As a jaw dropping visual spectacle that stretches the borders of an IMAX 3D screen, TRON: ARES is a loud, thrilling success. A flawless Nine Inch Nails wall-to-wall soundtrack blasts you through your seat, pounding alongside the rumbling of massive ships and best ever lightcycle chases. But this is no Tron Legacy. Devoid of the bigger, more thoughtful philosophy of Joseph Kosinski's 2010 film (the best of the series by any measure), ARES positions itself as pure popcorn fluff. If you're hungry for that, ARES delivers a nearly non-stop amusement park ride of action and cool images. There were times in the middle of the film where I almost laughed out loud as action sequence after action sequence thundered across the full height of the IMAX screen. This time around, Sam Flynn has left Encom in the hands of the visionary Eve Kim (Greta Lee), who is committed to finding a way to turn computer programs into physical beings in our world. The problem is stability, as these physical versions collapse into a pile of ash like bits after about a half an hour. Eve is committed to an ethical application of the technology. Following in his grandfather's footsteps, Julian Dillinger (Evan Peters) is also trying to solve the dilemma of the 29 minute evaporation, but his goals for the technology are all military themed and power infused. There are some nice callbacks to his Grandpa, played by the great David Warner in the original 1982 film. Dillinger has developed the perfect digital super soldier, called ARES. Every iteration of Ares is played by the perfectly cast Jared Leto. Leto captures the inquisitive nature of AI and the edge of that technology becoming truly self aware. If Ares decides that he wants to live for a lot more than that short life span, he's got to have reason and emotion, right? It's an intriguing part of a screenplay that all too often panders to a desire to provide 80's Schwarzenegger one liners and uncomfortable chatter. Gillian Anderson (The X-Files) is a great add as Julian's mother, keeping a constant eye on her son who inherited none of her morals. Jodie Turner-Smith, who was SO great in Apple TV's "Bad Monkey" is fantastic here as Athena, a digital soldier whose commitment to her primary mission is unwavering. She's fierce, lethal and a total badass. Turner-Smith deserves a lead role in an action franchise, she's the best part of this film. For fans of the TRON series like me, this is a fun, pure popcorn installment that's clearly working a bit overtime to set up a Disney franchise. On some levels, it's wildly successful. It seems counter-Disney that they chose for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross to be credited under the Nine Inch Nails name rather than their own separate names for the soundtrack unlike with their past film soundtrack collaborations, which has been noted, came as a surprise to both musicians. It's also the first film in the trio to be rated PG-13 instead of PG, with amped up violence and action. Seeing the lightcycles in an American city, speeding through the streets is an absolute visual explosion, perfectly executed. This time out, we also have versions that fly and speed just as quickly underwater. The IMAX 3D effects drop you into the action and between those trailing light trails to perfection. Riding the Tron lightcycle ride in Disney World is an adrenaline rush, and the sequence here gets pretty close in 3D. But, anytime the film slows down, its flaws pop off the screen as well. Greta Lee is a superb actress. Her performance in 2023's "Past Lives" was powerful, in a film that's the polar opposite of this one. It seems like a waste of talent to have her in a role where she's torn between some family drama and action hero. Lee is fine, it just feels a bit like the casting of Laurence Olivier in the original "Clash of the Titans", a whole lot of talent not given much to do. Jeff Bridges's appearance is always welcome. He's evolved here into a digital, cosmically attuned version of the Dude. His dialogue with Leto's Ares is funny, hugely enjoyable and unexpected. At this point, Bridges is just playing himself, and in this context, it's sweeeeet man..... Tron:Legacy earned an appreciative A from me 15 years ago, a perfect blend of nostalgia, thoughtful exploration and visual excitement. TRON: ARES only musters a B- as some of the character dialogue is painful, especially that final scene with Lee and Leto leaning against the police car. Woof. However, if you're coming in for an abundance of visual thrills and a pounding Nine Inch Nails concert in IMAX sound, you are going to have one hell of a good time. I certainly did for much of the ride. Stay halfway through the end credits for a fun teaser of what's sure to come......

Some of our greatest American novels can be the most difficult to adapt to the screen. Frank Herbert's "Dune" certainly proved difficult for David Lynch, although I'm one of the few that find that film a hugely enjoyable guilty pleasure. EL Doctorow's sprawling novel of early 1900's America, RAGTIME should have proven very cumbersome, but Director Milos Foreman (Amadeus, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest) and screenwriter Michael Weller (Hair) exceed all expectations with their 1981 film adaption. We meet a wealthy white family leading what appears to be an idyllic life. Father (James Olson) is successful and a man of tradition. His wife (the terrific Mary Steenburgen of "Time After Time") is simmering though, finding her voice in a time when women were mostly silent and horribly undervalued. Her brother (Brad Dourif as eccentric as ever) is an impulsive, repressed man lusting after celebrity heroine Evelyn Nesbit (an impossibly young Elizabeth McGovern). Layered on top of that story is another that will soon deeply intertwine with theirs. Coalhouse Walker (a brilliant performance by Howard E. Rollins Jr) a successful ragtime piano player madly in love with Sarah, who has run off with his baby and hidden in Mother and Father's attic. In scenes that are almost unbearable to watch, Coalhouse proudly drives his new Model T to visit Sarah, and on his return, is trapped and harassed by an entire fireman brigade, led by the despicable racist, Willie Conklin. Between his performance here as Willie and his role as Baron Harkonnen in Lynch's previously mentioned "Dune", actor Kenneth McMillan was the go-to, horrific bad guy of the 80's. After that episode and the vandalization of his new car, the justice system and racial inequality of the early 1900's turn Coalhouse into a raging, violent seeker of justice. We also meet new immigrant Tatah (Mandy Patinkin) as he arrives in the US. His story as a struggling artist to something much more pops up throughout the film and is always welcome. Watching how the characters on different paths overlap is just as enjoyable as it was in Doctorow's novel. The great James Cagney is fantastic in his last film role as NYC Police Commissioner Rhinelander Waldo. He's funny, powerful and everything you'd expect Cagney to be in his first film role in nearly 20 years. 81 at the time, he delivers. He was a last minute replacement for Jack Nicholson, who had to drop out of the film one month before shooting started. Cagney is a brilliant choice. Fellow film legends Pat O'Brien and Donald O'Connor also have key roles and Moses Gunn (Logan's Run) also shines as Booker T. Washington. His and Coalhouse's faceoff is beautifully written. There are a lot of characters, explosive violence, intolerance and horrific racial injustice that resonates all too powerfully 120 years after the events depicted here. Foreman effortlessly juggles fictional and historical characters, settings and storytelling into a seamless immersion into the time and place depicted. Randy Newman (The Natural, Toy Story) weaves in a great orchestral score from the opening moments to the climax. Later adapted into a huge scale Broadway musical, it translated perfectly into that format and seeing Brian Stokes Mitchell in his Tony Award winning role of Colehouse remains one of my lasting memories of live theatre. This is a great film , one of the best dramas of the 80's and an undervalued classic. Nominated for 8 Academy Awards, RAGTIME earns an A+ and a spot in my all-time Top 100 films.

