May 21, 2009 - One year ago the fourth installment of the Terminator franchise Terminator: Salvation opened. The film failed to be #1 at the box office, beaten out by Night At the Museum 2. With a budget of $200 million and a U.S. box office of $125 million the film was considered a flop. It was met with mixed critical reviews as well. Not rated.
May 21, 1993 - Seventeen years ago saw the return of Charlie Sheen in Hot Shots: Part Deux. This time the creators of Airplane set their sights on the action pics of the 80's, such as the Rambo series, to satirize. the film was not as funny as the original but performed well at the box office.
At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars
Also opening was the highly anticipated Sliver. The film was based on the Ira Levin best seller about sex and murder in a NYC high rise. The film was widely panned on release and due to issues with the ratings board, extensive cuts and re-shoots had to be made, that resulted in a murky ending that made no sense. The film was a huge financial disaster for Paramount. At The Movie House rating 1/2 star.
May 21, 1982 - Twenty Eight years ago the studios had three big releases. First up was the novel Steve Martin comedy Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid. The film cleverly spliced in clips of old Warner Bros movies so Martin could interact with stars such as Humphrey Bogart, Ava Gardner, Bette Davis and Burt Lancaster. The film is very funny but the novelty wears off by the end. Woody Allen put this technique to much better use in Zelig. At The Movie House rating **1/2 stars
Also released was Mad Max 2 : The Road Warrior. This import from Australia was a sequel to the cult film Mad Max and is responsible for the action film genre of the 80's and for making Mel Gibson a box office giant. It was huge hit and spawned another sequel. At The Movie House rating *** stars
And finally Columbia pictures released the highly anticipated film version of the Broadway musical Annie. John Huston was chosen as the director even though he had never directed a musical before. The film lacked the charm and heart of the play and went on too long. It received mixed reviews and was a failed to turn a profit for the studio. A huge box office bomb considering the high hopes the studio had for it. At The Movie House rating ** stars
May 21, 1980 - I already discussed the 30th anniversary of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. But here is another cool poster I wanted to show off. At The Movie House rating **** stars
May 21, 1976 - Thirty four years ago Rock Hudson and Barbara Carrera starred in the horror film Embryo. It tells the tale of a scientist who experiments on embryos with disastrous results. Not be confused with films such as Species and Splice (2010) about scientist who experiment on embryos with disastrous results. Not rated.
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