cult film freak: charlie sheen

Showing posts with label charlie sheen. Show all posts

Written by James M. Tate / 9/30/2025 / No comments / charlie sheen , clint howard , desert , eighties , exploitation , griffin o'neal , nick cassavetes , randy quaid , science-fiction , sherilyn fenn , small town

CHARLIE SHEEN, SHERILYN FENN & NICK CASSAVETES 'THE WRAITH'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NTzHk6YJcLfS1r8Lw8bM-FSVVOLnNKb1zAAkCws1kMKK_PyE3SnJdLprYHaUi4M_b3eraRRpsqU6ymqzTzITCYmcqtSOFmvCcjbuYDfu2FFcVibTRr3zuDsnS2TKj-VDjB7NlZRrUwfOA-rWzM7ep2l-dLhBlq8imoKwUZxnPJxhcktoNnuQH82iqcl2/s1866/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-21%20at%2010.42.57%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1034" data-original-width="1866" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5NTzHk6YJcLfS1r8Lw8bM-FSVVOLnNKb1zAAkCws1kMKK_PyE3SnJdLprYHaUi4M_b3eraRRpsqU6ymqzTzITCYmcqtSOFmvCcjbuYDfu2FFcVibTRr3zuDsnS2TKj-VDjB7NlZRrUwfOA-rWzM7ep2l-dLhBlq8imoKwUZxnPJxhcktoNnuQH82iqcl2/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-21%20at%2010.42.57%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sherilyn Fenn, Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes & Matthew Barry in THE WRAITH Year: 1986 Rating: ***</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Right before Oliver Stone flew overseas to begin filming his game-changing PLATOON, he had heard about the kind of b-movie he probably grew up watching... a small town gang of ruffians race cars along winding desert roads... <br><br>All for pink slips to own the losing vehicle, but there's a twist since one black car seems to have come from outer space... and Stone's Vietnam-opus leading man, Charlie Sheen, could have possibly ruined his potential star-power...</p><p><span></span></p>

charlie sheen, clint howard, desert, eighties, exploitation, griffin o'neal, nick cassavetes, randy quaid, science-fiction, sherilyn fenn, small town

CHARLIE SHEEN, SHERILYN FENN & NICK CASSAVETES 'THE WRAITH'

Sherilyn Fenn, Charlie Sheen, Nick Cassavetes & Matthew Barry in THE WRAITH Year: 1986 Rating: *** Right before Oliver Stone flew overse...

CHARLIE SHEEN & MAXWELL CAULFIELD IN 'THE BOYS NEXT DOOR'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwshiTobRKfBCjX7_9BbYfZciHgVjezyYTlRm_YCKl-apuHPYXyZCUNGXlApA1QwCk9qWEUCW3uanUj_Qihe3xMrPauLveb-Y9v8_jEZBVKcGR3-WFf0UqHSafU2kMHVKQTeo9Otb9oe2oiVuT8lpHk6e0RJ_3HTVsoKj4T2GR198Z9zPbpe4pOShMKaq2/s1834/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-20%20at%203.27.12%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1834" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwshiTobRKfBCjX7_9BbYfZciHgVjezyYTlRm_YCKl-apuHPYXyZCUNGXlApA1QwCk9qWEUCW3uanUj_Qihe3xMrPauLveb-Y9v8_jEZBVKcGR3-WFf0UqHSafU2kMHVKQTeo9Otb9oe2oiVuT8lpHk6e0RJ_3HTVsoKj4T2GR198Z9zPbpe4pOShMKaq2/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-20%20at%203.27.12%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charlie Sheen and Maxwell Caulfield in THE BOYS NEXT DOOR Year: 1985 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Penelope Spheeris, cult film director who has depicted the legendary Hollywood nightlife in both fictional and non-fictional vehicles, has an opening credit montage of various statewide serial killers, which is misleading for THE BOYS NEXT DOOR, more of a 1970's-stlye violent exploitation semi road movie made during the mid-80's...<br><br>Beginning with two friends who are not only far too old for high school, but way too perfect-looking to be ostracized outsiders: as Maxwell Caulfield and Charlie Sheen are older and younger Roy and Bo, who crash a post-graduation party, steal a rich kids' poodle, and take off to Los Angeles...</p><p><span></span></p>

body count, charlie sheen, christopher mcdonald, crime, eighties, exploitation, hank garrett, maxwell caulfield, neo noir, road movie, thriller

CHARLIE SHEEN & MAXWELL CAULFIELD IN 'THE BOYS NEXT DOOR'

Charlie Sheen and Maxwell Caulfield in THE BOYS NEXT DOOR Year: 1985 Rating: ***1/2 Penelope Spheeris, cult film director who has depicted t...

