Brian De Palma directs Josh Hartnett, Scarlett Johansson and Aaron Eckhart in this crime thriller about two detective caught in a psycho sexual conspiracy tangentially related to the infamous true crime Hollywood murder.
I project I have revisited a few time as I think there should be a great film here. I just can’t believe how vapid and uninvolving it all is. De Palma races through subplot, digressions and major set pieces as if it were all one take filler. The stairwell sequence is the only moment with any true Brian magic. The movie rarely sparks and James “The Demon Dog” Ellroy bramble bush myth-tory storytelling mode is sapped of nearly all impact. It does look the part but ultimately this flat, distant, rushed adaptation gives the impression of lost actors, dressing up, marooned in a mystery that doesn’t really matter. How could it have gone so wrong? Should it have been David Fincher’s proposed six hour miniseries? Yes. A squandered opportunity.
Sammo Kam-Bo Hung directs Jackie Chan, Biao Yuen and himself in this Hong Kong action comedy where a pair of food van owners, an inept detective and a beautiful thief cross paths in Barcelona.
The first half feels like unrelated slapstick skits in Spain. Once the good guys are together and storming a castle, it becomes a bit more overtly action orientated.
7
The Natural (1984)
Barry Levinson directs Robert Redford, Robert Duvall and Glenn Close in this period baseball drama about a brilliant player who only gets his chance to play professionally as he enters middle age.
Strange film this. Outwardly quite trad. But then there’s the constant magical realism and the unpredictable plot swerves. Major incidents come out of left of field. Looks beautiful (Caleb Deschanel), amazing score (Randy Newman). Redford is probably too old for this role but he is an established enough star that you never question his messianic goodness. The third act goes off the boil a little but there is a wonderful movie here if it would have just tightened up a little.
7
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Michael Radford directs John Hurt, Richard Burton and Suzanna Hamilton in this British dystopian sci-fi based upon George Orwell’s 1949 novel.
About as grindingly bleak and futile as I can stomach. Clearly a labour of love. Burton refinds his mojo after years of phoning it in. Always a difficult rewatch but for me this is most cinematic adaptation of the text.
8
This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
Rob Reiner directs Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and himself in this cult comedy rockumentary spoof.
Never really dug Spinal Tap when I was younger. Felt like something embraced by people a decade older than me. I laughed a fair bit more on this revisit.
6
Angel (1984)
Robert Vincent O’Neil directs Donna Wilkes, Cliff Gorman and Dick Shawn in this high school good girl moonlights as a prostitute on Hollywood Boulevard thriller.
Mish mash of hard hitting serial killer exploitation flick, and a TV sitcom about a sweet teenage hooker and her kooky misfit community of freaks and geeks. Switching from ghoulish lurid details to overly sincere melodrama, Angel never finds its rhythm. John Diehl is excellent as the silent predator who suckles eggs raw out of their shell and weight lifts concrete blocks in his bedsit. The gaggle of Hollywood also rans who protect Angel / Molly add personality. Wilkes is glaringly too old and too vanilla for her protagonist to work. The final 10 minutes go hard. An apartment trashing fight between a cross dresser and a fake Hare Krishna followed by a running shoot-out through the sleazy streets. The pumping neon madness comes a little too late though.
Frank Oz directs Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss and Julie Hagerty in this comedy where a pompous psychoanalyst is stalked by his new patient who cannot take no for an answer.
Sunny anarchy. Any other Saturday Night Live star and this vehicle would be the pinnacle of their career. For Murray it is just another Monday. Retrospectively his hit rate is incredible for a comedy actor even before he started working with Sofia Coppola and Wes Anderson. He is playing against type here. More savant than smart arse. The vulnerability works. It helps that Dreyfuss’ arrogant doc needs to be taken down a peg or a hundred. His downfall is sublime. Ends very abruptly though.
