My life at the movies.
Directed by Howard Hawks. Starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ann Dvorak, and Eric Linden.
James Cagney plays a hotshot race car driver whose ego can’t handle kid brother Eric Linden’s talent. Ann Dvorak plays Cagney’s long-suffering girlfriend. Joan Blondell plays Dvorak’s friend and Linden’s love-interest. Continue reading...
Directed by Douglas Cheek. Starring John Heard, Daniel Stern, Christopher Curry, and Kim Greist.
A police captain teams up with a soup-kitchen owner to investigate disappearances. A fashion photographer explores abandoned New York City subway tunnels to photograph the homeless denizens. A corrupt official stops at nothing to cover up a secret project. A mysterious man eats a quarter as an act of intimidation. For a creature feature, C.H.U.D. packs a lot of plot. Continue reading...
Directed by Howard Hawks and Richard Rosson. Starring Paul Muni, Ann Dvorak, Karen Morley, and Osgood Perkins.
Paul Muni plays Tony Camonte, a low-level mafia hood who explains, “In this business there’s only one law you gotta follow to keep out of trouble: Do it first, do it yourself, and keep on doing it.” The “it” in question is murder, and Tony does plenty as he shoots his way to the top of Chicago’s underworld. Continue reading...
Directed by Rob Zombie. Starring Sid Haig, Sheri Moon Zombie, Bill Moseley, and William Forsythe.
A superior sequel to House of 1000 Corpses. Returning writer/director Rob Zombie eschews the first-film’s nightmare house scenario and opts for an Empire Strikes Back plot that sees the murderous Firefly clan hunted by a vengeful Texas Sheriff. Continue reading...
Directed by Wes Craven. Starring Sandra Peabody, Lucy Grantham, David Hess, and Fred J. Lincoln.
Wes Craven’s directorial debut. A remake of Ingmar Bergman’s The Virgin Spring. Continue reading...
Directed by Eduardo Fuller. Starring Anne Sparrow, Tony Eades, Clara Keller, Werner Hedman, and Torben Bille.
Despite the game performance from Torben Bille, The Sinful Dwarf bores. Continue reading...
Directed by Brian De Palma. Starring Michael Caine, Angie Dickinson, Nancy Allen, and Keith Gordon.
Angie Dickinson plays a middle-aged housewife with a dutiful husband and a precocious teenage son focused on a computer competition. But she is unhappy. She confesses her sexual frustration to her therapist, played by Michael Caine, then makes a failed pass at him. We then follow her to a museum, where she trolls for a pickup. When she leaves, we learn a black-gloved stranger is stalking her. Continue reading...
Directed by Michael Dougherty. Starring Adam Scott, Toni Collette, David Koechner, and Allison Tolman.
I couldn’t spot the added naughty bits in the “Naughty Cut” but I appreciated the new scenes fleshing out the relationships and I loved the HDR color grading.
Directed by Michael Cooney. Starring Scott MacDonald, Christopher Allport, Stephen Mendel, and F. William Parker.
My appreciation grows. I thought this played like a straight slasher with a snowman killer, but it proves more self aware. The cast deadpans the entire way, save Scott MacDonald, who relishes playing a schlock movie monster.
Directed by John Sturges. Starring Leslie Brooks, George Macready, Forrest Tucker, and Charles D. Brown.
The directorial debut of John Sturges. George Macready plays a crusading reporter who seizes an opportunity to expose the fallacy of circumstantial evidence, only to find himself convicted of murder. Top-billed Leslie Brooks plays his girlfriend, who endeared herself to this viewer by avowing her favorite meal as “steak with hash brown potatoes.” Continue reading...
