The Swimmer

Frank Perry directed this 1968 film starring Burt Lancaster.

Lancaster shines in this drama of a man who decides to swim home from swimming pool to swimming pool in and around Westport, Connecticut. Each new pool reveals more about his past.

Fascinating character study has much to say about the self deceptions and facades we use to get through life.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063663/

After Hours

A Scorsese comedy?

Griffin Dunne, Rosanna Arquette, Teri Garr, and Cheech and Chong star in this black comedy from 1985.

Bored office guy ventures out late one night to date a woman he meets in a coffee shop. On his way to Greenwich Village, he loses all the cash he has on him. His date goes miserably and all he wants to do is get to his uptown home.

Seemingly disparate characters and events all tie together to prevent him from reaching his goal.

Somewhat far fetched and long at times, this is still a very creative and interesting film that explores that different world that is teeming with crazy characters while the rest of us a tucked away safely in bed.

Strange, dark, and funny.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088680/

Amadeus

1984 Milos Forman tour de force starring F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hulce.

Adaptation of Peter Shaffer's play about Mozart and Salieri who, jealous of the composer's popularity and talent, was suspected of poisoning Mozart.

The acting is superb, the music incredible ( come on, it's Mozart) but what's fascinating is how this film works on so many different levels: from a bio pic standpoint, a look at the nature of creativity, an exploration of faith, and more.

An amzing film about an amazing talent.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086879/

The Big Lebowski

The Dude abides.

The Coen Brothers do it again in this totally whacked out comedy from 1998 that stars Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, and John Tuturro.

Stoner/bowler The Dude is caught up in a case of mistaken identity and a miserable attempt at kidnapping. And to top it all off, thugs urinate on his rug. As with most (if not all) Coen Brothers' films, this is about a crime that goes wrong. But the details don't really matter...the characters make their movies and this one is chock full of off the wall types.

Fun and fantastic.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/

The Charge of the Light Brigade

Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland star in this rousing action adventure film from 1936...another collaboration between Flynn and director Michael Curtiz.

Based upon Tennyson's poem, this is a tale of courage, honor, and revenge during the Crimean War.

Into the Valley of Death rode the six hundred.

Superb action scenes with a dashing hero.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/

Rio Bravo

John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson, Walter Brennan, Angie Dickinson star in this 1959 western from Howard Hawks.

A western classic.

Lawman and his deputies, including a drunk and an old man, try to hold a murderer in their town's jail 'til a U.S. Marshal arrives while the killer's brother makes life difficult for them.

Strangely cohesive mix of action, suspense, and humor. Everyone in the cast does a fine job...especially Dean Martin.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053221/

Raising Arizona

Ok, is this one of the funniest movies ever?

Coen Brothers film from 1987 stars Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Frances McDormand, Trey Wilson, John Goodman.

Loser and his police officer wife use twisted logic to justify stealing one baby out of a set of quintuplets ("They have more than they can handle..."). The police are after them, so is a bounty hunter (Tex Cobb).

Movie is twisted and wicked funny with great cast, acting, camera work. Wonderful scenes abound, from life in prison to a hunt for Huggies during a convenience store robbery.

A must see.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093822/

The Right Stuff

Philip Kaufman direcected this 1983 saga of the seven original Mercury astronauts. Stars Sam Sheperd, Scott Glenn, Dennis Quaid, Ed Harris. Based on the novel by Tom Wolfe.

Fascinating account of the start of America's space program. These guys were strapped into what amounted to a tin can and were shot into space. We learn about their struggles with the program itself, a manipulative government, the rigors of training, and the space flights themselves...which are exciting and thrill packed. We also get the perspective of the wives who lived with and supported these heroes.

Quirky, exciting, humorous, and long but well worth it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086197/

Across the Universe

There have been a lot of the so-called "jukebox musicals" but this one worked for me.

Julie Taymor's 2007 film takes Beatles music and reinterprets it to fit her story of love and a society in turmoil.

Creative shooting, imaginative staging. The songs were used well and preformed with a new sense of topicality and urgency.

Really liked this one.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445922/

Cry Baby

Long before Captain Jack Sparrow Johhny Depp was Cry Baby in this 1990 offering from John Waters.

Cool, funny musical with that John Waters sense of lunacy and absurdity starring Johnny Depp, Amy Locane, Iggy Pop, Polly Bergen, Ricki lake, and Traci Lords (yes, THAT Traci Lords)

"Good" girl whose mother runs a finjishing school falls for Cry Baby, leader of the "Drapes", rock and rollin', hot roddin' greasers.

