Movie Review: 10 To Midnight (1983)

Genre: Crime Thriller  

Director: J. Lee Thompson  

Starring: Charles Bronson, Wilford Brimley, Lisa Eilbacher, Andrew Stevens, Gene Davis  

Running Time: 102 minutes  

Synopsis: In Los Angeles, disturbed young man Warren Stacey (Gene Davis) murders an office colleague who rejected his advances, and commits the crime while naked. Detectives Leo Kessler (Charles Bronson) and Paul McAnn (Andrew Stevens) investigate, and Leo realizes the victim was a friend of his daughter Laurie (Lisa Eilbacher), a nursing student. When Stacey kills again, Leo grows increasingly frustrated by the lack of conclusive evidence. He bends the law in an attempt to secure a conviction, and Stacey retaliates by targeting Laurie.

What Works Well: This surprisingly controlled crime thriller finds Charles Bronson in decent form, making full use of a reasonably engaging plot and a moral dilemma in the gap between law and justice. With Gene Davis delivering a disturbing portrait of evil hiding in plain sight, the villain Warren Stacey is introduced early as a worthwhile foe, and his penchant for committing murders while nude injects kink to his sexual deviancy. Lisa Eilbacher adds engagement as Bronson's daughter, while Wilford Brimley provides veteran talent as the police chief.

What Does Not Work As Well: Director J. Lee Thompson's straight-ahead style is consistent with B-movie fundamentals. The dialogue is often either creaky or cringey, a few scenes meander into slasher/horror territory as an unnecessary gateway to gore, and the romance between McAnn and Laurie settles into lukewarm clunkiness.

Key Quote:

Leo: You go in that courtroom and forget what's legal and do what's right.

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Movie Review: Murphy's Law (1986)

Genre: Crime Action  

Director: J. Lee Thompson  

Starring: Charles Bronson, Kathleen Wilhoite, Carrie Snodgress  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: Los Angeles police detective Jack Murphy (Charles Bronson) is drinking heavily to drown the sorrow of divorce. After tangling with mouthy car thief Arabella (Kathleen Wilhoite), Murphy goes after crime boss Frank Vincenzo (Richard Romanus). But his real problems start when psychotic murderess Joan Freeman (Carrie Snodgress) is released after serving 10 years in prison. She vows revenge on all those who convicted her, starting with Murphy.

What Works Well: Kathleen Wilhoite as scrappy car thief Arabella exhausts the dictionary in search of non-stop colourful insults and innovative vulgarities directed at all-comers, and her best-of-enemies relationship with Bronson's Murphy provides some warmth and wit.

What Does Not Work As Well: This is a crass and style-free B-movie, where the characters are flat and someone's head is blown off in a splatter of blood at least every 10 minutes. The plot is full of holes, and director J. Lee Thompson just points the camera and shoots, taking most care to maximize the superfluous nudity. Aside from a few one-liners, Bronson is markedly disinterested, and neither Richard Romanus as a mobster nor Carrie Snodgress as a psycho are given any opportunities to move beyond obvious villainy.

Key Quote:

Joan Freeman: Go to Hell!

Jack Murphy: Ladies first.

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Movie Review: Poor Things (2023)

Genre: Fantasy Dramedy  

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos  

Starring: Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, Ramy Youssef  

Running Time: 142 minutes  

Synopsis: In Victorian London, eccentric scientist Dr. Godwin Baxter (Willem Dafoe) reanimates suicide victim Bella (Emma Stone) after implanting the brain of her unborn baby in her head. Bella makes quick progress re-learning to walk and talk, and Godwin recruits medical student Max McCandles (Ramy Youssef) to monitor her development. Bella discovers sexual pleasure, and Godwin suggests that Max should marry her. Unscrupulous lawyer Duncan Wedderburn (Mark Ruffalo) swoops in and lures Bella into joining him on a sex-filled adventure starting in Lisbon, but he gets more than he bargained for.

