Journalist, Author & Syndicated Columnist
An over-the-top film co-starring a young and gorgeous Susan Sarandon, “The Other Side of Midnight” is a deliciously melodramatic adaptation of Sidney Sheldon’s sweeping (and often schlocky) novel of the same name.
Before making a name for himself in Hollywood with the Rush Hour franchise, Jackie Chan was already an international superstar, thanks to Hong Kong films such as Police Story and its sequels. While not quite up to par with that film, Police Story 2 (released in 1988) still manages to pack quite the punch, picking up where Police Story left off.
A family film with plenty of heart, “Opal Dream” draws home the point that sometimes you don’t have to see things to believe in them.
Take two male figure skaters, throw in a preposterous storyline, and you’ve got Blades of Glory, a surprisingly funny film that almost makes you forgive Will Ferrell for his back-to-back 2005 clunkers “Kicking & Screaming” and “Bewitched.”
In the sweet family drama “Aurora Borealis,” Joshua Jackson portrays Duncan, a twentysomething former hockey player who deals with the death of his father–10 years prior–by bonding with his grandfather Ronald (Donald Sutherland), whose own health is deteriorating due to the onset of dementia.
Few would have guessed that Yves Saint Laurent idolized beatniks, and even secretly desired to become one. But already known for his impeccable taste and proper upbringing, the fashion designer was reticent to change too much from what brought him fame–haute couture.
Take “Animal House,” throw in a dose of television’s :Bosom Buddies” and you get the Phoebe Cates/Matthew Modine sex farce “Private School.” The 1983 film was shot one year after Cates won fame in “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” (thanks primarily to her little red bikini), and two years before Modine won rave reviews for his work in “Vision Quest.”
A coming-of-age story starring a bunch of fiftysomething stars rather than teenage actors, “Wild Hogs” is a well-intentioned comedy starring John Travolta (Woody), Tim Allen (Doug), Martin Lawrence (Bobby), and William H. Macy (Dudley) as a group of Midwesterners facing their own versions of mid-life crises.
When a movie title has the word “funny” in it, viewers have an expectation that the film will incite at least a few laughs. In Funny Money, mild-mannered white-collar accountant Henry Perkins (Chevy Chase) literally stumbles upon a bag full of money, through a series of improbable mishaps. Mayhem ensues when he finds himself the illegal recipient of a few million dollars.