DEREKFLINT

One of my top 10 wartime thrillers, Eye of the Needle pulls you in from the beginning and doesn't let go until the very last fading shot. Director Richard Marquand and screenplay author Stanley Mann deliver an excellent adaption of the novel , without removing too many portions of, what I consider to be, Ken Follett's finest work. The film introduces us to and gets us involved with two very different characters, destined to be thrown together on a storm swept island, as the clock ticks down to the allied invasion of Normandy.

Donald Sutherland is superb as Henry Faber, the ruthless German spy known only to the allies as "Der Nadle" - the "Needle", whose mission to report on the allied build-up for the inevitable invasion to come leads him to a discovery that can turn the tide of the war to Germany's favor. Kate Nelligan, equally as good in her role as Lucy, becomes aware of the Needle's intentions and has to stall him for time, and protect her child and herself before a fateful rendezvous...

Superb cinematography and one of the late, great Miklos Rosza's finest film scores add to one of the best film thrillers form the 1980's.

Love this little film, that reminds me somewhat of the original Japanese gem, SHALL WE DANCE? (not the overblown Gere/Jlo remake...) Luckily I found it and taped it when it was showing on a STARZ Promo Weekend, because as far as I know, it's not available on DVD. I'll watch just about anything with Yancy Butler (anyone remember the short-lived TV series MANN AND MACHINE ???) in it, and she positively shines in this. She does a dance routine to a disco song that is verrrryyyyyy HOT!! Loved all the other characters in it, especially the ones played by Patrick Stewart and Leslie Caron (where's she been all these years?). This is one of those films that I take out from time to time and always come away smiling after watching it. Recommended highly!!!

I went to see THE BOURNE SUPREMACY and got a major headache from trying to make sense of the "dizzy-cam" filming, which seems to be the vogue now,of the action sequences. Likewise, I ROBOT, with the automatons - on-crack bouncing off the walls while Will "Too Cool For This World" Smith single-handedly beats the nuts and bolts out of them. Appearantly he has super-peripheral vison as well because he can keep track of all 50 of them coming at him at once. I digress. THE VILLAGE, like M. Night Shyamalan's other films, returns to a kinder, gentler time of filmmaking when the viewer could actually be drawn into a story at a normal pace, with character development, beautiful and lush orchestration and a gripping drama that picks up the pace as it goes along. About the first 2 movies I mentioned - I liked them, but found them forgettable 20 minutes after I left the theatre. About THE VILLAGE - it's the kind of movie experience that only comes along once in a blue moon, or at least when Mr. Shyamalan puts a film out. I give it a 10+++

I guess I'm in a minority on this one, but I really enjoyed it. After suffering the dissappointment of the abysmal STARSHIP TROOPERS 2, I approached this one with some trepidation...imagine my surprise in finding a well - crafted thriller with a nice little twist some 40 minutes into the film. Won't give it away, but it took this film in an intriguing direction. Jake Busey does a fine job of filling in Rutger Hauer's demonic shoes from the first outing, and hey, if for no other reason then the fact that my favorite B actress, Kari Wuhrer, is in it makes it all worth the while!!! Director Louis Morneau did another one of my favorite B flics - BATS (1999).

P.T. Barnum would have loved me - I am a sucker for every straight-to-video sequel that comes along, and I get burned every time. Paul Verhoeven's original STARSHIP TROOPERS is one of my top ten favorite science fiction movies, second only to ALIENS. I saw this DVD listed several months ago and I immediately pre-ordered it, thinking that if it has at least 50% of the quality of the original, it'll be a fun movie.....WRONGGGGGGG!!!!!!! can we say EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC? ALIEN 3? FOOD OF THE GODS 2? (as if the original was worth the film stock it was printed on...) Anyway, if you love the original and you happen to walk into a video store and see this on the shelf, RUNNNNN! RUNNNNNNN TO THE NEAREST EXIT!!!!

I picked this up because I had enjoyed a few of the other entries in this series (SHE CREATURE, EARTH VS. THE SPIDER, HOW TO MAKE A MONSTER),but what could have been an amusing update of the original, or even a film which had something to say about youth in the future (i.e. BATTLE ROYALE) turned out to be nothing more than a reprehensible piece of degrading soft core pornography, without one redeeming feature. Why any of the actors would have anything to do with it is beyond me... Normally if I don't care for a movie on DVD or VHS, I'll pass it on to see if anyone else wants it. This movie, on DVD, got shredded into a lot of little pieces by a very large pair of scissors - just so no one would be tempted to pull it out of the trash and take it home to watch it.

