After the release of Clint Eastwood's "Dirty Harry" in 1971 (a role offered to Wayne, but he did not want to play the anti-hero) John Wayne tried his hand at a couple films as a modern day detective. 1975's BRANNIGAN was the follow up to 74's McQ. Lt Brannigan is on the trail of a mobster that killed his rookie partner back in Chicago. That path leads to London, where Commander Swann (Richard Attenborough) has agreed to hand the mobster over to Brannigan when he arrives. It's a fun, seventies fish-out-of-water tale with Wayne barreling through the scenery and the locals with brash, full throttle force. Wayne is having a good time here, bursting through locked doors with gun drawn and drawling "Knock, Knock!" to the bad guys. It's all pretty tame by today's standards and the brawl in the English Pub seems like it arrived from the set of "McClintock", but somehow Wayne and company make it work. His flirting with a young English detective Jennifer (Judy Geeson) seems awful creepy and uncomfortable (Wayne was 68 when this was filmed, playing mid-50's) but I guess no one can resist The Duke! John Vernon (Animal House) chews a lot of scenery as Larkin the mobster and a very young Lesley-Anne Down has a small role as Luana, the prostitute visited by the hitman after Brannigan. Throw in some seventies style car chases over the London Bridge, plenty of plaid sports jackets and some enjoyable Scotland Yard versus Chicago cop banter and you have a harmless, standard John Wayne flick that reeks of early seventies cops films. Knock, Knock! We'll give Wayne a respectful B-.

One of my favorite "big screen" films from the early eighties, BRAINSTORM is a brilliant concept delivered in style. Louise Fletcher and Christopher Walken play scientists on the cutting edge of new technology that records people's experiences and replays them in every detail when wearing a special headset. Director Douglas Trumbull expands the screen to Super Panavision 70MM when the recordings are replayed, which allowed theatre goers to surf in Hawaii, fly above the Golden Gate Bridge, circle Rio and drive a semi-truck off a California cliff, suddenly soaring above the coastline. Michael (Walken) and Lillian (Fletcher) are furious when the military intervenes behind the scenes and begins to hijack the technology for war applications. While telling this tale, the film also brilliantly weaves in one of the major characters having a fatal heart attack while wearing the recording device. This puts Michael on a separate quest to replay the tape (while intelligently disconnecting the heart rate and body inputs to avoid death himself). As he races to see the recording of life after death, the military closes in to shut down the project. Natalie Wood stars as Michael's wife Karen, providing a core of the film revolving around their troubled marriage. The scene in which Michael records his happiest memories of their time together and replays it is a perfect mix of Trumbull's big screen photography, James Horner's powerful music and Walken & Wood doing great work. Wood died mysteriously on a boat with Walken during the filming of "Brainstorm" and there are some signs of the story being tweaked a bit to work around her death during filming, but Trumbull brings the pieces together very well. Trumbull was a special effects pioneer, having created the visuals for 2001, Close Encounters, Blade Runner and many more. The finale in which Michael experiences the afterlife is powerful and visually amazing. I remember seeing it on the big screen at the original Cine Capri and when anyone had the headset on and turned on the replays, the screen doubled in size to fill every inch and Dolby rocked the theatre. Much of that is lost at home, but the sound effects and Horner's score still provide plenty of punch. Writer Bruce Joel Rubin would explore similar territory in a different fashion seven years later with "Ghost". BRAINSTORM is a good, old-fashioned sci-fi thriller with a big heart and an intriguing story. Walken and Fletcher are great and those "headset" moments are a lot of fun that earn the film a solid B.

