Change Your Image
searchanddestroy-1
Ratings
Most Recently Rated
Reviews
The Devil's Disciple (1959)
Underrated film
I have always been stunned, puzzled, since I am a movie goer, since my childhood, that such movie starring Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Laurence Olivier has never been aired nor shown in France: no TV channel, no theater or DVD release, even at the French Cinémathèque. No one in France - even on Allo Ciné website ( French poor man's Imdb ) seems to have seen it. So, there is a mystery around this film. Copyryght? Hmm Lancaster Hecht productions besides this one have always been available in France, whatever the support. Of course, it is not a masterpiece, maybe because of the British - American production, I don't know, but also because there is a bit comedy in this historical adventure yarn. Concerning the period - eighteenth century and American independence war - spoken about, I nearly prefer John Sturges' SCARLET COAT. The only interest here is to see Kirk Douglas and Burt Lancaster together besides GUNFIGHT AT OK CORRAL and SEVEN DAYS IN MAY. But it remains a good time waster.
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
Please come back, Errol !!!!!
I waited much for this movie when it was released, back in 1991. But what a deception, what a waste !!! Only Alan Rickman can be considered as the best heir of Basil Rathbone in the Nottingham sheriff character, actually I went mainly - if not ONLY - for him. Because the rest of the cast is totally a joke. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio can be saved from this terrible midcast, and Morgan Freeman is also a total misunderstanding. Sorry.... I won't even speak of Kevin Costner, except that after watching this crap, I went back home and put ADVENTURES OF ROBIN HOOD VHS tape in my VCR, to see it again. Rightaway. I nearly prefered the 2010 Ridley Scott's version. Nearly, not definiitely. Poor Sean Connery, even for the last minutes, what did he do in this mess? I guess it was a tribute to his role - and what an awesome one - in the terrific ROBIN AND MARIAN; another version, different from the Michael Curtiz as this 1991 trash too, but unforgettable.
L'homme de pouvoir (1985)
Excellent but complex intrigue
This awesome TV movie is destined to audiences interested in political matters, such as L'EXERCICE DE L'ETAT, back in 2011, as very realistic script for a total believable story, that describes in detail how awful, trash things can happen "backstage" , behind the scene for politicians...A famous politician is accused to have been involved with torture matter during war in Algeria. Is it true or not, is it a plot against him? It is interesting but if you watch very closely, you may feel stunned but glued to it. There were many movies telling the same atmosphere of political jungle, swimming with sharks. Pierre Arditi gives an early very convincing performance. Not for all audiences, only elite andd intellectual ones. For once. I hope it was appreciated when it was aired, nearly forty years ago.
Bullet Head (2017)
This time, it is really RESERVOIR DOGS
This plot taking place in an abandoned warehouse after a heist, with he hoodlums trying ti fix their problems, is of course inspired by QT's RESERVOIR DOGS, but this time with really dogs in the story. It is not a true crime flick, but a "film de genre", as we say in France, it mixes up crime, of course, with some horror like suspense. Not bad, not too long, but everything is smashed by a silly ending that has nothing to do here. Everything is spoiled by this ending. With a VHS taping off, I would have stopped the recording just before...Such a shame. For the rest, I am also surprised to see how so many films were inspired by RESERVOIR DOGS.
Chicago Syndicate (1955)
Solid crime expose, despite Sam Katzman's influence
I guess the best crime dramas that Sam Katzman produced were those directed by the likes of Fred S Sears and William Castle; those movies seemed serious, not clumsy, lousy, such as the costume swashbucklers produced by Katzman, or even most of his westerns. MIAMI STORY, MIAMI EXPOSE, INSIDE DETROIT, RUMBLE ON THE DOCKS, CHICAGO SYNDICATE. I agree that those films propose more or less the same schemes, in addition to the expose lines, undercover cops, gang wars...Nothing new actually, but excellent, if you consider the fact that Sam Katzman produced those films. For once, Sam Katzman did not deceive me. EARTH VS FLYING SAUCERS was famous, thanks to Ray Harryhausen's special effects. Paul Stewart as awesome as he was in Lewis Allen's noir for Paramount co starring Alan Ladd.
