Production Company(ies)
Foreign Language
 
Distributor
Streamline Pictures
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
India
 
MPAA / Certificate
NR
 
Year of Release
1988
 

 
Genre(s)
Sci-fi/Anime
 
Keyword(s)
starring Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tessho Genda, Hiroshi Otake, Kôichi Kitamura, directed by Katsuhiro Ohtomo, written by Izou Hashimoto, Katsuhiro Ohtomo, sci-fi, anime, R rating, box office gross $390.0K, budget unknown, reviewed by Chris Stuckmann, Peter Bradshaw, David Jenkins, Dave Kehr, Robbie Collin, Rob Gonsalves, Brian Eggert, Jimmy Cage, Matt Patches, Rachel Wagner, Julio Vélez, Akira Committee Company Ltd., Shunzo Kato, Ryôhei Suzuki, Dolby Stereo, Surround, Flat (1.85:1), ESP experiments, atomic bomb, Tokyo, bike gang leader, secret government project, anti-government activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists, military leader, supernatural power, Tokyo Olympiad, animation, kinetic energy, phenomenal animation, modern anime
 

Cast & Crew

Mitsuo Iwata

Shôtarô Kaneda Voice

Nozomu Sasaki

Tetsuo Shima Voice

Mami Koyama

Shôtarô Kaneda Voice

Tetsuo Shima Voice

Kei Voice

Ryûsaku Voice

Nezu Voice

Mitsuo Iwata – Shôtarô Kaneda Voice
Nozomu Sasaki – Tetsuo Shima Voice
Mami Koyama – Kei Voice
Tessho Genda – Ryûsaku Voice
Hiroshi Otake – Nezu Voice
Kôichi Kitamura – Priestess Miyako, Council A Voice
Director – Katsuhiro Ohtomo
Producers – Shunzo Kato, Ryôhei Suzuki
Writers – Izou Hashimoto, Katsuhiro Ohtomo

 

Katsuhiro Ohtomo

Izou Hashimoto

Shunzo Kato

Ryôhei Suzuki

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Katsuhiro Ohtomo
 
Writer(s)
Izou Hashimoto, Katsuhiro Ohtomo
 
Producer(s)
Shunzo Kato, Ryôhei Suzuki

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
NA
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Chris Stuckmann

Peter Bradshaw

David Jenkins

Dave Kehr

Robbie Collin

ChrisStuckmann.com

Guardian

Little White Lies

Chicago Tribune

News of the World

AKIRA
 All Critics (53) | Top Critics (17) | Fresh (48) | Rotten (5)
 The opening motorbike chase is still thrilling, but the dedication to the backgrounds as well as crowds of people filling the screen, explosions happening in the distance, and a jaw-dropping sense of scope make Akira the classic that it is.
 
 January 25, 2021 | Rating: A
 
 Chris Stuckmann
 ChrisStuckmann.com
 TOP CRITIC
 Akira’s strangeness is very startling and sometimes bewildering. But there is a thanatonic rapture to its vision of a whole world ending and being reborn as something else.
 
 October 8, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Peter Bradshaw
 Guardian
 TOP CRITIC
 While its typically convoluted sci-fi plotting and sprawling ensemble of characters occasionally lead it to border on the incoherent, it’s hard not to be in awe of the giant hand-drawn cityscapes that make up the backdrop for the eye-popping action.
 
 July 18, 2013 | Rating: 4/5
 
 David Jenkins
 Little White Lies
 TOP CRITIC
 Pounding away, it becomes monotonous.
 
 April 10, 2013 | Rating: 2/4
 
 Dave Kehr
 Chicago Tribune
 TOP CRITIC
 Plenty of superb recent blockbusters, including The Matrix, The Dark Knight, Minority Report, Dark City and Inception, are all in its debt – not to mention a fair number of shockers, like Star Wars Episode II and the most recent Resident Evil atrocity.
 
 June 25, 2011 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Robbie Collin
 News of the World
 TOP CRITIC
 Put it up there with the most astonishing animated features ever made.
 
 June 24, 2011 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Derek Malcolm
 London Evening Standard
 TOP CRITIC
 Great to look at, but more exhausting than entertaining.
 
 August 31, 2022 | Rating: B
 
 Rob Gonsalves
 Rob’s Movie Vault
 Such an extraordinary achievement demands to be seen and seen again for re-evaluation into its deeper relevance—and to be appreciated as a landmark not just of anime but of international cinema.
 
