Bellflower

Hellaciously original, this low-budget, post-apocalyptic film looks like no other in recent memory.

"...(well past the point of normalcy) on Miller's post-apocalyptic, Eighties-era scenarios. Inseparable geek buds, they've actually DIY'd the crude..."

Aug. 12, 2011 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The A-Team

It's the latest old TV show to be remade as a contemporary feature film and fares just about as well as the rest.

"...its blinking resemblance to the stars of the original Eighties TV series about a renegade group of former Army..."

June 18, 2010 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Harvard Beats Yale 29-29

Even if you're familiar with the details of this legendary game, this suspenseful cultural documentary draws you to the edge of your seat and beyond, back into 1968 itself.

"...it. Rafferty, a documentary filmmaker involved with the seminal Eighties doc The Atomic Cafe and 1992's prescient Feed, establishes..."

April 17, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

My Bloody Valentine 3D

This horror film is a full-on, old-school, gore-hound heaven – a supersaturated arterial goregasm with zero socially redeeming values for anyone other than first-year med students.

"...eye – heh, heh – toward resurrecting the moribund Eighties-style slash ’n' splash teen slaughter picture with precious little..."

Jan. 23, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

RocknRolla

Director Guy Ritchie once more delivers a kinetic and consequence-free tribute to the criminal lifestyle.

"...of extended cartoon violence set to the sounds of Eighties ska music, the improbable mutual acquaintanceship that permeates his..."

Oct. 31, 2008 Movie Review by Josh Rosenblatt

Surfer, Dude

Matthew McConaughey joins with the director of Hand on a Hard Body in this ode to near-naked bodies, weed, and surf-speak. Oh, and it's also a work of fiction.

"...had the same silly joie de vivre of an Eighties comedy and not this ponderous and unfunny soul-speak about..."

Sept. 5, 2008 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Pineapple Express

A winning "bromance" between stoners, played by reigning comedy king Seth Rogen and James Franco, is at the heart of this shaggy pot story.

"...bid at the buddy pics of the Seventies and Eighties. Rogen (who co-wrote the script with partner Evan Goldberg)..."

Aug. 8, 2008 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Midnight Meat Train

This horror film, based on a Clive Barker short story, details the nightly exploits of a butcher who plies his trade nightly on human subway riders.

"...that harks back to the slasher films of the Eighties. It features a decent cast and stylish direction by..."

Aug. 8, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Persepolis

This remarkable animated film tells a contemporary story about an Iranian girl’s coming-of-age while navigating the usual pitfalls of adolescence and the Islamic revolution of the Eighties.

"...repression brought on by Iran’s Islamic revolution of the Eighties. Satrapi’s story, which she and Paronnaud adapted into an..."

Feb. 1, 2008 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Charlie Wilson's War

Despite a script by Aaron Sorkin, direction by Mike Nichols, and star turns by Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman, this good-natured geopolitical romp falls flat.

"...fight against the invading Soviet Union in the early Eighties. Sounds a little wonky, I know, but, as adapted..."

Dec. 21, 2007 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Hatchet

The terrifically retro maniac in this horror film recalls the heyday of Eighties gore films with gleeful abandon.

"...a terrifically retro maniac or revisited the heyday of Eighties gore films with such gleeful, moist abandon. Hatchet (whose..."

Sept. 7, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Illegal Tender

A throwback to the Eighties crime dramas and Seventies blacksploitation films, this Latino action thriller about family ties and blood feuds rarely transcends clichés.

"...on affectation. Illegal Tender is a throwback to the Eighties crime dramas and Seventies blacksploitation films but mostly drains..."

Aug. 31, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

This is a winning, sweet, and occasionally disturbing documentary about otherwise sensible adults who vie for the title of World's Best Donkey Kong Player.

"...sports Steve Perry's blow-dried locks but also the requisite Eighties stoner panache. Mitchell sets himself up as the antagonist..."

Aug. 17, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

El Cantante

Jennifer Lopez and her real-life husband, Marc Anthony, portray the lives of salsa star Hector Lavoe and his wife, Puchi, in this biopic overstuffed with music-industry clichés.

"...a person," says Lopez as Puchi Lavoe, widow of Eighties salsa sensation Hector Lavoe. The person she's talking about..."

Aug. 3, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

A wickedly entertaining postmodern take on the hallowed, Eighties-era slasher flicks.

