Top Four part Three, Goodfellas

It is time to look at movie number three of my Letterboxd top four:

Goodfellas (1990).

In a way I can't believe I haven't talked about this movie before. I have certainly compared others to it in the past, and always as 'not as good as Goodfellas'.

This crime epic directed by Martin Scorsese is based on the book Wiseguy by Nicolas Pileggi, who also co-wrote the screenplay, and chronicles Henry Hill from a teenager to adulthood and his rise and fall as a career criminal.

It's worth noting that this movie is based on real events with actual people, crimes and other happenings that took place. However, it isn't and was never intended to be a historical record. Some things are changed and the actors don't really look or act 100% like their real life counterparts.

As usual I won't include any important spoilers, but in a sense you can't spoil Goodfellas. Even if I told you everything that happens, it is still worth watching. It is that good.

Like I mentioned, we meet a young Henry Hill (Ray Liotta), who states “As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster”. So he gets involved as a runner and helper in Paul Cicero's crew. He meets and later works with Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) and James Conway (Robert De Niro) as he grows up. We get a great view into the inner workings of gangster life in the 60's through to the 80's. It's worth noting that these guys are gangsters, or goodfellas, but not Mafia. Paul Cicero is Mafia, but the guys are essentially protected earners who work under but don't belong to the Mafia. This is an important distinction.

Goodfellas is simply beautiful. The way Scorsese filmed it is at times almost unbelievable. The actors are perfect, the dialogue and the narration is incredible, the score is brilliant and the story illustrates how lucrative yet perilous the gangster life is. Money, mistrust and murder rule their lives, and to show weakness is suicide. I've always loved that they show you why someone would join that life, but also why it will almost always bring you down as well. Goodfellas isn't really a cautionary tale, but it can serve in that capacity.

Goodfellas is my favorite gangster movie of all time. There are many good ones out there, but to me not even the mighty Godfather trilogy can unseat Goodfellas, and I can't really tell you why that is. Certainly the Godfather movies are brilliant, yes even the third one is good, but Goodfellas does something special. It is a question of 'the sum is greater than the whole of its parts' but there is something more that escapes my grasp.

Goodfellas set the bar for gangster movies incredibly high. So high in fact that Scorsese himself has never reached it again. Sure Casino (1995) and The Irishman (2019) are good but nowhere near Goodfellas. I'll end with this: if you like gangster movies and you haven't seen Goodfellas for whatever reason, watch it as soon as possible. I can't imagine you'd be disappointed.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Top of the world, Ma!

I watched a video about movies Clint Eastwood loves and hates, and on that recommendation I watched:

White Heat (1949).

Directed by Raoul Walsh and starring James Cagney in the main role, White Heat is a black and white gangster thriller that never lets up.

Cody Jarrett, a veteran gangster and his gang commit a robbery that turns deadly. The feds are after him, but he is no one's fool, and supported by his devoted mother, has a plan. The feds manage to get an undercover specialist in Cody's gang to help corner the vicious and wily criminal, but Cody is not a man to go down the easy way.

White Heat is 114 minutes, but it felt like an hour. It didn't get boring for a minute even though there aren't that many scenes one would label as action. The tension is thick in scene after scene but it has balance and you also don't get overloaded.

Central to the movie is Cody himself. Devoted to his mother, a sufferer of brutal headaches and a man who'll gun down anyone who gets in his way, he is nevertheless a likable character somehow. He is a tormented soul which garners sympathy at the same time that his cruelty and careless attitude towards others makes you wish for his downfall.

The rest of the characters are good, in fact we have a surprising lack of cliches, but they all hang in orbit around Cody. From feds to gangsters, they all dance to Cody's tune one way or another.

The plot is excellent, White Heat is a really clever movie, even though the dialogue is nothing special. You have to remember that movies were made very differently back in those days. We're a long way from Tarantino's non stop clever conversations. In films like White Heat the dialogue is utilitarian, not necessarily witty, although there were a couple of good lines. The obvious one is “Made it, Ma! Top of the world!” which has become legendary, but “You wouldn't kill me in cold blood, would ya?” “No, I'll let you warm up a little.” is really good.

The cinematography is top notch. The whole movie is wonderful to look at, and it really makes me wish modern directors would look back and relearn what was common knowledge in film making. No blurry jump cuts, nothing hidden in needlessly dark scenes, just solid set ups and good blocking.

So, do I and Clint Eastwood recommend this movie? Absolutely! It's one of Eastwood's favorites, and although I won't go that far, I loved it. White Heat ranges from solid to brilliant from beginning to end, and demonstrates how important it is to have an intelligent villain. Tough and scary is good, but without brains the main villain looses too much. Yes, White Heat is old, but in no way decrepit, and if you like movies, do yourself a service and watch it as soon as possible.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Harry Brown

I learned of a revenge/vigilante movie in regards to other such movies like John Wick and Nobody. As the movie stars Michael Caine, I sat down and watched:

Harry Brown (2009).

Minor Spoilers ahead:

Harry (Michael Caine) is a pensioner who was once upon a time a Royal Marine, serving in Northern Ireland. He lives in a dismal, run down council estate that is ruled by drug dealing, drug addled and violent young thugs. Then his wife dies. And his only friend dies. It's all horrible, sad and depressing. Finally he snaps and the old marine wakes up and goes on the war path. The problem is, he's really old and suffers from emphysema, so he's not exactly fit anymore.

To begin with, this movie is really well made. It feels absolutely authentic, though I did read that the graffiti is actually American and not British, but what do I know?

The actors are phenomenal, heightening the already bleak and awful atmosphere. Harry Brown is filmed in that grim, pale way the British do so well. Dead Man's Shoes was the same way, but believe it or not, Harry Brown is much dirtier. That actually surprised me.

