Frank's Movie Log

We meet an assortment of angst-ridden teens with lethal mutant powers imprisoned in a hospital resembling a boarding school. Teen drama ensues, culminating in a big CGI finale. The single location and shallow characterization make this play like the pilot for a TV series. I liked Maisie Williams’s performance, but I knew her character from the comics and may have imported more depth than the film proffered.

After Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter delivered the franchise’s highest grosses, Paramount ditches Jason in an attempt to reboot the franchise. Bad idea. Continue reading...

James Coburn’s debut. Randolph Scott plays a bounty hunter determined to bring in his query at all costs. Coburn plays the dim-witted sidekick of a man Scott meets on the trail. Continue reading...

Gene Hackman’s debut. Warren Beatty plays a returning veteran who hires on at a palatial mental institution. There he falls for the titular Lilith, a manipulative patient played by Jean Seberg. Hackman has a small, but memorable role as the smarmy husband of Beatty’s former flame. Continue reading...

Roger Corman’s directorial debut. During the Civil War’s waning days, the Confederate Army conscripts five convicted killers, offering them full pardons provided they intercept a Confederate traitor traveling with a fortune in stolen gold. Continue reading...

Restored to working order, Chucky resumes his murderous quest to sacrifice young Andy to escape his artificial body. Continue reading...

Better than expected. The opening sequence sees the X-Men rescuing a troubled space shuttle mission. This marks the first time in the nineteen-year-old franchise where the team acts as superheroes combating a non-mutant threat. A refreshing change. Continue reading...

I was still waking up early for Saturday-morning cartoons when this film premiered. What I knew of the series came via third-hand bits of lore relayed in wide-eyed playground whispers. Continue reading...

A portmanteau comprising the stories of three married women awaiting their husbands at a summer cottage.

The vignettes play out with confidence and ring true, but lack resonance. Honest performances all around, but the women’s deepest secrets all revolve around disappointments in their respective husbands. Shocking for a 1950s audience, but trite today.

A sequel to Greetings that sees Robert De Niro reprising his role as Jon Rubin, now a Vietnam War vet returned home to New York City. Continue reading...