5) “The Truth About Cats and Dogs” (1996) — You might recognize this Uma Thurman- Janeane Garofalo comedy as Edmund Rostand’s 1897 play “Cyrano de Bergerac” in thin disguise. One day we will clone a woolly mammoth. 7. Talk about leaving the house. These characters became known as the Addams Family. The franchise itself is an anthology, but even within each movie it’s an anthology. We watched the newscast video as Dale Jr., his wife, 1-year-old daughter and dog made a narrow escape, along with both pilots. 6) “Edward Scissorhands” (1990) — Inspired by Mary Shelly’s “Frankenstein,” we have a manmade monster in the form of Johnny Depp. Why not? Yes, I’ve actually paid to see this monstrosity, because I loved Transformers all my life, and now I wish that Optimus Prime comes to life and rips Michael Bay a new one in public. However, due to the fact that viewers are liable to enjoy the campiness and lack of polish, it narrowly avoids making its way into the top 5. The collaborative results were quite successful, staying true to the highest-rated drama series ever shown on PBS. “It’s awfully faithful to the original story,” says Osgood “Oz” Perkins, the film’s director and co-writer of the screenplay. Year released: 1989. Death in an airplane was not to be for Dale Jr. A wrecked stock car seemed more likely. Instead of excellent CGI, we have cheap green screens and AfterFX.In addition, who needs state of the art motion capture when you can go down the street to the nearest hardware store to buy some blue paint? “The world needs the next Iron Man,” muses Parker. 5) “Death on Saturn’s Moon” (2000) — In 2057 an agent is sent out to investigate the mysterious death of a scientist stationed on Titan, a moon of Saturn. Here are 10 modern-day stories that you might not know are based on Shakespeare and other classic novels. No spoiler alerts needed; you know a horror film is not going to turn out well for the people in it. Predictably, this proximity produces more than tension. Burt Reynolds was supposed to play ranch-owner George Spahn, but he died before his scenes could be shot. The plot revolves around the suspicion that there is a mole inside the MIB organization. The 10th actor to play the part, Tennant was a well-liked incarnation of Doctor Who. For the first time, I think our heroes feel like they’re in true jeopardy because of this newly evolved form of zombie.”. Bang and Debicki engage in lots of clever banter before the plot turns dark. One might ask why a person would actually do such a thing, and generally watch movies that he doesn’t like repeatedly just to talk sh*t about them, but in that case you’re not my audience and you can go and watch the new Star Wars movie and find out that Han Solo’s kid is the actual bad guy, or Darth Caedus. This forces them to re-examine their complex family ties. The best part about it is that somewhere, out there, a casting director got laid. This outing again gives us a toy chest of our favorite animated characters, voiced by an array of favorite behind-the-screen actors. On Amazon Prime, I can watch “Upward” or “Emma” or “The Hunt” just as if they were playing at the Regal or Carmack or your local emporium. I’m a Trekkie, a Warsie, an Avatard, a Gater, an Achiever, a Buffista and an aspiring Baker Street Irregular. Dairy Center and Thirsty Souls Community Brewing will be on hand. Instead of friendly visitors like Georgia Engels or Ed Begley Jr. or Bernie Kopell, the island is now inhabited by more sinister characters. Tarantino’s film? Her daughter Bee is determined to discover her mother’s whereabouts. “The way you record ‘Toy Story,’ you’re in a room with the team that has created it. Three, of course. We were honest with him and told him there weren’t many opportunities in the industry for people with Down Syndrome, and of course his response was, ‘Well, why don’t you guys make a movie with me?’”. 3) “Goodfellas” (1990) – Martin Scorsese recounts life in the mob for wise guy Henry Hill (Ray Liotta). It’s a common trope for a moviegoer to quip “The book was better.” But sometimes a movie gets it right. “It’s such a brilliant idea – I can’t believe it’s not been done before,” he says. The British seem to be a nostalgic lot, looking back on love-in-wartime stories as if recalling a nobler epoch when they were young and reckless, lost in the aftermath of military triumphs, when life was an unpredictable mixture of romance and sprawling human tragedy. Wick is up for the challenge. Macaulay Culkin was born to play the role of an overlooked child with a resourceful nature. That said, I was even more excited to catch Reeves in his latest movie, a third installment about John Wick, a retired hitman who gets angry when someone kills his dog, an act that results in lots of bad guys dying at Wick’s hand. Keep in mind, Jason Blum has given us such shutter-worthy fare as “Ouija: Origin of Evil,” “Happy Death Day,” “Halloween,” “Get Out,” and “Us.” So don’t be surprised that “Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island” is a horror film. You saw the story play out on the evening news. 5) “The Lego Batman Movie” (2017) — I’m not big on movies based on toys, but the Lego folks pulled it off, especially when they did that spinoff featuring a toy version of Batman, the caped superhero. When I was publisher of Marvel Comics, we claimed 5,000 characters in the Marvel Universe. Or clowns. For the role, Turner studied dissociative identity disorder and schizophrena. 