John Carpenter's 1986 action thriller/Kung Fu/Western comedy is so jam packed with big budget thrills and special effects surrounding Kurt Russell that it should be an absolute blast of fun. BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA has been a film I've wanted to love since I saw it on the big screen in 1986, but it's always squandered my goodwill in a confusing mess of baffling storytelling and sheer noise. Decades haven't made it any clearer, but Russell's performance has aged well. His Jack Burton, a trucker that's an interesting blend of John Wayne and Indiana Jones, is constantly hilarious in his jingoistic spouting ineptitude. He doesn't believe in ghosts,magic or any of that supernatural mumbo-jumbo. Burton and his best buddy Wang Chi (Dennis Dugan) head to the airport to pick up Chi's girlfriend arriving from China, Miao (the stunning Suzee Pai from "Sharky's Machine"). When she is kidnapped right in front of them by a large gang of Asian bad guys, the adventure is off and running. Gracie (Kim Cattrall) also witnesses the crime and is pulled into the pursuit. It turns out that the gang has stolen Miao due to her rare green eyes, that are key to the power of a 2000 year old sorcerer named Lo Pan, played by legendary actor James Hong (Blade Runner, The Sand Pebbles). It seems Lo Pan needs to steal the lifeforce of a beautiful woman with green eyes to grow young again, which is bad news for Cattrall too, sporting green contacts for her role. Why suck the life out of one girl, when two fall into your lap, right Lo Pan? Victor Wong (The Last Emperor, Prince of Darkness) is a lot of fun as Egg Shen, our guide through the mythos of Carpenter's world and the subterranean lair. Carpenter has created so many of my favorite films of the 70's, 80's including "Halloween", "The Fog", "Escape from New York" and my all-time Carpenter fave, "The Thing". He was one of the first horror/thriller directors to embrace new technology and his "Thing" was an absolute triumph of practical effects that still perfectly disturbs today. Here, he's crafted an adventure that pays tribute to everything from Charlie Chan to the 70's Kung Fu movie craze. He also leans in hard on early digital visual effects as supernatural bad guys float in on lightning bolts, busting holes in the roof to float in. The Three Storms, with their blue lightning courtesy of special effects wiz Richard Edlund (Star Wars) and wide giant hats are a lot of fun and you will never convince me that they didn't inspire characters in Mortal Kombat the following decade. For the first 30 minutes of so, I'm always all in. It's fun, exciting and hilarious. Martial arts coordinator James Lew (Inception, Avengers: Endgame) stages some terrific battles, conjuring up plenty of mid-air battles long before "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" made them fashionable for mainstream Hollywood. Carpenter also creates an entire world of sorcery and mystical action underneath San Francisco's Chinatown, a web of underground caverns and massive rooms where the action takes place. But after that first 30 minutes, the action gets very repetitive and the story gets so damn confusing that I defy anyone to tell me what the hell is going on. Without a clear storyline, you're left with endless action that seems to go in circles. Russell is the standout as Burton, a hero so clumsy and dumb that he actually knocks himself out right before the biggest battle of the film. He creates a voice for Burton that sounds like John Wayne and Colonel Sanders on downers. Dugan is superb at the martial arts action, but he's a horrible actor, screaming every line of dialogue at a fever pitch, just as he did in Carpenter's next film, "Prince of Darkness" a guilty pleasure that's absolutely mad. By the time a flying eyeball with 30 separate eyes on it and some half-assed sewer bigfoot entered the action, I was exhausted trying to figure out what I was watching. So were audiences, as bad word of mouth killed this one quickly, earning just $11 million against its $25 million production budget. It's found a solid measure of cult status in the 40 years since it's release, and I still love Russell's hilarious take on Burton. Carpenter wrote his own music score too and it's terrific, filling almost every scene with 80's synth and a driving beat. Still too loud, too confusing and too overstuffed of a film to be truly enjoyable for me, BIG TROUBLE gets only a little love, earning a C. To quote Jack: "May the wings of liberty never lose a feather!"

