SANDRA & MELISSA IN THE HEAT

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wtZZjjdAzVo/Uc4muUX8ynI/AAAAAAAAZU4/cgS0zxqHw8Q/s1600/heat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="444" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wtZZjjdAzVo/Uc4muUX8ynI/AAAAAAAAZU4/cgS0zxqHw8Q/s640/heat.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Jane Curtin, Thomas F. Wilson rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Sandra Bullock plays a character so uptight, she’s just begging for someone to spice up her life. As FBI agent Ashburn she has little to call her own –  even her cat belongs to the next-door neighbor. Meanwhile, her professional life isn’t even worthwhile. The Bureau, replete with macho guys, see her as a know-it-all. But what we learn from the first five minutes, as she figures out where drugs are located in a busted house... even out-sniffing the German Shepard... she possibly does know it all.<br /> <br /> So it takes a tough and callused Melissa McCarthy, as a hardnosed cop named Mullins, to become the kind of partner Ashburn needs more than wants. Much of the film, as the reluctant duo seek a mysterious drug lord busting the smaller fish using any method possible, has Mullins giving Ashburn a personality transplant to make her more obnoxious, foul-mouthed, and even sexy.<br /> <br /> Both actresses are comfortable in their roles despite the cliché buddy-cop formula, spiced up with a funky STARSKY & HUTCH era soundtrack that doesn't fit the modern setting, even in an intentionally nostalgic sense. Although Bullock seems to be going through the motions since THE HEAT is really, for better or worse, McCarthy’s territory: She belts out insults like bullets from a machine gun, but what's most surprising is no one <i>really</i> tries insulting her back. Perhaps with more worthy competition she might be a whole lot funnier and far less one-dimensional. The same can be said of the movie.

2013, action, comedy, cop, melissa mccarthy, sandra bullock, team-up

SANDRA & MELISSA IN THE HEAT

year: 2013 cast: Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Jane Curtin, Thomas F. Wilson rating: **1/2 Sandra Bullock plays a character so uptig...

BIONIC LEE MAJORS IS THE MAN OF STEVE CARVER'S 'STEEL'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_UXFz_TWc3Y/UczzfutjlJI/AAAAAAAAZUM/ajA4zANoV3E/s601/s1-1_zpsaec4f685.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_UXFz_TWc3Y/UczzfutjlJI/AAAAAAAAZUM/ajA4zANoV3E/s400/s1-1_zpsaec4f685.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1979 cast: Lee Majors, Richard Lynch rating: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2020/04/Majors-of-Steel.html"><span style="font-size: large;">STEEL HAS MOVED HERE</span></a><br /><br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wWtaKSjoW0g/Ucy9ASuMtCI/AAAAAAAAZTU/pkFU0Hj6bmk/s598/s6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wWtaKSjoW0g/Ucy9ASuMtCI/AAAAAAAAZTU/pkFU0Hj6bmk/s400/s6.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lee Majors and Jennifer O'Neill in STEEL</td></tr> </tbody></table> <br /><div style="text-align: left;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

action, albert salmi, harris yulin, import, jennifer o'neill, lee majors, r.g. armstrong, richard lynch, roger e. mosley, seventies, terry kiser

BIONIC LEE MAJORS IS THE MAN OF STEVE CARVER'S 'STEEL'

year: 1979 cast: Lee Majors, Richard Lynch rating: ***1/2 STEEL HAS MOVED HERE Lee Majors and Jennifer O'Neill in STEEL ...

