I love this movie. Top-flight talent in all the roles, great sets, great Armani clothes, Ennio Morricone music, and a taut, exciting story where Brian DePalma keeps his worst tendencies in check. I don't have a ticket stub for this movie, but I distinctly remember leaning over to whisper something crucial to the plot into my mother's ear in the theater.
Each of the three Beverly Hills Cop movies was directed by a diffrerent man, and each has its own feel, almost as if each is a 'riff' on the same concept. The first is a perfect blend of comedy and crime action. The first sequel, directed by Tony Scott (Top Gun), is much more serious, beginning with Ronny Cox's character getting shot (by Brigitte Neilsen, of all people!). Also starring Dean Stockwell and his 'sleazy bad guy' moustache.
- Superman IV: The Quest For Peace (the worst of the series)
- Lifeforce (English babes playing hot naked alien vampires; Patrick Stewart has a bit part)
- Alien From L.A. starring Kathy Ireland (I only saw this one on Mystery Science Theater 3000)
- Runaway Train (not a bad flick, actually)
- Cobra ("Beverly Hills Cop" was intended for Sylvester Stallone; his vision for the film ended up being made as this piece of cheese.)
The opening short cartoon, featuring Roger, the Baby, and a kitchen, made me laugh harder than I ever had before in a theater. The story is Chinatown-esque and completely irrelevant. The mixing of human and inked characters varies from perfect to obviously fake, but director Robert Zemeckis sets a fast pace. The climactic sequence inside the Acme warehouse always reminds me of the climax of Back To The Future.
Die Hard invented a new genre of movies: Die Hard on a Battleship (Under Siege), Die Hard on a Bus (Speed), Die Hard on a Plane (Passenger 57, Air Force One), Die Hard on a Cruise Ship (Speed 2), Die Hard On A Train (Under Siege 2). The irony is that Die Hard 2 and 3 didn't really follow the same template. One of the keys to making this kind of movie work is an attractive villain. Hiring some hack with a funny accent is not enough. Hiring classically trained Alan Rickman to put on a German accent is crucial to the success of this film. Did I mention I got the 2 disc DVD set for Christmas? I saw this three times in two months- clearly this is a masterpiece to a sixteen-year-old.
When I was 15, I got my first CD player, plus a copy of The White Album on CD for Christmas in 1987. I quickly became a devout Beatles fan. However, I didn't know much about Lennon's post-Beatles life, so this was a good introduction. However, I spent a lot of time necking during this movie with my first girlfriend.
Great to see U2 on the big screen.
Very silly. One of my Christmas pleasures. All I remember about seeing this in the theater was watching Bill Murray's character talk to the audience during the credits. The lights had come up and half the crowd was gone at that point.
The Standards & Practices lady has a problem with the Solid Gold Dancers' low-cut costumes...
S&P Lady: You can see her nipples.
Frank Cross: I want to see her nipples.
S&P: But this is a Christmas show.
Frank: Well, I'm sure Charles Dickens would have wanted to see her nipples.
Stagehand: You can barely see them nipples.
Frank Cross: See? And these guys are REALLY looking.
On his first day out after being released from prison, bank robber Lucas (Nick Nolte) is an innocent bystander in line for a teller, when he gets tangled up in a botched bank robbery by desparate father Ned Perry (Martin Short). When the police arrive, Detective Dugan (James Earl Jones) naturally assumes Lucas is behind the hold-up. Lucas ends up on the run with Perry and his sickly daughter Meg (Sarah Rowland Doroff).
Written and directed by Francis Veber, a remake of his 1986 French movie Les Fugitifs, starring Gérard Depardieu as Lucas. Nick Nolte also played the Gérard Depardieu role in another French-turned-American remake, Down & Out in Beverly Hills (based on the French play Boudu Saved From Drowning). Martin Short also played a man named Ned (Ned Nederlander), in ¡Three Amigos! (1986) My first ever film review was a review of this movie, for a student comedy newspaper which I co-founded with some friends. The review is not available on this Web site, thank God.
Spielberg, Lucas, and Ford are still talking about making a fourth Indy Film, eighteen years after this movie was released. Obviously, Sean Connery was playing a character (Dr. Henry Jones) older than himself, as Connery is less than twelve years older than Harrison Ford. What's frightening is that Harrison Ford is now older than Sean Connery was when he played Henry Jones:
| Actor | D.O.B. | 1989 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sean Connery | August 25, 1930 | 58 | |
| Harrison Ford | July 13, 1942 | 65 |
So, so terrible. So bad I never saw it again.
"You fell for the old 'hand-eating-toaster' trick!"
A great sold out opening night crowd. A packed house of energized fans is the best way to see a movie.
It's actually a pretty neat premise- in order repopulate the future (or something like that), passengers are abducted from jet planes which are about to crash, then the planes are sent off to blow up without them. This way, no one in the 20th century knows the passengers were abducted? Now that I spell it out, it's a bizarre premise.
The gold standard for romantic comedies in the 1990s. Co-screenwriter Nora Ephron has gone on to make a career out of directing familiar remakes of this movie. The key element which sets this movie apart from Sleepless In Seattle and You've Got Mail is the male presence of Rob Reiner (director and co-writer) and Andrew Scheinman (co-writer). Their perspective helps establish the male voice in this film.
Incredibly silly Viking movie starring Tim Robbins.
I am a sucker for time-travel stories, and alternate-futures even more so.
| Clark | Ellen | Rusty | Audrey | ||
| National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) | 40 | 29 | 15 | 15 | Anthony Michael Hall & Dana Barron |
| National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985) | 42 | 31 | ? | 21 | Jason Lively & Dana Hill |
| National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation (1989) | 46 | 35 | 14 | 16 | Johnny Galecki & Juliette Lewis |
| National Lampoon's Vegas Vacation (1997) | 54 | 43 | 19 | 24 | Ethan Embry & Marisol Nichols |