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of its original release, and to prepare for this week's "Lee Cronin's The Mummy", I loved going back to one of my all-time favorite comedy horror thrillers from 1999, THE MUMMY . What an absolute box office thrill ride and mega-hit this was back in '99. Brendan Fraser became a superstar in his first big screen action role as the Indiana Jones-like American adventurer Rick O'Connell, serving up big laughs and action in equal doses. This is Universal throwing a big budget at Writer/Director Stephen Sommers best screenplay. Paying homage to the movie monster film legacy of these wrapped up Egyptian terrors, Sommers crafts a fun, break neck pace from the opening scenes to the finale. Rachel Weisz (My Cousin Rachel) is a perfect heroine with bite, Evelyn. An English librarian and expert in all things ancient Egypt, she's pulled into a new dig at the ancient city of Hamunaptra by her carefree and clumsy brother Jonathan (John Hannah from "Four Weddings and a Funeral"). The new dig uncovers a deep tomb belonging to Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo) who we've already met in the impressive opening prologue. Imhotep was caught with the Pharoah's main squeeze and sentenced to a tortured afterlife buried very deep in a hidden tomb. Oops, looks like someone's about to ignore all the hieroglyphic warnings and open it back up! O'Connell arrives on scene and manages to survive long enough for Evelyn to bail him out of prison and have him join her team. It seems like half the world is after the secrets buried in the legend of Imhotep and the movie tees everything up perfectly. With the scary fun of "Raiders" and the edgy horrors and gore levels of "Poltergeist", THE MUMMY serves up a winning formula, set to a legendary music score by Jerry Goldsmith (Poltergeist, Patton, Planet of the Apes) that's been often imitated by never equaled. Fraser is the film's core, a non-stop adventurer with a wit as quick as his draw. I lost count of how many times I laughed, seeing the film for at least the 12th time. It holds up beautifully, especially in long sequences where rival groups are attempting to decipher the secret passages and warnings below ground. Once Imhotep is released, the film really hits its stride. Vosloo is fantastic as the ancient bad dude, and the filmmakers broke new special effects ground as Imhotep literally sucks the life out of many victims to reclaim his human form. Those 25 year old Industrial Light and Magic effects still hold up as plenty of fun today. Oded Fehr (The Blacklist, 24: Legacy) is excellent as Ardeth Bay, the modern leader of an ancient group trying to stop Imhotep from escaping his sealed sarcophagus. (Ardeth Bay:Death by Ra. Coincidence?) Bernard Fox, who was in every notable TV series of the 60's and 70's, is a renaissance blast as Winston Havelock, a pilot who flies Rick in his biplane as that legendary Imhotep dust storm chases them across the sands. It's a now classic scene in a film full of them. Looking for some plagues falling from the heavens? How about some flesh eating scarabs that put piranha to shame? Giant pyramids and tombs crumbling around you? Car chases through mobs of zombies? Massive battles on horseback in the middle of the desert? This one's got them all and never takes its foot of the gas. Those are real rats and locusts on our actors, by the way. Sommers has said the morning after the Friday premiere, Universal execs called him and said "we need another one!". This film is credited with establishing the first weekend of May as the start of the summer season for Hollywood blockbusters. Earning $417 million at the box office against its $80 million budget, THE MUMMY was followed in 2001 by "The Mummy Returns" an even bigger hit and in 2008 by "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor". 2026 saw announcements that Fraser, Weisz and Vosloo are all returning for a NEW Mummy film hitting theaters in 2028! Can I get in line now? The original, THE MUMMY gets an A+, Fraser has said it's his favorite film he ever made and it remains one of my all-time favorites, just outside my Top 100.

One of the perks of a Disney Cruise with friends & family is the chance to see some family hits that have somehow escaped me. 2010's TANGLED is, by far, my favorite of the new era Disney animated classics. Disney's first CGI fairy tale film adaption, it features big laughs, physical comedy and real heart for kids and parents (and grandparents, hello!). This box office bonanza is a flawless example of how Disney got back to story basics after the box office disappointment of "The Princess and the Frog" the previous year, a film I really enjoyed but audiences were only lukewarm toward at the time of its release. Kids of every era know the story of Rapunzel, stuck up in that castle with some very long hair and a very protective Mom. Writer Dan Fogelman (This Is Us, Paradise) turns that old tale on its head, serving up a very modern Rapunzel (perfectly voiced by Mandy Moore) and a runaway thief named Flynn Rider, played by Zachary Levi in a hilarious, winning performance. Rapunzel and Flynn's first meeting is a non-stop display of physical comedy that had all ages in our showing laughing out loud. Of course, Rapunzel's Mom, Mother Gothel (Broadway star Donna Murphy) wants NO part of Rapunzel leaving her tower, but Rapunzel and Flynn have other ideas. There are plenty of secrets woven in that 70 foot long hair and its magical powers. The world beyond the tower is a complete mystery to Rapunzel and the film tees her wonder up perfectly, serving up some real suspense along with the belly laughs. Disney brought back Alan Menken (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast) to write a beautiful new batch of songs, with lyrics by Glenn Slater. They are superb. Brad Garrett (Everybody Loves Raymond), Richard Kiel (The Spy Who Loved Me) and Jeffrey Tambor belt out "I've Got a Dream". Murphy betrays her stage roots with er powerful number, "Mother Knows Best". Moore and Levi pair up for the moving Disney ballad, "I See the Light", providing the perfect moment that's melted everyone's heart for nearly two decades since the film's release. If it doesn't tug at your heart just a little, you might want to check your pulse or your curmudgeon status. Check it out here: There are over 45,000 animated lanterns in that sequence, it's a visual stunner! The film is loaded with eye popping vistas. In the Kingdom Dance scene, there are over 3,000 people present, the largest crowd scene animated in Disney history. At a cost of $260 million, this was Disney's most expensive animated film ever made. It grossed over $600 million and has become a modern classic. Flynn and Rapunzel are a couple with film staying power. Eagle eyed viewers can spot them at Elsa's coronation in "Frozen" while Tiana and Naveen from "Princess and the Frog" are in the crowd below the balcony. Walt Disney Animation Studios' 50th feature film and its first one of the 2010s, TANGLED is one of the most enjoyable Disney animated films of all time for me. It's very entertaining for adults while being funny and exciting for the kids, not an easy blend to achieve and certainly a magic elixir that Disney has found more than any other studio for many decades. Character designer Glen Keane brought in fifty Disney animators (both CGI and traditional artists) to discuss the techniques used in each style and how to, in his words, "bring the warmth and intuitive feel of the hand-drawn to CGI" in TANGLED . It's an undeniable success in that regard, feeling old school but on a spectacular new scale. Six years in production, its a modern masterpiece of Disney entertainment and gets an A.

