1990’s

[7] If you love creature features as much as I do, you’ll enjoy Peter Hyams’ The Relic. Penelope Ann Miller stars as an anthropologist who teams with a cop (Tom Sizemore) to stop a supernatural creature after it wreaks havoc at a Chicago museum event. The monster effects are courtesy of the late, great Stan Winston, the museum setting provides plenty of creepy atmosphere, and …

[7] A rescue team investigates a seemingly abandoned spacecraft that has been inside a black hole and discover that its… well, basically it’s haunted. Sam Neill and Laurence Fishburne star in this haunted spaceship flick that plays like a cross between Alien and Hellraiser. Some nice moments of tension, especially involving airlocks and decompression, but the barrage of ‘is it real or is it imaginary’ …

[6] This film, along with What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, both released the same year, made young Leonardo DiCaprio a star. DiCaprio holds his own against the formidable Robert DeNiro, here playing an abusive step-father. The performances are good, but the story (based on the memoir of author Tobias Wolff) is predictable and protracted. Ellen Barkin is good in a thankless role. Look for Tobey Maguire, …

[5] In the ‘so bad, it’s (almost) good’ category, welcome to Troll 2. When a vacationing family discover a town full of goblins disguised as people, they have to escape before they become goblin food. This is one of the most famously awful movies ever made — a perfect storm of horrible writing, horrible acting, and horrible execution. What really sets the movie apart, though, …

[8] Pixar returns to the toy box for another adventure with Woody, Buzz, and all the other toys who helped make the first Toy Story so memorable. This time around, Woody is kidnapped by a toy collector and the other toys must launch a daring rescue. The sequel is more action-packed, pitting the toys against big city traffic and Buzz Lightyear’s nemesis, Emperor Zurg, before …

[6] Jessica Lange and Elisabeth Shue star in this darkly comedic period piece about a bitter seamstress (Lange) who plots to ruin the lives of her late sister’s husband and daughter after they refuse to accept her into their wealthy family. Things get escalated when Lange’s character finds love in a young artist who eventually falls for her daughter-in-law. Shue plays a bawdy stage performer …

[8] This ensemble drama from Big Chill director Lawrence Kasdan is perhaps the most metaphor-laden movie I’ve ever seen. The screenplay (cowritten by Kasdan and his wife, Meg) gets pretentious and overreaching at times, but a well-meaning message and a strong cast do a lot to compensate for it. Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Mary McDonnell, Steve Martin, Alfre Woodard, Mary-Louise Parker, and Jeremy Sisto are …

[8] Disney goes Broadway in the first animated motion picture ever nominated for a Best Picture Oscar (in the days before they rolled out a separate category for the medium). This version of the classic fairy tale is fueled by power-house songs from Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, memorable characters, and a calibre of design and refined skillsmanship unseen for decades in the studio’s output. …

[7] While I enjoy parts two and three, I have the same general problem with both of them. Why do they exist? The first film tells a complete story, but part two (with its shuffling of prelude and epilogue) plays like an index and part three is very clearly a coda (Coppola even wanted to name it “The Death of Michael Corleone”). However good they …

[5] A young woman (Kathleen Robertson) starts dating two different men, a writer and a drummer (Johnathon Schaech and Matt Keeslar), and can’t give one up, so she invites them to be a threesome. And it works until she falls in love with a third man (Eric Mabius) who has more money and a more promising future. Splendor wants you to fall in love with the …

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