The best movies are more than the sum of their parts, a dictum that is certainly true of Falling Down (1993). On the surface, this is a rather simply constructed story of a man who cracks on a hot day […]
Continue reading »Category: Movies Worth Rediscovering
The Tall Guy (1989) ☆ ☆ ☆
Wacky British comedies are usually fairly noteworthy, but few people seem to know about The Tall Guy (1989) despite its stellar cast and memorable sequences. The star is gangly Jeff Goldblum, a go-to guy in the mid-1980s whose career moved […]
Continue reading »The Bedroom Window (1987) ☆ ☆ ☆
Although I’ve never cared for Steve Guttenberg as an actor, I must admit he fits the bill in the mystery / suspense thriller The Bedroom Window (1987). Guttenberg plays a yuppie architect whose casual affair with the boss’ wife (Isabelle […]
Continue reading »My Life as a Dog (1985) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Before Swedish director Lasse Hallström moved to America and became a major success with such films as What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, The Cider House Rules and Chocolat, he made his name with a remarkable little movie titled My Life as […]
Continue reading »Zelig (1983) ☆ ☆ ☆
One of Woody Allen’s most interesting cinematic experiments is Zelig (1983). The year before This is Spinal Tap made “mockumentary” a buzzword term, Allen had fun with the concept of a nondescript man (played by Allen) so unhappy with his […]
Continue reading »A Small Circle of Friends (1980) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
I first saw A Small Circle of Friends (1980) while I was in college, and as it is about a trio of friends whose lives change dramatically when they attend college, the film really resonates with me. Although critics disparage […]
Continue reading »Black Sunday (1977) ☆ ☆ ☆ 1/2
Before author Thomas Harris imagined his signature character Hannibal Lecter, he wrote a novel about an act of terrorism occurring at the one of the biggest spectacles in America, the Super Bowl. The resulting movie of the same name is […]
Continue reading »The Big Fix (1978) ✰ ✰ ✰
In the mid- to late 1970s, Richard Dreyfuss was among the hottest — if unlikeliest — actors in Hollywood. He had co-starred in the blockbuster Jaws (1975), become the youngest recipient of the Best Actor Oscar for the comedy The Goodbye […]
Continue reading »The Last Voyage (1960) ✰ ✰ ✰
Filmmakers often strive for realism when they make thrillers to provide a believable foundation for their heroics. Few producer-directors have, however, ever gone to the trouble that Andrew and Virginia Stone did when they made The Last Voyage (1960), for they […]
Continue reading »The Private War of Major Benson (1955) ✰ ✰ ✰
Charlton Heston is an actor usually cast in very serious roles, and it’s because he pokes fun at his commanding, stoic persona in the comedy The Private War of Major Benson (1955) that the film works so well. It’s not that […]
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