Pacific Heights is a 1990 thriller directed by John Schlesinger and starring Matthew Modine, Melanie Griffith and Michael Keaton.Drake Goodman(Modine) and his girlfriend Patty Palmer(Griffith) buy a house in San Francisco. They plan to rent out two apartments in it. It is a very expensive house in a very good area called Pacific Heights. The first tenants are a Japanese couple called the Watanabes and they are no trouble. The next tenant is a suave guy called Carter Hayes(Keaton). He seems to have money and they like him.
He has a problem with a credit check and he manages to get Drake to leave it and gets him references instead. He tells Drake that he will pay the first six months by wire transfer and that satisfies Drake. Hayes decides to move in unannounced and he locks himself into the apartment without his money being paid. Over the next few days, it happens that the money is not going to be paid and Hayes is making weird noises in the apartment. Drake gets worried and tries to get inside but the locks have been changed. Drake wants to cut the heat and electricity to get him out, but Hayes calls the cops and Drake is warned that he will be in trouble if he does that.
This begins a cat and mouse game between Hayes and the couple. Drake attacks him and gets arrested and Hayes gets a restraining order to keep him from coming back. Patty is alone and Hayes terrorizes her. Drake comes back to the building and is shot by Hayes who then disappears. The cops finally get inside the apartment and everything has been stripped and gone. Patty finds a photograph of Hayes and finds out that his real name is James Danforth. She goes to speak to one of his references and finds out that he was disowned by his family and that he is very dodgy. Patty traces his girlfriend and finds out that Danforth assumed Carter Hayes' identity and she shows her a postcard from him and Patty finds out where he is now.
She finds his hotel and gets into his room and goes through his stuff. She finds out that he has been using Drake's identity. She calls Drake and tells him to cancel his credit cards etc. She gets Danfroth into trouble by making a huge room service order and when he can't pay, he is arrested. He is bailed out by his next victim and he goes back to San Francisco to get his revenge. There is a fight between him and the couple and he ends up dead. Patty and Drake sell the apartment and move on. This was a good film with a great cast. Keaton is great as the murky Hayes and Modine and Griffith play their parts well. This is a well made thriller and I really enjoyed it. I will give it a 7/10.
The Walking Dead is finally back after all this time! The premiere was really good and full of action. Last time, Alexandria was falling and the walkers were everywhere. Deanna died and Denise was taken hostage by the Wolf guy that Morgan had left alive. Glenn and Erin found Maggie but she was on a tower surrounded by walkers. Daryl, Sasha and Abraham ran into some bikers who told them that their stuff now belonged to a guy called Negan. This episode begins with that story line. The leader of the group tells them that they have to give up their stuff or else. They are going to kill Abraham but Daryl manages to get hold of a rocket launcher that they had with them and blow the entire group to bits!
Cut to Rick and the others who are making their way through the horde of walkers covered in walker guts. Jessie's son Sam is the weak link and he is looking around at the walkers and getting scared. He freaks out and gets eaten by the walkers. Jessie won't let him go, so she gets eaten too. Her other son, Ron points a gun at Rick, but he is killed by Michonne. He fires the gun before he dies and it hits Carl in the eye.Is he dead?
Denise and the Wolf guy are running around and he wants to escape. He tries to save her from getting bitten and he gets bitten instead. She tells him that she can save his life if she can get him to the infirmary in time. They try and run but Carol shoots him dead. He turns into a walker but gets killed (again) by Morgan. Denise has to try and save Carl's life. Rick is distraught and he starts attacking all of the walkers in anger. Some of the others take a leaf out of his book and attack too. They make a large dent in the horde. Glenn and Erin save Maggie. Daryl and the others arrive back to Alexandria to help with the fight. Rick sits with his son and prays that he will survive. This was a very good episode. There were a few surprise deaths. I didn't expect Jessie to die with her two sons. I didn't see Daryl blowing up those biker dudes. It was very exciting and I am glad that it is back.
Reeves stars as rookie FBI agent Johnny Utah who is working with his partner and veteran FBI guy Angelo Pappas(Busey) to catch a group of bank robbers called the Ex- Presidents, who wear masks of ex- US Presidents in their robberies.The thieves are very slick and they are well organised. Utah has to go undercover when they suspect that the robbers might be surfers. He wants to get some information on them, but he sticks out like a sore thumb. He meets surfer lady Tyler (Lori Petty) and tries to get her to help him to learn to surf. She reluctantly agrees after she saves him from drowning when he tries to surf alone. She introduces him to a charismatic guy called Bodhi(Swayze) who seems to be the leader of a group of surfer dudes.