For those of us with enough years behind us to remember when Chevy Chase broke out in the first Season of SNL, it's fascinating to go back and relive those early years. I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT delves into all things Chase, from his TV debut, through his leap to the big screen in "Foul Play" with Goldie Hawn, all the way to modern day. Chevy is front and center with a direct to camera interview in which he comes across in turns as arrogant, nostalgic, rude and aging w/regrets. You have to give it to Chevy for being this transparent, offering up an unfiltered view of who he is today. His total lack of giving a crap what anyone thinks is pretty refreshing on the whole, but sure to offend modern sensitivities. Who cares. A parade of famous co-stars offer up their memories of Chevy in their lives and careers. For me, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" and "Vacation" are the highlights of his film career, alongside "Foul Play" and "Fletch". The film doesn't skimp on behind the scenes thoughts and his co-stars in "Vacation" share warmth and nostalgia. Some other directors and stars, not so much. Chevy's children share frank memories of him when they were growing up. It's through their current eyes that I saw a current, 82 year old Chevy who seems to sense that he wasn't always kind and that some of his words carried more weight than he intended in the moment. His brothers share details about their home growing up that paint many of the drivers of Chevy in college and beyond. Aging isn't for the weak. Introspection and reevaluation is a major part of all of our lives as we hit our later years and Chevy is clearly no exception. He's legendary in Hollywood for many years for basically being a prick. Something he fully acknowledges and doesn't dispute in the documentary. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. There are plenty of tidbits along with way that I loved, my favorite being that Chevy was a drummer in a college band that he left to pursue comedy. That band is Steely Dan. Impressive! Chase burst on the scene with an insulting, caustic wit that was perfect for the seventies. We were a much tougher lot then, with ability to laugh at ourselves. It was very hard to offend the majority of us. It still is, for that matter. Chase was hilarious the first season of Saturday Night Live. His Weekend Update anchor set the tone for every decade since. His Gerald Ford impression, which basically was him falling off ladders and down stairs was something we ALL talked about at school the following Monday. He burst into film with an amazing run of huge box office hits like "Foul Play" in 1978, "Caddyshack" and "Seems Like Old Times" in 1980, "Vacation" in 1983, "Fletch" in 1985, "Three Amigos!" in 1986 and "Christmas Vacation: in 1989. The man hosted the Academy Awards back when that was a MUCH bigger deal and one of the most watched events each and every year. Chase had addiction issues and was an absolute misery to John Carpenter on the set of "Memoirs of an Invisible Man". Carpenter's recalling those times is hilarious. Then you pile on Chase's ill conceived late night talk show and things hit bottom. This is the first time Chevy has really talked in depth about those failures, and his perception is pretty clear on why he hit bottom. He's not hiding from the truth. Dan Harmon, the creator of TV's "Community" recalls his trials dealing with Chevy in his starring role in the series, which cemented his status as an impossible to work with diva whose abrupt humor and caught a younger generation of cast members very far off guard, leading to accusations of racist comments that were damn ugly. There are moments here where Chevy seems genuinely remorseful for some of his history, but this isn't a morose documentary. It's fast and pretty funny, especially looking back at his film hits. Folks like Dan Aykroyd, Martin Short and Lorne Michaels serve up some great stories and personal recollections. Chase's agent Michael Ovitz shares some killer behind-the-scenes stories of pivotal moments in Chevy's career, good AND bad! I enjoyed the film, especially in the personal moments and scenes from Chevy's current everyday life, in which he carries a deep gratitude and appreciation for his fans. He comes from a vastly different emotional place than he did in his younger decades and it's a fascinating perspective. Chase isn't perfect, he admits it and is unabashedly who he is. Well done, Chevy. Clark Griswold, Ty Webb, Dusty Bottoms and Fletch will love forever. I'M CHEVY CHASE AND YOU'RE NOT gets a B.

