Posts by Brent Lorentson

Director William Wyler is a bit of an icon when you look back in Hollywood history. He’s a director with such classics under his belt as Roman Holiday, Funny Girl, and then of course Ben-Hur. But before he filmed those, he did a smaller and more intimate film called Detective Story. This isn’t a big spectacle, but instead it is a gritty drama that takes place over a single day in a New York police station. The film is so simplistic in scope that it’s no surprise that it was originally a stage play, but it’s Wyler’s direction that elevates this film to something bigger. Then there are the remarkable performances from Kirk Douglas and the rest of the cast that make this film better than the potential snore-fest this could have been. Jim McLeod (Douglas) is a hard-nosed cop who likes nothing more than to take the criminals down in his city, to the point that he doesn’t realize it’s been days since he’s been home and seen his wife.  He’s about to head out when he has an encounter with a criminal that sets McLeod off, and he attacks then criminal in custody. The altercation is bad enough to send the criminal to the hospital and jeopardize McLeod’s career. This is just one of the stories going on in the police station.

Some movies are simply timeless. The Apartment (1960) is one of those films that I feel still holds up today and is still rightfully considered a classic. Then there are films like Peking Express (1951) that may have been good for their time, but my experience with the film just felt like a chore I couldn’t wait to finish. It’s not that the film did anything wrong. It was shot well, had decent acting, and the story was simple, but it just didn’t grab me. I like older films. I never had a problem with B&W films, but I guess to simply put it, this one just didn’t do it for me. That’s not to say that this film is bad. It just wasn’t my cup of tea, I guess you could say. The focus is mostly on Dr. Michael Bachlin (Joseph Cotton), a doctor who works with the World Health Organization who is traveling from Shanghai to Peking.

The 1972 film The Valachi Papers is the mostly true story of Joe Valachi, who was made famous/infamous for his testimony to the US Senate about the activities of the Cosa Nostra, or what we more commonly call the mafia. I have to be honest; I don’t’ know how this film has escaped me for so long, I hadn’t even heard of it till Kino pulled this one from the vaults to release on Blu-ray. For film lovers, and especially those who love a good old fashioned gangster film, I’d say this is a must-watch, mostly because the first thing that came to mind while watching this film is how much this film must have influenced Martin Scorsese and his approach to making Goodfellas, If that’s not enough to get you to want to check out the film, well, let me tell you a little more about it.

I was surprised to read that actor Henry Silva passed away back in September; he’s one of the great tough-guy actors who thrived in the 60’s and 70’s that we just don’t have any more. Personally I was a fan of his Euro Crime films, The Boss and The Italian Connection. Silva just had a way of exuding cool and badass that in  my eyes made him a rock star on the screen. He was like a rougher Charles Bronson. He was in two movies that made a big impression on me as a kid. Granted they are both glorified B movies, but Allan Quaterman and the Lost City of Gold and Alligator (1980) were movies that were in a high rotation for me as a kid, and it’s Henry Silva’s mean-guy mug that has stuck with me for so long.

Into the Deep is one of those films that offers so much promise with its setup that it is a bit frustrating when you watch the final product and it has managed to fall short in every way imaginable. When I first read the synopsis, I couldn’t help but think about the 1989 film Dead Calm. It’s one of those underrated psychological thrillers that I always felt was fun. While Into the Deep does share some parallels, unfortunately this film just goes off the rails because of its absurd plot twists and, well, let’s face it; no one in this cast is on par with Sam Neill, Billy Zane, or Nicole Kidman.  Into the Deep is a film that pretty much hopes that its audience isn’t thinking about logic, because the moment you apply any sort of critical thinking, this film just falls apart. Jess (Ella-Rae Smith) is still struggling with the loss of her mother as the anniversary of her death is approaching.