3:15 stars Adam Baldwin as Jeff Hanna is a member of the gang Cobras. Once a member, always a brother until a nasty fight ensues with a rival gang and Jeff walks off and never looks back. However, the Cobras can never forget. Jeff had betrayed them.
Meanwhile, Jeff moves on, becoming a basketball star and all around hero. He has a better girlfriend (Debra Foreman of Valley Girl, My Chauffeurand April Fool's Day and things are going well in spite of the dark high school atmosphere. At Lincoln High, drugs and violence run rampant. The principle is helpless and teachers are for the most part unconcerned with the student underworld. The Cobras run the school, but other gangs are there including the M-16's a fatigue wearing gang run by Mario Van Peeble's character Whisperer.
During a drug bust the Cobra leader Cinco and five members are busted. Cinco is torqued and turns his rage on Jeff. Soon Jeff's friends are harassed and girlfriend is beaten. Jeff forgets his promise to stay out of gang violence and makes a stand at 3:15.
80's style music dominates the sound track. Don't expect to recognize the songs unless you are a fan of Gary Chung, who provided original music for over 70 movies. The music is still good and puts you into the awesomeness of the early decade.
Look for awesome supporting backup roles by Wings Hauser and Gina Gershon (Red Heat, Pretty in Pink and Cocktail).
M-16 is rated R for violence, adult situations, and nudity.
Tightrope stars Clint Eastwood as New Orleans Police Detective Wes Block. Block is a father of two girls and a man unable to get past his divorce. A man in pain, he is frequently in the company of the working ladies.
Armed with dozens of red ribbons, an unknown killer is strangling women through New Orleans. To make matters worse, Block knows the victims and is the last to see them alive.
Beryl Thibodeaux is a rape counselor and self-defense instructor and wants answers. She and Block form a tentative relationship moving quickly from consulting to romance. Somewhere in between Block calls on her to help him cope with the murders, divorce and raising two girls. The murders become more personal and soon the killer is after his family and Thibodeaux. Block will stop at nothing to protect those he loves.
Jazz oriented music tracks this film, but it’s rare. There is hardly any accompanying music, even in the action scenes. Though filmed in 1984, it seems that just like Charlie Bronson, Eastwood brings a 70’s theme. There are several 80’s memorabilia relating to the decade. People drink Perrier with their meals, wear members only jackets, fluff their hair and use 80’s technology like reel to reel answering machines. However, preteens don’t usually listen to generic keyboard and guitar solo music on the radio. They would be listening to Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, Duran Duran, or Def Lepard.
Look for appearances by Dan Hedaya (Nick Tortelli from Cheers)
Tightrope is rated R for violence, adult situations, and nudity.
10 to Midnight stars Charles Bronson as Leo Kessler, a hard as nails detective. Kessler is on a one man hunt for a man who is killing women. He will stop at nothing to get his man, including planting evidence.
Warran Stacey (Gene Davis) is the naked man. He has a unique signature style for his murders. Naked and with a handy knife, he dispatches beautiful women who have resisted his charms.
This movie has a few tricky moments. I thought for sure Stacey was going to kill a beautiful movie patron who he hits on incessantly. However, he is just establishing an obnoxious aliby so he can kill the woman of his obsession. While his movie plays, he sneaks out of the bathroom and takes care of business.
Leo's daughter is the beautiful Nurse Laurie Kessler played by Lisa Eilbacher of Beverly Hills Cop fame. By chance, she is acquainted with one of the murder victims and helps daddy identify Stacey. Stacy is now after revenge and begins to stalk Laurie.
Uh oh! Now Kessler is totally miffed and is stalking Stacy to the point of harassment and evidence planting. this cat and mouse game continues until the bloody climax.
A symphony of psycho synthesizer music tracks this film. Though filmed in 1983, Bronson drags in the 70's kicking and screaming to give this a totally un 80's feel. Look for appearances by Wilford Brimley (the oatmeal guy), Kelly Preston, and Andrew Stevens.
10 to Midnight is rated R for violence, gore, and nudity.
Red Heat is a classic 80s action movie. Big budget, lot’s of action and clever quips that the viewer can only understand if they had experienced the politics, economics and world situation of the times. This film stars two actors who are big names on their own and who are caste together because of their individual success.
The 80’s theme is different. We have an 80’s song or two, an excellent aerobic workout scene, and some colorful but cheap rayon clothing. The primary 80’s theme is the tension between the US and USSR; kind of like Rocky IV. It plays well into the storyline of Soviet vs. Chicago style police work (take your choice, beatings or bribery).
Arnold Schwarzenegger is an action star whose movies I have always happily anticipated. He had already performed well in Conan, Running Man, Predator, Raw Deal, Commando and Terminator and his career was just getting started (come back for totally awesome reviews of those gnarly movies). When I saw a movie trailer with an upcoming Schwarzenegger movie, I lined up as soon as the movie arrived. I was always sure to rent the VHS tape as soon as that was available.
