Barbara Powers Movies
- 1985
- R
King of the City died on the vine when it was released under its original title in 1985; conditions hardly improved when it was reissued a year later as Club Life. Merely a recycling of the disco films of the 1970s, King of the City is lots of sound and fury, signifying nothing: one prominent TV reference book gave up on reciting its plot line, choosing instead to review the neon lighting! For what it's worth, the story involves Tom Parsekean (the idol of millions), who comes to LA to be an actor but winds up a bouncer in a disco owned by Tony Curtis. If you remain awake during the first minutes of King of the City, you'll get a kick out of Pat Ast, playing a lesbian bar owner. What Dee Wallace, who still had a career in 1985, is doing in this film is anybody's guess. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Endlessly imitated, The Terminator made the reputation of cowriter/director James Cameron -- who would go on to make 1997's titanic Titanic -- and solidified the stardom of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The movie begins in a post-apocalyptic 2029, when Los Angeles has been largely reduced to rubble and is under the thumb of all-powerful ruling machines. Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a member of the human resistance movement, is teleported back to 1984. His purpose: to rescue Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the mother of the man who will lead the 21st-century rebels against the tyrannical machines, from being assassinated before she can give birth. Likewise thrust back to 1984 is The Terminator (Schwarzenegger), a grim, well-armed, virtually indestructable cyborg who has been programmed to eliminate Sarah Connor. After killing two "Sarah Connors" who turn out to be the wrong women, he finally aims his gunsights at the genuine article. This is the film in which Schwarzenegger declared "I'll be baaaack" -- and back he was, in "kinder and gentler" form, in the even more successful Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991). ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Biehn, (more)
Olivia De Havilland, with the assistance of some eye-popping special photographic effects, plays twins in The Dark Mirror. One twin commits a murder: The "good" twin is blamed, but provides no alibi in her own defense, since she can't believe that the "bad" twin is guilty. Psychologist Lew Ayres and detective Thomas Mitchell try to get to the truth, a task made difficult by the bad twin's habit of imitating her sister to perfection. Ayres solves the mystery and sorts out which twin is which, but not before nearly ending up on a slab in the morgue himself. Based on a novel by Vladimir Pozner (the same), The Dark Mirror was remade for television in 1984, with Jane Seymour in the lead--er, leads. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Olivia de Havilland, Lew Ayres, (more)
Rating Systems
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