Every Sunday, Gill delves into his archive of over 800 movie reviews and randomly selects three for your enjoyment! Here are this week’s…
Dragonslayer
This is a classic piece of 80s cheeseball fantasy, and a pretty enjoyable one at that. It’s not terrific, and about half of the dragon effects look really silly (the other half look awesome, mind you), but it’s got those trademark flourishes that make the fantasy movies of the early 1980s so enjoyable; it’s got decent production values, a gritty, dirty medieval look, magic spells, glowing weapons, and a great big dragon terrorizing a village. If I had seen this before I hit the age of 12, I might have thought it was the greatest movie ever made. As is, it’s a piece of mindless retro fun.
3 out of 5
Jackie Brown
A top-notch blaxploitation crime flick that’s Tarantino’s least celebrated film, yet still brilliantly made. Everything about this movie is totally solid and a step above most Hollywood crime dramas. The performances are first rate (Pam Grier and Robert Forster are particularly awesome, but then so are Sam Jackson and Robert De Niro), the writing is tight, the cinematography is incredible. It’s Tarantino without the flashy Tarantino style, and it works through and through. Highly underrated.
4 out of 5
Cat People
An excellent old-school horror movie that implies more than it shows, and does so incredibly effectively. By letting the audience wonder about what is going on without spelling it out for them the filmmakers create a terrific sense of uncertainty and suspense that works on multiple levels. The performances are all good – not outstanding, but solid – and the leading lady Simone Simon does a fine job of making her character seem sinister without actually performing any explicitly sinister acts. The plot progression is swift and doesn’t meander, and the conclusion leaves the viewer satisfied. A great movie, all around
4 out of 5
See you next Sunday for three more thrilling short reviews!