[7] A father and daughter are on the run from a secret government group that experimented on them, giving them frightening powers of telekinesis and spontaneous combustion. David Keith (An Officer and a Gentleman) and Drew Barrymore (E.T.) play our fleeing heroes, while the evil government agency is represented by a terrific roster of actors that includes George C. Scott, Freddie Jones, Moses Gunn, and …
[3] Pia Zadora and Craig Sheffer star in a no-budget sci-fi rock opera that’s so abominable, it’s almost charming. When a bunch of space dudes in pink costumes land on Earth looking for the source of rock music, they find it in Zadora’s singing. While Zadora starts to fall in love with the lead alien guy (Tom Nolan), Sheffer gets jealous and decides to stop …
[6] A 1943 Navy experiment to cloak a ship from enemy radar accidentally sends two sailors forty-one years into the future. Once they arrive in 1984, they are pursued by the military and begin suffering a mysterious illness that threatens their lives unless they can get back to 1943. Michael Paré (Eddie and the Cruisers) and Bobby Di Cicco play the sailors, and Nancy Allen (Carrie, RoboCop) plays …
[6] Razorback is a passable midnight horror movie from Russell Mulcahy, who would go on to direct the cult fave Highlander a few years later. Razorback is about a giant boar that terrorizes the Australian outback. After an American reporter disappears, her husband (Gregory Harrison) goes down under to investigate. He’s aided by an old hunter (Bill Kerr) who has been tracking the big piggy ever …
[7] Once they’re displaced from their dorm by the college’s alpha-male fraternity, a bunch of science geeks take it upon themselves to create a new fraternity and challenge the college’s preferential treatment of jocks. Revenge of the Nerds contains its fair share of puerile humor, sight gags, and obligatory boob shots, but these ploys aren’t what make the movie work. There’s just enough sincerity to …
[8] At first sight, you might mistake Footloose for just another teen rebellion movie, but Herbert Ross’ (Steel Magnolias) sensitive direction and committed performances from John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest help the film transcend its genre. The story about a town where dancing has been outlawed sounds ridiculous at first, but screenwriter Dean Pitchford and the cast treat the premise with disarming sincerity. It was a …
[6] Intentionally bizarre and overwrought, I’m not sure what to make of this adaptation of John Irving’s novel about an extended, eccentric family that moves into a down-trodden hotel. I liked a previous Irving adaptation, The World According to Garp, much better. Garp director George Roy Hill was better able to balance the humor and sorrow than Hotel director Tony Richardson. Richardson leans so much …
[8] Dino DeLaurentiis foots the bill for this gravely ambitious film adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi novel about the messianic rise of an off-lander who rallies a reclusive desert civilization in a fight against galactic takeover. Hot off The Elephant Man, David Lynch was chosen as director — a bold but inspired choice. And in the end, it’s Lynch’s style and aesthetic taste that …
[7] This film and Top Gun are the ones that really launched the Simpson/Bruckheimer brand of action/comedy that would dominate the box office through the late 80s and 90s. (Even after Simpson’s death in ’96, Bruckheimer is still a top name in action today.) Whether that’s a good or bad thing, I won’t get into. I’ll just say that at least it was a fresh …
[8] The Coen Brothers broke onto the film scene with this claustrophobic mystery/thriller featuring Frances McDormand, John Getz, and Dan Hedaya in a murderous love triangle. M. Emmet Walsh complicates matters for all of them as a hitman for hire. The concept is simple, but mined for every ounce it’s worth — just how hard is it to kill someone? Everything you love about the …
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