KEVIN COSTNER WITH JUDD NELSON & SAM ROBARDS IN 'FANDANGO'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDlEM0yS3G3e4Vlt9pDlFwhFJNrY7jHpuI_nfd7ojDkeobHuCGAiGU2G9vVxcw5NXNwVIeSFLIPuf-1JTtCQ8AwRajl5KIX7_7WSWAgQIYtkZiMkWUpAcXX0I1XTymLQ4HZegvGsxorcWuzPajELvBfNd9ndvB5ZtRPHGK8S_Tn-W4dJ4d7pF8Zdc_uuB/s2032/0.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="2032" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuDlEM0yS3G3e4Vlt9pDlFwhFJNrY7jHpuI_nfd7ojDkeobHuCGAiGU2G9vVxcw5NXNwVIeSFLIPuf-1JTtCQ8AwRajl5KIX7_7WSWAgQIYtkZiMkWUpAcXX0I1XTymLQ4HZegvGsxorcWuzPajELvBfNd9ndvB5ZtRPHGK8S_Tn-W4dJ4d7pF8Zdc_uuB/s16000/0.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Kevin Costner in FANDANGO Year: 1985 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Director Kevin Reynolds didn't know who was in the room when his student film PROOF screened... and it was none other than Steven Spielberg, who'd later hire him to enhance the story about a group of early-1970's Vietnam War-era college students, one a coward forced to prove his worth by parachuting in a rural Texas stopover where the instructor's a burnout hippie, played by scene-stealing Marvin J. McIntyre...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Who's the only actor returning for the feature-length version FANDANGO starring newcomer Kevin Costner (in the kind of zesty youthfulness liken to SILVERADO) as the best looking and most confident instigating leader while Judd Nelson... the same year he'd portray an extremely cool high-school student in THE BREAKFAST CLUB... proves his versatility here as the complete opposite...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

eighties, elizabeth daily, judd nelson, kevin costner, kevin reynolds, marvin j. mcintyre, road movie, sam robards, steven spielberg, suzy amis

KEVIN COSTNER WITH JUDD NELSON & SAM ROBARDS IN 'FANDANGO'

Kevin Costner in FANDANGO Year: 1985 Rating: **** Director Kevin Reynolds didn't know who was in the room when his student film PROOF sc...

JUDD NELSON & ALLY SHEEDY IN THE BRAT PACK NOIR 'BLUE CITY'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqGCPDGEU42iSs_Lf04MnOThy1r1hEQBnEqsDp-OybRrUE6UVXvU5HcZAVG2eWal1MvpiewZ6KzFVHTOvFrvQdM9B-4CRxxcfNhB1_fu6Ct5672RDaY8cWRjTnf3hCttxa_nDT7vZ9ZOfKgNV73KF4hC7LBwrhTlfhnOiCaHtmJr-q4yBSFoOiN-JPMTF/s2182/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-27%20at%2011.44.02%20AM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1098" data-original-width="2182" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsqGCPDGEU42iSs_Lf04MnOThy1r1hEQBnEqsDp-OybRrUE6UVXvU5HcZAVG2eWal1MvpiewZ6KzFVHTOvFrvQdM9B-4CRxxcfNhB1_fu6Ct5672RDaY8cWRjTnf3hCttxa_nDT7vZ9ZOfKgNV73KF4hC7LBwrhTlfhnOiCaHtmJr-q4yBSFoOiN-JPMTF/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-27%20at%2011.44.02%20AM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Walter Hill presents Judd Nelson in Blue City directed by Breakfast Club producer Michelle Manning 1986</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>This dark horse Brat Pack outing was up for a few Razzie Awards, but for what exactly? BLUE CITY is actually a decent action/thriller about the son of a beloved slain mayor returning to a Florida town, Blue City, now run (from inside a roadhouse bar) by seedy Scott Wilson...<br> <br> Seeking clues, Nelson gets back in touch with his old drinking buddy David Caruso, who is sober, paranoid, and running a fishing boat. And what makes this Brat a Pack in our love interest: Caruso's pretty sister, Ally Sheedy, who becomes smitten with Judd... a former crush resurfaced. She works at the local jail he was thrown into after a brawling bar fight...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

action, ally sheedy, anita morris, brat pack, david caruso, eighties, judd nelson, neo noir, scott wilson, walter hill

JUDD NELSON & ALLY SHEEDY IN THE BRAT PACK NOIR 'BLUE CITY'

Walter Hill presents Judd Nelson in Blue City directed by Breakfast Club producer Michelle Manning 1986 This dark horse Brat Pack outing wa...

