WILLIAM DEVANE RIDES 'ROLLING THUNDER' WITH LINDA HAYNES

<p></p><p></p><p></p><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/AVvXsEjUbmKaqrp6EempFei2d6ta_zA6MXOYNQT5vg1PTaBLgMkDr0os0as_Ia2l3D_6aCbBa41i37AmSK_vEclS7QeDyZfaYJkSSqAuqYbsOo3h8o0ElCS7e_QTvRGnxf-9xafaclx6Frh95SkSWrGejjVgK-914AR5O0e8A6XbYlNAz9zHjGtbug3VdTfObNmJ/s2048/366739460_1783667722062396_7626234333727578591_n.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1217" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUbmKaqrp6EempFei2d6ta_zA6MXOYNQT5vg1PTaBLgMkDr0os0as_Ia2l3D_6aCbBa41i37AmSK_vEclS7QeDyZfaYJkSSqAuqYbsOo3h8o0ElCS7e_QTvRGnxf-9xafaclx6Frh95SkSWrGejjVgK-914AR5O0e8A6XbYlNAz9zHjGtbug3VdTfObNmJ/s16000/366739460_1783667722062396_7626234333727578591_n.jpg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: ROLLING THUNDER Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The low-budget production company American International got themselves a movie with a then-groundbreaking post-Vietnam War plot <i>and</i> message that deserved a far superior studio...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And that's because important subjects can be costly — yet thanks to creative and economical director John Flynn, ROLLING THUNDER becomes an entertaining road movie on an exploitation vengeance trail...<br></p><span></span>

exploitation, john flynn, lawrason driscoll, linda haynes, luke askew, mexico, neo noir, paul schrader, revenge, road movie, seventies, tommy lee jones, vietnam, william devane

WILLIAM DEVANE RIDES 'ROLLING THUNDER' WITH LINDA HAYNES

Title: ROLLING THUNDER Year: 1977 Rating: ***1/2 The low-budget production company American International got themselves a movie with a then...

MATT DILLON SHOOTS CRAP IN 'THE BIG TOWN' WITH DIANE LANE

<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/AVvXsEiBReMcayiqFtpm_2rIxEy1Ume2F6pTFYHG5Bx-8rIXmtJR654T2lfCBQqazsVIyXvcAnmcCbTGihtrXpbtenxM0goO-0wpFpFyNL0E7yLutdpcbhkAC8_er1ZCSioLGmIyY66__-gsra7FGbbGUW9fqCe91IBlb2TBfc0GPziSXgQL8y6nOAeW5SZ4kSqc/s2048/619331616_1589633489349646_2416514309147265633_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBReMcayiqFtpm_2rIxEy1Ume2F6pTFYHG5Bx-8rIXmtJR654T2lfCBQqazsVIyXvcAnmcCbTGihtrXpbtenxM0goO-0wpFpFyNL0E7yLutdpcbhkAC8_er1ZCSioLGmIyY66__-gsra7FGbbGUW9fqCe91IBlb2TBfc0GPziSXgQL8y6nOAeW5SZ4kSqc/s16000/619331616_1589633489349646_2416514309147265633_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Diane Lane in THE BIG TOWN Year: 1987 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>With a deliberately sparse-pulpy title, THE BIG TOWN is set during the 1950's... 1957 to be exact... and Dillon really looks the part, a kind of throwback B&W-suited actor even in this neo noir's neon green and pink tinged color scheme, playing a young lucky dice player who miraculously hits the right numbers each and every time, giving the movie a sort of unintentional TWILIGHT ZONE science-fiction vibe, or something delving into fantasy... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And for a vehicle so otherwise grounded and somewhat cliche, predictable and even mainstream, that's alright since Matt's urgency (and the film's suspense) doesn't rely on winning but surviving the pool of gambling hoodlum sharks who, from Tommy Lee Jones as an underground backroom dealer to a mysterious backstory Tom Skerritt, are out to (or seem out to) stop the endless and bizarre winning streak...</p><span></span>

ben bolt, bruce dern, diane lane, drama, eighties, fifties-era, gambling, lee grant, matt dillon, neo noir, thriller, tommy lee jones

MATT DILLON SHOOTS CRAP IN 'THE BIG TOWN' WITH DIANE LANE

Diane Lane in THE BIG TOWN Year: 1987 Rating: ***1/2 With a deliberately sparse-pulpy title, THE BIG TOWN is set during the 1950's... 19...