CHARLIE SHEEN IN THE NEON-NOIR CRIME-THRILLER 'NO MAN'S LAND'

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbFVvGiRJBtS5ONlFbdxHJirN0n__RPan92D9ODP528MIJNYT4GkIepB2nbuWTJ2gVXGPm37qmLauqGQOEBihFkU23-iZoKQavsDdsm5K8SCP6Wsj31hhqxBGLBJ9XpKa2T0TcOTIBVm64wcYRatXhhwaWDyromUVQ0-sLbgcooYR13pAnfrRfuFrT2Ab/s1860/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-23%20at%201.56.51%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="1860" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSbFVvGiRJBtS5ONlFbdxHJirN0n__RPan92D9ODP528MIJNYT4GkIepB2nbuWTJ2gVXGPm37qmLauqGQOEBihFkU23-iZoKQavsDdsm5K8SCP6Wsj31hhqxBGLBJ9XpKa2T0TcOTIBVm64wcYRatXhhwaWDyromUVQ0-sLbgcooYR13pAnfrRfuFrT2Ab/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-23%20at%201.56.51%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Charlie Sheen in NO MAN'S LAND Year: 1987 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Executive Producer Dick Wolfe's 1987 crime-thriller NO MAN'S LAND is said to have influenced the likes of THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS and before that POINT BREAK... and yet the inside-man-befriending-a-dangerous-kingpin-he's-out-to-bust device has been around since WHITE HEAT, THE STREET WITH NO NAME and countless others...<br><br>Herein the central character's second-billed D.B.Sweeney (working for timid chief-detective Randy Quaid), a lowly cop with the specific skills to go undercover as a mechanic at a stolen-car-ring garage... soon meeting young rich owner Charlie Sheen in the Hollywood Hills, starting up his broken-down dream-car and setting the bond between poor vs rich boy in rip-roaring camaraderie...  </p><span></span>

bill duke, brad pitt, charlie sheen, crime, d.b. sweeney, eighties, randy quaid, thriller, undercover

CHARLIE SHEEN IN THE NEON-NOIR CRIME-THRILLER 'NO MAN'S LAND'

Charlie Sheen in NO MAN'S LAND Year: 1987 Rating: ***** Executive Producer Dick Wolfe's 1987 crime-thriller NO MAN'S LAND is sai...

JOHN MILIUS DIRECTS 'RED DAWN' STARRING PATRICK SWAYZE

<p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOEEf9-VoH8pGxBqdBaSTog_W0gLDEJd-RPKhwqRhOnq3fmIcLpjobTn1W56UZMu0QR3Y2SYFqB_d4NTVBlG5jYFMeWjLKV8e3RRWW0mTP7fRteyMeMsCxjjx5aPdyoxhZFIOhSl9dH0CmkC7kipwJzJzuX5w0MWUQUcNrNLnX5iHOJEWwDETS2WIZjxG/s2506/366355594_1784408195321682_5276256121142775162_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1190" data-original-width="2506" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiOEEf9-VoH8pGxBqdBaSTog_W0gLDEJd-RPKhwqRhOnq3fmIcLpjobTn1W56UZMu0QR3Y2SYFqB_d4NTVBlG5jYFMeWjLKV8e3RRWW0mTP7fRteyMeMsCxjjx5aPdyoxhZFIOhSl9dH0CmkC7kipwJzJzuX5w0MWUQUcNrNLnX5iHOJEWwDETS2WIZjxG/s16000/366355594_1784408195321682_5276256121142775162_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: RED DAWN Year: 1984 Director: John Milius Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>By the time Powers Booth's Air Force Lt. Col. Andy Tanner is found near his crashed jet fighter plane, and then begins helping a band of young rebels fighting against an insanely unanticipated World War III, it seems like John Milius is finally directing the film he wanted to make all along... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p>Which is basically an old-fashion war picture, in this case beginning with a high school's perspective of being attacking by commandos, destroying and ultimately taking over the connected rural small town...</p><p><span></span></p>

action, adventure, body count, charlie sheen, frank mcrea, harry dean stanton, jennifer grey, johh milius, lea thompson, powers booth, war, william smith

JOHN MILIUS DIRECTS 'RED DAWN' STARRING PATRICK SWAYZE

Title: RED DAWN Year: 1984 Director: John Milius Rating: ***1/2 By the time Powers Booth's Air Force Lt. Col. Andy Tanner is found near ...

