Righteous Kill stars two legends, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.  It is about aging cops and their case on a serial killer who is killing criminals.

What a lump of a movie.  This movie was downright awful.  The twist at the end just fueled the anger I had for this film.  There was not one ounce of ingenuity in the entire piece.  It was just two great actors selling out with complete trash.  It is hard not to be intrigued by Pacino and De Niro.  They have put up some stinkers in their later years, but I did not think this would be so bad.  Usually the bombs are comedies or love stories done as some sort of weird joke.  This is a thriller cop movie.  Worth a look right?  Boy was I wrong.  Pure garbage.

“Where are you going?”
“I don’t know.  To hell, I suppose”  That is where the audience is dragged by this movie.

2/10

Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975)

Fashion model dies during an abortion, then anyone connected to her is killed, starting with the doctor. We see the murderer early in the movie but the killer wears a black motorcycle outfit and helmet,  hiding their identity.

The film is what it is, a sleazy and violent Italian movie. However the cinematography (Franco Delli Colli) is worth seeing. He does a shot of city lights for the opening credits, that really good. The way he places this below average story on the film, makes it better than average movie.

“Your making me nervous, put it away! “

Bad movie, filmed with some real skill—06/10

Greg Marcks movie about simultaneous events shown from different perspectives.

This was a silly movie and all it had going for it was its gimmick.  And that is the ability to follow a schedule of events, so it isn’t very cool anyway.  I have to admit to my dumbness by not seeing the end coming.  I guess I have to at least give it that.  This movie was very pointless.  Not just plain pointless, but a little beyond that.  The soundtrack was so annoying .  I think the soundtrack was done like that because if this movie were to bomb as a thriller, which it did in my opinion, the people behind it could say, “No. No. It’s a dark comedy thing. Like those Coen fellows.”  Colin Hanks did a horrendous job too by the way.

“The gun and the money.. how about the penis?”

3/10

Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971)

This movie was featured in Playboy back in 1971 when the movie first came out. While I never saw the movie I did see the spread in Playboy. The movie is a teenage boy’s dream, a  high school filled with beautiful girl that believe in free love. In the center of all these open minded girls is the football coach Michael “Tiger” McDrew (Rock Hudson) and his virgin, team manager Ponce de Leon Harper (John David Carson). Add Miss Betty Smith(Angie Dickinson) a hot horny substitute teacher and hard boiled Police Captain Sam Surcher(Telly Savalas).

On the surface this movie is a murder mystery, one where you know the killer a few minutes into the show and wait for the cast to figure it out. This movie is really about sex–the best scene is where Ponce is walk along checking out all the hot girls.

The story is weak, the acting not much better, but you get to see Angie Dickinson nude, lots of hot girls and a couple of actors from Star Trek.

Playboy article made it seem better than it was—–03/10

The Girl with a dragon tattoo is a film based on the best selling series of novels from Stieg Larsson.  It is a Swedish film directed by Niels Arden Oplev.  It won three Guldbagge Awards.

The movie was something I somewhat enjoyed.  It has all the elemental cliches of a crime thriller, but with a certain European and independent feel to it.  It also had one hell of a tense S&M rape scene.  The movie was well acted and that also made it a better than average crime thriller.  The ending was a little weak and thriller cliches were abound when our protag wanders into the lion’s den with the all the intelligence of a moth flying into a flame in a dark room over and over again.  In conclusion, there were some postive new elements alongside strong acting and characters, but I couldn’t help the annoying feeling that I have seen this movie a million times.

6/10

Sleuth is adapted from a play of the same name.  It is directed by Joseph Mankiewicz and was his final film.  It was nominated for five Academy Awards.

This movie was interesting because there were only two actors in the entire piece.  Two very well established actors.  When the Inspector shows up, you don’t know what transpired earlier in the film.  I knew Michael Caine was playing the inspector, but I wasn’t sure if it was his character, Tindle, playing the inspector or if Caine had two roles.  After Tindle reveals himself, the film starts to go downhill for me.  It starts to get a little too over the top.  The melodrama builds all the way to the silly climax of our ending.  This was too bad, because I really was enjoying it through the early stages.  It is apparent in the ending, much like our antagonist, the film has totally lost its cool.

“On the morning of his execution, King Charles the First put on two shirts. ‘If I tremble with the cold,’ he said, ‘my enemies will say it was from fear. I will not expose myself to such reproaches.’ We must also attempt this dignity as you mount the scaffold.”

5/10

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

In 1891 London, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) and Dr. John Watson (Jude Law)  prevent Lord Blackwood (Mark Strong) from conducting a human sacrifice. Blackwood is arrested by Inspector Lestrade (Eddie Marsan) and sentenced to hang. Enter Holmes’ romantic interest Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), a world-class criminal and the game’s afoot.

This is not Basil Rathbone’s Sherlock Holmes and this Holmes was more fun to watch. However parts of the movie were more than a little hokey and slow. Slow enough that my wife fell asleep during the movie, a movie packed with loud explosions.

“Madame, I need you to remain calm and trust me, I’m a professional. Beneath this pillow lies the key to my release.”

06/10—–Worth watching but nothing special.