Tag: Stephen Tobolowsky
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There’s no point to Great Balls of Fire! As a biopic it’s shaky–lead Dennis Quaid only gets to be the protagonist when he’s not being too despicable, which isn’t often and the film has to distance itself from Winona Ryder, playing Quaid’s love interest. And thirteen year-old cousin. So it’s understandable director McBride and co-screenwriter…
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Besides being generally awful, the most annoying thing about An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn is how it never fluctuates. Once the director–Arthur Hiller took his name off, amusingly not as a publicity stunt but because of writer Joe Eszterhas–and Eszterhas’s script establish the rather paltry quality of the plot and the jokes, it…
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Memoirs of an Invisible Man is pointless. Most of its problems stem from the film’s lack of focus–in some ways, given Chevy Chase is a stockbroker and leads a life of extreme comfort, it ought to be an examination of eighties yuppies. Only a few years late. Except it’s obvious director Carpenter doesn’t want to…
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Basic Instinct somehow manages to be smart and stupid at the same time. The direction and the production are impeccable. Verhoeven sort of does a nouveau Hitchcock thing–ably aided by Jerry Goldsmith’s score–while mixing in a bit of film noir. He does this thing with establishing shots; the focus is always on character, never the…
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Outstanding, high concept comedy about misanthrope weatherman Bill Murray going to a small-town to cover the titular holiday, only to discover he can’t ever leave–he’s repeating the same day over and over and over again. Great Murray performance. Really smart script (by director Ramis and Danny Rubin). DVD, Blu-ray, Streaming.Continue reading →
The Stop Button 