Gideon58's Reviews

Silver Streak was Colin Higgins' richly entertaining 1976 comedic adventure that combines comic insanity, a touch of romance and a definite touch of Hitchcockian suspense for the train ride of a lifetime, in addition to introducing a brand new comedy team who would appear in two more movies together.

The film stars Gene Wilder as George, a milquetoast who decides to take a cross-country train trip for relaxation who meets an attractive secretary named Hilly (Jill Clayburgh) who claims to be working for a Professor who has recently written an important book, but is also involved with a criminal mastermind named Roger Devereau, whose interest in this book is more than passing. Things get complicated for George when he thinks he has witnessed the professor's murder and his determination to get to the bottom of this mystery actually ends up getting him literally thrown off the train. Throw in a two-bit con man named Grover (Richard Pryor) who ends up being George's wing man when Hilly is in danger and you have all the ingredients of a first rate action-adventure.

Higgins has constructed an intricate but believable story that is a definite nod to Hitchcock and Arthur Hiller's stylish direction allows the story to unfold slowly enough to cause just enough confusion for the viewer that we want to keep watching to see what's going to happen next but it's not so confusing that we get aggravated and give up.

Wilder and Pryor garner the majority of the laughs here, creating a comic chemistry that is completely infectious and Jill Clayburgh is an attractive contemporary alternative to Grace Kelly or Tippi Hedren. Mention should also be made of Patrick McGoohan's slick and smooth turn as bad guy Devereau. Ray Walston, Richard Kiel, Clifton James, Lucille Benson, and Ned Beatty offer effective supporting bits as well, but the primary attraction here is the comic genius of Wilder and Pryor and the intelligent screenplay that is an affectionate valentine to the master of movie suspense and the finale is absolutely spectacular. 8/10

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Although not one of my favourite Hitchcock films (it's still great), this scene is up there with his best for me. Nice review. Haven't seen the last couple of films you've wrote about.

1986's Just Between Friends is a soapy, but somewhat effective melodrama about a television anchorman named Chip Davis (Ted Danson), who is married with 2 children, who drifts into an affair with another reporter at the station named Sandy(Christine Lahti). Almost simultaneously, Sandy begins taking an exercise class that's being taught by Chip's wife Holly (Mary Tyler Moore) and, of course, Sandy and Holly become instant friends. Once Sandy learns who Holly is married to, she tries to end the affair, but before it officially ends, Chip is killed and not long after that, Sandy learns she is pregnant with Chip's child.

This film is a throwback to the films that Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins made together like The Old Maid and Old Acquaintance, or some of Lana Turner's most famous work, but basically it just comes off as a Lifetime TV movie. Now I like a good chick flick just as much as anyone, but this one is just so corny and predictable. The one thing that does make it worth sitting through is a terrific performance by Lahti, who brings a surprising depth to the role of Sandy and works very hard at making this film more than just another chick flick and she almost succeeds...almost. 6/10

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The 1975 instant classic One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was a blistering and intense comedy-drama that was the first film since 1934's It Happened One Night to sweep the top six major Oscars.

This film, based on a novel and play by Ken Kesey, is the story of one Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson), a career criminal who has been given the option of going to jail or going to a mental institution and his swift and immediate battle of wills with the institution's iron-fisted head nurse, Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher), who he challenges at every turn, not to mention his Pied Piper effect on his fellow patients, which doesn't help endear him to Nurse Ratched either.

Kirk Douglas starred in the play on Broadway and his son, Michael Douglas, won an Oscar as one of the producers of this film. Milos Foreman's meticulous direction also won him an Oscar, but it is the electrifying performance by Jack Nicholson that, after four previous nominations, finally nabbed him an Oscar, as he created a truly original character in McMurphy who is a consistent enigma throughout the film, specifically in the sense of whether or not McMurphy is really mentally defective. Nicholson presents a character that allows us to ponder throughout without never being richly entertained for every moment he is onscreen. McMurphy enduces cheers when he gets overruled to watch the World Series on TV and he pretends to watch the game on TV anyway without turning it on...there is such a joy in watching the other inmates figuring out what he's doing and joining in the game. His final climactic confrontation with Nurse Ratched also will induce cheers.

