Scrooged (1988)
[5] I thought I'd get a lot more from a dark comedy directed by Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon) and starring Bill Murray, but Scrooged is neither dark nor funny enough to leave much of a lasting impression. Murray plays…
Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)
[6] Gizmo the cute Mogwai is back, and he gets wet again -- this time in a New York City skyscraper run by a Donald Trump-like billionaire. Billy Peltzer and Kate Beringer (returning stars Zach Galligan and Phoebe Cates) both…
Tarzan the Ape Man (1932)
[6]
Call me a sucker for an Olympic swimmer in a loincloth, but I enjoy Johnny Weissmuller’s maiden swing through the jungle. This first feature in the long running matinee series is the one where Tarzan meets Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan), whose on expedition with her father to find a fabled elephant graveyard. He kidnaps her, but then she saves him from her angry father, he learns a little English (“Me Tarzan, you Jane”), and the two fall in love. Hey, if it can happen that fast for the J-Lo, it can happen that fast for the Lord of the Apes.
Eyes Wide Shut (1999)
[7]
In the final film from Stanley Kubrick, a socialite couple (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman) get in over their heads when they decide to follow their adulterous impulses. This movie gets a bad rep, but I think it’s primarily because the casting of two superstars led to more commercial audience expectations. It’s a more intimate portrait than that, and beautifully made. I really love the weed-smoking scene, especially for the sinister undertone in Kidman’s performance. She outshines Cruise in this movie. Thematically, I enjoyed the exploration of infidelity — men’s, women’s, real, imagined. I find it interesting that the female character needs her husband to acknowledge her desires, while he seems uncomfortable acknowledging his own. (Ironic casting of Cruise? I think so.) And of course, it’s also fun to see the posh, clandestine orgy scene of Kubrick’s dreams (with the full-frontal shots restored to the most recent DVD and blu-ray releases).
Woman of the Year (1942)
[6] Katharine Hepburn plays a journalist who bad-mouths sports in her widely-read column. Spencer Tracy plays a sportswriter who publishes a rebuttal. The two continue sparring publicly until they meet in person... and start to fall in love. Now don't…
Sophie’s Choice (1982)
[8] Meryl Streep snared the best actress Oscar for her disarming performance as a Polish refugee forced by a Nazi soldier into one of the cruelest scenarios a mother could imagine -- choosing which of her two children will die.…
10 Things I Hate About You (1999)
[8]
A high school boy named Cameron (Joseph Gordon Levitt) wants the beautiful Bianca (Larisa Oleynik) to be his prom date, but the girl’s tyrannical father (Larry Miller) won’t allow it unless her vitriolic older sister, Katarina (Julia Stiles), tags along. So Cameron and his friends set out to buy Katarina a date. The mysterious bad boy of the school, Patrick (Heath Ledger), agrees to their ruse, but neither he nor Katarina count on actually falling for one another.
Tangled (2010)
[8]
Disney’s 50th feature-length animated movie is their best in many years. Tangled recaptures the charm, humor, and spirit of the studio’s second renaissance, the late 80s/early 90s period that saw such hits as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. Quite simply, I laughed and I cried, thoroughly engaged with the characters and the storytelling. And when I thought I had Tangled figured out, it gave me a couple of twists and some welcome sophistication. Touche, John Lasseter, touche.
Argo (2012)
[8] Score another point for Ben Affleck. I never much cared for him as an actor, but between this film and 2007's Gone Baby Gone, the guy has shown us some serious directing chops. Argo is the true story of…
The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996)
[7]
I usually appreciate an interesting mess more than a tidy bore. So sue me: Yes, I like one of the most famous bad movies of the last few decades. You wanna fight about it?