When 10 Cloverfield Lane opened in theaters in early March, the buzz had been around for a couple of months since the trailer dropped in early January 2016. How did this movie fly under the radar? John Goodman and Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who was rising along with John Gallager Jr., were in the cast. ItContinue reading “’10 Cloverfield Lane’ Isn’t Your Average Home Sweet Home”
Category Archives: Flashback Friday Frights
‘Cursed’ Is Just That
In theatre, it’s considered bad luck to say the name of the play MacBeth. I also think it’s bad luck to use certain words or phrases in a movie or TV show. Rumor has it that the filmmakers behind In the Line of Fire tried to turn “That’s not gonna happen” spoken by Clint Eastwood’sContinue reading “‘Cursed’ Is Just That”
‘Blue Velvet’ Is Chilling Look At Horrors Of Small-Town America We Ignore
With the second part of Dune scheduled for theaters on March 1, it’s hard to believe that someone thought an avant-garde director like David Lynch could make a worthy movie that would appeal to the masses and loyal fans. Denis Villeneuve has more of the abilities to do this. The failure of the movie promptedContinue reading “‘Blue Velvet’ Is Chilling Look At Horrors Of Small-Town America We Ignore”
‘Footloose’ At 40: Still Too Outrageous To Be Enjoyed
Footloose was released 40 years ago today. And I have never been able to sit through it. I remember my mom rented it for us to watch one evening and then we all got bored during the chicken race scene with the tractors. I was more fascinated by how Kevin Bacon’s Ren McCormack had theContinue reading “‘Footloose’ At 40: Still Too Outrageous To Be Enjoyed”
‘Tremors’ Shakes Up Horror Genre
A movie like Tremors shouldn’t be as good as it is. Released during the winter of 1990, it was typically reserved for the bottom of the barrel of movies. Tremors boasted a nice cast of Kevin Bacon, Fred Ward, Reba McEntire and Michael Gross. It had also been scheduled to be released during the FallContinue reading “‘Tremors’ Shakes Up Horror Genre”
’12 Monkeys’ Is Bruce Willis’ Best
Now that he’s retired from acting and retreated from the public following a diagnosis of aphasia and reports from his family and friends that he can’t speak and has memory loss, at one time, Bruce Willis was one of the biggest stars in the world. Even though he didn’t make good movies most of hisContinue reading “’12 Monkeys’ Is Bruce Willis’ Best”
‘Edge Of Tomorrow’ Is ‘Groundhog Day’ Meets ‘War Of The Worlds’
Tom Cruise has grown from a 1980s teen heartthrob to a 1990s acclaimed actor to a 2000s action star to an overall odd celebrity. Maybe it’s the Scientology stuff. The whole Oprah episode didn’t help his reputation. There’s a lot of people who don’t like him even though at 61, he’s still jumping out ofContinue reading “‘Edge Of Tomorrow’ Is ‘Groundhog Day’ Meets ‘War Of The Worlds’”
‘Straw Dogs’ Has A Better Bite Over Its Original’s Meager Bark
Filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard once said, “The way to criticize a film is to make another film.” In 1971, when Sam Peckinpah’s Straw Dogs was released during the Christmas holiday season, it shocked audiences and divided them. Based on the novel The Siege at Trencher’s Farm, it starred Dustin Hoffman as a meager intelligent mathematician whoContinue reading “‘Straw Dogs’ Has A Better Bite Over Its Original’s Meager Bark”
‘The Wraith’ Scares Up A Good Time
A movie like The Wraith seems to be a casserole of genres. It’s about a murdered person who returns from the grave to exact revenge in a slasher style where each killer is murdered one by one mostly. But it’s also a western, set in the Arizona desert, where the main protagonist like Clint Eastwood’sContinue reading “‘The Wraith’ Scares Up A Good Time”
‘Identity’ Has A Great Look
A movie like Identity draws its inspiration from Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. A character even references it at one point. And why not? Most thrillers/horrors owe some debt to Christie and what she did to help the genre. But this movie has a twist that is so good that when you thinkContinue reading “‘Identity’ Has A Great Look”
Zane Says 