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I had never seen this film before. It's one of those films that I hear so much about, and approach cautiously, as I have been let down by films praised to the hilt. That wasn't the case here. I knew roughly of the plot, "i'm your #1 fan", and the use of the sledgehammer*. But I wasn't prepared for how unsettling Misery was at times. I also winced with a sharp intake of breath at times too.
* The moment she held it up.... oh sweet lawd no. I clenched so hard, I might have ruptured something.
Saw it in the cinema, and to say the audience I was with were not ready for that scene is an understatement! The Sheriff you talk about was the great Richard Farnsworth, ex stuntman, who went on to star in David Lynchs wonderful The Straight Story!
Agreed. I'm even willing to throw in Rollerball as a strange but compelling side dish.
Don't forget Honeymoon In Vegas :D
As far as movie posters promoting their films go, that is 1000% accurate.
Jim Brown is tough as nails and cooler than ice as Slaughter, a former Green Beret. When his parents are murdered by a car bomb, Slaughter sets his sights on the syndicate responsible. Punching, kicking and shooting his way through an army of goons, only stopping long enough to bed Stella Stevens.
It's violent for a 70's film, and the action has an energy that can put modern films to shame. A sequel, Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, was made the following year, which is instantly on my 'to watch' list. Hopefully it's as good as Slaughter.
HARD TIMES (1975)
Hills debut is still my favourite of his. Wonderfully set in the 30s depression era, Charles Bronson is the bare knuckle fighter, who gets in with James Coburns shady hustler to make some money ( "and the in betweens!")
Probably Bronsons best role, though Hill didn't really want him in the part ( Hill claims the character was to be younger!) Still he and Coburn are a great partnership, lovely supporting actors like Strother Martin and Robert Tessier. Hill also indulges in his love of cajun music, and of course the action/fight sequences are well staged. With a great final line, and lovely end theme, this was a cracker of a debut for my favourite director.
Bond note, Roger Spottiswoode was the editor here!
THE WARRIORS (1979)
This is the much maligned 'Directors cut', Hill states it was his original vision, but fans hated it! I can see where he was coming from, with the animated wipes, but it is jarring, if you were always familiar with the original. Having said that, it's still a terrific movie. The Warriors of the title are a street gang, who gather along with thousands others for rally overseen by the Messiah like Cyrus, who is assassinated by the deranged Luther, and The Warriors are blamed, and have to fight their way back to their home turf in Coney Island, battling various colourful mobs like the baseball furies, and the Lizzies. Stylishly shot by Andrew Laszlo, and with splendid choreographed battles, this was a unique and controversial entry in Hills resume!
"Warrrrriors,..come out to playeeeeaaay!"
Saw a 35 mm print recently, never grows old, so much fun!
Snuck-in as a kid on its original theatrical run. Then stuck around to watch it again. Pretty sure that early, very strange Moonraker trailer preceded it.
Loved it. Loved the vibe, loved the energy, the direction, the way it was shot. Very very well done. I can see why casual audiences might be "bored" but it was kinda unique but kinda not really. Unique for this time. Noir-ish. And yet modern.
Shame this won't do well at the box office :(((
Not too Bond-related, not at all action, so it's tough to market it other than "popular-ish director has a great cast and a new film" but I loved the film, check it out if you can
Laughed out loud a few times ...
Very slick, well scripted, but with a little too much exposition at just 90 mins ...
Felt slightly derivative of John Le Carré adaptations, especially with an exceptionally impassive Michael Fassbender (his character's name is George!) channeling obvious, if otherwise unsexy Smiley antecedents Alec Guiness & Gary Oldman.
I mean, never has a pair of glasses done so much work ....
The alluring James Bond-esque cover art enticed me to try these movies, but they weren’t very good. The first was okay enough, but the second was terrible. Very much “turn your brain off / only good for the action” kind of movies. The cover art ended up being the best thing. Not nearly as good as Bond!
watching-DemonicToys-now
okay-to-pass-time-with
Ben-Hur,terrific,5/6.....RobBrown-plays-roman-soldier-when-Ben-is-rowing
I watched the first one of those a few weeks back. Can't believe they've made about 15 of them!
Butchers (2020)
Obviously inspired by TCM. There isn't as much on-screen gore as you would think, which makes the gore that is shown, appear more brutal.
Not a bad double bill @Mathis1 First saw The Warriors when i was 15 at a mates house when his dad had rented the video. Needless to say i was blown away! Spent the next day trying to be as tough and cool as Ajax :))
I don't know anyone who likes the 'directors cut..' It's just ridiculous! Hill must of been inspired by George Lucas to go back and mess up his film! Although it doesn't bother me that much to be fair. Especially as the film looks so bloody good on Bluray.
I don't think it's the same situation as Lucas and Star Wars, mate! Hill was adamant that he envisaged the movie as a kind of comic strip, but I think the money men and Producer disagreed! I actually don't think those animated wipes damage it too much , and it's still a unique and exciting movie! I was thinking of doing what @FoxRox did with directors list of films, as I'm such a big fan of Walter Hill, I have most of his movies on dvd/bluray. Might be interesting to listen them!
