AWN Blogs

This film is the classic gangster tale, directed by Howard Hawks (RED RIVER) and produced by Howard Hughes. The story deals with the rise of Tony Camonte (Paul Muni, THE LIFE OF EMILE ZOLA) in the ranks of organized crime. Along with PUBLIC ENEMY and LITTLE CAESAR, this film is considered a landmark in gangster films. It is also noted for pushing the boundaries of screen violence. It was actually released in two versions, so that it could play in certain States.

Tony is a thug and murderer for crime boss Johnny Lovo (Osgood Perkins, GOLD DIGGERS OF 1937). He’s reckless and violent and gets a thrill for the kill. Just take note of his childlike giddiness when he gets his first tommy gun. He rules over his sister Cesca (Ann Dvorak, MERRILY WE LIVE) with an iron fist and constantly tries to seduce his boss’ girl Poppy (Karen Morley, MATA HARI).

Based on a novel by Pat Conroy, this film is a classic melodrama brought to life with extremely well-observed characters. Tom Wingo (Nick Nolte, THE HULK) narrates the story of a Southern man dealing with the secrets of his past.

His marriage to Sallie (Blythe Danner, MEET THE PARENTS) is on the rocks, because he doesn’t express his emotions expect in outbursts of anger. He’s in a midlife funk, having quit his job as a high school teacher and football coach. Additionally, he has a very tense relationship with this willful mother Lila (Kate Nelligan, TV’s A WRINKLE IN TIME). Then he receives word that his twin sister Savannah (Melinda Dillion, A CHRISTMAS STORY) has attempted suicide again.

Director Roman Polanski made his feature debut with this simple relationship drama. The film begins with a shot of a couple driving in a car – their faces in shadow until the end of the credits when the light comes up. The husband Andrzej (Leon Niemczyk) seems to be a bit older than his beautiful wife Krystyna (Jolanta Umecka). They come upon a young man (Zygmunt Malanowicz) hitchhiking in the middle of the road and pick him up.

The three end up going on a boating trip together. In a very subtle way the film is a love triangle and a tale about two men engaged in a mental arm-wrestling match. Andrzej uses his wealth and age to lord over the nameless young man, but the 19-year-old in turn uses his youth and edginess to threaten the older man in different ways.

This satirical thriller about police corruption is sometimes too smart for its own good, but has enough wit and devious subversive flare that it succeeds despite its problems.

As the film starts, an Italian police inspector (Gian Maria Volonte, FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE) slits the throat of his lover Augusta Terzi (Florinda Bolkan, SOME GIRLS) and leaves clues all around the apartment. The film unfolds in two parts as we see the police investigate the murder and flashback to the police inspector’s relationship with Terzi.

The police investigator has just been promoted to the political unit, which spies on subversives. The film is both a psychological study of an insecure man and his need for reassuring his power as well as a satire of anti-terrorism bordering on neo-fascism. As the police move from one new suspect to the next, the inspector feeds them more clues wanting to prove that his status is so great that he is above suspicion.

Neil Jordan is a great filmmaker, who has made films like MONA LISA, THE CRYING GAME and INTERVIEW WITH A VAMPIRE. This comedy/horror mix shows none of the skill Jordan has displayed in any of his other films. However, in Jordan’s defense, he was left out of the editing process by the studio and claims that the film he wanted to make is not what was released.

Peter Plunkett (Peter O’Toole, THE LION IN WINTER) has turned his ancestral castle into a hotel and is about to loose it to the bank, which plans to move it to Malibu. His mother (Liz Smith, A GOOD THIEF) has told him for years that the castle has ghosts, so he devises a plan to turn the castle into a theme hotel where the staff dresses up in sheets and tries to scare the guests. The guests include: the ineffectual Jack (Jeff Guttenberg, COCOON) and his demanding wife Sharon (Beverly D’Angelo, NATIONAL LAMPOON’S VACATION), sex pot tease Miranda (Jennifer Tilly, BOUND), soon-to-be priest Brother Tony (Peter Gallagher, SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE) and parapsychologist Malcolm (Martin Ferrero, THE TAILOR OF PANAMA) and his doubting family.

