Production Company(ies)
Hideout Pictures, Shout! Factory Shout! Studios,
 
Distributor
Avenue
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, UK
 
MPAA / Certificate
PG-13
 
Year of Release
1989
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Lorraine Ashbourne, Dean Williams, Freda Dowie, Angela Walsh, Pete Postlethwaite, directed by Terence Davies, written by Terence Davies, drama, PG-13, box office gross $10.0K, reviewed by Peter Bradshaw, Danny King, Richard Brody, Dave Kehr, Sheila Benson, Peter Travers, Gabriel Ricard, Nancy Williamson, Shawn Glinis, Maximilian Von Thun, Gary Thompson, autobiographical, working-class, Liverpool, memories, childhood, adulthood, family, wedding, abusive father, emotional, powerful, unique, period drama, beautifully composed, invigorating, peak form, formal technique, theatrically controlled tableaux, vividly present, alive, unfailing eye for place, décor, costume, gesture, tangles of memories, evoke joys and horrors, shocking beauty, unforgettable amalgam of humor and heartbreak, saddest part, masterpiece, British identity, deeply artistic composition, enduring compassion, hard viewing, great acting, switches between childhood and adulthood, bracingly original
 

Cast & Crew

Freda Dowie

Pete Postlethwaite

Angela Walsh

Dean Williams

Lorraine Ashbourne

Mother

Father

Eileen

Tony

Maisie

Freda Dowie – Mother
Pete Postlethwaite – Father
Angela Walsh – Eileen
Dean Williams – Tony
Lorraine Ashbourne – Maisie
Debi Jones – Micky

 

Terence Davies

Terence Davies

Jennifer Howarth

Colin MacCabe

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Terence Davies
 
Writer(s)
Terence Davies
 
Producer(s)
Jennifer Howarth, Colin MacCabe

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
11 wins & 7 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Peter Bradshaw

Danny King

Richard Brody

Dave Kehr

Sheila Benson

Guardian

Village Voice

New Yorker

Chicago Tribune

Los Angeles Times

DISTANT VOICES, STILL LIVES
 All Critics (40) | Top Critics (20) | Fresh (32) | Rotten (8)
 For all the formal technique and the theatrically controlled tableaux, the drama is vividly present and alive.
 
 August 30, 2018 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Peter Bradshaw
 Guardian
 TOP CRITIC
 Enthralling…
 
 August 28, 2018
 
 Danny King
 Village Voice
 TOP CRITIC
 With an unfailing eye for place, décor, costume, and gesture, the director glides his camera through tangles of memories to evoke joys and horrors with a similar sense of wonder.
 
 September 22, 2014
 
 Richard Brody
 New Yorker
 TOP CRITIC
 A gripping and original piece of work, itself sure to be remembered as one of the finest films of the year.
 
 June 2, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Dave Kehr
 Chicago Tribune
 TOP CRITIC
 Just as you think you have its moves all doped out, a scene of such shocking beauty flashes before you that it takes your breath away.
 
 June 2, 2014
 
 Sheila Benson
 Los Angeles Times
 TOP CRITIC
 When a forty-four-year-old man makes a movie about his family and friends sitting around singing old tunes, you certainly don’t expect an unforgettable amalgam of humor and heartbreak. But that is precisely what Terence Davies delivers.
 
 June 2, 2014
 
 Peter Travers
 Rolling Stone
 TOP CRITIC
 A terribly beautiful film… [that] makes one at times almost forget the simultaneously banal and and violent lives which the film remembers.
 
 May 20, 2020
 
 Peter Bowen
 OutWeek
 Strange and stunning for a variety of reasons, Terence Davies created a masterpiece right out of the gate with his 1988 classic Distant Voices, Still Lives.
 
 October 30, 2019 | Rating: 8/10
 
 Gabriel Ricard
 Cultured Vultures
 The saddest part of Distant Voices/Still Lives is that we come away understanding no more than we did before about the inner workings of this and similar families.
 