 August 19, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
 Brian Eggert
 Deep Focus Review
 AKIRA is an audiovisual masterpiece that still blows me away after all these years. For two hours, the film takes us into a completely disrupted world in which destruction and ambivalence are omnipresent. A film you will never forget.
 
 April 25, 2022 | Rating: 10/10
 
 Jimmy Cage
 Jimmy Cage Movie Reviews (YouTube)
 I’ve seen the movie four times, and this go-around my jaw was lower on the floor than ever before, somehow.
 
 August 4, 2020
 
 Matt Patches
 Polygon
 It’s dark and violent but, because it is so creative, it is a really fun experience. It’s like Inception but way more trippy!
 
 January 19, 2019 | Rating: 9.5/10
 
 Rachel Wagner
 Rotoscopers
 It continues to show the best of the genre, almost 30 years later. It would be sacrilegious to give a different rating from PERFECT to AKIRA. [Full review in Spanish]
 
 June 20, 2017 | Rating: 5/5
 
 Julio Vélez
 Cine Premiere…

 

Plot
In a post-apocalyptic Tokyo, a bike gang leader named Kaneda tries to save his friend Tetsuo from a secret government project that has given him supernatural powers, leading to a final battle that exposes the experiment’s secrets in the anime classic, Akira.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t have anything goofy or funny to say about Akira, but they do mention that the voice cast includes Mitsuo Iwata, Nozomu Sasaki, Mami Koyama, Tessho Genda, Hiroshi Otake, and Kôichi Kitamura.
 

 
Katsuhiro-Ohtomo.jpg

 
Year of Release
2022
 
Technical Specs
Color: NA
Sound mix: NA
Aspect ratio: NA
Language(s): English
Country of origin: United States
Original premiere: 07/13/2022
Newest season premiere: 07/13/2022

INTERNATIONAL
DISTRIBUTOR:
Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution :
Justin Connolly :
+1-212-456-7777
 
Genre(s)
Black Stories, Comedy, Family, Family Relationship, Literary Adaptation
 
Keyword(s)
Black Stories TV Comedy, Family Relationship TV Comedy, Literary Adaptation TV Comedy, Single Camera Comedy, TV Shows Starring Jordan Carlos, TV Shows Starring Toccarra Cash, TV Shows Starring Nneka Okafor, TV Shows Starring Phoebe Robinson, TV Shows Starring Moses Storm, ABC Signature Shows, TV Shows from United States, English Language, Female Writer, Female Producer, Black Writer, Black Producer, Black Lead Cast, Black Director
 

 

Awards & Nominations
NA
 

Synopsis (Warning: Spoilers!)

Links
 

(Click to Visit)
 

(Click to Visit)
 
Wikipedia: Go to Wiki
Rotten Tomatoes: Go to RT

Streaming Platforms
Disney, ABC
 
Stream Now

(Click to Watch)

 

Coming soon…
 

 
Production Company(ies)
Horizon Pictures,
 
Distributor
Columbia Pictures, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp., Image Entertainment Inc.
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
Genoa, Nevada, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
R
 
Year of Release
1990
 

 
Genre(s)
Horror
 
Keyword(s)
starring James Caan, Kathy Bates, Frances Sternhagen, Richard Farnsworth, Lauren Bacall, Graham Jarvis, directed by Rob Reiner, written by William Goldman, horror, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Derek Malcolm, Desmond Ryan, Dave Kehr, Richard Schickel, Philip Thomas, Variety Staff, Quentin Crisp, Brian Eggert, Kristy Strouse, Matt Brunson, Howard Gorman, Chris Salce, R rating, Stephen King adaptation, Columbia Pictures, MGM/UA Home Entertainment Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Distributing Corp., Image Entertainment Inc., Dolby, Surround
 

Cast & Crew

James Caan

Kathy Bates

Frances Sternhagen

Richard Farnsworth

Lauren Bacall

Paul Sheldon

Annie Wilkes

Virginia McCain

J.T. McCain

Marcia Sindell

James Caan – Paul Sheldon
Kathy Bates – Annie Wilkes
Frances Sternhagen – Virginia McCain
Richard Farnsworth – J.T. McCain
Lauren Bacall – Marcia Sindell
Graham Jarvis – Libby

 

Rob Reiner

William Goldman

Rob Reiner

Andrew Scheinman

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Rob Reiner
 
Writer(s)
William Goldman
 
Producer(s)
Rob Reiner, Andrew Scheinman

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
5 wins & 10 nominations total
 
Academy Awards
Oscar Winners
 

Top Reviews

Derek Malcolm

Desmond Ryan

Dave Kehr

Richard Schickel

Philip Thomas

Guardian

Philadelphia Inquirer

Chicago Tribune

TIME Magazine

Empire Magazine

MISERY
  All Critics (73) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (66) | Rotten (7)
  The film hasn’t any depth to speak of, but is consistently shrewd enough not to go totally obvious ways. And the audacity in casting Kathy Bates as the dotty fan pays considerable dividends.
 
