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YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS (1991) – Charles Bronson made a Christmas movie, and it’s a family classic at my house. 

Posted on by Bradley Crain

On December 8, 1991, YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS, starring Charles Bronson, made its world premiere on the ABC Network. I was 18 years old and working at the local grocery store that night so I had to set up my VCR to record the film. I was so nervous that something might happen to mess up my timed recording. In those days, all it took was a quick power flicker and your recording was screwed. I was so happy when I got home that night and everything had gone perfectly. I was a starving Bronson superfan who had not seen anything new from the man since KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS had been released in February of 1989. Since KINJITE’S release, Charles Bronson had faced the most difficult emotional times of his life. The love of his life, Jill Ireland, had fought valiantly against cancer but lost her battle with the disease in May of 1990. When he chose to start working again, his first two films, THE INDIAN RUNNER and YES VIRGINIA, featured him in roles where he was playing a man who is dealing with the pain from having recently lost his wife. These were tough times for the aging star, and it seems he was working out some deep emotional struggles in these two performances. At the time, the prospect of Charles Bronson performing in a heartwarming Christmas movie about a classic newspaper editorial was such a surprising film choice. I was all in! 

YES VIRGINIA opens with renowned journalist for The New York Sun newspaper, Francis P. Church, cleaning the snow off of his recently deceased wife and daughter’s tombstones. He turns away to take a drink of whiskey out of shame and then walks away. It seems that since they passed away, Church has become a shell of his former self. He has a lot of guilt because he was always away on newspaper business instead of being at home with his family. He’s dealing with that pain by drinking way too much. He’s not working on the stories he’s been assigned by his editor, Edward P. Mitchell (Ed Asner), and it seems he’s lost the will to live. 

At the same time that Francis Church is dealing with his issues, we’re introduced to the O’Hanlon clan. James O’Hanlon (Richard Thomas) is the head of the family that includes his wife Evie (Tamsin Kelsey), daughter Virginia (Katharine Isabelle), and sons Teddy and Sean. We meet James on the same day that he loses his job for beating up a bigot who was insulting his Irish heritage. We follow him as he attempts to find a job so he can provide for his family. His sweet-natured daughter Virginia is having some issues of her own. One day while playing jump rope at school, some of the other girls decide to tell her that there is no such thing as Santa Claus. This cause’s Virginia a lot of stress, so she asks her dad if it’s true. Holding yesterday’s copy of the New York Sun, he tells her that if he sees it written in The Sun, he knows it’s true. Being a smart young lady, she decides to write her own letter to The Sun. 

And this is where the two stories converge. Editor Mitchell assigns Church the job of answering Virginia’s question. This turns out to be just what he needs to begin seeing the good in the world around him again.  

That night in December of 1991, even after working the late shift at the grocery store, there was no way I was going to wait until the next day to watch a new Charles Bronson movie for the first time in almost 3 years. I pressed play and settled in for a film that is dealing with some really serious subject matter. The main characters are dealing with severe depression, alcoholism, bigotry, extreme poverty, and attitudes of indifference and disbelief towards Santa Claus himself! Sounds like an uplifting story doesn’t it? The truth is that it is a very uplifting story because it features people with good hearts who care about the people around them. Sure, there are some jerks in the movie. This is one of those kinds of movies where those jerks end up getting their asses kicked. James O’Hanlon and his friend Donelli get the opportunity to beat up the bigots who call them potlickers and poured their beer on them. As a fan of Bronson, one of the most satisfying scenes in the movie is when Church punches out the smug, elitist A-hole, Cornelius Barrington (John Novak) who’s being disrespectful about one of Church’s female co-workers. Those scenes are satisfying, but my favorite parts of the movie are the sentimental acts of kindness we get to see throughout the film. We see co-workers taking care of co-workers. We see neighbors taking care of neighbors. We see family members taking care of each other at different times and different ways. It’s so satisfying when we see good things happen to these good people simply because someone cares enough to be kind. 

