When John Carpenter made Halloween almost 50 years ago, he and Debra Hill were tapping into the myth of the safety of suburbia. Originally titled The Babysitter Murders, it was an exploitation movie that they filmed fast and cheap, sometimes even filming without permits and everyone including Jamie Lee Curtis had more than one jobContinue reading “‘Suburban Screams’ Provides Little True-Crime Terror”
Tag Archives: movies
‘Aquaman’ 2 Sleeps With The Fishes
Without a doubt, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was doomed almost from the start. It didn’t help matters that just about everything was keeping this movie from being made. The first Aquaman was a refreshing beam of light that the DCEU might actually be as successful as the MCU. It grossed about $1.5 billion worldwideContinue reading “‘Aquaman’ 2 Sleeps With The Fishes”
Oscar’s Most Cringeworthy Moments
As glamourous and star-studded the Academy Awards can be, it doesn’t mean every year, things go off without a hitch. Part of the problem is that a producer has a radical idea that backfires in the worse way. Famed producer Allan Carr basically sunk his career 35 years ago when he opened with an actressContinue reading “Oscar’s Most Cringeworthy Moments”
‘Oppenheimer’ To Win Big, I Predict
With the Oscars being held on Sunday, March 10, I predict Oppenheimer to be the big movie to win. I’ve been watching the Oscars since the late 1980s and you begin to notice a few things. A lot of times, it’s a combination of excellence, critical favorites, popularity, a touch of how movies performed atContinue reading “‘Oppenheimer’ To Win Big, I Predict”
’10 Cloverfield Lane’ Isn’t Your Average Home Sweet Home
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”
‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ Is When The Oscars Got It Right
A movie like One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest could’ve been a disaster. It spent years in development hell with Kirk Douglas originally wanting to play the main role before realizing he was too old. Other actors, such as Burt Reynolds, were considered before Jack Nicholson was hired. He, himself, had almost given up totallyContinue reading “‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ Is When The Oscars Got It Right”
‘Reversal Of Fortune’ Is Jeremy Irons’ Masterpiece Of Acting
If you ever want to be an actor, my advice is to get a copy (digital or physical) of Reversal of Fortune and study it. Jeremy Irons was only in his early 40s when he played Claus von Bulow (who was about 15 years older) but you wouldn’t have guessed it. With a little bitContinue reading “‘Reversal Of Fortune’ Is Jeremy Irons’ Masterpiece Of Acting”
‘Retribution’ For Wasting Time
Thirty years ago, Liam Neeson had rose from being a character actor in movies like The Delta Force and Excalibur to his Oscar-nominated performance as Oskar Schindler in Schindler’s List. Then, in 2008, he took a chance on a silly action thriller, Taken, where he turns into a vengeful father tracking down his daughter who’sContinue reading “‘Retribution’ For Wasting Time”
‘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”
Richard Lewis: Dark Prince Of Comedy
There’s a saying that’s it better to laugh than it is to cry. Richard Lewis lived a life where he turned his own personal pain and neurosis into comedy. Just like another famous comic named Richard (as in Richard Pryor), we laughed because he made us want to laugh. To call Lewis neurotic with hisContinue reading “Richard Lewis: Dark Prince Of Comedy”
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