I know I’ve seen bits of this before, but I think this was my first time seeing it all in one piece and, hopefully, it’ll be my last as well. The premise is confusing and mangled. Everyone’s favourite energetically chaotic funnyman Robin Williams is laboured with playing the least fun person imaginable, strapped to his giant mobile phone instead of spending time with his kids. Way too much time is spent in the real world before heading into the fantasy realm. It’s just so boring!
This year I pledged to fill in all my Steven Spielberg blind spots, reviewing them as I go. I’ve been making reasonable progress with the watching, but customarily slacking when it comes to the actual reviewing, partly because I got side-tracked with the Twin Peaks of it all. So far I’ve watched Always, Hook and Amistad, (along with the already-reviewed Sugarland Express and Empire of the Sun) none of which I feel overly compelled to watch again anytime soon, so these next few reviews will likely be a little lighter than usual, hope that’s OK. I still have Munich and Catch Me If You Can to go, so hopefully look out for them soon!
In 1940s China, British ex-pat child James Graham (Christian Bale) is a spoiled, entitled little brat, until World War II arrives with an invasion from Japan, separating him from his parents and leaving him to fend for himself in his abandoned home before eventually becoming interned in a prisoner-of-war camp.
Jeffrey Beaumont (Kyle MacLachlan) returns from university to his smalltown home of Lumberton to look after the family hardware store when his father is hospitalised from a heart attack. After visiting the hospital, Jeffrey discovers a severed human ear in the woods, and begins investigating into its origin, leading him to team up with policeman’s daughter Sandy (Laura Dern) and lounge singer Dorothy Vallens (Isabella Rossellini) who seems connected in some way. Also connected is local gas-huffing psychopath crime lord Frank Booth (Dennis Hopper) and his crew of cronies, but how deep is Jeffrey going to delve into the seedy world beneath the perfect veneer of suburbia?
Okay folks, strap in. Six days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the United States of America was concerned about another attack on US soil. 1941 follows a bunch of people in and around California over the course of one day, including:
– The crew of a Japanese submarine searching for something honourable to destroy, commanded by Akiro Mitamura (Toshiro Mifune) alongside German officer Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt (Christopher Lee), and eventually kidnapping Christmas tree salesman Hollis P. Wood (Slim Pickens).
– US Air Force captain “Wild” Bill Kelso (John Belushi) apparently chasing Japanese aircraft in his Warhawk.
– Captain Loomis Birkhead (Tim Matheson) attempting to seduce old girlfriend Donna Stratton (Nancy Allen), now the secretary of General Stillwell (Robert Stack), complicated by the fact that Stratton can only become aroused in a flying airplane, and Birkhead is not a qualified pilot.
– Civilian couple Ward and Joan Douglas (Ned Beatty and Lorraine Gary) are presented with an anti-aircraft gun due to the coastal location of their home.
– The Douglas’ daughter, Betty (Dianne Kay), wants to go to the jitterbug dance with newly-unemployed former-dishwasher Wally (Bobby Di Cicco), which becomes a problem when the dance becomes only available to enlisted men, much to the joy of the aggressive Corporal Sitarski (Treat Williams), who has eyes for Betty, whilst Betty’s friend Maxine (Wendie Jo Sperber) very much has the hots for Sitarski.
– Two members of the Ground Observer Corps (Murray Hamilton and Eddie Deezen) are posted atop a Ferris wheel, keeping watch for any approaching enemy forces.
– And finally, devoid of any real through-plot, there’s a tank crew comprised of Sergeant Tree (Dan Aykroyd) and Privates Foley (John Candy), Reese (Mickey Rourke), Henshaw (Walter Olkewicz) and new addition Jones (Frank McRae).
With only four months left on her husband’s prison sentence, Lou Jean Poplin (Goldie Hawn) near-spontaneously springs Clovis (William Atherton) from imminent release and the two set out to retrieve their fostered child Langston from his new parents. Things inevitably go awry, leading to the couple taking Patrolman Slide (Michael Sacks) hostage in his patrol car and lead one of the slowest, and silliest, car chases across Texas.
Irascible, anti-social weather reporter Phil Connors (Bill Murray) heads to the small town of Punxutawney, Philadelphia with his cameraman Larry (Chris Elliott) and new producer Rita (Andi MacDowell) to cover the Groundhog Day festival ceremony, wherein a prominently dentured rodent allegedly predicts the weather. It’s an annual occurrence Phil despises, and one from which he cannot wait to get away, but unfortunately for him he’s stuck there, reliving the same day over and over again, potentially forever more.
An aging Admiral James T. Kirk (William Shatner) no longer captains a starship, instead overseeing training simulations for upcoming recruits. On one such exercise, Kirk takes over command of his beloved Enterprise when Khan Noonien Singh (Ricardo Montalban), a genetically engineered superhuman Kirk has run into before, attacks a space station containing a terraforming device.
It’s the last day of the summer vacation in 1962. Tomorrow, Curt (Richard Dreyfuss) and Steve (Ron Howard) are heading off to university, leaving behind their two friends Terry (Charles Martin Smith) and John (Paul Le Mat), as well as Steve’s girlfriend and Curt’s younger sister Laurie (Cindy Williams). Over the course of this night spent on their local driving strip, these four friends will undergo various adventures that may change their lives forever.
Tom (Michael Douglas), a devoted husband and father, has spent years working his way up the corporate ladder at a technology company, and is expecting to be promoted as part of an upcoming merger. However, instead his boss Bob (Donald Sutherland) brings in new blood for the role, in the form of Tom’s ex-girlfriend Meredith (Demi Moore). Meredith summons Tom for a suspicious evening meeting accompanied by wine and shoulder massages, during which she attempts to seduce him. After initially reciprocating, Tom eventually turns her down and flees, telling no-one and hiding the scratches on his torso. Upon arriving at work the next day Tom discovers Meredith has vengefully accused him of sexual harassment, and Tom must either prove his innocence or be forced out of the company.
Life Vs Film 