Seeing as Harry is old and unwell, there aren't really any action scenes, but there is a lot of violence, which appropriately enough is brutal and nasty. The sexuality on display is likewise dirty and grimy, the whole affair makes you feel like you need a shower afterwards. I don't however hold this against the movie. This subject matter isn't supposed to be glamorous or cool. The thugs are the way they are because they grew up in an environment that gave them few chances if any, not that it is any kind of an excuse. We all make choices in our lives, and we have to face the consequences of those choices. Sometimes that consequence is an old retired and very angry marine.

Michael Caine as the star of the show, does a phenomenal job. He tells his friend Len, that when he met his wife, he suppressed his previous self in order to be able to be a husband and father. Oh yeah, his daughter died as a child just to make all the tragedy just a bit worse. You actually see this in the way he moves and how he observes things. Early on, he sort of staggers forward with a confused look on his face, but later he moves with purpose.

The story isn't what you'd call groundbreaking, but I think a more complicated plot would have made it impossible to follow as well as dragging it out too much. The pacing is just right, and as compelling as it is, it would quickly outstay its welcome if it was any longer.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, I think so. Harry Brown like I said, is superbly crafted, but I can't say it was an enjoyable watching experience. Normally, vigilante movies have that moment when the protagonist starts getting even and lets face it, that moment is awesome. Whether it is John Wick, Nobody or Death Wish, that moment feels good, but in Harry Brown you don't get that. Sure the bad guys deserve it, but it's just more pain added on to the massive pile of suffering already there, and no one gets to be happy. If you're feeling down, watch something happier for your own sake.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

The Highwaymen

I sat down and watched:

The Highwaymen (2019).

Mostly based on facts, this movie shows one part of the hunt for the infamous outlaws Bonnie and Clyde.

With regular law enforcement unable to stop the trigger happy bandits, the governor of Texas, Ma Ferguson (Kathy Bates) empowers retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Kevin Costner) to go on the hunt. He brings along his fellow retiree from the rangers, Maney Gault (Woody Harrelson). Together they head out to bring down the bloody couple.

The Highwaymen is a beautiful movie, lets get that straight. The cinematography and the shot composition is really nice. The acting is good, Costner and Harrelson are veterans who know what they are doing, no problem. The props department also did a great job, the movie looks like 1934, a great job in fact. They kept it as simple as possible and it works.

I love the fact that this movie isn't really about Bonnie and Clyde as such. Yes, they are the focus, but you only really see glimpses of them. Shots focus on feet, blurry outlines and long shots. The way they are talked about, from furious lawmen to adoring fans in the general population makes them seem bigger and more sinister than they were in reality. This is such a smart move and really gives the veteran rangers a tough enemy to hunt. It also removes all the romance from the couple and focuses on their grisly crimes. If you want that side, watch Bonnie and Clyde (1967) with Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.

Then there is the other side of the movie. The fact that both main actors are getting pretty old. This is natural and in fact, Costner was offered the role 10 years earlier but felt he was too young then. I can get behind that. But I also feel that the movie spends way too much time hammering home how old Hamer and Gault were. Too old to run down a kid, too old to climb a fence, too old for this and too tired for that. After a while it gets a bit boring, to be quite honest. Especially since after a point in the movie, the fact that they are basically too old and rusty is just ignored.

Some of the events were changed for some reason. Gault is shown to be unemployed and a bit down and out, which he wasn't when he went on the hunt. Other things are exactly as happened, including the fact that the scene where Bonnie and Clyde are gunned down, is shot on the same road where it happened for real. A scene where Hamer walks into a gun store and buys an arsenal that includes two Tommy guns and an automatic BAR is questioned, but you could actually do that in the 30's.

So, do I recommend this movie? Sure. The Highwaymen is good, but it is too long. At a little over two hours, I'd say it's about 30 minutes too long. Had it been tighter, I think it would have hit harder. As it is, it wanders about a bit too much and wastes time on things it doesn't have to. Overall I had a good time and the movie is absolutely worth watching at least once.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great week!

 

The Gentlemen

I first saw some clips on Youtube which peaked my interest, so I watched:

The Gentlemen (2019).

Directed, co-written and co-produced by Guy Ritchie (Snatch, Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels), this is a return to form for the British director.

Michael Pearson (Matthew McConaughey) is the top producer of marijuana in Great Britain, and he's looking to sell up and retire. One evening on returning home, his number two man, Ray (Charlie Hunnam) finds reporter and scumbag Fletcher (Hugh Grant) in his house. Fletcher has an interesting story to tell, and wants 20 million pounds for what he knows and has in evidence. Thus begins an amazing and convoluted story about crime and manners.

I can't really say much more about the story without going head first into heavy spoiler territory, and that I won't do. The Gentlemen is a movie that has to be experienced first hand. It's worth noting that the movie is not told in pure chronological order, but as a story told by Fletcher, as far as he knows what is going on. It's not a case of an unreliable narrator, as that implies that the narrator lies, it's more a question of who knows what and how things really happened.

From a movie making standpoint, The Gentlemen is a masterpiece. The cinematography, the props, the actors, the dialogue, everything is perfect. I can genuinely say I wouldn't change a thing. Seeing as it is a Guy Ritchie movie, it's worth noting that The Gentlemen is nowhere near as funny as his previous crime movies. But this is not a negative. Instead of funny, it is witty. The dialogue is smart and eloquent which fits this story better than the dialogue in his previous movies.

As I sat there happily watching, it struck me that the plot in The Gentlemen is pretty chaotic, but in the end everything is solved, wrapped up and finished. This is not a small feat considering how many moving parts this story has. Again, a masterfully directed movie.

