Irvin Kershner (1923–2010)

From a John Carpenter screenplay, this plays out as an interesting, if rather anaemic, giallo that lacks the sleazy panache of the Italian masters of the genre. Faye Dunaway is Laura Mars, a controversial photographer who mixes sexual and violent imagery. She begins to have strange visions of murders that resemble her photographs and detective John Neville (Tommy Lee Jones) soon has her down as chief suspect. With a mounting body-count and a plethora of suspicious characters, including show more Laura's ex-husband, her agent and driver, will the identify of the killer be discovered before he eventually gets around to Laura? All the classic giallo staples are here: convoluted plotting, a gloved killer, red herrings, suspects-a-plenty, etc., but director Irvin Kershner keeps things a bit too conventional for the film to be fully satisfying. There are some excellent and gripping sequences and the film is enjoyable throughout (with a wild disco soundtrack) but I can't but wonder what Dario Argento or Sergio Martino would have do with Carpenter's script. show less

Rebels run away from the evil Space Empire.

Much more fast-paced and exciting than Star Wars, but I like the original better anyway. The cliff-hanger ending is kind of half-assed and pointless. I mean, they spent this movie repeatedly escaping from the full forces of the Empire, led by Darth Vader himself, and now we're supposed to worry about whether they can rescue Han from a single bounty hunter? Maybe if Jedi wasn't forced to spend its first half cleaning up Empire's loose ends, it could show more have had room for a story of its own.

Concept: C
Story: B
Characters: B
Dialog: C
Pacing: A
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: A
Acting: C
Music: B

Enjoyment: A plus

GPA: 3.1/4 show less

2022 movie #39. 1970. Brooks (Segal) is a freelance commercial artist who can't seem to land the big client. Both his wife (Saint) and his girlfriend are vaguely unsatisfied with him. Nice slice-of-life story. I always liked George Segal and he doesn't disappoint here.

Acting: 5.0; Theme: 5.0; Content: 4.5; Language: 5.0; Overall: 5.0

The period of this film takes place three years after the original Star Wars saga begins. It depicts the battle between the evil Galactic Empire and the Rebel Alliance, led by Princess Leia and Luke Skywalker. Skywalker is trained by the great Jedi Master Yoda leading up to his epic battle with Darth Vader. Excellent story line and a great sequel to the original film that started the Star Wars saga. Wonderful acting, minus a show more few "cheesy" scenes. Highly recommend.

***July 20, 2022*** (Watched with Jonathan) show less