My Life In Film: Part 38

Just when you thought it was safe to open your internet browser… #MyLifeInFilm is back, back, back!  It hasn’t all been wasted time, though, as you were ‘treated’ to my regular Halloween and Christmas specials.  But now it’s time to get things going again, sharing those films that I’ve loved, or that mean something special to me.  This time around there will be swords & sandals, psychos & psychics and at least one mermaid!

 

BLUE STEEL (1990)

Here’s a truly underrated gem of a thriller from writer/director Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, The Hurt Locker) and starring the fabulous Jamie Lee Curtis.  Megan Turner (Curtis) is a rookie cop who, on her first day with NYPD shoots and kills a supermarket robber.  When it subsequently transpires that the robber had no weapon and the witnesses couldn’t corroborate Turner’s story, she is suspended from active duty.  She is temporarily reinstated, this time as a homicide detective, when a bullet turns up at another scene with her name on it.  Enter commodities broker Eugene Hunt (the magnificent and much-missed Ron Silver) who shared a date with Turner when she was suspended and has developed a dangerous obsession with her.  Silver plays the bad guy so well and is the perfect foil for Curtis’ rookie cop.  Sure, it’s a pretty paint-by-numbers thriller but the performances elevate it above the mundane.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

TRON (1982)

Tron is one of those films that, while gloriously failing at the box office, has since gone on to become a cult classic.  Most of that can probably be traced back to the ground-breaking special effects combined with the boom in computer games.  Jeff Bridges plays arcade owner/computer hacker Flynn who is transported into the world of computer games by the villainous software pirate, Master Control (David Warner).  Whilst there, Flynn, along with his friend, Alan (Bruce Boxleitner), must participate in gladiatorial games in order to escape.  As you’d expect for a film that is almost forty years old, it has dated quite a lot but there’s no denying the film’s appeal, so much so that a sequel was made in 2010 with Bridges and Boxleitner reprising their roles.

WATCH IT FOR: Light Cycle Battle

 

THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK (1997)

After the monster successes of Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List, director Steven Spielberg took a rare break from making movies.  Four years later and we are treated to a Jurassic sequel.  But how do you follow a behemoth like that?  Answer: with more dinosaurs!  Yes, The Lost World is everything you could want from a sequel, complete with at least one returning character, double the action and roughly 50% more dino action than the original.  Jeff Goldblum returns as Ian Malcolm and joins Julianne Moore, Vince Vaughn and Pete Postlethwaite on an island eight-seven miles away from the original site to research and document the liberated animals.  Unfortunately, the greedy types at InGen have sent a separate team to capture and transport the creatures to San Diego.  What could possibly go wrong?  While not on the same level as the first film, The Lost World has plenty going for it including some fine set pieces and, of course music by John Williams.

WATCH IT FOR: Over The Cliff

 

SINGLE WHITE FEMALE (1992)

In the early nineties there were a number of films classed as ‘psycho thrillers’.  Depicting damaged characters as crazy killers.  Single White Female portrays a very broken young woman, played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who infiltrates the life of Bridget Fonda leading to all manner of dangerous situations.  Allison (Fonda) places an ad in the paper for a Single White Female to share the rent now that she’s ditched her boyfriend.  When Hedra (Leigh) answers the ad, all seems perfect.  Until it isn’t.  For the most part this is your average run-of-the-mill ‘psycho thriller’ but if it weren’t for the two leads, this would be a made-for-TV affair.  Both Fonda and Leigh are magnetic together in a film that will make you think twice about renting a room to a stranger!

WATCH IT FOR: Worried Sick

 

SPARTACUS (1960)

It seems fitting that Spartacus should appear in this edition as we say farewell to a true cinematic icon, Kirk Douglas, who passed away recently at the grand old age of 103!  This is, perhaps, his most famous role among dozens of outstanding performances and its not hard to see why people love it so.  Stanley Kubrick‘s monumental epic follows the rise of Douglas’ slave, Spartacus as he leads a revolt against the Roman Republic including Charles Laughton and Laurence Olivier.  Douglas is superb as the reluctant hero alongside Tony Curtis and a gallery of who’s who in Hollywood.

WATCH IT FOR: I’m Spartacus!

 

BLITHE SPIRIT (1945)

After the success of his play in the West End and on Broadway, Noel Coward was inundated with offers from Hollywood to turn it into a film.  Instead, Coward took the project to his friend, David Lean, who made some alterations to the original play to which Coward was not best pleased.  For this big screen adaptation, Charles (Rex Harrison) and his second wife, Ruth (Constance Cummings) are being haunted by the spirit of his first wife, Elvira (Kay Hammond).  They soon decide to enlist the help of local medium, Madam Arcati (Margaret Rutherford) to try and exorcise Elvira from their lives but things don’t go to plan.  It’s a wonderfully witty and wry comedy with a stand-out turn by Rutherford. Its hard to believe that, on its initial release, this film tanked on both sides of the Atlantic!

