Movieline Online

Sometimes a movie is made for all the wrong reasons. And that seems to be the case with Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Joseph L Mankiewicz's film adaptation of the Tennessee Williams one-act play. After the early cinematic success of Streetcar and more recent revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , it probably seemed like any Williams’s property was a hot one. Toss in a big name cast including Elizabeth Taylor, Montgomery Clift, and Katharine Hepburn along with a script by Gore Vidal that all-but thumbed its nose at the aging Production Code and you've got a sure-fire success! Actually, that's true. The film made a tidy profit, scared up some scandals and even earned Oscar nominations for Taylor and Hepburn (who both lost to Simone Signoret, by the way). But from a modern perspective the film is as contrived as any recent superhero saga, pre-manufactured with an insultingly obvious bric-a-brac collection of high profile talent delivering showy monologues so longwinded...

Children of the Corn (1984) is not a good film. Even Stephen King was smart enough to keep the original down to a short story...and this from a guy who regularly puts out novels you can use as a coffee table! But there's something about the idea that's hard to resist: a small Midwest corn town overrun by killer kids who've murdered their parents and worship an unseen entity called "He Who Walks Behind the Rows." As written, there's a Twilight Zone episode worth of material at best. But that didn't stop producers from expanding the characters and mythology to accommodate six sequels, some of which are actually superior to the original now out in a Blu-ray special edition courtesy of Arrow Video. Burt and Vicky (played by a pre- Thirtysomething Peter Horton and pre- Terminator Linda Hamilton) are traveling cross-country for Burt's new med school internship when they run into trouble - literally - in the town of Gatlin, Nebraska. After acc...

In 1973's Theater of Blood Vincent Price plays a hammy Shakespearean actor who silences his critics in the most violent and permane nt way possible. Despite his rather extreme methods, the argument is sound: who are they to criticize all the blood, sweat and tears spent creating something from nothing? Which brings us to 8 Heads in a Duffel Bag (1997), writer / director Tom Schulman's monumentally unfunny comedy starring Joe Pesci as a mafia deliveryman who mistakenly swaps luggage with an innocent med school student. Here is a film so misguided not a single joke lands in 90 minutes, despite Herculean efforts from a grab-bag cast. Schulman might get an "A" for effort, but the rest of his film is flat-out rotten. Toting the physical "evidence" of a recent mafia hit to his boss on the West Coast, Tommy (Pesci) hops on a plane out of New Jersey and winds up sitting next to Charlie (Andy Comeau), a nervous grad student headed to Mexico to meet his girl...

It's only natural to be intimidated of a movie as steeped in historical minutia as The Emperor in August (2015). Not only does it propose to dissect the Japanese decision to surrender to the Allies at the end of WWII, but does so from the Japanese perspective; a complex system of centuries-old traditions and cultural expectations that make the very concept of defeat grounds for ritual suicide. And yet Emperor Hirohito pushed for a peaceful end to the conflict to save his country from total destruction...while the army was planning a coup to save face. Director Masato Harada's film has a bit of a learning curve as we're introduced to the major historical players. Retired politician Kantaro Suzuki is talked out of retirement to become Prime Minister, handpicked by the Emperor to shepherd the war to a respectable resolution. But there are still those hungry for a "Decisive Battle," confident that a national kamikaze mission would ensure victory. Even Colone...

It's easy to take a film like The Long, Hot Summer (1958) for granted. After all, it has a wealth of talent onscreen and off, an impeccable literary pedigree and Paul Newman's steely blue eyes in its corner. But there are plenty of high profile studio productions from the same era that don't do half as much with their raw material as this one. Director Martin Ritt, in the first of five collaborations with Newman, tackles the Southern story of seduction, corruption, resentment and redemption with a minimal amount of melodrama and an unquestionable touch of class. Running away from a reputation as a "barn burner," Ben Quick's (Newman) arrival stirs up the sleepy town of Frenchmen's Bend, Mississippi, which is owned lock, stock and barrel by entrepreneur Will Varner (Orson Welles). Varner runs his family like he runs his business: with an expectation of return on investment. In this case, that return includes grandchildren who will pass on the fa...

