Texas Killing Fields

I'm gonna be honest here. I was aware of this movie, even thought it looked pretty decent despite some middling reviews. I liked the cast and was curious what it would off. But then it sat there on Netflix glaring back at me for quite awhile. What changed my mind? I fell hard for HBO's True Detective -- still working my way through Season 1 -- and wanted to watch a gritty police procedural, hence our sitdown with 2011's Texas Killing Fields.

In Texas City, Texas, a darkness hangs in the air. Unsolved mysteries seem to plague the police department, dead bodies turning up far too often in the maze-like, trance-like bayous that surround the oil fields to the point the area is dubbed 'the Killing Fields.' Two detectives, Mike Souder (Sam Worthington) and Brian Heigh (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), are called in to investigate when a dead body turns up, a teenage girl who may have had ties with drugs and prostitution. A former NYC cop, Heigh is still adjusting to a different style, a different way of investigating while Souder grew up learning the system. The clues don't seem to lead anywhere and everywhere at the same time. Heigh begins to suspect they may be dealing with a serial killer, but can the two detectives put it all together? When they receive a call from the killer as he executes a victim, their motivations become amped up even more.

This movie should have been better. There, I said it. 'Fields' comes from director Ami Canaan Mann -- daughter of Michael Mann -- and certainly has a lot of potential. The story is loosely based on a true story of the murders of many women along a stretch of road in Texas along the I-45 corridor. I really liked the style, the darkness, the sense of doom that hangs in the air. Cinematographer Stuart Dryburgh films a story that is uncomfortable, dark and eerie, like evil is hanging in the air, composer Dickon Hinchliffe's score aiding the cause in creating that ever so dark mood. The bayous just have something dark about them, these expansive yet claustrophobic fields holding all sorts of doom and evil. It doesn't have much of a positive outlook on life, evil waiting to descend on all of us. Hard to beat that in a police procedural where the detectives are pushed to their absolute limits to find the murderer.

With some obvious dark drama, the variation here is on the buddy cop flick (hold the laughs of course). I'm a fan of both Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Sam Worthington so it was cool to see them paired up as two very different cops. Their differences, their dynamic works well. Morgan's Brian is the crusader, wanting to save everyone and anyone he can, becoming obsessed with the cases that cross his desk. Worthington's Mike similarly wants to solve each case, but he's also been worn down by the region he's worked in for so long. Murder is far from accepted, but there's also little surprise in this veteran cop when new bodies pop up. Their differing outlooks clash, their arguments fueling the case. Brian sees the potential that the newest victim is tied in with other unsolved murders. Mike simply wants to find the murderer as it impacts his jurisdiction. Two solid if unspectacular performances.

Because the case drama isn't enough, we need some personal drama. Mike's ex-wife and a detective from the state police is played by Jessica Chastain in a wasted part, the drama never really clicking. Chloe Grace Moretz is good as little Anne, a teenage girl who Brian keeps helping because her mother works as a prostitute at home. Jason Clarke, Stephen Graham, James Hebert and Jon Eyez play possible suspects in the case.

So style to burn, stock characters who are still interesting, what's missing? Simply put...the story. It's so convoluted that nothing ever clicks together. There's the one victim, then there's others, then there are others that may have been from other murderers. Who are we looking for? Are the killers those ones or these ones? Sure, I'm convinced that's what actual police and detective work is really like. Leads that don't go anywhere, leads and clues that are misleading, suspects who can't be convicted. It's all there. But in a 105-minute movie why pack all this in there? I was never quite sure what was going on, a huge red herring going absolutely nowhere. Realistic? Most likely. Good for the sake of the story? Nope. A disappointing end result.

Texas Killing Fields (2011): **/****

Hit!

Though he has starred in countless films and television shows, I can't say I've seen Billy Dee Williams in more than two or three movies. And yes, those movies are the Star Wars movies. As roguish Lando Calrissian, he left quite the impression, but what about all those other movies? Well, let's start here with 1973's Hit!

A veteran government agent, Nick Allen (Williams) is on a mission. His teenage daughter has died from a heroin overdose, but Allen can find no one who will do anything about the dealer, pushers or suppliers, leaving his daughter's memory haunting him. With no options in front of him, Nick improvises, deciding to take the fight to the drug suppliers in Marseilles. He can't do it by himself though and without the backing of the government, he's forced to recruit an odd team of vigilantes to aid the cause. His incentive to convince these individuals? Each and every one of them has been affected in one way or another by drugs -- themselves, their families, their friends -- so an opportunity to take the war back at the suppliers? Nick has his team but can this unlikely team somehow pull off the impossible mission he has in store for them?