  May 9, 2017
 
  Derek Malcolm
  Guardian
  TOP CRITIC
  Bates turns Wilkes into the nastiest nurse to reach the screen since Louise Fletcher tormented Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
 
  August 12, 2013 | Rating: 3/4
 
  Desmond Ryan
  Philadelphia Inquirer
  TOP CRITIC
  Like any good work of popular culture, Rob Reiner’s film of Stephen King’s best-selling book Misery functions on more than one level.
 
  August 12, 2013 | Rating: 3/4
 
  Dave Kehr
  Chicago Tribune
  TOP CRITIC
  Popular moviemaking — elegantly economical, artlessly artful — doesn’t get much better than this.
 
  October 14, 2008
 
  Richard Schickel
  TIME Magazine
  TOP CRITIC
  From start to harrowing finish, it is blissfully apparent that Rob Reiner can indeed turn his hand to virtually anything.
 
  September 25, 2007 | Rating: 4/5
 
  Philip Thomas
  Empire Magazine
  TOP CRITIC
  Bates has a field day with her role, creating a quirky, memorable object of hate.
 
  September 25, 2007
 
  Variety Staff
  Variety
  TOP CRITIC
  The director of this film is Mr. Reiner, who was once Archie Bunker’s son-in-law, but whom we must now take seriously. In this picture, he manages to juggle the elements of surprise and suspense with remarkable dexterity.
 
  April 6, 2022
 
  Quentin Crisp
  Christopher Street
  Reiner’s ambitions to make a Hitchcockian thriller prevail and, on those terms, the film performs splendidly, ratcheting the suspense in scene after scene.
 
  February 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
 
  Brian Eggert
  Deep Focus Review
  Expertly performed, Misery works because it hits the gas, let’s go of the wheel, and sees what happens. It’s engaging, taut, and miserable…in all the right ways.
 
  October 14, 2021
 
  Kristy Strouse
  Wonderfully Weird and Horrifying
  Rob Reiner’s direction and William Goldman’s script are serviceable, but what really puts Misery over the top are the performances.
 
  September 18, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
 
  Matt Brunson
  Film Frenzy
  Casting Kathy Bates as Annie was certainly a culminating factor in the film’s success but kudos must also go to William Goldman for coming up with a screenplay that just never lets up…
 
  June 10, 2021
 
  Howard Gorman
  NME
  It is hard to come by psychological thrillers like this nowadays – a film that makes you feel the anxiety and horror that the character is facing.
 
  May 11, 2021 | Rating: 9/10
 
  Chris Salce
  Film Threat…

 

Plot
Best-selling novelist Paul Sheldon is on his way home from his Colorado hideaway after completing his latest book, when he crashes his car in a freak blizzard. Paul is critically injured, but is rescued by former nurse Annie Wilkes, Paul’s “number one fan”, who takes Paul back to her remote house in the mountains (without bothering to tell anybody). Unfortunately for Paul, Annie is also a headcase. When she discovers that Paul has killed off the heroine in her favorite novels, her reaction leaves Paul shattered (literally)…
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Kathy Bates’ performance as Annie Wilkes is considered one of the best on-screen female villains in a horror movie of all time.
 

 
Rob-Reiner.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
The Mirisch Corporation,
 
Distributor
Zeitgeist Films
 
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Limited)
 
Filming Location(s)
671 Lincoln Avenue, Winnetka, Illinois, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
PG
 
Year of Release
1990
 

 
Genre(s)
Documentary
 
Keyword(s)
Acasa, My Home, documentary, Romanian, family, freedom, society, Radu Ciorniciuc, directed by, Erkko Lyytinen, produced by, Monica Lazurean-Gorgan, Alina David, Hanka Kastelicová, executive producer, box office performance, budget, reviewed by, Richard Lawson, Vanity Fair, Andrew Pulver, Guardian, Selome Hailu, Austin Chronicle, Peter Rainer, FilmWeek, Claudia Puig, Los Angeles Times, Robert Abele, Battle Royale With Cheese, Kathy Fennessy, Video Librarian Magazine, Sarah Boslaugh, TheArtsStl, Ron Wilkinson, It’s Just Movies, Jack Hawkins, HeyUGuys, MPAA rating, Zeitgeist Films, starring, none
 

