What is it about the game of golf that makes good cinema? We can barely keep our eyes open during the PGA Tour. Its tranquil vibes are more relaxing than a glass of warm milk. And we can't name but a handful of players: Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, er... Is there a famous "Dave" in there? Still, we could pop in and enjoy at least a dozen films about the sport at a moment's notice on a lazy Saturday afternoon. There's something majestic about the luscious greens, the stillness of the crowd, the whispered play-by-play, and the distant thwack of a ball that translates to the big screen.
Or maybe it's the class struggle, as golf is seen as a gentleman's sport designed for the wealthy. A round of golf at Pebble Beach will set you back nearly 600! Or perhaps we're intoxicated by the psychology of the game,...
Or maybe it's the class struggle, as golf is seen as a gentleman's sport designed for the wealthy. A round of golf at Pebble Beach will set you back nearly 600! Or perhaps we're intoxicated by the psychology of the game,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Jeff Ames
- Slash Film
(Welcome to The Daily Stream, an ongoing series in which the /Film team shares what they've been watching, why it's worth checking out, and where you can stream it.)
The Movie: "Dennis The Menace"
Where You Can Stream It: Netflix
The Pitch: Loosely based on the popular Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name, "Dennis the Menace" tells the goofball story of five-year-old Dennis Mitchell (Mason Gamble), a mischievous little boy who makes the life of his neighbor George Wilson (Walter Matthau) a living hell. Trouble follows Dennis at every turn, mostly due to his own childish curiosity and...
The post The Daily Stream: Why Do I Still Remember Every Punchline in Dennis the Menace? appeared first on /Film.
The Movie: "Dennis The Menace"
Where You Can Stream It: Netflix
The Pitch: Loosely based on the popular Hank Ketcham comic strip of the same name, "Dennis the Menace" tells the goofball story of five-year-old Dennis Mitchell (Mason Gamble), a mischievous little boy who makes the life of his neighbor George Wilson (Walter Matthau) a living hell. Trouble follows Dennis at every turn, mostly due to his own childish curiosity and...
The post The Daily Stream: Why Do I Still Remember Every Punchline in Dennis the Menace? appeared first on /Film.
- 3/9/2022
- by BJ Colangelo
- Slash Film
Welcome to yet another interesting edition of Top 10 Events This Day in Movie and Television History! This time around, we peek into all that went down on January 16 over the years. And as we discovered when we were diving into our archives, it was quite an interesting day too! The birth of the highly influential John Carpenter and Mason Gamble of Dennis the Menace fame, the first shoot for the first-ever James Bond film Dr. No, the last day of broadcasting for the popular shows Outer Limits and Bonanza, the first episode of Life on Earth presented by
January 16: Top 10 Events This Day in Movie and Television History...
January 16: Top 10 Events This Day in Movie and Television History...
- 1/28/2022
- by Stanley Anto
- TVovermind.com
The 1993 movie Dennis the Menace is arguably one of the most memorable kids’ movies of the decade. One of the main reasons for the movie’s success was the work of the film’s young star, Mason Gamble, who played the role of Dennis. Not only was he as adorable as they come, but he also put on a great performance that showed the world that he had a bright future in acting. Many people were surprised, however, when Mason ultimately disappeared from the spotlight. Now that it’s been nearly 30 years since the movie’s release, lots of people have wondered
Whatever Happened to Mason Gamble?...
Whatever Happened to Mason Gamble?...
- 12/20/2021
- by Camille Moore
- TVovermind.com
Last week on the first day of the month, Netflix dropped a load of new movies, including several classics or cult films from the 1990s. Many of them have proved to be a hit with users, too, and today – Sunday, August 9th – sees three of these movies dominating the site’s Top 10 most-watched films list. One of these is one of the most beloved flicks of all time, another is its sequel and the third, as they say, will shock you.
Yes, unsurprisingly, the first of this trio of 90s flicks that are doing well on Netflix this weekend is 1993’s Jurassic Park. Steven Spielberg’s prehistoric thrill ride is one that many of us have seen again and again, so it’s the perfect thing to stick on and enjoy once more on a Sunday movie day. Remember, the film’s stars – Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern...