From what I read about this 1973 action flick, it sounded like I was heading into a blaxploitation flick full of black power and white hate. Yeah, about that....nope. I was surprised by what film I ended up getting. From director Sidney J. Furie, 'Hit' is a fun if dark, pretty entertaining movie that does try to deliver a message. Thankfully, it's not overdone. That message? The U.S. government isn't doing enough to curb drug trafficking into the states, if doing anything at all. Williams' Nick Allen hits his breaking point when his daughter dies from an overdose. Even when Nick presents his superiors with a gimme of a case, his requests fall on deaf ears. It isn't the message that's overdone, but instead a script that is a tad too leisurely at 134 minutes.

What's more surprising is the portions of 'Hit' that are far too leisurely. I love a good specialist movie, a good, old-fashioned men-on-a-mission movie, and at its heart that is what this movie is. In seeking out help for his mission overseas, Allen seeks out an odd assortment of people who form the unlikeliest of specialists. His crew includes Mike Willmer (Richard Pryor), a widower who saw his wife raped and murdered by a drug addict, Barry Strong (Paul Hampton), an ex-soldier who got involved in drugs during his tour in Vietnam, Sherry Nielson (Gwen Welles), a prostitute with a heroin addiction, Dutch Schiller (Warren J. Kemmerling), a frustrated cop who keeps seeing his arrests come up empty, and Ida (Janet Brandt) and Herman (Sid Melton), an old married couple that saw their son die because of his drug addiction. An emotional investment in these characters is a positive, but 'Hit' takes far too long in Allen's recruiting. These little episodes just take their time too much. Well over an hour is spent on the recruiting process, leaving the actual mission as almost an after-thought.

Oh, and Billy Dee Williams is very cool. We're talking effortless cool, the same cool he brought to Lando Calrissian a few years later. We see little snippets of his anger poking through, his extreme frustration at a system that allows deaths like his daughter's. As the leader of his specialists and vigilantes, he isn't recruiting mercenaries looking for a payday, just individuals looking for vengeance in one form or another. I liked that dynamic from beginning to end. Of his vigilantes, I especially liked Richard Pryor as the widowed husband who's calm and cool....until you mention his wife. It's a part that has some comedy, some drama and mostly shows what a talent Pryor was bouncing back and forth between the two. The rest of the cast is okay -- I liked Kemmerling as the tough street cop always on the search for a hamburger -- without a ton of star power.

In a crime action-thriller like this, a couple action sequences stand out. The obvious is the Godfather-esque finale, Allen's team unleashing surprise attacks on a handful of very rich, well to do drug suppliers as they go about their daily extravagances in Marseilles. It is a cool sequence, hard-hitting, aggressive and bloody but it feels almost rushed. Solid but could have been better. An early car chase is pretty cool, two hit men trying to knock off Allen before he can put his plan into action.

In general, I liked this movie. It should have been better. I liked its grittiness, its vulgarity in its dialogue, its aggressive qualities across the board. Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor are cool, and really, do you need anything else?

Hit! (1973): ** 1/2 /****

Rush (2013)

So do we have any auto racing fans out there? Nascar, Formula One, dirt track races, drag racing, anything? I've never been a fan, never been able to sit down and watch a race on TV from beginning to end. On the other hand, I love racing movies from older gems like Grand Prix and Le Mans to more current movies like the Fast and the Furious series. Released in theaters last year to basically uniformally positive reviews and a decent box box, 2013's Rush is one of the best racing movies out there.

It's 1970 and two young drivers, James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl), are trying to make it from Formula 3 racing to the Formula 1 circuit. The two racers are complete polar opposites, James a smooth, charming ladies man with an incredible knack for racing, Niki the perfectionist who works incessantly at being the best driver he can be. Going down vastly different routes, both James and Niki make it to the pinnacle, finally getting to Formula One. Niki even wins the 1975 World Championship at the circuit's best racer. It all seems primed for the 1976 season, Niki signed with Ferrari while Hunt works with McLaren, both drivers at their prime with the best possible cars to drive and staffs to keep the cars driving at an optimum level. Can this rivalry be pushed too far though? How far will each man go to ensure a win?

What a really, really good movie. One of the most positive things to take away from this movie? Ron Howard is directing! He's had a relative rough patch of late recently, movies that didn't seem up to his talents like The Dilemma or the Dan Brown movies, The Da Vinci Code or Angels and Demons. Even considering his career films, 'Rush' seems like a bit of a departure for Howard, but that's a positive. A big positive. There is a hard-edge here to the story from the personal interactions to the intensity, even smaller things like language or nudity (Hemsworth does a nude scene. You're welcome, ladies). The story from Peter Morgan's script is a nice fit for a 123-minute long movie. It covers almost six full years but hits the necessary moments without feeling rushed, much of the focus on the 1976 season. There's not one high-reaching thing 'Rush' does well, one huge thing that sets it apart from the field. It just does a lot of things really well.