The cast in this film is so good. Of course Charles Bronson is excellent as Francis P. Church. You can really feel his character’s grief, and you can understand why he runs away to the bottle. And knowing that Bronson had recently lost his wife in real life only adds to the emotional power of the performance. And I think Katharine Isabelle is so good as Virginia. The wrong person in her role could have ruined the film. They got it right with Katharine. Ed Asner is perfect as Edgar P. Mitchell, with just the right combination of toughness and caring. I really enjoy seeing the two grizzled veterans, Bronson and Asner, working together. And finally, I like  Richard Thomas in this movie as well. He plays the highs and lows of his character in a dramatic way without going too far. The main cast had to be good for the movie to work, and they more than fit the bill. 

And what about that famous editorial where Church answers Virginia’s question, “Is there a Santa Claus?” I just love the scene in the movie when the sweet girl gets her answer. I won’t spoil it for you with all the details, but I will say that it features so much thoughtfulness and thankfulness leading up to the reading of the actual editorial that ran in New York Sun in 1897. And the look on Virginia’s face when her dad reads “Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus” is priceless. It’s the perfect example of why I love the movie, and therefore, it’s a perfect ending to the film. 

BONUS CONTENT – I had the great privilege to be part of an interview with Lindsay Ireland, Charles Bronson’s and Jill Ireland’s niece, as part of the “This Week in Charles Bronson” podcast. She gives so much insight into her uncle and aunt. She also provides additional context on just how hard Jill’s passing was on Bronson just prior to filming YES VIRGINIA, THERE IS A SANTA CLAUS. I’ve linked the interview below if you want to know more.

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us for Virtual Assassin!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1995’s Virtual Assassin!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in.  If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Virtual Assassin on Tubi, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!

Enjoy!

Taking my love of movies on down the road (Part 1) – THE HATEFUL EIGHT 2015 Roadshow

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I love movies. And when I say that I love movies, I don’t mean that I just enjoy watching them. When I say I love movies, what I’m really saying is that my love of cinema is part and parcel of who I am. And I truly enjoy sharing that love with any person who will listen to me, or in this case, read what I have to say. For most of my life, I experienced the wonder of movies either at my local cinema or on VHS, DVD or Blu-ray at my house. It was a really big deal for me to travel about 45 miles to the big city of Little Rock and watch a movie at the Cinema 150, which was the coolest theater in Arkansas prior to the stadium seating multiplexes that we have now. Unfortunately, it had to close its doors way back in 2003, but I still have fond memories of the place. Watching movies at the Cinema 150 was reserved for the big, special effects movies like TRUE LIES and TWISTER where the Cinema 150 could give you that added value! Those days that included dinner at Casa Bonita and a movie at the Cinema 150 were great days. In 2015, I started taking my love of movies on the road, and these have been some wonderful experiences for a movie lover like me. Over the next week, I’m going to share a few of those experiences here. I hope you enjoy them!

The first time I ever left the state of Arkansas specifically to watch a movie was the week after Christmas in 2015. My son Hank and I made the trip to Dallas, TX, actually Arlington, which was about a 4-hour drive, to attend the unique “Roadshow” presentation of THE HATEFUL EIGHT. Hank was 15 and I had introduced him to Tarantino’s films by this point. As an avid gamer, with a specific interest in first person shooter “War” games, he really liked INGLORIUS BASTERDS. He was a fun partner to have on this trip! I was excited to see Tarantino take on the western genre, one of my favorites. I thought Kurt Russell was perfect for the part of “the hangman” John Ruth, and we all know what Samuel L. Jackson is capable of when acting out Tarantino’s words. It was also a terrific showcase role for Jennifer Jason Leigh. But I have to admit the performance I enjoy the most of all is that of Walton Goggins as Sheriff Chris Mannix. As a big fan of the JUSTIFIED TV series, I couldn’t wait to see how he would perform in the company of those amazing film actors, and I was so glad to see him knock it out of the ballpark! The roadshow version of The Hateful Eight included a 70 MM projector, a 4-minute overture, 12-minute intermission, Cinerama logos, and a cool booklet. I still have the booklet from the show we attended. We both loved the movie. Hank and I were recently talking about Tarantino, and I asked him what his favorite Tarantino film was. Without hesitating, he said THE HATEFUL EIGHT. I love it as well. This “roadshow” movie experience is a very special memory that I have with my son. I’ve shared a few of the pictures from the booklet below. Enjoy!