Cheap (though not monetarily) "sequal" (so the producers say...) to James Cameron's earlier masterpieces. This flic is as lame as ALIEN 3 was. Cameron told it all in the first 2 films - there is no conceivable reason to come out with this 90 minute demolition derby and room/building trashing fest, except that Hollywood, as usual, can't let a very good film(s) go, without cheapening their memories by coming out with some inferior "continuation." This is like every crappy follow -up Disney has put out on direct-to-video. Arnold looks great, but some of his "clever" lines seem desperate. There's no believable chemistry between John Connor and his "future bride". Claire Danes is a very good actress, but she seems wasted in what is little more than a "scream queen" role. Balitrami's score is lame - he should stick to David Lynch films. All in all, a big disappointment from the director who gave us the excellent U-571 and the even better BREAKDOWN. As far as Arnold,he, like Stallone and his endless ROCKY sequals, should know when to quit.

Better than I expected - nice mix of humor thrown in with the usual "shock" moments. Actually takes some time to build up it's characters, which is rare amongst these kind of flics. Hope we'll see bigger and better things from director/writer Josh Olson, but this is a very good start! Went to see Ang Lee's THE HULK, and I enjoyed this much more! Budgets aren't everything!

Every now and then a fitting tribute to some genre (like RUSTLERS' RHAPSODY was to 1940's to 1960's Westerns) comes along, and for those of us who are fans, it's a great experience! ATTACK OF THE BAT MONSTERS is, for this 1950'S SCI-FI fanatic, a little slice of Heaven on Earth! I'm not familiar with all the details of it's production - I heard it was done as a college thesis(?) - but I thourougly enjoyed it! Well written and with some really nice references to films and filmmakers we have come to know and love, and some good performances. Certainly, a loving tribute! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!! Good luck finding a copy!!!

I love HOWARD THE DUCK. As a fan of the Steve Gerber/Gene colan comic book series, I found this to be an almost perfect film visualization, in both spirit and style. Lea Thompson is delightful as Beverly Switzler, although why they changed her character from a model to a rock musician is beyond me. Great John Barry score and effects from ILM.I would like to see what they could have done with Howard using today's proficiency with computer graphic imaging. A fun movie!

I've been a Bond fan since I first saw GOLDFINGER at the age of 10, back in 1964, and going to a Bond film has always been a special occasion. I thought the series was going to tank with the awful MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN, back in 1974, but Lewis Gilbert, God bless 'em, re-charged it with THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. Since then, I've enjoyed all the Bond flics - they've had their ups and downs. In 1989, however, the series reached it's zenith with the incredible LICENCE TO KILL. Director John Glen (the BEST DIRECTOR IN THE WHOLE SERIES, bar none!) revitalized a silly Roger Moore and gave us his 3 best Bond portrayals, and then gave us the incredible Timothy Dalton in the PERFECT PERSONIFICATION of the Ian Fleming character. Dalton was off and running in THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS - he made the character HIS, immediately, and then came his 2nd performance, in what I consider to be the BEST JAMES BOND FILM. Dalton gives us a Bond on a mission of revenge, plain and simple. Bond doesn't have a whole lot of really CLOSE friends, and when two of the nearest and dearest to him are murdered and mutilated, respectively, he throws his career aside and uses his resources and skills to make the people responsible pay dearly! Dalton gives an outstanding performance, as a James Bond full of controlled rage and hatred, who has to keep it in check until the time is right... Robert Davi plays one of the most heartless and cold villians in the series, and Carey Lowell plays the perfect female ally to Bond. The only weakness in the film is an incredibly bad performance by Talisa Soto, as Lupe, the villian's mistress. I understand that Dalton was set to do more Bond films, but then Albert Broccoli died and the series was quagmired in legal battles for about 4 years or so. It's a shame, because in my mind, TIMOTHY DALTON IS JAMES BOND!

If you love the western genre, this is a must see! A delightful homage to westerns of the 1930's up to the 1960's. Unlike BLAZING SADDLES, this intelligently scripted film doesn't hit you over the head with the jokes - it kind of "eases 'em on in" at a leisurly pace, and on repeated viewings, you'll pick up more and more delights! Tom Berenger is perfect as Rex O'Herlihan the Singing Cowboy, who, along with his marvelously clever horse, Wildfire, brings peace and order to the town of Oakwood Estates. With a teriffic supporting cast, including Andy Griffith as Colonel Ticonderoga, the evil cattle baron, and Fernando Rey as the wicked railroad baron, who both seem to be having a hoot of a time in this delightful comedy. I hope it comes out on DVD 'cause I'm wearing out my VHS copy!

