The Outfit (1973)

While I’ve not read any of the Richard Stark (alias for Donald E. Westlake) novels about Parker, the anti-hero criminal thief with his own code, the character has served several film adaptations, the most acclaimed being Lee Marvin in Point Blank (less so, the recent and boring Statham/J-Lo caper movie, Parker). Another treatment of the […]

Mr. Majestyk (1974)

I re-read the Elmore Leonard novel Mr. Majestyk (1974) for the umpteenth time recently – classic crime pot-boiler with trademark Leonard characters and dialogue. I knew there was a Charles Bronson movie of it, but hadn’t realised that Leonard had written it as a screenplay first then adapted it as a novel. Bronson is the […]

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)

A post-Exorcist vehicle for star Ellen Burstyn, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) was the first Hollywood studio production Martin Scorsese directed who was hand-picked by Burstyn after seeing Mean Streets (on Francis Ford Coppola’s suggestion). Burstyn plays Alice, a housewife with dreams of becoming a singer who hits the road with her young son, […]

Cries And Whispers (1972)

Ingmar Bergman is a director whose filmography I’ve always chided myself for not knowing more about. For the longest time, I hadn’t seen any of Bergman’s films until I finally watched The Seventh Seal a few years ago, and I was surprised at how funny it was even with its iconic existential imagery (playing chess […]

Convoy (1978)

Convoy (1978) is based on the country western novelty song by C.W. McCall which also soundtracks the movie itself, stretching out and teasing the audience with sections of the tune and only letting rip with its anthemic chorus near the climax. Big rig trucker “Rubber Duck” (Kris Kristofferson) runs afoul of corrupt, racist Sheriff “Dirty […]