Picking up after the rather eventful revelations of 2020's "Bad Boys For Life" (a January 2020 dump job by Sony that turned into a $425 million hit, one of the last worldwide blockbusters before COVID hit), "Ride or Die" has to jump through some convoluted hoops to bring back Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano doing a day's work as a favor to Jerry Bruckheimer, which also explains Michael Bay's now-obligatory cameo) and villain-turned-good-guy badass Armando (Jacob Scipio) over to help our heroes clear their name and save their loved ones from villains too generic to care to remember. And you know what? For a fourth entry in a franchise dating back almost 30 years, this 4th film is entertaining as hell because it lets the buddy cop formula take center stage. Martin Lawrence is in rare form here as Marcus gets the best lines, the funniest jokes and the most absurd moments. But don't worry, Will Smith gets the biggest laugh of the movie (at his expense) and looks cool despite Mike Lowry never taking his shirt off (a first for a "Bad Boys" movie?). Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah keep things visually busy and interesting, and the action set pieces are great as long as you don't compare them to the impossible-to-top (and mentioned in passing) machismo mountain that is "Bad Boys II." The lower your expectations the more fun this will be. 3.75 CHEKHOV'S GIANT ALBINO ALIGATORS (out of 5)
THE ROUNDUP: PUNISHMENT (2024, THEATER)
Caught this on its last theatrical day in NYC. Sad to say that, unlike "Ride or Die," this fourth entry in the South Korean cops-vs.-criminals comedic series (counting 2017's "The Outlaws" as first) is beginning to wear out its welcome. Not in its native homeland, though, where it remains a big box office draw. Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) is still in ass-kicking Bud Spencer mode as he and his cadre of Terence Hills go after an online gambling boss (Kim Mu-yeol) that kidnaps hackers to the Philippines do his online bidding. Despite the two previous "The Roundups" happening in then-present time, "Punishment" is set in 2018 even though all the regulars look older than in the previous flicks. The bad guys and violence are borderline sadistic while our hero punches his way through justice so his promise to the mother of one of the dead hackers can be fulfilled. 'It's fine,' but lets hope the inevitable sequels start getting more creative with how to make their star shine. 3 FIRST-CLASS AIRLINE ROTATING CHAIRS SMASHED (out of 5).
DEAD HEAT (1988) dir. Mark Goldblat Distributed by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures.
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would:
Vincent Price! The dad from Christmas Story! Gun wielding zombie bank robbers! Really good practical effects but terrible digital fx. Nonstop Joe Piscopo one liners like: “Remember the good old days when guns killed people?”
And… Treat Williams was an excellent funny, leading man! The Oscars can go fark themselves for not including him in the In Memorium.
A cop buddy action/comedy from Lau Kar Leung staring Chow Yun Fat and Conan Lee. Its good cop & wiseass cop vs drug dealers. The humor is plentiful but way too corny/juvenile. The action, on the other hand, is phenom. Several AMAZING martial arts sequences, bonkers practical stuntwork, and a few best in class gun battles. The final setpiece fits alongside John Woo and Jackie Chans best 80s/90s similar scenes.
Great question...by all means im a proponent of physical media and watching stuff via formal distribution channels to ensure creators benefit accordingly...that being said there are times that something is incredibly obscure or reallly hard to find....youtube sometimes comes thru...but also ive recently started searching around the Internet Archive (archive.org). I was able to watch this on there. REALLY good quality. Cheers!
2nd Chicago movie in a row for me! I've been wanting to see this one since it was discussed on the site a while back (and, hey, it's the picture for today!). The casting of the leads seems so odd to me, but it absolutely works, and the supporting cast are all bangers. A car chase on the L tracks (is it L or "el"?) is something I've never seen before. I really enjoyed this movie.
Well done Kunider! I think most call it "L" but you are correct...it is short for elevated. Its the primary form of public transportation around the city of chicago. In most places the train rides above the ground (thus elevated) but in the downtown area it also goes underground like a subway.
