The Mechanic (1972)

While funnily enough I’ve seen both of the Jason Statham remakes of The Mechanic (1972), I’ve never seen the original even though I’m a fan of Charles Bronson. Directed by Michael Winner, after they’d made Chato’s Land but before the box office smash success of the first Death Wish movie, this stars the granite faced […]

Torn Curtain (1966)

It’s interesting exploring the titles in a director’s career that don’t get as much celebration, particularly the later period films by a marketed auteur like Alfred Hitchcock. I remember mainly reading about Torn Curtain (1966) from a book about Paul Newman my Mum owned and in Scorsese On Scorsese where the farmhouse sequence is cited […]

The Killer (1989)

I remember first watching The Killer (1989) thanks to SBS Cult Movie night as well as renting a VHS version with a terrible English dub. Reviving the Dragon Dynasty DVD I owned of this Hong Kong action classic directed and written by John Woo, it was a pleasure to revisit. When I was younger, much […]

Snake Eyes (1998)

I saw Snake Eyes (1998) at the cinema when I was a teenager and enjoyed it then. Over time my love for it has grown alongside my appreciation for both Nicolas Cage as an actor and Brian De Palma as a filmmaker, and I truly think it’s an underrated collaboration. While in contrast to De […]

China Girl (1987)

I knew going in that this was director Abel Ferrara’s version of Romeo and Juliet. But China Girl (1987) feels more like an updated West Side Story. There’s a MTV energy in this night-time, neon-lit, wet-sidewalked vision of New York with young gangs clattering down darkened alleyways, climbing up chain-linked fences. At one point, a […]