Those Crazy Movie Folks at Graham Cinema

You guessed it. We are reviewing the 1986 comedy classic Ruthless People, starring Danny DeVito, Bette Midler, Judge Reinhold, Helen Slater and Bill Pullman. Everyone is extorting everyone and The Divine Ms M is at the height of her fame. We also talk about how Bette got her very appropriate nickname.

We review a classic Stephen King movie adaptation of 'The Dead Zone' (1983) starring Christopher Walken, Tom Skerritt and Martin Sheen. We also talk about Stephen King's movies, TV and big screen, which ones worked, which ones ....uh not so much.

As a tribute to the memory of 9-11, we are focusing our podcast on two movies that were released in 2006 World Trade Center, starring Nicholas Cage and United 93 starring no one we know. Both good in their own way, however, United 93 is by far the more superior of the two. We also get into Nicholas Cage going from cold to hot to cold in his career.

Scott and I talk about the 1988 Sherlock Holmes comedy 'Without a Clue'. The movie features a great cast including Oscar winners Michael Caine as Holmes and Ben Kingsley at Watson. The concept is clever and amusing but it falls short of delivery in a few spots. We also talk about the 10 million movie and TV adaptations of the beloved literary character; which ones worked and which ones not so much.

This week we take a special request to review the 1991 hit film 'What About Bob?', a madcap comedy starring Bill Murray, Richard Dreyfuss and Julie Haggerty, Directed by Frank Oz. This film kind of reminds me of the song 'The Cat Came Back' as it has the same kind of premise. Bob is a walking phobia who experiences extreme separation anxiety when his new therapist goes on vacation. So he follows him and basically endures himself to everyone except his doctor. Hilarity ensues. We also talk about Bill Murray's well-documented antics and how polarizing a figure he can be. We also delve into actors with famously difficult reputations.

We review a movie I have referred to during several podcasts, the 1988 Best Picture nominee The Accidental Tourist starring William Hurt, Kathleen Turner and Geena Davis. A hidden gem that has mostly been forgotten among mainstream moviegoers, however, still highly revered in diehard movie circles. After the tragic murder of their 12-year-old son, William Hurt is sleepwalking through life, his wife (Kathleen Turner) declares she's suicidal and, for some reason, decides that living with a sleepwalker just isn't fun anymore. Geena Davis is a quirky dog trainer who sort of helps to bring him out of his catatonic state. We also talk about Oscar mistakes. That actually ends up taking most of the podcast because there are so many to cover. Enjoy!

This week we are reviewing a little known gem of an indie picture called 'Me and Earl and The Dying Girl' starring Olivia Cooke and Thomas Mann. This film was unfortunately seen by very few. Given its quirky nature, you would've thought the Napoleon Dynamite crowd would've piled into the theaters to see this but alas it did not. We also talk about self-sabotaging actress Debra Winger, who was quite possibly the most in-demand actress of the '80s but apparently farting on Shirley MacLaine was rather frowned upon.

This week we look at the 1984 kids film Cloak & Dagger starring Henry Thomas and Dabney Coleman. It was Thomas' last kick at stardom before disappearing down the rabbit hole of child star obscurity despite being an above-average child actor. We use this discussion to segway into a segment on child stars; who got out alive and who didn't.

We talk about the late actress Kelly Preston, a career that never really materialized due to typecasting and some films that didn't do very well. We review one of her better films, 'Sky High', a movie that came before the Superhero saturation of the late 2000s. Family-friendly, kinda like a live-action Incredibles with a pretty decent premise. Kurt Russell and Kelly Preston are well-matched as 'Power' couple The Commander and Jetstream.

Scott and I look at a forgotten classic noir movie from 1995 starring Denzel Washington called Devil In A Blue Dress. Also starring Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals and Don Cheadle. We also talk about the difference between Noir and Neo-Noir and how people have gotten the genres mixed up over the years. Thanks for confusing us guys!

This week we talk about the 1988 laugh out loud comedy classic 'A Fish Called Wanda' starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Kevin Kline, John Cleese and Michael Palin. We also answer the tough question; who are our favorite actors/actresses? For someone like me a rather loaded question since I like a lot of them.

We talk about the Joel Schumacher, Michael Douglas spectacular 'Falling Down' which came out in 1993. Joel Schumacher's career has been marred by being known as the director who effectively killed the 90's Batman franchise. We also talk about Michael Douglas accidentally becoming an action star after Romancing the Stone, getting burned out of action after Jewel of the Nile, taking on sexually charged and flawed roles. Art imitating life?

Scott and I discuss 'Manhunter', the Hannibal Lecter film from 1986 that you likely didn't know about, starring William Petersen and Brian Cox, directed by Michael Mann. Don't worry no one else really knew it existed either until CSI became the most popular show on TV and American women became obsessed with anything William Petersen. We also talk about the rare combination of leading men who were also great character actors.

Scott and I talk about Christopher Nolan, the underrated 2002 movie Insomnia and whether or not Nolan is the last great Hollywood director.

Scott and I talk about Tim Burton's most underrated movie, Ed Wood, from 1994 starring Johnny Depp, Sarah Jessica Parker, Oscar winner Martin Landau and Bill Murray. Audiences were likely expecting a Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands hybrid and got something better. However, the moviegoing crowd was going to see stupid funny Jim Carrey movies and Brad Pitt slinging his long beautiful hair in movies like 'my brother died and I feel guilty' and 'I became a vampire and I feel guilty'.

