Category: movie reviews

13. CYRANO (2022)

This is a perfectly enjoyable, post-modern update of Cyrano De Bergerac nestled very uncomfortably in an absolutely terrible musical. Truly, the music, by the band The National, is just awful. Wastes some fine work from Peter Dinklage as Cyrano and Haley Bennett as Roxanne.
Verdict: Really, the music is very, very bad.

14. RIO BRAVO (1958)

I truly can’t think of a moment in this film that’s not perfect. It’s about friends taking care of one another and their community simply because it’s the right thing to do. The actors — including John Wayne, Dean Martin, Walter Brennan, Rick Nelson, and Angie Dickinson — all do career-best work, the writing is top notch, and the direction strikes just the right balance of light and dark to make sure the character moments shine even as the tension ratches ever upward.
Verdict: Inductee, Laurie’s Cinematic Hall of Fame

15. MEMORIES (1995)

Like most anthology movies, the quality of the three short films that make up “Memories” vary in quality, but all are wonderfully animated and worth watching if you like anime. The first chapter, called “Magnetic Rose” is legitimately brilliant, wild stuff.
Verdict: Recommended for anime fans.   

10. HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE (2009)

Wow, does this film ever pertain to the world we’re living in now, what with the encroaching darkness and seemingly wanton acts of evil. Will Harry and his friends understand what they must do before it’s too late? Will we? Great movie, but really dark. I mean that literally. Sometimes you can barely see what’s going on. It’s my only gripe.
Verdict: Wonderful, like every other film in the series. Just plan on squinting through some of it.

11. RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981)

There’s so much joyful perfection here, it’s almost embarrassing. Roles like Indiana Jones are hard to get right, and does Harrison Ford unforgettably nail it. Indy is both a send-up and homage on every old adventure serial hero, and is a rich and complicated character in his own right.  There’s absolutely not a frame of this movie that doesn’t fill me with happiness.
Verdict: Inductee, Laurie’s Cinematic Hall of Fame

12. REPTILICUS (1961)

No one does city-crushing monster movies like the Japanese. They stand alone as the masters of the craft. Unfortunately, Reptilicus comes from Denmark and the result is underwhelming. Not just because the story is crap, the acting worse, and the production values laughable. I mean underwhelming as in they forgot to give their monster legs (it has feet). And its superpower is green puke. Enough said.
Verdict: Just, no.
See it here if you’re some kind of sadist: (1) Reptilicus REMASTERED | Full Sci Fi Movie | Ann Smyrner | Mini Heinrich | Dirch Passer. – YouTube

7.STRANDED IN SPACE (AKA, The Stranger) (1973)

An astronaut finds himself marooned on an alien planet that mysteriously looks *exactly* like earth, because let’s be honest, you can save a lot of money on special effects with a plot like that. As you can see by the poster, a lot of thought and effort went into making it.
Verdict: This was a TV pilot that never became a series. Let us rejoice.
See it here: I watched this version, with my old pals from Mystery Science Theater 3000. They can render anything hilarious. MST3k 305 – Stranded in Space – YouTube

8. O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? (2000)

Perfection: sublime soundtrack, brilliant performances, jaw-dropping cinematography, outrageously literate and witty writing. It has Everythying. And the dopey/clever way it pays homage to The Odyssey, and its many little nods any nods to that fount of cinematic wit and wisdom — Sullivan’s Travels — (including its title) will delight anyone who loves that film. 
Verdict: Inductee, Laurie’s Cinematic Hall of Fame

9. ROBOCOP (1987)

How did I miss seeing this until now? I didn’t expect to love it, I didn’t expect it to be funny, and I sure as hell did not expect to be moved by it.  What was I thinking? I’m kind of mad at younger self now.  What an idiot.  
Verdict: If you’re not turned off by great gory globs of outrageous, almost cartoony, violence you’ll probably like it.
Addendum: Who knew in 1987, that the depictions of our cities in this over-the-top satire would be so eerily and depressingly accurate?

4. SUPER 8 (2011)

So, apparently the makers of Stranger Things took a lot of notes during this flick.  That’s it. That’s my review.
Verdict: Well-done, but extremely derivative of every other movie that’s exactly like it.

5. STORM OVER EVEREST (2008)

Stop me if you’ve heard this –a bunch of mountaineers get trapped on Everest during a storm, and most don’t know what they’re doing, a lot of them die.  This is a very good telling of the 1996 Everest Disaster, with jaw-dropping visuals, and vivid interviews from survivors, some of whom gaze at the camera through rebuilt faces and gesture with fingerless hands.
Verdict: Good stuff, especially if you’ve read Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air” (also highly recommended).
Watch it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So3vH9FY2H4

6. MISSILE TO THE MOON (1958)

A kinda-sorta a remake of that timeless masterpiece “Cat Women On the Moon,” this is great in that cheesy low-budget ’50s way.  It also includes one of my favorite bad 1950s cheese movie monsters. Behold.

Seriously, it’s right up there with the angry space carrot from “The Beginning of the End.” God bless the makers of these movies, seriously.  
Verdict: Stupid and fun. Is it more stupid, or more fun? Nobody knows.

Here’s a new feature: my movie diary! I will show you the trailers of what I’ve seen and offer a short review, for your delight and amusement. Or you can skip it and just get on with the pictures.

1. THESE THREE (1936)

In a nutshell, this is “The Children’s Hour” minus the lesbian subplot. This is replaced by a scandal that happens because two women are in love with Joel McCrea at the same time. Like there’s anything totally not normal about that. The acting is outstanding by all involved, and there’s a really great turn by Bonita Granville, who plays the original celluloid demon seed. Wow, is she a piece of work.
Verdict: First-class melodrama. Highly recommended.

2. DAVE NOT COMING BACK (2020)

Spoiler alert: the focus of the documentary is a guy named Dave. The plot concerns his uniquely perilous mission to dive to a ridiculous depth to retrieve the body of a diver who had died there a decade earlier. It’s an act of both ridiculous recklessness and selflessness, and it makes the tale a strangely moving one. See it here if you’re so inclined:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p24wxGo0otg
Verdict: If find the topic uninteresting or you are the least bit claustrophobic, you might want to stay far away from this one.
Addendum: Heads up — Dave was filming his dive, and while the film does not show the entire clip, it does show the moment where he realizes what is going to happen to him, and it’s not for the faint of heart.

3. THE BARKLEY MARATHONS: THE RACE THAT EATS ITS YOUNG (2015)

The title says it all.  Especially the subtitle.  But it doesn’t begin to describe the twisted, perverse humor of both the event and the film.  You root for the competitors, who all seem a bit odd, laugh at the insanity of the race itself, and leave mystified as to why anyone puts themselves through this kind of physical and psychological torture. 
Verdict: Recommended if this kind of thing sounds good to you. You can see it here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbl0jhbpiM0