Living for the Cinema

From Sam Raimi, the acclaimed directer of the Evil Dead Trilogy AND Spider-Man Trilogy comes this action thriller which FEELS as if it was based upon a comic book though was actually an original concept developed by Raimi when he was unable to land the rights for The Shadow back in the late '80's.  Oscar-nominee Liam Neeson (Schindler's List, Taken) stars as Payton, a mild-mannered scientist trying to develop synthet...

As a follow-up to her beloved '80's cult class Valley Girl, director Martha Coolidge delivered another beloved cult classic two years later with this science-based (sort of) campus comedy starring the late, great Val Kilmer in one of his earliest roles as the wisecracking titular genius Chris Knight.  Knight has been tasked with building a laser by his duplicitous professor (William Atherton) though at least he has help i...

Marvel's First Family has returned to the big screen.....could the THIRD (or actually fourth if we're counting the Roger Corman version which never got a proper theatrical release) time be the charm?  Well it helps that they brought out the big guns: Matt Shankman (WandaVision) is directing and the all-star cast features Pedro Pascal (The Last of Us, The Mandalorian) as Reed Richards otherwise known as Mr. Fantastic, Vane...

On paper, the set-up for this movie seems fairly conventional: a mild-mannered small-town diner owner named Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is living an idyllic life in the Indiana countryside with his wife Edie (Maria Bello) and two children when suddenly one night just before closing....two thugs enter his diner and start threatening everyone, start to get violent...and Tom channels the hero inside him to dispatch them and save every...

WHO is Keyser Soze?

It was one of the more intriguing questions posted within cinemas in the Summer of 1995 and for good reason.  Identifying this mysterious spectral crime boss whom EVERY ONE else on screen was afaid of became the central mystery of this small indie crime thriller from a couple of relatively untested fimmakers with a very electic cast.  The director was Bryan Singer (X-Men Days of Future Past, Bohemian Rhapsody) an...

Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, Point Break) joined forces with writer James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 2, Avatar) to craft a dark vision of the future....this was released in '95 and the story takes place four years in the future on the eve of New Year's Eve '99.  This particular story takes place in a beleaguered Los Angeles beset with violence where the latest vice of c...

During a peak era for Hollywood produced conspiracy thrillers, this was one of the most popular and for good reasons.  It was directed by the late, great Oscar-winner Sydney Pollack (Out of Africa, Tootsie, The Firm) and starred two of the most beautiful and enduring stars of this era.  Robert Redford (The Sting, Indecent Proposal) stars as Turner who is an mild-mannered analyst for the CIA who suddenly finds every one in his New Y...

Look Up in the Sky.....

Superman is back and this time he's directed by James Gunn who also helmed the Guardians of the Galaxy Trilogy before switching sides in the superhero genre to now lead DC Studios and this is the FIRST official release now kicking off a brand new extended universe....hopefully.  There's a lot riding on this cinematic re-introduction to the Man of Steel (THAT film was the last time) and this time, he...

What has Eight Legs, Two Fangs, and an Attitude?

It's your typical spider of course....only the villains of this creature feature offer much more than that: they swarm, they have high vertical leaps, AND they can kill you with just ONE bite! :o And they happen to reaching the same small-town destination of Canaima at the same time as one mild-mannered family moving from San Francisco out the country for the first time, the Jenn...

Forty years ago after half a decade of undeniable success (The Big Chill, Body Heat, Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark) four-time Oscar-nominated writer/directed Lawrence Kasdan cashed in that blank check to make his dream project....and old-fashioned Western.  And to do so, he assembled an All-Star cast lead by Kevin Kline, Danny Glover, Kevin Costner, and Scott Glenn for this sprawling tale of corrupt sheriff's, r...

From the Producer of Days of Thunder (Jerry Bruckheimer) and the Director of Tom Gun Maverick (Joseph Kosinski) comes a new ORIGINAL summer epic combining elements of both films and even headlined by an major movie star comparable to Tom Cruise..  That would be Oscar-winner Brad Pitt who stars as Sonny, a veteran racer on the verge of retirement who returns to his original sport of passion, Formula One racing.  He has been courted ...

Welcome to the LIVING FOR THE BOYLE review series!  Daniel Francis Boyle originally hailed from Manchester, England and his filmmaking career took off thirty years ago in 1995 with the release of acclaimed cult thriller Shallow Grave.  And ever since then, Danny Boyle (as he’s officially known) has carved out a uniquely successful career not only achieving box office success several times but also winning a few Oscars along the way...

This is the story of two cellmates in a Brazillian prison who form a unique bond despite coming form very different backgrounds - one is a political prisoner played by the late, great Raul Julia (The Addams Family, Presumed Innocent) and the other is a homosexual window dresser played by the late, great William Hurt (Broadcast News, Body Heat) in the role which won him his only Oscar.  Their story takes several unexpected turns as ...

Six years after the runaway phenomenon that was Gremlins, director Joe Dante (The Howling, Innerspace) finally delivered a sequel....only this time, he brought the action to New York City where Billy (Zach Galligan) and Kate (Phoebe Cates) now live.  They both have jobs working at the famous Clamp Tower for the Clamp Corporation which is run by famous billionaire Daniel Clamp (John Glover).....and life is pretty dull overall.  Unti...

The Scariest Movie EVER Made? Well upon its initial release forty-five years ago, not many critics saw it that way INCLUDING the author of the original novel which this film was based on, Stephen King.  But over time, this psychological thriller directed by the late, great Stanley Kubrick (2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Eyes Wide Shut) has garnerned not only a devoted following but a never-ending stream of speculation a...

From Oscar-winning director Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Rushmore, The Royal Tannenbaums) comes his latest uniquely framed and acted adventure about a wealthy businessman (Oscar-Winner Benicio Del Toro) who's on a dangerous mission to not only preserve his wealth but also to possibly reconcile with his daughter played by newcomer Mia Threapleton.  Alongside his latest assistant (and insect expert) Bjorn (Michael Cer...

From the World of John Wick....this is techically a spin-off which takes place between the events of John Wick Chapter 3 and Chapter 4, the focus here is on Eve who is played by Ana De Armas.  Eve is an assassin who was initially trainied as as a ballerina, hence the title!  The Director of her "academy" is Angelica Huston who was also featured as a character in Chapter 3.  Eve is seeking revenge against a rival organizat...

Twenty years ago, this tragic romantic drama took the world by storm by becoming a suprise international box office hit along with garnering massive acclaim.  It even eventually won a few Academy awards, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Socre, and most importantly Best Director for Ang Lee who was coming off of directing two more action-oriented blockbusters before this, Hulk and Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon.  This...

Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and the rest of the IMF crew are back for ONE last mission....to save the world from The Entity, a massive artificial intelligence collective which has spread so far it is now on the verge of taking over every major nuclear weapons arsenal.  And the President (Angela Bassett) is running out of options as Ethan still has possession of ONE key item which our AI overlord still needs....a cruciform key.  As this...