Movie review - "Major League" (1989) **1/2

 Amiable crowd pleaser. The subplot where Tom Berenger stalks Rene Russo is of its time and probab ly encouraged a lot of similar behaviour IRL. Berenger is ideally cast as is Corbin Bernsen, Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes (wish he'd do more comedy). 

It was dumb in the original script to have the showgirl villain be revealed to be doing it to motivate them. That was silly. Cheapens the stakes. Better to change.

I love that it's about a Cleveland team that's very charming. 

I'm not sure if the dates for this work out but the movie feels influenced by Bull Durham. 

Movie review - "Two Years Later" (2026) **

 Feels like a decent feature rom com dragged out over eight eps - instead of subplots it adds banter. Also feels like a Melbourne show, with its lockdown trauma. Nice photography and a genuine sense of catharsasis at the end. No chemistry between the leads who seem bored.

Movie review - "Some Like It Hot" (1959) ***** (re-watching)

 Just fun. Sexy. Cynical. Broad. Marilyn worth the hassle. Tony Curtis should've worked with Wilder again.

Movie review - "Black Sunday" (1977) ****

 The suits thought this was going to be bigger than Jaws and the public didn't come, at least not in the numbers they expected. Maybe audiences were awkward with an Israeli hero - driven Robert Shaw, given a scene of backstory where he explains his wife and sons are dead, after terrorist Marthe Keller, who also has a scene of backstory (raised in camps, etc).

It moves at a decent pace, there's plenty of story. Bruce Dern has a high old time as Keller's associate, Keller is very effective. They have a fascinating relationship - manipulative, doomed, twisted.

The bomb - steel projectiles - is genuinely terrifying.

Some great terrorism movie heads like Steven Keats (Shaw's offsider), Fritz Weaver (FBI man), Bekhim Femui (Keller's boss). Movie maybe lacks someone with a little warmth who is a goodie - a Roy Scheider in Jaws type. The warmest characters are Dern and Keller.

Maybe too much football stuff. But fun, rollicking movie. 

Simon Wincer Top Ten

 1) Lonesome Dove (1989)

2) Free Willy (1993)

3) Snapshot (1979)

4) Phar Lap (1983)

5) DARYL (1985)

6) The Last Frontier (1986)

7) Against the Wind (1978)

8) The Lighthorsemen (1987)

9) Harlequin (1980)

10) Into thr West (2005) 

Robert Lippert Top Ten

 1) I Shot Jesse James (1948)

2) The Fly (1958)

3) The Baron of Arizona (1949)

4) The Steel Helmet (1950) 

5) The Last Page (1952) 

6) Witchcraft (1964)

7) The Last Man on Earth (1964)

8) It Happened in Athens (1962)

9)Five Gates to Hell (1959)

10) Battle of Bloody Beach (1961) 

Movie review - "Booksmart" (2019) ***** (re-watching)

 Warm, funny, bright, stunningly well cast and put together, the cameos work, so does the sense of insanity. Olivia Wilde directors superbly the script is a dream. 

It's a love letter to theatre in a way as well.