Nowhere is that more evident than the two leads, Hemsworth and Bruhl, and for different reasons. Making a name for himself as Thor in the Avengers movies, it's hard to believe Hemsworth has only been in the public eye for a handful of years. Bruhl is a less well-known actor probably most known to American audiences because of Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. Their on-screen chemistry is the heart of the movie. It's not a hatred between the two men, just an intense, palpable rivalry that at times brings out the best and worst in them. Within sports, rivalries fuel it all, and when it is individuals more than teams -- especially in a film -- it works better. Bruhl even picked up some Oscar buzz for his performance here but ultimately didn't get a nomination for his past as Niki Lauda. SPOILERS Don't read the Wikipedia biography if you don't want to know where the movie heads. SPOILERS

It just works, the pairing between Hemsworth and Bruhl. The two men are different, but they've got more in common than they probably want to admit. Watching a movie about either man would have been intensely interesting so seeing the Formula 1 season play out between the two of them is even better. I'm struggling to explain it, but it's just a good dynamic. They don't hate each other -- maybe intensely dislike -- but for the most part their confrontations are hard-edged and brutal...with smiles on their faces. Through it all, there is a mutual respect that grows between the two men, something grown out of a profession that is inherently dangerous (Lauda's narration claims 2 drivers die a year) as the drivers live on the edge with each race. They push each other to the absolute limit, their intense desire to win becoming obsessive. It wears on their persona lives, their relationships, everything. Kudos to Hemsworth and Bruhl.

The focus is almost entirely on that duo, Olivia Wilde making an almost cameo-like appearance as Hunt's wife, and Alexandra Maria Lara as Marlene, Niki's wife who questions if he can ever be invested in a marriage. Pierfrancesco Favino is solid as a rival Ferrari driver, but the rest of the cast is almost entirely background. We meet some of the backers, the pit crew, but nothing in depth.

What works so well beyond the casting is the racing sequences. Stylish and edited at a freaky fast pace, these sequences are still easy to follow. Because 'Rush' covers so much ground, there's only that one big race, most of the build-up a quick, hard-hitting race that isn't wasting any time. The finale is a gem, the race for the World Championship coming down to one final go on a rainy, almost suicidal course, Nurburgring. The races have an almost washed-out look that stylistically works surprisingly well. Howard filmed on many of the courses where the story is set, acquiring a bunch of vintage cars. The 1970s setting definitely adds to the proceedings as does composer Hans Zimmer's score. There wasn't one huge theme that stuck out for me, but it's a great score that adds a lot to the racing sequences. I was impressed especially because it tries to do so much as a score, not just big, booming epic music.

An excellent movie all-around. Well worth tracking down. Without any knowledge of the actual history, the story surprised me, especially one decision Lauda makes that greatly affects everyone on the circuit, including Hunt. Crazy to think this actually happened, Howard more than doing it justice.

Rush (2013): *** 1/2 /****

Gambit

I feel like I've probably seen too many heist movies. Why you ask? Because I'm pretty sure I could rob a bank or an armored car or an impenetrable art gallery and get away with it. That premise of course, is ridiculous. I would most likely get shot down immediately. But what have heist movies taught me? That no matter how much you plan, right down to the smallest detail, something, SOMETHING, will go wrong. From 1966, Gambit has a lot of fun with that simple genre premise.

An experienced thief who has managed to stay under the radar (those pesky police), Harry Dean (Michael Caine) has come up with a brilliantly unique plan that will net him quite the profit. He's going to rob the apartment of the supposed richest man in the world, Shahbandar (Herbert Lom), in Dammuz, a Middle Eastern city. His plan? He recruits Nicole Chang (Shirley MacLaine), a dance hall girl trapped in Hong Kong without money or passport. Nicole bears a striking resemblance to Shahbandar's wife who died some 20 years ago. Harry assumes that if the richest man in the world even sees Nicole, he'll be dumbstruck. So, soooo, while Shahbandar is distracted with Nicole -- posing as Harry's wife -- Harry intends to get into his heavily guarded, fortified with security apartment. He's got it all planned down to the miniscule details....and nothing seems like it can go as planned.

Not gonna lie, about 25 minutes into this comedy heist film from director Ronald Neame, I was ridiculously close to bailing. Why you ask? SPOILERS STOP READING FOR FIRST 30 MINUTE SPOILERS Well, the entire first half four of the story is a what-if. We don't know it at the time, but just the same, that's what it is. What we see is how Harry envisions his plan coming together. Every little thing comes together perfectly, no flubs or screw-ups, just a plan developing like a well-oiled machine. I did get a kick out of it that MacLaine's Nicole says absolutely NOTHING over the opener, Harry's plan ideally having her silent. I don't know why, but that premise cracked me up. Still, while it's clever, I also felt it was quite a gimmick, like a wasted half hour I wouldn't be getting back anytime soon. Thankfully in this case, I was wrong. Yes, it's a gimmick, but because of what came after it, that darn gimmick worked well.

