cult film freak: jennifer connelly

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Written by James M. Tate / 7/23/2022 / No comments / barry corbin , charles martin smith , dennis hopper , don johnson , heist , jennifer connelly , jerry hardin , neo noir , thriller , virginia madsen , willia sadler

JENNIFER CONNELLY STEALS DENNIS HOPPER'S 'THE HOT SPOT'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjzdKI01dKZiaCpAiQIG3rcN4DZrUwnNeyqDGIPju8bPy_6fizziCLPsxtnCIZu2VAGMX828ww2_oh6ja-0OACcnpsffxe68SBTdPcBrbEHpaEDtGEKNHawLK9oMpDwEYsk7SbKfsNHoyikZT7XoWsPezrfHV93pUw1miMiTQ2cVefpy1mdxrFWGI7AssHk/s1835/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-27%20at%202.20.17%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="998" data-original-width="1835" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzdKI01dKZiaCpAiQIG3rcN4DZrUwnNeyqDGIPju8bPy_6fizziCLPsxtnCIZu2VAGMX828ww2_oh6ja-0OACcnpsffxe68SBTdPcBrbEHpaEDtGEKNHawLK9oMpDwEYsk7SbKfsNHoyikZT7XoWsPezrfHV93pUw1miMiTQ2cVefpy1mdxrFWGI7AssHk/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-08-27%20at%202.20.17%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE HOT SPOT AKA  ZONA CALIENTE Year: 1990 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>You really know that director Dennis Hopper's THE HOT SPOT is a Noir when, within ten minutes of entering a new town... one that's extremely small and fitfully hot, and in Texas... Don Johnson's so smitten with local blackmailed beauty Jennifer Connelly, he questions her with the kind of irked jealousy a husband would have...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But she's the good girl here, comparably, while stacked-blonde Virginia Madsen's our sultry femme fatale... married to Johnson's wealthy used car lot boss... as quickly taken with old Don as he was with young Connelly, and, within moments, they're sharing not only heated chemistry but explosive sack time...</p><p><span></span></p>

barry corbin, charles martin smith, dennis hopper, don johnson, heist, jennifer connelly, jerry hardin, neo noir, thriller, virginia madsen, willia sadler

JENNIFER CONNELLY STEALS DENNIS HOPPER'S 'THE HOT SPOT'

Title: THE HOT SPOT AKA ZONA CALIENTE Year: 1990 Rating: ***1/2 You really know that director Dennis Hopper's THE HOT SPOT is a Noir wh...

TOM CRUISE RETURNS FOR THE POPULAR 'TOP GUN: MAVERICK"

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEiciyXZqCJUAWS6a3tOpSJa1pCMv-Qar0jf5WuZhvbyM6UxMf8To1l4Fr6UP7maWIK6GKcNBV-xZIayYkO30rdmr9DKXkvbDK6ZNusHdrbaIWVM-DgLA7bSjWJYIrrfyj2CdNBjm4vMnnIZquz56jWHtg3USqSNGLDdlCEdiBZo8-Y8erPF0t6e73YCgQ/s960/top-gun-maverick-poster-crop.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="445" data-original-width="960" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiciyXZqCJUAWS6a3tOpSJa1pCMv-Qar0jf5WuZhvbyM6UxMf8To1l4Fr6UP7maWIK6GKcNBV-xZIayYkO30rdmr9DKXkvbDK6ZNusHdrbaIWVM-DgLA7bSjWJYIrrfyj2CdNBjm4vMnnIZquz56jWHtg3USqSNGLDdlCEdiBZo8-Y8erPF0t6e73YCgQ/s16000/top-gun-maverick-poster-crop.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: TOP GUN: MAVERICK Year: 2022 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Before deliberately channeling the STAR WARS Death Star trench run, TOP GUN: 
MAVERICK mirrors THE RIGHT STUFF with a breaking-the-barrier sequence 
that even features Ed Harris, playing the first of two uptight 
authority-figures, frowning and scowling at anything our returning/rebellious hero 
does... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The thing is, Tom Cruise's MAVERICK really doesn't break many rules, sent back to the familiar TOP GUN headquarters to train a group of youngsters for the Lucas-inspired mission: a single plane (flanked by guardians) needs to strategically drop a bomb into a perfectly tight space to blow-up an entire villainous compound...<br></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

2022, action, adventure, ed harris, jennifer connelly, jon hamm, miles teller, military, mission, new, sequel, tom cruise, val kilmer

TOM CRUISE RETURNS FOR THE POPULAR 'TOP GUN: MAVERICK"

Title: TOP GUN: MAVERICK Year: 2022 Rating: ** Before deliberately channeling the STAR WARS Death Star trench run, TOP GUN: MAVERICK mirror...

