Night Of The Juggler (1980)

Thank you, Cinephobe TV, for screening this lost gem. Night Of The Juggler (1980) stars James Brolin as a bearded trucker who returns home for his daughter’s birthday but then spends the whole day tearing up the city after she is kidnapped by a psychotic Cliff Gorman in a case of mistaken identity (this creep […]

The Blackout (1997)

Continuing my deep dive into the back catalogue of Abel Ferrara, The Blackout (1997) is a film of two halves, which combine to form a portrait of addiction. The opening sets up a hedonistic LA lifestyle with movie star Matty (Matthew Modine) returning home from a film shoot, ready to reunite with his girlfriend Annie […]

Fear City (1984)

I was hooked on Fear City’s (1984) opening credits with its lurid red-coloured titles, New York neon, and strip club montage, all pumping to Joe Delia and David Johansen’s song ‘New York Doll.’ Abel Ferrara directed this film, which feels like a 1940s film noir melodrama but coated in Times Square Eighties Sleaze. Filtering the […]

Light Sleeper (1992)

Is the definition of an auteur just making the same movie over and over again? To follow the recurring symbols and themes across the decades and to see someone keep returning to their obsessions. For director-writer Paul Schrader, he’s returned to a certain archetype – the ‘God’s Lonely Man’ – from his script to Taxi […]

Daddy Longlegs (2009)

While just as stressful as later films by the Safdie Brothers like Good Time and Uncut Gems, their first major indie feature, Daddy Longlegs (2009) is also gentler in a way. It focuses on a dad played by their future co-writer and editor Ronald Bronstein (also a director of the indie Frownland) and his performance […]