This movie makes me afraid to go back and watch John Woo's "Face Off". It's one of my favorite films, but I haven't watched it in probably 15 years. After seeing Woo's MI:3 and shaking my head and then sitting through the incredibly stupid BROKEN ARROW from 1996, I'm wondering if I'd still enjoy "Face Off". I guess the big difference is that I thought this one was pretty damn dumb when I first saw it in theatres. John Travolta is horrible as Stealth bomber pilot Vic Deakins, a cocky idiot who's got a master plan to steal two nuclear weapons. Travolta called his performance in this film "larger than life". That's one thing you could call it. The only man in his way is his co-pilot, the much more likable Christian Slater as Riley Hale and Park Ranger Terry Charmichael. (By the way, what is it with these character names? It's like they looked up "hackneyed character names" in Google and started plugging them in.) So how does a park ranger get involved? Well after our two boys get in a fight in the cockpit of their stealth, they get ejected and the unarmed nukes get dropped in the canyon regions of Utah. It's as dumb as it sounds. I love Howie Long on Fox NFL. But there's a reason his movie career never took off, starting with his performance here. If Travolta is way OVER the top here, and oh yes, he IS, it's safe to say Long took the opposite approach, delivering line readings so dull they make him blend into the scenery even more than his camouflage MC Hammer pants. The plot is ridiculous and its more predictable than a Brady Bunch episode, although some of those were probably better acted. This was screenwriter Graham Yost's follow up to "Speed" and its a sophomore slump of the worst kind. Every character seems to think they are Schwarzenegger in Predator, with a clever one liner to follow every landed punch. Its embarrassing. Slater emerges pretty unscathed, as does Samantha Mathis as our park ranger, but great character actors like Bob Gunton (24) and Delroy Lindo (Get Shorty) are wasted and poor Frank Whaley (Pulp Fiction, The Doors) is saddled with horrible lines that Olivier couldn't salvage. Nuclear bombs explode, fistfights happen in trains, on top of trains and under trains. Woo bathes everything in slow motion and silly edits and it eventually fizzles out under the weight of Travolta's horrible performance and really dumb storytelling. It's said that 60,000 rounds of ammunition were used during filming. Less bullets, more story please. Woof. BROKEN ARROW gets a D. And I'm still scared to watch "Face Off" again.....

One of Woody Allen's funniest modern films, BROADWAY DANNY ROSE takes a look at one of the last of the great New York talent agents. Allen stars as the title character, a dedicated agent with a decidedly second (and third) rate stable of talent. When his lounge singer Lou Canova starts to regain stardom in a wave of nostalgia, Danny must reunite the nervous singer with his girlfriend Tina Vitale (Mia Farrow). Tina is also dating a mobster with a lot of angry brothers who are soon chasing Danny when he is mistaken for Tina's other boyfriend. It all culminates as Danny tries to get Tina together with Lou before his big TV shot with Milton Berle, with mobsters in pursuit and a lot of great one liners along the way. Some faves: "It's very important to be guilty. I'm guilty all the time and I never did anything." "Take my Aunt Rose. Not a beautiful woman at all. She looks like something from a live bait store." "I dont want to badmouth the kid, but he's a horrible, dishonest, immoral louse. And I say that with all due respect." Great stuff. Nick Apollo Forte is very good as Lou and the entire cast of Danny's acts are hilarious. Made in 1984, it's Woody at his lighthearted, quick witted, black & white best. Broadway Danny gets a B.