Cast & Crew

Radu Ciorniciuc

Erkko Lyytinen

Monica Lazurean-Gorgan

Alina David

Hanka Kastelicová

Radu Ciorniciuc

Erkko Lyytinen

Monica Lazurean-Gorgan

Alina David

Hanka Kastelicová

Radu Ciorniciuc – Director
Erkko Lyytinen – Producer
Monica Lazurean-Gorgan – Producer
Alina David – Producer
Hanka Kastelicová – Executive Producer
Radu Ciorniciuc – Executive Producer

 

Radu Ciorniciuc

NA

Erkko Lyytinen

Monica Lazurean-Gorgan

Alina David

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Radu Ciorniciuc
 
Writer(s)
NA
 
Producer(s)
Erkko Lyytinen, Monica Lazurean-Gorgan, Alina David

 

Film Festivals
Sundance
 
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 2 Oscars
11 wins & 6 nominations total
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Richard Lawson

Andrew Pulver

Selome Hailu

Peter Rainer

Claudia Puig

Vanity Fair

Guardian

Austin Chronicle

FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)

Los Angeles Times

ACASA, MY HOME
 All Critics (40) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (40)
 Acasa, My Home is an essential document of a nation ever in flux, and of what individual lives are disrupted and cast aside in the churn of progress.
 
 December 3, 2021
 
 Richard Lawson
 Vanity Fair
 TOP CRITIC
 Ciorniciuc and his co-writer Lina Vdovîi, in allowing events to unfold slowly in front of the camera, have created a beautifully measured portrait of an amazingly resonant topic.
 
 June 22, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Andrew Pulver
 Guardian
 TOP CRITIC
 Rică, like Acasă, My Home itself, meditates on how we define a life worth choosing.
 
 January 22, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
 
 Selome Hailu
 Austin Chronicle
 TOP CRITIC
 It’s a remarkable piece of documentary access.
 
 January 16, 2021
 
 Peter Rainer
 FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
 TOP CRITIC
 It’s a very empathetic portrait, but it also shows the complexity of this family… I think it’s most poignant when it focuses on the children.
 
 January 16, 2021
 
 Claudia Puig
 FilmWeek (KPCC – NPR Los Angeles)
 TOP CRITIC
 Needless to say, the point of Ciorniciuc’s immersive, lively, warm and heartbreaking film is not to see the Enaches in the park as total paradise and their stab at urban living as some terrible detour into restrictiveness.
 
 January 16, 2021
 
 Robert Abele
 Los Angeles Times
 TOP CRITIC
 This is observational filmmaking at its finest, so proximate to these people and their story that for moments I forgot I was watching a documentary…
 
 December 3, 2021
 
 Ryan Lambert
 Battle Royale With Cheese
 Most of this unfolds so cinematically it’s easy to forget you’re watching a documentary until Prince Charles, a conservation proponent, shows up to attend the park’s groundbreaking.
 
 July 7, 2021 | Rating: 3/4
 
 Kathy Fennessy
 Video Librarian Magazine
 Acasa, My Home is a film that shows far more than it tells, but since Ciorniciuc shoots it from the perspective of the Enache family, it’s natural for the viewer to take their side.
 
 April 7, 2021 | Rating: 7/10
 
 Sarah Boslaugh
 TheArtsStl
 Strong camera work follows a family from paradise to the promise, as yet unfulfilled, of urban upward mobility.
 
 February 8, 2021 | Rating: 8/10
 
 Ron Wilkinson
 It’s Just Movies
 Ciorniciuc extractsa seamless narrative with his compelling cinema verite style, yet he fails to fully explore the toxic patriarch at the story’s heart.
 
 January 26, 2021 | Rating: 3/5
 
 Jack Hawkins
 HeyUGuys
 At only 86 minutes, Ciorniciuc and editor Andrei Gorgan rarely allow their story to lag, although it’s lack of any big climaxes mean broader appeal like that attained by Collective is harder to figure.
 
