Only now does it occur to me... CRUISING

Only now does it occur to me... the four most unexpected bit parts in William Friedkin's heavy leather psychological thriller, CRUISING, are:

#1.  Joe Spinell, brilliant NYC character actor (THE GODFATHER, MANIAC, TAXI DRIVER, THE SEVEN-UPS, NIGHTHAWKS, VIGILANTE) appearing as a closeted, homophobic cop.  He's only present for a handful of scenes, but he imbues his character with equal measures of sleaze, torment, and a surprising pathos.

Joe and his sleazy pathos (in the passenger seat).


#2.  Ed O'Neill (known chiefly for his sitcom work on MARRIED...WITH CHILDREN and MODERN FAMILY, though occasionally as a David Mamet stock player) as a plain-talkin' detective.

He's pictured here to the right of real-life cop-turned-actor Randy Jurgensen, who's looking sorta like a poor man's Warren Oates.

He doesn't have too much to do here, but he brings a straightforward, simple-minded focus to his character, running down dead-end leads for his boss, an utterly beleaguered NYPD Captain (GOODFELLAS' Paul Sorvino).


#3.  Hey, look, it's Powers Boothe (EXTREME PREJUDICE, DEADWOOD, SOUTHERN COMFORT, RED DAWN, SIN CITY)!  Now here's where it starts to get really special.

As the "Hankie Salesman," he briefly explains the code system of the of colored pick-up bandanas to undercover cop Al Pacino.  While describing which hankies in which pockets denote blowjobs, hustling, golden showers, et al., he plays the character as a mix of affectionately annoyed and mildly disinterested.  Pacino says he'll go home and "think about it."  "I'm sure you'll make the right choice," says Powers, still bored.

 #4.  James Remar (THE WARRIORS, DEXTER, 48 HRS., BAND OF THE HAND, THE PHANTOM) as the dancin' roommate.

One of the main supporting characters, Ted (Don Scardino, who plays him as a lovable Bohemian like from TALES OF THE CITY), has a boyfriend who's a mildly (?) abusive dancer who's always on tour.  He's spoken of occasionally throughout the film.  We finally get a glimpse of the dancer near the end, and it's none other than James Remar, wearing short-shorts and waving a butcher knife around.  This was especially amusing to me because, though we never see his character dance in CRUISING, I believe this may have inspired his role in 1987's RENT-A-COP, where he plays a murderous and sweaty dancin' machine.

In closing, CRUISING is a well-made psychological thriller (Friedkin has always been a consummate craftsman who rarely draws attention to his technique) with some brilliant performances and featuring a very specific time and place. It fits nicely in his "cops on the edge" oeuvre, alongside TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. and THE FRENCH CONNECTION.

Only now does it occur to me... WINTER KILLS

Only now does it occur to me...  that Sterling Hayden's beard could conquer the world.



Hell, I didn't even know he ever had a beard.

WINTER KILLS is a kinda lukewarm conspiracy thriller/comedy from the 1970s that's peppered with insane old Hollywood and character actor cameos.  But even in a film that has Junta Juleil faves like Jeff Bridges, John Huston, Anthony Perkins, Ralph Meeker, Elizabeth Taylor, Eli Wallach, Toshiro Mifune, Richard Boone, Dorothy Malone, and Joe Spinell, Sterling Hayden and his beard reign supreme.  He shows up (riding around with a complement of tanks), chases Jeff Bridges (who's in a car), exchanges some harsh words with him, gives him a 10 second head start, and then commences to fire shells at him as he zooms away.  The scene lasts under five minutes and doesn't really advance the plot, but damn, I loved it.  I can't truly recommend the film; despite being filled with these kinds of interesting curios and diversions, the sum is decidedly less than the parts.  Plus, it feels a little long.  Not Hayden's beard, that is– the film.  Hayden's beard is "just right."  Here, I'll let you look at it again as you leave:

Film Review: VIGILANTE (1983, William Lustig)

Stars: 5 of 5.
Running Time: 90 minutes.
Tag-line: "You're not safe anymore..."
Notable Cast or Crew: Robert Forster (ALLIGATOR, JACKIE BROWN, MEDIUM COOL), Fred Williamson (1990: BRONX WARRIORS, INGLORIOUS BASTARDS), Richard Bright (MARATHON MAN, THE GODFATHER), Joe Spinell (MANIAC!, BIG WEDNESDAY), Steve James (THE DELTA FORCE, AMERICAN NINJA), Woody Strode (ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST, KEOMA).

The instant VIGILANTE begins, you know you're in for something special. Right off the bat: "Magnum Motion Pictures, Inc. presents..." Gets you thinkin' about malt liquor, condoms, handguns. Hold that thought. Then, we got a group of people in a dimly lit, grimy classroom. Fred "the Hammer" Williamson is doin' his thing, giving an inspiration speech. We see them prepping for target practice.

The Hammer works the crowd- we're not gonna be victims anymore, it's time to take back the city- "THIS IS OUR WATERLOO, BABY!"

BLAM!! All the vigilantes shoot in unison. Blackout. The movie could end right here and still get five stars, and we're only 2 minutes in. And there's so much more great shit to come.

