Living for the Cinema

Twenty-five years ago, this small indie neo-noir grabbed the attention of both critics and cinephiles by announcing a talented new duo of directors….the Wachowskis.   Three years later, they would direct The Matrix, and of course, the rest of the world noticed them after that blockbuster! Gina Gershon and Jennifer Tilly star as two neighbors who fall for each other…only one of them is living with...

As Daniel Craig’s run as James Bond is about to come to an end with the release of "No Time To Die", we review this movie which is his most popular Bond film and among the most popular in the history of the franchise.   It co-stars Oscar-winner Javier Bardem as Silva, a truly memorable villain who’s out for revenge against Bond’s boss, M played for the last time by Dame Judi Dench.   The...

Happy 25th Anniversary to the comedy which spawned a dozen catchphrases including “Vegas baby Vegas!” and “You’re SO money!” 😊  It’s one of the ultimate hang-out movies and tells the story of a struggling actor (Jon Favreau who also wrote the screenplay) who moved to LA just about six months ago and is trying to get over the girlfriend he left in New York - his best friend Trent (Vince Vaughn) is...

This Chicago based crime drama was directed by Steve McQueen as a follow-up to his Best Picture-winning "12 Years a Slave" which stars Viola Davis as a follow-up to winning her Oscar for co-starring in "Fences" and was written by Gillian Flynn as a follow-up to her Oscar-nominated box office smash "Gone Girl"….so WHY wasn’t it a bigger deal when it came out three year...

In our ongoing Bond series, we revisit the OG Bond, Sir Sean Connery, in this second film in the franchise.   We follow Bond this time in the midst of a Cold War espionage plot where he has to take on SPECTRE, the shadowy organization that is out to kill him along with possibly inciting World War III.   This was PEAK Connery and very much a film of its time, very 1960’s.  It also co-stars Robert S...

Just over twenty years ago, Elle Woods taught us that not only do blondes have more fun... but that they can also make GREAT defense attorneys…..even just one year into law school.  Elle is played by Reese Witherspoon of course in a star-making performance that not only spawned a franchise but also inspired many a high school production.  Directed by Robert Luketic, this also starred Luke Wilson,...

“Is it safe?”  If that question sounds eerily familiar to you spoken through a deep German accent, then you’ve experienced this movie before, and if not, then you’re in for ONE hell of a ride!  That dialogue is spoken by the late, great Sir Laurence Olivier delivering one of his finest latter career performances and also receiving an Oscar nomination for his work.  Dustin Hoffman is the main star...

Happy 20th Anniversary to the seminal crime drama which finally won Denzel Washington the Oscar for Best Actor! It all takes place during one day as alluded to in the title as veteran LA detective Alonzo Harris (Washington) takes relative newbie Jake (Hawke) on his first ride-along throughout the city to teach him about the narcotics trade along with a LOT of stuff he wasn’t expecting.  This movie...

In our ongoing series, "Living for the Bond"...we revisit the last Bond film starring Pierce Brosnan as 007 alongside Halle Berry, Rosamund Pike, Rick Yune, and Toby Stephens.   This is one of the wilder episodes in the Bond saga as it starts off with our hero being kept prisoner by the North Korean government for more than a year before he is freed and attempts to uncover a plot to harn...

Happy 10th Anniversary to what might be the greatest Rocky movie ever but….not actually featuring Rocky nor even in that universe.   This film centers on the Conlon's, two estranged brothers played by Hardy and Edgerton, who are both competing to be the best in MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) – yes this is a sports drama but it’s so much more! It stars Tom Hardy, Joel Edgerton, Jennifer Morrison, Fr...

Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal play two wise-cracking Chicago cops who are trying to take down the local drug kingpin played by Jimmy Smits... But honestly….the plot doesn’t really matter in this as it’s ALL about the chemistry between our two leads, along with some very memorable action sequences.   This ‘80’s action romp is directed by Peter Hyams while also starring ‘80’s mainstays Dan Hedaya,...

You know the legend... say his name five times in front of a mirror and he appears!  Well actually we would advise against that but if nobody was doing this, then there wouldn’t be a movie…or several movies.   This is a sequel to the 1992 horror classic of the same name which focused on the Chicago legend played very effectively by Tony Todd. This time around, we follow the story of a Chicago arti...

Our “Living for the Bond” Series continues with one of two films in the 007 franchise starring T-Dal himself….Timothy Dalton.   It all centers on Bond taking revenge against a powerful drug lord played by Robert Davi, it’s all very ‘80’s, and guess what?  It’s actually quite good!   We’ll delve into what was jokingly dubbed “A Special Episode of Miami Vice featuring James Bond” and what made it wo...

Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon co-star as the iconic characters in this highly influential outlaw road movie directed by Ridley Scott – both actresses were nominated for Oscars along with the screenwriter Callie Khouri who actually won the award for Best Original Screenplay that year.   Young Brad Pitt also co-stars in what many would consider to be one of his early breakout roles alongside Michae...

In August 2016, director David McKenzie gave us a satisfying modern Western focusing on two bank-robbing brothers played by Chris Pine and Ben Foster nabbing banks all over Texas with at least one Texas Ranger hot on their trail played by Jeff Bridges.  This movie proves that Hollywood CAN still make good old-school films like this!  It was also written by Taylor Sheridan as part of his “Frontier...

WARNING - LANGUAGE 35 years ago, the wacky directing trio (Zucker, Abrams, Zucker) behind Airplane and The Naked Gun gave us a pretty crazy story: a wealthy clothing tycoon plots to murder his heiress wife but then finds out that she is actually being held hostage….and hilarity ensues! Let’s revisit this ‘80’s comedy gem starring Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Bill Pullman, Judge Reinhold, and Helen...

Everyone has their first James Bond movie, the version they grew up with – and this was my first ever James Bond movie and also the man himself, Roger Moore.   This movie just turned 40, which makes me…pretty old?  The late, great Sir Roger Moore stars alongside Topol and Julian Glover in this fast-paced spy-thriller, the 12th film in the enduring 007 franchise.  Host: Geoff Gershon   Producer: Ma...

WARNING - VIOLENT GORE “From the beautiful, twisted mind of James Gunn” as the tagline tells us…yes the vaunted director of Marvel Studio’s Guardians of the Galaxy has now directed a superhero epic for DC…and it’s also REALLY R-Rated! It stars Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, John Cena, David Dastmalchian, Viola Davis, Daniela Melchior, and even the voice of Sylvester Stallone …. among so many others. T...

Before Bond…..before Bourne….before Mission Impossible…. there was this all-out spy thriller directed by the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock!  The plot centers on a mild-mannered ad man, Roger Thornhill, who gets mistaken for a spy and is embroiled in a dangerous espionage plot.  Our protagonist is played by the legendary Cary Grant at the peak of his movie star powers and he’s not al...

Spike Lee directs this New York-based bank heist thriller starring SIX Oscar winners and/or nominees - Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster, Clive Owen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Willem Dafoe, and the late great Christopher Plummer – and the result is a highly rewatchable caper film that lives up to its pedigree.  How could it not, with Spike and Denzel leading the charge?   Host: Geoff Gershon  Producer: Marl...

What if forty years ago, a brilliant filmmaker (Brian DePalma) directed one of America’s biggest stars (John Travolta) in a very timely, well-crafted thriller involving surveillance….and nobody came??  That’s the story of this film which has gratefully garnered a cult following and a reappraisal from many film-lovers and critics since then.   The actual story is of a sound effects man, played by T...

M. Night Shyamalan – the director of The Sixth Sense, Split, Signs, and Unbreakable - once again takes the audience on a wild ride through mystery and horror.   This time, he’s doing it on a remote beach resort where our protagonists start to experience “changes” and predictably, chaos ensues – Gael Garcia Bernal, Vicky Krieps, Alex Wolff, and Thomasin McKensie play a family at the center of this...

Happy 30th Anniversary to this tale of an undercover FBI agent and a surfing bank robber thrust together through fate – Keanu Reeves plays the FBI agent and the late great Patrick Swayze plays the bank robber.  Oscar-winner Kathryn Bigelow directs them alongside Gary Busey, John C. McGinley, and Lori Petty in one of the more quotable action films in cinema history.    Host: Geoff Gershon   Produce...

WARNING - LANGUAGE Ten years ago, this movie was hyped up as “The Female Hangover” and gratefully, it turned out to be so much more than just a raunchy, gross-out comedy.   This was the break-out movie for the new comedy mega-star Melissa McCarthy – a role that she received an Oscar nomination!  And she was only a supporting character amidst a stacked cast of gifted comediennes including Kristen W...

Stephen Soderbergh, the director of Out of Sight, Ocean’s 11, Erin Brockovich, Magic Mike, and too many other notable films to list directs this HBO Max movie with an amazing cast including Don Cheadle, Benicio Del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Amy Seimetz, Brendan Fraser, Julia Fox, Ray Liotta, and quite a few others!   He has returned to the crime genre focusing on an absurdly twisted heist tak...