I am probably unduly fond of Graffiti Bridge, Prince’s 1990 sequel to his groundbreaking Purple Rain. On almost every level (except the music - mor on that later), Bridge is inferior to Rain. The story is more convoluted, the dialogue more stilted, the sets look more fake. But there’s something deep inside […]
Dick Tracy is Warren Beatty’s big-screen adaptation of Chester Gould’s famous comic strip character. Coming only a year after Batman, it is easy to see why it was kind of overshadowed by that much higher profile film. But despite some similarities (composer Danny Elfman, for instance), they are very different projects with very […]
In the history of Walt Disney Feature Animation, there has only ever been one film to get a true sequel (that is, a narrative film followed by another narrative film). The Rescuers was a surprisingly successful, quirky, little adventure film. Years later, straight-to-video sequels would be the order of the day, but the […]
Andrew “Dice” Clay doesn’t get the respect he desrves. He gets the scorn he deserves, but not the respect. Sure, he chose to play to the cruder aspects of comedy, but you can’t do that as successfully as he did without some ability. Before hitting it big as the “Diceman”, he had […]
Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is a brilliant film by writer/director Tom Stoppard based on his play of the same name. If you are unfamiliar with the work, the basic premise is that the film follows the activities of Rosencrantz (Gary Oldman) and Guildenstern (Tim Roth) as they weave their way in and out […]
Joe Versus the Volcano is a massively underappreciated film. I know, I know, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and You’ve Got Mail are supposedly the Nora Ephron/Meg Ryan trilogy. But I’d rather focus on the Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan trilogy and I’ll take Joe over any of them, anyway.
The big difference between […]
Viewed April 18, 2006
Quigley Down Under is the story of Matthew Quigley, a sharpshooter (a sniper, really) brought to Australia by Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman), a landowner who wants Quigley to use his skills to take out the aboriginies who are giving him trouble. When Quigley refuses (rather violently), he finds himself dropped in […]