Director Luc Besson's new take on DRACULA is a big budget, sweeping horror spectacle that's far better than I expected it to be. It deserved a bigger audience in theaters. An interesting cast, beautiful photography and more than a subtle reverence for Francis Ford Coppola's 1992 take make this a surprisingly stunning film. Besson has, at his best, always been one of my favorite French filmmakers, with his films oozing his unique visual style. "The Fifth Element", "La Femme Nikita"and his underappreciated "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets" all have enough visual flair for ten films. He brings that same sensibility to his take on the Bram Stoker classic. Leaning in hard on the film as a love story, just as Coppola did, Besson roots his tale in an undying love that crosses many centuries. The film opens with the brash 15th century Prince Vlad (a fascinating Caleb Landry Jones) madly in love with his Queen Elisabeta (Zoe Bleu). They make love, drink, make love again, drink some more. His senior soldiers have to break in and drag him off to war. But before Vlad leaves, he swears to the Priest in his castle that, at all costs, God must protect Elisabeta. Besson then drops us into a beautifully staged, massive battle with armored knights on horseback across snowy fields. When Vlad gets word that forces have attacked the Queen's carriage, he rushes off at full speed, galloping toward his fate as Dracula. I kept wondering what the film's budget was (over $50 million) because it looks absolutely rich, stunning and dripping in period detail. Besson does not disappoint. The film then moves ahead to the story we are all too familiar with. That familiarity came with me when viewing the film. Did I really need to see another version? I hesitated, thinking I knew the story too well, but fascinated to see what a truly visionary director brought to it. Besson wraps every setting in lush detail. As Dracula takes a home in a perfectly foreboding castle and Jonathan Harker (a rather bland Ewens Abid) arrives at Dracula's lair, I forgot all about the familiar. Besson presents magic and powers that meet Harker's every turn. When the centuries old Count Dracula arrives to greet Harker, it's a direct and honorable homage to Gary Oldman's superb Count in Coppola's classic. Shadows play, doors move, the Count seems to be at the top of the stairs one moment and at Harker's side the next. Jones's makeup as the Count is fantastic, ancient, his white hair wrapped up into a Geisha style that seems three times larger than his head. It makes Oldman's famous hairdo seem tame by comparison. Gone is Jones young, enthusiastic voice that teased his young Queen. He now possesses a deep, disturbing baritone that terrifies and seems to drip danger, gravitas and lust. Once the Count sees a picture of Harker's fiance Mina, the old vampire is filled with overwhelming desire to reunite with his love Elisabeta, reincarnated in the young form of Mina. Christoph Waltz (Inglorious Basterds,Django Unchained) is having a very good time here as a Priest whose order has been on Dracula's trail for centuries. Waltz is always so good at creating powerful, complex characters with huge splashes of humor. His Priest is no exception. Guillaume de Tonquedec is Waltz's perfect screen partner as Dr. Dumont, who's baffled by all the blood loss around London. Raphael Luce is also very good as Dumont's loyal assistant, whose young blood seems irresistible to those with an appetite. Besson clearly has a deep affection for Coppola's film, serving up direct and subtle references to that film's unique take on Stoker's tale. Some are very obvious including the same book-ended scenes to begin and end the film centered on Vlad/Elisabeta and Dracula/Mina's love. He also depicts Vlad's deep hate for the Church after what he sees as a betrayal of faith. Danny Elfman has created a beautiful new score for the film, but there are about 5-7 second sequences that directly pay tribute to Wojciech Kilar's classic music for Coppola's film. It delivers some powerful payoff if you remember Kilar's work. Count Dracula's centuries long quest to find his reincarnated Elisabeta brings us a very sophisticated Count. Once he's satisfied a couple centuries of bloodlust and once again takes his young form, Caleb Landry Jones becomes one of the most interesting Draculas in film history. Jones (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, American Made, Get Out) is a great actor, but here he's a brilliant chameleon as well. He's Barry Lyndon one moment and a blood thirsty fiend praying on a literal stack of nuns the next. He'll do anything to reunite with his Elisabeta. I went into the film wondering what Jones would bring to the part, but he delivers a powerful take on centuries of love & evil. Besson is a master of visuals and the film lives up to his legacy. Widescreen outdoor vistas frame conflicts and pursuits while Dracula's castle is a massive house of horrors. Besson's inclusion of the castle's gargoyles is an interesting choice and wavered somewhere between the 1972 TV film "Gargoyles" with Cornel Wilde that scared the hell out of me as a kid, and some stone version of the Ewoks. They are, for me, the only misstep in a visionary take on Stoker. I'm a (blood) sucker for a great telling of the Dracula legend. Besson delivers the best version since Coppola's back in '92, earning a very surprising B+.

