (what did Heard do with that "dirty bomb," by the way?) and the late entertaining if unlikely sequence where Costner wreaks havoc on a convoy with little more than a bicycle and some small arms and tear gas. A surprising amount of cold violence is interspersed with warmer family building scenes, which is sometimes jarring. There is a fair amount of humor attempted (the daughter's running ringtone gag is most successful) but it doesn't always work. The humor does serve to humanize Costner, however, and he plays most of it winningly. In the war of attrition on uneasy tone shifts and credibility, this gambit ultimately pays off because it makes us willing to take this unlikely ride with him even if we aren't completely satisfied where it ends up. In movies, just like life, not all journeys wind up where you want. But sometimes the ride isn't so bad when you take it with a friend.

This obscure super-low budget sleeper starts like a million b-movies with a small setback and a minor overreaction. However, as noir emeritus Dan Duryea slowly navigates the ensuing fall of dominoes and swirls and eddies of fate and temptation, CHICAGO CALLING gradually, inexorably pulls itself up by its boot gathers to become nothing less than one of the most touching takes on morality and desperation I've ever seen. It's going to be hard to find (not on DVD and rarely on TCM) but this startling, heartbreaking character study is a must see for any noirist. It's that good.

A lot of the credit must go to Dan Duryea. He so convincingly played such a long line of abusive creep boyfriends and irredeemably scummy thugs, one would have been tempted to take a swing at him on the street. In this case, however, Duryea is cast as the protagonist and it is a revelation. Given the chance to emote, Duryea reveals heretofore hidden depth of emotion and angst as he struggles to find his integrity and hope as the world falls down all around him. His performance is subtle and carefully modulated so that we are forced to wait a long time for the powerful payoff, which is his ultimate emotional reveal and Duryea's best moment in forty five years on film. The young boy also deserves a lot of credit... his unlikely friendship with Duryea is believable and powerful precisely because the boy's reactions make it so. There is almost a BICYCLE THIEF quality to their relationship, and Duryea's transformation is beautifully motivated (and tested) by the boy. I defy you not to tear up at the boy's train yard scene at the end.

The Bunker Hill location photography by De Grasse is striking and evocative. The score is effective.

Look for this one, fans. Duryea's touching performance is one for the ages and the movie will handsomely reward your effort to find it.

Typically violent and existential parolee noir featuring perennial patsy Dane Clark just out from the pokey after taking the fall for bad guy William Talman. Clark finds plenty more trouble on his very first day of release, quickly descending into murder and armed robbery with only a brief romantic interlude with true blue May Wynn, who ought to know better. Noir vet Barton MacClane gets in a couple good lines as the cop who put Clark away the first time and looks likely to do so again.

Like many hard luck characters preceding him in noirdom, Clark appears forever snake-bit and no matter how he squirms or where he shoots, the flypaper just gets stickier. Clark's character has never gotten a particularly fair shake though he asks for some of what he gets. In short, he's not the kind you'd send a Christmas card to. His fate is never really in doubt,though you may decide to stick around to see whether the love of a good (naive) woman can prevent ultimate bloodshed (what do you think?) Overall a sincere if inevitable effort with a few thrills and not the worst b-movie 2nd feature in that context.

So little news about the sequel, I had my doubts. Would it be a bloated budget with big effects but none of the primal charm of the original? Would the novelty be lost in revisiting the subject matter with a new director who might not "get" the material? Tonight I sat in on a screening and shockingly, against any reasonable odds, I am happy to report that 2 is probably the equal of the original. There are genuine scares, the same electric feeling in the audience, and a very jolting denouement. In some ways (plotting), it is actually superior.

I will try to review this without major spoilers, but those who want to see it tabula rasa probably don't want to read this next paragraph (the rest is safe).

