 |
| year: 1986 cast: James Remar, Adam Coleman Howard, Nick Cassavetes, Jared Martin rating: ***1/2 |
A modern Western... SHANE revisited to be exact...
where an ex girlfriend calls a roughneck New York City cop for help.
Seedy marijuana smugglers run the small town where she lives, and they
ain’t into munchies.
In the beginning of the film
we’re introduced her family living free in the hills: yuppies without
credit cards. The patriarch listens to a bad cover of CALIFORNIA
DREAMING; life is bliss till a group of marauders slay everyone except
the teenage son Joshua.
Adam Coleman Howard plays the
part with the same rogue prowess as James Remar’s urban cop Joe, and
he’s as just as important to the proceedings, perhaps even more being
it’s his personal revenge story: Bow and arrow in
hand, Joshua becomes a Charles Bronson version of Robin Hood, taking out
a few of the thugs, who are different than most pot smoking characters
depicted in movies...
 |
| Nick Cassavetes as Valence with flower-shaped gun-spray |
Usually mellow and free spirited
hippies, these daylight tokers are cut-throat and don’t take prisoners.
Led by a narrow eyed Jared Martin and his stone faced henchman Nick
Cassavetes (son of John), the small town belongs to them… Till now.
When
Joe enters with unassuming machismo, we learn how tough he is when
locals cross him. Not like we didn’t get a taste for his talent in the
big city segments – ten minutes involving a shootout and cool car chase –
but here’s where he really matters... There’s a price to pay for
everyone dumb enough to try stopping him: from barroom bullies to
gun-wielding thugs. Though his plight isn’t an easy one; each scene
brings a tougher adversary than the next.
 |
| Flower shape gun spray continues with a tubby thug, who is not Dennis Burkley |
The best
parts have the city cop and the teen vigilante team up against the
baddest of the bad guys. Joshua learns a few fight tactics from Joe
while Joe learns the geographical layout from Joshua, providing both
equal footing and giving Joe someone to protect that the audience really
cares about.
Ample searing saxophone mixed with tense
synthesizer envelop the woodsy gun battles and fistfights, occurring
practically with zero downtime, proving 80 minutes is
perfect for the action genre.
 |
| James Remar fights fire with gunfire |
 |
| Adam Coleman Howard as Joshua Greer |
 |
| Daphne Ashbrook as Katy Greer |
Kari Michaelsen in Saturday the 14th year: 1982 In LOVE AT FIRST BITE, a popular comedy that took the vampire genre by satire, Richard ...
year: 1960 cast: Sonya Wilde, James Franciscus, Patricia Michon rating: ***1/2 I PASSED FOR WHITE, one of those title-says-it-all kind...
Robyn Hilton enters into an eclectic exploitation comedy career in Wonder Women circa 1973 As mentioned a few posts ago, ROBYN HILTON, b...
year: 1978 cast: Allen Garfield, Leif Garrett, Kathleen Lloyd, Tony Alva, Pam Kenneally rating: ***1/2 Although promoted as a Leif Garre...
year: 1976 starring: Linda Lavin, Alfred Lutter rating: ***1/2 The iconic sitcom ALICE, about a trio of waitresses working in a greasy s...
Cornelia Sharpe in court to avoid BUSTING Year: 1974 Starring Elliott Gould and Robert Blake as determined vice cops BUSTING hookers, ...
Maureen McCormick in Texas Lighting YEAR: 1981 Exploitation cinematographer turned director Gary Graver's meandering yet strangely ...
year: 2013 cast: Johnny Knoxville, Jackson Nicoll rating: *** Resembling Art Carney after a crash diet, Johnny Knoxville plays Irving Zi...
Nick Nolte as Tom Jordache fighting William Smith's Falconetti on RICH MAN POOR MAN the original miniseries from 1976 The two title ...
Suzanne Somers hits ZUMA BEACH circa 1978 How a theatrical film turns out is never guaranteed, though it was rest assured that a TV Mov...
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.