Michael Moriarty

[6] Troll is a dark fantasy confined to an apartment building where an evil Troll is sacrificing the tenants to open the doors to another dimension. The makeup effects are a bit hit and miss, with the main troll character being the most successful creation from director John Carl Buechler’s creature shop. Budgetary constraints keep the film from delivering a satisfying climax. Noah Hathaway (Atreyu …

[6] Eastwood directs and stars in this Western tale of revenge. The most interesting thing about Pale Rider is the mysterious nature of Eastwood’s character, a preacher/gunfighter who enters a mining colony’s life in answer to a young girl’s prayer. The film suggests he might be a ghost, and without this ambiguity, the movie is pretty standard genre fare. Bruce Surtees gets kudos for making …

[6] Morgan Freeman reprises the role of Detective Alex Cross (which he began in Kiss the Girls) for this slightly superior sequel involving the kidnapping of a senator’s daughter for ransom. At first, I was excited to see that Michael Wincott (The Crow) was playing the kidnapper — I often wonder why we don’t see more of Wincott in the movies. Unfortuantely, he’s a bit …

[8] I’ve loved James Dean ever since my high school art teacher showed me East of Eden and Rebel Without a Cause, which prompted me to write a senior essay on the famous actor’s life and work. So I’m coming to Mark Rydell’s made-for-cable biopic with some healthy scrutiny and high expectations. The film may be a little too brief in its overview to satisfy …