Most Annoying Performance Warren Beatty - Reds Best Comedy Stripes Best Ensemble Cast Thief – James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Jim Belushi, Willie Nelson, and Robert Prosky Most overrated movie(s) Chariots of Fire & Reds  Notes from awards committee: Chariots of Fire is one of the worst Best Picture choices in the history of the Academy awards. It wasn’t even the best sports movie of the year. That honor belongs to Miracle on Ice, a TV movie about the US Olympic hockey team upsetting the Russians to win the gold medal. The top motion picture award goes to Raiders of the Lost Ark - This is the original movie of the Indiana Jones series with Steven Spielberg making wild-ass action scenes at his very best. The famous opening scene sets the pace and tone of this classic, unforgettable adventure tale. Few films move so fluidly from one great action scene to the next. The World at Large
Fun Surprises - Road Warrior – “My life fades. The vision dims. All that remains are memories. I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land. But most of all, I remember the Road Warrior...” One of the best sequels ever made. It's everything the original was and more with intense action scenes in the dystopian future. See Mel Gibson at his zenith playing the reluctant hero pursued by a gang of the most barbaric and violent villains of the year. Das Boat – is one of the greatest war films ever made. It chronicles a German U-boat voyage as the war begins to shift in favor of the Allies. The performances from all actors are believable, and you can practically taste the fetid air inside the damp and crowded sub. The war weary German sailors are sent out to sea again and again to face an Allied navy that is steadily improving tactics and weapons. The students of WWII history know that the allies broke the German naval code, and used the intel to crush the U-boat fleet. These German sailors are doomed. The tensions rise, nerves are shattered; fear and panic overwhelm the crew. Best seen in the original German, it's so accurate that you might as well have the correct language and nuances as well. Grim but great. Looker – is a must-see for fans of 1980's underrated films. Great snapshot of the 70’s & 80’s era, with a fun combination of guns, girls, fist fights and gadgets that keep the story moving and very entertaining. Veteran actor Albert Finney plays the lead role and, for a change, gets to throw a few kicks and punches. Stripes - This film is a screwball comedy that takes us for a wild ride in the Urban Assault Vehicle straight into the heart of Cold War Europe. Bill Murray, John Candy and Harold Ramis are great as the modern day Three Stooges of the American Army. Warren Oates as sergeant Hulka displays a flair for comedy in one of his last movies. This ranks with Murray’s better films, and the Boot Camp graduation day drill is an all-time, classic comedy scene. Thief – by Director Michael Mann is one of the most underrated movies of the 1980s. James Caan has remarked that this movie contains his finest lead performance as Frank, an ace safe cracker in for one more score before going straight. Frank is dynamic and fascinating throughout. He can charm the ladies, take a beating by the cops, and do anything to help his aging father figure. It is a subtle and complex performance by Caan, and was of course snubbed by the Academy. House Clark is proud to award the best actor Simpson award to Mr. Caan. For Your Eyes Only – is a simple James Bond-Cold War espionage yarn: a British vessel has sunk off the coast of Greece; it holds a coding machine the Soviets want, and 007 is sent in to retrieve it. This is Roger Moore’s 007 at his most brutal; revenge killing bad guys and fighting a desperate subsea battle with no retreat. Also Melina Havelock (Carole Bouquet) is one of the best Bond girls of the decade. Excalibur – This is the King Arthur legend of Anglo-Saxon lore. As a panorama of sword and sorcery, it is fun to watch. And as a showcase for Nicol Williamson's Merlin, it is sometimes a lot of fun; Williamson plays the magician as a cunning, witty rogue. His relationship with Morgana (the lovely Helen Mirren) is actually the most interesting part of the film. On Golden Pond – Jane Fonda has daddy “issues” and is ready to wave the olive branch. Daddy, Henry Fonda, is more interested in catching a big fish. If in the mood for a tearjerker, this is your movie. I will admit that Jane looked fine in a bikini doing a backflip off the pier into Golden Pond, but the acting by Katherine Hepburn is filled with warmth and tenderness and drives this film. Both Henry Fonda and Hepburn got best actor awards. Disappointments - Reds - tries to be a romance story, and a heavy political drama; but fails at both. It does educate the viewer on John Reed and his comrades, and also delivers a history lesson on a pivotal era in Russian history during the collapse of the Romanov dynasty and the bloody communist revolution. The fatal flaw here is the total lack of an entertaining narrative arc. Also the film is hopelessly bloated - two American journalists and political junkies: John Reed, and his lover, Louise Bryant, endlessly debate communism, socialist ideals and workers' rights as only passionate, wrongheaded, left-wing intellectuals can. The run time is an ass numbing 3 hours and 15 minutes that ends on a sour note. The “message” of the film is muddled, so let me save you some time: While communism –the worker’s paradise - sounds good on paper, it just doesn't work in practice. Ragtime – is a beautiful, stunning recreation of early 1900s New York, utilizing a first-rate cast as well as one of the finest soundtracks of the 80s decade. Elizabeth McGovern is the famous Evelyn Nisbet, the girl on the red velvet swing. She is a sexy goldigger who juggles two rich men, her husband Harry K. Thaw and her paramour, Stanford White. The volatile triad explodes with the killing of Mr. White. What follows is a sensational murder trial. Unfortunately at this point the film losses it way and veers chaotically into an endless subplot about a piano player and his many problems nobody cared about. Atlantic City - has good acting talent (Burt Lancaster is a legend at House Clark), but the fundamental flaw here is the Lack of an engaging story and the characters are unlikeable or outright nasty, making the film thoroughly unpleasant and hard to watch or care about. Chariots of Fire – is a grandiose and militaristic title for a boring, and thankfully forgotten movie, about two guys racing track in slow motion. And not much else happens. Also has some Oscar-bait religious overtones.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWritten by Ben Clark. Copyright 2016-2023. All rights reserved. Archives
August 2025
Categories |
RSS Feed
