Copkiller (1983)

 

A pair of corrupt cops spend their illegal cash on an uptown New York City apartment.

From memory: Fast-paced and quite exciting left-field thriller with a surprisingly convincing performance by John Lydon and Harvey Keitel at his best.

Halliwell (no star): "A curiosity, with its duel between Keitel's violent cop, obsessive about order, and the overmatched Lydon..., as an anarchic fantasist; there are vague echoes of the far superior Performance amid the wallowing in guilt and suffering." 

Maltin***: "Intriguing, entertaining psychological thriller...Fine performances..."

 

 

 

The Border (1982)

 

A corrupt border Agent decides to clean up his act when an impoverished woman's baby is put up for sale on the black market.

Adequate thriller is tough and suspenseful exposing police corruption and the downfalls of lower middle-class American life; once again, Jack Nicholson delivers a strong performance.

Halliwell (no star): "A rather solemn elaboration on a well-worn theme,with nothing very memorable except its excesses." 

Maltin**1/2: "Cast and story-line beg for Sam Peckinpah in his prime; mildly interesting, but never really takes off."

Harvey Keitel

Bio:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Keitel

The Irishman (2019)

A mob hitman recalls his possible involvement with the slaying of Jimmy Hoffa.

A return to form for Martin Scorsese (and for both Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci as well) once again intensely analyzing mob mentality, but with mature mastery and a more subtle and at times even humorous approach and, nonetheless, with great emotional power.

Bad Timing (1980)

A psychiatrist, living in Vienna, enters a torrid relationship with a married woman. When she ends up in the hospital from an overdose, an inspector becomes set on discovering the demise of their affair.

From memory: a psychological tour de force, both fascinating and unnerving, definitely enhanced by the director's non-linear style of story-telling.

Halliwell (no star): "Weird and unsympathetic sex melodrama, presented with the disconnected style expected from this director as a series of flashbacks from the heroine's near-deathbed."

Maltin***1/2: "Mesmerizing melodrama triumphs over badly miscast male leads and occasional pretentiousness. Roeg's kinetic style brings the necessary passion to the oddball story...Russell is simply great, as is knockout background music from The Who, Keith Jarrett, and Billie Holiday."

Wrong Turn at Tahoe (2009)

A small-time crime boss kills a drug dealer without realizing that the drug dealer works for the biggest crime boss in the country.

Above-average crime thriller with a good cast is tough and very violent, but worth the watch.

La Mort en direct (1980)

In a future where dying of illness is exceedingly rare, a terminally ill woman becomes a celebrity and a man with camera implants goes to secretly record her for a morbid TV show.

Unusual, but awkward sci-fi satire is right on with its social predictions, but the plot treads along somewhat haphazardly, and there are some memorable scenes of over-acting along the way.

Halliwell**: "Grim fable of media manipulation and sensationalist pressures on popular entertainment that retains its resonance."

Maltin***: "Intelligent sci-fi drama...A biting commentary on media abuse and manipulation, with solid performances, direction."

Mean Streets (1973)

 

 

A small-time hood aspires to work his way up the ranks of a local mob. 

 

Amazingly realistic drama following the everyday lives of small times hoodlums; expertly staged with excellent performances throughout.

 

Halliwell****: "Relentlessly sordid melodrama with a good eye for realistic detail. The first film in which Scorsese announced himself as a major talent and discovered the subject matter that has served him so well."

 

Maltin***: "Masterpiece...Technically dazzling film put director Scorsese on the map and deservedly so." 

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

The Congress (2013)

An aging, out-of-work actress accepts one last job, though the consequences of her decision affect her in ways she didn't consider.

Interesting but a bit confusing adaptation of Stanislaw Lem's classic sci-fi novel does skillfully add animated sequences to indicate virtual reality - until you don't know what is real or not.

Youth (2015)

A retired orchestra conductor is on holiday with his daughter and his film director best friend in the Alps when he receives an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II to perform for Prince Philip's birthday.

Carefully crafted and highly artificial comedy-drama merely touches its existential topics without much depth, but assembles a fine cast for the journey.

The Shadow Dancer (2005)

An aspiring young writer tracks a literary titan suffering from writers block to his refuge in rural Italy and learns about life and love from the irascible genius and his daughters.

If you like your clichés wholesale, this is the movie for you; otherwise, it's actually well made, and the cast make it mildly entertaining.

 

Pulp Fiction (1994)

The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster's wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption.

Arguably Quentin Tarantino's best movie, a stroke of genius concerning several intertwined plots swinging back and forth in time, a treasure trove of cinematic allusions, tongue-in-cheek humour and a very carefully and accurately selected cast; all his subsequent movies have been more or less variations of what you can find here. 

Halliwell***: "Clever, witty, violent celebration of junk culture, drawing rather too heavily on past thrillers but blessed with some excellent performances which crackle with menace."

Maltin***1/2: "Audacious, outrageous look at honors among lowlifes, told in a soemwhat radical style overlapping a handful of separate stories. Jackson and Travolta are magnetic as a pair of  hit men who have philosophical debates on a regular basis; Willis is compelling as a crooked boxer whose plan to take it on the lam hits a few detours. (In fact, there are no slackersin this cast.) This voluble, violent, pumped-up movie isn't for every taste - certainly not for the squeamish - but it's got morevitality than almost any other film of 1994."

Blue Collar (1978)

On the set: Paul Schrader, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto & Richard Pryor