I completely missed this Roman Polanski thriller when it came out. I caught it just recently and was very pleasantly surprised. Ewan McGregor is tasked with helping the former British PM (Pierce Brosnan) write his memoir. Funny thing… the guy with the ghost writing job before him died under mysterious circumstances. Yeah, you see where this is going. The good news is that the various crime thriller curveballs are unexpected and satisfying. Keep an eye out for a young Jon Bernthal.
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I had another long discussion with my friend Corey from Skree Zine. This time it was about all things Extraterrestrial. I also chipped in a list of favorite “alien” and related sci-fi films. As I’ve said before, this is a real print publication that will make you feel like it’s the ‘90s zine heyday all over again.
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I was pretty much blown away by this film right out of the gate. I don’t want to say too much about the plot in order not to spoil any surprises. It would be best experienced cold. The movie is essentially a sci-fi thriller, but you get a few doses of very graphic violence, and some well crafted dark humor too. Lead actress Sophie Thatcher is flat-out excellent (and I hear she is a Throbbing Gristle fan too). A few aspects of Companion reminded me of the Westworld original film and HBO series, as well as Ex Machina, BUT I still give it a 10/10. Do not miss this one.
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Just in case you missed this among the slew of ‘70s and ‘80s action flicks, let me tell you about Rolling Thunder. A prisoner of war finally gets home from Vietnam and what happens? Some assholes attack his family, steal his money, and leave him disfigured. Does he decide to take this as a lesson in life and become a minister? Fuck no he doesn’t. He gets some sweet, sweet revenge. This movie is a damned good example of a “revenge-o-matic” as Quentin Tarantino calls them (in fact he named his film distribution company after it). It’s fast paced, features very good performances from William DeVane and a young Tommy Lee Jones, and has a kick ass ending. The screenplay was by none other than Paul Schrader, but unfortunately his work was lightened up a bit for the final version. Mr. Tarantino says the original script is fantastic, but I have yet to read it myself (it is on my list though). Even a tamed down Rolling Thunder is a great action film, and I rank it among the very best of the ‘70s.
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I avoided this movie for years because of the cheesy TV ads, and yeah the above linked trailer is pretty bad too. Director Sean Penn is a bit of a wild card, which probably didn’t help either. However I gave it a watch just recently and was pleasantly surprised at how satisfying the film is. It does suffer from some of that big budget movie falseness, but none of it was too distracting. Thankfully there are more positives than negatives on display. In my book, this one and The Departed are tied for Jack Nicholson’s best late career performances. The other actors are pretty much all familiar faces, and they do a fine job as well. The reason this one stands out is that it is a remarkably dark movie and the ending is something I’ve never quite seen before. It is also worth noting that The Pledge is based on Friedrich Dürrenmatt’s 1958 novella, and was made into several other films before this one. The first adaptation was called It Happened in Broad Daylight, and is still considered an excellent movie (I just added it to my watch list). The interesting thing is that Sean Penn’s version, written by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski, is the most faithful to the novella. Yes, this definitely isn’t Chinatown, but it’s a solid crime thriller that I feel is worth your time.
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Around 1982, when I was 9 or 10 years old, my older brother Chris took me with him to the local big record store, Sound Warehouse. He bought Iron Maiden’s Number of the Beast picture disc (which he still has), and from that moment on they became the most important band of my childhood. Fast forward to Middle School and it seemed like Led Zeppelin was a lot more loved among the non-pop music weirdos. Since I had aspirations of getting laid sooner than later, I gave the band a try, and yeah, not too shabby. Not as good as Maiden, or Black Sabbath, but I recall liking Zeppelin II and Houses of the Holy for a while there. Then I discovered thrash metal. Led Who? I sold my Zep LPs and got really into thrash while remaining a Maiden and Sabbath fan (the latter has become arguably my favorite band to this day). FF again to the early 2000s when I was Art Director for Relapse Records. Guess which group I forbid to be played on the office stereo? Correct. Time moved on, my strong opinions softened a bit, and around 15 years ago I listened to some full Zeppelin albums again. Ok fine, I didn’t hate them any more. Here we are in 2025, and a couple of weeks ago I watched this documentary. I thoroughly enjoyed it from start to finish. I had no clue that John Paul Jones and Jimmy Page had their hands in so many awesome things before the band formed. It also looks and sounds fantastic. I’m not going to go out and BUY any of their albums or anything, but yeah… it’s a damn good movie. I would REALLY like to see a documentary of this caliber made on the early days of Black Sabbath.
Blu-ray coming soon (no official US release date yet).
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Mariska Hargitay does a deep exploration of the life of her mother Jayne Mansfield. What could have easily been a straightforward fluffy biographical documentary is anything but. Hargitay holds nothing back. Many uncomfortable facts are revealed over the runtime. I’d say if you have even a passing interest in the tragic life of Mansfield, you need to watch. This is heavy stuff, and handled very well by the director.
Not available on Blu-ray.
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A police precinct is in the process of closing when it is brutally attacked by a street gang. This seems like a really obvious recommendation choice, but it falls into the category of movies that younger people may have overlooked. Assault… is John Carpenter’s first proper film after the very short, and very silly, Dark Star. It is also one of only two works in his filmography I give a 10/10. The other is The Thing. I was lucky enough to see a 35mm double feature of both films about 20 years ago. Anyhow, here’s some fun facts for you: The first time I saw this I was on LSD. For a minute I was convinced that the street gang were actually aliens or possessed by a supernatural force. Well, that’s partially because one of the major influences on this film was The Night of the Living Dead. Carpenter directed the gang members to speak very little and act inhuman. Also, fans of Eraserhead may recognize lead actor Darwin Joston, who played a whacky pencil-factory clerk. One final “fact” is that the 2005 remake of this movie is shockingly good. See, I don’t hate on all “reimaginings”, just ones that suck.
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This is a dramatization of the true story of Jeffrey Wygand’s exposure of Big Tobacco in 1996. Yes, that does sound dull, but I just watched this for the first time recently and really enjoyed it. This is an intense and dark thriller that is well worth your time. It turns out that greedy corporations will go to extreme lengths to protect their interests. The more excessive retaliation by the bad guys has never been fully proven, but it all makes for a damn good film. Russell Crowe is at the top of his game here too.
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I am a fan of Don Siegel’s 1956 original film, but this remake is one of the scariest PG horror movies ever made. The cast really elevates the whole deal. Donald Sutherland and Leonard Nimoy alone make it worth watching. You’ll be seeing other familiar faces throughout (including Don Siegel himself as a cab driver). The FX are wet and creepy too. You can skip Abel Ferrara’s 1993 version titled Body Snatchers by the way.
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