Movieline Online

It’s sad that we live in a world where one feels obliged to apologize for enjoying a John Wayne movie. Political correctness seems to demand an acknowledgment of all the Duke’s sins before admitting such a thing. But Wayne remains a towering figure in Hollywood history and, in most cases, deservedly so. Only a few of the nearly two hundred films on his resume called for him to step out of his comfort zone, but even the roles Wayne made look easy, he never phoned in a performance. Such is the case with Brannigan (1975), one of the actor’s final films and a last ditch effort to keep the actor relevant to an audience that had tired of playing cowboys and Indians. Working from a French Connection / Dirty Harry formula, Wayne plays the titular Chicago cop sent over to London to extradite a criminal kingpin (played by Animal House ’s John Vernon) who has a personal vendetta against our big Irish fish-out-of-water. But just as Brannigan is ready to slap on the cuffs, the bad guy himsel...

On paper puberty is terrifying: bleeding, cramps, hormonal impulses, tufts of hair sprouting in strange places. Without parental guidance, one might be actually convinced that it was all part of some Cronenbergian transformation into an entirely different organism. Which is in fact exactly what happens in Ginger Snaps (2001), a clever Canadian horror / satire which walks the same black comedy high school halls as Heathers but with a bit more maturity. Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and Brigette (Emily Perkins) are pair of morbid sisters who relish their role as social outcasts, swearing a lifelong suicide pact if things ever get too hairy. And they do when Ginger is attacked by a werewolf in their suburban neighborhood. This comes on the heels of Ginger’s “monthly visitor” which she gets for the first time, changing her from a mousey misfit into a sultry seductress tempting the hottest guys in school. Almost overnight, the sisters’ relationship sours as Brigette is left to determi...

Throughout his career director David Cronenberg has earned the horror / sci-fi genre some much needed critical legitimacy. Although his films were full of the same exploitation elements that popped up in Roger Corman quickies, there was a grand design behind it all, an almost scientific fascination that peeled back layer after cinematic layer. Cronenberg’s films weren’t simply drive-in fare. They were genuinely disturbing drive-in fare. After trying his hand at “safe” commercial success with the car race film Fast Company , the director dove back into his particular brand of weirdness with Scanners (1981), the story of rival mutant telepaths created and recruited by shadow corporations to be used as human weapons for the purpose of international espionage. Cameron Vale (Stephen Lack) is brought into the fold and taught to control his powers for the greater good. Darryl Revok (Michael Ironside), however, refuses to be manipulated and lashes out in a most dramatic fashion, leadin...

A chip off the old block of filmmakers like John Ford, Sam Peckinpah and John Milius, the work of director Walter Hill is so full of testosterone watching one of his movies is akin to having hormone replacement therapy. His characters are pumped up men of action who survive in a world that eats its own young. They understand what it takes to survive and rarely lend a hand to those who don’t share their worldview, which – far from being black and white – is one endless shade of grey. That’s pretty deep for a guy who made Eddie Murphy a comedic superstar in 48 Hrs (although truth be told Eddie really stole the movie from top billed Nick Nolte). But Hill’s shout-outs to revisionist Westerns and the savagery versus civilization theme pop up in just about every flick he makes, none more so than Southern Comfort (1981), which also works well as a Vietnam allegory despite his comments to the contrary. A National Guard squad on backcountry exercises in bayou country runs afoul of some l...

The found footage genre has expanded into almost all areas of storytelling: comedies ( Project X ), cop dramas ( End of Watch ), science-fiction ( Europa Report ) even kids’ movies ( Earth To Echo ). But with its modern origins in horror ( The Blair Witch Project ), the budget-friendly, seat-of-your-pants production style still seems best suited for the scary stuff. And while the latest entry, Afflicted (2013), doesn’t exactly break new ground, the caught-on-camera format does speak to a new generation of horror fans for whom YouTube is more real than reality itself. Filmmakers Derek Lee and Clif Prowse play themselves (a la Catfish ) as a pair of childhood pals who plan a trip around the world, documenting the journey via webcam and updating friends and family through live streams. In Paris, Derek, who suffers from a potential brain aneurysm, hooks up with a one-night stand that leaves him confused, bloody and physically changed. Super-strong, super-fast and super-sensitive to su...

The auteur theory, which posits that one individual - usually the director - is the primary “author” of a cinematic work, is great fun to discuss, debate and analyze. Trouble is, it’s rarely proven true. There are so many cooks in the Hollywood kitchen that only a select group of individuals have the wherewithal to command complete control over every aspect of their films. And would they really want to? Wes Anderson is the exception that proves the rule. Each film in his oeuvre is like the next page in a ridiculously elaborate pop-up book, with The Grand Budapest Hotel being his most elaborate yet. Using all his previous directorial tricks – and improving on most of them – the film feels like the natural culmination of a decade’s worth of accumulated quirkiness. And, like the theory says, it’s got his signature all over it. Told in wraparound fashion, the story concerns the relationship between concierge supreme M. Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his lobby boy in training, Zero (...

The evolution of the cinematic hitman from grizzled street-thug to well-manicured aesthete began with Charles Bronson as contract killer Arthur Bishop in The Mechanic (1972). From his elegantly decorated home to his meticulously planned working habits, Bishop surrounds himself with all the finer things in life…bought and paid for by ending the lives of others. It’s a portrait that’s been embellished by other filmmakers time and again, but rarely with as much pathos as Bronson brings to the role. After a brilliant 16-minute dialogue-free opening sequence that exemplifies the character’s modus operandi for staging executions that look like tragic accidents, Bishop is hired to kill family friend, and fellow criminal, Harry McKenna (Keenan Wynn). Once the job is done, he feels a certain connection with the Harry’s son, Steve (Jan-Michael Vincent, Airwolf ), who he grooms to be his successor. But their “teacher-student” relationship is tenuous at best. And Bishop just might be unwitti...