Living for the Cinema

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...

Twenty-five years ago, director John Woo (Hard Boiled, Face/Off) joined this franchise to helm this long-awaited sequel to the first cinematic adaptation from '96.  And whereas the first film was a paranoid espionage thriller, he and star/producer/mastermind Tom Cruise decided to shift THIS entry in the direction of ramped up operatic action mixed with forbidden romance.  Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) is back for his next mission wh...

Based upon the comic strip created in 1931 by Chester Gould, this eye-popping live-action adaptation was long planned by Oscar-winning director Warren Beatty (Reds, Heaven Can Wait) who also elected to star as the titular square-jawwed crime fighter sporting a bright yellow jacket.  Finally green-lit and released by Disney in the wake of the breakout success the prior year of Tim Burton's Batman, the studio was hoping that it ...

During the waning days of World War II, a group of American soldiers find themselves without a leader nor a mission so they decide to sneak behind enemy lines to attempt to steal a hidden cache of gold which even most Nazi's are aware of.  Clint Eastwood (who plays the titular Private Kelly) leads an all-star cast including Telly Savalas, Don Rickles, Donald Sutherland, Carol O'Connor, and Harry Dean Stanton.  Directed by...

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...

The beach town of Amity Island has been experiencing some mysterious attacks from a mysterious entity within the nearby ocean, resulting in some brutal deaths.  And the local police chief Brody (Roy Scheider) is concerned that it MIGHT be sharks....and he's not the only one, there's also the visiting marine biologist Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) who suspects that it MIGHT be a Great White Shark. :o And besides them, there&ap...

From the director (Tobe Hooper) of The Texas Chainsaw Massacare and the writer (Dan O'Bannon) of Alien comes this crazy sci-fi horror thriller about a potential alien invasion which occurs around London after a race of space vampires (yes you read that right) come calling via Haley's Comet and an Earth-bound spaceship.  This ambitious Cannon Pictures release was a notable flop when it was first released in June of 1985 bu...