Chuck Chuck Bay is an ebullient experience. A delightful film about love, life, loss and music which brushes against deeper and heavier themes of community, hurt and acceptance but never loses track of the joy of falling in love and how every song seems to be about you. While not quite a jukebox musical, the…
Tag: girlfriend
Hill Street Blues (1985) – Somewhere Over the Rambo, and Oh, You Kid
Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti) conducts his corruption investigation and presents his findings to the committee, though Chief Daniels (Jon Cypher) is less than thrilled about the suggestion that he may be responsible for not curtailing some of the corruption that has permeated the force. Somewhere Over the Rambo was written by Jacob Epstein, Walon Green…
Mama (2013) – Andy Muschietti
Guillermo del Toro served as executive producer on Andy Muschietti’s Mama an interesting take on a ghost story that also explores the roles of parents, specifically mothers, while fostering some interesting and enjoyable scares with some pretty solid special effects. Sisters Victoria (Megan Charpentier) and Lilly (Isabelle Nelisse) were thought lost when their father took…
Mission: Impossible (1972) – Stone Pillow, and Image
Former private detective, Larry Edison (Bradford Dillman), has found himself on the other side of the law, heading to prison, and blackmailing a mobster – Edison has a film proving Vochek (Robert Ellenstein) committed murder. He’s hidden that film and the IMF wants it. Stone Pillow was penned by Howard Browne and first debuted on…
Dagon (2001) – Stuart Gordon
So I figured I would take a look at another Lovecraft adaptation, and despite the title of the film, the story is more in line with The Shadow Over Innsmouth, with a slight lean towards Dagon. And while I appreciate what Gordon set out to do, he’s hampered by horrible lighting and photography, and terrible…
Get Out (2017) – Jordan Peele
With his directorial debut, Jordan Peele became a horror writer/director to watch, and cemented me as a fan. Crafting an unnerving and terrifying story layered in social commentary, Peele used the genre to deliver a powerful story about race, one that is executed with precision and perfection. Balancing mystery, truly horrific moments, and a sense…
Indiana Jones 4K – 40th Anniversary Celebration!
To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Paramount Pictures has remastered the original four films into a gorgeous 4K collection that is as crystal clear as my memories of seeing each and every one of them in the theatre… In 1981, I remember seeing television ads for Raiders on the television,…
F/X 2 (1991) – Richard Franklin
Five years after the first film, and a lifetime of difference for me, Roland Tyler (Bryan Brown) and Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) were back in action. Unfortunately, an attempt to continue the gritty feeling special effects thriller comes across as a little disjointed, and honestly, more convoluted than it needed to be. An attempt to…
Better Off Dead (1985) – Savage Steve Holland
John Cusack and Savage Steve Holland did two movies together, Better Off Dead and One Crazy Summer, and both of them came along at just the right point in my life, I was a teenager at the time, and could totally relate to all things Cusack’s characters were going through. In Better Off Dead Cusack…
Family Plot (1976) – Alfred Hitchcock
Bruce Dern, Karen Black, William Devane, Ed Lauter and Barbara Harris star in Alfred Hitchcock’s Family Plot. And while not one of the director’s best, there are some fun moments and ideas in the film. The story follows two separate couples, both who work in shades of grey. Bruce Dern is George a taxi driver…
The Mind Reels 