DECADE-SPANNING BLOODY BAGFUL OF ARCHIVE MOVIE REVIEWS

<div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFjIU0U1mHavSIV1XTNvMiKfTLcAro32fe3ukwDpnDyxSgunVYqA9ZmgZOh4OkoEkIq8DP_-LJjorlu6SuMW9_7HC8S4WoRPVPk9eZHv6KyiinzOckaHyEmDR1X3lGlxFu6ueyfrSwjYq/s1600/A1FpiQGmOYL._SL1500_+2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="969" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFjIU0U1mHavSIV1XTNvMiKfTLcAro32fe3ukwDpnDyxSgunVYqA9ZmgZOh4OkoEkIq8DP_-LJjorlu6SuMW9_7HC8S4WoRPVPk9eZHv6KyiinzOckaHyEmDR1X3lGlxFu6ueyfrSwjYq/s400/A1FpiQGmOYL._SL1500_+2.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <u>title: THE BETSY</u> <br /> <div> <u>year: 1978</u></div> <u> </u> <div> <u>cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Lawrence Olivier, Kathleen Beller, Robert Duvall</u></div> <u> </u> <div> <u>rating: **1/2</u></div> <br /> <div> </div> Like something off TV from the late seventies/early eighties night soaps ala "Dallas" or "Dynasty" but centering on a car company and with curse words and full-frontal nudity (the Kathleen Beller pool scene is quite a nice surprise). Tommy Lee Jones is a race car driver/designer hired by a rich family to make a new affordable fuel efficient car and gets tangled in the web that always permeates the rich and powerful in literature and films. This is just fluff, but sometimes entertaining fluff. Robert Duvall is surprisingly dull as the somewhat villainous grandson of Lawrence Olivier, Olivier who plays wholeheartedly a Henry Ford meets Darth Vadar type matriarch of a powerful family that's falling apart at the seams.<br /> <br /> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhStMY3jFRtXrtt9at-t5Sm4YK0CbZ8RHQ_YLj_9AVJ42QKI1qr6Xwvyl-dUJkVqJPb2TPLwcVZpk5DeAIfgFIirFzY5rRGF1a9dbHtRPrsIhUkIRK6WQ6TIC2MduQyF0kMVQ6qQkllkXc_/s1600/MV5BMGZjMzBhN2YtNjdmOC00YTk5LThjMDgtOTRhOTdlMDJjNjg4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTc5MDI5NjE%2540._V1_.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="233" data-original-width="640" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhStMY3jFRtXrtt9at-t5Sm4YK0CbZ8RHQ_YLj_9AVJ42QKI1qr6Xwvyl-dUJkVqJPb2TPLwcVZpk5DeAIfgFIirFzY5rRGF1a9dbHtRPrsIhUkIRK6WQ6TIC2MduQyF0kMVQ6qQkllkXc_/s400/MV5BMGZjMzBhN2YtNjdmOC00YTk5LThjMDgtOTRhOTdlMDJjNjg4XkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyOTc5MDI5NjE%2540._V1_.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <u>title: THE AMAZING HOWARD HUGHES</u><br /> <u>year: 1977 </u> <br /> <div> <u>cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Ed Flanders, Lee Purcell</u></div> <u> </u> <div> <u>rating: **1/2</u></div> <br /> <div> Okay so this was edited from a longer version and comes off as a greatest hits of Howard Hughes. The story merely glosses through different aspects of his life without much detail. Tommy Lee Jones was good... but at the end you're not sure what made him driven, or crazy, in the first place.<br /> <br /> </div> <div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCZtZ9Qrh8PoMRdymU15yGmnJ5sLW4vRQJ0NSf9wJUyOAkztMHCfobnMdmXzB7okfJVMUyiwMsNmeOmn5CnF-osxwBkDTfQtZsWELt3Hvr-splRxqOGBtUJ6bvhfsQh4j4SRX84ww5Wxv/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-12-03+at+9.14.03+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="622" data-original-width="1184" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmCZtZ9Qrh8PoMRdymU15yGmnJ5sLW4vRQJ0NSf9wJUyOAkztMHCfobnMdmXzB7okfJVMUyiwMsNmeOmn5CnF-osxwBkDTfQtZsWELt3Hvr-splRxqOGBtUJ6bvhfsQh4j4SRX84ww5Wxv/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-12-03+at+9.14.03+PM.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <u>title: FLIGHT OF THE INTRUDER </u></div> <div> <u>year: 1991<br /> cast: Brad Johnson, Willem Defoe <br /> director: John Milius<br /> rating: *</u><br /> <br /> This John Milius Vietnam flick has low-budget written all over it, especially when it counts. The talented actors are wasted, and a romantic subplot that borders on ludicrious helps waste them, and action scenes that leave the viewer wondering not only "What's going on?" but "When it gonna end?" Perhaps Milius, who wrote a good percentage of "Apocolypse Now", in trying for another Vietnam epic, ends up with a "G.I. Joe" meets "Top Gun" in the process. This isn't even corny in an endearing sense, it's just plain bad.  </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIuzGtMOMAeQDPMVsMAOI1SocmDz_RLZnwJjDYjXULWvLyixoajBUkJAJbb7ygK6VX4n2XFdWvtPEjOuWKhvK-sstHmjbA1CSbBPj1wnfk6bvINe9tMWGk-bRQ18BHaRLqV6mbk8Qe0W2/s1600/Screen%252Bshot%252B2012-03-12%252Bat%252B1.28.18%252BAM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="733" data-original-width="1050" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLIuzGtMOMAeQDPMVsMAOI1SocmDz_RLZnwJjDYjXULWvLyixoajBUkJAJbb7ygK6VX4n2XFdWvtPEjOuWKhvK-sstHmjbA1CSbBPj1wnfk6bvINe9tMWGk-bRQ18BHaRLqV6mbk8Qe0W2/s320/Screen%252Bshot%252B2012-03-12%252Bat%252B1.28.18%252BAM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <div> <u>title: MOTORCYCLE GANG</u><br /> <u>year: 1994</u></div> <u> </u> <div> <u>cast: Carla Gugino, Gerald McRaney, Jake Busey, Richard Edson, Julia Mueller </u></div> <u> </u> <div> <u>rating: **</u><br /> <br /> This is a bad made-for-TV film that's not so bad, at least the first half centering on a family consisting of a father, a mother, and a teenager daughter who - during the 1950s - move from Texas to California. On the way they run into the element that ruins the flow of