Archive for the ‘Crime’ Category
Monday, September 28th, 2026
A classic scenario: dangerous man and innocent kid on the road, her presence eventually reveals his soft side, as much as he tries to hide it. He learns from her and finds a purpose in protecting her. Some shit goes down and he tries to find redemption and we have a hard time not feeling something for him. In the case of SHE RIDES SHOTGUN (based on the book by Jordan Harper), the kid is Polly (Ana Sophia Heger) and the man is her father, Nate McClusky (Taron Egerton, CARRY-ON). When her mom doesn’t show up to pick her up after school, and her dad shows up all frazzled, she’s definitely scared. Asks if he’s supposed to be there. Yeah, he got out, he says.
Man, this starts out dark. We figure out before she does that her mom and stepdad just got murdered. We assume Nate did it and now he’s kidnapping her. He’s in a hotwired car (all he can afford right now, he says) and trying to lay low at a cheap hotel by the airport. When she sees the double homicide on the news he tells her it wasn’t him, it was this prison gang that’s after him, that’s who he’s running from and trying to protect her from. Too late though, she already called the task force phone number. So she tells him they have to go. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Ana Sophia Heger, Ben Collins, David Lyons, John Carroll Lynch, Jordan Harper, Luke Piotrowski, Nick Rowland, Odessa A'zion, Rob Yang, Taron Egerton
Posted in Reviews, Crime, Thriller | 5 Comments »
Thursday, September 24th, 2026
THE WEIGHT is a movie playing theaters right now that I’m not sure everybody has heard about. It stars Ethan Hawke (EXPLORERS), and Russell Crowe (THE MAN WITH THE IRON FISTS) is also in it, two great actors who are probly gonna be good no matter what they’re in, but you’re not always guaranteed they picked a keeper. This time they did. It’s one of the best things I’ve seen this year.
Hawke plays Samuel Murphy, a widower struggling to provide for his daughter Penny (Avy Berry, A QUIET PLACE: DAY ONE) during the Great Depression. He stays positive and tries to shield her from their predicament, but it’s not looking good. When they get evicted from their apartment she (over his objections) sells her beloved teddy bear to a neighbor to try to raise cash. She’s a good kid. When they go to check on renting some godforsaken rathole some plain clothes police officers harass him, decide he’s trying to squat there, beat him up and arrest him. He tells Penny through the bars of the jail cell don’t worry, he’ll come find her, and she’s like… what do you mean? Where am I going? My eyes were misty before the title even hit.
He gets sent to a labor camp run by Clancy (Crowe), a tough warden but with a nice side to him. When he gives them a seemingly impossible task of moving a large boulder, Murphy engineers a method to cut holes into each side and turn it using the handles of pick axes. Clancy is impressed. Lets him hang out on his porch. Gives him a Dr. Pepper. Talks to him about his life. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Alec Newman, Austin Amelio, Avi Nash, Cameron Brady, Ethan Hawke, George Burgess, Great Depression, Julia Jones, Latham Gaines, Leo Scherman, Lucas Lynggaard Tonnesen, Matthew Booi, Matthew Chapman, Padraic McKinley, Russell Crowe, Sam Hazeldine, Shelby Gaines
Posted in Reviews, Crime, Thriller | 8 Comments »
Thursday, September 3rd, 2026
TOXIC: A FAIRY TALE FOR GROWN-UPS is a new Kannada-language Indian film that I went and saw at the multiplex on opening day last week. I’d been waiting for it since they played the trailer before RZA’s ONE SPOON OF CHOCOLATE and I felt like I’d seen God. I think it already left that theater, but maybe you can find it in your area, so I want to get the word out. I’m a TOXIC crusader.
I was already sold on the movie when I learned that American martial arts legend J.J. “Loco” Perry (competitor in BLOODSPORT III, choreographer of UNDISPUTED II) is one of the action directors. That makes it an event in my book. You might wonder why he’d want to go overseas to work behind the scenes after graduating to director with DAY SHIFT, THE KILLER’S GAME and AFTERBURN, but this was an opportunity he couldn’t turn down. In a Q&A at Big Bad Film Fest recently (as heard on Action for Everyone), he said that UNDISPUTED II was shot in 30 days, all the movies he’s directed were 42, Chad Stahelski’s upcoming HIGHLANDER was 125, but TOXIC was 225! It’s one of the most expensive movies ever made in India, and taking a whipping in their media for not making the money back. But ACAB includes armchair studio accountants, so I will break with those pigs and thank the producers for investing so much in my entertainment.