The third season of one of TV's all time best crime thrillers BROADCHURCH is a powerful, interesting and quietly perfect conclusion to the series. It's three years after the events of Season Two. Danny Latimer's killer has been forever banished from the coastal town, Hardy (the brilliant David Tennant) has returned and brought his teenage daughter with him, hoping for a clean start. The town seems to annoy him less than other places he's been and that's a high compliment coming from Hardy. His partner Ellie Miller (the equally brilliant Olivia Colman) is trying to move on from the events of the past two series, balancing raising her teenage son with her Detective role. As the season opens, middle-aged, divorced Trish Winterman (Julie Hesmondhaigh) is raped at a posh birthday part in a rented country estate. Knocked out, dazed and devastated, Trish becomes the focus of Hardy and Miller's investigation. The party guest list is packed with suspects, ex husbands, suitors and deviants. Like David Lynch's small town of Twin Peaks, every citizen seems ripe with a history or a motive, providing plenty of suspense and angst. The pressure mounts when other women begin to come forward with the same exact story as Trish, unveiling a serial rapist at work. Danny's parents from the last two seasons are back.Beth Latimer (Jodie Whittaker) counsels Trish, while Mark Latimer (Andrew Buchan) cant find peace and is determined to track down his son's murderer, who has relocated in another town. Newspaper editor Maggie Radcliffe (Carolyn Pickles) is back as well, battling to hold onto anything resembling a town paper, while protecting the citizens from the tabloid press. For me, Season three is a bit quieter than the first two, but no less powerful. These characters are so well acted and perfectly realized after 25+ episodes that they feel like witty, driven or intense friends you look forward to revisiting. Broadchurch won the award for best Crime Drama at National Television Awards in early 2018. This was the first year the award was presented and Broadchurch was competing against Sherlock (2010), Line of Duty (2012) and Little Boy Blue (2017). Julie Hesmondhalgh (Trish Winterman) was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress but lost to Vanessa Kirby from The Crown (2016). BROADCHURCH ends its run with another tale that keeps you guessing. Classy and well told, it gets an A. I'll truly miss Hardy and Miller!

How do you follow up Season One of a brilliant murder mystery? Brilliantly if your are BROADCHURCH SEASON TWO. NO SPOILERS! With the stunning reveal of the murderer of young Danny at the end of Season One, we were left wondering where all those lives impacted would go from there. Well, here are eight more terrific episodes to answer those questions. The accused murderer shocks the town by pleading not guilty. The Latimer family thought they at least had resolve after their son's death. Now they and the town are forced to live through a trial that dredges up every nasty secret in their coastal town. Olivia Colman and David Tennant are both back as Detectives Miller & Hardy, exceeding expectations as they are faced to confront a lot about themselves during the trial. Their relationship is one of the best written partnerships in TV history. Their banter is humorous, deep and tortured as the trust between them grows. They are forced to realize that they're in this investigation together, often alone, wherever it leads. All of our favorite town characters are back from the first season, pulled struggling into the trial as it unwinds. Charlotte Rampling (The Night Porter, 45 Years) is a fantastic new cast member as retired lawyer Jocelyn Knight, inspired to come back to work to help the Latimer family in their quest for justice for Danny. Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag, Solo) is equally good as Defense Attorney Abby Thompson. Watching the impact of the trial on her character is shattering. Waller-Bridge is a talent with a fresh voice. Matthew Gravelle is a standout as Joe Miller and Carolyn Pickles (Tess) damn near steals the story as a local Newspaper editor determined to report the news but respect the family. Her relationship with Prosecutor Jocelyn is the heart of the story, along with Hardy (Tennant) and Miller (Colman) struggling to find balance in their own families and the ripples from the case in their own homes. (More a wave than a ripple in Miller's case, eh?) Entertainment doesn't get more powerful or involving than BROADCHURCH, building well on its freshman series, this second series earns a BINGE-WORTHY A. Followed by one more full season with Hardy & Miller pursuing a brand new case three years later.

One of the best crime thriller series I've ever seen, BROADCHURCH SEASON 1 is a gut wrenching, suspenseful murder mystery that will keep you guessing. The cast is flawless. Olivia Colman (Oscar winning Actress for "The Favourite") stars as detective Ellie Miller. Just back from a vacation, Miller returns to her seaside UK town, faced with the body of a young boy on the beach. She knows the family and the news throws the town into a panic. Detective Alec Hardy (David Tennant of "Doctor Who") is new to the village. Angry, rude and not connected to anyone in the town, he battles with Ellie on the right approach to the investigation. She knows all the citizens, he suspects everyone. Jodie Whittaker (also Doctor Who!) is Beth Latimer, the mother of the slain boy, Andrew Buchan (All the Money in the World) is the boy's father. Their relationship and family life are torn apart by their son's death. As the eight episodes unwind, you realize that the small town is full of suspects with the personal secrets and liaisons of the townsfolk overlapping again and again. The reveal of the murderer is a true shocker and surprised the hell out of us. Great writing and acting propel you through a mandatory binge watch to find out whodunit. With plenty to say about the media, marriage, family relationships and how we judge people by their cover, it's a clever tale. Tennant and Colman are nothing short of perfect. These are two very flawed characters that you grow to really care for, each in their own very different way. BROADCHURCH SEASON ONE gets an A+. Followed by two more seasons, all available on Netflix.