JUDD NELSON, DANA OLSEN AND JONNA LEE IN 'MAKING THE GRADE'

<p> </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZw9dWzXz42719svKqlxtrp4h_5XnmT1V7Dg55otH-Q3smwL913ZWDiGejnVujOeoamB-7355Ghpydb6JPG0Xz4sv-gdAvVJ_fpe_mchCwY23Anu9Yhn4fdhK4RF07KBQ1MIo5_XiIasmmUZmI_59g_YPF0XoEbkuG54vLwelWoEfzkPBCHzjEuhiuFo9/s2082/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-25%20at%206.26.18%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1012" data-original-width="2082" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZw9dWzXz42719svKqlxtrp4h_5XnmT1V7Dg55otH-Q3smwL913ZWDiGejnVujOeoamB-7355Ghpydb6JPG0Xz4sv-gdAvVJ_fpe_mchCwY23Anu9Yhn4fdhK4RF07KBQ1MIo5_XiIasmmUZmI_59g_YPF0XoEbkuG54vLwelWoEfzkPBCHzjEuhiuFo9/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-25%20at%206.26.18%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Judd Nelson in MAKING THE GRADE Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>A year before THE BREAKFAST CLUB made Judd Nelson a star, turning his energetic acting style into a focused study of teenage angst and rebellion, he played a similar character – only his MAKING THE GRADE hero Eddie Keaton break-dances instead of jamming an air guitar Cream riff; in other words, his rebellion is catered strictly for humor. Wild on the streets, he owes a bookie, Dice Man, played by Andrew Clay, and winds up taking the place of a spoiled rich kid: attending a prep school whilst hiding from mobsters. <br> <br> That’s the plot in a nutshell, and GRADE, within this framework, packs a lot of hit and miss humor as well as likable or fitfully unlikable side-characters, throwing everything into the pot: from pratfalls to one-liners to stereotypes to action scenes, and beyond... No surprise Nelson plays the part with gusto – though sometimes too much. Yet where Eddie’s urban-hip con artist stuck in the fledgling Preparatory academy tries stealing every scene on board, he’s given an ultimately thankless lead to people like Dana Olsen as, technically, the most important person herein...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><span></span>

andrew dice clay, cannon, comedy, dana olsen, eighties, gordon jump, jonna lee, judd nelson, ronald lacey, teen, walter olkewicz

JUDD NELSON, DANA OLSEN AND JONNA LEE IN 'MAKING THE GRADE'

Judd Nelson in MAKING THE GRADE Year: 1984 Rating: ***1/2 A year before THE BREAKFAST CLUB made Judd Nelson a star, turning his energetic a...

NICK NOLTE TAKES EDDIE MURPHY FOR WALTER HILL'S '48 HRS.'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ev3qTYug4RyfGeI_p3tuCwu-UgXiGQSbBH9gBFyi1_gFTC04yYYazozFX2LX5bYYyFQdhzAQMR_DDVOBs2H6fCO4QF76sQ3NpYJPh3RNVs5eY55aVYJIy5v4BsL9sB7vjxt_UvC9IMq8vVn2YWwnOB70dkoD_MXBS5kkn3K5yMCA18PIeeLR9sIMUufN/s2248/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-22%20at%202.42.43%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1188" data-original-width="2248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5ev3qTYug4RyfGeI_p3tuCwu-UgXiGQSbBH9gBFyi1_gFTC04yYYazozFX2LX5bYYyFQdhzAQMR_DDVOBs2H6fCO4QF76sQ3NpYJPh3RNVs5eY55aVYJIy5v4BsL9sB7vjxt_UvC9IMq8vVn2YWwnOB70dkoD_MXBS5kkn3K5yMCA18PIeeLR9sIMUufN/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-22%20at%202.42.43%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Following <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/09/HTIMES.html">HARD TIMES</a>, <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2016/06/DRIVER.html">THE DRIVER</a>, THE WARRIORS, THE LONG RIDERS and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/10/walter-hills-weekend-warriors-trapped.html">SOUTHERN COMFORT</a>, most forget that 48 HRS was the peak of high-octane director Walter Hill's career, especially with the iconic novelty of being SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE breakout Eddie Murphy's first motion picture, more than proving his worth and successfully continuing with <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/11/TP.html">TRADING PLACES</a> and <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2024/06/bhc.html">BEVERLY HILLS COP</a>...<br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But the real star is first-billed Nick Notle, whose gruff San Fransisco cop Jack Cates is the kind of flawed/ragged anti-hero that could've led his very own edgy cop thriller, making Murphy's Reggie Hammond... allowed the titular two-days to help find his former prison-breaking partner-in-crime... an essential bonus in what's already a terrific ride: perfectly combining action, drama and comedy...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

