FlashCallahan When Fred Frenger gets out of prison, he decides to start over in Miami, Florida, where he starts a crime wave. He soon meets up with amiable college student and part time prostitute Susie. After Frenger is Sgt Moseley, a cop who is getting a bit old for the job, especially since the job of cop in late 1980's Miami is getting more dangerous all the time......Miami Blues was one of those films back in 1990 that was advertised here, there, and everywhere. Every bus stop had the poster advertising it's release, every video cassette you rented had the trailer, and then, like most films that didn't do that well at the box office, disappeared without a trace.27 years later, I come across it, and like a cat, I wanted to kill my curiosity. And I'm glad I did.It's dated badly, it is set in time in the late eighties, men are begging to show their feminine side, but the old school cops are still gruff, and mocking minorities and dead hari krishnas.When you get over the fact that this feels like Catch Me If You Can, and the fact that a young Alec Baldwin looks like Ryan Gosling, it's a pretty cool film noir with a wicked evil streak.So Baldwin basically plays an evil Robin Hood, stops the criminals, but continues to steal from the victim. And ironically, the virginal Maid Marian is portrayed by every bodies favourite screen prostitute, Jennifer Jason Leigh.But both are excellent in the film, and although their relationship is delusional, there is a wonderfully strange chemistry shared by them.Ward is brilliant as the mimicked cop, and there is a hilarious cameo from everybody's favourite headmaster, Paul Gleason.It's violent, atypically fashioned for the yuppy generation, but it's wonderfully cynical, with a wonderfully dark humour running through it.

Scott LeBrun Arresting, oddball and darkly comedic crime fiction from the mind of the late Charles Willeford, written for the screen and directed by George Armitage and co-produced by Jonathan Demme. Some people may find it a little too unpleasant for their tastes, but others will delight in its unpredictability. It's got enough interesting faces in its supporting cast to help it make an enjoyable cult-favourite type of film.Alec Baldwin plays psychopathic hoodlum "Junior" Frenger, who arrives in Miami intending to "start over", or in his case simply move on to a new assortment of victims. (He begins by messing up a Hare Krishna in an airport.) He hooks up with Susie Waggoner, a sweet, simple minded hooker played by the endearing Jennifer Jason Leigh. A tough homicide detective, Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward, good as always) follows his trail, but gets victimized himself when Junior gets the drop on him, and steals Hokes' gun, badge, and false teeth. Junior then has the time of his life pretending to be a cop, while entering into a domestic situation with Susie."Miami Blues" does get fairly violent sometimes, but if this sort of thing doesn't bother you, you can have a good time with this story and these players. It's got a hip soundtrack including a score by Gary Chang (this viewer loves the use of Norman Greenbaums' "Spirit in the Sky"). Among the supporting actors are Nora Dunn of 'Saturday Night Live' & "Three Kings", Demme regular Charles Napier ("The Blues Brothers", "The Silence of the Lambs"), Obba Babatunde, and Jose Perez; cameos range from Martine Beswicke ("Prehistoric Women") to Paul Gleason ("The Breakfast Club") to Shirley Stoler ("The Honeymoon Killers").Highly recommended to fans of cult cinema.

RainDogJr Edgar Wright's The Wright Stuff II went to LA's New Beverly Cinema early this year. Edgar's movie selection (some of his favourites) of this year consisted in the following double feature shows: "Brazil" (saw it) & "Delicatessen" (saw it) - I actually was in LA the weekend The Wright Stuff II began, and was lucky enough to see both "Brazil" and "Delicatessen" on the big screen for the first time (and second time overall) and get to talk with Edgar, who was kind enough to sign my "Hot Fuzz" Blu-Ray! - "Dirty Harry" (saw it), "The Super Cops" (never heard of it before), "American Graffiti" (heard of but have yet to see it), "Animal House" (heard of but…), "Frenzy" (heard of but…), "Dressed to Kill" (heard of but…), "The Driver" (never heard of it), "Duel" (never heard of it), "Wild at Heart" (saw it), "True Romance" (saw it), "The Wanderers" (never heard of it, and I'm dying to see it!), "The Warriors" (saw it), "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot" (heard of but…) and this one, "Miami Blues". I never heard of "Miami Blues" before. I finally saw it on DVD last night. I'm so glad I got to know about it. It's really a great piece of entertainment. For sure I will be recommending it to every movie fan I know, and right now I'm so much more excited to check out those other recommendations of Mr. Wright. Anyway, this is such an overlooked gem, such an overlooked phase in the career of Alec Baldwin (at least for me). I sort of get used to the fat Baldwin from "30 Rock" so this was surprisingly great, like a fantastic breathe of fresh air. He is really cool here (hilariously insane!). The whole thing is, but is like you need to wait a bit, even though it starts off with the immensely cool "The Spirit in the Sky". And you sort of need to wait because at first sight it may appear this is low-budget late 80s/early 90s action, so yes there's some bad background music. But once Jennifer Jason Leigh appears, the great show really begins. She plays a hooker who falls for Baldwin's character, Junior. There is certainly a pre-"True Romance" kind of thing with these two (you just have to love that scene with the pie, I mean, that's love!). But is Fred Ward who also steals the show. He plays a cop and all of the scenes with him and Baldwin's Junior are pure gold, it's just a great rivalry what we have with these two. "Miami Blues" is fast, fun, it f****** surprises you (fingers anyone?), really my kind of thing, just my kind of thing.

Lechuguilla A charming thief named Junior (Alec Baldwin) embarks on a romance with a hooker named Susie (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a young, naive Southern gal, in this offbeat character study by director George Armitage. Junior steals from thieves who are in the process of stealing from others. It's a plot contrivance that strains credibility, since Junior always happens to be at the right place at the right time.The script's story is weak for other reasons as well. We never learn what motivates Junior. Why does he find it necessary to rob from robbers? With a runtime of just 97 minutes the film could have filled us in a little on some of Junior's back-story. Further, toward the film's end, there is ample opportunity for the cops to zero in on Junior. But they don't. And that makes the film not very true to life. I also question why the lead detective, a rather hapless guy named Hoke Moseley (Fred Ward) feels compelled to have dinner and engage in social chitchat with Susie and Junior.A couple of plot sequences were hard for me to watch because of the graphic violence. But in general, this film is fairly tame and low-key. Production design is fine, and color cinematography is competent. I liked the music, which included "Spirit In The Sky".Despite a weak script, "Miami Blues" is worth watching once, mostly for the really fine performances of Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Jason Leigh.