Posts by Brent Lorentson

The name Shirley Temple is about as iconic as it gets when it comes to film history, and despite how many films I’ve seen in my lifetime, I had somehow managed to never see a film with Shirley Temple in it. When I volunteered to check out this film, I honestly thought it was going to be the 1980 version of the film that had Walter Matthau and Julie Andrews, simply because I didn’t realize that there were at least three versions of the film that were made. Despite the mixup, I was happy to get a chance to see the film and find out for myself what made Shirley Temple such a cinematic darling on the screen and made her memorable enough to even have a drink named after her. Personally, I’m not sure if this is the best example of her work, but it is certainly a product of its time.

In the mid-80’s this was pretty much the height of teen cinema across all genres.  John Hughes had success with Sixteen Candles and in 1985 would put out a little film called The Breakfast Club. That same year Secret Admirer would come out which would borrow a little from Cyrano de Bergerac and add in a healthy dose of the 80’s teen comedy and would almost strike gold.  But what may be the film’s most noteworthy factoid is that in 2016 a writer and director by the name of Eduardo Ortiz releases a film that was a word-for-word and scene-by-scene ripoff in Puerto Rico and was found out days upon its release.  One could only imagine he felt the film was such a hidden gem that no one would notice, but thankfully people did find out, and now with Kino putting out this Blu-ray, perhaps this will give new audiences a chance to check out this charming little film that is filled with familiar faces from the 80’s and absurd hijinks that were acceptable back then.

When you come across a movie that is co-written by Alec Coppel, it is hard to not have a certain expectation from the film. Sure, he may have numerous writing credits, but the one that I feel most film enthusiasts will point out is Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. While many hail Vertigo as Hitchcock’s masterpiece, it is widely considered one of the best films of all time. I somewhat disagree with this ranking; personally I’m more fond of Rear Window and Strangers on a Train, but I do respect the story of Vertigo, and of course its place in film history. At first glance Moment to Moment has all the earmarks of a Hitchcockian thriller, but what makes this film stand out is that it is foremost a romance that happens to have a thriller element, and it is because of that that director Mervyn LeRoy thrives with this film that is equally charming and thrilling to the very end.

Backtrack, AKA Catchfire, is one of those films where you look at the stacked cast and you’d think this would have to be a great film, or how have I not heard of this film? Dennis Hopper and Jodie Foster, just one year before starring in The Silence of the Lambs; just this pair alone makes this film worth checking out. What also makes this film a bit unique is that it directed by Dennis Hopper as well.  Easy Rider is pretty much a classic in its own right, and in 1988 he had also done this film Colors, which starred Sean Penn and Robert Duvall. It is a pretty solid film and worth checking out, but right now the focus is on Backtrack. Really, it is at its core a simple crime/mobster movie, but it is sort of a cautionary tale of what happens when you try to inject too much “art” into a film that really is just a basic (yet strange)  neo-noir story.