Michael Mann’s Blue Period: BLACKHAT (2015)
Like Thomas Pynchon, Michael Mann has made a series of genre works in his later…
Scenic Route: FRENCH CONNECTION II (1975)
Action movies do not draw their unholy power from spectacle but from intensity, and I…
Film on the Television: THE TAKING OF PELHAM ONE TWO THREE (1974) on Sundance TV
Joseph Sargent’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three makes a nice companion piece to William Friedkin’s The French…
Soundtracking #17: TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. (1985)
The occasional podcast on music and movies. Intro music: “Coffee Shop” by Elliot Goldenthal from…
The Solute Record Club: Metal Machine Music and the Pleasures of Noise
As a statement it’s great, as a giant FUCK YOU it shows integrity–a sick, twisted,…
Film on the Internet: THE PEACEMAKER (1997) on Amazon Prime
Mimi Leder will largely be known in the film biz for Pay It Forward; coming back…
Scenic Route: DIE HARD (1988)
Die Hard is a perfect movie. “Perfect” does not equal “great,” although it’s that too;…
Film on the Television (09/08/15): THE DEPARTED on HBO Signature
With no direct evidence for this, I think the Academy looked around in late 2006…
Film on the Television (08/17/15): THE ROAD WARRIOR on IFC
There are a lot of reasons why George Miller’s Fury Road pretty much breaks the awesomometer:…
TRUE DETECTIVE season 2, ep. 8: “Omega Station”
True Detective‘s final episode this season comes close to double-length, and it divides neatly into…