Watching this movie is akin to running a medieval gauntlet: basically, it's a nonstop assault of hoods abusing good citizens, and then vigilantes puttin' the hurt on the hoods. And it's extraordinarily artistic. Lustig is a scholar of Italian film, and he's been taking notes.


Argento, Castellari, Fulci, Leone- you can see them all, but VIGILANTE's strong enough to stand on its own. There is a LOT going on here: Kickass creepy syths and powerful electric Spanish guitar courtesy of Jay Chattaway and Willie Colon. Asscracks bathed in moody blue lighting. A crisp, tangible "New York in Autumn" atmosphere that conjures the twilight of society. Joe Spinell as perhaps the sleaziest lawyer in all of cinema:

Woody Strode as an elderly prison inmate with fists of steel and a heart of gold.

Robert Forster as a regular Joe whose life's been transformed into a waking nightmare:

Legendary hardass and provocateur Richard Bright with a ball bat. A pimp complains about the recession. A corrupt prison guard tells rapists in the shower to go ahead and "have a party." I really don't see how this could be any better.

A bunch of it was filmed in Greenpoint (in Brooklyn) too, which makes it extra special for me, because I used to live there.

I used to do my shopping at that Key Foods!

But back to The Hammer: beard neatly trimmed and eyes ablaze, he leaps off of buildings, does karate, and practically reaches through the screen to throttle you.

And I highly recommend the experience.

-Sean Gill

Film Review: EUREKA (1983, Nicolas Roeg)

Stars: 3 of 5.
Running Time: 130 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Gene Hackman, Theresa Russell, Rutger Hauer, Mickey Rourke, Joe Spinell (MANIAC!), Joe Pesci, Ed Lauter (TRUE ROMANCE, DEATH WISH 3).
Tag-lines: None.
Best one-liner: Not really.

Remember that one movie? The epic one with the atonal music. The one that began with a man making the solitary discovery of a massive quantity of a natural resource that exploded toward the heavens. The one where the guy had a really complex, disturbing relationship with his kid as a result of his own selfishness. There were striking visuals, majestic landscapes, and brief interjections of horrific violence. Yeah. Well, this is called EUREKA, and it came out in 1983. Now, I'm not gonna lie: THERE WILL BE BLOOD is a much better film than EUREKA, but it seems 'ole P.T. Anderson was adapting more than just a novel called OIL!, and he probably should have given credit where credit was due.

However, EUREKA is classic 'less than the sum of its parts.' It suffers from a rare condition known as ‘Nicolas Roeg disorder,’ which means that it's going to seem incredibly strong at the outset, possess breathtaking visuals and editing throughout, but ultimately, will kind of blunder into a morass where it doesn't quite know what the hell it's doing. And sometimes that's okay.
In my mind, DON'T LOOK NOW and BAD TIMING are films of his that escape completely unscathed. The first forty minutes of PERFORMANCE are 'top ten of all-time' quality, and then it derails into a Borges-wannabe psychedelic wankfest. Same thing kinda happens to EUREKA. Except its a long-winded courtroom-drama, voodoo-orgy kind of detour.

EUREKA still possesses some moments of power, however, and features some fine actors. Mickey Rourke is a mobster milquetoast, Rutger Hauer is a raging a-hole son-in-law, Theresa Russell is a sharp but self-destructive daughter, Joe Pesci is the same old gangster he always is, and Gene Hackman is this picture's gilded core.

I would recommend, however, watching the [your name here] cut of EUREKA. Whenever it starts to bore you, just shut it off, cause it's not getting any better, unless you really, really want to see Rutger Hauer in a cage. Three stars for effort.

-Sean Gill

Film Review: FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1975, Dick Richards)

Stars: 4.5 of 5.
Running Time: 95 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Robert Mitchum, Harry Dean Stanton, Sylvester Stallone, Joe Spinell (MANIAC!, THE GODFATHER), Jack O' Halloran (SUPERMAN II, HERO AND THE TERROR), Charlotte Rampling (SWIMMING POOL, THE VERDICT, ZARDOZ), Kate Murtagh (THE CAR, FAMILY PLOT), Anthony Zerbe (COOL HAND LUKE, THE DEAD ZONE, KISS MEETS THE PHANTOM OF THE PARK), John Ireland (SPARTACUS, RED RIVER, WAXWORK II), Jerry Bruckheimer (!, here co-producing).
Tag-lines: "I need another drink...I need a lot of life insurance...I need a vacation....and all I got is a coat, a hat, and a gun!"
Best one-liner: "The house itself wasn't much. It was smaller than Buckingham Palace and probably had fewer windows than the Chrysler building." AND "I sparred with the night clerk for a couple of minutes, but it was like trying to open a sardine can after you broke off the metal lip. There was something about Abraham Lincoln's picture that loosened him up. "

FAREWELL, MY LOVELY (1975), proceeds as if the contemporary wave of neo-noir (THE LONG GOODBYE, CHINATOWN, NIGHT MOVES) had never happened- and why should it? It's exactly like a 40’s noir that happened to be made in the 70’s (with only slight variances in violence, sexuality, and envelope-pushing), and smack dab in the middle is the legendary 'Ole Rumple Eyes himself (Bob Mitchum) as Philip Marlowe.