Louise Fletcher won the Oscar for Outstanding Lead Actress for her bone-chilling performance as Nurse Ratched. Fletcher beautifully underplays this extremely unsympathetic character, never resorting to scenery-chewing histrionics, but never forgetting that Ratched is clearly the villain of this piece. It's sad that Flecther's career did a swift downhill after this film because it's a masterful performance of such subtlety and delicacy. Meryl Streep is the only other actress I can think of who could have pulled this role off.

Brad Dourif was robbed of one of the few Oscars the film didn't win, Best Supporting Actor, for his moving and riveting performance as Billy Bibbit, the soulful, stuttering manchild with mother issues whose hero worship of McMurphy helps him to develop some backbone up to a point. Mention should also be made of the performances of William Redfield, Danney De Vito, Vincent Schiavelli as fellow patients and especially Will Sampson as the quiet giant Chief Bromden, on whom McMurphy has a remarkable effect.

A one of a kind motion picture experience with one of the most beautifully optimistic endings I can recall in a motion picture. 9/10

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Fame was a hip and contemporary 1980 musical that was an inside look at the lives of a disparate group of talented teenagers at the High School of Performing Arts in New York. The episodic film takes a close look at the inner workings of show business and what drives performers to go through the work and constant rejection that being in the business involves. The film opens on a particular freshman year at the school and concludes four years later.

Along the way we meet Montgomery McNeill (Paul McCrane), the neglected son of a famous actress who despite his lonely childhood, still finds the business enticing. Maureen Teefy is wonderful as Doris Finsecker, a painfully shy teen who has been pushed into the business by her mother, but does come out of her shell at the school and discovers a talent for acting. Irene Cara plays CoCo Hernandez, a triple-threat know-it-all, who learns that she doesn't know as much as she thinks she does. Lee Curreri plays Bruno, an electronic keyboard genius who loves sitting in front of a keyboard but is at a complete loss at how to act in the real world. Barry Miller is brilliant in an Oscar-worthy turn as Ralph Garcy, a bitter Latino teen who is trying to bury his resentment about his father deserting him as a child by being a stand-up comedian. The late Gene Anthony Ray also shines as a dancer who only came to the auditions to partner a friend who wants to get in the school, but he is the one who has the talent, a star in the dance studio, but not so much in the classroom who constantly butts heads with Miss Sherwood (Anne Meara), the school's hard-nosed English teacher.

Just like a real-life school, students come and go as the years pass, most notably in the sophomore year, where we meet Hilary Van Dorn (Antonia Francheschi) a snooty rich dance major who comes between a budding romance between CoCo and Leroy and has her own career aspirations derailed in the process.

This film is riveting from jump as we watch students going through the painful audition process and struggle to develop their talent while keeping up their academic studies as well. The actors are pretty much perfectly cast, with standout work from Miller and Meara.

Alan Parker's direction is breezy and energetic, giving all of his very talented cast a little time in the sun and Christopher Gore's screenplay is surprisingly bold and uncompromising. The musical numbers leap off the screen, thanks to some inventive choreography and strong vocals, particularly Cara, whose rendition of the title tune won the Oscar for Best Original Song.

A movie that will have you tapping your toes and wanting to watch over and over again. The film inspired a long running television series, with Curreri and Ray recreating their movie roles, and a remake. 8/10

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My list of guilty pleasures would not be complete without mention of 1984's Bachelor Party, a raunchy, laugh riot that made the world sit up and take notice of a young actor by the name of Tom Hanks.

Hanks plays Rick Gassko, an aimless but funny guy who is engaged to a beauty named Debbie, who, upon learning that Rick's friend's are throwing him a bachelor party, makes Rick promise not to have sex with any women at the party and it is on that thin thread line that this comic riot hangs. Throw in an obnoxious nerd named Cole, who is also in love with Debbie and adored by her father, who can't stand Rick, you have all the makings of a classic comedy.