CHAOS (2005) Jason Statham and Ryan Phillipe are mismatched cops pursuing a criminal mastermind played by Wesley Snipes. I assumed this would be a martial arts spectacular, building up to a Statham vs. Snipes throwdown, but it never happens. The filmmakers are going for more of a psychological Silence of the Lambs or Se7en type of thing. I guess this is a perfectly fine cop thriller, but it could have been so much more.
ANOTHER 48 HOURS (1990) Reggie (Eddie Murphy) is finally getting out of jail, only for hitmen to come after him. Now Jack (Nick Nolte) is back in Reggie’s life as his bodyguard/partner. Like the first movie, it’s a lot of Walter Hill gritty crime/action, combined with Eddie goofing it up. A motorcycle chase at the one-hour point is especially great, with a lot of fun gags. The movie doesn’t have the novelty of the original, but any excuse for Eddie to do his James Brown impersonation is a good one.
Bonus Universal Monster-sploitation: DRACULA’S DAUGHTER (1936) Lugosi is out, but the good news is Countess Zaleska and her hench-vamp Sandor are in. This movie is great, with both laughs and scares. The so-called “seduction” scene remains an all-timer. Continuity remains a problem, though. This is supposed to take place just after the first Dracula, so where were these characters during those events? Maybe Dracula had no idea Zaleska existed.
Bad Boys For Life (2020): perfect day to revisit this movie that i didn't quite like the first time. It's certainly no BB2, but it's fine. Also, i could do without rappers doing cameo.
RUSH HOUR (1998) Rewatch on New Line Blu. 6/10 down from 8/10. This was fun on opening night at the late, great SamEric theater on Chestnut street in Philadelphia. Maybe Rob was aware of this movie palace's charms. The crowd was "receptive" & those of us starting our freshman year at Temple were entertained on many levels. I already loved Chan & saw only the best in RUSH HOUR. I'm pretty sure I've watched/seen parts of it more than once since. This time I was aware of how Tucker seems to get a little more of the spotlight, despite being the less talented of the duo, in action, comedy & acting. As one of my former bosses used to say, "He's a great guy if you like him". I just got mildly irritated & found myself distracted by the time the action hit. Still a decent flick & the cast is pretty great. I got especially sidetracked when I started trying to imagine the film if Chris Tucker & Clifton Powell switched roles...
RUSH HOUR 2 (2001) First-time watch on Warner Bros DVD. 7/10. Do I dis-love myself? Have I lost objectivity? More importantly, did I just find RUSH HOUR 2 more entertaining than I think I should have? I was frowny enough after rewatching the first film that I was actually starting to rethink my plan to watch all three today. (I'm still not sure of that plan.) I'm guessing Zhang Ziyi's sadistic appeal helped partly erase Chris Tucker's extended crap table shenanigans. I also think Don Cheadle cast a spell on me, because I didn't wish he'd been Jackie's co-star until after the movie was over. But seriously... I do wish it.
48 Hours (1982) Wonderful old-school exercise in craftsmanship and star power. Walter Hill directs the shit out of this; the movie made Eddie Murphy a star. I love when the two stars beat the hell out of each other, after which they are united. I also love how the atmosphere, lighting, staging and direction change completely for the climactic showdown, and it’s as if we are watching a remake of The Lady from Shanghai. “You’re done. End of story.”
48 Hrs. (1982, directed by my main man Walter Hill). I've seen a fair chunk of Hill's filmography (and he's the best), but somehow had never seen this. Nolte is great as the gruff cop that "doesn't play by the rules" (but had his own code of honour and eventually is shown to be an honest cop). Murphy as the fast talking convict who he partners up with. Fantastic movie! Buddy cop movies must have existed before this, but I get the feeling that this laid the groundwork for the big boom of buddy cop movies that was huge in the '80s and '90s.
The brief scene where Robert Culp is drunk and buys a used car was very funny to me.
The chemistry and comedy between Hickey and Boggs--the most vital component of a buddy cop (or buddy detective) movie--was... okay. There are some funny moments between these two, but their relationship didn't have the spark (for me) that should really drive a movie like this. Maybe it's that their personalities were a little too similar--both pretty jaded with an easygoing, sarcastic energy--so that you don't get the argumentative banter, or the contrast in investigative styles that helps drive other movies of this subgenre (to argue against myself, Running Scared is a good example of a buddy cop flick that succeeds without leaning on an oil-and-water buddy dynamic). I should probably give Hickey & Boggs some credit for being a movie from 1972, before every Hollywood producer got "one is straitlaced and the other is a psycho/comedian" tattooed onto the inside of their eyelids (hey, it's an effective formula).
