Hit Squad

Hit Squad (Squadra Antifurto) (1976)

Runtime: 102 minutes

Directed by: Bruno Corbucci

Starring: Tomas Milian, Robert Webber, Lilli Carati, Giuseppe Pambieri, Toni Ucci

From: Titanus

I apologize for not being around as much this month so far; it's been for a multitude of reasons and I can't guarantee that my schedule will return to more a sense of normalcy starting now. This movie would have been reviewed yesterday as it was seen on Sunday, but there was no time to do so until now. Another review will be up in a few hours. As for this poliziotteschi, it is the second to feature Tomas Milian as Nico Giraldi, a loose cannon cop; I've seen the first-The Cop in Blue Jeans-and it was a good time as the character was pretty over the top. He mostly dressed as a hobo and loved the movie Serpico so much, that was what he named his pet rat. This movie... wait until I describe his clothing.

The movie is rather comedic and I guffawed often. It concerns Nico attempting to crack down against thieves; several stumble upon a literal black book... no, not the kind that Jeffrey Epstein had, but one that still is incriminating as it revolves around bribes and a former CIA agent played by Robert Webber. Many wacky characters are encountered and note that this includes a thief eating their own feces (this happens as said thief takes a dump on someone's couch due to anger; Nico finds out who did it and forces this case of coprophilia) and a criminal at a racetrack gives up information after... being locked in a stable with a “horny and agitated” horse which kicks his ass.

Hit Squad-at least in its dubbed form I saw via a stream from a certain popular streaming website-is rather politically incorrect in terms of situation and its share of incredibly crass dialogue I could never repeat here. At times it did inspire some of the biggest laughs from me, even if it was from shock as it was not expected before I started watching the film. It's greatly entertaining and has enough brawls, chases, and other hallmarks of the genre to satisfy my tastes. I do have to admit that part of the reason this gets a high score: the clothing that Giraldi wears in the movie are so bizarre even by 70's fashion standards-this includes the duds worn in many a blaxaploitation movie-they inspired much mirth and delight.

I could write paragraphs on all the looks that were served here, but I'll try to restrain myself. He enjoyed wearing overalls of all colors, sometimes without a shirt underneath. My favorite there was black overalls, a leather jacket... and a Budweiser hat. One jacket was stupendous: cream in color, there were strawberries on the sleeves, and a giant one on the back. The ending is an American flag ensemble I couldn't begin to describe... oh yeah, a small part of this movie was set and filmed in the crappy New York City of old, and features not only a random mentally handicapped individual that keeps on showing up and made me wonder if it was some poor homeless guy that legit wandered on set, but also an interracial romance scene that was played to be incredibly awkward-I told you this was politically incorrect. The look that even led me gobsmacked has to be mentioned: Nico meets Lilli Carati and even though he barely knows her, shows up at her place looking to have sex. His clothing during that scene: a black hit you'd expect Waylon Jennings to wear, a black shirt that says WILD THING on the front and has a giant jaguar which has stoned-looking eyes, a black jacket with all sorts of color splotches on it I call a space jacket... and as Nico has zero restraint, his pants are off already so you see he has on red bikini underwear!

This is why the movie made me guffaw often.

RIP Max von Sydow

I had things to do today but tomorrow will be two reviews so I'll be caught up, and hopefully from this point my schedule won't be so haphazard. One of those reviews will be of a von Sydow movie; I was saddened to hear that news this afternoon.

Dearest Sister

Dearest Sister (Nong Hak) (2016)

Runtime: 101 minutes

Directed by: Mattie Do

Starring: A bunch of Laotians with very long names

From: Companies from Laos, France, and... Estonia

This month so far... I haven't felt like too many movies, although I hope for things to change starting tonight: 

One positive aspect of March Around the World is that for me, once or twice each year during that month I'll see a film from a country whose cinema I had never experienced beforehand. Last night, it was a movie from Laos, the landlocked Southeast Asia country that not even I know too much about. This horror movie was on Shudder so I gave it a shot. If only this would have been more enjoyable...

A poor woman needs to earn money for her family in a rural area so she is forced to work for her blind woman, who experiences supernatural events. Only, it revolves around... lottery numbers?! Actually, from online sleuthing I understand there is a belief among several Asian cultures where people that pass on are able to tell lottery numbers to the living. Actually, much of this movie surrounds the old chestnuts that most people across the world experience: inequality due to wealth disparity and the haves vs. the have nots.

I was interested in looking at the country and it was appreciated by me; the culture, the landscape, the customs, society, etc. Unfortunately, Dearest Sister was something that was not pleasant for me to watch. Too many of the characters were just loathsome and not ones I wanted to spend much time around. It started off with the poor woman being treated like crap nonstop and that set a sour note for me. As the movie progressed, more irritating events occurred and overall, I will say this unexpected horror movie is just average in general.