 September 7, 2019
 
 Nancy Williamson
 Sojourner
 Terence Davies’ 1988 debut Distant Voices, Still Lives, newly rereleased by Arrow Academy, deserves to be treasured as one of the great British films.
 
 November 1, 2018
 
 Shawn Glinis
 Film Inquiry
 Distant Voices contains some of the most beautiful, poetic filmmaking in British cinema.
 
 September 6, 2018 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Maximilian Von Thun
 CineVue
 Even the movie’s “smile though your heart is aching” optimism is depressing. What keeps the movie going is the director’s always distinctive, sometimes arresting style, and the earnest, authentic acting.
 
 June 2, 2014 | Rating: 2.5/4
 
 Gary Thompson
 Philadelphia Daily News…

 

Plot
The second film in Terence Davies’s autobiographical series (‘Trilogy’, ‘The Long Day Closes’) is an impressionistic view of a working-class family in 1940s and 1950s Liverpool, based on Davies’s own family. The first part, ‘Distant Voices’, opens with grown siblings Eileen (Angela Walsh), Maisie (Lorraine Ashbourne) and Tony (Dean Williams), and their mother (Freda Dowie) arranged in mourning clothes before the photograph of their smiling father (Pete Postlethwaite). Soon after, the family poses in a similar tableau, but for a happier occasion – Eileen’s wedding. While relatives sing at her reception, Eileen hysterically grieves for her dad, and recalls happy times of her youth. Tony and Maisie’s memories, however, are more troubled. Davies intermingles and contrasts scenes like the family peacefully lighting candles in church with the brutal man beating his wife and terrorizing his young children. In ‘Still Lives’, set (and filmed) two years later, the siblings are settled in life, but not all happily. For Eileen, relief from her drab existence comes only when singing at the pub. With his skillfully composed frames and evocative use of music in place of dialogue, Davies creates a lovely, affecting photo album of a troubled family wrestling with the complexity of love.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Pete Postlethwaite delivers a brilliant performance as the physically abusive father in Distant Voices, Still Lives.
 

 
Terence-Davies.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Independent Film Channel, Channel, Four Fourth Floor Pictures,
 
Distributor
RKO Radio Pictures
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
Walt Disney Studios, 500 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
G
 
Year of Release
1942
 

 
Genre(s)
Fantasy
 
Keyword(s)

Cast & Crew

Carmine Appice

Ginger Baker

Bonnie Bramlett

Jack Bruce

Eric Clapton

Carmine Appice

Ginger Baker

Bonnie Bramlett

Jack Bruce

Eric Clapton

Carmine Appice – Self
Ginger Baker – Self
Bonnie Bramlett – Self
Jack Bruce – Self
Eric Clapton – Self
Stewart Copeland – Self

 

David Hand

Larry Morey

Walt Disney

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
David Hand
 
Writer(s)
Larry Morey
 
Producer(s)
Walt Disney

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 3 Oscars
6 wins & 6 nominations total
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Manny Farber

Steven D. Greydanus

Jonathan Rosenbaum

Variety Staff

Eric Henderson

The New Republic

Decent Films

Chicago Reader

Variety

Slant Magazine

BAMBI
 All Critics (54) | Top Critics (9) | Fresh (49) | Rotten (5)
 The bogus art which has been creeping into the Disney pictures is really hammered at you in this one.
 
 June 16, 2016
 
 Manny Farber
 The New Republic
 TOP CRITIC
 One of the most timeless and universal coming-of-age films ever, Bambi ranks with the very greatest of Disney’s classic masterpieces.
 
 October 29, 2008 | Rating: A+
 
 Steven D. Greydanus
 Decent Films
 TOP CRITIC
 This animated feature based on Felix Salten’s book about the coming of age of a fawn and his various forest friends (including the beloved Thumper) does convey some of the primal emotional power of Disney’s features during this period.
 
 September 3, 2008
 
 Jonathan Rosenbaum
 Chicago Reader
 TOP CRITIC
 The glow and texture of the Disney brush reach new heights, especially in the treatment of a summer thunderstorm and a raging snowstorm.
 