I want to return to the actors. Matthew McConaughey is amazing as he always is. Not a stand out performance, but great anyway.

Charlie Hunnam, perhaps best known as Jax in Sons of Anarchy, is superb, with his poise and soft spoken demeanor. He is threatening because he isn't yelling.

I can genuinely say I have never enjoyed Hugh Grant as much as I do in The Gentlemen. He is a scene stealer and I loved every minute of his sleazy presence.

Colin Farrell likewise runs away with every scene his Coach character is in. He trains fighters and combines humility with confidence is an amazing way.

So, do I recommend this movie? Of course I do. There isn't a bad thing I can say about it. If you have seen and liked Guy Ritchie's other crime movies, and you haven't seen The Gentlemen, do something about that as soon as possible. If you haven't seen them, The Gentlemen is not a bad place to start. I will absolutely have to re-watch this movie as soon as possible.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have great week!

 

The Funeral

Looking around for something to watch, I chose:

The Funeral (1996).

This gangster movie, directed by Abel Ferrara is about a trio of brothers who run a gangster crew. There is the oldest, Ray (Christopher Walken), the middle brother, Chez (Chris Penn) and the youngest, Johnny (Vincent Gallo).

The movie, set in the 30's, opens with Johnny's casket being delivered to Ray's house. Someone put three bullets in Johnny's chest, and the body is being delivered for the wake. The question everyone wonders is who shot Johnny? There is no shortage of enemies, as we get to see in multiple flashbacks. Johnny was a communist, a loudmouth and a ladies man who had no scruples about bedding married women, and that is on top of being a gangster.

A great part of the film is told in these flashbacks, mostly as memories from his older brothers who are struggling with guilt and grief in equal measure. There are also the long suffering wives, as no one in this movie is even remotely happy. In fact, this is one of the darkest, most gloomy movies I have ever seen. Most of the scenes are set in dark rooms, but even the few scenes we get in sunlight are so bereft of joy that the sunlight becomes wan and depressing.

Mechanically the movie is good. The set pieces, the actors and the music are really good and hammers home how bleak the movie is. The song in the opening shot is Gloomy Sunday, aka the Hungarian Suicide Song. This should tell you how things are going to be.

Overall, I can't say I really liked the The Funeral. It's just so unflinchingly miserable, but I also think it is worth watching just once. I think it is essentially a “reverse gangster movie”, as in there is no glamour, no style, nothing that would make the lifestyle worth having. Other movies like The Godfather or Goodfellas show some positives even as they demonstrate all the negatives. The Funeral have no positives, it is all unrelenting misery.

So, do I recommend this movie? Weird as it may sound, yes I do. Despite all the pain on display, The Funeral is a compelling movie. You get the feeling that something is going to happen, and you want to be there when it does. If you're in the mood for a gangster movie, maybe choose something else, but if you are a fan of crime cinema you should watch it at some point.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Rulers of the City

Today we're talking about:

Rulers of the City (1976),

aka Mister Scarface, this Italian crime comedy/thriller is written and directed by Fernando Di Leo, who has been featured three time before on this blog with; Caliber 9, The Italian Connection and The Boss.

Where the three above mentioned movies are quite heavy, Rulers of the City is much more lighthearted. Even when people get brutally murdered, it's not that bad. The movie doesn't dwell on the violence that much and the tone never gets too dark. It's almost in the same vein as an action adventure movie in that sense.

The story is this:

We meet Tony (Harry Baer), a handsome and happy young man who collects gambling debts for his mid level gangster boss, Luigi, who runs an illegal gambling and loan sharking business. Tony would like to rise in the ranks, but is told to wait his turn. One night, a young man, Rick (Al Cliver) accuses the house of cheating and is kicked out. He then returns in the entourage of high level gangster Scarface Manzari (Jack Palance). Scarface is angry that someone disrespected one of his men and takes all the “casinos” loose cash in return for a check no one is going to dare to cash. Rick is then beaten and thrown out of the gang for being stupid enough to let himself get cheated in the first place.

Tony helps Rick and they become good friends. Being young and cocky, Tony soon volunteers to get Luigi's money back and that sparks off a gang war with the two young men and their older ex-pickpocket adviser in the middle.

Rulers of the City is set in Rome, a place Di Leo knew very well, and he brings it to life in a way that is a joy to watch. The cinematography is first rate, and the acting is good. The fight scenes are excellent, illustrating that these criminals know how to handle themselves. Tony especially knows how to fight and makes it look effortless and almost fun. We get some good chases, both on foot and in vehicles and the gunfights are really nice.

Rulers of the City is one of those rare crime comedies that somehow manages to keep its focus and balance, without veering into either too much slapstick or becoming too heavy due to the serious subject matter.

So, do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! You could accuse Rulers of the City of being a bit slow, and you'd be right, but this movie is all about the journey. All you need to do is sit back and enjoy, and the movie takes care of the rest. Rulers of the City is a rare gem in that it manages to be both grim and brutal without being the least depressing. A mean feat and one to be lauded. If you have any love for 70's cinema or just want a fun time, give it a go, just don't take it too seriously.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!

 

Busting Crime

It was quite by accident that I came across:

Crimebusters aka. Poliziotti Violenti (1976).

I wasn't looking for a poliziotteschi movie, but it popped up and I said why not?

Directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini and starring Henry Silva and Antonio Sabato, Crimebusters is not one of the greats in the poliziotteschi genre, but it is compelling to watch.

Some spoilers ahead.

