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Akira Kurosawa spent nearly a decade trying to get this film off the ground. Only thanks to George Lucas and Francis Coppola's financial backing was Kurosawa able to make this stunning prelude to his masterpiece Ran. The story takes place in 16th-century Japan, where a ferocious power struggle is taking place between the all-powerful warlord Shingen Takeda (Tatsuya Nakadai) and two rival clans.When Nakadai is shot by an enemy sniper, his dying wish is to have his death kept a secret for three years and that a double be put in his place. This is to keep his clan from falling apart and being destroyed by their enemies. In his place is put a thief (again wonderfully played by Nakadai), who has been his leader's Kagemusha (or "shadow warrior") for some time. The thief goes to great lengths to play the part, and dodges the threat of his discovery time and time again.
Only a man like Kurosawa could make such an elegant, poetic film such as this. Nakadai is no less than outstanding, adding subtle difference in his dual role as the noble warlord and the crafty thief. The usual Kurosawa battle scenes are as well-choreographed as ever, thanks to the colorful, imaginative cinematography of Kazuo Miyagawa. This and Ran are two films that need to be seen back-to-back, to experience the pleasure of watching a master at work.
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"Males go through menopause too. Women may have it covered in the biological department, but believe me, Men have got it covered in the Psychological one." - Robert Webber in 10Although this was more well-known for the introduction of Bo Derek (she of the bouncing boobs on the beach), it is actually a hilarious satire of mid-life crisis'. Dudley Moore is an Academy-award winning songwriter, who is having difficulty contemplating middle age. He seems to have everything: a nice car; a fancy home; a smart, beautiful girlfriend (Julie Andrews). He also doesn't seem to mind the X-rated behavior of his across-the-hills neighbor.
But he feels that as he grows older, his lust for life will gradually decrease. That is until he sees an angelic angel in white (Derek, in a fine homage to Claudia Cardinale's role in Fellini's 8 1/2). Derek- who happens to be getting married at the same time Moore first sights her- represents to Moore everything that can help him feel young again. He pursue her, while getting into a series of embarrassing circumstances. Will he get the girl of his dreams? That perfect 10? Well, sort of?! Let's just say that he eventually discovers where his real source of happiness comes from.
After bombs like Santa Claus: The Movie and Crazy People, it takes a film like 10 to remind us how incredibly funny Moore used to be, especially when it comes to one-liners and witty conversations. He is supported quite well by Brian Dennehy as the most understanding bartender you'd ever want to meet, Robert Webber as Moore's aging gay friend and Andrews as Moore's impatient girlfriend. Derek too actually fulfills her part of the picture, as a generation of Male's perfect 10. Although I'll admit that I was rooting for Moore to get the girl, the ending was much more suitable to Moore's situation. The moral of the film: Life definitely does NOT end at 40.
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Considered one of the costliest turkeys ever made, I have yet to find the critic that explained why exactly he didn't like the movie. It's based on a series of cult comic books by Steve Gerber, about a loud-mouthed, humanoid mallard, who fights evil while continuously making sarcastic comments about the situations he's in (a la Spider-Man). His job this time? To stop a dark overlord from taking over the Earth. That and getting a full-time job while he's at it!The plot is comic booky and some of the performances are one-note, but this does contain a surprising amount of very funny dialogue. Sure, Howard is no E.T., but it does contain a certain charm and campy humor that is very enjoyable. Jeffrey Jones is the best of the human performers, giving a hilarious metamorphic performance as a scientist, whose body is possessed by the dark overlord. The scene in the restaurant is proof of how funny and sadly unappreciated Jones really is (if you don't believe me, check out his work in Amadeus and Ferris Bueller's Day Off).
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A horrendous experience that has absolutely nothing in relation to any chapter in the Halloween series. And nothing resembling much intellect, as far as I can tell. The plot (such as it is) involves a diabolical toymaker and his scheme to kill millions on Halloween night, using a bunch of cursed masks. Only the brave hero (Tom Atkins) and the sexy and incredibly stupid heroine (Stacey Nelkin) can put a stop to it.For you "splatter" fans, you may enjoy the parts where people's heads are ripped off as well as snakes, insects and arachnids bursting out at you. Others will not stay for very long. Full of awful (and sometimes hilarious) "performances", this is a painful mishmash of countless other horror features, as well as some corny James Bondian touches thrown in for good measure. Among the various plot devices that work their way into the story (though you'll probably have a tough time figuring out why they were worked in), they include a stolen rock from Stonehenge, a killer robot army, a forensic expert getting a hole drilled in her head, etc. Yummy! You'll want to drill a hole in your head, long before the movie's over.