Comanche Territory (1950)
Good western, not more
George Sherman was definitely a western maker, though he has not made only this, he had a very prolific filmography. But westerns were a domain where he was very gifted. This one makes no exception, but the plot brings nothing really new, except terrific natural settings. I was lucky enough to see it is a awesome LBX frame and not in a f...pan and f...scan copy. Yes, a good western, full of charm and fifties atmosphere. Dana Andrews rarely played in westerns; we especially remember him in OXBOW INCIDENT. This western was curiously not produced by Universal Studios for which George Sherman made so many of his westerns: BATTLE AT APACHE PASS, COMANCHE TERRITORY, LAST OF THE FAST GUNS...
Ten Wanted Men (1955)
Not among my ten wanted westerns
The main deception here is that it was produced by Harry Joe Brown, and starred Randolph Scott, but Budd Boetticher and Burt Kennedy missed as director and screen writer. This western is not bad, but bland, flat, predictable, bringing no shade in the character depiction. It is definitely not SEVEN MEN FROM NOW nor THE TALL T or COMANCHE STATION. Bruce Humberstone was not a western maker anyway. Besides this one, there was FURY AT FURNACE CREEK, for Twwentieth Century Fox. This western is just another western with Scott and Boone, besides the ten times better TALL T. It just deserves to be watched for western fans. Not more.
The Raven (1963)
Corman - Price(less) association
What an amusing comedy horror yarn, directed by the exceptional Roger Corman, whose filmography gave us a batch of those Edgar Allan Poe's adaptations, all starring Vincent Price and often Boris Karloff and Peter Lorre. I confound all those films and titles. Jacques Tourneur also offered us COMEDY OF TERROR, that looked very much like a Corman's films, because produced by the Samuell Arkoff, James Nicholson's company. That said, this Lew Landers - Louis Friedlander -'s remake is a bit different from the original but as excellent, I assure you. The dialogues between Peter Lorre and Vincent Price are absolutely exquisite. But I preferred more "serious" and darker Vincent Price - Corman movies such as TOMB OF LIGEIA, HAUNTED PALACE or MASK OF THE RED DEATH, with this time no humor at all.
The Prestige (2006)
Christopher Nolan, who else?
This masterpiece very hard to follow, to summarize, is a true gem which only the like of Christopher Nolan could deliver us. And the cast is also terrific for this movie that I can say it is the best films ever made concerning magic and also rivalry. There is not real good or evil character here, just rivalry and many elements that make it riveting, tense, suspense packed, where you deal with so many twists that you can get easily drowned - as the Hugh Jackman's character in the water tank. Michael Caine is also marvelous in this movie, as he is also in other BATMAN franchise from the director.
Blackwell's Island (1939)
Not the best John Garfields' vehicle
It is a Warner Bros feature, fast paced, action packed, starring John Garfield, but that's all. Not my favourite with him. It is too light hearted for my taste. Warner Brothers gave us many of this kind. It is typical of this period, no one can deny, but I got rapidly tired of it. Not a comedy crime, but not so far. William McGann the director was a prolific onee but he obviously lacked ambition, just an effective chain film maker, the perfect yes man. I won't watch it again, and forget it rapidly. John Garfield deserved a bit more than this film, he deserved to have a more powerful character, more poignant, gripping. That's my own opinion.
Flightplan (2005)
BREAKDOWN aboard a plane
What an exciting thriller this film taking entirely place aboard a plane. What a film. I remember that after this movie, two days later, I got aboard a plane myself for a vacation trip and asked a hostess - aboard this plane, when I got in - if she and her colleagues saw FLIGHTPLAN? Well, they look disturbed, puzzled by my question. And I have heard that after the release of this thriller, the hostess unions did not crave that much about it, and for obvious reasons. I guess they were afraid that many potential passengers would prefer take the car or train - for those who could, of course - instead taking a plane. Jodie Foster, after PANIC ROOM, plays a terrific role of a strong female.
Panic Room (2002)
Most terrific home invasion thriller ever made.
This movie is riveting, exciting, but not really poignant nor gripping. But who cares? I don't think that with this thriller, we can expect one day to see Jodie Foster as a simple - desperate or not - house wife. She has always played strong women and I am sure she always will. The more times I see iit, the more I love it. The bad guy, the villain character, who wears a hood and suddenly takes it off, this partly bald villain, reminds me the bald villain in 8 MM, starring Nick Cage. Yes, this is for me another gem from director David Fincher, one of my favorites from him. Many invasion movies have been made after this one and inspired from this one.