Back in 1973, at 12 years old, I remember seeing THE BOY WHO CRIED WEREWOLF as the bottom half of a double bill with "SSSSSSS", which still holds up with a great cast. It was one of the last of the official "Double Features" released by Universal Studios. This mess defines the "bottom" half of a double feature. Young Richie has barely unloaded the groceries with his divorced Dad Robert when a werewolf lurking in the bushes bites his Dad. Hilarity ensues. Well, its not supposed to be a comedy, but please consider; * The werewolf makeup is the tamest of all time, with the creatures looking more like a lap dog than a ferocious monster. * At least thirty people see Richie's dad, wearing his dad's clothes as he attacks, yet not one of them calls it anything but an animal * A group of Jesus freaks figures prominently in the second half, like they wondered in from 'Helter Skelter" or an equally lame non-monster movie * At one point the werewolf grabs a shovel and starts digging a hole in the basement to bury the head of one of his victims. You haven't seen awkward until you've seen a werewolf digging a hole. It kind of throws the whole wild animal thing off.... * The music is hilariously bad in every scene. I've seen a lot of cheap horror movies with great scary music, how hard is THAT to get right? * Almost the whole movie is shot day for night, with heavy filters on the camera so it appears to be night time, but they can shoot the film all day. Unfortunately, when half your plot revolves around the sun going down or coming up, the constant daylight tends to dampen your suspense. This is some funny crap. It's not supposed to be, but it is, CRAP I mean. I've seen Life Alert commercials with better acting. Woof. This Boy gets an F. Go back and visit the top half of the double feature, "SSSSSSS", It's a winner.

1978's THE BOYS FROM BRAZIL is a crazy thriller that does nothing halfway. Laurence Olivier is terrific as Ezra Lieberman, a thinly veiled movie version of Simon Weisenthal, hunting down Nazis that escaped to South America at the end of WW2. Gregory Peck stars as Dr. Josef Mengele, whose notorious human experiments in the concentration camps are continuing with a diabolical new spin. Steve Guttenberg has a small role as a young reporter who puts Lieberman on the trail of Mengele and James Mason is excellent as a powerful Nazi determined to reignite the Third Reich. As Lieberman uncovers layer after layer of a massive plot to return the Nazi's to power in the most twisted way imaginable, Mengele heads for the states. It's always interesting, sometimes thrilling and often way over the top. Olivier and Mason are superb, but Peck is badly miscast and devours every word of dialogue. One key role is a young man played by a teenager named Jeremy Black. He's just horrible and unfortunately he keeps showing up. Jerry Goldsmith provides a bombastic, overpowering music score. By the time the film concludes in a farm house with a bloody gun battle, ferocious Dobermans and Peck & Olivier beating the snot out of each other like twenty year olds, you have to admire the sheer energy everyone threw at the screen. Based on Ira Levin's equally insane novel, this is a full tilt thriller that makes up for what it lacks in subtlety with sheer momentum. The Boys get a B-.

In a daring film experiment, Director Richard Linklater filmed his troupe of actors every year for 12 years to tell the coming of age story of young Mason. Those yearly pieces come together beautifully into the quiet little masterpiece that is BOYHOOD. Mason is portrayed by Ellar Coltrane and in this case, casting truly is everything. Coltrane's acting grows more confident with age, but he starts off just fine. As you watch Mason grow up, you experience the events and other people that come in and out of his life alongside him. The constants through the film are Mason's Mom and Dad, perfectly played by Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke. Arquette is a driven academic, making better choices in her career path than her romantic partners. She is terrific throughout the movie, displaying no vanity in showing the tough parts of single parenting from every angle. Hawke is terrific as the Dad, who first impresses you as the weekend Father that shows up bearing gifts and having fun but bearing no true responsibility. As the film goes by and the years pass, he becomes a very different Dad that you might expect. You also watch Mason's sister Samantha grow up as well, and the kids interaction rings true at all ages. It's easy to see a lot of your own moments with your siblings in Mason and Samantha. As played by the director's daughter Lorelei Linklater, Sam carries a self-centered attitude through some difficult times. At nearly three hours, the film unspools like real life: slowly, quietly and powerfully. It's never boring. Like real life, there are no car chases, no shoot outs and all the explosions are emotional. It's a powerful experience and you have to sit back in wonder at the audacity of Linklater 12 years ago to gather his actors and production team and tell them that they would all be committing to getting together once a year to film the next chapter in the family's life. I kept wondering throughout the film how much the script was written in advance or if Linklater let time and growth drive the storyline and its details. Either way, its brilliant. The moments between Hawke and Coltrane discussing "Star Wars" or the Beatles songs before and after their breakup are so well written they feel organic. Without bowing to more conventional things such as titles to tell us that another year has passed, Linklater rolls directly from one scene to the next, letting the characters surprise us with their physical or emotional growth to mark time. You will grow to really care about these people, their lives and their future. It's funny, I watched another three hour film this week, the horrible "Transformers: Age of Extinction". That mess was wall-to-wall action and explosions and after twenty minutes I didn't give a damn about anyone or anything in it. Richard Linklater is no Michael Bay, and that's a compliment of the highest order. Boyhood is a quiet, beautiful, heartfelt masterpiece and gets an A.