Yes, unsurprisingly, the first of this trio of 90s flicks that are doing well on Netflix this weekend is 1993’s Jurassic Park. Steven Spielberg’s prehistoric thrill ride is one that many of us have seen again and again, so it’s the perfect thing to stick on and enjoy once more on a Sunday movie day. Remember, the film’s stars – Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Dern...
- 8/9/2020
- by Christian Bone
- We Got This Covered
Hulu is kicking off the new year with a mix of new and old movies and TV shows that will be added to the streaming service in January.
Reality series including “The Bachelor,” “Project Runway” will release this month, along with “Cooks vs. Cons” and “Cutthroat: Kitchen.”
On the film front, “13 Going on 30,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Forrest Gump” and “Little Miss Sunshine” are arriving early in January.
Several children’s classics will be added on the platform as well. “Dennis the Menace,” which stars a young Mason Gamble as a neighborhood hooligan, and the animated saga “An American Tail,” starring an adventurous mouse named Fievel, will be available to stream.
See a complete list of movies and TV shows coming to Hulu in January 2020:
Jan. 1
Bring It!: Season 4
Brockmire: Season 3
Damages
Deputy: Series Premiere
Divided States
Fox’s New Year’s Eve Special with Steve Harvey
Glam...
Reality series including “The Bachelor,” “Project Runway” will release this month, along with “Cooks vs. Cons” and “Cutthroat: Kitchen.”
On the film front, “13 Going on 30,” “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Forrest Gump” and “Little Miss Sunshine” are arriving early in January.
Several children’s classics will be added on the platform as well. “Dennis the Menace,” which stars a young Mason Gamble as a neighborhood hooligan, and the animated saga “An American Tail,” starring an adventurous mouse named Fievel, will be available to stream.
See a complete list of movies and TV shows coming to Hulu in January 2020:
Jan. 1
Bring It!: Season 4
Brockmire: Season 3
Damages
Deputy: Series Premiere
Divided States
Fox’s New Year’s Eve Special with Steve Harvey
Glam...
- 12/24/2019
- by Lorraine Wheat
- Variety Film + TV
Rabid, and Clive Barker's Nightbreed are just a couple of films in the lineup for Shout! Factory TV's 5 Nights of Fear. Prepare thyself. Also in today's Horror Highlights: a new Beistle Cat special edition pin from Creepy Co., details on Horror Movie Night podcast's fundraiser to raise money for FamilyStrong4ALS, and Jasmine release details.
Shout! Factory TV's Five Nights of Fear Details: Press Release: "Scream Factory™ is celebrating five years of fear with the special screening event 5 Nights of Fear airing on Shout! Factory TV. In celebration of the now-iconic horror brand’s fifth anniversary, Scream Factory will present nightly screenings of cult favorite films Nightbreed, Bad Moon, The Exorcist III, Hellhole, and Rabid. 5 Nights of Fear will air from Monday, June 12 through Friday, June 16 each evening at 10 p.m. Et/7 p.m. Pt at http://www.shoutfactorytv.com/, and on Pluto TV Channel 512.
On Monday, the terrifying celebration...
Shout! Factory TV's Five Nights of Fear Details: Press Release: "Scream Factory™ is celebrating five years of fear with the special screening event 5 Nights of Fear airing on Shout! Factory TV. In celebration of the now-iconic horror brand’s fifth anniversary, Scream Factory will present nightly screenings of cult favorite films Nightbreed, Bad Moon, The Exorcist III, Hellhole, and Rabid. 5 Nights of Fear will air from Monday, June 12 through Friday, June 16 each evening at 10 p.m. Et/7 p.m. Pt at http://www.shoutfactorytv.com/, and on Pluto TV Channel 512.
On Monday, the terrifying celebration...