 January 25, 2021
 
 Glenn Dunks
 The Film Experience…

 

Plot
It is Christmas time and the McCallister family is preparing for a vacation in Paris, France. But the youngest in the family, Kevin (Macaulay Culkin), got into a scuffle with his older brother Buzz (Devin Ratray) and was sent to his room, which is on the third floor of his house. Then, the next morning, while the rest of the family was in a rush to make it to the airport on time, they completely forgot about Kevin, who now has the house all to himself. Being home alone was fun for Kevin, having a pizza all to himself, jumping on his parents’ bed, and making a mess. Then, Kevin discovers about two burglars, Harry (Joe Pesci) and Marv (Daniel Stern), about to rob his house on Christmas Eve. Kevin acts quickly by wiring his own house with makeshift booby traps to stop the burglars and to bring them to justice.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Fresh Kernels doesn’t provide any goofy or funny comments about the film Acasa, My Home.
 

 
Radu-Ciorniciuc.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Tokuma Japan Communications, Studio Ghibli, Nibariki
 
Distributor
Miramax Films
 
Release Type

 
Filming Location(s)
Goldcrest Elstree Studios, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK
 
MPAA / Certificate
X
 
Year of Release
1990
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Michael Gambon, Helen Mirren, Alan Howard, Tim Roth, Ciarán Hinds, Richard Bohringer, Richard Borst, directed by Peter Greenaway, written by Peter Greenaway, produced by Kees Kasander, drama, R rating, box office gross $7.0M, reviewed by Gene Siskel, Nigel Andrews, Kevin Thomas, Richard Corliss, John Hartl, Peter Travers, Alan Jones, Cole Smithey, Emanuel Levy, Rob Nelson, Michael Gambon as Albert Spica, Helen Mirren as Georgina Spica, Alan Howard as Michael, Tim Roth as Mitchel, Ciarán Hinds as Cory, Richard Bohringer as Richard Borst, revenge, adultery, cannibalism, French restaurant, London, bad manners, affair, secret, revenge plot, powerful film, audacious, masterpiece, visually brilliant, intense, shocking, confrontational, adult film, sophisticated, designer dream, sick, sexy, rude, lavishly offensive, highly stylized, elegant, Jacobean revenge tale, raw language, intelligent sensation, hard digestion, magnificent score, cinematography, art direction, costume design, game of colors, solid black comedy, light British humor, taboo, philosophy, gastronomy, distasteful subject, symbols, irritating characters, mature audience
 

Cast & Crew

Richard Bohringer

Richard Borst

Michael Gambon

Dame Helen Mirren

Alan Howard

Richard Borst

Albert Spica

Georgina Spica

Michael

Mitchel

Richard Bohringer – Richard Borst
Michael Gambon – Albert Spica
Dame Helen Mirren – Georgina Spica
Alan Howard – Michael
Tim Roth – Mitchel
Ciarán Hinds – Cory

 

Peter Greenaway

NA

Kees Kasander

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Peter Greenaway
 
Writer(s)
NA
 
Producer(s)
Kees Kasander

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
7 wins & 11 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Gene Siskel

Nigel Andrews

Kevin Thomas

Richard Corliss

John Hartl

Chicago Tribune

Financial Times

Los Angeles Times

TIME Magazine

Seattle Times

THE COOK, THE THIEF, HIS WIFE AND HER LOVER
  All Critics (48) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (7)
  A bold, strident, purposefully aggressive film.
 
  April 21, 2020 | Rating: 3/4
 
  Gene Siskel
  Chicago Tribune
  TOP CRITIC
  Greenaway’s new film is — let us waste no time — a masterpiece.
 
  April 21, 2020
 
  Nigel Andrews
  Financial Times
  TOP CRITIC
  The film doesn’t even justify itself on intellectual grounds. It is pointless self-indulgence, more likely to bore sophisticated audiences than shock or titillate them.
 
  April 21, 2020
 
  Kevin Thomas
  Los Angeles Times
  TOP CRITIC
  Greenaway — inspired by Jacobean revenge plays and Dutch masters’ paintings — stuffs the viewer with ripe images and raw language. He tests your appetite for intelligent sensation. For many it may be a daunting test, but it is worth taking.
 
  April 21, 2020
 
  Richard Corliss
  TIME Magazine
  TOP CRITIC
  This is a shocking, confrontational film that is intended to disturb. It is also an adult film in the best sense.
 
  April 21, 2020 | Rating: 4/4
 
  John Hartl
  Seattle Times
  TOP CRITIC
  Gambon is stupendous, a roaring hound from hell. And Mirren is his match in a performance of mounting fervor.
 