FORGOTTEN ANG LEE MARVEL W/ UNIVERSAL 'HULK' PICTURE

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Hulk crashes out of The Sting at Victory Drive-In HULK Year: 2003</u></td></tr>
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The early days of modern cinema Marvel when there were no constant one-liners ala Tony Starkasm... Yes, Robert Downey Jr. <i>is</i> funny but soon enough, every damn superhero had to share in his constantly glib persona. Even the recent Star Wars movies use it. Lighten up all the lighting up already... Let's get back to basics...<br>
<br>
HULK, the first big screen solo effort, is underrated and pretty good in several ways, taking forty-two minutes until Eric Bana, as scientist Bruce Banner... with the inevitable rage built-in from birth... turns into what Sam Elliott's tough General calls "The Big Man." Taking so much time for the payoff might seem crazy to some, but even KING KONG waited forty-eight minutes to reveal <i>that</i> titular beast. The reason for this is... Suspense: Thankfully, until the long-drawn climax pitting the military verses a sunny desert leaping Hulk (backed by Danny Elfman's worst score), he's kept mostly in the dark, outside, or within softly-lit interiors: like the laboratory he breaks out of to start the ball rolling. While the side-characters, including ingenue Jennifer Connelly and smarmy villain Josh Lucas, aren't altogether fleshed-out, Bana plays Banner interestingly enough so the transformations matter. Also let it be noted that he and Mark Ruffalo (AVENGERS) share a slight swarthy resemblance to the only human to play the creature: the iconic Lou Ferrigno...  <br>

action, comic book, eric bana, jennifer connelly, lou ferrigno, marvel, nick nolte, science-fiction, zeroes

FORGOTTEN ANG LEE MARVEL W/ UNIVERSAL 'HULK' PICTURE

Hulk crashes out of The Sting at Victory Drive-In HULK Year: 2003 The early days of modern cinema Marvel when there were no constant one...