AN INTREPID JOHN MILIUS DUTIFULLY DIRECTS RED DAWN

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>On an Optimistic Note, He was Failing History YEAR: 1984</u></td></tr>
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Two toughest kids on the block... I guess, sooner or later, they're gonna fight.</blockquote>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There wasn't a more perfectly suited director for RED DAWN than John Milius, whose staunch, overboard bravado towards The Right most likely shocked The Left-leaning writers, directors, producers, actors, and even critics. But still referred to as a <i>very good</i> (if hit/miss) director, having done an eclectic reel from DILLINGER, THE WIND AND THE LION, BIG WEDNESDAY and garnering his first box office blast with CONAN THE BARBARIAN, he's mostly known as the <i>great </i>writer of APOCALYPSE NOW... So here's another War... The Next Step, the 1980's, and it takes Milius, with an original story/co-written by future FANDANGO (and WATERWORLD) director Kevin Reynolds, to not only make the Russians the bad guys but to kick the Cold War in the pants by moving Soviet and Cuban ground-troops up from Mexico, and taking over half of America...</span><br>

c. thomas howell, charlie sheen, eighties, jennifer grey, john milius, kevin reynolds, lea thompson, patrick swayze, powers boothe, war, william smith

AN INTREPID JOHN MILIUS DUTIFULLY DIRECTS RED DAWN

On an Optimistic Note, He was Failing History YEAR: 1984 Two toughest kids on the block... I guess, sooner or later, they're gonna ...

GREED RULES IN OLIVER STONE'S UNDERRATED 'WALL STREET'

