Hard Boiled (1992)

Considering how much I loved The Killer as a teenager, I can’t believe it took me this long to see Hard Boiled (1992), which was the action classic every one said it was, maybe the height of director John Woo’s craft. Well, I still can’t get over Woo thinking “How can I raise the stakes […]

The Exorcist III (1990)

I remember when I was younger seeing a video ad for The Exorcist III (1990) where the eyes of a Jesus statue slowly opened, which spooked me to no end as an image – now, that moment seemed weird and a bit silly. William Peter Blatty (author of the original Exorcist novel) wrote and directed […]

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 […]