Pug, a wisecracking 13 year old living on a dangerous Westside block, has one goal in mind: to join The Twelve O’Clock Boys; the notorious urban dirt-bike gang of Baltimore. Converging from all parts of the inner city, they invade the streets and clash with police, who are forbidden to chase the bikes for fear of endangering the public. When Pug’s older brother dies suddenly, he looks to the pack for mentorship, spurred by their dangerous lifestyle. Pug’s story is coupled with unprecedented, action-packed coverage of the riders in their element. The film presents the pivotal years of change in a boy’s life growing up in one of the most dangerous and economically depressed cities in the US.
Read More »
Yasha / Demon (1985) Yasuo Furuhata, Ken Takakura, Ayumi Ishida, Hisamitsu Nakamura, Drama, Crime
Retired yakuza gangster Shuji (Ken Takakura) moves back from Osaka to a remote coastal village to start a new life as a fisherman with his family, his arrival from the city coinciding with that of the beautiful bar hostess Keiko (Yuko Tanaka, who provided the voice of Lady Eboshi in Princess Mononoke). Keiko’s new bar, as its name Hotaru (‘firefly’) suggests is soon acting as a magnet for all the local fishermen, much to the chagrin of their wives. Not soon after the arrival of Keiko’s roguish lover Yajima (Kitano), also an ex-mobster, the locals are drawn into a host of collective vices including gambling and all-night drinking sessions. After a truly stand-out scene in which Yajima runs rampage through the village on a heroin-induced spree with a carving knife, he is run out of town by Shuji, but not before slashing Shuji’s shirt open during the fracas to reveal the tattoo of a woman’s face upon his back. With Shuji’s gangster past now revealed he finds himself ostracised by the local community and drawn towards the sympathetic character of the bar hostess with whom he shares a common past. When Yajima rears his ugly head one more time in order to borrow money from Keiko to pay off a debt to the yakuza, it is to Shuji that she turns for help, threatening to upset his domestic apple cart and pitch him back towards his old life.
Read More »
No Way to Treat a Lady (1968) Jack Smight, Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, George Segal, Comedy, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Christopher Gill is a psychotic killer who uses various disguises to trick and strangle his victims. Moe Brummel is a single and harassed New York City police detective who starts to get phone calls from the strangler and builds a strange alliance as a result. Kate Palmer is a swinging, hip tour guide who witnesses the strangler leaving her dead neighbor’s apartment and sets her sights on the detective. Moe’s live-in mother wishes her son would be a successful Jewish doctor like his big brother.
Read More »
Sweeney 2 (1978) Tom Clegg, John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Denholm Elliott, Action, Crime, Drama
Second cinematic spin-off from the popular 70’s police series. Regan & Carter head a Flying Squad investigation into a series of bank raids by a team of well-armed villains who are flying in from the continent.
Read More »
Arena (1989) Peter Manoogian, Paul Satterfield, Hamilton Camp, Claudia Christian, Action, Adventure, Horror, Sci-fi
An intergalactic fighting competition between champions of various worlds has traditionally been won by a species much larger and stronger than humans. Entering the contest, a human finds he has to battle against not just his opponents and his self-doubts, but the corrupt system.
Read More »
All Our Desires / Toutes nos envies (2011) Philippe Lioret, Vincent Lindon, Marie Gillain, Amandine Dewasmes, Drama
Moved by the plight of the mother of her daughter’s school friend, a young judge facing an incurable disease teams up with an older colleague in order to fight against financial companies that exploit the poor.
Read More »
I Am a Ghost (2012) H.P. Mendoza, Jeannie Barroga, Rick Burkhardt, Anna Ishida, Horror, Thriller
Emily, a troubled spirit, haunts her own house every day, wondering why she can’t leave. With the help of Sylvia, a clairvoyant hired to rid the house of spirits, Emily is forced into a ‘patient/therapist’ relationship, uncovering disturbing mysteries about her past that may help her move on to ‘the next place’.
Read More »
Sweeney! (1977) David Wickes, John Thaw, Dennis Waterman, Barry Foster, Action, Crime
Cinematic spin-off from the popular TV series. Hard-bitten Flying Squad officer Jack Regan gets embroiled in a deadly political plot when an old friend asks him to investigate the death of his girlfriend. Framed on a drunk-drive charge and suspended from the force, with his partner and best mate George Carter unable to help, Jack must rely on his wits to evade deadly government hitmen and expose the real villain of the piece.
Read More »
The Night Digger / The Road Builder (1971) Alastair Reid, Patricia Neal, Pamela Brown, Nicholas Clay, Horror, Thriller
Effective psychological love story with a macabre twist not found in the original Joy Cowley novel. The dreary existence of middle- aged spinster Maura Prince takes an unexpected turn with the arrival of young handyman Billy Jarvis, but there is more to Billy than meets the eye. This well-crafted film, full of sexual tension and Gothic flavor, was Patricia Neal’s second after her return to acting, her real-life stroke worked deftly into the story by then-husband Roald Dahl.
Read More »
One Silver Dollar / Un dollaro bucato (1965) Giorgio Ferroni, Giuliano Gemma, Ida Galli, Pierre Cressoy, Action, Romance, Western
Giuliano Gemma plays a confederate soldier who returns from the war to fight one at home. Unbeknownst to him, his brother has become the infamous gunfighter “Black Jack” to defeat the local bullies. Gemma agrees to ambush and kill Black Jack, only to discover too late who the outlaw really is. With vengeance in his heart he turns on his employers, who then shoot him.
Read More »