Don't get me wrong, this film is no classic...the actors playing Rick's buddies, including GREASE 2's Adrian Zmed, give forced and over-the-top performances that tend to grate and when the actual bachelor party happens, it's not nearly as raunchy as we are expecting, but this film does have a lovely leading lady in Tawny Kitean as Debbie, fun supporting performances from Robert Prescott as Cole and George Grizzard as Debbie's father, but more than anything else, this film brilliantly showcases the commanding comic presence of Tom Hanks, who appears in just about every scene and never makes you regret it. Usually in a film like this, the leading man plays straight man to his supporting players, but Hanks is the show here and makes this not-so-great comedy seem a lot better than it really is. 6.5/10

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Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for Outstanding Lead Actor for his powerhouse performance in Philadelphia, the deeply moving 1993 drama that shined a not-too-flattering light on subjects like homophobia and the AIDS epidemic.

Hanks plays Andrew Beckett, a brilliant attorney on the fast track to partnership with the elite law firm he works for when his homosexuality and his affliction with the AIDS virus come to light. He is abruptly fired and decides to sue the firm for wrongful termination. After talking to dozens and dozens of Philadelphia attorneys, the only one who will agree to take Beckett's case is a small-time, homophobic ambulance-chaser named Joe Miller (Denzel Washington). Watching the working relationship that develops between Andrew and Joe, from their first handshake (which Joe frightfully pulls away from) to their final encounter in Andrew's hospital bed, is what forms the crux of this heartbreaking and riveting movie experience.

Screenwriter Ron Nyswaner has constructed a story that is a little on the preachy side, but considering the subject matter, this is to be expected and can be forgiven. Director Jonathan Demme has mounted this story with a perfect blending of economy and sensitivity that keep the viewer riveted to the screen, despite the fact that the screenplay could have used a little tightening.

Hanks is riveting and heartbreaking as Beckett, creating a character of great pathos and empathy, without ever making you feel sorry for the character. Beckett's insistence on continued normalcy is one of the character's most likable traits. Denzel Washington is so quietly effective as Miller that you almost don't notice that he matches Hanks note for note here, creating a character who you at times want to slap some sense into, but you understand to the core and know exactly where he's coming from.

Mention should also be made of Mary Steenburgen as the firm's attorney, Jason Robards as the president of the firm, Antronio Banderas as Andrew's lover and Joanna Woodward as Andrew's mother. A uniquely moving cinematic experience that will have you reaching for the kleenex. 9/10

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Another jewel in the directorial crown of the late Sidney Lumet was 1974's Murder on the Orient Express, an expensive and stylish mounting of Agatha Christie's classic novel, which follows the train of the title as a weather delay reveals that a murder was committed on the train the day before. Luckily, Hercule Poirot happens upon the scene and goes straight into investigative mode in order to find out who the killer is.

From the beautiful opening credits bathed against a pink satin backdrop, you can tell that you are in for an elegant and sophisticated cinematic adventure that entertains from the very beginning. For anyone who has read or watched a lot of murder mysteries, figuring out what's going on is no chore and you will have figured it out about halfway through, but the journey to the denoument is such a pleasure thanks to Lumet's polished direction and the impressive all-star cast he has gathered for this party.

A nearly unrecognizable Albert Finney received an Oscar nomination for Best Actor for his icy and all-business Hercule Poirot. Finney's impressive supporting cast of suspects includes Lauren Bacall, Martin Balsam, Ingrid Bergman (Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress), Sean Connery, John Gielgud, Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Perkins, Michael York,.Jacqueline BIsset, Jean-Pierre Cassell, Rachel Roberts, Colin Blakely, and Richard Widmark as the victim.

