White Lightning might not hold a candle to other Burt Reynolds gems like Smokey and the Bandit, and perhaps there is a reason this, and its sequel, Gator, aren’t fondly remembered, however outside fo a couple okay car chase sequences, there’s not a whole lot that’s memorable.
Heat is a movie that’s passably entertaining if only for Burt Reynolds’s charisma but otherwise the plot plods along and like the 2015 re-adaptation Wild Card, it’s nothing special and an altogether forgettable crime-thriller.
Impasse is an adventure comedy starring a young Burt Reynolds along with Anne Francis, arrived on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber on January 11th.
The Allnighter isn’t exactly a quintessential movie from the 1980s, probably not even second tier either, and while it’s pretty safe but it’s light-hearted entertainment.
Gunsmoke isn’t usually my cup of tea but I did find the series to be rather compelling and features a nice ensemble cast led way by James Arness and the show does harkens back to a simpler time, although for its time, probably was more real compared with other programming in the 1950s and 60s.
The Last Movie Star is a wonderfully surprising drama-comedy that touches on many of the same theme’s as last year’s The Hero, going so far each having a veteran actor accepting a Lifetime Achievement Award, but both of them handles the subject very well, with Reynolds turning in a great performance.
Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (but were afraid to ask) is a series of comedy vignettes featuring Woody Allen, Burt Reynolds and Gene Wilder amongst others and while none of these were exactly gems (I didn’t laugh once during the jester part), it’s still at least okay.
Apple of My Eye is a perfectly safe, and predictable, family-drama-comedy that seems more suitable to air on the Hallmark Channel. At its core, through its cheesiness, there is a nice message at least.
Mad Dog Time is an odd-ball of a movie, a throwback to the days of the Rat Pac era, it was written and directed by Joey Bishop’s son, and although plenty of the dark humor didn’t quite work, it’s not an altogether terrible flick, though nothing I’d watch again in spite of a respectable cast.
“Gunsmoke” was an amazing series probably never to be seen again lasting 20 seasons. This ninth season features some stellar storylines and some solid acting starting with James Arness himself. Although it is nine seasons in at this point, the show still felt fresh with good writing and finely fleshed out characters that, outside of the main cast, were one-off. The DVD released by Paramount shows off some impressive digital restoration although the bonus features are non-existent.
Driven is an overly dramatic, poorly acted melodrama that never really hits its stride. In 2001 when the movie was released, Sylvester Stallone was still in a funk, aside from Cop Land.
Striptease isn’t a good movie yet at the same time I have to admire the energy Demi Moore and the supporting cast brought despite a poorly written screenplay.