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

DEAD CALM (1989)

Here’s another example of a damaged character being used as the villain in this stylish thriller from Philip Noyce.  John (Sam Neill) and Rae (Nicole Kidman) are taking a sailing trip in the Pacific in order to escape a terrible tragedy.  While out on the open sea they discover a ship in distress with one survivor, the disturbed Hughie (Billy Zane), who is not all that he appears to be.  What follows is a tense game of cat and mouse with all the claustrophobia of the best of Hitchcock.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

SPLASH(1984)

Director Ron Howard brings us a modern-day fable starring the soon-to-be-worldwide-treasure, Tom Hanks.  As a kid, Allen (Hanks) is rescued from drowning by a young mermaid.  Years later and he finds himself back in the same spot and, after falling into the water, is rescued once again by the mermaid, Madison (Daryl Hannah).  They go their separate ways but Madison sets out to find him in New York City.  Once they meet up again, they fall for each other but the course of true love never runs smooth.  Featuring support from John Candy, Splash is one of those delightful romantic comedies with a fishy twist.

WATCH IT FOR: What’s Your Number?

 

FRANTIC (1988)

This is a stylish mystery thriller in the vein of the classic film noirs of old.  Harrison Ford stars as Dr Richard Walker who, along with his wife, Sondra (Betty Buckley) are in Paris to attend a medical conference.  When Sondra disappears in mysterious circumstances, Walker is plunged into the murky underworld of drugs and espionage.  Director Roman Polanski cranks up the tension while Ford is at his best as the distraught husband caught up in a web of intrigue.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

VERTIGO (1958)

I’ve made mention this edition of Hitchcockian moments in modern thrillers, well here’s the man himself doing what he does best.  James Stewart stars as former San Francisco police detective John ‘Scottie’ Ferguson who becomes dangerously obsessed with Kim Novak in a suspenseful tale of betrayal and deception.  While the story takes a backseat, the real treat for the viewers (apart from Stewart and Novak) is the visual style, the use of the camera and, of course, Bernard Hermann’s atmospheric score.  Rightly regarded as one of Hitch’s classic thrillers, Vertigo may feel a little leaden at times but in the reliable hands of Jimmy Stewart, it almost zips along.

WATCH IT FOR: Scottie’s Nightmare

 

And there you go, another fine batch of cinematic classics that have, in one way or another, made some sort of impact on me.  It’s good to be back and I’m looking forward to bringing you plenty more examples of celluloid gems very soon.  If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen here today, feel free to get in touch, I’m always open to chatting with new people, especially with a love of film.  Until the next time…

“Oh, yeah. Oooh, ahhh, that’s how it always starts. Then later there’s running and um, screaming”

 

My Life In Film: Part Twenty Eight

Now the hustle and bustle of The Oscars has died down, it’s time to get back to business with this, the twenty-eighth part of my film odyssey.  I’ve said in previous editions that I really enjoy these trips down memory lane and revisiting all the films that I thought I’d forgotten about (and some that, by rights, I really should have forgotten about!).  This edition comes complete with some major Hollywood stars and at least two films that are a little…dubious.  So, without further ado, let’s get to work…

 

SPEED (1994)

Jan de Bont has spent most of his career as a cinematographer, working on Die Hard, Flatliners and Lethal Weapon 3, before taking the helm for this adrenalin-fuelled action thriller.  Dennis Hopper plays Howard Payne, a bomber terrorist whose original plot to extort money failed when he was thwarted by LAPD officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves).  Payne has an alternative plan, though, to rig an LA city bus with a bomb.  There is only one stipulation: the bus must stay above 50mph and no passengers must disembark.  Traven and his trusty partner, Harry (Jeff Daniels) forge a plan to defuse the bomb and catch the madman.  It’s a high concept thriller that never lets up the pace and helped cement Reeves as an action hero and made a star out of Sandra Bullock.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

THE MALTESE FALCON (1941)

This is a classic film-noir mystery from legendary director John Huston and starring Humphrey Bogart.  Bogart stars as Sam Spade, a private detective who finds himself involved with a series of criminals, beautiful dames and the search for a priceless statuette.  Mary Astor, Peter Lorre and Sydney Greenstreet co-star in a tale of murder of deceit.