Things start much as the first; we open outside a house and are introduced to the family living inside. The house is similar to the original, though not the same. This house is occupied by a family rather than a couple, and they have a daughter and brand new son as well as a dog and superstitious housekeeper. We don't hover in the bedroom as in the first; in this movie we hover in the newborn baby's room (which provides a different but still lingering kind of dread / suspense.) This house has a pool and interesting stuff happens there and elsewhere as the camera hypnotically sweeps by each night. None of the family living there are Katie Featherstone, the actress from the first movie who is known to appear in this movie, so we quickly realize this isn't a remake or a sequel. (In fact, it turns out to be a prequel, but I can't say much more than that without spoiling a MAJOR plot point... early on we learn, however, that this movie starts 60 days before the murder of Micah in the original movie. Suffice to say that this movie goes a long way to explaining what happened in the first movie. While the explanation is a bit pat and easily arrived at, I thought it was actually a very sly and clever way of explaining why the demon targeted Katie and Micah in the first movie. The movie ends with a shocking but highly satisfying dovetail with the first movie.. I'd say the ending tops the first movie.)

We meet the family and get to know them in similar fashion to the first and slowly stuff happens. The family interprets a major messing up of the contents in the house as a break-in, so they install a bunch of motion detector cameras, which are then the POV of the movie for most of the duration. This family is initially mostly NOT believers in ghosts / demons, which helps to ground things as they seek reasonable explanations for the odd things that start to happen. There is one scene where way too much happens to the wife at once and it fails my idiot test (I would have run screaming out of the house and never returned), but then there is another explanation for why she doesn't reveal what she's seen (much to her regret.)

About a third of the way in, I was concerned that the things that go bump in the night might grow repetitive in this second outing, but as complications ensued, my concerns quickly went away and I got SCARED. If you were jolted by / enjoyed the first one, I am confident you will feel much the same tingle about this one, especially in the second half. By the same token, if you didn't like the first, you probably needn't bother with this one, as it is largely a variation on the theme.

If you haven't seen the first one, I'd recommend seeing it before you try this one because it will definitely help, particularly at the startling end, though it's not mandatory. Overall, this is one of those rare instances where the sequel may actually equal or even surpass the original. I don't know if this is going to become a franchise now (not sure where they go from here, but then that was true after the first), but if they can keep producing movies like this, I'll keep going.

Usually a movie with 20 total IMDb votes is a waste of time; there's probably a good reason nobody remembers it. In this case, The Come On is probably forgotten because snarled film rights have prevented a video or DVD release rather than any issues with the content. In fact, this low budgeter has enough small guilty pleasures and creamy nougat noir smoulder to get you through a late night TCM viewing in style. MACBETH it ain't but this is certainly better than its 5.8 IMDb rating, and definitely worth a look for any fan of Anne Baxter or slightly cheesy crime drama.

Baxter's leading lady career was nearing its expiration date by the time this surprisingly nimble b-movie came out late in the noir cycle but she was still one sexy cougar and she roars through this with all the breathy sigh and sexy twitch she's got. Though his acting is uneven, young Sterling Hayden is an effective physical presence with a couple standout moments. His piercing eyes and prurient "hi" to well-heeled Baxter do more to explain her otherwise well-calculated character's misguided but hungry attraction for this no-prospect schlub than three pages of exposition and setup ever could.

John Hoyt, who appeared in other violent shockers like BRUTE FORCE (though many may know him best for his short-lived ship's doctor role from the original Star Trek pilot), is delightfully violent and creepy here as the slick, tanned grifter who has no problem slapping Baxter around but won't let her go.

The actual set-up of the initial con Hoyt and Baxter are running is neatly done; we don't see it coming and it plays well. That Hayden's character is willing to stick with Baxter to a degree after learning what she's really about strains credibility, but somehow their unlikely doomed romance clicks and the viewer goes along for the ride. We can see Baxter will blow things with this dull-witted chump, but are curious to see how.

That the answer comes in the form of Jesse White, the actor who played the lonely Maytag repairman for 30 years, is another quiet pleasure in this tropical noir. White is surprisingly convincing as a seedy PI attemping to blackmail Baxter and Hayden. It's hard to say more about the plotting without pulling back the curtain too far; suffice to say that there are a few nice twists (probably one too many; one character actually says "I just don't seem to be able to stay dead…") but the ending is faithful to the noir tradition. Yes, a lot of cheese and cornballs are consumed over the course of this poison pill meal, but it's still a filling and satisfying repast.

