Smooth Talk (1985)

Based on a Joyce Carol Oates short story, Smooth Talk (1985) follows a young Laura Dern as a small town teenage girl, rebelling against her stern mother and hanging out with boys at the hamburger stand. This aimless character piece gets very tense in the second half with the dance of dialogue between Dern and […]

The Hit (1984)

The Hit (1984) is an existential road movie directed by Stephen Frears and set in Spain. Starring John Hurt and a young Tim Roth as a pair of hitmen tasked with taking back a “grasser” played by the benevolent Terence Stamp. This is beautifully shot and continually tense yet imbued with a thoughtful tone. Recommended.

Band Of The Hand (1986)

Band Of The Hand (1986) is a Michael Mann produced action flick that I’d long heard about. Our heroes are five teen delinquents who are taken from juvie and thrown into the Miami swamps to learn self-value and survival skills through the tutelage of a Vietnam war vet named Joe (Stephen Lang from Don’t Breathe […]

Q – The Winged Serpent (1982)

Larry Cohen’s Q – The Winged Serpent (1982) is an entertaining mix of creature feature horror and gritty New York crime drama. A winged serpent – who does not look as realistic as it does on the poster – terrorises New York rooftop bathers, construction workers and window cleaners. Good cast of B-movie regulars like […]

Get Crazy (1983)

I’ve always wanted to see Get Crazy (1983) after hearing that Malcolm McDowell plays a Mick Jagger parody named Reggie Wanker. Someone put it all up onto YouTube and it’s a live action rock n roll cartoon (from Allan Arkush, director of Rock n Roll High School) that makes fun of hippies, rock, punk, new […]