There are very few things as memorable or as easily recognizable as the film The Karate Kid. It is one of those films that even if you haven’t seen it, through some form of osmosis you know it well enough to recognize moments, names, scenes, and characters.  I refer to this as the Pop-Culture effect. If something rises to a certain level of notoriety or fame it gets nuanced into popular cultural items. It could be as simple as T-Shirts, being referenced in a song, or, with the film at hand, it is more than likely the sheer amount of times it has been parodied. Parodied might even be the wrong word for how The Karate Kid has been treated over the years. Most parodies come from a place of critique or a joke that the item/event/movie being parodied is not privy to. No, The Karate Kid is almost always lovingly referenced. Whether it’s wax-on/wax-off or the infamous (illegal) Crane Kick, you’ve seen it hundreds of times undoubtedly. 

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If you haven’t seen the seminal classic film Sid and Nancy written (in part) and Directed by Alex Cox do yourself a favor and go ahead and make it happen.  This film is important and triumphant. Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb capture something that shouldn’t be as easy as they make it look. Oldman captures the raw emotional struggle that Vicious displayed while at the same time managing to appear to be the epitome of the punk movement. Webb does the opposite, she brings to life possibly one of the most annoying characters I have witnessed while at the same time displaying an eagerness to be the mother to the child that is Sid Vicious.

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Seven years after Gene Kelly graced the screen and gave us the memorable and timeless performance in Singin’ in the Rain he appeared in a little film entitled Les Girls.  Alongside Mitzi Gaynor, Kay Kendall, Taina Elg he manages to star in yet another memorable entry in the fifties semi-musical genre.  The film does well Read more about Les Girls – Blu-Ray Review[…]

If you are like me then at one point or another you have wondered just how the three seashells work.  If you have indeed spent hours of your life wasting away in thought over this conundrum then undoubtedly you are familiar with the film Demolition Man. It is in every way a 90’s action flick.  It has the four must-have elements of a great and memorable action film, the badass lead (Sylvester Stallone), the love interest (Sandra Bullock), the big baddie (Wesley Snipes), and the outlandish plot (being frozen in thawed out years later). As an added bonus we also end with weird Rob Schneider tertiary character (my favorite nineties random occurrence, also happened in Judge Dredd).

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Let me introduce you to a film entitled Summer of 42.  A film that is dangerous.  It promotes values and traditions that of which are currently being condemned, in fact so much so that I am shocked that Warner Bros re-released it in its Archive Collection.  There are two ways in which to look at this, and in that lies the problem. The first way is innocent, this film represents a time in which everything was a bit simpler. Where boys would be boys, and their summers were spent figuring out the opposite sex.  This included, of course, stealing a medical textbook, and taking a couple of gals to the pictures. Unfortunately, the second way involves looking at a time of ignorance, copping a feel, public sex, and gender inequality.

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It has been nine long years since Paul Newman first played Lew Harper.  The world needed more from him, more of the grit that comes from this particular detective.  So yes Paul Newman came back to reprise his role once again. I am most curious about what sort of buzz was created by this.  How much anticipation did the audiences of the world have for this film? How Beloved was this character?

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Shout Select has done it again.  They have handpicked another film from my childhood.  This time the subject matter covers what is possibly the most frightening thing an adult homeowner faces….boredom.  The ‘Burbs may have been on my childhood Television screen more times than I can count.  It is funny, trying to remember how I Read more about The ‘Burbs (Shout Select) – Blu-Ray Review[…]

There is not much that tops the kind of cool Paul Newman exudes.  Whether he is teaching Tom Cruise a thing or two (The Color of Money), partnering up with Robert Redford (The Sting), or proving that he can eat fifty Hard-boiled eggs in an hour (Cool Hand Luke) there is not much Newman hasn’t Read more about Harper – Blu-Ray Review[…]

It started with the name. Something inviting, something bringing me closer and closer to the film before I have ever even watched it.  It continued with a free trial of FilmStruck (which I was not too happy with-seriously, constant issues.  I’d love to hear thoughts on this) I was looking for hidden Criterion gems and Read more about The Lure (Criterion) – Blu-Ray Review[…]