- 6/9/2017
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Scream Factory has released Bad Moon to Blu-ray, and they’ve included both the theatrical cut, as well as the rarer director’s cut. I don’t want to oversell it, this isn’t Nightbreed, the director’s cut of Bad Moon actually clocks in at a few seconds less than the theatrical. That I can tell, the only difference throughout the entire film is that transformation scene, which really makes little difference. I know several people who consider this to be one of their favorite horror films, but other than that, it’s rarely one I see mentioned. The werewolf genre is criminally unappreciated in the first place, and a lot of the really good ones are just obscure enough that they never really capture the attention of the mainstream. Bad Moon is a solid werewolf movies. And Scream Factory has released the most complete version to date.
The...
The...
- 7/20/2016
- by Shawn Savage
- The Liberal Dead
Given some distance and the perspective of time, almost every horror film seems to look better and find its audience. Though the early to mid 1990s have long been considered a particularly bad period for American horror movies, recent years have seen a number of titles being reassessed and opinions on them revised to be much more favorable than they were 20 years ago. Titles like Disturbing Behavior and I Know What You Did Last Summer and The Rage: Carrie 2, largely written off by horror fans during their theatrical releases in the ’90s, are now being talked about as secretly good genre efforts not because the movies have actually improved, but because enough time has passed that the films can be removed from their historical context and taken for what they are.
Of course, some ’90s titles were always secretly good; they only needed some time to find their audience.
Of course, some ’90s titles were always secretly good; they only needed some time to find their audience.
- 7/19/2016
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
July 19th Blu-ray & DVD Releases Include The Return Of The Living Dead Collector’s Edition, Bad Moon
Tuesday, July 19th doesn’t boast a ton of new home entertainment choices for genre fans, but as the saying goes, sometimes it’s quality over quantity, and there are a few releases to be more than excited for. Scream Factory has put together a stellar Collector’s Edition release of The Return of the Living Dead and is also bringing Bad Moon home in HD as well.
Mill Creek has two William Castle double features arriving on Blu-ray this week, and Warner Home Video is giving Watchmen the 4K Ultra HD treatment with their new release of The Ultimate Cut, which I know a lot of fans have been looking forward to for a while now.
Other notable titles coming home on July 19th include Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (with four separate format releases) and a special edition release of Ken Russell’s Crimes of Passion.
Mill Creek has two William Castle double features arriving on Blu-ray this week, and Warner Home Video is giving Watchmen the 4K Ultra HD treatment with their new release of The Ultimate Cut, which I know a lot of fans have been looking forward to for a while now.
Other notable titles coming home on July 19th include Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (with four separate format releases) and a special edition release of Ken Russell’s Crimes of Passion.
- 7/19/2016
- by Heather Wixson
- DailyDead
The lunar cycle wreaks havoc on Ted Harrison in Bad Moon. The 1996 werewolf film comes out on Blu-ray this Tuesday from Scream Factory, and we’ve been provided with three copies to give away to Daily Dead readers.
————
Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Bad Moon.
How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Bad Moon Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on July 24th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.
————
“Full, crescent, quarter… each is a Bad Moon for Ted Harrison. By day, he’s a photojournalist visiting family in the Pacific Northwest. By night, he transfigures into a horrific half-human – a werewolf.
————
Prize Details: (3) Winners will receive (1) Blu-ray copy of Bad Moon.
How to Enter: For a chance to win, email contest@dailydead.com with the subject “Bad Moon Contest”. Be sure to include your name and mailing address.
Entry Details: The contest will end at 12:01am Est on July 24th. This contest is only open to those who are eighteen years of age or older that live in the United States. Only one entry per household will be accepted.
————
“Full, crescent, quarter… each is a Bad Moon for Ted Harrison. By day, he’s a photojournalist visiting family in the Pacific Northwest. By night, he transfigures into a horrific half-human – a werewolf.
- 7/18/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
A family member has a ferocious (and furry) secret in Eric Red’s Bad Moon, making its Blu-ray debut on July 19th from Scream Factory, and we have high-def clips and a trailer teasing what to expect on the new home media release of the 1996 werewolf film.
“Full, crescent, quarter… each is a Bad Moon for Ted Harrison. By day, he’s a photojournalist visiting family in the Pacific Northwest. By night, he transfigures into a horrific half-human – a werewolf. Dead men tell no tales, so Ted’s sure he alone knows about his vile double life. The secret, however, may be out. The family dog Thor, devoted to defending the household, has his suspicions.
