They Shot the Piano Player (2024)
Spanish director Fernando Truaba is one of those [...]
Archive for June, 1984
Conan the Destroyer (1984)
Conan the Destroyer is not a great sequel to Conan the Barbarian but I have to wonder if my appreciation for it may not have been somewhat dimmed by seeing it in such close approximation to Greystoke. The “realistic” Tarzan movie illustrated the problem with the Lord of the Apes, in that in making him […]
Bachelor Party (1984)
Does it sound bizarre to confess that I have a set of standards for a movie like Bachelor Party? Probably, but hear me out. I insist that if you are going to make a raunchy, low-brow comedy about a group of slobs upsetting the prim and proper, at least a.) have the guys be likable, […]
Cannonball Run II (1984)
Cannonball Run II is a car race movie that is so lazy that it does even have a car race in it. I’m serious. Somewhere in the formation of this mess, director Hal Needham apparently forgot about the race, diverted the plot into a comedy bit about mobsters, and then tacked on two-minute animated sequence […]
Top Secret! (1984)
So, where do I go with a review of Top Secret? It’s kind of critic-proof. I can only report that I laughed or that I didn’t laugh. And yes, I laughed. I laughed a lot actually. I think I may have laughed more at this movie than I did at Airplane, I can’t be sure. But they […]
Rhinestone (1984)
I never thought I would have to report on a movie with a running gag about jock itch, but here we are. Rhinestone is a pre-packaged deal, a movie that so closely guards the images of its two stars that a moment of spontaneity or human dimension can’t get its foot in the door. Sylvester […]
The Karate Kid (1984)
There are moments when I am watching some movies when I wish that it would settle down, take a step back and be about more than just sugar-fueled phrenetic action. The Karate Kid is a movie about a kid who learns karate but it is also a movie that settles down, steps back and is […]
Beat Street (1984)
If the world needs a breakdancing movie, then I suggest that the best way to approach it is to keep it simple. That was the key to Breakin’ which I liked very much because the director never allowed the story or the characters to get in the way of the dancing. That’s not quite what […]
Ghostbusters (1984)
Ghostbusters is a very funny movie but more than that, it is an exception to the notion that big budgets and special effects and sour a good comedy. Many times in movies like this the time and attention has gone into the effects work and little time is spent on the script. That’s not what […]
