Kim Smith Movies
Patience Philips (Halle Berry) seems destined to spend her life apologizing for taking up space. Despite her artistic ability -- she has a more than respectable career as a graphic designer for Hedare Beauty, a Goliath cosmetics company -- Patience is excruciatingly shy, quick to take blame, and, not surprisingly, more than a little depressed at the end of the day. This comes to somewhat of a screeching halt when Patience not only inadvertently lands herself in the middle of a corporate conspiracy of gargantuan proportions, but on the city police force's most wanted list. Newly quipped with a mysterious feline prowess, Patience is a different person come nighttime -- more accurately, a catwoman. Elusive, untamed, powerful, stealthy, and not necessarily prone to erring on the side of good, Patience has gone from doormat to vigilante. Police officer Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), who has fallen for shy Patience, is determined to apprehend Catwoman and figure out her role in a recent crime spree, though his fascination with her doesn't cease with the end of his shift and it threatens to lead to the downfall of himself, his investigation, and the woman who was once the timid Patience Philips. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Halle Berry, Benjamin Bratt, (more)
The "National Lampoon" franchise is resurrected for another politically incorrect collegiate romp with this R-rated gross-out sex comedy. National Lampoon's Van Wilder revolves around the exploits of its title character (Ryan Reynolds), a seventh-year senior who's made it his goal in life to help each and every Coolidge College undergrad succeed in life -- or at least in bed. Van's charmed life seems to have an expiration date, however; his father (Tim Matheson) has cut off his presumably vast allowance. Financial insecurity doesn't phase the big man on campus, and he soon starts up a lucrative cottage industry as a planner of high-priced campus blowouts. When an enterprising reporter from the college paper gets wind of Van's liberal interpretation of the school's code of conduct, it seems his gig is up -- unless, of course, he can charm the hard-edged Gwen (Tara Reid) into accepting his uniquely skewed world view. In addition to Matheson, Van Wilder features cameos from a number of '80s teen movie stalwarts, including Edie McClurg, Paul Gleason, and Erik Estrada. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ryan Reynolds, Tara Reid, (more)
- 1994
This German film consists of six separate vignettes each created by a different international director, each challenged to create brief erotic scenarios. The first, named "Wet," was directed by Bob Rafelson and involves an encounter between a bathroom fixtures salesman and a customer who comes after hours to sample the hot tubs. The next, "The Dutch Master," directed by Susan Seidelman, follows a modern woman's obsession with 17th century Dutch painting and who eventually enters it to fulfill her dreams. The third, "The Insatiable Mrs. Kirsch," is Ken Russell's entry and tells the story of a young novelist who becomes obsessed with a highly-sexed woman addicted to auto-erotic pursuits. A young man gets what he wants after a voodoo woman grants his wish involving a hot woman and a motorcycle in the fourth episode directed by Melvin Van Peebles. Number five, "Touch Me," by Paul Cox follows the amorous friendships of women. Finally the sixth episode, "The Cloud Door," from Mani Kaul, involves a beautiful princess locked in a palace by a religious fanatic, a lascivious parrot, and a handsome young man. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Arliss Howard, Cynda Williams, (more)
Until its last 10 minutes or so, this filmed biography of controversial recording star Jerry Lee Lewis plays like a live-action cartoon. As played by Dennis Quaid, "the killer" is a very mixed-up individual: a saintly sinner, a world-wise naif, a skilled performer with zero sense of discipline, a loving husband who uses his wife for a punching bag. The story takes place during the years 1956 through 1958, as Lewis rises to the top of the charts with such hits as "Crazy Arms," "A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On," and the title tune. Along the way, he falls in love with his second cousin Myra (Winona Ryder), eventually marrying the girl. When it is revealed that Myra is only 13 years old, Lewis is condemned as a molester and pervert by the public (his disastrous tour of England during this crisis is depicted in hilarious Tex Avery fashion). After establishing a brisk, satirical tone through most of the proceedings, the film plummets into heavy dramatics in its final portions, jarring disastrously with all that has gone before. Otherwise, Quaid is terrific as Lewis (expertly lip-synching to the original records,) and Ryder is equally good as the long-suffering Myra. Featured in the cast are Alec Baldwin as Jerry's cousin Jimmy Swaggart (the same!), Michael St. Gerard as Lewis' great rival Elvis, and Steve Allen as himself. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Winona Ryder, (more)
