Tombstone (1993)

Tombstone

During my boyhood, cowboys and Indians were all the rage. TV was festooned with westerns. I remember pretending to be one or the other day in and day out. So when a movie like Tombstone comes along, it wasn’t long before I bought a DVD copy to see if the memories held. It did. When Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) sets off for the showdown, not knowing Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) beats him there. Doc confronts a surprised Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) but Ringo is nervous and tells Doc that he doesn’t want to fight. But being a black hat, Ringo’s nature gets the better of him and he accepts. The classic image of two men staring each other down as they circle leads to both men reaching for their pistols. Doc gets the first shot off, hitting Ringo in the head and killing him. Yep, I’m six-years-old again.


Director:  George P. Cosmatos
Writer:  Kevin Jarre
Cast:
Kurt Russell -  Wyatt Earp
Val Kilmer -  Doc Holliday
Sam Elliott -  Virgil Earp
Bill Paxton -  Morgan Earp
Powers Boothe -  Curly Bill Brocious
Michael Biehn -  Johnny Ringo
Charlton Heston -  Henry Hooker
Jason Priestley -  Deputy Billy Breckinridge
Jon Tenney -  John Behan, Cochise County Sheriff
Stephen Lang -  Ike Clanton
Thomas Haden Church -  Billy Clanton
Dana Delany -  Josephine Marcus
Paula Malcomson -  Allie Earp
Lisa Collins -  Louisa Earp
Dana Wheeler-Nicholson -  Mattie Blaylock Earp, aka Celia Maddon
Joanna Pacula -  Kate Fisher









Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Bubba Ho-Tep

The residents of many nursing homes are placed into a passive mode. They are subject to the whims and vagaries of services provided by others. When they decide to become active for some reason, it takes an enormous amount of convincing of those in control that something needs to change. That is the case for two denizens of a home in Mud Creek, Texas. Toss in the fact that Elvis ( Bruce Campbell) thinks he is The King who swapped his status for an impersonator to get away from the limelight and Jack (Ossie Davis) who claims to be John F. Kennedy and has had his skin dyed and the chance of anyone believing them that something evil is afoot is marginal at best. So the duo decide that it is up to them to tackle it themselves, Elvis with his walker and Jack in his wheelchair.


Director:  Don Coscarelli
Writer:  Don Coscarelli
Cast:
Bruce Campbell -  Elvis Presley
Ossie Davis -  John “Jack” Fitzgerald Kennedy
Ella Joyce -  Massaging Nurse
Bob Ivy -  Bubba Ho-Tep
Heidi Marnhout -  Callie
Daniel Roebuck -  Hearse Driver
Daniel Schweiger -  Hearse Driver
Harrison Young -  Bull Thomas
Larry Pennell -  Kemosabe









Love Stinks (1999)

Love Stinks

Have you ever done an Elvis impersonation? Did you try doing the voice? Or maybe got gussied up in a similar jumpsuit? The sneer is something most try. Well, Chelsea Turner (Bridgette Wilson) does a great Elvis impersonation of one of The King’s numbers from Viva Las Vegas. And it isn’t just the singing. She has the dance steps to match. But she has something more than Elvis was ever able to give to his fans when she pulls open her top.


Director:  Jeff Franklin
Writer:  Jeff Franklin
Cast:
French Stewart -  Seth Winnick
Bridgette Wilson -  Chelsea Turner
Bill Bellamy -  Larry Garnett
Tyra Banks -  Holly Garnett
Steve Hytner -  Marty Mark
Jason Bateman -  Jesse Travis/Ronnie
Tiffani-Amber Thiessen -  Rebecca Melini/Juliette
Ellis E. Williams -  Minister
Ivana Milavich -  Amber
Montrose Hagins -  Nana
Renata Scott -  Mrs. Littlejohn
Warren Littlefield -  Peter Bloomstein
Lisa Amsterdam -  Writer
Tom Gammill -  Writer
Tim Hightower -  Writer
Hal Spear -  Writer









I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Denial in the face of overwhelming evidence is not a smart position to take, particularly when it could affect whether you die. Barry Cox (Ryan Phillippe) gets run down by a Beamer late one night and a guy wearing a sou’wester with a hook pops out and stands over him with murderous intent in his demeanour. The next day in hospital with his co-conspirators Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Barry is still denying that someone or something is out for revenge. He may want to rethink that position.