With a voracious audience of cinema lovers at home and successful international distribution, the Italian film industry was always quick to spot a trend or rip-off a hit. So, although his name is most closely associated with horror, Mario Bava, like most Italian directors, was fluent in many genres, dutifully cranking out whatever was "hot" at the moment. And after The Vikings (1958) - starring Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis - raked in a hefty worldwide profit, Bava was charged with coming up with his own sword-and-sandal epic to duplicate the original's success...on a fraction of the budget, of course. Erik the Conqueror (1961) plots the same course of violent battle scenes, political betrayal and strained family ties but shuffles the deck and adds some signature Bava visual panache to boot. The film kicks off with the death of King Lotar on the shores of Britain as his fellow Vikings stumble to the sea in retreat. The King's young sons are separated during t...

Comedy is often a matter of taste...or lack thereof. John Cleese was an innovator in bad taste as part of Monty Python, brilliantly mixing rude humor with polite British wit. But as the decades passed, humor caught up with his genius, even surpassing it in terms of lowbrow laughs with BBC shows like The Young Ones . As timeless as Python's sketch material was, it just didn't feel fresh anymore. But the unexpected success of A Fish Called Wanda (1988) proved that clever comedy and vulgarity could still co-exist; in fact, they felt fresher than ever. Cleese plays Archie Leach, a sad sack of a British barrister stuck in a loveless marriage, whose life is re-invigorated by the appearance of Wanda (Jamie Lee Curtis), an American law student who finds him inexplicably attractive. Wanda's motives, however, are professional not personal. As part of the jewel heist that kicks off the film, she's milking Archie for information about his client - and her lover - Georges Th...

Elvis movies are a genre unto themselves. But unlike, say, the 007 franchise which gives each actor a breather when the formula grows stale (or they age out of the role), Elvis was never allowed to leave the building. This "lather-rinse-repeat" cycle produced 31 films of varying degrees of quality, most designed around a complement of hit singles shoehorned into the story. The King's interest waned from project to project and his few attempts at real acting (like 1960's Flaming Star ) never seemed to click with his loyal fanbase. So it's a real treat to see him actually enjoying himself in Kid Galahad (1962), a fresh, fun change-of-venue set in the world of boxing that makes the most of Elvis' musical talent and challenges him as an actor too. Fresh out of the service and desperate for work, Walter (Presley) wanders back to his hometown of Cream Valley, New York, hoping to land a job as a mechanic. Instead, he's paid a quick five-bucks to se...

The evolution of home video extras probably deserves its own documentary by now. From polished studio Making Ofs to the candid talkfests on cult titles, there's a delicate balance of photos, interviews and narration that separates truly special features from just a pile of promotional fluff. But The Creep Behind the Camera (2014) takes things to a whole new level. Ostensibly a profile of one-time-director A. J. Savage (aka Vic Savage) whose 1964 sci-fi flick The Creeping Terror is on the ever growing list of "worst movies ever made," in this case the Making Of is actually the main feature, composed of re-enactments from Nelson's life along with sound bites from crew and critics...while The Creeping Terror itself is relegated to supporting extra status. Minus the interviews, writer / director Pete Schuermann's film is set-up just like a narrative feature with A.J. Nelson (played with Bill Paxton-ish relish by Josh Phillips) arriving in Hollywood determin...

A cult item at best in the U.S., the five films that make up director Kinji Fukasaku's Battles Without Honor and Humanity series were a big success in their native Japan, using a ripped from the headlines approach to the yakuza genre and establishing star Bunta Sugawara as a template for the ice-cold gangster emerging unscathed (mostly) from the constant internal power struggles. In fact, the series was so successful that Toei studios kicked off another round of films just a few months later. Fukasaku's New Battles Without Honor and Humanity aren't direct sequels, but star many of the same actors - including Sugawara - in roles similar enough that they're sequels in spirit...if not quite as spirited as the originals. The first film, given the masthead title New Battles Without Honor and Humanity , is the most complex in scope, following Miyoshi (Sugawara) upon his release from prison after a failed hit on a rival boss. Aoki, an ambitious gang member pushing ...

Movies about mental illness are inherently depressing...no pun intended. And the most effective sort, like Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver , makes you feel a little unbalanced yourself. Director Gareth Tunley, a British comedian making his debut feature, goes for a pitch-black mind bender with The Ghoul (2016), spiraling around the fragile psyche of its lead character, an undercover cop pretending to be crazy...or a crazy person pretending to be an undercover cop. The frustratingly ambiguous film lets you take your pick. Things kick off with a crime scene investigation as Chris (Tom Meeten) is called in to solve the mystery behind a shooting that left two victims dead...but not before they remained alive and mobile for an unnaturally long time. A clue points to the property manager who was a psychotherapy patient. Chris makes an appointment and puts on an "act" to learn more, only his lies become mixed with the truth. His clinical depression cover story bleeds into ...