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Luc Besson's Subway is unlike the Luc Besson movies I know.

Growing up on his films like The Fifth Element or Leon: The Professional, I thought this was going to be another quirky action film.

I got something completely different, but I loved it.

The movie tells the story of Fred, an aimless miscreant, who flees the people he has stolen from to land in the mysterious labyrinth of the Paris Metro, where he falls int...

Lawrence and Mark Kasdan's Silverado is a revival of the old western genre tropes when the cowboy stuff was ah-fading.

With its 133-minute runtime and a stellar cast, including Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn, Rosanna Arquette, John Cleese, Kevin Costner, Brian Dennehy, Danny Glover, Jeff Goldblum, Linda Hunt, and more, the movie is just exploding with western. 

And, hey, if you can roll with its apple pie nature, it&apo...

The Shooting, a so-called "anti-western" or "acid western," is compelling literally and figuratively.

A Criterion classic and a film with, at the time of writing, a 100% critical score on the website Rotten Tomatoes, the movie never had a widespread American theatrical release but survived thanks to its acclaim.

Starring Warren Oates, Millie Perkins, Will Hutchins, and Jack Nicholson, and directed by Mon...

Stuart Gordon's Fortress is a science-fiction and action film that feels like a B-movie, even with its theatrical release.

Well-remembered by many who saw it, it's a somewhat popular pick among video-store era enthusiasts.

With practical effects and the interesting talents of the one and only Christopher Lambert (Highlander), this episode takes a look at whether the film stacks up as a worthy watch.

Join me for a discussion ...

Rolling Thunder is a cult classic revenge film with notable fans, including Quentin Tarantino.

Written by Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver) and rewritten by Heywood Gould (Cocktail), it's about a prisoner of war's return home only to find a new conflict in suburbia.

When his family is killed, the already-damaged veteran Major Charles Rane gears up for a quest of revenge to kill the men who ruined what was left of h...

Runaway Train is the only "philosophical" action thriller I've ever heard of. 

Based on an original script by the legendary Akira Kurosawa, it combines American action thrills with Eastern existential questions.

This unique blend was a critical darling, but it didn't sell many tickets at the box office. But it's remembered today as one of the best films of the Cannon Group and frequently appears on ...

Writer/director Tom DiCillo's Living in Oblivion is an independent 1990s cult classic comedy about the perils of making films.

Rumor has it that the movie is shown in film schools as a warning of frustrations to come.

With hilarious performances from Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, James Le Gros, Peter Dinklage, and more, you'll get a firsthand tour of toil that will dispel any notion of glamour ...

Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers (2002) is an action/horror movie that really gets the slash part of the equation correct. 

Well balanced between the two genres, this lower-budget British film is about a squad of soldiers squaring off against a pack of bloodthirsty werewolves.

It ditches the melodrama of many werewolf films, focusing on intense firefights and close-quarters battles instead of the curse of existing only to transform ...

Writer/Director (and sometimes comic book maker) S. Craig Zahler's Brawl in Cell Block 99 is a Neo-noir prison action thriller film.

If that sounds like trying to stuff way too many genres into one movie, fear not: it's violent and compelling, plain and simple.

With his churning style, Zahler makes a slow-roasted film that occasionally explodes into fits of violence you can't unsee.

But with standout performances from V...

One of John Woo's action masterpieces, The Killer is a standout work of classic Hong Kong cinema.

A film that sent ripples through Hollywood, it grabbed international attention for Woo and star Chow Yun-fat, forever changing the action genre.

Mixing melodramatic neo-noir with fluid action set pieces, the film further explores Woo's themes of "heroic bloodshed," raising questions about honor and...

An action thriller, Year of the Dragon is, at times, shocking and still controversial.

After the failure of the epic western Heaven's Gate, which nearly ruined Academy Award-winning director Michael Cimino's (The Deer Hunter) career, Year of the Dragon was set to be his comeback.

Starring Mickey Rourke and John Lone, the movie pits a newly assigned Chinatown Police Captain up against a young, rising Chinese Triad ...

Filmmaker Anna Biller's labor of...comedy/horror,  The Love Witch is unlike most any movie you'd see in the 2010s.

Shot on 35 mm film, it's an homage to 1960s horror and Technicolor pictures.
This time, the serial killer is no male -- it's a witch named Elaine, out for love. And her kind of love? Well, it kills.

The film's unique style and subversive humor have gained it a cult following. A movi...

The directorial debut of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki (Spirited Away), The Castle of Cagliostro combines the whimsical style of the master animator with the adventurous flair of an Indiana-Jones-style serial.

Gentleman thief Arsene Lupin III and his sidekick, Jigen, journey to the tiny country of Cagliostro where they fight to save young Princess Clarisse from Count Cagliostro and his men.

Tricky gadgets, trap doors, clock towers, tr...

Like The French Connection's stylish cousin, To Live and Die in L.A. blurs who's a cop and a criminal.

An action thriller Neo-noir, the movie boasts a thrilling car chase and features the grind, scheming, and sex appeal of 1980s Los Angeles.

Director William Friedkin considered it one of his top works, and I and many others toss it in the mix for the very best movies of the 1980s.

In this episode, we'll d...

Leviathan is a science-fiction horror that's part of the 1980s underwater movie craze. 

The film didn't fare so well at the box office, and on the surface, it's a head-scratcher as to why.

There are famous names behind the film -- like special effects master Stan Winston, artist Ron Cobb, and composer Jerry Goldsmith, for a start. RoboCop himself, Peter Weller, leads a fun cast.

The movie hasn't rece...

The Raid was a low-budget martial arts/action film from Indonesia that rocked the genres and gained worldwide attention.

But instead of playing it safe and replaying the original's formula, The Raid 2 goes for it all.

The first movie unfolds over a few hours. But the sequel? It's a two-and-a-half-hour epic undercover cop crime saga that unfolds over two years.

And not to worry. Writer/director Gareth Evans exp...

The cult film that is like a middle finger to the feel-good vibes of corny 1980s teen movies, satirical Heathers is a masterclass in dialogue and slightly surreal.

More for adults than adolescents, the movie exposes the true underbelly of high school social games. And instead of tickling that belly, well, it pokes it.

Starring a very young Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, join me for this discussion of a highly quotable and sharp-w...

A medieval fantasy adventure, The Green Knight is a modern re-interpretation of the old poem Sir Gawain and the Green Knight by the Anonymous Poet.

From acclaimed director David Lowery and produced by A24 (among others), the film's production design and cinematography has wowed critics and captivated some audiences -- at least those that saw it.

With a release date interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this spellbinding movie fa...

W.D. Richter and Earl Mac Rauch's Buckaroo Banzai is hard to explain and was challenging to market.

Facing box office competition from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Ghostbusters, and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, the off-beat, complicated science-fiction comedy action film washed out of theaters.

But after slipping onto home video, all the weirdness that made the film fail with its theatrical release won...