WATCH IT FOR: “Let’s talk about the bird”

 

FLIGHT OF THE NAVIGATOR (1986)

In 1978, David Freeman (Joey Cramer), a 12-year-old boy goes missing, only to reappear in 1986 without having aged a single day.  At the same time he returns, a flying saucer is discovered and soon the truth behind David’s disappearance becomes clearer.  Cliff De Young, Veronica Cartwright and a young Sarah Jessica Parker co-star in this great sci-fi fantasy that has since become a cult classic.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

SAVING MR. BANKS (2013)

Mary Poppins is one of the most beloved Disney movies of all time but it almost didn’t get made.  Here, the story of its genesis is told through the eyes of author P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) and her determination to keep her story’s integrity no matter what.  She is up against tough competition in the form of Hollywood magnate Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) who will stop at nothing to get the rights to her story.  It’s a delightfully entertaining film with a particularly brilliant performance from Thompson.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

STRIPES (1981)

In the eighties, Hollywood was full of this kind of movie.  Slackers-turned-heroes, often saving the day and getting the girl.  Stripes sees two such slackers, John and Russell, played by Bill Murray and Harold Ramis, who are dissatisfied with their jobs and decide to join the army.  You know, for fun.  Along with a rag-tag bunch of losers, the two friends end up defeating the Soviet Army and becoming heroes.  Directed by Ivan Reitman and featuring a host of actors in their first significant film roles, Stripes is an old fashioned comedy that is a riot from start to finish.

WATCH IT FOR: “Willing to learn”

 

RISING SUN (1993)

When an escort girl is found murdered in the offices of an LA based Japanese company, it falls to detective Webb Smith (Wesley Snipes) and former police captain and expert on Japanese affairs John Connor (Sean Connery) to solve the case.  What appears to be a simple matter soon turns out to be a lot more complicated than they thought.  Directed by Phillip Kaufman (known for writing the Indiana Jones films) and adapted from the Michael Crichton novel, Rising Sun is one of those thrillers that manages to mix a formulaic cop movie with a political twist.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994)

This is the third of Tom Clancy‘s Jack Ryan novels to be filmed following The Hunt For Red October (1990) and Patriot Games (1992) and the second to star Harrison Ford as the CIA analyst.  Here, Ryan is drawn into an illegal war between the US government and a Colombian drug cartel.  It’s a tightly-wound story that takes Ryan from the comfort of his office to the killing fields of Colombia.  Once again directed by Phillip Noyce and featuring James Earl Jones, Clear and Present Danger is, in my opinion, one of the better Ryan adaptations and deserves more love than its predecessors.

WATCH IT FOR: Ambush

 

NORTH (1994)

Ok, I’m not going to spend too much time on this one.  It is universally panned and hated by most critics and film fans but I was always a fan of North.  Directed by Rob Reiner and starring Elijah Wood as a kid, neglected by his parents, who decides to set off on a trip around the world in search of new ones.  Bruce Willis co-stars as North’s guide, almost like Jiminy Cricket, who appears in various costumes along the way.  It’s littered with famous cameos but it just didn’t hit the mark for everyone.  I liked it.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

MY LIFE (1993)

Michael Keaton stars here as Bob Jones, a man who seems to have everything he needs; a loving wife (played by Nicole Kidman), good job and baby on the way.  Until he discovers that he has incurable kidney cancer and doesn’t have long to live.  He decides to document his life on videotape so that his unborn child will have knowledge and wisdom as it grows.  Yes, it’s sentimental and melodramatic but this is lifted by Keaton’s likeable performance as a man coming to terms with his own mortality.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

DON’T TELL MOM THE BABYSITTER’S DEAD (1991)

I fear I may be scraping the barrel with a couple of entries this month, but I do genuinely enjoy these films and have fond memories of seeing them at the cinema.  Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead is one such example of a movie that wasn’t too well received but is one that I loved when it came out.  Admittedly, I haven’t seen much of it since its release, but I know I liked it!  When their single mother has to leave town for a few weeks, she hires the sitter from hell to watch over her five kids.  The sitter subsequently drops dead which leave the siblings to fend for themselves.  Christina Applegate leads the cast in this funny and often silly comedy.

WATCH IT FOR: Trailer

 

Ok, so a couple of those films will probably split opinion but, like I’ve said many times before, the films I put into each edition are there for a reason.  I have fond memories of the period of time when they were released or the films themselves are just so damn good that I have to include them.  For whatever reason, though, they’ve all brought back some great memories as I’ve delved deep into the dark recess of my mind!  If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen here today, please feel free to let me know.  I’d be particularly interested this month with your opinions on my selection of a couple entries (I think you know which ones!) so either drop me a line on here or come find me on Twitter (@Shadow_Chaser) Until next time…

“Pop quiz, hotshot”