Eddie Murphy's 1988 vehicle Coming to America was probably the point at which his status as a mainstream big-screen comedian finally gelled, following the highly successful 48 Hours pairing with Nick Nolte. Never mind the hackneyed storyline: under John Landis's tight direction, he turns in a star performance (and several brilliant cameos) that is disciplined and extremely funny. ...
The third instalment in the cinematic incarnation of Tom Clancy's CIA analyst Jack Ryan and the second starring Harrison Ford, this follow-up to Patriot Games is a more complex, rewarding and bolder film than its predecessor. Ford returns as Ryan, this time embroiled in a failed White House bid to wipe out a Colombian drug cartel and cover up the mess. The script, by Clancy and John Milius ...
It now seems clear that year five of Stargate will be remembered as the one where something went awry with Daniel Jackson. Lots of behind-the-scenes rumours fuelled the idea of cast tension, but whatever the problem, his sudden departure from the show was obviously via a hastily contrived scenario. In retrospect, there must have been a problem for some while before the weird penultimate ...
Before his handlers persuaded him to settle for the safety of a screen franchise, the young Elvis Presley had weightier ambitions as an actor. The 1958 King Creole, his fourth feature outing, hints at the underlying seriousness of his goals. Presley plays Danny Fisher, a New Orleans teenager struggling to graduate from high school while working in a sleazy French Quarter club to support ...
When a Great Dane puppy is raised with a litter of Dachshunds, it naturally thinks it's a Dachshund too--even when it grows to 10 times the size. Dean Jones and Suzanne Pleshette star as the hapless couple who took in the galumphing dog, which wreaks havoc on their house and home. The Ugly Dachshund is mostly a series of spectacular disasters (the doggy demolition of Jones's art studio will ...