1990’s

[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 …

[7] Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon headline this taut, engaging thriller from screenwriter Christopher Crowe (Last of the Mohicans) and director James Foley (After Dark My Sweet, Glengarry Glen Ross). Witherspoon plays a high schooler who falls head over heels for the sexy-as-fuck Wahlberg, a former underwear model who is introduced in this movie wearing a shirt pulled so tight across his chiseled body it’s …

[6] In this period piece set in 1950s New England, Brendan Fraser stars as a high school quarterback who gets recruited to a prestigious preparatory school where he must hide the fact that he’s Jewish. School Ties feels desperate to cash in on the unexpected success of Dead Poets Society (they even hired the same composer), but it’s earnest enough to stand on its own, even if …

[4] Mary Lambert returns to direct the sloppy, uneven sequel about new characters who discover the burial ground with resurrection powers from the first film. She’s working with a solid cast that includes uber-baddie Clancy Brown (Highlander, Carnivale), Anthony Edwards, and T2 rising star Edward Furlong. There are a handful of inspired moments in the movie, including some beautiful outdoor cinematography from Oscar-winner Russell Carpenter, …

[6] This made-for-cable fantasy/noir yarn features Fred Ward as a private detective searching for a book of spells in an alternate 1940s Hollywood where monsters and magic are part of everyday life. Think Who Framed Roger Rabbit with magic instead of cartoons. As fantastic as it sounds, the script is fairly conventional and predictable. A major clue hinges on revealing a “she” to be a “he,” …

[7] John Goodman stars as a schlock filmmaker previewing his latest atomic horror flick during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The script by Charlie Haas draws clunky parallels between the real life threat of nuclear destruction and the crass aims of exploitation filmmakers. I love exploitation horror, but trying to make out like it’s doing humanity a favor is a bit of a …

[7] Directed by Irvin Kershner (The Empire Strikes Back) and written by comic book legend Frank Miller, you’d think that RoboCop 2 would be vastly better and more interesting than it is. But for just another inferior sequel, it’s not half bad. The disjointed script eventually boils down to a big confrontation between RoboCop (Peter Weller) and the latest model from his makers at Omni …

[3] Remember the Robert Altman movie The Player? At the end of that movie, they mock the typical Hollywood movie by showing the end of a cheesy movie in which Julia Roberts is sentenced to death in the gas chamber, only to be rescued by Bruce Willis at the very last possible second. Bruce shoots his way into the gas chamber and carries Julia out in his …

[7] Deep Impact feels like an old-fashioned Irwin Allen disaster flick — and I dig that. Basically, the world learns that an asteroid is headed toward earth and we have one year before we can attempt to destroy it with a NASA space mission. So the mid-point of the film focuses on that mission, and — spoilers ahead! — it doesn’t go well. So Deep Impact …

[7] Craig Sheffer (Nightbreed) seeks the help of a controversial sex therapist (Terence Stamp) to help him bring his wife (Twin Peaks‘ Sheryl Lee) to orgasm. Bliss is like The Karate Kid for a little while, with Stamp playing the Mr. Miyagi role, teaching Sheffer about the ways of sex, bliss, and ecstasy. But once orgasm is achieved, we learn that the cause of Lee’s …

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