The Wicker Man (1973)
Oooooh, what a wicked little movie. Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man, that is. Polymorphously perverse, to steal an expression. Suggested Alternate Title: Sergeant Howie Meets the Old Gods and Loses Himself. The Wicker Man is a confounding, astounding foray into the left field of cinema. Good or bad, how long has it been since a […]
Paris, Texas (1984)
“Amid the confusion of our mysterious world, individuals are so nicely adjusted to a system, and system to one another, and to a whole, that, by stepping aside for a moment, a man exposes himself to a fearful risk of losing his place forever…he may become, as it were, the Outcast of the Universe.” […]
Runaway Train (1985)
Do adventure stories get any better than this? Nah. The emphasis here is on the word story. Think back to your high school days when your English teacher tried to explain the meaning of “conflict” to you. The engine that powered a short story was a battle of man-against-nature, man-against-machine, man-against-man, man-against-himself. If these conflicts […]
The Wanderers (1979)
Everyone knows that the real power in the North Bronx in ’63 was in the hands of the Italian Bowling League—big men wearing loud Hawaiian sport shirts who treated bowling sharks (who knew there was such a thing?) at Galasso’s Paradise Lanes the way local boys treated Fast Eddie in The Hustler. Dion and the […]
Paths of Glory (1957)
War To the victors go the history books. The generals know this. This is the knowledge that motivates atrocities. For the losers in war there is only the truth of humiliation, shame, futility. For the winners, there is the power to never face the truth at all. War for generals is a gamble of […]
Farewell, My Lovely (1975)
Conversation overheard in a Chinese barbershop, between a private dick and a Chinese fence. The fence opens: “Yes?” “Fei tsui jade.” “No, I no got. I want.” “Everybody want.” “Who got?” “Only big collector got.” “Who?” “Grail.” “Baxter Wilson Grail?” “He got.” “Thanks.” On the Richter scale of hard-boiled detective dialogue, the above exchange, […]
Countryman (1982)
April 1987 All right. I’ll admit it. I’m a sucker for any movie that combines reggae, rasta, vegetarianism, voodoo, kung fu, and political satire. We’re talking genuine popular culture here. Jamaican popular culture. Los Angeles gives us Repo Man, Japan gives us Yojimbo, England gives us Doctor Who, and Montego Bay gives us Countryman (1982). […]