[6] Stephen King wrote this three-tale horror anthology centered around a cat who wanders in and out of high-stakes situations. In the first, James Woods stars as a man who joins a mysterious program called Quitters Inc that has an excellent reputation for helping people quit smoking. The secret to their success becomes ominously clear when Woods learns each and every one of his infractions …
[6] James Woods stars as the museum director taken to court when photographs from Robert Mapplethorpe’s 1990 exhibit were accused of being obscene in Cincinnati, Ohio. Diana Scarwid and Craig T. Nelson also star in this made-for-cable movie that incorporates Mapplethrope’s photos and interviews with political pundits and people who knew and worked with Mapplethorpe. I enjoyed the artist’s photos and the documentary interview bits, …
[7] Drew Barrymore stars as a teen in the ’60s whose dreams of going to college and getting published are squashed by unexpected motherhood. Riding in Cars with Boys is a comedy/drama based on a true story that spans a few decades, seeing Barrymore’s character through a reluctant marriage, cold and everlasting disappointment from her father, and struggles with her drug-addicted husband. The big question is …
[8] Contact is a message-driven movie that may be too esoteric for a lot of mainstream moviegoers. It’s a character-driven drama with only a few moments of your typical blockbuster spectacle — but I applaud the movie for daring to tangle in an exploration of science vs theology. Jodie Foster gives an impassioned performance as Ellie Arroway, an astronomer (and atheist) who discovers a message …
[6] Clint Eastwood tackles one of the most hackneyed of all movie subgenres, the race-the-clock death row rescue thriller, and breathes at least enough life into it to keep you engaged. Isaiah Washington puts in a good performance as the innocent man sentenced to die. His scenes with his wife (Lisa Gay Hamilton) and daughter are the movie’s best. The cast also features Denis Leary, …
[7] Robert DeNiro stars a mobster who builds a gambling empire in Las Vegas only to see it threatened by relationships with his best friend, played by Joe Pesci, and his loose canon wife, played by Sharon Stone. Martin Scorsese directs and co-wrote the screenplay with novelist Nicholas Pileggi. Casino is the sort of movie that is a little bit interesting to me for it’s …
[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 …
[4] I really like Oliver Stone about half the time, but the show-offy style he used with Natural Born Killers and J.F.K. doesn’t service Any Given Sunday. Those other films, with their multiple perspectives and drug-induced visions, felt right to employ rapid editing and multiple media. But Any Given Sunday is (or should have been) a reality-based ensemble drama about the rigors and tribulations of …
[9] “As boys, they said they would die for each other. As men, they did.” Once Upon a Time in America is an epic, gorgeous, emotionally moving gangster flick from spaghetti western maestro Sergio Leone (The Good the Bad and the Ugly). Robert DeNiro stars as ‘Noodles’, a former Prohibition-era gangster returning to Lower-East Manhattan after thirty-five years in self-imposed exile over the deaths of …
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