Writer/director Eric Red (Cohen and Tate, Body Parts) delivers a new infusion of thrills with this red blooded shocker. Michael Paré (Streets of Fire) portrays Ted, hiding his accursed condition from his sister (Mariel Hemmingway,...
“Full, crescent, quarter… each is a Bad Moon for Ted Harrison. By day, he’s a photojournalist visiting family in the Pacific Northwest. By night, he transfigures into a horrific half-human – a werewolf. Dead men tell no tales, so Ted’s sure he alone knows about his vile double life. The secret, however, may be out. The family dog Thor, devoted to defending the household, has his suspicions.
Writer/director Eric Red (Cohen and Tate, Body Parts) delivers a new infusion of thrills with this red blooded shocker. Michael Paré (Streets of Fire) portrays Ted, hiding his accursed condition from his sister (Mariel Hemmingway,...
- 7/15/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
A family member has a furry and ferocious secret in Eric Red’s Bad Moon, making its Blu-ray debut on July 19th from Scream Factory. The special features for the high-definition release have now been revealed, including a new director’s cut with audio commentary by Red:
Press Release: Half man. Half wolf. Total terror. Scream Factory proudly presents Bad Moon for the first time on Blu-ray on July 19, 2016. This release comes complete with special features, including a new director’s version supervised by Eric Red, and new interviews and audio commentary with cast and crew.
Full, crescent, quarter… each is a Bad Moon for Ted Harrison. By day, he’s a photojournalist visiting family in the Pacific Northwest. By night, he transfigures into a horrific half-human – a werewolf. Dead men tell no tales, so Ted’s sure he alone knows about his vile double life. The secret, however, may be out.
Press Release: Half man. Half wolf. Total terror. Scream Factory proudly presents Bad Moon for the first time on Blu-ray on July 19, 2016. This release comes complete with special features, including a new director’s version supervised by Eric Red, and new interviews and audio commentary with cast and crew.
Full, crescent, quarter… each is a Bad Moon for Ted Harrison. By day, he’s a photojournalist visiting family in the Pacific Northwest. By night, he transfigures into a horrific half-human – a werewolf. Dead men tell no tales, so Ted’s sure he alone knows about his vile double life. The secret, however, may be out.
- 6/9/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
When there’s a ferocious and furry secret within the family, opening the door to someone you trust can be disastrous, as evidenced in Eric Red’s Bad Moon. Fans of the 1996 werewolf film will be pleased to know that Scream Factory has announced a summer Blu-ray release of Bad Moon.
Scream Factory will release Bad Moon on Blu-ray on July 19th. Bonus features have yet to be revealed, but we have more details and a look at the cover art below, as well as a list of Scream Factory’s scheduled summer releases thus far:
From Scream Factory: “Here’s something for fans of werewolf films to howl in celebration about: 1996’s underrated Bad Moon will be coming out on Blu-ray on July 19th!
Writer/director Eric Red (Cohen and Tate, Body Parts) delivers a unique and gory infusion of thrills with this red blooded shocker. Michael Paré...
Scream Factory will release Bad Moon on Blu-ray on July 19th. Bonus features have yet to be revealed, but we have more details and a look at the cover art below, as well as a list of Scream Factory’s scheduled summer releases thus far:
From Scream Factory: “Here’s something for fans of werewolf films to howl in celebration about: 1996’s underrated Bad Moon will be coming out on Blu-ray on July 19th!
Writer/director Eric Red (Cohen and Tate, Body Parts) delivers a unique and gory infusion of thrills with this red blooded shocker. Michael Paré...
- 3/25/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
The Warner Archive Collection is WB’s label for “manufactured on demand” aka Mod discs — DVDs that are essentially printed to order, burned instead of stamped from a mold like the ones you’re used to buying in stores. The discs are manufactured using the best source materials available and they’re strictly no-frills affairs, so the quality varies between releases, but they’re never less than perfectly acceptable. And remember, in many cases this may be the only opportunity to own these titles on DVD. We took a look at six of their new releases, and they run the gamut across the years and the genres. Three of the films — Joe’s Apartment, The Man With Two Brains and Running on Empty — are presented for the first time on DVD in the widescreen format. The remaining three are lesser known titles — Bad Moon, Wicked Wicked and The Yakuza — but each feature at least an element or...
