Movie Reviews
Titles starting with R
Run Silent, Run Deep
World War II submarine drama starring Clark Gable and Burt Lancaster. The only time Gable worked with a male co-star, how about that? It can’t quite measure up to some of the really pulse-pounding sub stories, the best of which is the German masterpiece Das Boot, but for its time it’s pretty accurate, filmed in sets built with real sub equipment loaned by the ... Read more »
The Runaway Bus
What an odd movie. It was written and directed by Val Guest, who did comedies and some fairly decent science fiction in the ‘50s. This one is sort of a comedy, sort of a heist movie, and a little bit of a thriller. The London area is socked in with an incredibly thick fog. All flights out of Heathrow are cancelled, and people are put on a bus to be driven to another airport. At the same ... Read more »
The Runaways
… was the name of the first girl group Joan Jett was in. The movie is based on a book written by Cherie Currie, one of the other girls, who was only 15 at the time. I have learned that the book was as much about her family as about the group, but the writer chose to basically only do the musical part of the story. And, I’m sorry, but even if it is all true, it’s so predictable. ... Read more »
Running On Empty
For me and Lee, this is one of the best films of all time. It’s not on my Top 25 list, but it easily could be. It tells of a family perpetually on the run from the FBI. Mom and Dad bombed a supposedly empty building during their crazy political days, and a man inside was blinded. Their youngest son was 2 at the time; they’ve since had another boy. They remain radical lefties, ... Read more »
Rush
The Indy 500 is coming up this weekend, and as usual I won’t watch it. I like auto racing okay, but I never seek it out. It’s all pretty boring until someone crashes, isn’t it? And it’s kind of ghoulish to watch just for that.
I know even less about Formula One racing, which is much bigger in Europe than in America, where NASCAR “stock car” racing is king. Two of the best racing ... Read more »
Rush
The business of illegal drugs is so filthy it’s hard to describe. And I’m talking both sides of the coin, both those who deal in them, and those who try to arrest them. My personal opinion is that the problem would be solved if the government just got out of our bloodstreams and let us get high any way we want to. This seems harsh to some, I know. There would be a lot of overdoses. (As if ... Read more »
Rushmore
We’re just about done going back over the early films of Wes Anderson. This is one of his most acclaimed ones, and neither of us liked it very much. Jason Schwartzman is an overachieving student at an exclusive prep school, in everything but grades. He is involved in so many extra-curricular activities that he has no time for studying. He’s a real go-getter, and something of a con man. He ... Read more »
The Russia House
John le Carré has had an enviable career in Hollywood. So far as I know he has never set foot in the town, and he has no screenwriting credits. What he does is sell his complicated, difficult, cerebral, seldom violent novels to filmmakers and lets them run with it. And because the novels are so difficult and have so little slam-bang action, no hack writers or directors are interested in ... Read more »
Russian Ark
One of the most amazing films I have ever seen. It is about 90 minutes long, and consists of one continuous shot, winding all over the corridors and vast rooms of the Hermitage museum in St. Petersburg. This is done with high-definition video and a steadicam weighing about 80 pounds; just carrying the damn thing is an heroic achievement. Then consider that about ... Read more »