The same can be said of James Belushi (The Man With One Red Shoe and The Principle. He quickly moved from the shadow of brother John to a great performer in his own right. His character as Detective Sergeant Art Ridzik, a tough, wise cracking Chicago cop provided the comic relief.
For example, during the famous bus chase scene, Ridzik exclaims “where are all the cops. …never there when you need them. Make one U-turn and they are all over your….”
Ed O’Ross, a theater performer played vengeful crime lord Victor “Rosta” Rostavili. This bottom dwelling criminal was responsible for a rap sheet as long as the trip from Moscow to Chicago. Primarily, he smuggled drugs to Moscow, killed a Moscow police officer and escaped to America.
Captain Ivan Danko (Schwarzenegger) is the Moscow cop vowing revenge. His superiors send him to Chicago to bring back Rosta and make him pay for his crimes. However, there is a slight problem, Rosta has already set up operations in Chicago and has unfortunately killed a Chicago cop right as Danko arrives. Now, Chicago wants Rosta just as bad.
Danko is a man of few words, kind of like Schwarzenegger’s performance in Terminator. His unrelenting pursuit is interrupted by the jurisdiction struggle with Ridzik. However, they don’t fight, scream, yell or insult each other. It’s more of a passive aggressive relationship overcome by an elephant in the room. They eventually warm up to each other after a small argument where Ridzik finally exclaims, “I give up, the whole thing is very Russian.”
And it was. The Cold War was still going on as awesome as ever. We never trusted the Soviet Union and believed that everyone was a spy and bent on the destruction of the American way of life. So, Danko and Rosta played very stereotypical and believable characters for the times. That’s what made to move so awesome.
Other actors include Lawrence Fishburn (credited as Larry Fishburn), Gina Gershon (3:15, Pretty in Pink, and Cocktail) and Peter Boyl of Everybody Loves Raymond.
The violence and gore get progressively worse as the move matures. Fight scenes and shootouts are not very bloody in the first half. As the movie progresses, squibs are introduced and blood flies with the bullets. Stunts are great as cars crash, buses roll, and the bus v. train keeps the movie rolling quickly and the heart pumping suspense up. Danko and Rosta look like ground beef at the end of the bus chase and the future Govenator gets to punch out a bus windshield. Awesome!
The Bonus Features make this a Special Edition.
The movie trailers and TV spots will give a glimpse into the past. It’s what Red Heat marketing looked like back in the day and features the gruff voice of the famous movie announcer who now helps you save money with Geico.
I’m not Russian, but I play one on TV demonstrates the type casting that O’Ross endured as a result of his amazing portrayal of a Russian crime boss.
Don’t forget to watch the tribute to legendary stunt man Bennie E. Dobbins and The Making of…
Bad language and nudity gives this movie a mature theme.
Moving Violations is a rip tickling slapstick movie; the kind that's not really made anymore. We saw a lot of these types of movies in the 60's and 70's with Going Bananas, the Canon Ball Run, Airplane, and others, but not too of them lately. For the new generation of movie goers, you might be familiar with Not Another Teen Movie. They are close, but not quite the same.
Moving Violations stars John Murray, the wise cracking brother of Bill Murray. He does a great job of playing the wise cracking Dana Cannon. He's a mild mannered landscaper by day and the laid back hero we all dreamed we'd one day be before becoming part of the system. The alluring NASA rocket scientist Amy Hopkins played by Jennifer Tilly is his traffic school love interest.
James Keach plays Deputy Halik, a tough nose cop with an equally tough sidekick Deputy Morris. Halik just wants to write tickets and be "the man". The duo are primarily responsible for pulling over the many colorful characters who commit traffic violations. Once pulled over, the offenders' cars are impounded pending graduation of a nearly impossible to pass traffic school. Add to that Halik's unrelenting harassment of the ever cool Dana.
Though Halik and Morris are a love interest, Halik has another lover; Judge Hendersen played by Sally Kellerman. Not only do they sneak romance behind Morris' back, Halik and Henderson also hatch a nasty scheme aimed at the already suffering lot of students. It's ironic and funny to see a Frank Burns style character having a secret romance with a former "Hot Lips Hulahan".
Some of the funny scenes include a romance in a NASA anti-gravity chamber, Halik's destruction of a car he thinks belongs to Dana, two "where's the beef" ladies trying to drive with their exaggerated old age maladies, a misunderstanding about what a certain doctor is actually a doctor of and more make this film knee slapping hilarious.
Other great and funny characters include a puppeteer played by Brian Bake of Fast Times at Ridgemont High, the lateWendie Jo Sperber of Bosom Buddies and 8 Simple Rules, Red Willard, a very young Don Cheadle of Hotel Rwanda, Traitor and Iron Man 2 and many actors of the time.