 September 2, 2008
 
 Variety Staff
 Variety
 TOP CRITIC
 “Look, Ma! No fungus and no moss-syphilis!”
 
 March 3, 2005 | Rating: 1.5/4
 
 Eric Henderson
 Slant Magazine
 TOP CRITIC
 The fun and fear, the silliness and heartbreak, are taken to vivid extremes by Walt’s entwining of high art and what snobs will always deride as Disney-kitsch.
 
 February 2, 2005 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Andrew Osmond
 Empire Magazine
 TOP CRITIC
 Even though Bambi is sanitized for a younger audience, the film itself is still one of the best animated movies of all time.
 
 December 27, 2021
 
 Danielle Solzman
 Solzy at the Movies
 Is it absolutely monstrous not to consider the beloved Bambi one of the very best of Disney’s 50-plus animated features?
 
 November 16, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Matt Brunson
 Film Frenzy
 Full of poignancy, excitement, and considerable satisfaction.
 
 December 7, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
 
 Mike Massie
 Gone With The Twins
 Bambi (1942) is one of the most appealing, gracefully-told, lushly-beautiful, and popular Disney animated film classics. It was based on Austrian writer Felix Salten’s 1923 storybook Bambi, A Life in the Woods.
 
 September 28, 2019 | Rating: A+
 
 Tim Dirks
 Filmsite
 Bambi is an artistic creation of indescribable beauty. [Full Review in Spanish]
 
 September 16, 2019
 
 Elena de la Torre
 Cine-Mundial
 It’s a beautiful art piece with great music and enough of a plot and characters to be tolerable, even enjoyable.
 
 May 9, 2019 | Rating: B
 
 Rachel Wagner
 rachelsreviews.net…

 

Plot
It’s spring, and all the animals of the forest are excited by the forest’s latest birth, a buck fawn his mother has named Bambi. The animals are more excited than usual as Bambi’s lineage means he will inherit the title of prince of the forest. Along with his mother, Bambi navigates through life with the help of his similarly aged friends, Thumper, a rabbit kit who needs to be continually reminded by his mother of all the lessons his father has taught him about how to live as a rabbit properly, and Flower, a skunk kit who likes his name. As different animals, they have their own issues and challenges which may not translate to the others. Being similarly aged, Bambi, Thumper and Flower may have to experience the uncharted phases of their lives without the knowledge or wisdom unless gleaned from those who have gone through them before. Bambi has to learn early that the lives of deer and of many of the other forest animals are not without their inherent dangers, for deer especially in the beautiful albeit exposed meadow. Bambi will also find that his ascension to prince of the forest is not a guarantee as other buck deer and situations may threaten that ascension.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
NA
 

 
David-Hand.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures,
 
Distributor
A24
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
Nelson, British Columbia, Canada
 
MPAA / Certificate
PG
 
Year of Release
1987
 

 
Genre(s)
Western/Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring John Magaro, Orion Lee, Alia Shawkat, Toby Jones, Lily Gladstone, Scott Shepherd, Ewen Bremner, Rene Auberjonois, directed by Kelly Reichardt, written by Jonathan Raymond and Kelly Reichardt, Western, Drama, PG-13, Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani, A24, $161.0K box office, reviewed by Deborah Ross, Tara Brady, Linda Marric, Mark Kermode, Charlotte O’Sullivan, Kevin Maher, Agustín Acevedo Kanopa, Cory Woodroof, James Luxford, Brian Eggert, Carson Timar, two travelers, on the run, vengeful hunters, 1820s Northwest, striking it rich, tenuous plan, frontier, secret use, landowner’s prized dairy cow, survivalist, cook, group of traders, illegal profit, cow arrives, steal milk, biscuits, townspeople, secret, cinematographer Christopher Blauvelt, slow pace, sound design, music, lifeless, extreme wide shots, framed characters, dour feel, film buff, proper audience, casual viewers, film buff
 