Considering the stars involved, I was surprised I'd never heard of this heist comedy. It is funny, never going into Spoof or Stupid Territory, keeping the laughs low-key and pretty natural without too much forced. 'Gambit' is hard to peg, but it's enjoyable throughout its 109-minute running time. The biggest reason is the gimmick's payoff. The what-if first 25 minutes is dull because, well, everything goes well. What's the fun in seeing everything work out? It's all part of the set-up. We're then transported back to where Harry began, laying out his plan for the robbery. The last 90 minutes is excellent because we've already seen what Harry thinks (even expects) to happen. Seeing it go in almost the exact opposite way provides some great moments, the seemingly smooth Cockney thief unraveling with one miscue after another. MacLaine's Nicole -- now allowed to speak -- is sweet, charming and intelligent, correcting Harry ad nauseum. In those quiet, underplayed moments with genuine laughs, that's where 'Gambit' is at its absolute best.

All style choices aside, this flick's success rode on the shoulders of stars Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine. An established star, MacLaine shows off her impeccable comedic timing with each passing scene. It's hard not to like her and more importantly, her character, Nicole, an Asian-American looking for an out of Hong Kong. It's odd to think of this, but this film was Caine's first American film after the British success of Zulu, The Ipcress File, Alfie and The Wrong Box. The part was an excellent introduction of sorts for American audiences, a smooth Brit who isn't so smooth under pressure. On their own, these are two really fun, entertaining characters, but together? There's a reason MacLaine and Caine are two of the best to ever grace the silver screen. Their chemistry is pitch-perfect, MacLaine's calm meets chipper demeanor vs. Caine's ultra-smooth, ultra-confident thief playing well off each other. Just sit back and watch two pros do their thing.

Beyond the star duo, the cast is pretty limited here. Lom rounds out the lead trio as Shahbandar, the target of Harry's brilliantly put together robbery. Not quite a villain, not quite a good guy, he's in between as he tries to figure out exactly what Harry and Nicole are up to. Who else to look for? Roger C. Carmel as Ram, the hotel attendant Harry is counting on, John Abbott as Emile, Harry's partner in crime, Arnold Moss as Abdul, Shahbandar's loyal assistant, and Richard Angarola as Salim, the police chief.

Lesson No. 2 from the Heist genre: There's always a twist. Does it always work? No. The ending here falls in between. It works, but it's not as smart as it probably thinks it is. The twist certainly does come out of left field and for the most part it all clicks together. Still, the fun is getting to the finale. If the bookends aren't the strongest aspects overall, so be it, because the middle portion is quite easy to recommend. Definitely worth checking out. Composer Maurice Jarre has some fun with his musical score, touching on a variety of different genres with his cues.

Gambit (1966): ***/****

Non-Stop

Terror at 30,000 feet!!! There's all sorts of crazy, scary, terrifying situations out there. But what about those situations where you simply can't get away from it? Like literally, can't get away, like on a plane flying at 30,000 feet. There's a fun, little sub-genre of movies like this, including Air Force One, Flightplan, Red Eye, and most recently, Non-Stop.

A former police officer from New York City, Bill Marks (Liam Neeson) is a Federal Air Marshal who's been at it for years. After some family troubles years before, Marks struggles with the job, drinking heavily to the point his coworkers are aware of it as well. Boarding a six-hour flight from NYC to London, Marks is ready for whatever could be thrown at him...until now. An hour or so into the flight, he starts to receive ominous text messages from an unknown sender. His threat? Unless $150 million is deposited in a bank account, someone on board will be killed every 20 minutes. It has to be a joke, right? How could a killer get away with it? What could their escape plan be? Marks isn't sure how to proceed, but with the clock ticking, he's working against time. Can he find the supposed killer before he strikes?

I'm going to be honest here. When I first saw the trailer for director Jaume Collet-Serra's film, I will....I'll say, less than enthused. It looked exceptionally goofy, even dumb, in wasting a premise that sounded like it could be pretty cool. Now all that said, a local theater shows movies for $5 on Tuesdays so....yeah, I gave it a shot. 'Non-Stop' ends up being a lot of fun, taking advantage of a simple, straightforward premise. A killer on-board a plane? How could he possibly plan on getting away even if his plan somehow succeeds? At 106 minutes, it's basically the perfect length -- not too quick, doesn't overstay its welcome. The style is there, texts popping up on-screen as Neeson's Air Marshal interacts with the terrorist. With the exception of a quick introduction and the closing scene, the entire movie plays out on the plane as it flies across the Atlantic, almost like a stage play. Above all else, it is entertaining. It's fun, and sometimes that's all you need.

Another chapter to the Liam Neeson Badass chapter has been written. As I've written before, I'm a big fan of Mr. Neeson no matter the part, but I love him in these more commercial movies more than the more dramatic period pieces. It's like picking pizza though. There's not really bad pizza, just less good. Neeson was cut out to be an action star. It just took years to figure it out whether it was the Taken movies, The Grey, Star Wars, Unknown, and now here in Non-Stop. His grizzled Bill Marks is worn down, beaten up and struggling with alcoholism, but through it all, he still knows how to do his job and do it well, even when it seems he can do no right. Now in his early 1960s, Neeson for lack of a better description is a badass. It's fun to watch him on-screen, especially in ass-kicking mode. His weathered face, his gravelly voice, it all adds up and in a good way. Likable, believable and a hell of a good action star.

