Released in the summer of 1988, Poltergeist III was the last and least effective of the original films. Young Heather O’Rourke passed away before the movie was completed, casting a pall over the entire production. After her death, the ending…
Seven years after fashion designer Tom Ford made his impressive directorial debut with A Single Man based on the Christopher Isherwood novel, he turns to another novel, “Tony and Susan, “as the basis for his latest film, Nocturnal Animals, a…
Based on the novel by James M. Cain, Mildred Pierce is the type of bleak, melodramatic film that it’s star Joan Crawford excelled in–tough as nails–a woman who could take care of herself, but is alluring enough to always have…
Being a teenager is rough; thank goodness, I don’t ever have to go through those years again. As a teenager, back when the John Hughes scripted Pretty in Pink (1986) came out, I related to Duckie (Jon Cryer) the most….
Back in 2003, an unusual holiday comedy hit theaters. Pointedly offensive, Bad Santa starred Billy Bob Thornton as alcoholic, sex addicted department store Santa Claus and professional Thief Willie T. Soke. Bolstered by a terrific performance from Thornton and memorable…
An authentic and moving story, Kenneth Lonergan’s Manchester By the Sea, is a portrait of a man so consumed by grief, going through the motions of a life, but no longer living. Avoiding any social contact and engaging in menial…
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is fifty years old this year. No stranger to controversial topics, in 1967 director/producer Stanley Kramer (Inherit the Wind, Judgement at Nuremberg) offered his thoughts on race relations and interracial marriage (something that had been…
It’s hard to believe that Dirty Dancing is celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year. Just 14 when the film hit theaters in August if 1987, I saw the film and loved it. My friends and I quickly bought the soundtrack…
Lacking the effective scares of its predecessor, Poltergeist II: The Other Side attempts to provide additional backstory for some of the events that occurred in the first film. While Poltergeist II brought back most of the original cast (save for…
Based on Alex Karmel’s novel Mary Ann, Something Wild was independently financed and released through United Artists largely on the strength of star Carroll Baker. Baker was then married to writer/director Jack Garfien, who had received critical accolades for his…