Beethoven
Beethoven 1992, PG, 87 min. Directed by Brian Levant, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Charles Grodin, Bonnie Hunt, Dean Jones. There are only a few things you need to know about this movie. I hate to start off with the negatives, but: 1) Unless you are taking a child, there is absolutely no…
The Power of One
The Power of One 1992. Directed by John G. Avildsen, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Stephen Dorff, Armin Mueller-Stahl, John Gielgud, Morgan Freeman, Fay Masterson, Dominic Walker, Alois Moyo. Director Avildsen has one recurrent theme: that of the solitary individual pitted against the insensitive, dehumanizing, oppressive powers of the status quo. From Joe…
The Cutting Edge
A champion ice-skating beauty has trouble finding a male partner who can keep pace with her.
Straight Talk
Straight Talk 1992. Directed by Barnet Kellman, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Dolly Parton, James Wood, Griffin Dunne, Spalding Gray, Jerry Orbach. The first time I heard, Dolly Parton’s My Tennessee Mountain Home album, was sitting in Everett Larson’s living room, filled with books and records, in Bartonsville, Vermont. Since then I’ve been…
Thunderheart
Thunderheart 1992, R, 118 min. Directed by Michael Apted, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring John Trudell, Chief Ted Thin Elk, Fred Ward, Graham Greene, Sam Shepard, Val Kilmer. There’s much that’s interesting about Thunderheart, Apted’s take on the period between 1971 and 1978 when AIM (the American Indian Movement) found itself in a…
Let Him Have It
Let Him Have It 1991, R, 115 min. Directed by Peter Medak, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Christopher Eccleston, Paul Reynolds, Tom Bell, Eileen Atkins. London, 1941. The Blitz is on, and buried in the rubble of a toppled house lies 12-year-old Derek Bentley, his skull fractured, his fragile frame racked by a…
Newsies
Newsies 1992, PG, 121 min. Directed by Kenny Ortega, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Christian Bale, Bill Pullman, Ann-Margret, Robert Duvall, David Moscow, Luke Edwards, Max Casella, Marty Belafsky, Gabriel Damon. How did this movie get made? I can’t even imagine the pitch meeting at which someone tries to sell the movie moguls…
The Wages of Fear
The Wages of Fear 1953, NR, 131 min. Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Yves Montand, Charles Vanel, Folco Lulli, Peter Van Eyck, Véra Clouzot. One of the all-time great truck movies, The Wages of Fear was severely cut for American audiences. This restored version of the 1953 Cannes winner…
The Inner Circle
The Inner Circle 1991, PG-13, 137 min. Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, Narrated by , Voices by , Starring Tom Hulce, Lolita Davidovich, Bob Hoskins, Bess Meyer. Some major miscalculations got in the way of what might have been an interesting movie. Set in the Soviet Union over a period of years beginning in 1939 and…
