Recent Viewing

White Sun of the Desert (1970) A spaghetti western with an unlikely hero holed up in the old mission with half a dozen women, armed with a machine gun and a box of dynamite against a bandit army. Except the hero is a Red Army soldier just trying to get home, the old mission is a ruined mosque on the shore of the Caspian Sea, and the women are the harem of the bandit chief. All treated with the usual combination of wit and tragedy - good clean fun. 8/10

Mafioso (1962) Watched with Donna. Meticulous factory supervisor revisits his folksy home town in Sicily and learns the true meaning of family. Sicilian family. Even though you know from the beginning that he is sure to end up in a terrible situation before the end of the story, it is relentlessly amusing throughout. Convincingly detailed with sunscorched cobbled streets and huge platters of amazing food. Extremely entertaining, surprising in its developments and highly rewarding overall. 10/10

Rusty Knife (1958) Acceptable Japanese noir has its moments - including a chase scene in huge trucks and an almost hilariously overacted gangster suicide. Nothing really spectacular, but a good workmanlike job. A very young Jo Shishido doesn't survive long. 6/10