Henry Silva who I have mentioned many times, plays Paratrooper Major Paolo Altieri, an officer, a gentleman and a moral professional. He gets promoted and moved to Rome, where he runs straight into one dangerous situation after another. He foils a kidnapping which earns him the enmity of some very dangerous people who have him beaten up. The beating is overseen by a mid level thug who can't get through a single scene in the entire movie without stuffing himself with chocolate. (He is even listed on IMDB as Man Eating Chocolate). In hospital, Major Altieri meets Inspector Tosi (Sabato) and they don't hit it off. They do however keep running into each other, especially during a shootout between the cops and some thugs with submachine guns. Guns, the Major knows should only be in the hands of his old paratrooper regiment. The Major and the Inspector join up to uncover the clear corruption that goes on.

I should warn you that there is a pretty rough scene where two thugs assault Altieri's girlfriend to get to him. 

A few fights, some chases, a hand grenade or two and things finally escalate to a violent and abrupt end.

All in all, the story in Crimebusters is very good, but the movie is let down by some questionable directing decisions. Example: the car and bike chases are very good, but the camera keeps zooming in on the spinning wheels, breaking the momentum of the chase itself. It ruins the flow and is, ultimately, pointless.

The acting is standard fare for a poliziotteschi, so no real complaints and as I said, the story is actually pretty damn good. The movie does a great job in showing the thugs for what they are; vicious, sadistic jackals that delight in violence but run desperately away as soon as the police arrives. There is no glamour here, nothing admirable, just savagery and cowardice. Our heroes could stand to be a tad smarter, but you can't get everything.

Beyond the somewhat questionable direction (and to be fair, it was the directors fourth movie), I disliked that the ending was as abrupt as it was and that so many bad guys just got away. I'd liked to have seen them get some comeuppance. Likewise, the plot itself is only half way solved. It's not that we don't know what is going on, but that the movie isn't long enough to get everything done. Maybe they ran low on money or time or they just got sloppy, I don't know. What I do know is that it was too much for a 94 minute film. I have suggested before with other movies that the story would need a short TV series to really get things done, and Crimebusters is absolutely such a movie.

So, do I recommend it? To poliziotteschi fans, and fans of 70's crime movies, yes. Just be aware that it is flawed. To others? No, skip it and watch one of the better poliziotteschi like Caliber 9, Goodbye and Amen or The Boss.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Climbing the Greasy Pole

This weeks movie is an Italian crime drama called:

The Climber (1975).

Originally titled L'ambizioso and directed by Pasquale Squitieri, who also co-wrote it with Carlo Rivolta. It stars Joe Dallesandro as Aldo, the climber and Stefania Casini who also starred in The Bloodstained Shadow and Suspiria.

Minor Spoilers ahead.

The movie opens with Aldo, a low level American thug, living in Naples selling smuggled cigarettes on behalf of a gangster crew. They are however tired of Aldo's loud and reckless ways and so they beat him and throw him out of town. Brusied and broke, he begs a ride from Luciana (Casini) who drives him to Rome and lets him stay with her. They start a relationship as Aldo starts to climb the ranks. He forms a crew, moves back to Naples and gets down to business.

The Climber is a bit of a mixed bag for me. The cinematography is fine, the actors are better than usual for a movie like this, and the music is mostly off-brand 70's rock and thus fairly good. So far so good, but it is the story and how it is told that leaves me scratching my head.

The story of a young ambitious criminal rising through the underworld only to discover that the top isn't what he thought it would be, is not new. There are in fact many who claim that The Climber was an inspiration for De Palma's Scarface (1983) but I can't find any official sources for that. I did come to the same conclusion myself though, as the two movies have a lot in common. But where Scarface is over the top, The Climber is much more muted, probably due to budget differences. I don't know how big The Climber's budget was, but it wasn't $25 million, I can tell you that.

The beginning of Aldo's rise is actually pretty damn good. He has nothing but brains and balls, but he makes a go of it with a couple of friends and Luciana at his side. The problem is that Aldo's ultimate takeover is pretty underwhelming. He gathers his crew and just sort of wins. I guess it is either the budget again, or then the director didn't know how to show the takeover, so it kind of just flops over and is there. I wouldn't call it bad, not by a long shot, but with a little extra care and effort, The Climber could have been stellar.

So, do I recommend The Climber? It is a solid middle of the road affair. Too good to be bad, and too weak to be really good. Like so often, I can recommend it to fans but perhaps not to most viewers. I did like it, but if I sat you down and explained it, I doubt most of you would care to look it up.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

Do They In Fact Own This City?

I was very excited when I heard that George Pelecanos and David Simon were creating a new show set in Baltimore. I'm a huge fan of The Wire and Pelecanos produced that show with Simon who was also one of its principal writers.

We Own This City is six episodes long and actually fairly tame for being an HBO show. Little nudity and the violence that there is, is toned down, so no need to worry if you're sensitive.

So, the show is all about a special task force in the Baltimore Police Department, the Gun Trace Task Force. They work plain clothes and are first and foremost occupied with getting guns off the street. Naturally they also haul in criminals and drugs by the bucket load. Or at least they are supposed to. The GTTF is sadly extremely corrupt. They steal, they falsify records, they arrest people they know are innocent all in order to get richer and boost their popularity with the Brass, and much more.

This is not a spoiler BTW. The show carries this on its sleeve. We Own This City isn't a normal police procedural or a whodunit. The question isn't “Are they guilty?” or “Will they be caught?”. The question is “How the hell did this happen?” and “How deep is the corruption and what can we do about it?”

There are two stories running simultaneously. One is an FBI/Internal Affairs investigation and the other is a Civil Rights investigation by the DOJ. They don't interact with each other, rather they tell different sides of the same story. Example: the FBI investigates a corrupt cop for his crimes while the DOJ investigates how his actions affects his victims and the community he is supposed to police and so on. This way you get a fuller story without confusing the narrative.