I'm a huge Alien fan, ever since seeing Ridley Scott's original 1979 thriller. I was blown away when James Cameron topped it with his 1986 masterpiece, ALIENS. The films since have been a mixed bag, from Fincher's misfire ALIEN III to Fede Alvarez's invigorating ALIEN ROMULUS last year, it's been a rollercoaster for fans of the series. I was truly excited to hear that Noah Hawley had been given the greenlight for an FX series ALIEN EARTH . His FX series "Fargo" is my go to when people ask me "what series should I watch next?". Season One, with Billy Bob Thornton is, for me, the best television of the past twenty years. Hawley had also previously worked with FX on his XMen spinoff series LEGION, which I found visually fascinating if a tad off the rails by its conclusion. But Hawley plus one of my favorite film series of all time??? HELL yes, bring it on. Hawley has said that his challenge was to create something wholly original, but respectful and exciting for long-time fans of the Alien films. Telling a story over eight ~hour long episodes is also a much different canvas than a two hour movie. And for the first five episodes, especially in Episode Five "In Space, No One...." Hawley weaves a fascinating tale deftly combining the methodical, stunning world building of Ridley Scott with the explosive violence and thrills of James Cameron. The series takes place before the original film, on Earth in the year 2120. Several large corporations, including Weyland Yutani, who all Alien fans know, are battling for supremacy across discoveries that will decide the future. Some things are universal and apparently timeless, as most of the battle centers on death and immortality. In this 2120 world, Cyborgs (cybernetically enhanced humans) and Synths (AI beings) are commonplace, but young genius Boy Kavalier (Samuel Blenkin) and his company Prodigy are developing a new being, Hybrids, synthetic beings downloaded with actual human consciousness. It's the chance to live forever. We meet the first Hybrids, led by Wendy (the excellent Sydney Chandler) and her gang of lost boys, including Smee (the hilarious Jonathan Ajayi) and Slightly (Adarsh Gourav). All allusions to Peter Pan are intentional. The initial episodes detail the birth (development) of Wendy and her gang and the discoveries are all fascinating, as is the rich atmosphere and environments offered up by Hawley and his production team. We are also introduced to the crew of a massive spaceship that's been scouring the universe to capture undiscovered species and horrors from across the stars. Guess what's in their hold? You got it, a xenomorph. In one of the most pleasant surprises of the series, and also one of its greatest flaws, our massive, giant headed xeno with the extra set of retractable razor sharp jaws is NOT the most fascinating or deadly creature in the ship's giant glass cages. There's a very creepy and smart eyeball with octopus tentacles that you have to see to believe. It's fun, scary and hilarious. Hawley does a hell of a job making great use of it, along with the very strange menagerie in the cages next door. What else does Hawley get absolutely, thrillingly right? There are recreations of the Weyland Yutani ships that we know from Ridley's world, on steroids. Massive ships, with familiar sounds and hallways that offer up lots of easter eggs for Alien fans. These ships are floating cities, with residential homes, massive work and play areas. There's a sequence when some xenomorphs escape captivity on the massive ship and interrupt a bonkers "Barry Lyndon" style dinner party at a very wealthy resident's massive, luxurious condo. It's the funniest "who's at the door" since Death knocked on the door of a flat in Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" to gather anyone that ate the salmon. I laughed and winced as these terrifying creatures found plenty to eat amongst the guests. This ship crashes on Earth, bringing every power hungry corporation instantly to the site to claim the horrors within. Episode 5, detailing that crash on Earth is by far the best hour of the series. Hawley is clearly paying tribute to one of the seminal films of his youth, Cameron's "Aliens". The action is non-stop, the visuals excellent and the scale of the action is jaw dropping. It's fantastic. But.... The final three episodes paled by comparison. Hawley's a fantastic storyteller. I expected things to build to an amazing conclusion. For me, the story got bogged down in the story of Wendy and her band of misfits. Suddenly, she has the verbal gifts to communicate with the xenomorphs and the most terrifying creature of our movie memories turns into Old Yeller, who likes a scratch under his chin. Huh? What am I watching? I don't want to see domesticated killing machines, especially since I already know that everyone in the timeline's future has no idea what the hell they are? Maybe Hawley is playing a long game that I can't see yet. There are some real standouts in the large cast. Timothy Olyphant (Justified) is excellent as Kirsh, Boy Kavalier's right hand synth. Alien fans know Bishop and Ash all to well, so we know it bears watching Kirsh very closely. Olyphant is a blast, all control and shrewd one liners. Babou Ceesay damn near steals the movie as Morrow, the head security officer on the massive ship that crashes on our home planet. Ceesay held my attention 100% of the time he's on screen. Compared to Jerry Goldsmith and James Horner's scores for the original films, Jeff Russo's score just kind of blends into the high tech backgrounds. After the last episode and the cliffhanger that it set up sat in front of me like one of those unhatched, slimy eggs, I was left feeling mostly disappointed with my lack of excitement for what's next. If you ask anyone whose seen the entire series what their favorite parts are, they are very likely to note the crisis aboard the ship in advance of its crash and all the creature mayhem involved, that fantastic crawling eye creature and the giant xenomorphs crashing the 18th Century European themed dinner party. If you're going to call a series ALIEN, shouldn't they be heavily featured and a key part of the tale you are telling? Sadly, they feel like special guest stars popping up on episodes of "The Love Boat" in the final three hours as we get mired in Wendy's self realization and the emerging conscience of the Hybrids. Does the series have its visually stunning, thrilling moments? YES. Does it have some of the slimiest, creepiest creatures since the original film? YES So why does the ending feel so.... meh? ALIEN: EARTH piddles its way to a surprising B-. There was no series I was looking forward to more in 2025. I'll board with lower expectations if there's a Season Two.

