Watching Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure become an unexpected phenomenon in 1989, any studio executive with at least half a working brain cell would of course fast-track a sequel to ride however much of that wave still remained a couple years later. And because the characters’ first movie had been so Excellent, it stands to… Read More Most Non-Non-Heinous | Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey (1991) 4K Ultra HD
Making a smart movie about dumb characters is no easy business. Overplay their dim-wittedness and the characters become unlikable. Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure has always, for me, threaded that needle very skillfully, to deliver an endearing comedy about a pair of lovable doofuses. In this week’s Film at 11 podcast, I take one of… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 7 | Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
Rob Reiner had a hell of a directing run through the 1980s and early 1990s. Just about every movie he made from This is Spinal Tap (1984) to A Few Good Men (1992) turned out to be an enduring classic. Arguably (and indeed strong arguments can be made for others), the best of them remains… Read More Two for Flinching | Stand By Me (1986) 4K Ultra HD
Up, up and away! Richard Donner’s 1978 Superman (typically marketed as Superman: The Movie, even though that’s not how it’s credited on screen) was a record-setting blockbuster in its day and has endured as a beloved classic of its genre. However, can the movie still hold the attention of today’s kids raised on the CGI… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 4 | Superman (1978)
For the second episode of our new Film at 11 podcast series, I’ve both chosen a new movie and switched 11-year-olds! This week, I introduce my son Thomas to director Joe Dante’s delightfully wicked dark comedy Gremlins. The kid was actually a little nervous going into this one. I first saw Gremlins when I was… Read More Film at 11 Podcast: Episode 2 | Gremlins (1984)
This week, we launch a new feature here at The Video File blog. For the past couple months, I’ve been quietly working on a video podcast called Film at 11, in which I’ve convinced my sons to watch famous movies they’ve never seen before and discuss them with me, offering their reviews from an 11-year-old… Read More Introducing “Film at 11,” A New Movie Podcast from The Video File: Episode 1 | Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
By the time Southern Comfort, his fifth feature as director, left theaters as both a critical and box office failure in 1981, Walter Hill had made more flops than hits. He wouldn’t break out as an A-List Hollywood filmmaker until the blockbuster 48 Hrs. the following year. However, like many of Hill’s early movies, this… Read More Survival Is a Mental Outlook | Southern Comfort (1981) Vinegar Syndrome 4K Ultra HD
As a longtime movie collector with many hundreds of Blu-rays and 4K and DVD discs (and even still some Laserdiscs!) cluttering my shelves, the films of John Huston have a special place of honor in my collection. Not only was Huston a masterful director from Hollywood’s golden age who made a number of revered classics… Read More You’ll Take It and Like It | The Maltese Falcon (1941) 4K Ultra HD
Long delayed from its original announcement almost a half-dozen years ago, the planned Star Trek: Discovery spinoff series Section 31 was eventually reduced to a television movie deposited onto streaming in the late January dumping ground. That this project saw any completion at all is no doubt a consequence of star Michelle Yeoh having won… Read More Not Very Starfleet | Star Trek: Section 31 (2025) on Paramount+
I doubt even the biggest fans of The Keep would defend it too strenuously as a good movie. The film is a total mess by just about all objective criteria, with an incoherent story, erratic production values, and sometimes bizarre performances from actors capable of better. A huge bomb during its brief release in 1983,… Read More This Place Has Its Strong Points | The Keep (1983) Vinegar Syndrome 4K Ultra HD
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