With a musical score by Francesco De Masi and an opening credits sequence that feels very much in line with a Sergio Leone western, expectations surrounding Lone Wolf McQuade on my initial viewing went up a little. Despite the fact that I know Chuck Norris isn’t a very good actor. Norris plays the titular McQuade,…
Tag: gritty
The Crow (1994) – 4K
There are some films that leave an indelible mark on the viewer, The Crow had that effect on me. It stayed with me and whenever I revisit it, I’m reminded again of it’s power, it’s visual style, and it’s legacy. And now, thanks to Paramount Pictures, The Crow gets the 4K touch and Alex Proyas’…
Lawmen Bass Reeves: Season 1 – Blu-Ray
David Oyelowo brings Bass Reeves to life, in Lawmen: Bass Reeves, which he helped produce alongside series creator Chad Feehan and Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan. Based on the true story of one of the first Black U.S. Marshals, we follow Bass from slave to one of the most respected lawmen to serve. Throughout eight episodes,…
High Plains Drifter (1973) – Clint Eastwood
High Plains Drifter marked the first time Eastwood directed a western. Keeping in line with the work he put in on his spaghetti westerns, the movie is a darker, grittier style western, as opposed to the type of film made prior to them. To illustrate that the Stranger he’s playing is a bad dude, Eastwood…
Southern Comfort (1981) – Walter Hill
Powers Boothe and Keith Carradine star alongside Peter Coyote, Fred Ward, Franklyn Seales, Alan Autry, T.K. Carter, Les Lannom, Lewis Smith and Brion James in this gritty action thriller that finds a squad of nine National Guardsmen fighting for their lives in the Louisiana Bayou in what was supposed to be just a training exercise….
Rocky (1976) – John G. Avildsen
From the horn fanfare created by Bill Conti to the fantastic steadicam work (a revolutionary reveal at the time), to an open, honest performance from Sylvester Stallone, 1976’s Rocky remains an iconic film, and the first ‘sports’ film to win the Best Picture Oscar. Stallone wrote the film and was heavily involved in its making,…
Batman: Year One (2011) – Sam Liu, and Lauren Montgomery
I have a tough time getting through animated Batman films because when it comes to being Batman, especially in an animated format, it’s all about the voice, and for me, as for countless fans, Kevin Conroy is, and always will be, Batman. But that doesn’t really stop Warner Brothers’ animation department from cranking out a…
The Equalizer (1986) – Unpunished Crimes, and Pretenders
John Cullum is the baddie in the penultimate episode of season one of The Equalizer. Unpunished Crimes was written by John Burke and Grenville Case, first airing on 1 April, 1986. Cullum is Stuart Cane, a brutal CEO with ties to a terrorist organization, and is set on ruining Frank Donahue (Dan Hedaya) and his…
The Equalizer (1985) – The Children’s Song, and The Distant Fire
William Zabka is back as Robert McCall’s (Edward Woodward) son, Scott, and there’s a television debut for Bradley Whitford, Ed O’Neill shows up as a local doctor, and Dana Barron from National Lampoon’s Vacation is this week’s person in need of help from McCall’s Equalizer. The Children’s Song was written by Howard Chesley, Joel Surnow…
The Equalizer (1985) – The Defector, and The Lock Box
Very quickly The Equalizer has shown that its willing to go dark and gritty, and while there are some dark moments in The Defector, The Lock Box is even darker. The Defector was written by Heywood Gould and first debuted on 2 October, 1985. An old friend, and former agent of the USSR, Felix (Joe…
The Mind Reels 