[8] Imagine Twin Peaks from a child’s perspective, paired with the visual austerity of Days of Heaven, and that might give you an idea of what to expect from this odd but utterly compelling little movie. Jeremy Cooper stars as young Seth Dove, a boy whose friends die one by one while the sheriff searches for their killer. The sheriff thinks the killer is Seth’s …
[8] A surprisingly effective blend of romance, comedy, and supernatural horror, Ghost stars Patrick Swayze as a murdered man who works through a flim-flam psychic (Whoopi Goldberg) to save the life of his endangered girlfriend (Demi Moore). Ghost became so popular, I think a lot of us take it for granted today. But in the summer of 1990, full of sequels and overproduced action pics, …
[7] Beneath the cutesy veneer of this big-budget family spectacle is a surprisingly morose Ghost and Mrs. Muir subplot. The screenplay is a bit scattershot in its aim, but I have to give this flick major kudos for tackling the subjects of death and loneliness for a family audience. There are a few terrific little scenes between young Christina Ricci and Casper, an ILM confection …
#12: Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989) [2] This is the worst of the Fridays. The subtitle is a misleading marketing gimmick, as Jason only arrives in Manhattan for the last twenty minutes. Those twenty minutes are okay, if only to see Jason put a few New Yorkers in their place. But the rest of the movie is interminably boring and the …
[7] Of all the edgy, non-linear pretenders to the throne that came in the wake of Pulp Fiction, Doug Liman’s Go may be among the best. The story weaves in and around a handful of disparate characters that interact at a grocery store before heading their separate ways. The movie keeps returning to the grocery store scene (Groundhog Day style) but follows a different character …
[6] Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd mostly succeed in saving this somewhat pedestrian thriller from Lifetime Movie territory. Freeman plays a policeman in search of a possible serial killer and Judd plays the one woman who was able to escape the killer. Together, they try to piece together her memories to find the killer and free the growing collection of young women he has collected. …
[8] I don’t usually like comedies or movies about making movies, so I was surprised to enjoy Bowfinger so much. Frank Oz (What About Bob?, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) directs and Steve Martin writes and co-stars with Eddie Murphy in this story about a down-and-out filmmaker who tricks his friends into making a movie starring one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. Thing is, the big star doesn’t …
[6] The sequel to Predator drops Arnold Schwarzenegger and transplants the action to Los Angeles. Danny Glover stars as a cop trying to break up warring drug gangs when the Predator drops into the action and leads him on a mysterious hunt for clues. Gary Busey shows up as a secret government military man, and Glover’s got police support from the likes of Maria Conchita …
[4] A country girl leaves her stifling life behind to try and make it in the big city, serendipitously becoming the most popular radio talk show host in Chicago. Straight Talk is a Dolly Parton vehicle, and just about everything that’s good about it indeed stems from Dolly, whose natural acting instincts and easy charm go a long way for me. But Dolly’s not given …
[7] Writer/director John Sayles serves up this intimate character drama about a TV soap star who has to learn to find new purpose in life after a car accident leaves her permanently wheelchair-bound. A live-in nurse becomes her lifeline, which makes Passion Fish a female buddy movie of sorts. Mary McDonnell (Dances With Wolves, Battlestar Galactica) plays the actress and Alfre Woodard (Cross Creek, Primal …
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