I also found the plot to be pretty inscrutable. I know (mostly) who the good guys and bad guys were, but beyond that, I had trouble comprehending the ups and downs of their investigation, which, consequently, made it hard to invest in the action after a while.
I'm a little bummed I didn't like this movie more, because I know it has several fans in the FtM family... but I'm glad they like it so much, and that I tried it, and that we all have our weird individual tastes. Hickey & Boggs wasn't quite my cup of tea, but it led to 48 Hrs., so I'm very grateful for its role in greater moviedom.
"You have the right to remain disgusting." And other one-liners. Plus gun-toting zombies, reanimated animal corpses in a Chinese butcher shop (loved the duck zombie), Darren McGavin, Vincent Price, and Key Luke. Treat Williams stars, his performance reflecting the increasing ridiculousness of the unfolding plot; it's hard for him to keep a straight face by the end. And if you've ever wondered why Joe Piscopo is relegated to the "where are they now file," look no further.
A truly laughable and ludicrous film, an 80's "so bad it's good" buddy cop "classic". I'll watch this again and play a drinking game with it, tipping one back each time Piscopo flexes.
Ok, just to get the part of this film that didn't age well out of the way, a lot of the humor comes from Freebie (James Caan) making racist remarks to his Latino partner who is oh so cleverly nicknamed "the Bean" (played by a very not Latino Alan Arkin).
Once you get past all that you've got a reasonably entertaining buddy cop movie, with solid chemistry between Arkin and Caan. Plus, as someone who spent a lot of time at Candlestick Park, it was fun for me that the climax takes place there.
Stray Dog (1949)
Kurosawa's proto-buddy cop film starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. Mifune plays a young cop whose gun gets stolen and is desperate to get it back as it is being used for nefarious purposes. He partners up with the older and wiser detective Satō. It's a slow burn and fairly serious, but I'm not going out on too much of a limb suggesting that a Kurosawa/Mifune film is worth watching.
DANGEROUS MONEY (1946) First-time watch on Warner Bros DVD. 6/10. Unable to get back in RUSH HOUR traffic, I opted for the "clever" follow-up of another Chan investigating some kind of funny money as presented by a Warner Bros DVD. The accidental double feature aspect (one of my favorite kinds of happenstance) this time was "the main black character is nicknamed 7-11". Who'da thunk? Unfortunately, this mediocre mystery didn't feature my favorite variation of Charlie Chan's chauffeur & son: future Laff Records comedian Mantan Moreland & TV-regular Benson Fong. Those two should've been buddy cops. Either way, the 66 minutes of '40s mystery have worked their usual night-night relaxation charms.
MIAMI SUPERCOPS (1985) Seven years ago, after a daring bank robbery in Detroit, FBI agents Doug Bennett (Terence Hill) and Steve Forest (Bud Spencer) were only able to arrest one of the three criminals, Joe Garret (Richard Liberty, yes, Dr. Logan from Day of the Dead). They never found the other two thieves or the $20 million they stole. And as soon as Garret gets out of jail, he shows up in Miami and even sooner is dead. Doug has stayed an agent, but Steve is now a flight instructor. This is the chance to solve the one case that they never did, so they disguise themselves as police officers and go to Miami. Well, Doug wants to solve the case. Steve wants left alone, but Doug tells him their old boss Tanney (C.B. Seay) has been killed. It’s a lie just to get him to go.
Miami Supercops is the last non-Western that Hill and Spencer would be in together — 1994’s Troublemakers is their last movie — and it’s an attempt to stay current and be like Miami Vice while reminding their fans of 1977’s Crime Busters. But yeah — Miami Vice — and we all know how much Italians not only love to rip off pop culture but to go to Florida to make movies. This doesn’t have as much of the humor as their past films and way more guns than slaps. Oh yeah — this also has some Beverly Hills Cop in it and has the 80s synth that you want it to have as a soundtrack (Carmelo and Michelangelo La Bionda, who also did the Antonio Margheriti movie Virtual Weapon that teams up Hill with Marvin Hagler, Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure and Super Fuzz, are the composers).