- 12/22/2014
- by Rob Hunter
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Bad Moon Michael Pare as Uncle Ted Mason Gamble as the son Mariel Hemingway as Janet Thor Oh boy where to begin with this one. Bad Moon is the story of a lawyer's dog who suspects that her visiting brother may be more than what he seems. Bad Moon starts in the jungle where we meet Ted (Pare) who is a photographer and his girlfriend. They have just concluded with a job that is never really explained and are looking to return home to the U…...
- 2/26/2012
- Horrorbid
In our writers' favourite film series, Paul Hamilos swots up on Wes Anderson's ode to obsession and the geeks who never inherit the earth
• Grade Rushmore's efforts and attainments in your own review here, or prepare for bee-battling and brake-cable-slashing in the comments
I remember going into the cinema to watch Rushmore with no expectations. I hadn't read any reviews, nor had I seen Bottle Rocket, director Wes Anderson's first film. But as soon as the opening scene started rolling, and we settled down to watch Max Fischer completing "probably the hardest geometry equation in the world" (before having that whipped from under our feet as we realise he's only dreaming), I knew I was going to love it.
For starters, there's the cast. Bill Murray. Here he's on magisterial form as self-made millionaire industrialist Herman Bloom ("Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in...
• Grade Rushmore's efforts and attainments in your own review here, or prepare for bee-battling and brake-cable-slashing in the comments
I remember going into the cinema to watch Rushmore with no expectations. I hadn't read any reviews, nor had I seen Bottle Rocket, director Wes Anderson's first film. But as soon as the opening scene started rolling, and we settled down to watch Max Fischer completing "probably the hardest geometry equation in the world" (before having that whipped from under our feet as we realise he's only dreaming), I knew I was going to love it.
For starters, there's the cast. Bill Murray. Here he's on magisterial form as self-made millionaire industrialist Herman Bloom ("Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in...
- 11/15/2011
- by Paul Hamilos
- The Guardian - Film News
Talk about your phantom menaces. A paranoid thriller about a conspiracy involving home-grown terrorists, Sony Pictures' "Arlington Road" is scheduled to open domestically May 14 -- five days before you know what -- in a brave but probably doomed counterprogramming move. The gloomy, often powerfully effective film opens today in the United Kingdom.
In his second film, director Mark Pellington ("Going All the Way") has taken on a volatile subject with inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock and Oliver Stone. The result is unsettling because of the often manipulative filmmaking coupled with a fairly plausible premise and scenario. With one of the darkest endings in recent memory, "Arlington" will suffer from dismissive critics and mixed word-of-mouth.
Pellington and crew open the film boldly with an attention-getting moment of horror, when college professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) discovers that his neighbor's son (Mason Gamble) wandering in shock with a badly injured hand. Nearly hysterical himself, Michael rushes the boy to the hospital in time and learns that Brady Lang lives across the street with parents Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl (Joan Cusack) and two young sisters.
While screenwriter Ehren Kurger has perhaps worked in one too many topical reference -- including fictional versions of the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the Ruby Ridge, Idaho, debacle -- the central gambit of Michael at first liking the Langs and then coming to suspect Oliver of hiding his true nature keeps the film grounded more or less in reality.
Michael is not in the greatest shape. He panics; he imagines too much; he bends the rules to follow a hunch. In a brief visit to the Langs' home, he notices blueprints for a building and gets the idea that Oliver and Cheryl are part of the secret group he believes was responsible for a devastating bombing in St. Louis.
Michael's girlfriend Brooke (Hope Davis) and son Grant Spencer Treat Clark), who is coping but not happy in the aftermath of a family tragedy, help Michael Keep it together, but also forsake him when he appears to have misjudged the Langs. Grant becomes friends with Brady and joins a Cub Scout-like group, and the mundane conventions of suburban life are shown as reassuring rituals. But there's an ominous atmosphere that the filmmaking accentuates in a successful attempt to make the viewer constantly on guard and uncomfortable.