MICHAEL DOUGLAS IN 'HAIL HERO' WITH DEBORAH WINTERS

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q4OdW9OXSsw/Uctti9VGyoI/AAAAAAAAZS8/aFShqE-DW_c/s1600/HAILHEROcopy_zpsc5e28a34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q4OdW9OXSsw/Uctti9VGyoI/AAAAAAAAZS8/aFShqE-DW_c/s400/HAILHEROcopy_zpsc5e28a34.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1969 cast: Michael Douglas, Deborah Winters rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> In the beginning of Michael Douglas's thereafter-gigantic career he plays Carl Dixon, a free-spirit during the Vietnam era who returns from New York college life to a rural farm family that's harbored proud fighting men since the Civil War.<br /> <br /> The first act of HAIL, HERO! has Carl entering into his small Southern hometown with the kind of jovial personality that embodies aimless sarcastic abandon...<br /> <br /> First playing bull and matador with a truckload of Mexican workers and eventually being misunderstood by his uptight father, who gives him a nice clean haircut right away. From his era, kids didn't let their "freak flag fly." Plus it gave Michael Douglas, perhaps weighed-down under his famous father's immense shadow, a more mainstream and handsome look in spite of his carefree hippie character. <br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GTlZyqPWn-Q/Uctd6QVAhlI/AAAAAAAAZQ0/7Zsirt1Ps6o/s1600/d4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="287" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GTlZyqPWn-Q/Uctd6QVAhlI/AAAAAAAAZQ0/7Zsirt1Ps6o/s400/d4.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Becky (Deborah Winters, right) with her virginal friend on a horse</td></tr> </tbody></table> The best scenes involve blond starlet Deborah Winters who, that same year, played a teenage rebel bad-tripping on acid in THE PEOPLE NEXT DOOR. Here’s she’s a promiscuous country girl with a crush on Carl and a past relationship with his older brother, Frank...<br /> <br /> In the thankless straight man role, Peter Strauss might as well be Nick Nolte's uptight brother in RICH MAN POOR MAN. Strauss's Frank was crippled because of Carl and holds a grudge that enters into the final act, taking place at a big party where generations collide. But it’s one prolonged segment with Douglas and Winters, splashing around in a swimming hole wearing close to nothing, that provides something for either sex to enjoy.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rwC6PGMniQA/UcteNcKhX8I/AAAAAAAAZRM/tJU3NWTHslQ/s1600/d14.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rwC6PGMniQA/UcteNcKhX8I/AAAAAAAAZRM/tJU3NWTHslQ/s400/d14.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters takes a dip as Becky in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> Unlike many counter-culture flicks, HERO is never too preachy or annoyingly idealistic. The soundtrack is large and brassy and the acting, including veterans Arthur Kennedy and Teresa Wright, is topnotch.<br /> <br /> Meanwhile the sporadic use of muted flashbacks of important memories – like Carl's father having an affair with the Spanish maid and the accident that changed Frank’s life – make this rare curio more interesting that it sometimes deserves to be, and, despite being dated and ultimately stagey, with a really bizarre and pointless midsection where Frank smokes pot with a hermit woman in a cave, what's really important is the introduction of Micheal Douglas, proving, as the son of legendary Kirk Douglas, that he could hold his own.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNvt7E078kc/Uctd-0APfFI/AAAAAAAAZRA/mbFqKg-PAbE/s1600/HAILHERO2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="419" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QNvt7E078kc/Uctd-0APfFI/AAAAAAAAZRA/mbFqKg-PAbE/s640/HAILHERO2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Introducing Michael Douglas in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HIpecysHlqg/UcteUtbLEHI/AAAAAAAAZRY/39em0oXaVdg/s1600/d1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="410" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HIpecysHlqg/UcteUtbLEHI/AAAAAAAAZRY/39em0oXaVdg/s640/d1.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters as Becky in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tde4oWq4bJQ/UcteUhqRdMI/AAAAAAAAZRU/YDlDSCm0q7Y/s1600/d2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Tde4oWq4bJQ/UcteUhqRdMI/AAAAAAAAZRU/YDlDSCm0q7Y/s640/d2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters as Becky in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mvOpavxqqyA/UcteeUiz1AI/AAAAAAAAZRk/nTaegYsNXFo/s1600/d6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mvOpavxqqyA/UcteeUiz1AI/AAAAAAAAZRk/nTaegYsNXFo/s640/d6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters as Becky in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GrpIchJyeOk/UcteeXHD22I/AAAAAAAAZR0/Az_XMbI7yys/s1600/d8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GrpIchJyeOk/UcteeXHD22I/AAAAAAAAZR0/Az_XMbI7yys/s640/d8.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters as Becky in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k_EgajgwSL4/Uctee9tOiMI/AAAAAAAAZR4/1pfAR7sQxEs/s1600/d9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="462" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-k_EgajgwSL4/Uctee9tOiMI/AAAAAAAAZR4/1pfAR7sQxEs/s640/d9.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters as Becky (with Michael Douglas) in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xX_n7VDoyFw/UcteeYUlW0I/AAAAAAAAZRo/JFIKk8i6uDk/s1600/d11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xX_n7VDoyFw/UcteeYUlW0I/AAAAAAAAZRo/JFIKk8i6uDk/s640/d11.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters as Becky (with Michael Douglas) in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NipSqOyoy88/UctenxWGYQI/AAAAAAAAZSE/EJiAMASExvM/s1600/d16.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NipSqOyoy88/UctenxWGYQI/AAAAAAAAZSE/EJiAMASExvM/s640/d16.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deborah Winters as Becky (with Michael Douglas) in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Hd4whV-Mx4/Ucten1rf4OI/AAAAAAAAZSI/4hQCLXh9xyw/s1600/d17.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Hd4whV-Mx4/Ucten1rf4OI/AAAAAAAAZSI/4hQCLXh9xyw/s640/d17.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Strauss with Deborah Winters in HAIL, HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Op_wexRYLX4/UcteyHdKeZI/AAAAAAAAZSc/t-1z2_nnYpE/s1600/d89.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Op_wexRYLX4/UcteyHdKeZI/AAAAAAAAZSc/t-1z2_nnYpE/s640/d89.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Strauss, Deborah Winters and Michael Douglas in HAIL HERO!</td></tr> </tbody></table>

deborah winters, drug culture, michael douglas, peter strauss, sixties

MICHAEL DOUGLAS IN 'HAIL HERO' WITH DEBORAH WINTERS

year: 1969 cast: Michael Douglas, Deborah Winters rating: *** In the beginning of Michael Douglas's thereafter-gigantic career he pl...

PITT VS ZOMBIES IN WORLD WAR Z

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pedyL7-QIso/Ucfb6qTLiLI/AAAAAAAAZM0/E-6Bz8tdZoM/s1600/wwz.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pedyL7-QIso/Ucfb6qTLiLI/AAAAAAAAZM0/E-6Bz8tdZoM/s640/wwz.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, David Morse, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> These so called “zombies” make Frankenstein’s Monster seem like Jurassic Park Raptors – within seconds fangs bite flesh and the undead transition occurs, resembling an epileptic seizure in double time.<br /> <br /> Thankfully Brad Pitt’s not-so-regular family man Gerry Lane, after being caught in a traffic jam turned zombie attack, can figure things out along the way. He once worked for the government so he has an edge on doomed humanity, all targets for the disease-stricken hyperactive vampire-like creatures.<br /> <br /> Much of the action occurs as quickly as the antagonists – not so much the usual modern style shaky cam but with more of a rolling/undulating movement that may cause seasickness, especially in 3D. Yet much of the film has a brooding, mellow Gerry going to various cities, including North Korea and Jerusalem: his mission is to figure out what virus is causing all the bedlam, and, most importantly, if there’s a possible cure.<br /> <br /> After a few big battles, one involving a thousand-plus worker-ant “zombies” climbing a giant wall and using their bodies for leverage, followed by a DIE HARD style scrap in a high flying airplane, we’re brought down to earth for a more personal standoff...<br /> <br /> Gerry (the only character that means anything) ends up at a scientific research center where he figures out how to possibly save the human race. The idea is creative and finally there’s a more contained and suspenseful urgency – one intrepid man against only a handful of determined zombies. Too bad they act like unfed chickens and are completely laughable even at their most dangerous...<br /> <br /> But at least the movie winds down to a situation we can be part of, far exceeding the overlong buildup which felt like watching war unfold on a cable news station.

2013, action, brad pitt, david morse, zombie

PITT VS ZOMBIES IN WORLD WAR Z

year: 2013 cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, David Morse, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale rating: ** These so called “zombies” make Fra...

