Fear City (1984). By most standards this is not a good movie. My guess is that it was slashed in editing to tame it down to an R rating, and in doing so left us with a hodgepodge of wooden acting and sleaze. Many complain about the story, but Ferrara flicks are more about gritty style than tight stories. It also did not help to follow the cult classic Ms. 45 with the lesser Fear City. Still, the raunchy backdrop of New York in the 80s was captured perfectly, serving as a celluloid annal of a bygone era. The acting was not worth shaking a stick at. The dialog was at times laughable, even entertainingly so. Poor Billy Dee. He must have been horrified at some of his lines. The villain was such a divergence from any sense of reality that he was actually quite entertaining. Of course most of us guys will be captivated with the ample sleaze of Fear City, with almost half of the story taking place in strip joints. A young and oft naked Melanie Griffith was an optical dessert that only added to the fun. For me, the most fun was in the predictability. Abel seemed to delight in making cinematic cliches into low art. Though this is not a flick I can recommend, Ferrara fans should still it a whirl. Merci.
d

"Along Came Jones" (1945)
-Gary Cooper

Plot: IMDB

Riding into Payneville, easy-going cowboy Melody Jones is mistaken by the townsfolk for notorious gunman Monte Jarrad. The real Jarrad is hiding out wounded on the ranch of childhood sweetheart Cherry. She has the idea of sending Jones off to decoy the pursuing posse, but once he's met Cherry, Jones has other plans.

Phantom's Review: Great light- hearted western adventure. Plenty of action and humor. A very enjoyable way to spend the afternoon.
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Driven To Kill


Steven Seagal actioner with bad acting, poor plot, bad hairpiece and stupid characters. Strangely watchable though with its over the top viloence as SS plays a father out to avenge an attack on his daughter by Russian mobsters. After a long days work it was an easy, thought free watch.

The Cursed (2010)

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A low budget horror feature with a funny & silly ending.

>>: D+

Tombs of the Blind Dead (1971)

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>>: B-

Evil Angel (2009)

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Not bad. Quite entertaining flick, but the beginning was a mess which made the story bit confusing at times.

>>: C+

Bullet Ballet (1998). What I thought was going to be a Johnny To knockoff turned out to be a Japanese Jimmy Hendrix Experience in which the abject point of life is set into violent flashes of the silver screen and punctuated with industrial tunes. The emptiness of life seems an odd place for a character study, but that is just what this film accomplishes. By facing up to our blank and bleak innards, Bullet Ballet not only takes a philosophic look at the thinking man's eternal question, it shoves character and audience alike onto the roundabout of life and takes us for a dizzying spin in order for us to clear our heads, almost as if our perception of reality needs a savage jolt so that we might look at life with an empty canvas as fodder to concoct our assumptions.

Shinya Tsukamoto has a ubiquitous role here as writer and director and star of this frenetic flick, and he performs each role with aplomb. Across the board the acting was solid, with the other two leads revealing characters built upon foundations of internal confliction. Filmed in acute black and white, color seems to have no place in the difficult world created here. The camerawork was frenzied and even a tad experimental, so much so that Dramamine might be in order before shoving off (sorry, but temperance is not my strong point). Coupled with some spasmodic montages, all stitched together through the genius only born on that small island, Bullet Ballet turns out to be a violently brilliant ride with an end that is more bountiful than could be expected. Merci.
d

Long Weekend (aka Natures Grave)


An obnoxious couple, always bickering, have a weekend by the beach and are less than respectful to their surroundings. As a result they descend into a spiral of anger and slight insanity brought on about nature fighting back. Note, the slight insanity part, ol' mother nature doesnt really do anything apart from make animal noises and rustle some leaves but apparently this is enough to drive our two protagonists over the edge.

Not very tense and a little slow but the acting is solid enough. Wont bother watching it again.

"Piranha" .....tits & gore....need I say more

"Frozen".....hmmm..a movie about 3 people stuck on a ski lift....very well done Mr. Green.

"Play It Again Sam"....a little Woody Allen blast from the past

"Wing of Desire" a beautiful film, definitely worth a look.
"Inland Empire" another bizarre film by David Lynch.

The Fighter (2010)

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Bale is good for this sorta role and he did great here.

>>: B+

And Soon the Darkness (2010)

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Adequate but pointless remake of the under appreciated 70's Thriller. The scenario here is changed to Argentina (where life is cheap) and 2 American tourists. Lacks the tension of the original as well as the isolation caused by the language barrier. Plus Franks Spencer's missus isn't in it..