1980s
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The Director Who Best Picture, then Immediately Destroyed his Career
The story of Michael Cimino and Heaven’s Gate. After making The Deer Hunter, which won five Oscars including best picture, Michael Cimino’s follow up, Heaven’s Gate, became Hollywood’s biggest disaster, ruined his career, and forever changed the American film industry. Read more
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The Chilling Reality of The Vanishing (1988) Review
My old review for George Sluzier’s 1988 horror, thriller film, “The Vanishing” AKA “Spoorloos.” 8/10 Read more
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The Gory Italian Horror of Demons (1985) – Review
Review for Lamberto’s Bava’s 1985 zombie gorefest Demons AKA Demoni presented by Dario Argento. 6.5/10 Read more
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Armour of God (1986) Review
Greg joined me to review Jackie Chan’s “Armour of God,” which is also known as “Operation Condor 2” for confusing reasons even though it came out long before the “first” “Operation Condor,” which is actually a sequel to this movie… don’t bother trying to make sense of that mess. score = 7/10 Read more
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Ghosts… of the Civil Dead (1988) Review
Nick Cave’s first screenwriting credit and first acting role can be found in the extremely rare Australian prison movie from director John Hillcoat, Ghosts… of the Civil Dead. 8/10 Read more
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How to Craft the Perfect Car Chase
A video essay examining the construction and execution of the car chase sequence and a tribute to the best car chases throughout cinema history. This video essay includes footage from The Seven-Ups, Vanishing Point, Dirty Mary Crazy Larry, Shadows in an Empty Room, Bullitt, Gone in 60 Seconds, Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Fury Road,… Read more
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The Halloween Franchise Retrospective
A big retrospective looking at and reviewing every Halloween sequel, remake, reboot, remake sequel, and reboot sequel. This tangled series includes the original 1978 “Halloween,” “Halloween II,” “Halloween III: Season of the Witch,” “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers,” “Halloween 5: The Revenge of Michael Myers,” “Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers,” “Halloween H20:… Read more
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Why John McTiernan Disappeared for 20 Years & Tracking Down His Lost Documentary
John McTiernan directed Predator and Die Hard back-to-back as his second and third films. He would make several other films over the next few years before stopping abruptly in 2003 after Basic. The reason for his disappearance and why he hasn’t made another movie in the 20 years since is a big, complicated affair. This… Read more
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The Psycho Sequels Deserve More Respect
Alfred Hitchcock left huge shoes to fill with his timeless “Psycho,” so the decades-later sequels were bound to be met with a rocky reception, but I’m here to tell you that “Psycho II” and “Psycho III” are far better than you may have been led to believe, and “Psycho IV” isn’t that bad either. Read more
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The Man Who Invented Independent Filmmaking
A tribute to and a showcase of the remarkable talents and accomplishments of John Cassavetes, a successful actor who used the money he made from appearing in movies to self-finance his own films independently. Truly one of the most important filmmakers of all time. Read more
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