It's hard to believe that it's been 46 years ago this week, that one of my favorite films of the seventies hit the multiplex. 1979's TIME AFTER TIME  is a smart, funny and clever thriller that mixes history, time-travel and great storytelling. The film opens in 1893, where novelist HG Wells (Malcolm McDowell) shares with his close friends that he thinks he has penetrated the mystery of time travel while writing his real life novel "The Time Machine". When one of his closest friends, Dr. John Stevenson is cornered and discovered to be Jack the Ripper, Stevenson escapes in the time machine to San Francisco in 1979. Wells realizes that he too must follow and stop him from destroying what he is sure is the perfect utopia of the late twentieth century. David Warner (Tron, The Omen) is terrific as Stevenson, creating an intelligent and twisted adversary to balance Wells' naive and hopeful assertions about the inherent goodness of man. In modern day San Francisco (okay, 1979 modern day) Wells is shocked by what he finds, with the film deftly weaving in plenty of comedy around Wells expectations. Mary Steenburgen is terrific as a bank teller who helps Wells and finds herself falling for him. Steenburgen and McDowell have great screen chemistry that carried over, with them marrying after the film and having two children. Stevenson finds his Ripper much more suited to his new era and begins a gruesome killing spree across the bay. Charles Cioffi (All the Right Moves, Klute) has one of his best roles as a police detective convinced Wells is a mad man, but....... Writer/Director Nicholas Meyer deftly creates intelligent dialogue, a tense chase thriller and plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing. His storytelling is superb and he finds a great balance between truly shocking moments and a classic "fish out of water" tale. Meyer was signed to write and direct "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan" based on this well regarded film that broke even at the box office but found bigger audiences on cable. Meyer stages chase scene after chase scene through the streets of San Francisco, all of the compelling. He also doesn't back off on the horrific nature of the ripper slayings, creating tight suspense throughout. Sharp eyes movie buffs will recognize those Hyatt Regency San Francisco elevators from both "The Towering Inferno" and Mel Brooks "High Anxiety". Composer Miklos Rosza (Ben Hur, Double Indemnity) accompanies the whole film with the type of swashbuckling, old fashioned music calls back to another, grander film era. McDowell (Blue Thunder, A Clockwork Orange) is perfect here, creating a terrific hero you will root for across the centuries. He was looking for a very different role than his last in "Caligula" and he certainly found that here. This is a fun, exciting movie that delivers TIME AFTER TIME , earning an A+ and a spot in my all-time Top 100 favorite films. If you've never seen it, I envy you! If you haven't seen it in years, I'm betting you'll be surprised just how effective it is, 46 years this week after its original release.

RELAY is a pulse pounding thriller that snares you in its opening scenes, pulling you deep into a complex series of twists & turns. At times, it feels like some of the classic, paranoid thrillers of the 1970's, like Alan J. Pakula's "The Parallax View" or Sidney Pollack's "Three Days of the Condor". It's superbly directed by David Mackenzie, who also directed one of my favorite films of the past decade, 2016's "Hell or High Water". If you haven't see that film, stop reading and go watch it, right now. It's a stunner. But while that film took place in the dusty outlands of the American Southwest, RELAY lives and breathes in the alleys and skyscrapers of New York City. Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Rogue One) stars as Ash, or at least that's one of his names. A fixer that seems to fly invisibly through Manhattan in a multitude of disguises, he serves as a go-between, trying to repair the lives of whistle blowers. He separates his life from his clients without exception. The opening scene is a taut encounter between Hoffman (Matthew Maher) a man just wanting to be left alone and McVie (Victor Garber) the wealthy exec who wants the corporate files that Hoffman has in his possession. It's a fascinating, high stakes conversation in a diner, perfectly directed by Mackenzie and new screenwriter Justin Piasecki. It shows a restraint that I wish Piasecki showed later in the film, when he lets his story take one too many twists, nearly derailing everything that came before it. Ash watches the dIner conversation, with Ahmed creating a fascinating character who drives the story and the intrigue with barely a spoken word the first half hour of the film. The movie's title comes from the relay service that Ash uses for every clandestine encounter. It's a confidential service for the deaf, with him typing in everything he wants to say as his whistleblower clients or high powered corporate opponents respond. It's clever and pays off again and again as a storytelling tool. Ash's privacy is tested when he's contacted by Sarah (Lily James of "Baby Driver"). She's a senior officer at a chemical company in possession of a study that her recent employers want back. They are about to launch a new food additive that's far more dangerous than they want anyone to know. We get to see Ash's operation from start to finish with growing admiration. His job this time out is a lot more complicated, as a trio of lethal agents are on Sarah's trail, watching her from outside her home and listening in on her communications. The trio is dangerous and well acted by Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Salvation), Willa Fitzgerald, hot off her killer performance in last year's "Strange Darling" and the hair trigger Jared Abrahamson. Mackenzie turns what could have been a standard "client dropping off secret documents in a secret location two flights away" into a cat and mouse game that stretches over multiple airports, flights and the last post office left in an American airport. Ahmed is rock solid throughout. We see just enough of his life outside his work to paint a lot of nuance on his actions. Sarah is lonely, afraid and closed off. Watching the realization between them both that they are very much alike is a fascinating and intriguing angle, slowly pulling you into their lives. Another sequence in Times Square is a triumph of suspense and atmosphere. It's trumped by the film's best sequence, a Hitchcockian attempt on Sarah's life at a classical music concert in Manhattan. However, after that scene is when I began to feel the complicated puzzle created by Piasecki begin to fray under the weight of its own structure. A major plot twist happens that left me slowly shaking my head in disappointment. The more I thought about that twist, which I'm not divulging, the less sense it made. The next day, writing this, it still makes no logical sense. What a shame, this was moving its way swiftly and cleverly toward a spot as one of the best thrillers of the year. Ahmed is terrific, Lily is good and Worthington is an absolute blast. The music score by Tony Doogan is excellent and its pitch perfect action reminded me of the 1973 crime thriller classic "The Seven Ups" in several scenes, especially in those foot chases through a warehouse and train tracks. It's too bad the baton was dropped in the final leg of the RELAY , sliding the film from a sure A to a B-. That being said, with Mackenzie at the helm, you're in for a hell of a ride, even if it does break down in the final act.

