Beau Travail (1999)

Finally followed through on Kenta McGrath’s recommendation and watched Beau Travail (1999). I’d already seen the ending multiple times with its use of Corona’s ‘Rhythm Of The Night’ but I was still surprised by the elliptical way the film unfolded. Even though it is told through Galoup’s narration (Denis Lavant, amazing) of his time in […]

Raising Cain (1993)

John Lithgow running the acting olympics in Raising Cain (1993), doing the most by playing the most characters, both real and/or imagined. Director Brian De Palma’s underrated early ‘90s return to the thriller genre, riffing on Hitchcock and Psycho once again in a story about baby stealing, infidelity and multiple personalities. I’d seen this before […]

F/X2 (1991)

I used to watch F/X2 (1991) so much when I was a teenager, taped off TV on VHS, more than the first one which starred “our” Bryan Brown as a special effects technician caught up in a criminal plot with Brian Dennehy as the cop after him. The sequel is more upbeat and cartoonish with […]

Set It Off (1996)

Going through a run of watching classic heist movies and figured it was time to Set It Off (1996). Following a quartet of friends in Los Angeles – all working as janitors with little income and different problems – they decide to rob banks to get out of their collective situation. What surprised me a […]