TOXIC is an operatic, ultra-maximalist gangster action movie co-written, produced and starring (in a dual role) a superstar called Yash, credited as “Rocking Star Yash.” That it’s directed and co-written by a woman, the former actress Geetu Mohandas, adds an interesting layer to its depiction of masculinity, which is so over the top there’s simply no chance we’ll ever be able to locate the top again. R.I.P. The Top. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Akshay Oberoi, Darrell D'Silva, Geetu Mohandas, Huma Qureshi, J.J. Perry, Kyle Paul, Rocking Star Yash
Posted in Reviews, Action, Crime | 8 Comments »
Tuesday, August 25th, 2026
TUNER is a pretty simple and well-constructed little crime movie, about a quiet, unassuming protagonist with very specific talents, vulnerabilities and needs. It feels like it could’ve come from some brilliant but under-the-radar paperback, a quick but satisfying read. One thing that makes it distinct is that it’s also a romance – more of a romance than a crime movie, arguably – and it managed to get me more invested in the relationship than the stealing. And feel okay about that.
Niki (Leo Woodall, TONY) is a young piano tuner, the apprentice of Harry Horowitz (Dustin Hoffman, MEGALOPOLIS), who was friends with his late father, and treats him like a beloved nephew. When Harry’s not talking Niki’s ear off about the old days he’s telling everybody what a brilliant musician Niki used to be. Before he stopped, you know. Over time we learn that the devices in Niki’s ears are not hearing aids, they’re to protect him from loud noises, because he’s developed hyperacusis, a condition that makes him very sensitive to sounds. Years of painful exposure therapy helped him to listen to piano again, and he still has perfect pitch. But he gave up on playing, seemingly content in this humble life of being condescended to by the rich people who still own pianos, but at least hanging out with this goofy old man he loves. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Daniel Roher, Dustin Hoffman, Havana Rose Liu, Herbie Hancock, Jean Reno, Leo Woodall, Lior Raz, Robert Ramsey, safecracker, Tovah Feldshuh
Posted in Reviews, Crime, Romance | 7 Comments »
Thursday, August 6th, 2026
July 19, 1996 (U.S. release date)
It’s not exactly a bold statement to say that TRAINSPOTTING was a phenomenon. A low budget Scottish counterculture movie that made $72 million around the world, made stars out of most of its cast, internationally launched a director who has since won best director and best picture Oscars and is still a major player today, and has been named by the BFI as the 10th greatest British film of the 20th century. Also it’s a good movie. I hadn’t seen it since the theater 30 years ago, and it knocked me out again.
It’s the sophomore film for director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew Macdonald, and they reunited much of their team from SHALLOW GRAVE: writer John Hodge, cinematographer Brian Tufano, editor Masahiro Harakubo, production designer Kave Quinn. This time it’s based on Irvine Welsh’s 1993 debut novel, and it’s the first-person-narrated tale of twentysomething heroin addict Mark Renton (Ewan McGregor in only his fourth movie) and his rowdy social circle in Edinburgh.They have some wild times, some horrible times. Fights, deaths, pubs, soccer fields, hospitals, court rooms. They rehab, relapse, reintegrate, and most of them survive it with a bit of punk rock stubbornness and Gen-X ironic distance.