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Gf9pqPytC9uM9HXaPO73zN4K8GbGxh7ONtS9a8tHY6OCwN7EKKwnqGaqfQNJaSpwLn6sNiWttV8l6_tEV4cux0wrD1teYr2ravJbpBTi_gwi83ERke8lmz5kG18wYyWgACvXGYhvP2jpVumYZT1gHtoN_DmoHOAKGZDwJf4K0UroPUnrCqwk4zdTFiyR/s1488/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-10%20at%2012.01.29%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="792" data-original-width="1488" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Gf9pqPytC9uM9HXaPO73zN4K8GbGxh7ONtS9a8tHY6OCwN7EKKwnqGaqfQNJaSpwLn6sNiWttV8l6_tEV4cux0wrD1teYr2ravJbpBTi_gwi83ERke8lmz5kG18wYyWgACvXGYhvP2jpVumYZT1gHtoN_DmoHOAKGZDwJf4K0UroPUnrCqwk4zdTFiyR/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202025-09-10%20at%2012.01.29%20AM.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Year: 1988 Rating: ****</u><br /></td></tr></tbody></table>Oliver Stone didn't win an Academy Award for writing and/or directing WALL STREET. His Vietnam opus PLATOON, also about two mentors pulling at a vulnerable Charlie Sheen wishbone, was the anticipated Gold Statue followup to his Best Screenplay for MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, which got the ball rolling a decade earlier. And having been an American soldier in Vietnam, PLATOON was his canvas to paint...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Painting and Douglas</td></tr>
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And yet, accolades were and still are very few concerning WALL STREET, giving props to Best Actor Winning Michael Douglas as the iconic Gordon Gekko, a Corporate Raider whose "Greed" speech was as important to his victory as, in a few years, Joe Pesci's barroom clown lecture would be. It's often that <i>one scene</i> seems to usually nail it. But according to both Stone and Douglas, they weren't the best of friends: On the first day, the director asked the big-named actor (on a tremendous roll after ROMANCING THE STONE and FATAL ATTRACTION cleared memory of his STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO television status) if this were a motion picture or soap opera? And while it's never been disclosed exactly what scene in particular Stone referred to, it just might have had to do with playing a villain in a noticeably villainous fashion: The worst kind of cinematic bad guys (or girls) are the ones who seem like nothing else in the process, and with no pulse pumping in-between: as if instead of eating breakfast in the morning they meditate in perpetual darkness...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Real life father/son Sheen</td></tr>
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In fact, Douglas's best moments are bringing a sort of genuinely "twisted" humanity to this film's first-billed star, wonderfully playing the ultimate heavy against a lightweight climber in Stone's PLATOON leading young man, Charlie Sheen as Bud Fox, who sells his soul more convincingly by, in this case, using info on his father's union/airlines, than actual Faustian-inspired tales set in the modern world, like, for instance, THE DEVIL'S ADVOCATE, which this is not only much better than but seems the cinematic origin/inspiration of... For Douglas, at first... instead of harboring the intensity of some demonic manipulator... he's more like a deer springing gleefully through a forest, as Fox's motivation isn't to equal that impossible stride but to follow the heels upon which is tragically predicted an unlucky outcome by dad Martin Sheen in a terrific father/son (mostly one shot) scene, beginning within a silent elevator going down as Martin plays better than he speaks, often spouting blue collar values as if Stone were kissing his typewriter with every punch of the keys. And yet, shocking for a writer/director with a heart usually soaking on his sleeves, and with all the "good greed" abounding during the Reagan era (that liberal baby boomers preferred to call Selfish instead of Prosperous... which would reverse in the Clinton Era), this movie is, surprisingly, far more ambiguous than one might think, and that, other than the actor, is what makes Gordon Gekko so timeless... beneath all his money that never runs out, he really is a climber that only knows to move forward, without looking back – traits embracing any intrepid motion picture hero as opposed to a villain.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bud Fox is born to be lectured/mentored</td></tr>
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And taking a glimpse into the director's personal history, this movie was to Oliver Stone's youth what PLATOON was to his slightly older (yet still young) years; his dad was a hard-working Right Wing stockbroker and, in that, is who Hal Holbrook's friendly yet lecturing, wisely anticipating office broker Lou Mannheim is inspired: on par with Martin Sheen's "work hard without taking shortcuts" virtues and, despite having backed Nixon in the early-1970's and cruising along on a nowhere road in the same office for decades, he sees through Fox even before dad does, and also, doesn't trust money or Bud's foreknowledge of it, one bit.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">James Karen pouncing Fox</td></tr>
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A film that never stops entertaining, the value is in the "action" of the first half as Sheen goes from put-upon cold-caller in a relatively mediocre firm, bringing you into the caged, hectic setting and, like Bud, wanting out despite the great actors and flowing dialogue; to being a crooked investigative underling, following his prime target (Terrence Stamp) on a motorcycle while thinking up ways to cut corners to bring info and money back to his boss; while the suspense lies with equal momentum the rest of the way through, as Fox rides the tail-wind of success to what could be his own "abyss"...<br />
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Meanwhile, grooving throughout the good times and bad is a non-dated yet still completely discernible 1980's soundtrack, highlighted by several David Byrne Talking Head tunes that the techno main theme plays variations of: sounding as if one of those old black and green computer screens magically played music all by themselves, somehow, like a pianola for determined, workaholic yuppies in rhythmic repose. And there are corny moments, that Stone is often prone to in any of his projects, like an exhausted Fox looking out his million dollar penthouse window whispering to himself, "Who Am I?" as interior designing "trophy" girlfriend Daryl Hannah as Darien, equally vulnerable and desirable (who also butted heads with Stone), waits in a large bed, the set bathed in a sort of ominous glow, like Hell itself anticipates their every move... or maybe they're there already, but comfortably, for a little while...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-FXnCPA-0-9aNmadT9gjVSZLxeVKx8ENXb5z4xlyrkac8zv5zxR8EfCiR6w86wkdUiEHY9Bv-8xCn3JppczO72vgGA1o-pmfKdCmEo8_sr-ZNxiYqgi-57IYNFG5P7TXhW2dldUS9fY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-02+at+10.39.30+PM.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH-FXnCPA-0-9aNmadT9gjVSZLxeVKx8ENXb5z4xlyrkac8zv5zxR8EfCiR6w86wkdUiEHY9Bv-8xCn3JppczO72vgGA1o-pmfKdCmEo8_sr-ZNxiYqgi-57IYNFG5P7TXhW2dldUS9fY/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-04-02+at+10.39.30+PM.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Picturing Wall Street Life</td></tr>
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And to cover some other... contrived moments: One scene shows a bum with a shopping cart, and a suited businessman, standing together in the rain, on a street corner, as limo-cruising Gekko makes a point, literally pointing-out to Bud about their contrast: both just happening to be standing there, like an earlier scene in a club locker room where, as Gekko tells Fox about the importance of acquiring information, a guy conveniently walks up and quietly asks Gordon for an illicit stock tip...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMKhyOkSLYHL-uJs9DQUF7b2zrgphCZPn2P2oXxS19Iw7fVponDKOWQwUKKcX3iAi-kO-qrMzreMIkZ_KaMzVrpQ5nvlFjShYsduU4qceqhWnMMzgiIhSnzPFiYJz_7UzInrfLiqYdao/s1600/12.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSMKhyOkSLYHL-uJs9DQUF7b2zrgphCZPn2P2oXxS19Iw7fVponDKOWQwUKKcX3iAi-kO-qrMzreMIkZ_KaMzVrpQ5nvlFjShYsduU4qceqhWnMMzgiIhSnzPFiYJz_7UzInrfLiqYdao/s400/12.jpg" width="172" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An Unfairly Unbalanced Fox</td></tr>
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These things seem straight out of a play, or perhaps a coloring book, but somehow it's an old-fashion, dime-novel or even Film Noir approach that works. And returning to Bud's "Who am I?" moment, occurring just when hitting his stride (and literally after peaking sexually following a fantastic meal with Hannah), would he realize he lost his soul so quickly and/or even care at all? Stone mentions this moment during a great commentary track on the DVD, discussing and often defending a movie that most critics saw as a potential yet pale followup to his "greatest motion picture achievement," PLATOON, which is, really, if you look closely at Charlie Sheen's duo mentors... both obvious in their agendas... is completely the reverse of within a far more subtle WALL STREET...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4x1DiwAGp4kQejdnoZrMxfxSmvpSVKgG9WAdDk7KFxaW_mD4nA7OjBS1JPKZ1-4Qm9Wl5LzoV2NSPJj0E-oRti3LJU8X9Slzj91GImkoIVgtDGPw1kMNuGXHJCtGBf2ZbreV2nCK_Y8/s1600/99.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgG4x1DiwAGp4kQejdnoZrMxfxSmvpSVKgG9WAdDk7KFxaW_mD4nA7OjBS1JPKZ1-4Qm9Wl5LzoV2NSPJj0E-oRti3LJU8X9Slzj91GImkoIVgtDGPw1kMNuGXHJCtGBf2ZbreV2nCK_Y8/s640/99.jpg" width="184" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Smoking of Winston Cigs</td></tr>
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Gekko is what he is the whole way through, and the genuine acting triumph lies far beyond just one of those performances that exceeds the film itself, which WALL STREET, to many, is the epitome of, and yet is very far from being. Working backwards here, from the 1980's to the 1990's, using Quentin Tarantino as a comparison: while the sublime Vietnam flick was Stone's PULP FICTION, exploding with epic grandiose while putting him on both the Hollywood and Household-Name map, this is more of a grounded-in JACKIE BROWN, paying more laid-back attention to the details than the devil. For any fans of the John Landis comedy TRADING PLACES knows, the convoluted work going on with the actual Stock Market "Floor Traders" makes little to no sense to an uneducated-in-such-matters audience, no matter how many times viewed: You just have to go with it, and let the characters make more sense to the story – beyond what they're actually doing.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdwEQ23De_lRwBWtl41BxmO82bRRXUttSjH1af7UDYVy_rBAqYIhn6u-348-dsUGt3v6a4gc5e3FoA1N4M1-Egq0jTfiuXUkFsUi10I8I68cGEqIVrtV2IMraUUUBv6QtY7vmMIGaY74/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-02+at+10.26.32+PM.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdwEQ23De_lRwBWtl41BxmO82bRRXUttSjH1af7UDYVy_rBAqYIhn6u-348-dsUGt3v6a4gc5e3FoA1N4M1-Egq0jTfiuXUkFsUi10I8I68cGEqIVrtV2IMraUUUBv6QtY7vmMIGaY74/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-04-02+at+10.26.32+PM.jpg" width="136" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">JCM Rules</td></tr>
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<u><b>RATING</b></u>: ****1/2<br />