Cast & Crew

John Magaro

Orion Lee

Alia Shawkat

Toby Jones

Lily Gladstone

Cookie Figowitz

King Lu

Woman With Dog

Chief Factor

Chief Factor’s Wife

John Magaro – Cookie Figowitz
Orion Lee – King Lu
Alia Shawkat – Woman With Dog
Toby Jones – Chief Factor
Lily Gladstone – Chief Factor’s Wife
Scott Shepherd – Captain

 

Kelly Reichardt

Jonathan Raymond

Neil Kopp

Vincent Savino

Anish Savjani

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Kelly Reichardt
 
Writer(s)
Jonathan Raymond, Kelly Reichardt
 
Producer(s)
Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

 

Film Festivals
Berlin, Telluride
 
Awards & Nominations
3 wins & 2 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Deborah Ross

Tara Brady

Linda Marric

Mark Kermode

Charlotte O’Sullivan

The Spectator

Irish Times

The Jewish Chronicle

Observer (UK)

London Evening Standard

FIRST COW
 All Critics (215) | Top Critics (57) | Fresh (206) | Rotten (9)
 It is touching, tender, original, entrancing, definitely the best cow film of the year. Plus it’s also a quietly masterful thriller where a clafoutis (blueberry) will have you on the edge of your seat.
 
 July 29, 2021
 
 Deborah Ross
 The Spectator
 TOP CRITIC
 Reichardt works in delicate movements as a storyteller. Magaro and Lee’s wonderful chemistry keeps perfectly in step with the filmmaker.
 
 July 23, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Tara Brady
 Irish Times
 TOP CRITIC
 Never has a film about two losers and the platonic love they have for each other felt more moving or more engaging. Simply wonderful.
 
 July 9, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Linda Marric
 The Jewish Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 A fable of land and freedom that serves as an up-close-and-personal portrait of friendship and a wider snapshot of America, rooted in the rich soil of the Pacific north-west.
 
 May 31, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Mark Kermode
 Observer (UK)
 TOP CRITIC
 A Western, First Cow is sensual, bleak and meticulously authentic, reminiscent of McCabe & Mrs Miller, as well as Barry Lyndon.
 
 May 29, 2021 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Charlotte O’Sullivan
 London Evening Standard
 TOP CRITIC
 Reichardt, also the co-writer, delivers a patient and earnest parable about environmentalism, American destiny and the value of friendship.
 
 May 29, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Kevin Maher
 Times (UK)
 TOP CRITIC
 In a world in which all social contracts seem to be dynamited, seeing two men in a movie who respect and care for each other even though they have different interests (far from envy, ambition, love or homoeroticism) is a great discovery
 
 March 30, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
 
 Agustín Acevedo Kanopa
 La Diaria
 A masterwork for the western genre, and a full charge ahead for empathy in our capitalistic system. This moo-ved me. John Magaro broke my heart.
 
 March 11, 2022
 
 Cory Woodroof
 Williamson Home Page
 A calm, relaxing voyage into a chapter of American history, First Cow doesnt possess the urgency of most independent cinema, and thats exactly what makes it so memorable.
 
 March 2, 2022 | Rating: 4/5
 
 James Luxford
 City AM
 A beautifully observed film whose outward simplicity gives way to a thoughtful exploration of capitalism, and the relationship between humanity and the natural world.
 
 February 18, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
 
 Brian Eggert
 Deep Focus Review
 First Cow might not be the most impactful film of the year, but it absolutely is one of the most joyful and charming.
 
 February 12, 2022
 
 Carson Timar
 Filmotomy
 Reichardt is nothing if not a documentarian of practicality and face value — as in both that she sees the value in staring at faces, and in that things being what they seem to be is never boring to her
 
 January 14, 2022
 
 Jason Adams
 The Film Experience…

 

Plot
In Nelson, the chief of the firemen C. D. Bales is a man with complex since he has a huge nose. When his friend Dixie rents her house to the gorgeous student of astronomy Roxanne, he falls in love with her but keeps his feelings as a secret. C.D. hires the handsome fireman Chris and Roxanne asks C.D. to help her to date him. However Chris is an average American with very limited culture and he asks C.D. to help him to get in her pants. C.D. writes letters disclosing his feelings for her and Roxanne is seduced by the man that writes such letters. What will happen when she meets Chris?
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
There is no goofy or funny or odd comment about the film First Cow on Fresh Kernels.
 

