I wish Jason Patric (
Downloading Nancy, Sleepers) would have landed a leading role on a gritty premium cable detective show (think of a darker
True Detective that spanned multiple seasons with the same cast). His two best roles are that of an undercover narcotics officer willing to bend the law for the greater good. The first is the underrated
Narc, a 2002 film that paired him opposite Ray Liotta. Eleven years earlier, Lili Fini Zanuck’s
Rush further defined him as one of the most talented up-and-coming actors, following leading roles in movies like
The Lost Boys,
The Beast, and
After Dark, My Sweet.
Continue reading Rush (1991) →
Consistent with many of the most successful biopics about the greatest of American songwriters/bands (i.e.,
Walk the Line, Ray, Love & Mercy, La Bamba, What’s Love Got to Do With It, 8 Mile, Great Balls of Fire, Straight Outta Compton, Bohemian Rhapsody) in the last 30 years comes Oliver Stone’s (
Platoon, Born on the Fourth of July) distant, unsteady, and unapologetic story of Jim Morrison and his band in the 1991 movie
The Doors. Liked more by
audiences than critics, the Val Kilmer (
Top Gun, Heat) led movie takes us through the formation of the band in the early 1960s to Morrison’s mysterious 1971 death in a Paris bathtub at the age of 27. One of the founding members of the infamous 27 Club, Morrison was an energizing performer whose limit-pushing love of drugs and alcohol led to his early death.
Continue reading The Doors (1991) →
To say that
Frankie & Johnny capitalized on the success of
When Harry Met Sally would be an understatement. While
When Harry Met Sally was new, fresh, and celebrated,
Frankie & Johnny felt played out, stale, and sometimes tiresome. This movie has all of the cliches that a romantic dramedy should have. A middle-aged woman is down on her luck after a number of failed relationships. Off the street comes a man who enters her life. She doesn’t want to like him. She doesn’t want to be involved because she knows she will inevitably be hurt again. So, instead, she spends her nights alone. He keeps pressing, and eventually, she lets him in. They have complications. She questions why he likes her. He responds with the “just let life happen” type response. We’ve seen this movie a million times and will see it a million more.
Continue reading Frankie and Johnny (1991) →
Movies I Watch That Inspire Me to Critique!