#SundayShorts with LADYHAWKE (1985)

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Since Sunday is a day of rest for a lot of people, I present #SundayShorts, a weekly mini review of a movie I’ve recently watched. This week I got carried aways so it’s #SundayNotSoShorts!

We meet petty thief Gaston “The Mouse” Gaston (Matthew Broderick) as he’s finding a way to escape from the horrific dungeons of the medieval city of Aquila. Being the only person to ever escape the prison, the evil Bishop of Aquila (John Wood) orders his soldiers to find Gaston and kill him. When it appears that he’s about to be recaptured and killed, Captain Etienne Navarre (Rutger Hauer) appears and rescues him. Navarre, who’s accompanied by a hawk, forces Gaston to go with him where they seek lodging in the barn of a local farmer. That night while Gaston is out gathering wood, the duplicitous farmer attempts to kill him, but he is saved again, this time by a large black wolf. Freaked out by this seemingly random event, Gaston runs back to the barn and finds a young lady named Isabeau (Michelle Pfeiffer), but no sign of Captain Navarre. Isabeau isn’t surprised about the events that Gaston describes to her. As a matter of fact, he sees the wolf join Isabeau in the yard as she’s taking a leisurely stroll that evening. The next morning, Navarre has returned and tells Gaston that he needs his help to complete his plan to kill the Bishop. Not wanting to get involved, Gaston escapes that night and is immediately captured again by the Bishop’s soldiers. Saving Gaston a second time doesn’t go well for Navarre, when both he and the hawk are shot with arrows by the soldiers prior to dispensing of them. An injured Navarre forces Gaston to take his horse and deliver the injured hawk to a monk named Imperius (Leo McKern) who resides in a ruined castle in the area. At the castle that night, Gaston sees Isabeau with an arrow in her shoulder. Imperius tells him of a satanic curse that has been placed on husband and wife, Navarre and Isabeau, by the evil Bishop because she spurned his advances. The curse dooms them to always being together, yet eternally apart. Thus, by day Isabeau is a hawk, and by night Navarre is a wolf. After learning this, Gaston is now ready to help Navarre in his plan. Is there any way to reverse the curse, or is vengeance against the Bishop the best thing that can be hoped for? You’ll just have to watch and see!

LADYHAWKE is a film that checks quite a few boxes. It has some good action scenes. Rutger Hauer makes for a strong hero who can handle his fists and his swords in numerous fight scenes, and he looks damn awesome astride his beautiful horse! It also has some good comedy, which is mostly provided by Matthew Broderick. His petty thief has a running commentary where he talks to God anytime that he’s alone and needing help. He has this way of making promises, while also hedging his bets, so he doesn’t box himself in with promises that he has no chance to keep. I recognized myself in those conversations. The film has an air of magic and romance. Rutger Hauer and Michelle Pfeiffer are a beautiful couple. The idea that they are lovers caught up in a curse, but who still love and care for each other every day is hard to resist. This desire to see them break that curse is what gives me a real rooting interest in the outcome. The film is a story of redemption for the monk Imperius whose drunken betrayal helped put the two lovers in this position. And it’s a story of good trying to triumph over evil, with evil being vividly portrayed in the character of the Bishop. Leo McKern and John Wood embody the characters of Imperius and the Bishop perfectly. Director Richard Donner handles all of these different facets in a fun and entertaining way. I think LADYHAWKE still holds up well as a nice piece of 80’s entertainment!  