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sme89APMIb4/UcUZe8yKg3I/AAAAAAAAZMU/qOZOc7-yKh4/s1600/Monsters-University.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sme89APMIb4/UcUZe8yKg3I/AAAAAAAAZMU/qOZOc7-yKh4/s640/Monsters-University.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 voices: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi rating: *</td></tr> </tbody></table> Chalk this up as a completely worthless, meaningless, pointless prequel to the hit children’s movie MONSTERS INC that, with a creative plot and terrific voice-overs, was just as entertaining for adults... But why waste your chalk on such pitiful nonsense? (Added to that, the audience must first sit through a tedious short film dealing with two lustful umbrellas!) Here we follow the exploits of underdog monsters Mike and Sully; Mike, from a very young age, always looked at those nightmare-educing beasts in the grandiose fashion a human child views a professional athlete or fireman. During a field trip his excitement grows for these intrepid scaremongers… Fully intent on attending Monster’s University, as a teen he finally gets his wish.<br /> <br /> The place itself is giant and magical, and looks vividly awesome in 3D. Too bad, once inside, there are only rushed montage sequences of every college movie cliché, mostly taken from REVENGE OF THE NERDS... Mike, resembling a Mad Ball with legs and relying on books instead of gut instinct, and Sully, the big furry lovable beast with a roar like a thousand enraged lions, wind up part of a loser fraternity and compete in "Scare Games" to become recognized. There’s also a dash of HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE with a medieval style multilevel competition that, held before a crowd of screaming students, includes “sports” that a live audience would have difficulty keeping up with.<br /> <br /> The main problem is there's hardly any human children on board, so what’s the point of monsters trying to – or in this case, learning to – scare the wits out of them? The monsters themselves rate each other on how frightening they are; imagine only uptight women judging a bikini contest! The team of geeks banded with Mike and Sully are downright annoying, and there’s simply no plot nor any urgency for the team to accomplish their ultimate goal. If they win they’re well thought of… Big whoop! Having viewed this in a theater replete with children, all poised and ready to laugh their little heads off, it was apparent that, halfway through, even the crickets didn’t know how to react during this exercise in futility.

2013, alfred molina, billy crystal, children, computer animated, helen mirren, john goodman, steve buscemi

MONSTERS UNIVERSITY

year: 2013 voices: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Steve Buscemi rating: * Chalk this up as a completely worthless, meaningle...

STEVEN SPIELBERG'S E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL THEATRICALLY REVISITED

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VaBpzRW00EA/UrckDe23kLI/AAAAAAAAb9c/83-86OTTun4/s1600/photo-9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="235" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VaBpzRW00EA/UrckDe23kLI/AAAAAAAAb9c/83-86OTTun4/s320/photo-9.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1982 rating: ****</td></tr> </tbody></table> “Children are great – if their moms don't get too involved!” actress Dee Wallace wrote in a Cult Film Freak interview. “They trust, connect, and are always in the moment. I love working with kids… And dogs!”<br /> <br /> Dee's single mom, Mary, has three terrific kids and one friendly dog (unlike her CUJO antagonist a year later) in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster E.T. THE EXTRA TERRESTRIAL, and having the chance to watch this once again, on the big screen, it still holds up: The more deservingly heartfelt moments are subtler in re-watching... And while the searing, melodramatic ending drags on way too long... E.T. dying slowly after government agents infiltrate the house of Henry Thomas’s young Elliott... some of the less contrived tear jerking and/or endearingly memorable moments are when E.T. responds quietly to little sister Gertie's initial fear...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cdrMmXA4-no/UrclNr2Fe6I/AAAAAAAAb90/JZUUOSFJDZM/s1600/et.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="173" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cdrMmXA4-no/UrclNr2Fe6I/AAAAAAAAb90/JZUUOSFJDZM/s200/et.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dee & Henry</td></tr> </tbody></table> Or the freeing of doomed frogs inside class after E.T. gets plastered on Coors beer and Elliott, experiencing the same feelings while the drunken alien watches a John Wayne flick in the family room, smooches the hottest girl in school (future BAYWATCH, CHASERS and UNDER SIEGE hottie Erika Eleniak, who autographed the vintage LP above). <br /> <br /> We all know the main story: a flying saucer lands in a forest bordering the suburbs and, after the ship takes off, one alien is left behind. He’s soon discovered and eventually befriended by a young lonely kid who, even surrounded by his older brother's smart allecky cohorts… playing poker like world-weary grownups… Elliot has no one to call a real friend.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5citIKPDv4/UcJO1UZDzBI/AAAAAAAAZJM/BaEryLwEHKI/s1600/4856985448_90241546d8_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T5citIKPDv4/UcJO1UZDzBI/AAAAAAAAZJM/BaEryLwEHKI/s320/4856985448_90241546d8_z.jpg" width="193" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Novelization</td></tr> </tbody></table> Some of the best moments occur in the build-up: boy and alien initially connect thanks to Reese’s Pieces (when product placement didn’t seem as obnoxious)…And then as Elliott lets his older brother, played by scene-stealing/Yoda-impersonating Robert MacNaughton, and an adorable Drew Barrymore into the big secret mom can’t know...<br /> <br /> It's during this in-house ruse that director Steven Spielberg, fresh from the rip-roaring success of RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK and having established himself a space alien guru for his CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, never misses a suspenseful beat. But with so much fun going on, it's too bad E.T. and Elliott get ill so quickly... Right after a terrific Halloween sequence both set out with a Texas Instruments Speak & Spell, an attempt to "Phone Home," and the decline begins...<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: right;"> </div> The movie can get corny but the yanked heartstrings don't hinder the film's steady pace. Henry Thomas was one of the great child actors, expressing every emotion possible while not coming across as an overly trained Hollywood brat.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0RIjMccJvYM/VHwIisycXTI/AAAAAAAAlNE/_2TONjfc6mk/s1600/et.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0RIjMccJvYM/VHwIisycXTI/AAAAAAAAlNE/_2TONjfc6mk/s1600/et.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Infamous Atari Video Game</td></tr> </tbody></table> And as mentioned earlier, the only drawback is the end, as Elliott and E.T. lay dying for what seems like an eternity... but that’s more than made up for during the iconic escape sequence resulting in the kids riding, and then flying, their bikes away from gun-wielding FBI agents.<br /> <br /> “This is reality, Greg,” Elliott tells his brother’s more dimwitted pals after the suggestion that E.T. simply beam himself aboard the ship. And that’s what makes this magical film so timeless: It still seems very real and is more than just another heartwarming science-fiction fantasy.<br /> <br /> “I knew it was special,” Dee Wallace wrote… And when asked if she had a feeling (during filming) of the success E.T. would garner, becoming the number one box office champ of all time until Spielberg's JURASSIC PARK made that record extinct, she finished with: “No! The public makes a hit. You do your best and hope.”<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RvKyFVOOpyc/UcJ_cUsjm7I/AAAAAAAAZKI/NDFeenYm8Cw/s1600/et-lobby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="464" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RvKyFVOOpyc/UcJ_cUsjm7I/AAAAAAAAZKI/NDFeenYm8Cw/s640/et-lobby.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Future OUTSIDERS star C. Thomas Howell rides behind Henry Thomas</td></tr> </tbody></table> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

dee wallace, drew barrymore, eighties, henry thomas, peter coyote, science-fiction, steven spielberg

STEVEN SPIELBERG'S E.T. THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL THEATRICALLY REVISITED

year: 1982 rating: **** “Children are great – if their moms don't get too involved!” actress Dee Wallace wrote in a Cult Film Freak ...

MAN OF STEEL

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7DohGlSBLuU/Ubu5hDzySHI/AAAAAAAAZGo/rNkFPQTr1Ts/s1600/man_of_steel-HD.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7DohGlSBLuU/Ubu5hDzySHI/AAAAAAAAZGo/rNkFPQTr1Ts/s16000/man_of_steel-HD.jpg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white;">year: 2013 cast: Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe rating: **</span></td></tr> </tbody></table> Faster than a speeding bullet… You can say that again. When Henry Cavill’s male model Superman blasts into the sky after having a brief conversation with someone on the ground – if you blink you might just miss him: Beginning with the painful birth of Kal-El on the doomed planet Krypton, we’re introduced to Superman’s father, played by Russell Crowe, whose Jor-El has one goal: ensure his son is sent to a planet where he can do some good. He also holds the key that would ensure the survival of any other unborn Krypton children. Thus General Zod, played by a grimacing Michael Shannon, has a goal other than world domination. Unlike the cocky narcissist in the original films, this Zod is as bluntly patriotic as they come… only he’s working for his own destroyed planet against a living Earth's mankind: Now we’re skipping ahead, easy when reviewing a film that jumps all over the place. There are glimpsed flashes of Kal-El, who, raised by the Kansas farm Kent family and named Clark, holds back from beating bullies to a pulp. One of the more emotionally gripping scenes has Kevin Costner’s Jonathan Kent risking his own life before his adopted son’s eyes – holding firm that Clark must protect his identity at any cost. But with so many cuts to and from the past, we never get to know any character enough to make them really matter in the present. The backstory of Clark Kent looks like a collection of well-shot movie trailers.<br /> <br /> Amy Adams plays The Daily Planet’s roving journalist Lois Lane with the robotic determination of a relentless workaholic. Too bad her chemistry with the blue collar Clark (a chiseled drifter similar to X-MEN's Wolverine) is beyond dull, each spouting dialogue like they're rehearsing lines in pre-production. At one point she almost tells Clark… or rather, Kal-El… what that “S” on his shirt could possibly stand for. That’s right… the name Superman might be too corny for today’s hip generation: So perhaps it's a blessing she’s interrupted by the invasion of Zod, who, with a fleet of ominous spaceships, noisily seeks Kal-El and one important device he’s hiding – but where exactly? It’s really no spoiler to disclose that Superman saves the human race in MAN OF STEEL, but with a few prolonged action-packed fights against an ultimately pointless Zod, we only see the caped crusader defend a handful of military men in a bland looking desert.<br /> <br /> With an epic two-and-a-half hour runtime, not much ground is covered. And while the director (and producer) try hard to make this brooding reboot as serious as possible, there lacks the warmth and charm that would give Clark Kent the vulnerability for an audience to care about – or to share with his character’s emotional range, as blandly one dimensional as the “We Got A Dire Situation” plot that could have featured any superhero… Preferably someone willing to disclose his comic book name with pride... Maybe next time.

2013, franchise, superhero

MAN OF STEEL

year: 2013 cast: Henry Cavill, Michael Shannon, Amy Adams, Russell Crowe rating: ** Faster than a speeding bullet… You can say that agai...

THIS IS THE END

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSd2PvvT9UQ/Ubgr0TyGijI/AAAAAAAAZEM/LKLKsGwULwo/s1600/thisistheend_zpsd94be9b4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ZSd2PvvT9UQ/Ubgr0TyGijI/AAAAAAAAZEM/LKLKsGwULwo/s640/thisistheend_zpsd94be9b4.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Emma Watson rating: ***1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> Seth Rogen has been accused of always playing himself and now he’s doing it for real. Wouldn’t you know he’s not much different from his fictional characters, but here's a much better movie than usual... Meeting with buddy/actor Jay Baruchel, who's reluctantly flown to Los Angeles, the two hang out at Seth’s pad, smoke pot and have intentionally banal conversations. This suits Jay just fine, but there’s a big party being thrown by actor James Franco in his brand new super duper sized mansion.<br /> <br /> The beginning of THIS IS THE END isn’t very funny. With forced jokes and real life actors partying hard, the only true investment is the moping Jay, wanting nothing to do with anything Hollywood. His wish comes true but surely not in this fashion: When Jay and Seth go for cigarettes and munchies at the local liquor store, a formidable earthquake opens up the ground: people are either sucked inside fiery sinkholes or vacuumed into the heavens by bright blue laser beams.<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WyGoElB2GZE/Vhtf3uHDtcI/AAAAAAAApZE/AUjLpgecyoA/s1600/url.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WyGoElB2GZE/Vhtf3uHDtcI/AAAAAAAApZE/AUjLpgecyoA/s400/url.jpg" width="278" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Movie Poster</td></tr> </tbody></table> Eventually the only worthwhile (yet literally God forsaken) humans left behind are as follows: Seth, Jay and their actor buddies Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson and James Franco, whose mansion has become a survival compound from outside elements including an unseen creature dwelling amongst the ravenous netherworld. Meanwhile, behind boarded up doors, the guys are still just as shallow yet their narcissistic diatribes are a little funnier now that there's something… or everything… to lose.<br /> <br /> Danny McBride, who happened to crash out in Franco’s bathroom the night before, turns up the next morning and becomes the party animal/loon our boys didn’t need, but the audience will appreciate. From wasting rations of food and water to pleasuring himself at will, Danny’s the kind of raunchy comic relief that this already raunchy comedy yearns for. Through his unpredictable behavior he brings the gang closer together. Even HARRY POTTER ingénue Emma Watson turns up sporadically, and she's not to be messed with. <br /> <br /> While the abundantly overboard humor is hit and miss, soul-searching dialogue tends to drone on, and several classic homages are wasted on younger audiences (like ROSEMARY'S BABY), the best aspects are the stuff we don’t see at first… What exactly is that roaring creature outside? Is this a biblical or zombie apocalypse, or both? And which actor will buy the farm?<br /> <br /> In a nutshell, THIS IS THE END succeeds in <i>what’s gonna happen next</i>… And be prepared since just about everything does... and then some.

2013, action, comedy, danny mcbride, emma watson, james franco, jonah hill, seth rogen

THIS IS THE END

year: 2013 cast: Seth Rogen, Danny McBride, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Emma Watson rating: ***1/2 Seth Rogen has been accused of always p...

NOW YOU SEE ME

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IKxEssxg2Uc/UbfEvfcv0jI/AAAAAAAAZDs/O2sywTB799E/s1600/now-youseeme.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="296" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IKxEssxg2Uc/UbfEvfcv0jI/AAAAAAAAZDs/O2sywTB799E/s640/now-youseeme.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>year: </b>2013 cast: Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Michael Caine <b>rating:</b> ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> Perhaps NOW YOU DON’T, the second half of the famous line NOW YOU SEE ME, would be a more fitting title… After we get to know “The Four Horseman,” a group of magician/con artists using their showcase to steal from the rich and give to the poor (think David Copperfield meets Robin Hood), we don’t see them very much or get to know them all too well.  <br /> <br /> That’s not entirely bad since Mark Ruffalo’s put-upon FBI agent Dylan Rhodes… constantly on the trail of the roving charlatans, each a solo act until they were hired by a mysterious backer to pull off three big heist/shows as a team… is a worthy main character: Through his befuddled eyes we venture from one level onto the next.<br /> <br /> The Horseman include Jesse Eisenberg as a snarky card shark; Isla Fisher as a risk taking performance artist; Dave Franco as the group’s physically-charged street fighting freshman trying to prove his worth; and scene stealer Woody Harrelson as a charming comic relief mentalist creeping into everyone’s minds. Woody’s Merritt McKinney is, by far, the coolest cog in the wheel. But once each score is done we’re left with duped agent Rhodes lost in a perpetual cat and mouse maze.<br /> <br /> Along with an exposition-spouting Morgan Freeman, whose act is to debunk all magicians, you’ll be guessing through each step: although the actual stage shows are downright preposterous unless you put this movie in the Science Fiction category. And to bring the cerebral mind games down to earth there’s a prolonged fistfight and car chase leading to a giant twist ending too complicated for its own good, over-explaining the ultimate ruse and making everything (and everyone) seem simplistically sleight of hand in comparison.

2013, jesse eisenberg, mark ruffalo, michael caine, morgan freeman, thriller, woody harrelson

NOW YOU SEE ME

year: 2013 cast: Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Isla Fisher, Michael Caine  rating: *** Perhaps NOW YOU DON’T, the sec...

THE PURGE

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ver44gOkh0E/UbVv17blH6I/AAAAAAAAZDM/spsNFcTnlaQ/s1600/the_purge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="324" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ver44gOkh0E/UbVv17blH6I/AAAAAAAAZDM/spsNFcTnlaQ/s640/the_purge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>year: 2013 cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Heady, Rhys Wakefield, Adelaide Kane, Chris Mulkey rating: **1/2 </b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table> Here’s an annual holiday you won’t get a Hallmark Card for... Not a nice one, anyhow. For in  a revamped America, to cut down on crime or the frustration that causes it to happen in the first place, people are allowed to break any law without recourse. Simply put, for twelve straight hours the “Land of the Free” becomes a no-holds-barred riot and the upper class needs high priced protection.<br /> <br /> Enter family man Ethan Hawke as James Sandin who, with the best house in the neighborhood thanks to a lucrative job in home security, has made a killing off his neighbors: When the annual Purge happens you need to keep the bad guys out. And for the record, STRAW DOGS wasn’t only remade once: During the final act of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah film, a husband and wife harbor a desperate man that a gang of unruly antagonists want in exchange of their lives. The heavies cause havoc in the exterior, and eventually interior, of their seemingly impenetrable home. Same thing here: after Sandin’s naive son allows a hunted man access inside, a gang of mask-wearing loons prance around the front lawn (imagine the Manson family at a masquerade party) with one lethal goal in their twisted minds. <br /> <br /> Despite the preposterously far fetched plot, the contained atmosphere builds suspense within the perspective of each family member as the invading foes encroach. The video camera device from the low budget PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise is used sporadically... the camera being part of the son’s remote control vehicle… adding edgy horror flick atmosphere to the bloody action. And while Ethan Hawke has a decent character arc, turning from mild mannered rich guy into John J. Rambo, gang leader Rhys Wakefield is the most fun to root against.<br /> <br /> Although the final twist, as the true villains are revealed, is somewhat contrived and ultimately anticlimactic, this is an entertainingly nerve-racking thriller that goes in one ear and out the other. And in less than ninety minutes, you won’t have time to realize how stupid you might feel for enjoying yourself in the process. <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8HPssLEIHKo/UbYQv5PCdyI/AAAAAAAAZDc/mjtL9d5_gRQ/s1600/strawdogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="468" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8HPssLEIHKo/UbYQv5PCdyI/AAAAAAAAZDc/mjtL9d5_gRQ/s640/strawdogs.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>The antagonists of Sam Peckinpah's STRAW DOGS</b></span></span></td></tr> </tbody></table>

