The First Power (1990) – Robert Resnikoff

I did Lou Diamond Phillips, and somewhere in Robert Resnikoff’s The First Power is a solid supernatural police thriller. But everything in it is painfully familiar, though some of it, like the visions characters have are strongly created. Phillips is Russell Logan a Los Angeles homicide cop who has been tracking a serial murderer christened…

Blue Steel (1990) – Kathryn Bigelow

The fantastic Kathryn Bigelow directs Jamie Lee Curtis in this crisp, occasionally brutal thriller. Megan Turner (Curits) is a rookie cop, who on her first day on the job shoots and kills an armed thief (Tom Sizemore) in a supermarket showdown. When the thief’s weapon isn’t found at the scene, Turner finds herself suspended, and…

Darkman (1990) – Sam Raimi

I enjoyed Darkman when it first came out. I had it on VHS. But it has been years since I watched it. And I’ll be honest, I liked it much more this time through. I love Raimi as a filmmaker and you can see his always moving camera at work here, as well as his…

Pacific Heights (1990) – John Schlesinger

I remember when this one came out. I was very eager to see it, as until this film, and Batman before it, I had only seen Micheal Keaton in comedies. So throwing him in a thriller, as the baddie? How could I not tune in. Melanie Griffith and Matthew Modine portray Patty and Drake a…

Misery (1990) – Rob Reiner

I remember reading Stephen King’s novel for Misery, and getting caught up in the tension. The same happened the first time I watched Rob Reiner’s film version featuring an adapted script by William Goldman and featured James Caan, Kathy Bates, Richard Farnsworth, Lauren Bacall, and Frances Sternhagen. I hadn’t watched it since it first came…

Kindergarten Cop (1990) – Ivan Reitman

“It’s not a tumour!” It’s a catchphrase that found its way into the pop culture and has resurfaced over and over. And I never saw it originally. I was never interested in watching Arnold Schwarzenegger be funny. It just didn’t sound like a good time to me. So now, some thirty-plus years on, I finally…