Bruno Corbucci made the journey from writing two of the most violent Westerns ever — Django and The Great Silence to name two — for his brother Sergio and ended up making movies like this, Aladdin and multiple movies with Tomas Milan playing Inspector Nico Giraldi. He wrote this movie with Luciano Vincenzoni, who also was the writer for Raw Deal, Orca, A Quiet Place In the Country and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
I kind of like the character of Annabelle, a larger woman played by Rhonda Lunstedt, who was a pro bodybuilder and one of the touring American Gladiators. Her only other acting role is in an episode of Miami Vice — that came in good here, you know? — and in Sergio Martino’s wild Uppercut Man, a movie I keep trying to get people to watch. Italian-American character actor Buffy Dee is also in this. You may remember him as Barney the club owner in Mako, the Jaws of Death. He was also in Nightmare Beach, the Hill and Spencer movie Go For It and Lady Ice.
My goal is to watch all the Hill and Spencer movies, as they always fill me with joy. Also: There’s a new video game, Slaps and Beans 2, that is somehow available in the U.S. I feel like it’s been made only for me.
I grew up on the french dub of those Hill/Spencer movies. I bought the dvds a few years ago and watched them all with my friends. I think I got all of the movies with both of them in it.
I've seen this movie 15ish times, and I know Joey Pants is still the captain in the other movies... but in the first hour or so, I'm still always a little suspicious that he's going to turn out to be in with the bad guys.
So damn fun. The cold open is perfect. I forget how great the score is. The contrivance of Marcus-is-Mike makes no sense after the first scene or two it's employed... and I don't care, because it's funny to watch Martin Lawrence be flustered.
I Come In Peace aka Dark Angel(1990 Dir Craig R Baxley) Dolph Lundgren and Madeline Stowes husband team up to take down the"White Boys" big time corporate drug dealers that killed Dolphs old partner when they run into a bigger problem, (sorry) a 10 to 12 foot tall Albino Drug Dealer from space stocking up on adrenochrome. Of course its fucking awesome. Dolph is a bad ass, Benben is actually likable and the bad guy uses space CD's to kill people. Bonus? features an autopsy scene without anyone eating.
After a series of crimes committed by a trio of criminals goes unsolved, the relentless Inspector Muzi enlists the help of a policewoman to find out if his suspicions about possible culprits are correct. There are many times, however, when their partnership is more about his power to dictate to her than an equal exchange. Though a mid-tier poliziotteschi at best, Like Rabid Dogs still has some unsettling violence, particularly of a misogynistic nature. It is also deeply interwined with the messy politics of 1970s Italy. There are some nice set pieces, like the car chase near the beginning of the film. Definitely not the best poliziotteschi to start with, but it does deliver the goods when it comes to the eurocrime sub-genre.
COLLISION COURSE (1989):
ReplyDeleteShitty and racist.