chris mulkey, ethan hawke, horror, suspense

THE PURGE

year: 2013 cast: Ethan Hawke, Lena Heady, Rhys Wakefield, Adelaide Kane, Chris Mulkey rating: **1/2  Here’s an annual holiday you won’t ...

VINCE VAUGHN & OWEN WILSON GOOGLE THE INTERNSHIP

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h3F5wOBygCA/UbhZXWB8x4I/AAAAAAAAZEc/dhxYzJtRpYg/s1600/internshipgoogle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h3F5wOBygCA/UbhZXWB8x4I/AAAAAAAAZEc/dhxYzJtRpYg/s400/internshipgoogle.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Does Google have to Like its Own Movie? YEAR: 2013</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> It seems that everyone’s forgetting the name of <i>that</i> <i>Google Movie</i> where two guys, played by the usually dependably likable Owen Wilson, with his deadpan-yawning surfer dude drawl, and Vince Vaughn, always the energetic smooth talker, lose their jobs and wind up interning at… hey, that’s it, THE INTERNSHIP…<br /> <br /> And with a title more befitting a single episode of a TV series, this forced comedy plays out like something made for television or perhaps a straight-to-DVD rental, although Wilson and Vaughn have decent chemistry… at first: The film opens up with the desparate partners pushing their wares, in this case classy yet dated wristwatches, not realizing their business has gone to pot, more out of date and unnecessary than a horse and buggy in 1950's Detroit...<br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MDXYaw8QihM/WThim4z98xI/AAAAAAAAx7Q/q2hZyYao1tAVGacZ8sZdM27vgAbNBsBNQCLcB/s1600/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-06-07%2Bat%2B1.30.44%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1434" data-original-width="706" height="320" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MDXYaw8QihM/WThim4z98xI/AAAAAAAAx7Q/q2hZyYao1tAVGacZ8sZdM27vgAbNBsBNQCLcB/s320/Screen%2BShot%2B2017-06-07%2Bat%2B1.30.44%2BPM.png" width="157" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>InternshipScore: **</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> And so, lost in the age of high speed Internet, the instigative Vaughn comes up with a plan to climb to the top by starting at the bottom (of the top): a possible internship at none other than the giant search engine Google… but that we’ve covered already. Then after a humorous cameo by Will Ferrell as Wilson’s new boss, a sexed-up, obnoxious owner of a mattress store, our hapless heroes enter the pearly Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Red gates in Mountain View, Northern California, both clashing noticeably with the young brainy hipsters: These include underdogs that become part of Wilson and Vaughn's team (competing against a snarky villain), each with their own annoying personalities... The worst scenes have the kids, who could never drive a film on their own, forced upon the audience with too much screen time. Meanwhile the two potentially funny forty-somethings wind up channeling Emilio Estevez to a computer generation's MIGHTY DUCKS.<br /> <br /> A filler love story between Wilson and a <i>much too beautiful to be single</i> Google employee awkwardly blends with the tale of dorky phenoms – with two cool “uncles” providing lessons of good old fashion human interaction to counterbalance their antisocial personalities... making this a wannabe REVENGE OF THE NERDS meets THE WEDDING CRASHERS. But what THE INTERNSHIP ultimately feels like is a ninety-minute Google infomercial... And for that, it's not completely awful.<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WJBjbdgv4Fo/UbMidb-x1MI/AAAAAAAAZC8/NoBh2HIYM-k/s1600/Picture+7.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WJBjbdgv4Fo/UbMidb-x1MI/AAAAAAAAZC8/NoBh2HIYM-k/s1600/Picture+7.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Google rules the world, but not cinema, yet</td></tr> </tbody></table>

2013, comedy, owen wilson, rose byrne, team-up, vince vaughn

VINCE VAUGHN & OWEN WILSON GOOGLE THE INTERNSHIP

Does Google have to Like its Own Movie? YEAR: 2013 It seems that everyone’s forgetting the name of that Google Movie where two guys, p...

KATHLEEN WILHOITE ABSOLUTELY SWEARS BY 'MURPHY'S LAW'