Unlike "American History X", the ideology of the right-wing, anti-government characters is not given much attention. What little rhetoric we get is from cagey Oliver and conflicted Michael's lectures on the subject. Indeed, Robbins' performance is the best thing in the film -- with Bridges' a close second -- as the tall guy downplays his charisma and yet exudes menace in many subtle ways, from body language to penetrating gazes to the aggressive way he sidetracks Michael early on by admitting to a criminal act as a teenager.
Michael has a grudge against the FBI for a crucial error that resulted in the death of his wife, an agent. A Peckinpahesque flashback of the shootout is a severe sequence of sickening, up-close-and-personal violence. Bureaucracies and bombers are the enemies. Still friends with an FBI agent (Robert Gossett) who won't risk his job to help him, Michael on his own investigates Oliver's background and finds several suspicious things, including a name change.
Eventually the noose tightens and Michael's worst fears are realized. The movie steers headlong into an apocalyptic resolution that may not win points for plausibility and coherence but certainly sends one home in a grim mood. The widescreen film is always interesting visually, but Angelo Badalamenti's uneven score is over-the-top, like too much of the movie.
ARLINGTON ROAD
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Screen Gems presents
In association with Lakeshore Entertainment
A Gorai/Samuelson production
Director: Mark Pellington
Screenwriter: Ehren Kurger
Producers: Peter Samuelson, Tom Gorai, Marc Samuelson
Executive producers: Tom Rosenberg, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Ted Tannebaum
Director of photography: Bobby Bukowski
Production designer: Therese Deprez
Editor: Conrad Buff
Costume designer: Jennifer Barrett-Pellington
Music: Angelo Badalamenti
Casting: Ellen Chenoweth
Color/stereo
Cast:
Michael Faraday: Jeff Bridges
Oliver Lang: Tim Robbins
Cheryl Lang: Joan Cusack
Brooke Wolf: Hope Davis
Whit: Robert Gossett
Brady Lang: Mason Gamble
Grant Faraday: Spencer Treat Clark
Dr. Archer Scobee: Stanley Anderson
Running time -- 115 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
In his second film, director Mark Pellington ("Going All the Way") has taken on a volatile subject with inspiration from Alfred Hitchcock and Oliver Stone. The result is unsettling because of the often manipulative filmmaking coupled with a fairly plausible premise and scenario. With one of the darkest endings in recent memory, "Arlington" will suffer from dismissive critics and mixed word-of-mouth.
Pellington and crew open the film boldly with an attention-getting moment of horror, when college professor Michael Faraday (Jeff Bridges) discovers that his neighbor's son (Mason Gamble) wandering in shock with a badly injured hand. Nearly hysterical himself, Michael rushes the boy to the hospital in time and learns that Brady Lang lives across the street with parents Oliver (Tim Robbins) and Cheryl (Joan Cusack) and two young sisters.
While screenwriter Ehren Kurger has perhaps worked in one too many topical reference -- including fictional versions of the Oklahoma City Federal Building bombing and the Ruby Ridge, Idaho, debacle -- the central gambit of Michael at first liking the Langs and then coming to suspect Oliver of hiding his true nature keeps the film grounded more or less in reality.
Michael is not in the greatest shape. He panics; he imagines too much; he bends the rules to follow a hunch. In a brief visit to the Langs' home, he notices blueprints for a building and gets the idea that Oliver and Cheryl are part of the secret group he believes was responsible for a devastating bombing in St. Louis.
Michael's girlfriend Brooke (Hope Davis) and son Grant Spencer Treat Clark), who is coping but not happy in the aftermath of a family tragedy, help Michael Keep it together, but also forsake him when he appears to have misjudged the Langs. Grant becomes friends with Brady and joins a Cub Scout-like group, and the mundane conventions of suburban life are shown as reassuring rituals. But there's an ominous atmosphere that the filmmaking accentuates in a successful attempt to make the viewer constantly on guard and uncomfortable.