A worthy extension (not exactly a sequel or reimagining) of The Bourne film series, THE BOURNE LEGACY features an excellent new hero in Jeremy Renner as Aaron Cross. Built on the events in the first three films starring Matt Damon, Legacy tracks new agent Cross as he battles his own agency, who has decided to shut down the entire Treadstone project. Tony Gilroy, writer of the first 3 films, writes and directs here and does an excellent job, bringing the same globe trotting editing and adventure of the initial trilogy to an exciting new story. Scott Glenn, Edward Norton and David Strathairn revisit their characters from the earlier films. Renner is a worthy successor to Damon, very believable in all the action sequences. The climactic foot/car/motorcycle chase in the film is excellent and the ending sets up a new potential trilogy. Great music score by James Newton Howard. The film nicely continues the intelligent action expected and lives up nicely to the Bourne Legacy of the earlier films. A-

Back in 2007, the fast paced thrill ride THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM wrapped up the original series of films until Matt Damon returned almost a decade later. This time around, Bourne is dragged out of seclusion again by a dogged London reporter whose uncovered a project that leads back to Project Treadstone. Once Bourne and the reporter meet, the film explodes (as these always do so well and consistently in this series) when both men realize their meeting is a set up. Bourne finally comes face to face with the origins of his second life as a lethal assassin. Damon manages to be superhero like in his physical battles while portraying a lot of emotion under the surface. I always felt like Damon didnt get enough credit for this role. Director Paul Greengrass is back, as are Julia Stiles as Nicky, the girl from a past adventure and David Strathairn as the weaselly government guy you love to hate. Edgar Ramirez is a terrific add as a fellow assassin, Albert Finney is perfect as the doctor behind the project and Joan Allen (The Contender) is excellent in her continuing role as Pam Landy, a CIA division head with questionable loyalties. Daniel Bruhl (Munich) goes toe to toe with Damon in some of the thriller's best scenes. Greengrass created one of the most tense films of all time with 2006's UNITED 93 and he brings the same intensity here, this one barely stops to take a breath. Like WIlliam Friedkin in "The French Connection" many key chase scenes were filmed on the fly through real crowds in international locations. It gives the film a gritty 70's action film polish. A terrific conclusion to the original trilogy, ULTIMATUM gets an A.

Michael Corleone's famous line "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in" has never been more applicable than they are to Jason Bourne in THE BOURNE SUPREMACY. After going off the grid, Bourne (a superb Matt Damon) and his girlfriend Marie (Franka Potente) are living a quiet life in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere. When a brutal assassination attempt on Bourne brings him out of hiding, he finds himself a pawn in a massive frame up with worldwide political impact. Once again, Bourne is forced to put all his amazing skills to work in an effort to prove his innocence and expose the real conspirators. Brian Cox is back and terrific as Ward Abbott, a puppet master with feet in both sides of the battle. Joan Allen (The Contender) returns as senior CIA commander Landey and Julia Stiles (The Omen) is pulled back into the action as Bourne's confidant from the last film. Director Paul Greengrass (United 93) overwhelms you with incredible hand-to-hand combat shot with handheld cameras, sweeping crane shots of massive car chases and a constant sense of danger. Composer John Powell (Solo) delivers a modern action score than pounds you forward through the thrills. Damon once again nails the tortured soul of Bourne, buried under amnesia, wanting to be left alone and constantly under the threat of assassins and the government. There isn't a hint of CGI in the entire movie. Every stunt is real. The average length of every shot is only 1.7 seconds, giving the entire movie the feel of a rollercoaster roaring forward. Just as strong as the original, SUPREMACY set up the next sequel, The Bourne Ultimatum for its release in 2007. SUPREMACY lives up to its title, earning an exciting, violent A.

