John Woo updates his own 80s classic, by shifting the location to Paris, and swapping out Chow Yun-fat for Nathalie Emmanuel. Emmanuel is Zee in Woo’s updated story. He wrote and directed the original, but this time out, there’s a script by Brian Helgeland, Josh Campbell, and Matt Stuecken. The script hits all the familiar…
Tag: heroin
I Come in Peace (1990) – Craig R. Baxley
Is I Come in Peace considered a Christmas movie? It’s set at Christmas. That seems to be the only requisite for some films. I mean John McClane got invited to a Christmas party so that covers off Die Hard, but what about Dolph Lundgren as Detective Jack Caine caught up in a drug war in…
The Equalizer (1987) – Beyond Control, and Carnal Persuasion
McCall (Edward Woodward) and Mickey (Keith Szarabajka) find themselves back in the spy game in Beyond Control. Written by Coleman Luck it first aired on 14 January, 1987. Control (Robert Lansing) comes to McCall when a KGB mole is killed. To protect names, sources, and plans within plans Control has to work outside the Company…
Mission: Impossible (1971/1972) – The Connection, and The Bride
Anthony Zerbe returns for a fourth time to Mission: Impossible as a drug dealer named Dolan in The Connection. Written by Edward J. Lasko and Ken Pettus from a story by Lasko. It first aired on 18 December, 1971. Phelps (Peter Graves) and his team are going after a group of drug dealers by setting…
The Lineup (1958) – Don Siegel
The port city of San Francisco serves as the backdrop for this noir thriller that features Eli Wallach as a homicidal criminal on the trail of a heroin shipment from Hong Kong he’s expected to collect and deliver. Each shipment has been stowed in statuettes, dolls, and other such trinkets, all in the hands of…
Mission: Impossible (1967) – The Widow, and Trek
Season two of Mission: Impossible launched on 10 September, 1967, with The Widow written by Barney Slater. Viewers knew right away that something had changed, Dan Briggs (Steven Hill) was replaced without explanation by Peter Graves, taking command of the IMF team as Jim Phelps, and Martin Landau finds himself in the opening credits, right…
The French Connection (1971) – William Friedkin
William Friedkin’s 1971 classic has deserved a rewatch for awhile, and I was quite happy to settle in for it. I like Gene Hackman, who won himself an Academy Award for his turn as NYPD officer Popeye Doyle, and I’m a huge fan of Roy Scheider who plays his partner, Cloudy, and received a nomination…
Miami Vice (1985) – Back in the World, and Phil the Shill
Detective Sonny Crockett (Don Johnson who also serves as director of this episode) recalls his time in Vietnam, when an old friend, Stone (Bob Balaban) resurfaces with a story about some heroin that made it out of Saigon and is now resurfacing in Miami. Back in the World was written by Terry McDonnell and first…
Miami Vice (1984) – Give a Little, Take a Little, and Little Prince
Crockett (Don Johnson) spends time in a cell this week, when he is held in contempt for not identifying one of his informants in a case he’s working on with Tubbs (Philip Micheal Thomas). Give a Little, Take a Little was written by Chuck Adamson and first debuted on 7 December, 1984. The cops are…
Fear the Walking Dead: Season 1
Releasing today from Anchor Bay is Season 1 of Fear the Walking Dead, the new show from creator Robert Kirkman. Collecting all 6 episodes of the first season, the series, not so much a spin-off as it is a prequel (for now), promises to explore how the world got to the state it is when…
The Mind Reels 