Yes, it took our second pass through the alphabet to include John Frankenheimer's 52 Pick-Up in our 52 Pick-Up series. While I had the film on DVD when we started, I had decided that I wanted to upgrade to the Arrow Blu Ray if we were going to watch it on the big screen. So here we are.  Based on the Elmore Leonard novel, the film stars Roy Scheider as Harry, a man being blackmailed over an affair he had with a young stripper (Kelly Preston). Rather than pay up, he decides to come clean and tell his wife (Ann-Margret). The trio of blackmailers retaliate by showing Harry a video of his mistress being murdered with a gun stolen from his house. Harry then works to identify the three men and sets out to pit them against one another.  Scheider, who was in his mid-50s when the film was made, comes across as old and tired, which actually works for the character. And while I will always consider 1962-1966 the golden age of her film career, Ann-Margret looks fantastic at 45, and ...

Vonna and I recently enjoyed listening to the audiobook of Ron and Clint Howard's memoir, The Boys . In it, we learned how Ron Howard came to direct his first feature for Roger Corman, Grand Theft Auto . Once we started the second half of our 52 Pick-Up series, I had already decided that would be our 'G' film. When I realized it was paired on disc with the film Ron Howard starred in for Corman after his role in George Lucas' American Graffiti , Vonna suggested that it would be appropriate that Eat My Dust! be our 'E' film. Now,  Eat My Dust! is not a great film by any stretch of the imagination. But from the opening POV shots of a car racing down country roads, it's clear that this is a love-letter to driving. It plays like any number of outlandish movies full of crazy car stunts and crashes. Which I imagine was the target demographic. The threadbare plot has Hoover (Ron Howard), the son of the sheriff (Warren J. Kemmerling - guest star in countless TV show...

I'm not sure why it's taken me so long to get around to watching  The Devil's Own . Harrison Ford rarely disappoints. But here we are, finally catching up on this one 25 years after its original release. Pitt plays an IRA member who travels to New York to covertly close a deal on some Stinger missiles to bring back home to help fight the good fight. Ford plays Tom O'Meara — an Irish New York cop who, as a favor to a friend 'sponsoring' Pitt's Rory (aka Frankie), opens up his home to the young Irishman. Things go awry, and when Tom ultimately finds out about Rory's true identity, he decides he's the only one who can bring Frankie in alive. The Devil's Own  was the final film directed by Alan Pakula. He and Ford had worked together previously on Presumed Innocent (based on the Scott Turow novel); another good film — Ford's haircut notwithstanding. This one has a great supporting cast, including Rubén Blades as Tom's partner, Treat Williams...

It had been quite some time since I had watched Michael Mann's Collateral , and as I have developed a greater appreciation for Tom Cruise in recent years, I felt it was an ideal selection for showcasing on the Slaughtered Lamb screen. While I had a clear memory of Tom Cruise's hitman Vincent and Jamie Foxx's cab-driver Max, I hadn't realized how many other now recognizable faces populate the film! Right off the bat, I was shocked to see Jason Statham(!) in a bit part (credited as 'Airport Man') handing off Vincent's reference materials when he arrives at LAX. I had to check out his IMDB page afterwards to confirm that he took this bit part after he had already made the transition from Guy Ritchie films to higher-profile films like The Transporter and The Italian Job . Vonna thought the leading lady (and object of Max's affection) looked a lot like Jada Pinkett Smith, and I had to confirm that it actually was. I was also pleasantly surprised to see Mark...