Paul Dehn's somewhat rambling screenplay is made palatable by Lumet, who somehow manages to make a somewhat predictable story deliciously entertaining from opening to closing credits. 8/10

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Long before he made Unforgiven and Mystic River, Clint Eastwood made his directorial debut with the 1971 thriller Play Misty for Me, a riveting cat and mouse game between a late night radio disc jockey named Dave who initially takes it for granted when a listener named Evelyn keeps calling him at the station and requesting the same song over and over. Dave's initial reaction to Evelyn as a harmless fan quickly gets him in hot water when it comes to light that Evelyn is actually a psychopath whose obsession puts both Dave and his girlfriend in serious danger.

Eastwood creates an atmosphere here that gives this story a very voyeuristic quality, almost to the point that the viewer really feels like they shouldn't be watching what's going on, while at the same time wanting to slap Eastwood's Dave in the face to alert him to what's going on. Eastwood is quietly sexy as Dave and Jessica Walter was robbed of an Oscar nomination for her bone-chilling performance as Evelyn, a performance that is so powerful and commanding that it haunts long after the credits roll.

To this day, just thinking about Evelyn makes the hair on the back of my neck stand-up. Donna Mills is also lovely, in one of her earliest roles, as Dave's girlfriend, who finds herself one of Evelyn's victims, purely by circumstance of her relationship with Dave.

This is a first rate psychological thriller that still holds up after over 45 years, thanks to Eastwood's direction and the performance of a lifetime from Jessica Walter. 8/10

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Stepmom is a 1998 melodrama that takes a rather one-sided look at the issue of step-parenting but is still made watchable thanks to the performances of the two leading ladies.

The film stars Julia Roberts, who also serves as one of the film's executive producers, as Isabel, a fashion photographer who is living with a divorced dad of two named Luke Harrison (Ed Harris) and fighting an uphill battle with Luke's daughter (Jena Malone) and his ex-wife, Jackie (Susan Sarandon) who both treat Isabel like dirt but things become complex when Jackie learns she has cancer and might need to depend on Isabel to care for her children.

The film suffers a bit due to a one-sided screenplay (which executive producer Roberts clearly had some influence on), which paints Sarandon and Malone's characters as one-dimensional villains ganging up on Isabel, who is painted as being just this side of Mother Theresa. There are no good guys or bad guys here and none of the characters involved make all the right moves. The story is further hampered by the fact that Luke is a wimp who refuses to take a stand regarding his family's treatment of Isabel, the woman he supposedly is in love with and plans to marry.

But what works here is the superb work from Roberts and Sarandon, who create believable conflict via an endlessly complex relationship between two people who have found themselves connected to each other, whether they want to be or not. Roberts and Sarandon make this soapy melodrama worth checking out. 6.5/10

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Whoopi Goldberg had one of her biggest hits with the 1992 comedy Sister Act, a surprisingly amusing Disney-esque comedy in which Goldberg plays a 3rd rate Vegas club singer named Deloris Van Cartier who witnesses a mob murder and in order to protect her before she testifies, is stashed in a convent under the pseudonym of Sister Mary Clarence, where she is miserable until she finds an outlet for her music by directing the convent's choir and bringing about other changes to, not only the convent, but her fellow nuns and the neighborhood as well.

This film is about as predictable as they come, but it is a lot of fun thanks to the effortless screen charisma of Goldberg, who appears to be having a ball here, fast-paced direction by Emile Ardolino and a solid supporting cast, especially the fabulous Maggie Smith as the Mother Superior, not happy with Mary Clarence's presence at all, Harvey Keitel as Deloris' Vegas boyfriend, Bill Nunn as the police detective assigned to protect Deloris, and Kathy Najimy, who steals every scene she is in as Sister Mary Patrick, an extremely bubbly nun who loves everything and everyone.

Even if Goldberg grates on your nerves, she is reined in enough here by the screenplay and the director that even non-Goldberg fans could enjoy this one and Mary Clarence's final performance conducting the choir is a winner. 7.5/10

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Annie Hall, considered by many to be the quintessential Woody Allen romantic comedy, won the 1977 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actress (Diane Keaton), and Best Original Screenplay (Woody Allen and Marshall Brickman). I have been wanting to review this film for some time, but felt that a re-watch was necessary in order to be completely fair to a film that is regarded as a masterpiece by some.