It's also worth pointing out that the show is non-linear in its timeline. It jumps back and forth a lot in order to show you the journey these cops took, particularly Wayne Jenkins (Jon Bernthal). He starts as a pretty idealistic young officer and slowly becomes more and more crooked. It is fascinating to see his downward slide, one deed at a time. It serves as a good morality tale how one thing that isn't so bad makes another worse act easier to do, until you are neck deep and can't get out. Another brilliant detail is that Wayne doesn't see himself as villain, only a man doing a hard job no one else can do. Sure he helps himself but in his eyes he has earned it.

If this show wasn't as well written as it is, it would have been an intolerable mess of morality preaching, but it isn't. A big backdrop of the setting is the death at the hands of the police, of one Freddie Grey who is basically a nod to the real life death of George Floyd. This has enormous ramifications from the angry community, to officers who refuse to do their jobs out of fear of being accused and indicted. Baltimore was a powder keg in The Wire and it is worse now.

Speaking of The Wire there are a lot of familiar faces returning to Baltimore but in very different roles. This isn't a sequel to The Wire, spiritually or otherwise, it is a new look at some of the same problems in the same place in a different time.

So do I recommend We Own This City? Absolutely! It is extremely well done, all the actors are great and I don't have a single complaint of the technical side. The story is great and I'm going to give it a re watch soon.

That is that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

Rabid Dogs

When movie fans hear the name Mario Bava they usually think of films like Black Sunday, The Whip and the Body, Black Sabbath and Blood and Black Lace. I decided to watch something else and instead watched:

Rabid Dogs (1974).

After a couple of box office failures, Bava decided to show everyone that he wasn't just a horror director but that he could do a contemporary thriller. Thus the sort of but not quite poliziotteschi movie Rabid Dogs came to be.

In an odd twist of fate, the producer became bankrupt and the ownership of the movie got stuck in limbo, so no one got to watch it until 1997. Apparently there exists at least two versions of it, with the other version being called Kidnapped. I think I watched the Rabid Dogs version and since the differences should be quite small, I don't think it matters. There is a rumor that Rabid Dogs was an influence on Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, but that came out in 1992, five years before anyone got to see Rabid Dogs, so that's is not true.

The plot in a nutshell is this; a gang robs a payroll and in doing so end up killing a bunch of people. Desperate to get away they kidnap a woman, Maria, but the cops know the car they're driving. So, they grab a new car and force the owner to be their get away driver. The man, Riccardo is pliant as he was driving his young sedated son to the hospital. What follows is a tense road trip from hell.

This is all I'm going to “spoil” of the plot. Of course there are multiple scenes with complications and dangers, but that is to be expected.

Rabid Dogs is shot on a shoe-string budget, so small in fact that they had to fire the cinematographer after only two days, with Bava taking over that job as well. Despite this, Rabid Dogs is a twisted masterpiece.

The film drags a lot at times, despite being only 96 minutes long but this plays in with the fact that it mostly takes place in a swealtering car during the Italian summer and mostly in real time. You can almost smell the sweat coming off the desperate robbers and their terrified captives. Everyone is a mess when the movie comes to a close and I felt pretty exhausted myself. I can't tell if it was luck or Bava's skill that pulled it off but he did it. Most of the film takes place in the car, or by the side of the road, which is natural considering the lack of money.

Of course we have to give kudos to the actors as well. Maria (Lea Lander) is brought to the brink of madness from fear for her life and her virtue, particularly as one of the bandits, Thirty-two (that's his name) is very keen on “getting to know her more intimately”. The robbers themselves, from the cool and collected Doc, to Thirty-two's cackling madness and finally Blade who has his own problems and temper to deal with, are well done. They are despicable and disgusting people but weaker actors and poorer direction would have plunged the movie into farcical territory. This is not the case with Rabid Dogs.

It's well shot, you can tell that Bava's experience served him well. I can't comment on the soundtrack as I can't remember it at all. My focus was on the people 100% of the time.

So, do I recommend this movie? Yes, absolutely. It is unlike the other poliziotteschi movies I've talked about before. There is no handsome macho Inspector to chase down and fight the bad guys, it is all about survival, both for the hostages and the crooks. It is a hard movie to watch at times. The violence is almost theatrical, but the threat of it makes the brutality worse when it comes. Any fan of thrillers should get a kick out of Rabid Dogs.

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

 

Two for the price of one

To the surprise of no one, I'm sure, I watched some more poliziotteschi movies.

First I sat down and watched Goodbye & Amen (1977). Set in Rome, Goodbye & Amen is more a spy movie than a true poliziotteschi. Sure the police is ever present but the film revolves around the CIA. From the opening where they are planning a coup in an African country to a tense hostage situation, the CIA has considerably more screen time than the police.

Goodbye & Amen is frankly amazing. Sure, the acting isn't always the best, but the story and how the movie is made is great. There are enough twists and turns to keep both things interesting and you guessing, but not so much that it becomes impossible to follow. As a bonus, all the loose threads are tied up in the end. It's directed by Damiano Damiani and stars amongst others; Tony Musante, Claudia Cardinale and John Forsythe.

The sound and music is alright as is the direction. This isn't a movie that needs dramatic sweeping shots, but the camera work is very well planned. If it was a car, I'd say the engineering is top notch. The beginning jumps around quite a bit but it will make sense later on. Unfortunately, I can't really say anything else without stepping into spoiler territory, which I won't do.

Realizing that I can't say very much about Goodbye & Amen except “movie good, go watch”, I sat down and watched Street Law (1974).