annette o'toole, brion james, buddy, cop, david patrick kelly, eddie murphy, eighties, greta blackburn, james remar, nick nolte, sonny landham, walter hill

NICK NOLTE TAKES EDDIE MURPHY FOR WALTER HILL'S '48 HRS.'

Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy in 48 HRS Year: 1982 Rating: ****1/2 Following HARD TIMES , THE DRIVER , THE WARRIORS, THE LONG RIDERS and SOUTH...

DAN AYKROYD & EDDIE MURPHY 'TRADING PLACES' FOR JOHN LANDIS

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6D6VAHhFibRNSnu7iv4_cWDfpRiR6IcFoHPWlRivkknplz8JQmA90ANZhvE1quZm0nteyKSo-uXvRfi4_CibixWr6LCDxCPIQfK6OHGM9BtM4gJQ4sAUCfeljBJSD8e5qxZlvihKHruPxBH-gHRCGXTfPYtw-aWtdQu7IX8AS7KB0RJLvhAmev8Jj-c5E/s2012/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-24%20at%203.18.20%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="988" data-original-width="2012" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6D6VAHhFibRNSnu7iv4_cWDfpRiR6IcFoHPWlRivkknplz8JQmA90ANZhvE1quZm0nteyKSo-uXvRfi4_CibixWr6LCDxCPIQfK6OHGM9BtM4gJQ4sAUCfeljBJSD8e5qxZlvihKHruPxBH-gHRCGXTfPYtw-aWtdQu7IX8AS7KB0RJLvhAmev8Jj-c5E/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202023-11-24%20at%203.18.20%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u> Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES Year: 1983 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The comedy classic TRADING PLACES was an extremely important vehicle for both leading actors <i>and</i> director John Landis since Dan Aykroyd, after the death of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE and three-picture-partner John Belushi, got a chance to pull-off a multi-layer character with Wall Street to Skid Row businessman Louis Winthorpe while the then-current SNL breakthrough Eddie Murphy was paving his own way... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Having succeeded with a semi-dramatic turn in Walter Hill's 48 HRS, his brash, foul-mouthed and fast-talking, street-smart humor now translated into what's possibly Landis's greatest mainstream venture, ironically released sixteen-days before the infamously tragic TWILIGHT ZONE movie...  </p><span></span>

comedy, dan aykroyd, denholm elliott, dom ameche, eddie murphy, jamie lee curtis, john bedford lloyd, john landis, nicholas guest, prostitute, ralph bellamy, wall street

DAN AYKROYD & EDDIE MURPHY 'TRADING PLACES' FOR JOHN LANDIS

Dan Aykroyd and Eddie Murphy in TRADING PLACES Year: 1983 Rating: ****1/2 The comedy classic TRADING PLACES was an extremely important vehi...