What happens in Vegas....is a non-stop barrage of crazy action, kick-ass creatures and wild locals to challenge our favorite folks wondering the wasteland.THIS is the way you deliver a Season Two of a massive hit! FALLOUT SEASON 2 deepens the mystery, ups the intrigue, action & world building into a laugh out loud, powerful second set of eight episodes. It's a tribute to showrunners Geneva Robertson-Dworet and Graham Wagner that they're able to pile on many more levels of storytelling on top of the brilliant base they crafted in Season One. Their goal appears to be to provide more levels of visibility into our beloved characters. Mission accomplished. Vaulty Lucy Maclean (Ella Purnell) and The Ghoul (Walton Goggins) are on the trail of her Father Hank (a perfectly cast Kyle MacLachlan) who escaped at the end of last season. But The Ghoul is also on the same quest to find his family that he's been on for over 200 years. Powerful motivation. Dim, post apocalyptic biker gangs, giant lethal creatures and plenty of wicked, hungry folks stand in their way. Flea Soup anyone? Our story bounds all over what is left of the USA. Maximus (Aaron Moten) is now a fighting legend and finds himself in a powerful role as the enforcer and adopted son of Elder Cleric Quintus, who's positioning to rule over plenty of what's left of America. Family may be overrated. Flashbacks take us deeper into the mysteries of exactly how the world decided to blow itself up in the first place. Cooper Howard (the pre-Ghoul Goggins) is torn apart as he discovers the role his wife Barb (Francis Turner) has in preparing the vaults. What exactly are her priorities? We meet Robert House (Justin Theroux), a Howard Hughes-like billionaire who also lives in the penthouse of an alt-Vegas casino. He seems to be betting on the end of the world like its just another craps game at the tables below. Back at the vaults, Hank's son and Lucy's brother Norm (Moises Arias) is trying to position himself as a leader and discovering a lot about himself and the vaults in the process. Who knew starting a club could evolve so quickly? Over in Vault 32, Steph Harper (Annabel O'Hagan) rules over its citizens with the same firm hand she shows her husband Chet, the hilarious Dave Register. He plays Chet with the perfect mixture of timidity and quest for revenge that had me laughing. Steph is not one to mess with. The entire series flows fast and furious and fun. We're immersed into an alternate Las Vegas in both its shiny, bright past and its current post-bomb version with huge creatures looming at the entrance. There are brand new armies and warring factions that emerge, complicating the politics of the new world. but adding to the action and the fun. I laughed out loud when the lead soldier of one Roman-like army is revealed. Just one of the many, funny surprises in store for you. There's a surprising and deep level of human emotion mixed in with the action as characters learn more about the truth, their pasts and those around them. Goggins is fantastic as both Cooper and The Ghoul. As the two begin to merge and become the same character over centuries, Goggins always presents a relentless drive and a solid core of humanity, even as all signs of the Ghoul's humanity fall away from his physical presence. No one else could play the Ghoul like Goggins, conjuring big emotions one minute and blasting the crap out of Zombie Elvis Ghouls the next. He's flawless. Purnell's able to show more sides of the goody-goody Lucy this season as well, as the new world beats the optimism levels of her sunny personality downward. FALLOUT is the best series since "The Sopranos" to incorporate real songs into dramatic and action scenes. They demonstrate the same mastery of that talent that David Chase did across the entire run of his HBO mob hit. I laughed out loud when Pat Boone's "The Wang Dang Taffy-Apple Tango" played over a massive action sequence and Leroy Anderson's "The Syncopated Clock" provided perfect music for Hank's mind control experiments. I'm not sure that Elton Britt's 1950's country hit "Uranium Fever" has ever had quite this big of a platform. Throw in "Luck Be A Lady" from the original Broadway cast of "Guys and Dolls" and Rum & Coca-Cola" by the Andrews Sisters and you've got one hell of an eccentric soundtrack. Crazy, eclectic and hilarious perfection all around. Production credits are stellar, with superb costuming and special effects throughout. The production design by Howard Cummings (Westworld, Contagion) is jaw dropping and brings the game to life while expanding it's scope dramatically. With over 1 billion viewing minutes in each of its first two weeks, its another monster hit for Prime Video, with Season 3 already renewed. I can't wait!!! FALLOUT SEASON 2 is an absolute blast of radioactive originality, hilarity and jaw dropping visuals, matching its first season with an A+!