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Possibly one of the lamest adaptations of a John Grisham novel, this just doesn't get you involved with the characters as much as other crime thrillers. Chris O'Donnell stars as an idealistic young lawyer, who attempts to free his unredeemable racist grandfather (Gene Hackman) from Death Row. Grandad is imprisoned for a race murder committed in Mississippi the year of 1967. Where as the original story had a lot more intrigue and intense character development, these fine points seemed to have been thrown out the window.The film tries too hard to be like Dead Man Walking and a lot less time being like Grisham's original story. A lot of good that does, since Dean Man Walking saw both sides of the death penalty issue, while this only sees one side. And that side is heavily liberalized to a point where it's almost sickening. Hackman is good, while the rest of the cast is simply okay. Problem is Hackman makes his character a lot more mean and less sympathetic than the book intended him to be.
Faye Dunaway also has a thankless role (she's probably used to this by now) as Hackman's self-loathing alcoholic daughter, a role that is a cliche of every other on-screen alcoholic. O'Donnell is better than expected, though he wouldn't be my first choice for the role he's playing. His scenes with Hackman seem extremely forced and they both lack much-needed chemistry. The fact is that after Dead Man Walking, any film about the death penalty pales in comparison. If the filmakers behind The Chamber had attempted to see both sides of a very tricky subject, instead of drowning it in one-sided liberal preachiness, this would have been a lot smoother production. Even Grisham, though he didn't quite succeed, attempted to portray more balance in his book, which was accomplished so superbly in Dead Man Walking.
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A hysterical black comedy, that makes fun of countless taboos and subjects that are usually treated very seriously. Ben Stiller and Patricia Arquette play a young married couple, who go in search of Stiller's biological parents, who gave him up for adoption years ago. His neurotic adoptive parents (Mary Tyler Moore and George Segal) are horrified at the thought of Stiller finding his real parents, and leaving them high and dry.Accompanying Stiller and Arquette on their strange odyssey is a sexually frustrated woman from the adoption agency (Tea Leoni of The Naked Truth),to whom Stiller finds himself attracted and two gay FBI agents (Josh Brolin and Richard Jenkins), one of whom finds himself attracted to Arquette. Don't ask me how it fits together, because it gets increasingly complicated. But it does all eventually lead to Stiller meeting his real parents (Lily Tomlin and Alan Alda), who are (like most of the people in this film) incredibly strange.
Frequently the performers are outstanding in this lightning-paced comedy, which contains some good performances by veterans such as Alda, Moore, Tomlin and Segal (all cast slightly against type), while younger actors Arquette, Leoni and Stiller display some previously hidden talents for outrageous screwball comedy. Stiller comes off as the most surprising, since I've found most of his comedy as either an actor or director (Reality Bites and The Cable Guy) badly overindulgent and horribly manic. His imitations were bad, his comic timing even worse and his directorial skills were the pits. Yet he displays a calmly subdued, carefully thought-out performance here and he does indeed have some memorable moments. Among the memorable scenes, the funniest comes near the end, involving Agent Jenkin's experience with an acid-laced Quail dinner. A definite sleeper.
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A film about computer hackers on the Net isn't entirely new. It was done before in WarGames and most recently in The Net. There is a difference here that is different from other films of the past. The various hackers are not white geeks who look like Steve Urkel. Instead, they are intelligent, multi-racial kids who apparently look like they belong in the mosh pit at a Hole concert. But appearances can indeed be deceiving. Lead by their hip leader (Trainspotting's Jonny Miller), the hackers attempt to stop a frame-up plotted against them by a nefarious superhacker (Fisher Stevens in an over-the-top performance).The plot is cheezy and the story and actions of the characters are unrealistic (but then again, so was WarGames and The Net). What redeems this are the stunning visuals, great soundtrack and impressive performances by a cadre of newcomers, including British Miller. The story is also quite inventive from time to time, with many doses of humor to keep the audience from getting too restless. This is one of those films that just might become a cult classic, if purely for its hypnotic visuals and fresh performances. But don't press your luck!
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