<b><u>TRIVIA</u></b>: Most of the information has been already mentioned, as you should see this movie on DVD or BLU RAY to hear the terrific director commentary that covers a whole lot of ground, but there are still things to take notice of: Like Oliver Stone himself in a cameo as a broker... His son, who played a young, plump, dead-Indian obsessed Jim Morrison later in THE DOORS, plays Gekko's son... While the usually villainous greedy yuppie type James Spader plays a nice cautious fella with no guts while the equally jerk-off casted Sal Rubinek, as Gekko's lawyer, is in his usual weenie form... And not only is Sheen returning from Vietnam in PLATOON, but scene-stealer (in both films) John C. McGinley also returns, playing Bud's best friend/partner in the cold-calling firm run by an always-watchable James Karen, the Murray Hamilton of POLTERGEIST... In another small role, this a cameo, THE SHOOTING starlet, and the first cinematic Anne Frank, that being, Millie Perkins, turns up as Bud's mom while Sean Young has an even more (or rather, less) wasted potential as Gekko's wife, and yet her scenes are intriguing and realistic, as usual with the controversial yet talented and beautiful actress... Martin Scorsese regular goon Frank Adonis plays one of the blue collar root-for characters... Franklin Cover, best known as "the white guy married to Lenny Kravitz's mom" on THE JEFFERSONS turns up in one of his few movie roles • And the eerie portrait at the very top of this article/review, that Bud says would only be worthwhile "If you're on mushrooms," is one of the many modern paintings that Hannah's character bought with either Gekko or Fox's dough.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKgtKnQGDZUGrNu4QhRagNYPzbYK18e1aKq_D5z0UgByvXUOx_cw5C0JNkjafeKKC_RiTY0KtyLJscrN9p-FQ8XON9D_XhJbMB_98KHMW3HbNGG8ZL1aQjm1wdghD6M02qZzoNA_l58A/s1600/111.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicKgtKnQGDZUGrNu4QhRagNYPzbYK18e1aKq_D5z0UgByvXUOx_cw5C0JNkjafeKKC_RiTY0KtyLJscrN9p-FQ8XON9D_XhJbMB_98KHMW3HbNGG8ZL1aQjm1wdghD6M02qZzoNA_l58A/s1600/111.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wide Shot of Gekko's War Room including a painting of the GHOST demons and what look like pinball machines</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4_i_fFoxj8G1VZ4RFyeMo-CTrQxNrZc6iLeyA25noUaMoK1w1xcfZVk0JXiSQw8p9SWZvyEM66r5eJISVZJ6qlUSNpF3Z6K5UJeZvTKM6KajGUn0OkBbdHE3gCyECKbMkWys_cAvQog/s1600/112.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy4_i_fFoxj8G1VZ4RFyeMo-CTrQxNrZc6iLeyA25noUaMoK1w1xcfZVk0JXiSQw8p9SWZvyEM66r5eJISVZJ6qlUSNpF3Z6K5UJeZvTKM6KajGUn0OkBbdHE3gCyECKbMkWys_cAvQog/s1600/112.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"You're fired, but maybe you can talk the networks into a possible Jeffersons spin-off called... The Zebra Bunch."</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOiRN2_qXpF0zn8I1cjfWoVbf4Jz6GlvBkJBFQMHMrNpIuh4nwSatx6-zUyyR2aHsbLUCqOFEOOexHOZiNWLLBx_E-xZpiulVF4OUHgndXns6Tp2Iinmu13qvVEcrQvY17RmG_CQMsCo/s1600/113.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfOiRN2_qXpF0zn8I1cjfWoVbf4Jz6GlvBkJBFQMHMrNpIuh4nwSatx6-zUyyR2aHsbLUCqOFEOOexHOZiNWLLBx_E-xZpiulVF4OUHgndXns6Tp2Iinmu13qvVEcrQvY17RmG_CQMsCo/s1600/113.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's a shot of the famous, or infamous, GREED IS GOOD scene, and to Wall Street, and Hollywood, it's Truth.</td></tr>
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<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3O8u2jcsqMj0efRIJXbC_tl71yAS2mSjlQ6j9tyd6488Gx_sL2cLGylJN5TU975xfCyuILb7BzYej53AvFVfbfYNVIGB6eCOUh5mM2pVZ_KEO9jWl9lNt5hq43BHp2aS9L5eACEH1Eg/s1600/114.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEil3O8u2jcsqMj0efRIJXbC_tl71yAS2mSjlQ6j9tyd6488Gx_sL2cLGylJN5TU975xfCyuILb7BzYej53AvFVfbfYNVIGB6eCOUh5mM2pVZ_KEO9jWl9lNt5hq43BHp2aS9L5eACEH1Eg/s1600/114.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A very great scene between Martin & Charlie Sheen, both who <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2012/11/fifteen-main-characters-denied-top.html">starred in popular Vietnam Flicks</a></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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadNu7snJnbrG2R1FWu8CYSWwUPoep-7XYkg4W2xMrz7o6EHWBfWbYza6-qFzNQYSJOlY1PGlxoCrh6TcF5VbeJ_qvA3pdrvC-sqYYp0RV0Kr8fI7wY-8Pw_XYzokBskcZCBtsX037RzE/s1600/115.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiadNu7snJnbrG2R1FWu8CYSWwUPoep-7XYkg4W2xMrz7o6EHWBfWbYza6-qFzNQYSJOlY1PGlxoCrh6TcF5VbeJ_qvA3pdrvC-sqYYp0RV0Kr8fI7wY-8Pw_XYzokBskcZCBtsX037RzE/s1600/115.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daryl, it could be worse news, believe us, wait a few years, Charlie just couldn't stop... And he's not winning.</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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6-CUf9MlaNkdHWNnc_aD3EzGFGg-mlxSyb6BLYEv1DN_N5YeeC0NjlbdoAyUnNd2a4qzTvgLfX2vn1WEFZYzgLwhIN4_6gnFUj_-8_ixZSpS34XpEj9D9VgjTUfFUW_oH7STXXU2z3w/s1600/1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM6-CUf9MlaNkdHWNnc_aD3EzGFGg-mlxSyb6BLYEv1DN_N5YeeC0NjlbdoAyUnNd2a4qzTvgLfX2vn1WEFZYzgLwhIN4_6gnFUj_-8_ixZSpS34XpEj9D9VgjTUfFUW_oH7STXXU2z3w/s1600/1.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nice use of what was popular during the 1960's and 1970's, Split-Screen Cinematography featuring Sean Young</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpLuRUfM74paEuxcZMGHzJ8JSeahI70GaI052bXGVDvMdn4ZL4Cko_YUoIqZjcLuCTur-PEVFRhf3WMHzVhxgAChtgzN-SfzAB0KUeHo9i_kiHySBmS0SnDEhE1n12NO5kDO5wnozD4o/s1600/77.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRpLuRUfM74paEuxcZMGHzJ8JSeahI70GaI052bXGVDvMdn4ZL4Cko_YUoIqZjcLuCTur-PEVFRhf3WMHzVhxgAChtgzN-SfzAB0KUeHo9i_kiHySBmS0SnDEhE1n12NO5kDO5wnozD4o/s1600/77.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Canvas that provides THE END closing credits layout and father dedication for WALL STREET</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6slSlE9iiZ5_uJPUYmuU-WpO9xeDEfr2vNqzdDhTi7z8sso8A9XLE-BMM02tj7M2mgNlWurateu5CjKFouaIcihUdv7F_q6A_DYUPmwg9-JL4qweyfAhb0vQoJ3MHzr4R_JX2miIl7dFHOtxEiYQ8JxZ3umt2T4GgintEIvkKk0znccKiKwgDY54XRBg/s1600/0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="866" data-original-width="1600" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgv6slSlE9iiZ5_uJPUYmuU-WpO9xeDEfr2vNqzdDhTi7z8sso8A9XLE-BMM02tj7M2mgNlWurateu5CjKFouaIcihUdv7F_q6A_DYUPmwg9-JL4qweyfAhb0vQoJ3MHzr4R_JX2miIl7dFHOtxEiYQ8JxZ3umt2T4GgintEIvkKk0znccKiKwgDY54XRBg/s16000/0.jpeg" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Must have taken a bath on that one"<br /></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p> </p>

