Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971)

I do like the exchange between monthly Criterion Channel programming and people I follow on Letterboxd tending to watch the same stuff, like a slowly crawling communal experience. I’d heard the title Let’s Scare Jessica To Death (1971) but didn’t really have any idea what it was like, assuming it was a tongue in cheek […]

Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020)

Available to watch on Netflix is a new documentary by Kirsten Johnson called Dick Johnson Is Dead (2020). Who is Dick Johnson? Dick Johnson is Kirsten the director’s father and it is a look at the subject of death by having her dad star in fake constructions of his potential death – walking on the […]

Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009)

I’d read good word on this Direct To Video sequel, Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2009; also not to be confused with the previous DTV sequel Universal Soldier: The Return) and was curious to see if it matched the hype expressed about it among action fans. Even though it has the trappings of a DTV franchise action […]

Guilty As Sin (1993)

Next to the 90s erotic thriller is the sexy courtroom thriller, all of which tends to be coated in references to Hitchcock. Guilty As Sin (1993) is scripted by genre stalwart Larry Cohen (The Stuff, Phone Booth) and directed by Sidney Lumet (Serpico, Dog Day Afternoon), and I remember commercials for it at the time, […]

The Jericho Mile (1979)

Way before Thief and Heat, Michael Mann’s career-long interest in criminals began with first feature, The Jericho Mile (1979), a television movie made for ABC. Based and shot on location in Folsom Prison, with real life inmates as extras, this is both a prison drama and a sports drama. Focusing on Murphy (a taut, muscular […]