What Works Well: The adaptation of Alasdair Gray's novel is a fantastical journey into societal what-ifs. Writer Tony McNamara combines macabre humour with serious themes discarding the politeness shaping women's behaviour and allowing unconstrained discovery of the human condition. Uninhibited and unprogrammed, Bella rejects the men attempting to confine and control her behaviour, gravitating instead to what interests her physically, intellectually, and economically. Director Yorgos Lanthimos and his cinematographer Robbie Ryan create stunningly artistic visuals combining surrealism with a cyberpunk aesthetic, mixing colour, black and white, fish-eye lenses, keyhole perspectives, gloomy skies, and impressionist backgrounds into audacious dynamism. Emma Stone's evolution from awkward child-in-a-woman's-body to a confident sophisticate is a delight.

What Does Not Work As Well: A 20 minute trim would have tightened the narrative, while Bella's sexual appetite is allowed to dominate at the expense of other adult pursuits.

Key Quote:

Bella: If I know the world I can improve it.

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Movie Review: Now And Then (1995)

Genre: Coming-Of-Age Dramedy  

Director: Lesli Linka Glatter  

Starring: Demi Moore, Melanie Griffith, Rosie O'Donnell, Rita Wilson, Thora Birch, Christina Ricci  

Running Time: 100 minutes  

Synopsis: Now in their 30s, four friends from childhood re-convene in their small hometown of Shelby, Indiana. Chrissy (Rita Wilson) still lives in her parents' house and is about to give birth. Roberta (Rosie O'Donnell) is a doctor, Teeny (Melanie Griffiths) a Hollywood star, and Samantha (Demi Moore) an author. In a long flashback they reminisce about the summer of 1970, when as pre-teens they became aware of life's complexities, including imperfect parents, societal ills, and burgeoning sexuality.

What Works Well: This girl's equivalent of Stand By Me explores a range of pre-adult experiences ranging from mundane misadventures (the girls have a running feud with a group of boys) to painful awakenings into the adult world. The four young actresses (Ashleigh Aston Moore as Chrissy, Christina Ricci as Roberta, Thora Birch as Teeny, and Gaby Hoffman as Samantha) capably carry the acting load and tease out subtle bonds within the already sturdy quadrangle: Chrissy and Roberta are best friends and as adults remained in Shelby, while Teeny and Samantha share a more adventurous spirit and moved far from their hometown. Brendan Fraser adds era context as a Vietnam War veteran, and Walter Sparrow makes an impact as "Crazy" Pete.

What Does Not Work As Well: The adult Samantha over-narrates with saturated sullenness, and the book-end scenes featuring the grown women appear slapped-on to add marketable star names. Moore, Griffith, and O'Donnell barely mask their disinterest, while Wilson embraces cartoon representations. In the flashback, excessive time is occupied with a side-story involving seances and a community tragedy from years past, while a near-death encounter involving an over-sized catch basin is dramatic overkill.

Key Quote:

Young Roberta: You can't get pregnant from French-kissing!

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Movie Review: Father Of The Bride (1991)

Genre: Comedy  

Director: Charles Shyer  

Starring: Steve Martin, Diane Keaton, Martin Short  

Running Time: 105 minutes  

Synopsis: In an idyllic suburban California town, shoe company owner George Banks (Steve Martin) and his wife Nina (Diane Keaton) are surprised when their 22 year-old daughter Annie (Kimberly Williams) announces that she will soon get married. George struggles with the idea that his daughter is all grown up, and has awkward encounters with the groom-to-be, Annie's future in-laws, and wedding planner Franck (Martin Short). But George's biggest concern is the mounting cost of the lavish wedding.

