Blood Simple (1984)

I’m such a fan of the Coen Brothers that Blood Simple (1984) is low on my list of favourites since it is their first (directed by Joel Coen, produced by Ethan Coen, written and basically made together). From the show-off camera moves and bold imagery to the way in which action over dialogue is emphasised […]

Night Of The Juggler (1980)

Thank you, Cinephobe TV, for screening this lost gem. Night Of The Juggler (1980) stars James Brolin as a bearded trucker who returns home for his daughter’s birthday but then spends the whole day tearing up the city after she is kidnapped by a psychotic Cliff Gorman in a case of mistaken identity (this creep […]

The Hired Hand (1971)

From the beautiful first five minutes of shimmering water, silhouetted figures, dissolving and overlapping images, all made poetic by Bruce Langhorne’s score, I was very into Peter Fonda’s The Hired Hand (1971). Thankfully, everything after that made good on that opening’s promise. After the huge success of Easy Rider, Dennis Hopper went to make the […]

Wanda (1970)

I first found Wanda (1970) a bit difficult to get into. The opening is slow, observing workers and families in close proximity to a coal plant in rural Pennsylvania, which seems as depressing and barren as the industrial landscapes in Red Desert. Here, Wanda (Barbara Loden) wakes up on a friend’s couch and is late […]

Pusher (1996)

I’ve had friends recommend the Pusher trilogy to me for a long time and even though I am a fan of Nicolas Winding Refn, I never got around to the Danish crime films that made his name internationally. With Pusher (1996), I was surprised by how low-fi it was in contrast to what Refn is now known for as […]