GENE HACKMAN MINING THROUGH NICOLAS ROAG'S 'EUREKA'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRfM7Ghj5zLUvUYIqIUKoAsAs8vExn4gmt3QfjjJP-LLP-5l9fhSRfcHcHWLIVxtHTIwSMDD2M-W0ogvEwCWZ_uBMs_J2jfGiY1nqxDHLFdeii6cASgCnaDb4mfJEhbzY53CW3JzUfqVrl99cmeulEvNCo98mHJW5pgGE096wd7ZNfqmt0JT6YBfu_E1e/s1036/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-01%20at%2010.15.14%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="558" data-original-width="1036" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCRfM7Ghj5zLUvUYIqIUKoAsAs8vExn4gmt3QfjjJP-LLP-5l9fhSRfcHcHWLIVxtHTIwSMDD2M-W0ogvEwCWZ_uBMs_J2jfGiY1nqxDHLFdeii6cASgCnaDb4mfJEhbzY53CW3JzUfqVrl99cmeulEvNCo98mHJW5pgGE096wd7ZNfqmt0JT6YBfu_E1e/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-03-01%20at%2010.15.14%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Gene Hackman in EUREKA Year: 1983 Rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following the game-changing THE FRENCH CONNECTION turning 2nd-lead and/or villain-role character-actor Gene Hackman into a leading man/movie star, he did two independent art-films, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2025/02/scarecrow.html">Jerry Schatzberg's SCARECROW</a> and Francis Ford Coppola's THE CONVERSATION that, because of their underpar box office (albeit both being critically praised), he swore to only mainstream movies thereafter...<br><br>But after THE FRENCH CONNECTION sequel, a few action thrillers and two SUPERMAN blockbusters, he went back to low-budget basics with the most offbeat auteur of them all, Nicolas Roeg, for a deliberately dismal melodrama EUREKA where the best scenes exist in the relatively short-lived first act: when Gene Hackman as solitary yet formidable minor Jack McCann (when not frequenting a brothel with FIVE EASY PIECES rambling-actress Helena Kallianiotes) has put everything into one lucrative gold strike...</p><p><span></span></p>

ed lauter, eighties, gene hackman, helena kallianiotes, indie, joe pesci, mickey rourke, nicolas roeg, rutger hauer, theresa russell

GENE HACKMAN MINING THROUGH NICOLAS ROAG'S 'EUREKA'

Gene Hackman in EUREKA Year: 1983 Rating: **1/2 Following the game-changing THE FRENCH CONNECTION turning 2nd-lead and/or villain-role chara...

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_oX30DQHXqc63MQNf8TtXhCQfmj4X47aT4NU1vR2bVafVc67bxNMwKZ8C_5ZBeKqWUb_dR0iYGbAMhI40cvhYHXctHuPJa0QCf59l1wG-HBila3peBqXCY3bO2ebcGANhc2Wo_yQ3eWm/s1600/z.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1078" data-original-width="1600" height="268" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt_oX30DQHXqc63MQNf8TtXhCQfmj4X47aT4NU1vR2bVafVc67bxNMwKZ8C_5ZBeKqWUb_dR0iYGbAMhI40cvhYHXctHuPJa0QCf59l1wG-HBila3peBqXCY3bO2ebcGANhc2Wo_yQ3eWm/s400/z.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in THE IRISHMEN Year: 2019</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> At a run-time of over three hours, you'd think director Martin Scorsese would make something more liken to an addictive limited cable series than an epic about absolutely nothing. It is, however, about <i>someone</i>; and that's Jimmy Hoffa played by a CGI-youthful Al Pacino, who, with Robert De Niro as sidekick "house painter" i.e. assassin Frank Sheeran, are involved in endless dialogue leading absolutely nowhere...<br> <br> Unlike Scorsese's mob classic GOODFELLAS, ironically playing-out like binge crime serials do now — with something to anticipate around every suspenseful corner — there's nothing to look forward to here except more and more conversations with De Niro on cruise control and Pacino using a fake accent that's not only distracting, but completely unnecessary...<br>

2019, al pacino, biopic, drama, epic, joe pesci, martin scorsese, mob, robert deniro, thriller

REVIEW OF MARTIN SCORSESE'S ANTICIPATED 'THE IRISHMAN'

Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro in THE IRISHMEN Year: 2019 At a run-time of over three hours, you'd think director Martin Scorsese would...