Chances are you’ve seen it, I don’t have to tell you who these characters are. If not, you’ll meet them in the movie. I like the lovable idiot Spud (Ewen Bremner, JUDGE DREDD, who had played Renton in a stage adaptation), even though I really can’t fathom how he managed to accidentally splatter his shit all over his lady’s parents’ breakfast. I like seeing their square jock friend Tommy because now I recognize Kevin McKidd from starring in Rome later. Bleach blond Sick Boy (Jonny Lee Miller, HACKERS) is such a funny character, because it both makes sense why they’d hang out with him and why he would be so aggravating. Renton says that Sick Boy tries to kick at the same time as him just to show he can do it easily, “thereby downgrading my own struggle.” (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Danny Boyle, Ewan Bremner, Ewan McGregor, John Hodge, Jonny Lee Miller, Kelly Macdonald, Kevin McKidd, Robert Carlyle, Shirley Henderson, Susan Vidler
Posted in Reviews, Crime, Drama | 22 Comments »
Thursday, July 23rd, 2026
July 13, 1996
DON’T LOOK BACK is a straight-to-HBO movie, but I thought it might be worth watching because it’s directed by Geoff Murphy (THE QUIET EARTH) between his two great sequels, UNDER SIEGE 2: DARK TERRITORY and FORTRESS 2, and it’s written by Tom Epperson & Billy Bob Thornton & William Petrowitch. The latter doesn’t have any other credits, but the first two of course wrote ONE FALSE MOVE (and later THE GIFT, CAMOUFLAGE and JAYNE MANSFIELD’S CAR). Thornton (DEAD MAN) is also in the movie as one of the villains, and this was his last movie before making SLING BLADE and becoming famous and shit.
Jesse Parish (Eric Stoltz, THE FLY II) is an L.A. deadbeat and heroin enthusiast who carries around a guitar case and occasionally strums. One night while broke and in withdrawal he witnesses a drug deal going sour in a parked car. Skipper (Dwight Yoakam, RED ROCK WEST) shoots at a guy and then chases after him, leaving a flung-open briefcase spewing money unattended. Jesse sneaks over, scoops it up, runs off. I like how Skipper yells “Hey! What the fuck are you doing?” like he caught somebody keying his car or something. Jesse escapes using Donkey Kong tactics (rolling garbage cans down a hill at him), but Skipper hears somebody yell his name. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Amanda Plummer, Annabeth Gish, Billy Bob Thornton, Dwight Yoakam, Eric Stoltz, Ethan Suplee, Geoff Murphy, John Corbett, Josh Hamilton, M.C. Gainey, Mickey Jones, Peter Fonda, R.G. Armstrong, Tom Epperson
Posted in Reviews, Crime | 7 Comments »
Friday, July 3rd, 2026
June 28, 1996
STRIPTEASE was one of the most derided movies of 1996, and the winner of six Razzies including Worst Picture. There is no question in my mind that that particular distinction can be attributed to the Razzie’s usual misogynistic and puritanical hatred of sexuality. The winners of the previous three years were INDECENT PROPOSAL, COLOR OF NIGHT and SHOWGIRLS. Hollywood could have listened to them, but instead here was Demi Moore briefly nude and showing off her body in tame but sexually provocative dances – this could not stand. She had to be punished. That’s what those fuckers were like back then, and much of society went along with it. (In fact, it also won top honors at the competing “Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.”)
I think when you look at Moore’s performance with today’s eyes it’s impressive: she clearly put alot of work into getting into ridiculous shape and learning to dance, similar to the dedication she would show a year later for a very different but also physically challenging role in G.I. JANE. (which the Razzies would also give her Worst Actress for, the absolute clowns). And she makes the character grounded and sincere. I like her in it. Unfortunately, the worst guy you know sometimes makes a good point, and I have to concede that STRIPTEASE is not a good movie.
Moore plays Erin Grant, who started working as an exotic dancer at the Eager Beaver in Miami after she was fired from her job as a secretary at the FBI. She’s trying to save up the money to appeal her child custody case because her ex Darrell (Robert Patrick, DOUBLE DRAGON) has their 7-year-old Angela (Rumer Willis in her second movie) and uses her as bait for his scam of stealing and reselling wheelchairs. But then some unrelated trouble falls into Erin’s lap. (I would make some kind of lapdance reference here, but I’m too proud. So forget it.) (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Andrew Bergman, Anne V. Coates, Armand Assante, Burt Reynolds, Carl Hiaasen, Demi Moore, Florida, Howard Shore, Pandora Peaks, Robert Patrick, Rumer Willis, strippers, Stuart Pankin, Ving Rhames
Posted in Reviews, Comedy/Laffs, Crime | 13 Comments »
Thursday, July 2nd, 2026
June 21, 1996
LONE STAR is the summer of ’96 joint from John Sayles, a limited release but made $13 million on a budget much lower than that, and well reviewed. Roger Ebert called it “a great American movie, one of the few to seriously try to regard with open eyes the way we live now… the best work yet by one of our most original and independent filmmakers.”
