Bloody Mama (1970)

4 / 5 Apr '10
Tagline: Say it with bullets!
Directed by: Roger Corman
Written by: Don Peters, Robert Thom
Actors include: Shelley Winters, Pat Hingle, Robert De Niro
Genre: Drama, Crime, Action, Exploitation
Length: 90 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Pretty enjoyably sleazy exploitation take on the whole Ma Baker and her good 'ole boys thing...only it's pretty inaccurate. I don't know much about the real story of the Bakers so the inconsistencies don't bother me in the slightest. Shelley Winters is very amusing as Ma Baker, the ringleader of evil doings and crime. She raises her boys to be very bad with warped ideas on what is good and bad and all of the rest but she's big on family and so are her boys. Hilariously Robert De Niro plays one of her sons, the heroin addicted paint sniffin' Baby Ruth chompin' boy and he's great...I just didn't expect to see him in a film like this. They rob banks as a family, kill people and more warped situations they get themselves into the meaner and more selfish Ma proves to be. It's actually very shocking and it goes a lot further than I would have expected. Heck the opening sequence is Ma as a young girl being raped by her Father (offscreen) but still...that's quite disturbing. This sort of follows from their needing to escape their home and leaving Pa Baker behind to the demise of the family. Very action packed and full of thrills and surprises, a lot more depraved than I was expecting but very fun in a way too. Corman does it again and it seems with each picture he pushes the envelope a bit further, I wonder what happened after this 'un?

Availability:  On DVD as part of the Roger Corman Collection

Angel Heart (1987)

3 / 5 Jul '10
Tagline: It will scare you to your very soul.
Directed by: Alan Parker
Written by: William Hjortsberg, Alan Parker
Actors Include:  Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro, Lisa Bonet
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Length: 113 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well I kinda thought this would be a really good film, heck nearly everyone seems to think so. I'm in the minority here as I didn't really see anything refreshing, shocking, horrific or even scary. Just naked [Artist440936] if that be your pleasure. Well okay there is a plot, Private Dick Harry Angel ([Artist84952]) is called upon by Louis Cypher (how original...in fact that was a bit too much of a clue for me). Angel's mission is to find a fella called Johnny Favorite who definitely doesn't want to be found. When people start turning up dead and he starts witnessing some strange things, the story gets thicker. It's got a fair bit in common with [Film5479] (which came out the same year) only I kind of liked the other film a bit better although neither wowed me to be honest. I will give this credit for being nicely filmed and relatively well acted I suppose and it creates a decent atmosphere. I just thought it needed more meat, more excitement and a bit more of a surprise, especially considering the hype that follows it around.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Machete (2010)

4.5 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: Robert De Niro as The Senator
Directed by: Ethan Maniquis, Robert Rodriguez
Written by: Robert Rodriguez
Actors include: Danny Trejo, Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba
Genre: Action, Comedy, Exploitation
Length: 105 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Sure this was created from a fake trailer from the Grindhouse release, and I remember at the time thinking that this would have made a cool movie. It did, it lived up to it's preview and then some...mind you abandon all ye who seek a major plot or some sort of well written script. This is immediately exciting splattery action at it's best featuring the mysterious Machete (Danny Trejo) who's wife is brutally killed in front of him, and his daughter taken. He then is forced to try to assassinate an evil Senator (Robert De Niro) who believes in killing Mexican immigrants and building an electric fence to keep them out. Things don't go as anticipated and soon Machete on the run and ends up finding his way to the rebel forces and so forth. It's as bloody as possible (which I love), and it's violent from the beginning to the end. I also liked the little homages to various classic exploitation films like Ms .45, and Thriller - en grym film [Thriller: They Call Her One Eye]. The one liners were priceless like "Machete Don't Text", I never realized how like Machete I was until that moment hehe. It got the spirit of the grindhouse down pat, it was very entertaining and I'm sure it will offend many, sure it went on a little longer than maybe necessary but I enjoyed every minute of it.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD

Goodfellas (1990)

5 / 5
Tagline:  Three Decades of Life in the Mafia.
Directed by:  Martin Scorsese
Written by:  Nicholas Pileggi
Actors include:  Robert De Niro, Ray Liotta, Joe Pesci
Genre:  Crime, Drama, Thriller
Length:  146 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:

I never did get around to seeing this until just recently and I'm so glad I did for I completely get why it's regarded as one of the best films of all time.  Why?  Because I think you'd have to be pretty hateful to not enjoy it as it has something for anyone!  It's based upon the true story of Henry Hill, a gangster who starts out young and ends up extremely thick in the Mob.  It's really easy to follow, the characters are unforgettable, the violence is supreme the relationships between the characters are gripping as is the story.  The ruthlessly needless violent character of Tommy (Joe Pesci) is difficult to watch and he just brings the whole element of doom to the film.  Watching Henry rise from a young lad who runs errands to working his way up to the big time is fascinating and it even answers questions that I've had about how the Mob runs and everything else (not that I'm thinking of joining).  For those who don't like mobsters and stuff there is even the romantic element as part of this takes place through Henry's wife and her reactions to things.  I can't say enough good things about but I can say if you haven't seen it, don't be a fool go and watch it now!

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD

The Untouchables (1987)

3.5 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: Never stop fighting till the fight is done
Directed by: Brian De Palma
Written by: Oscar Fraley, Eliot Ness
Actor include: Kevin Costner, Robert De Niro, Sean Connery
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Length: 119 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I really was surprised how cheesy this was, I'd always heard it was an amazing picture. Now to be fair it's entertaining, and rather well made though overproduced. The soundtrack is distractingly bad, I don't know what Ennio Morricone was thinking but it cheapened some otherwise powerful scenes. Kevin Costner takes on the role of Eliot Ness, the good cop who assembled a team of "Untouchables" who were out to bust Al Capone (Robert De Niro looking like BH90210's James Eckhouse). Sean Connery was very likeable as a tough Irish cop who was honest, but had some strange ways of getting people to co-operate. The crew were immune to threats, and bribes but of course Capone's team were out there to show them that they aren't as "Untouchable" as they thought they were. It was very laughably cliche (baby in carriage going downstairs during a gunfight?), but at least rather violent. The sets are incredibly detailed and the suits as well (Giorgio Armani created the wardrobe) and although I didn't find this to be the classic I was expecting it was worth watching, it just wasn't Brian De Palma's strongest effort.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray

Taxi Driver (1976)

4.5 / 5
Tagline:  On every street in every city, there's a nobody who dreams of being a somebody.
Directed by:  Martin Scorsese
Written by:  Paul Schrader
Actors include:  Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Peter Boyle
Genre:  Crime, Drama, Thriller
Length:  113 minutes
Banned:  Nope

Review:

A most powerful film about being fed up with society.  Robert De Niro plays Travis Bickle, a 'Nam vet who suffers from insomnia so he takes on a night shift working as a cab driver in New York.  The more he sees, the more he hates as he watches degenerates and low-lifes everywhere.  Along the way he meets the very young Jodie Foster who is working as a call girl.  He tries to convince her to leave the life and go back to her family, only of course it doesn't seem to work.  The more frustration he feels he begins to snap and buys a bunch of guns and sets out to try to fix things in his own way.  The thing is, can't we all relate to what he's feeling, I mean sure most of us don't do anything about it but it really seems to hit home which is why I think it's so loved.  It will or should make an impression anyhow, and I really do recommend this for most, a classic that is really effective and yet easy to understand.

Availability:  On DVD & Blu-Ray