the movie, and ironically it's the Motorcycle Gang, led by Jake Busey who resembles a flaky nineties surfer more than a fifties gang member and is about an intimidating as a housefly. This is where the movie hits a wall, and explodes. Sadly, once-great John Milius directed this. </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon1ReqxJO2Qf3It_JroA5VSwNgjhLQA7kGJju53Y1s-B4srUMw0oWXSX2ZtuQHli96sL5GMmYm1I1ZpRfkGZ1_R2bnQMu4Gmrgy8aVw6L5nRnr1izymjiWHEJ3e_E7WJOsyRSINIAxnAN/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-12-03+at+9.15.07+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="1378" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhon1ReqxJO2Qf3It_JroA5VSwNgjhLQA7kGJju53Y1s-B4srUMw0oWXSX2ZtuQHli96sL5GMmYm1I1ZpRfkGZ1_R2bnQMu4Gmrgy8aVw6L5nRnr1izymjiWHEJ3e_E7WJOsyRSINIAxnAN/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-12-03+at+9.15.07+PM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <u>title: CONVOY</u><br /> <u>Year: 1978 </u><br /> <u>cast: Kris Kristofferson, Ali McGraw, Ernest Borgnine </u></div> <u> </u> <div> <u>rating: *</u></div> <br /> <div> </div> After directing the brilliant anti-war film <i>Cross of Iron</i>, Sam Peckinpah went into a dizzy retirement, and here's what he made at his dizziest. Truckers on CB radios versus a crooked cop. This should be called "BJ and the Billy the Kid", as Kris Kristofferson stars as the rebel trucker, and his usually dependable laidback personality is boring. Ali McGraw, who was pretty bad in the brilliant Peckinpah film <i>The Getaway</i>, is just as bad here, but without a good story to lift her above the fray. Burt Young and Ernest Borgnine are lackluster, as is Peckinpah's signature style... full of slow-motion action and snappy edits... which is hardly visible at all.<br /> <br /> </div> </div> <div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHpgTlG73zbLfBj70dP1VOkEmBQk_SUFsvtSBuDlcCQ8vjdE__iBLHRQfIqUww2tsQyhb4Fh9EMyxuxW9M-1abrFu2pzsk2wYCsqiGgFnz9fdE18NF1H9XimnbRgnJeVJnLecrIgPYDMBW/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-12-03+at+9.15.45+PM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="822" data-original-width="1092" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHpgTlG73zbLfBj70dP1VOkEmBQk_SUFsvtSBuDlcCQ8vjdE__iBLHRQfIqUww2tsQyhb4Fh9EMyxuxW9M-1abrFu2pzsk2wYCsqiGgFnz9fdE18NF1H9XimnbRgnJeVJnLecrIgPYDMBW/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-12-03+at+9.15.45+PM.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <u>title: THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD </u></div> <div> <u>year: 1951</u> <u>cast: James Arness</u> <u> </u><br /> <u>director: Christian Nyby </u><br /> <u>rating: *1/2</u><br /> <br /> The John Carpenter version has a relatively small number of men trapped in an Arctic outpost, and you get to know them all by name, personality, share their claustrophobic frenzy and follow their fates accordingly. In this movie there's two main characters, a woman who is totally misplaced, and about a dozen nameless men who walk from room to room talking about a spaceship. John Carpenter told the story in a far better fashion... where you can at least follow each character through the nightmare as opposed to watching a dated stage play with too many characters parading before a stagnate camera. And the famous line, "Watch The Skies," is uttered by a lanky scientist. Which makes sense since there's nothing to see on the ground. </div> <div> <br /> </div> <div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjQWZyCxurCjcUIU4rN9YL0pR8OrV_iWSzA06Hu1MGaUIDdsfQSEj2YpVQIj8G2tjVmuFtbViZBIhimpcd9R4CO3M3_nyGRe18COnFedJFEhpe05hHufHgF1NZXAD9zo6HnugiYJeea1f/s1600/bloody-mama.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="306" data-original-width="528" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisjQWZyCxurCjcUIU4rN9YL0pR8OrV_iWSzA06Hu1MGaUIDdsfQSEj2YpVQIj8G2tjVmuFtbViZBIhimpcd9R4CO3M3_nyGRe18COnFedJFEhpe05hHufHgF1NZXAD9zo6HnugiYJeea1f/s400/bloody-mama.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <u>title: BLOODY MAMA</u></div> <div> <div> <u>year: 1970</u></div> <div> <u>cast: Shelley Winters </u></div> <div> <u>rating: *1/2</u></div> <br /> <div> How can a movie directed by Roger Corman and starring Shelley Winters as a bank robber with sons played by Don Stroud, Robert Walden and last but not least Robert DeNiro not be great? Judging Corman films can be difficult since they don't aspire for much, but this is a lazy exercise in a filmmaker pushing an envelope with nothing inside. For DeNiro fans there's not much here. His character just stands around with a dumb look and every once in a while says something in an over-the-top hillbilly accent. Don Stroud is really the focal point as "Herman", the psychotic eldest son, but his performance does nothing but grate on the nerves. And Shelley Winters collects a paycheck. Corman produced BOXCAR BERTHA and CRAZY MAMA are much better.<br /> <br /> </div> <div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuijvBYJMumaf6XRzwYFi0GxxRcw3e-qw6UeMCfF_bqwLRJlRCuWYN42ShBqAonfUmpl9wzfbpYBjqTxkVIu1w-sNnXJZIdJqeSfwOa4C194FY6lcCuJxQeJpXA6cHnAjIaGapq_pZ3Zhp/s1600/DxyUPA5XQAAjl_n.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="264" data-original-width="470" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuijvBYJMumaf6XRzwYFi0GxxRcw3e-qw6UeMCfF_bqwLRJlRCuWYN42ShBqAonfUmpl9wzfbpYBjqTxkVIu1w-sNnXJZIdJqeSfwOa4C194FY6lcCuJxQeJpXA6cHnAjIaGapq_pZ3Zhp/s400/DxyUPA5XQAAjl_n.