What Works Well: This remake rides an easygoing attitude and a game Steve Martin performance to provide plenty of laughs and reliable entertainment. The script (co-written by director Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers) leans into the chaos of organizing a wedding and the wistfulness of a dad losing his princess to another man. The bathed-in-glowing-white settings are lavish (the Banks family is wealthy; their future in-laws are very wealthy), the pacing brisk, and the conflicts easily hurdled. In his few scenes, Martin Short as wedding planner Franck hilariously mangles the English language.

What Does Not Work As Well: The saccharine ingredients are unapologetically layered on in thick globs. George's inability to think or behave with adult maturity threatens to become tiresome, and his obsession with the cost of everything is allowed to dominate. A couple of gags, including kids-as-valets, miss the mark.

Key Quote:

Nina (to George): I still think you see Annie as a seven year-old girl in pigtails!



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Movie Review: Mothers' Instinct (2024)

Genre: Mystery Drama  

Director: Benoit Delhomme  
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain  

Running Time: 94 minutes  

Synopsis: In the early 1960s, suburban housewives Celine and Alice (Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain) are next-door neighbours and best friends. Celine is mother to Max and cannot have any more children. Alice suffers from anxieties and is constantly worried about her son Theo, who is allergic to nuts. Celine and Alice's husbands both have good jobs, while Max and Theo are best friends. A tragedy interrupts the near-idyllic lives of the two families, testing the women's close bond.

What Works Well: Anne Hathaway and Jessica Chastain are both in fine form, and infuse Celine and Alice with enough ambiguities to initially sustain a mystery thick with opaque motivations and insidious manipulations. The costumes and hairstyles admirably evoke a chic middle-class suburban aesthetic on the cusp of the Kennedy era.

What Does Not Work As Well: The plot progresses on a straight trajectory towards preposterous, leaning hard against subtlety until it suddenly does not. The script raises questions about childhood trauma, motherhood, loss, friendship, and mental health, but miserably fails to actually probe any of the themes, settling instead for a boorish final act unworthy of Hathaway and Chastain. The supporting characters behind the two leads are relegated to irrelevant. 

Key Quote:

Alice (to her husband): You think I'm imagining things?

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Movie Review: Pal Joey (1957)

Genre: Musical Romance  

Director: George Sidney  

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak  

Running Time: 109 minutes  

Synopsis: Nightclub singer and crass womanizer Joey Evans (Frank Sinatra) has been thrown out of every joint he's ever worked at. He arrives in San Francisco, weasels his way into performing at a club, and is soon lusting after innocent chorus girl Linda English (Kim Novak). Joey has ambitions to open his own club, and romances rich widow (and former stripper) Vera Prentice-Simpson (Rita Hayworth) into funding his project. But trouble arises when Vera realizes Joey may really be in love with Linda.

What Works Well: The loose adaptation of a 1940 Broadway musical (based on a John O'Hara novel) is drenched in vivid nightclub ambience where performances are tacky and desperation hangs in the air. The sturdy love triangle offers sharp edges derived from character fundamentals, while in the central role a jaunty Frank Sinatra navigates the complex arc of a manipulative scoundrel confronting a new set of values. Some of the songs are imported from other musicals, and the better highlights include The Lady Is A Tramp, Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered, and There's A Small Hotel.

What Does Not Work As Well: The plot is wafer thin, and Joey's Neanderthalic attitude towards women creates a distasteful character for most of the running time. The singing voices of Rita Hayworth and Kim Novak are dubbed, and Novak never finds her footing as a naive chorus girl from a rural background. Beyond the three leads, there are no notable secondary characters to animate the surroundings.

Key Quote:

Joey (to Vera): Nobody owns Joey, but Joey.

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Movie Review: His Three Daughters (2023)

Genre: Drama  

Director: Azazel Jacobs  

Starring: Carrie Coon, Elizabeth Olsen, Natasha Lyonne  

Running Time: 101 minutes  

Synopsis: Three sisters converge at the New York apartment of their father Vincent, who is dying under home hospice care. Katie (Carrie Coon) is highly strung and bossy, while Christina (Elizabeth Olsen) is soft spoken and a natural conciliator. The third sister (from Vincent's second marriage) is pothead and sports gambling addict Rachel (Natasha Lyonne), who lives with her dad and stands to inherit the apartment. Within the confined surroundings and under the stress of their father's impending demise, tensions surface between the sisters.

