Bloodbeat (1983)

 The only Wisconsin based, Christmas time, supernatural, samurai, slasher film you'll ever need. Low budget and odd. Warning: flashing lights, deer hunting and psychic samurai sex. **

KIller Joe (2011)

 This Southern Gothic crime drama is the final (non documentary) film directed by the legendary William Friedkin. 'Killer Joe' is adapted by Tracey Letts from his stage play of the same name. Emile Hirsch and his father Thomas Hayden Church hire "Killer Joe" (Matthew McConaughey) a corrupt Dallas police detective who moonlights as a hit man, to kill their despised mother and ex wife respectively; this is in order to get the $50,000 in insurance money to be received by their sister/daughter Juno Temple, a flighty innocent with a sexual edge.

Many complications arise, Hirsch and Church are not too bright, Church's current wife Gina Gershon says it's not a good idea, the ex (who we only see briefly dead) turns out to have a boyfriend and Killer Joe embarks on a sexual relationship with Juno as "a retainer" until they get the money. Also, not everybody here is giving the straight story. Rated NC-17 for nudity and violence, this is by no means peak Friedkin, but it's still an involving 102 minutes. ***

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (2021)

 Sweet family film expanded from the Obama era internet shorts created by actress/voice star Jenny Slate and her then husband Dean Fleischer Camp (both of whom apper in the film together and apper to be on rather friendly terms). Marcel (Slate), is a tiny, stop motion animated shell, who lives in an Air B&B with his grandmother Nana Connie (Isabella Rossellini).

Marcel is befriended by Dean Fleischer Camp, a documentary film maker staying at the Air B&B after the breakup of his marriage. Dean interviews Marcel and posts the videos on YouTube, where they quickly become a viral sensation. Marcel uses this celebrity and the aid of Dean, his internet fans, and later 60 Minutes Leslie Stahl, in a quest to locate the missing rest of his family and friends, who he believes were accidentally packed away by a previous tenant. 

Again, this is surprisingly sweet, and with a timeless quality that should keep it forever fresh. A little melancholy and enderingly reflective, the film is a meditation on loss and the courage it takes face it. Highly recommended ***1/2

End of the Gun (2016)

 I don't blame Keoni Waxman's direction here, nor in the main do I blame the script co authored with Chuck Hustmyre. In fact if this same movie was made with a bigger budget, better acting, and 25 years earlier, it would probably be well remembered today. The bulk of the blame must go to producer/star Steven Segal who huskily, and with little effort goes through the motions in this Paris set caper film. It's hard to care about a film when the star dosen't. I did however enjoy looking at Jade Ewan. *1/2

Zodiac (2007)

 I saw most of this in 2007 at my brother's house. I arrived 15 -20 minutes into the movie. My niece was in a crib tucked back to where she couldn't see the screen, and I spent most of the movie watching her experimenting with standing up while holding onto the bars. Sweet memory for me. Anyway I'm glad I finally saw the whole thing, I enjoye journalistic investigation movies and this one is very solid (it's about the Zodiac murders in 60's/70's California). ***1/2

Fatal Attraction (1987)

 "Don't have an affair, she might be crazy and ruin your life." That's the message of 'Fatal Attraction', a film which unlike 'Basic Instinct', didn't live up to the hype. I found it mostly unpleasant. There was nobody I liked enough here to feel emotionally invested in. It probably didn't help that I don't find Glenn Close attractive, perhaps different casting there would have better kept my attention; which is no slight on Close's acting, she really went for it. **

Special Effects (1984)

 Zoë Lund leaves such a strong impression with so little screen time in 'Bad Lieutenant', then in Ms. 45 she plays a mute, so I wanted to see more of her acting. In 'Special Effects', a very Hitchcock infused thriller, Zoë's character gets killed off in the first 22 minutes of the movie, but she's back in a different form for the last 40ish percent of the film.  

Brad Rijn manages to track his run away wife to NYC after years of searching, he goes there with the intent of bringing her back to her son and home in Texas. She runs away from him, and goes to the home of a director acquaintance played by Eric Bogosian, who then kills her and dumps the body. Brad is the prime suspect, Bogosian bails him out on condition that he participate in a documentary movie he plans to make about the man's late wife. By chance Brad meets a woman who looks just like his late wife and is also played by Lund. Brad convinces Bogosian to hire her for the film, and boundaries of identity proceed to increasingly break down. 

Pretty trippy film when you get down to it. Lund does a number of accents in this film and none of them are great. Intentional? Rijn is pretty unmemorable but Bogosian enjoys chewing the scenery. It's Hitchcock meets De Palma meets Blow-Up***