1. Happiness (1998)
Happiness was the first Solondz film I saw, and probably his most famous one, and I definitely think it's his magnum opus and my favorite one. I've said it before, but one of my favorite subgenre of movies is "seemingly normal American suburbia with a disturbing reality under the surface," and other than David Lynch's Blue Velvet, this is probably the best-done example of that that I've seen. Dylan Baker's predatory psychiatrist is the most memorable aspect of the movie - a truly awesome, unsettlingly realistic performance - but the loosely connected stories of all the different characters are each gripping in their own ways. Everyone was cast perfectly in this, but the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman deserves a shoutout in particular. For me, this is one of those special movies I just can't look away from at all, and I plan on revisiting it many more times. Many will hate it, and I can understand why, but for me, this instantly became one of my all-time favorite films, and I've seldom seen something so honest and darkly humorous in all my life.
2. Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995)
This movie has the most bleak, realistic depiction of middle school life that I've ever witnessed in a film. While so many other artists try to tell the world that children are sweet and innocent, Solondz exposes the harsh truth that they can be as evil and hurtful as any adult, and in my own life, I certainly experienced more horrible kids than horrible adults. Heather Matarazzo turns in a fantastic performance as the lead character Dawn Wiener, who is no angel herself, but still sympathetic given the horrible world we see around her. There is some great dark comedy in the film, but my favorite thing about Welcome to the Dollhouse is just being so real about the ugliness of public school and growing up; it's such a stark, sharp contrast from the usual naive glamorization of childhood we see so often in entertainment, and I appreciate it so much for that.
3. Storytelling (2001)
This one has two distinct segments - "Fiction" and "Nonfiction" - with the first one being much shorter and the latter being much longer. I enjoyed both very much, though; there's a ton of uncomfortable political and societal commentary, and it's probably the most similar Solondz movie to Happiness which appeals to me personally a lot. Storytelling is just vintage Solondz work all around, really - plenty of quirky, queasy scenarios that will make you either laugh or wince or both while making you think about how screwed up we are as individuals and as a society at large. Apparently, there was supposed to be a third segment of this film called "Autobiography" that unfortunately got cut, but I'm still happy with the nasty, humorous package we got.
4. Palindromes (2004)
Palindromes is still good, though there is a bit of a drop-off at this point on the list for me in quality from an exceptionally strong top 3. The narrative of this film is engaging, but the decision to have the lead girl played by several actresses was jarring for me and took me out of it a bit. I get that the purpose was probably artistic, and was Solondz's way of saying "this could happen to any girl," but I think it ended up being more distracting than symbolically pleasing. It's also a little shaky with the overall pacing. The dark humor is alive and well here, though, and it feels as disturbingly relevant as ever with the abortion topic at the center of it all. As Solondz himself put it, to paraphrase, he exposes the "pro-choice parents that don't give a choice" and "pro-life family that goes around killing people," and the film has no shortage of ugliness to show us all.
5. Wiener-Dog (2016)
Wiener-Dog is Solondz's most recent film to date, and it's my favorite of his newer works. The biggest issue of the movie is that beyond the first of four segments, not enough time is spent with the titular dog. It's more about the people that the dog affects, which is fine and understandable, but even then it feels like there is not enough direct correlation and connection after the first segment, which is both funny and touching. There is a strong cast including Danny Devito, Ellen Burstyn, and Greta Gerwig (Solondz never fails with getting great performances out of his cast, with one exception to be discussed soon), and the brisk pace and evenness of the four divided segments helps hold interest. I think it needed some fuller realization, conceptually speaking, but it's still an interesting, good movie.
6. Dark Horse (2011)
I mostly liked Dark Horse, though it was less humorous and more abstract than Solondz's usual work. I feel like the reality vs. dream aspect of the movie was overdone and less than satisfying overall, and for being as short as it was it weirdly felt too long. The cast / characters are reliably great, though I wish Justin Bartha got more screentime in particular. The movie presents plenty of worthwhile and still-relevant topics to think about, though, and I was still engaged most of the way. I think the presentation is a little sloppy, but there are plenty of ingredients that still made the experience good enough.
7. Life During Wartime (2009)
The most disappointing Todd Solondz movie for me was Life During Wartime, which is a sequel to Happiness but with different actors playing the same characters from before. Like with Palindromes, the deliberate actor-switching gimmick isn't something I care for, but the even bigger issue for me was the humor in the movie. I prefer Solondz's films when there is more comedy in them, and the few times it popped up in this one, it wasn't as funny or interesting as usual. Other than the next film I'm about to rank, this one was the only Solondz film where I struggled to maintain interest most of the way. It just lacked the energy and punch I'm used to from Solondz, and maybe part of the point was to make a more subtle and reflective movie, but the overall experience for me here was too dour and forgettable.