One of the biggest selling points for 'Non-Stop' for me was the catch. With a story like this, you know there's going to be a big twist, a big reveal, something that lays it all out there. There just is so deal with it. Here, the premise is a whodunit? Who is the person behind the diabolical plot that threatens to claim the lives of 150 people on-board this commercial airliner? Everyone in the supporting cast is a possible suspect so that's part of the fun. Can you piece it together before the big reveal? I had an inkling, but I couldn't peg this one. For starters, look for Julianne Moore as Jen, the fellow passenger who needs a window seat and ends up next to Neeson's Marks. Also look for Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery, Linus Roache, Nate Parker, Corey Stoll, Anson Mount, and Omar Metwally among others as assorted passengers and crew on-board who may or may not be working with the Air Marshal to find out exactly what's going on. Shea Whigham also makes a quick appearance as an agent on the ground communicating with Marks. It's a fun group with some solid variety. I was kept guessing until the very end as to who was behind the plot at 30,000 feet.

And then there's the reveal. I didn't love it, but it's a realistic ending so that's a win in itself. I was worried about some ridiculous, far-fetched twist coming out of left field. Thankfully, that never comes to fruition. So while I didn't love the ending, I didn't hate it each other. It was getting to the finale that's pretty cool. We see the responses, the contingency plans, the technology available from texting to filming video with a phone, all how it affects Marks' situation that gets progressively worse with each passing moment. This is a good, old-fashioned thriller with some nice modern touches. Uncomfortable, full of tension and adrenaline, with a lot going for it across the board. An easy movie to recommend.

Non-Stop (2014): ***/****

The Last Stand

It's good to have Arnold Schwarzenegger back. That is all. Elected Governor of California in 2003, the action star served two terms, putting his film career on hold for the time being. He returned to movies with The Expendables, a slightly bigger part in its sequel and officially took a key supporting role in last year's Escape Plan. But now, it's time for a leading role in a good, old-fashioned shoot 'em up, 2013's The Last Stand.

In the quiet border town of Sommerset Junction in Arizona, Sheriff Ray Towns (Schwarzenegger) enjoys a peaceful, restful life after years of serving in the L.A.P.D. Narcotics and Tactical Division. Well, that idyllic, peaceful life is about to get thrown a curve. With much of the town following the high school football team on a road game, Towns gets a call that someone has been murdered. His deputies stumble upon something in the desert, heavily armed ex-military firing on the deputies. At the same time, Towns gets another call, this time from FBI agent Bannister (Forest Whitaker), with a warning. A highly dangerous leader of a powerful drug cartel, Gabriel Cortez (Eduardo Noriega), has led a bloody escape and is making a beeline for Mexico in a modified, souped-up sports car. Bannister believes Cortez is heading right to Sommerset Junction. Towns figures Cortez's plan out, ex-military and all, but can he and his motley crew of deputies stop Cortez?

Ah, action movies, how I love you. This flick didn't do much business last year in theaters -- netting a little over $48 million -- but I remember catching the first trailer for this and being intrigued. This wasn't a movie I was dying to see, that I needed to see, but could it be good? Oh, you bet, and that's what it is in the end. From director Kim Jee-woon, 'Stand' is an entertaining, well-done action movie that's cheesy and goofy, blending some fun characters with one-liners, lots of bloody action and a straightforward good guys vs. bad guys premise. It isn't interested in rewriting the genre, and that's fine. In a lot of ways, it reminded me of last year's 2 Guns, a type of crime action movie that was really popular in the 1970s, especially with the U.S./Mexico border setting. Just enjoy it. Don't overthink it.

Schwarzenegger!!! It's fun to see one of Hollywood's all-time great action stars getting back to business. I got a taste of his return in Escape Plan (his parts in the Expendables are cameos as part of an ensemble, nothing more), but this is where it's at, the Governator in a lead role. Working off a script from Andrew Knauer, Schwarzenegger makes it look easy, even effortless, but he's always got that energy for the action. In other words, there's never a sense that he is phoning it in. Sure, the script has some fun with the 67-year old action star, but it's all in good fun. My favorite? "Sheriff, how are you?" to which Towns answers "Old" having crashed through a window. His backstory is handled in a quick explanatory scene, giving some depth to the small town country sheriff that's pretty familiar in action movies. How does Andy Taylor, um, uh....Arnold Schwarzenegger respond? With a whole lot of shootouts, gunfights and knock-down fist fights, as we've come to expect.