Directed by Enzo G. Castellari and starring Franco Nero as our protagonist, who is still acting by the way, Barbara Bach who three year later starred opposite Roger Moore in The Spy Who Loved Me, and a solid cast of other more or less familiar faces.

Street Law is the story of Carlo Antonelli, an engineer who is taken hostage at a robbery and beaten. Afterwards he feels that his self respect and masculinity is diminished and he decides to do something about the criminals. The police is fairly uninterested which makes his girlfriends (Bach) arguments about letting it go, unacceptable.

Carlos early attempts to investigate the underworld go poorly but he gets the hang of it and the story progresses to its logical conclusion. The interesting bit, for me at least, is that revenge stories are common enough, but Carlo isn't a tough guy. This isn't John McClane or Rambo territory, he's an engineer. What is less interesting however is that Carlo for all his intelligence doesn't seem to have much of a plan. He goes into dangerous situations with no clue of how to handle it and pays a steep price.

The cinematography in Street Law is amazing, as are the stunts. The acting is good but the soundtrack is pretty hit or miss. My biggest complaint over all, is that the story drags quite a bit at times. It's 105 minutes long and that is too long. A tighter cut would have enhanced the tension a lot and made for a much better movie. As it is, it's nice but it could be great. It falls short of the mark, and it is mostly the action scenes that carry the story along. The length could have been fine if Carlo had more of a plan but he spends a long time behaving like a bit of a moron in several repetitive scenes.

So, do I recommend these movies? Goodbye & Amen, absolutely! I may actually have to re-watch it. It is a solid top shelf choice both for a casual or a focused watch.

Street Law, yes if you are a fan of the genre or Franco Nero. He is a good actor, but the movie as such is a middle of the road affair.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

The Friends of Eddie Coyle

I had heard the title before, but when a friend talked about this movie, I sat down and watched it the following day. The subject of this week is The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973). Based on the debut novel of the same name by George V. Higgins, this movie stars Robert Mitchum, Peter Boyle, Richard Jordan and Steven Keats. It's directed by Peter Yeats who also directed the Steve McQueen classic Bullit.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is a study in tense atmosphere. We follow the titular Eddie (Mitchum), a small time crook who is getting both old and nowhere fast. He is connected but unimportant. He knows how the game is played but isn't successful. He is known to be solid and is mostly used to supply guns to those who need them, but now he's looking at prison time and he's not sure he can do it. The question is what he can do to stay free.

His main clients are a trio of disciplined and clever bank robbers, one of whom is played by Alex Rocco, best know as Moe Greene in The Godfather. The other important character is the young hotshot gunrunner Jackie Brown. If the name is familiar it is because The Friends of Eddie Coyle had a big influence on Quentin Tarantino, who named one of his movies Jackie Brown.

This movie is pretty slow in many ways, but never boring. Don't go into this expecting a lot of fast paced action. It's a slow intense burn, and it burns all the hotter for it. The tension is thick enough to carve with a knife in several scenes and even when the movie relaxes a bit, it is still strained. You can never really relax and everyone is constantly guarded and ready for the worst.

Set and shot in Boston during the fall, everything feels cold, tired and miserable. Add to this Mitchum's wonderful portrayal as Eddie, who goes from tough and intimidating to cajoling and almost but not quite pleading. The end result is a movie that should be absolutely depressing but somehow isn't.

Even without the Hays Code I have a feeling that The Friends of Eddie Coyle would be just the same. This is one of those movies that really makes crime seem unattractive. It has no glamour or cool, only pragmatic business in a business where you can't trust anyone. To quote Jackie :”This life's HARD man, but it's HARDER if you're stupid!”

If I have managed to paint a picture of unrelenting depression and miserable suffering, don't worry, The Friends of Eddie Coyle isn't that gloomy, but it is extremely well made.

Do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! I would have hated it as a teenager, but being (hopefully) more mature, I found it fascinating. It wasn't well received when it released, but Roger Ebert gave it four stars, it has a 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and 7.5/10 on IMDB. I suggest you give it a shot, I'm glad I did.

 

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have great and safe week!

More crime action

I have a double billing for you all today.

Earlier in the week I was in the mood for yet another poliziotteschi movie so I sat down and watched The Mad Dog Killer, aka Beast with a Gun (1977).

Mad Dog Killer is a weird movie. There is no mystery, no conspiracy, only rage and violence.

A vicious killer, Nanni Vitali escapes from prison with some of his henchmen. Nanni wastes no time and goes on a rampage immediately. Foremost in his mind is revenge against the man who testified against him. Police commissioner Santini is hot on the trail and that's the whole plot.

What makes Mad Dog Killer stand out is Nanni played by Helmut Berger. He brings an intensity and insanity that is reminiscent of Hannibal Lecter, if Lecter ran around savaging and killing people like a hungry dog in a sausage factory. A person who is willing to risk anything to get even with you is terrifying indeed and Nanni is just that.

As usual I'm avoiding spoilers as much as possible so this is all I can really say. The plot is paper thin but that is all it is aiming to be. Fair warning though, Mad Dog Killer has a lot of violence in it, some of it directed at women, so if you need a trigger warning, this is it.

Over all, The Mad Dog Killer was entertaining and fairly well made. The only complaint I have is that the police come across as pretty incompetent, but overall I had a good time. Fun fact: Tarantino showed a scene in his film Jackie Brown.

However, with Mad Dog Killer being so simple, I figured we needed a second movie. So I watched Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976).

Here we follow Fred and Tony, two cops who belong to a secret division of the police in Rome who have license to kill. They ignore due process and people's rights and brutally execute criminals with no second though. They thoroughly enjoy their job too.

