THE KILLING (1956)

There's no foolin' around here!  THE KILLING jumps straight into the exciting story about a group of tough guys that are looking pull a racetrack heist worth $2 million clams. You got two inside men (a cashier and a bartender), the distractions (a giant wrestler to start a bar fight and a sharpshooter to snipe the lead horse during the big race), the financier, the gun man and the getaway guy (a crooked cop). The plan is full proof. Full proof I tells ya! Except that this one palooka keeps running his yap to his dame - a selfish money-hungry, shit-talkin' moll, that'll stop at nothing to get her mitts on all that tasty spinach.

THE KILLING is awesome. It's hard to think of a better example of a young filmmaker improving his craft from one film to the next better than with Stanley Kubrick and the rough around the edges, KILLER'S KISS in 1955 to the incredible THE KILLING only one year later. Memorable characters that are all bitter and hard-boiled as fook, a quick pace, the acting by the entire cast is great, awesome story, a few shocking moments...but I think the two things THE KILLING is remembered for the most is its photography and non-linear storytelling. Both have been copied many times since. I won't get into all the examples, but it's a lot.

Sadly, The Kube turned his back on film noir after THE KILLING but at least he went out with a bang. Highly recommended.

Rodney Dangerfield

RONIN (1998)

Helmed by legendary film director John Frankenheimer and boasting an even more legendary cast, RONIN tells the mildly entertaining story of a bunch of dangerous motherfuckers (CIA agents, Russian mafia, mercenaries, etc.) all trying to get a hold of a mysterious briefcase. Backstabbing, double-crossing, ambushes, explosions, gunfights, ice skating, car chases, improper lane changes…RONIN has plenty to keep the viewer entertained, but unfortunately, the characters and the overall story are not interesting enough to put this film on my frequently viewed list. Then again, JOYSTICKS is on that list, so what do I know?

I don’t want to sound too harsh though, because RONIN is a good film. Quick pace, fun shoot-outs, great car chases, strong performances. I especially like Robert De Niro's chill performance.  I was super sad that Sean Bean's part wasn't bigger.  He's a fantastic actor and his character was the most intriguing out of everybody.

Anyway, good film and definitely worth a watch for fans of 1990's action movies.

ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD (2007)

Werner Herzog and Antarctica. I mean, come on, what else do you need to know to know that you need to see this film? Instead of just talking about the environment and the various creatures, Werner does what he does best and focuses in on the people who work in this remote land...and what a weird bunch they are! I'll let you discover them for yourself.

The film opens with Werner and his longtime cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger in a cargo plane landing in Antarctica on a frozen bay that's big as fuck and covered in like 8 feet of ice! Next they arrive at the research station and Werner is disappointed in how depressing it looks so after attending a survival school they ventures out to met some of the scientists at some of the more remote substations including some divers, a guy who wears tweed, seal researchers, an awesome volcano and a penguin scientist. The penguin part was the saddest because while they're filming a lone penguin starts walking off in the wrong direction (towards the interior of the continent, not the ocean!) and the science guy says that sometime a penguin will do that and if he returns it to the group it'll just turn around and walk off again to certain death. I found that to be very depressing and I really, really wanted to see where that penguin was walking to with such certainty as fast as his little penguin feet would take him. Poor little guy.

If you've seen any other of Herzog's wonderful documentaries then you know how talented he is at capturing the small little unique moments that make life so wonderful and EATEOFW is no different. It's a magnificent film and 99 minutes is nowhere near long enough. It could've easily been 5 times that and I would have still begged for more.

Highly recommended.