Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985) -George Miller & George Ogilvie

Five years after Mad Max first burst onto the scene, and almost four years after the release of its follow-up, the superior, and iconic, Road Warrior, Max (Mel Gibson) returned for the third film in the original trilogy of Mad Max films, and my most recent stop in the Sci-Fi Chronicles book. With two wicked…

Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory (1971) -Mel Stuart

The late Gene Wilder stars in this iconic adaptation of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s tale, that is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book for my return to the Family genre. The film stands out in minds around the globe for its musical numbers and the terrifying tunnel trip…

Hell or High Water (2016) – David Mackenzie

  Director David Mackenzie and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (Sicario) update the western for the modern age, while tweaking and twisting it into this crime drama. Tanner (Ben Foster) and Toby (Chris Pine) are brothers. Tanner is a career criminal, and Toby, like those in his family before him, is dirt poor. Like so many places…

The Crowd (1928) – King Vidor

  The first recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of American Beauty, takes me all the way back to 1928, to this silent film, that follows the tale of Mary (Eleanor Boardman) and John Sims (James Murray), as they struggle to survive and thrive, pursuing their hopes, as…

The Night of the Hunter (1955) – Charles Laughton

  The Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book brings me back to the Thriller genre, with this classic starring Robert Mitchum as twisted evangelist Harry Powell, a man not afraid to commit evil in the name of the lord. He has just served time for a car theft, and had met a prisoner,…

Village of the Damned (1960) – Wolf Rilla

  The Sci-Fi Chronicles plunges me into B-movie horror filled with creepy blonde-haired children in this classic that is still a little unnerving. Based on the novel, The Midwich Cuckoos by John Wyndham this one still has the power to make the viewer uneasy. Strange things are afoot in the English village of Midwich when…