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <div> <u>title: STUNTS </u><br /> <u>year: 1977</u></div> <u> </u> <div> <u>cast: Robert Forster, Fiona Lewis</u><br /> <u>rating: ***1/2 </u><br /> <u><br /></u> Mark L. Lester rules. STUNTS involves stuntmen getting picked off by a mysterious killer. Robert Forster's little brother is one of them, and he investigates. Darrell Fetty, Joanna Cassidy, Fiona Lewis, Bruce Glover and the late Ray Sharky round out the cast. The acting is wonderful and the action is bar none. The stuntmen are killed off like campers in a slasher flick, and the tension mounts with precision. Lester is a miracle worker. He takes low budget movies and turns them into gold. Or at least, silver. And with Robert Forster at the helm: this one shines. </div> <div> <br /> </div> </div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3H_HLqcsEeiYK_PRvrqNSWXtH_ggTwlhJdedzonorRrkUYQLBAOkzuA51-dDdlrF5JYiXyp20J77HGo5S1de_ascqrSVwsp1-LRQnqrLDRSZWfd4HTQnAZqSTgYCKojp4g4gg26go83fQ/s1600/fury-5.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="339" data-original-width="620" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3H_HLqcsEeiYK_PRvrqNSWXtH_ggTwlhJdedzonorRrkUYQLBAOkzuA51-dDdlrF5JYiXyp20J77HGo5S1de_ascqrSVwsp1-LRQnqrLDRSZWfd4HTQnAZqSTgYCKojp4g4gg26go83fQ/s400/fury-5.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <u>title: THE FURY </u></div> <div> <u>year: 1978 </u><br /> <u>cast: Amy Irving, Kirk Douglas </u><br /> <u>rating: **1/2<br /> </u><br /> <div> </div> <div> </div> This is a pretty bad movie, but oh how it delivers. Not quite sure what it wants to be, it aspires for action/adventure, a little horror, psychological drama, and of course tons of Hitchcockesque suspense. One story centers on Kirk Douglas who is supposedly killed by terrorists in front of his son, played by Andrew Stevens, a psychic boy-wonder under the care of evil John Cassavetes, wants to use his "powers" for the military, or something. And Douglas has to avoid the evil agents and try finding his son again. The initial action scenes involving Douglas are well-done. But the real star is Amy Irving as a young high school girl with even more psychic powers than Stevens, and she ends up at a home for "gifted children" that becomes CARRIE on the Hallmark Channel.<br /> <br /> </div> <div style="text-align: left;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxWPRfkOQCSzr233t62hCu6NLGAmeT_kbFqT3QxnsnPlcmuwWzYNPqklDq6QY_yBoTVWbG6kf0lpM-E4TghUYSo7H2zRNIgexrFqJJ26oIPtKOJmA_iF3nIrIMFFBw96QAL4xqG9agtba/s1600/hero_EB20080918REVIEWS809180301AR.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="783" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHxWPRfkOQCSzr233t62hCu6NLGAmeT_kbFqT3QxnsnPlcmuwWzYNPqklDq6QY_yBoTVWbG6kf0lpM-E4TghUYSo7H2zRNIgexrFqJJ26oIPtKOJmA_iF3nIrIMFFBw96QAL4xqG9agtba/s400/hero_EB20080918REVIEWS809180301AR.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div> <u>title: GHOST TOWN</u><br /> <div> <u>year: 2007</u></div> <div> <u>cast: Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear</u></div> <div> <u>rating: ***1/2</u></div> <br /> <div> Written and directed by David Koepp, this gives the wry-guy Ricky Gervais a decent showcase. Plot centers on a grumpy dentist who goes in for surgery and then finds out later he died for six minutes, and as a result he can see ghosts... much like that kid in "The Sixth Sense", but this ghost-spotter is more annoyed than frightened of the pursuing spectors. Greg Kinnear, as the most charming and most persistant of the ghosts tailing our anti-charm hero, "hires" him to thwart his wife from marrying "the wrong guy". It then turns into a fun love story: although it's much <i>more funny</i> when the good guy is sarcastic and bitter i.e. himself. <br /> <br /></div> <div> <div style="text-align: right;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeQ1qdKewrdQgCjpNCEWw_qUfXuIiOur5v_s91iGu_dogk4mEjYKdAg4aN9Nu6FjwGId0nfM8UqlzccLEH8t0ppsOtLj09nxCmRw_sRFamuIUlFiH3EjUhUO4TY5ItebXRl_hN_cIRRUu/s1600/tropic-thunder-robert-downey-jr-movie-poster_a-G-9888885-0.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="413" data-original-width="554" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEeQ1qdKewrdQgCjpNCEWw_qUfXuIiOur5v_s91iGu_dogk4mEjYKdAg4aN9Nu6FjwGId0nfM8UqlzccLEH8t0ppsOtLj09nxCmRw_sRFamuIUlFiH3EjUhUO4TY5ItebXRl_hN_cIRRUu/s320/tropic-thunder-robert-downey-jr-movie-poster_a-G-9888885-0.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div> <u>title: TROPIC THUNDER</u><br /> <div> <u>year: 2008</u></div> <div> <u>cast: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black</u></div> <div> <u>rating: *</u></div> <br /> <div> "The Three Amigos" centers on three dim-bulb actors who go to Mexico thinking they're filming a movie and end up in a real situation battling bad guys who want to kill them. "Tropic Thunder" centers on three dim-bulb actors who think they're filming a movie and end up... doing "Three Amigos" all over again, but very badly. This could have been an at least halfway decent bad movie if there wasn't the sidestory about Ben Stiller's character's fading career, which makes it horrificly horribly awful. Ben Stiller goes over the top and isn't funny, Jack Black is totally wasted, and Robert Downey Jr. as a pretentious Australian actor playing a black army officer is somewhat impressive but gets annoying, fast.</div> </div>