Then again, plenty of others liked this more than me and I do have to give credit towards director Mattie Do; in the brief history of Laotian cinema, she is the only female director and I know she has two other movies out there, which perhaps would be more my style.

Flash Gordon!

Flash Gordon (1980)

Runtime: 111 minutes

Directed by: Mike Hodges

Starring: Sam J. Jones, Max Von Sydow, Melody Anderson, Topol, Ornella Muti

From: Universal

What a March I've had so far. I explained recently how Monday was a loss due to food poisoning; Wednesday, my digestive system was in revolt due to unknown reasons (I might as well have been Harry in Dumb & Dumber after ingesting all those laxatives) and yesterday I visited someone in the hospital... it was not unexpected and the situation is relatively minor, so they'll be out soon. Point is, March has started off rather poorly and last night seemed like an opportune time to see a wacky bright extravagant movie, and Flash Gordon seemed like the right cure for my ails.

Naturally, it did work. I've never seen the Buster Crabbe serials or read any of the comics; there is mixed opinions on if the tone of this matches any of the previous iterations of the character or not. That don't mean anything to me so the corny, campy nature of this brings up no complaints. Some things can be nitpicked (or a lot if you're insufferable like CinemaSins) but who cares? For me, this nonsense is a lot of fun, even if the title character is sometimes a buffoon and on at least a few occasions, is overshadowed by the denizens of the planet Mongo.

The story is at least easy to follow and there is no shortage of memorable characters; who can forget HAWKMEN, after all? The movie is always colorful between the extravagant sets, costumes, skies of multiple hues, etc. The movie is a blast and features such things as a travel agent heroine suddenly doing gymnastics out of nowhere, Timothy Dalton as Errol Flynn as Robin Hood, and an awesome henchman who wears a gold mask; thankfully, this is not so slight that it turns into a farce or is too dopey to enjoy. The true highlight is not Ornella Muti (although she is great); rather, it's Queen's music. Now there is something that is marvelous and is a big boon to this extravagant space opera.


To reiterate, this viewing was to brighten my mood, and something like this was exactly what I needed.

An Update

Sunday, I'll be posting two or three reviews; it depends on if I am seeing anything tonight. March so far has been pure chaos, which I will address then.

I Revisited The Stabilizer

and that wacky no-budget Indonesian movie from the 80's is still a lot of fun. It's still on YouTube... just not from Troma; it's from another channel instead. As my opinion about it is the same, read my original thoughts here: here.https://blairreviewsmovies.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-stabilizer.html

The Invisible Man (The New One)

The Invisible Man (2020)

91% on Rotten Tomatoes (out of 275 reviews)

Runtime: 124 minutes

Directed by: Leigh Whannell

Starring: Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge, Storm Reid, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer

From: Universal/Blumhouse

A review delayed because of... food poisoning!

Sunday evening I saw this film at an AMC; as I had a giftcard, getting the flatbread pizza-which I had ordered before-seemed like an OK idea. Unfortunately, because of that pizza I experienced what may be the worst case of food poisoning I've ever had... please don't ask for the gory details as to why. It was a restless Sunday night so all day Monday was spent recovering and while I am not 100% now, at least this review can be done, even if it won't be as comprehensive as I could do under better health. All the positive buzz and me thinking that the director's last movie-Upgrade-was pretty awesome meant that this seemed like the obvious thing to view.

Beforehand it appeared as if the trailers gave too much away; while some footage there wasn't in the final product, I wish a great scare which got a great reaction from the crowd wasn't in all the advertisements. All that said, the opening made me realize I was in good hands. With a great score and nothing being said for minutes, the lead (to borrow a phrase, Elisabeth Moss always looks as if she is constantly stressed, making her a great choice for this role alone, which doesn't even consider the fantastic job she did in the role) escaping her abusive uber-rich jerk boyfriend was a great scene, and there are other tremendous moments I dare not spoil here. I recently mentioned the term gaslighting and how it's unfortunately common in these modern times. Well, our heroine is gaslighted in a rather horrific way.

There are a few “hey, wait a minute now...” moments that have nothing to do with someone being invisible or how it is pulled off. That will be excused-at least by me-when the movie as a whole was so well-done between the music, the entire cast being solid, characters I cared for & had sympathy towards, the cinematography creating suspense as you don't know if the camera is pointing at nothing or if something unseen is present. Personally, I say that there is at least one moment where “an unreliable narrator” may be part of the plot. Plus, the way the story wrapped up...

I do not love this like I do Upgrade... that is no slight as Leigh Whannell and Blumhouse found a way to update an extremely old movie and make it modern by addressing the real life horrors of stalking, abusive relationships & fears of modern technology. I am thankful that with the approximately 500 movies or so a year that Blumhouse releases, I got to see one theatrically that is well worth checking out.