In 2002, Matt Damon kicked off one of the best spy film series of all time with THE BOURNE IDENTITY. It's not easy to capture the backroom politics, surveillance intrigue and clandestine maneuvering of Robert Ludlum's novels for the big screen, as the boring and ponderous 1983 film adaption "The Osterman Weekend" proved. Director Doug Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Mr and Mrs Smith) proves a terrific choice, paired with an excellent screenplay by Tony Gilroy (Proof of Life, Michael Clayton) that keeps things moving at an incredible pace. Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) awakens in a remote village after being found floating in the sea by fishermen. He has total amnesia and no idea why he has several bullets in him and more than a few bruises. As he begins to recover, he finds the number to a Swiss bank account (where is half the fun). What he discovers there unleashes several movies worth of mayhem and action as assassins immediately begin to come after him. Watching Bourne fight back against these unprovoked attacks with skill and lethal force he has no idea he possesses sets up the entire series. Who is he? Why are so many people trying to kill him? How does he know several languages and one hell of a lot about a lot of topics? Damon is terrific, creating a character we cheer for on his violent road to discovery. Franka Potente is great as Frankie, a young woman who gives Bourne a ride and becomes part of his quest. Chris Cooper (The Town) is a CIA operative you'll love to hate, along with Brian Cox (Troy) as Ward Abbott, a key player in Bourne's story. Clive Owen is a lethal assassin and Julia Stiles (Silver Linings Playbook) begins a recurring role as a lower level CIA tech whose torn in what she discovers about Bourne. The stunt team does incredible work, with some jaw dropping hand to hand fight scenes as well as massive scale car chases through the crowded streets of Europe that are among the best ever filmed. Damon trained for many months in martial arts and gun training, all of which pays off in the incredible, fast paced action that explodes with authenticity. Unlike earlier OO7 films, Bourne actually feels every punch and rough landing, a trait which Daniel Craig brought to the Bond role when the Bourne films proved very successful. The infallible Roger Moore of the 70's would never have worked in the 2000's. THE BOURNE IDENTITY is a terrific thriller, leaving things very open ended for the sequel "The Bourne Supremacy" in 2004. It gets an A and still holds up beautifully for fans of smart action films nearly 20 years after it's release.

This 1968 big screen crime drama blends documentary style storytelling with highly polished momentum detailing the story of THE BOSTON STRANGLER. Much like his film "Fantastic Voyage" two years before, Director Richard Fleischer visually assaults you with sliding split screens, drawing your eye all over the screen as he shows scenes from different angles or multiple events at the same time. The same year saw "The Thomas Crown Affair" with this same style that film buffs will note Brian de Palma adopted for many of his thrillers in the 70's and 80's. Henry Fonda is a special prosecutor assigned to coordinate multiple cities efforts to capture the serial killer. The strangler's access to many women's apartments even after the city is on high alert baffles the police. George Kennedy (Airport, Cool Hand Luke) is great as the lead Boston detective on the case, even if his accent comes and goes like the wind. Tony Curtis appears halfway into the film as killer Albert DeSalvo, a lethal, unstable man living two lives and ramping up his seemingly random murders across the city. This true story is well told, like a perfect Dateline episode brought to life by one hell of a cast. Five decades have not been kind to some of the attitudes toward sexual diversity on display, but its very much of its time. Murray Hamilton (Jaws) is very good and Sally Kellerman (M*A*S*H*) brings real power to a victim of DeSalvo's that may prove to be his undoing. Curtis was never better in a role than he is here in a part that was originally offered to Robert Redford and Warren Beatty. It's dated but visually clever, well acted all around and pretty suspenseful until it slides into a bit too much detail on Fonda's post arrest interviews with Curtis. I'll give it a B-.