Five Fast Facts:

  1. Spike II, the hawk featured in this movie, worked in the Universal Bird Show until 2000, when she was transfered to the National Audubon society and became an Audubon Ambassador until she died in May 2007.
  2. If you needed proof that celebrities aren’t like the rest of us, three of the castles used for this movie were owned by Italian movie director Luchino Visconti and his family.
  3. Producer and director Richard Donner originally cast Kurt Russell as Navarre. When Russell dropped out a few days before principal photography began, the part was handed to Rutger Hauer.
  4. When Matthew Broderick’s character Gaston is escaping the dungeon at the beginning of the film, you can hear someone say ‘cut’ just before Phillipe says, “It’s not unlike escaping Mother’s womb.”
  5. As enjoyable as the film is, LADYHAWKE was a disappointment at the box office. It grossed a little over $18 million on a budget of $20 million, ranking 48th in the North American box office for 1985.

Live Tweet Alert: Join #ScarySocial for Black Christmas!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 9 pm et, Deanna Dawn will be hosting #ScarySocial!  The movie?  1974’s Black Christmas!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  I’ll be there tweeting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Black Christmas is available on Prime!

See you there!

MY COUSIN VINNY (1992) – Joe Pesci heads way down south!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

There are certain movies in my life that I consider “comfort movies.” These are the movies that I love so much that they always help me relax because I feel better just by watching them. I often turn on a comfort movie when I really need to fall asleep. Examples in my life include most of Charles Bronson’s filmography, RIO BRAVO, the ZATOICHI films, THE OTHER GUYS, and pretty much anything directed by Alex Kendrick. MY COUSIN VINNY fits comfortably under my categorization of a comfort movie.

The movie opens with friends Bill Gambini (Ralph Macchio) and Stanley Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield) taking the scenic route down south as part of a cross-country trip to attend college at UCLA. Unfortunately, while in Alabama, the two are arrested soon after leaving a convenience store. Thinking they are being charged for accidentally shoplifting a can of tuna, it turns out the actual charges are robbery and murder as the place was robbed and the clerk killed soon after they left. Knowing they are in big trouble, Bill calls his cousin Vinny Gambini (Joe Pesci), who’s pretty much the only lawyer that he knows. The problem, Vinny has never actually tried a murder case. Vinny heads down south with his fiance Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei) where he must contend with a judge (Fred Gwynne) who doesn’t like him, a prosecutor (Lane Smith) who has way more experience than him, and a mountain of circumstantial evidence that he has almost no hope of contradicting. Will Vinny be able to prove his cousin’s innocence before they end up with life in prison, or even worse?

There are many reasons that I love MY COUSIN VINNY. The cast consists of a couple of my personal favorite actors in Joe Pesci and Ralph Macchio. GOODFELLAS is certainly one of the best movies ever made, and Joe Pesci gives an unbelievably powerful performance, a performance that would win him the Academy Award. Pesci took a short break from filming MY COUSIN VINNY to attend the Acadamy Award ceremony and pick up the gold. He even took the statue to the set to show the cast and crew. Maybe that helped inspire Marisa Tomei to give her own Academy Award winning performance in this film. My favorite scene of the entire movie is when Vinny is treating Mona Lisa as a hostile witness on the stand, just before she proceeds to prove that nobody knows more about cars than she does. It’s such a satisfying scene as she makes the prosecutor’s “expert” look like a novice. As for Ralph Macchio, many times in my life I’ve made the statement that I wanted to be the karate kid when I was growing up. I think I was in the fifth grade when I saw the film for the very first time. I’ve been a fan of Ralph Macchio, and in love with Elisabeth Shue, ever since. It’s the kind of movie I’d just sit around thinking about when I was a kid. I even wanted to learn karate, but being just a little over 4 feet tall at the time, I didn’t need to be getting into any fights. I also like that MY COUSIN VINNY was partially filmed in the town of Covington, GA. My wife and I were driving from Arkansas to Myrtle Beach back in 2020 and we stayed the night in Covington. I had done a little research while I was looking for a place to stop for the night, and I found out that Covington is sometimes referred to the “Hollywood of the South” due to the large number of movies and TV shows that are filmed there. We snapped a couple of shots of the downtown before heading on down the road. But I think the thing I love most about MY COUSIN VINNY is also the reason I love movies like THE KARATE KID and ROCKY so much. I love movies where a person is completely underestimated, and rightfully so. But then, through some combination of intelligence, hard work, heart, and will, that same person is able to rise to the occasion and prevail against those very same people who underestimated them. Vinny has no business in the courtroom, but somehow, he’s able to win the case, and he does it in a smart, funny and exciting way. I love an underdog, and MY COUSIN VINNY just makes me feel good!  