Cobra Verde (1987)
For Klaus Kinski and Werner Herzog's fans only
If you saw AGUIRRE and FITZCARRALDO, then of course this movie is made for you, but you'll also prefer AGUIRRE. All those three movies are adventure yarns showing the madness of a man, and in a brilliant and offbeat manner. It may be disturbing and not destined to everyone. Werner Herzog - Klaus Kinski association was comparable with Lon Chaney - Tod Browning one; in each case, for each duo, both were made to work together, they fit like the bullet and the gun barrell. No one in the business could have Kinski's role here, and only Herzog could show him this way too. I like this film denouncing slavery and wild colonialism. Good script.
Bad Lands (1939)
Excellent lost gem
I am so amazed by this Lew Landers's film, so terrific from such a prolific grade B director. I am still astonished. It looks like an Edward L Cahn from the thirties, his best period. It's a posse western, with a solid and riveting body count, solid characterization and solid story. Yes, I can't realize that Lew Landers made this, for RKO pictures. It is painful to realize that so many lost films from this era still remain in vaults, somewhere in warehouses, in a remote suburb...Movie passion saves so many surprises, and this one is the best example. I won't say it looks like a John Ford's movie but not so far from THE LOST PATROL, which was not exactly a western but not far either.
Inn of the Damned (1975)
Offbeat for the least
I really don't know what to think about this very strange western from the Aussie land. Very strange, very difficult to analyze, to have an opinion. But it's no crap, no, in any way, just an unpredictable and unusual feature, that's all. You have horror elements in this movie from the mid seventies; very daring for this period. It was not Robert Rodriguez's period yet and the Grindhouse mode was not sent to Australia either. But this film doesn't beyond to the Grindhouse, no. It's really something very weird, not for all audiences, for sure. Most of them will run away from it or stop after a couple of reels. No it's worth trying this movie.
Une journée bien remplie ou Neuf meurtres insolites dans une même journée par un seul homme dont ce n'est pas le métier (1973)
Serial killer before its time
Or maybe influenced by THEATER OF BLOOD or THE ABOMINABLE DR PHIBES, in terms of scheme, topic, vengeance of a father to avenge the death of his son - himself a murderer - who was sentenced and executed by the justice after a trial. So it is a weird, offbeat, story, in the Jean Pierre Mocky's style, as f...of as will be LE MAITRE NAGEUR, a few years later, directed by the same Jean Louis Trintignant. I have been puzzled - and still am - by the meaning of both films, especially from some one like Trintignant. I would have expected something more sensitive, poignant, some kind of drama, character study, instead of this sort of joke. Yes, I am puzzled, but not deceived. This is exceptional, it announces Gustave de Kervern's world, starring Yolande Moreau and the new old version of Gerard Depardieu.
Bowery at Midnight (1942)
Best days of Sam Katzman
I discovered one thing with this film, I discovered that there was a Sam Katzman before the Sam Katzman we mostly know, the awful Sam Katzman for Columbia pictures in the fifties, the infamous Sam Katzman because of the tiny budgets destined to films that deserved far far more money to be at least a bit good. This very one, a pure product of Poverty Row, is also a small budget film, but at least the small budget is adapted to this solid little story, very unlikely and surprising, unusual and unexpected. Bela Lugosi is pretty good in this Wallace Fox film. Fox was a B movies director. And I am generous, I would say a grade Z film maker. But it's fun.
Trapeze (1956)
Trapeze
One marvelous film about circus, different from other bigger budgets such as THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH, THE BIG CIRCUS, RING OF FEAR, CIRCUS WORLD...but concerning the cast: Burt Lancaster and Tony Curtis, it remains a worth watching masterpiece bringing so much suspense, thrilling story enhanced by a romance, a feud between two men because of a woman: Gina Lollobrigida. One of the better film of Carol Reed. Riveting, jaw dropping scenes. A true performance not to miss at any cost. Burt Lancaster proves here his genuine skills, after CRIMSOM PIRATE and FLAME AND THE ARROW. Excellent production design of Paris settings.
The Hustler (1961)
The best movie ever made about pool
I think there will never be a better film than this one concerning pool, even its sequel: COLOR OF MONEY, directed by Martin Scorcese and also starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. It is also one of the best performance from Paul Newman and above all Piper Laurie, before another role of hers in CARRIE, for a total different kind of character. So, yes, this is a pure jewel which is forbidden to miss, even for those who have never played pool in their life. Robert Rossen's most iconic movie. Poignant, gripping, never too long, despite the length, because of the atmosphere, camera work, dialoogues. Jackie Gleason also in his best role ever.