(Easter weekend is the perfect time to revisit seeing PETER RABBIT with my grandson (then 4) 8 years ago! Happy Easter all!) One fun perk of having a 4 year old grandson is getting to see movies that you never would have bothered with as an adult. Of course, this can be a bad thing too, but not in the case of PETER RABBIT . With humor aimed at both the young ones and adults, the comedy hits the target brilliantly for both groups. As the movie opens, four birds start singing a traditional musical number and my grandson looked at me like "what in the heck is this?" Seconds later, the birds were knocked out of the sky and the movie became a modern, fast moving comedy. Sony animation has created perfect, lifelike creatures of many species that have a great sense of humor, an eye for pranks and are 100% visually believable. James Corden is hilarious as the voice of Peter, Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) is Flopsy our narrator, Daisy Ridley (Rey in "Star Wars) and Sia round out our rabbits. Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids, Neighbors) is an English painter whose little home is next door to a large farm where Peter and his friends are determined to pillage the garden daily. Domhnall Gleeson (Ex Machina, Star Wars: The Last Jedi) is the new neighbor who inherits the farm and is determined to exterminate the furry brigade. Whether your 4 or 55, great physical comedy gets belly laughs and both my grandson and I laughed out loud a lot at the rabbits battling back at their new neighbor. TV writers WIll Gluck and Rob Lieber (The Goldbergs) give the animals plenty of personality, while weaving in some pleasant messages on friendship and honesty for the little ones. There has apparently been some ridiculous backlash against the movie by some "National Association of Food Allergies". I am convinced people today can get offended by anything. The food allergy joke is even tempered in the film by the rabbits breaking the 4th wall and looking at the camera to say "of course food allergies should be taken seriously and aren't a laughing matter" apparently knowing that some people have so little sense of humor that an animated rabbit movie about shooting berries at someone with tiny rabbit suspenders should be taken seriously. The constant daily outrage machine should perhaps not target floppy eared cartoon animals if they want to be taken seriously. But I digress.... Corden is hilarious throughout, two scenes with a literal deer in the headlights get big laughs and both my little buddy and I thought this was a very fun movie. With a $50 million budget, this is a great looking, big scale adventure for all ages. My grandson gives it 5 red vines and I give it a family-friendly and very enjoyable B. If you're looking for Easter viewing family-fun, hop on over to PETER RABBIT ! Followed by sequel "Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway" in 2021.

As the Academy Awards approached this year, I kept reading about Oscar record breaker and winner of 11 awards, 1959's BEN HUR. With a long coast-to-coast flight, what better time to catch up for the first time with this nearly 4 hour film classic. Charlton Heston stars as Judah Ben-Hur, a successful Jewish Prince at the time of Christ. When Ben Hur's childhood friend Messala is promoted to leader of the Roman Army in Hur's town, the two reconnect. Friendly banter is short lived and through an unfortunate series of events, Hur is cast out to become a slave. Hur's lifelong quest is to return to his home town of Jerusalem, liberate the family that was thrown into jail when he was made a slave, and gain his revenge against Massala. The film is of an epic scale, one of the biggest productions ever mounted. The chariot race that concludes the film was shot full scale, with stuntmen and horses performing all the action live in a huge arena. The chariot sequence is amazing. It's one of the most exciting 20 minute sequences in the history of film. I had to go back and watch the entire sequence again to soak it up. To stage that portion alone would cost a couple hundred million today, it is staggering in scale. Charlton Heston is at his best as Ben Hur, Jack Hawkins is terrific as Hur's slave master who finds more in Hur than he expects and Stephen Boyd is strong as Massala. This is old school film making at its best, massive in scale, very long but never boring and powerful in its story telling. Winner of Best Picture, Best Actor (Heston), Best Supporting Actor (Hawkins), best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Special Effects and Best Writing. It's an Oscar record tied by only two films in history, "Titanic" and "Lord of the Rings: Return of the King". This old fashioned spectacle gets an A for the Chariot Race Sequence alone. Throw another 3 hours of legendary film making on top and you have a classic.

Fifty+ years after its release, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR still packs a punch thanks to its eccentric and at the time, controversial staging. Filmed entirely on Israel locations by Director Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof, Moonstruck, In the Heat of the Night) he begins the film with a busload of young people arriving in the ruins of an ancient temple, unloading a bus and costumes. During the overture, they shed their seventies garb for ancient costumes as Andrew Lloyd Webber's music soars. The film is entirely sung through, the only dialogue spoken is Tim Rice's song lyrics. This has always been one of Webber & Rice's greatest collaborations, a rock opera that carved out very new ground in the early 1970's. Anytime you start to feel comfortable, Jewison drops in a modern visual reference into ancient times. People either loved Centurion tanks chasing Judas across the desert or they hated it, there was very little middle ground. I loved it then and still find some serious full body chills in some the best numbers, which for me are "Gethsemane", "Pilate's Dream", "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and "Superstar". Ted Neeley is perfectly cast as Jesus, a role that he has continued to play in the decades since in stage revivals of the musical. Seventeen-year-old John Travolta auditioned for the role of Jesus. He didn't get the part, but producer Robert Stigwood would remember him four years later when he cast Travolta in "Saturday Night Fever". Carl Anderson (The Color Purple) is powerful as Judas, his rendition of "Heaven On Their Minds" is classic and a great opener. "Judas' Death" is also a powerhouse, with Israeli jets flying overhead and voices whispering around him. Yvonne Elliman is also good as Mary Magdeline, with "I Don't Know How to Love Him" equaled by the latter "Can We Start Again Please?". Barry Dennan has great presence as Pilate, offering up strong drama to offset the comically staged visit to King Herod, nailed by the hilariously off-putting Josh Mostel, showing the same comic chops as his dad, Zero. Fast paced, beautifully shot by Douglas Slocombe (Raiders of the Lost Ark, The Lion in Winter) and edited by Jewison regular Antony Gibbs (Fiddler on the Roof, Rollerball) it's got true visual style in those stark landscapes. Notable for it's somber ending that ends the story with the crucifixion, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR is an interesting take on music very much of its time, the very best of which still holds up perfectly half a century later. A solid B.