charlie sheen, daryl hannah, eighties, james karen, michael douglas, oliver stone, oscars, stock market

GREED RULES IN OLIVER STONE'S UNDERRATED 'WALL STREET'

Year: 1988 Rating: **** Oliver Stone didn't win an Academy Award for writing and/or directing WALL STREET. His Vietnam opus PLATOON, als...

Written by James M. Tate / 10/11/2013 / 1 Comment / charlie sheen , danny trejo , exploitation , mel gibson , robert rodriguez , sequel , walton goggins

MACHETE KILLS

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDN5xH-RX6MFx7icMH7FrTOilaDo4hjJVlWYzn4JxBmfRttjESgNPCl1xRV-QMDSImzBy_DLdNUyhFy2lBSSgConRvw5qr0F75A0OTQo04aIz3Ukdg3VEvgSPfzZoitEPyMvSuBdM7nmg/s1600/machete-kills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDN5xH-RX6MFx7icMH7FrTOilaDo4hjJVlWYzn4JxBmfRttjESgNPCl1xRV-QMDSImzBy_DLdNUyhFy2lBSSgConRvw5qr0F75A0OTQo04aIz3Ukdg3VEvgSPfzZoitEPyMvSuBdM7nmg/s640/machete-kills.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Danny Trejo, Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Amber Heard, Walton Goggins rating: *</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Director Robert Rodriguez, who, along with Quentin Tarantino in other projects, revamps exploitation cinema to younger audiences while rekindling the drive-in genre for older folks, really wants Danny Trejo, the muscular Latino tough guy usually cast as villains or henchman/side characters, to be a big star… In fact, MACHETE KILLS is the second attempt: Trejo plays Machete Cortez, a Mexican police officer turned lethal spy wielding the titular weapon. He can <i>never  </i>bite the dust and is more Jason Voorhees from FRIDAY THE 13th than a worthy, vulnerable action hero protagonist...<br />
<br />
Without fearing death, and from being able to survive just about everything thrown his way, we’re stuck with a grimacing "wraith" ambling from one dire situation to the next and, being fully aware he simply cannot be stopped, any and all suspense is gone: Not only that, but Machete’s not even the main character… Well not really… Saddled with a thoroughly annoying Mexican agent turned bad guy with a bomb strapped to his heart, there’s so much vapidly rambling/wannabe Tarantino dialogue that Machete gets lost in the mix… He stands around with a dull scowl as a plethora of banal characters take over, from sexy sirens to a face-altering hit man/woman. Added to that is Mel Gibson’s completely unoriginal world-dominating villain Luther Voz, who has the same ultimate plan as the James Bond MOONRAKER heavy – destroy the earth with a nuclear bomb, rocket into space with a group of pretty people to create a new, perfect world with him as ruler…<br />
<br />
What really makes MACHETE KILLS so tediously awful is the over-abundance of characters being shot and killed in a matter of seconds. Several folks actually have a speck of potential and are gunned down before being fully realized. Meanwhile, scores of innocent bystanders are pointlessly slaughtered, an obvious attempt to thrill a targeted cult audience that, whether it’s clear to Robert Rodriquez or not, yearns for an intentionally bad "b-movie" that, like the ones we grew up on, had an actual plot to follow and worthy characters, real enough to relate with and root for.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21d34iVGZEYkvOyqfV8jRBr0eFdSTwRwgLHYqDbdx6CLmA9U8RLg7C-zxIAmjBQjALn_s_9Iv9BTp7DV1XROeFjYbCQpwz4H-qidScXVrBwVS3ALgtw1uzRjnr5E0-9KsrIBg-YOnZyI/s1600/machete2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="332" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21d34iVGZEYkvOyqfV8jRBr0eFdSTwRwgLHYqDbdx6CLmA9U8RLg7C-zxIAmjBQjALn_s_9Iv9BTp7DV1XROeFjYbCQpwz4H-qidScXVrBwVS3ALgtw1uzRjnr5E0-9KsrIBg-YOnZyI/s640/machete2.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Possibly the worst action movie/exploitation film ever, ever, ever made</td></tr>
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charlie sheen, danny trejo, exploitation, mel gibson, robert rodriguez, sequel, walton goggins