George Romero's The Crazies involves a biochemical warfare virus code-named "Trixie" that gets into the water supply of Evans City, Pennsylvania. It has two equally unpleasant effects, either killing its victims outright or driving them hopelessly insane. The military descends on the town like a plague of locusts, quarantining the area and dragging the frightened citizens from their homes to be corralled at the local high school while the "powers that be" figure out what to do. Human interest revolves around firefighting Nam vet David and his pregnant wife Judy, who try to escape the quarantine, the virus, and the militant redneck locals whom Romero portrays as even more fearsome than the soldiers. There's also an infected father and daughter, played by Richard Liberty (Day of the Dead) and pretty Lynn Lowry (Shivers), who gives the film's best performance as an innocent waif who mourns the passing of her own sanity. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
Oh! What a Lovely War is an every-man-for-himself adaptation of Charles Chilton's 1963 play, as staged in London by Joan Littlewood. The tragedy of World War I is redefined in bawdy music-hall terms, beginning with a verbal free-for-all involving the Crowned Heads of Europe. The war is presented as the "new attraction" at the Brighton Amusement Pier, complete with syrupy cheer-up songs, shooting galleries, free prizes and a scoreboard toting up the dead. Throughout the proceedings, the camera concentrates on a middle-class family, whose five sons end up as cannon fodder. The final image is a veddy proper British picnic on a graveyard. Of the many fleeting satiric images parading past the camera, one of the most indelible is the sight of several generals playing leapfrog as the world all around them goes to hell in a handbasket. The awesome all-star cast includes Laurence Olivier, Ralph Richardson, Maggie Smith, John Gielgud, Michael Redgrave, Jack Hawkins, John Mills, Susannah York, Dirk Bogarde and Phyllis Calvert. We haven't seen this many Englishmen in one place since the last Wimbledon match. The whole affair was supervised by Richard Attenborough, making his directorial debut (a question: why was he up to the challenge of this musical extravaganza, yet seemed helpless in the face of 1985's A Chorus Line?). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ralph Richardson, Meriel Forbes, (more)
Inspired by Charles Dickens' novel Oliver Twist, Lionel Bart's 1961 London and Broadway musical hit glossed over some of Dickens' more graphic passages but managed to retain a strong subtext to what was essentially light entertainment. For its first half-hour or so, Carol Reed's Oscar-winning 1968 film version does a masterful job of telling its story almost exclusively through song and dance. Once nine-year-old orphan Oliver Twist (Mark Lester) falls in with such underworld types as pickpocket Fagin (Ron Moody) and murderous thief Bill Sykes (Oliver Reed), it becomes necessary to inject more and more dialogue, and the film loses some of its momentum. But not to worry; despite such brutal moments as Sikes' murder of Nancy (Shani Wallis), the film gets back on the right musical track, thanks in great part to Onna White's exuberant choreography and the faultless performances by Moody and by Jack Wild as the Artful Dodger. The supporting cast includes Harry Secombe as the self-righteous Mr. Bumble and Joseph O'Conor as Mr. Brownlow, the man who (through a series of typically Dickensian coincidences) rescues Oliver from the streets. Oliver! won six Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and a special award to choreographer Onna White. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, (more)
- 1967
In this war drama, an Army intelligence officer stationed in Saigon labors to discover the identity of the double-agent in his department who has been sending classified information to the Soviets. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1965
In this drama, two boys from London--one an abused child, and the other, the son of a neglectful hooker--attempt to board a Jamaica bound ship in order to escape their miserable lives. It is on the exotic island that one of the boys' father is said to live. They get passage by stealing a suitcase from a nearby Rolls belonging to a shipping magnate. They are unfortunately, caught, lectured and sent home. Their one hope is that the fellow informed them that there are many ships leaving from Jamaica. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kim Smith, Dudley Foster, (more)