I’ve never had an opinion on Spencer Tracy before. Now I see his greatness. Previously I’ve only seen him in films with Katharine Hepburn, who overshadows pretty much anyone else on the screen. In this film, Tracy is front and center as Stanley T. Banks, a man who is wrapped up in his only daughter’s wedding plans.

One night during dinner, Bank’s daughter Kay (Elizabeth Taylor, A PLACE IN THE SUN) tells him and his wife, Ellie (Joan Bennett, SUSPIRIA), that she is marrying Buckley Dunstan (Don Taylor, DAMIEN: OMEN II), who her parents don’t even know. The film chronicles the many trials and tribulations that Stanley goes through in the preparation for the big day from concerns about Buckley to an ever-expanding budget to the bride’s last minute doubts to coordinating all the people involved in the event.

My original review of this film was very thin. I was tired when I first watched it and was quite confused when the film was over. I’ve seen it several times since then and read countless thoughts and philosophies about the film on the Internet. Now comes the Director’s Cut and I must say it is better than the original.

It brings in information about the time travel philosophy that makes the “how” of the film easier to figure out. However, the film still contains a mind-bending premise that haunts and baffles. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Donnie Darko, a troubled teen who fears death and being alone. His intelligence is intimidating. Like most teens he thinks about sex a lot and questions authority. But unlike most teens Donnie sees a six-foot rabbit named Frank (James Duval, INDEPENDENCE DAY), who tells him secrets about time travel, tangent universes and the end of the world.

I was excited going into this film. A Rogers & Hammerstein musical dealing with one of my favorite subjects – the circus. Boy was I disappointed.

The story starts out with alpha male carousel barker Billy Bigelow (Gordon MacRae, OKLAHOMA!) in heaven hearing that there is trouble with his family back on Earth. After which, we flashback in time to when Billy met his wife Julie Jordon (Shirley Jones, ELMER GANTRY). Both end up losing their jobs over the meeting, but it doesn’t matter because they fall instantly in love with each other. After they're married, they live off Julie’s cousin Nettie (Claramae Turner). Then Billy gets caught up with shady Jigger Craigin (Cameron Mitchell, MY FAVORITE YEAR), which leads to Billy ending up in heaven where he asks to go back down to Earth to help his daughter Louise (Susan Luckey, THE MUSIC MAN).

Based on the play HOSPITALITY SUITE by Roger Rueff, the film practically takes place entirely in the hospitality suite of a hotel in Wichita, Kansas, during an industrial lubricant convention.

Phil Cooper (Danny DeVito, RUTHLESS PEOPLE) is a veteran of the company and has developed a calm distance from the tensions of the job. Bob Walker (Peter Facinelli, RIDNIG IN CARS WITH BOYS) is a very religious newbie. Larry Mann (Kevin Spacey, AMERICAN BEAUTY) is a verbose salesman, who is quite blunt. The goal for these men is to land a meeting with “The Big Kahuna” of the biggest industrial company in the Mid-West.

The story is a well-observed character study of the three main men. It deals with issues of character, sincerity and religion.

The title to the movie is key to understanding partly the motivations of the lead character Vera (Neve Campbell, THE COMPANY), a cultured rich girl who lives in a fantastic loft apartment in New York City. Her boyfriend Ford (Frank Weller, BUSINESS OF STRANGERS) is a hustler, who always talks about his next big deal, which is really a figment of his imagination. Ford meets the Italian media mogul Count Tommaso (Dominic Chianese, DOG DAY AFTERNOON), who is smitten with Vera and wants to set up a liaison with her for $100,000.

Vera is a very sexual person, but may be looking for something more than what Ford or even the Count can give her. The fact that she doesn’t need the money makes her acceptance to meet the Count intriguing.

This film is a remake of a Japanese film that I have not seen as of yet. However, I have a feeling the setting will make a big difference in my take on the original.

The American version moves the film from Japan to Chicago. John Clark (Richard Gere, CHICAGO) is an insurance salesman who doesn’t really demand much from life, but seems to be lacking something. He loves his hard-working wife Beverly (Susan Sarandon, ATLANTIC CITY) and his children Jenna (Tamara Hope, THE DEEP END) and Evan (Stark Sands, CATCH THAT KID). However, one night on the train ride home, John glimpses Paulina (Jennifer Lopez, ANGEL EYES) in the window of Miss Mitzi’s dance school, looking as sad as he feels.