Melissa McCarthy is one of the funniest women working in film today. When she commits to a character, she's ALL in, body and soul. In the last 3/4 of her new film THE BOSS, those gifts generate plenty of laugh out loud moments, even as the story meanders all over the place, or in this case, all over Chicago. The first 1/4 of the film is the weakest, an almost laugh free depiction of Michelle Darnell (McCarthy) and her rise from orphan to one of the wealthiest motivational speakers in the world. McCarthy arrives on stage in a flaming gold Phoenix statue, dances and raps with abandon and swears like a sailor. Her loyal assistant Claire (an excellent Kristen Bell) and driver Tito (Cedric Yarbrough) are introduced, but other than a hilarious tooth whitening scene, the first 25 minutes is pretty flat and unfunny. At this point, I started to get worried that I was going to have to sit through another McCarthy misfire like "Tammy". Thankfully, Darnell's arch-rival and former love interest Renault (Peter Dinklage having a LOT of fun sporting faux French and Asian affects and a very bad Euro haircut) turns her in for insider trading and she loses everything, forced to move in with Claire. From the moment Darnell gets flipped by a sadistic sofa bed and she decides to start selling Claire's brownies as direct competition to Girl Scout cookies, the laughs kick in and rarely stop. McCarthy created the character many years ago in improv and those years have paid off with a fully realized Michelle. From wardrobe to arrogance and from sofa bed to boardroom, McCarthy's Darnell is fully realized and profanely funnier than hell. At one point, Darnell's Darlings (a red beret wearing troop of tough young girls with aspirations) have a knock down, drag out fight with their rival traditional troop that becomes a massive Tarantino style battle that (depending on your sense of humor) is gut-bustingly funny. McCarthy and her husband and director here, Ben Falcone let the story wonder into predictable territory as Darnell bites the hand of the only family she has ever known and then has to seek redemption, but Bell and McCarthy are good enough to pull it off. Tyler Labine is very funny as one of Claire's co-workers looking for a date, SNL's Cecily Strong delivers laughs as Claire's demented boss and Kathy Bates delivers in a small role as Michelle's mentor and investor. McCarthy's best films (The Heat, Bridesmaids, Spy) have not been directed by her husband, but this is their best effort together, generating plenty of laughs after a rocky start. Darnell takes NO prisoners. She's foul, nasty, politically incorrect and has no filter, just like THE BOSS. We'll give it a B-.

Let me make my first New Years resolution for 2020. It's to make sure and see everything that incredibly funny actress Beanie Feldstein does for the next decade. She's fall-over-funny perfect in BOOKSMART, one of the best comedies of recent years. Critics loved it but audiences pretty much ignored the film when it hit theatres early this summer. If you like your comedies "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and "Animal House" raw, adult and funny, you're going to love this comedy. It's all those things, but shoved forcefully through a strainer of today's high school students and sensibilities. Feldstein is hilarious as Molly, Class President and social pariah, completely focused on checking every box for college admissions while ignoring any kind of social life. Her best friend Amy (Kaitlyn Dever) is equally committed and always at Molly's side. The class surrounding them is loaded with all the groups we've known for years, but amped up to self involved hilarity that can only be achieved by today's social media teens. Lisa Kudrow and Will Forte are awkward perfection as Kaitlyn's parents and Jason Sudekis delivers laughs as a principal whose passion for the job has long left the campus. When Molly and Kaitlyn realize that all the students around them had fun for four years and are also attending great colleges next year, they commit to one massive night of partying on the eve of graduation. What ensues isn't a stupid "Porky's" night of adventures, but a laugh-out-loud night of discovery, surprises and some terrific dramatic moments in the mix as well that sneak up on you. The songs throughout are perfectly tuned to the eclectic cast of characters. Dever and Feldstein have fantastic timing from the very first scene. Awkward has never been so funny. Actress Olivia Wilde directs her first film here and kills it with on-point timing and a tough to achieve balance in storytelling. I kept hearing how great this movie was but ignored it like the rest of the country. BOOKSMART deserved better. I bet its a hidden gem that will only gain in popularity in the years ahead. FELDSTEIN gets and A+ and the movie gets an A for adult laughs and smart writing that deserve to stand aside "Fast Times" and "The Breakfast Club" as a classic coming of age comedy.