Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time 1991  N/R, 107 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Sylvio Tabet
Cast: Marc Singer, Kari Wuhrer, Wings Hauser, Sarah Douglas, James Avery, Robert Z'Dar, Arthur Malet, Robert Fieldsteel, John Fifer, Charles Hyman
Our hero, Dar (Marc Singer), can still telecommunicate with animals. He is back in this sequel, but the twist is that he is in contemporary Los Angeles where he uses modern-day animals to aid him in his quest.
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 Halloween 1978  R, 90 min.
Genre: Horror / Thriller / Sci-Fi
Director: John Carpenter
Cast: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Nancy Kyes, P.J. Soles, Charles Cyphers, Kyle Richards, Brian Andrews, Arthur Malet, Tony Moran, John Michael Graham, Nancy Stephens, Mickey Yablans, Robert Phalen, Brent Le Page, Adam Hollander
After stabbing his sister to death and then being institutionalized for 15 years, Michael Meyers (Tony Moran) escapes and returns to the scene of the crime for some more good old fashion killing on, you guessed it, Halloween. His psychiatrist Dr. Loomis (Donald Pleasence) is in hot pursuit while Michael spends the day trailing teenager Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her friends Lynda (P.J. Soles) and Annie (Nancy Kyes) around their Illinois town. Laurie has no date for Halloween and takes a baby sitting job while her friends plan on a night of frolic in the house across the street. Laurie spends a quiet evening–until she becomes suspicious and heads across the street to the dark party house. Terrifying! This low budget film spawned several sequels.
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 Heaven Can Wait 1978  PG, 110 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Warren Beatty, Buck Henry
Cast: Warren Beatty, Julie Christie, James Mason, Jack Warden, Dyan Cannon, Buck Henry, Charles Grodin, Vincent Gardenia, Joseph Maher, Hamilton Camp, Arthur Malet, Harry D.K. Wong, Stephanie Faracy, Jeannie Linero, George J. Manos
Whoops! Due to some bungling by an overzealous angel (Buck Henry), L.A. Rams football star Joe Pendleton (Warren Beatty) dies before he is supposed to. Joe's body is cremated before the error can be corrected, and, to make up for the error, archangel Mr. Jordan (James Mason) offers to place his soul in the body of Leo Farnsworth whose wife Julia (Dyan Cannon) and secretary Tony Abbott (Charles Grodin) have plotted his demise. Environmentalist Betty Logan (Julie Christie) convinces Joe to assume Leo's body, and, because he is attracted to her, he agrees. The deed is done. Joe hires his coach Max Corkle (Jack Warden) to get him in shape, straightens out Farnsworth's affairs, and struggles to get on the Rams' line-up. Meanwhile, Julia and Tony, who are sure they murdered Farnsworth, are trying to figure out just what is happening. The film won an Oscar for Best Art Direction and was nominated for eight others, including Best Picture, Actor (Beatty), Supporting Actor (Warden), Supporting Actress (Cannon), and Director.
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 Hook 1991  PG, 142 min.
Genre: Family
Director: Steven Spielberg
Cast: Dustin Hoffman, Robin Williams, Julia Roberts, Bob Hoskins, Maggie Smith, Caroline Goodall, Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott, Phil Collins, Arthur Malet, Laurel Cronin, Dante Basco, Jasen Fisher
Peter Pan has grown up, married, and become a father. The problem is that he has become the kind of father he always was against: one who is too busy with work to give his children any attention. It takes a trip to the Island of the Lost Boys for Peter to realize that the most important things in life are his children.
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 A Little Princess 1995  G, 97 min.
Genre: Family / Drama / Fantasy
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Cast: Liesel Matthews, Eleanor Bron, Liam Cunningham, Rusty Schwimmer, Arthur Malet, Vanessa Lee Chester, Errol Sitahal, Vincent Schiavelli, Heather DeLoach, Taylor Fry, Darcie Bradford, Rachel Bella, Alexandra Rea-Baum, Camilla Belle, Lauren Blumenfeld
Sara Crew (Liesel Matthews) has lived with her loving father (Liam Cunningham), but now World War I interferes with her idyllic lifestyle. When her father leaves to fight in the war, Sara is sent to a New York boarding school where she encounters a mean headmistress (Eleanor Bron). When her father is reported as missing in action and presumed dead, Sarah finds herself in the position of being a servant.
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Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. 1966  N/R, 110 min.
Genre: Family
Director: Byron Paul
Cast: Dick Van Dyke, Nancy Kwan, Akim Tamiroff, Arthur Malet, Tyler McVey, Peter Duryea, John Dennis, Pete Renoudet
Navy pilot Lieutenant Robin Crusoe (Dick Van Dyke) is stranded on a tropical island and comes to the aid of a beautiful native woman, Wednesday (Nancy Kwan). Rare Disney disaster.
