First up was Jennifer Lopez's Enough. This rehash of Sleeping With the Enemy and Double Jeopardy. The film opened poorly and received mostly negative reviews. At The Movie House rating *1/2 stars
Also opening was the excellent thriller Insomnia. Al Pacino plays an cop hunting a serial killer played by Robin Williams, in Alaska. Based on a Norwegian film of the same name Insomnia was directed by Christopher Nolan and was his follow up to Memento. The cast is excellent, including Hillary Swank as an Alaskan police officer. The moody atmosphere of Alaska nicely replaces the frigid fjords of Norway. The film was highly praised, but also struggled to find an audience.
At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars
And for the kids Dreamworks SKG opened the film Spirit: Stallion Of The Cimarron. This animated horse soap opera was the best performing film of the three, even though most critics panned it.
At The Movie House rating - not rated.
May 24, 2000 - Ten years ago Tom Cruise returned to the role of Ethan Hunt is Mission:Impossible:2.
This time he worked with director John Woo, who created a visually dynamic film. But again the story was weak on plotting and relied on the tired gimmick of internal traitor to drive the action.
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars
May 24, 1996 - Fourteen years ago, opening just two days after the original Mission:Impossible, Leslie Nielsen starred in Spy Hard a spoof of the James Bond and Die Hard type movies. By now these take-offs of tired Hollywood genres were getting just as tired. At The Movie House rating *1/2 stars
May 24, 1995 - Fifteen years ago Braveheart opened. Most people don't remember but Braveheart was a failure when released. It opened in 2,035 theatres, but only ranked #3 at the box office. After 7 weeks it was playing in only 1,000 theatres and had only made $50 million dollars. The film did not find an audience and was a flop for both Mel Gibson and Paramount. Especially for Gibson since he was star, director and producer. On September 15, 1995 Paramount re-issued the film to 1,700 theatres with anew advertising campaign. The re-release did not help it's box office, but it did add to it's Oscar buzz. In February the film was nominated for Best Picture and released for a third time. By the time it won the Oscar in March it's total box office was $75 million on a production budget of $72 million. The film went on to become a fan favorite on home video. At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars
May 24, 1994 - Sixteen years ago Edie Murphy returned in Beverly Hills Cop III. He should have stayed in Detroit. the movie was terrible. At The Movie House rating *1/2 stars
May 24, 1991 - Nineteen years ago four big films were released:
Bruce Willis starred in his big budget vanity project Hudson Hawk. the movie was widely panned and failed to find an audience. This all picture cost Sony $65 million and only made $17 mil. Talk about a flop. At The Movie House rating *1/2 stars.
John Candy was an unlikely romantic comedy lead in the pleasant Only the Lonely. Another movie based on a Roy Orbison song, this film had the benefit of a great performance by Maureen O'Hara returning to the screen after a long absence. made a modest $21 million in ticket sales.
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars
Ron Howard and Universal released the all star big budget picture Backdraft. Some strong performances and great stunt work held this picture together. It was a big hit for both with $77 million in sales and positive reviews all around. At The Movie House rating *** stars
The female buddy genre was invented with the opening of Thelma And Louise. Directed by Ridley Scott this road picture told the story of two women on the lam from the law after murdering a rapist. Brad Pitt appears in one of his earliest roles and screenwriter Callie Khouri won an Oscar for her script. A financial and critical success, some called it the best movie of 1991, the film made $45 million at the box office. At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars
May 24, 1989 - Twenty one years ago Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford teamed up for Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade. This time the trio were able to capture lightning in a bottle again, by giving the audience a rousing story that featured Sean Connery as Indy's father. Indy also returned to doing battle with Nazis as he went on a quest for the Holy Grail. The film received almost unanimous praise and made $197 million at the box office. At The Movie House rating ***1/2 stars
May 24, 1985 - twenty five years ago Roger Moore played James Bond 007 for the final time in A View To A Kill. This is considered the worst of all the Bond films. By now Roger Moore was too old for the role and his age was showing. Tanya Roberts had the thankless job of screeching "James" every ten minutes. the plot was feeble and Christopher Walken as the villain a non-starter. You knew the movie was off to a bad start when a Beach Boys song played during the opening action scene.The only interesting thing about the film was Grace Jones as Mayday and the title song by Duran Duran.
At The Movie House rating *1/2 stars
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