[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] The Muppets have my blessing to reinterpret any piece of literature they want (except maybe Naked Lunch). It’s fun to see which characters are played by which Muppets, and all my favorites are featured in The Muppet Christmas Carol, from heckling critics Statler & Waldorf to gruff Sam Eagle. Michael Caine gives a faithful performance as Scrooge, and a lot of Dickens’ exact lines …
[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 …
[8] Paul Verhoeven (RoboCop, Soldier of Orange) directs this sexually super-charged Hitchcockian thriller about a San Francisco detective (Michael Douglas) investigating a seductive writer (Sharon Stone) about a murder case that plays out similar to one of her novels. As he digs deeper, he discovers more and more reason to believe she is indeed the killer, and that his own life may be in danger. …
[5] While digging a pool, two high school losers (Sean Astin and Pauly Shore) discover a caveman frozen in ice in their own back yard. They introduce him to the twentieth century and take him to school, hoping he’ll improve their cool factor. And after that, I’m not really sure what Encino Man was about. It was probably trying to be about the caveman teaching …
[8] Anything but ‘more of the same’, Tim Burton’s sequel dives into the troubled psyches of its headlining trio — Batman, Catwoman, and The Penguin. Michael Keaton’s Batman still plays second fiddle to the villains, but what fascinating villains they are. Burton is careful to show us how they become their alter egos, giving each of them full character arcs complete with bittersweet resolutions. Danny …
[10] Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, and Bruce Willis headline this supremely dark comedy about two rival women (Streep and Hawn) who take a potion promising them youth and eternal life. But jealousy consumes them and leads to both their deaths. Once they realize their decaying bodies will need constant maintenance, they try to talk their long-suffering mutual love interest (Willis) into staying with them… forever. …
[9] Two HIV positive gay men hit the road together, one fleeing a world he bitterly resents and the other searching his soul about how to carry on after receiving his diagnosis. Billed as “an irresponsible movie by Gregg Araki”, The Living End is a lot of things — savage, absurd, political, comical, sexy, and raw are all adjectives that come to mind. The bizarre …
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