It's getting to the point where I've seen most major (and readily available) noirs so I'm going back and mining the next layer of the batcave, seeking out hidden gems less well known. Fly-By-Night is a good example: a little-seen crime drama that might deserve another look. Is it a classic? Hell no. Does the plot hold together? Just barely. Is it entertaining and enjoyable? Thoroughly. Does it deserve consideration by noirists looking for something different? Surely.

Clearly influenced by the then-popular Hitchcock themes of "wrong man, wrong place" and "man on lam gets involved with gal and hatred / mistrust is ultimately replaced by love," FLY BY NIGHT struggles with logic but finds other virtues to cover motivational issues and credibility. In particular, the murder of the man accompanying the lead into the apartment is beyond preposterous, as is the doctor's (and police's) reaction to what follows. Fortunately, the film's breezy matter-of-fact approach to the ridiculous set-up keeps things moving and we slowly find ourselves involved in a compelling mystery despite the insanity of how things begin.

From there the movie takes interesting, unexpected turns and against odds often balances comedy and drama more effectively than a movie this obscure ought to. A surprising twist at the end tops things off and makes this an unexpectedly fun, if implausible, outing. Siodmak is to be commended for cobbling together a nice movie from some pieces that might not have looked as promising on paper. Doesn't hold up under close scrutiny, but this is quite fun and has some different angles than your garden variety noir.

Sometimes a good movie blows you away from the get-go. This one took the light of the next day. Carol Reed cleverly disguises his picture with post war intrigue and ambiguous alliances / conspiracies in the first half, but this is ultimately at its heart the story of an impossible romance attempted at an impossible time. While it takes a good half of the movie to get to the real plot, once it cooks, it sizzles. The extended chase sequence in the last third of the movie probably tops the far more famous THE THIRD MAN, though it is a little less frantic and far more deliberately cat and mouse.

All of the cast is excellent, including the fetching and intriguing blonde wife, the mysterious young bicyclist, and the rotund, scheming elder German kidnapper. Leads James Mason and Claire Bloom (never prettier or sexier) have amazing chemistry as the picture develops, and one really wishes they had gotten together an hour earlier, because this is the heart of the matter and the meat of the movie.

Another major star of this movie is the location photography. The light and shadows draped on the characters flitting in and out of the jagged yet beautiful exo-skeletel ruins and debris of the once-glorious, cosmopolitan city of Berlin are hypnotic and amazing. The cinematography is remarkable; there is great POV work of the snow-covered kidnap vehicle stalking Bloom, but even better camera angles and lighting creativity in the bravura chase in the last 20 minutes (shockingly good given this film's relative anonymity.)

This isn't THE THIRD MAN or ODD MAN OUT, but it contains most of the best elements of each movie, plus a better romance than either of those. Interesting that Claire Bloom is forced to watch helplessly as James Mason is shot down at the end of MAN BETWEEN. Only about eight years later she would share the same fate at a similar location on the Berlin border in the searing THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD. A heartbreaking must for fans of postwar noir, Mason or Bloom.

Despite a previous poster's claims, Young's character in AND BABY MAKES THREE is fairly conniving and noticeably different from his iconic FATHER KNOWS BEST persona. Among other things, Young toys with the emotions of several women he could care less about in order to make his wife jealous. He pretends to like children to trick that same ex-wife into coming back. His ex suspects he's had an affair and Young spends most of the picture trying to manipulate her, though the tables get predictably turned in light fashion. Young's not a heel as much as he's trying to win his girl back ("All's fair in love and war"), but he's definitely far from FKB's wholesome Jim Anderson.

Fellow future TV-stalwart Barbara Hale (Perry Mason) is okay if bland as the object of Young's flailing efforts. Still, as things unfold she does a little scheming of her own. Her transformation from hating Young to trying to win him back is pretty sudden and not particularly justified by the plot. Really there aren't a lot of innocent or particularly likable people in this offering, though it's all fairly harmless and by-the-numbers charming.

The production benefits from an obviously generous budget and a decent supporting cast. Among others, Billie Burke is immediately recognizable from her Wizard of Oz Glenda the Good Witch voice, though she's ten years older here. Of particular note is sometime-noir-femme Janis Carter as Hale's rival for Young's affections. Sexy, radiant and playing her own angles, Carter steals some of Hale's thunder (and Young's new fiancée near the denouement.)