8
Perfect Double Bill: The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997)
Josh Ruben directs Olivia Holt, Mason Gooding and Jordana Brewster in this rom-com horror where a masked killer stalks couples on Valentines Day.
Solid concept, memorable mask and explicit kills. A better parody of romance movies than slashers but both Ruben’s feet are firmly planted into being entertaining rather than elevated. That’s sweet. Third act is a bit too formulaic.
Christian Gudegast directs Gerard Butler, Pablo Schreiber and O’Shea Jackson Jr. in this heist actioner where the bad boys of the L.A. Sheriff’s Department chase an ambitious bunch of bank robbers.
Butler’s Big Nick is a hoot. Two good action sequences with a 100 minutes of sweaty muscle flexing and dumb chest thrusting inbetween. This is shamelessly Heat reheated.
6
Perfect Double Bill: Den Of Thieves 2: Pantera (2025)
Luchino Visconti directs Antonio Arcidiacono, Giuseppe Arcidiacono and Venera Bonaccorso in this classic of Italian Neo-Realism where a family of fishermen try to become independent from the price fixing wholesalers.
I watched the for A-Level Film Studies as a teenager. 2 and a half hours of misery. Slow misery. Yet also a perfect example of the Neo Realist movement. On location filming. Non actors approximating roles that reflect their day to day lives. Politically critical of the unfair imbalances of unchecked capitalism. But also… we just aren’t used to lingering on failure in cinema. Fall and rise? Sure. But Visconti holds steadfast on the ruin of their fortunes and the unravelling of the family. A lot of people are impressed that an aristocrat’s son, born into wealth and privilege, made such a work with a beating Communist heart. I’m not so persuaded. I see a movie whose ultimate message is “Stay in your lane.” Otherwise the community will shun you, the masters will mock you, your house will be lost and your sister will become a whore. Don’t try, don’t struggle, don’t break free. Pessimism rather than realism, possibly pessimism with a vested interest in the status quo. Still… a very beautiful process movie (Mediterranean fishing as graft and risk) and surprisingly well acted given the amateur one-time-only cast.
Wayne Wang directs Wood Moy, Marc Hayashi and Laureen Chew in this American indie where two cab drivers search San Francisco’s Chinatown for the mysterious Chan, who disappeared with their $4000.
Slight but reaching in a lot of directions, this is admirable stuff, often pleasurable too. A mystery with only missing clues and where the best witness is hidden behind a door. Pretty smart. Wang uses the quest as a delivery system to meet lots of Chinese Americans, sketching a community and celebrating some big personalities. There are naturalistic, humorous interludes between the cab drivers… clearly close friends but with a generation gap and differing philosophical outlooks. This is slowly becoming a ‘forgotten film’ which is a shame as it should deeply satisfy fans of Cassevetes and especially early Jarmusch.
Penny Marshall directs Whoopi Goldberg, Stephen Collins and Carol Kane in this comedy thriller where a computer whiz who works at a New York bank inadvertently receives a coded message from a British spy.
My sister and I had this taped off the telly as kids so therefore watched it on repeat. Both the comedy and the espionage elements are pretty thin but Whoopi cooks. This is her vehicle and she knows it. There’s a couple of tasty trailer moments (Whoopi pretends to be a Supreme, Whoopi is dragged around the streets of New York in a stolen phone booth) but they rarely make much sense within the greater humdrum plotting. If you don’t have the nostalgia for this that I clearly do then knock off a couple of points.
Georges Méliès directs Victor André, Bleuette Bernon and Brunnet in this iconic early cinematic sci-fi short.
Undeniably cute and manic. 50 years before space travel was a reality the only thing this predicts correctly is the parades. Tumbling aliens. Lunar sleepovers. Scantily clad lady stars. We are gonna shoot a cannon of old professors straight into your eye, you stupid moon! Watched the colourised version (made from an old colour print) with French synth pop band Air’s soundtrack (which is pretty decent). Beyond it’s historical import, this is a breezy lark.
Bobby Carroll's Movie Diary 