[6] John Huston tackles Flannery O’Connor’s gothic tale of southern evangelism. Wise Blood is a curious movie full of interesting ideas, not the least of which is a paradoxical main character who shuns Jesus while simultaneously torturing himself for some sort of redemption. Brad Dourif (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Child’s Play) stars as the son of a ‘hellfire and brimstone’ preacher (Huston in …
[7] In The Other, To Kill a Mockingbird director Robert Mulligan does a great job engendering sympathy for a schizophrenic child who is channeling the spirit of his deceased twin. Chris and Martin Udvarnoky do a commendable job playing the boy and his ‘other,’ and famed acting teacher Uta Hagen is good as the Russian aunt who begins to put two and two together after …
[5] The least entertaining (even in a cheezy way) of the Airport disaster ilk. The star-studded cast seems to realize what a turkey they’re in, but mad cheers to Olivia de Havilland, Christopher Lee, Lee Grant, and Darren McGavin for making the most of it. Grant in particular really chews up the scenery here. Everyone else in the cast, including Jimmy Stewart, Jack Lemmon, Joseph …
[4] Paul Newman teams up with Lee Marvin to deliver cattle from Mexico to a shady dealer played by Strother Martin. Newman and Martin are re-teamed here with Cool Hand Luke director Stuart Rosenberg, with a script adapted by Terrence Malick (Badlands, The Thin Red Line). Despite the ingredients, Pocket Money is slow to rev up and ends up going nowhere. For a buddy picture, …
[8] It may have been Disney’s pallid attempt to cash in on the success of Star Wars, but The Black Hole is another kind of animal, a kitschy matinee sci-fi/horror movie that’s worth a look in its own right. It’s a cross between Frankenstein and The Old Dark House, falling more in line with Forbidden Planet than it does George Lucas’ famous trilogy. Robert Forster, …
[8] Three girls and a teacher mysteriously disappear during a 1900 school picnic at a strange rock formation in this Australian film from director Peter Weir (Witness, Master and Commander). Weir uses his trademark poetic license to suggest a supernatural cause, but don’t look for a firm answers — the film is based on a true story that was never solved.
[7] Steve McQueen and Paul Newman help rescue people trapped in a flaming highrise in Irwin Allen’s disaster opus, The Towering Inferno. It is what it is — we all at one time or another want to watch disaster unfold and this movie gives it to you. The script cuts to the action fairly quickly, and builds upon it nicely. Many people say the flames …
[10] Ridley Scott’s sci-fi/horror opus Alien is really a haunted house movie set in outer space, where a ragtag team of “space truckers” do battle with one of the most fascinating monsters in movie history. Scott is one of the finest directors of our time, and this may be his best film — a taut thriller, designed and executed with tremendous attention to realism and …
[9] Jim Henson’s Muppets make the leap from television to the silver screen in this comedy-musical road trip across America that shows us how the foam and felt vaudeville troupe found each other and entered show business. We meet Kermit playing banjo in a swamp, inspired by a passing agent to go to Hollywood. Driven by the desire to entertain and make people happy, Kermit …
[9] This was the first blockbuster superhero movie (for better and for worse) and I doubt there will ever be a better film adaptation for the Man of Steel. Under Richard Donner’s (The Omen, Lethal Weapon) direction and good taste, Superman is a winning blend of action, drama, charm, and yes, camp. The first forty minutes are emotionally powerful, more than any other comic book …
Copyright © 2024 | Theme by MH Themes