COMEDY FILM CHARACTERS WHO TAKE THEMSELVES SERIOUSLY

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZeuPe7eewrPPzrqp2UTqmIQmEcYbj98gohKhDaly4SkKjSvYkX70rIwD5u9QDrD-PRsWLhzN2UW9J6R95VrYWT430utqRHXcLcpGxQ8Yb04gtMEfhxVHcqKszLPSe2BU1mvSav_k9-sOV/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-10-08+at+4.22.07+PM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZeuPe7eewrPPzrqp2UTqmIQmEcYbj98gohKhDaly4SkKjSvYkX70rIwD5u9QDrD-PRsWLhzN2UW9J6R95VrYWT430utqRHXcLcpGxQ8Yb04gtMEfhxVHcqKszLPSe2BU1mvSav_k9-sOV/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-10-08+at+4.22.07+PM.jpg" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Only one of these two USED CAR actors made the cut</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> This List, originally conceived as THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A COMEDY, involves ten actors who didn't have to "hit the right comedic marks" to fit neatly inside a comedy vehicle...<br> <br> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> </div> Which doesn't mean the actors or actresses were somehow misdirected or misguided into being overly headstrong, determined, melodramatic and, while in a project where laughs are estimated before the production even begins, the ultimate goal of audience-reaction pretty much counts for everything, and yet, these (sometimes Method) Actors stick to their guns, loaded with a natural style, either hot or cold, laid-back or edgy, and are never throwing a proverbial wink to the audience that says, "It's all for fun" — separating an actor playing for a laugh (which <i>is</i> an art-form in itself) to those simply playing the role outright, and just happening to be in a comedy film: An extremely fine line...<br>

art metrano, christopher guest, eighties, harry nothup, jan-michael vincent, jerry reed, joe pesci, june chadwick, list, matt dillon, peter sellers, seventies, sixties, vic morrow, walter matthau

COMEDY FILM CHARACTERS WHO TAKE THEMSELVES SERIOUSLY

Only one of these two USED CAR actors made the cut This List, originally conceived as THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A COMEDY, involves ten...

