Been seeing a lot of Josh O’Connor lately, and I’m glad to see it. Prior to his performance in Challengers, I had only a mild awareness of him, but since then, it’s been impossible to escape his presence. Speaking of presence, I feel like O’Connor brings something different with every role. In the case of The Mastermind, O’Connor deadpans comedic irony, quiet domestic desperation, and a deeply flawed, delusional masculinity. Given how the situation works out for his character, the title is more than a bit ironic. I’d go so far as to consider this an anti-heist movie if it weren’t for the fact that bumbling thieves managed to accomplish the task. The heart of the film resides in the aftermath of the heist and the hijinks that transpire. Rounding out of the cast were Hope Davis, Bill Camp, Alana Haim (One Battle After Another), and John Magaro (The Bride!). The film is a bit of a slow burn, but the character performances are the driving force of the film, as the plots debunks the idea of a smooth-talking American criminal in favor of an everyman, or better yet, an amateur trying to head up an art theft.

Set in a sedate Massachusetts suburb in 1970, the film follows O’Connor’s James Blaine “J.B.” Mooney, an unemployed family man and failed architect who concocts a plan to rob a local art museum. Alongside a couple of amateur accomplices, he manages to successfully steal four Arthur Dove paintings. Rather than lingering on the suspense of the theft, film director Kelly Reichardt sped through the heist itself and focused primarily on the fallout. As previously mentioned, the ironic title becomes clear as J.B. proves to be anything but a mastermind; he is an inept, privileged oaf who spends his time floundering on the run, hiding canvases in barns, and testing the patience of those around him.

There are definitely notes of the bard in this film. Adopting the star-crossed lovers’ motif, Lovelines hinges on the rivalry that peaked at an annual Battle of the Bands contest, where Rick (Greg Bradford), the lead singer of the rock band Racer, fell for Piper (Mary Beth Evans), the frontwoman for the rival group The Firecats. To keep their forbidden romance alive against the wishes of friends, rival musicians, and Piper's massive, protective brother, the pair relied on "Lovelines". This specialized local dial-in telephone party line served as a 1980s analog precursor to modern internet dating. As I met my wife via modern internet dating, I was intrigued by the premise, which highlighted this old school predecessor, and its use as a covert communication mechanism for the lead characters. There weren’t a lot of recognizable faces for me in this one or remarkable performances, outside of Miguel Ferrer who played a punk rocker named Dragon. However, on the plus side, the film does feature a prank war, and I do love a good prank war.

“They're the two hottest tickets in a red-hot Battle of the Bands ... and now they've got the hots for each other.”

“I'll drink to that.”

Directed by the legendary Sidney Poitier, Fast Forward was part of a cycle of mid-late 1980s dance movies which included Fame, Flashdance, Footloose, Dirty Dancing, Breakin' aka Breakdance, Electric Boogaloo: Breakdance 2, Salsa, Beat Street, Heavenly Bodies, Rappin.'  In this addition to the mid-1980s dance movie craze, a tight-knit group of eight high school students from a small town in Ohio form a dance troupe called "The Adventurers". Driven by pure ambition, they pack their bags and head to New York City to chase their big break. The film served as the debut theatrical feature film for most of the cast members, though there were a few recognizable faces. Such as Debra Varnado (All the Right Moves), who played Debbie Hughes, and Don Franklin, who played Michael, who I recognize for a host of tv show appearances. The movie wasn’t really the breakout film it was hoped to be, particularly given the stiff competition during its era. And unfortunately, while I did find it intriguing at times, I’m skeptical that the film will find new life amongst this newer generation.

"And that's the way it happened. Give or take a lie or two."

That oft-used phrase in the film Sunset is a pretty good way to describe the entire production. Blake Edwards  had a pretty good run with his Pink Panther franchise until Peter Sellers died and the franchise became somewhat of a spoof of itself after his death. That might have worked, except the franchise was already pretty much a spoof. But Blake Edwards has also had some luck with more serious subjects, and Sunset is likely the best example of such an attempt. That doesn't mean the film doesn't deliver plenty of humor and light moments. But for Blake Edwards, this was as serious as it gets. He bought the rights to an unpublished novel by Rod Amateau, who had mostly written for television. The film was set to star James Garner as Wyatt Earp and Robert Duvall as Tom Mix. The production budget couldn't handle the demands of both stars, and Garner was retained while Edwards would pass on Duvall. Bruce Willis was mostly a television star at the time and could be had on the cheap. Of course, that soon changed, but Edwards didn't get a bounty here, because Willis wasn't quite as good as he would become. In fact, James Garner went on record that he would never work with Willis again because he treated his job like he was in high school. And he never did. Julie Andrews was also once signed, but skipped because she didn't want to play the mother of a grown son. The film was also going to showcase a new kind of cinematography called the Introvision system. The idea was that you could insert your iconic locations into the background, but it ended up costing more than going to the real locations, and no one was ever really happy with the results. The system has faded into memory, but unfortunately Sunset has not. Thanks to Mill Creek's Retro-VHS releases, this film gets another chance for you to catch it. Trust me when I say it's worth the effort.

On and on goes the debate. Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? I have always come down on the no side. It appears like such an odd thing, but there have literally been books about the subject, and Bruce Willis himself has gone from no to yes over the years. If that kind of debate is of interest to you, then you should enjoy playing the same game with Cold Steel. It's a bloody action movie that also takes place at that jolly time of the year. Of course, not so jolly for the characters in the film. The original story for Cold Steel was developed and written by Dorothy Ann Puzo. You might not recognize her, but I'm sure you are familiar with the last name. Her father is the celebrated author and screenwriter for The Godfather movies. And if the Godfather movies have taught me anything (I mean, beyond not letting anyone outside the family know what you're thinking), it's that daughters don't necessarily inherit the abilities of the father.The casting of Sofia Coppola by her father in that franchise's third film made that very point. But Dorothy Ann Puzo isn't quite the dramatic drop in talent that Coppola was, and the film certainly has its moments. Coppola also directs, and this is her first and last feature film as either writer or director, so I think we can safely say this film didn't set any box office records, and this is actually the first time I've seen it.

Brad Davis plays Johnny Modine. He's a cop who plays it a little loose with the rules, and we discover that right out of the gate when he's flying in his police cruiser with sirens and lights and even jumping over a moving train. Just what kind of bad guys was he chasing? He wasn't. He was trying to set a record delivering quality booze to the police Christmas Eve party at their favorite watering hole. So we know exactly the kind of cop Johnny happens to be. Jay Acovone plays his suffering partner Cookie. After all of the cheers for his death-defying stunt to deliver the goods, he begs off early to go to his parents' house for a Christmas Eve meal. What he doesn't know yet, but we know, is that his father Sam (Lanteau) was shot and killed at his store by a ruthless killer with an English accent and "charm" who calls himself Mick, played by music's Adam Ant. Mick is part of a gang of bad guys that is led by a guy they call Iceman, played by Jonathan Banks. This wasn't his first shot at an iconic bad guy. He went up against Eddie Murphy three years earlier in Beverly Hills Cop, and that same year he would be a regular on the television series Wiseguy by Stephen J. Cannell, best known for The Rockford Files. When Johnny finds out about his father he goes a little crazy, and so much so that he gets suspended. We've heard that tune enough times before to know that isn't going to stop him from tracking down the gang.