This film recounts the rocky and tumultuous relationship between a stand-up comedian and writer named Alvy Singer (Allen) and a ditzy would-be singer named Annie Hall (Keaton). I have never counted this film as among Allen's best work and a recent re-watch made it a little easier to articulate my feelings about this film.

First of all, I am unsure what Woody was thinking with the title of the film, as it clearly seems to be Alvy's story and not Annie's. We get flashbacks throughout of Alvy's childhood (Joan Newman and Mordecai Lawner are very funny as Alvy's parents), but they really have nothing to do with the alleged story at hand, which is the relationship between Alvy and Annie, which I found aggravating partially because of Alvy's condescending and snarky attitude about life in general, his tendency to blame any injustice in his life on anti-semitism, and that no one's opinions about anything trump his own.

I don't understand Annie's attraction to Alvy because he makes it clear in no uncertain terms that he feels she is uneducated and takes it upon himself to buy books for her to read and how to feel about them, and then turning around and getting an attitude with her when she does start developing her own opinions and they differ from his. He tells Annie to her face that she is a talented songstress, but is completely annoyed when an important record producer (Paul Simon) shows interest in her. I am of the opinion that Alvy is one of the most unappealing characters Allen has ever played and I also believe that the character is probably closer to the real Woody Allen than any character he has played.

There is a lot of breaking of the 4th wall here, including Alvy speaking directly to the camera at times, that just felt a bit forced and hard to swallow. Though I must admit to enjoying one scene where Annie's soul leaves her body in the middle of sex with Alvy because Alvy refused to let her smoke a joint before sex. Alvy's comment about how a laugh from someone who is high doesn't really count to him had to sting some of Woody's fans, who I suspect have been known to imbibe once in awhile. Alvy's sensibilities tended to leave a very bad taste in my mouth and the only moment where I laughed out loud during the entire movie was when he put a little cocaine to his noise, sneezed, and blew it all over the room.

On the positive side, I did enjoy Keaton's performance as the title character, a delicious and vividly human characterization where you never catch Keaton "acting". I guess I can understand her Oscar win, though I think she gave a far superior performance the same year in Looking for Mr. Goodbar but either way, she was the Best Actress of 1977. The film also features some brief glances at a lot of future stars like Carol Kane, Christopher Walken, Jeff Goldblum, Shelly Hack, Sigorney Weaver, and Beverly D'Angelo.

For Woody Allen purists, this film is a must; however, it is this reviewer's opinion that he has done much better work (Manhattan, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Radio Days
Crimes and Misdemeanors, Deconstructing Harry, Manhattan Murder Mystery, Broadway Danny Rose to name a few).

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Never been into documentaries as a rule, but when the subject is a Hollywood icon, the film becomes a must-see for most serious film buffs. Marilyn: The Final Days is an intimate and riveting 2001 documentary which provides an intimate look at the sex symbol's work on her final film project,Something's Got to Give a film which never came to fruition.

Narrated by James Coburn, the film follows Monroe's arrival to 20th Century Fox for wardrobe tests, where she looked absolutely breathtaking...rested and refreshed and ready to work. But it wasn't long before the Marilyn that Hollywood had grown to know began to surface. The film documents in complete detail the film's production schedule and how it became completely derailed when Marilyn started her accustomed unprofessional behavior of arriving to the set late or not at all. George Cukor, who was the director of the film, apparently was pulling his hair out rearranging the shooting schedule around Marilyn and shot as much of the film as he could without her. And even when Marilyn did arrive for work, she is seen as being completely unprepared...unable to remember her lines and requiring multiple takes of simple scenes, driving leading man Dean Martin to distraction. It is also revealed that it was during production of this film that Marilyn made her famous appearance at John F. Kennedy's birthday party. Marilyn missed work that day, claiming she was very sick, but then showed up at the party that evening, looking breathtaking and perfectly healthy.

