25 Years Ago This Month: August 1987

When discussing the films released 25 years ago, do I need make mention of the Pierce Brosnan and Michael Caine spy film The Fourth Protocol or End of the Line with Kevin Bacon. Both of these films might be filed under "Films That Time Forgot." What about Disorderlies starring The Fat Boys? How about the third Care Bears movie The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland? Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin in The Big Easy. You know, two of those movies co-star Ned Beatty.

From My Collection: Network Movie Review (Special 300th Review Classic)

I sat simply stunned at how good a screenplay Network has. The opening titles read “Network – by Paddy Chayefsky,” as if it’s a novel. Rarely has there been a more apt use of a byline in movies than with this film that has one of the most literate screenplays ever produced in the history of the movies. Chayefsky was not afraid to use words that some audience members might not understand. More impressive than that is that a major Hollywood studio was willing to take a chance on it. Network didn’t break the bank at the domestic box office, but for its budget it was stupendous.

Rango Movie Review

I think Gore Verbinski has found his true calling as a director. I don’t know why I didn’t see it from the Pirate of the Caribbean movies, but he is most suited to directing animated adventures. After all, the exploits of Captain Jack Sparrow are nothing but cartoon action using live actors amid a whole bunch of CGI. But last year’s Rango, Verbinski’s first stab at an animated feature, is a marvelous little gem of a movie.

Johnny Depp gives full life and voice to the title character, a chameleon who gets lost in the desert and unwittingly becomes sheriff to a dying town replete with rats, muskrats, lizards, tortoises and other desert vermin. It begins with Rango staging heroic plays and tableaux with literally lifeless supporting characters. This is because he’s a pet in a diorama being transported by car along the highway. It suddenly occurs to him that in order for his stories to be more interesting, to give his eponymous hero more depth of character, there needs to be an ironic twist that flings his protagonist into an unexpected situation. Then what do you know? His cubicle home gets flung from the car and smashes on the highway leaving him to fend for himself in the desert.

Toy Story 3 Movie Review: Trying Very Hard to Measure Up to a Bar Already Set in the Stratosphere

Pixar has a rule about sequels in that they won’t go near them unless they have a really good story, so it may seem suspect that they’ve released a second sequel to the film that got them started on world domination of animated features: the 1995 hit Toy Story. In the pantheon of Pixar features, Toy Story 3 figures somewhere between that first film and A Bug’s Life.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Those are two fine entertainments so how can I go wrong with this one,” and you’d be right. Woody and Buzz Lightyear (still voiced by Tom Hanks and Tim Allen) are back in another rollicking adventure. Whereas the first sequel dealt with the guilt of letting your childhood toys fall by the wayside, this one is about the sorrow of having to leave childish things behind when you reach adulthood.