  April 21, 2020
 
  Peter Travers
  Rolling Stone
  TOP CRITIC
  Greenaway’s stunning “designer dream” is sick, sexy and rude in about equal provocative proportions and totally unforgettable.
 
  April 21, 2020 | Rating: 4/5
 
  Alan Jones
  Radio Times
  [VIDEO ESSAY] … a masterpiece of British cinema built on several hundred years of literary tradition. The film must be viewed more than once to begin to apprehend its strong and subtle layers of rope-thick satire.
 
  August 13, 2011 | Rating: A
 
  Cole Smithey
  ColeSmithey.com
  Take it or leave it: Greeanway’s contemporary Jacobean drama, about greed, adultery and cannibalism, is brutal, provocative and visually brilliant.
 
  April 23, 2011 | Rating: B+
 
  Emanuel Levy
  EmanuelLevy.Com
  Still the most lavishly offensive of Greenaway’s films.
 
  September 1, 2009
 
  Rob Nelson
  City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
  Highly stylized and elegant Jacobean revenge tale over adultery and jealousy that rolls against the taste buds like a mouth full of hot pepper.
 
  October 15, 2007 | Rating: B-
 
  Dennis Schwartz
  Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews
  March 9, 2006 | Rating: 0/5
 
  Jake Euker
  F5 (Wichita, KS)…

 

Plot
The wife of a barbaric crime boss engages in a secretive romance with a gentle bookseller between meals at her husband’s restaurant. Food, colour coding, sex, murder, torture, and cannibalism are the exotic fare in this beautifully filmed, but brutally uncompromising modern fable.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Michael Gambon delivers a “stupendous” performance as the villainous Albert Spica.
 

 
Peter-Greenaway.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Paramount Pictures, Alfran Productions,
 
Distributor
Universal Pictures
 
Release Type

 
Filming Location(s)
Stuyvesant Street, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
R
 
Year of Release
1989
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Danny Aiello, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Richard Edson, Giancarlo Esposito, Spike Lee, directed by Spike Lee, written by Spike Lee, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, Peter Bradshaw, Nigel Andrews, Kambole Campbell, Robert Osborne, Terrence Rafferty, Rene Jordan, Josh Parham, Brian Eggert, Toussaint Egan, Allison Rose, Peter Canavese, R rating, Italian-American, pizzeria, racism, Brooklyn, Buggin’ Out, Wall of Fame, black actors, tension, cultural introspection, social issue, racial tension, urban melting pot, hip-hop score, sociopolitical commentary, Spike Lee’s masterpiece
 

Cast & Crew

Danny Aiello

Ossie Davis

Ruby Dee

Richard Edson

Giancarlo Esposito

Sal

Da Mayor

Mother Sister

Vito

Buggin Out

Danny Aiello – Sal
Ossie Davis – Da Mayor
Ruby Dee – Mother Sister
Richard Edson – Vito
Giancarlo Esposito – Buggin Out
Spike Lee – Mookie

 

Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Spike Lee
 
Writer(s)
Spike Lee
 
Producer(s)
Spike Lee

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 2 Oscars
21 wins & 17 nominations total
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Geoffrey Nowell-Smith

Peter Bradshaw

Nigel Andrews

Kambole Campbell

Robert Osborne

Sight & Sound

Guardian

Financial Times

Little White Lies

Hollywood Reporter

DO THE RIGHT THING
  All Critics (101) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (93) | Rotten (8)
  For all its apparent roughness, Do the Right Thing is aesthetically very sophisticated, particularly in the first half. But at the end it collapses both aesthetically and politically.
 
  January 16, 2020
 
  Geoffrey Nowell-Smith
  Sight & Sound
  TOP CRITIC
  White people are at war with black people, who are in turn at war with Latinos, but Lee extends to each faction a vibrant pop-culture identity.
 
  August 2, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
 
  Peter Bradshaw
  Guardian
  TOP CRITIC
  The film-making technique is that of an expert sharpshooter: finding and targeting the enemies of freedom and brotherhood; in between, perforating expectation with witty asides and scripted satire set pieces.
 
  July 31, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
 
  Nigel Andrews
  Financial Times
  TOP CRITIC
  Lee’s oft-maligned scattershot style of storytelling works to perfection here, creating irreplaceable parts of a neighbourhood collage that feels truly alive, with all the messiness that entails.
 
  July 30, 2019 | Rating: 5/5
 
  Kambole Campbell
  Little White Lies
  TOP CRITIC
  Any way you judge it, Thing reaffirms Lee’s position as a filmmaker with audacity, courage and ideas.
 
