RAYSSON'S MOVIE LIST FROM FLIXSTER

With the recent passing of Leslie Nielsen,the world needs laughter more than ever. What better way to celebrate the life of this brilliant actor's work through the film that made him a laughingstock in the first place? By casting deadly serious actors such as Robert Stack,Lloyd Bridges and Peter Graves in constract to some of the silliest non sequiters ever to make their way on screen,producer and directors Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers created a unique kind of comedy that was a total spoof of the "airport" disaster movies. Unafraided to tackle jokes from the meta(Kareem Abdul-Jabbar),to the creepy("Do you like movies about gladiators?"),to the potentially racist("Don't worry,I speak jive!" was done by Barbara Billingsley,aka June Cleaver!),to the flat-out silly("And don't call me Shirley!") Released on the week of Independence Day of 1980,Airplane achieves genius through sheer humor and hilarious hijinks throughout making this one of the best comedies of all time.

The hallmark of the great monster movies of the 1950's is one of the best from that genre. "Them!",a chiller about giant mutant ants terrorizing a nearby town that was so good, initial efforts to film it in color and 3-D were scrapped. Tight and suspenseful today and it was when audiences went to see it in 1954,it pits James Whitmore along with James Arness and Edmund Gwenn against a force that has razed a desert town. These giant ants were scary......very scary indeed.

Depending on one's point of view,David Lean's RYAN'S DAUGHTER, is either an epic romantic tragedy or a film whose extravagant production overwhelms what might have been a genuinely affecting drama. It may have been a rare misfire or a self-indulgent mess,this was in fact the only movie David Lean did during the entire decade of the 1970's. Written by Robert Bolt,who had far more to chew on with his impressive screenplays of other David Lean masterpieces like "Lawrence of Arabia",and "Doctor Zhivago". RYAN'S DAUGHTER tells the story of a headstrong pub owner's daughter(Sarah Miles)living in a coastal town in English-occupied Ireland in World War I.

She fulfills a childhood dream by marrying her handsome school teacher(a poorly cast Robert Mitchum got the part,but Lean insisted on either Peter O'Toole or Omar Sharif),only to be disappointed by the realization he is actually a passionate bore. She is subsequently all to open to fall in love with a shattered,shell-shocked,yet handsome British soldier(Christopher Jones),who has been sent to complete his duty in her otherwise sleepy town. Despite its simplicity,it was originally released theatrically, in November of 1970, in Super-Panavision 70MM,and it many cities was shown on the curved screens designed for the already abandoned Cinerama format(which was huge during the 1960's). It was given a sweeping lavish "Zhivago" style score by Maurice Jarre,while the cinematopgraphy was directed by the great Freddie Young-who would win one of its two Oscars. The other went to veteran John Mills(Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actor in 1970)as the village idiot.

During the entire decade of the 1990's,actor/comedian Pauly Shore was listed as one of the worst actors on the planet and righteously so. Yes,Pauly Shore movies. Who else from the 1990's remembers Pauly Shore? He ruled the 90's with an iron fist of really bad crappy movies. Lurking around the corner were the worst of the bunch of Pauly Shore movies like "Encino Man",

"In The Army Now","Bio-Dome",and "Son-In-Law" just to name a few. He might be funny if you were smoking pot..that is if you're ten years old....if you're evil,or if you're a total idiot. I wasn't disappointed like Pauly Shore was a fucking moron who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag.

This movie became one of the worst children's film of the 1990's,not to mention the worst kids movie of the decade. Come on,Shaquille O'Neal,in his second theatrical debut after the success of "Blue Chips"......is playing a genie who protects a little kid from bullies and the like in the big city. Come on,Shaq in a gay robe doing magic tricks while protecting a little kid for the lowlifes of the ghetto? By the way when this came out,who REALLY went to see it? Can you believe this piece of kiddie trash was directed by Paul Michael-Glaser? Yes,that Paul Michael Glaser of Starsky and Hutch fame.

No wonder if anyone rented it when it came out on video neither. Anyways,Shaq is a brilliant basketball player,we ALL know that...but his skills as an actor are lame so he can't seem to do anything with a script except dunk it in the trash. If you think "Kazaam" was bad off,you haven't seen the movie Shaq would star in next which was even worst off than this one..."Steel" when came out in three years later and was also directed by Paul Michael Glaser too.

Couldn't live up to the original and it shows.

The unofficial inspiration for the 1960's television series "Hogan's Heroes",director Billy Wilder's 1953 comedy-drama remains one of the screen's most memorable war stories which is set in a P.O.W. concentration camp during World War II. William Holden won the Oscar for Best Actor for his riveting performance as a P.O.W. officer who can bargain with his German captors-but his wits can only take him so far when he is suspected of overt action against the enemy,selling out his fellow prisoners in the process. Also to note,filmmaker Otto Preminger proves his acting ability in the picture as well(also was Oscar nominated in 1953 for Best Supporting Actor)playing the head commandant of the German concentration camp. Along for the ride,comedy and suspense are Don Taylor, Peter Graves, Neville Brand, and Robert Strauss. Running Time: 127 minutes. This film is not rated. Shot in glorious black and white.

Synopsis: When British P.O.W.'s build a vital railway bndge in enemy-occupied Burma during World War II,allied commandos are assigned to destroy it at any costs. Director-Producer David Lean's epic World War II action-adventure spectacle that was spectacularly produced within its budget,and astounding cast. Lead by William Holden,Alec Guinness and Jack Hawkins,THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI,based on the novel by Pierre Boulle,captured the imagination of the public becoming one of the biggest grossing films of 1957. The winner of seven Academy Awards including Best Picture,Best Director(Lean),Best Actor(Guinness) was filmed on exotic locations and was given the full "Cinemascope" treatment while filmed in breathtaking Technicolor. Even its theme song,which was an old World War I whistling tune,"The Colonel Bogey March" became a massive worldwide hit on the Hit Parade's top 100 charts for all of 1957 and much of 1958 which was itself Oscar nominated for Best Original Song. The greatest of all David Lean's impressive works,this was the one that launch a boxoffice bonanza.

John Wayne won his one and only Oscar for Best Actor in this exciting and riveting action-packed Western from Director Henry Hathaway that became one of the biggest boxoffice hits of 1969. John Wayne,in the prime of his career plays Rooster Cogburn,an aging,hard-drinking,foul-mouthed United States Marshal who was once one of the West's best lawman in his prime.
A teenage girl(played by Kim Darby)enlists his help in finding and tracking down the men responsible for brutally murdering her father. Along for the ride and adventure is country music superstar Glen Campbell,who not only sings the movie's theme song,but also makes his theatrical debut in this picture as a devoted and dedicated Texas Ranger who joins the odd couple in finding the killers responsible for her father's death,and bringing them to justice which will be a a task to deal with going against some dangerous desperados,among them Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper,and Bruce Dern. This movie was also Oscar nominated for Best Original Song sung by Glen Campbell. This movie was so successful in 1969 that producer Hal B. Wallis brought John Wayne back in 1975 for the sequel to "True Grit" in the title role of Rooster Cogburn,but this time around screen icon Katherine Hepburn join him for the second installment.

In this sequel to the 1969 Oscar winning western "True Grit",John Wayne returns in the role that won him the Oscar for Best Actor in 1969 for "True Grit" In this sequel,John Wayne returns as Rooster Cogburn,a eye-patched,whiskey guzzling,foul-mouthed U.S. Marshal who helps a bible-thumping missionary(Katherine Hepburn) avenge the death of her father for vicious outlaws,among them Richard Jordan,Anthony Zerbe,and Bruce Dern.
Very enjoyable western,but in some aspects cheesy and over the top acting from both John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn in their first and only pairing together in this movie. This didn't have the firepower or the excitement that made "True Grit" a huge hit,but the sequel to this basicallly falls flat,and comes up short. Produced by Hal B. Wallis for Universal Pictures in 1975

This was a movie that not only gambled millions,but also made Bruce Willis one of the top action superstars of the 1980's. And this was the movie that cemented his career. And this was the original that spawned three sequels make this one of the most runaway blockbuster masterpieces that had audiences flocking to see when it came to theatres in the summer of 1988. "Die Hard" piles very known element of the action genre onto a flimsy story of the New York cop who rescues hostages from a Los Angeles office tower on Christmas Eve. Partly an interracial buddy movie(on the style of the Lethal Weapon movies)this was partly the sentimental tale of a ruptured marriage,the film is largely a special effects carnival full of machine-gun fire,roaring helicopters,and an explosion tank. It also has a villain fresh from the Royal Shakespeare company,a ruthless thug from the Bolshoi Ballet and a hero who carries the him the smirks and wisecracks that made this film of the top ten action flicks of all time. "Die Hard" was basically
"The Towering Inferno" by way of "The French Connection" in a "Lethal Weapon" style that goes beyond the cop buddy finesse and then some. What makes Die Hard worked is the toughness and all out action that is non stop with something unexpected at ever turn. The producers(Lawrence Gordon and Joel Silver),and the director(John McTiernan) were also responsible for other action flicks that exploded onto the 80's,most notably for some that starred one of the top action buffs of the era..Arnold Scwarzenegger(of "Commando","Predator" films).
Here they have grafted Bruce Willis smart aleck wit and tough New Jersey-New York attitude and here he not only commands the film he conquers it.
The movie is slow in the first half-hour,and that is when John McClane(Bruce Willis),lands in Los Angeles to visit his estranged wife(Bonnie Bedelia)and goes to her office Christmas party. Minutes later a group of six terrorists shows,planning to steal six million dollars in bonds. The terrorists have crack a difficult computer code before getting into the vault,so there is plenty of time for McClane to play the hero and save the hostages. Bruce Willis' true expertise is in banter,so the direction of John McTiernan shrewdly blends bursts of action with some hilarious comic dialogue. McClane races up and down elevator shafts. He kills one terrorist,taking his machine gun and citzens' band radio.. Now he can have a running conservation with Al,the sympathetic black cop(Reginald VelJohnson of Family Matters fame)becomes part of the only buddy film where the friends don't meet until the end of the story. Meanwhile back in the executive suite,there is Hans,the ruthless terrorist leader in a very well tailored suit. In the film's greatest surprise,Hans' character(played by Alan Rickman)comes out to be one of the greatest villains of all time...ruthless,manipulative and just pure evil. He makes a perfect snake. "Who are you?" he superciliously asks McClane via radio. "Are you just another American who saw too many movies as a child?"