The film also features extensive footage of the famous nude swimming scene that Marilyn did for the film, which ended up making the cover of LIFE magazine at the time. These scenes revealed a playful and sexy Marilyn at her most desirable. Watching Marilyn film these scenes reveals why directors, co-stars, and studio executives put up with so much from this hot mess of a sex symbol.

But the biggest surprise of this documentary is the conclusion where the filmmakers have spliced together all of the available footage from Something's Got to Give into a somewhat cohesive sequential order to give us an idea of what the film might have been like if it had actually been completed. I am convinced that if this film had been completed that it would have been something very special and one of the biggest hits of Marilyn's career. If you loved Monroe, Marilyn: The Final Days is a must. It should be noted that Something's Got to Give was revamped a couple of years later for Doris Day and was titled Move Over Darling. 7.5/10

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1967's A Guide for the Married Man was a sparkling adult comedy that was not only a triumph for its very talented cast, but for director Gene Kelly as well.

The film stars Walter Matthau as Paul Manning, a happily married man, who begins getting a lot of bad advice from his best friend and co-worker, Ed (Robert Morse) about how to cheat on his wife. The linchpin upon which the film hangs is that Ed's advice is acted out in a serious of very amusing vignettes by an impressive cast of guest stars including Lucille Ball, Jack Benny, Polly Bergen, Joey Bishop, Art Carney, Jayne Mansfield, Joey Bishop, Carl Reiner, Wally Cox, Terry-Thomas and Phil Silvers. The real joke of the whole film is that Matthau is married to the gorgeous Inger Stevens and has absolutely no desire to cheat on her.

Kelly has mounted an epic comedy here with stars everywhere, but everyone seems to be under control. The comic fantasy sequences are very funny, with the one featuring Reiner a standout. A classic comedy from the 60's that deserves a look if you've never had the pleasure. 7.5/10

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Manhattan Murder Mystery is a smart and very engaging comedy that, like a lot of Woody Allen's comedies, seamlessly weaves together two very different kind of stories, thanks to one of Woody's richest screenplays. The film is also bookmarked in history as the first film Woody Allen and Diane Keaton made together in over a decade.

Allen originally wrote the film for himself and Mia Farrow, but then the whole Soon-Yi controversy blew up and Farrow chose not to work with Allen anymore, paving the way for Allen's reunion with his best leading lady, Diane Keaton.

The primary story here revolves around Larry and Carol Lipton (Allen, Keaton), an upwardly mobile New York couple who have just sent their son off to college and are each dealing with their empty nest syndrome in different ways. Larry wants to relax but Carol wants to open a restaurant. One night, the Liptons have dinner with an elderly couple who live above them in their building. A few days later, the Liptons are rocked when the wife turns up dead and Carol becomes obsessed with the idea that the woman was murdered by her husband.

The other story is about Larry and Carol's marriage, which is solid, but both are receiving attention from elsewhere. Alan Alda plays Ted, Larry and Carol's divorced friend who has always had feelings for Carol, but has always respected her marriage, but Carol's feelings for Ted become confused when he believes her theory about the woman being murdered and happily agrees to help her prove it. Meanwhile, Larry's frustration with Carol's obsession with this woman's death finds him spending a lot of time with a client of his named Marcia Fox (Anjelica Huston), who admits to being attracted to Larry, but also thinks there is validity to Carol's theory.

The unraveling of this alleged murder mystery, along with the blurred emotions of the four main characters make for a rich comic mystery that provides consistent laughs and requires complete attention.

Allen and Keaton are like a well-oiled machine here, it's hard to even imagine that Allen spent all that time working with Farrow. Alda is charming in a deceptively complex role, a man respecting another woman's marriage vows but never being deceptive about his feelings for her either. Huston makes a rather improbable role work somehow and her part in figuring out this mystery is one of the film's greatest pleasures. There is one scene involving all four actors and a doctored tape recording that had me on the floor. Kudos to Jerry Adler who brings an unexpected richness to the role of the suspected murderer.

