Cinema Basement

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich One night in Santa Barbara Richard Bone (Jeff Bridges) witnesses the murder of a teenager girl while his car is broken down. He immediately becomes a person of interest for the police. His friend Alex Cutter (a career best John Heard) is an alcoholic Vietnam vet who believes in Bone's innocence. He soon becomes obsessed with the case and a man named JJ Cord, who was there on the night of the murder.  1981's Cutter's Way has been relegated to the thrift store of cinema history and it's a damn shape. It's a classic Neo noir and the performance from John Heard should have been praised come award season. He plays the stereotypical drunk to perfection and brings a sadness to the role that makes it stand off. Of course Jeff Bridges is also fantastic because of course he is. He's Jeff Bridges.  This film is a solid little Neo noir. I'm not saying it will set the world on fire but it's worth a watch. Chariots of Fire won Best Pict...

 A review by Brooks Rich In 1939 Stanton Carlisle (Bradley Cooper) is a drifter who finds work with a traveling carnival run by Clem (Willem Dafoe.) He befriends the clairvoyant Zeema (Toni Collette) and her husband Pete (David Strathairn) learning the tricks of the trade from them, such as performing a cold reading and working a crowd. Zeema and Pete also warn him to never do the "spook show", which is essentially pretending to summon the spirit of a mark's deceased loved one. Stanton falls for the alluring Molly (Rooney Mara) and eventually the two of them leave the carnival. Two years later they are a successful clairvoyant act in Buffalo when they are challenged by the alluring Dr. Ritter (Cate Blanchett). Through her Stanton is put in touch with two powerful men, who seek to use the abilities they think Stanton has.  On the surface this looks like director Guillermo del Toro has made another supernatural film. But in fact Nightmare Alley is a straight up film noir, n...

 A retrospective by Brooks Rich In 1953 Los Angeles the biggest criminal in town is arrested for tax evasion, creating a power vacuum in the city. Up and coming gangster trying to gain power are murdered and the police are trying to take a stranglehold over the city. Three very different cops begin to suspect a conspiracy in the works after a brutal massacre at the Nite Owl Diner. Something is too easy about the resolution and there are too many loose ends. It all comes together into a Neo-noir stew that both works and doesn't.  The number one strength of this film is the cast. Holy shit this thing is stacked. Kevin Spacey (before he was a creep), Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kim Basinger, in the role she won the Oscar for, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, and Danny DeVito. Everyone does a great job but the heavyweights are Crowe, Spacey, and Cromwell. Ignoring his future issues Spacey is a force in this, playing a cop who has gone Hollywood after becoming the advisor on a proc...

Introduction by Brooks Rich This month we look at the career of the late Curtis Hanson. Hanson has always been a interesting director to me as he's hit and miss as far as his filmography goes but I've always admired him as a filmmaker. This will be an unusual month as I a not a fan of probably his most well known work, LA Confidential, and will try to figure out why this has never worked for me. But we'll also gush over fun films like The River Wild and Hand That Rocks the Cradle and an underrated gem in Wonder Boys. of course there's also 8 Mile. So Lose Yourself in a celebration of the late great Curtis Hanson.