action, amy irving, bagful, brian de palma, comedy, eighties, fifties, horror, john milius, kirk douglas, kris kristofferson, nineties, sam peckinpah, seventies, thriller, tommy lee jones, zeroes

DECADE-SPANNING BLOODY BAGFUL OF ARCHIVE MOVIE REVIEWS

title: THE BETSY year: 1978 cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Lawrence Olivier, Kathleen Beller, Robert Duvall rating: **1/2 Like some...

SUE LYON AND ROBERT CONRAD IN 'SMASH-UP ON INTERSTATE 5'

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BR5qmbSriMDGrEy2lPvR3kpTl2zHncpU8Pe7QpObUw_LMGaF5sP4wNxIDRD3Rm8oMue6tDDeHxI67u1BqyOrrY5tkxA2AjLnypGPpwNeB9Soi9ycmnsUIQtqZC03-t0FByBkf5ZMKwrW1BP9EI9lbbW4xIEFtHBHoTp-Qvz5CB_su93k4zxEQ32NXg/s769/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-19%20at%206.15.21%20AM.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="769" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BR5qmbSriMDGrEy2lPvR3kpTl2zHncpU8Pe7QpObUw_LMGaF5sP4wNxIDRD3Rm8oMue6tDDeHxI67u1BqyOrrY5tkxA2AjLnypGPpwNeB9Soi9ycmnsUIQtqZC03-t0FByBkf5ZMKwrW1BP9EI9lbbW4xIEFtHBHoTp-Qvz5CB_su93k4zxEQ32NXg/w400-h266/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-19%20at%206.15.21%20AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sue Lyon has a king of beer on Interstate 5 in 1978</u></td></tr></tbody></table>The TV-Movie SMASH-UP ON INTERSTATE 5 beat SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER to the double boogie perspective by one full year; the camera spinning around while two people dance. To disco, no less: Enter PSYCHO co-star Vera Miles as Erica, newly divorced and reluctantly part of the singles nightlife, being romanced by creepy Herb Edelman and she wants none of it...<br> <br> Other stories evolve from and head towards that inevitable crash on the mountainous region of (Southern) California's Interstate 5: Starting out with the catastrophe's onset as the rest of the movie, dictated by typed title cards beginning 24 hours earlier, follow various plotlines – many, like the one just mentioned involving Miles and an eventual romance with a younger man, David Groh, are of the soap operatic nature...<br>

biker, buddy ebsen, cindy daly, cop, disaster, donna miles, ensemble, robert conrad, ronald jacoby, seventies, sue lyon, tommy lee jones, tv movie, vera miles

SUE LYON AND ROBERT CONRAD IN 'SMASH-UP ON INTERSTATE 5'

Sue Lyon has a king of beer on Interstate 5 in 1978 The TV-Movie SMASH-UP ON INTERSTATE 5 beat SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER to the double boogie per...

HARRISON FORD & TOMMY LEE JONES BOTH STAR IN 'THE FUGITIVE'

<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfSe7XPu6YRkncCvEDbtHgsTT6z2EjBP3Tsa3CKfl7kjBdAHGBIIA3hcTc1uccV42zf3VgvKwklDsGPx5r324BnwwQ07ST6VGD0Ih1zqqOkX5GsZt200GKnn2KEobXrd9yINJWQDtfzC1kVCyxMvv4lHplFdyW3jattah2kSek_k3CMD2mhUMXwuQaA/s2037/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-11%20at%202.36.02%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2037" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglfSe7XPu6YRkncCvEDbtHgsTT6z2EjBP3Tsa3CKfl7kjBdAHGBIIA3hcTc1uccV42zf3VgvKwklDsGPx5r324BnwwQ07ST6VGD0Ih1zqqOkX5GsZt200GKnn2KEobXrd9yINJWQDtfzC1kVCyxMvv4lHplFdyW3jattah2kSek_k3CMD2mhUMXwuQaA/w400-h269/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-11%20at%202.36.02%20AM.jpeg" width="400"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: THE FUGITIVE Year: 1993 Rating: ****<br></u></td></tr></tbody></table>The coolest scene of this popular and successful, multi Oscar nominated and winning big screen adaptation of the classic David Janssen TV-series is when supporting actor champ Tommy Lee Jones is by himself, looking straight ahead but at nothing, really — then cutting to where Harrison Ford's title character is seeking refuge.<br> <br> Tommy Lee Jones, practically a veteran actor who hadn't reached mainstream success, is downright fantastic: he deserved the A-list promotion but should <i>not </i>have won the award far more deserving of Ralph Fiennes, who turned in a more difficult and less natural performance as a Nazi in SCHINDLER'S LIST, and his <i>was actually a</i> <i>Supporting Role</i>, and not one of two equal co-leads: Which is what Ford and Jones are... In fact, the latter has even more scenes, overall input, and, obviously, dialogue...<br>

action, adventure, crime, drama, harrison ford, joe pantoliano, nineties, remake, tommy lee jones

HARRISON FORD & TOMMY LEE JONES BOTH STAR IN 'THE FUGITIVE'

Title: THE FUGITIVE Year: 1993 Rating: **** The coolest scene of this popular and successful, multi Oscar nominated and winning big screen ...