'FOURTH TIME'S THE CHARM?' DOUBLE BILL
ReplyDeleteBAD BOYS: RIDE OR DIE (2024, AMC DOLBY CINEMA)
Picking up after the rather eventful revelations of 2020's "Bad Boys For Life" (a January 2020 dump job by Sony that turned into a $425 million hit, one of the last worldwide blockbusters before COVID hit), "Ride or Die" has to jump through some convoluted hoops to bring back Captain Howard (Joe Pantoliano doing a day's work as a favor to Jerry Bruckheimer, which also explains Michael Bay's now-obligatory cameo) and villain-turned-good-guy badass Armando (Jacob Scipio) over to help our heroes clear their name and save their loved ones from villains too generic to care to remember. And you know what? For a fourth entry in a franchise dating back almost 30 years, this 4th film is entertaining as hell because it lets the buddy cop formula take center stage. Martin Lawrence is in rare form here as Marcus gets the best lines, the funniest jokes and the most absurd moments. But don't worry, Will Smith gets the biggest laugh of the movie (at his expense) and looks cool despite Mike Lowry never taking his shirt off (a first for a "Bad Boys" movie?). Directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah keep things visually busy and interesting, and the action set pieces are great as long as you don't compare them to the impossible-to-top (and mentioned in passing) machismo mountain that is "Bad Boys II." The lower your expectations the more fun this will be. 3.75 CHEKHOV'S GIANT ALBINO ALIGATORS (out of 5)
THE ROUNDUP: PUNISHMENT (2024, THEATER)
Caught this on its last theatrical day in NYC. Sad to say that, unlike "Ride or Die," this fourth entry in the South Korean cops-vs.-criminals comedic series (counting 2017's "The Outlaws" as first) is beginning to wear out its welcome. Not in its native homeland, though, where it remains a big box office draw. Ma Dong-seok (aka Don Lee) is still in ass-kicking Bud Spencer mode as he and his cadre of Terence Hills go after an online gambling boss (Kim Mu-yeol) that kidnaps hackers to the Philippines do his online bidding. Despite the two previous "The Roundups" happening in then-present time, "Punishment" is set in 2018 even though all the regulars look older than in the previous flicks. The bad guys and violence are borderline sadistic while our hero punches his way through justice so his promise to the mother of one of the dead hackers can be fulfilled. 'It's fine,' but lets hope the inevitable sequels start getting more creative with how to make their star shine. 3 FIRST-CLASS AIRLINE ROTATING CHAIRS SMASHED (out of 5).
DEAD HEAT (1988) dir. Mark Goldblat
ReplyDeleteDistributed by Roger Corman’s New World Pictures.
I liked this a lot more than I thought I would:
Vincent Price! The dad from Christmas Story! Gun wielding zombie bank robbers! Really good practical effects but terrible digital fx. Nonstop Joe Piscopo one liners like: “Remember the good old days when guns killed people?”
And… Treat Williams was an excellent funny, leading man! The Oscars can go fark themselves for not including him in the In Memorium.
This is my pick for the day, too. Thanks for the encouraging words, I'm looking forward to watching this now.
DeleteK-9 (1989, dir. Rod Daniel)
ReplyDeleteI really liked the dog.
Tiger on the Beat (1988)
ReplyDeleteA cop buddy action/comedy from Lau Kar Leung staring Chow Yun Fat and Conan Lee. Its good cop & wiseass cop vs drug dealers. The humor is plentiful but way too corny/juvenile. The action, on the other hand, is phenom. Several AMAZING martial arts sequences, bonkers practical stuntwork, and a few best in class gun battles. The final setpiece fits alongside John Woo and Jackie Chans best 80s/90s similar scenes.
Can I ask how you saw this? I have wanted to see this for years, it sounds awesome.
DeleteGreat question...by all means im a proponent of physical media and watching stuff via formal distribution channels to ensure creators benefit accordingly...that being said there are times that something is incredibly obscure or reallly hard to find....youtube sometimes comes thru...but also ive recently started searching around the Internet Archive (archive.org). I was able to watch this on there. REALLY good quality. Cheers!
DeleteRunning Scared (1986)
ReplyDelete2nd Chicago movie in a row for me! I've been wanting to see this one since it was discussed on the site a while back (and, hey, it's the picture for today!). The casting of the leads seems so odd to me, but it absolutely works, and the supporting cast are all bangers. A car chase on the L tracks (is it L or "el"?) is something I've never seen before. I really enjoyed this movie.
I think it should "el", because i think it stand for "elevated track". Something like that.
DeleteWell done Kunider! I think most call it "L" but you are correct...it is short for elevated. Its the primary form of public transportation around the city of chicago. In most places the train rides above the ground (thus elevated) but in the downtown area it also goes underground like a subway.
DeleteOne of my favorites, love Running Scared.
DeleteCHAOS (2005)
ReplyDeleteJason Statham and Ryan Phillipe are mismatched cops pursuing a criminal mastermind played by Wesley Snipes. I assumed this would be a martial arts spectacular, building up to a Statham vs. Snipes throwdown, but it never happens. The filmmakers are going for more of a psychological Silence of the Lambs or Se7en type of thing. I guess this is a perfectly fine cop thriller, but it could have been so much more.
