The Pope has suddenly died and a new one must be elected via a titular conclave as soon as possible at Vatican City. Cardinal Law (Ralph Fiennes) has been tasked with running this conclave and must not only ensure that every viable candidate has been properly vetted but that the nominating and voting processes are fair among all other cardinals. And what results is akin to a courtroom/legal drama with several of the usual trappings including surprise revelations and witnesses.&nbs...

David Ayers (Suicide Squad, The Beekeeper) directs this brutal war drama which takes place during the last days of World War II along the German front. We follow a crew riding within a tank known as the titular "Fury" which is lead by Brad Pitt's grizzled veteran nick-named "Wardaddy." Pitt leads a stellar cast including Michael Pena, Shia LeBouf, Jon Bernthal and Logan Lerman, the latter of whom plays Norman who becomes the audience avatar as he has just joined this crew and has ...

In the grand tradition of such intimate war epics as Dunkirk and Black Hawk Down, Oscar-winner Sam Mendes (American Beauty, Skyfall) directed this ground-level journey of two young British army privates (Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay) who are sent on an urgent mission during World War I to deliver a message that will hopefully stop 1,600 men from walking straight into a deadly trap set by the enemy. And everything which transpires on-screen is conducted within ONE continuous shot....

DIVORCE WEEK continues (and concludes) with this game-changing domestic drama directed by Robert Benton (Places in the Heart, Nobody's Fool) which not only nominated for nine Oscars but would also win five Oscars including Best Picture for 1979. Starring as the titular Kramer's are Dustin Hoffman as Ted and Meryl Streep as Joanna - they are a young married couple living in New York City with their young son Billy (Justin Henry) and suddenly one day, Joanna decides to leave. What r...

What happens when you take one of Hollywood's most popular on-screen couples at the time and pin them against each other in a movie about divorce? Thirty-five years ago, newly minted director (and co-star) Danny DeVito was apparently the first to attempt to answer that question....and he did so with the big-time movie star pairing which he had co-starred recently in two popular romantic action comedies (Romancing the Stone, Jewel of the Nile). That would be Michael Douglas and Kat...

If a very handsome and friendly young veteran named David visited your home one afternoon with a warm smile and some very kind words about your son whom he served with overseas....wouldn't YOU invite him over to stay? That's the main question which kicks off this lean, mean horror thriller directed by aspiring genre master Adam Wingard (You're Next, Godzilla Vs Kong) and starring Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey, Cuckoo) AS David, the titular guest. It was released ten years ago to much...

There's a serial killer around New York city going around murdering people in increasingly bizarre ways while also leaving increasingly minute details behind as clues. Denzel Washington plays the brilliant criminologist Lincoln Rhymes who has been paralyzed from the neck down but can still solve clues while bedridden and Angelina Jolie plays Amelia, a plucky young beat cop-former model with a natural eye for forensics and...yada yada yada...they team up to catch the killer. Direct...

LIVE FROM NEW YORK....For any one born after 1975 (or before), "Saturday Night Live" has been an American entertainment institution...an irreverent weekly platform for up-to-the-minute comedy featuring promising performers, many of whom would go on to be massive stars in various media. But it wasn't always that way....and director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In the Air) has decided to take to that night in October 1975 when it all started. Specifically, this (loosely) presents us with...

ONE TWO, Freddy's coming for you...THREE FOUR, Better lock your door...Forty years ago this November saw the release of one of the most influential horror films of all time directed by the late, great Wes Craven who would gradually be acknowledged as one of the true masters of the horror genre having directed iconic genre classics before this (The Hills Have Eyes, The Last House on the Left) and after, most notably Scream which would come out twelve years later. And what he created as b...

Michael Douglas, Mullets, and Motorcycles....what else do you need? 🤔Well you also have the legendary Japanese movie star Ken Takakura, vibrant young Andy Garcia, gorgeous visuals from cinematographer Jan de Bont, sadly the last performance from Yusaka Matsuda, plus THE first great action score from Hans Zimmer. Oh and it's directed by Sir Ridley Scott (Alien, Gladiator, Thelma & Louise) though you could forgiven for thinking it might have been directed by his late brother Tony at t...

Forty years ago this Fall, we saw the release of one of the most influential genre films of the Modern Era, this low-budget sci-fi horror thriller directed by a young upstart named James Cameron....this being his first full-on feature film. It was a simple tale about a mild-mannered young waitress named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who unknowingly holds a very unique position to fight a future war against the machines, the imposing cybernetic assassin (Arnold Schwarzenegger) sent back ...

Oscar-winning director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now, Bram Stoker's Dracula) has finally done it....he has completed his long-in-the-works passion project, an original story which he began developing as far back as the late '70's. It's about the fictional futuristic city of New Rome where a brilliant architect (Adam Driver) has been tasked with redesigning the city to become more like a utopia. The only people standing in his way are the mayor (Giancarlo Espo...

