Paul Humpoletz Movies

The Beatles' early days as a struggling bar band are depicted in this fact-based drama, which tells the little-known story of original member Stuart Sutcliffe (Stephen Dorff). A close friend of John Lennon, Sutcliffe acts as the band's original bassist, accompanying them on their early gigs in Liverpool and Hamburg, Germany. The friendship becomes strained, however, when Sutcliffe falls in love with a German art student and starts to question his commitment to the band. With Sutcliffe's story taking center stage, the stories of the more famous Beatles largely fade into the background. The exception is John Lennon, thanks to a fierce performance by Ian Hart, who had previously portrayed the musician in the more intimate and provocative The Hours and the Times. While Backbeat does provide a new perspective on the band's beginning, and numerous opportunities for a group of modern rock musicians to recreate the band's energetic early performances, it never makes Sutcliffe's story seem more than a footnote to musical history. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

The third installment in the widely beloved Spielberg/Lucas Indiana Jones saga begins with an introduction to a younger Indy (played by the late River Phoenix), who, through a fast-paced prologue, gives the audience insight into the roots of his taste for adventure, fear of snakes, and dogged determination to take historical artifacts out of the hands of bad guys and into the museums in which they belong. A grown-up Indy (Harrison Ford) reveals himself shortly afterward in a familiar classroom scene, teaching archeology to a disproportionate number of starry-eyed female college students in 1938. Once again, however, Mr. Jones is drawn away from his day job after an art collector (Julian Glover) approaches him with a proposition to find the much sought after Holy Grail. Circumstances reveal that there was another avid archeologist in search of the famed cup -- Indiana Jones' father, Dr. Henry Jones (Sean Connery) -- who had recently disappeared during his efforts. The junior and senior members of the Jones family find themselves in a series of tough situations in locales ranging from Venice to the most treacherous spots in the Middle East. Complicating the situation further is the presence of Elsa (Alison Doody), a beautiful and intelligent woman with one fatal flaw: she's an undercover Nazi agent. The search for the grail is a dangerous quest, and its discovery may prove fatal to those who seek it for personal gain. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade earned a then record-breaking $50 million in its first week of release. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi

"The Final Problem" is the last episode of the television series The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, an excellent adaptation of the Sherlock Holmes mystery stories produced in Britain for Granada TV. In this episode directed by Alan Grint, Jeremy Brett portrays the famed detective aided by his companion Dr. Watson (David Burke) as they fight to the finish with Holmes' nemesis Professor James Moriarity (Eric Porter). This episode was written by John Hawkesworth and is one of the most famous of the Holmes stories; it was intended by Doyle to be his final Holmes publication. It is an excellent adaptation of the original story first printed in the Strand Magazine during the late 19th century. This series was followed by several sequels, as well as four feature-length TV movie adaptations. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Director John Frankenheimer and writers Edward Anhalt and George Axelrod try to inject some life into this adaptation of Robert Ludlum's best-selling espionage novel. Michael Caine stars as Noel Holcroft, who was adopted in Germany by an American family in the waning days of World War II. Now middle-aged, Noel learns that his biological father, who had been one of Hitler's key economic advisors, left him more than $4 billion at his death. Noel is supposed to dispense the money to specific individuals who had suffered under the oppression of Hitler. But Noel comes to realize the money is, in fact, being used by fascists starting a new Nazi regime. When the neo-Nazis find out Noel is wise to their plans, they chase him through Europe, trying to assassinate him and make way for a Fourth Reich. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Force 10 From Navarone was a sequel to the 1961 blockbuster The Guns of Navarone and tells the tale of ten widely divergent WW II troubleshooters who attempt to blow up a crucial bridge in Yugoslavia. As in the first Navarone film, one of the guerillas is a traitor: group leader Mallory (Robert Shaw) knows the identity of the turncoat, but can't prove it until it's almost too late. The beautiful female resistance leader is played by Barbara Bach, while Harrison Ford, fresh from his Star Wars success, is the romantic lead. Others in the cast include Edward Fox, Franco Nero and Alan Badel. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Comedian, actor, and author Barry Humphries wrote and co-stars in this sequel to the surprise international hit The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, based on the comic-strip character created by Humphries. Well-meaning but dunderheaded über-Aussie Barry McKenzie (Barry Crocker) is escorting his aunt, self-proclaimed "housewife superstar" Edna Everage (Barry Humphries), on a trip to France, where they've learned Barry's twin brother, Ken McKenzie, a progressive priest, will be speaking as part of a seminar on "Christ and the Orgasm." En route, a pair of Transylvanian agents, working under the command of the evil Communist vampire Count Plasma (Donald Pleasance), become convinced that Edna is actually Queen Elizabeth II, and not long after arriving in Paris, they kidnap Edna and spirit her away to the count's castle. When Barry learns that his aunt has fallen victim to foul play, he and his mates, including transplanted Australian Colin the Frog (Dick Bentley), set out to find her -- when they're not busy chasing "Shelias," swilling Foster's Lager, or projectile vomiting. In addition to playing Edna Everage, Humphries takes on two other roles in Barry McKenzie Holds His Own, and managed to persuade former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam and his wife to make a cameo appearance in the film. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi