Tag Archives: Crime

Five Reasons Why “The Warriors” is the Best Gang Picture Of All Time

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PLAYING AT THE YONKERS ALAMO DRAFTHOUSE SUNDAY, MARCH 20TH; MORE INFORMATION HERE

I was introduced to Walter Hill’s “The Warriors” thanks to my dad who rented the film on VHS back in the early nineties. For him it was a long time favorite, and our entrance in to the gangster action picture gave us a look in to a surefire classic that has gone unparalleled since its release in 1979. Hill adapted the movie from the original novel, which itself was taken from a period tale by author Sol Yurick, and took us in to a world steeped in crime and violence where an inconspicuous group from Coney Island has to prove themselves and survive long enough to make it back to their home turf.

With admittedly exaggerated depictions of gang war fare, along with a slick depiction of action and combat, it’s hard to believe “The Warriors” garnered such controversy during its time. Hill’s film live on an as iconic action survival picture set in the urban jungle where a big for peace, inspires all out war thanks to a psychopath and a revolver. With one gun shot, The Warriors are marked and targeted by every gang in New York, forcing them to rely on their wits and each other to get home by dawn and re-unite with their legion of members. With “The Warriors” playing at the Alamo is Yonkers; I thought I’d list five reasons why Walter Hill’s film is still the best Gang Picture of all time.

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Deadpool (2016)

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Superhero movie fatigue, my balls.

“Deadpool” is proof positive that the comic book movie is alive and well and prone to various iterations of the comic book movie mold beyond capes, tights, and bat ears. “Deadpool” is one of the most anti of anti-heroes ever conceived. He’s a man who works for any side that’s appealing to him, and you can never quite pin down whether he should be a friend or foe. Wilson like Marvel comrades The Punisher and Iron Man are never villainous, but also not the clean cut superheroes we’d expect. In the end, Wilson is about self gratification, even though he tells himself that his intentions are pure. He’s a man who loves being vile and obnoxious. Even Wade Wilson during the opening of “Deadpool” explicitly states that he is by no means a hero, and we’re given extensive insight in to how he lived his life before he became the “merc with the mouth.”

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Beat Street (1984)

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I liken “Beat Street” to “Saturday Night Fever” in where both films, set in the Bronx, feature very talented youths with troubled home lives trying to fulfill their promise and chase the American dream. While “Beat Street” is nowhere near as timeless as the former film, director Stan Lathan’s drama is an entertaining, if exaggerated look at life in the Bronx, and the culture that would eventually die with the decade. The film produced by Harry Belafonte doesn’t have the same committee constructed, consumer pandering aesthetic that the “Step Up” movies do. But for all intents and purposes it tend to shine the light on actual minorities living in the Bronx, some of whom can barely make rent, but still drive themselves on their love for their work.

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Zombie Fight Club (2014) [Blu-ray]

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While I’d say “Zombie Fight Club” is not the worst zombie movie ever made, it’s definitely up there in the top five. Joe Chien’s zombie, comedy, action… horror movie (?) is so painfully written and poorly directed, it watches like an amateur production from a failed film student. The script watches like it was put together in five minutes with a bunch of concepts that never ever mix together in to a coherent or remotely entertaining movie. Explaining the premise would be like listening to a child with ADD talk as if they’re trying to cram a whole hour’s worth of nonsense in to two minutes. There’s Singapore, and a high rise where a gang of drug abusers are living. The leader of the gang gets a bag of bath salts; said bath salts mysteriously turn the users in to flesh eating zombies.

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Southbound (2016)

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I am loving the resurgence of the horror anthology and how horror filmmakers are playing with the format. “Southbound” is very much a new horror anthology that holds no title cards or segues, but instead features five stories that intersect in some way or another. It’s almost like “Pulp Fiction,” but just not as brilliant. in fact, in the end, it’s really a mixed bag of horror tales that are held up by a genuine sense of terror and unease that seeps through the film from beginning to the end. Even when I wasn’t completely invested in a tale, I appreciated the unnerving aesthetic set amid the endless and desolate back roads of America.

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Superhero Movie (2008)

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“Superhero Movie” is a comedy that’s remained off the radar for a long time since its release, and that’s a good thing. As a comedy it’s a pretty solid spoof of the “Spider-Man” movies, mocking the inherent silliness and idiocy of the Sam Raimi movies. And ironically enough it manages to be a much more creative and coherent superhero picture than “Spider-Man 3” ever hoped to be. I don’t disagree that the movie is a mixed bag of humor that tackles the superhero movie craze, as well as old hat superhero tropes, but it’s succeeds as an entertaining novelty and a respectable guilty pleasure.

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The Tall Man (2012)

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Pascal Laugier’s “The Tall Man” is one dry heave of a drama that paints itself as a horror movie. Worse more it pretends to be a take on “The Slender Man” when really it’s just one heaping helping of melodrama about kidnapped kids and altruistic nurses taking their love for them one step too far. It’s a shame, too, since the opening montage isn’t only creepy, but seems to be setting us up for one hell of an eerie and haunting horror film built on a scary premise. I wanted to invest time in the film once the initial hook runs its course. It’s just sad that the film itself never lives up to any of its promise.

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