Of Mice and Men (1939)

 

 

A mentally disabled giant and his level headed guardian find work at a sadistic cowboy's ranch in depression era America. 

Arguably the best adaptation of John Steinbeck's classic novel is realistic, heart-felt and effective in its rendition of the tragedy; among overall good performances Lon Chaney Jr shines in the role of Lennie Small.

Halliwell***: "A strange and unexpected tragedy which has strength and is very persuasively made but seems somehow unnecessary."

Maltin****: "Chaney gives best performance of his career...John Steinbeck's morality tale remains intact in sensitive screen version."  

Foul Play (1978)

A shy San Francisco librarian and a bumbling cop fall in love as they solve a crime involving albinos, dwarves, and the Catholic Church.

From memory: Likable, but messy Hitchcock spoof with lots of hit or miss humor, mainly watchable for its star cast.

Halliwell*: "Sometimes sprightly, sometimes tired rehash of Hitchcock elements, rather on the level of the similar Silver Streak."

Maltin**!/2: "Likable stars, good fun, but protracted story, tasteless comedy, and Hitchcock plagiarism detract."

Rocky III (1982)

After winning the ultimate title and being the world champion, Rocky falls into a hole and finds himself picked up by a former enemy.

From memory: It's the same per aspera ad astra story all over again; not really bad, but quite redundant.

Halliwell (no star): "Unnecessary regurgitation of bits and pieces from the first two Rocky movies."

Maltin**1/2: "Stallone's got a winning formula, but enough already."

Rocky II (1979)

Rocky struggles in family life after his bout with Apollo Creed, while the embarrassed champ insistently goads him to accept a challenge for a rematch.

From memory: More mediocre remake than sequel is at times rather saccharine, but the boxing match is well staged.

Halliwell (no star): "Over-inflated but under-nourished sequel with absolutely new to offer."

Maltin***: "Officially a sequel, this slightly silly film is more of a rehash, but the climactic bout (and build up to it) hits home."

The Twilight Zone: Time Enough at Last (1959)

A henpecked book lover finds himself blissfully alone with his books after a nuclear war.

A good story with a great  Burgess Meredith unfortunately ends a bit as a bad joke.