  July 1, 2019
 
  Robert Osborne
  Hollywood Reporter
  TOP CRITIC
  [You] need to see it for yourself. It’s a very unusual movie experience — two hours of bombardment with New York-style stimuli.
 
  September 6, 2018
 
  Terrence Rafferty
  New Yorker
  TOP CRITIC
  Despite its supposed multiplicity of messages, Do The Right Thing only has three: first, Spike Lee, second, Spike lee, and third, Spike Lee.
  [Full review in Spanish]
 
  June 10, 2022
 
  Rene Jordan
  El Nuevo Herald (Miami)
  There is a reason this film has earned its rightful place as one of cinema’s greatest endeavors, and there is nothing but respect and admiration for Spike Lee’s masterpiece.
 
  May 25, 2022 | Rating: 10/10
 
  Josh Parham
  Next Best Picture
  Do the Right Thing endures as an essential work of cultural introspection.
 
  February 14, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
 
  Brian Eggert
  Deep Focus Review
  Do The Right Thing is unquestionably not only one of the greatest films the director has ever produced, but one of the most essential entries in the canon of American cinema.
 
  October 22, 2021
 
  Toussaint Egan
  Polygon
  Spike Lee, as a writer and director, speaks to and for a segment of the population.
 
  February 23, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
 
  Allison Rose
  FlickDirect
  Spike Lee’s magnum opus — a Stanley Kramer film on steroids. Easily on the best social issue films ever made. (4K HD Blu-ray review).
 
  February 16, 2021 | Rating: 4/4
 
  Peter Canavese
  Celluloid Dreams…

 

Plot
This film looks at life in the Bedford-Stuyvesant district of Brooklyn on a hot summer Sunday. As he does everyday, Sal Fragione opens the pizza parlor he’s owned for 25 years. The neighborhood has changed considerably in the time he’s been there and is now composed primarily of African-Americans and Hispanics. His son Pino hates it there and would like nothing better than to relocate the eatery to their own neighborhood. For Sal however, the restaurant represents something that is part of his life and sees it as a part of the community. What begins as a simple complaint by one of his customers, Buggin Out – who wonders why he has only pictures of famous Italian-Americans on the wall when most of his customers are black – eventually disintegrates into violence as frustration seemingly brings out the worst in everyone.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Giancarlo Esposito plays the character Buggin’ Out in Do the Right Thing.
 

 
Spike-Lee.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
Films,onor Vera Films,
 
Distributor
Buena Vista Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, Touchstone Home Video
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
St. Andrew’s School – 350 Noxontown Road, Middletown, Delaware, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
PG
 
Year of Release
1989
 

 
Genre(s)
Drama
 
Keyword(s)
starring Robin Williams, starring Robert Sean Leonard, starring Ethan Hawke, directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, drama, box office success, high school, teacher, unorthodox teaching methods, inspiration, coming of age, poetry, literature, conformity, rebellion, individuality, pressure, expectations, relationships, family, friends, society, tradition, passion, dreams, seize the day, carpe diem, Academy Award winner, PG rating, Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas, reviewed by Gene Siskel, reviewed by Richard Schickel, reviewed by Angie Errigo, reviewed by Kurt Jacobsen, reviewed by Odie Henderson, produced by Buena Vista Pictures, produced by Touchstone Pictures, produced by Touchstone Home Video, $94.5M gross, 2h 8m runtime, surround sound, magnetic stereo 6 track, Dolby, flat aspect ratio, John Keating, Neil Perry, Todd Anderson, Knox Overstreet, Charlie Dalton, Richard Cameron
 

Cast & Crew

Robin Williams

Robert Sean Leonard

Ethan Hawke

Josh Charles

Gale Hansen

John Keating

Neil Perry

Todd Anderson

Knox Overstreet

Charlie Dalton

Robin Williams – John Keating
Robert Sean Leonard – Neil Perry
Ethan Hawke – Todd Anderson
Josh Charles – Knox Overstreet
Gale Hansen – Charlie Dalton
Dylan Kussman – Richard Cameron

 

Peter Weir

Tom Schulman

Steven Haft

Paul Junger Witt

Tony Thomas

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Peter Weir
 
Writer(s)
Tom Schulman
 
Producer(s)
Steven Haft, Paul Junger Witt, Tony Thomas

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
Won 1 Oscar
20 wins & 19 nominations total
 
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Winners, Oscar Winners
 

Top Reviews

Kurt Jacobsen

Gene Siskel

Hank Gallo

Odie Henderson

Angie Errigo

Chicago Reader

Chicago Tribune

New York Daily News

Empire Magazine

TIME Magazine

DEAD POETS SOCIETY
  All Critics (61) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (50) | Rotten (11)
  We never are privy to Keatings’s personal life, nor do we quite grasp why such a talented individual is devoted to pedagogy.
 