How many penalty flags can I throw at the incredibly stupid, new sports horror mashup, HIM ? Like some Thursday Night Football, hot garbage match up between the Jets and the Panthers, this one plods along aimlessly, strutting far more confidently than anything on screen warrants. A mess from the start, it feels like the three screenwriters, including Director Justin Tipping, threw every story idea they had in a helmet and then bashed the hell out of them without any sense of timing, story structure or suspense. As the film opens, we see flashbacks of a young boy and his father watching Football hero Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans, head and shoulders above any other actor on display) conquering the field and scoring multiple touchdowns as fighters soar overhead and gloriously stream red, white and blue smoke. Then we flash forward to that young boy, Cameron Cade, who's now a much sought after college Quarterback. Cameron is played by Tyriq Withers (I Know What You Did Last Summer) in a dull, wooden performance that must have raised some eyebrows in dailies. He looks the part, but he's blown off the screen by some average actors here and when he's on screen next to Wayans, who has more charisma in his pointer finger than Withers has in full uniform, he fades deep into the green grass. I'm surprised that Jordan Peele, who produced this movie, didn't offer more feedback or somehow try to save it. This slop is calling for a Peele intervention like the one Spielberg did for Tobe Hooper on "Poltergeist". Maybe Peele just wanted to keep hands off to honor Tipping's "vision". That would be justified if Tipping actually had one. Slow motion abounds, demonic creatures pop in and out, interacting with the characters with no rhyme or reason other than to advance the action in a disjointed screenplay that tries to bridge empty ideas with Chapter Titles. A Tom Brady level goat, White is talking retirement and sees Cameron as his possible replacement. He invites Cameron to train at his facility in the desert, a curving compound that looks like a dull hybrid of a OO7 villain lair and and a Mad Max oasis. Speaking of Mad Max, what's with the band of "end of the world" doomsayers that linger outside White's compound with apocalyptic signs and even worse haircuts? Nonsensical and undefined threats never amount to any scares, any more than lazy jump cuts and unending satanic allusions. I was never scared, but I was plenty bored. As good as Wayans is, he'd have been even better served by a Director that left him some range to play with and create menace. Here, he's so full tilt that there is no gas left in the tank for actual tension when the time comes. Think about Al Pacino in "The Devil's Advocate", or hell, even Ruth Gordon in "Rosemary's Baby". They were seductive, ingratiating and supportive, until they exposed their true intent. Wayans turns the crazy meter up so high, so fast, he makes Jack Torrance look positively calm by comparison. By halftime of this crap, it was wearing thin. By the fourth quarter, Tipping decides to replace scares or storytelling with blood and shocks that don't land. Is this all Cameron's visions after his brain injury? Is it a ham-handed allegory about NFL players and owners? Or just an unfocused mess? If this was a game, I would have turned it off well before the final whistle. Void of real ideas and stranding Wayans in search of a much better film, this is a rare misfire for anything with Peele's name attached. My guess is he'll be a lot more selective or hands on the next time he produces a film. To me, the Peele name means quality, great storytelling and compelling characters. The Peele brand gets sacked this time out. HIM splats limply onto the playing field with a D. R rated red band trailer below.

Paul Thomas Anderson has been one of my favorite filmmakers since his divisive 1999 masterpiece, "Magnolia". I always approach his films with great anticipation for what he'll serve up. I was a little apprehensive entering ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER , knowing he had adapted it from Thomas Pynchon's novel "Vineland". The last time he adapted a Pynchon novel, it resulted in 2014's "Inherent Vice", a complete mess and my least favorite PTA effort. I had nothing to worry about. BATTLE is a frantic, action-packed dark comedy of epic proportions. It's adult, unflinching and twisted in the absolute best ways. I didn't expect Anderson to conjure up sequences that felt like richly 1970's William Friedkin, or the best of Quentin Tarantino and DePalma, but he does, brilliantly. That's not to say this is my favorite PTA film. "There Will Be Blood" still remains firmly at the top, but this is a challenging, fascinating film. Like QT's "Inglorious Basterds", ONE BATTLE runs just shy of three hours, but NEVER feels like it. Anderson keeps a barrage of characters coming at you in such a frenzied, hilarious pace that you can only hang on and enjoy the ride. The film opens with a ragtag, safe to say, self-important revolutionary group, the French 75, in the final stages of planning to release a large group of illegal aliens held at the border. This sequence takes place around 2009, so it doesn't inherently carry all the baggage of the current global immigration debate. This is fine, as PTA never seems wholly interested in blatantly shoving one viewpoint versus another down your throat. He's focused on introducing us to some very extreme, crazy people on both side of the debate, peeling back layer after layer of their everyday lives. (Like the best dark satire of our times, it will likely make you examine both sides and your position within that universe. There's plenty to interpret and discuss, to be sure. If you think that PTA is glorifying one side more than the other, take a step back and really look at these characters on BOTH sides.....) These lives create the biggest action sequences of Anderson's filmography. That opening sequence and a later bank robbery are pure Friedkin, moving at a violent pace as Jonny Greenwood's music score screams around you or sits just beneath the action, clicking the thrills like a voyeur metronome sitting just out of sight. Greenwood ( There Will Be Blood, The Phantom Thread) perches comfortably as PTA's composer muse, creating unique and unsettling notes for anything Anderson can envision. Michael Bauman (The Brutalist, Licorice Pizza) shot the film in VistaVision/IMAX and its gritty as hell in the urban scenes, while painting every California landscape in its own, unique light. Leonardo DiCaprio is hilariously stoned and off-kilter as Bob, providing the literal fireworks for the detention center breakout. His partner in the gang is powerhouse Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), who owns every room she's in, relishing the terror of anyone she sets her sights on. The descendant of a long line of revolutionaries, she is 110% committed to the cause, while Bob just seems to be having fun blowing some shit up. During the operation, Perfidia runs into Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, embodied by Sean Penn in his best screen performance in years. Their encounter takes a very unpredictable turn, raw, frank and pivoting on the power dynamic between the lifelong rigid(?) military man and the anti-establishment firebrand. Bob and Perfidia's relationship hits a wall when they have their first child together, creating a turning point for both of them as their personal priorities shift. After some clever and hilarious key plot points that I wont divulge here, the film flashes forward 16 years. Their daughter Willa, now played by Chase Infiniti in a career launching performance, is a normal teenager living with her Dad, under the impression that her Mom died many years before. Watching Infiniti in her scenes with DiCaprio and Penn is impressive. She goes toe to toe and rises above. I'd be shocked if she and Penn don't both get Oscar nominations for best supporting actress/actor. Benecio Del Toro has never been funnier than he is here as Sensei Sergio St. Carlos, Bob's friend and fellow revolutionary who runs the karate school in town. I'm not saying any more about him because I laughed my ass off at every line, every quirky movement and choice that Del Toro makes. He steals every scene he's in. If it feels like I'm describing the entire film, I've barely touched on the plot points. Like a modern day Robert Altman, creating a contemporary "Nashville" about family, revolution and power, Anderson deftly weaves many threads together into one brilliant narrative. When Bob's distant past suddenly invades the present, the film is off and roaring again as a conspiracy/escape thriller that never lets up. These characters come off the page thanks to Anderson's superb writing and an amazing, flawless cast. I laughed loud and hard at the long scene in which Bob tries to call into revolutionary headquarters but can't remember his passwords. DiCaprio's comic timing and unending supply of profanity are off the charts. "Green Acres, Beverly Hillbillies, Hooterville Junction!" LOL I was blown away by a long sequence at the end dubbed "River of Hills" by the music score. Dialogue-free, beautiful staged by Anderson & Bauman and set to Greenwood's tribute track to Don Ellis's propulsive "French Connection" score, it's a tense dual of cars across the many hills of a desert. For me, its the best use of rear view mirrors on film since Spielberg's "Duel". It's stunning and explosive when the camera pulls back from those tight shots to widescreen mayhem. In the "Like Tom Fkn Cruise" scene, tell me I'm crazy, but isn't that the Wicked Witch of the West's theme music from "The Wizard of Oz" weaving in and out of the track? Come on, Greenwood is just playing with us in the smartest ways possible at this point. Another sequence felt like Brian DePalma's 'Scarface" was suddenly invading the film in both the look and score. These is chameleon-like, original filmmaking at its best. Who knew Paul Thomas Anderson had an action film brewing in him? Laugh out loud funny, violent, shocking and envelope pushing, ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER is my third favorite PTA film behind "There Will Be Blood" and "Magnolia" and that's bloody great company. An A+ by any measure.