Director:  Jim Gillespie
Writer:  Lois Duncan; Kevin Williamson
Cast:
Jennifer Love Hewitt -  Julie James
Sarah Michelle Gellar -  Helen Shivers
Ryan Phillippe -  Barry William Cox
Freddie Prinze Jr. -  Ray Bronson
Bridgette Wilson -  Elsa Shivers
Anne Heche -  Melissa ‘Missy’ Egan
Johnny Galecki -  Max Neurick
Muse Watson -  Benjamin Willis
Stuart Greer -  Officer David Caporizo
J. Don Ferguson -  Emcee
Deborah Hobart -  Mrs. James
Mary McMillan -  Mrs. Cox
Rasool J’Han -  Deb
Dan Albright -  Sheriff
Lynda Clark -  Pageant Official
Shea Broom -  Contestant #1









Federal Protection (2002)

Federal Protection

Some folks get blinded by greed. They can’t see what they have stepped into due to the green glare. Bootsie Cavander (Dina Meyer) and Leigh’s (Angela Featherstone) unfaithful husband Dennis (David Lipper) figure out Howard Akers’s (Armand Assante) real identity and decide to rat him out for cash. Little do they know nor do they understand that these pros play for keeps. But they soon find out. Now, Bootsie can’t back down nor back out of her plan and she has nowhere to turn.


Director:  Anthony Hickox
Writer:  Craig Smith
Cast:
Armand Assante -  Frank Carbone/Howard Akers
Angela Featherstone -  Leigh Kirkindall
Dina Meyer -  Bootsie Cavander
David Lipper -  Denny Kirkindall
Frank Chiesurin -  Sid
Tony Calabretta -  Pasquale ‘Patsy’ Dilepsi
Mark Camacho -  Joseph Pagnozzi
Steven Park -  Chong-Sung
Chip Chuipka -  Marshal Donald Powers
Danny Blanco Hall -  Marshal Chuck Sturdevant
Maxim Roy -  Marjorie Watts
Anatoly Zinoviev -  Teddy
Michael Filipowich -  Johnny the Face
Carl Alacchi -  Gio Brogianto
Maria Yvonne Bertrand -  Vicky Brogianto
Bob Babinski -  Newscaster









Hard Luck (2006)

Hard Luck

Sometimes a concept just beggars the imagination. Cybill Shepherd as a serial killer is one of them. She and her accomplice make a gallant effort to come across as killers but it’s hard to keep a straight face particularly when she is wearing bunny ears.


Director:  Mario Van Peebles
Writer:  Larry Brand; Mario Van Peebles
Cast:
Gavin J. Behrman -  Antonio
Kevin Chapman -  Franklin
Derrick Costa -  State Trooper
Derek Cunningham -  Swedish Porn Star
Elizabeth Dings -  Woman in diner
Aubrey Dollar -  Rainn
Luis Guzmán -  Mendez
Tony Hua -  Detective Lee
Tom Kemp -  Gino Gambetti
James Hiroyuki Liao -  Chang
Mike Messier -  Eugene- Cass’s Son
Bill Mootos -  National Guardsman
Sayed Najem -  Front desk Manager
Wendy Overly -  Waitress
Jackie Quinones -  Angela
Cybill Shepherd -  Cass









Never Look Back (1996)

Never Look Back

Sometimes help appears from the most unlikely sources. Jill Kendall (Nicole Freeman) is in Miami after fleeing an abusive boyfriend and her unsupportive parents, when she drops by a cabaret for lunch. There she meets Mona (Girlina) and Billee (Candis Cayne) who call themselves “gender illusionists” and take her under their wing. She’s looking for a career in modelling and her angels know all of the do’s and don’ts to help her along. But as she gets rich and famous, Jill is the target for all those who want a piece of of her. But she doesn’t forget who was on her side at the start.