Yes,he did. McClane is a movie maverick who worships his idols like Roy Rogers and John Wayne. Here,he walks around in sleeveless undershirt,a tattoo on his left bicep,getting sweater,dirtier,and bloodierby the minute. A great part of the film is watching the down-and-dirty cop match wits with the aloof master criminal. The final action sequence in breathtaking,as FBI helicopters buzz the rooftop and McClane swings down the side of the high-rise and crashes through a window. While below fellow officers from the LAPD just stand there to look like imbeciles. But the scenes move with such relentless energy and smashing special effects that action-genre fans hoped for and this movie did not disappoint. AFI's top 100 action movies of all time.

At the time this movie came out there was no better actor out there than the great Al Pacino who could brilliantly bring Tony Montana to life in this classic remake of the 1932 Howard Hawks film of the same title. When "Scarface"came out in 1983,it was panhandle by audiences and critics for its use of strong graphic violence and gory content along with persuasive scenes of drug abuse and raw language. This was the forefront of the "gangsta" flick and it shows here in graphic detail directed by Brian DePalma.

Fo those who don't know who this actor is.....or if you ever watched actor William Devane during the countless reruns of the 1980's prime time soap opera "Knots Landing" on television,um....sort of during my youth....you know he is an actor who can elevate even the craziest material or did you know that William Devane could be one badass son of a bitch....the cracker you don't want to fuck with.....and some critics have labeled William Devane as the poor man's Jack Nicholson,a title he refuses to claim. despite his movies. For proof of this,check out the 1977 revenge thriller "Rolling Thunder". The film stars William Devane as a Vietnam veteran who loses his hand in a very nasty manner and in the process distributes some intense hardcore vengeance. Co-written by Paul Schrader(Taxi Driver,and later Blue Collar),the film appalled 20th Century Fox executives so much that they dumped it to several other studios(among them Columbia Pictures)which rejected it. It ended up being released thru Samuel Z. Arkoff's American International Pictures,who in turn saw audiences try to physically attack them after the sneakl preview performance. This film is NOT for the squeamish at heart due to its strong "R" rating for scenes of graphic violence and disturbing images to ever be seen on film. Check out the co-stars too ranging from Dabney Coleman to James Best.

Probably the greatest achievement ever to grace the screen in recent memory. This was a grand throwback to the those good old days when movie making was just that..pure sleazy entertainment. But who remembers those grindhouse movies that came out of the 1970's and 1980's? When movie theatres and drive-in theatres were places of sleaze and depravity and the movies that were made were fast,cheaply made and way out of control? Remember when you saw these movies that they were so damn good that you'd also had an awesome and thrilling time you'd had? For those that have never seen a grindhouse movie,will for your enjoyment directors Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have re-created the experience for those who have never seen it and it turns out to be one of the best films of 2007. These two maverick filmmakers have joined forces and made a three-hour "double feature" with the sort of blood,gore,mindless action,tawdry,titillating storylines,babealicious eye candy(which consisting of chicks who basically kick some ass)and complete lack of cimematic responsiblity that were staples of every true grindhouse release. What they did here was astounding to boot-a double feature of two trashy,skanky,butt-ugly films(by messing up there own film prints and everything else in between just to make it look like the original thing)movies of their own. Grindhouse also pays a grand tribute to some of the directors of that genre including Jack Starrett, Jack Hill, John Carpenter,and not to mention Roger Corman. These guys were the kings of 70's and 80's grindhouse cimema and this movie has brought that back in full glory. The two films presented have significiant tastes. Planet Terror pulls a horror genre that was really violent and totally gross starring Rose McGowan as the heroine.
The other was probably the best outta the rest..Death Proof was a grand throwback to those car chasing films from the 1970's starring Kurt Russell and a host of babes including Rose McGowan again and also Rosario Dawson and Zoe Bell. Great entertainment. Rumor has it there will be a sequel to this coming in 2008 too.

In nomination for one of the worst comedies of the year. A total bomb of a comedy that is outlandish not even funny but incredibly stupid. I am now certain of some things here. One,Jessica Alba is a terrible actress...who is only know for her good looks than her acting abilities...and her looks are the only thing that holds this movie on it axis. Don Fogler is one of the worst actors I have ever seen and probably the worst film I have seen since.

For one,I was never a huge fan of the TV Show. But watching the film version of this psychedelic Adult Swim cartoon is like having a conservation with either a drunken friend or some heroin junkie for the back alleyway for about a few minutes. This is if you can understand this piece of shit which the running time is under 90 minutes(actually 72 minutes) and confusing from beginning to end and if you get the TV show from where this came from,you can get the movie version which is incredibly stupid. You got to have the mind of a 13 year old to understand this film and you must be high on drugs to comprehend it. It doesn't make sense. The plot(what plot in this shit of a movie has?) consists of talking fast food products Master Shake,Flylock and Meatwad(WTF???)dealing with some kind of villain out to destroy the world. And to make matters even worse for anybody who would sit in a theatre to see this is really stoned out of their mind thinking that this movie is destined to become a cult classic. Gimme a fucking break. Fritz The Cat was way better than this.

A Grand Classic of Black Cinema brilliantly directed by Gordon Parks!!! Being the first feature to be directed by black man for a major film studio,this film shows 1920's Kansas as a brutal,hostile racist place and the experiences four friends encounter during the era of Jim Crow in the Midwest. Brilliant performances throughout from not only debut actor and newcomer Kyle Johnson,but also from Estelle Evans and Dana Elcar.

And some critics were calling this group the second coming of The Beatles?
This was another one of the crappie movies that were all over the place during the decade of the 1990's,and to some aspects "Spice World" was not one of the worst movies of the decade,but the group themselves were one of the worst musical girl-groups of all time...THE WORST! Basically,it sucked so bad at the boxoffice,audiences were walking out of the cinema ten minutes before it started. When "Spice World" went to video,no one and I mean no one even dared to rent it,let alone see it. The plot was even ridiculous within itself. They cannot sing worth a SHIT,nor they cannot act also(and by the way who in the fuck told Melanie Brown,Geri Halliwell,and Emma Bunton,they had acting abiltiies since these bimbos can't do anything right!). The Spice Girls were sucky to begin with,and from there,the producers should have NEVER planned a movie with them to begin with!!!

The 30th Anniversary of one the greatest and the best of the second installment to the "Star Wars" series and the one that is magnificient in stunning detail. Herald as the greatest science-fiction high adventure sequel ever made. Astounding brilliant. All the elements in this are here including the stunning cliffhanger and John Williams' brilliant masterpiece of a theatrical score. It is being re-released back in theatres as a limited enagement for its 30th Anniversary in select cities.

One of the finest blaxploitation films to come out of the 1970's. This intense cop thriller is a combination of "The French Connection",and "The Seven-Ups",set up in the corrupted racially volatile cauldron of decay of 1970's Detroit. This was a movie that was filmed on location in various parts of Detroit,with full cooperation of the Detroit Police Department and the Wayne County Sheriff's Department. The cop thriller deals with a heist gone completely bad of a black gubernatorial candidate's fundraiser. Alex Rocco(Moe Green from The Godfather)is the veteran detective on the Detroit Police Force. Jesse Williams(Hari Rhodes from the TV series The Bold Ones,and Daktari and was in Samuel Fuller's 1963 thriller Shock Corridor)is the sharp dressing,highly educated detective who is a fast-rising star in the department. Together they solve the crimes and goes beyond the grain of the scenes of a heist gone awry. However,the film is explicity violent for its scenes of its victims writhing in tortured death spasms,graphic gunshot wounds,and a bloody confrontation shootout with the baddies against the cops on the mean streets of Detroit. Director Arthur Marks(who would go on to direct Pam Grier in Friday Foster and Glynn Turman for J.D.'s Revenge for AIP)does a fine job here showing the gritty side of a city gone in decay. "Detroit 9000" was re-released back in theatres in a restored version through Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures with additional commentary about this landmark film from 1973. In the film,look for blaxploitation regulars Vonetta McGee(as Rhodes' love interest),and Scatman Crothers as an crooked preacher,along with Ella Edwards.

Alastair Sim's 1951 version has it's devotees,but many consider this 1938 version a favorite of one of the screen adaptations based on Charles Dickens' classic novel. One of the reasons why is for counting actress June Lockhart,the daughter of Gene Lockhart,who made her theatrical debut at the age of 12,as one of the children of Bob and Emily Cratchit(played by her real life parents Gene and Kathleen Lockhart). Acclaim British actor Reginald Owen stars as Ebenezer Scrooge,the Christmas-hating curmudgeon who finally gets into the spirit of the Holiday season.

The first ever Peanuts theatrical feature that was Oscar nominated for Best Original Score in 1969. This was the original and the first ever theatrical feature(this was the first of four sequels) featuring Charlie Brown and the whole Peanuts gang with an impressive script written by Charles Schultz. This set the standard for some of the most breathtaking animation that you will ever see.

Released in August of 1972,this was the second theatrical feature starring the entire Peanuts gang with good ole Charlie Brown. This time around the film centers on Snoopy,Charlie Brown's smooth and resourceful Beagle. This was very heartwarming to boot featuring a performance that will tug your heart. But there is a hilarious scene in which Snoopy tangles with motormouth/all around bitch Lucy in one of the funniest Peanuts films ever in the series.