On this day, the 70th anniversary of the death of James Dean, I wanted to share this review of EAST OF EDEN , from my fellow film buff Ronnie and his impressive, hugely popular Facebook page Screen Gems. https://www.facebook.com/screengemsbyronnie Take it away, Ronnie..... --------------------------------------------------- A special, re-written review of my favorite Jimmy film, to mark the 70th anniversary of his death on September 30, 1955. Screen Gems 50’s Flashback … East of Eden (1955). Forget Rebel, this is James Dean’s defining performance! Review (No Spoilers) … East of Eden is unmistakably a product of 1950’s cinema, steeped in the era’s stylistic restraint and tonal sincerity. But that’s not a flaw, it’s a virtue. The film unfolds with a deliberate pace, anchored by a thoughtful script, evocative cinematography and deeply felt performances. There are no dazzling effects or adrenaline-fueled sequences here. Instead, the piece leans into emotional truth. Despite its vintage aesthetic, complete with a sweeping overture and classic framing, the themes of East of Eden remain timeless. Set in 1917, it explores the fractures of a family in turmoil and a young man’s aching search for identity, love and belonging. These struggles resonate just as powerfully today. Adapted from John Steinbeck’s novel and directed by Elia Kazan, the story takes place in Monterey, California. At its heart is Cal Trask (James Dean), a brooding, impulsive and emotionally raw young man, desperate for the approval of his stern father, Adam (Raymond Massey). His brother Aron (Richard Davalos) and Aron’s girlfriend Abra (Julie Harris) form the emotional triangle that complicates Cal’s journey. As buried truths surface, the drama deepens with quiet intensity. Kazan’s direction is masterful. His use of framing and camera angles, especially in intimate scenes, reveals a deep understanding of character psychology. You feel the tension, the longing, the isolation … all through the lens. This film holds a special place in cinematic history as Dean’s first major role, preceding Rebel Without a Cause and Giant. Tragically, he wouldn’t live to see either of those released. But here, in East of Eden, he is alive and electric. Every gesture, every glance, every awkward pause speaks volumes. This isn’t just a performance, it’s a revelation. Forget Rebel. Forget Giant. East of Eden is Dean at his most vulnerable, most human, most unforgettable! Raymond Massey delivers a chilling portrayal of the emotionally distant father. The real-life tension between Massey and Dean (Massey’s rigid traditionalism clashing with Dean’s improvisational method acting) only enriches their on-screen dynamic. Kazan, ever the tactician, allowed that friction to simmer, knowing it would serve the story. The supporting cast is equally compelling. Richard Davalos brings quiet strength to Aron. Jo Van Fleet is haunting as Cal’s estranged mother. And Julie Harris, caught between three emotionally volatile men, brings grace and complexity to Abra. Revisiting East of Eden is always a bitter-sweet experience for me. Dean’s tragic death in a car accident not long afterwards casts a long shadow. Watching him as Cal Trask, so alive, so raw, makes you ache for the roles he never got to play. But through this film Jimmy becomes immortal! Cal Trask lives!

Jaw dropping. WOW. One of a kind. I could list twenty more superlatives and they wouldn't begin to capture the experience of seeing the 1939 classic THE WIZARD OF OZ at The Sphere in Las Vegas. I should preface my take with the fact that I've never been a big fan of the film. Surely it was a yearly TV tradition in the sixties, where my family would gather to watch it in front of our 19" color TV. In my youngest years, that damn witch would scare the hell out of me, along with her squadron of flying monkeys. Hard pass, but that tornado was the coolest. I had no idea how cool that tornado could be. At a cost of $100 million, Producer James L. Dolan (August Osage County) and his talented team have expanded the film from its original projection ratio to a massive 160,000 sq feet that wraps around and above you. While AI remains controversial for some, if this is an example of how it can be used, bring it on! As you enter the massive theater, you look down at a traditional size movie screen far below. It's a dead ringer for Radio City Music Hall in NYC. But that screen, those hanging speakers, those large monitors and layered walls? They aren't really there. And that's the first shock because they are all 16K projections that disappear as the film opens on that small curtained screen and then explodes to fill the entire Sphere. That moment generated gasps of appreciation and the first wave of applause that would fill the theater, which seats 18,000 but is restricted to about 7000 seats per show for Oz. Like the version of "Phantom of the Opera" that played at the Venetian in Vegas, the show has been trimmed for a faster paced experience, but we didn't miss anything. Purists may balk but at The Sphere's running time of 75 minutes versus the original 102, but the film moves . The filmmakers also rightly assumed that after nearly 90 years, we've all seen the original multiple times. There are 167,000 individually amplified speakers in the Sphere, serving up audio that's powerful, but honed in on each seat as well. When Judy Garland's Dorothy breaks into "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", it's the first time that you begin to hear and feel what they've created for the Sphere. Musical Director David Newman has re-recorded the score with a full orchestra and blended that with digitally cleaned up versions of Garland's original vocals. It's a WOW. As Dorothy sings, I couldn't help but look straight up into the sky as the sun broke through the storm clouds and tiny birds flew high above us. You are IMMERSED in that Kansas farm and the wide open vistas that surround it. This clip captures the film in its original form for a moment before showing you The Sphere experience. Of course, what we're all waiting for is that twister and it does not disappoint. A bank of large fans blow fog and leaves through the theater as lighting effects flash and thunder booms. The twister itself swirls high above you, 350 feet straight up at its peak. It's visually flawless. Then you're pulled into that flying house with Dorothy and away we go. When the house came to a thud, thunderous applause exploded in the theater, all of us knowing that we'd experienced something special. It's hard not to feel that this is the future of immersive entertainment. Bring it on. But the creative team at The Sphere isn't done yet. One of the most