Joe

Meantime is one of those films that reminds many people of how bleak at times your life can be, especially if you live in a run down part of England. Mike Leigh, just like Ken Loach, brings realism to a story of two brothers who basically live within a household were love has vanished. The mother and father seem to treat them like nothing, and vise versa, but Leigh holds the story together.

A slightly different Death Wish film this time dealing with mobsters and drug dealers on the streets of L.A. This is a cult favorite and is re watchable. 1,2,4 are probably my favorites. Paul Kersey (Charles Bronson), who is no stranger to vigilante justice, is pulled back into the underworld of Los Angeles when the daughter of his new girlfriend, Karen (Kay Lenz), dies after an overdose of crack cocaine. Intent on seeing justice served, Paul goes after the kingpin who ultimately supplied the crack. As he hunts down the kingpin's minions, Paul starts taking out a large part of the city's drug-dealing population on a violent killing spree. This time there is more than one reason for revenge.

Well, it had to happen, the franchise ended on a pretty low point, after the silly but fun fourth film. Bronson looks tired and uninterested in this really rather badly put together film. Coming across like a TV movie in it's production values, leaves Paul Kersey taking down a mobster who kills Kersey's girlfriend, who is a model and ex girlfriend of said mobster. And Bronson takes out the mob guys one by one to extend the running time. The dialogue is awful and the revenge scenes are lack luster. Why Bronson signed on to do this is anyone's guess. He looks tired and distant from his character. Not a good end to the revenge series.

Well, it certainly looks like I'll be the first to comment on such a forgotten gem. Arctic prospector Jack McCann, after fifteen years of solitary searching, becomes one of the world's wealthiest men when he literally falls into a mountain of gold in 1925. Years later, in 1945, he lives in luxury on a Caribbean island that he owns. But his wealth brings him no peace of mind as he copes with Helen, his bored, alcoholic wife; Tracy, his dear, but headstrong, daughter who has married a dissolute, philandering social-climber; and Miami mobsters who want his island to build a casino. His life is entangled with the obsessions of those around him with greed, power, and debauchery against a background of occult symbolism. All this aside, it's certainly one of Nicolas Roeg's best works after such films as Bad Timing and The man who fell to earth. You don't really hear of him today. He made Track 29 and Castaway, not the Tom Hanks film. Those were equally as weird. Though Eureka stands out for me as being his forgotten masterpiece. But be warned, some scenes are not for the faint of heart. Gene Hackman shows just what cinema is missing these days, and there are good turns by all. See it if you can.

Well, I have to be honest straight away. Is it really any good? Well, overall, no it isn't. Does it have it's moments, yes. Is it a totally called for sequel that everyone wanted, certainly not. Walter hill directs once again, but he seems to have lost the energy that made the original 48hrs such a cult hit. Eddie Murphy packs on the pounds and Nick Nolte looks slimmer and better than he did in the first movie. A story line that's thin using a characters death from the previous film, Ganz' brother is out for revenge. There is also a story line about a killer on the loose that Nolte (Jack Cates) is close on getting. Eddie Murphy (Reggie Hammond) is out of prison after serving seven years. His story line is basically helping Cates and dodging being killed. Watch it, to say you saw the sequel, nothing more. It is okay, just not good like the original cult thriller that was 48hrs (1982)

With a style of it's own and obvious, at times, in a good way, similar reactions seen in Curb your enthusiasm, this show mostly hits on every episode. Sadly it was cancelled in 2014 after the movie was made.

Simply a work of pure genius.

Besides the famous head explosion, this is a pretty dull entry in my opinion.

Cronenberg at his finest.