Hal Needham and Burt Reynolds made seven films together. I loved Smokey & The Bandit, I think Hooper is really well done, Cannonball Run is just goofy fun. And Stroker Ace? There was potential for sure, but even in 1983 some of the humor was rough, and in today’s world a lot of the jokes…
Tag: charming
Captain Ron (1992) – Thom Eberhardt
Kurt Russell lets out his goofy side in Captain Ron, which he made with Martin Short, and this makes for a wondrful pairing, and really lets Russell be silly and (mostly) charming. Short plays Martin Harvey. He and his family, wife Katherine (Mary Kay Place), daughterCaroline (Meadow Sisto), and son Ben (Benjamin Salisbury) are off…
The Sure Thing (1985) – Rob Reiner
Somehow, this Rob Reiner film got by me for decades. I was lucky enough to nab a copy on blu-ray and was more than ready to dig into. As I watched it, it put me in mind of It Happened One Night. It’s a road movie rom-com. We get John Cusack, Daphne Zuniga, Anthony Edwards,…
My Blue Heaven (1990) – Herbert Ross
Steve Martin, Rick Moranis, Joan Cusack, and Carol Kane in a film with a script by Nora Ephron? It may not have ended up a complete winner, but damn if I didn’t find it charming, and watching Martin pretend to be a member of an Italian crime family who is part of the Witness Relocation…
City on Fire (1987) – Ringo Lam
Chow Yun-Fat is Ko Chow, an undercover cop caught in a City on Fire in Ringo Lam’s iconic piece of Hong Kong cinema. Ready to leave his undercover life behind, Chow is persuaded by Inspector Lau (Yueh Sun) to take on on last case. When an undercover cop ends up dead, Chow has to infiltrate…
My Old Ass (2024) – Megan Park
Aubrey Plaza makes a few welcome appearances in this well-crafted coming-of-age tale that wonders what you would ask your older self if you were able. And would you make different choices because of the answers. Written and directed by Megan Park, this movie beautifully Canadian, shot up on Lake Muskoka, and making a number of…
Get Smart (1967) – It Takes One to Know One, Someone Down Here Hates Me, and Cutback at Control
Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) has his hands full this week in It Takes One to Know One. Written by Gary Clarke, this episode first debuted on 7 January, 1967. Max is trying to stop a female KAOS agent, Octavia (Gayle Hunnicut). She’s been taking out the number two man, and the subsequent replacements at CONTROL….
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025) – Matt Shakman
Marvel brings their first family into the MCU with The Fantastic Four: First Steps. It’s charming, and has some solid casting, but it never really has the impact that this iconic team deserves. And that may be due to superhero fatigue. Marvel and Disney have upped the audience of dosage of superheroes that everything feels…
The Great Train Robbery (1978) – Micheal Crichton
Michael Crichton writes and directs The Great Train Robbery and invites Sean Connery, Donald Sutherland and Lesley-Anne Down along for the ride. Not quite a romp, the film is definitely an entertaining heist film, resting easily on Connery’s charm, and Sutherland turning in a wonderfully goofy performance. It’s England, in the 1850s. Connery plays Pierce,…
White Lightning (1973) – Joseph Sargent
Burt Reynolds stars as Gator McClusky, who feels like he may be a more rough and tumble relative of the Bandit. And speaking of Smokey & the Bandit, Hal Needham, who went on to direct that classic film, served as the second unit director on this film. Gator is in prison, and he’s a model…
