Air Force One (1997)::rating::3::rating::3::rating::3

I first saw Air Force One at the Admiral Twin drive-in, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. As movie-going experiences go, this was about as American as it gets: Harrison Ford, playing a two-fisted president, pummeling goateed sleazebags aboard a red, white, and blue airliner. The teenage version of me would've slapped four stars on this review and…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 10, 20240Comments

Greatest The Podcast

All the President’s Men (1976)::rating::5

W ith a landmark film like All the President's Men, it's easy to focus on the destination, rather than the journey. Yes, Bob Woodward and Carl Berstein tugged a thread until it unraveled a presidency, but the real glory of this story is their dogged determination to follow that act to its logical conclusion. In…

ByTodd WoffordSeptember 4, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Frost/Nixon (2008)::rating::4

I n the sprawl and sweep of American history, Richard Nixon endures as a towering and tragic figure. He had all the makings of a great leader, housed within the shell of a terrible one. Nixon was brilliant, charismatic, histrionic, and profoundly insecure. He bruised the presidency and scarred the public trust in ways that…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 28, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

The Game (1997)::rating::3.5

T o be successful, every movie requires at least some suspension of disbelief. And for the most part, audiences are willing to oblige such a big ask--up to a point. (Remember in Jaws 4, when the shark actually roared? Ain't nobody on board for that stupidity.) A movie like The Game doesn't so much demand the suspension…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 6, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Twister (1996)::rating::3.5

T wister takes the heart and soul of a rickety B-movie and builds the body of a big, lavish blockbuster around it. Think about it: You've got Jan de Bont (Speed) directing, Steven Spielberg (Gremlins) producing, and a solid cast of name actors. (Any scene with Helen Hunt and Philip Seymour Hoffman features two Oscar…

ByTodd WoffordAugust 6, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Baby Driver (2017)::rating::4

E dgar Wright's Baby Driver takes a page from Quentin Tarantino and elevates its soundtrack to a full-on supporting character. Ansel Elgort's Baby suffers from tinnitus and medicates himself with an iPod and headphones. He knows his music, as does everyone around him. That means we get riffs on everyone from Barbra Streisand to Beck, and a…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 25, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

The Natural (1984)::rating::3.5

T he Natural takes all the mythologies and superstitions that have attached themselves to baseball and bundles them into one infectiously silly package. For this story, the game takes on an unknowable magic. Its heroes have supernatural talent; villains lurk and scowl in the shadows. This means your enjoyment of this film will entirely hinge…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 23, 20240Comments

Greatest The Podcast

Stop Making Sense (1984)::rating::5

A s musical documentaries go, none are more grippingly intimate than Stop Making Sense. The live audience exists as an invisible force, somewhere in the darkness beyond the stage. For most of the film, we bound about the stage with Talking Heads as they dance, stumble, and thrash to their own pulsating music. That energy flows…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 17, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Independence Day (1996)::rating::3

M ake no mistake: Independence Day is one of those movies that should have a high resistance to criticism. After all, it's junk-food entertainment of the first order--blustery, big-budget silliness. I mean, there's Randy Quaid, staggering around like Otis from Andy Griffith. And, you've got President Bill Pullman rallying the troops with the fury of…

ByTodd WoffordJuly 3, 20240Comments

The Archive The Podcast

Stand by Me (1986)::rating::3.5

M ore than any coming-of-age movie, Stand by Me is filled with a slow, billowing sense of dread. Characters frequently find themselves on the run from some approaching doom, where it comes in the form of chugging trains, howling coyotes, or an attack dog who lives to sic balls. Of course, these kids are really running from something…

ByTodd WoffordJune 26, 20240Comments