The Ice Storm (1997)

I thought The Ice Storm was going to be a first-rate drama but it all seems very calculated. Sigourney Weaver, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen, et al. turn up the heat on the acting skills like it's an important film but aye, there's the rub - everyone is acting. Too much of that heat definitely melted this ice.

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Foxes (1980)

Foxes is an honest (if nothing else) story of how four teenage girls (Jodie Foster, Cherie Currie, Marilyn Kagan, Kandice Stroh) survive against all odds, including drugs, alcohol, boys, abusive or absent fathers and, neglectful or cold mothers (one of the latter played by Sally Kellerman). This was director Adrian Lyne's first film about surviving against all odds (before Fatal Attraction and Basic Instinct) and because of its almost documentarian feel works as a time capsule (if nothing else). Music from the film actually took in bigger consumer dollars in 1980 with Donna Summer's huge hit On The Radio, and semi-hits from producer Giorgio Moroder, Cher and Grammy-nominated Janis Ian, played a lot - um - on the radio.

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The Snake Pit (1948)

Olivia De Havilland is still remarkable as a mentally ill woman in The Snake Pit despite the fact that mentally ill as it is depicted here is akin to my mother going food shopping today. Yes, the film is dated but that is not the fault of our lead actress who was deservingly nominated for an Academy Award. Watch it with a grain of salt or maybe a Prozac.

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Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell (1968)

Gina Lollobridgida and the extremely colorful art direction are the only reasons to see Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, a none-too-funny comedy about an Italian woman who doesn't know which of the three American soldiers that she shtupped during World War Two is the father of her now sixteen year old daughter (Janet Margolin). The supporting cast (including Shelley Winters, Telly Savalas, Peter Lawford, Lee Grant and Phil Silvers) play the non-existent jokes much too broadly - both of which (cast and jokes) can be blamed only on director and co-writer Melvin Frank. Fortunately, Frank also hired Lollobridgida who is stunning and likable despite the sour script (which was used thirty years later as the basis for the ABBA musical, Mamma Mia.)

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Aparecidos (2007)

Engrossing and surprising, Aparecidos (The Appeared) is a political ghost story from Argentina based on historical fact. Writer/director Paco Cabezas has fashioned a film with a strong message that is applicable to many different countries during many different eras and cast the excellent Ruth Diaz as an attorney who finds out a little too much about her father's past on the way to pull his plug. There's not too much blood in this offbeat gem so don't let that keep you from searching it out.

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Resurrection (1999)

Bad casting choices might spoil the outcome of Resurrection for some but it's still a creepy watch (helmed by 80s music video director - yes, Duran Duran - Russell Mulcahy) about a serial killer who is rebuilding the body of Christ for the titular event. Kudos are deserved by executive producer, co-writer and star Christopher Lambert despite his somewhat distracting Schwarzenegger-esque accent. Add a star if you've never seen Leland Orser or Robert Joy in a movie.

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Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)

Sassy Jane Russell and sweet Marilyn Monroe bring their many charms to this wonderful film of the Broadway musical Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Howard Hawks directs the lively, colorful, entertaining and tuneful tale about two showgirls looking for love (and money) into a frothy and uncomplicated soiree. Monroe's iconic Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend, Russell's so-hot-they-needed-a-pool Ain't There Anyone Here For Love and the duet Two Little Girls From Little Rock show how neither woman has ever been better - and not many films have either.

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Ghost Ship (2002)

The first five minutes of Ghost Ship is an extraordinarily creepy exercise in horror and the story that follows, though not as consistent, offers a goodly share of twists and scares. Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies and Ron Eldard play the crew of a salvage ship that finds the titular vessel floating in the Bering Strait. Add some good effects (both traditional and computer generated) and decent acting (including Australian horror teen queen Emily Browning) and this ship does a good job of staying afloat.

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Valentine (2001)

Valentine is a red (pun intended) herring horror film in which we are diverted from the real killer's identity until the movie's end - or in my case, about 15 minutes before it. Since most horror films play out in the same way, it isn't the most original premise but the acting by Denise Richards (!), David Boreanaz, Marley Shelton and the rest keeps the momentum. If you're alone on this day of love, it beats Romeo and Juliet.

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William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet (1996)

It's not the anachronism that spoils Baz Luhrman's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet but the casting of actors that don't understand the cadence of Elizabethan English - and this includes Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes as the star-crossed lovers. Miriam Margolyes as the nurse, Pete Postlethwaite as the priest, and Brian Dennehy as Ted Montague fair best (with a nod to whipper-snapper John Leguizamo as Tybalt) but the film might have been more palletable had Luhrman used modern English or cast actors that have experience speaking Shakespeare's words. It's not a tragedy but it is not a very engrossing watch.

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Only When I Laugh (1981)

Neil Simon should have done more research about alcoholism before writing Only When I Laugh because Marsha Mason does not live (or in this case, act) like any alcoholic that I've known (and I've known a few). The script is dated, full of stagey one-liners in place of characterization and ends sappily with a metaphoric Hollywood hug between Mason and her chip-off-the-old-block daughter, Kristy McNichol. The saving graces are the supporting performances from James Coco and Joan Hackett who bring truth to their contrived lines.