Writer/Director James L. Brooks hit a home run with audiences with his second film as a director, 1987's BROADCAST NEWS. The man behind "The Simpsons" and "Terms of Endearment" brings plenty of wit and great writing to his tale of a Washington DC TV News Network. Holly Hunter is hard driving producer Jane Craig. A fast moving control freak, she's got a firm grip on everyone in the news room and detests the pretty faces that are taking over the network news. Albert Brooks is her best friend and terrific reporter Aaron Altman. The two have made hundreds of great segments together and they both feel that Aaron is due his turn at the anchor desk. Enter William Hurt as Tom Grunick. A great looking guy with more instincts than brains, he's everything that Jane detests, so why does she find herself so drawn to him? The trio are plunged into plenty of newsroom antics and breaking stories, some for laughs, some for drama. Brooks writing is witty, sharp and real-life. This IS the way people talk, and the way two guys fight for a woman they both like. Brooks is especially good as Aaron. When he finally gets his stint at the weekend Anchor desk, it's one of the eighties funniest scenes. You've never seen flop sweat on this level. Robert Prosky (Mrs. Doubtfire, The Natural) is great as the network producer and Jack Nicholson brings trademark humor with a touch of menace as the National News Anchor that Tom aspires to be and all others scatter away from at every cost. Joan Cusack is hilarious as Jane's right hand woman. You'll get to know these people, but thanks to Brooks, you'll never quite know what's going to happen next, thankfully. BROADCAST NEWS deserved every one of its 7 Oscar nominations including the ones for its writer/director and all three stars. One of my favorite films of the 80's, and in my all-time Top 100, it gets an A+.

What an interesting concept. A baby arrives via a meteorite to a childless couple on an isolated farm. They raise him as their own, but he begins to demonstrate powers....hmmm, where have I heard that before? BRIGHTBURN is, for the most part, a pretty decent and enjoyable scary twist on that same legend, but with a boy that takes a decidedly different turn at 12 years old. Think Damien, not Kal-El. Elizabeth Banks (Pitch Perfect, The Hunger Games) is Tori, the fiercely protective Mom of our guest youngster from another world. David Denman (13 Hours) is very good as her husband Kyle, whose much quicker to regret their hospitality. Jackson A. Dunn (young AntMan in Infinity War) is Brandon Bryer. He's excellent in the part, just off kilter enough to raise an eyebrow and downright evil when he comes into his power. Like "The Omen" series, the people that get in his way are murdered in very graphic, showy fashion, cutting loose some of the most inventive, freaky and violent slayings in recent memory. It's very gory and doesn't pull any punches, daring you to look away. The special effects team is first rate for the fairly low budget. The stupid character behavior meter is off the charts. One woman has her backyard motion sensor go off three times and a terrifying visit at her front door and responds by (wait for it...) texting her husband that she's going to bed and turning her ringer off. Okay, that's logical. I also started internally bitching and moaning of why the parents would keep the child's arrival and history secret for so long, but then I realized that I'd bought the same premise with Superman for years. The clever angle is making you look at that story in a very different light. What if Superman was more Michael Meyers than Clark Kent? A lean 90 minutes long, it moves fast, keeps you on your toes and offers plenty of surprises, at least the ones that weren't revealed in the trailer, which tells you WAY too much and ruins some of the key story elements of the conclusion. My favorite scene has Brandon levitating just off the floor and entering his bedroom in a very bad mood, with Tori hiding under his bed. It's perfectly shot, well executed by all and tees up a manic conclusion that shows the flip side of that romantic Superman/Lois Lane flight around Metropolis. BRIGHTBURN heats up a solid B from me. It's a taut, lightweight blast.