EDDIE MURPHY AND MARTIN LAWRENCE SERVE TED DEMME'S 'LIFE'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-6zFbBPQP6_detFxY5JNYSYxIYHbqmoZnLCymkqb2FRziWjeFtMB9RlSOQvMdnktjiMCyrJGfgqYTUXRL_m6fUgg15zWivbmZUOIKp82Iw5EbWMiLv9PicM_cihMem_-e8koqNDnzYa5mTNh7MMFSoUg-JmqxJxeutEtfLAnsbyc7-oeXYLTzqyArRIn/s1632/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-21%20at%2012.13.59%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="888" data-original-width="1632" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz-6zFbBPQP6_detFxY5JNYSYxIYHbqmoZnLCymkqb2FRziWjeFtMB9RlSOQvMdnktjiMCyrJGfgqYTUXRL_m6fUgg15zWivbmZUOIKp82Iw5EbWMiLv9PicM_cihMem_-e8koqNDnzYa5mTNh7MMFSoUg-JmqxJxeutEtfLAnsbyc7-oeXYLTzqyArRIn/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-21%20at%2012.13.59%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence in LIFE Year: 1999 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Eddie Murphy's final classic being COMING TO AMERICA is half true: it's his last quality vehicle that made a lot of money when in reality, the box-office disappointment LIFE has Murphy really proving himself within a quality central plot that, like his breakthrough 48 HRS., involves crime, prison, mixes comedy with drama and provides the SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE star an equal partner... there in Nick Nolte, and here in Martin Lawrence...<br><br>Who Murphy was as much a standup comedy-mentor as Richard Pryor was to Murphy... the latter having starred in HARLEM NIGHTS that, like LIFE, takes place during the Depression-era... and one of the best moments includes what seems a homage to the Murphy-directed misfire when, trapped in the fence-less, gun-surrounding, rural-southern chain-gang workcamp, he and the entire group of eclectic underdog prisoners (all intriguing despite befitting every prison-flick trope from STIR CRAZY to SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION) dream of partying in Murphy's would-be nightclub... a one-minute fantasy-sequence more entertaining than the entire NIGHTS...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p><span></span></p>

comedy, depression-era, drama, eddie murphy, martin lawrence, ned beatty, nick cassavetes, nineties, prison, r. lee ermey, ted demme

EDDIE MURPHY AND MARTIN LAWRENCE SERVE TED DEMME'S 'LIFE'

Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence in LIFE Year: 1999 Rating: **** Eddie Murphy's final classic being COMING TO AMERICA is half true: it&#...

TIMOTHY HUTTON & SEAN PENN 'THE FALCON AND THE SHOWMAN'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AQBvAnYV-54Yh9OoDGIL7ybsv0hIuWp_M0wATdw2f4LK5M20b2KafvQs5ABrw1N75VifoPfLnVBplYxXN_2HgF6cHa7eDsNnGzIsmH6AgQeSSkCOQrBlp-nnk0c42MU2PSyeNMK2ny30K05QMTFaA5LwComPHBaPw8ch8X-ZAZPpv97DLbPoezhElG6L/s1310/1111.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="706" data-original-width="1310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-AQBvAnYV-54Yh9OoDGIL7ybsv0hIuWp_M0wATdw2f4LK5M20b2KafvQs5ABrw1N75VifoPfLnVBplYxXN_2HgF6cHa7eDsNnGzIsmH6AgQeSSkCOQrBlp-nnk0c42MU2PSyeNMK2ny30K05QMTFaA5LwComPHBaPw8ch8X-ZAZPpv97DLbPoezhElG6L/s16000/1111.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Penn in THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, about two young California-born former-Alter-boy rich kids who wound up selling secret documents to the Russians, Timothy Hutton — who won an Oscar for ORDINARY PEOPLE — had the chance to play the role of a lifetime since Christopher Boyce, working within the CIA before his capture, had already broken out of jail and robbed 17 banks before the source biography/novel became a motion picture...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But instead of playing Boyce as the sneakily charming sociopath he really was, director John Schlesinger reveals him as a starry-eyed pacifist while his TAPS co-star Sean Penn, as drug dealing partner Andrew Lee Daulton, not only does the real work but (practically alone) ignites the most suspenseful scenes...</p><span></span>

biopic, chris makepeace, dorian harewood, eighties, sean penn, thriller, timothy hutton

TIMOTHY HUTTON & SEAN PENN 'THE FALCON AND THE SHOWMAN'

Sean Penn in THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN Year: 1983 Rating: ***1/2 In THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, about two young California-born former-Alte...