MACHETE KILLS

year: 2013 cast: Danny Trejo, Mel Gibson, Charlie Sheen, Amber Heard, Walton Goggins rating: * Director Robert Rodriguez, who, along wit...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/19/2011 / No comments / charlie sheen , comedy , emilio estevez , john getz , keith david , nineties

MEN AT WORK

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhLOSvZKkVN6TQzTBtsTEOA7fxJFoJizei7zQnRieDD3ij82aX9wBZ1juzAP2ym3cxO__PPnwjvZ7HYlA5e1gIqjIRWVCcx-d91S66Gykqh3jfknUp8Qxp-h2NdcmaJnrjTALDDsKMiQ/s1600/Men-at-work-2-charlie-sheen-and-emilio-estevez-8202837-758-406.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5585867275338287570" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbhLOSvZKkVN6TQzTBtsTEOA7fxJFoJizei7zQnRieDD3ij82aX9wBZ1juzAP2ym3cxO__PPnwjvZ7HYlA5e1gIqjIRWVCcx-d91S66Gykqh3jfknUp8Qxp-h2NdcmaJnrjTALDDsKMiQ/s200/Men-at-work-2-charlie-sheen-and-emilio-estevez-8202837-758-406.jpg" style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 165px; height: 200px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title:</span> MEN AT WORK<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">year:</span> 1990<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">cast: </span>Emilio <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Estevez</span>, Charlie Sheen, Keith David, John <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Getz</span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> **<br /><br />Emilio <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Estevez</span> wrote and directed this comedy about two trash men, himself and brother Charlie Sheen. Both are confident, drunken losers, womanizers or unlucky in love, and have no purpose whatsoever. Until they find the corpse of a slain politician and, with the aid of grumpy boss Keith David (Charlie's PLATOON alumni), they end up trying to rid of the body while being chased by the mob. If only the film didn't quickly abandon the characters, adhering to several plots taken from sources as varied as REAR WINDOW and WEEKEND AT <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">BERNIES</span>, then it might be more... comedic. But there's simply too much running around, and not enough banal <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">camaraderie</span> that any slacker flick deserves.

charlie sheen, comedy, emilio estevez, john getz, keith david, nineties

MEN AT WORK

title: MEN AT WORK year: 1990 cast: Emilio Estevez , Charlie Sheen, Keith David, John Getz rating: ** Emilio Estevez wrote and directed ...

Written by James M. Tate / 3/07/2011 / No comments / cameron diaz , charlie sheen , dark comedy , independent , john cusack , john malkovich , mindtrip , nineties

BEING JOHN MALKOVICH

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcgu2-TMzKhIsFfHrJUZC2jSeiOOHLl5Ut_VDJiwDP8nIhDdamBVdfA9hlmZW70RzLfX9OU3qEuyS-WqMbhhefNUADnK17jrQXqK-tySjXbjuY7Dlg-b-RuQz7TKTiK98FYHjWpYqreI/s1600/259507_f520.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581524914740797794" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUcgu2-TMzKhIsFfHrJUZC2jSeiOOHLl5Ut_VDJiwDP8nIhDdamBVdfA9hlmZW70RzLfX9OU3qEuyS-WqMbhhefNUADnK17jrQXqK-tySjXbjuY7Dlg-b-RuQz7TKTiK98FYHjWpYqreI/s200/259507_f520.jpg" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 173px;" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">title: </span>BEING JOHN MALKOVICH<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">year: </span>1999<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">cast:</span> John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, John Malkovich<br />
<span style="font-weight: bold;">rating:</span> ***<br />
<br />
While this film remains creatively weird the whole way through, it's only the first half that works effectively. John Cusack, as an unsuccessful puppeteer hired to work on floor 7 1/2 of a mysterious building where the ceilings are very low, discovers a portal leading to the brain of John Malkovich, allowing anyone who enters a fifteen minute tour through the actor's eyes. It's when Cusack, in lust with his fellow employee and married to a sweet-natured scientist, becoming pawn of a love triangle in which Malkovich's body is a sexual vessel, that the intriguing mind-trip becomes a bit too convoluted. Yet it is <i>all</i> very unique... And the casting of Charlie Sheen as Malkovich's buddy/voice of reason is very timely, and more ironic now than ever. But in a nutshell, the half-floor has a lot more uncovered weird potential than being inside the actor's body.

cameron diaz, charlie sheen, dark comedy, independent, john cusack, john malkovich, mindtrip, nineties