The surfers wonder who this Utah is, but Bodhi realises that Johnny used to play football in college and this relaxes everyone and he is accepted. He gets in deeper with the group and finds their way of life appealing in some ways. He knows that he has to stick to his job, but it is hard to think of the guys as criminals. He has a suspicion that they are the thieves and he gets closer and closer to discovering the truth. He also grows closer to Tyler. Of course, Bodhi finds out that Johnny is not who he says when he is chased by him after a robbery attempt. Things get strange after that. Tyler finds out who he is and dumps him. He is still with the gang, but Bodhi has Tyler kidnapped and blackmails Johnny into helping them rob a bank with them. He has no choice, but it all goes wrong and one of the surfers is killed. Bodhi knocks Johnny out and leaves him there while he escapes.
Johnny and Angelo try to stop the thieves when they find out that they are taking a flight to Mexico and there is a shootout. More surfers are dead and Angelo gets shot and killed too. Only Bodhi and one of his pals are left. They force Utah onto the airplane and then they jump out with their parachutes. Johnny jumps after them and he tries to catch Bodhi, but his knee gives out from an old injury and he can't catch him. Tyler is released and Bodhi and another friend of his escape with the money leaving Bodhi's last surfer pal dead behind him. Cut to almost a year later and Utah catches up with Bodhi in Bell's Beach in Australia where a major storm is brewing. Bodhi is there to surf the ultimate waves. There is a brawl and Johnny wants to bring Bodhi in, but he cannot when Bodhi pleads with him to let him surf the waves, knowing that this means certain death. Johnny agrees and he and the cops watch Bodhi disappear into the violent waves. Johnny tosses his FBI badge into the water and walks away. This is a great film. I loved this when it was released and it is still as good as ever. Swayze is great as the mystical Bodhi who captivates Johnny and Reeves is entertaining as the pretty clueless Johnny Utah. There is a good cast in this movie and it is a must for all action fans. I know that there is a remake of this in cinemas at the moment, but I am not really interested in that. Watch this instead, it is a fun movie and one of my favourite 90's movies. I give it a 9/10.
FBI agent Joe Merriweather(Morgan) is working with his partner Cowles(Abbie Cornish) on a serial killer case. Joe goes to an old friend called John Clancy(Hopkins) who just happens to be psychic. Joe needs his help with the case. John has been a recluse since his daughter died of cancer. He reluctantly agrees and he goes to the apartment of one of the victims. The killer leaves a note and it seems as if he is taunting the cops. The cops arrest the husband of one of the victims, but John can see by touching him that he is not the killer.
They figure out that the killer seems to be targeting people who are sick have something wrong with them. Is he putting them out of their misery? The killer knows every step that they take and John realises that he is also psychic. He has been ahead of them all of the time. They find out that the killer can see that the victim is or will be sick or dying in the future and he wants to prevent their suffering and that is why he kills them. He looks into their future and sees pain and misery so he kills his victims to save them from this.John meets him and talks to him but he escapes.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!!The cops chase up leads, Joe gets shot in pursuit of the killer who is Charles Ambrose(Farrell).It turns out that Joe has stage four cancer and he dies. Cowles has to go on alone with the help of Clancy. Clancy meets Ambrose and talks to him about what he is doing Farrell thinks that he is helping people. John can see that Cowles will face Ambrose on a train and that she will get shot and die. He tries to prevent this by going with her and he has a face off with Ambrose who is dying and wants Clancy to carry on his work for him. Clancy shoots Ambrose after getting shot himself. Ambrose dies but Cowles is saved. Clancy survives and he and Cowles part as friends.
This was an interesting thriller. I liked the cast and the story was good too. Farrell was suitably moody as the killer and Hopkins entertained as the weary Clancy. I would recommend this as a solid thriller. I will give it a 6/10.
This film looks interesting. I have read a lot about it but I am still waiting to see it. It looks like it could be good. The Witch is an indie horror movie which might do well at the box office. I like the look of it anyway so watch the trailer and see what you think. It is directed by Robert Eggers and it stars Anya Taylor-Joy. It will be released this month.
