[8] Jacob’s Ladder is a terrific example of what can happen when an inspired screenplay gets into the hands of a great director and a capable leading actor. I’m talking about Bruce Joel Rubin (Ghost), Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction), and Tim Robbins (Shawshank Redemption), respectively. Rubin’s script is a fever dream of a tale, following a New York Vietnam vet who’s losing his grip on …
[7] Nicolas Cage stars as a third shift New York ambulance paramedic haunted by ghosts and clinging to his sanity in this grim, sometimes darkly comic film from director Martin Scorsese and Taxi Driver scribe Paul Schrader. Cage’s character gets a natural high from saving people’s lives, but he hasn’t saved one in months — and he needs his fix. A cardiac arrest case leads him …
[6] Zack Snyder (300, Man of Steel) made his feature directorial debut with this remake of George Romero’s 1978 classic zombie sequel. This time around the rag-tag team of survivors holed up in a mall during the zombie apocalypse includes Sarah Polley (The Sweet Hereafter) and Ving Rhames (Pulp Fiction), but you don’t get to know either of them nearly as well as you got …
[6] I never cared much for the Mission Impossible film franchise until Brad Bird (The Iron Giant) took his turn in the director’s chair with the last installment, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. I’m not sure Rogue Nation — the fifth in the series — is better than Ghost Protocol, but it’s pretty solid action entertainment nonetheless. Tom Cruise, bless his insane little heart, is still …
[7] Michael J. Fox stars in this Vietnam War flick from Brian DePalma, but combat isn’t the focus here. Fox plays a soldier who puts his life on the line when he tries to free a young Vietnamese woman that his patrol has kidnapped and raped. Even after the woman’s suffering is over, Fox’s character still has to keep a watchful eye for ‘freak accidents’ …
[10] A breath of cinematic fresh air that magically dignifies exploitation and elevates dialgoue to an art form. Writer/director Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill) assembles a stellar cast highlighted by the return of John Travolta, previously languishing in talking baby movie exile. In the chaptered non-linear screenplay, he’s paired with Samuel L. Jackson playing two hit men who wax philosophic between jobs. Bruce Willis …
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