Program – He has tasted good and evil, in your bedrooms and your bars

What was it about Los Angeles in the 1970’s? Our anti-heroes were so jaded and weak, yet likeable and identifiable. As these two movies begin, we see how the principal characters worked so hard to redeem themselves. Then we watch them struggle with their demons.
Neither movie was popular when they were released. Both are good cult movies and worth the time to watch the acting and the different looks of L.A. thirty years ago.
John Cassavetes’ “The Killing of a Chinese Bookie” stars Ben Gazzara as a strip club owner who runs up large gambling debts that he can’t pay. Dark and brooding.
In “Cisco Pike” Kris Kristofferson shares the movie with Karen Black, Roscoe Browne, Gene Hackman and Harry Dean Stanton. We watch someone with not much of a moral compass try and navigate himself out of a dilemma. Filmed in Venice when it was where you went to buy pot, but didn’t feel comfortable staying.