The FIRST Rule About Fight Club is....Do NOT TALK About Fight ClubOf course when this action satire directed by David Fincher (Seven, The Social Network) first opened twenty-five years ago to mixed reviews and mediocre box office, it still HEAVILY talked about by a certain segment of the population which just could not get enough of it. It featured two iconic characters played by Brad Pitt and Edward Norton at the peak of the powers plus a surprising turn by Helena Bonham Carter....alon...

Thirty years ago, director Curtis Hanson (LA Confidential, 8 Mile) helped introduce us to what was seemed like a very novel concept on-screen for the first time: "MERYL STREEP, ACTION HERO." Up until this point, Streep had already been nominated for multiple awards along with winning several - she was and still IS considered Our Greatest Living Actress who had delivered memorable performances in mostly serious dramas though in more recently years (in the early '90's) had often branched ...

"Have you ever dreamt of a better version of yourself?"That's not only the tagline for this movie but for the fictional experimental drug which is offer to our main protagonist. Demi Moore (Ghost, Indecent Proposal) plays Elizabeth Sparkle, a middle-aged actress/fitness guru who has been fired from the TV show she hosts on her 50th birthday. She feels rejected, cast aside, and fearful of losing more of what made her a star. And then comes a mysterious invitation to try a bla...

When this erotic mystery was first released in the Fall of '89, it was looked upon as a comeback vehicle for legendary actor Al Pacino who stars as beleaguered NYPD detective Frank Keller who is struggling with both alcoholism and the fallout from his recent divorce. And then Frank unearths a new case which catches his interest.....a series of murders which are all linked to dates set up in personal ads AND the classic '50's song, "Sea of Love." He teams up with a fellow detective...

Thirty years ago, this inspiring prison drama based upon a short story by Stephen King was released to thunderous acclaim and weak box office. Over time via strong video/DVD sales and steady play on cable, it built up a very devoted following to the point where it is now ranked #1 among all films rated on IMDB. It's a beloved story focusing on two convicts at Shawshank Prison named Andy (Tim Robbins) and Red (Morgan Freeman) who become very close friends over several decades.&nbsp...

SOMEBODY....STOP HIM!!! Of course we're referring to Stanley Ipkiss played by Jim Carrey once he puts on that mask, the titular mask for this Summer '94 blockbuster smash which was based on a graphic novel of the same name. Directed by Chuck Russell (Eraser) this was released amidst a breakout year for Carrey, smack between blockbusters Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Dumb and Dumber. But THIS was the one where he got to stretch a bit....LITERALLY. :) Carrey plays a mild-mann...

The Ghost With The Most is BACK! More than thirty-six years after the original cult smash Beetlejuice was released into theaters, director Tim Burton returns along with Winona Ryder, Catherine O'Hara, and Michael Keaton in the titular role. New additions to the cast include Jenna Ortega (Scream 6, Wednesday), Monica Bellucci (Irreversible, Matrix Reloaded), and Justin Theroux (The Leftovers, Mulholland Drive). The plot? Well....let's just say that there are lots of thr...

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN?Thirty years ago this past summer, director Russell Mulcahy (Highlander, Ricochet) presented the answer to that question with a heavily hyped, lavish adaption of the popular radio show and comic strip of the same name from the '30's and 40's.....and audiences didn't seem to care, neither did critics for that matter. However over time, this art-deco fantasy action thriller has garnered a bit of a cult following thanks to it very strong cast,...

Seventy years ago, Alfred Hitchcock....the Master of Suspense....gave us the ultimate low-key, low-stakes paranoia thriller focusing on laid-up photographer L.B. played by the late great James Stewart. L.B. has a broken leg and is stuck in his non-air-conditioned New York apartment where he has apparently has nothing better to do than.....watch. Watch his neighbors that is as he lives in the middle of a open courtyard surrounded on all sides by other apartments....especially one a...

Thirty years ago, this in-your-face violent satire of murder and media consumption was released to a mixture of acclaim and controversy. Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone (Platoon, Wall Street) presented us with the story of Mickey (Woody Harrelson) and Mallory (Juliette Lewis), two crazy lovers who are on a murder spree across the country. What results is not only a national manhunt for them leading to incarceration at a prison lead but a brutal warden (Tommy Lee Jones) but a f...

Once Upon a Time in Nazi-Occupied France....A beloved filmmaker (Quentin Tarantino) directed his first epic period piece just LOOSELY (very loosely) based upon true events....meaning World War II. We follow several different characters all within France at the time including Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent) a Jewish movie theater owner, Lt. Aldo Raines (Brad Pitt), the leader of a small roving grope of Allied soldiers known as "The Basterds," Archie Hickock (Michael Fassbender) a sharp Briti...

It has been more than seven years since the last entry in the long-running franchise was released....and lord knows how long has it been since we actually saw a GOOD Alien film? (Just one person's opinion) Well the xenomorph is BACK and the titular creature has brought its friends including several "face-huggers." :o And they're ALL after a rag-tag group of young colonists who just want to escape their dreary mining colony for a better world where there is actually daylight. Their...