It always seems fitting to go back and watch a classic war film on Memorial Day weekend. They don't get much bigger or better than 1957's THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI. One of David Lean's best, he created this war masterpiece just before "Lawrence of Arabia" but shows the same massive scale in his storytelling. Alec Guinness stars as Colonel Nicholson, the epitome of staunch British military leadership. He meets his match when he and his men are captured and placed in a POW camp run by the brutal authoritarian Colonel Saito (Sessue Hayakawa). Saito commands the POWs to build a massive bridge across the river Kwai that will enable railroad transport and further Japanese domination. Saito insists that the officers work as well, creating a long standoff of wills. Meanwhile, American soldier Shears (the terrific William Holden) escapes the POW camp and finds his way back to safety. When his superiors and the British forces ask him to lead them back to the camp to destroy the bridge, another test of opposing wills begins, along with a tense, exciting mission. James Donald (The Great Escape) is excellent as the POW camp doctor Major Clipton and Jack Hawkins (Lawrence of Arabia) is classic as Major Warden. No one made huge, widescreen epics like David Lean. He fills every inch of the film with massive on location scenery and danger, including one of the most impressive and explosive conclusions in film history. Guinness won Best Actor for his portrayal of a man obsessed with honor and slipping into madness, creating real tension and "what is he doing!?" tension into the finale. He and Lean notoriously did not get along, with Guinness trying to inject humor into a role he felt was one note and without compassion. Lean insisted he play it straight and the two battled throughout the shoot, but Guinness later acknowledged that Lean had probably pulled his all time best performance out of him. The two worked together again in 1984 on Lean's last film, "A Passage to India". The film won 7 Oscars all together, including Best Picture, Best Director for Lean, Best Screenplay for adaption from the novel by Pierre Boulle (who also wrote "Planet of the Apes"), Best Cinematography for Jack Hillyard, Best Music for Malcolm Arnold (I miss Maurice Jarre personally) and the much deserved Best Editing Award for Peter Taylor, who makes nearly three hours feel like under two. An all-time classic, THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI is solidly in my all-time Top 100 and gets an A+.

Ready to LAUGH!!?? BridesMaids proves Kristin Wiig is capable of a lot more than quick SNL skits in this hilarious, raunchy comedy. What a great cast! Watch out for Melissa McCarthy as the groom's sister. She deserves her own spinoff. Worth the price of admission just for the two back to back scenes at lunch and the bridal boutique. A movie for adults with a hundred laughs and a sweet heart in the middle...who would have thought? A-

In early 1970, Director Robert Altman changed Hollywood with the release of his mega-hit "M*A*S*H*". The counter culture, anti-war comedy drew huge audiences fed up with big musicals and westerns and hungry for something revolutionary. Ten months after that massive hit, Altman released his follow up, BREWSTER MCCLOUD. One of the strangest movies ever made, it is almost impossible to describe. If M*A*S*H* broke ground be being structured like a disconnected bunch of tiny stories, buried in blood and overlapping dialogue, BREWSTER takes that to a whole new level. Bud Cort (Harold and Maude) is an introverted young man living in the cavernous realm beneath the Houston Astrodome. His dream is to complete a set of wings and fly around within the sports arena. Sally Kellerman is gorgeous and funny as the mysterious Louise. Angel? Protector? She often appears out of nowhere to help Brewster, dropping bird poop on his enemies and doing some fancy driving in an AMC Hornet during a long, fun car chase that seems to have arrived from another film. Shelley Duvall (The Shining) makes her film debut as a car thief/race car driver who falls for Brewster. Duvall is either a horrible actress or a brilliant method thespian, I defy you to decide. Her line readings are horrific, but is she playing dumb or are the cameras just rolling? Rene Auberjonois keeps popping up throughout the film as a professor teaching us about birds. Some of his input, always looking right at the camera are dull, but they get progressively more hilarious. He had me laughing out loud by the end of the film as he described how bird's mating habits are so much like humans. Michael Murphy (Manhattan) is great as a detective named Shaft. He arrives like a big city presence in a cow town with bright blue contact lenses, super sleuth moves and flashy 70's wardrobe, but like everyone else in Altman's mad exercise, he really doesn't do much. A strangling serial killer starts piling up victims, all of them found with bird poop on their face. Stacy Keach shows up in horrible makeup as a rich, senile old man with more money than brains. He's pretty hilarious too. Cort is a very strange leading man. By the end of the film, I can't really tell you what the hell happened or why I even cared, but you have to respect Altman for doubling down on M*A*S*H* with something so strange that it had zero chance of connecting with sober audiences. He said he hated the script by Doran William Cannon so much that he just filmed his actors and fed them lines, making things up as he went. Watching it, it sure feels that way. Cannon hated the movie so much that he wrote an editorial in the New York Times calling the film "shit" (without even mentioning the bird!). It famously premiered in the Astrodome in front of 27,000 people, most of whom left well before it's bizarre, circus themed ending. I love Altman movies. His classic war film is amazing, as are "Nashville", "McCabe and Mrs Miller" and "Gosford Park". This is lesser Altman, but it's an interesting failure, defying structure and common sense and covering most of its actors in bird crap. I think most audiences felt like they were splattered too. I certainly didn't escape cleanly either. At times stupid, absurd and ridiculous, there are some big laughs to be had. Kellerman was really something in the early 70's, she escapes with great appreciation. It's crap, but interesting crap. I'll give it a C+. Altman followed this up the next year with the far superior "McCabe and Mrs. Miller" with Warren Beatty and Julie Christie.