Released in the summer of 1977,the third installment or sequel featuring Charles Schultz' Peanuts characters in another theatrical feature. This time around Charlie Brown and the gang(along with Peppermint Patty)are at summer camp in which they enter a river race where they go up against a vicious group of kids who cheat there way to the topand will stop at nothing to win the championship trophy at all costs. Leave it up to Charlie Brown's resourceful Beagle Snoopy and his companion Woodstock to save the day and win the prize. Valuable lessons are install here with a full blend of comedy and adventure to boot.

Nominated for 7 Oscars including Best Picture, this Samuel Bronston production was one of the most spectacular mega-produced epics ever made that was astounding in budget,astounding in cast,and magnificient in scope and sheer brilliance(filmed on location in the regions of Spain and North Africa). Anthony Mann directs this astounding classic tale of the 11th Century hero(Charlton Heston) who fought to unite Spain against the Moors.
Known as history's "compassionate warrior" the film follows El Cid's remarkable journey from peace-broker accused of treason to the King's fighting champion,and later from exiled hero to legendary martyr. Unequaled in scope,grandeur and adventure this spectacular epic saga brings Sophia Loren, Raf Vallone, John Fraser, Genevieve Page, Gary Raymond and Herbert Lom with a compelling driven masterpiece of a film score from legendary composer Miklos Rozsa. See it in the full Super Panavision 70 format!

What invented the modern melodrama? What spawned generations of soap operas from "Dallas" up to and including "Desperate Housewives?" What made enough impact on popular culture that it was included in Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start The Fire",between "Princess Grace",and "Trouble in the Suez?" Why,that would be "Peyton Place",the 1957 film that was based on the scandalous novel by Grace Metalious,that was so successful that it spawned a even more scandalous 1961 sequel "Return To Peyton Place",and later on an even less scandalous toned down version of successful television series that premiered on ABC-TV in the fall of 1964 and lasted five seasons on the network ending in the summer of 1969 after an astounding 514 episodes that launched the careers of Ryan O'Neal, Mia Farrow and Barbara Parkins. The original 1957 motion picture PEYTON PLACE got a bit of a boost when its star Lana Turner was involved in the real-life scandal of her daughter's murdering Turner's gangster lover---dealt with ideas were downright unthinkable or even unheard of during the mid-1950's when this film was released:Adultery! Incest! Picturesque small town America having dark,seamy underbellies and even darker undertones that shocked audiences who went to see it! Still the film was toned down a mite from the source material,to the point that the Catholic Legion of Decency gave this film an "A". Despite of was critics and those haters and audiences who have spilt decisions against it,PEYTON PLACE went on to become one of the highest grossing films of the year...a huge runaway hit upon its release for 20th Century-Fox,given the full "Cinemascope" treatment and color and was nominated for an impressive nine Academy Awards including Best Picture(winning none but lost to David Lean's Bridge On The River Kwai which won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1957). The name remains synonymous with its sordid small-town drama. PEYTON PLACE was the only movie based on Grace Metalious that not it spawned a sequel,but also a long-running mid-1960's television series,two movie for TV movies and not to even mention a short-lived daytime serial "Return To Peyton Place".

NOTE: Only two of it stars from the original movie went on to star in both the sequel and the television series: Actors Lloyd Nolan, Hope Lange and Arthur Kennedy.

As a second wave of blaxploitation flicks that emerge out of the 1970's,the movie Penitentiary is still bedeviled by the uncomfortable contradictions of its macho forebearers,which made it a huge boxoffice hit when it was released in 1979. It's basically the servicable yarn of a young stranger on a bum rap,sentenced to an institutional hell-hole,and eventually bucking the terror regime with two righteous fists. And daubed onto the screen with the vitality of all around excess,teetering craziliy between heavy amounts of gore,rough language and all outright farce. But its assumptions for the better of its sake,either worked beyond the comprehendsion of some of its scenes which were very honest and sometimes brutal. This was a grand film that looked into the life of a penal institional system as seen through the eyes of his character,played by Leon Issac Kennedy.
Another example of black cinema that was still standing at the end of the decade with some of the most replusive stereotyping ever imagine while the audience cheers on the victor who must fight in a system to stay alive at all costs. Done on a low budget,it was consciousness. A sequel followed in 1982 with Leon Issac Kennedy reprising the role. Another sequel followed in 1987 with Leon Issac Kennedy again reprising the role that made him successful in the first two installments.

One of the worst movies of the summer and please by all means do not go see this silly unadultered movie. This movie is awful,I mean god awful with a capital "A". I cannot believe that this live-action pathetical film is based on a line of fashion dolls that has also inspired an really stupidical animated television program of the same title not to mention a line of animated movies based on the character that dress and act like sluts on the streets. And they think this would appeal to teenage girls? Even so "Bratz" falls prey to every teenage dreamscene film that crowds the racks of any local video store. Regurgitating the prototypical individuality versus cliques that was really borrowed(or stolen) from every teen oriented film imaginable. Yes,they copycatted every line of "Clueless", "Mean Girls","Valley Girl",and not to mention rip-offed "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" and at least every Disney oriented flick that is teen-oriented. The film gets boring quickly as it attempts to convey a supreme sense of "Just Be Yourself" attitude but instead achieving this or what some like to call this heartwarming mantra,the film turns itself into nothing but a MTV style made for music video for the theatres that features cute clothes that are slutty cuter boys who look oh-so-gay approach,cool ringtones and a defined sense of self-identity through materialism is not an ideology we should be dressing up and selling to teenage girls(however this will not worked with older teen girls but will however is stupid and dumb who think that is the method to go by unless if you under 12 years of age to which this movie appeals to. But lets face it which is worse-the fashionista film or the slutty,belly-baring dolls. Not more than another negative approach to target young girls and make them something that they're not. As for the movie itself avoid at all costs.

Only a Faustian bargain can explain the stardom and rise of Miley Cyrus,aka Hannah Montana,but its our souls that are left picking up the tab when we our subjected to the mind-numbling idiocy of that refer to as a sequel to further point out on one of the worst movies of the year. Believe me when I say that "Hannah Montana:The Movie" is really,really,a bad movie. Unless,you're hooked on this garbage(her fanbase are nothing but upper elementary school girls and middle school kids,and high school teenyboppers)this is basically a rehash or as I put it an expansion of her Disney Channel television show. Really,its that fucking bad.

A classic 1950's "B" flick featuring beefcake hunks,beautiful women on an island paradise. This was Roger Corman's first action-adventure feature that was shot on location in Hawaii and filmed in color for American International Pictures. The scenary for this film was brilliant,but the acting is awful but the only thing that saves this is its nice locations and gripping underwater photography. There are two versions. This was the original from 1958. The remake was done in the mid-1970's with Corman again directing.

Brilliant 70's science fiction flick that started it all. It was in fact the rebirth of the monster genre that began in the 1950's resurrected for the 1970's. And this one is a classic. It made a unknown actress named Sigourney Weaver into a mega superstar because of this movie.
It will scare the daylights out of you. Best way to see this film is on the widescreen format the way it should be seen. I saw this film back in the late 1970's and on the big screen in 70MM-Six Track Dobly Stereo. It was mindblowing.

For those of you who may not remember the classic television espionage series "The Man From U.N.C.L.E."(which ran on NBC-TV from 1964 until 1968)starring Robert Vaughn as Napoleon Solo and David McCallum as Illya Kurkayim was one of the biggest hits of the 1960's. However,there were seven U.N.C.L.E movies that were released theatrically in the United States(some of these movies were in fact composed of two-parter episodes of the TV series that MGM released in theatres)and "The Karate Killers" was one of them. This was originally based as a two-part episode of the television series,which MGM however took the episodes and released them in the theatres,which proved to be successful with additional footage added that was not seen in the episode version that was shown on television. By the way,this theatrical version was based on a episode that was in Season 3 of UNCLE(which was to some of its biggest fans was the worst entry in the series---seasons 1 and 2 were good,but season 3 was the worst,while the final season made up for the stupidity that was in the last season)
What was made up in plot,was taken over by plenty of action scenes with Robert Vaughn and David MacCallum taking out the baddies of THRUSH!!!

If you ever wanted to hear British secret agent James Bond get called a "honky",well Roger Moore's first Bond film and the official eighth 007 movie is for you. However,this is not the first time actor Roger Moore has played an international man of mystery and espionage. He was however,the suave and sophisicated Simon Templar on the 1960's television series "The Saint".
Moore had some big shoes to fill after fellow Bond Sean Connery exited the series after "Diamonds Are Forever",which was released in 1971,and the seventh 007 film in the series. Exit Sean Connery and Enter Roger Moore.
"Live and Let Die" came out at the height of the blaxploitation/martial-arts craze that defined the 1970's. Released in the summer of 1973,"Live and Let Die" is all aspects in insane beyond measure even by Bond film standards.
"Live and Let Die" was the first Bond film in the series to have a African-American villain in the featured role. Let's see,there's a lot of the voodoo stuff,Yaphet Kotto as the evil Caribbean dictator Kananga/Mr. Big who wants to take over the world while owning a chain of soul food restaurants right? There's also Jane Seymour(with that Big Ass Afro) as a psychic virgin called Solitaire who works her charms on Bond while Bond works his charms on her,in the bedroom. Oh yeah,there's Kananga's assistant with the metal hand Tee(Julius Harris),and all over the place Baron Samedi(Geoffrey Holder...who remembers him and the 7-Up commercials from that decade?)
and that dumbfounded county sheriff(Clifton James) while our hero escapes hit-men,skips across a bunch of crocodiles while getting back to safety,not to mention being chased by car and speedboats in this over the top film. Another reason is the all-over-the-place theme song by Paul McCartney and Wings(and it is also noted that the 8th Bond film did not have a original John Barry composition). This is "gonzo" Bond at its 1970s-est. And if you want further proof catch the other 007 films starring Roger Moore that included more insanity and over the top acting from "The Man With The Golden Gun",'
"Moonraker","For Your Eyes Only","Octopussy",and his final outing as 007 in 1985's "A View To A Kill".

