cult film freak: john lithgow

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Written by James M. Tate / 3/20/2020 / No comments / 2019 , amy seimetz , creature , horror , jason clarke , jeté laurence , john lithgow , new , reboot , remake , stephen king

REMAKE OF STEPHEN KING'S 'PET SEMATARY' WITH JASON CLARKE

2019, amy seimetz, creature, horror, jason clarke, jeté laurence, john lithgow, new, reboot, remake, stephen king

REMAKE OF STEPHEN KING'S 'PET SEMATARY' WITH JASON CLARKE

Naomi Frenette as Upset Student leading to Jason Clarke's ghost story in PET SEMATARY Year: 2019 For a movie about a city family re...

OUT OF THE HAT REVIEW OF 'TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE'

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1983 cast: Vic Morrow, John Lithgow rating: ***</td></tr>
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The tragic deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children aside, this theatrical version of Rod Serling’s groundbreaking television series has a few other problems...<br />
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The first story, directed by John Landis, centers on Morrow as a racist loudmouth spouting epitaphs in a bar – overheard by a group of tough black dudes who, if they only beat him up when he walked out the door, would have deleted any need for the character’s descent into various historical settings where racism reigned: From walking a ledge as a Jew in Nazi Germany to sloshing through swamps as a Vietnamese native (the tragic helicopter sequence was filmed there), Morrow discovers sticks and stones have nothing on words.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not Shining Here</td></tr>
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The story itself is somewhat intriguing – you’ll wonder what’ll happen next – but the ultimate punishment of the main character, as unlikable as he might be, is too forced and would have been much different had there been no on-set tragedy: Vic Morrow's Bill Conner could have learned his lesson and saved the Vietnamese children.<br />
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The worst of the lot is Steven Spielberg’s KICK THE CAN. Making for an eerily nostalgic fable on the original series, Speilberg's take, with his flowing signature style overdosing to the point of seeming like a Spielbergland Theme Park, is a mushy melodrama centering on rest home old-timers who yearn for youth. The discontented coots turn into youngsters that seem part of a corny stage play. The child actors, instead of simply being children, are doing imitations of their older selves, so the entire episode feels like a parody. Veteran icon Scatman Crothers, as the mysterious traveler who wields the magic, tries his best but to no avail.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bart Simpson's voice actress stalked by killer cartoons</td></tr>
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Leading to the third entry as THE HOWLING director Joe Dante re-imagines one of the coolest episodes of the original series. Remember Billy Mumy as a sinister child holding his family, and the residents of a small town, at bay with evil powers to send chosen people into the Cornfield?<br />
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The boy this time around is, like director Dante himself, heavily into cartoons. His house has a TV in each room and his family makes sure everything goes his way. When the maniacal brat brings home a beautiful passerby (Kathleen Quinlin), she witnesses this strange behavior. Although it can get too bizarre for its own good, Dante builds suspense nicely, setting a taut vibe where anything can happen – including the actress who’d later voice Bart Simpson being hunted by demonic cartoons: inside a television set!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Monster on the wing in the best segment</td></tr>
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Leading to the last, and by far the best, episode: John Lithgow (reprising William Shatner) plays a man terrified to fly. Stuck on a plane during a raging lighting-packed thunderstorm, he sporadically witnesses a scheming creature on the wing.<br />
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MAD MAX director George Miller paints an intense canvas. From the claustrophobic fuselage to the storm-struck exterior where the monster wreaks havoc, each element adds nightmarish touches of one man’s descent into a personal hell. Lithgow turns-in the best performance, balancing manic desperation and edgy pathos, eventually facing off with the sinister ALIEN-looking Gremlin. And although Landis's first story fails in content... His prologue/epilogue involving hitchhiker Dan Aykroyd getting a ride from nice guy Albert Brooks – jovially discussing old TV shows like THE OUTER LIMITS and, yes, THE TWILIGHT ZONE – is both humorous and ultimately intense, leading to a terrific twist ending... Making you forget the first half was practically, and tragically, a complete throwaway.
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The demonic alligator creature just ate Bart Simpson...</td></tr>
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dan aykroyd, eighties, joe dante, john landis, john lithgow, remake, rod serling, scatman crothers, science-fiction, steven spielberg, vic morrow

OUT OF THE HAT REVIEW OF 'TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE'

year: 1983 cast: Vic Morrow, John Lithgow rating: *** The tragic deaths of actor Vic Morrow and two children aside, this theatrical ...