Great and cheesy songs track this classic with guitar solo, drum machine, and synthesizer laced rhythms. Believable extras sport awesomely coiffed punk and new wave hairdos. Suede Members Only jackets, a few Ford Pintos, a VW Cabriolet, some defunct airlines like PanAm, TWA and other brands of the time co-star to make this hilarious movie successful.
Though there is no nudity, adult situations definitely give this movie a mature theme. Definitely requires adult supervision
I saw John Carpenter’s They Live for the first time while stationed in Wildflecken, Germany. I watched a lot of movies back in the day. It was a good way to blow off steam at the end of a long work day when I wasn’t seeing the sights or otherwise touring the landscapes and scenes of Europe.
They Live has no famous 80’s background music. Filmed during what I call the black hole of music in 1988, I doubt if the sound track would be as good as that of Breakfast Club, St. Elmo’s Fire, or Footloose. Instead this move was tracked with the electronic sounds of old Carpenter himself. The only real pop culture was probably just the same ol’ LA scene as in most movies of the time; palm trees, cityscape and flannel shirts.
Rowdy Roddy Piper plays George Playa, a homeless man who wonders into LA looking for work. He sports a great mullet and is busting out of his cloths, wrastlin’ style. The writers ensured his first job is on a construction site where he gets a few shirtless scenes to keep the movie campy. While on the site he meets Frank a character well played by Keith David.
George and Frank don’t trust each other, but it’s clear that they should definitely resolve their issues and save the world. As the tension mounts between them, an unholy mystery is forming at the nearby church. The homeless wonderers join others at an outdoor homeless gypsy camp and become aware of the strange late night events at the church. Meanwhile, a weird hacking of the television channel is warning observers that someone is controlling them.
Out of nowhere the police come and destroy the camp, church and some suspicious characters from the church. However in an even more campy twist, we find the parishioners are smuggling …wait for it…SUNGLASSES. After the police raid the church George goes back in and discovers a magic box of Ray Ban or Vuarnet Wayfarer knockoffs. Don those catch me kiss me shades and not only will the ladies be hunting you down, but you can actually see the aliens who are enslaving us. Oh yea, the subliminal “OBEY”, “NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT” and “MARRY AND REPRODUCE” message are revealed in magazines, bill boards and signs.
Only after a lengthy knockdown, drag out, butt kickin’ scene do George and Keith begin to see eye to eye. In fact, George practically knocks Frank out before forcing glasses on his face to see things from his point of view. After that the tension is gone and they can get down to a good old fashioned friendship while they save the world.
This movie is rated R and rightly so as swearing is peppered throughout. It actually makes it through 92 of 93 minutes before the first and only nude scene arrives and pretty much unexpected. Fun movie, good times, see They Live.
After some Facebook buzz about the movie C.H.U.D., I decided to rent it from Netflix. You see, I belong to a Facebook group called HHC 3ID 1985 to 1990. It's for veterans of the famous US Army unit originally stationed in Leighton Barracks overlooking Wurzburg, Germany.
I remember seeing C.H.U.D. as a soldier back in the barracks room. I believe my friends had rented it back in 1985 (originally aired in 1984). However, after viewing it 26 years later, I don't remember any of the scenes. Actually, I do remember the opening credits and first victim.
The movie tries to be witty, but I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be a cheesy 80's comedy or an actual thriller. I'm pretty sure it was scary and state of the art back in the day, but now it's kind of hokey. The scenes were gory, but not scary. Mostly they were disturbing. There's a little blood, body parts and etc. But the disturbing parts were because of the other low budget effects.
The movie is kind of a pre-reunion of the hit movie Home Alone arriving 5 years later and a launch for a host of new actors. Daniel Stern and John Heard have starring roles. Also making appearances are a young John Goodman, Patricia Richardson and Jay Thomas.
C.H.U.D. is an 80's movie as far as being made in the 1980s. Because of the New York City setting, there isn't much 80's pop culture identity. Definitely no 80's sound track, 80's songs or anything profoundly identifiable from that era. However, it is fun to see some of the brandy from Downy, Budweiser Beer, U Haul, Izod polo shirts and other products. Telephones with cords, old television sets, answering machines and archaic technology abounded.
C.H.U.D stands for Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller, or so we are led to think. However, there is an alternate meaning to the acronym. The story begins with the disappearance of a police captain's wife. After weeks of homeless people going mission, hers is the most visible missing person's report. Add in a criminal turned minister to the homeless (Stern), a photographer (Heard) and his model wife, a bad collection of government and city employees and you've got a classic horror movie.
The motley crew discover that the EPA has spilled radioactive material which has led to a nasty symptom. The city's homeless are mutating into monsters. These aren't zombies by any sense of the meaning. They are downright monsters with no hair, scaly skin and glowing eyes.
I'm not sure why this movie has an R rating. Probably because of the times. Slight gore and swearing probably were the concerns. If you enjoy low budget horror, get C.H.U.D.