Who else to watch out for? Whitaker does his best as the city boy, the FBI agent who doesn't think a country sheriff could possibly know what he's talking about....even though the polished FBI agent just let a death row prisoner escape. Whitaker disappears in the second half as the action escalates, reappearing late. Johnny Knoxville has the comedic relief as Lewis Dinkum, the town kook with a warehouse full of guns, a part that's just right, not overused or overdone. Jaimie Alexander and Luiz Guzman are Towns' deputies, Rodrigo Santoro playing a town resident who teams up with the crew for the fight. Noriega is a more than worthy villain, his Cortez dripping with intensity and absolutely no fear, Genesis Rodriguez his "unwilling hostage." And because every cartel villain needs an over the top henchman, we get Peter Stormare as Burrell, the leader of the ex-military setting the ground work for Cortez's escape over the border. Also, look for Hollywood veteran and great character actor Harry Dean Stanton in a small uncredited part early.

With a movie that clocks in at 107 minutes, we're never long in between action scenes (and take away 6, 7 minutes for a long credit sequence). Cortez's escape is a good start -- reminding me somewhat of 2003's S.W.A.T. -- as the FBI scrambles to get him back. The highlight comes at the hour-mark, Cortez's advance crew descending on Sommerton where Towns and his deputies are waiting. It's entertaining and bloody and all over the place, bad guys dispatched with a head shot and a cool one-liner. Towns' entrance into the shootout is pretty epic too, Santoro driving a school bus, Schwarzenegger and Knoxville in the back with a seemingly ancient Vickers machine gun. The action is almost non-stop, but it's basically one sequence on top of another over the last hour. The finale between Towns and Cortez at the border is a whopper too, preceded by an epic car chase through a cornfield because....well, because car chases are cool.

Just a fun movie with some familiar touches, even the 1959 classic Rio Bravo. Sit back and enjoy it, welcoming back Aaaahnold.

The Last Stand (2013): ***/****

Shout at the Devil

Do you know the author Wilbur Smith? If you're an action fan, like your tough guys as tough as nails mercenaries, like Africa serving as a backdrop to action-packed stories, then he may be the author for you. One of my favorite action movies is based off a Smith novel, 1968's Dark of the Sun, and in the same vein is a mercenary story in Africa flick, 1976's Shout at the Devil.

It's 1913 in Africa and international tensions are mounting with war potentially on the horizon. In Tanganyika, a region in East Africa, an Irish-American poacher, Flynn Patrick O'Flynn (Lee Marvin) has a plan in place to poach several tons of ivory, netting a huge profit. The region is part of German-controlled territory, so Flynn would like to pose as Brits...but he needs a Brit, tricking a down-on-his-luck Englishman, Sebastian Oldsmith (Roger Moore), to accompany him, the profit providing quite the incentive. The expedition proves fruitful, but they also find themselves in some trouble with Herman Fleischer (Reinhard Kolldehoff), the German commissioner in the area tasked with keeping the region "German safe." Fleischer has been after O'Flynn for years, and he's right within his grasp now. Can O'Flynn and Sebastian get out in time? Can Fleischer finally catch up with his target?

My biggest issue over the years with this movie was....well, finding it. It has been heavily cut so depending on the version you're missing anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. And finally on MGM-HD, I found the full version, clocking in at 150 minutes and looking good in a pristine print. Director Peter Hunt tackles a lot with this pre-World War I mercenary adventure story, 'Devil' covering about a year and a half or so in its leisurely running time. It was filmed on location in Malta and more shockingly, in South Africa, a no-no at the time considering that whole apartheid thing. To each their own I guess, right? Some on-location issues aside, there's much more to worry about here. When 'Devil' is good, it's decent. When it's not good, it can be painfully slow-going with some odd shifts in tone.

And that becomes the biggest detriment to the movie. I haven't read Smith's source novel, but Hunt's film simply tries to tackle too much. Did this movie really need to be 150 minutes long? Episodic is a fair description, but one episode aimlessly transitions to another. There's no real unifying link. Killing elephants, ambushed, running, a river chase, shipwrecked, brief interlude for love, robbing taxes from poor African villages, it goes on and on. The tone is ridiculously all over the place, an uncomfortable sequence of shooting elephants (I'm not sure if they really shot elephants but it sure looks like it) followed by a goofy knock-down fight later between Marvin and Moore. Composer Maurice Jarre's score is equally schizophrenic, hurting the effort too, goofy and dumb followed with bloody and dark and twisted. Pick one or the other and go with it, or at least find a better balance between the two. As is, the movie struggles to find that good, watchable and mindless middle ground.

What originally caught my eye was the casting, especially Lee Marvin and Roger Moore as the Odd Couple partners working together for some cash in 1913 Africa. Without any recognizable names in the rest of the cast, the success here depends on almost solely on the duo. Unfortunately, it never clicks here. Lee Marvin is one of my favorites in everything from The Dirty Dozen to The Professionals, but this isn't his best work. His O'Flynn is an archetypal character, a hard-drinking, hard-living mercenary of sorts, but it is such a broad character that it never resonated with me. It's not a particularly likable character, Marvin hamming it up too much. Moore is better, but the Sebastian character is dealt the Action Movie Killer....a love interest in the form of O'Flynn's daughter, Rosa (Barbara Parkins). The potential for the two main characters is really there, potential for the movie to take over, but like much of the rest of the movie, it falls short.

