The Hot Spot - Neo-noir directed by Dennis Hopper. Mid-quality, entertaining enough but pretty forgettable. Jennifer Connelly gives a good performance.
Clan of the White Lotus - Shaw Brothers film, you can kind of guess what to expect. It is ok but probably only worth checking out if you a particular fan of the genre. There’s a good amount of better films to check out first.
A Fistful of Dynamite - One of those films that you love, despite or actually because of its flaws. It is not the same quality as Leone’s other films but to me it just has an incredible charm. And great to see Bakunin referenced.
El Dorado - Howard Hawks first re-make of Rio Bravo, not as good as the original but it does have Robert Mitchum, and a young James Caan. Even though it is not quite as sharp as Rio Bravo it is still a good western.
City of Fear - Passable noir with an escaped convict endangering a city by mistakenly taking a radioactive sample. OK but plenty of better stuff out there, like …
Slightly Scarlet - technicolour noir, not in the 1st division but a strong mid-weight entry in the genre. John Payne (who starred in the excellent Kansas City Confidential) plays the make lead while Rhonda Fleming looks great.
52 Pick Up - Another yuppie revenge movie, despite a pretty decent cast (Roy Schneider, Kelly Preston) it is in the third division of a genre that is not know for its great quality. The only thing really worth while in it is the ludicrous, over the top performance of sociopathy by John Glover
The Two Jakes - Sequel to Chinatown, I’ve seen this before but it was a long time ago. Of course it was never as good as Chinatown but I have to say that I think this even more disappointing than I remembered. It feels like there are some semi-decent scenes trying to get out but the overall movie needs a good editor/director, as indicated by the exposition heavy narration which is clearly added because the plot is not told well enough. Polanski’s actions were appalling but you can’t but wish that her and Towne had been able to work on this rather than Nicholson.
Alfie - First time I’ve ever seen this, main problem I have with it is that I’m just not a Michael Caine fan, and considering this film is so built around him it I just could not properly connect with it. Even so I can see the that the film does have something.