ANOTHER 48 HOURS (1990)
Reggie (Eddie Murphy) is finally getting out of jail, only for hitmen to come after him. Now Jack (Nick Nolte) is back in Reggie’s life as his bodyguard/partner. Like the first movie, it’s a lot of Walter Hill gritty crime/action, combined with Eddie goofing it up. A motorcycle chase at the one-hour point is especially great, with a lot of fun gags. The movie doesn’t have the novelty of the original, but any excuse for Eddie to do his James Brown impersonation is a good one.
Bonus Universal Monster-sploitation: DRACULA’S DAUGHTER (1936)
Lugosi is out, but the good news is Countess Zaleska and her hench-vamp Sandor are in. This movie is great, with both laughs and scares. The so-called “seduction” scene remains an all-timer. Continuity remains a problem, though. This is supposed to take place just after the first Dracula, so where were these characters during those events? Maybe Dracula had no idea Zaleska existed.
Bad Boys For Life (2020): perfect day to revisit this movie that i didn't quite like the first time. It's certainly no BB2, but it's fine. Also, i could do without rappers doing cameo.
ReplyDeleteRUSH HOUR (1998)
ReplyDeleteRewatch on New Line Blu. 6/10 down from 8/10.
This was fun on opening night at the late, great SamEric theater on Chestnut street in Philadelphia. Maybe Rob was aware of this movie palace's charms. The crowd was "receptive" & those of us starting our freshman year at Temple were entertained on many levels. I already loved Chan & saw only the best in RUSH HOUR. I'm pretty sure I've watched/seen parts of it more than once since. This time I was aware of how Tucker seems to get a little more of the spotlight, despite being the less talented of the duo, in action, comedy & acting. As one of my former bosses used to say, "He's a great guy if you like him". I just got mildly irritated & found myself distracted by the time the action hit. Still a decent flick & the cast is pretty great.
I got especially sidetracked when I started trying to imagine the film if Chris Tucker & Clifton Powell switched roles...
Vice Academy (1989)
ReplyDeleteI've been saving this for a cop themed day in June, and here it is.
No matter how many movies you watch this month, VICE ACADEMY will be one of them.
DeleteI you watch all the Vice Academy movies, it will be 6 of them.
DeleteI love science.
DeleteRUSH HOUR 2 (2001)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch on Warner Bros DVD. 7/10.
Do I dis-love myself? Have I lost objectivity? More importantly, did I just find RUSH HOUR 2 more entertaining than I think I should have? I was frowny enough after rewatching the first film that I was actually starting to rethink my plan to watch all three today. (I'm still not sure of that plan.) I'm guessing Zhang Ziyi's sadistic appeal helped partly erase Chris Tucker's extended crap table shenanigans. I also think Don Cheadle cast a spell on me, because I didn't wish he'd been Jackie's co-star until after the movie was over. But seriously... I do wish it.
Did you like RH2 more than RH1? How dare you? 😁
DeleteIt must be my BrainWorm. I just can't figure out if I LOST my brain or if Jackie's post-credit fun always charms me...
DeleteI love RH 2!
Delete48 Hours (1982) Wonderful old-school exercise in craftsmanship and star power. Walter Hill directs the shit out of this; the movie made Eddie Murphy a star. I love when the two stars beat the hell out of each other, after which they are united. I also love how the atmosphere, lighting, staging and direction change completely for the climactic showdown, and it’s as if we are watching a remake of The Lady from Shanghai. “You’re done. End of story.”
ReplyDelete48 Hrs. (1982, directed by my main man Walter Hill). I've seen a fair chunk of Hill's filmography (and he's the best), but somehow had never seen this. Nolte is great as the gruff cop that "doesn't play by the rules" (but had his own code of honour and eventually is shown to be an honest cop). Murphy as the fast talking convict who he partners up with. Fantastic movie! Buddy cop movies must have existed before this, but I get the feeling that this laid the groundwork for the big boom of buddy cop movies that was huge in the '80s and '90s.
ReplyDeleteHickey & Boggs (1972)
ReplyDeleteThe brief scene where Robert Culp is drunk and buys a used car was very funny to me.
