Of the three major versions of the Mutiny on the Bounty story, this one is my favorite.  It isn’t as good as the 1935 classic, but I like it better all the same.  The Bounty (1984) is the same story as the […]

International intrigue surrounds the choice of a new Pope in the sumptuous version of the Morris L. West bestseller.  The Shoes of the Fisherman (1968) chronicles the unlikely rise of a priest as he travels from the captivity of a labor […]

Another film that touches upon the many difficulties facing immigrants to America is The Glass Wall (1953).  The trouble for one “lousy foreigner” (to which is referred in the film) begins when he travels to America as a stowaway, seeking asylum […]

Warner Bros. in the 1930s was a studio that produced a large number of gritty social exposés.  Black Legion (1937) is one of the best of the bunch, dealing with a secretive, ultra-patriotic group of hooded hooligans very much like the […]

A great many crappy movies have been made from Stephen King’s novels, but David Cronenberg’s 1983 version of The Dead Zone is not one of them.  With a heartfelt performance by Christopher Walken at its core, a nightmare scenario at its […]

Ralph Nelson made some important films during the ’60s (Lilies of the Field, Soldier in the Rain and Charly) but my favorite has always been Duel at Diablo (1966).  From the opening image of a knife cutting a map to shreds to […]

Frank Gutierrez writes: The second film is also set in the Orient:  Sayonara, starring Marlon Brando as an Air Force fighter pilot during the Korean War who is reassigned to Japan by an area commander in hopes that Brando will […]