Though not out on DVD, the movie is not lost; it runs now and again on TCM. The forties was the golden age of romantic comedies, so even though this isn't in the class of the best of the era, it's still watchable with enough twists to keep things moving as long as you don't think too hard.

Add me to the list of 10-year-olds scared simple by catching this one late night on free TV back in the 70s. My exposure to it was during a sleepover where we all decided to watch the midnight horror movie. Even as a 10 year old, I knew this was a bad movie. Poor acting, a mindless and mean-spirited script, bad grainy cinematography, amateurish direction. AND YET... it did absolutely scare my young self and has stayed with me through the years. The scene where the "manster" does in his coach with cleats accompanied by a blaring rock guitar solo so disturbed me, I avoided listening to loud rock music for a couple years. Definitely one of the more disturbing images seared into my braincells as a child. 3.5 / 10

A tawdry low budget pot boiler featuring dynamite performances by Vince Edwards and a similarly game supporting cast. I know Edwards is probably most famous for his heroic Ben Casey role, but he sure chewed up a lot of upholstery in movies like this one and MURDER BY CONTRACT the year before. A lot of the charm comes in watching this police procedural unfold. Lots of seedy low lives generally keep up the off color flavor and the suspense builds nicely over the course of time.

Some of the discussion of radioactivity is dated, but the cannister makes a great macguffin for the gruff talking' square-jawed Men of Law to pursue. It really wouldn't have taken much to raise this from a guilty pleasure and enjoyable cautionary tale to something along the lines of KISS ME DEADLY, but it's almost more quaint to see this mostly forgotten and obscure b-movie in its under-appreciated present form, if you can find it. The last shot of the movie is quite a hoot! Fine, jazzy musical score by a then-very young Jerry Goldsmith.

Macroscopically, this movie is surprisingly entertaining, with crackling dialogue and charming performances by O'Brien and Crawford. Under closer scrutiny, the plot really doesn't hold up, nor do a number of character's motivations, but O'Brien's effortless cool covers a multitude of sins and the THIN MAN comparisons are apt. Overall, an underrated old-fashioned big ensemble good time the way they used to craft them back in the 40s. This isn't as good as Garnett's THE POSTMAN ALWAYS RINGS TWICE and you won't gain much insight into the human condition or require a handkerchief, but you will laugh and you will be amused. One of the highlights from a 50 - pack of public domain crime dramas called "50 Dark Crimes" currently available for super cheap (how I discovered it), and like that inexpensive offering, worth far more than the price of admission.

Change of pace from season one featuring incomparable creep character actor par excellence Darren Nesbitt in a neat battle of wits with Harry Rule. The usually limiting 25 minute format of this show is somehow a little less noticeable in this tight little backwards-told tale, which hooks you with its cliffhanger in the first minute then proceeds in reverse to retrace everyone's path to that moment. While the series began with Rule, Bouchet and the Contessa protecting others, as time passed, the producers seemed to shift more and more to placing one or more of the team in jeopardy and the others having to come to the rescue. This particular iteration is one of the best of that particular motif; Nesbitt is possibly the first foe to actually out-maneuver Harry Rule, a welcome departure. For a series which had little choice to go with style over substance because of time considerations, this one offers a little more steak than sizzle, though it still would have been nice to see this outing expanded to an hour.

If you like Gerry Anderson and ITC sci-fi from the 70s, this is a must-see episode. Even if you're not a fan, it's probably the most entertaining entry from the UFO series, and one the most visually amazing 48 minutes of television you're ever likely to see. It begins with a riddle, then goes back in time to solve it (the same trick JJ Abrams now uses 35 years later most weeks on ALIAS and LOST). The result involves a half hour non-stop chase sequence which is amazingly energetic, at times confusing, but ultimately very satisfying.

The plot, which involves the freezing of time for everyone except Straker, Col. Lake, and a SHADO traitor, is right out of a famous OUTER LIMITS episode, but gets a fresh coat of paint and provides the excuse for some very cool freeze-frame sequences and some visual effects which hold up very well even after all these years. I don't want to reveal any more and spoil the fun; suffice to say this intriguingly stylish early 70s entry gets my hearty endorsement and I hope you are able to find a way to see it (the UFO DVD set is your best bet).

