Categorie archief: Films

Blood In, Blood Out (1993)

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld


‘An epic story of three brothers. Bound by blood. Divided by fate. Driven by destiny.’

Directed by:
Taylor Hackford

Written by:
Ross Thomas (story)
Jimmy Santiago Baca (screenplay)
Jeremy Lacone (screenplay)
Floyd Mutrux (screenplay)

Cast:
Damian Chapa (Miklo), Jesse Borrego (Cruz), Benjamin Bratt (Paco), Enrique Castillo (Montana), Victor Rivers (Magic Mike), Delroy Lindo (Bonafide), Tom Towles (Red Ryder), Carlos Carrasco (Popeye), Teddy Wilson (Wallace), Billy Bob Thornton (Lightning), Lanny Flaherty (Big Al)

Blood In, Blood Out explores the brutal initiation ritual of Latino gangs: to join, one must kill or risk being killed.

Miklo, a half-blatino outsider with white skin and blue eyes, returns to East L.A.’s barrios after a falling out with his Caucasian father. Reuniting with his cousins Paco and Cruz – members of the ‘Vatos Locos’ gang – he faces constant ridicule for his appearance. But when Miklo proves his loyalty by confronting the rival ‘Tres Puntos’ gang, he earns his place with a ‘VL’ tattoo on his hand.

Tragedy strikes soon after: a violent clash with ‘Tres Puntos’ leaves Cruz permanently disabled and Miklo imprisoned for murder. The film’s second act splits into three powerful narratives: Miklo’s harrowing first stint in San Quentin, Cruz’s descent into drug addiction, and Paco’s unexpected career as a narcotics agent.

Director Taylor Hackford delivers a gripping, if slightly overlong (nearly three hours), portrait of Latino life, where crime and poverty loom large, yet family bonds remain unbreakable. Inspired by poet Jimmy Santiago Baca’s real-life experiences, the intertwined stories are compelling and well-crafted, with Miklo’s prison arc standing out as the most gripping.

Jesse Borrego shines as Cruz, delivering a performance that is both heartbreaking and authentic. The film’s rich supporting cast – including standout turns from Danny Trejo and Billy Bob Thornton – adds depth to this intense, entertaining saga. Despite its length, Blood In, Blood Out offers enough raw emotion and drama to hold your attention until the end.

Rating:

Quote:
POPEYE: “Hey, Cinderella, go find yourself a fella, you’re on the clock bitch and midnight is coming, you got the wrong man.”

Trivia:
The original cut for this film lasted five and a half hours.

Roadracers

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Arthur Swerdloff
Written by: Stanley Kallis, Edward J. Lasko
Cast: Joel Lawrence, Marian Collier, Skip Ward, Sally Fraser

Year / Country: 1959, USA
Running Time: 73 mins.

Roadracers is not to be confused with Robert Rodriquez’ 1994 TV-movie of the same name. Interesting detail about that film is that it was part of the Rebel Highway series that took the titles of 1950’s-era B-movies and was produced by Lou Arkoff, son of Samuel Z. Arkoff, the producer of this movie, and according to IMDb 138 other B-movies.

The story revolves around Rob Wilson, a young racer who was involved in a lethal accident years ago and recently started driving again. His father, a racing fanatic, wants him to be the best racer on the track. But Rob realizes he doesn’t like racing at all and breaks with his father. He goes to Europe where he continues his racing career, while his father takes Rob’s former competitor as his apprentice. Rob returns to the States to challenge his father in one last race: the Grand Prix.

Many Arkoff movies were shot in a couple of days and this appears to be one of them. A simple plot, lots of stock footage and some notable editing problems expose it for a B-movie pur sang. The upsides are some impressive black and white visuals and a couple of cool songs on the soundtrack. Unfortunately, despite its pleasant speed, Roadracers is a quite boring flick at the end of the day.

Rating:

Biography: Arthur Swerdloff (1921, Baltimore – 2008, Los Angeles) has directed a number of educational documentaries, mostly revolving around social themes. His only effort as feature director is Roadracers.

Filmography: Show ‘Em the Road (1954, short doc), Gang Boy (1954, short), Age 13 (1955, short), Roadracers (1959), What’s the Big Hurry (1977, short doc / co-dir)20

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Dick Lowry
Written by: Stuart Birnbaum, David Dashey
Cast: Jackie Gleason, Jerry Reed, Paul Williams, Pat McCormick

Year / Country: 1983, USA
Running Time: 81 mins.

Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 lives up to the Hollywood law of always making sequels to box office hits, but fails to make it bigger and better. The movie starts with a recap of the first two films with references to Star Wars and Patton thrown in. After that, the usual plot unfolds about Big and Little Enos, offering a fat reward for the transportation of a large stuffed shark from Florida to Texas.