ANOTHER BLOODY BAGFUL OF ECLECTIC HORROR

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Pictured: Connie Nelson Year: 1971</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><u>DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN:</u> </span>Here's an Al Adamson directed b-movie so tailor made for a drive-in theater, you might have to roll your car inside the living room to watch it...  <br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZ_Tf4w3s95ibAoDFbCtVvlBVeWAMhid94oHMeFXyOiWrWkgFr3Rropv-egmdol50Wu2MFf4XmQhhm9A4s226pY1KlxqTUN7dTL3qj3_5Ks8ZXilDmB1zmjULkNDIgstv8Um6sSXcRjKA/s1600/220px-Draculavsfrankposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZ_Tf4w3s95ibAoDFbCtVvlBVeWAMhid94oHMeFXyOiWrWkgFr3Rropv-egmdol50Wu2MFf4XmQhhm9A4s226pY1KlxqTUN7dTL3qj3_5Ks8ZXilDmB1zmjULkNDIgstv8Um6sSXcRjKA/s1600/220px-Draculavsfrankposter.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>DraculaVFrankensteinSCORE: **</u></td></tr>
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Not exactly a pairing-up of two classic monsters, DRACULA VS FRANKENSTEIN is more of an exploitation horror: Involving monolog-driven mad scientist J.  Carrol Naish working out of a
 carnival fun house with an axe-wielding  idiot man-child, Lon Chaney, 
sent to kill women for experiments to give  his other employee, a 
brooding Count Dracula, eternal life...<br />
<br />
All the  while reanimating 
Frankenstein's Monster who resembles a melted  cabbage... But the worst thing is that it can
 be quite boring with tedious bouts of dialogue,  spouted mostly by two 
love-struck heroes: A man helping his new  girlfriend find her lost 
sister and eventually happening upon... all  that stuff already 
mentioned (a much cooler yet unlucky couple are beach lovers Connie Nelson and our pal, Gary Kent.) Although at times it can be somewhat involving: A fact which remains completely unexplainable.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLd5yzlr1upOTeYTIc7nU8pdIQ4K8dsvnH3sm1QV-4yuHJ0qWWmGE8_sTw7Semcvt2dFBYg9-OopnXnlxhLu0cRrPmis-ncCj_SICF6Pv-udFlCAlg1yqDrzDdhVclr4J9TDMnm5Hikj4/s1600/209867.1020.A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLd5yzlr1upOTeYTIc7nU8pdIQ4K8dsvnH3sm1QV-4yuHJ0qWWmGE8_sTw7Semcvt2dFBYg9-OopnXnlxhLu0cRrPmis-ncCj_SICF6Pv-udFlCAlg1yqDrzDdhVclr4J9TDMnm5Hikj4/s1600/209867.1020.A.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>1982 rating: ***</u></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: 100%;"><u>THE FOREST:</u><b> </b>The  set-up to this woodsy body count low
 budget slasher: the massacre of two  couples arriving at the forest... 
The women first and their boyfriends, who, for some reason, arrive later
 on... </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">This is merely a bizarre platform for a subplot involving the ghosts 
of  two children and their crazy, cannibalistic father played by 
director Don  Jones's stock actor Gary Kent (SCHOOLGIRLS IN CHAINS), who
 kills, then eats, all females that  cross his path: a cheap horror with a lot of activity, 
including a backstory involving the  then-normal dad, kids, and a 
cheating wife just screaming to be killed keeps you interested enough  
to forget it's yet another FRIDAY THE 13th ripoff, but with a unique  
personality all its own. NOTE: The killer's son, child/pre-teen actor Corky Pigeon, played a geek named Freddie (whose secret was tap dancing) on the 80's sitcom SILVER SPOONS. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8BOzeyrPA00f3O4e-S01GP8sJzUQHBX9wxxnodhUCT5P-gByAoj_Sa3_yynsCT4Gh1Cf7sOKpWqvJsNmAhgJYVypMxtearAmAubeKZov_EcTDgmftaAtWueccoNz3kW7Gy0AnjYrdqc/s1600/SPIDERBABYT.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW8BOzeyrPA00f3O4e-S01GP8sJzUQHBX9wxxnodhUCT5P-gByAoj_Sa3_yynsCT4Gh1Cf7sOKpWqvJsNmAhgJYVypMxtearAmAubeKZov_EcTDgmftaAtWueccoNz3kW7Gy0AnjYrdqc/s1600/SPIDERBABYT.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1964 rating: ***</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><span style="background-color: white;">SPIDER BABY:</span></u> Whenever there's a horror film about a backwoods family of dimwitted yet
 dangerous loons, it's usually compared to, or accused for stealing 
from, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE... but no longer.<br />
<br />
This film, written 
and directed by Jack Hill ten years prior, starring Lon Chaney as the 