Terence Feely was a writer who contributed two of the most audaciously interesting and visually arresting episodes of ITC series UFO (TIMELASH) and THE PRISONER (THE GIRL WHO WAS DEATH), but he outdoes himself here with perhaps the most outrageous conceit I've ever seen in ITC series history. It's hard to discuss it here without giving away this two-parter's big twist, but suffice to say, as usual things are not as they seem in the Feely universe. *sigh* okay, there's no way to discuss this without broaching it, so spoilers a'borning....

Things begin inauspiciously with an unexplained Koenig wig out and Eagle crash into a nuclear waste dump. Koenig's atypical, almost inebriated state of mind is oddly unexplained and makes for a thin episode intro. If justified, it could have bolstered his fellow Alphans' doubts about his Kevin McCarthyesque accusation against the Earth expedition they soon encounter, but Koenig's initial irrationality is never really taken up again. Also unexplored is why Koenig is able to see the true identities of the expeditioneers. Again, with a little more work, Koenig's initially seeming irrationality and later unexplained clarity could have been better integrated into the plot, but I fear the constraints of television production scheduling interfered. (My solution: give him an illness at the start of the episode and put him on some exotic drug that causes everyone to think he is hallucinating but in fact the drug becomes his justification for being the only one to see properly. Alas, they didn't come up with this angle.) However... the ridiculous audacity of what's really at work in this outing is ironically one of its strengths. The fact that the "Earthmen" are, in fact, squiggly Sigmund and the Sea Monster aliens might be nonsensical to watch, but when we learn why they are there, for once it is logical and chilling. Further, the justification for their careful and subtle manipulation of the moon base inhabitants' actions with this elaborate masquerade is a pure pleasure to watch. In short, a good back-story can justify a multitude of sinful implausibilities, and the second episode of BRINGERS OF WONDER, in particular, has a lot of great mind games that play with perceptions and reality and make us largely forgive the visual wackiness of the aliens and their crazy plan.

As someone long interested in sleight of hand and playing with expectations, I found the sequences involving alien manipulations of Alan Carter, etal attacking Koenig and Maya and tricking other crewmen into adjusting the radiation controls, etc. by messing with their perceptions to be very entertaining and clever.

In short, this is an episode which appears to be utterly stupid shock value sci-fi horror on the surface but the more you watch (particularly in the second part of BRINGERS OF WONDER), the more there is to enjoy. In particular, Alan Carter's apparent return to earth (and the reality behind it) and the alien leader's climactic appeal to a hoodwinked crewman who finally sees the truth at the end about the value of fantasy over reality are two real highlights from the entire 48 episodes. Get past the drool-slobbering, slimy Naugahyde-tentacled surface and I suspect you may find hidden beauty and depth in this farcical but deceptively clever ride.

Okay, I admit it, a lot of the charm of this really low budget effort comes from Deforest "Bones" Kelley. Kelley's homely mugg was made for b-picture third bananas / villains and this rare, unlikely turn as the goodguy lead (his first credit) is as much the source of FEAR IN THE NIGHT's enjoyment as anything. Kelley gives a nice try in a role he wasn't really built to play, overcoming several overly melodramatic moments with generally naturalistic and believable reactions to the rather ridiculous and murky situation he finds himself in. Direction and other performances are unremarkable, though a little bit of stylistic cinematography in the flashbacks isn't bad.

NIGHTMARE was the slicker remake which came about nine years later with Edward G. Robinson, Kevin McCarthy, and slightly more money, but I would suggest that this earlier version has more suspense and rooting interest (Kelley is far more sympathetic than McCarthy.) More importantly, the flimsy plot holds together better in FEAR IN THE NIGHT, omitting the poorly motivated Edward G. Robinson character entirely. This is far from a great movie; it's not even really a good noir, but Kelley's rare lead performance is fascinating and he makes us care about what happens. Anyone who is into Star Trek classic will probably be as quickly hypnotized by his young non-baggy-eyed presence as Deforest is by the badguys.

Watchable for the group of familiar 40s character actors, but after a reasonable crash sequence, this movie quickly loses its bearings. It's hard not to see some similarities to GILLIGAN'S ISLAND and LOST, but the awkward mix of on-the-nose comedy and drama never quite works. Lots of story lines, none of which really come together. The sequence at sea in the second half is the last momentarily interesting section, but it's quickly jettisoned like so much flotsam. Ending is particularly sudden and illogical.