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 Mary Poppins 1964  G, 139 min.
Genre: Family / Musical / Comedy / Fantasy
Director: Robert Stevenson
Cast: Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, Ed Wynn, Elsa Lanchester, David Tomlinson, Glynis Johns, Arthur Treacher, Hermione Baddeley, Reginald Owen, Reta Shaw, Karen Dotrice, Matthew Garber, Jane Darwell, Arthur Malet
English children Jane and Michael Banks (Karen Dotrice and Matthew Garber) feel neglected by their parents. They receive a new "magical" nanny, Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) who takes them on exciting adventures and changes the lives of everyone in the family. Andrews won the Best Actress Oscar for her role, and "Chim Chim Cheree" won for Best Song. There were three other Academy awards as well as eight nominations, including Best Picture and Director. A delightful film that is filled with great songs.
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The Secret of NIMH 1982 G, 82 min.
Genre: Animation / Family / Adventure / Drama / Fantasy
Director: Don Bluth
Cast: Elizabeth Hartman, Dom DeLuise, Peter Strauss, Derek Jacobi, Hermione Baddeley, John Carradine, Arthur Malet, Paul Shenar, Aldo Ray, Wil Wheaton, Shannen Doherty, Jodi Hicks, Ian Fried, Lucille Bliss, Tom Hatten
This feature-length animated film tells a delightful story about a mouse, Mrs. Brisby (voice of Elizabeth Hartman), who goes out to look for a way to save her home and children from a farmer who is preparing to plow his field. With help from a crow, Jeremy (voice of Dom DeLuise), Mrs. Brisby discovers the secret society of NIMH. They are lab rats who have escaped from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) laboratory, and they just might have the solution to Mrs. Brisby's dilemma.
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 Toys 1992  PG-13, 122 min.
Genre: Comedy
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Robin Williams, Michael Gambon, Joan Cusack, Robin Wright Penn, LL Cool J, Donald O'Connor, Arthur Malet, Jack Warden, Debi Mazar, Jamie Foxx
When his father dies, Leslie Zevo (Robin Williams) fights his uncle (Michael Gambon) who wants to turn the family toy company into a munitions factory. This film has the right elements in Robin Williams and Barry Levinson, but it just does not make the grade.
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 Young Frankenstein 1974  PG, 105 min.
Genre: Comedy / Sci-Fi
Director: Mel Brooks
Cast: Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle, Gene Hackman, Teri Garr, Madeline Kahn, Cloris Leachman, Kenneth Mars, Richard Haydn, Liam Dunn, Danny Goldman, Oscar Beregi Jr., Arthur Malet, Anne Beesley, Monte Landis
This is a great satirical look at Frankenstein as seen through the eyes of comedy when the Monster (Peter Boyle) comes across as a sympathetic creature who elicits many laughs. Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Gene Wilder) is the grandson of the infamous Frankenstein and has inherited his Transylvanian estate. He moves in and meets hunchback Igor (Marty Feldman), assistant Inga (Teri Garr), and housekeeper Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman). Frankenstein creates his Monster, but Igor has stolen the wrong brain, and problems–and humor–are a certainty. 1 User Review
| User Review |
| | The Most Successful Mel Brooks Movie | 1fatts 11/08/2007 | I think the credit goes to Gene Wilder -- not as an actor, although he is very good in this, but as the co-writer. Wilder shares writing credit with Brooks on this film, and that may be where the disciplined structure comes from in the film.
The film is, of course, zany and contains the requisite number of Brooks silliness, bad puns and misfires, but, as a film, we have a tight, controlled structure. And we end up, because of it, with a true spoof and tribute to the original James Whale movies.
Wilder does a fine job. Madeline Kahn was a wonder. Kenneth Mars does another one of his truly gifted dialect roles. Gene Hackman's cameo as the blind hermit is, hands down, the funniest thing he ever did. Still, my own personal favourite here is Cloris Leachman doing a take-off of Judith Anderson's housekeeper in "Rebecca"/
I can't say it's the funniest Mel Brooks stuff on film -- that must forever go to two or three of the best scenes in The Producers (That's the original; we won't talk about the musical), but Young Frankenstein, taken as a a whole, is the best "film" Brooks ever did. |
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| 1. Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time (1991)
2. The Black Cauldron (1985)
3. Halloween (1978)
4. Heaven Can Wait (1978)
5. Hook (1991)
6. A Little Princess (1995)
7. Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N. (1966)
8. Mary Poppins (1964)
9. The Secret of NIMH (1982)
10. Toys (1992)
11. Young Frankenstein (1974)
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