House of Games (1987)
The hustler
I discovered this tremendous and absolutely unique movie nearly thirty five years ago and was astonished at first sight. In terms of films about games, it is at the same scale as THE HUSTLER, CINCINNATI KID, COLOR OF MONEY, THE STING and forget the others, though I am sure there must exist other good films about this topic. But this one has something special, really special, because of the psychological study, character study and especially relation between those same characters, a gem of a drama. A pure masterpiece where Lindsay Crouse, Joe Mantegna literally shine. And what a great David Mamet's movie. His best for me. I hope many new generations of movie buffs will discover it.
Machine (2024)
Ken Loach and Gustave de Kervern meet KILL BILL and EQUALIZER
So strange this series, so weird, some kind of mix up of social drama, political - social- plot, actionner, comedy, drama - after all Joey starr's character dies in the middle of the show - with many interesting point; I don't mean Karl Marx's influence, not my stuff - but many many unlikely sequences, such as this one, when our female lead - the 23456th female lead since NIKITA, action female lead I mean - attacks the semi trailer truck. Or this strange supporting characters study between the young hotel maid and the South Korean businessman; what's the meaning to show those two people having a sex relation? Very strange sequence for a social political drama which could be called as communist message. Very strange, this mix-up, as we can see in so many South Korean or Japanese action dramas. The two things that I could not bear however, were the fact that this lady is UNBEATABLE, and those f...comedy lines - WHY WHY WHY ? - but the overall stuff is pleasant, a good time waster that I would have more imagined on Netflix - such as the FURIES trash - and certainly not on ARTE. I particularely liked the Joey Starr's character,, very interesting ambivalent character, considering the fact that he abandoned his daughter. Very unusual, far far from expected clichés. The relation between him and the lead female character - Machine - is also moving. Very unsual. I love that this kind of little touch that most audiences ignore....
The Beach Girls and the Monster (1965)
Poor Jon Hall...Where is Maria Montez?
The early sixties were the beach parties period; of all kinds. And also the period of the cheap horror flicks destined to saturday evenings drive in audiences. So, it was predictable that, one day or another, horror would collide with beach parties. Let's be honest, this is a lousy film, that's precisely the reason why it is so charming. Roger Corman's movies are masterpieces compared to this one, but it is definitely fun, you must watch it at the thirteenth degree. Psychotronic genre at his weirdest peak. I won't say it must be seen to be believed, but yes, for specified audiences, it must be seen. Not to die as an idiot. What a shame to see Jon Hall, as an actor and director for such a trash !!! Oh my God, poor Maria Montez, it's better for her that she was already dead at this time.
Kurak Günler (2022)
Outstanding
This scheme of a district attorney trying to investigate against corruption reminds me the Italian films from the seventies from the likes of Francesco Rosi, Damiano Damiani, Pasquale Squieteri.... Films about mafia, the true and authentic mafia, not action packed movies but so realistic, depressing, riveting too. Here, the way of telling is not the same at all, it is also very subtle, brilliant, intelligent, full of metaphors. You may feel dizzy after a while. I am not surprised however, from this film from Turkey. This is a real engrossing story, showing terrific scenes, such as this one with the young attorney and those two men trying to corrupt his mind...Painful but realistic.
Catch the Fair One (2021)
Catch this excellent one
It would be some kind of 8MM - 1999 - where Nick Cage was in desperate search for a missing girl. Both movies are dark, gloom, gritty, depressing, disturbing, exactly what I crave for, not for the squeamish nor the good whole family. It is close t real life. No anti hero here, and I can accept that ONCE MORE, the lead character is a female. After all, since one decade now, you have tons of those films and series. I also like the sub characters here, it doesn't only focus on the main character. It's also unusual. For instance the villain in his home, with his kids.... I already saw this in EQUALIZER 2. Terrific ending, far far far from Hollywood standards.
The Brighton Strangler (1945)
Awesome little thriller
We often forget that director Max Nosseck did not only gave us two Lawrence Tierney's vehicles: DILLINGER and THE HOODLUM, but also this one, in response, I guess, to THE LODGER or DR JEKYLL AND MR HYDE. The inspiration is more than obvious and such a lead role could easily have been played by the likes of George Sanders, Laird Cregar, Albert Dekker.... Yes, what a tremendous little film, thriller drama produced by RKO pictures. Tense, no useless scene, good dialogues, terrific suspense for such a cheap production. It should be more recognized, more widely shown. For me, it's definitely an underrated gem.