Charles Bronson ruled the action box office in the seventies with reliable films like 1975's BREAKHEART PASS. Faithfully adapted from Alistair MacLean's book, Bronson stars as lawman John Deakin, on board a train as a prisoner and charged with murder. Being transported to a Fort in Nevada to face the charges, Deakin's surrounded by troops, a huge cache of weapons and ammunition. Ben Johnson is a Marshall, Richard Crenna is a Governor with plenty on his agenda, Ed Lauter is a Major who despises Deakin and Jill Ireland is Crenna's young girlfriend, along for the adventure. Early into their travels, the train is plunged into a major health scare, an Indian attack and a lot of intrigue as plenty of our characters have motives well hidden in their period costumes. Bronson is at his stoic best, expressing only enough emotion to get by but nailing every action scene. Allegiances change, good guys and bad guys switch sides and the fights take place all through, over and on the sides of every train car. Jerry Goldsmith provides a classic western music score that runs nearly the entire film and Lucien Ballard (The Wild Bunch, The Getaway, True Grit) photographs every snow covered frame in classic Western style. Director Tom Gries cut his teeth on classic television (Mission Impossible, Honey West, Batman, The Rat Patrol) and works well with Bronson and the stunt team to create some nice suspense. If you're a Bronson fan or love 70's action movies, Breakheart Pass is a fun diversion. We'll shoot it a B-.

Kurt Russell has had a long and hugely successful career bouncing back and forth between every-man roles and bigger than life heroes like Plissken or MacReady. In 1997, he played a New England man moving to California with his wife in BREAKDOWN. Jeff Taylor (Russell) and his wife Amy (Kathleen Quinlan) have packed their nice new Jeep with snacks and luggage and are heading to the west coast for a new job. When a chance encounter with some desert dwelling lowlifes spins into a much more aggressive confrontation at a gas station in the middle of nowhere, Jeff and Amy get back on the road, driving quickly to get away. When their Jeep suddenly stops, the Taylors are left stranded with no town in sight and no one they know for 2000 miles. A trucker, Red Barr (perfectly played by character actor JT Walsh, who you've seen in 100 movies) stops and offers to pick them up, bet Jeff wants to stay with the car. Amy takes the ride to a diner about ten miles away, where she will call a tow truck and come back for Jeff. The day runs long, Jeff finds himself waiting and waiting for his wife. He gets the car started and then heads directly to the diner, where no one has seen his wife or the trucker. He then manages to find Barr's 18-wheeler, where the trucker denies ever meeting his bride. The film takes off from there in many directions, most of which are surprisingly believable, but I wont share any of them here. It's better that you stay on the edge of your seat just like I did as the trail twists and turns. It's fun to watch the transformation of Russell from preppie tourist to vengeful husband and the red rock landscape proves a cool setting for all of the action. Composer Basil Poledouris (Conan the Barbarian, The Hunt for Red October) had to write two completely different scores for the film when the first one was rejected, but kudos to all involved becuase his second version here is terrific. A great little thriller, BREAKDOWN is suspenseful, fast moving and gets a B.