Big Night (1996)

 

New Jersey, 1950s. Two brothers run an Italian restaurant. Business is not going well as a rival Italian restaurant is out-competing them. In a final effort to save the restaurant, the brothers plan to put on an evening of incredible food.

Wonderfully light-hearted comedy with an excellent ensemble and good period detail is not just great entertainment, but also a culinary experience.

Halliwell**: "Charming small-scale comedy of brotherly rivalry and love, immaculately done." 

Maltin**1/2: "Endearing story...Finely tuned performances, amusing vignettes and observations make this small endeavor worthwhile, but it's too slow and quiet for its own good...The feast on-screen is mouthwatering."

Chariots of Fire (1981)

 

Two British track athletes, one a determined Jew and the other a devout Christian, are driven to win in the 1924 Olympics as they wrestle with issues of pride and conscience.

From memory: Grand-scale historical drama based on true events is excellently directed with great period detail, a good cast and an inspiring tale, but does not spare us some pathos and patriotism.

Halliwell***: "A film of subtle qualities, rather like those of a BBC classic serial. Probably not quite worth the adulation it received, but full of pleasant romantic touches and sharp glimpses of the wider issues involved."

Maltin***1/2: "Absorbing and unusual drama...Fascinating probe of their motives, challenges, and problems, and a case study of  repressed emotions even in the midst of exultation." 

 

 

 

Alien (1979)

 

After a space merchant vessel receives an unknown transmission as a distress call, one of the crew is attacked by a mysterious life form and they soon realize that its life cycle has merely begun. 

Superbly directed and highly suspenseful sci-fi thriller, the decrepit spaceship design and especially the truly abhorrent creation of the alien still influence sci-fi and horror movies to this day.

On re-watching: a classic of its genre that reveals new details on every new viewing.

Halliwell****: "Deliberately scarifying and highly commercial shocker. On its own terms, a classic of suspense - and art direction."

Maltin***1/2: "Space-age horror film reverts to 1950s formula, but unfolds at a deliberate pace, populates the story with interesting, colorful characters, and plants its (genuine) shock moments with exceptional skill. Imitated but seldom equaled." 

Wisconsin Death Trip (1999)

 

A series of grisly events that took place in Black River Falls, Wisconsin, between 1890 and 1900 are dramatized. 

Unusual documentary doesn't focus on a singular case or phenomenon, but rather lists up a whole series of unusual deaths creating a gloomy and morbid atmosphere all of its own.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014)

Bilbo and Company are forced to engage in a war against an array of combatants and keep the Lonely Mountain from falling into the hands of a rising darkness.

Despite the usual excellence in production this is a confusing and unexciting finale disappointedly inferior to the previous parts of the trilogy.