SPOILERS AHOY If the ship was unable to reach landfall the first time, how come everyone assumes they will easily be rescued on the second attempt? It seems more likely that everyone (including the soon-to-be-married main couple) will die given the arduous passage of the first unsuccessful attempt. Or, perhaps I missed something obvious because my attention drifted away long before the sudden and seemingly tacked-on denouement? Either way, if you choose to partake of this doomed flight, you have no one but yourself to blame.

First, this all-black 1930's production is admittedly unique. Extended dance sequences, vintage music, vaudeville and some unusual location camera work provide an invaluable look at a time in black history that you probably haven't seen much coverage of before. On the downside, the acting is junior high caliber and the plot is equally half-baked and thin. Certainly forward thinking in treating some blacks in the movie as thoughtful and sensitive beings at a time when some in America weren't on board with the concept.

Unfortunately, it's just not very entertaining and has the look and feel of a silent movie that they dubbed with sound and dialogue sequences later to take advantage of the "talkie craze." If you're a student of black history, probably of minor interest. If you were led to believe this is a noirish black drama (as I was), you're probably better off going with DEVIL WITH A BLUE DRESS, HUSTLE AND FLOW or a Spike Lee joint.

A winning and definitive courtroom drama, right up there with TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, ADAM'S RIB, WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION, and A FEW GOOD MEN. Tracy and March are perfectly matched as the dueling Colonels and the all-star cast is well-chosen with small but potent turns by future TV stars including Noah "Rocky" Beery, Dick "The First Darren" York and Harry "Sherm" Morgan. But most of all, this is a glorious late display of Spencer Tracy and his trademark bemused curmudgeonliness. All of the stars are sadly long gone now, but the message remains meaningful. Whatever your religious leanings, you will come away moved and entertained. 9/10

This is the most faithful (not entirely accurate, but faithful) adaptation of a comic book I've ever seen. Doc Ock is as powerful and slithery as I always imagined him (and those tentacles) being. Peter Parker is far more nerdy and snakebitten than in the first movie and while unpleasant, this is a much truer interpretation than the first watered down approach. The actor who portrays JJJ steals many scenes, and Alfred Molina is also remarkably spot-on. But bouquets all around...the direction is tight and other than the occasional cutesy wootsy humor, this is a classic popcorn movie that delivers thrills, spills, emotions, angst, character development and action galore. The Spider-Man Doctor Octopus battle harkens back to Superman 2 but far outshines it. A great movie all the way around, but particularly for comic book fans. 9/10.

A mostly gripping crime drama with a good script and a great cast. This is David Caruso's best movie by far as a leading man, the reason he left NYPD Blue, and it portended a good career to follow. Well, his movie career tanked but this is still a good character study and underrated neo noir entry. Cage is all breathy snarl and wonderful menace in the flashy sociopath role originated by Richard Widmark. Hard to imagine assembling a backup cast with Ving Rhames, Helen Hunt, Stanley Tucci, Michael Rapaport and Samuel L. Jackson these days on this budget, and they all put in nice turns.

Probably worth a shot if you are a fan of modern noir and gritty crime dramas, though it does peter out a bit with the too-convenient denouement. Cut from the same tough cloth as other sleeper modern noir movies like DEEP COVER and ROMEO IS BLEEDING.

"You F#&$ with the bull, you get the horns." 7.5 / 10 Would rate higher if not for the too-cute ending.

One of the more brutal (yet beautiful) movies I've ever seen. You can't help but be moved by this, but be prepared. There are almost no laughs / light moments / happy times in this decidedly dreary, super serious, achingly earnest character study. Kingsley, Connelly, Eldard and the supporting players are all game. As such, the result is a touching tragedy that unfolds slowly but inevitably. Go in expecting to be moved, though probably not very entertained. After a mind-numbingly downbeat story, the utterly distressing finale tops all. This is masochism to view, but it's also one of the few genuinely great movies of 2003. 9.5 / 10

This should have been a single movie rather than two truncated mini-movies. It seems Q agrees because he places the credits with all of the actors at the end (including mini-clips from part I), and we realize how very, very many things aren't in this second part.