Director:  Stephen Kinsella
Writer:  Stephen Kinsella
Cast:
Nicole Freeman -  Jill
Chris Sery -  Keith
Candis Cayne -  Billee
Girlina -  Mona
Steve Kinsella -  Oliver
David Asili -  Maurice
Tony Pompile -  Jake
Angel Boris -  Kathy
Christina Rumore -  Cindy
Patrica Cook -  Jean
David Anthony Pizzuto -  Jack Kendal
Carolyn SeRine -  Madeline
Greg Pittman -  Kenny
Chad Ayers -  Sal
Brian Davis -  Arnie
Jason Varge -  Lothario









Constantine (2005)

Constantine

The struggle between Heaven and Hell, light and dark, good and evil goes on all around us, invisible to most. It seems that those above and those below have entered into an hands-off agreement and carry out their nefarious plots through their minions and half-breeds. But something is amiss for the hellspawn have been violating the terms of the accord in forcing Isabel Dodson (Rachel Weisz) to commit suicide. Her twin sister Angela (Rachel Weisz) enlists the help of John Constantine (Keanu Reeves) to figure out why her sister was murdered despite everybody’s belief it was a suicide. But their investigation is not without consequences. Angela is warned that, if she looks for the perps, they and those who manipulate them will see her too.


Director:  Francis Lawrence
Writer:  Jamie Delano; Garth Ennis; Kevin Brodbin; Frank A. Cappello; Frank Cappello
Cast:
Keanu Reeves -  John Constantine
Rachel Weisz -  Angela Dodson/Isabel Dodson
Shia LaBeouf -  Chas
Djimon Hounsou -  Midnite
Max Baker -  Beeman
Pruitt Taylor Vince -  Father Hennessy
Gavin Rossdale -  Balthazar
Tilda Swinton -  Gabriel
Peter Stormare -  Satan
Jesse Ramirez -  Scavenger
Jose Zuniga -  Detective Weiss
Francis Guinan -  Father Garret
Larry Cedar -  Vermin Man
April Grace -  Dr. Leslie Archer
Suzanne Whang -  Mother
Jhoanna Trias -  Possessed Girl









Billy Elliot (2000)

Billy Elliot

There have been a number of times when, faced with a decision to make, I’ve chosen an alternative on nothing more than intuition. In retrospect, they have usually been the correct one to make (for me). After doing this a few times in my young and stupid days, I began to trust my subconscious. I thought about the process a lot but I was never able to figure out why it worked for me. Billy Elliot (Jamie Bell) seems to have discovered his path to intuition as well. After discovering he sucked at boxing, he’s dared by a girl, Debbie Wilkinson (Nicola Blackwell), to try ballet. Boys never refuse a dare so he joins in and finds that he likes it and has potential, according to Debbie’s mum (Julie Walters), the teacher of the class. Now he has to figure out how to hide this girly activity from his coal miner dad who is near the centre of a 1984 UK miners’s strike.


Director:  Stephen Daldry; Billy Fane
Writer:  Lee Hall
Cast:
Jamie Bell -  Billy Elliot
Jean Heywood -  Grandma
Jamie Draven -  Tony Elliot
Gary Lewis -  Dad (Jackie Elliot)
Stuart Wells -  Michael Caffrey
Mike Elliot -  George Watson
Billy Fane -  Mr. Braithwaite
Nicola Blackwell -  Debbie Wilkinson
Julie Walters -  Mrs. Wilkinson
Carol McGuigan -  Librarian
Joe Renton -  Gary Poulson
Colin Maclachlan -  Mr. Tom Wilkinson
Janine Birkett -  Billy’s Mum
Trevor Fox -  PC Jeff Peverly
Charlie Hardwick -  Sheila Briggs
Denny Ferguson -  Miner