TIMOTHY HUTTON WITH SEAN PENN AND TOM CRUISE IN 'TAPS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEw-AtfQVEwxvY2k0TUv9spY6y-KFbW3wV9ZgeUDSBfMAQkcTNIB0O3_Vnp-pmbG2a7FTbD5pcr4RREIpsoHHpYAjwo03nU1dNhDyOD795vqsH5XyDd22qUUu_RykJDJvS73mA31Iwkiag5CECKejPCoL4fNSt_2PUzA_JLXaYf3skFQeEcS_GqQQgFSA/s2272/1%204.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1260" data-original-width="2272" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVEw-AtfQVEwxvY2k0TUv9spY6y-KFbW3wV9ZgeUDSBfMAQkcTNIB0O3_Vnp-pmbG2a7FTbD5pcr4RREIpsoHHpYAjwo03nU1dNhDyOD795vqsH5XyDd22qUUu_RykJDJvS73mA31Iwkiag5CECKejPCoL4fNSt_2PUzA_JLXaYf3skFQeEcS_GqQQgFSA/s16000/1%204.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Penn and Giancarlo Esposito in TAPS Year: 1981 Rating: ****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Harold Becker's TAPS is perhaps the only movie where Tom Cruise isn't cheered at the end... in fact  he's downright despised for what he causes, underlining how well this involving, thoroughly compelling yet somewhat farfetched military-academy drama fleshes out the characters, and there are many... but four really matter...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Cruise is the extreme military-minded David Shawn, fervently following orders of Timothy Hutton's Brian Moreland, whose initial catapulting mentor is first-billed George C. Scott, sharing first-act experience-filled monologues about the honorary tradition of the central location: an academy that's soon to be turned into condominiums...<br></p><p><span></span></p>

action, eighties, evan handler, gary mccleery, george c. scott, giancarlo esposito, harold becker, john p. navin jr., military academy, ronny cox, sean penn, teen, thriller, timothy hutton, tom cruise

TIMOTHY HUTTON WITH SEAN PENN AND TOM CRUISE IN 'TAPS'

Sean Penn and Giancarlo Esposito in TAPS Year: 1981 Rating: **** Harold Becker's TAPS is perhaps the only movie where Tom Cruise isn'...

SMOKING THROUGH A YEAR OF 'FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutVLa6X_oHDkCqFwWl8utOidJnWitVUHkavNGbMxuxmME2OFppKW73Mt42DDrNa6r70hW93GEdMpUhh-WS5mQgG2nms-Jivlt5ZIkvnpPIHyyHohd79o3qepRt5gfcQoHRAMSAVyHbVI9aSmwy_Ov-kARco4BCa-bZxnGUn9O410OBhzH6T_KWYJ4TkFz/s1118/362282388_1772987636463738_1630293739962888312_n.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="582" data-original-width="1118" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgutVLa6X_oHDkCqFwWl8utOidJnWitVUHkavNGbMxuxmME2OFppKW73Mt42DDrNa6r70hW93GEdMpUhh-WS5mQgG2nms-Jivlt5ZIkvnpPIHyyHohd79o3qepRt5gfcQoHRAMSAVyHbVI9aSmwy_Ov-kARco4BCa-bZxnGUn9O410OBhzH6T_KWYJ4TkFz/s16000/362282388_1772987636463738_1630293739962888312_n.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Penn flanked by Anthony Edwards & Eric Stoltz in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH Year: 1982 Rates: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>The 1982 Cult Classic FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH only sporadically features first-billed, poster-laden Sean Penn as now-legendary surfer/stoner Jeff Spicoli since Amy Heckerling's year-at-school movie based on Cameron Crowe's year-at-school novel's mostly about Jennifer Jason Leigh as freshman Stacy Hamilton, along with Judge Reinhold as her extremely likeable older brother senior Brad Hamilton... </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>And on almost equal footing are two thankless roles by young unknown character-actors <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2010/03/robert-romanus-fast-times-at-ridgemont.html">Robert Romanus</a> as confidently manipulative ticket-scalper Mike Damone and his geeky sidekick in Brian Backer's Mark "Rat" Ratner...</p><p><span></span></p>

brian backer, eighties, high school, jennifer jason leigh, judge reinhold, phoebe cates, robert romanus, scott thomson, sean penn, sex comedy, tom petty

SMOKING THROUGH A YEAR OF 'FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH'

Sean Penn flanked by Anthony Edwards & Eric Stoltz in FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH Year: 1982 Rates: ****1/2 The 1982 Cult Classic FAST ...

