The Substitute (1996) – Robert Mandel

Its action sequences are flawed, and don’t look anywhere as near as cool, and sharp as they could, but 1996’s The Substitute (which spawned three increasingly bad direct-to-video sequels) is packed with familiar faces. The cast is led by Tom Berenger, and includes Raymond Cruz, Luis Guzman, William Forsythe, Rodney, A. Grant, Ernie Hudson, Marc…

Dick Tracy (1990) – Warren Beatty

It’s been a long time since I sat down to watch this film, it may be since it first came out, or at least when it first hit video. I remember wanting to really get into this one when it first came out, I wanted it to be the next big summer blockbuster. So did…

Once Upon a Time in America (1983) – Sergio Leone

Clocking in at almost four hours long, Leone’s cinematic adaptation of  Harry Grey’s original novel is the next recommendation from the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book following my screening of The Godfather. Robert De Niro stars as David ‘Noodles’ Aaronson, a gangster, who after fleeing New York returns over thirty years later…

Raising Arizona (1987) – Joel Coen  

  The family fun continues with the Great Movies – 100 Years of Film book with this recommendation following my screening of Way Out West. It has been years since I originally watched Raising Arizona, and I had forgotten, for all intents and purposes, all of it, so I was eager to dive into a…

Tales of the Gold Monkey (1982) – Pilot

  The next Bellisario series that came along after Battlestar Galactica that caught my attention (despite the fact that Magnum, P.I. started first, I came to it a little later) was this 1930s high adventure series starring Stephen Collins as ex-Flying Tiger Jake Cutter in his Grumman Goose, and his one-eyed dog Jack. Bellisario wrote the two-hour pilot…

The Rock (1996) – Michael Bay

Michael Bay finds his way back onto the 101 Action Movies to see before you die, and brings an impressive cast with him, in this, my favorite of his films. With his usual pacing and editing, Bay makes a full-out action movies with a surprisingly sympathetic villain. Ed Harris plays General Hummel, who has lost…