Director James Cameron's 1986 blockbuster follow-up to Ridley Scott's Oscar winning science-fiction/horror flick that became one of the biggest grossing films of 1979 asks a good question to a successful hit.....How do you make a successful sequel to a film in which much of the suspense comes from learning about the mysterious monster? The Answer? Make a lot of scary monsters,and this time around have our heroine armed to the teeth with an array of weapons ready to take them on and face an all out war against them including the "Mother" of all aliens!
"This time,its war,"was the tagline and Aliens went on to become one of the biggest blockbuster films of 1986 and not to mention ending up being Oscar nominated for Best Special Effects. Filled with quotable lines("They mostly come at night.....mostly),and great character performances including scenes of wall to wall action galore and the ultimate showdown with the heroine and the Mother that brought audiences to there feet when "Aliens" became the runaway hit of 1986. "Aliens" cemented Sigourney Weaver's place as an female action star as well as a boxoffice magnet-draw while it also gave James Cameron a stepping stone as one of the most innovative filmmakers of the 1980's,a position he's managed to hold well into the new millennium.

Forget the remake featuring The Rock,cause it doesn't even compare to the original. However,this was weirdly marketed as a right wing screed upon its initial release in 1973(and became a surprise runaway boxoffice hit especially a huge following within the drive-in theatre circuit in the South).Walking Tall was a really tragic,graphically violent post-noir film based on the life and times of Tennessee county sheriff Buford Pusser. However,Joe Don Baker gives a riveting and powerful performance as Pusser who took on determined force of crime and corruption in his town at great personal expense. Directed with an intentionally crude force by Phil Karlson,one of the toughest filmmakers of the 1950's and 1960's. Here,the film's grimness doesn't let up and neither does the scenes of raw language and strong graphic violence that gave this film a strong influence of the racial stride and hatred that went on in the South. Interesting note about this picture...It was produced by BCP Productions which was Bing Crosby's production company(yes folks,Bing Crosby was still around in 1973)and theatrically released through Cinerama Releasing Corporation. The theme song was done by none other than the great Johnny Mathis. Elizabeth Hartman(plays Pusser's wife) and Noah Beery also star in this runaway boxoffice hit which was one of the highest grossing films of 1973.

Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison portray two of the Renaissance's most colorful figures in this brilliant historical epic drama based on Irving Stone's best selling novel. When Pope Julius II(Harrison)commissions Michelangelo(Heston) to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel,the artist initially refuses. Virtually forced to do the job by Julius,Michelangelo later destroys his own work of art and therefore flees Rome. Nominated for three Oscars including Best Supporting Actor(Harrison),Best Director(Carol Reed),and Best Cinematopgraphy and was named of the year's best films by the National Board of Review,"The Agony and the Ecstasy" is a fascinating dramatization behind one of the world's artistic masterpieces. Filmed on location in Italy and Spain and shot in brilliant Todd-AO and Color and directed by the great British director Carol Reed,Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison(in their first and only film together)give two of the screen's best performances.

Director John Carpenter's remake of the classic 1951 film of the same title(The Thing From Another World)that was released on the same day as "Blade Runner" when it hit theatres during the June of 1982. And while it is a remake,Carpenter brings his own brand of suspense to the foray,in which Kurt Russell,Wilford Brimley,Richard Dysart ,Richard Masur and T.K. Carter battle an alien presence in the Antarctic that winds up facing some very disturbing creatures in the vast unknown. Written by Burt Lancaster's son William Lancaster and featuring an Ennio Morricone score(one of the few times Carpenter used music other than his own for a film). And since it opened on the same day as "Blade Runner",it didn't do that well at the boxoffice since the film went up against Steven Spielburg's fantasy/science-fiction family adventure flick "E.T."which was the Number One movie at the boxoffice in June of 1982. Anyways,"The Thing" went on to become a clut following and it is regarding as one of the great science-fiction/horror films that came out of the "Class of 1982"(Its right up there with "Blade Runner",
"Tron",and "Poltergeist".)

Released in 1972,the motion picture "BLACK GIRL",was originally a play that was written by Texas born writer J.E. Franklin,based on the stage play of the same title and was adapted for the screen by Franklin and directed by the great Ossie Davis. The film version is basically an updated version of the story of "Cinderella",or the blaxploitation of it which is set in the Watts section of South Central Los Angeles in the early 1970's. The result was an effective but stagely extended family drama,with three sisters(Gloria Edwards,Loretts Greene,and newcomer Peggy Pettit)plotting against the successful daughter,the college-educated daughter Netta(Leslie Uggams)who was adopted and made something better for herself and used her education as the ticket out of the ghetto. The other two sisters,Ruth Ann(Greene),and the ignorant-as-hell Norma(Edwards) were the most horrible and were jealous as hell at what Netta has become: successful and college educated and is making something out of herself. These two tramps are just as ignorant as they come..both are married and have a litter of uneducated and unmannered and untrained children. It's odd because where are Ruth Ann's husband and Norma's? Either these husbands were deadbeats or for that manner doing drugs or in another aspect during time in prison. They were never around,and never are.

The third daughter is Billie Jean,who is the youngest daughter and has quit high school and is dancing in a lowlife bar. Billie Jean wants to be a dancer as her ticket out of the life she is living while the head mama of the house Mama Rose(Louise Stubbs)works as a maid to make ends meet,while the other two daughters who are grown don't do a damn thing.....lazy incompetent bitches who just laid around the house and talk about everyone else's lives,but they couldn't get their own act together. The grandmother(Claudia McNeil) is the head honco trying to keep things together in the house where they lived along with the Rose's other husband,Herbert(Kent Martin). Things get even worst when the girls' real father,and Rose's ex-husband and two girls other daddy,Earl(Brock Peters) comes by for a visit and makes a vulgar comment about the youngest child,who wants to take her to Detroit and make her into something she doesn't want to do! The unexpected happens where Billie Jean is drag down to the hateful level of her other two sisters when the adopted one comes home for a visit from the university. And the sparks fly when Netta get even with the other two lowlife sisters and finally decides to take Billie Jean out of the environment of corruption she was and finally Billie takes Netta's advice as getting an education as a way out and pursing her own career.

The performances in this film are first rate since BLACK GIRL mainly shows what was the acting style ifor African-American actors during the 1970''s.
This picture came out at the mecca of black cinema when several films that were released in 1972 such as "Lady Sings The Blues", "Sounder",and
the action films like "Super Fly","Slaughter" were the order of the day and this what drove audiences to see them. Not every 70's black movie had a drug dealer/pimp/police-detective or prostitute. These films had something different and BLACK GIRL is one of them. There are cameo appearances in this one including Ruby Dee who plays Netta's disturbed mother that couldn't care for her. Also to watch for too: actor Nathaniel Taylor has an cameo appearance is this film too playing a tough-talking street pimp. Taylor was also known to audiences as "Rollo" on the classic 70's television series Sanford and Son and also was the father of Rerun on the another 70's series What's Happening!

An overlooked "gem" of vigilante cinema from the early 1980's. Directed by "B" movie legend Danny Steinmann, "Savage Streets" stars none other than actress Linda Blair(of The Exorcist) in her Razzie nominated performance as a vengeance-seeking cross bow-wielding "Rambolina" teen who spearheads a film as billed as "the gang war of the sexes!" where "the only law is an eye for an eye!" But in all fairness,Blair had her moments,but there's still heaps of campy,over the top violent fun to be had from a flick that is filled with leather,big hair,and a role for perpetual Scott Baio hanger on clone Johnny Venocur. Oh yeah,there's the supporting role from another of the 80's B-movie actresses Linnea Quigley and Debra Blee,not to mention adding on veteran actor John Vernon(of Animal House fame)as the school principal. There's even a hype-up 80's soundtrack by John Farnham featuring the single "Justice For One" that became unholy lovechild of 80's rock groups Loverboy and Foreigner. By the way,there was a sequel to this made in 1987,that didn't do well as the original neither,and there is talks in the works of a remake with Hailee Steinfeld(the Oscar nominated actress from 2010's True Grit)in the featured role as a revenge wielding teen.

One of the all-time classics,Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove,or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" remains proof that satire isn't always what closes on Saturday night and that the end of the world can actually be hilarious. Adapted from a deadly serious Cold War novel,the film was transformed into a satire by Kubrick and novelist Terry Southern,one featuring multiple insane performances by Peter Sellers(including the robot-armed title character),and by casting serious actors like George C. Scott,Keenan Wynn,and Sterling Hayden on being hilarious,an examination of the moral implications of an assault upon a Coca-Cola machine,and the memorable phrase "precious bodily fluids." There's an unforgettable use of "We'll Meet Again",while actor Slim Pickens as a pilot who knows how to drop a bomb and the most awkward bad news phone call in the history of cinema. Not to mention that was the theatrical debut of actor James Earl Jones. "Dr. Strangelove' ranks as one of the top-grossing films of 1964 ans rightly so.

As the tagline read "If you got a taste for terror...take Carrie to the prom."
That one girl's name helped launch Stephen King onto the best seller list and director Brian DePalma into the mainstream and launch an unknown actress by the name of Sissy Spacek into international stardom. Spacek's remarkably sweet yet creepy depiction of an outcast who can move things with her mind when she's upset-and the incrowd who decides to make her very,very, upset on prom night-has become an horror touchstone that's often parodied and quoted. Released in 1976,and produced by Paul Monash,
"Carrie" when on to become one of the highest grossing films of that year,second to "The Omen","The Outlaw Josey Wales","Rocky",and "Network". Check out John Travolta(in his youthful days)as the mean spirited jock's boyfriend,and Amy Irving and Nancy Allen as one of the two mean-spirited girls who give "Carrie" hell on earth,but she gets them back with sweet revenge. Check out Piper Laurie's classic portrayal of Carrie's psycho-religious mother(the classic two words: "dirty pillows") "Carrie" was Sissy Spacek's first Oscar nomination as an actress which in fact went on to bigger and better things in her career. Piper Laurie was also Oscar nominated for her performance as the religious nutcase mom. Avoid the two sequels. Stick with the original.

