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”
GREENSCREEN 