1998's The Prince of Egypt is a terrific animated film from the era just before CGI took over for hand drawn animation at the movies. This is the same story you have seen 100 times in "The Ten Commandments" but set to great songs by Stephen Schwartz ("Wicked"). Val Kilmer, Michelle Pfieffer, Sandra Bullock, Ralph Fiennes & Patrick Stewart lead a strong voice cast with great contributions by Martin Short and Steve Martin as well. The plagues of Egypt and parting of the Red Sea are very well done, with excellent animation and design from the team at Dreamworks. Watch for the scene where Moses falls asleep and the hieroglyphics come to life in his dream. This was a cutting edge CGI sequence in the late 90's and merges really well with the rest of the film, while showing a glimpse of where animation was soon to go. Regardless of where you fall on the religious spectrum, this is a terrific story, well told. Grab your kids or grand kids and enjoy. A

Wherever you land on the religious spectrum, from devout to agnostic, there's no denying the sheer will and power of Mel Gibson's 2004 blockbuster, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. I remember seeing the film in theaters in its original release and feeling like I hadn't seen the film, I'd survived it. The graphic brutality and violence that permeates nearly the entire film, made it a controversial and outlier family film experience. One critic at the time called it "The Jesus Chainsaw Massacre" and he wasn't far off in that opinion. It's been over twenty years since that first viewing and I wanted to revisit the film this Easter season, especially upon the news that Gibson has started the creation of its long awaited sequel, "Resurrection of The Christ". Gibson had shopped his original film based on The Gospels to every major studio, where it was soundly refused based on assumptions that there would be no audience for such a film. He financed and released the film himself, investing $30 million of his own funds in his vision. You can see why studios were reluctant. Gibson wanted the film to be in Aramaic, without subtitles. He eventually changed his mind and added subtitles, but there is no English spoken in the film. He wanted to cast the film without any major movie stars, with every role but the title one filled by foreign actors. Of course, we know now that his faith in the project was well founded, with the film grossing over $600 million against it's $30 million budget. Gibson personally made over $400 million on the film, giving him complete freedom to make whatever films he wanted for the past two decades. He's a select filmmaker and his "Apocalypto" is a brilliant film and a personal favorite, while "Braveheart" stands on its own as one of the best historical dramas ever made. PASSION depicts the last 12 hours of the life of Jesus, (perfectly cast in the form of Jim Caviezel) opening in the Garden of Olives as he finds his apostles asleep and Judas about to betray him. What follows is a shockingly brutal depiction of Jesus being arrested and savagely beaten, even before his conviction of blasphemy. Roman Governor Pontius Pilate (a superb Hristo Shopov) sees no reason to punish Jesus, questioning why he's even before him. He sends him to King Herod. Herod sees Jesus as a fool and releases him back to Pilate. Having been warned twice about any outbreak or trouble in his city, Pilate seeks every way he can think of to let Jesus go. When those efforts fail, he washes his hands of his responsibility and lets the rabble decide. We then watch, real-time the savage whipping and crucifixion of the man who had just arrived to the crowd's cheers days before. Gibson's mission appears to be to subject the viewer to the visceral torture that Jesus experienced at the hands of his Roman soldiers. His camera never looks away. The film's critics would tell you that the film revels in the worst moments. It is brutal to watch as whips just don't stripe his flesh, they yank huge chunks of flesh off his body. Blood covers every surface. The crucifixion sequence that follows is excruciating in it's graphic horrors. Gibson is an excellent filmmaker and he's found the perfect actor for his vision in Caviezel. During filming, the actor experienced a separated shoulder when the 150lb cross was first dropped on his back, was accidentally whipped by one of the actors playing a soldier and was actually struck by lightning filming the sequence on the cross. It's a powerful performance. Gibson balances some of the most horrific moments with flashbacks to Jesus' childhood with his mother Mary Magdalene (Monica Bellucci), his Sermon on the Mount and the Last Supper with his disciples. These flashbacks give you moments to breathe in the midst of the unrelenting torture. By the uplifting final moments of the film, which inspired long lasting goosebumps in me thanks to John Debney's music and an uplifting relief from the two hours of tension that went before it, I again felt like I had again "survived" watching the film. The only other movie that I feel that way about is Spielberg's "Schindler List" which I saw opening night in a theater and have never seen again. Both are brilliant but tortured experiences to witness. Gibson makes so many bold choices in this film that pay off. The Matera location photography by Caleb Deschanel (The Right Stuff, The Natural) is stunning and immerses you in the film. He shot everything at a slightly higher than normal film speed to give the film a dream like feel. The supernatural scenes with Satan as an androgynous, pale, floating figure are scary, unexpected and powerful. In the initial interview scene between Pilate and Jesus, there's a clever Easter Egg that most viewers may not notice. Hebrew or Latin speakers will recognize that after Pilate asks Jesus in Aramaic if he is king of the Jews, Jesus answers him in fluent Latin (translated as "Does this question come from you"). The look of surprise on Pilate's face thus makes perfect sense - few if any of his subjects speak Latin. From this point forward, their conversation continues in Latin. Christian audiences at the time came to theaters in large groups, a first at the time, but now almost commonplace with the nationwide success of Angel Studios and their frequent faith based films. I watch this film rise to the top of Apple TV rental charts every year around Easter week. Having seen it twice, I don't know that' I'll ever watch this again, but my respect for Gibson as a director and filmmaker hasn't wavered. Controversy be damned, he's a brilliant film maker. The film gets a haunting, respectful A.