From the words of the classic Public Enemy Song:
"Fight The Power!", "Fight The Power"! ,"Fight The Power!"
"We Gotta Fight The Powers That Be!"

Years before "Crash" or "Avenue Q" reminded us that everyone's a little bit racist,Spike Lee's 1989 surprise hit made all of us that we are racist within ourselves regardless of creed,color or national origin. Released in the summer of that year,alongside "Batman" becoming the highest grossing film of that year,and the third installment of the latest Indiana Jones trilogy,"Do The Right Thing" made us aware of our own prejudices and how we look at different things from a perspective. During its initial release,critics were worried that there would be riots,and there weren't,and Lee criticized the critics for suggesting that black audiences weren't capable of self control.
Which is ironic,as the film is all about losing control over the course of a long hot summer day,the mood shifting from congenial to dangerous as we come to know the residents of a Brooklyn neighborhood and their prejudices(both black and white). It's hard to pass judgment on what happens(which includes the infamous riot scenes that bring forth the climax of the film's 129 minute running time),but we do learn valuable lessons on how a restaurant's "Wall Of Fame"(where the wall includes pictures of Italians ranging from Frank Sinatra to Al Pacino and Robert De Niro where the character of Bugging Out asks the Pizzeria owner Sal as to why aren't there any blacks on the wall?" And Sal replies:"Once you get your own business going,then you can put whatever you want on your own wall.
This is my store,and you don't come in here and tell me how to fucking run it.")reflects its neighborhood's demographics,how not to respond to an overly loud boombox and the dangers of curbside trash collection,not to mention dealing with the overly trigger happy cops and lowlifes that surround the neighborhood. The large cast of actors make up for this brilliant study of race relations and the like which includes not only its producer-director-star Spike Lee,but has Danny Aiello(Sal);John Turturro (Pino),Rosie Perez(Tina),Ossie Davis(Da Mayor),Ruby Dee(Mother Sister),Ginacarlo Esposito(Buggin Out),Samuel L .Jackson(Radio DJ Senor Love Daddy),Bill Nunn(Radio Raheem),and Richard Edson(Vito),along with Martin Lawrence,Tisha Campbell,and Joie Lee(Spike's sister). "Do The Right Thing" is one of those rare films which manages to provoke those disparte
passionate responses while being an entertainment masterpiece that is one of Spike Lee's best works.

The novel that earned Harper Lee the 1961 Pulitizer Prize for Literature,becomes one of the greatest American films ever made. "To Kill A Mockingbird" stands out as one as the apex of 1960's cinema and it shows this in fine detail. Based on the 1960 novel of the same title,it is the story of widowed attorney and legislator Atticus Finch(played brilliantly to perfection by the great Gregory Peck,who won the 1962 Oscar for Best Actor)who must defend Tom Robinson(Brock Peters),an African-American falsely accused of rape and assault. The story is set in fictional 1930's Maycomb County,Alabama,during the time of segregation and during the era of the Jim Crow South,where blacks endure pure hell and suffering within the deep South,especially in Alabama was "hell on earth."

Atticus has no illusions about the struggle he takes on. He tells his son Jem
(Phillip Alford),"In our courts,when it's a white man's word against a black man's,the white man always wins. They're ugly,but those are the facts of life." Atticus takes the case anyway,because "if I didn't I couldn't hold up my head in town," he tells his daughter Scout(Mary Badham who gives one of the most electrifying performances ever from a child actor). Atticus,with the help of Calpurnia,an African-American,is raising his son Jem and his daughter Scout. The story is told through the eyes of Scout(and also from the narration by actress Kim Hunter)who gives the audiences observations not only about race relations,but Southern notions of decorum and class distinctions. The trial of Tom Robinson and its consequences become the central events in the film while its gives us a grand perspective of young Scout's growing and understanding of the adult world,especially in the time of the violence and hatred in the Jim Crow South of the 1930's. Directed by Robert Mulligan and Produced by Alan J. Pakula,this movie was one of the biggest boxoffice hits of 1962,it which won two Academy Awards..one for Best Actor Oscar to Gregory Peck,and the other won for Horton Foote,the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. It has become a staple in movie history not only for the riveting storyline,but for also film composer Elmer Bernstein's Oscar-nominated theme score. Suggusted For Mature Audiences.

2009 will be fondly remembered,at least in part,as the year American cinema finally turned its gaze on a near decade of warfare in the Middle East. The films of 2009,"Brothers",and "The Hurt Locker" were excellent in the handling of the subject matter,but Oren Moverman's "The Messenger",is the most unique,most important of all,and the best film of the year.

Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery(Ben Foster)is a veteran returned from Iraq.
A supposed act of heroism earned him a shrapnel in his left eye and a trio home,where he is assigned to the Casuality Notification Service with Captain Tony Stone(Woody Harrelson,one of Hollywood's most underrated actors who received the Oscar nomination for Best Actor). In the CNS,Will has the burden of delivering the news to the families of dead soldiers,a task all the more difficult because of his strict instructions not to mince words,touch the bereaved or generally act like a sympathetic human at all. These are door-to-door "angels of death", a role that Foster nails with his stone-cold face and priceless grimace. The knock on the door brings utter dread,as Will finds pregnant girlfriends and their wailing mothers inside. These are agonizing moments in front of every house,and each confrontation brings fresh pain. It just never gets easier. Not emotionally,at least.

What sets "The Messenger" apart from "The Hurt Locker" is not only the incredible,naturalistic acting from Foster and Harrelson as well as Samantha Morton,and Steve Buscemi not to mention superb acting from Jena Malone and Eamonn Walker,but also for the incredible relvance for civilian audiences. The characters in this movie suffer from a different kind of maladjustment than the strictly psychological that we see in other movies on the Iraq War. Will and Stone are not special head cases;they're normal soldiers who have lost touch with their emotions. In the first scene, a doctor drops dilating fluid in Will's eye,and like contagious yawns,we blink with him.
It's a reflex test of our sympathies,and it translates later on into our ability to identify with other people and their struggles. It's an affecting moment that sets the tone for the rest of this stirring movie.

One of the best films of 1974. A brilliant portrayal of murder,greed and incest in 1940's Los Angeles. It was this movie that cemented Jack Nicholson's status as a superstar actor of his time. And it shows in the 11 Oscar nominations it received and won 3 for Best Screenplay(Robert Towne),and Best Musical Score(Jerry Goldsmith).

A Soul Cinema Classic from the golden age of the 1970's. Director Jonathan Kaplan first and only attempt into making a blaxploitation flick that became AIP's biggest moneymaker of that year. Not only the movie was great,but the soundtrack to this is incredible! Watching the great Issac Hayes(who won the Oscar in 1971 for his Musical Theme to Shaft) as Truck Turner who is a modern day bounty hunter taking out the baddies including the ultimate showdown with Yaphet Kotto is well worth viewing not to even mention the grindhouse performance of Nichelle "Uhara" Nichols as a sadistic evil female pimp(who wants to get her revenge against Truck Turner) who acting chops goes to anything beyond the dimension of Star Trek(and as far away from the Uhara character as she could get). "Truck Turner" was one of two action-packed films that were HUGE moneymaker for American International when it was released in 1974. The other AIP moneymaker? "Foxy Brown" which came out in the summer of that year.

A Blaxploitation classic. Watching Ron O'Neal in the title character was poetry in motion,not to mention that classic Curtis Mayfield's Grammy winning soundtrack.

The original. Nothing like it.

Richard Roundtree rules. Not to even mention the Oscar winning theme from Issac Hayes.

This was the movie that cemented Pam Grier as one the top female action superstars of the 1970's. And the movie
"Foxy Brown" is one of them. One kick ass flick and one bad-ass sista that is NOT to mess with! Classic! The theme song from Wille Hutch is among the best.

Another one of these movies where the cougar lands the prey? Another storyline in the nonsense which perpetuates the pervasive,insidious fear that white harlots are laying in wait to lure away successful black men. We have seen this formula numerous times with the same tired ass line. The key difference is that "Obsessed" is a really,really,I mean really bad movie.
Brokerage firm VP Derek(The Wire's Idris Elba)finds himself the target of the advances of a slinky "stanky" cougar/stalking-man hunting blond temp Lisa(Ali Larter of TV's Friends and also of the Eve TV series),much to the eventual chargin of Derek's wife,Sharon(Beyonce Knowles,in a non-musical role). Yes,this is the umpteenth dozen retread of Fatal Attraction not to mention a dozen other movies that have followed the same exact formula. The difference is that while Adrian Lyne's cult-classic from the 80's shrewdly contrasts a slattern's insanity with a bedswerver's immorality. Derek's fidelity and nobility are not really called into question beside of being the all-day sucker to this sluts advances where as the token brother(with a devoted wife and child)can't see the light.

Absent any overt enticement,we are never clear why Lisa infatulates over him other than he gets to be too nice,while she is a psychopatic deranged individual. Any attempt at in-depth analysis notwithstanding,"Obsessed" is simply a poor constructed and poorly directed film that should have been directed to either video or making a point for the Lifetime Movie Network crowd. This is a movie that is replete with ridicious dialogue while being laughably cartoonish while watching Beyonce Knowles act her way into the league of the Halle Berry/Jennifer Aniston Bad Film Society.

This should have went straight to video since it had been better if flew right off the shelves at your local Blockbuster. But to go to the movies and pay over $8.00 to see this mess is not worth the time nor the effort. This was a B-movie with an A-list cast starring Bruce Willis and Halle Berry. Even the product placements that appeared in this movie like Victoria's Secret,Reebok,and Heineken Beer get the star power treatment. Let's face it,Halle Berry has been down a spiral since her Oscar winning turn in 2001's Monster's Ball and from there its crap and this is probably the worst Berry flick since the disasterous Catwoman(remember that movie with Sharon Stone?). Bruce Willis can't even save this movie,let alone act in it. The plot becomes convoluted and confusing,rendering of a sexual shockfest that is becoming one of the worst films of 2007 and it shows. Could have done a whole lot better on video than here at the cimema.

