[4] Debra Winger plays a federal investigator on the trail of a ‘black widow,’ a woman (Theresa Russell) who marries and murders one rich man after another, collecting inheritances as she goes. It’s great to see Debra Winger in anything, even if she’s under-utilized. Under-utilization is actually a recurring theme in the making of Black Widow. Russell’s mysterious character is also under-written. Supporting players the …
[7] Dennis Hopper co-writes, directs, and stars in this counter-culture cornerstone about two hippies (Hopper and Peter Fonda) who embark on a cross-country motorcycle road trip from Los Angeles to New Orleans, trying to figure out how to live their lives and survive harassment from small-town hicks. Easy Rider is a fairly avant-garde movie for a Hollywood studio to release. It eschews a traditional narrative …
[8] It’s formulaic, overblown and downright preposterous at times, but it’s also everything moviegoers want in a summer action movie. Speed has a tight, rapid-fire script, awesome sound design, a remarkably kinetic score, and surprisingly good acting for a movie of its type. Sandra Bullock gives a sweet, naturalistic performance as a woman stuck driving a bus full of passengers that will explode if it …
[7] John Wayne took home the Oscar for his performance as crotchety Rooster Cogburn, an alcoholic US Marshall recruited by a young girl (Kim Darby) to capture her father’s killer and bring him to justice. Wayne is low key as always, but it works pretty well for him. Except for Robert Duvall as the villainous Ned Pepper, the rest of the casting leaves something to …
[6] John Stockwell (Christine) stars as a teenage motor head who steals a bizarre piece of alien technology from a local junk yard to try and pass off as his high school science project. Trouble is, the device keeps depleting its surrounding of any electrical charge. And the more energy it consumes, the more it begins tampering with the space-time continuum. Before long, Stockwell and …
[5] Even when a movie doesn’t come together, I sometimes admire the effort and ambition so much, that I have to give a little extra credit. Waterworld is one of those movies. First let’s focus on the positive: The atoll sequence is great, the boat and airplane battle is pretty good, James Newton Howard’s score is awesome, and Dennis Hopper steals the show. On the …
[9] This is a fucking cool-ass movie. The screenplay by Quentin Tarantino is an exciting blend of violence, sweetness, and dark humor. Director Tony Scott (Top Gun, Crimson Tide) brings it to life with his usual polished style, and attracts a large ensemble of A-list performers. Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette play Clarence and Alabama Whorley, a comic book geek and a call girl who …
[10] James Dean stars as Jim Stark, an angst-ridden teenager who quarrels with his parents almost as much as he tangles with high school bullies. I normally hate tough guy movies, and I’d normally put teenagers with puffed-out chests in the same group as mobsters — but Rebel Without a Cause doesn’t glorify bravado. The Oscar-nominated screenplay is more concerned about the vulnerable, real person …
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