Favorites From The Movie Cave

The Adventures of Milo and Otis



I know there are some dark myths surrounding the treatment of the kittens and the puppies in the making of this movie but I choose to ignore them. Those stories only take away from the magic that is on the screen. This is a gentle G-rated romp with not too scary adventures and many moments of cute to smile over. Dudley Moore is the exact person to narrate this story. I don't know why he didn't make a dozen of these.

True Grit

They Live

The Mask Of Zorro

Of the great action adventure movies of all time. The themes and conflicts are universal. Good vs Evil. A great hero is nothing without a great villain and Don Raphael is as Villainous as they every got in Old California. The stuntwork and swordfighting is amazing as is the radiant Catherine Zeta Jones. She is a fierce addition to a stellar cast. Everything works and there are many many thrilling moments. I have always said that if I got married I would train A YEAR to do that dance that Antonia and Catherine do in this movie.

The Returner

Back To School

Rodney Dangerfield is going to show up many times in these weekly lists. Easy Money is funnier but it's Back To School that charms me everytime. As I watch Olympic diving I keep waiting for someone to do the 'Triple Lindy'. How can you award a Gold medal without having someone do that dive?

Escape from New York and L.A.

Snake Plisken, an impossible mission, the inevitable double cross and Snake's paybacks which are both ironic and just - are just some of the great elements of a Snake Plisken picture. Snake is the man you want to go on the suicide mission that is doomed to failure when you want that mission to succeed. Snake don't know how to die and he can absorb tons of injury before using his reptile brain to outsmart all the other snakes in the room. He gets the job done - just not in the way his handlers hoped that he would when they recruited him in the first place. They should just TRY to work with Snake but Snake doesn't play well with ANYONE. Like some toddler, he has to be tricked into doing the right and noble thing. VIVA SNAKE PLISKEN!



"The President is missing, Plisken."

"The President of what?"

I love Escape From LA because they took the 'Escape From New York' concept and really went full retard on the execution. This is pure action escapism that delivers on multiple levels. Steve Bucemi, Peter Fonda, Stacey Keech

Dr. Strangelove

Political satire about the end of the world and the mutual ensured destruction of both the US and the USSR. Peter Sellers plays many characters including a British Army Officer, The President of the United States, and Dr. Strangelove, the ex-Nazi offering advice to the President about avoiding the end of the world. George C. Scott is very funny as the crazy General at the heart of 'War Room' complete with it's 'Big Board'.

Juxtapose these bizarre political wranglings with the actions of a B-52 Bomber on it's way to Russia with a nuclear payload and you have one of Stanley Kubrick's best. Slim Pickens is iconic and there is even a role for James Earle Jones on that ill-fated bomber crew.

"Well of course I like talking with you Dmitri..."



Bugsy Malone

My life long love for musicals comes from the multiple viewings I had of this movie as a kid. It was always recycled through our matinee program several times a year. When I saw kids performing all the parts and the music I knew I could do the same thing if I wanted to. Since then I have acted in many stage productions and seriously thought about being an actor when I was performing in the Red Deer College Theatre program.