8. Fear, Anxiety and Depression (1989)
Todd Solondz himself disowned his debut film, and frankly I don't blame him. I wouldn't go as far as to say I "hate" Fear, Anxiety and Depression, but it is a pretty weak film in general; the characters are poor and uninteresting, comedy is attempted a lot but only hits a few times, and it really just struggles with having a unique identity of any kind. Solondz plays the lead character here, and he feels like a Woody Allen knockoff basically. I had a difficult time trying to get into the story or any of the characters' struggles, which is unusual for a Solondz movie, but my understanding is that he had less creative control than he wanted with this one. At any rate, he definitely grew into a much stronger director later, and I'm glad he gave it another try years later and produced some really memorable and entertaining movies.
@Mathis1 Oh i agree mate, The Warriors definitely had a heightened reality about it. But it's 'comic book' enough, without all the animated wipes. But hey ho, they are few in mumber and don't ruin the film.
I too have most of Hill's stuff on Bluray. He's always been a favourite of mine in the action genre. I only just got the disc of Extreme Prejudice last year. I just hope there's a remastered sp ed of Streets Of Fire in the near future!
I also have a lot of his soundtracks. I managed to find some of the tracks from Southern Comfort and 48hrs which i downloaded on to my phone.
No nonsense bounty hunter Mack 'Truck' Turner (Isaac Hayes) and his partner Jerry are given the job of brining in a vicious pimp called Gator. But when Truck is forced into shooting and killing Gator, the Madam that runs his "stable" puts out a price on Truck's head.
Nice one mate!
I actually have 12 Walter Hill films, and 'Hickey and Boggs' 'The Getaway', and 'The Mackintosh Man', which he wrote the screenplays for!
I bought 'Streets of Fire' in 4k last year!
Oooh, what version of Streets of Fire is that ?
I got it on Ebay, found it difficult to get it it anywhere else.
Good extras too
Thanks Bud. I will look out for it.
Entrapment 1999. This has been on TV twice this week so watched it twice. In many ways a typical 90's action film, the thing that elevates proceedings above similar movies is the very tastefully handled relationship and chemistry between Sir Sean and Catherine Zeta Jones, that ending scene is fantastic.
It's highly underrated. It makes everything look effortless.
Remember enjoying it very much, I must do a rewatch soon.
The acting around some of the best screen acting of all time. Pretty much everyone’s best movie role. It was the start of some great acting careers as well (Pat Hingle, Fred Gwynne and the Oscar Winning Eva Marie Saint). She was beautiful and talented in the movie. She deserved her Oscar (although she realistically was a lead actress over a supporting one, she appears quite often in the movie). She's still with us at the age of 100! Lee J. Cobb as Johnny Friendly is really one of the great movie villains that gets overlooked. Rod Steiger doesn't overact like usual, and his subtle performance is one of his best. Karl Malden as Father Barry could get his own spin off story and still own the part. Ironically, the film's novelization has the story told from his vision. I don't know much about acting, but I know that there's phenomenal acting in On the Waterfront, all around.
From a crew standpoint, Budd Schulberg wrote a flawless script. Elia Kazan was brave to make a movie about his controversial viewpoints. I would say that we are lucky that he took that risk with other great people. The messages are still relatable in today's world, 70+ years later. Who hasn't felt like Terry during his "I coulda been a contender" speech. That line is truly great because everyone has a life moment that they could have gone greater with, in terms of achievement. Marlon Brando truly made that line feel so natural. Leonard Bernstein's musical score is one of the greatest film scores of all time. Music is truly a character in this movie. Epic in feeling is how I would describe it. It's a shame that he didn't write more movie scores that were original. The AFI was wrong in sending this movie from 8 to 19 in their best American movie list. This is one of the greatest movies ever made, simply because of its realism, messages and reliability. This is one not to miss, folks. It is the perfect movie for me now, in my current life.
While the “I coulda been a contender” scene in the taxicab between Terry (Marlon Brando) and his brother Charley (Rod Steiger) is rightly lauded as one of the seminal moments in film history, I also love the scene where Brando confesses to Edie (Eva Marie Saint). Powerful stuff – even 70 years later. Sometimes the use of silence (or what we the audience don’t hear) is more impactful in expressing the moment.
ICYMI (from some years ago): Margot Robbie Auditions for Marlon Brando’s Role in “On the Waterfront" :-B :x
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7zj39h
Without being overtly political, I’m sure you are aware of the controversy surrounding the film. While 1959’s John Wayne western RIO BRAVO is usually thought of as the “response” to the allegorical meaning of HIGH NOON (1950), many now claim that ON THE WATERFRONT is a better example. Like many in the industry at the time the film’s director Elia Kazan was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1952. To some, his decision to “name names” may have informed the meaning of the film (despite Budd Schulberg being officially credited as the screenwriter.) I do recall that reactions were split when he received an Honorary Academy Award in 1999. Still, in the words of fellow director Nicholas Ray, Kazan was "the best actor's director the United States has ever produced."
Note, in 2022 there was a short film called HIGH NOON ON THE WATERFRONT which gave voice to both sides (Carl Foreman – blacklisted writer, voiced by Edward Norton and Kazan, voiced by John Turturro). It is interesting how two people – faced with the same dilemma – reached such differing conclusions).