70s revenge thriller (written by Paul Schrader, and hitting a few of the same notes Taxi Driver did) that spends much more time than usual on the set-up before the violence, which is kind of refreshing. William Devane plays a pretty good badass, a young Tommy Lee Jones supports, and there's some gritty, grindhouse-y action scenes.

The filmmaking is nothing special stylistically, but there's this great shot of Devane walking through a bar after fucking up some dude in the back room with beams of light pouring through from the open door behind him, that really stood out for me.

Billy Wilder, man. One of the greatest simultaneous tributes to and takedowns of Hollywood. The cast is perfect, as is the script. A classic Wilder protagonist, who dreams big but not big enough to hide his failings. And the all-time record for actor/director stunt-casting.

Starts out as a Southern-fried pulp blowout, becoming by the end almost something from folklore; a cautionary tale of what happens to people who invite evil into their lives. It's rare for a film to viscerally upset me this much, even if I could appreciate the pitch-black humour, nasty noirish plot twists and go-for-broke insanity of the whole thing. Also, one of the best final shots/lines of this year.