Some extended sequences do work, much of them coming in the second half as things take a darker turn for good. One quick action scene has O'Flynn, Sebastian and their men ambushing a German convoy on the delta's flatlands, brutal and quick. The finale too is pretty cool, an extended sequence that's about a half-hour long, Moore's Sebastian sneaking onto a German battleship and planting a bomb only to realize an hour later he's got to stop the explosion. An exciting, action-packed finale. It just takes too long getting there. Is it funny or really dark? Is it neither? A more pointed story would have gone a long way, but as is, 'Devil' is a big disappointment. Also look for Ian Holm in a fun part as Mohammad, O'Flynn's mute assistant, always ready with a soothing bottle of gin.

Shout at the Devil (1976): **/****

Bang! Bang! You're Dead!

B-movies can be really good when handled right. Now the counter, they can be really, really bad when handled wrong. Whole studios between the 1940s and 1960s were devoted to B-movies, like American International Pictures with its horror, thriller and westerns. How about a spy spoof that has some fun with the James Bond formula, the mistaken identity genre like North by Northwest and a generally fun attitude? That would be 1966's Bang! Bang! You're Dead, released in Europe as Our Man in Marrakesh.

On vacation from his job with an oil company, Andrew Jessel (Tony Randall) is spending his time away from work in northern Africa in Morocco. He boards a bus headed to Marrakesh with five other passengers, not knowing that one of them is carrying two million dollars intended for Mr. Casimir (Herbert Lom), a powerful man with his hand in everything underworld. Where's that money heading? Paid here and there to help fix an upcoming vote at the United Nations. Casimir is trying to find out who, Jessep finding himself mixed up in it all when he finds a dead body in his hotel room closet. One of the other passengers, Kyra Stanovy (Senta Berger), stumbles into the room and sees the dead body, stunned even more when she recognizes who it is. Now, Andrew is very much involved, trapped in a foreign country and trying to hide a corpse. Mr. Casimir is right with him, watching his every step.

I don't hide my feelings about spoofs. I'm usually not a fan. It's the rare spoof I like -- Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Spinal Tap -- with most of them trying too hard to...well, be a spoof. From director Don Sharp, 'Bang' isn't a literal spoof as I think of a spoof, instead having some fun with a typically pretty serious topic, international intrigue. In the end, I liked it but didn't love it. It's pretty light, fun at times, obnoxious at others, and a decent enough waste of time for 90 minutes or so. The on-location shooting in Marrakesh, Morocco is a definite plus, even if some scenes are undone by some really obvious green-screen shots. Still, Marrakesh in the 1960s sure looked cool, the time capsule effect a big positive.

Leading the way in the Mistaken Identity department is Tony Randall, Mr. Felix Unger himself. Doesn't Randall scream tough guy hero in a spy flick with international intrigue? Yeah, I guess not. He has some fun with the Everyman part, the normal guy thrust into a crazy situation full of conniving crooks, beautiful, mysterious women, wishy-washy motives, lots of enforcers, hit men and car chases, and life and death opportunities around every corner. Randall shows off his impeccable comedic timing throughout, questioning all the craziness that's going on but mostly going along with it. Would you question too much if you got to hang out with Senta Berger? Okay, maybe once a dead body showed up, but I'd still debate it. One of the more unlikely action heroes, Randall throws himself into the mix in the chase and action scenes, his goofiness and lighter tone playing well with the kooky story.

Across the board, the cast is the biggest selling point for this spy spoof. As the sexy sidekick, Berger is just that, pretty sexy. Skimpy and/or tight outfits, sexy Euro accent, how can you lose? Playing the slimy, slick villain, there weren't many better than Herbert Lom, an oiliness to his impeccably smooth and suave Mr. Casimir. Klaus Kinski makes the most of a small(ish) but intimidating part as Jonquil, Casimir's brutally effective enforcer while Margaret Lee sex kittens it up as Casimir's young lady friend/lover who's always asking him to "come lay down with him." Oh, scandalous! As for the other suspects on the bus to Marrakesh, look for Wilfrid Hyde-White as Fairbrother, a Brit working with a septic company (maybeeeeeee) and John Le Mesurier as Lillywhite, another Brith looking to expand his own business. Who is the courier with all that cash? What's everyone up to? There's also some fun parts for Terry-Thomas as El Caid, the son of a former crook trying to go straight...well, sorta, and Gregoire Aslan as Achmed, a truck driver who sides with Andrew and Kyra as things escalate.