The chemistry and comedy between Hickey and Boggs--the most vital component of a buddy cop (or buddy detective) movie--was... okay. There are some funny moments between these two, but their relationship didn't have the spark (for me) that should really drive a movie like this. Maybe it's that their personalities were a little too similar--both pretty jaded with an easygoing, sarcastic energy--so that you don't get the argumentative banter, or the contrast in investigative styles that helps drive other movies of this subgenre (to argue against myself, Running Scared is a good example of a buddy cop flick that succeeds without leaning on an oil-and-water buddy dynamic). I should probably give Hickey & Boggs some credit for being a movie from 1972, before every Hollywood producer got "one is straitlaced and the other is a psycho/comedian" tattooed onto the inside of their eyelids (hey, it's an effective formula).
I also found the plot to be pretty inscrutable. I know (mostly) who the good guys and bad guys were, but beyond that, I had trouble comprehending the ups and downs of their investigation, which, consequently, made it hard to invest in the action after a while.
I'm a little bummed I didn't like this movie more, because I know it has several fans in the FtM family... but I'm glad they like it so much, and that I tried it, and that we all have our weird individual tastes. Hickey & Boggs wasn't quite my cup of tea, but it led to 48 Hrs., so I'm very grateful for its role in greater moviedom.
Dead Heat (1988)
ReplyDelete"You have the right to remain disgusting." And other one-liners. Plus gun-toting zombies, reanimated animal corpses in a Chinese butcher shop (loved the duck zombie), Darren McGavin, Vincent Price, and Key Luke. Treat Williams stars, his performance reflecting the increasing ridiculousness of the unfolding plot; it's hard for him to keep a straight face by the end. And if you've ever wondered why Joe Piscopo is relegated to the "where are they now file," look no further.
A truly laughable and ludicrous film, an 80's "so bad it's good" buddy cop "classic". I'll watch this again and play a drinking game with it, tipping one back each time Piscopo flexes.
Freebie and the Bean (1974)
ReplyDeleteOk, just to get the part of this film that didn't age well out of the way, a lot of the humor comes from Freebie (James Caan) making racist remarks to his Latino partner who is oh so cleverly nicknamed "the Bean" (played by a very not Latino Alan Arkin).
Once you get past all that you've got a reasonably entertaining buddy cop movie, with solid chemistry between Arkin and Caan. Plus, as someone who spent a lot of time at Candlestick Park, it was fun for me that the climax takes place there.
Stray Dog (1949)
Kurosawa's proto-buddy cop film starring Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura. Mifune plays a young cop whose gun gets stolen and is desperate to get it back as it is being used for nefarious purposes. He partners up with the older and wiser detective Satō. It's a slow burn and fairly serious, but I'm not going out on too much of a limb suggesting that a Kurosawa/Mifune film is worth watching.
DANGEROUS MONEY (1946)
ReplyDeleteFirst-time watch on Warner Bros DVD. 6/10.
Unable to get back in RUSH HOUR traffic, I opted for the "clever" follow-up of another Chan investigating some kind of funny money as presented by a Warner Bros DVD. The accidental double feature aspect (one of my favorite kinds of happenstance) this time was "the main black character is nicknamed 7-11".
Who'da thunk?
Unfortunately, this mediocre mystery didn't feature my favorite variation of Charlie Chan's chauffeur & son: future Laff Records comedian Mantan Moreland & TV-regular Benson Fong. Those two should've been buddy cops. Either way, the 66 minutes of '40s mystery have worked their usual night-night relaxation charms.
Point Break (1991)
ReplyDeleteAnother incredible first time watch. Traditional buddy cop? Not necessarily. But he's also kinda buddies (😏) with the bad guy so it all evens out.
MIAMI SUPERCOPS (1985)
ReplyDeleteSeven years ago, after a daring bank robbery in Detroit, FBI agents Doug Bennett (Terence Hill) and Steve Forest (Bud Spencer) were only able to arrest one of the three criminals, Joe Garret (Richard Liberty, yes, Dr. Logan from Day of the Dead). They never found the other two thieves or the $20 million they stole. And as soon as Garret gets out of jail, he shows up in Miami and even sooner is dead. Doug has stayed an agent, but Steve is now a flight instructor. This is the chance to solve the one case that they never did, so they disguise themselves as police officers and go to Miami. Well, Doug wants to solve the case. Steve wants left alone, but Doug tells him their old boss Tanney (C.B. Seay) has been killed. It’s a lie just to get him to go.