SEAN PENN WITH ESAI MORALES IN RICK ROSENTHAL'S 'BAD BOYS'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoatKSNqK0GU1SrP-MUVQSYVdo53hSNa5Ss1SHlp_XzxGRbIsQtI3ZVfPKCZBx-D7VHP33xigqvqSgT37JnGZwgVb9KaqRoDGI4cq4Xiw4PQPDSU7Av_-gde3vV3bBh0Ax2jdHRG8x0iEyyAIxZBmMoETepPt43TTQIPPCbN350taniJ_tRoq9m58zZsHn/s2434/moreblue%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1514" data-original-width="2434" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoatKSNqK0GU1SrP-MUVQSYVdo53hSNa5Ss1SHlp_XzxGRbIsQtI3ZVfPKCZBx-D7VHP33xigqvqSgT37JnGZwgVb9KaqRoDGI4cq4Xiw4PQPDSU7Av_-gde3vV3bBh0Ax2jdHRG8x0iEyyAIxZBmMoETepPt43TTQIPPCbN350taniJ_tRoq9m58zZsHn/s16000/moreblue%202.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Sean Penn from the soundtrack cover of Rick Rosenthal's BAD BOYS Year: 1983 Rating: *****</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In 1983, between playing a poignantly-logical, well-read military academy student in TAPS; a fan-favorite, classic-quote-spouting stoner in <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2021/11/fast-times.html">FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH</a>; and a rambling, high-strung, coke-dealing spy in THE FALCON AND THE SNOWMAN, director Rick Rothenthal provided Sean Penn his greatest, most authentic performance in BAD BOYS where ironically, driven by an intensely defiant glare, he hardly speaks at all...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As the first act takes place in the crime-ridden night-streets involving a Spanish vs black gang's big-money drug-deal as O'Brien and naive pal Alan Ruck attempt snaking the spoils, leading to the death of the little brother of Esai Morales's Paco Moreno, who intensely bookends the movie's revenge-driven main antagonist spot and yet, during the primary lockup scenes in a severe youth reformatory straight from the previous decade's gritty and uncompromising, steadicam-gliding, rock/funk-blasting exploitation era, it's Clancy Brown and Robert Lee Rush as violent/raping versions of high school bullies that terrorized 1980's cinema...</p><span></span>

action, alan ruck, ally sheedy, clancy brown, cult, eighties, exploitation, jason gedrick, prison, reni santoni, rich rothenthal, sean penn

SEAN PENN WITH ESAI MORALES IN RICK ROSENTHAL'S 'BAD BOYS'

Sean Penn from the soundtrack cover of Rick Rosenthal's BAD BOYS Year: 1983 Rating: ***** In 1983, between playing a poignantly-logical,...