My typical issue with movies with a twist, stories with some mystery, is that they try to be too cute in keeping that mystery under wraps. Without going back and rewatching 'Bang,' I'd wager Berger's Kyra tell Randall's Andrew "I'll tell you everything that's going on tomorrow!" Or.....or, just sit down and tell us now. Whatever works. Don't be too cute. Don't leave audiences on the hook for the sake of that cuteness. Thankfully, the last 30-40 minutes pick up the pace once we figure everything out. The finale is pretty fun as everything comes together, one extended chase and action sequence. It's a fun movie, easily digested and onto the next movie!

Bang! Bang! You're Dead! (1966): ** 1/2 /****

Unknown

Airing for five seasons on CBS between 1959 and 1964, The Twilight Zone helped rewrite the science fiction and thriller genre, especially for television. There weren't too many weak episodes, but the best ones presented these mysterious situations with no explanation provided. How did we get here? Who am I? Where am I? They were these great little stories, wrapped up nicely in 30-minute episodes. Watching 2006's Unknown, all I could think of was that the Twilight Zone was a big inspiration.

A man (Jim Caviezel) wakes up in an odd, vacant warehouse with no idea who he is and absolutely no recollection of how he got there. The situation is about to get a lot weirder. He's not alone, with several other men unconscious in the same warehouse. One man (Joe Pantoliano) is tied up to a chair, another (Jeremy Sisto) is handcuffed and hanging from a bar overhead, a third (Greg Kinnear) lies face-down in a pool of blood, and a fourth (Barry Pepper) is quickly regaining consciousness. Trying to piece it all together, the first man answers the phone, a voice (Peter Stormare) at the other end, asking a couple questions and then telling him "We'll be back soon." With no answers, no clues as to what's going on, the first man realizes the rest of the men are waking up. All they know is they're trapped in a warehouse with no exits in the middle of the desert. Who put them there? Were some of them involved? All they know is they could be in trouble if they don't find a way out immediately. 

What a perfectly straightforward, highly enjoyable flick from director Simon Brand and screenwriter Matthew Waynee. Mystery, countless unanswered questions, and a whole bunch of confused, angry men in a hellish situation. Sometimes the most straightforward, simple premise works this best. I don't remember this thriller getting a release in theaters in 2006, but I liked it a lot from the get-go. Just like the men in this isolated warehouse, as an audience we have no idea what's going on. NONE. There really isn't a weak point in the story, but 'Unknown' hits the ground running. The high points are the opening, five knocked-out men waking up in a warehouse and freaking out (rightfully so). They panic, scream, yell, argue and then settle in, knowing their time is running out if they want to get out unscathed. I like movies like this that capitalize on a gimmick and do it well. If you're gonna use a gimmick, do it right.

More than the story, I was drawn to this movie because of the cast. These aren't huge names, but that's a good thing. These are some of the more talented actors working in Hollywood, working together to form a great ensemble cast. We kinda sorta learn some of their names, but in the cast listing they're identified by some distinguishing feature, Caviezel is Jean Jacket, Pantoliano is Bound Man, Pepper is Ranch Shirt, Kinnear is Broken Nose, Stormare is Snakeskin Boots and Sisto is Handcuffed Man. The performances are uniformly good, Caviezel, Kinnear and Pepper getting the most of the screentime. The group does a strong job showing the various reactions, Caviezel curious and questioning himself, Kinnear absolutely flipping out, Pepper the middle ground trying to weight all their options. We see the dynamics -- individually and as a group -- as everyone involved must decide which people to side with. Should they side with anyone? These folks are in a life and death situation. That's it. That's all.

That group dominates the screentime, but there are some key supporting parts. Bridget Moynahan plays a worried woman trying to get one of the men out, a small but key part. Chris Mulkey and Clayne Crawford are two police detectives on the hunt, looking to follow the clues as presented, looking for someone in the warehouse. Mark Boone Junior plays an associate working with Snakeskin Boots.

With a story like this, it would be really easy to give away some major spoilers. But what's the fun in that?!? I want you to enjoy the movie like I did, going in blind and trying to piece it all together, see if you can figure it out before the twists are revealed. The amnesia storytelling device can be a make or break gimmick, but it doesn't feel forced here. A bottled chemical is released, knocking these five men out for over a day to the point they remember nothing about who they are or how they got there. After waking up, they slowly begin to figure things out, to remember all those touches and snippets of their lives. We see these portions in blurry, hyper-edited flashbacks, everything falling into place. My usual worry is that the premise in innovative stories like this is far better than the twist, the payoff. It comes as disappointing when the reveal is made. Not the worry here. The script, the story, the twist, it all works and does so really well.

The only disappointing part of this quick 85-minute long movie is in the finale. Far from a dealbreaker, but the potential for some giant twists (giant good twists) is there. The ending is good but it could have been great. There's also a surprising, secondary twist revealed in the last two minutes that felt unnecessary, everything kinda hanging in the balance when the credits start to roll. Still, these are minor issues with a thriller that I loved watching. Uncomfortable and mysterious, adrenaline-pumping right until the end, this 2006 film is a gem.

Unknown (2006): *** 1/2 /****