‘Great Muppet Caper’ (1981) is clever, cute, capricious
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): Jim Henson makes his directorial debut in the second “Muppets” movie.
Movies
‘Great Muppet Caper’ (1981) is clever, cute, capricious
Mitchum ably fills Marlowe’s gumshoes in ‘Farewell, My Lovely’ (1975), ‘Big Sleep’ (1978)
Sleuthing Sunday (Movie reviews): The first is a stylish, purist classic. The second makes odd choices and never has a chance of competing with Bogart’s version.
‘Ghosts of Mars’ (2001) will have Carpenter fans seeing red
Frightening Friday (Movie review): The director finds no signs of life among his lead actors in this sci-fi riff on “Assault on Precinct 13.”
‘Dark Star’ (1974) smartly but too slowly makes fun of ‘2001’
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): A bare expansion of a student film from Carpenter and O’Bannon, this SF satire previews the grimy futures to come.
‘The Producers’ (1967, 2005) maximizes its one joke, and then some
Mel Brooks Monday (Movie reviews): It’s too much for me, but the one joke (you can get rich from a flop) is funny, and the films are nice bookends to Brooks’ career.
‘Long Goodbye’ (1973) brings a skewed Marlowe into a scary L.A.
Sleuthing Sunday (Movie review): Don’t look to Altman’s adaptation for faithfulness toward the 1953 novel. But it’s a prime illustration of the flexibility of Chandler’s sleuth.
If you like your stake medium-well, check out ‘Vampires’ (1998)
Frightening Friday (Movie review): In a decade of bloodsuckers, John Carpenter checks in with his own respectable vampire-Western.
‘Volcano’ (1997) not groundbreaking, but it’s a hot time at the movies
Throwback Thursday (Movie review): The lava CGI still looks good, and while you might not erupt with applause, you’ll wish all city officials were like Jones and Heche.
‘Undertone’ makes small scares into a big deal
Movie review: This Canadian film gets a lot out of a little, with new angles into supernatural horror and cinematographic cliches.
‘Darker Than Amber’ (1966, 1970) is first McGee novel to darken screens
Sleuthing Sunday (Book and movie reviews): The plot’s relative simplicity makes it a good choice, and the casting is solid. But MacDonald’s introspection can’t be mimicked.