[7] Clint Eastwood gives us his take on James Bond with The Eiger Sanction, the story of a retired hit man who is coerced back into action by a secretive government organization to ‘sanction’ (kill) a member of a mountain climbing party in the Swiss Alps. The Bond-like elements are some of the film’s most memorable, including the secretive group’s albino boss man (Thayer David) …
[7] Two young couples rent a Winnebago for a cross-country road trip, but jealousy soon turns their romantic adventure into a nightmare. Richard Hatch (Battlestar Galactica) and Doug Chapin play the men, both recently discharged from service in Vietnam and anxious to begin new lives. Hatch plans to marry his fiancée (Susanne Benton), but Chapin tries to talk him out of it, fearing marriage will …
[2] During World War II, four fascist leaders round up a group of adolescent boys and girls to torture for one-hundred-twenty days. Just knowing what Salò is about kept me from watching it for decades. But now that I’ve finally seen it, I can safely say I’ll never want to see it again — not because it’s too graphic or upsetting, but because it’s point …
[8] Documentary filmmakers Albert and David Maysles (Gimme Shelter) bring us inside the isolated world of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ eccentric aunt and first cousin, ‘Big’ Edie and ‘Little’ Edie Beale. The women, 79 and 57 respectively, live in squalor at the title mansion, a dilapidated house full of garbage, cats, and raccoons. As former socialites and entertainers, they spend their days reminiscing about the past, …
[5] Paul Newman returns as private eye Lew Harper, hired by an ex-flame to solve a blackmail case involving adultery and oil-rich land. As with the previous Harper film, the stakes are never high enough and no one’s quite worth caring about. The film is good for one suspenseful set piece involving a flooding room (hence the title?), but it’s a pretty sleepy movie otherwise. …
[8] [Warning: This review contains spoilers.] Joanna moves with her husband and children to idyllic Stepford, where the women love making cookies, cleaning house, and servicing their husbands. Yes, ladies, it’s a horror movie. And one that holds up remarkably well. Sure, it’s a little campy. But a dose of dark humor hardly lessens the film’s horrific revelation — that the men of Stepford are …
[6] A CIA researcher tries to avoid multiple assassins until he learns who he can trust in this well-made suspense thriller that prophesied the current oil crisis and the wars therein. Robert Redford carries the movie superbly as always, and Max Von Sydow is good as a cold-hearted hitman. Faye Dunaway’s talent is a bit wasted, dealt a poorly-written character who sleeps with Redford right …
[5] Beautifully shot and slavish to Kubrick’s singular, intentionally off-putting vision, Barry Lyndon follows the circuitous rise and fall of an unscrupulous man through love and war, as he swindles his way into aristocracy and sews the seeds of his own ultimate misfortune. I can appreciate the exercise, creating an immaculate vision so emotionally restrained, it’s almost devoid. But the film is a conundrum for …
[7] A horny teenager and his dog communicate telepathically while wandering a post-apocalyptic wasteland in search of food and women in this adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s novella. The heart of the movie is the antagonistic but loving relationship between its title characters, the human half of which is played by future Miami Vice star Don Johnson. The narrative is loose, ultimately leading to Johnson’s capture …
[6] Paul Verhoeven (Turkish Delight, RoboCop) directs this story based on the book by Neel Doff, about an impoverished Dutch immigrant who turns to prostitution to make ends meet and winds up joining the socialist rebellion. Katie Tippel‘s plotline meanders and pushes most of her character transformation to the final act. But while it takes a while to get to the point, the movie’s never …
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