interesting creative choices in the original film's presentation was its choice for sepia tones in all the Kansas sequences and Technicolor for the Oz scenes. We'd always look forward to Dorothy opening that door with the full color world just beyond, but here it's truly amazing. The camera swings out the door and up, up into the air, through the forest of Munchkinland for nearly a minute, with a full view of the mountains and rivers far beyond. It's a 16K jaw dropper as large butterflies bop their way through the sphere, adding to a 4D (maybe 5D?) atmosphere. Seeing the film on this massive screen also highlights the clever performances and incredible makeup on the actors portraying our foursome that are off to see the Wizard. Ray Bolger brings humor and heart to the role of the Scarecrow, Jack Haley is excellent as our Tin Man and Bert Lahr has never been funnier as the Cowardly Lion. Lahr's delivery and physicality really shines in this format. Margaret Hamilton still scares as the Wicked Witch and the Sphere amps up those scares by shaking the hell out of your seat with deep subwoofers every time she appears on screen. We all jumped and laughed out loud at least twice when she popped into the scene. The film takes on an entirely new scope throughout, plopping you next to our foursome as they run through those poppy fields and covering you in snow. When the flying monkeys come to grab Dorothy, huge flying monkeys fly around the inside of the Sphere! The Wizard roars as real flames match the ones on screen and his talking head bellows at you from a massive face 100+ feet high. There are many in-theater surprises throughout, never letting you settle in as the experience provides one visual surprise after another. The filmmakers took a huge risk on this project, spending $100 million on a nearly 90 year old film to reinvent it for modern audiences. Because of their commitment to the visual art presented here, the film is a huge success, earning $2 million a day and already extending its run through March 2026. They've also created pre and post show experiences that differ wildly. When you enter the Sphere before the film, everything in its massive halls and giant escalators features a sepia tone. When you emerge from the film's conclusion, the lobby dazzles a bright emerald green everywhere you look. Clever as hell and unexpected. The ticket prices for each performance start at about $133 a seat and upward. If you are in Vegas, don't hesitate, book a seat and get ready for something special. We were seated in the 300 level, with friends who had seen The Eagles at the Sphere and chose these seats intentionally. They were perfect. You know that feeling when you've just seen the latest Marvel movie and you have to wait for 15 minutes of technical credits to get to the post credits teaser? The Sphere is SO big that they show all the credits at once. Across the entire surface! It made us laugh out loud, showing once again that these modern showmen know exactly how to grab our attention and create the first step toward the future of film entertainment. At a cost of over $2 BILLION, these auditoriums aren't about to be popping up all over the world, but after this experience, I'll be making it part of my Vegas plans every chance I get. The Wizard delivered everything I asked for and THEN some at The Sphere. The twister was just the first thing that blew me away. THE WIZARD OF OZ AT THE SPHERE gets an A+.

One of my top 100 of all time, 1978's HEAVEN CAN WAIT holds up perfectly today, delivering relentless laughs and one of the best endings in film history. Warren Beatty (Bonnie and Clyde, Bugsy) stars as Los Angeles Rams Quarterback, Joe Pendelton, who is grabbed a bit too early by an over anxious guardian angel at the scene of an accident. Buck Henry (Catch-22, The Graduate) is hilarious as the nervous escort and James Mason (North by Northwest, A Star is Born) is perfect as Mr. Jordan, the man in charge of Heaven. When Mr Jordan realizes the error, he volunteers to put Joe back into another body temporarily, while they find a suitable replacement for the QB. Joe soon finds himself in the body of wealthy, elderly & eccentric Leo Farnsworth, who is surrounded by a cheating wife and a personal secretary who are trying to kill him. Dyan Cannon (The Last of Shiela) and Charles Grodin (The Heartbreak Kid, Midnight Run) have their best film roles here as Mrs. Farnsworth and Tony, bringing non-stop laughs to every scene they're in. Cannon has never been funnier than she is here, relentlessly trying to kill her very old husband. Joe, in his new body, decides to try out for the LA Rams, buying the team in order to get that tryout. Former Team Owner: "He got my team. The son of a bitch got my team." Advisor: "What kind of pressure did he use, Milt?" Former owner: "Well, I asked for sixty-seven million, and he said "okay." Advisor: "Ruthless bastard." Jack Warden (All The President's Men, Being There) is excellent as Joe's trainer and best friend Max, who meets Joe again in the body of Leo Farnsworth when Joe (in the body of the rich eccentric) introduces himself as the new owner. Got all that? All the moving pieces are beautifully assembled into a modern comedy classic with heart. The screenplay by Elaine May, Robert Towne and Beatty is smart, funny and non-stop enjoyable. The supporting cast is perfect, with standouts Arthur Malet as butler Everett ("Well Mr. Farnsworth is pretending to talk to people in the closet, so I thought he might want to have cocoa with them..") Vincent Gardenia as a police detective and Joseph Maher as Sisk, the confused and enlightened butler. Best of all is Julie Christie (Doctor Zhivago) as activist Betty Logan, who pursues Farnsworth to right a wrong and soon finds that there is a lot more to Farnsworth (or is that Joe?) than she ever expected. The last ten minutes serve up one of the best endings to a film ever, sweet, heartfelt, satisfying and perfectly executed. The board room scene alone is worth the price of admission, as are the NFL training scenes and Cannon's flashback to "seeing a mouse". This is brilliant writing and perfect execution that serves up a bit of heaven on every viewing. For his work in this film, Warren Beatty became the first person to be Oscar nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor for the same film, as well as the first to be nominated in these three categories and Best Screenplay (in this case, Adapted). He co-directed with Buck Henry, the first time in the chair for either. It's brilliant work all the way around. One of my all time faves and a solid A+ that gets funnier every time you watch it. It's alright. There's nothing to be afraid of.