Written by James M. Tate / 9/13/2012 / No comments / chris penn , dance , drama , eighties , john lithgow , kevin bacon , lori singer , romance

FOOTLOOSE (1984)

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>cast:</b> Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, Chris Penn<b> rating: </b>****</td></tr>
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A minor classic that pulls you into the tale of Kevin Bacon's Ren, a big city kid new in a small town who butts heads with teachers, cops, bullies, and especially the stern yet earnest preacher played by John Lithgow. And along with the rest of the cast including Lori Singer as his rebellious daughter, Dianne Wiest as his faithful wife, and Chris Penn as Bacon's hick pal (who learns how to dance in a glorious montage) makes for an entertaining gem where there's something delightful and addictive in every scene.<br />
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And what a miracle that a movie, with dancing as the premise, can relate to just about everyone... if you let it. Because even the most ludicrous aspect... a law prohibiting teens to dance in a small town by a Christian preacher... isn't used to make the antagonist seem loony, nor does it make our heroes seem like victims.<br />
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Each character is so genuine you'll forget the premise and start to feel you live in this little part of Americana during the 1980s, which FOOTLOOSE is a wonderful time capsule of. And while Kevin Bacon's dancing skills aren't technically great, he has enough power and spirit to let the audience take part in the emancipation of isolated teens, who didn't know what they were missing. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Footloose-Deluxe-Edition-Chris-Penn/dp/B005ARYEPK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1347561389&sr=8-2&keywords=footloose+kevin+bacon">BUY DVD ON AMAZON</a></td></tr>
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chris penn, dance, drama, eighties, john lithgow, kevin bacon, lori singer, romance

FOOTLOOSE (1984)

cast: Kevin Bacon, Lori Singer, Chris Penn rating: **** A minor classic that pulls you into the tale of Kevin Bacon's Ren, a big c...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/11/2012 / No comments / 2012 , comedy , dan aykroyd , john lithgow , will ferrell , zach galifianakis

THE CAMPAIGN

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: #cccccc;"><span style="color: #073763;"><b>year: 2012 cast: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Aykroyd, Dylan McDermott rating: **</b></span></span></td></tr>
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Trying to spell or pronounce Zach Galifianakis's last name is as confusing as his character Marty Huggins, who at one point is referred to as a hybrid of Richard Simmons and a Hobbit. Luckily, Will Ferrell’s Cam Brady, a cross between Mitt Romney (hair of steel) and Bill Clinton (libido of a jackrabbit) is a little more understandable: especially in a film about politicians.<br />
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Brady is a "Safe Seat" Representative of a North Carolina district up against the weird and wimpy Huggins. Backed by two crooked moguls, carbon copies of The Duke Brothers from TRADING PLACES, Huggins is anything but phony. It takes assertive political advisor Dylan McDermott to turn him into everything he’s against.<br />
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The problem with THE CAMPAIGN is we’re not quite sure what Huggins really stands for to make his inevitable steely transition make sense – and the jokes aren’t very funny. Not even Ferrell's constant attempts as the comfortably glib jerk pull through. The best parts, occurring in montages about each politician trying to win votes, were shown in the trailers, so there’s nothing fresh to stand behind.<br />
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If anyone deserves your vote it’s Jason Sudeikis as Brady’s mellow, faithful campaign advisor. He at least seems like a real person in a movie centering on two comic actors acting like cartoons.

2012, comedy, dan aykroyd, john lithgow, will ferrell, zach galifianakis

THE CAMPAIGN

year: 2012 cast: Will Ferrell, Zach Galifianakis, Jason Sudeikis, Dan Aykroyd, Dylan McDermott rating: ** Trying to spell or pronounce Z...

Written by James M. Tate / 2/02/2012 / No comments / action , janine turner , john lithgow , michael rooker , nineties , renny harlin , sylvester stallone

CLIFFHANGER

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<b>title:</b> CLIFFHANGER<br />
<b>year: </b>1993<br />
<b>cast: </b>Sylvester Stallone, John Lithgow, Janine Turner<br />
<b>rating: </b>***1/2<br />
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The opening scene, as intrepid rescue worker Sylvester Stallone attempts saving a woman hanging onto a cable connected from a really high mountaintop to a helicopter, sets a nice stage to one of the better (or perhaps the only decent) Sly action flicks during the 1990s. Cut to a group of T-MEN embarking on a plane trip to move three suitcases of money, and wouldn’t you know: they just happen to crash on the same mountain where Stallone had worked before quitting and, eight months later, returning for his woman, who's content with the same job as a rescuer who, along with Michael Rooker, Ralph Waite and a reluctant Stallone, is thrust into “saving” the plane-wrecked villains led by a really nasty John Lithgow, wanting that cash residing in various locations throughout the storm-ridden mountaintops. And it’s up to Stallone and Rooker to recover it, or else. Stallone makes for a worthy action hero, which is no surprise, but since you can tell he’s doing most of his own stunts in genuinely dangerous settings, his physicality, along with Renny Harlin’s weaving camera, makes for a star-director collaboration that, although loaded with corny dialog, is a fun ride. With every scene there’s another goon to thwart (including Rex Linn in a great performance) and a new peak to climb. Janine Turner is more than eye-candy as Stallone’s independently daring girlfriend, while John Lithgow not only chews the scenery but blows bubbles with it. And that's okay – because even the silly stuff works.

action, janine turner, john lithgow, michael rooker, nineties, renny harlin, sylvester stallone