Burt Reynolds doesn’t return as the Bandit (except in a small cameo at the end), so Snowman (Jerry Reed) decides to play the Bandit instead. Both him, and Sheriff Buford T. Justice aka Smokey (Gleason) accept the Enos’ challenge. Buford even bets his badge against the 250.000 dollars reward money. The Bandit, and the girl Dusty he picked up, outperform Smokey and his dim-witted son Junior in a cross-country race filled with the usual obstacles.

A logical disappointment to fans when it came out, due to the absence of Reynolds and the questionable necessity of another sequel. It contains the usual car stunts and funny dialogues, but both to a lesser extent. This can probably be explained by the non-involvement of original director and stunt professional Hal Needham and the re-dubbing of Gleason’s originally crude dialogues. A crying shame, because those could have made the film much more enjoyable. Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 became a box office flop. Not entirely without reason, I must conclude after eighty wasted minutes. Far from recommended.

Rating:

Biography: Dick Lowry (1944, Oklahoma) started his movie career in the seventies with directing episodes of TV-series Barnaby Jones. He would spend most of his career making TV films and mini-series, including western series The Gambler, starring Kenny Rogers. He also made a TV movie of Alf, the famous furry alien who lives in a garage after crashing down. Lowry also directed Tom Selleck in Last Stand at Saber River, adopted from the novel by Elmore Leonard. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and three children.

Filmography (a selection): Barnaby Jones (1973, TV episodes), The Draught (1975), Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (TV episodes), Kenny Rogers as The gambler (1980, TV), The Jayne Mansfield Story (1980, TV), Missing Children: A Mother’s Story (1982, TV), Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 (1983), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler: The Adventure Continues (1983, TV), Murders with Mirrors (1985, TV), Kenny Rogers as The Gambler, Part III: The Legend Continues (1987, TV), Case Closed (1988, TV), Miracle Landing (1990, TV), The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991, TV), Skin (1992, short), Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick, the Last Chapter (1992, TV), One More Mountain (1994, TV), Texas Justice (1995, TV), Smoke Jumpers (1996, TV), Project: ALF (1996, TV), Mr. Murder (1998, TV), Atomic Train (1999, TV), Attila (2001, TV), NYPD Blue (2001, TV episode), Silver Bells (2005, TV)

Deathsport

Posted on by Jeppe Kleijngeld

Director: Allan Arkush, Nicholas Niciphor
Written by: Frances Doel, Nicholas Niciphor, Donald Stewart
Cast: David Carradine, Claudia Jennings, Richard Lynch, William Smithers

Year / Country: 1978, USA
Running Time: 83 mins.

A Roger Corman produced B-movie about a post-apocalyptic world in which evil statesmen organize lethal sporting events. David Carradine, who starred three years earlier in the similar Corman B-film Death Race 2000, plays Kaz Oshay, a so called Range Guide. He and his fellow warriors have to survive in the barren wastelands between mutant cannibals and laser equipped Dirt bikes called ‘Death Machines’.

Kaz Oshay and the female Range Guide Deneer get abducted by statesmen, who take them to the city of Helix. This city is ruled by Lord Zirpola, whose brain is decaying from long term exposure to radiation, caused by the Neutron Wars. He and his evil henchman Ankar Moor submit Oshay and Deneer to torture and eventually Death Sport. They manage to escape and set out to rescue Deneer’s daughter who has been kidnapped by mutants. They are pursued by Moor and his legion of Death Machines. Deneer and Oshay, son of the greatest Range Guide, offer them plenty of resistance.

This movie’s low budget is exposed by the low production value and often hilarious sound effects. Still, it is not completely awful. There is plenty of campy, B-movie fun and the presence of former Playboy Playmate Claudia Jennings helps the visual enjoyment. The synthesized musical score and sometimes very bad special effects get annoying occasionally, but the overall reasonable performances and screenplay save this from being a complete stinker.

Rating:

Biography: Allan Arkush (1948, New Jersey) started his film career by working in the trailer department of Roger Corman’s New World Pictures. He debuted with Hollywood Boulevard as editor and co-director (with Joe Dante). His first solo effort as director was Rock ‘N’ Roll High School featuring the Ramones. After several other (TV)films he turned more to television series, such as the successful NBC show Heroes.

Biography: Nicholas Niciphor is mostly known as writer of several TV shows and movies. He has worked in both Germany and the USA. Deathsport is his only credit as (co-)director.

Filmography Allan Arkush (a selection): Hollywood Boulevard (1976, co-dir), Deathsport (1978, co-dir), Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979), Heartbeeps (1981), Get Crazy (1983), Fame (1984-86, TV episodes), Caddyshack II (1988), I’ll Fly Away (1992/93, TV episodes), Shake, Rattle and Rock! (1994, TV), Desert Breeze (1996, TV), Elvis Meets Nixon (1997, TV), Ally McBeal (1998/99, TV episodes), Prince Charming (2001, TV), Crossing Jordan (2001-07, TV episodes), Heroes (2006-2010, TV episodes), Minority Report (2015, TV episodes)

Filmography Nicholas Niciphor: Deathsport (1978, co-dir)