EDDIE MURPHY RETURNS FOR NETFLIX'S 'BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvnJqRG52UbPmbO2aHYbcUJWaq6u_y_4vuZPpvbJ7msbgm0EV8WeddCzVq0_DgMsVWOTaX2hlY1otJcmUOYZLahXn_c2kQ_NR77MWhIzUdhTU_nFYRnF3bEfAjr255_NW0TGhTRiqAR4puRlX11gNmW5IBnA0pKM3iscdaDkmghqNlrkhtQ3Qar_uWB_Z/s2144/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-03%20at%203.57.28%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1192" data-original-width="2144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMvnJqRG52UbPmbO2aHYbcUJWaq6u_y_4vuZPpvbJ7msbgm0EV8WeddCzVq0_DgMsVWOTaX2hlY1otJcmUOYZLahXn_c2kQ_NR77MWhIzUdhTU_nFYRnF3bEfAjr255_NW0TGhTRiqAR4puRlX11gNmW5IBnA0pKM3iscdaDkmghqNlrkhtQ3Qar_uWB_Z/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-07-03%20at%203.57.28%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Title: Beverly Hills Cop: Axl F from 2024 Rating: **</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Between a fan-service opening where Axel Foley winds up in a truck chase through Detroit, like the original... only orchestrated with the second movie's song and with <i>him</i> behind the wheel this time... and vignettes with Eddie Murphy doing various imitations to trick people within the comparably soft and gullible Beverly Hills... he's hanging around his idealistic lawyer daughter (Taylour Page), so severely uptight and painfully miscast it's never quite clear if BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F is the pilot for a Netflix series or a stand-alone feature...</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Because there's no real character or story-arc to fit within an effective 2-hour mainframe while Murphy, no matter how hard he tries to be funny with those cute little voices, simply cannot play off this new smug sidekick the way he did Judge Reinhold and John Ashton... both seeming thrown in here at the last minute... who were his polar opposites, dead set against before inevitably joining into the original classic's infectiously entertaining revenge-plot misadventure — that should have been left alone in the first place.</p><span></span>

2024, action, comedy, eddie murphy, franchise, john ashton, joseph gordon-levitt, judge reinhold, kevin bacon, netflix, new, sequel

EDDIE MURPHY RETURNS FOR NETFLIX'S 'BEVERLY HILLS COP: AXEL F'

Title: Beverly Hills Cop: Axl F from 2024 Rating: ** Between a fan-service opening where Axel Foley winds up in a truck chase through Detroi...

EDDIE MURPHY LEADS THE ACTION/COMEDY 'BEVERLY HILLS COP'

<p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflnzmpkDCNle3iGzpb3e-c9gfa0b-SOhnhjJAgAWwwsQBcKgmtOC_4YzyAfJxvkrlUEMcpHI8HxYA_kaIxCUcUkHHjUWYmE0VUZt2-gMyaQ_HyFnfb_xsI3Jvsim36srPjKY7Z5gmgzS6x7iWwyljpB-phZUkDZjX9DDD9lzGA5qmfyVYBYl8Uu-5-Kh5/s2062/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-28%20at%2010.59.05%20PM.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="2062" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiflnzmpkDCNle3iGzpb3e-c9gfa0b-SOhnhjJAgAWwwsQBcKgmtOC_4YzyAfJxvkrlUEMcpHI8HxYA_kaIxCUcUkHHjUWYmE0VUZt2-gMyaQ_HyFnfb_xsI3Jvsim36srPjKY7Z5gmgzS6x7iWwyljpB-phZUkDZjX9DDD9lzGA5qmfyVYBYl8Uu-5-Kh5/s16000/Screen%20Shot%202024-06-28%20at%2010.59.05%20PM.jpeg"></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Eddie Murphy in BEVERLY HILLS COP Year: 1984 Rating: ****1/2</u></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Eddie Murphy had one of the greatest trifectas in the history of hot young stars: while the breakout favorite of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, he co-starred opposite Nick Nolte in Walter Hill's action flick with comedy 48 HRS; then against Dan Aykroyd in John Landis's straight-out comedy <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2023/11/TP.html">TRADING PLACES</a>; followed by his first solo starring role in BEVERLY HILLS COP, both a full-blown comedy and deadly serious action flick... <br></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The latter because his buddy's brutal death by Jonathan Banks is as grim as things get, leading Murphy's cocky yet misadventurous Detroit cop Axl Foley into Beverly Hills, California, where the contrast between the black former street kid and the plastic rich white man's land provides a sublime template for an edgy yet affable Murphy...<br></p>

action, bronson pinchot, comedy, cop, eddie murphy, eighties, frank pesce, john ashton, jonathan banks, judge reinhold, Lisa Eilbacher, martin brest, ronny cox, stephen elliott, steven berkoff

EDDIE MURPHY LEADS THE ACTION/COMEDY 'BEVERLY HILLS COP'

Eddie Murphy in BEVERLY HILLS COP Year: 1984 Rating: ****1/2 Eddie Murphy had one of the greatest trifectas in the history of hot young star...