Funny, with great and surprising supporting cast (Troy Donahue?) and classic soundtrack that sounds like it was ripped off the Billboard charts in 1959.

Fun and frisky.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099329/

My Man Godfrey

William Powell and Carole Lombard star in this gem of a screwball comedy directed by Gregory La Cava in 1936.

Daughter in rich, disfunctional family hires Powell as a butler thinking he is a "forgotten man", a hobo.

The family is crazy but Powell endures and helps bring a sense of rationality to them...somewhat.

Funny, with great writing and characters. Holds up today, especially in these tough economic times.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0028010/

Reality Bites

Winona Ryder, Ben Stiller, Ethan Hawke, Janeane Garofalo star in this Ben Stiller directed look at a group of friends and how they cope with their lives after they graduate from school. Gen X saga with Ryder as a film maker, Stiller as a cable TV producer who is wooing her...complicated by Eathan Hawke, a cool guy who loves Winona also.

Garofalo is excellant as the best friend.

Check out the scene in the convenience store when My Sharona comes on the radio. (Could you turn it up? You won't regret it!")

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110950/

Mr Blandings Builds His Dream House

Cary Grant and Myrna Loy star in this 1948 comedy directed by H.C. Potter.

Madison Avenue Ad Man (Grant) decides that the apartment in the city is too small for the family and he and his wife embark on building their dream house. Complications ensue. Great fish out of water story as the city folks deal with not only the rural types building their house but also with the fact that the whole project is becoming a money pit.

Expertly handled comedy with Grant and Loy great together.

Look for the scene where Loy describes the color scheme she has in mind with the painters.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040613/

Thunder Road

1958 film directed by Arthur Ripley starring Robert Mitchum, Gene Barry.

Mitchum as a moonshiner outwitting both the Feds and gangsters who want to get him and his contraband off the road. A cult favorite.

Robert Mitchum also wrote the theme song.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052293/

Assault on Precinct 13

1976 John Carpenter drama about a police station that falls under siege the night it is scheduled to close its doors for good.

Tense, suspenseful, and way cool.

Skip the remake and stick with the original.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074156/

The Bedford Incident

1965 drama directed by James B. Harris starring Richard Widmark, Sidney Poitier.

Tense Cold War cat and mouse game between all-business U.S. Navy captain and the Russian submarine he is stalking in North Atlantic waters. Poitier is a reporter assigned to the ship whose opinions differ greatly from the captain's. Film builds tension in the chase and also in the interaction of the characters on the ship.

Elements of The Enemy Below, Caine Mutiney, and Crimson Tide, but well worth seeing. Suspenseful.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058962/

Time Bandits

1981 film by Terry Gilliam with John Cleese, Sean Connery.

Fantasy about a group of little people who are on the run from the Supreme Being and drag a boy along with them throughout time. Along the way they meet Napoleon and other historical figures and try their best to rob them all.

Fun film.

Loved the Robin Hood segment with Cleese.

Rollicking good adventure that bogs down here and there but very different and imaginative.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081633/

John Carpenter's Vampires

1998 John Carpenter film starring James Woods, Daniel Baldwin.

Church hired team battles vampires before the bloodsuckers achieve the ability to tolerate daylight.

Not a slasher/gore movie but more of an action film that I tend to view as a comedy. Somehow I get the suspicion Carpenter was trying to entertain us rather than scare us.

Works for me. I think it's a riot.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120877/

No Way To Treat A Lady

1968 film directed by Jack Smight stars Rod Steiger, Lee Remick, and George Segal.

Great blend of murder mystery and romantic comedy. Film has real personality.

New York cop with mother issues (Segal) is dating new girlfriend (Remick) who just might be the next victim of a serial killer (Steiger).

Rod Seiger is great as a very theatrical killer. Segal is always good. Great supporting cast too.

Fun, funny, and suspenseful.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0063356/

The Fifth Element

1997 Luc Besson film starring Bruce Willis, Milla Jovovich, Gary Oldman, Chris Tucker.

This one has it all: sci-fi, adventure, action, comedy.

Cab driver (in the future, when cabs fly) has a woman "drop" in on him and both set out to save the universe. With Oldman over the top as the bad guy and Chris Tucker as a media "mouthpiece" who can't shut up (how unusual!) this one is fun and visually amazing.

Willis is great. So is Jovovich ("It's a multi-pass"). A fun ride.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119116/

The In-Laws

Alan Arkin and Peter Falk in one of the funniest films I've ever seen.

Andrew Bergman directed this look at a New York dentist (Arkin) whose daughter is about to marry Falk's son. Falk is either a CIA agent or totally crazy or both. Arkin is dragged into crazy situations involving a counterfeit money scheme that takes them from New York to Latin America...with Arkin whining along the way.