Now, MURDER, MY SWEET (the original adaptation of this Chandler tale) can’t really be touched, but FAREWELL, MY LOVELY manages to come damned close. Mitchum truly doesn’t give a shit as he encounters a rogue’s gallery of noir archetypes from how ya doin’ thug Sylvester Stallone,

to prickly cop Harry Dean Stanton,

to ravishing ingenue Charlotte Rampling to two-bit hood Joe Spinell (MANIAC!) to sympathetic palooka Jack O’Halloran (Non from SUPERMAN II). (And special mention must be given here to O'Halloran; he exudes serious pathos in a role (Moose Malloy) could have easily devolved into caricature. Mike Mazurki is perfect in MURDER, MY SWEET, but you rarely feel for him like you do for O'Halloran. Bravo!)

Prison matron Mom Smackley from SWITCHBLADE SISTERS is even in on the action, slapping the shit out of Mitchum in one scene, and then cathartically getting slugged in the face by Mitchum in return. Mitchum is on fire. He cracks wise, sings a few bars a cappella, has stiff exchanges with children,


Mitchum doesn't give a shit about ANYTHING. You really think he feels any differently about kids?

drinks heavily, and gets forcibly hopped up on smack (with a 40’s-style drug trip sequence).

Mitchum on smack. Smack kinda makes Mitchum look like James Karen.

Although my favorite parts might be the ridiculously awkward banter and rough-and-tumble antics between Mitchum and the Newsie. I feel like they were all done in one take, cause Mitchum was probably uncomfortable laying his hands on a man in any context other than knocking the shit out of him.

There’s also a few times in the film that Mitchum is, surprisingly, required to look like he ‘cares’ about something.

Mitchum kind of cares when you crumple his hat. See THUNDER ROAD. Click on photo for an enlarged view.

He kind of looks off into the distance, wistfully, and you totally believe it, but I can’t help but feel that those moments were brought about by the director threatening to bring about harm to Mitchum’s gin stash. Anyway, Mitchum reprised the role 3 years later in the slightly ridiculous but very entertaining remake of THE BIG SLEEP, but make no mistake, FAREWELL, MY LOVELY is quality. Four and a half stars.

-Sean Gill

Film Review: MANIAC! (1980, William Lustig)

Stars: 4 of 5.
Running Time: 87 minutes.
Notable Cast or Crew: Joe Spinell (everything from STARCRASH to CRUISING to ROCKY to TAXI DRIVER to THE GODFATHER to THE SEVEN-UPS– damn!), Caroline Munro (everything from DR. PHIBES to CAPTAIN KRONOS to SINBAD to THE SPY WHO LOVED ME to TO DIE FOR to STARCRASH), Abigail Clayton (HOT COOKIES, SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SEX), makeup and acting by Tom Savini, and was supposed to star Argento's then-squeeze Daria Nicolodi, but there were scheduling complications of some kind- stock footage from Argento's INFERNO was used, however.
Tag-lines: "I warned you not to go out tonight."
Best multi-liner: "Now you tell me what I should do. I heard about it, I always do. I can't go out for a minute. It's impossible. Fancy girls, in their fancy dresses and lipstick, laughing and dancing. Should you stop them? I can't stop them. But you do, don't you? And they can't laugh and they can't dance anymore. You've got to stop, or they'll take you away from me. I will never, ever, let them take you away from me. You're mine now forever. And, I'm so happy."
Fun fact: Michael Sembello's "Maniac," later toned down and used in FLASHDANCE, was originally composed for this film!

MANIAC. Before I begin- let's talk about the director. Bill Lustig, is a pretty damned interesting guy. Like another underground NYC auteur, Abel Ferrara, he started off directing blue pictures, and his first 'mainstream' feature was a Manhattan slasher with the killer as the protagonist (like Ferrara’s DRILLER KILLER). Lustig’s also Jake LaMotta's nephew, a friend and collaborator of Larry Cohen, and currently runs Blue Underground, a grand purveyor of paracinema and ridiculous Italian gems.

Also, I’ve really gotta hand it to him for having the word "Maniac" in the title of about half of his directorial output. Anyway, on to the MANIAC at hand: it's good.

It's got that classic 70's NYC gritty realism, Tom Savini gore (and a cameo as "Disco Boy"),


lots o' hookers, the legendary Caroline Munro,

and an amazing fashion montage set to some rockin' 80's tunes. Joe Spinell (he’s kind of like Ron Jeremy meets Vincent Price)

is damned scary, and there’s something about his delivery that is consistently, terrifyingly believable. The film is a love letter to the Italian slashers that Lustig adored (black-gloved killer, female victims, over-the-top kills, visuals that pop, and childhood traumas like Bava and Argento, mannequin madness like Lenzi's SPASMO) and as that, it succeeds. (I'd also say that it was probably the direct precursor to HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER.) Overall, a very solid underground slasher, and, in my opinion, it’s far better and more personal than the other Savini effort of 1980, the original FRIDAY THE 13TH. Four stars.

-Sean Gill