When Keanu Reeves stepped onto the screen in the 2014 film, John Wick, cinema lovers and critics met the film with joy and accolades, as it boldly, bloodily and brilliantly updated the revenge films of the 1970s for the 21st century The screen was filled with top drawer stars, and the simplest of revenge stories…
Tag: mafia
Quantum Leap (1989) – How the Tess Was Won and Double Identity
Oh, boy. Deborah Arakellian penned the first episode up for review this week, How the Tess Was Won, and it aired 14 April, 1989. Sam (Scott Bakula) finds himself as a vet named Doc, in a pig pen on 5 August, 1956, and about to be roped into a competition to win a ranch,…
The Italian Job (1969) – Peter Collinson
The recommendations from my viewing of Rififi for the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film keep coming, and this one was highly enjoyable. Michael Caine leads the cast in this comic caper that sees he and a group of thieves organizing a gold heist, worth four million dollars, by causing a traffic jam…
The Sopranos: The Complete Series
Releasing from HBO today, available for the first time on Blu-ray, is the critically acclaimed mobster family drama that wowed and wooed fans and critics alike around the world. HBO was kind enough to give me an early look, and I was happy to dive in. Over the years I’d tried to get into this…
The Rockford Files (1976) – Drought at Indianhead River & Coulter City Wildcat
I can’t believe that James Garner passed away this past weekend. It now makes watching this show so much more poignant, as I can remember hearing the theme song coming from the television, and my I can remember my dad sitting there watching. It’s sad, but the man leaves an incredible legacy of entertainment,…
Like the Wind (2013) – Marco S. Puccioni
Having its Canadian Premiere screening this evening at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival, is this drama featuring a strong performance by Valeria Golino as Armida Misere, and of Italy’s first female prison governors. Told through a series of flashbacks, the film starts with a tragedy, and shows how it impacts the rest of Misere’s life,…
The Rockford Files (1976) – The No-Cut Contract & A Portrait of Elizabeth
This week private investigator Jim Rockford (James Garner) is in trouble again. The first episode, written by Cannell, himself is a lot of fun. It originally aired 16 January, 1976, and features Wayne Tippit, back as Agent Shore, Becker (Joe Santos), Angel (Stuart Margolin) and Beth (Gretchen Corbett). The phone gag is all in Spanish,…
The Rockford Files (1975/1976) – The Girl in the Bay City Boys Club & The Hammer of C Block
In this week’s installment of the Rockford Files, private investigator, Jim Rockford (James Garner) has his hands full with the mob and a fellow con on the look out for the murderer in a crime that he didn’t commit. The first episode, The Girl in the Bay City Boys Club, aired 19 December 1975, and…
The Mind Reels 