Blackhat (2015)

After rewatching Michael Mann’s big screen version of Miami Vice on Netflix – a film that I was underwhelmed by when I first saw it but now simply love rewatching (particularly Colin Farrell’s look and the Mogwai soundrops) – I realised that I was keen for more 2000s era Michael Mann (even with his use […]

The Trust (2016)

Among the half dozen movies Nicolas Cage releases every year, there’s always a stray diamond in the direct-to-digital-TV rubble. Well, maybe diamond is pushing it but The Trust (2016) is still a good movie. Elijah Wood and Cage play a pair of Las Vegas cops who work in evidence collection. When paperwork leads Cage to […]

Thief Of Hearts (1984)

If a movie could only be judged on its Harold Faltermeyer soundtrack and its opening typeface, Thief Of Hearts (1984) would be a classic. However it is one Bruckheimer/Simpson production that isn’t really remembered, maybe because it is a soapy and trashy (wait, what Bruckheimer/Simpson production isn’t?). It’s about a hunky thief played by Scarface’s […]

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 […]

A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin (1971)

Exploring further the world of giallo – 1970s-era Italian thrillers with plenty of eroticism, style and violence – I watched Lucio Fulci’s A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin (1971; Una lucertola con la pelle di donna), a title that is more of a metaphor than a creature feature thing. Bored glamorous Carol (Florinda Bolkan) is […]