Best action flick I have seen the whole summer. It makes "Click" look like shit from the street. Believe me,this movie is wall to wall action.

Directed by Martin Ritt,"the Spy Who Came In From The Cold" is an adaption of John Le Carre's best selling novel about a reluctant British double agent,offers effectively restrained performance by Richard Burton in the title role;Claire Bloom,as an idealistic British communist who becomes the spy's lover during his undercover operation;and Oskar Werner as an East German interrogator. The drab cold war atmosphere is deftly evoked by Oswald Morris's elemental black-and-white photography and the cramped sets designed by Tambi Larsen and Hal Pereira. But Martin Ritt's film means less without its popular foil. Released in 1965,as the same year "The Ipcress File",and the 007 thriller "Thunderball",the fourth of the phenomenally successful James Bond films starring Sean Connery,"the Spy Who Came In The Cold" consistently positions itself as a rebuke to the glamourous,action movie ethos of the Bond films:no fancy gadgets or bikini-clad beauties here,only a pinched and dingy universe in which the moral compass spins without direction.
If Ritt has a limtation as a director,it is his tendency to use drama to demonstrate,to turn his characters into masterpieces for the moral and political values he wants to compare and contrast. For a film about ambiguity-do the actions of Burton's character make him a hero or a dupe or a man who just froze up during his mission. Of one of the most interesting films of the mid-1960's,"The Man Who Came In From The Cold" ultimately seems pat and predictable but well done.

"Raymond Shaw is the kindest,bravest,warmest,most wonderful human being I've ever known in my life." Strange,thrilling and at times hilarious,there's never quite been a top notch thriller like 1962's "The Manchurian Candidate".....not even the 2004 remake with Denzel Washington doesn't even come close. At the height of its 1962 theatrical release,the film was hugely controversial at the time;rumors have long circulated that star-producer Frank Sinatra had it withdrawn from circulation for years because of its subsequent echoes of the Kennedy assassination.
But it wasn't until 1987,when Sinatra had it reinstated back in theatres giving it a newly restored print and to have audiences see it for the first time since it was theatrically released in 1962. The unfortunate Raymond Shaw(Laurence Harvey),is a loner who arrives home in the U.S. a hero after being captured by the Koreans...though his fellow soldier Bennett Marco(Frank Sinatra)can't help but feel something's up. The witty screenplay by George Axelrod contains dozens of quotable lines while John Frankenheimer's direction creates a wonderfully tense yet surreal tone,including a hallucinated flashback involving mad scientists and multiple garden parties and one of the most nail-biting climaxes in cinema. Not to mention Angela Lansbury as Raymond's sadistic evil-intent mom. Weirdly,though this film is a product of the Cold War and infinitely more powerful political thriller than what passes for thrillers today,the original still stands.

When into production and was completed in either 1979 or 1980,the sequel to the runaway boxoffice independent action flick of 1974 wasn't released in the United States until 1982. In 1974,writer-producer-director H.B Halicki set the record for the longest car chase in cinema history,"Gone in 60 Seconds"(34 minutes out of its original 105 minute running time),also made boxoffice history as well where a total of 93 cars were wrecked during the filming of this successful low budget classic. The 1974 independently made film remains right up there with "Bullitt","Vanishing Point",and "The French Connection",as one of the greatest car chase movies ever made.
The 1982 sequel "Gone In 60 Seconds II:The Junkman",or "Grand Theft Entertainment",had more incredible car chase scenes packed and more cars were wrecked into its 99 minute running time. Eight years from the original,this gave Halicki a bigger budget to work with here,and also managed to land a major studio deal. Whilst boasting a couple of some of the greatest auto stunts ever filmed,including one spectacular scene of a car flying over a plane,the film doesn't have the intensity or the rawness of the original that made it a unique experience. And to boost the intensity to the sequel,Halicki and company managed to add Christopher Stone,Hoyt Axton,Freddie Cannon, and even Lynda Day George onto the casting. The storyline here finds Halicki being pursued by two hitmen and one slinky megacool hitwoman with designer handguns. Most of the car chases are obviously deliberate,and lack the spontaneity of the 1974 film. However,the most exciting scene in this film where Halicki tosses a live grenade over his head to the guy behind him that blasts the Chevy right over Halicki's Caddy is the one that watch for that is the most astounding action sequence ever filmed. I've never seen a better action movie like this,but its over the top.

Believe me when I tell you this...the 2000 version with Angelina Jolie and Nicholas Cage doesn't even come close. The 2000 remake of this was a piece of CGI garbage compared to the original from 1974. The original movie "Gone in 60 Seconds" is an amazing ode to the American muscle car and an era of filmmaking that is long since past. The stunts in this movie were real and during the filming of this some people were seriously injured and almost killed during the making of this movie. And speaking of its infamous chase scene,"Gone in 60 Seconds" ranks right up there with "Bullitt",and "The French Connection" as one of the greatest car chase movies ever made. This movie contains something that the remake doesn't,ACTUAL CAR CHASES. The stunts in this movie were 100% real,and a good majority of the scenes were UNSCRIPTED where H.B. Halicki did not only the producing and directing,but did his own stunt driving in this movie in which 95% of the actors along with the local police,paramedics,and pedestrians that were REALLY running for their very lives. The most infamous scene was the car chase through the streets of the city where a total of 93 cars were destroyed during the making of it. Some of the auto stunts(including Halicki's driving scenes)were nothing short of amazing where the entire second half of the film(which is 45 minutes long)is devoted to one single car chase. The climax of the film is a brilliant car chase through the city between a suped-up 1973 Mustang(driven by Halicki) and every cop and state trooper in hot pursuit. Nothing short of amazing. "Gone in 60 Seconds" did not have a major film studio backing in,since it was produced independently,and went on to become a HUGE boxoffice hit that was a success within the drive-in theatre crowd.

The one that started it all. Released around Independence Day week in July of 1985,the film broke all sorts of box-office records when it opened,rejuvenated the action-comedy genre and launched the careers of not only Michael J. Fox(this was the movie that made a huge megastar), Crispin Glover,and Lea Thompson,but also director Robert Zemeckis and of course Huey Lewis, whose two songs for the film "Get Back In Time" and "Power of Love" were Oscar nominated but won Huey Lewis the Grammy that year. Watching this again after 25 years, its incredible how fresh and funny it remains to this day. Fox really carries the film with his likable charm while playing it straight,earning laughs by simply reacting to the characters around him. The first one was a huge successful,but the last two installments were not as good as the original.

The thrill ride of the summer. This is to let you know that the Joker is more than wild which brings the testament of Heath Ledger's performance in the second prequel to Batman. Only this time around,Ledger does this with more style and pure evil than Jack Nicholson or even Cesar Romero ever did. "The Dark Knight" brings to light the rattled and transfixation of the character's diabolical menace,blocking out thoughts of the actor's untimely death. It's a career making portrayal and a sadly a career-making one as well. To go from the tacitrum ranch hand in "Brokeback Mountain" to the embodiment of comic-book evil is a stunning trajectory. With his cracked white-pancake makeup,smeared lipstick and greasy hair,the Joker bears no resemblance to the actor that plays him but in fact,the character is like nothing we've seen or heard before. There is however a hint of Malcolm McDowell in "A Clockwork Orange",but Ledger has made this maniac his own singularly unhinged villain. From the repellent way he darts his tongue around to his sneering,nasal voice,he is a peerless eccentric.

Though this is clearly Ledger's movie,that does not diminish the accomplishments of other key cast members. Just as he was in "Batman Begins",Christian Bale is a suave Bruce Wayne and a heroic caped crusader defending Gotham City from the forces of evil.
Gary Oldman is excellent in the returning role as police Lt. Gordon.while Maggie Gyllenhaul replaces Katie Holmes,adding more depth to her character than Holmes ever did in the last installment. Even Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman lend terrific support while Aaron Eckhart is brilliant as disrict attorney Harvey Dent(the man who will transform later on in the prequel series as Batman arch nemesis Two Face).

Again,director and screenwriter Christoper Nolan has crafted "The Dark Knight" into a thrilling,morally,complex and masterfully entertaining piece of a summer blockbuster and it works or all levels. Though it clocks in at 154 minutes,the film is tautly edited with an economy of great storytelling(which goes heavily by the origins of the DC Comics Book and the comic graphic novels). The action scenes are worth the price of admission and they include amazing feats of technical virtuousity. Nolan has done it again and this time brings this second installment as one of the darkest ever in the series. It has the requisite jolts and twists. But it surprises in profound ways and gives us a
maliciously witty villain who gives a performance that is out of the ordinary.

The stars of "Three The Hard Way" return for a hard-hitting non stop action.
A classic twist of the Hollywood western with the world of blaxploitation. Jim Brown,Fred Williamson and Jim Kelly are riders along with Lee Van Cleef and Catherine Spaak on their quest for Mexican gold. It's Three The Hard Way in the Old West. Not bad for a western that live up to its title when it was released in 1975. Released thru 20th Century Fox.

It just goes to show that when it comes to Hollywood heavies,not one of them is strudy and weathered like Harrison Ford who proves to be as worthy as any 65-year old could be,and the other elements of this Spielburg-Lucas blockbuster franchise remains recognizably intact....even after some 20 years. This is however the first "Indy" film in 19 years and it shows in the thrill ride of the summer. Set in 1957,the year of the Cold War and Communism,the fourth installment to the "Indiana Jones" series with producer George Lucas and director Steven Spielburg at the helm along with producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall with a dynamic screenplay by David Koepp(the writer for Jurassic Park)and musical arranger John Williams,this sequel emcompasses all the elements needed and to bring Harrison Ford back as the two fisted swashbuckling archeologist is a welcome change.

"Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" bring Dr. Jones to the late 1950's where our hero(who has aged) encompasses atomic blasts,sadistic commies,federal agents,blacklisting(from Marshall College),not to mention the Roswell incident,the South American jungles of Peru and Brazil,the usual f/x blizzard and the element of surprise not to mention dealing with a deadly and dangerous foe...this time around dealing with evil Russians(Cate Blanchett)in the quest for the crystal skull. Also to point out this film pays a great tribute to the science fiction/horror/adventure films of the 1950's with references to several Spielburg films(does "E.T." and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" come to mind and his previous remake of "The War of the Worlds"). The cast includes the return of Karen Allen(from the first "Raiders of the Lost Ark" film a welcome sight)along with Shia LaBeouf, John Hurt, Ray Winstone and Jim Broadbent along with the usual cliffhanging suspense and non-stop action and thrills that make this the movie to see this summer. Spielburg and Lucas have done it again,and then some.

Anton Furst's brooding sets and Tim Burton's sardonic direction help bring to life the legendary Caped Crusader from the pages of DC Comics onto the big screen which became upon its release one of the highest grossing films of 1989. The film itself was a runaway boxoffice blockbuster that spawned numerous sequels,but the original from the late 1980's is still regarded as one of the best from that genre.

In the first entry of the comtemporary film series,Gotham City's Dark Knight
(Michael Keaton) finds himself grappling with his most dangerous and deadliest foe....his arch-nemesis,the sadistic and uncanny clown-faced villain,The Joker(played to absolute perfection by Jack Nicholson). With the casting of Kim Basinger(Vicki Vale),Pat Hingle(Commissioner Gordon),Michael Gough(Alfred),along with Billy Dee Williams and Jack Palance,it was no wonder that "Batman" was the film to see back in 1989.
It also featured the Oscar winning score from composer Danny Elfman and the music from one of the biggest acts of the 80's....PRINCE

Arguably,the greatest installment to a comic book sequel ever made. This second chapter in the "Spidey" trilogy is more darker and sinister and perhaps gives some of the greatest action sequences ever assembled..in other words director Sam Raimi gives the fans what they asked for and then some. In the second installment, a brilliant scientist(Alfred Molina)loses control of his lastest experiment and turns into the maniacal Doctor Octopus(one of Spidey's deadiest foes),and blames Spider-Man for his tragic failure. On the other side of the coin,Peter Parker(Tobey Maguire) cops with his superhero status while at the same time going through the motions as a college student and dealing with the love of his life,Mary Jane(Kristen Dunst). This is possibly the best ever based on a Marvel Comic Book that is rich in emotion as well as spectacular action sequences and fantastic special effects that was far more superior than the first installment. Herald as the best Spider-Man sequel ever

Who would have thought that actor-producer-creator and director Mike Judge (of "Beavis and Butthead",and for the long-running animated television series "King of the Hill")crank out a movie based on the satire of the workplace that became one of the biggest hits of the 1990's? It didn't do well when it came out in the theatres in 1999,but through the use of the internet and cable,it has become a cult classic. Believe me,how many times had you seen this movie and from there can quote classic lines like "I'm going to set the building on fire",or "Excuse me,I believe you have my stapler",or "I might be showing her my 'oh' face",or the beloved classic line
"Somebody's got a case of the Mondays," And the hilarious scenes where they tear up the fax machine and other goodies. And the cast of characters that made this movie great...from Gary Cole as the sleazeball and major asshole of a manager from the depths of pure hell,to Deidrich Bader, Ajay Naidu, Jennifer Aniston,Ron Livingston,David Herman, Alexandra Wentworth,and Orlando Jones. This was a movie that was for anyone whoever work in an office complex and deal with characters that were incompetent(management)on a daily basis. A Must See!!!

One of the first early gigs featuring Louis Gossett,Jr,this movie was Hal Ashby's directorial debut and it became one of the top ten films of 1970 and for a very good reason. This was also produced by Norman Jewison who also served as executive producer. This was a film that starred Beau Bridges in a excellent performance as a young man who buys a condemned building in a black ghetto in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn. The fine cast includes Lee Grant,the great Diana Sands,and also the dramatic debut of the great Pearl Bailey. With some great music from The Staple Singers makes this a joy to watch.

Probably the greatest of the Doris Day-Rock Hudson comedies and when this came out in 1964,this was to be considered the last of great comedies of the 1960's that starred Doris Day and Rock Hudson. Hilarious hijinks ensumes with Tony Randall,Edward Andrews and the great Paul Lynde. Clint Walker also stars.

Special effects wunderkind and genre master Bryon Haskin(who is mostly known for his work in the 1953 science-fiction classic War Of The Worlds and for the 1960's television series The Outer Limits among others)won a place in the hearts of fantasy film lovers everywhere with this gorgeously designed journey into the unknown in this innovative retelling of Daniel Defoe's classic story. The story involves when a intrepid adventurer aboard a spaceship crashes on the barren wastelands of Mars. United States astronaut commander "Kit" Draper(Paul Mantee) must fight for survival with a pet monkey in tow as his only companion and a runaway slave from an exotic planet. Is he alone? All three survivers must use their ingenuity and resources in order to stay alive on a hostile planet. Released in 1964,this imaginative and dazzling beloved techni-marvel of classic science fiction was Oscar nominated in 1964 for Best Special Effects. Presented in astounding widescreen Techniscope and Technicolor this classic also stars Adam West(the former TV's Batman),and Victor Lundin(as Friday). Running Time of 106 minutes.

One of the greatest war movies to ever come out of the 1970's. Directed with finesse and class by the great Francis Ford Coppula based on the novel of Joesph Conrad's Hearts Of Darkness.

One of the great erotic thrillers of the 1990's is among Jag Mundhra's best work. This 1992 soft-core classic,which went straight to video and cable when it was released,concerns a fairly interesting plot has actress Lee Ann Beaman in the lead role as an journalist trying to uncover something big against the mob and starts discovering information about her and her husband's lover(Jenna Persaud). Not only does she discover information about her husband's lover,but discovers her own past as a teenager that has put a strain on her marriage. For readers of Penthouse magazine who remembers centerfold Jenna Persaud,a dark beauty of Middle Eastern decent brought a welcome splash of color to that magazine's pages in several layouts during the 1980's and early 1990's. There are two versions of this movie that are around and its only available through VHS. This is a crying shame that this movie is not even available on DVD,but it needs to be.
There is the "R" rated version,and there is the "Unrated" version. The scene where the two female leads get together is one of the steamiest lesbian love scenes ever filmed and among the best of its kind of its genre(and its only available in the "Unrated" version,along with the other lesbian sex scene where Lee Ann Beaman's character as a teenager catches her own mom making out with her lover which is artisty within itself). While the "R' rated version(which was shown once during Cinemax's Friday After Dark catalog of erotic films of the 1980's and 1990's)runs a mere 92 minutes,its best to get if it is available the "Unrated" version which has extended scenes that are not included in the "R" rated version. A must see,if you want to see two of the prettiest "B" movie girls of the 1990's together in one picture that also stars Sam Jones(Flash Gordon), Adrian Zmed(T.J. Hooker Fame),and Bill Bradshaw

Why is it that producers are continously making computer animated characters based on classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons? "Yogi Bear" is the latest failure to become the latest part disaster of live-action/animation
spectacle to feature classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon characters.

FROM THE VAULTS OF CLASSIC CHILDREN'S MOVIES:
Comes the 1968 comedy-adventure musical "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". Dick Van Dyke(who was Oscar nominated for Best Actor for Walt Disney's Mary Poppins)re-unites with musical composers Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman for this huge big budget spectacle that was produced by Harry Saltzman and Albert R. Broccoli(of the James Bond 007 movies),and based on a series of children's books by Ian Fleming(who was also the author of the James Bond novels),while literary giant Roald Dahl wrote the screenplay. Need more convincing? The film combines annoyingly catchy tunes(including its theme song,along with classic standards like "Truly Scrumptious","Too Sweets", and "Hushabye Mountain")tweety sweets,and a magical mysterious car that guides Professor Potts(Dick Van Dyke),his children and lady companion(Sally Ann Howes)on exciting fairy tale adventures set in Victorian England. Check out the star-studded cast ranging from Gert Forbe, Lionel Jeffries, Anna Quayle, Robert Helpmann(THE CHILD CATCHER!),and the hilarious British comedian Benny Hill. Not to mention this was a star studded spectacle presented in full Super Panavision 70MM and Technicolor with a running time of over 153 minutes.

Gene Hackman as Popeye Doyle. What more can I say? No wonder its one of AFI's top 100 movies of all time and the result was five Oscars including Best Picture,Best Adapted Screenplay,and Best Actor of 1971. This was the movie that cemented Gene Hackman's career as one of the great action stars of the 1970's. This gritty hard-boiled crime thriller remains to this day one of the great cop dramas of the 1970's.
Even after 40 years,its still holds up to the title. The coolest car chase in screen history through the mean streets of Brooklyn is one of cinema's all-time great car chase sequences.
This movie became one of the top-ten highest grossing films of 1971,and it was so successful for 20th Century-Fox,that in 1975 had a sequel "French Connection II",and a spin-off which was another hard-boiled cop thriller of the early 1970's "The Seven-Ups",that came out in 1973.

Charles Burnett's "Kiiler Of Sheep" slid into the world between two popular waves of Black American cinema,the "blaxploitation" period of the early to mid-1970's,and the Spike Lee-led charge of revitalization of the Black Cinema renaissance during the 1980's and 1990's,"Killer of Sheep" fits in neither camp,being both daring and more quietly revolutionary than anything before those era,and it is one of those quality heartwarming black dramas of the 1970's right up there with "Sounder"(1972),and "Claudine"(1974),not to mention another heartwarming black family drama "Cornbread,Earl and Me"(1975).