 
Kelly-Reichardt.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Lucasfilm,
 
Distributor
MCA/Universal Pictures [us], Universal Pictures
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
Shaba National Game Reserve, Kenya
 
MPAA / Certificate
PG
 
Year of Release
1985
 

 
Genre(s)
Romance/Biography
 
Keyword(s)
Out of Africa, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Michael Kitchen, Malick Bowens, Joseph Thiaka, Sydney Pollack, Kurt Luedtke, Romance, Biography, Drama, PG, Box Office, $83.1M, Reviewed by Rick Lyman, David Denby, Paul Byrnes, Bob Thomas, Joe Pollack, Bill Cosford, James Wegg, Terry Lawson, Lou Lumenick, Marylynn Uricchio, Michael Sragow, Rick Chatenever, Cinematography, Art Direction, Africa, Love, Hunter, Aristocratic, Coffee Plantation, Unfaithful, Upper Class, Personal Growth, Dairy Farmer, Producer, Director, Writer, Isak Dinesen, Karen Blixen, Denys Finch Hatton, Baron Bor Blixen-Flecke, Farah, Kamante, Berkeley Cole, Hans Blixen, Magnetic Stereo 6 Track, Surround, PG, Universal Pictures, MCA/Universal Pictures, Universal Pictures
 

Cast & Crew

Meryl Streep

Robert Redford

Klaus Maria Brandauer

Michael Kitchen

Malick Bowens

Karen Christence Dinesen Blixen-Finecke

Denys George Finch Hatton

Bror Blixen

Hans Blixen

Berkeley Cole

Meryl Streep – Karen Christence Dinesen Blixen-Finecke
Robert Redford – Denys George Finch Hatton
Klaus Maria Brandauer – Bror Blixen, Hans Blixen
Michael Kitchen – Berkeley Cole
Malick Bowens – Farah
Joseph Thiaka – Kamante

 

Sydney Pollack

Kurt Luedtke

Sydney Pollack

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Sydney Pollack
 
Writer(s)
Kurt Luedtke
 
Producer(s)
Sydney Pollack

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Won 7 Oscars
30 wins & 27 nominations total
 
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Art Direction Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Cinematography Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Directing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Sound Mixing Winners, Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Original Score Winners, Oscar Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Winners, Oscar Winners
 

Top Reviews

Rick Lyman

David Denby

Paul Byrnes

Bob Thomas

Joe Pollack

Philadelphia Inquirer

New York Magazine/Vulture

Sydney Morning Herald

Associated Press

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

OUT OF AFRICA
 All Critics (88) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (54) | Rotten (34)
 Sydney Pollack’s glorious and stirring Out of Africa is a big-screen epic in the very best sense.
 
 January 13, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
 
 Rick Lyman
 Philadelphia Inquirer
 TOP CRITIC
 Beautiful in an illustrative and rhapsodic, rather than dramatic, way, this large-scale adaptation of Isak Dinesen’s famous 1937 memoir never works up much steam.
 
 January 13, 2021
 
 David Denby
 New York Magazine/Vulture
 TOP CRITIC
 The movie could probably be shorter, but I didn’t wish it so.
 
 January 13, 2021
 
 Paul Byrnes
 Sydney Morning Herald
 TOP CRITIC
 There comes a time in movie addicts’ lives when their souls cry out for the kind of film that can fill the screen with magnificent vistas, grand passions and charismatic actors. That’s why the arrival of Out of Africa is cause for cheering.
 
 January 12, 2021
 
 Bob Thomas
 Associated Press
 TOP CRITIC
 The most-remembered moments of Out of Africa are the travelogue sequences, which is not what the book or the author are all about.
 
