You know what's great? Travel movies. The kind of film where folks move from city to city, country to country, enjoying the sights, talking with the locals, researching people they don't know, getting involved in sordid tales of crime, espionage, murder, and eventually ending the matter in a filthy, condemned apartment in Paris with a … Continue reading The Mask of Dimitrios (1944)
I can confirm that Tom Selleck's mustache is great no matter the year, no matter the genre. You can practically feel the machismo oozing off of his upper lip's grizzled fur baby. If you learn nothing else today, know that your face will never look as cool as his befollicled nasal undercarriage. And for that, … Continue reading Runaway (1984)
Do you like tournament movies, the kind with a bunch of fighters from around the world taking on one another with different styles until only the last fighter remains? You know, like Bloodsport? Then you might end up enjoying this goofy period piece written by, starring, and directed by Jean-Claude Van Damme. An old man … Continue reading The Quest (1996)
I watch a lot of movies with outrageous posters, but that is actually Nicole Eggert's costume in the film, down to the cowcatcher face mask she sports when kicking butt. Why does she wear a train grill as a mouth guard? I have no idea. It's explained to be some kind of two-way radio, but … Continue reading The Demolitionist (1995)
The title in this film comes from a line where a Japanese doctor says he cannot use a shotgun and will kill his enemies in "Japanese style," to which our overly-muscled hero with flowing locks replies while holding a pistol that he'll do his killing in "American style." Nice. Robert Z'Dar is a criminal named … Continue reading Killing American Style (1990)
It's the 1970s. The American urban sprawl is a crime-filled wasteland of drugs and violence. Gangs openly walk the streets, hunting for victims in the parks, on the subway, and even in the grocery store. What's a guy to do? Why, get a gun and go to town, of course. Death Wish is a weird … Continue reading Death Wish (1974)
This movie is about a bunch of poorly-dubbed European actors who get together to rip off an armored car service as an act of revenge for a guy's brother. Unfortunately, they don't realize that they're also ripping off La Cosa Nostra, who happen to be involved in the armored car business, while the US Treasury … Continue reading They Came to Rob Las Vegas (1968)
Lee Marvin, Woody Strode, Robert Ryan, and Burt Lancaster are hired by Texas millionaire Ralph Bellamy to enter Mexico and take his kidnapped wife, the lovely Claudia Cardinale, back from Jack Palance, a Mexican bandit. While this is basically a Wild West heist film exploring themes of love and jaded adventure seekers, the team-building aspect … Continue reading The Professionals (1966)
There are actually two movies in the poliziotteschi genre with this title featuring Henry Silva that came out in the 1970s. This is the second such movie, released in 1975, and it is sometimes referred to as The Manhunt. Crime runs rampant in Italy. A trio of thieves whose leader poses as a blind man … Continue reading Manhunt in the City (1975)
1969 brought a nearly two decade reign of terror in Italy known as the Anni di piombo, the Years of Lead, during which both far left and far right terrorist groups(supposedly supported by the Soviet Union and US respectively) carried out bombings, assassinations, homicides, arson, kidnappings, intentional maiming, and executions against police officers, journalists, government … Continue reading Execution Squad (1972)
Movie Reviews by a Mook 