We follow them as they chase down thieves on a motorcycle (for 8 minutes!), foil a robbery and free a hostage but the central plot revolves around the hunt for a reclusive gangster boss.

Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man is an odd movie. Sandwiched in between all the action and violence is an absurd sense of humor that almost pushes it into exploitation cinema rather than the poliziotteschi genre. In many ways it feels more American than Italian, and it could easily be remade without too much fuss. It felt almost like a down and dirty James Bond movie, with the casual machismo and remorseless killing before hitting on the bosses secretary again.

Do I recommend these movies? Yes, for fans of crime cinema and 70's movies. Both are products of their time, and it shows throughout. I'd recommend The Mad Dog Killer a little less than Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man however.

Having now seen a few poliziotteschi movies, it is fun to see the same actors return in different roles. Two of the police commanders in Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man play mafia bosses in films I've written about previously.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

Is he above the law?

 A couple of days ago I decided to watch yet another Italian crime movie, this time Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion (1970), written and directed by Elio Petri.

I have to say first of all, that this is a super weird movie. What we have is a reversed murder mystery, in that we know who the killer is within five minutes of the movie starting. It's not even a spoiler for me to say that the killer is the head of the Homicide Division. He kills his mistress and then fluctuates between impeding the investigation and trying to get caught. His ultimate goal seems to be to discover whether he is above the law. That is the mystery.

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion is less of a thriller and more of an experience. It's absurd, ridiculous, interesting and at times perplexing. What it isn't is boring, it's much too odd for that. It is also pretty hard to describe, as you can tell.

The main character, know only as Dottore (translated as Chief) is played by Gian Maria Volonté, who is perhaps best known for playing the main villain in Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars more. Even knowing this I had a hard time recognizing him. In the Leone spaghetti westerns he is dirty and unshaven, here he is extremely well groomed. What all three roles have in common is the madness he portrays so well. Make no mistake, Dottore is nuts, but there is method to his madness. Through a series of flashbacks we get a glimpse of his mentality. His manias and insecurities. We also get to know his mistress and her foibles. It all leads up to a rather satisfying story all in all, but I'm not a huge fan of the ending.

In case you think I've watched some obscure unknown film, it won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film as well as the Grand Prize at Cannes amongst other awards. The New York Times called the film "a suspense melodrama with the moral concerns of angry satire”. I guess that is true but I feel like I'm missing a lot of social context as well as a lot of the historical background. What remains despite this is how horrifying a police officer can be when the system is broken. There is an old saying “Who watches the watchers?” and this movie demonstrates what happens when no one is watching the watchers. Citizens have no protection against a corrupt police force when they decide that you are guilty because you'll do. Quite terrifying and the real center of the film compared to a “who dunnit”.

Otherwise Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion is a very accomplished film both technically and actor wise. It is well shot and many of the scenes are pure art. The music is by none other than Ennio Morricone and although it is a far cry from his masterful The Good, The Bad and The Ugly soundtrack it is both evocative and very good.

Do I recommend this film? Yes but with a reservation. If you are a omnivorous film buff or otherwise keen on Italian history of that time, then you are probably going to enjoy it. If you just want to relax and watch a cool movie, I'd say watch something else.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great and safe week!

The Boss

 

To no ones great surprise, I'm sure, I watched the third part of Fernando Di Leo's crime trilogy, The Boss (1973).

The Boss is the odd man out in the trilogy, for a variety of reasons. First off, it's set in Palermo, Sicily instead of Milan. Secondly Mario Adorf is not in this movie, but the main character is played by Henry Silva who was in The Italian Connection. Thirdly, The Boss is considerably more brutal and violent than the other two. It also lacks any of the humor the previous two movies had, which makes it pretty dark in tone.

Silva plays Nick Lanzetta, a highly trusted hitman in the employ of Don D'Aniello. D'Aniello is at war with a Calabrian gang, who are tougher and more resourceful than expected. D'aniello also answers to the big boss Don Corrasco. By the way, Corrasco is played by Richard Conte who played Don Barzini in The Godfather. The war escalates, lots of people get killed and the tension ramps up as powerful influences demand an end to the chaos. Betrayal follows betrayals and Lanzetta is right in the middle, poised to take it all or get removed by a competitor. No one is untouchable.

Again, no spoilers. Watch it to find out how it ends.

What The Boss gets right is first of all the twisted world of the Mafia. Even the big dogs answer to someone else and the only way up is over the bodies of those who stand in your way, and you also stand in the way of someone else. The general atmosphere is truly excellent, the acting is good and the soundtrack is probably the best in the trilogy.

The script is a bit loose, however. Not so much as to really matter, but the story is a bit back and forth. Although The Boss is 100 minutes long, it would really benefit from even more time. A six part mini series would be perfect as even with the runtime it has, you don't have time to get to know the characters all that much and that is truly a shame. This goes double for the political elements between the different mafia groups.

As I mentioned this is a very violent movie. Most of the shooting is bloodless falling over, but there are a couple of scenes that warms the heart of an old gore-hound. There is also some scenes that could well cause discomfort in sensitive people, so keep that in mind.

There is one scene that really made my eyebrows go up. A car T-bones another and the hit car falls apart, neatly bisected down the middle. This was so weirdly out of place I had to rewind and double check I wasn't hallucinating. In an otherwise gritty and grim movie, it is a real mistake to have a scene that clumsy.

Without going into spoiler trilogy I can say that The Boss was a joy to watch. It can stand amongst the greats in the crime/mafia genre with its head high. Sure Goodfellas beats it handily, but that isn't really a criticism, Goodfellas beats everyone. The Boss is a bit low budget and it has its flaws but overall it is a standout gangster movie.