KEVIN COSTNER & RYAN REYNOLDS IN CRIMINAL

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNuFVqnd1ZTklmOk_jnP0xUxsiHpYif0wnHFD5_kEaviu1KGHmtDRnMY2cOmembPe5Xuy2xLuCCiXwUuEZqeZVBtj-gD7u8KK_wVxrFmkC_ZoRio-JTwUyWA4IR9wNAWTteYcnjOtQNY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2016-04-19+at+10.43.59+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="381" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBNuFVqnd1ZTklmOk_jnP0xUxsiHpYif0wnHFD5_kEaviu1KGHmtDRnMY2cOmembPe5Xuy2xLuCCiXwUuEZqeZVBtj-gD7u8KK_wVxrFmkC_ZoRio-JTwUyWA4IR9wNAWTteYcnjOtQNY/s400/Screen+Shot+2016-04-19+at+10.43.59+PM.png" width="400"></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Costner resembling an aged Travis Bickle <u>RELEASE YEAR</u>: 2016</td></tr> </tbody></table> Lately, within private circles and treadmill conversations, Cult Film Freak has been accused of writing posts that are long. Not <i>too</i> long, mind you, just... long.<br> <br> Well that doesn't concern reviews but "articles" about old classic films since it's downright ludicrous to, at this point where any "old school" motion picture has their own dedicated following with books and websites and just about everything else, making just another review about them, just another review: But we'll keep this one, like most of the new release write-ups, short and to the point even though the movie itself doesn't seem to have a point, followable plot, or purpose. Just a few otherwise talented old actors and one young A-list star who recently got his mojo back as the sarcastic superhero DEADPOOL (while ironically, MAN OF STEEL didn't hurt a fledgling Costner). And where Ryan Reynolds fits within the Kevin Costner vehicle is as mysterious as Kevin's own role as a really bad dude, sounding a cross between Kurt Russell's ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK anti-hero Snake Plissken and the man Snake's based on, Clint Eastwood. And yet, by the plot summary alone it's clear that Ryan's an FBI agent whose memories are placed into Costner's CRIMINAL mind, and from this point he and the audience slowly learn that... prepare for a shock coming from Hollywood... the CIA is as crooked as a barrel of venomous rattlers: Seriously, at what point does a Revelation become a timeworn cliché?<br>

2016, gary oldman, kevin costner, ryan reynolds, thriller, tommy lee jones

KEVIN COSTNER & RYAN REYNOLDS IN CRIMINAL

Costner resembling an aged Travis Bickle RELEASE YEAR : 2016 Lately, within private circles and treadmill conversations, Cult Film Freak...

TOMMY LEE JONES DIRECTS THE HOMESMAN

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlTpLoqchlJedVC2zcxW6J4R04zIGgRW03Yoyg6-G-vhkqeptLRroPtK7E_L_Zl4oYTTJLIpk53MOf79zhwwr73E-x_o_4YgIAWO-nOf6cZ6BdEaCTB2WkoI6Geld_l6dciJ51ZQrJDY/s1600/the-homesman-poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijlTpLoqchlJedVC2zcxW6J4R04zIGgRW03Yoyg6-G-vhkqeptLRroPtK7E_L_Zl4oYTTJLIpk53MOf79zhwwr73E-x_o_4YgIAWO-nOf6cZ6BdEaCTB2WkoI6Geld_l6dciJ51ZQrJDY/s320/the-homesman-poster.jpg" width="205" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014 rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> Right before the journey gets underway, a helpful blacksmith tells Hilary Swank’s Mary Bee Cuddy that the townsfolk like talking about death and taxes, but when “crazy” is brought up, everyone hushes…<br /> <br /> That hush occurs way too often as Cuddy and reluctant hired-hand George Briggs, played by veteran actor Tommy Lee Jones, take three demented women across the barren landscape with a few obstacles including Indians and narrow minded white folk: yet when Briggs is really needed to alleviate the hopeless melancholy, he doesn't always deliver. <br /> <br /> As director, Jones attempts a dark, brooding art house anti-Western, only there’s a mismatch of disturbing images and the odd couple relationship between the independent woman and the gruff rogue drifter: Clichés aside, the latter plays out a lot more natural. Too bad they weren't just hauling grain. While important catalysts, the human cargo distract from the two people we should have known much better. <br /> <br /> THE HOMESMAN is nicely bookended with an intriguing setup, first learning about our assertive Plain Jane heroine and concluding with a table-turning epilogue. Unfortunately, the hard trail in-between is but a tedious stretch of prolonged, awkward silence.

2014, hilary swank, meryl streep, tommy lee jones, western

TOMMY LEE JONES DIRECTS THE HOMESMAN

year: 2014 rating: ** Right before the journey gets underway, a helpful blacksmith tells Hilary Swank’s Mary Bee Cuddy that the townsfol...