Both actors are hysterical. Skip the remake.
"Serpentine, Sheldon!"
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079336/

The Mouse That Roared

1959 film directed by Jack Arnold starring Peter Sellers, Peter Sellers, and Peter Sellers (he plays three roles).

Satire about a small European country that is running into financial difficulties and decides to invade the United States so that it can lose the war and collect American aid money. Their invasion force is a small group of stalwart archers who wander about New York.

Hilariously funny.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053084/

Romeo Is Bleeding

1993 Peter Medak drama stars Gary Oldman, Lena Olin, Juliette Lewis, Roy Scheider.

Crooked cop ordered by mob boss to kill a female assassin. Sounds dark and depressing, and sometimes is, but also entertaining and quite funny at times. Oldman is great (can he do anything wrong?) but the stand out is Olin as the hit woman.

Very different, contemporary stab at film noir.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107983/

Heathers

1989 dark comedy directed by Michael Lehmann and starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater.

High school girl takes up with the school's rebel to rid the school of a clique of uber-popular girls. Outrageous and certainly different.

Slater's performance stands out as he channels Jack Nicholson. Winona Ryder shines.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097493/

The Professional

1994 Luc Besson drama starring Jean Reno, Natalie Portman, Gary Oldman.

Young girl seeks revenge against a crooked cop who killed her parents and takes up with a hit man who trains her to be a "fixer".

Great cast: Portman's first film, Reno is always fantastic, and Gary Oldman, a chameleon, has a field day.

Interesting character study and unusual relationship between Reno and Portman make this different, unusual, and worth seeing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110413/

Oscar

Who would have thought a comedy with Sylvester Stallone would be funny?

Broad farce 1991 Jon Landis comedy stars Stallone, Marisa Tomei, Peter Riegert, Tim Curry, Chazz Palminteri.

30s gangster Snaps Provolone (Stallone) promises his dying father he will give up his life of crime and go straight. It doesn't work out so well. Mistaken identities, crooked bankers, a crafty future son-in-law, and more complications all conspire to keep Da Boss in Da Biz. Much to our delight.

Very funny, surprisingly so. Hey, is Peter Riegert doing a Bugs Bunny impersonation?

Great cast (Tomei, Curry et al) make this fun. Enjoy.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102603/

The Big Easy

Makes me crave Jambalaya.

1987 Jim McBride film stars Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin.

Mob murder brings together a dashing New Orleans cop and an Assistant D.A. who investigates him for corruption.

Good feel for New Orleans and great cast keeps this different kind of crime drama moving and interesting.

If you watch this and don't have a hankering for crawfish or a desire to listen to zydeco, something's wrong.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0092654/

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil

1997 film directed by Clint Eastwood stars Kevin Spacey and John Cusack.

Reporter (Cusack) covering Christmas party by Savannah society host Spacey finds that his mild human interest story becomes much more interesting when there is a murder that night and Spacey is the suspect.

Good feel for the Southern atmosphere and some interesting elements of homosexual intrigues, voodoo, and more.

Somewhat long and rambles some, but different and interesting. Good cast is admirable.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119668/

The Apostle

Robert Duvall wrote, directed, produced, and stars in this 1997 drama about a southern minister who commits an act of violence and sets out to atone for his sins. Great feel for time and place and a deeply moving story of a man seeking redemption. Duvall is fantastic.

Also stars Farrah Fawcett, Billy Bob Thronton, and June Carter Cash.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118632/

The Fabuolous Baker Boys

Steve Kloves directed this 1989 film starring Jeff and Beau Bridges as piano duo brothers whose once successful act is now hitting the skids....playing dive lounges and putting finjancial pressures on them. Along comes singer Michelle Pfeiffer who joins the act and carries it.

Not a particularly great movie but the Bridges Brothers are fine and Michelle Pfeiffer...well, she's just as sexy as it gets.

Check out the scene where she sings "Makin' Whoopie" on top of the piano. Too hot.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097322/

That Thing You Do!

Made in 1996 and directed by Tom Hanks.

Stars Tom Hanks, Toim Everet Scott, Steve Zahn, and Liv Tyler.

Group of friends in early 1960s Pennsylvania write and record song that takes them to the top of the charts. Likeable tunes, especially the title song. Which is good since we must hear it a million times. And all the songs sound authentic to the time period.

Hanks plays an exec with PlayTone Records...Playtone is actually the the name of Hanks' production company.