We have so few, TRUE movie legends left in our world. Few have led as powerful a career in front of and behind the camera as Robert Redford, who passed away today at the age of 89. From his early days on the Broadway stage, to his legendary status on the big screen during the Sixties and Seventies, Redford leaves behind a powerful film legacy. I've captured some of my favorite Redford films below in no particular order, but "Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid", "The Sting" and "All The President's Men" form a powerful trio that capture his star power, comedic timing and a rare charm and intelligence to match the defining movie star looks of a generation. Behind the camera, he was a force, winning a Best Director Academy Award for "Ordinary People", the first of nine films he would direct. For those of us of a certain age, a but of Hollywood History passed today, but the films he leaves behind will love on for generations. Some of my Redford favorites, along with original trailers that capture those incredible big screen moments.... 1969's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid is a modern classic. Paul Newman and Robert Redford define movie star power and charisma as the most charming outlaws to every grace the screen (at least until they teamed up again in The Sting). There are so many classic moments of dialogue in this western, "Did you use enough dynamite, Butch?" "Who are these guys!?" and "Swim??? The fall is going to kill you!". One of the all time great screenplays by William Goldman, perfectly executed by director George Roy Hill and accompanied by a perfect Burt Bacharach score, this is one of the best films of the sixties. Look for beautiful Katherine Ross and hilarious Strother Martin in supporting roles. Funny, exciting and smart, Butch and Sundance rob an A+ and a spot in my all-time top 100. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 years after the mega-hit and all time classic "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid", Director George Roy Hill and stars Paul Newman and Robert Redford teamed up again and found that same movie magic with THE STING. I'm not sure there have ever been two movie stars more relaxed and effortlessly cool than Newman and Redford. Redford is small-time con man Hooker, who crosses the wrong gangster by mistake during a street hustle. His long time partner is killed by that crime boss, Doyle Lonnegan, well played by Robert Shaw (Jaws, From Russia With Love). Hooker relocates quickly to Chicago, partnering up with big time hustler Henry Gondorff (Newman). They soon form a complicated puzzle of a hustle to steal a lot of money from Lonnegan. The real fun is watching the pieces of the con game click into place in a smart and fun screenplay by David S. Ward. (Sleepless in Seattle, Major League). Ray Walston is hilarious as a key part of the horse racing angle, Charles Durning (Sharky's Machine, The Fury) is perfect as a crooked Chicago cop with his eyes on landing Hooker and Robert Earl Jones (father of James) is strong as Hooker's first partner Luther, whose death motivates the Sting. It all plays just as fun as it did in 1973 when it won 7 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Music adaption. Marvin Hamlisch deserved it for taking Scott Joplin's 1930's piano rags and making them part of popular culture again. Surprisingly, this was the only film for which Redford was ever nominated for a Best Actor Oscar and Universal Studios first Best Picture win in 42 years! I love the old fashioned titles and the title cards that introduce different chapters in the film like "The Set Up". Albert Whitlock's matte paintings are still great, well before CGI made anything possible on screen. Roy Hill, Newman and Redford did amazing work together and they teamed up separately for other classic 70's films like Newman's 'Slap Shot" and Redford's "The Great Waldo Pepper". With its clever ending that plays off their Butch and Sundance final scenes and a complicated but understandable plot that never panders to the audience, THE STING is a ton of fun for audiences 46 years after it's release and gets an A+. Followed 10 years later by a sequel that audiences ignored completely, for good reason. Stick with the Original. It's fantastic. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They don't make movie stars like Robert Redford anymore. In 1984, four years after his last film "Brubaker", Redford returned to the screen in THE NATURAL. Beautifully shot, leisurely paced and set to Randy Newman's all-time great music score, it's a baseball fable that spans decades. The film opens with young Roy Hobbs (Redford) on his way to Chicago to play with the Cubs. There are glimpses of amazing talent and an anxious departure for the big city. But the story doesn't take the path you expect, with a sudden tragedy derailing Hobbs for almost 20 years. We move forward to the hapless New York Knights. Cellar dwelling, inept and frustrated, they can't believe it when Roy, far too old to be starting his career, walks into the clubhouse. Wilford Brimley (Cocoon) is Pop Fisher, the coach who refuses to play him, thinking its a bad joke. Richard Farnsworth (Havana) is the asst coach who sees something in Hobbs beneath the quiet surface. Darren McGavin is a glass eyed, powerful bookie, Kim Basinger is Memo, seductive bad luck in a white dress and Robert Prosky (Heat) is The Judge, who things any man can be bought. Director Barry Levinson (Diner) and writer Robert Towne (Chinatown) carefully craft an episodic but legendary mythology. Hobbs is superhuman with the baseball but a complete mystery off the field. Who is Roy and where's he been for 18 years? Glenn Close is Iris Gaines, Roy's girlfriend who saw him off in that train station for Chicago decades ago. When she returns, she's got secrets of her own. The heart of the film is on the baseball diamond and the Knights journey from the depths to a pennant contender is lot of fun. It's loaded with comedy , heart and romance for the game. Hobbs most legendary home runs in the film are now part of movie history, with Newman's music soaring up as lighting and thunder boom and the crack of Roy's bat sends the ball up and into the stadium like a rocket. Clocks and scoreboards shatter, lights explode in showers of sparks that drip down on the celebrating players like fireworks. While the first thirty minutes is shockingly unpredictable, the final thirty delivers exactly what you hope. Redford is terrific from start to finish and his growth from innocent farm hand to a sports legend is sports movie nirvana. There's nothing subtle about the storytelling. Virtuous characters seem bathed in golden light in almost every shot. Bad guys are wrapped in dark rooms and swirls of smoke, but Levinson's hand is sure and he pulls such great performances out of all his actors that you feel like you know them. Brimley and Farnsworth have never been better. The other man present across all those years is Robert Duvall as sports reporter Max Mercy. For decades, he searches for who Hobbs really is as a man. Mercy seems to be the only character who straddles the line between light and dark and Duvall's terrific jumping back and forth over that border. I loved Hobbs bat Wonderboy, hand-carved from a tree struck by lightning. Carrying it like Excalibur, Hobbs steps up to the plate and stares down the pitcher. If the pennant was my Holy Grail, there's no one I'd rather have at bat than Roy Hobbs. THE NATURAL rounds all the bases with an A+ and a lineup spot on deck to my all time top 100 lineup. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A smart, clever thriller that holds up great for viewing today, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR stars Robert Redford at his 1975 best as a researcher at a secret facility hidden away in NYC. After it is attacked and everyone but Redford is killed by professional assassins, he goes on the run and is forced to dig into the reasons behind the killings. Condor weaves a good tale with a great cast, including Max Von Sydow as a professional hit man doing his job, but not without extraordinary professionalism and judgment; Cliff Robertson as Redford's slimy boss (dig that 70's fur collar coat baby) and Faye Dunaway as the innocent woman Redford kidnaps in his desperation to escape. Director Sydney Pollack keeps things moving quickly, while never losing his smart approach and he gets great support from Dave Grusin's jazz score and Lorenzo Semple, Jr and David Rayfiel's screenplay that never panders and expects you to pay attention. An intelligent and exciting thriller with Redford at his movie star best. We'll target Condor with an A. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1975's THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER is a high flying adventure featuring Robert Redford as the title character. One of the best pilots (second best to be exact) of WWI, Waldo never achieved the glory he deserved. Now barnstorming for the locals and feeling modern aviation developing around him, Waldo seeks glory and one last face off against the greatest pilot he once faced in the war. This is a terrific film. I thought it was going to be a light comedy and was really surprised by the dramatic twists, turns and tragedy in the story. Written by one the 20th century's greatest screenwriters William Goldman, this screenplay sets up the story and characters perfectly and takes you places you won't expect. Redford is terrific, as are Bo Svenson, Margot Kidder in an early role and Bo Brundin as Ernst Kessler, Waldo's adversary in the air. Director George Roy Hill (The Sting, Butch Cassidy, Slap Shot) does it again. The Great Waldo Pepper truly soars to an A. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revisiting 1976's great film ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN makes you long for the day when journalists actually chased a story and didn't serve as lapdogs for political parties (no matter what side of the fence you may be on politically!). Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman are young, new reporters Woodward and Bernstein, who start to report on the Watergate break in and uncover a much bigger story that changed the face of politics in the seventies. An all-star cast portrays the real life players at the Washington Post and the White House, while real news footage shows Nixon and Agnew's actual reactions to their unraveling administration. Jason Robards is GREAT as Post boss Ben Bradlee, while Jack Warden, Martin Balsam and Hal Holbrook provide strong performances. While basically a movie about two reporters, the film plays like a suspense film as the two uncover deeper and deeper ramifications behind the facts that continue to pile up. My only complaint is I would have liked the movie to have been longer and stuck with the story as the White House players began to fall like dominoes in the face of the breaking story. A film classic, perfectly led by Redford and Hoffman as two undaunted, aggressive reports going where the story leads them, with the fortitude to stand behind the story. Exciting, smart, a brilliant history lesson disguised as a thriller and deserving of an A. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A great film from 1972 that is scary in its relevance to politics today, THE CANDIDATE is funny and insightful. Robert Redford stars as Bill McKay, a young idealistic lawyer with no political aspirations. When heavy hitting political operative Marvin Lucas (Peter Boyle) needs an outsider to "shake up the status quo" (sound familiar??) he gives McKay a challenge. He has no chance of winning against the popular long time incumbent, Senator Crocker Jarmon, so McKay can say whatever he wants to and set his own priorities. When McKay's charm and straight forward, no BS delivery begins wowing voters, Mckay finds the ground shifting under his feet. Melvyn Douglas (Being There, Hud) plays Bill's father and long-time politician John J. Mckay. Watching the elder McKay's interaction with his son throughout the campaign is fascinating. Don Porter, a veteran TV actor from every hit show of the 70's is perfectly cast as the lifetime political veteran, Jarmon. Allen Garfield (Nashville, The Cotton Club) also excels as campaign ad man Klein, who can tweak any message to any cause. Director Michael Ritchie (Fletch, Smile, Downhill Racer) is on point weaving plenty of humor and intrigue into the politics and screenwriter Jeremy Larner only wrote one other film, winning an Academy Award for this intelligent script. Redford is excellent, never less than 100% believable as he battles against the invasion of politics into his core ideals. Smart, funny and damn entertaining THE CANDIDATE is a winner and lands an A. Redford was a true movie star, a breed that grew even closer to extinction with his passing this am. RIP Bob.

One of the funnest movies of the seventies and an all time personal film favorite, 1972's comedy classic WHAT'S UP DOC is 90 minutes of clever hilarity. Ryan O'Neal (Love Story, Barry Lyndon) stars as Howard Bannister, a musicologist with a suitcase full of rocks and zero personality. This is one of O'Neal's best performances, a flawless, clueless straight man for every punch line. Upon arrival in San Francisco with his overbearing fiancee Eunice (Madeline Kahn in a brilliant film debut), Howard soon discovers his case is an identical match for three others filled with diamonds, secret documents and cash. Director Peter Bogdanovich (Paper Moon, The Last Picture Show) mines comic gold out of a flawless cast and a very funny screenplay by the legendary Buck Henry. Henry wrote such film classics as "The Graduate" and created the TV Show "Get Smart" with Mel Brooks. This is one of his best scripts, matching clever wordplay to rival Monty Python with classic physical comedy. If you look back at Bogdanovich and the run of films he delivered on the big screen between 1971 and 1975, it's impressive as hell:"The Last Picture Show", "What's Up Doc?" and "Paper Moon". A student of film genres, this was my introduction to screwball comedies as a pre-teen! Bogdanovich finds deep roots here from the comedies of the 1930's satrring Cary Grant and Carole Lombard. I have fond memories of my Mom, sister and I seeing this at least three times in the theater and laughing our heads off every time. Barbra Streisand (The Prince of Tides, Funny Girl) serves as the hilarious center of the plot as Judy Maxwell, a one-woman wrecking crew barging into Howard's very carefully structured life. Barbra has never been more likeable on film and shows terrific comic timing. She's a tour de force of destruction and laughs. In a great cast, Kenneth Mars stands out as Howard's competitor Hugh Simon, with an unmanageable head of hair and bizarre accent. He is flawless at delivering lines like "I don't know who he his but she is definitely not herself!" Liam Dunn has a great ten minute scene as a frustrated judge and John Hillerman almost steals the movie as a hotel manager, but its Kahn who truly walks away with every scene she's in. She went right from this to "Young Frankenstein" and "Blazing Saddles" and never looked back. Look fast for John Byner and a very young Randy Quaid as fellow guests at the Larabee Foundation banquet. ("Waiter, what wine are you serving to table one?) Featuring one of the best car chases ever filmed and nearly non-stop mayhem, WHAT'S UP DOC delivers a plaid overnight case full of laughs. As a matter of fact, FOUR cases full. A brilliant, laugh-out-loud A+ that easily grabs a spot in the top half of my all-time Top 100 films.