"...Newton. A wickedly entertaining postmodern take on the hallowed, Eighties-era slasher flicks peculiar to American cinemas, Behind the Mask..."

March 16, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Music and Lyrics

Drew Barrymore plays lyricist to Hugh Grant's has-been musician in this Valentine's Day romantic comedy.

"...Grant plays Alex, a former member of the fictional Eighties band Pop!, a thinly veiled Wham! homage. These days..."

Feb. 16, 2007 Movie Review by Toddy Burton

Hoboken Hollow

This Texas-made slasher film draws on the early Eighties Ellebracht slave-ranch case in Kerr County for its story, but like the real thing, it's a bloody mess.

"...money from Anthony Michael Hall. Based on the early Eighties Ellebracht slave-ranch case in Kerr County, Stephens' 2005-shot Hoboken..."

Feb. 2, 2007 Movie Review by Shawn Badgley

Guru

Bollywood film about a visionary entrepreneur and his love life.

"...India during the decades of the Fifties through the Eighties and his success in business and difficulties in love...."

Jan. 19, 2007 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

American Hardcore

Crammed with grainy, shot-on-the-fly mid-Eighties video footage, recent interviews, and a genuine love for its subject, American Hardcore encapsulates a largely forgotten moment in maximum rock & roll history.

"...Rabid, and the Beastie Boys. Crammed with grainy, shot-on-the-fly mid-Eighties video footage, more recent talking head interviews (Keith Morris..."

Nov. 17, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Montiel's debut feature about growing up in Astoria, Queens, in the mid-Eighties is full of the filmmaker's instinctive brio and inchoate ideas and the elaborations of a brilliant ensemble cast.

"...feature about growing up in Astoria, Queens, in the mid-Eighties is based on his book of the same title...."

Oct. 27, 2006 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

One Last Thing …

A 16-year-old with terminal cancer just wants to have sex before dying in this sweet, if overly earnest feature.

"...Gina Gershon, Brian Stokes Mitchell and Wyclef Jean. Two Eighties genre staples – Disease-of-the-Week and Poppin’ the Cherry –..."

May 5, 2006 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Find Me Guilty

Like the criminal justice system it portrays, Find Me Guilty (starring Vin Diesel in the dramatic lead) ultimately works a great deal better than you might expect.

"...on a real New Jersey mob trial from the Eighties in which made man Giacomo “Jackie Dee” DiNorscio (Diesel),..."

March 31, 2006 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Woman Thou Art Loosed

Based on a novel by Bishop T.D. Jakes, a black evangelical preacher and author who also co-stars, this unusual film is part revivalist sermon, part narrative drama, and wholly urgent and engaging.

"...who has been working in television since the late Eighties. The film was produced by T.D. Jakes Ministries and..."

Oct. 22, 2004 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Alien Vs. Predator

An asinine grudge match between two of the most memorable Eighties-era screen bugaboos

"...asinine grudge match between two of the most memorable Eighties-era screen bugaboos. "Whoever wins … we lose" goes the..."

Aug. 20, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Monster

Charlize Theron gives a ferocious performance as serial killer Aileen Wuornos.

"...who killed seven male motorists/johns in Florida during the Eighties and was executed for her crimes in 2002. Some..."

Jan. 16, 2004 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

K-Tel Cabaret

Michael Holland and Karen Mack make a performance party out of hits from the Seventies and Eighties.

"...such artists and a host of other Seventies and Eighties chart busters, from George Michael and the Doobie Brothers..."

Oct. 3, 2003 Arts Feature by Robert Faires

City of God

City of God, like the Rio de Janeiro housing project for which it’s named, is often grim and dire, but the film is also imbued with hope and transcendence.

"...of characters from the late Sixties to the early Eighties – from the moment families first moved into this..."

March 14, 2003 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Back to the Future

"...Glover. One of the most beloved movies of the Eighties (helmed by the future director of Forrest Gump), Back..."

Dec. 10, 2002 Movie Review

The Art of Dying

"...Javier Royo feels cobbled together from any number of mid-Eighties to mid-Nineties slasher pics (even the characters feel as..."

May 24, 2002 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Imagine the Sound

"...this profile of four jazz avant-gardists in the early Eighties. Included are performances by Cecil Taylor, Archie Shepp, Bill..."

April 30, 2002 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

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