When I was growing up, Easter didn't start until the annual TV showing of Cecil B. DeMille's THE TEN COMMANDMENTS hit the small screen. Those first commanding notes of Elmer Bernstein's score would fire up and we'd all settle in for our traditional evening (or TWO when ABC would break it into two prime time nights!). Clocking in at nearly 4 hours, DeMille tells the story of Moses from his birth to death with plenty of spectacle and BIG performances from a huge cast. Charlton Heston (Ben Hur) is Moses, capturing the man's despair when he falls from Prince of Egypt to the hard labor of a Hebrew slave. Heston is a legend in the role, carrying gravitas whether he's in the robes of a slave or a prince. Yul Brynner (The KIng and I, Westworld) is terrific as his brother Ramses, all ego and bombast in the face of any challenge. Brynner's family has shared that this was the only one of his films that Brynner truly enjoyed watching. They said he was proud of his performance, and very proud of being in the film. He regarded it as "the biggest film ever made, forever." We all know the story by now, so the pleasure of the film is watching DeMille throw everything he has at the screen. There are massive outdoor sets, on a scale unimaginable in today's world of digital painting. The film is splashed in the best special effects that 1956 could buy (no, they don't hold up very well today) and what must have been a year long shoot on Mount Sinai and throughout Egypt. When Moses is sent back to Egypt to convince his brother to "Let his people go", all the scenes of the plagues and the final Passover night are perfectly staged by DeMille. No one is ever going to accuse DeMille of having a light touch. Some of his actors are completely out of control. Anne Baxter is horrible as Nefretiri, chewing the scenery down as fast as DeMille can build it. Some of her final scenes are so strange in motivation I still can't figure out the logic after many viewings. Edward G. Robinson seems like he time traveled as a 1930's mob boss to become a Slave master. As Billy Crystal used to hilariously say, Robinson practically yells "Moses, yer a wise guy, see.." and Vincent Price is less than convincing as a violent builder lusting after beautiful slave women. There are some great standouts beside Heston and Brynner, including Yvonne DeCarlo and John Derek. The scenes with the burning bush, the creation of the tablets and of course the entire half hour sequence depicting the Exodus from Egypt and the parting of the Red Sea are all part of film history. The Passover sequence terrified me as a kid and its powerful staging still compels today. Those are 14,000 real extras and 15,000 real animals on camera during the exodus scene. Today, there would be nothing but CGI people on screen and there's something to be said for the OG approach, with DeMille's camera sweeping up, over and through the incredible mass of humanity leaving Egypt. Ridley Scott's parting of the red sea in 2014's "Exodus: Gods and Kings" is indeed far more spectacular. But that film missed the camp that DeMille brings to this 70 year old masterpiece. You have to hand it to DeMille. He keeps this old fashioned, family entertainment moving for nearly four hours without slowing down, crafting a powerful story for the ages. History can't question his commitment to making the film. He suffered a heart attack during production, after climbing 130 feet to check a faulty camera perched on one of the giant gates used during the exodus sequence. He took two days off, then returned to work, against his doctor's orders, to complete the film! I think it would be against some commandment somewhere not to pull this expensive chestnut out for holiday viewing. When adjusting box office results for inflation, only 6 movies have ever grossed more than this massive 1956 blockbuster. When you can only show it 3 times a day in theaters, that's even more impressive. Until Mel Gibson's 2004 epic "The Passion of the Christ" this movie was the highest-grossing religious epic in history, earning over $65 million, over $800 million in today's dollars. This film has been part of my life since the mid 1960's. It's never really Easter until it's on screen. Regardless of your personal religious take, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS is spectacular entertainment for generations of families. We'll appreciate the kitsch and the overacting right along with the jaw dropping spectacle and give it a B+. Happy Easter weekend all!