ODE TO BILLY JOE is a humerous and touching tale of events leading up to why "Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge", as related in the Bobbie Gentry hit. Director Max Baer Jr. (who would have thought "Jethro" had this kind of talent?) skillfully re-creates an atmosphere of 1950's rural Mississippi. and breathes life into characters only hinted at in the song. Scripted by Herman Raucher, with the same feeling of nostalgia he gave SUMMER OF '42, and beautifully scored by Michel Legrand, ODE TO BILLY JOE is a sweet and touching story of the awkwardness of teenage love, and the consequences of an unfortunate event, which, in today's politically correct times, would probably be scorned or laughed at. Glynnis O'Connor and Robby Benson, are re-teamed after their excellent debut in JEREMY. Another treasured film on VHS, that I hope will someday come out on DVD.

JEREMY is the most realistic and touching film of it's kind, that I had the pleasure of seeing when I was 19. I understand that it was filmed in 16mm and blown up to 35mm for theatre presentation, which gives the movie an almost documentary - type look and feel. Combined with understated performances by all involved, and an excellent "real-feeling" script, JEREMY avoids all the schmaltz and hyper-melodramatics usually associated with stories of this type. I hate to use the phrase "little film", but it does have the charm of a smaller, independently - produced movie. Before there was "FAME", this film about two students from the New York High School For The Performing Arts, who spend some time together and fall in love, only to be cruelly seperated in the end by unforseen circumstances, has remained a favorite of mine to this day. I have a cherished copy on VHS - I just hope a copy on DVD is forthcoming.

I never cared for the title of this film, although it's a fitting description of the circumstances that bring Richard Johnson, as accident insurance investigator Drummond, onto the case. Elke Sommer and Sylvia Koscina provide ample "eye candy" as villian Nigel Green's "hit girls" (no "hit persons", thank you - this is before political correctness) and Richard Johnson is perfect as the suave Bond-inspired update of the 1930's character, Bulldog Drummond. The finale on a giant mechanical chess board is a highlight!

I remember this film used to be shone on PBS, now and again, and I always looked forward to watching it.(this was before VCRs, so I caught it when it braodcasted) It was one of the better low key spy films to come out during the James Bond phenomena of the mid 60's, a light comedic film that turned into a good suspense thriller by the end. I hope somebody acquires a good print and puts it out on DVD.

With the incredible success of the early James Bond films, all the movie studios were scrambling to come out with their own piece of the action. 20th Century Fox did it the best with the two Derek Flint movies, starring James Coburn in the title role, and the first, OUR MAN FLINT, in particular. This movie balances just the right amounts of action and toungue-in-cheek humor, with great production values and a superb score by Jerry Goldsmith.

For me, a favorite movie is like a cherished old friend. You may not see them very often, but when you do, it's always a special occasion. Billy Wilder's THE APARTMENT is one such "friend" - I take it out every New Year's Eve, pop some popcorn and settle it for an evening with Jack Lemmon, Shirley Maclaine and Fred MacMurray. Everything works in this film - the crisp , widescreen black & white cinematography, the measured amounts of humor and pathos, the excellent script and, of course, the incredible performances of all involved. It's my 2nd all-time Favorite Movie.

BEN-HUR (1959) is simply the finest epic film ever made. Although huge in scope in every way, it's basically a 2 character story about friendship, betrayal, redemption, revenge and salvation. The chariot race sequence has to be the most exciting bit of action ever put on film, bar none. Fortunately we have on video and DVD an excellent print of this classic - of the kind of filmmaking that we'll never see again.

Although saddled with a low budget, this black and white widescreen (REGALSCOPE) science fiction film excellently depicts the intriguing story of an alien gigantic robot sent to absorb the energy of this planet, and turn it upon mankind, basically "softening" up the Earth for a full scale invasion. Starring Jeff Morrow, Barbara Lawrence and John Emery, with excellent production design (by some FORBIDDEN PLANET alumni) and a rousing score by Paul Sawtell. It's my personal favorite of the 1950's sci-fi movies.