Nicholas Cage goes full Cage and turns it up to 11 for every scene in Brian De Palma’s conspiracy thriller, Snake Eyes. Packed with an incredibly recognizable cast, which includes Gary Sinise, Carla Gugino, John Heard, Stan Shaw, Kevin Dunn, and Luis Guzman, the film never quite hooks you in, because Cage goes so BIG…
Tag: thriller
The Mighty Quinn (1989) – Carl Schenkel
I don’t think The Mighty Quinn ever found the right tone. They don’t quite get the island life vibe right. A film that is supposed to be a mystery, thriller and comedy has to walk a fine line, and it never seems to be able to do that. It’s no fault of the cast, Denzel…
War (2007) – Philip G. Atwell
War is a fairly generic action thriller featuring the pairing of Jason Statham and Jet Li. The pair have made five films together! In this one, Statham is Crawford, an FBI agent tracking down a mysterious assassin known as Rogue (Li), who killed his partner. Set in San Francisco (read as Vancouver) the film features…
Wolfs (2024) – Jon Watts
Jon Watts wrote and directed this crime thriller with buddy overtones that shines with the banter and chemistry with its two stars, George Clooney and Brad Pitt. The two leading men play fixers who are summoned to a hotel, Margaret’s (Amy Ryan, who I always delight in seeing, she’s wonderful) Man (Clooney) is summoned by…
Forever and a Death (2017) – Donald E. Westlake
Back in the late 90s, acclaimed author Donald E. Westlake was asked to make an attempt at the story for the next James Bond film, landing solidly in the Pierce Brosnan era. Complications ensued, and it never happened. The story, Forever and a Death was finally unveiled in 2017, posthumously becoming the last book Westlake…
Firefox (1977) – Craig Thomas
I remember seeing Clint Eastwood’s Firefox when it hit the theaters back in 1982. It was one of the first films I was able to go see on my own. I also remember seeing the novel, with the movie cover in the local book stores. Some forty odd years later, I decided that it’s time…
Mandy (2018) – Panos Cosmatos
Nicolas Cage headlines in Mandy, a drug-addled hallucinogenic ride in this revenge horror (?) thriller. Set in the early 80s, but filled with 70s sensibilities in sense of style and set design, Cage is Red Miller who lives out in the woods with Mandy Bloom (Andrea Riseborough). They have a quiet life, he works is…
A House of Dynamite (2025) – Kathryn Bigelow
Kathryn Bigelow has been a fave director of mine since Near Dark. And with A House of Dynamite, she continues to prove that not only is she a fantastic director, she should be a bigger deal than she is. Taking a political/techno-thriller concept and putting a human face on it, as this film does, makes…
The First Power (1990) – Robert Resnikoff
I did Lou Diamond Phillips, and somewhere in Robert Resnikoff’s The First Power is a solid supernatural police thriller. But everything in it is painfully familiar, though some of it, like the visions characters have are strongly created. Phillips is Russell Logan a Los Angeles homicide cop who has been tracking a serial murderer christened…
Dead of Winter (2025) – Brian Kirk
Emma Thompson stars in this white-knuckle thriller that features a layered performance, and some stand-out moments. With Finland standing in for Minnesota, Thompson braves the cold as Barb who sets out for Lake Hilda for personal reasons. A goodbye needs to be made. Along the way, she has an unnerving encounter with a man in…
The Mind Reels 