88. C’era una volta il West (Once Upon A Time In The West)
I love the griminess of spaghetti westerns but this is a completely different beast. Leone uses the camera to make you feel at home in the desert, he portrays it as a warm, gentle setting letting the characters set the scene. This is undoubtedly a masterpiece and even with the length of the film I never once felt bored. All actors are on their A game.
It’s fascinating to know that Leone had Morricone write the music before the film was shot, giving each actor his/her own theme that haunts its way through the entire film. I can only refer to this as proper cinema and it’s always the Italians that do it best and you only have to look at a handful of modern directors and the influence it has on their work from sweeping shots to the music.
Perfect.
87. Roma A Mano Armarta (Rome Armed To The Teeth)
My final Tazi film directed by Umberto Lenzi. Fun, reasonably paced but with a very shoddy plot. Tanzi always finds himself right in the middle of the action (how convenient!) Milian destroys the screen yet again as the psychopathic hunchback hell bent on taking Tanzi out. The score from Micalizzi is spot on once again.
Not forgettable by any stretch but it’s not has hight up on my list of Lenzi poliziotteschi. Oh Merli knows how to pull off the leather jacket, turtle neck combo like a champ.
86. Capricorn One
Great conspiracy thriller about a staged Mars landing. The ending could have been bleak but I suppose it wasn’t that kind of film.
Who holds the keys to the seven gates?
Double Denim Shotgun Massacre
I saw Slayer at the weekend and it was hands down the best time I have seen them, shame it was in a Greenhouse in 30 degree heat.
85. The Raid
Not quite come down, need a second viewing sharpish. It’s just brilliant