caretaker of two lethal sisters and their lanky, lughead brother played 
by scene-stealer Sid Haig, is not only groundbreaking and shocking, but 
lots of fun as most of the fear is implied: when outsiders visit the house, 
will Lon be able to stop the twisted clan... especially gorgeous Jill 
Banner, using knives like spider's teeth... from murdering them? And although things drag in the middle, it's still a minor classic.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieM1INJkiG1BOQ5_nBWmr9rUMfc-_rOT7pBg5HENx_z2kvVj0mwiLbDi2aZCSaDLEQhudVeHxvVmg7VLivbWGKNLM6v3JC4UdPkdRTDO2Cs0TMvmuEdoFsN0Qgjv8HNjfAUNzyKLFl9AI/s1600/stee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieM1INJkiG1BOQ5_nBWmr9rUMfc-_rOT7pBg5HENx_z2kvVj0mwiLbDi2aZCSaDLEQhudVeHxvVmg7VLivbWGKNLM6v3JC4UdPkdRTDO2Cs0TMvmuEdoFsN0Qgjv8HNjfAUNzyKLFl9AI/s1600/stee.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1987 rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-size: 100%;"><u><span style="background-color: white;">THE STEPFATHER</span></u>: A fantastic, fully-satisfying suspense/horror from Canada about a man 
who always needs a new family to kill starring Terry O'Quinn, years 
before gaining fame on LOST...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 100%;">As the title character, one minute he's extremely bland 
and unassuming, the next an intensely driven, strict "family values" 
patriarch, and eventually a complete psychopath, yet never showing<span style="font-style: italic;"> </span>the
 cards... Keeping protagonist Jill Schoelen, as the unfortunate new 
step-daughter, on her toes. Meanwhile, a</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> side-story involving a young man's search 
for the Stepfather (before he strikes again) adds a nice peripheral 
balance, reminiscent of Alfred Hitchock and Brian De Palma's best work.</span><br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDMurKghokV9O4HuiR2FTYoKqnYGWEgHUt0O5XHWMGTQaJj27iz_pgy53wn1zJoZPI3L2PW7NGX7afVmyZaRtDWT-vFy1ZCz08H_jHX9BINRkCeKMpY2apo5SZW93dMV5z9pbGB343M0/s1600/INNOCENT+BLOD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisDMurKghokV9O4HuiR2FTYoKqnYGWEgHUt0O5XHWMGTQaJj27iz_pgy53wn1zJoZPI3L2PW7NGX7afVmyZaRtDWT-vFy1ZCz08H_jHX9BINRkCeKMpY2apo5SZW93dMV5z9pbGB343M0/s1600/INNOCENT+BLOD.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1992 rating: **</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="background-color: white;"><u>INNOCENT BLOOD:</u> Decent</span> premise with good beginnings: A sexy, hungry 
french Vampire (Anne Parillaud) in America sets her sights on mafia kingpin Robert Loggia... a clever gag has her being repelled by 
Loggia's breath before she bits him... he's Italian, therefore reeking 
of garlic.<br />
<br />
Our anti-heroine bloodsucker, while feasting on various evil 
mobsters, falls in love with undercover cop Anthony LaPalgia while they 
both try stopping Loggia, who's not only head of the mob but now a 
powerful vamp himself while director John Landis, returning to horror a decade after AMERICAN 
WEREWOLF IN LONDON, balances humor and horror okay, but there's not 
enough going for either genre... Unlike the Werewolf classic, BLOOD is neither
 funny or scary: The choice of the vamps screeching like 
rabid cougars is pretty lame. And in the Landis fashion, there are many 
clips of other classic movies being watched on television by various 
characters, but homage becomes too excessive: making one long for those 
films instead.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEtk5vRX5shaYgwdBS87G2mc8Mvv_Zn_cu7T5FtP-7o2oiDAha-s7Z9_5JRzq2YIbY1q6qmc2mGpXOJ1GKnJh4wKA6GJ1qCaVowb1g8aLp79oJhxqlFcDUeipZ0rwPKQw0LW7dfT-rEs/s1600/Picture+1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoEtk5vRX5shaYgwdBS87G2mc8Mvv_Zn_cu7T5FtP-7o2oiDAha-s7Z9_5JRzq2YIbY1q6qmc2mGpXOJ1GKnJh4wKA6GJ1qCaVowb1g8aLp79oJhxqlFcDUeipZ0rwPKQw0LW7dfT-rEs/s1600/Picture+1.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>1983 rating: *1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><span style="background-color: #f3f3f3;">AMITYVILLE 3D</span>:</u> Gone are the days when 3D meant things moving towards the camera in a 
contrived manner. It's hilarious seeing this in 2D years later after the
 gimmick not only wore off, but is seen as merely that. Yet this film 
suffers from more than pretension of a 50s-era trend trying desperately 
