The Late Show (1977)

Not to be confused with either David Letterman or The D-Generation, The Late Show (1977) is another entry in the seventies era’s love of film noir. Produced by Robert Altman, director-writer Robert Benton goes for a different take rather than Altman’s own deconstructive The Long Goodbye. There’s more of a classic witty vibe of detective […]

Assault On Precinct 13 (1976)

Over time, Assault On Precinct 13 (1976) has become one of my favourite John Carpenter films. Much like George A. Romero’s Night Of The Living Dead, which it was influenced by, it is a triumph of low budget genre filmmaking that cracked the market and inspired countless rip offs. It is the first action picture […]

Gemini (2017)

I’ve liked director Aaron Katz ever since a friend loaned me DVDs of his early ‘mumblecore’ films Dance Party USA and Quiet City. With Gemini (2017), Katz still retains intimacy between characters and small stakes stories but has more cinematic, smoother visual style now. Much like an earlier film he did, Cold Weather, Gemini is […]

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice (1969)

While a Criterion Collection streaming service is still absent in Australia, SBS OnDemand at least offers a good selection of art-house titles and acclaimed foreign films in its library. The recent season (from Sony Pictures networks, I believe) of Quentin Tarantino programming a ‘Swinging Sixties’ line up of movies from that era, to tie into […]

Set It Off (1996)

Going through a run of watching classic heist movies and figured it was time to Set It Off (1996). Following a quartet of friends in Los Angeles – all working as janitors with little income and different problems – they decide to rob banks to get out of their collective situation. What surprised me a […]