weekend watchlist: a timely cure for collective cultural amnesia
Plus drone warfare, murder most genteel, and more. (First published May 7th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
Bank Job
My Generation documentary review: when London was swinging
A brilliantly thrilling look back at the flowering of creativity and freethinking spirit of 1960s London, through the thoroughly charming perspective of Michael Caine.
Safe movie review: New York noir
A viciously cynical dark fantasy that fashions a new mythos of post-9/11 New York, a bleak but plausible world of the Russian mob, the Chinese Triads, and the NYPD as another gang vying for supremacy.
Killer Elite (review)
grunt grunt grunt *glower* [insert mockney swearing] bash crash punch kick [insert closeup of unshaven stubble]
cinematic roots of: ‘Takers’
In *Takers,* a gang of elegant and mostly nonviolent bank robbers, led by stylin’ Brit Idris Elba, break one of the rules that has made them successful, and so risk getting caught by diligent cop Matt Dillon. This flick sprang from (among other films)…
totally quotable! 2008
Here are the most quotable movie lines of the year 2008. I didn’t mean to hold these till the movie year was over — it just sort of happened that way. I’ll return to posting quotes as I hear them for 2009. No ranking — quotes are posted in reverse order of movie release dates, … more…
Flawless (review)
It’s gotta mean something, right? In only the first few months of 2008 we’ve seen more than one — more than two — movies about daring, honking-big robberies pulled off by little people who feel, perhaps justifiably so, that they’ve been cheated by life…
The Bank Job movie review: proper villains
I wouldn’t want to live in the world of ‘The Bank Job,’ in which absolutely everyone is corrupt except for the bad guys. Wait: I guess we already do. Sure, of course we do, cuz this is based on a true story…