Tom Everet Scott is fine as the "smart one" in the band, "Shades"...Zahn is funny, and Liv Tyler is the PERFECT girlfriend.

Good feel for the time period with just the right clothes, guitars, amps, and even microphones.

Hanks also co-wrote the script and some of the songs.

Likeable, fun, and light-hearted.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117887/

Zulu

Tense 1964 film directed by Cy Endfield stars Stanley Baker, Jack Hawkins, and a very young Michael Caine.

British garrison in Africa is attacked by thousands of Zulu warriors. Attempts to develop characters take a back seat to the impressive battle scenes that run throughout the film. Action sequences are surprisingly good considering this was made almost half a century ago.

Caine is good as novice, prissy officer who proves himself worthy to fellow officers and comrades in arms.

Exciting and memorable.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058777/

Swingers

1996 comedy written by co-star Jon Favreau and directed by Doug Liman.

Vince Vaughn's break out role.

Swingers follows a group of out of work actors in L.A. who try to cheer up a friend who misses the girlfriend he left behind in New York.

Original and hip (You're so money and you don't even know it!") Swingers has its own lingo, features a lifestyle that keeps these guys busy but unfullfilled, and is a riot.

Probably seen this a half dozen times ("Vegas Baby!") and loved it every time. Great banter, funny scenes with a lot of stuff that's sort of just cast away but funny.

And Vaughn shines.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117802/

Buffalo Bill and the Indians

1976 Robert Altman film stars Paul Newman, Joel Grey, Burt Lancaster.

Interesting, as all Altman films are. Revisionist western comedy takes the Buffalo Bill character and turns him into an eccentric showman who may or may not be the great Western legend he's made out to be.

Who cares? Paul Newman has a field day overplaying Buffalo Bill and the other characters are full of quirks.

Fun and irreverent.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074254/

Appaloosa

Another one from the heart from Ed Harris who co-wrote, directed, and stars along with Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellweger.

Two friends in the Old West are hired on to police the town of Appaloosa. They are professionals but have a diificult time bringing a muderer to justice. Their lives are complicated by the arrival of a widow.

This one feels just right...the cold ruthlessness but fairness of the lawmen, the bad guys who feel they are above the law, and a love story that's quirky and integral to the plot.

Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen strike just the right chord together as friends and coworkers who are good at what they do...they just don't verbalize that much about the ethics or morality of their profession.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0800308/

Cat Ballou

Elliot Silverstein directed this western comedy starring Jane Fonda and Lee Marvin.

Schoolteacher Fonda becomes a notorious outlaw in order to save her father's ranch. Hilarity ensures in this good hearted spoof.

Marvin plays two roles: a drunken gunfighter and his mean outlaw brother.

Funny, smart, and worth seeing. Look for Marvin and horse, both drunk and incapacitated. Lee Marvin won an Oscar for this film.,

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059017/

The Enemy Below

1957 film directed by Dick Powell stars Robert Mitchum and Curt Jurgens in World War Two battle between a U.S. Navy ship and a German submarine.

Tense action film stresses the two captains, warriors who are both talented and respect their opponent's abilities.

Won special effects Oscar.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0050356/

Father Goose

1964 light-hearted film from Ralph Nelson and starring Cary Grant and Leslie Caron.

Grant plays a boozy islander who is basically blackmailed into getting involved in World War Two as a plane spotter. He's somewhat content until his life is complicated by a school teacher and her female students who make his lkife miserable.

Fun for the family, but sways from comedy to war-time suspense on occaission.

Both stars are very good and the chemistry works. Grant as a boozy n'eer do well is a hoot.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058092/

Pollock

One from the heart from Ed Harris who portrays artist Jackson Pollock as a man tortured by alcohol, creativity, relationships, and life in general.

Harris produced, directed, and stars in this 2000 film. Marcia Gay Harden co-stars.

Good feel for the time period, but even more interesting, how Pollock took the direction he did in his art....looking for the freedom of expression that he could create but not really explain or verbalize. His paintings explode...so does his life and his marriage.

Harris makes us feel for the artist and gives us a tender but not sugar-coated bio of a remarkable man.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0183659/

Charade

Cary Grant, Audrey Hepburn, and Walter Matthau star in this 1963 Stanley Donan comedy/romance/mystery that is fun and a delight.

Hepburn, finding out she is a widow, is stalked by nefarious strangers who are looking for wartime booty that her late husband stashed away. She turns to Cary Grant for help...but is he to be trusted?