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F6QmXfer384/XKCZY5Ry4fI/AAAAAAABCDM/OT-GJMsQmzULE8irFJZ5TKqfgut4_GfEACLcBGAs/s1600/55680057_677102392718940_8814936254916329472_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="755" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F6QmXfer384/XKCZY5Ry4fI/AAAAAAABCDM/OT-GJMsQmzULE8irFJZ5TKqfgut4_GfEACLcBGAs/s400/55680057_677102392718940_8814936254916329472_n.jpg" width="313" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Twilight Time Blu Ray Insert Signed</u></td></tr> </tbody></table> <i>Kathleen Wilhoite is a talented, energetic, versatile character actress. She's played a wide variety of roles including teenage delinquent Arabella McGee in the underrated 1980's Charles Bronson crime vehicle MURPHY'S LAW, where she's not just a side-character but is teamed up with the iconic tough guy throughout the entire film...</i><br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4SiSYJG9lVk/VHVcqJf47XI/AAAAAAAAlFk/KbyMB9lqXDM/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4SiSYJG9lVk/VHVcqJf47XI/AAAAAAAAlFk/KbyMB9lqXDM/s1600/Picture%2B1.png" width="142" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathleen Wilhoite</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">No other actress can claim they were handcuffed to Charles Bronson in a film… How was it working so close with the iconic Charles Bronson in MURPHY'S LAW?</span></span><br /> <br /> Unbelievably fantastic. Charles Bronson is a brilliant actor. The real deal. I think whatever you might imagine working with him would be like; you probably wouldn't be far off... He was funny and kind, and brutally honest in a good way, smart, worked hard to get a scene just right, valued his family above all else. He became protective of me. He told me that my boyfriend had a head like a chicken. “How come you're dating a guy who's got a head like a chicken?" he'd ask. I had to laugh... Again, the guy was brutally honest. I had no answer for him.<br /> <br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Charles Bronson and director J. Lee Thompson had made several films together before MURPHY'S LAW… Did the production flow smoothly?</span></span><br /> <br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p1rAJO5QDfk/UawgeFsaRVI/AAAAAAAAY9w/BJMGWZqgmxo/s1600/Picture+035.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="149" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-p1rAJO5QDfk/UawgeFsaRVI/AAAAAAAAY9w/BJMGWZqgmxo/s200/Picture+035.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bound & Gagged</td></tr> </tbody></table> Oh, yes. I remember the day before I went to work, J. Lee had a meeting with me and told me not to expect too much from Charlie, that he was a quiet man and just because he didn't say much, didn't mean he was thinking there was anything wrong.<br /> <br /> He said a lot of the actresses Charlie had worked with in the past would get progressively more paranoid as the filming went along.<br /> <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uSFit1iAHv8/Uawde1UT9dI/AAAAAAAAY9Q/IuB2iHmVcNc/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-06-02+at+9.36.50+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="160" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-uSFit1iAHv8/Uawde1UT9dI/AAAAAAAAY9Q/IuB2iHmVcNc/s200/Screen+shot+2013-06-02+at+9.36.50+PM.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charlie's Sidekick</td></tr> </tbody></table> He told me that it was important I was made aware of that. My father's a lot like that, so when Charles and I had a long car scene, or when we were handcuffed together for long period of time, I just sat there quietly and let him steer the chitchat.<br /> <br /> He couldn't have been kinder and more interesting. When he was finished with his story, he'd say, "Let's shoooooooooot!" and the film would be rolling again.<br /> <br /> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">MURPHY'S LAW was very physical – lots of action and fighting and your character was the brunt of most of it… Did you do any of your own stunts?</span></span><br /> <br /> Sure. I love that stuff. I'm a tomboy and an ex gymnast. In my last life, I might have been a stunt chick. I developed a fear of heights but it was long after MURPHY'S LAW. I remember the stories surrounding all the guns on the set and how careful the prop people were with them.<br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3EY6QL0puIo/S2Xty868iaI/AAAAAAAAAd8/eUzaJHOrmb4/s1600-h/Picture+016.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433009985094977954" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3EY6QL0puIo/S2Xty868iaI/AAAAAAAAAd8/eUzaJHOrmb4/s200/Picture+016.jpg" style="float: left; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Hey, Scrotum Cheeks"</td></tr> </tbody></table> <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Your character had an interesting vocabulary, phrases such as “Chism Breath”, “Scrotum Cheeks”, “Snot Rags”, "Camel Crotch", "Monkey Vomit", "Booger Bits", “Dinosaur Dork”… Were there any particular phrases that you were embarrassed to say aloud?</span></span><br /> <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3EY6QL0puIo/S2XtNEgpZLI/AAAAAAAAAds/XbtJZWtauzU/s1600-h/Picture+030.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5433009334297126066" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3EY6QL0puIo/S2XtNEgpZLI/AAAAAAAAAds/XbtJZWtauzU/s200/Picture+030.jpg" style="float: right; height: 150px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kathllen Wilhoite</td></tr> </tbody></table> Oh, holy crap. All of them. Who talks like that? It was big part, but no potty mouth that I know of would ever "nail" someone by calling them a donkey dork. I was a student of Peggy Fruerry and Bill Traylor from the Loft Studio. We were all about "keeping it real," so to get a script like that, I had to just throw away my ideal about shaving my performances close to the bone. They didn't want me to swear too much.<br /> <br /> Last time I checked, swearing is kind of central to being a "potty mouth." I had a blast though. No doubt, except afterwards when I was doing a play in New York and every time I went down to Times Square, someone would follow me and say, "Hey, hey, Scrotum Cheeks, Jizz Breath. . ."<br /> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div>

cannon, charles bronson, cop, crime, eighties, exploitation, interview, kathleen wilhoite

KATHLEEN WILHOITE ABSOLUTELY SWEARS BY 'MURPHY'S LAW'

Twilight Time Blu Ray Insert Signed Kathleen Wilhoite is a talented, energetic, versatile character actress. She's played a wide var...