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For Miracle Mile!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, #FridayNightFlix presents 1988’s Miracle Mile!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Miracle Mile is available on Prime and Tubi!  See you there!

SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL (1958) – Charles Bronson headlines a classic Hollywood western for the first time in his career!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

1958 was an interesting year for 36-year-old Charles Bronson. After mostly playing character parts on movies and TV for the first part of the decade, Bronson would star in four movies in 1958 and also headline his own TV show. On first glance, the western SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL would appear to fit nicely into the image that Bronson would project during the heights of his popularity in the 70’s and 80’s. But upon further inspection, this little gem shows us a side of Bronson we rarely would get to see in his heyday.

The story opens with Luke Welsh, played by Bronson, riding into a dusty western town. After dropping his horse off at the livery stable, Welsh strolls into the local restaurant and immediately confronts town citizen Con Maynor. It’s here that we learn that Welsh is a bounty hunter and Maynor is a wanted man. A gunfight ensues and Maynor is gunned down. All Welsh needs is the local authorities to confirm the identity of Maynor so Welsh can collect his bounty. Unfortunately for Welsh, it seems the townsfolk like Con Maynor so they refuse to confirm his identity. This leads to Welsh having to stay in town until he can get someone, anyone, to agree to the name of the dead man. 

All of this sounds pretty normal for a western headlined by Charles Bronson. He is a tough guy of action for sure, but there are several things in the film that are quite unique in the Bronson filmography. Let me explain. First, Bronson’s character, Luke Welsh, is extremely insecure about his height, and this turns out to be an ongoing plot device in the film. In the gunfight with Maynor that opens the film, the wanted man refers to Welsh as “pint-sized,” and after gunning him down, Welsh responds with “how tall are you now, big man?” Later in the film, the local storekeeper, Mrs. Bonaventura, notices Welsh looking up at a mannequin in the store that he is standing by. Being a wise lady, she immediately recognizes his insecurity and offers him kind words and encouragement multiple times throughout the film. Many people who have followed Bronson’s career know that the actor was, in fact, insecure about his height and would often insist that his co-stars be no taller than him. I think Bronson’s ability to sympathize with this element of the character would result in a very strong performance. When you think of the characters he played after he hit it big, this type of insecurity would not be featured again in his work.

Another thing that makes SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL unique is the fact that Charles Bronson’s character Luke Welsh shows more vulnerability in his relationships than what we would see later in his career. I’ll use his relationship with the lonely young woman, Sally Crane, to illustrate this point. After recognizing how rough her hands are from her work at the restaurant, Welsh goes out of his way to purchase her some hand cream at Mrs. Bonaventura’s shop. When he’s giving her the hand cream in her room, he notices just how plain the room is and begins to see that Sally is doing everything in her power to not be noticed and has shut herself off from the world. He recognizes that they’re both just a couple of misfits, with him hiding behind a gun and her hiding behind her apron. Welsh speaks so softly and sweetly to her at different times in the film. I think Bronson does a fine job with this side of his character and shows he could have played more roles with romantic overtones. Even in his films with his wife Jill Ireland, Bronson would rarely show such vulnerability with his female co-stars in future films. 

