Action Movie Essentials: Mission: Impossible

Not Coming to a Theater Near You is currently running a very entertaining feature on action movies. The inspired collection of films being covered includes the entire Rambo series, obscure Chuck Norris movies and even a Buster Keaton silent classic. I chose to contribute a piece on Mission: Impossible, of my favorite summer blockbusters directed by one of my favorite directors, Brian De Palma. There's a lot of nostalgia present - I still vividly recall my Mom taking me to see it on the opening Saturday night (I was just young enough that it wasn't uncool) - but I also think it's a very well constructed blockbuster whose enjoyment factor hasn't waned over the past 13 years.

Click here to read my essay at Not Coming to a Theater Near You

The Legend of Hell House: Beware a Black Cat

"The Legend of Hell House, released in 1973, satisfies most of the desires inherent in the haunted house formula and manages to hold up pretty well, without succumbing to campiness or risible special effects. Well, except for a sequence featuring an awesome catfight—literally, between one of the lead characters and a demonically possessed black cat that concludes in a bludgeoning-by-candlestick."

Click here to read my review at Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Alligator: Out on the Streets

"There are certainly some juvenile delights to be found in Alligator: an unattributed POV shot of a squirming victim succeeded by a shot of a blatant prosthetic leg washing ashore, a startlingly grim demise in a residential swimming pool and the hilariously gruff, Lawrence Tierney-esque voice of Michael V. Gazzo as the police chief."

Click here to read my review at Not Coming to a Theater Near You

Maurice: Heritage Foundation

"Maurice, a Merchant-Ivory production, is resolutely an example of British heritage cinema. But while it does reinforce British-ness and its ideal, it also offers one of the more frank and respectful depictions of homosexuality in 1980s cinema."

Click here to read my review at Not Coming to a Theater Near You