An original and imaginative entry from the Allen library that his fans should eat up. 8.5/10

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In the Good Old Summertime is MGM's 1949 musical remake of the James Stewart-Margaret Sullivan classic The Shop Around the Corner.

In this version of the story, Judy Garland plays Veronica Fisher and Van Johnson plays Andrew Larkin, co-workers in a turn of the century music store, who hate each other on sight and are in constant competition at work. It is revealed that both Veronica and Andrew are corresponding by mail with someone who they are deeply in love with but have never met. One guess as to who Veronica and Andrew are writing to.

After taking a risk with The Pirate, that sank at the box office, Garland decided to go back to more commercial fare, having a smash hit with Easter Parade, which was quickly followed by this charming period piece which found Garland in her element. This was the only film that Garland and Johnson made together and they are quite charming together. The musical highlights include Garland's renditions of "Meet Me Tonight in Dreamland", "I Don't Care", and "Play that Barbershop Chord."

This story later became a Broadway musical called SHE LOVES ME starring Barbara Cook and returned to the movie screen, updated for the computer age as You've Got Mail with Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan.

BTW, the little girl Garland is holding in her arms during the final scene is a very young Liza Minnelli. 7/10

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A kick-ass song score, some inventive dance sequences and a charismatic lead performance are the primary ingredients of the 1984 smash Footloose, an effective marriage of musical and teen angst drama that made a genuine movie star out of a former soap opera actor named Kevin Bacon.

Bacon shines as Ren McCormick, a soulful and independent-minded teen from the big city who moves to a small Texas town called Beaumont with his mom after they are deserted by Ren's father. Ren's exposure to small town bigotry toward big city sensibility is tolerated up to a point until Ren learns that dancing is forbidden in the town, due to a drunken incident that happened many years ago, that resulted in the death of some teenagers. Ren's plan to have a dance at the high school throws him in direct conflict with the town's spiritual leader, the tightly wound Reverend Shaw Moore (John Lithgow), while finding himself involved with Moore's daughter, Ariel (Lori Singer), a so-called wild child who is dying to escape her life as the preacher's daughter.

Director Herbert Ross has mounted a contemporary musical that almost makes you forget it's a musical, while at the same time, demonstrating the joy and passion that music and dance can produce.

Bacon gets wonderful support from Lithgow, Dianne Wiest as Moore's demure wife and Ariel's mother, and the late Christopher Penn as Ren's only friend in town, Willard. The scene where Ren teaches Willard how to dance, framed against Denise Williams' "Let's Hear it for the Boy" is one of the film's highlights, as is the brilliantly choreographed finale, set to Kenny Loggins' smash hit title tune.

Nothing earth-shattering here, but a lot of fun...later inspired a Broadway musical and a remake. 8/10

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The directorial artistry of the late Stanley Kubrick and a powerhouse performance by Jack Nicholson are the primary selling points of 1980's The Shining, a chilling and atmospheric psychological thriller based on Stephen King's most famous novel.

This version of the story stars Nicholson as Jack Torrance, a severely blocked writer with a wife and child, who agrees to take a job as the off-season caretaker of an isolated hotel called the Overlook, located in the snow-buried rocky mountains of Colorado. He thinks the isolation might aid in his writer's block, even after learning that the previous caretaker went crazy from the isolation and killed his wife and twin daughters. We then watch Jack move his wife, Wendy and his son, Danny into the Overlook and the viewer watches and wonders if the same thing is going to happen to Torrance. We also learn that young Danny has a connection to the hotel that his parents know nothing about.

Despite the fact that this film is basically a shell of the novel it is based on, it is still bone-chilling entertainment, thanks primarily to Kubrick's ability to unfold such an intimate story on such a huge and menacing canvas. The claustrophobic atmosphere that Kubrick creates here is so effective...the Outlook almost feels like it's on another planet, it seem like it's a billion miles from civilization and the fact that everything we see is blanketed in snow makes it seem even more removed from reality. Kubrick creates a cinematic atmosphere here that is chilling and completely engrossing.