The plot twists, Grant and Hepburn are great together, and the movie charms and delights.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056923/

Little Big Man

1970 Arthur Penn film stars Dustin Hoffman as Jack Crabb, who claims he is a survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn. We never know if his recollections are tall tales or truthful, but we are treated to adventures that include being raised by Native Americans, becoming civilized thanks to preacher's wife Faye Dunaway, becoming a gunslinger, a drunk, a muleskinner for Custer, and more.

Fascinating look at the Old West through revisionary eyes.

Chief Dan George is great as Hoffman's adopted grandfather.

Altogether a great cast and imaginative story masterfully told.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065988/

Pocketful of Miracles

Directed by Frank Capra in 1961. His final film is actually a remake of his earlier Lady For a Day.

Bette Davis is Apple Annie, a street person who implores Dave the Dude (Glenn Ford) to help her put on a facade that she is a society lady when her daughter comes to visit.

Damon Runyan tale of crooks with hearts of gold.

Not wonderful but heartwarming and amusing.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055312/

Invaders From Mars

Totally scared me when I was a kid.

1953 original directed by William Cameron Menzies and stars Helena Carter and Arthur Franz.

Young boy sees UFO land and burrow underground and suddenly the townspeople are under the control of the Martians hidden in tunnels out in the farmland. Paranoid flick about who has been taken over by aliens and who hasn't.

I was convinced my folks were aliens for a long time. Still wonder sometimes.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0045917/

Bugsy Malone

Another one that parents can enjoy with their kids.

1976 Alan Parker film is creatrive and fun....mob story satirizes gangster films. In this crazy, unique musical all the parts are played by kids including Scott Baio and Jodie Foster. And Mom and Dad don't have to worry about mob violence, the machine guns shoot whipped cream.

Check out the cars, the costumes (pretty lavish production), the songs and production numbers are fun, and the kids all do a great job in this spoof of 1930s gangland.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074256/

A Walk in the Sun

My dad was in the 82nd Airborne during World War Two and this was his favorite war movie. He said it realistically portrayed the guys in the field. We've watched it many times together.

1945 Lewis Milestone film stars Dana Andrews and Richard Conte in the story of a U.S. battalion fighting in Italy. Takes a look at the average dog faced GIs and what they had to deal with in combat and the lulls in between firefights.

Realistic but not graphic in terms of modern films. Still compelling and human.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038235/

Night Shift

1982 Ron Howard film stars Henry Winkler, Michael Keaton, and Shelley Long.

Keaton's first film, he is hysterical as an "idea man" who takes over the morgue where Winkler works and turns them both into "Love Brokers", pimping out local prostitutes and providing them with job security, investments, tax shelters, and more.

Loony film gets silly and sentimental every so often but Winkler's shy guy and Keaton's over the top character gel and make this fun.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084412/

The Freshman

1990 Andrew Bergman comedy. It is said that Marlon Brando liked Bergman's "The In-Laws" so much that he called Bergman and volunteered to be in his next movie. This is it.

The Freshman stars Matthew Broderick, Marlon Brando, Bruno Kirby, Maximilion Schell, and Penelope Ann Miller.

Vermont student heads for NYU as a freshman and immediately falls in with a mob family. Brando's satire of his Godfather role and chemistry with Broderick make this fun. Bruno Kirby's no slouch either when it comes to comedy.

Not great, but fun and keeps moving through surprise after surprise.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099615/

Vera Cruz

1954 western directed by Robert Aldrich and starring Gary Cooper and Burt Lancaster. Two mismatched cowpokes take up sides in Mexico after the U.S. civil war to supposedly overthrow the dictator but seemingly more interested in a shipment of gold. Cooper is silent and stalwart as usual, Lancaster is the darker guy of the two but is the bad guy you love to hate.

Watch for the gunfight at the end and see if you can guess who wins.

Action packed western with good cast.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047647/

Circle of Iron

1979 film directed by Richard Moore stars the late David Carradine, Jeff Cooper, Eli Wallach, and Christpher Lee.

Conceived by Bruce Lee and actor James Coburn, the idea was to combine martial arts with Zen philosophy. Silly at times, but overall absorbing, this film is really different and interesting. Will attract fans of Bruce Lee, the Kung Fu TV series, and Carradine followers. Carradine plays muliple roles and although it may be confusing at times, it's worth seeing.

Just go with the flow.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078975/

Grosse Pointe Blank

1997 film by George Armitage stars John Cusack, Minnie Driver, Dan Ackroyd, Jeremy Piven, Hank Azaria, and Joan Cusack.

Comedy that takes a look at what happens when a professional hit man decides to attend his ten year high school reunion and once again see the girl he left behind. Of course, business gets in the way.

They say you can never go home again...but in this case Cusack doe...with hilarious results.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078975/