Scott and I talk about the trainwreck, Superman IV, the drama between Richard Donner and the Salkands, the deterioration of the series as a whole, the cast/crew rebellion that lead to Gene Hackman, Marlon Brando and John Williams quitting, two versions of Superman II and Margot Kidder's role getting reduced to a cameo in Superman III. Credit to Honest Trailers for the laughs!

This episode, those crazy folks review the 1993 movie Heart & Souls starring Robert Downey Jr., Elisabeth Shue, Kyra Sedgwick, Tom Sizemore, Charles Grodin and Alfre Woodard. Four people are killed at the same time a baby is born and decide to stick around as his dysfunctional guardian angels. Should actually be titled Robert Downey Jr. Does Crazy Schit. We also talk about how Downey Jr. suddenly went from perennial box office poison to box office stud.

The Crazy Folks review Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), starring Richard Dreyfus, Glenne Headley, Olympia Dukakis and Jay Thomas. Directed by Stephen Herek. Starving composer and musician Glenn Holland decides to give teaching a try when his career stalls, goes through the motions and then eventually decides teaching is cool when he teaches rock and roll to his students. It's Forrest Gump without being Forrest Gump. We also talk about the Academy Awards from 1995 and then eventually go through how lame the Oscars have been over the last 20 years.

The Crazy Folks review F/X (1986), starring Bryan Brown, Brian Dennehy, Cliff DeYoung and Jerry Orbach. Directed by Robert Mandel. B-movie special effects guy gets hired by the Feds to stage the assassination of a mob informant but shenanigans ensue when things are not what they seem... go figure. We will also touch on how some actors today have taken the method way too far and Sir Lawrence Olivier's famous opinion about it.

The Crazy Folks review Flight Of The Navigator (1986), starring Joey Cramer, Paul Reubens, Veronica Cartwright, Cliff DeYoung and Sarah Jessica Parker. Directed by Randal Kleiser. Boy goes out and plays. Boy gets knocked unconscious and wakes up 8 years later. Boy is taken to NASA where they discover all kinds of crazy stuff in his brain that was put there by a UFO. Boy escapes from NASA with UFO and shenanigans ensue. We will also touch on the un-Godly production budget of Avengers: Endgame and why it ISN'T the highest-grossing movie of all-time nor the most profitable. We also do a rant on spoiled moviegoers unfairly comparing special effects of movies from 30-40 years ago to modern day CGI extravaganzas.

The Crazy Folks review the viewers' choice The Untouchables (1987), starring Kevin Costner, Robert DeNiro, Andy Garcia and Sean Connery. Directed by Brian De Palma. Treasury Department guy Eliott Ness comes to Chicago to 'do some good' and nabs Al Capone for not paying Uncle Sam his cut. We also will give an honorable mention to Prizzi's Honor and other great mobster flicks of the 80's and 90's (no Godfather Part III), plus a side rant on the worst successful actors and actresses of all-time.

The Crazy Folks review Witness (1985), starring Harrison Ford, Kelly McGillis, Lukas Haas, Danny Glover, Patti LuPone and Viggo Mortenson. Directed by Peter Weir. Harrison Ford goes to Amish country after little Amish boy witnesses a murder. The end result is Harrison pretending to be Amish, falling in love and building a barn. I mock you with my ice cream Amish guy. We also talk about the trouble with Streep, touch on the 1986 Academy Awards and Demolition Man as an underrated sci-fi movie.

The Crazy Folks review Lethal Weapon (1987), starring Danny Glover, Mel Gibson and Gary Busey. Directed by Richard Donnor. Mel Gibson is a suicidal cop with a death wish and Danny Glover becomes a glorified babysitter as they join forces to take down a gang of drug dealers.

The Crazy Folks review Robocop (1987), starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Miguel Ferrer and Kurtwood Smith. Directed by Paul Verhoeven. Peter Weller has a bad first day on the job as a cop in futuristic dystopia Detriot and ends up in some badass gear thanks to big bad OCP (Omni Consumer Products). Violence and gore ensue when he goes on a brutal law enforcement binge in the west end, suffers PTSD and ends up recovering some of his humanity. A killing machine with PTSD; what could possibly go wrong?

The Crazy Folks review Big Trouble In Little China (1986), starring Kurt Russell, Kim Cattrall and Dennis Dun. Directed by John Carpenter. Kurt Russell is a big John Wayne wannabe truck driver who wins a big bet, takes his friend to the airport to pick up his girlfriend. Hijinks ensue when the Lords of Death street thugs from Chinatown kidnap her for a dirty old man/formless 7 foot tall freaky guy with over done makeup who practices Chinese black magic.

The Crazy Folks review Romancing the Stone (1984), starring Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. Directed by Robert Zemeckis. Kathleen Turner writes books, gets a map in the mail, goes to Columbia, takes the wrong bus, Michael Douglas saves her from shady villian guy in the jungle, they go on an adventure and shenanigans ensue over a giant shiny green rock.

We are getting ready to roll out our movie and tv show reviews for the bored and the quarantined. Stay tuned for our weekly podcast courtesy of the Graham Cinema in Graham, North Carolina.