What Works Well: Writer and director Azazel Jacobs creates a milieu crackling with initially unspoken resentments, his organic script flowing with shrewd expressions of bottled-up frustration and barely subdued barbs. Katie, Christina, and Rachel are sharply drawn and distinct individuals connected by one parent, and as their dad approaches the end, they are forced to dig beneath their antagonism to explore what else binds them. The theatrical trappings work in favour of the drama's intimacy, and the three excellent lead performances expose warts-and-all humanity.

What Does Not Work As Well: The sisters appear annoyingly unaware that the imperfections besetting their lives are easily classified as first world problems.

Key Quote:

Rachel (contributing to her father's obituary): Married a couple of crazy bitches, raised a few crazy bitches.

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Movie Review: Civil War (2024)

Genre: War Drama  

Director: Alex Garland  

Starring: Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Jesse Plemons  

Running Time: 109 minutes  

Synopsis: The United States is in the grips of a civil war, with the Western Forces of California and Texas rebelling against a three-term President (Nick Offerman) and advancing on Washington DC. Veteran war photographer Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst) and reporter Joel (Wagner Moura) embark on a hazardous trip from New York to the capital, intending to interview the President. They reluctantly agree to give a ride to elderly journalist Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and young upstart photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny). Their trip will expose them to the horrors of a country tearing itself apart.

What Works Well: Writer and director Alex Garland transposes carnage associated with failed states into the heart of a democratic superpower, and allows four members of the press to witness the consequent disintegration. The visuals are violent and jarring, often accompanied by innovatively nihilistic music, or just silence. Kirsten Dunst as the seen-in-all-before photographer masks sorrow with a caustic attitude, and the final 30 minutes feature an exhilarating assault on what was once the seat of global power.

What Does Not Work As Well: The war's politics, causes and strategies are kept intentionally vague, leaving just the ground-eye-view as context. Lee, Joel, Sammy and Jessie are therefore asked to carry the dramatic weight, but they are at best sketched-in characters, heavily reliant on stereotype definitions.  

Key Quote:

Lee: Every time I survived a war zone, I thought I was sending a warning home - "Don't do this". But here we are.



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Movie Review: My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Joel Zwick  

Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine  

Running Time: 95 minutes  

Synopsis: In Chicago, 30 year-old Toula Portokalos (Nia Vardalos) is still single, much to the disappointment of her large and boisterous Greek family, including her parents Costas and Maria (Michael Constantine and Lainie Kazan). Finally fed-up with working at her father's restaurant, Toula registers for college courses, undergoes an image make-over, and re-energizes her aunt's travel agency business. A romance evolves with teacher Ian Miller (John Corbett), but he is not Greek and Toula's family can overwhelm outsiders.

What Works Well: This sweet and conflict-free rom-com leans into the experience of immigrant offspring caught between homeland traditions and new world culture. Writer and star Nia Vardalos finds a few good laughs, mostly within the cacophony of an extended family obsessed with food, gossip, and well-intentioned manipulation. Costas benefits from a couple of good running gags (involving Windex and word origins), and the sense of caring chaos strengthening family bonds is infectious.

What Does Not Work As Well: The romance itself is lost in the shuffle, not helped by an underwritten role for romantic interest Ian, while his milquetoast parents come across as insular and ignorant. The Greek stereotypes are hammered home with the subtlety of a jackhammer, and within the tsunami of familial disorder, the more perceptive lines of dialogue are awkwardly misplaced. 

Key Quote:

Toula (narrating): There are three things that every Greek woman must do in life: marry Greek boys, make Greek babies, and feed everyone.

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