Frances Sternhagen

[7] Christopher Walken plays an alien abductee coming to grips with his experience in Communion. Walken’s character goes through denial, then embarrassment, then fear, and finally an odd sort of acceptance over the course of the film. The supernatural elements play out in bizarre, theatrical, but compelling ways — but most of the film centers on Walken’s emotional state and the conflict it causes with …

[6] Michael J. Fox stars in this adaptation of Jay McInerney’s novel about a New York yuppie named Jamie who keeps life’s problems at bay by constantly partying and doing drugs. With the help of his bad-influence friend Tad (Kiefer Sutherland), Jamie barely ever has to think about his unfulfilling job as a fact-checker for a magazine, the fact that his super-model wife left him, …

[8] Kathy Bates delivers a spooky Oscar-winning performance in Rob Reiner’s film based on the novel by Stephen King. Screenwriter William Goldman builds a tremendous amount of tension and suspense with barely more than two characters and one room. The payoff isn’t as interesting as the build-up, but Misery is still a fun, scary ride. James Caan is great as the victimized writer, and deserves …

[8] Frank Darabont dives back into the Stephen King well and comes out with a winner. The Mist is about a disparate group of people who end up trapped together in the local grocery store when a strange, scary mist suddenly engulfs the town. Anyone who travels out into the mist is killed by mysterious, unseen creatures. In addition to the apocalyptic angle, you can …