Movie Review: American Buffalo (1996; Samuel Goldwyn/20th Century Fox/MGM/UA/Twilight Time)

...OK, let's get it out on the table, right here and now...though, in all honesty, there'd be little-to-no surprise or disagreement, in the proclamation. With countless notable, significant, and yes, acclaimed roles credit to him, stemming as far back as...well, as far back as however long this reviewer has set foot in life (...uh nope, we don't need to go there; we just have to say, yes, it's that far back)...well, let's just come out and say it: Dustin Hoffman is one of the greatest American actors, if not the greatest American actor of the past half-century. There's very few productions, indelibly etched in Dustin's wide-spectrum of films which, given a specific title, doesn't strike most with a sense of deep affection, familiarity and appreciation...not so much in the film title itself, or even the subject matter depicted, but more so, those which bear Dustin's unique and well-accomplished stamp alone. One of those actors whom has starred in many a film, often good...rarely bad, but despite how good or bad the film might have been, Dustin's performance has, for the most part, has always managed to shine through, and that affect...especially if the particular film wasn't particular good...has at least raised the film up, from what might have been considered 'bad', by definition, to at the very least, significant...

Movie Review: The Young Lions (1958; 20th Century Fox/Twilight Time)

...one really has to give prolific director Edward Dmytryk a respectably just comeuppance of appreciation, as far as his ability in not pigeon-holing himself into one particular film genre. When one considers his spectrum of film productions, we're talking about seeing him dip into just about every film genre under the sun, and then some...and prove himself respectably exceptional in each and every one. An under-appreciated filmmaker by name (...an infamous 'socialist blacklist' stigma took care of that, which in itself...encompassing a rather vast number of participants...is yet another provocative Hollywood story, altogether...a tale to be later told, to be sure), his films, nonetheless spark great acclamation and appreciation by sheer mention of their eclectically varied titles, alone. A little steamy intrigue, set in a New Orleans bordello, in 1962's "Walk on the Wild Side"...the classic horror of 'ape, into woman, into ape-woman', with 1943's "Captive Wild Woman"...corruption and crime in the boxing ring, as revealed in 1940's "Golden Gloves"...cleaning up a dusty, one-horse town, plagued by gun-toting cowboy thugs, in 1959's "Warlock"...the entwining, film noir-ish mystery and intrigue, found in 1944's "Murder, My Sweet"...blackmail and terrorism, on the cusp of a fledgling computer age, in 1975's "The Human Factor"...and the ever genre-shifting list goes on, and on, and on...

Movie Review: "Che!" (1969; 20th Century Fox/Twilight Time)

...now, admittedly and...well, more than a little embarrassingly (...considering that I often make claim to being a respectably knowledgeable history buff), in going into this film for the very first time, recently, this reviewer quite literally knew nothing about the main protagonist herein...this (...squinting through reading glasses, at the disc's film's capsule synopsis) Che Guevara...though I do recall his artistically poignant impact on pop culture visuals, as well as his subsequent impact on the establishment-bashing youth of the time, without really knowing who he was. If anything, at that very young age, I was...at the very least...dimly aware of, and inundated with the media inklings and breaking news broadcasts of what was happening, as well as what had happened, in Cuba's rather torrent and controversial history, from the early sixties, up through the dawn of the '70's decade; at least I had something to go on...something, in an attempt to match the historical person depicted, with the history associated with him...

Movie Review: Heaven Knows Mr. Allison (1957; 20th Century Fox/Twlight Time)

...there's no denying that the literary concept of the 'odd couple', has made for countless interesting and intriguing motion pictures, since...well, since the onset of the motion picture, itself. Two characters...polar opposite of each other...different worlds...forced to exist, at least for the moment, within the same circle...sometimes enemies, often just indifferent of each other...frustrated over each other's differences, and yet, out of irony, managing to find common ground to work with, out of their similarities. But then, considering those ideals and observations, let's break it down to specifics...not just merely two different people. How about man and woman?? More specific, you say?? How about one of dutiful spirituality, and the other, of spiritual indifference?? We've all see this type of thing before, as well...'63's "Lilies of the Field", '75's "Rooster Cogburn" and '51's "African Queen", just to name a few. But then, "The African Queen"...with oddly, though ideally matched Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn as the film's dueling protagonists...wouldn't be the first time that grizzled and seasoned filmmaker John Huston touched upon the classic 'odd couple' concept of one character being dedicatedly pious, and the other...well, to read the opposite side of the coin, one much more opposingly and conflictingly impious...with the result, invariably quite compelling and moving...