AFTER EARTH

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QtKCm4PdXH4/UaqjJWV7JyI/AAAAAAAAY8k/zvstHOSB3KI/s1600/after-earth.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="368" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QtKCm4PdXH4/UaqjJWV7JyI/AAAAAAAAY8k/zvstHOSB3KI/s640/after-earth.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Zoë Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> A hybrid of George Lucas’s “used future,” the main spaceship a sleek stingray-shaped vessel with primitive interior; James Cameron’s existential stranger in a strange land AVATAR; and PLANET OF THE APES wherein two “astronauts,” in this case real life father/son Will and Jaden Smith as Cypher Raige and Kitai, land on Earth in a future where deadly creatures (including gorilla-like antagonists) are hostile to all things human. <br /> <br /> Skipping past the backstory of Earth’s original demise caused by everything preached in AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH plus some really aggressive aliens, mankind resides on a planet where young Katai is training to be like his father, not only an intrepid General but he can make himself invisible to the alien foe. This is called “Ghosting” and like all science-fiction films there are odd terms commonplace in this otherworld we’re thrust into. But only the basics are important here: bravery and skill and how the reluctant, vulnerable youth has to eventually combine both to survive. <br /> <br /> The underdog Katai gets an unfortunate chance to prove his worth when their spaceship, with his father and a host of doomed soldiers on board, is caught in a meteor storm and crash-lands on the hostile planet Earth. Cypher is severely injured and has to give his son instructions as he treks into the wilderness, fighting adversaries while in search of the tail end of the craft: here’s where a device is located that can ensure a rescue.<br /> <br /> Much of the film has Jaden Smith’s Katai alone against the elements, but not entirely. His father gives him instructions from the crashed ship, providing the youthful hero not only loopholes for several nail-biting situations but Katai's never given enough chance to prove himself outside father’s constant influence. In other words, Will Smith’s expository-input gets downright tiresome, turning what could have been a sleek Jack Londonesque survival tale into a Monday Night Football color commentary.<br /> <br /> Jaden’s acting isn’t bad, relying mostly on a deer-caught-in-headlight reactions and sporadically breaking down in tears. Meanwhile, Will Smith seems to be reading his dialog in slow motion – then again he’s acting like every monotone character set in director M. Night Shyamalan cinema… Although he has an excuse since his character’s under heavy medication... And as dad's broken leg gets worse, son fights the big bad beast that’s been anticipated all along (including several dreamlike flashbacks).<br /> <br /> AFTER EARTH probably won’t heal the maligned M. Night and yet it’s better than anything he’s directed in years. Certain scenes, especially that final battle verses the beastly CGI alien, has enough suspenseful intensity where Katai's situation seems more desperate than Jaden can pull off emotionally. But as a revved-up action hero, the kid does all right.

2013, jaden smith, m. night, science fiction, will smith, zoe kravitz

AFTER EARTH

year: 2013 cast: Jaden Smith, Will Smith, Zoë Kravitz, Sophie Okonedo rating: **1/2 A hybrid of George Lucas’s “used future,” the main s...

REST IN PEACE DEAN BROOKS FROM THE REAL CUCKOO'S NEST

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g2v7chuCfGE/Uao-YXs2FUI/AAAAAAAAY70/iVSBS_UcKHA/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-g2v7chuCfGE/Uao-YXs2FUI/AAAAAAAAY70/iVSBS_UcKHA/s640/Picture+1.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dean R. Brooks as Dr. Spivey in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST</td></tr> </tbody></table> Dean Brooks played Dr. John Spivey in the Oscar Winning classic ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, a film best known for its ensemble of talented character actors. Although Dean, whose performance was genuine and memorable, wasn’t an actor: He was the real deal, in charge of the Oregon State Hospital in 1975 when CUCKOO’S NEST was filmed there.<br /> <br /> In my interview in 2012 with Louise Fletcher, who played the formidable Nurse Ratched under Spivey’s docile watch, agreed on how capable Dean was in the movie.<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eGItl7GwJms/Uao-gCTWk1I/AAAAAAAAY78/38j6KFHPO1M/s1600/Picture+5.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="364" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eGItl7GwJms/Uao-gCTWk1I/AAAAAAAAY78/38j6KFHPO1M/s640/Picture+5.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Oscar Winner Louise Fletcher on her friend and co-star Dean Brooks</td></tr> </tbody></table> "Wasn’t he great? You know he’s still around. He’s ninety-four or five, and we talk about every month or so… He’s very, very involved with the hospital still and they’re building a new hospital and he’s very active in all that. But he’s in an assisted living place now."<br /> <br /> We then discussed a scene where Dr. Spivey asks Nurse Ratched about what she wants to do with Jack Nicholson’s boisterous Randall Patrick McMurphy. Unlike the other doctors, she wants the cocky convict to stick around.<br /> <br /> "I make it look like I’m really sacrificing… I think I can help him now… She’s has it in for him."<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9FQIEwtrWcU/Uao-mD6l0GI/AAAAAAAAY8E/gpCsNpXZMlw/s1600/Picture+2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-9FQIEwtrWcU/Uao-mD6l0GI/AAAAAAAAY8E/gpCsNpXZMlw/s640/Picture+2.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Spivey reacts to McMurphy smashing a fly on his desk</td></tr> </tbody></table> Dr. Spivey is first introduced in his office, asking McMurphy questions about how and why he went from prison into the mental hospital.<br /> <br /> One classic moment has McMurphy swatting an imaginary fly on the desk, wherein Dean gives a flash of a quirky smile, approving, or perhaps simply acknowledging, this spontaneous distraction, one of several Nicholson adlibs during the memorable scene. <br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qKxwwygZAEQ/Uao-sYrSPKI/AAAAAAAAY8M/1xDcr6Eqago/s1600/Picture+4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="356" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qKxwwygZAEQ/Uao-sYrSPKI/AAAAAAAAY8M/1xDcr6Eqago/s640/Picture+4.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Spivey gets Nurse Ratched's two cents on McMurphy's future</td></tr> </tbody></table> In real life, Dean Brooks would allow patients wear their own clothes and take therapeutic field trips into the wilderness. Thankfully there was no Nurse Ratched to curb this brand of positive therapy.<br /> <br /> God only knows what "Mildred" (a name Dr. Spivey first mentions, and that Louise herself made up for her character, who had only a last name in the Ken Kesey novel) would have done to cheer down the patients. <br /> <br /> After a long dedicated life, Dr. Dean Brooks was 96 when he passed away on May 30th, 2013... Rest in Peace…<br /> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody> <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgc4LeGpd-A/Uao-wop708I/AAAAAAAAY8U/_wBJ0AEOkRY/s1600/Picture+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pgc4LeGpd-A/Uao-wop708I/AAAAAAAAY8U/_wBJ0AEOkRY/s640/Picture+3.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/One-Flew-Over-Cuckoos-Nest/dp/B004FQX5B6/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1370112392&sr=8-3&keywords=one+flew+over+the+cuckoo%27s+nest">BUY ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST ON AMAZON</a></td></tr> </tbody></table>

jack nicholson, louise fletcher, seventies, tribute

REST IN PEACE DEAN BROOKS FROM THE REAL CUCKOO'S NEST

Dean R. Brooks as Dr. Spivey in ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST Dean Brooks played Dr. John Spivey in the Oscar Winning classic ONE ...