Movieline Online

Mainstream movies almost always fall into one category or another. Surprisingly enough, the same holds true for foreign films as well. Enzo Castellari’s Cold Eyes of Fear (1971) starts off as a giallo (translation: sleazy, murder mystery), turns into a home invasion scenario only to flip genres yet again before the finale to become a political thriller. Best known for his straight-up action imports like the original Inglorious Bastards , Castellari isn’t content to let his film gather moss. Rather he constantly reinvents a new category to keep the audience on their toes. And, damn if it doesn’t work. Peter Flower (Gianni Garko) is a playboy attorney living it up in swinging London. His latest conquest is a dark-haired Italian beauty (Giovanna Ralli) who he takes back to his rich uncle’s home. Waiting inside (along with the body of a dead servant) is a nasty criminal type whose intentions aren’t quite clear but insists that no one leaves until his plan comes to its deadly frui...

Everyone behind Crimewave (1985) - from the actors to the executives to the Detroit teamsters who built the sets - is only too eager to tell you what a complete and utter failure it is. And in some respects, they’re right. But without Sam Raimi’s mismanaged follow-up to The Evil Dead , co-written by Joel and Ethan Coen (yes, that Joel and Ethan Coen) and co-starring Bruce Campbell, none of the talent behind the camera would be the creative force they are today. Not only did the experience give them a taste of just how nasty Hollywood could be, it’s a showcase for the sort of unhinged creative ambitions that most filmmaker’s are never allowed to dabble in. And as such, it’s a fascinating piece of show-off moviemaking that sows the seeds of what Raimi and the Coens would soon become. A screwball comedy that plays like a combination of the Coen’s Blood Simple and Raising Arizona (with more than a little Stooges thrown in for good measure), the movie follows the exploits of mild-man...

Despite their dominance in today’s movie theaters, Marvel Comics’ superheroes were once nothing more than a poor, pathetic lot of failed TV pilots and low-budget direct-to-video adaptations. Lou Ferrigno’s mop-topped version of The Hulk was the only thing happening for the company until Bryan Singer’s original X-Men (2000) proved that Marvel’s formula of mutant powers, social issues and complicated personal relationships could actually translate well onscreen. Up until that point, fans suffered through things like 1990’s Captain America . This wasn’t Cap’s first trip to the screen. And it’s not even his worst . Besides an early adaptation in the ‘40s, he was crammed into a pair of ill-fitting tights and forced to embarrass himself in the late ‘70s in a series of terrible TV movies. By comparison, this adaptation by director Albert Pyun ( The Sword and the Sorcerer, Cyborg ) is actually fairly classy. But it’s faced with the same challenge The First Avenger (2011) ran into: ho...