THE FAMILY

<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/AVvXsEgr6mHgK4CoGnmK6doiezcPDhYmdJB1Ebm-LX2w2yEtMTM8wb_W2BU6lt-tuq5T9cCZ0UfsbCc_yQch78QD2j3wQlP17rotOdB2nb_FLq4pJ4ummup18ZT9OUFQzC0m8cRoM2Mtm3DJhLfS/s1600/family.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgr6mHgK4CoGnmK6doiezcPDhYmdJB1Ebm-LX2w2yEtMTM8wb_W2BU6lt-tuq5T9cCZ0UfsbCc_yQch78QD2j3wQlP17rotOdB2nb_FLq4pJ4ummup18ZT9OUFQzC0m8cRoM2Mtm3DJhLfS/s16000/family.jpeg" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2013 cast: Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, Tommy Lee Jones rating: **</td></tr> </tbody></table> At the end of Martin Scorsese's mob classic GOODFELLAS, Ray Liotta, after ratting out the mobsters who practically raised him from childhood, fears living the rest of his mundane life as a “Schnook.” In layman's terms he will no longer party like a king, which is basically where THE FAMILY begins: only in a dilapidated France manor instead of suburban Middle America.<br /> <br /> There's a double-meaning title, relating to both The Mafia and this particular clan consisting of DeNiro’s bearded and reflective Fred Blake (a fake name) and his much more assertive wife Maggie, played by Michelle Pfeiffer, who doesn’t take crap from anyone – especially the snotty folks at a grocery store she winds up firebombing. And it’s a shame since Pfeiffer’s character has the most bloody fun, but not for long – eventually she’s part of the backdrop as the kids, a gorgeous daughter and geeky son in a new high school, pretty much take over the film.<br /> <br /> Belle (Dianna Agron) and Warren (John D’Leo) are polar opposites. Warren gets beaten by bullies but soon manipulates other students to cut corners – think Tom Sawyer meets Ferris Bueller with connections. And Belle makes crazy like mom, only with more gusto and for a lot longer… With the exception of a young gaunt-faced teacher she winds up falling dreadfully in love with, anyone who crosses her path gets the kind of pummeling you only see in, well, really violent mob films. Only here, in a quirky dark comedy backed by goofy Italian restaurant music to remind us of such, the beatings are much too simple…<br /> <br /> From thrashing people into bloody pulps to random acts of terrorism, The Family does whatever they feel like without any repercussions (save for a few lectures from Tommy Lee Jones's FBI man). The characters are more like caricatures – it's no wonder Robert DeNiro heads the bill. Since we all know his status as a famous actor in the mob genre, his Fred... formerly Giovanni... needs only a few hollow flashbacks to make everything clear. <br /> <br /> As an ultra-violent satire about a family that can’t adapt to normalcy given their violent nature, the movie goes too far off the deep end without allowing us to know them better. And one pivotal scene... when DeNiro winds up critiquing a very familiar film... breaks the fourth wall so bad, hardcore cinema fans might not be laughing like a conventional audience, who can easy forgive a project more dependent on past glories… from GOODFELLAS to THE UNTOUCHABLES… than the story at hand, which, in this particular case, offers only clichés.<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="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcbnrPEXeakCn4DeVp4bUvLKlfxgOUvPBor9ll2bvyKFWKYdqVI5tVsO_K5G3ZLk-FPooLTCoquDkg12W06jFRoOXstmMpsHyuYzOBq3xm5NJypzH-D2QW6HwWRXzO28HcyBS5gqVyDG_/s1600/Goodfellas+photo.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmcbnrPEXeakCn4DeVp4bUvLKlfxgOUvPBor9ll2bvyKFWKYdqVI5tVsO_K5G3ZLk-FPooLTCoquDkg12W06jFRoOXstmMpsHyuYzOBq3xm5NJypzH-D2QW6HwWRXzO28HcyBS5gqVyDG_/s16000/Goodfellas+photo.png" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Robert DeNiro having much better and younger times in GOODFELLAS with Ray Liotta</td></tr> </tbody></table>

2013, dark comedy, michelle pfeiffer, mob, robert deniro, tommy lee jones

THE FAMILY

year: 2013 cast: Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, Tommy Lee Jones rating: ** At the end of Martin Scorsese's mob clas...

DANIEL DAY LEWIS IS LINCOLN

<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/AVvXsEgvoYviLB4lNlYV557YwAkaEX38BBovUnY4rDLIoRCrrg9C4qmw_dpmSN7ZKEZfwOwGqt8Erzpzedl4Vr_XU9242XTfqSaZPaLwe-QandN7H-HtZgf7sXbFQf35OMaUs43TmM2fYGOBzJVQ/s1600/09lincoln-span-articleLarge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="336" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvoYviLB4lNlYV557YwAkaEX38BBovUnY4rDLIoRCrrg9C4qmw_dpmSN7ZKEZfwOwGqt8Erzpzedl4Vr_XU9242XTfqSaZPaLwe-QandN7H-HtZgf7sXbFQf35OMaUs43TmM2fYGOBzJVQ/s640/09lincoln-span-articleLarge.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2012 cast: Daniel Day Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, James Spader rating: ***</td></tr> </tbody></table> While a more fitting title would be THE 13TH AMENDMENT, as the film primarily deals with the passing of the law to free the slaves, LINCOLN focuses on a President who had the determination to see something through – all the way through till the end: It just may take a few minutes to adhere to the voice and stature Daniel Day Lewis provides our 16th President. Sounding like a decrepit small town barber suffering a cold, Lincoln walks with a jangly gait – at times seeming too frail to hold himself uptight – and that stove top hat looks about to envelop his wiry frame. But DDL's Lincoln tells wonderful parable/stories that serve to convince friends and opponents alike… While his feeble manner is explained aptly by one character, noting how the Civil War, and being responsible for the deaths therein, can age a man considerably. It’s how the (perhaps two-time) Oscar winning actor combines the lethargic physicality to the freshly heartfelt monologues that makes the story work... So while Lincoln fares so capably on his own, his family serves as a distraction. Enter wife Mary Todd and their two sons: the youngest, Tad, stares wide-eyed at slaves in photographs like a modern kid leafs through baseball cards; while guilt-ridden law student Todd (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), witnessing the tragedy of war, yearns to join the military.<br /> <br /> Sally Field’s moody Mary Todd Lincoln is a woman torn between mental instability and blunt honesty... she’s Abe's personal cross to bear yet he wears it with pride. During certain arguments you’d expect him to shout, “To the moon, Mary,” before giving her a forgiving peck on the cheek. Thus each family member lends menial significance – but in a story based on “The Political Genius” of Lincoln as opposed to his personal life, perhaps this was intentional. And on that political side, standing out past the others (even David Strathairn’s patient sidekick William Seward), Tommy Lee Jones plays up the scruffy hero in Thaddeus Stevens. The veteran actor knows how to successfully turn a craggy grouch into an endearing angel. His scenes often feel like an introduction to his own spinoff sequel... through his timeworn eyes the dream of freedom seems the most important. Although director Steven Spielberg does a fine job moving along a film set within conference rooms and that big important Courthouse, he’s a bit too manipulative in the process: you’ll know exactly who to root for, who to throw tomatoes at, and who to cheer with once the historic outcome is revealed. Meanwhile, the liberal filmmaker, in lionizing a famous Republican, plays a delicate balancing act: the stuffy conservatives are as much a bulwark/hindrance as the stubborn democrats (while a barrage of “g-damns” flow like pellets at a shooting gallery). All in all, Lincoln himself seems more an Independent, painfully triangulating through an uphill climb: How he and his colleagues sway votes by creative manipulation is entertainingly fun.<br /> <br /> So with all the elaborate sets, beautiful costumes, rich cinematography, and talented character actors (including Hal Holbrook, James Spader, and Bruce McGill, who hilariously complains how Lincoln wins every argument), Daniel Day Lewis triumphs with his stories alone. For a colorful performer who can be too stagey in other projects, he portrays Lincoln so genuinely subtle and meaningfully soft-spoken, the audience has no choice but to hang onto every... single... word.