Finally, the actual showdown at Boot Hill that takes place at the end of the film plays out nothing like you would expect in later films like THE MECHANIC, MR. MAJESTYK or DEATH WISH 3. After getting to know many of the local people like Sally & Mrs. Bonaventura, and after having grown tired of never having a place to call home, Welsh makes the only decision that will allow him to stay. I won’t spoil it for you, but in my opinion, it’s an unexpected and wonderful ending for these characters who I had really grown to like throughout the course of this compact, 71 minute film. I highly recommend SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL!

We dedicated an episode of the THIS WEEK IN CHARLES BRONSON podcast to this solid western. I’ve attached the link below if you want to know even more about SHOWDOWN AT BOOT HILL.

FREQUENCY (2000) – What would you give to talk to your dad or mom one more time?

Posted on by Bradley Crain

I find it difficult to write about my favorite movies, because it can be hard to put into words why I love them so much. It seems that nothing I can say will do the movie justice. FREQUENCY is one of those movies that I abolutely love, and I’ll tell any person who will listen that it’s one of my all-time favorites. Sadly, I run into quite a few people who aren’t even aware of the almost 25 year old film at this point. That just doesn’t set right with me, so I’m here today to sing the praises of FREQUENCY!

FREQUENCY stars Jim Caviezel as homicide detective John Sullivan, a guy who lives in the same house he’s lived in his entire life. John is still dealing with emotional scars related to the death of his firefighter father Frank (Dennis Quaid), who died fighting a fire 30 years earlier. One night John’s hanging out with his buddy Gordo (Noah Emmerich), when they come across his dad’s old Ham radio. Some of John’s fondest memories of his dad include him speaking with people around the world on that old radio. They hook it up not even sure if it even works anymore. Sometime later that night when he’s there alone, a man’s voice comes across the airwaves. John starts talking back, and that’s when the greatness of this movie starts for me. The two guys start talking about baseball, and the voice on the other end of the line wants to know what John thinks about New York’s Amazin’ Mets chances to win the 1969 World Series. It seems that somehow through movie magic and the “mother sunspot of all time,” John is talking to his own father at the same location, separated by 30 years of space and time. John tells his dad about the specific fire that he dies in on that fateful day 30 years earlier. With John’s warning, Frank is able to survive the fire, and John gets a bunch of new memories that show him growing up with his dad in his life. Unfortunately, the changing of the past has real world consequences in the present. Now, John’s mom Julia (Elizabeth Mitchell) is gone, killed by a serial killer whose “Nightingale murders” had ended with 3 nurses in 1969, but has now ballooned to 10 in 1999. Separated by those 30 years, and not knowing when their connection on the radio might end, John and Frank work together to try to stop the Nightingale killer and save Julia, not knowing what other things they might change in the process.

FREQUENCY is a cross-genre concoction. It’s a fantasy film in the way that it brings people together from two different timeframes. The exact way this is done is never spelled out and shouldn’t be thought about too much. We just know that the phenomenon known as the aurora borealis, which is a natural light show that occurs when charged particles from the sun interact with Earth’s magnetic field, is going on in both 1969 and 1999. This natural phenomenon is somehow allowing John and Frank to talk to each other. It’s also a solid dramatic thriller as John is able to first save Frank’s life from the fire, and then as the two work together to catch a serial killer (Shawn Doyle) before he takes out Julia. This is put together extremely well by director Gregory Hoblit, who gets solid performances from Jim Caviezel, Dennis Quaid, and Elizabeth Mitchell as the Sullivan family. I also want to shout out Andre Braugher, who plays Frank’s best friend Satch in the 1969 timeframe, and who’s John’s cop partner in 1999. He’s so good in FREQUENCY. Despite winning two primetime Emmy awards, I still believe that Andre Braugher was an amazing actor who was underused during his lifetime. Sadly, he passed away in 2023 at just 61 years of age.

