Director Ron Howard chronicles the night the lights went out in orbit in Apollo 13 (B+), a powerful drama about a NASA disaster with a strong cast including Tom Hanks, Kevin Bacon and Bill Paxton as astronauts in trouble and Gary Sinese and Ed Harris back in command center. The James Horner music is strong, with haunting vocals by Annie Lennox. Although character development could have been tighter, it is exciting and authentic and proves Howard has the right stuff.
All posts by Stephen Michael Brown
“Braveheart” Often Rousing
Mel Gibson’s sophomore directorial effort is a giant leap forward, a rousing 13th century Scottish epic about the life of real-life martyr and hero William Wallace, Braveheart (B). Gibson the actor does a credible job embodying the hero and rallying men to battle for sprawling battle sequences. The screenplay lets him down a bit, as it’s not great. But oh, the final reel, it’s enough to break your Mel-tale heart!
“Bridges of Madison County” Movie Features Wonderful Performances
Director Clint Eastwood’s The Bridges of Madison County (A) is a sensitive portrait of middle-aged romance, brought to sumptuous life by a sensitive artist. Who would have guessed a sketchy story about a lonely housewife who has an affair with a drifter over a long weekend would be a catalyst for Eastwood as both director and actor to communicate volumes? His muse – Meryl Streep – in great accent and with blissful vulnerability as Francesca, must make tough choices to either be faithful to her family or to live out her every repressed fantasy and escape from all that she knows. The film’s leisurely pace, gorgeously photographed American heartland and mature themes of personal responsibility help both characters and viewers to cross literal and figurative cross-ways into new emotional depths. It’s fun to get caught up in the whirlwind of the Robert-Francesca romance and really tough to come back to reality. It’s a profound film of memories and choices made that will impact the rest of your life.
“Crimson Tide” is Exciting Thriller
Tony Scott’s Crimson Tide (B+) is a fascinating look at the shades of gray that sometimes collide with a tightly regimented world. The movie’s conflict revolves around the mixed interpretation of an emergency signal and how two officers on a U.S. military submarine – Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman – clash in how to lead their men to handle their pressure-cooker situation. It’s a taut, well-written and action-packed thriller, all the more impressive in its tight space.
“Bullets Over Broadway” is a Smart Insider Comedy
As the main characters mounting a theatrical spectacular in Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway (A) toast to a world without compromise, deep inside they know they will have to sell out for a sellout performance. Allen’s showstopping exploration of art, deals and the art of the deal is a comedic bonbon with John Cusask in the lead, Dianne Wiest as a grand diva, Chazz Palminteri as a gangster producer and Jennifer Tilly as a sublimely untalented gangster moll and wannabe singer. The mounting verbal, sight and character gags that emerge as opening night for a doomed show coalesce seal the deal for the film’s appeal. And Allen has rarely made a film this striking in its visuals, with vivid pop colors, art deco posters, glitzy marquees and gorgeous iconography of the Great White Way providing a rich palette.
“Before Sunrise” a Revelatory Glimpse at Young Love, Gen X Style
Midway through Richard Linklater’s Before Sunrise (A+), a character asks, “Isn’t everything we’re doing in life a way to be loved a little more?” Leading to discussions, revelations, and lingering meditations, this question is but one thread in a tapestry of character study. Sunrise is a celebration of human language that reveals more about its loquacious characters than any film targeted to twentysomethings in recent memory. An American man (Ethan Hawke) and French woman (Julie Delpy) meet on a European train and spend a night walking and talking through Vienna. Through debate, Q&A sessions with imaginary friends, frisky flirting and more, the two reveal more in a night than many do in a lifetime. The film is a funny, romantic and thoughtful ode to discovering your soulmate and then learning to communicate with them.
“Bad Boys” is Not Particularly Funny or Exciting
Director Michael Bay could have projected the coming attractions trailer over and over for the full running time of the full-length duration of Bad Boys (F) with the same result. The film is nothing more than a calculated marketing ploy pairing two popular TV stars – Will Smith (The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air) and Martin Lawrence (Martin) – as buddy cops with car chases and product plugs. The dialogue ranges from “Hey baybee” to “go girl” and misses all chances to leverage the chemistry between two talented actors.
Comedy “Mixed Nuts” May Cause Allergic Reaction
Director Nora Ephron helms her first certified bomb with Mixed Nuts (D) which registers something south of North, east of Ishtar and beyond Heaven’s Gate. This holiday clunker starring Steve Martin is a hodgepodge of throwaway jokes and witless situations involving fruitcakes, touch-tone phone options for the suicide hotline and a Yuletide cross-dresser. This loose adaptation of the French Le Pere Noel Est Une Ordure may spark a ban on imports.
“Crumb” Offers Offbeat Documentary Lead
Terry Zwigoff’s profound documentary Crumb (A-) covers the life of an underground artist and his dysfunctional family with brazen and bizarre panache. Scored with nickelodeon-style three-penny opera music and riddled with the art that made its subject famous, the film chronicles Robert Crumb’s disturbing influences and counter-cultural outputs (he’s the guy who first shocked with the X-rated Fritz the Cat character). Playing out like a psychedelic horror-show, the film is like a sketchbook with Crumb’s stream of consciousness continually building the narrative, and you just can’t look away.
Disney’s Animated “Lion King” One of 1994’s Best Films
Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff’s The Lion King (A-) is a stirring animal version of Hamlet featuring some heavy themes about a “circle of life” with betrayal, death and ascension. The regal undertones and the Elton John tunes don’t always jive, but it’s hard to deny the power, poignancy and genuine beauty of this Disney animation milestone. This film marches with a triumphant beat and eschews the formula of the hits directly before it to fashion and even bigger juggernaut of global wonder.
“Natural Born Killers” Captures Tabloid Culture
Oliver Stone’s Natural Born Killers (B+) confronts our society of spectacle through a modern-day Bonnie and Clyde named Mickey and Mallory Knox. Living in their own kaleidoscopic world of crime and bloodshed, this deranged duo feeds off a hunger for fame and fortune and embarks on a cross-country spree of decadence that is matched by a creative series of full-tilt vignettes and vivid cinematography. Like Stanley Kubrick in A Clockwork Orange, Stone casts his antiheroes with spectacularly endearing actors (in this case, Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis); all other characters are tiresome or unlikable. Just as Stone was becoming a bit pedantic, he reinvented himself with this film and truly asserted his power. Working from a Quentin Tarantino story, he strikes a dark balance in this thought-provoking and controversial stunner.
Both Funny and Foul, “Clerks” is a Great Time
You know the sensation: the feeling you get after gulping a slush drink too fast. The rush to your frozen noggin is unbearable for one brief, piercing moment. Then it stops. It’s a revelation, relief or rejuvenation. Writer/director Kevin Smith’s Clerks (A) is like that instant of peace when you regain your equilibrium and once again feel ready to take on the world. It’s a delightful slacker comedy about a day in the life of two friends who work in an adjoining video shop and convenience store. Through a farcical display of raunchy, raucous dialogue, the film captures the wacky world of life on minimum wage. The wisdom of these foul mouthed philosophers should give solace to anyone who has ever contained fury at a customer or secretly desired to break the rules. Smith employs a non-linear approach with quick camera jerks and slow promenades over the absurdist landscape to fashion a monochrome masterpiece. Despite the snark, there’s a certain sweetness to the central duo’s friendship and a perverse charm to their assortment of strange friends and customers. This is strictly for folks who don’t mind a little residual cheese puff dust on their hands.