It's a shame, because Kill Bill 2 is more thoughtful and fleshes out the plot, with backstories on The Bride and Bill and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) characters, as well as meaningful dialogue explaining the bloodbath of the first movie. But it needed an editor to chop down the words. Just as the first movie needed an editor to chop down the fight sequences. THE MATRIX 2 and 3 taught us that more Agent Smiths and bigger, louder, longer fight sequences don't improve things. But if Kill Bill vol. 1 suffers from Matrix 2/3 excesses, Volume 2 suffers from an excess of verbiage and overdone dialogue along the lines of...I dunno, MY DINNER WITH ANDRE? There is too much self-indulgence at work here, and I fear the box office of these two movies is just going to make "Q"'s next effort that much more baggy and undisciplined.

Q has said splitting the movie in two allowed him to keep all the little bits he otherwise would have had to cut, but the truth is, there's a good half hour from part one that should have excised and a good twenty minutes more from part two. The result would have been a roughly three hour standalone movie that would have been tight and eminently watchable in one sitting. Kind of like the Beatles White Album, which would have been their all-time best had it been a single epic-length platter, but because they decided to indulge themselves and throw everything they came up with on the two discs, it's full of classics and crap side by side.

Even Kill Bill's music screams of lengthy epics, with Ennio Morricone sprinkled throughout the trailer sequence evoking THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY's monumental breadth. It would have worked as homage and humor in a single movie, but feels out of place and strangely wrong in this split up movie thanks to Miramax's quest for the dollars. To Q's credit, though, the overall music is wonderfully reminiscent of the seventies and chopsocky movies; I suspect he spent a long time putting it together and it is generally effective.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 is okay, but is lessened by being separated from Vol. 1. This is the rare movie where the "Director's Cut" DVD should have LESS footage and Q + U and HW and M should return KB V I and II into one film, the way it should have been from the start.

To say this is a noir curiosity is to say The Bible has some colorful characters and quaint storytelling. Takes a good half hour to get going, but for those who keep faith, some serious plot twists and rather impressive surprises are in store, including one which takes the basic brilliant twist of CHINATOWN and goes it one better. It's very difficult to discuss this movie without spoiling things, however, so suffice to say there is more going on than meets the eye (frankly too much), and the filmmakers set out a challenging premise and very nearly pull off the impossible resolution. That they finally don't quite do it is almost more of a relief than a surprise, because given the dollar fifty budget and clear guerilla student filmmaking style which permeates this apparent vanity project for Ferrer, it would have been embarrassing had they actually hit a home run for about 1/10,000th of the cost of a typical low budget studio noir.

However, this is enough of a near-miss that anyone who is interested in noir (especially the iconic detective stuff personified by Mitchum and Bogart and Powell and Montgomery) would probably benefit from a look. The tone uneasily shifts between mockumentary and b-movie gumshoe melodrama, but occasionally succeeds at both just enough that the excursion is worth it for fans. Those who aren't patient will probably just scratch their head, but I'd guess if you've read this far, you are one of those who would enjoy it. Ferrer makes the most of his ample screentime. The rest of the cast are unknown to me; the black cameraman cum private eye has a few amusing moments, including the mugging of a few rather familiar lines of dialogue. 7.5 / 10

Enjoyable noir outing enlivened by a first rate cast, solid script and typically solid Alton camerawork. O'Keefe is right at home as Joe, the hotheaded lug with his own code and unlucky streak. Trevor is at her fatalistic best as the true blue moll who is meant for him but gets stepped over. Hunt is appealing and credible as the fresh-faced moralist who tries to change Joe but winds up changed, instead. Burr is an effective heavy, albeit a bit too wimpy at the end. Toomey, Bissell, and Ireland are all competent as well.

Alton uses multiple familiar Malibu locations to good advantage. The cinematography is excellent.

The script is particularly effective, building as Joe slowly discovers how he has been set up and deceived by basically everyone to some degree. Claire Trevor's struggle to come clean at the end is a moving and suspenseful section and the violent climax is curiously redeeming and satisfying. Noir fans should definitely give this one a look- not as famous as your typical Bogey or Mitchum entry, but just as iconic in its own way.