Unlike "American History X", the ideology of the right-wing, anti-government characters is not given much attention. What little rhetoric we get is from cagey Oliver and conflicted Michael's lectures on the subject. Indeed, Robbins' performance is the best thing in the film -- with Bridges' a close second -- as the tall guy downplays his charisma and yet exudes menace in many subtle ways, from body language to penetrating gazes to the aggressive way he sidetracks Michael early on by admitting to a criminal act as a teenager.
Michael has a grudge against the FBI for a crucial error that resulted in the death of his wife, an agent. A Peckinpahesque flashback of the shootout is a severe sequence of sickening, up-close-and-personal violence. Bureaucracies and bombers are the enemies. Still friends with an FBI agent (Robert Gossett) who won't risk his job to help him, Michael on his own investigates Oliver's background and finds several suspicious things, including a name change.
Eventually the noose tightens and Michael's worst fears are realized. The movie steers headlong into an apocalyptic resolution that may not win points for plausibility and coherence but certainly sends one home in a grim mood. The widescreen film is always interesting visually, but Angelo Badalamenti's uneven score is over-the-top, like too much of the movie.
ARLINGTON ROAD
Sony Pictures Entertainment
Screen Gems presents
In association with Lakeshore Entertainment
A Gorai/Samuelson production
Director: Mark Pellington
Screenwriter: Ehren Kurger
Producers: Peter Samuelson, Tom Gorai, Marc Samuelson
Executive producers: Tom Rosenberg, Sigurjon Sighvatsson, Ted Tannebaum
Director of photography: Bobby Bukowski
Production designer: Therese Deprez
Editor: Conrad Buff
Costume designer: Jennifer Barrett-Pellington
Music: Angelo Badalamenti
Casting: Ellen Chenoweth
Color/stereo
Cast:
Michael Faraday: Jeff Bridges
Oliver Lang: Tim Robbins
Cheryl Lang: Joan Cusack
Brooke Wolf: Hope Davis
Whit: Robert Gossett
Brady Lang: Mason Gamble
Grant Faraday: Spencer Treat Clark
Dr. Archer Scobee: Stanley Anderson
Running time -- 115 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 3/19/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK --This sophomore feature from director Wes Anderson ("Bottle Rocket") is an unusually stylish and quirky comedy that represents a significant marketing challenge for Touchstone Pictures.
A bizarre romantic triangle among a precocious teen wunderkind, a millionaire industrialist and a young schoolteacher, "Rushmore" has far more imagination and wit than most major studio efforts, but it is occasionally undone by its preciousness. The presence of Bill Murray, delivering one of his sharpest comic performances in eons, should help significantly. The film screened at the recent New York Film Festival.
Jason Schwartzman, making an auspicious screen debut, plays Max Fischer, a bespectacled 10th-grader at the upscale, snotty Rushmore Academy. Max is not exactly an academic star, but he has other talents -- many of them. In fact, his extracurricular activities, from editing the school newspaper to founding clubs devoted to activities ranging from debating to dodge ball, are so legion that he's neglected his studies to the degree that he's on the verge of getting expelled. His most passionate energies are devoted to the Max Fischer Players, a school theatrical group for whom he has the temerity to stage elaborate (and hilariously rendered) adaptations of "Serpico" and "Apocalypse Now". Herman Blume (Murray), a restless business tycoon and the father of two underachieving sons also at Rushmore, attends one of Max's productions and, spotting a kindred spirit, becomes a mentor and friend to the young man.
That friendship is sorely tested by the beautiful Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), on whom Max develops a powerful crush. At first, Blume watches Max's romantic efforts with some degree of bemusement, but eventually he himself succumbs to Miss Cross' charms -- and Max grows increasingly resentful of his new friend's betrayal.
Plot matters less in "Rushmore" than the comic details of Max's checkered school career and the beautifully textured characterizations of the three main characters. As played in supremely arrogant fashion by Schwartzman, Max is an inspired comic creation, and the ennui-laden Blume is a marvelous showcase for Murray's deadpan style. His subtle performance is an excellent example of star power harnessed to a character role.
Williams is highly appealing as the teacher with a tragedy in her past; the actress seems to have survived her debut in "The Postman" handily. British actor Brian Cox scores major laughs with his portrayal of an endlessly flustered headmaster, and Seymour Cassel brings his weathered charm to the small role of Max's father, a barber.