Jack Nicholson is absolutely electrifying as Torrance, an everyman with issues that he would like to bury but his isolation at this hotel and unhappiness with his own life, which he is in denial about, that makes Torrance's journey into insanity so riveting...it's not just the big moments but watch Nicholson when he learns abut what happened to the previous caretaker, or when his son begins to question his and his mother's safety, or my personal favorite, his conversation with the imaginary bartender in the hotel's elegant ballroom...even though we know this is all going on in Torrance's mind, Nicholson's investment as an actor makes us believe everything we are watching. Shelley Duvall is shrill but effective as Jack's wife Wendy, a woman who begins unraveling, torn between devotion to her husband and protecting her life as well as her son's.

Almost in the tradition of Scorsese and De Niro, Kubrick and Nicholson created a formidable director/actor collaboration that, sadly, didn't develop into further work, but it should have. Kubrick and Nicholson created a classic here that should not be missed. Later remade by ABC television as a 4-hour miniseries with Steven Weber as Jack Torrance. 8/10

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Splendor in the Grass is the 1961 classic of forbidden love, mental illness, and family manipulation that features the finest performance of Natalie Wood's career and marked the film debut of Warren Beatty.

Set in a small town in 1920's Kansas, this is the story of a mentally fragile high school student named Deenie Loomis (Wood) who enters a doomed romance with school stud Bud Stamper (Beatty), an aimless young man who allows his life to be quietly manipulated by his wealthy father (Pat Hingle), who is grooming Bud to take over the family business but in the meantime has decided that Deenie is not good enough for his son and forces him to end the romance, which sends Deenie on a slow descent into insanity, which actually climaxes with her being institutionalized.

In the tradition of cinematic couples like Scarlett and Rhett, George Eastman and Angela Findlay, and Katie Morofsky and Hubbell Gardner, screenwriter William Inge has created star-crossed lovers who we immediately empathize with but also know that they are doomed.

Elia Kazan's vivid direction and his respect for Inge's story is evident, and there is effective support from Hingle and from Audrey Christie as Deenie's harridan of a mother, but the real selling point here is Wood, who turns in a blistering and evocative performance as the fragile Deenie, a performance that earned Wood her first Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress, an award I think she should have won.

There is an underlying sadness to the performance as we watch Wood do two particularly moving scenes involving water, one in a bathtub and one in a river, which Wood completely invests in, despite her lifelong fear of water and the way the actress eventually died. A film classic that should not be missed. Remade as a TV movie by NBC with Melissa Gilbert as Deenie. 8/10

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Boy meets girl...boy marries girl...girl gets really sick...this is the simple premise of Love Story, one of the biggest box office champions of 1970 that actually received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

Based on Erich Segal's bestselling novel, from which Segal himself fashioned the screenplay, the film stars Ryan O'Neal as Oliver Barrett IV, a Harvard law student who loves to play hockey and is the son of a millionaire who meets Jennifer Cavilleri (Ali MacGraw), a serious-minded music student who is the daughter of a bakery owner in Crantston, Rhode Island. Despite their difference in social class, which Jennifer NEVER lets Oliver forget and despite Oliver Barrett III's strong objection to the relationship, Oliver and Jenny fall in love and marry until tragedy intervenes.

Despite rather stilted direction by Arthur Hiller and the wooden performances by the leads, it is the simple story of star-crossed lovers that makes this film worth watching. I think Segal's re-working of his own novel as a screenplay is a big plus as well because this is one of those rare examples of a film that is just as good as the book as it was based on. Mention should also be made of the performances of Ray Milland as Oliver's father and John Marley as Jenny's father. Marley received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor and the film's lilting musical score did win an Oscar.

A classic tearjerker from the 1970's that is still worth watching if you've never seen it...and have a box of kleenex handy. 8/10

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