1) “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) — How can you not love Frank Capra’s holiday tale about George Baily, a man who wished he’d never been born … until an angel-in-training shows him what life in tiny Bedford Falls would have been like without him. Now, it’s been made into a movie with the flipflopped title, “Gretel & Hansel.”. “There was just no way I was going to make an easy, fun ‘Grudge’ movie,” he says. She even named her children William, Andrew and Philip after members of the royal family. And, yes, I still like the George C. Scott comedy, “The Flim Flam Man” (I knew the author of the book it was based on). But I enjoyed the quiet introduction to this wacky couple – the aging conspiracy theorist and the unmarried shopping addict – as we wait for the film’s end, like staying up late at night to catch an expected meteor shower in the darkened sky. Lost in Space 1998, 130 min. What’s on your list? As the saying goes, the gang’s all here. However, “Doctor Sleep” focuses on Danny Torrance. The story: Adelaide and Gabe take a vacation with their two kids to Santa Cruz, a sunny beachside city in California. 10) “Focus” (2015) — A movie centered on deception and misdirection, “Focus” stars Will Smith as Nicky Spurgeon, a very accomplished con man who takes an amateur con artist, Jess (Margot Robbie), under his wing. 9. Angelica Houston is cast as the Director, a member of the High Table who wants to protect Wick. After a bunch of lackluster TV and film roles, Pitt eventually came to moviegoers’ attention as a handsome drifter with great six-pack abs in “Thelma and Louise.” And his appearance with Robert Redford in “A River Runs Through It” has been called “a career-making performance.”. As the movie’s trailer says, “I hope you’re ready.”, “When you watch the movie,” says Michael Peña, “it’s gonna be about a bunch of beautiful young smart people doing dumb things.”. Buckley is a cross between a St. Bernard and a Scotch Shepherd (a herding dog similar to a border collie), the same mixed breed as Buck in Jack London’s book. It's a beautiful phrase that shows a deep appreciation for artwork in all its forms. Keep up-to-date on: © 2020 Smithsonian Magazine. Will you like it? In 2000, Vincent released the bluegrass album “Back Home Again” with the goal of expanding both the musical reach and accessibility of the genre. Its status as a cult movie doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s a horrible pile of rubbish though. Cruise exudes a brooding star quality as the stock-car racing driver who must “learn how to control something that’s out of control.”. “That’s something baked into every ‘Grudge’ movie,” says Pesce. Francis Conroy is Arthur Fleck’s mother, and Zazie Beetz is his love interest. And Matthew Rhys (you’ll remember him as the duplicitous Russian spy in TV’s “The Americans”) is properly jaundiced as the Esquire journalist. He still has the twinkle in his eye of a man living in a universe of his own imagination. They travel to a posh estate on Lake Como to meet with a noted art collector (played by British rocker Mick Jagger) in hopes of securing an interview with a legendary-but-elusive artist (played by Canadian Donald Sutherland). “I wanted to take all the folklore from my town growing up, stories and rumors, and put a Grudge-y spin on it … What resulted was this really charming, super realistic ghost story.”. Stan Lee and Jack Kirby were the co-creators of an X-Men character named Jean Grey. Along the way she hooks up with a zombie killer (Harrelson) and two sisters (Breslin and Stone). Someone doesn’t need to be lunging at the camera for it to be really scary.”, Oz Perkins knows the horror genre. 10) “American Sniper” (2014) — Cranky but patriotic Clint Eastwood gives us this tragic story about Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper), the Navy SEAL sniper who served four tours in Iraq, but died by bullet on a Texas practice range. Every now and again you see those raggedy prophets carrying signs that warn the world is coming to an end. All rights reserved. Title: Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959) Directed by: Ed Wood. A diehard conservative, he acted as a consultant to Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. “Fast & Furious” is ranked as the 10th highest grossing film series of all time, raking in a combined gross of more than $5 billion. At least the Death Race movies know they’re stupid. The band, together for ten years, enjoys playing blues, funk and top 40 hits. Our family of tricksters are living large. Needless to say, one of the hunted fights back – or else there wouldn’t be much of a story here. This film takes the same name as the album. Because of his ability to give comfort, he becomes known as Doctor Sleep. To Jolie, “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil” is more than a chance to wear wings and sport horns again. As Robert De Niro tells it, “Joaquin was very intense in what he was doing, as it should be, as he should be.”, “Joker” is the first live-action “Batman” film to receive an R-rating due to its “strong bloody violence, disturbing behavior, language, and brief sexual images.”, ComicBook.com found the film to be “scarier than most 2019 horror films.” IndieWire called it “potentially toxic.”. The nature of the curse is that it spreads to everyone who touches this house, so you have so many stories of people who’ve just interacted with this thing.”, Pesce’s 2016 debut, “The Eyes of My Mother,” scared audiences with its horrifying premise and esoteric construction. You might say the result is properly creepy and kooky, mysterious and spooky and altogether ooky. 9) “Puss In Boots” (2011) — The fairy tale cat (voiced by Antonio Banderas) in those animated “Shrek” movies gets a swashbuckling story of his own.