I must confess that to this day I’m not acquainted enough with Sayles’ work; I respect that he wrote PIRANHA, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, ALLIGATOR, THE HOWLING, etc., but his earliest directorial work I’ve seen is still THE BROTHER FROM ANOTHER PLANET (which I love), so I don’t have a full picture of these dramas that are his main thing. In the ‘90s, though, I was at an open minded age and trying to see the Important New Works, so I saw both THE SECRET OF ROAN INISH and LONE STAR when they played indie theaters. I barely remember them, other than that I thought they were good, so I guess they weren’t the specific type of good that made a strong impression on me in those days. (They weren’t THE PHANTOM.)
Many still consider LONE STAR one of Sayles’ best, it’s in the Criterion Collection, and I was excited to revisit it as a more wisened, soon to be wizened being. Yeah, it’s a good movie, and I think I was probly much more interested in analyzing its themes than I was before. But I have to admit that it still gives me more of an academic “that was good, that was interesting” feeling than a heartfelt “god damn, I’m gonna watch that again.” Maybe if some of you love it you can talk me up on it. (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Frances McDormand, Gabriel Casseus, Joe Morton, John Sayles, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey, Miriam Colon, Ron Canada, Stephen J. Lang, Stephen Mendillo
Posted in Reviews, Crime, Drama, Mystery | 13 Comments »
Thursday, June 25th, 2026
SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is from 1975, but I’m considering it Slam Evil Summer, because it was re-released June 15, 1996, thanks to Quentin Tarantino’s fandom and his label Rolling Thunder Pictures. It’s directed by Jack Hill (SPIDER BABY, COFFY, FOXY BROWN), and it’s his penultimate movie as a director (the last being SORCERESS in 1982).
I did not see this in a theater, I had to wait to rent the VHS, but it must’ve been a great time with the right audience. It starts off so strong with the wah-wah infused theme song “Black Hearted Woman” playing over a documentary-style black and white photo montage of tough ladies in a world of boarded up houses covered in graffiti. Establishing the landscape.
And then it says “Music by MEDUSA”? What kind of badass group is that!? (Apparently it’s frequent Roger Corman composer and lounge music pioneer Les Baxter.) I’m not sure who took the photos, but the credited title designer is Bill Levey, director of BLACKENSTEIN and MONACO FEVER. His IMDb bio says he was childhood friends with James Dean, hung out with Elvis and discovered Patrick Swayze (who he directed in SKATETOWN U.S.A.).
(read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Bob Minor, gangs, Jack Hill, Jeannie Epper, Kate Murtagh, Marlene Clark, Robbie Lee, Rolling Thunder Pictures
Posted in Action, Crime, Reviews | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 22nd, 2026
This may be shocking to hear, but the entertainment industry in my opinion employs a high number of attractive people. And by my estimation Samara Weaving (AZRAEL) is one of the ones who excel even among that group. Add to that the fact that she came up through horror (Ash vs. Evil Dead, READY OR NOT) and doesn’t seem to have turned her back on it, plus she’s funny and almost always picks movies that seem like something I would watch, whether or not they end up being worthy of her, so she’s a real human being who seems like some nerd could’ve WEIRD SCIENCEd her into reality. Being too good to be true was even part of the premise of THE BABYSITTER, where she exploited the heterosexual vulnerabilities of the teenage protagonist as well as anyone who may or may not be watching at home who is impressed by her BILLY JACK fandom. And now she seems to be on a crime movie kick! Fellas, are we being catfished?
I hope I can confess those feelings without being diminishing of her talents, because she’s also very good at what she does, and her new one CAROLINE CAROLINE is no exception. This is a little different from what we usually see from her, even her last one EENIE MEANIE, because it’s the type of crime movie that wants to be more like BADLANDS than like TRUE ROMANCE. It could exist even if Tarantino had never made a movie. (Not that that would be a fair trade off.) (read the rest of this shit…)
Tags: Adam Rehmeier, bank robbers, cons, Jon Gries, Kyle Gallner, Kyra Sedgwick, Samara Weaving
Posted in Reviews, Crime, Romance | 3 Comments »
