Living for the Cinema

Thirty-five years ago, this raunchy comedy directed by Charles Crichton took the world by storm featuring a melding of British and American comedic talent at the peak of their powers - it even got some Oscar love including Kevin Kline winning the rare Best Supporting Actor for a full-on comedic role.  Kline co-stars as former CIA assassin Otto who has been brought aboard the crew of a diamond heis...

This seminal World War II classic is about to turn 60 years old and for many Americans, it's a perennial rewatch usually around this time of year.   It was directed by John Sturges and features a legendary cast including Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Charles Bronson, Donald Pleasance, and James Coburn.  Based upon true events, it tells the story of a large band of militar...

Our ongoing series of reviews of Tom Cruise vehicles leading up to Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 is almost over with the release of that long-awaited sequel next month.  So what better time to revisit what many consider to be THE seminal entry of the franchise?  By the time this movie was released in late 2011, Cruise's star had faded somewhat as had the demand for another Mission...

Thirty-two years ago, one of the Greatest Coming-of-Age stories and also one of THE great father-and-son stories was released.   And now to celebrate Father's Day and Juneteenth Day, here is a newly remastered review with a few extra features. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY & HAPPY JUNETEENTH DAY! This coming-of-age drama took theaters by storm with some of the most up-and-coming actors of its t...

Apparently this movie was first slated to come out more than four years ago?  Yup after several years of pre-productions stops and starts, COVID-related delays, a revolving door of talented directors joining the project, and....a lot of dicey criminal activity from its start not long after production completed, DC's stand-alone movie focused on one of its most beloved superheroes is FINALLY c...

COULD this be the greatest sequel EVER?  Well considering that it was the long-awaited follow-up to one of the most influential smashes (Saturday Night Fever) of the 1970's and has very little in common with that disco drama outside of bringing back its star (John Travolta) along with some new songs from The Bee-Gee's, then the most likely answer would be NO.  Upon release forty years ag...

Spider-Man is BACK!  No not the squeaky-voiced Tony Stark-fanboy played by Tom Holland....nope this animated epic features the vaunted return of another Spider-Man from another universe.  THIS one is Miles Morales voiced by Shameik Moore who was also the star of this film's Oscar-winning predecessor from five years ago, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.  And he's back with his friends a...

Based upon a popular off-Broadway stage play performed in the early '90s, this sweet-natured but raunchy romantic comedy was one of the first of its kind when it came out in the mid '90's: it focused on a budding romance between two gay men including the titular protagonist Jeffrey played by Steven Weber who then was best known as the star of the popular network sitcom, "Wings....

" SHALL WE PLAY A GAME?" More sinister words have rarely been heard from an early '80's personal computer with a voice modulator box connected. :/ And they are first spoken by a mainframe computer communicating with our hero David played by Matthew Broderick early on in this 1983 techno-thriller directed by John Badham who had helmed Saturday Night Fever five years earlier.  Th...

Our ongoing series of notable Tom Cruise vehicles from different eras continues, all leading to the release of Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I coming this July.   The next entry in this series focuses on one of the most successful thrillers of the '90's which is approaching its 30th Anniversary - it also happens to be one Cruise's biggest hits but for some reason, it doesn...

Throughout his illustrious career as a director, Steven Spielberg has never been afraid to tackle big subject matter and when this World War II epic was first released to theaters twenty five years ago this July, it was a BIG deal.  Not only was he returning to the time period and broad category of subject matter (World War II) which had last earned him an Oscar and widespread acclaim with Schindl...

We kick off our third season with this action blockbuster from thirty years ago starring Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Janine Turner, and Michael Rooker.  It came out just a few years after the first Die Hard and was looked upon as just the latest in a series of feature-length "Die Hard On A BLANK" homages released throughout the '90's.  The premise of this movie is basical...

Yes kids, what you've heard is true!  There was once a Fast & Furious sequel WITHOUT Vin Diesel, it featured the late, fondly remembered Paul Walker at his most endearing and Tyrese actually playing a charismatic anti-hero type Roman who is not the butt of the joke....and it was directed by the late, great John Singleton amidst a good run of action films he did in the early '00'...