Anderson and Owen Wilson's concise screenplay deftly avoids sentimentality but somehow manages to be touching anyway. The former's astute direction displays an excellent knack for visual as well as verbal gags, and Robert Yeoman's widescreen lensing is unusually beautiful and textured for a comedy. The musical score, which includes many British pop classics, is another plus.
RUSHMORE
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Touchstone Pictures
Credits: Director: Wes Anderson; Screenplay: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson; Producers: Barry Mendel, Paul Schiff; Executive producers: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson; Director of photography: Robert Yeoman; Editor: David Moritz; Music: Mark Mothersbaugh. Cast: Max Fischer: Jason Schwartzman; Mr. Blume: Bill Murray; Miss Cross: Olivia Williams; Dr. Guggenheim: Brian Cox; Bert Fischer: Seymour Cassel; Dirk Calloway: Mason Gamble. MPAA rating: R. Color/stereo. Running time -- 95 minutes.
A bizarre romantic triangle among a precocious teen wunderkind, a millionaire industrialist and a young schoolteacher, "Rushmore" has far more imagination and wit than most major studio efforts, but it is occasionally undone by its preciousness. The presence of Bill Murray, delivering one of his sharpest comic performances in eons, should help significantly. The film screened at the recent New York Film Festival.
Jason Schwartzman, making an auspicious screen debut, plays Max Fischer, a bespectacled 10th-grader at the upscale, snotty Rushmore Academy. Max is not exactly an academic star, but he has other talents -- many of them. In fact, his extracurricular activities, from editing the school newspaper to founding clubs devoted to activities ranging from debating to dodge ball, are so legion that he's neglected his studies to the degree that he's on the verge of getting expelled. His most passionate energies are devoted to the Max Fischer Players, a school theatrical group for whom he has the temerity to stage elaborate (and hilariously rendered) adaptations of "Serpico" and "Apocalypse Now". Herman Blume (Murray), a restless business tycoon and the father of two underachieving sons also at Rushmore, attends one of Max's productions and, spotting a kindred spirit, becomes a mentor and friend to the young man.
That friendship is sorely tested by the beautiful Miss Cross (Olivia Williams), on whom Max develops a powerful crush. At first, Blume watches Max's romantic efforts with some degree of bemusement, but eventually he himself succumbs to Miss Cross' charms -- and Max grows increasingly resentful of his new friend's betrayal.
Plot matters less in "Rushmore" than the comic details of Max's checkered school career and the beautifully textured characterizations of the three main characters. As played in supremely arrogant fashion by Schwartzman, Max is an inspired comic creation, and the ennui-laden Blume is a marvelous showcase for Murray's deadpan style. His subtle performance is an excellent example of star power harnessed to a character role.
Williams is highly appealing as the teacher with a tragedy in her past; the actress seems to have survived her debut in "The Postman" handily. British actor Brian Cox scores major laughs with his portrayal of an endlessly flustered headmaster, and Seymour Cassel brings his weathered charm to the small role of Max's father, a barber.
Anderson and Owen Wilson's concise screenplay deftly avoids sentimentality but somehow manages to be touching anyway. The former's astute direction displays an excellent knack for visual as well as verbal gags, and Robert Yeoman's widescreen lensing is unusually beautiful and textured for a comedy. The musical score, which includes many British pop classics, is another plus.
RUSHMORE
Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
Touchstone Pictures
Credits: Director: Wes Anderson; Screenplay: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson; Producers: Barry Mendel, Paul Schiff; Executive producers: Wes Anderson, Owen Wilson; Director of photography: Robert Yeoman; Editor: David Moritz; Music: Mark Mothersbaugh. Cast: Max Fischer: Jason Schwartzman; Mr. Blume: Bill Murray; Miss Cross: Olivia Williams; Dr. Guggenheim: Brian Cox; Bert Fischer: Seymour Cassel; Dirk Calloway: Mason Gamble. MPAA rating: R. Color/stereo. Running time -- 95 minutes.
- 10/13/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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