A NEGATIVE REVIEW OF THE OVERLONG/OVERRATED 'CASINO'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRC3cuAc1Mzrm9XfZsKflKRYVw_8ESGfNpASYIpbGeZgWhsrviAK8Wi76RVRZmLQvWhfDVvPk2R4xXKriDxAPj6I-j9I1WVqbo568nT7VQHbJQDIqxcfH2PYjGnyL4SXnBUKnOl3XeMAJCA2i9fuHntJgrmdr4-Rhzfrfwr7tXMGq-QYqzRY7mbUiUGQ/s926/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-10%20at%2011.52.39%20PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="926" data-original-width="564" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRC3cuAc1Mzrm9XfZsKflKRYVw_8ESGfNpASYIpbGeZgWhsrviAK8Wi76RVRZmLQvWhfDVvPk2R4xXKriDxAPj6I-j9I1WVqbo568nT7VQHbJQDIqxcfH2PYjGnyL4SXnBUKnOl3XeMAJCA2i9fuHntJgrmdr4-Rhzfrfwr7tXMGq-QYqzRY7mbUiUGQ/w244-h400/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-10%20at%2011.52.39%20PM.jpeg" width="244" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1995 rating: **1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table>During the first act, as we learn the intricate ins-and-outs of a 1970's Las Vegas CASINO… taking us so close inside the operation we feel both part of the roulette tables and the dice rolling across them... it's intentionally created in the same flowing biographical fashion director Martin Scorsese showed us with an entire mob's operation in GOODFELLAS...<br /> <br /> But then something happens, or stops happening, or both: The main character, Sam "Ace" Rothstein, played by Robert De Niro, is a man of mind, not action. He’s to gambling what Scorsese is to directing… a natural… and the casino itself becomes an absorbing character: we feel the pulse of the machines, and the men behind the scenes, keeping the moneymaking beast alive while protecting it from cheaters, con artists, and crooked politicians.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_IoxRK3WcbXeYri2diB5qN72SkpKrVsmGzbaTD3_geaGXkyE1lTTn2vBqHx7Nzwa76EXITpCBDcbK5HtgNwDphEWJPgdYJTy9SBWGmM01Mi7G52Nyq8vAb8ivQPPN1HiV6Sf1z1cDl3b/s1600/47a6fa60ad9e035e0646d3fe0106ef40.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="567" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgt_IoxRK3WcbXeYri2diB5qN72SkpKrVsmGzbaTD3_geaGXkyE1lTTn2vBqHx7Nzwa76EXITpCBDcbK5HtgNwDphEWJPgdYJTy9SBWGmM01Mi7G52Nyq8vAb8ivQPPN1HiV6Sf1z1cDl3b/s320/47a6fa60ad9e035e0646d3fe0106ef40.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Poster too good for the movie, fella</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Enter Joe Pesci as Nicky, Rothstein’s childhood friend: the muscle who is familiar and cocky, dangerous and ultimately undependable. And there's the flavor of the month, Sharon Stone, as Sam’s trophy girlfriend turned wife, Ginger, who becomes the apple of his eye – and soon, for a man who seemed so infallible, nothing matters but trusting a woman who repeatedly warned him not to.<br /> <br /> The movie hits a wall with this escalating-downhill relationship between Sam and Ginger, but it was faltering beforehand – De Niro, Pesci, and some of the other shady characters, although colorful and formidable, aren’t interesting enough to really care about – unlike GOODFELLAS, RAGING BULL or TAXI DRIVER, they all seem more written than real. But the duel-narration here... while beautiful in GOODFELLAS between Ray Liotta and Lorraine Bracco... works here and it doesn’t: De Niro’s by-the-numbers account is fine in the beginning, giving us a firsthand account of how things run, but it becomes a rambling safety net for the lack of a streamlined plot: especially when his business luck turns sour.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs6ddV3Yia3gTT5VidhuvlcEoBoV3LFBuv9O5vQL_BVVDoTBj9XfHNZWQ7iRRIub9v_Ee08breM6dUh72I5e5X2EDdeWBDc8TriFaaep0Oi4kcl1ghOmIShNDSlRzOFZC38XOCDo7OlIq/s1600/d32179c2dcef1e743c63042d26f0388d.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="839" data-original-width="568" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDs6ddV3Yia3gTT5VidhuvlcEoBoV3LFBuv9O5vQL_BVVDoTBj9XfHNZWQ7iRRIub9v_Ee08breM6dUh72I5e5X2EDdeWBDc8TriFaaep0Oi4kcl1ghOmIShNDSlRzOFZC38XOCDo7OlIq/s320/d32179c2dcef1e743c63042d26f0388d.jpg" width="216" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Another fan poster, or something</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> Meanwhile Joe Pesci’s counterpoint is completely unnecessary, sounding like a mafia goon's version of Bugs Bunny, filling us with details better left for the audience to figure on their own (and given his character's fate... is the narration recorded in Satan's private broadcasting station?)...<br /> <br /> Then the last half runs itself completely ragged: juggling the dull doomed love story straight out of a nighttime soap, and Ace and Nicky's edgy friendship that meanders to a predictably violent conclusion (and they never seemed that tight to begin with for the eventual unraveling to really matter).<br /> <br /> If Scorsese and scriptwriter Nicholas Pillegi stuck closer to the Casino, perhaps CASINO, and its characters, might have had more purpose. What we’re left with is too much style without substance. (And has there ever been a character more deserving a bloody death than James Wood's pimp/hustler who not only repeatedly steals Stone from DeNiro, but kidnaps, and continually threatens, his daughter? While we witness the immense, overboard bloodshed of everyone else, James comes out with a few bruises. What the hell were they thinking?!)

gangster, joe pesci, martin scorsese, melodrama, mob, nineties, robert deniro, sharon stone

A NEGATIVE REVIEW OF THE OVERLONG/OVERRATED 'CASINO'

year: 1995 rating: **1/2 During the first act, as we learn the intricate ins-and-outs of a 1970's Las Vegas CASINO… taking us so close i...