Movie Review: Lake Placid (1999; 20th Century Fox/Shout Factory)

...killer crocodiles, this...monster alligators, that...over the years, we've had rogue crocs, super-crocs, gatoroids, dino-crocs, mega-gators, and 'what-a-croc' everything in-between (...if I may be so applicably sarcastic). Heck, if it wasn't for all these king-sized blood-thirsty, CGI-rendered mutated 'monster gator' and 'killer croc' movies...why, the SyFy Channel NYSE stock would most assuredly plummet, and the audience for said genre cable channel staple, would probably shrink down to the size of...say, that of The Singing & Dancing Ampersand Channel (...nothing like comparative sarcasm, right??). And yet, amongst these almost countless, generic and often forgettable cinematic reptilian terrors, there's the standout misfits...the often bantered-about cult film oddities, with vividly striking visuals and lively, albeit eclectic characters...revered highly amidst the genre-embracing crowd. For instance, y'all remember the classic 1980 subterranean gut-muncher, "Alligator", right?? The clueless, burnt out, inner-city police officer, investigating some mysterious disappearances and deaths?? The unscrupulous, money grubbing, middle-aged industrialist, who represented, then sheltered illegal and careless discarded chemical experiments, which turns out to have adverse effects on...uh, oh?? The arrogant, ballyhooed and pompous big game hunter, who's come to the big city, in search of the ultimate game?? The invariable clash of characters, between the three?? And of course, the film's titular 'protagonist', itself...oh yes, who can't forget the classic visual of that monstrous 35-plus foot gargantuan reptile, breaking through the concrete streets, from it's underground sewer lair...an ear-shattering roar, emitting from it's gaping, razor tooth-lined maw...

...really!! Can another film of this ilk, come along and possibly top that level of camp...or at least equal it??

Movie Review: Deadly Eyes (1982; Golden Harvest/Scream Factory)

...going into Shout/Scream Factory's recent release of the 1982 Canadian-produced 'nature-gone-amuck' horror chiller, "Deadly Eyes", sight unseen (...I missed it, when it was originally released theatrically, having instead been intensely engaged in the ol' 'hut-one, hut-two' 12-week-plus military boot camp 'game', at the time), this ardent and devoted viewer of the genre, to be quite honest, really didn't expect much. In fact, given the Fortune Star/Golden Harvest opening logos, I almost thought that I had inadvertently plugged in one of those cheezy chop-socky flicks, which for years, Golden Harvest was best known for. Sure, for a long time, it was dimly known by this unsuspecting fright film fan, that the movie had something to do with killer rats...that the film was based upon a best-selling page-turner, by genre author James Herbert...that, in a surprising genre switch, cult film director Robert 'Enter the Dragon' Clouse, handled the reins of the film. Heck, this viewer was even a bit privy to the concept, that inspiration for the outrageous special effects...especially those depicting the rats...was picked up and taken from that ol' class, notorious known as 'Killer Shrews 101'. Later on, even the dark and somewhat vague box art, displayed on the video shelves, didn't phase nor mesmerize this mega monster movie mogul, who often picked up said video rental from the shelves, took a quick & casual look at it, and with a shrug of the shoulders, placed it back, with an uninterested sigh. I mean, really...a killer rat movie?? What could I see in that, which I had not already seen in, say movies like 1971's "Willard" (...also based on a novel), it's 1972 follow-up, "Ben", or even the 1976 drive-in-flavored creature feature, "Food of the Gods"?? (...I could also mention the 1972 Andy Mulligan stinker, "The Rats are Coming...the Werewolves are Here!"...I could, but naw, scratch that...I won't even go there. Eh, forget I even brought it up...)

...boy, was I in for a big surprise...an understatement, to be sure...

Movie Review: Conrack (1974; 20th Century Fox/Twlight Time)

...admittedly, there was a time when this ardent purveyor of cinema would, without fail, amorously engage and embrace the dramatic sub-genre of 'unconventional and idealist teacher, called in by the 'establishment' to help educate the seemingly impossible-to-educate...to help, where others have failed...in an arena of hypocrisy, where the 'establishment' really doesn't seem to care, and becomes irate, when said teacher repeatedly bucks the system, does things his/her own way, and in the end, succeeds where the so-called 'establishment' and 'system' have failed'. After all, it's so easy to get caught up in the emotion, relatability and compelling sense of inspiration of these stories...even those often labeled as 'based on a story'. We've all seen these stories, often before, in naming just a few of these dramatic films like 1989's "Lean on Me", 1955's "Blackboard Jungle" and 1988's "Stand and Deliver". Exploitative takes on the genre, like 1981's "Class of 1984", and 1987's "The Principal". Even humorous facets, like 1987's "Summer School", and the recent 2012 chuckle-inducing, "Here Comes the Boom". As irresistible as these films are, one cannot help but feel that the sub-genre has long since fallen into the niche of 'cliche', and as such, seem less sensitive, compelling and inspirational...you know, the ol' yawn-inducing, 'been there, done that' syndrome...