Miami Supercops is the last non-Western that Hill and Spencer would be in together — 1994’s Troublemakers is their last movie — and it’s an attempt to stay current and be like Miami Vice while reminding their fans of 1977’s Crime Busters. But yeah — Miami Vice — and we all know how much Italians not only love to rip off pop culture but to go to Florida to make movies. This doesn’t have as much of the humor as their past films and way more guns than slaps. Oh yeah — this also has some Beverly Hills Cop in it and has the 80s synth that you want it to have as a soundtrack (Carmelo and Michelangelo La Bionda, who also did the Antonio Margheriti movie Virtual Weapon that teams up Hill with Marvin Hagler, Who Finds a Friend Finds a Treasure and Super Fuzz, are the composers).
Bruno Corbucci made the journey from writing two of the most violent Westerns ever — Django and The Great Silence to name two — for his brother Sergio and ended up making movies like this, Aladdin and multiple movies with Tomas Milan playing Inspector Nico Giraldi. He wrote this movie with Luciano Vincenzoni, who also was the writer for Raw Deal, Orca, A Quiet Place In the Country and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.
I kind of like the character of Annabelle, a larger woman played by Rhonda Lunstedt, who was a pro bodybuilder and one of the touring American Gladiators. Her only other acting role is in an episode of Miami Vice — that came in good here, you know? — and in Sergio Martino’s wild Uppercut Man, a movie I keep trying to get people to watch. Italian-American character actor Buffy Dee is also in this. You may remember him as Barney the club owner in Mako, the Jaws of Death. He was also in Nightmare Beach, the Hill and Spencer movie Go For It and Lady Ice.
My goal is to watch all the Hill and Spencer movies, as they always fill me with joy. Also: There’s a new video game, Slaps and Beans 2, that is somehow available in the U.S. I feel like it’s been made only for me.
I grew up on the french dub of those Hill/Spencer movies. I bought the dvds a few years ago and watched them all with my friends. I think I got all of the movies with both of them in it.
DeleteMoney Train (1995)
ReplyDeleteWesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson's dialogue delivery is so, so good.
Bad Boys (1995)
ReplyDeleteI've seen this movie 15ish times, and I know Joey Pants is still the captain in the other movies... but in the first hour or so, I'm still always a little suspicious that he's going to turn out to be in with the bad guys.
So damn fun. The cold open is perfect. I forget how great the score is. The contrivance of Marcus-is-Mike makes no sense after the first scene or two it's employed... and I don't care, because it's funny to watch Martin Lawrence be flustered.
I Come In Peace aka Dark Angel(1990 Dir Craig R Baxley)
ReplyDeleteDolph Lundgren and Madeline Stowes husband team up to take down the"White Boys" big time corporate drug dealers that killed Dolphs old partner when they run into a bigger problem, (sorry) a 10 to 12 foot tall Albino Drug Dealer from space stocking up on adrenochrome. Of course its fucking awesome. Dolph is a bad ass, Benben is actually likable and the bad guy uses space CD's to kill people. Bonus? features an autopsy scene without anyone eating.
LIKE RABID DOGS (1976, dir. Mario Imperoli)
ReplyDeleteAfter a series of crimes committed by a trio of criminals goes unsolved, the relentless Inspector Muzi enlists the help of a policewoman to find out if his suspicions about possible culprits are correct. There are many times, however, when their partnership is more about his power to dictate to her than an equal exchange. Though a mid-tier poliziotteschi at best, Like Rabid Dogs still has some unsettling violence, particularly of a misogynistic nature. It is also deeply interwined with the messy politics of 1970s Italy. There are some nice set pieces, like the car chase near the beginning of the film. Definitely not the best poliziotteschi to start with, but it does deliver the goods when it comes to the eurocrime sub-genre.