James Keane Movies

In 1912, Frederick Warde, a respected actor on the legitimate stage, who, over the course of a long career, had worked opposite the likes of Edwin Booth, this time lends his talents to the still creatively fledgling medium of the motion pictures. Drawing upon his triumphant stage performance in the title role of William Shakespeare's Richard III, Warde and his fellow players gave the story a new interpretation, performing the classic tragedy of the deformed and unscrupulous king in pantomime for the then-silent cameras. Within a decade of its release, this early screen version of Richard III was believed to have been lost, with no prints surviving, but in 1996 a private film collector discovered a copy, which was then donated to the American Film Institute. The AFI archivally restored Richard III and commissioned a new orchestral score, written by Ennio Morricone. The film now has the distinction of being the oldest feature-length motion picture to survive intact and is historically invaluable both as an example of early cinema and as a look at acting and theatrical production techniques of the turn of the century. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Patrick Macnee, Daniel Roebuck, and William Sanderson headline this kitschy sci-fi yarn about a trip through time gone horribly awry. A scheming professor is convinced that he can save mankind by traveling into the future, but in order to accomplish his benevolent mission he'll need some serious help. After convincing a group of down-and-out astronauts to take the trip, the professor and his trusty gorilla sidekick prepare to launch themselves into the future. But the Earth of the future bears little resemblance to the planet of the present, because in the future mankind has fallen victim to a cosmic plague, and a beautiful race of space babes reign with brutal authority. Add a horrible monster and an army of mutants into the mix, and it begins to appear that the professor's noble mission was doomed to failure all along. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Despite mixed reviews and a disastrous initial release that dumped the film into theaters for a week in the midst of the 1984 Summer Olympics, The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eight Dimension went on to become one of the major cult films of the 1980s, developing a rabid following after its release on videotape. Drifting between satire and improbable sci-fi adventure, the film stars Peter Weller as Buckaroo Banzai, the son of an American mother and Japanese father who is a combination physicist, neurosurgeon, martial arts master, secret agent, and rock star who travels with his band of assistants/backing musicians, The Hong Kong Cavaliers. As the story opens, Buckaroo is driving his car through a mountain to test his new invention, the Oscillation Overthruster. However, a race of boorish aliens called the Red Lectroids have been waiting for such an item to become a reality, as they need it to return to the distant planet they call home. One of Buckaroo's arch-enemies, Dr. Emilio Lizardo (John Lithgow), who has been possessed by the Red Lectroids, attempted to created a similar device decades before; now escaped from an insane asylum, he is back at work with the Lectroids on a plan to control the world. Throw in Rastafarian aliens, unscheduled travel between dimensions, and the odd inexplicable watermelon, and you get a film that defies conventional synopsis. With its fast pace, quotable dialogue ("No matter where you go, there you are"), and barrage of gags (subtle and otherwise), you won't be bored even when you're not sure what's going on. The supporting cast includes Jeff Goldblum as New Jersey, a Cavalier with a snappy cowboy outfit, and Ellen Barkin as Penny Priddy, the twin sister of Buckaroo's late wife. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Producer Joel Silver, director Tony Scott, and screenwriters Shane Black and Greg Hicks team up for this gridiron-set action thriller. Bruce Willis stars as Joe Hallenbeck, who was once a top-of-the-line Secret Service agent but has since become an alcoholic, flea-bag detective. While performing the chores of a two-bit shamus, he discovers his wife Sarah (Chelsea Field) is having an affair with his best friend. Joe is hired to protect Cory (Halle Berry), a stripper who has been getting death threats; Joe begins to sober up when Cory is blown to smithereens. Cory's boyfriend, Jimmy Dix (Damon Wayans), was at one time a NFL football quarterback, but was thrown out of the game for gambling and addiction to Demerol. Smelling something fishy, Joe and Jimmy begin to investigate further and discover layers of corruption in professional football circles, leading up to Sheldon Marcone (Noble Willingham), a corrupt team owner who wants to pay off legislators to legalize gambling on pro football games. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

"His code name is Condor. In the next 24 hours, everyone he trusts will try to kill him." As the ads ominously announced, a low-level spook confronts the unfathomable in Sydney Pollack's 1975 political thriller, adapted from the James Grady novel Six Days of the Condor. CIA researcher Joe Turner (Robert Redford) returns from lunch to find the entire staff of his small New York office assassinated. When he meets his boss (Cliff Robertson) at another location to tell him what happened, someone tries to shoot Turner as well. On the run from the cops and his agency, a desperate Turner resorts to holing up with innocent civilian Kathy (Faye Dunaway), who becomes his only ally. Joe decides to save himself the only way possible: by going to The New York Times. But will it work? One of a cycle of conspiracy films from the 1970s that also included The Parallax View (1974) and Redford's All the President's Men (1976), Three Days of the Condor pits a working Everyman (albeit a CIA everyman) against a far-reaching conspiracy, as it also criticizes the CIA during a period of increasing publicity about federal wrongdoing, from the Pentagon Papers through Watergate and other congressional investigations; the challenge of negotiating New York City, shot on location, becomes one more sign of the forces that Joe must face. With its timely subject matter, taut suspense, and sympathetic Redford hero, Three Days of the Condor became a substantial hit. Balancing the conspiracy cycle's pessimism with a margin of attenuated hope, Three Days of the Condor suggests that one man can still discover the truth, but whether it helps him remains to be seen. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide