A never-boring, big-hollywood, Hal Ashby, box-office, neo-noir, belly-flop... like all the 999 other reviews up about this film mention it to be... However messy this film gets though - and it certainly does get that way in various scenes throughout - another aspect of this film glitters through...

I’m speaking specifically of the quality of acting by the film’s lead actors: namely Bridges, Garcia, and Arquette. To be more specific however, beyond these actors showing up to set and doing…

rewatching this film in anticipation for Schrader’s new film First Reformed, i was not disappointed by my own high expectations since watching this for my first time a half-decade ago... love everything about this film, from the brilliant casting + acting, its perfect slow-burn pacing, the seedy underbelly color palets used for 1970’s LA, and the vibey score. 
can’t help but be reminded of a film i’d seen since: The inferior-in-every-single-way 8MM dir by Joel Schumacher/starring Nicholas Cage...Despite the execution, these…