Peter Dinklage has won multiple Emmy awards for playing the iconic character Tyrion Lannister on HBO's "Game of Thrones" in a role that helped him become an international superstar.  However roughly eight years before that show first went on the air, he had his first true breakout role playing the more unassuming Finbar McBride in this relatively unassuming comedy/drama directed by...

Thirty seven years ago, one of the Greatest Sci-Fi Action Films and Best Sequels of All Time was released.   And now to celebrate Mother's Day, here is a newly remastered review with a few extra features.  HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! THIS time, it’s WAR. Ripley returns to LV-426 to take on the chest-bursting monsters that haunt her nightmares, but this time she is bringing along the Colonial Marines...

What happens when you take two up-and-coming stars (George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez), a talented director (Steven Soderbergh) eager to break out from smaller indie films at the time, a screenplay adapted from one of THE premiere crime novelists (Elmore Leonard) of our time, and have them collaborate with a top-flight cast filled with talent (Dennis Farina, Don Cheadle, Steve Zahn, among several oth...

Ten years ago, audiences were treated to what would be THE final stand-alone movie focused on the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man played by Robert Downey Jr.....and for his solo swan song, he helped bring over an old friend to direct, Shane Black.  Black had previously directed RDJ in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang eight years prior, a dark action comedy which is among several notable entries in the buddy c...

Apparently May the Fourth has become an official holiday to celebrate all things Star Wars on an annual basis so what better way to honor THIS May 4 than to revisit what is likely the most grown-up and possibly CINEMATIC of this recent crop of streaming shows from that universe?  This Disney Plus series - which debuted last fall to critical acclaim and middling ratings - stars Diego Luna returning...

Forty years ago, we saw the release of this THIRD movie of the original Star Wars trilogy - this was the highly anticipated follow-up to what many (myself included) consider to be THE best Star Wars film ever, Empire Strikes Back.  It featured the return of several beloved characters and the resolution of a story which was last concluded with quite a surprising cliffhanger at the end of the previo...

Based upon true events, this recounts the incredible story of Stephen Glass (Hayden Christianson), a young reporter for the New Republic in the '90's who made quite a name for himself writing several high-profile stories for the magazine which garnered a lot of attention for just how entertaining and informative they were....and apparently several of them were entirely made up by Glass....

Twenty years ago, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland helped revitalize the zombie subgenre with this seminal post-apocalyptic thriller produced on a shoe-string budget....even though the story isn't technically about zombies.  Nope this is the actually story of a fictional pandemic which strikes the UK known as the "Rage" virus.....society becomes gradually wiped out by th...

Legendary filmmaker and former playwright Martin Ritt directed this family drama set on a farm starring the late, great Paul Newman as the titular Hud who works with the ranch with his father (Melvyn Douglas) and younger brother (Brandon De Wilde) while also making their lives difficult.  You see Hud is a scoundrel who drinks too much and he's not making things any better for his family as th...

What happens when you hire one legendary TOP-tier movie star (Paul Newman) returning to play a character he played once before 25 years prior (Fast Eddie Felson in 1961's The Hustler)....pair him up with one giant up-and-coming movie star (Tom Cruise)....and then hire possibly THE greatest American filmmaker (Martin Scorcese) of the past 50 years to direct??  Well the result might very well b...

Thirty years ago and after several delays and titles changes, we finally saw the release of this sprawling crime epic about three brothers growing up in East LA on different sides of the law. It lost money upon initial release as its studio didn't know how to market it nor did many critics know what to make of it.  But over time, it garnered a VERY enthusiastic cult following through play on...

After decades of various attempts to bring this prized Nintendo video game property back to the big screen, Mario has finally returned....along with Luigi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong and the rest of the gang!  It's the long-awaited animated adaptation of the world of the Mario Brothers and it comes from Illumination Entertainment, the studio which gave us the Minions - you're welcome. :...