 January 12, 2021
 
 Joe Pollack
 St. Louis Post-Dispatch
 TOP CRITIC
 A movie of a scale and tone uncommon to Hollywood films.
 
 January 12, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Bill Cosford
 Miami Herald
 TOP CRITIC
 There’s nothing like ‘a story told well’
 
 May 5, 2022 | Rating: 3/5
 
 James Wegg
 JWR
 The scenes between Streep and Redford have a certain quality to them, a recognizable essence, I suppose, that boasts both a maturity and an honesty.
 
 March 31, 2021
 
 Terry Lawson
 Dayton Daily News
 Considering the wealth of writings by Isak Dinesen and others that its makers had to draw on, this lumbering, $30-million prestige picture is astonishingly glossy, distressingly conventional, and grossly overlong.
 
 March 31, 2021
 
 Lou Lumenick
 Bergen Record (New Jersey)
 Out of Africa is simply superb.
 
 January 13, 2021
 
 Marylynn Uricchio
 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
 Though it has many engaging moments (mostly in its first 40 minutes, out of 150), producer/director Sydney Pollack’s attempt to dramatize Isak Dinesen’s years as a pioneer farmer in Kenya ultimately fails as drama and as romance.
 
 January 13, 2021 | Rating: 2/4
 
 Michael Sragow
 San Francisco Examiner
 Pollack deserves a good part of the praise for this superb project. From seeing the potential in Dinesen’s story in the first place, to bringing it to the screen in such a rich, balanced and engaging way, he deserves thanks along with the accolades.
 
 January 13, 2021
 
 Rick Chatenever
 Santa Cruz Sentinel…

 

Plot
Follows the life of Karen Blixen, who establishes a plantation in Africa. Her life is complicated by a husband of convenience (Bror Blixen), a true love (Denys), troubles on the plantation, schooling of the natives, war, and catching VD from her husband.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels praises the “pair of winning performances” from Meryl Streep and Robert Redford in Out of Africa.
 

 
Sydney-Pollack.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)

 
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
First Avenue Club – 29 N. 7th Street, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
R
 
Year of Release
1984
 

 
Genre(s)
Musical/Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Prince, Apollonia Kotero, Morris Day, Jerome Benton, Clarence Williams III, Olga Karlatos, directed by Albert Magnoli, written by Albert Magnoli, William Blinn, Musical, Drama, Romance, R, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Eric Deggans, Duane Byrge, Gary Arnold, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Cynthia Kirk, Dave Kehr, Sean Collier, Josh Larsen, Pat Gowens, Justin Brown, Brandon Collins, produced by Robert Cavallo, Steven Fargnoli, Joseph Ruffalo, MPAA rating, Minneapolis, The Revolution, club scene, rocky relationship, Morris looks to steal the Kid’s spotlight, Apollonia’s captivating singing, Prince’s singular charisma, classic songs, soundtrack, Purple Rain
 

Cast & Crew

Prince

Apollonia Kotero

Morris Day

Jerome Benton

Clarence Williams III

Prince

Apollonia

Morris

Jerome

Father

Prince – The Kid
Apollonia Kotero – Apollonia
Morris Day – Morris
Jerome Benton – Jerome
Clarence Williams III – Father
Olga Karlatos – Mother

 

Albert Magnoli

Albert Magnoli

Robert Cavallo

Steven Fargnoli

Joseph Ruffalo

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Albert Magnoli
 
Writer(s)
Albert Magnoli, William Blinn
 
Producer(s)
Robert Cavallo, Steven Fargnoli, Joseph Ruffalo

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
7 wins & 4 nominations total
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Eric Deggans

Duane Byrge

Gary Arnold

Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Cynthia Kirk

NPR

Hollywood Reporter

Washington Post

sbs.com.au

Variety

PURPLE RAIN
 All Critics (56) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (39) | Rotten (17)
 Purple Rain became a generational manifesto, while providing the largest megaphone yet for one of the greatest geniuses in pop music.
 
