Forgotten Cinema

Forgotten Horror 8 slithers into its second episode with "The Lair of the White Worm", starring a very young Hugh Grant and Peter Capaldi. Neither Mike Butler nor Mike Field had seen the film before, and after watching the trailer, both expected something closer to a full-blown horror comedy. While the movie certainly contains elements of both horror and comedy, neither side comes through consiste...

Forgotten Horror 8 kicks off with "Videodrome", David Cronenberg’s surreal blend of horror, science fiction, and media paranoia. Both Mike Butler and Mike Field enjoy the film, especially its unforgettable imagery and the ideas running underneath it. The practical effects and body horror are a huge part of why "Videodrome" has endured as a favorite among cinephiles, but its themes may be even more...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes take on the winner of the latest Audience Choice vote: "Baby Boom", starring Diane Keaton. Both Mike Butler and Mike Field enjoy the film, especially Keaton’s performance and the first two acts. The movie is funny, earnest, and surprisingly endearing as it follows a career-driven woman suddenly forced to reevaluate the life she thought she wanted. Where thi...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes take a look at "Nurse Betty", a film that somehow manages to be incredibly sweet and deeply mean at the exact same time. Mike Field is a big Neil LaBute fan and has always appreciated the cruelty that runs through much of his work. Mike Butler enjoys "Nurse Betty" because it almost feels like a response to that reputation, as if LaBute wanted to prove he co...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes take a look at "Music & Lyrics", the 2007 romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore. Both Mike Butler and Mike Field really enjoy the film, especially its sharp dialogue, strong supporting characters, and the easy chemistry between its two leads. Hugh Grant’s Alex Fletcher is also a refreshing romantic-comedy protagonist because he is not p...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes take a look at "Victory", or "Escape to Victory", as the film has somehow come to be known. Both Mike Butler and Mike Field enjoy the movie, but neither thinks it entirely works. One of the biggest surprises on this revisit is just how central Sylvester Stallone’s character is to the story. Both Mikes remembered him as more of a supporting player, but inste...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes take a look at "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow", the ambitious 2004 sci-fi adventure starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Angelina Jolie. Butler remembered enjoying the visual style of the film more than the movie itself. On this revisit, even that appreciation has faded. The film seems caught between two aesthetics. It never fully embraces the bo...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes take a look at "Restoration", the 1995 period drama starring Robert Downey Jr. and Sam Neill. Neither Mike Butler nor Mike Field had seen the film before, and both come away impressed. The performances are excellent across the board, with Downey Jr. carrying the film beautifully and Sam Neill standing out as King Charles II, played as both a philandering mo...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes turn up the heat with "Backdraft", Ron Howard's 1991 firefighter thriller starring Kurt Russell, William Baldwin, Robert De Niro, and Donald Sutherland. Both Mike Butler and Mike Field are big fans of the film, particularly its performances and incredible practical fire effects. Butler singles out Kurt Russell and Donald Sutherland, while Field goes even fu...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes take a look at "Confess, Fletch", the 2022 comedy mystery starring Jon Hamm as investigative reporter and perpetual troublemaker Irwin M. Fletcher. Both Mike Butler and Mike Field find plenty to like here. Jon Hamm makes Fletch his own, bringing an easygoing charm and dry comedic delivery to the character, while the supporting cast gives him plenty of stran...

Season 26 begins on Forgotten Cinema as the Mikes take a look at "Payback" , the 1999 crime thriller starring Mel Gibson. The plan was to watch "Payback: Straight Up," director Brian Helgeland’s restored cut of the film. Instead, both Mike Butler and Mike Field ended up watching the Director’s Cut and the theatrical version. Field accidentally started with the theatrical cut, while Butler found th...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, Forgotten Summer comes to an end with "White Water Summer", the 1987 wilderness adventure starring Kevin Bacon and Sean Astin. Unfortunately, neither Mike Butler nor Mike Field is particularly impressed. The film has the ingredients for an engaging survival story, but its characters repeatedly make frustrating decisions and the movie never fully develops its most int...