2012, daniel day lewis, steven spielberg, tommy lee jones

DANIEL DAY LEWIS IS LINCOLN

year: 2012 cast: Daniel Day Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, James Spader rating: *** While a more fitting title would be THE 13TH A...

MEN IN BLACK III

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div> <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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TkjzFPUyw6lfj4aSgJZbalOpOy4ue0n2W6M7n_D1CbZZomJVAe8xSorI4SUDrmOObP-g29jAXmX3aj2zRWg1bxHZ8SdIULR9_SoB_JvtIQd7CrX7ERdPAMjuusIJufUVDvjRBe2RFiGs/s1600/MEN-IN-BLACK-3-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="304" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_TkjzFPUyw6lfj4aSgJZbalOpOy4ue0n2W6M7n_D1CbZZomJVAe8xSorI4SUDrmOObP-g29jAXmX3aj2zRWg1bxHZ8SdIULR9_SoB_JvtIQd7CrX7ERdPAMjuusIJufUVDvjRBe2RFiGs/s320/MEN-IN-BLACK-3-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tommy's not around for long here</td></tr> </tbody></table> <b>title:</b> MEN IN BLACK III<br /> <b>year:</b> 2012<br /> <b>cast: </b>Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin<br /> <b>rating: </b>**  <br /> <br /> Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return as Agents J and K… sort of. Before you know it, K’s wisped off as if he never existed – at least in his partner’s lifetime. The main villain is an imprisoned alien named Boris the Animal. The angry goon, resembling a mutant biker, has one arm thanks to Agent K years earlier.<br /> <br /> After breaking out of the moon’s prison, Boris goes back in time and kills K for revenge. To resurrect his partner, J leaps into the 1960’s where young K works for The Agency. For a little while the film becomes a 48 HRS replica: the hard-nosed "cop" doesn’t trust the energetic "convict" who keeps begging for a gun. Although it takes some talking into, K’s soon convinced of their basic mission: kill the bad guy to save himself <i>and</i> the earth won’t be taken over.<br /> <br /> Sound confusing? Well some parts are – but it doesn’t matter. There’s a few good action scenes that occur much too quickly and the counter-culture shock (including a run-in with Andy Warhol) seems a mere distraction. Josh Brolin as the young K imitates his NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN co-star dependably and has decent chemistry with Smith. But they’re joined by an annoying alien who, resembling a dimwitted college student wearing a snow cap, provides so much exposition about the “time continuum” our heroes have little to figure out on their own while the climax, set at the Apollo 11 takeoff, lacks the bombastic punch of the original. And the lesser aliens along the way are too bright and flashy and…'90’s-looking, most likely an intentional homage to the fifteen-year-old predecessors – but a better script (and villain) would have helped.

2012, action, barry sonnenfield, science-fiction, tommy lee jones, will smith

MEN IN BLACK III

Tommy's not around for long here title: MEN IN BLACK III year: 2012 cast: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin rating: **...

CLINT EASTWOOD IN SPACE COWBOYS

<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://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oDxImJ-GIIE1eQeAoNZKbqMg45LGGjJJV3bVXxSg2RUu46XK0ZbE8JXlF3_4_2ff9nb0fOQNCvqPcSBEMg90db2aAxdai1qAtfLpErG2WvrkAWR6NOsCWwXc8JbQ0fRGMAh0qgtwtXl4/s1600/spacecowboys.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" height="146" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5641663407132941058" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_oDxImJ-GIIE1eQeAoNZKbqMg45LGGjJJV3bVXxSg2RUu46XK0ZbE8JXlF3_4_2ff9nb0fOQNCvqPcSBEMg90db2aAxdai1qAtfLpErG2WvrkAWR6NOsCWwXc8JbQ0fRGMAh0qgtwtXl4/s200/spacecowboys.jpg" style="float: right; height: 168px; margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; width: 230px;" width="200" /></a></td></tr> <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2000 rating: **1/2</td></tr> </tbody></table> This film, centered on a group of tough old Air Force veterans who were overlooked as astronauts in the fifties and now given the opportunity to go to space, is so catered to an audience you’ll expect the actors to wink at the camera after each line.<br /> <br /> The premise is rather weak: a dying Russian satellite must be retrieved, which mysteriously carried a now dated guidance system designed by director Clint Eastwood’s character, a world-weary rogue sporadically described as “not as team player” except when it comes to his old team he gathers for the trip: James Garner as a laidback preacher; Donald Sutherland as a womanizing <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">rollercoaster</span> architect (the comic relief); and Tommy Lee Jones as a stunt flier, the most likable of the bunch and truly the main character.<br /> <br /> Prepare to root for the good guys... With one-dimensional jerks played by James Cromwell and William <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Devane</span>, you won’t have a choice. And while it’s <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Cliché</span> City as our heroes show their “Ripe Stuff” while training for the mission, these are the best scenes, covering over half the film and including some genuinely funny, and even touching, moments.<br /> <br /> But once they go to space, with the exception of a rather poetic conclusion (with the aid of a lyrically fitting Sinatra tune), it’s dull as watching paint dry – but some of the colors <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">aren</span>’t bad.

action, clint eastwood, donald sutherland, james garner, tommy lee jones, zeroes

CLINT EASTWOOD IN SPACE COWBOYS

year: 2000 rating: **1/2 This film, centered on a group of tough old Air Force veterans who were overlooked as astronauts in the fifties...