Classic Movie Reviews (36)

2012 documentary film about the 1950s pin-up model
Directed by Mark Mori
Featuring commentary by Hugh Hefner
Bloor Hotdocs premiere, Toronto
March 7, 2014
by Live Music Head

360 Screenings
Ontario Heritage Centre, Toronto
October 24, 2013
by Live Music Head

Filthy Gorgeous:
The Bob Guccione Story
2013 Canadian documentary directed by Barry Avrich
by Live Music Head

Remembering: Joe Versus The Volcano
American romantic comedy directed by John Patrick Shanley
Starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan
Released March 9, 1990
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head

Remembering: Analyze This
American comedy directed by Harold Ramis
Starring Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal
Released March 5, 1999
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head

Remembering: Norma Rae
American drama directed by Martin Ritt
Starring Sally Field
Beau Bridges and Ron Leibman
Released March 2, 1979
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head

Remembering: The Sopranos
American television crime-drama created by David Chase
Starring James Gandolfini, Michael Imperioli,
Steven Van Zandt, Tony Sirico, Drea de Matteo
Premiered January 10, 1999
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head

Remembering: The Exorcist
American horror film directed by William Friedkin
Starring Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair,
Jason Miller and Max von Sydow
Released December 26, 1973
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head

Short Movie Review - By Jack Ferdman

Remembering: Valley of the Dolls
American drama directed by Mark Robson
Starring Barbara Parkins, Patty Duke, Sharon Tate
Released December 15, 1967
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head

Remembering: Last Tango in Paris
Italian romance directed by Bernardo Bertolucci
Starring Marlon Brando and Maria Schneider
Released December 15, 1972
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head

STARRING:
Liza Minnelli (Sally Bowles)
Michael York (Brian Roberts)
Joel Grey (Master of Ceremonies)

Director- Bob Fosse
Producer- Cy Feuer
Screenplay- Jay Presson Allen
Time- 128 minutes

Remembering: Silkwood
American drama based on the real life of Karen Silkwood
Directed by Mike Nichols
Starring Meryl Streep, Cher and Kurt Russell
Released December 14, 1983
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head



I punched a clock in a factory once.
Punched it every day, twice a day, for about a year actually, when I worked at Duracell back in the eighties. It was my second ever job. And there was certainly chemicals floating around that plant that could do you harm. The Kleenex would turn black every time I blew my nose. And if your rubber glove touched a cell that got crushed on the assembly line, and then you touched your face, or worse your eye, boy would it burn, baby burn. But I don’t think the chemicals at a battery plant posed nearly as much danger as that of a plutonium plant; a nuclear facility the likes of which is depicted in this film.

Inspired by the real life of union labour activist Karen Silkwood, the film stars Meryl Streep who does an outstanding job in the title role, as well as Cher, and Kurt Russell, who are equally great in the roles of Silkwood’s friend and lover. It’s a disturbing story that will get you thinking; deep thinking about corruption, greed, and the carelessness of the powers-that-be: careless, greedy and corrupt powers-that-be who sign the paycheques of every day people; the working class.

Scenes of Streep being scrubbed down in the shower after being exposed to radiation, and her house being stripped of everything in it, including the wallpaper, after it too proves to be contaminated, are completely unforgettable. And without knowing all the facts of the real story, I have no doubt that what ultimately happened to Silkwood was a direct result of her attempts to expose the corruption.

The trailer for Silkwood...

Remembering: The Towering Inferno
American disaster film directed by Irwin Allen
Starring Paul Newman and Steve McQueen
Released December 14, 1974
by Lisa McDonald
Live Music Head



Remember the spoof SCTV did of this film called Top of The Reactor? Not only was the tallest building in Melonville on fire, but John Candy and Andrea Martin are sitting in the nuclear reactor restaurant actually talking about the No Nukes concert, and Candy says: "the only good thing about that concert was Bruce Springsteen!" Ahhhh John Candy, you are missed.

But this, the original disaster flick with an all-star cast, a co-production between 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. (the first ever film to be a joint venture from two major Hollywood studios) is a story set in San Francisco at the celebration-turned-disaster at the grand opening of the world’s tallest building. Due to the greed of an electrical engineer who strays from the architects specs to use cheaper sub-standard supplies for this 138-storey building, an electrical short starts an undetected fire on the 81st floor, which of course swiftly spreads to create out-of-control action-packed drama; the kind one would expect from a nineteen seventies flick such as this.

Starring Paul Newman and Steve McQueen, two leading men in the same movie, who I hear got paid a million dollars apiece. When there's a burning building in Hollywood, it makes sense Irwin Allen would spare no expense to hire real men to save the day! And for this chick writer, Paul Newman certainly fits the description of a real man. And he delivers the best line in the movie.

At the end of the film, after saving countless lives, Michael O’Hallorhan, the fire chief (McQueen) scolds Doug Roberts, the architect (Newman) for building 'em too damn high.  Roberts, sitting there looking at the ashes of what was once his greatest architectural achievement, says: "Maybe they oughta leave it this way... kind of a shrine to all the bullshit in the world."

The trailer for The Towering Inferno...