Living for the Cinema

MANN WEEK continues....(Michael Mann that is) 

Forty years ago, Oscar-nominated legend Michael Mann (Heat, The Last of the Mohicans, Collateral) wrote and directed this adaptation of the best-selling novel "Red Dragon" from acclaimed author Thomas Harris.  This was the FIRST big screen adaptation of Harris' series of stories featuring the iconic character of Hannibal Lector, five years before the Oscar-winning box office p...

Welcome to MANN WEEK!!!

Based upon the hit '80's TV show of the same name co-created by Oscar-nominated writer/director Michael Mann (Heat, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans), Mann brought this adaptation to the big screen twenty years ago this summer.  The story once again focuses on two partnering Miami police detectives named Sonny Crockett (Oscar-nominated Colin Farrell) and Ricardo Tubbs (Oscar-winner Jamie Foxx) - they...

Ned Racine (Oscar-winner William Hurt) is a handsome, sleazy lawyer and Matty Walker (Oscar-nominee Kathleen Turner in her big screen debut) is the alluring wife of a wealthy businessman (Richard Crenna) and one steamy Florida night, they meet and begin a torrid affair.  They then conspire to murder Matty's husband as part of an insurance scam.....and a lot of a sweaty, twisty chaos ensues!  This Neo-Noir thriller was the...

Forty years ago this summer, genre master David Cronenberg (Videodrome, Eastern Promises, The Dead Zone, Dead Ringers) directed this remake of the 1958 cult classic of the same name starring Vincent Price.  This is the updated story of Seth Brundle (Jeff Goldblum), a quirky scientist who has been developing an exciting new invention geared towards teleportation.  He meets an enterprising science reporter named Ronnie (Gee...

NOLAN WEEK continues....

Adapted from the legendary tale written by Homer, this is the epic tale of one man's treacherous journey home after leading a war effort which has left both him and his men broken and continuously in danger. That war was the Trojan War and the man is Odysseus (Oscar-winner Matt Damon) who yearns to get to his home country of Ithaca where he is king, so that he can reunite with this wife Penelope (Oscar-winne...

Welcome to NOLAN WEEK!

Before reviewing his latest big budget opus (The Odyssey), let's revisit the beloved superhero sequel which helped push Oscar-winning writer/director Christopher Nolan (Inception, Oppenheimer, Dunkirk) into the pantheon of master modern filmmakers.  As a direct sequel to 2005's word-of-mouth hit Batman Begins, this was released with much fanfare as it was not only about the continuing adventures of Batman...

Forty years ago this summer, genre master John Carpenter (The Thing, Halloween, They Live) directed this big budget (for the time) extravaganza blending various genres including martial arts, fantasy, and crime drama.  Starring Kurt Russell in one of his more iconic roles as truckdriver Jack Burton, it was fast, funny, and phrenetically entertaining!  And yet no one really saw it in theaters. :( Fortunately this film did ...

Olivia Wilde (Booksmart, Don't Worry Darling) directs her third film, also co-starring with Seth Rogen as a beleaguered married couple living in San Francisco.  One fateful evening, her housewife invites over the earthy couple from upstairs (Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz, Oscar-nominee Edward Norton) for a dinner party.  And things go awry.....what results is one of the most highly acclaimed comedies of 2026 so far, let's se...

In World War II, a group of NAZI officers come up with a propaganda event in which an all-star NAZI team will play a team composed of Allied POW's in a soccer (football) game.  The prisoners agree, planning on using the game as a means of escape from the camp.  Directed by the legendary Oscar-winner John Huston (The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, The Maltese Falcon, The African Queen, Prizzi's Honor) late in his career, th...

Welcome To The 23rd Century.

The perfect world of total pleasure.

....there's just one catch.

This is the story of Logan 5 (Michael York) who lives in a distant future where where every one looks bright, young, and engergetic.  That might be because every one is only allowed to live their first life until they turn 30.  That's when an light in the palm of their hand blinks red, notifying them that they have to report to a "c...

In what was his second film as the titular Man of Steel, the late, great Christopher Reeve returns as Kal-El, the Son of Crypton who has now settled in Metropolis under disguise as Clark Kent, a nerdy reporter a The Daily Planet who also pines for his fellow reporter Lois Lane played by the late, great Margot Kidder.  As Superman, he is now doing his part to keep the human inhabitants of Planet Earth safe until.....three Krypt...

Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl (Milly Alcock) joines forces with a recent orphan Ruthye (Eve Ridley) who is out to avenge the murder of their parents.  Together they embark on an interstellar journey of vengeance and justice, alongside a mercenary named Lobo (Jason Mamoa) who is looking to take out the same villains.  Directed by Craig Gillespie (I Tonya, Cruella, Lars and the Real Girl, Dumb Money), this is the latest entry i...

Lt. Colonel Nat Serling (Oscar-winner Denzel Washington) is a recent veteran of Operation Desert Storm and a deadly mistake which he made in the heat of combat is still haunting him.  He has been tasked by his officer to investigate the service of recently deceased Captain Karen Walden (Meg Ryan) who flew a chopper on a rescue mission during that war and is now being considered for the Medal of Honor.  As Serling investig...

At the peak of his movie stardom and in the wake of having just won several Oscars for Best Picture-winner Dances With Wolves which he both starred in and directed, Kevin Costner (Yellowstone, Bull Durham, JFK) took on the iconic role of Robin of Locksley for his next major project.  He partnered with long-time friend and director Kevin Reynolds (Waterworld, The Count of Monte Cristo) to spearhead this this new adaptation of a...

Roy Neary (Oscar-winner Richard Dreyfuss) was just a mild-mannered Indiana family man working for the power company.  Until one evening while out on the job.....he had an encounter with an unfamiliar being blasting brilliant light into the night sky.  What results for Roy is an increasingly bizarre descent into madness as he not only feels drawn towards seking out these otherworldy beings but also begins to alienate his w...

Legendary Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, ET: The Extra Terrestrial, Close Encounters of the Third Kind) returns to the science fiction genre for the first time in almost twenty years with this mystery thriller focusing on a group of scientists (Josh O'Connor, Oscar-nominee Colman Domingo) who are attempting to find and release classified information from the United States government ...

Mike (River Phoenix) and Scott (Keanu Reeves) are hustlers working their way around Portland trying to make ends meet, who are also best friends.  Together they hit the road to Idaho AND Italy on a journey of self-discovery while Mike tries to find his mother whom he hasn't seen in years.  This stirring comedy/drama road movie was written and directed by Oscar-nominee Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk, Drugstore Cowbo...

By The Power of Grayskull.....

For the first time in thirty-nine years, He-Man and the other Masters of the Universe are back on the big screen!  After being sent to Earth as a young boy more than fifteen years ago to hide him from the evil Skeletor (Oscar-winner Jared Leto), Prince Adam (Nicholas Galitzine) has finally found his sword and is returning to his homeland of Eternia to reclaim his legacy.  Of course, it gets m...

Just in time for 6/6/26.....

It's time to review this influential supernatural horror thriller on the eve of its 50th Anniversary.  Directed by Richard Donner (Superman, Lethal Weapon, The Goonies), it focuses on an American ambassador (Oscar-winning legend Gregory Peck) and his wife (the late, great Oscar-nominated Lee Remick) who have recently moved to England after recently having their first child.....or DID they?  The...