Writer-Producer-Director Burnett anchored his exploration of black American,inner-city life on the story of Stan(Henry G. Sanders),a quiet,unexceptional man who works in a slaughterhouse to support his young family. They live in present day,circa 1977, Watts, California which is a section of South Central Los Angeles, when urban struggle wasn't yet synonymous with the soul-crushing despair of drugs,drive-by shootings,and a unbreakable cycle of poverty. Although the bloody,backbreaking work that Stan does is what gives the film its title(a title that honors the fact the he does an honest day's work without complaint)the real thrust of the picture is in it's nostalgia for a kind of innocent that was already fading by the time the film was made in 1977,at the height of the blaxploitation era(which this film is nowhere in between that). in which in the celebration of it's characters. Scenes of children playing in worn-down front yards,making toys or finding any object whenever they can;a picnic is planned,and the plan goes astray on real-life terms;Stan crawls underneath a kitchen sink to fix a broken pipe while the camera lingers on his soft,curled body, In all,"Killer of Sheep" sounds so unremarkable,but its simplicity that the film gives throughout. Filmed on location in South Central Los Angeles in the section of Watts,and shot on a low budget in black and white and was released through an small independent company upon its release in 1977,"Killer of Sheep" is astounding for being one of the few American films in which black characters are not metaphors for something or someone else. They're not simply variation of stereotype,or merely passive victims of or snarling reactors to racism,class struggle,or the crush of American life. Burnett's camera pierces behind facades and public personas of American black ness to show the human beings beneath them, He paces the film leisurely so that we linger on faces and expressions. He captures imtimacy-between husband and wife,parent and child,and friends-with a documentarian's skill,so we feel as if we are privy to secrets,to sides of a black self that are not often displayed in cinema. And these sides are not often displayed. So much film that is about African-Americans is filtered through both a horrible real life history and an insidiously racist film industry that what is produced more often than not is ciphers with attitude who swagger,make wisecracks,
and gun blast(or murder)through one contrived scene after another(and the industry stills act this way even today). At a running time of 83 minutes in length,Burnett shows the pace of the film,peels back layers,creates settings that are purposefully banal,and illuminates the spirit behind the flesh and bone, He doesn't try to dazzle you or overwhelm the viewer,but he gives you a chance to question all that you have seen or heard about blackness and the African-American experience that forces you to see and hear a new perspective on this in a whole new light.

Diana Ross should have won the Oscar for her brilliant portrayal of jazz legend Billie Holliday in a riveting performance produced by Motown legend Berry Gordy along with Suzanne DePasse and directed by Sidney J. Furie.
The screen chemistry between Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams is a moment of cinematic bliss. Nominated for an impressive ten Oscars including Best Picture,Best Director and Best Actress for Diana Ross who for the first time became the second African-American actress since Dorothy Dandridge to be nominated for the Oscar. In short,an impressive array for great filmmaking with some electrifying performances for Diana Ross herself. Along with Billy Dee Williams, Richard Pryor, Sid Melton, Adolph Caesar and Scatman Crothers,and Virginia Capers. "Lady Sings The Blues" is celebrating it's 40th Anniversary.

Originally Released: October 12, 1972

Running Time: 145 minutes. MPAA Rating: R

Second helping of the Universal produced romantic comedies of the 1960's,pairing again Rock Hudson and Doris Day in the follow up to the scrubbed-clean,but highly successful 1959 comedy "Pillow Talk". In this outing titled "Lover Come Back",Rock Hudson plays macho advertising executive Jerry Webster,who has succeeded in business without really trying,preferring to show other executives a good time on the order in order to climb the corporate ladder. Doris Day's character Carol Templeton is a straight arrow;she hasn;t met Jerry in the flesh,but really hates him by reputation. Mistaken identity and outrageous hijinks ensue. And when a client's candy samples turn out to have the effect of a triple martini,Jerry and Carol do more than talk on their pillows. Day's canary voice delivers the title track during the opening credits and unexpectedly breaks into "Should I Surrender?" to mull over her ambivalent feelings for Jerry once she figures out that he's such a cad,but however handsome. The 1961 Oscar winner for Best Screenplay(written by Paul Henning and Stanley Shapiro),this was one of Universal's biggest theatrical hits when it came out around Christmas of 1961,becoming one of the top ten highest grossing films of that year. Not only Doris Day and Rock Hudson bring on the laughs,but with Tony Randall and Edie Adams. Several stars on board here including some famiilar names most of known for their television work including Ann B. Davis, along with Joe Flynn, Jack Albertson, Jack Kruschen, Jack Oakie,and the movie debut of a young Donna Douglas(the future Elly May Clampett of the Beverly Hillbillies that was by the way created-written and produced by Paul Henning).

No wonder this was the movie of 2011.

Nominated for an impressive 10 Oscars including Best Picture,Best Actor(Dujardin),Best Supporting Actress(Bejo),Best Director and Best Original Screenplay(Michel Hazanavicus),the movie event of the 2011 "The Artist" displays a wonderfully antiqauted French-bohemian sentiment. The title aptly and immediately emphasizes the true artisty of the cinema,something that hasn't happened in a long time. In fact,the quietness of the film is also the point. "The Artist" is a modern silent,black and white spectacle that is something to behold. The 'silence' is striking,but to be clear you will not sit in the theater listening to people cough while the grayscale people on screen gesture wildly and emphatically. The music for this film by Ludovic Bource and recorded by the Royal Philaharmonic Orchestra conveys what the characters audibly or not. Occassionally,at particular comical or complicated points,a text comes on screen to explain the dialogue. But mostly is the 'silence' is riveting,because it allows us to see the movie. It's a difference between watching a movie and observing the art.

The film also tells the story of the movie industry's evolution away from the silent movie. George Valentin(Jean Dujardin) is the heartthrob and epicenter of the glamorous world of cinema in 1927 Hollywood. He is a commanding presence for any successful movie of the time-including Peppy Miller(Berenice Bujo). Peppy,as it turns out,is an aspiring actress herself,who has already lived in adoring fascination of George,and this only increases as she gets to know him on a personal level. The film industry is on the throes of change. People want words they can hear with the pictures,not words they can only imagine or see in the pictures. Little by little,Peppy's modern appeal and openness to change blossoms into a career that begins to eclipse that of the increasingly archic George Valentin. George refuses to accept change or perhaps he cannot find his place there,but either way,a downward spiral ensues. But a true artist should move with their art and with the times,shouldn't they?

That's the question the film seeks to answer in both the plot,and on a meta-level as it toys with it's own medium. There is one jarring moment when Dujardin sets his glasses down on the dressing table-and you can hear it. Unless you sat through the previous 30 minutes,it's hard to convey how exceptional this moment seems. The actors give outstanding performances with a exceptional supporting cast that includes John Goodman, James Cromwell, Penelope Ann Miller, Missi Pyle, Malcolm McDowell and Ed Lauter. Even for a modern audience the film is not ridicious to watch. The laughter of the audience was frequent unforced and easy. The drama on screen was engaging and pulled you in the more it progressed. As a show,the film benefits from being viewed with an audience opposed to a small screen with a solo couch audience. There is more feeling and emotion,but there is a consolidation that you haven't been roped in by the novelty of black-and-white or silent action. The enjoyment of "The Artist" is real and palpable. The film upon it's release has received critical acclaim in festivals in both the English and French speaking world,perhaps because,at the end of the day,the language barrier is not so present. There's no denying that despite the silence,and perhaps because of it,the film turned heads and astound those who went to see it. Out of the 10 Oscar nominations that it deserved,the film was victorious in five of it's nominations winning for Best Picture, Best Director,Best Actor and Best Musical Score among others. "The Artist" will go down as a bonafide classic and it has becoming the first black-and-white motion picture to win the Best Picture category since Steven Spielburg's "Schindler's List" in 1993. And also the first black-and-white silent movie to win the Oscar for Best Picture since "Wings" in 1927. The first true "silent" film to come along in 85 years,and "The Artist" was that movie. Five Stars.

This was Cecil B.De Mille's last theatrical feature,with a running time of nearly four hours(basically the running time of 3 hours and 40 minutes which includes the opening overture,intermission, and exit music),this stunning and most extravagant blockbuster is full of absurdities and vulgarities,but in all aspects this star-studded widescreen Vista Vision and Technicolor spectacle is ravishing,and De Mille's form of showmanship,which includes his own narration,never falters. Charlton Heston might be said to achieve his apotheosis as Moses-unless one decides that it's Moses who's achieving his apotheosis as Heston-and most of the other in the star-studded epic which is based on the Holy Scriptures are comparably mythic. Simultaneously ludicrous and splendid,this epic is driven by the sort of personal conviction one almost never finds is subsequent Hollywood monoliths. The scenes with includes the parting of the Red Sea is one of the best special effects ever made. With its all-star cast that includes Yul Brenner(Rameses), Anne Baxter(Nefertiri), with Yvonne De Carlo(Sephora), Debra Paget(Lilia), John Derek(Joshua),
Edward G. Robinson(Dathan), Cedric Hardwicke(Sethi), Nina Foch(Bithiah),
Martha Scott(Yochabel). The film was nominated for an impressive Nine Oscars including Best Picture and Best Director(but lost the Best Picture Oscar to "Around The World in 80 Days"),and won the Oscar for Best Special Effects(John P. Fulton,with some of the effects coming from the Disney studios). If you want to see "The Ten Commandments",my advice is not to see this on television(since seeing it on TV around Easter time doesn't do any justice,or for that manner seeing it on DVD),but see this movie the way it was suppose to be seen.....in a movie theater equipped with full 70MM projection and experience it in full six-track stereophonic sound.

Let's hope that it stays true to the original. I heard some of the cast members from the original series from the mid-1960's make cameo appearances here,one of them will be Jonathan Frid(aka the original Barnabas Collins from the mid-1960's TV show). Produced by Dan Curtis and Directed by Tim Burton? This I gotta see for myself. For those who weren't even around when "Dark Shadows" was the cult hit of the era(I was during my youth in the early 1970's when this show was in repeats weekday afternoons on ABC),the show was something to see. A daytime soap full of vampires, witches, the supernatural, zombies,and werewolves not to mention "voodoo" were the order of the day back in the mid-1960's when "Dark Shadows" became the surprise hit for ABC's Daytime Schedule from 1966 to 1971.