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Fallen (1998)

Fallen is somewhat interesting but lacks the realism a story about demons needs to be successful (as in The Exorcist). The acting is fine but I couldn't help but wondering how Denzel Washington could say the demon's name - Azazel - with a straight face. Perhaps the story's creators are atheist or agnostic because this movie about religion's discarded plays like a movie.

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Gin gwai - The Eye (2002)

Atmospheric and surprisingly tender, Gin gwai (The Eye) is one hell of a ghost story. The Pang Brothers have fashioned a fascinating and scary script (much of it straight out of the headlines) and hired some excellent actors (including Lee Sin-Je, Lawrence Chou, Sue Yuen Wang and Chutcha Rujinanon) to tell this creepy story of supernatural sight. Watch it with the lights out.

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Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (1967)

Forty years on, Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is still relevant and not in the least dated. Katherine Hepburn won an Academy Award for her performance but Spencer Tracy and Beah Richards match her word for word - with able support from Sidney Poitier, Katherine Houghton (Hepburn's niece) and Isabel Sanford in a small yet pivotal role. The San Francisco location (with an opening nod to San Jose), the excellence of Stanley Kramer's direction and the intelligence of William Rose's script make this one never to be missed.

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Darkness Falls (2003)

Thrills, good effects and a fascinating back story greet you in Darkness Falls. Although the script has a few of the plot holes usually found in horror movies, they pale compared to this fast-paced story about the Tooth Fairy; I'm telling you it's fascinating. Chaney Bley (RIP) and Emma Caulfield lead the appealing cast in this fight to stay in the light (which does it all with a PG-13 rating).

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The Garden (2006)

The Garden is a somewhat interesting flick about Satan, the Garden of Eden and the four horsemen of the apocalypse getting into it with a very special young boy (Brian Wimmer). Lance Henrikson is his usual involving self and Sean Young also redeems nicely but the story is muddled and the ending downright confusing. Maybe someone who is not a Jew would understand it better - or maybe not.

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The Dentist (1996)

The Dentist is squirm-inducing and creepy. Corbin Bernson as the titular lunatic hits just the right notes and the drill used throughout the movie made me close my ears more than once in shivers. It's not the best horror film but it is effective.

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Set It Off (1996)

Set It Off is interesting because it is about four females that rob banks; had the producers hired four males, the script's shortcomings would have been too pronounced. Instead we get good acting from Queen Latifah, Viveca A. Fox, Jada Pinkett and Kimberly Elise in something that starts as a buddy flick and ends...um...not as a buddy flick. Ultimately, it's convoluted and unbelievable.

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The Unborn (2009)

Who knew The Unborn was going to be a Jewish version of The Exorcist? Who knew it would feature Gary Oldman, Jane Alexander and a girl who looks just like Megan Fox? Who knew, at 88 minutes, it would feel like an eternity?

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Travels With My Aunt (1972)

Travels With My Aunt is Auntie Mame with an adult nephew, no humor and no emotional core. Maggie Smith (as directed by George Cukor) is a bit much as Aunt Augusta but early career performances by Louis Gossett, Jr. and Cindy Williams make up for it. All in all though, travel with a different companion because this aunt is kind of a bore.

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Mars Attacks! (1996)

Mars Attacks!, a play on the science fiction movies made in the 50s (I think) might have been good had it been funny. It also might have been good had it been scary. Too bad it's just plain dull.

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WΔZ aka The Killing Gene (2006)

WΔZ (W Delta Z) is a gritty, low budget police drama that kept me guessing until the end - pretty hard thing to do nowadays. Stellan Skarsgård, Selma Blair and Melissa George are excellent although the film is lit so darkly it's often hard to see. Grim and horrific scenes add to the melee but this is not a horror movie - or maybe I should write this is thinking man's horror.

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The Machine Girl (2008)

The Machine Girl not only has a machine gun for a left arm but she has a lot of heart - which makes this bloody tale of revenge so much fun to watch. Minase Yashiro (so good in her film debut - as is Amashi and the others) and commitment is what makes this genuine Grindhouse picture so extremely watchable and enjoyable. The over-the-top blood letting out Tarentinos Tarantino but writer/director Noburu Iguchi brings it!

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The Glass House (2001)

The Glass House is a mundane thriller (about two kids whose parents are suddenly killed) with a mundane script and a mundane lead performance from Leelee Sobieski as one of the newly crowned orphans. Diane Lane and Stellan Skarsgård take a back seat but I can't imagine that was anything more (or less) than they expected when the acting contract was signed. I guess they (and more than a bunch of people involved with this piffle) just needed the cash.

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Thank God It's Friday (1978)

No matter what anyone says, Thank God It's Friday is a time capsule of what it felt like to spend an evening in a 70s disco. Sure it might be contrived and each character is more an archetype than an individual but if you are too young to have lived through it, this pretty much sums up the energy: straights and gays, teens trying to get in, drugs (notice the poppers), assholes, dancing and the ubiquitous music. Ahhhh, those were the days.

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