NICOLAS ROEG Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBBB. United Kingdom/USA, 1983. JF Productions, Recorded Picture Company, Sunley Productions Ltd.. Screenplay by Paul Mayersberg, based on the book by Marshall Houts. Cinematography by Alex Thomson. Produced by Jeremy Thomas. Music by Stanley Myers. Production Design by Michael Seymour. Costume Design by Marit Allen. Film Editing by Tony Lawson. Gene Hackman is determined to find gold in…
Tag: Gene Hackman
Marooned (1969)
JOHN STURGES Bil’s rating (out of 5): B. USA, 1969. Columbia Pictures Corporation, Frankovich Productions. Screenplay by Mayo Simon, based on the novel by Martin Caidin. Cinematography by Daniel L. Fapp. Produced by M.J. Frankovich. Production Design by Lyle R. Wheeler. Costume Design by Seth Banks. Film Editing by Walter Thompson. Academy Awards 1969. Some movies are so terrible it’s a wonder to behold. Three astronauts…
I Never Sang For My Father
BBB.5 (out of 5) Gene Hackman plays a New York teacher and writer who has never quite squared off his feelings for his tough, proud father (Melvyn Douglas) but is now forced to deal with him directly in light of his parents’ increasing age. Hackman is looking forward to moving on after the death of his…
Hoosiers
BBBB.5 (out of 5) Gene Hackman plays a basketball coach with a dubious past who shows up in the tiny Indiana town of Hickory to coach a team whose school has less than a hundred students. He gets a bit of attitude from his players at first, but that’s nothing compared with the resistance he gets…
The Mexican
BBB (out of 5) Odd but often entertaining comedy that features humorous performances from its stars, though they hardly share any screen time together. After a very shaky start of watching odd couple Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts fight over a trip to Las Vegas, the film gets going when Pitt is forced by a group of…
Get Shorty
BBBBB (out of 5) Flawless adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s novel about a shylock gangster (John Travolta at his coolest) who travels to Los Angeles to collect on an overdue payment and ends up getting interested in the movie business. No shock there, of course, since as it turns out there’s not that much difference between…
Scarecrow
BBBB (out of 5) Two top-notch performances are the biggest draw to this odd but satisfying drama. Gene Hackman has just been released from prison and is planning to go to Pittsburgh and open up a car wash business there. Al Pacino has just returned from years in the Navy and is on his way to reunite…
The Quick And The Dead
BB.5 (out of 5) Sharon Stone has a great time parading around this western as a stranger who walks into a dusty old town in the Wild Wild West in search of vengeance. Her target is the evil sheriff of the place (Gene Hackman), a man who takes most of the money that his residents earn…
Heartbreakers
BB.5 (out of 5) Disappointing comedy that should have been better considering the talent involved. Sigourney Weaver is eye-popping as a con artist who, between jobs taking men for all they’re worth, has a pretty big problem to deal with: her daughter (Jennifer Love Hewitt). Mom has taught daughter dearest the grift, but little Lolita wants…
Behind Enemy Lines
BBB.5 (out of 5) Taut, exciting thriller about a gung-ho Air Force soldier (Owen Wilson) who gets shot down over restricted territory during a ceasefire in early 90s Bosnia. Commander Gene Hackman wants to send a team right away to save the lone traveler, but the search and rescue mission for one man who was flying…
Narrow Margin (1990)
PETER HYAMS Bil’s rating (out of 5): BBB. USA, 1990. Carolco Pictures. Screenplay by Peter Hyams, based on the earlier film story by Martin Goldsmith, Jack Leonard, screenplay by Earl Felton. Cinematography by Peter Hyams. Produced by Jonathan A. Zimbert. Music by Bruce Broughton. Production Design by Joel Schiller. Costume Design by Ellen Mirojnick. Film Editing by James Mitchell. Remake of the 1952 Richard Fleischer thriller…
Enemy Of The State
BBB (out of 5) Tony Scott once again overdoes it with the flashy editing and melodramatic camera work in this rather hollow thriller, making his best effort to disguise a simple plot and shallow characters with high style and doing a very poor job of it. What there is to enjoy is actually not too…