 November 28, 2019
 
 Eric Deggans
 NPR
 TOP CRITIC
 Even those who aren’t Prince fans are likely to be captivated by its energy, enamored with its simple, often poignant storyline.
 
 August 7, 2018
 
 Duane Byrge
 Hollywood Reporter
 TOP CRITIC
 Catharsis on the cheap; there’s no reason to accept the pretense that the hero has suffered much and changed for the better unless you’re predisposed to get swoony over Prince himself.
 
 April 23, 2018
 
 Gary Arnold
 Washington Post
 TOP CRITIC
 The film is a love letter to collaboration, to passion, and to the power of music: this is Prince’s legacy, brought to life nowhere more memorably than in Purple Rain.
 
 May 11, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
 sbs.com.au
 TOP CRITIC
 Rock star Prince makes an impressive feature film debut in Purple Rain, a rousing contemporary addition to the classic backstage musical genre.
 
 April 21, 2016
 
 Cynthia Kirk
 Variety
 TOP CRITIC
 Prince’s 1984 movie debut seems more like his deification, with an aggressively stupid plot line that serves only to set him up as a paragon of artistic integrity, sexual prowess, and superhuman sensitivity.
 
 April 21, 2016
 
 Dave Kehr
 Chicago Reader
 TOP CRITIC
 Not much about Purple Rain should work – and yet everything does.
 
 September 28, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
 
 Sean Collier
 Box Office Prophets
 Transcendent music can cover a multitude of sins…
 
 March 26, 2020 | Rating: 2.5/4
 
 Josh Larsen
 LarsenOnFilm
 Perhaps the grossly simplistic and unsubtle misogyny in young people’s movies and videos is less damaging than polished acting would be.
 
 August 21, 2019
 
 Pat Gowens
 Sojourner
 The performances and score take it to another level, and as absurd as he is, Morris Day is, in a way, the glue holding this thing together…
 
 July 15, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Justin Brown
 Medium Popcorn
 The live performances are dope…even The Time! However, the treatment of women was a bit abysmal, though at the time it was acceptable…the movie itself is entertaining.
 
 July 15, 2019 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Brandon Collins
 Medium Popcorn
 At once atrocious and awesome, featuring musical performances so sublime you instantly forgive that the rest is so ridiculous.
 
 May 30, 2019
 
 Sean Burns
 The ARTery…

 

Plot
A Minneapolis musician on the rise with his band, the Revolution, navigates the club scene and a rocky relationship with a captivating singer, Apollonia, while trying to avoid making the same mistakes as his truculent father and competing with another musician, Morris, who looks to steal his spotlight and his girl in Purple Rain.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t have anything goofy or funny or odd to say about Purple Rain, but it does mention that Prince makes an impressive feature film debut in the movie.
 

 
Albert-Magnoli.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Guangxi Film Studio, Beijing New Picture Film
 
Distributor
20th Century Fox
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
Huasca de Ocampo, Hidalgo, Mexico
 
MPAA / Certificate
PG
 
Year of Release
1984
 

 
Genre(s)
Adventure/Action
 
Keyword(s)
starring Michael Douglas, Kathleen Turner, Danny DeVito, directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Diane Thomas, adventure, action, romance, PG rating, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Gary Arnold, Peter Travers, Variety Staff, Dave Kehr, Paul Schrodt, John Preston, Rachel Wagner, Tony Black, Grant Watson, Mike Massie, Josh Larsen, starring Jack T Colton, Joan Wilder, Ralph, Ira, Juan, Zolo, produced by Michael Douglas, 20th Century Fox, English, 1h 45m, sound mix, surround, Colombia, jungle, treasure map, gem, pulp-romance novelist, hostage, ransom, treasure hunter, action-filled adventure, chemistry, Saturday morning serials, well-matched leads, adventure enlivened
 