But the reason that I love FREQUENCY is the fantastic notion that a son who’s lost his father would somehow have the chance to talk to him again. Father-son relationships in movies affect me more than anything else, and I’m all in for the way it is addressed here. I cry like a baby every time I watch FIELD OF DREAMS with Kevin Costner, and I also cry like a baby every time I watch FREQUENCY. I mentioned earlier that John is dealing with emotional scars from not having his dad growing up. In this film, we get to hear their conversations and put ourselves in that same position. The film really leans into the joy of this unique opportunity to change the past and erase much of the pain that came with such deep emotional wounds. This shared desire to right past wrongs and erase past pain elevates the film even when logic fails. FREQUENCY got on my radar back at the turn of the century when I read articles about grown men crying in theaters as they watched. I remember telling a friend of mine, a friend whose father had died when he was young, about this film. He told me later of his own emotional experience watching it. There really is something universal about wanting to connect with our parents once they are no longer with us. As of this writing, my own father is still here, yet I am still emotionally overwhelmed every time I watch FREQUENCY. I can’t even begin to imagine what it will feel like if there’s a time that I’m still here, and he’s gone.     

RUTHLESS PEOPLE (1986) – In remembrance of Jim Abrahams

Posted on by Bradley Crain

It made me sad when I saw that writer/director Jim Abrahams had passed away on November 26, 2024 at 80 years of age. Growing up in the 1980’s, Mr. Abrahams is responsible for some of my favorite comedies. AIRPLANE, TOP SECRET, and THE NAKED GUN would not exist without Jim Abrahams. As much as I love all of those movies, my personal favorite film that Jim Abrahams co-directed is RUTHLESS PEOPLE. I remember when our family rented this film and watched it in the ‘80’s. We thought it was so funny. I specifically remember my mom laughing out loud on multiple occasions as the ridiculous scenario played out. That was a fun movie night in the Crain household. 

RUTHLESS PEOPLE is about a rich businessman named Sam Stone (Danny DeVito) who truly hates his wife Barbara (Bette Midler), and hatches a plan to kill her so he can inherit her money. Unfortunately he runs into a couple of problems. First, his mistress Carol (Anita Morris) knows about the plan, so she and her dimwitted boy toy Earl (Bill Pullman) want to film Sam dumping his wife’s body so they can blackmail him for millions. Second, before Sam can execute his plan, Barbara is kidnapped and held for a ransom of $500,000 by Ken and Sandy Kressler (Judge Reinhold and Helen Slater). It seems that Sam stole Sandy’s idea for the spandex miniskirt, screwed them out of millions with a handshake deal, and then kept the money for himself. This seems like an answer to prayer at first for Sam because they threaten to kill Barbara if he doesn’t meet their needs or if he calls the police or the media. After saying no to their demands, and then immediately calling the police and the news, Sam realizes that they don’t want to kill her when they keep coming back with lower demands. Sandy tells Barbara that Sam refuses to pay even $10,000 for her safe return. Eventually the kidnappers and Barbara join together to try to take the unfaithful and unethical Sam for everything he’s worth!! 

RUTHLESS PEOPLE is one of my favorite comedies of the 1980’s. It has such a great cast. Danny DeVito and Bill Pullman are especially hilarious and have some of the film’s best lines. At the time the movie came out in 1986, DeVito was already established as a master of comedy, so Pullman’s performance as Earl, the dumbass Sonny Crockett wannabe, was the real revelation to me. Pullman made his film debut in RUTHLESS PEOPLE, and I never see him to this day that I don’t think of his character Earl’s excitement over the prospect of his newfound blackmail money:

“And then we’re off, to Haiti!”

“It’s Tahiti, you moron!”

One of the most interesting things about RUTHLESS PEOPLE is just how different it is from the directing trio’s (Zucker / Abrahams / Zucker) other popular films like THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE and AIRPLANE. Those films are based on non-stop visual and verbal gags. I love those films, but this is quite different. The comedy of RUTHLESS PEOPLE is based on the story itself, which is a comedy of confusion, coincidence, and character. I know it’s awesome because I still think of the film often. “Give the bag to bozo” and “a little poke in the whiskers” are phrases I’ll remember up to the point I go to my grave. 

Even though the film is almost 40 years old, if you’re looking for a laugh, I don’t think you can do much better than RUTHLESS PEOPLE.