Torrid Zone

Entertaining, and forgettable. Hollywood used to churn out these sort of between A and B pictures by the scores, every year. Pick out a few of your best stars, assign a writing team to craft a story about whatever theme some producer thought up that week (in this case: “Bananas! Give me a movie about bananas!”), and in a week or two, start building the sets or use standing sets and begin ... Read more »

Total Recall

Is there anything less exciting, more boring, than the sixth fistfight in the same movie? If there is, I can’t think of it. It really tempts me to FF through the whole thing. Here’s a movie that begins with a good premise (the second time we have seen Phil Dick’s “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” filmed), and some good action scenes, and quickly degenerates into mindlessness. I am ... Read more »

Total Recall

Is there anything less exciting, more boring, than the sixth fistfight in the same movie? If there is, I can’t think of it. It really tempts me to FF through the whole thing. Here’s a movie that begins with a good premise (the second time we have seen Phil Dick’s “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale” filmed), and some good action scenes, and quickly degenerates into mindlessness. I am ... Read more »

Touch the Sound

Evelyn Glennie, OBE, is a 40-year-old woman, thought by many to be the best solo percussionist in the world. In fact, she pretty much invented the profession of solo percussionist, and was the first to make a living at it. Maybe she still is the only one. And she’s been deaf since the age of 12.

Percussion is surely the earliest music. At its very simplest, it is nothing more than ... Read more »

Touching the Void

Yikes! This is one of the most harrowing movies I’ve ever seen. I’m not a fan of mountain climbing or of climbers; I feel they deserve whatever they get, as they set out for excitement, didn’t they? So my sympathies are limited. But in this case … two men set out to climb the highest mountain in the Andes that has never been scaled. This is a semi-documentary, in that the action is ... Read more »

Towed in a Hole

Laurel and Hardy Two-reeler. They run a business selling fresh fish. They decide to buy a boat and catch their own fish. It has a few leaks, so naturally they fill it with water, and naturally Ollie gets soaked in every way it is possible to get soaked. Then they can’t get it moving, so they put up the sail …and car, trailer, and boat are demolished.

Tower Heist

I don’t recommend comedies, because we all laugh at different things. But I will bring to your attention a comedy that we enjoyed, when we hadn’t really expected to. It’s called Tower Heist. It’s very much in the style of Donald E. Westlake’s Dortmunder stories, and for the first 3/4ths I had a real good time. It’s obviously inspired by Bernie Madoff. Alan Alda ... Read more »

The Town

First, one of the all-time bad titles. It gives you absolutely no idea what to expect, you have to see the poster or the trailer for that. What town? “Our Town?” Are we talking Thornton Wilder, bare stage and a few chairs and ladders here? Small town? Big town? Families? No, the town in question is Boston, and this is about a bunch of highly professional robbers. The sort who are really ... Read more »

A Town Called Panic

Here is a very odd movie. One is tempted to say it’s Toy Story on an acid trip, but somebody’s probably already used that line. What it is, is Toy Story as if written and directed by actual children. Remember how when you were playing with your toys, having them interact, you would always hold the one who was ... Read more »

Toy Story

When I was a child my granddaddy managed the Duke & Ayres store in Corsicana, Texas. (Think Woolworth’s, but smaller.) Among the many things he sold were lots and lots of toys. As the spoiled grandson, I got to play with them behind the counters, evaluate (my word for “play with”) them for appeal, safety, and durability. A nasty job, but somebody had to do it. If a toy happened to get ... Read more »