35 years of Summer Blockbusters - June 3

June 3, 2005 - Five years ago the Ron Howard's depression error film The Cinderella Man starring Russell Crow opened. The film is based on the life of heavyweight boxing champ James J. Braddock. It was well received by critics but failed to find an audience. This is attributed to poor timing of it's release. The studio would have been smarter scheduling the movie in the fall, during the heavy Oscar season, instead of forcing it to compete with summer blockbusters such as Star Wars Episode VI: Revenge Of The Sith. It also followed in the wake of another successful boxing movie, Million Dollar Baby.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.

Also opening five years ago was the overlooked film The Lords Of Dogtown opened. The movie is a bio pick, starring Heath Ledger about the "Z -Boys" an a group of skateboarders in southern California who revolutionized the sport. At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.

June 3, 1994 - Sixteen years ago penny Marshall directed Danny DeVito in comedy Renaissance Man. DeVito plays a teacher assigned to teach Shakespeare to an underachieving group of army recruits. The film strives for the humor of Stripes but does not quite make it. At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars.

Also opening was The Cowboy Way with Keiffer Sutherland and Woody Harrelson as cowboys in NYC trying to solve a murder. The screenplay was a mess and relied on the charm of the two stars to get by. If the idea appeals to you try watching Clint Eastwood in Coogan's Bluff or the TV series McCloud.
At The Movie House rating **stars.

June 3, 1988 - Twenty-two years ago Tom Hanks starred in the movie Big and established his status as a Hollywood superstar. The film received unanimous critical praise, mostly directed as Hanks for his outstanding portrayal of a boy inhabiting a man's body. The film was a commercial hit and earned Hanks an Oscar nomination. At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.

Also opening the same day was the Chevy Chase comedy Funny Farm. Chase played a writer trying to run a farm in Vermont. It had mixed reviews and was a mild success, mostly appreciated by fans of Chevy Chase. At The Movie House rating **stars.

June 3, 1987 - Twenty-three years ago Brian DePalma scored a box office home run with the film adaptation of the TV show The Untouchables. The film was critical and box office hit due to the perfect casting of the three leads Kevin Costner as Elliott Ness, Robert DeNiro as Al Capone and Sean Connery as Jim Malone a Chicago Policeman. It is one of the best adaptations of a TV series ever done.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars.

June 3, 1983 - twenty-seven years ago Anthony Perkins returned to the role of Norman Bates in Psycho II. This respectable horror movie was a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock's classic Psycho. Most thought is sacrilege to make a sequel but the team worked to create a new story while maintaining respect for the source material and achieved success. At The Movie House rating ***stars.

Also opening was the suspense thriller War Games starring Mathew Broderick. he plays a teenager who thinks he is accessing a hot new video game computer, but instead accidentally starts a global nuclear war. The computer technology is dated (love the modem sounds) but the film still hold suspense and builds a plausible plot. At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars.

And finally sharing the release date was the Steve Martin comedy The Man With Two Brains. This spoof of mad scientist movies is held together by the gusto at which the cast chew on their roles.
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars.