Great film. When I saw it on theatrical release back in the early 70s it was called Kill Charley Varrick.

I liked Thank You For Smoking as well…

@avclub-f16faf5d680d7b88e2e157c1c137c497:disqus
 the book was definitely set in the 80s (came out in '88, as I recall) but Matthau obviously decided that they weren't 'funky' enough.

I don't know if you caught Outlaw Country on FX last fall…it was, I think, a pilot for a series and apparently, FX changed their minds and just aired it as a TV movie.

Damn…that was her? She was really good in that. As was whatsisface…too lazy to google it…the guy who played Bullock's partner in Deadwood.

You got that right. Great book (although I suspect most viewers of the film think the equally noxious stage musical is the 'source').

I've read all of Winslow's books @wally donuts. Some are better than others. The standouts (for me) are California Fire and Life, The Death and Life of Bobby Z and what is for me his masterpiece, The Power of The Dog, which is a fucking stunner.

I'm reminded of the documentary Darth Skis, a grimly hilarious look at Vader on the slopes; the scene where he light-sabres a fat kid in half for getting in his way is typical. Why are aliens such pricks? Is the jet-lag?

Sleepless Nights is a little gem of a nerve-shredder: fast, tight and not at all bulbous.

You mean she's not doing a Michael Bay film about mutated turtles because ART?

I had one of those. She prescribed radiation therapy for my depression.

Yeah…gorgeous film, but as you say, Herzog's narration was almost entirely redundant.

Great film and a great double-act with Finney and Courtenay. Good call.

Pelecanos, who did a lot of work on The Wire, is always good; as are James Crumley and James Lee Burke and James Sallis…and a lot of other guys named 'James'…

Good call…and when you consider all the writers that Leonard influenced (Crais, Crumley, Ferrigno, Winslow etc etc) Higgins' influence has been huge.

It is a great film but the line in the book is better:

For doing Puttin' On The Ritz with Gene Wilder, I can forgive Boyle anything…

I agree with you, up to a point. This was a better film than The Yakuza and Farewell, My Lovely but not so much, I think, because of the age factor.

If you haven't seen it, you'll enjoy John Waters' The Diane Linkletter Story; it might have been Waters' first film…too lazy to check.

I might have meant Vistavision; or Panavision; or  SuperScope; or Techniscope…but basically, I meant the wide-screen process. But you already knew that.