Cast & Crew

Michael Douglas

Kathleen Turner

Danny DeVito

Zack Norman

Alfonso Arau

Jack T. Colton

Joan Wilder

Ralph

Ira

Juan

Michael Douglas – Jack T. Colton
Kathleen Turner – Joan Wilder
Danny DeVito – Ralph
Zack Norman – Ira
Alfonso Arau – Juan
Manuel Ojeda – Zolo

 

Robert Zemeckis

Diane Thomas

Michael Douglas

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Robert Zemeckis
 
Writer(s)
Diane Thomas
 
Producer(s)
Michael Douglas

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
8 wins & 4 nominations total
 
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
 

Top Reviews

Gary Arnold

Peter Travers

Variety Staff

Dave Kehr

Paul Schrodt

Washington Post

People Magazine

Variety

Chicago Reader

Slant Magazine

ROMANCING THE STONE
 All Critics (55) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (47) | Rotten (8)
 The set-up in “Romancing the Stone” is poorly contrived to sustain a chase thriller.
 
 January 29, 2019
 
 Gary Arnold
 Washington Post
 TOP CRITIC
 Turner is terrific, Douglas is fine and the action is slam-bang. Add lots of laughs and it all works out just right.
 
 April 4, 2014
 
 Peter Travers
 People Magazine
 TOP CRITIC
 Turner is like a lot of unwitting screen heroines ahead of her, guaranteed that her drab existence is about to be transformed — probably by a man, preferably handsome and adventurous.
 
 February 6, 2008
 
 Variety Staff
 Variety
 TOP CRITIC
 Director Robert Zemeckis displays such dazzling cinematic know-how that it’s genuinely depressing when this 1984 film falls off into the usual self-ridicule.
 
 February 6, 2008
 
 Dave Kehr
 Chicago Reader
 TOP CRITIC
 The message is clear: Love and protection comes with a white face and a big, black gun. His name is Michael Douglas.
 
 September 1, 2006 | Rating: 2/4
 
 Paul Schrodt
 Slant Magazine
 TOP CRITIC
 The script is sharp and funny, the direction sure-footed on both the comedy and action fronts, and the whole thing adds up to rather more concerted fun than Indiana Jones’ flab-ridden escapade in the Temple of Doom.
 
 June 24, 2006
 
 John Preston
 Time Out
 TOP CRITIC
 the standard for a romantic adventure
 
 April 7, 2022
 
 Rachel Wagner
 Hallmarkies Podcast
 Romancing the Stone is no searing example of feminist film theory, but it perhaps warrants re-examining in the context of how Zemeckis approaches male and female hero stereotypes.
 
 March 24, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/5
 
 Tony Black
 Cultural Conversation
 It may be the sub-standard cousin of better adventure movies, but it is still a rollicking good time.
 
 March 10, 2021 | Rating: 7/10
 
 Grant Watson
 Fiction Machine
 Adventure first and foremost, followed by an engaging tale and enough good-natured comedy to ensure that no event appears too sinister or serious.
 
 September 7, 2020 | Rating: 9/10
 
 Mike Massie
 Gone With The Twins
 …a hybrid of Indiana Jones and classic screwball romances.
 
 September 4, 2020 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Josh Larsen
 LarsenOnFilm
 It disappoints because of the clumsy script. [Full Review in Spanish]
 
 February 11, 2020
 
 Diego Galán
 El Pais (Spain)…

 

Plot
Joan Wilder, a mousy romance novelist, receives a treasure map in the mail from her recently murdered brother-in-law. Meanwhile, her sister Elaine is kidnapped in Colombia and the two criminals responsible demand that she travel to Colombia to exchange the map for her sister. Joan does, and quickly becomes lost in the jungle after being waylayed by Zolo, a vicious and corrupt Colombian cop who will stop at nothing to obtain the map. There, she meets an irreverent soldier-of-fortune named Jack Colton who agrees to bring her back to civilization. Together, they embark upon an adventure that could be straight out of Joan’s novels.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny comments were found in the Fresh Kernels database for Romancing the Stone.
 

 
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