Last Man Standing (1996)

Last Man Standing (1996), Walter Hill’s remake of Yojimbo (already remade as A Fistful Of Dollars), is almost mythical yet reductively basic. Set in a ghost town named Jericho that nobody else lives in except for two gangs fighting over the same turf, a state of purgatory only destabilised by the arrival of a gun-for-hire […]

Mona Lisa (1986)

Bob Hoskins searching for a mystery woman through peep shows and seedy clubs to the sounds of Genesis’ ‘In Too Deep’ is such an iconic 1980s neo-noir moment. Mona Lisa (1986) is directed by Neil Jordan and earned accolades and awards for Hoskins’ performance as George, a small time crook released from prison after a […]

Hard Times (1975)

On a Walter Hill kick, I revisited his directorial debut, Hard Times (1975; aka The Streetfighter), which I remember as being very decent and on rewatch, remains very decent. Set in Depression-era New Orleans, Chainey (Charles Bronson) steps off the train looking for work. Coming across a bare-knuckled boxing match in a warehouse, Chainey throws […]

Nowhere To Run (1993)

I always thought Nowhere To Run (1993) was later in Jean-Claude Van Damme’s career but it was inbetween Universal Soldier and Hard Target (maybe my favourite all time JCVD film). I can imagine Van Damme saying about Nowhere To Run at the time: “This is a real movie with a human story with emotions”. As […]

Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (1974)

I remember turning on the TV and seeing the ending of Thunderbolt And Lightfoot (1974) when I was young. I’d already accidentally spoiled it for myself but thought it was about time to get a sense of the whole thing. Clint Eastwood gave Michael Cimino a shot at directing his first film after having written […]