to regain itself in the 1980's...<br />
<br />
Although the first ten minutes as Tony 
Roberts and Candy Clark trick a pair of seance-giving charlatans is not 
bad, the rest of the movie, after Roberts moves into the ghostly manor 
with his gorgeous daughter Lori Laughlin (visited by her friend, Meg 
Ryan), is quite stale. And those ever-buzzing flies just aren't scary... In fact, they never were.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_yUb1BgajHDH2rGnUZfVdG02tX7J7LHzoVqBEFE0_Ou5yA0hWA_8g30nze8azfN8jlv55_rzueQ5KAFNlOL6ZWIRJYejpqHK5V8mW71RWr-uL24K8Fa4fUt35Falch1Zs6ZHK6-EPdno/s1600/CONNELLY.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_yUb1BgajHDH2rGnUZfVdG02tX7J7LHzoVqBEFE0_Ou5yA0hWA_8g30nze8azfN8jlv55_rzueQ5KAFNlOL6ZWIRJYejpqHK5V8mW71RWr-uL24K8Fa4fUt35Falch1Zs6ZHK6-EPdno/s1600/CONNELLY.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1985 rating: *1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u>PHENOMENA</u>:<b> </b>It's hard to stare at bugs, especially maggots, for very long... Some can't even say the M word out loud...<br />
<br />
But not 
for teenager Jennifer Connely who has the power to read their little 
minds, thus aiding Donald Pleasence, as a insect forensic expert, in 
finding a serial killer roaming around much like the phantom in Dario's 
SUSPERIA, which this is either a ripoff or, since it's the same man 
behind it, a homage by crashing girl's heads through windows, using a 
Goblin soundtrack but this time adding Iron Maiden and Motorhead tunes: So if you enjoy watching Jennifer Connelly, right after a flashback role in ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA and before playing a sexy ingenue in her career making CAREER OPPORTUNITIES, this isn't bad... but
 if you want a good horror flick, or a movie that actually goes 
somewhere: best try something else.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbZ3xxmG9g6wJugMtMtPNrRT4SkIskpWZ5mt9BuEQlp2N_QNyWUspnPnZmOoGCmPxdoSFg35Qo0SLge-JPeVPX0WLFA7WVGIfSfIRodlagoMiDUyW-kKJ5mPoJQSydl3Cllg5J1_fB0I/s1600/28204.1020.A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijbZ3xxmG9g6wJugMtMtPNrRT4SkIskpWZ5mt9BuEQlp2N_QNyWUspnPnZmOoGCmPxdoSFg35Qo0SLge-JPeVPX0WLFA7WVGIfSfIRodlagoMiDUyW-kKJ5mPoJQSydl3Cllg5J1_fB0I/s1600/28204.1020.A.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>year: 1981 rating: **1/2</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<u><span style="background-color: white;">THE HAND:</span> </u>Michael Caine is terrific in this otherwise mediocre 
thriller by first-time director yet already screenplay Oscar winning Oliver Stone. Story centers on a 
cartoonist (Caine) who loses his hand in an automobile accident – 
technically the most riveting scene. After which he rehabilitates while 
the severed limb is, or seems to be, crawling around doing his dirty 
work for him.<br />
<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTOeyE_QLpRh_ELN9GE8rV8OG5faVnELp7iiakuRN1exf8kPNrIKFnyi3me8u05ohCfWcIbqO-xZlCGqpMVk89hEWsz8bkLeNn06mggHO30vXU_xnwsRosg2QUuW0zG06q6FcMBYn-5fo/s1600/n1111.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTOeyE_QLpRh_ELN9GE8rV8OG5faVnELp7iiakuRN1exf8kPNrIKFnyi3me8u05ohCfWcIbqO-xZlCGqpMVk89hEWsz8bkLeNn06mggHO30vXU_xnwsRosg2QUuW0zG06q6FcMBYn-5fo/s200/n1111.jpg" width="107" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Midnight Relocated</u></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Stone’s best direction occurs during taut conversations 
between Caine and the people around him, providing a suspenseful base 
liken to stage-influenced British horror films, building character 
development in lue of cheap shocks. But scenes involving The Hand itself
 look a bit cheesy, and sporadic cuts to black and white seem misplaced,
 contrasting from our protagonist turned antagonist and revolving 
side-characters Annie McEnroe (THE SURVIVORS, THE HOWLING II) as a tempestuous college student, Bruce 
McGill as a temperamental shrink, and Caine’s cheating wife 
Andrea Marovicci: his ultimate target.<br />
<br />
The film has moments, but loses 
its grip less than halfway through. Although, witnessing Michael Caine 
slowly going mad – a role that, according to Stone, took a toll on the 
actor’s real life – is worth the ninety minutes.<br />
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