Reviews

Prince Of The City is a story about a corrupt cop trying to atone for his past crimes by becoming an informant for an investigation into police corruption. Based on a best selling book, the film fails to adequately develop a reason for the cops decision to expose those involved in the system he helped perpetuate. It also fails to show the characters as the outstanding detectives they are alleged to be. Overall the film fails to show much of anything other than a lot of talking about "the system." Not the film other comments would have you believe.

This is really a fun movie. I have no idea if any of it remotely resembles the actual life of motorcycle showman Evel Knievel (I doubt it) but that does nothing to detract from the film. George Hamilton is great as Knievel. Both his performance and the film's script make you care about the character and that alone seperates it from most films. If you get a chance, watch it.

The Parallax View is a surprisingly dull conspiracy film. With a good cast and a well respected director, not to mention fascinating source material, you would think Parallax would at the very least entertain let alone challenge the viewer. It does neither. In fact, the film has a "movie of the week" feel about it probably due to the weak story and some drawn out scenes. Also, much of the movie is predictable especially the ending which can be surmised with 20 minutes left to go in the film. If you're a conspiracy buff go ahead and watch it, just don't expect much.

"Blue Collar" desperately wants us to get the message that the characters shown in the movie are "getting ripped off by the system". That system being a combination of their employer, their union, the government as represented by the FBI and the pressures of life in general. It is this "system" that forces them to steal from their own union, spend their meager funds on drugs, booze and mistresses, lie to their wives, and rat off one another. I'm sure I'm not the only one that couldn't buy this nonsense. "Blue Collar" has the feel of an earnest scriptwriter "wanting to make a statement" Unfortunately what we see is the actions of a bunch of weak men acting stupidly. Not one of Paul Schraeder's better scripts. The performances are first rate with Keitel, Koto and Pryor bringing their characters to life.

Where does one begin with "Mitchell"? This is a movie so bad it barely qualifies as a movie at all. Joe Don Baker plays a slob of a cop who is trying to solve the murder of a burglar,(I guess. He drops that case once the prime suspect dissapears from the plot for no reason) watching some gangster who's trying to pull off a drug deal,(and I mean watching, in that 50% of this movie takes place with Mitchell sitting in his car) and having a "relationship" with a hooker. ("Relationship" here means sleeping with her then arresting her for narcotics possession.) This movie is pointless, poorly made and absolutely hilarious. The "Mitchell Theme Song" by itself is terrible but when combined with Joe Don Baker and Linda Evans in bed it's a laugh riot. There is just so much to criticize in "Mitchell". See for yourself.

What were they thinking? Didn't anybody read the script or did they read it and then lack the guts to tell Mailer it didn't work? Whatever the reason this is one pathetic film. Bad script and hilariously bad acting. It is the bad acting that keeps you watching. You want to find out how bad can it get. In most films, even bad ones, you can find something to recommend it. I can't think of anything to recommend about this one.

What a waste. A waste of actors, a waste of a classic cult film, a waste of money and a waste of time. There is nothing to recommend this film. I'm not going to bother with discussing typical film review topics like script, plot, acting, directing, etc. There is no point. This film would be laughably bad if it wasn't such a big budget release. I have to restrain myself now, because I feel I'm being pulled into discussing script, acting, directing etc. I don't want to waste anymore time on this. If you are remotely tempted into seeing "Gone In 60 Seconds" do yourself a favor and find the original.

Both Penn and Hutton do a fine job of portraying two boyhood friends who decide to sell national security secrets to the Soviet Union. Penn has more to work with as his character is a drug dealing, drug taking loser out to score more money and more drugs. Hutton's character has less immediate motivations and fewer indicitive mannerisms to work with, but he holds his own with Penn when they share a scene. Although the acting is very good the script is not. We never find out why Hutton's character decides to sell the secrets to the Russians. There is an attempt to identify CIA interference with the politics of other countries as a motivating factor but it comes across weakly as the character doesn't seem all that upset about it. Developing the motivation would have added much to the dramatic tension of the film. Also it is never explained how or why Hutton's character is a falconeer and nobody seems to find it odd that he carries the bird around with him.(!) In addition, almost all the scenes set inside the security company and with the security company personnel come off flat and unbelievable.

I saw this movie years ago and had no knowledge of it whatsoever before I popped it into the VCR. I recognized Raul Julia of course and after reading the title I just assumed it was a comedy. It is. A strange, odd, unusual comedy. It is made with no budget to speak of and if production values figure into your enjoyment of a film you'll never be able to make it through the movie however if you can get past the cheesy look you'll watch one of the oddest films you'll ever see. I know most reviews for this film are bad, (there is certainly a lot to dislike about it) but watch it. It has a strange charm and you'll never forget it.

"The November Men" is a clever film about a possible plot to assassinate George Bush. I say "possible plot" because the viewer is never sure whether the characters actually plan to go through with an assassination or just make a movie about an assassination. There is a lot to like about this movie. The plot is interesting and the acting is for the most part above average. If you like independent films (i.e. don't mind budget constraint scenery and camera work) you'll enjoy this movie.

Like many others who have left comments about this movie, I was first introduced to O.C & Stiggs through the National Lampoon stories. I can't remember ever laughing at anything I read as much as I laughed at the story of O.C. & Stiggs and their summer vacation. Now, I'm not judging the movie O.C. & Stiggs based on my dissapointment on how closely or remotely it followed the print version. I'm basing my comments soley on the movie itself. This is a bad movie. This is an amazingly bad movie. This is such an amazingly bad movie it must be one of the worst movies ever. It is that bad. This movie is bad in every way a movie can be bad: script, acting, directing, cinematography, lighting, sound, and probably gaffing, best boying, and catering. What the hell happened? Having Pauley Shore, Keanu Reeves, or even Kevin Costner standing in front of a video camera for an hour and a half reading the original story from the magazine would have been 10 times funnier than this..movie.

"Tune In Tomorrow" is a near miss. It's a movie that is funny in moments but unfortunately these moments are few and far between. Peter Falk is enjoyable as is the story of the effects of a radio serial on those involved with its' creation. The movie just never clicks. Much of the blame has to go to Keanu Reeves. It is almost worth watching the movie to see how bad an actor can be. I don't know if he's just horribly miscast or maybe it was just a bad day at the office for him but he is awful. The funniest portions of the film have to do with the fictional radio serial Peter Falk's character has created. The insults against the Albanians are laugh-out-loud funny. With a little more work this could have been a very funny movie.

This is a pleasant movie. It's primarily a love story. It's well told and features some fine performances by Arliss Howard, Jane Kazmarek, and Ron Liebman. The supporting cast does a fine job as well. If you've ever had to sell anything for a living you'll appreciate this film even more.

Is this movie really as gory as I remember it? My younger sister and I still talk about the time one of our older sisters dumped us off at the theater in order to get us out of the house while the parents were away. The movie playing that day was "Chosen Survivors". Yikes. If memory serves this one had plenty of blood on the walls and lots of bat attacks. Maybe there is more to this movie than blood and bats but that's all I can remember from it. I'd love to find this one on video to see how it has held up over the years.