This week on Forgotten Cinema: Now Showing, the Mikes take a look at "Autonomous", a new vertical horror short from the creators of "ZombieCON Vol. 1", now streaming on Screamify. In this bonus episode, Mike Butler and Mike Field discuss how "Autonomous" uses the growing presence of self-driving cars, and the anxieties surrounding them, as the foundation for a compact monster story. They break dow...

In this bonus episode, the Mikes interview director Kyle Valle and star Erin Áine of the vertical horror short "Autonomous"; now showing on the new streaming service "Screamify". Mike Field and Mike Butler ask Valle and Áine what drew them to the script, how they joined up with Screamify, the differences and challenges of filming a vertical story and of course, they check in on "ZombieCON Vol.2"....

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes head to the penultimate episode of both Forgotten Summer and Season 25 with Ridley Scott’s "Kingdom of Heaven", specifically the Director’s Cut that both Mike Butler and Mike Field agree is far superior to the theatrical release. The Mikes discuss how the restored version gives the story, characters, and themes the room they need to breathe, transforming th...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, Forgotten Summer continues with "Blown Away", the 1994 action thriller starring Jeff Bridges and Tommy Lee Jones. Both Mike Butler and Mike Field find pieces of the film to enjoy. The practical explosions deliver, the final confrontation between Bridges and Jones has plenty of energy, and there is the foundation of a tense revenge thriller buried somewhere beneath al...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, Forgotten Summer continues with "War of the Worlds", Steven Spielberg's intense adaptation of the H.G. Wells classic. After covering "Flight of the Navigator", discussing "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" in their Lead Up series, releasing a Patreon-exclusive episode on "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial", and reviewing "Disclosure Day", it only felt right for the Mikes...

Join Mike Field and Mike Butler for a special Now Showing episode as they discuss the new independent sci-fi/drama/thriller "Abductee"; written and directed by William Hopp and starring Dusty Sorg and Virginia Newcomb. The film follows Drew as he deals with constant sleep paralysis that he believes might actually be alien abductions and enlists the help of his reluctant sister to help him figure o...

In this special bonus episode of Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes are sitting down with Writer/Director William Hopp to discuss his new film "Abductee" which as of this episode release is on a roadshow across independent cinemas across the US. Mike Butler and Mike Field will discuss with William the genesis for the film, what went into making this independent production, the trials and tribulations tha...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, Forgotten Summer begins with "Flight of the Navigator", Disney's beloved family sci-fi adventure that has earned a nostalgic following over the years. Neither Mike Butler nor Mike Field remembered much about the film beyond its iconic alien spaceship, making this revisit almost like watching it for the first time. Butler still finds plenty to enjoy, appreciating the...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes revisit "Secret Window", the psychological thriller based on a story by Stephen King and the winner of this season's Audience Choice. For Mike Butler, this is a film he has never really connected with, and a rewatch does little to change his opinion. While he praises the direction, performances, and the film's small-scale, almost independent feel, the story...

This week on Forgotten Cinema: Now Showing, the Mikes discuss "Disclosure Day" , the latest film from Steven Spielberg and one that leaves them with very different reactions. Butler really enjoys the film and finds himself appreciating it more the longer he sits with it. As someone with a long-standing interest in UFOs and the broader phenomenon, he admits some personal bias, but believes the movi...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes tackle "Time Bandits", Terry Gilliam's beloved fantasy adventure and one of the most celebrated cult films of the 1980s. Unfortunately, this is another Gilliam film that just doesn't quite connect with either of them. Both Butler and Field came into the movie wanting to like it. Butler is a big fan of "Brazil", and Field enjoys that film as well, but much l...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes tune into "The Vast of Night", the low-budget science fiction mystery that released on Amazon Prime during the pandemic. Both Butler and Field really enjoy the movie, especially its ambitious filmmaking and the performances from its two young leads. The film makes excellent use of long takes and creative camera work, creating a sense of momentum and atmosph...

This week on Forgotten Cinema, the Mikes hit the links with "Tin Cup", the sports comedy-drama starring Kevin Costner as the talented but self-destructive Roy McAvoy. What makes this episode interesting is that Butler isn't a golf fan at all, while Field is a huge fan of the sport. Despite coming at the film from very different perspectives, both Mikes really enjoy it. Costner's Roy is a charming...