In a way that isn't so weird. Apparently Di Leo was sued over allegations presented in this film, though the suit was dropped. He apparently also got threatened by some very scary people due to the realism of The Boss. Make of that what you will.

Do I recommend The Boss? Absolutely! Any fan of crime fiction should watch The Boss at least once. Other movie lovers can also enjoy it, but perhaps not quite as much. I say, give it a shot.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have yourself a great and safe week!

The Italian Connection

 

Last week I talked about Caliber 9 and this week's feature is The Italian Connection (1972), not to be confused with The French Connection or the Italian Job which I've talked about previously. Both films are directed by Fernando Di Leo and form two thirds of his poliziottesco (essentially spaghetti crime drama) trilogy together with The Boss (1973) which I've yet to watch.

The Italian Connection is about two American hitmen, Dave Catania (Henry Silvia) and Frank Webster (Woody Strode). They are sent to Milan to make an example of small time pimp Luca Canali (Mario Adorf, who played Rocco in Caliber 9). The big boss in New York thinks Canali has stolen a huge shipment of heroin, because the Milanese boss Don Vito told him so. Therefore Canali needs to die messily to send a message to anyone who thinks they can steal from the mob. What follows is a desperate struggle for poor Canali to remain ahead of the killers and to find out which of his friends he can still trust.

Obviously I'm not spoiling the ending.

Compared to Caliber 9, The Italian Connection is a far darker and grittier movie. Caliber 9 was by no means a pleasant stroll in the park, but The Italian Connection has more violence, particularly towards women and even children. There is a very bleak tone to this film, almost depressing. It also has more nudity if that is a problem for you.

Connection, like Caliber, keeps up with the fast moving close-ups, which I hate, but many scenes are more ambitious than Caliber, particularly the chase scene towards the end. Otherwise the cinematography is a solid product of its time.

The actors are good, the soundtrack is very 70's, and the plot is simple but interesting. I never got bored, but I was also never really surprised. Connection is solid but perhaps not that inspired. It amused me that Mario Adorf looks exactly the same in both Caliber and Connection,yet his characters couldn't be more different. Rocco is vicious and brutal, and Luca is friendly, affable and a doting father. He's also a complete badass, but that's a different story. What is also interesting is how several characters make really bad mistakes with severe consequences, which is something one usually don't see. It's actually nice to see some genuine screw-ups from time to time.

There isn't that much more I can talk about. The Italian Connection is not about the destination but the journey. Apparently the hitmen Catania and Webster were the inspiration for Vincent and Jules in Pulp Fiction. Tarantino is a complete cinephile and it's no surprise that he has seen this movie.

Do I recommend this movie? Like I said with Caliber 9, if you like older crime dramas, then yes, I do recommend it. I had a good time, but it is not in my opinion as good as Caliber 9. It is good, and it is worth watching, but I don't think most casual movie watchers are going find it to their taste.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time, and until then, have a great and safe week!

Caliber 9

 

After having a discussion about cinema with a friend, I sat down and watched Caliber 9, aka Milano calibro 9, aka The Contract, an Italian crime thriller from 1972.

Caliber 9 is all about Ugo Piazza, a gangster who is suspected of stealing $300.000 from his boss, L'Americano. Shortly after the money ends up missing, Ugo is sent to prison for a botched robbery, and the movie kicks off as he is released two years later. In case you're wondering why everyone is so keen on a mere 300K, that is almost $2 million is today's money.

There is a strange subplot concerning two senior cops, one who has fascist leanings and one with communist sympathies. Their arguments, while interesting in and of themselves, lead absolutely nowhere and are essentially pointless. The director even said so, but he liked them too much to leave on the cutting room floor.

So Ugo is released and immediately lands in hot water because of the money, but no one can kill him until they know whether he is innocent or if guilty, where the money is. Ugo swears he is innocent and plays a dangerous game to find the real thief. No spoilers here, so you'll have to watch it yourself to discover the truth.

The acting is mostly very good. Ugo is played by Gastone Moschin, perhaps best known to modern audiences for playing Don Fanucchi in The Godfather: Part II. His girlfriend Nelly is played by Barbara Bouchet and the movie also stars Mario Adorf, Frank Wolff and many more. It is directed by Fernando Di Leo and is based on three short stories from the short story collection Milano calibro 9.

I should point out that the character Rocco Musco is pretty over the top. Very entertaining, but Adorf chews the scenery every time he shows up, which is a lot.

The cinematography is mostly good. Milan is lovely to see and the scenes are tight and interesting. Caliber 9 has the strange tendency one sometimes see in movies from that era to zoom the camera in and move it around violently. This is a technique I'm not a fan of as it just makes the scene confusing instead of interesting.

Caliber 9 is not Goodfellas, it is by no means a masterpiece, but I was glued to the screen the entire time. It is incredibly compelling from start to finish, but I really feel that the story needs to be a short TV series. This would make sense on many levels. It would have time to validate the police characters and their politics in the fractured Italian climate of the early 70's. It would give the gangsters more time to be characters and not just tough looking goons, particularly with the mystery of who took the money. It would give us an opportunity to experience and understand the relationship between Ugo and Chino, a tough as nails hit man, and his boss Don Vincenzo. This is all important to the story but we barely get to know any details in the 90 minute run time.

I absolutely recommend Caliber 9 if you like crime dramas. I watched the subtitled version in the original Italian but there is a dubbed version out there if you prefer. I don't like to give movies ratings, but if I did I would rate it quite high, even though I can't put the finger on exactly why. IMDB gives it 7.5 stars. I say give it a shot.

 

That's that and all that. Join me again next time for more Eccentric Spheres and until then, have a great and safe week!