TheRetroCritic

A Fish Called Wanda was released in 1988 and starred two sixths of the Monty Python gang, John Cleese and Michael Palin, along with the likes of Jamie Lee Curtis and Kevin Kline, the latter picking up an Academy Award for his performance. The film sees femme fatale Wanda (Curtis) and her lover/partner in crime Otto (Kline) attempt to con a London gangster after helping him gather some priceless diamonds. The heist goes according to plan but the jewels are nowhere to be found so it becomes up to Wanda to get close to the gang leader's barrister Archie (Cleese) in order to figure out where they could be hidden. Otto being the jealous type, this plan proves to be difficult for all involved, especially when Wanda starts to develop genuine feelings for Archie. Meanwhile, Ken (Palin), the stuttering ally of the imprisoned gangster, is tasked with getting rid of an old lady who witnessed the robbery and, again, this proves to be much more difficult than it was meant to be as he keep

2001 was a weird year. Tim Burton was ruling the Planet Of The Apes , Billy Bob Thornton was married to Angelina Jolie and A Beautiful Mind was considered a good movie. Also, a little Bruce Willis film was quietly nominated for a couple of Golden Globes. That film was Bandits . Directed by respected veteran filmmaker Barry Levinson ( Rainman , Good Morning Vietnam ), the film is a screwball heist comedy about a couple of mismatched bank-robbing pals nicknamed "The Sleepover Bandits" who meet an aimless, eccentric gal and together they all continue stealing dough while dealing with a pesky love triangle. I know, that's not much of a plot and, believe me, I'm making it sound better than it is. That said, Bandits' concept was a promising one: a Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid for the modern age but far more light-hearted and upbeat. The cast was/is solid and the trailer looked like fun. Then the movie starts playing and, essentially, it's nothin

Wes Anderson's debut feature, Bottle Rocket may have very little to do with bottles or rockets but, what it is, is a cool cult indie movie which introduced us to both Owen and Luke Wilson so that should soothe your bottle and rocket disappointment. Based on the director's own short of the same name, Bottle Rocket is actually a heist movie with a difference. That difference is that it involves two quirky dudes mostly in the game for the hell of it. They treat robbing like it's a legitimate career and get off on the rebellious thrills when they're clearly not cut out for a life of crime. We're first introduced to Luke Wilson's character Anthony as he gets ready to leave a psychiatric hospital: he's a mild-mannered, harmless-looking guy with nothing in his life except the will to make his career as a burglar work, even if he does mostly steal from family members, and his over-keen brother Dignan (Owen Wilson). The latter takes every single thing very seri

At this point The Coen Brothers could pretty much do anything and I'd zombie my way to the cinema without thinking twice about it. With Gambit , a remake of sorts, it looked like they might have written another farce in the vein of The Ladykillers , a film which I've always felt was wrongly underrated. Alas, they aren't on directing duty this time... We follow Colin Firth's art curator as he hires Cameron Diaz's rodeo queen to help him pull off an elaborate heist involving a rare Monet painting. The goal being to piss off Alan Rickman's odious art collector and make quite a few bucks in the process. The film is going for a 60's-style screwball comedy vibe and with a strong cast like this one and a script by the Coens, you'd expect nothing less than a sharp, fun, clever little flick. Sadly, whatever wit we found in the likes of Fargo and whatever cartoonish shenanigans we found in The Ladykillers are nowhere to be seen in Gambit. Sure the film o

Fast Five? Fast & Furious 5? Rio Heist? Screw all the rubbish titles, behold... The ExFastables! Why the sudden surge of "team" movies? The Expendables , A-Team , The Avengers , This... Not that I mind, it's just a bit odd really, isn't it? There's really not much to say about this new fast and furious outing for a franchise which never seems to end or go anywhere in particular. It's a Fast and the Furious movie: dumb, loud, action-packed, muscle-bound, tough-talking, cars smashing, bums-in-your-face, the usual fare basically. Oh sure this being the 5th film it's bigger and sillier than most of its predecessors but thankfully not so much that you can't enjoy it on a one dimensional level. Fast Five is hugely entertaining from start to finish, and I'm saying that as someone who couldn't give a toss about cars or muscles so imagine how much you'll like this if that's totally your deal! The best-of cast includes the Blandmeis