  May 11, 2022 | Rating: 1/4
 
  Kurt Jacobsen
  Chicago Reader
  TOP CRITIC
  A refreshing if obvious drama.
 
  August 23, 2017 | Rating: 3/4
 
  Gene Siskel
  Chicago Tribune
  TOP CRITIC
  On the surface Robin Williams appears to be giving his standard performance as Prof. Keating – witty, sincere and lovable. But there’s much more here.
 
  June 1, 2016 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
  Hank Gallo
  New York Daily News
  TOP CRITIC
  Dead Poets Society purports to be about the bravery of following one’s own path. This is a bright, shining lie, one the film is ballsy enough to tell to your face.
 
  June 4, 2014
 
  Odie Henderson
  House Next Door
  TOP CRITIC
  Beautifully directed and with an Oscar-winning story.
 
  August 24, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
 
  Angie Errigo
  Empire Magazine
  TOP CRITIC
  Williams, who has comparatively little screen time, has come to act, not to cut comic riffs, and he does so with forceful, ultimately compelling, simplicity.
 
  August 24, 2010
 
  Richard Schickel
  TIME Magazine
  TOP CRITIC
  This excellent film turns a refrain into an axiom. [Full review in Spanish}
 
  July 1, 2022
 
  Rene Jordan
  El Nuevo Herald (Miami)
  I’d originally found it inspiring in 1989 but upon reviewing DPS in 2021, I’ve come to see it as the poster child (or movie poster) for the insidious, creeping way Hollywood helped sneak communism, Trojan-horse-wise, into America via the movies.
 
  September 9, 2021 | Rating: 3.5/5
 
  Mark Jackson
  Epoch Times
  Robin Williams may have been famous because of his comedy work but his non-comedy role in Dead Poets Society is one of his best performances.
 
  August 11, 2021
 
  Danielle Solzman
  Solzy at the Movies
  I can’t help but melt underneath this movie: it chisels away the cynic and gets at the sap.
 
  August 18, 2014 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
  Josh Larsen
  LarsenOnFilm
  It’s not so easy to dismiss Dead Poets Society. For all its faults, it still has as much power as it ever did.
 
  January 20, 2012
 
  Jeffrey M. Anderson
  Combustible Celluloid
  Williams keeps a stiff upper lip, showing a more sedate and sensitive side, and the Oscar-winning screenplay provides a strong backbone.
 
  January 9, 2012 | Rating: 7/10
 
  James Plath
  Movie Metropolis…

 

Plot
Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His roommate, Neil Perry, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each does so in his own way, and is changed for life.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
Robin Williams delivers a “charismatic and heartfelt performance” in Dead Poets Society, according to one critic review on Fresh Kernels.
 

 
Peter-Weir.jpg

 
Production Company(ies)
First Thought Films,
 
Distributor
20th Century Fox
 
Release Type
Theatrical
 
Filming Location(s)
Seattle, Washington, USA
 
MPAA / Certificate
PG-13
 
Year of Release
1989
 

 
Genre(s)
Romance
 
Keyword(s)
starring John Cusack, Ione Skye, John Mahoney, Lili Taylor, Amy Brooks, Pamela Adlon, Eric Stoltz, Jeremy Piven, Lois Chiles, Bebe Neuwirth, Joan Cusack, Chynna Phillips, Loren Dean, Jason Gould, Philip Baker Hall, Cameron Crowe, Polly Platt, written by Cameron Crowe, directed by Cameron Crowe, romance, PG-13, box office gross, $20.0M, reviewed by Ryan Fujitani, Kirk Honeycutt, Bill Weber, Variety Staff, Mark Salisbury, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Mike Massie, Rachel Wagner, David Baron, Josh Larsen, Felix Vasquez Jr., Kevin Carr, 80s movie, high school, first love, John Cusack icon, left-of-center types, unattainable beauty, straight-A student, possessive father, power of love, eternal optimist, critically acclaimed, heartfelt, definitive Generation X movie, sound mix, surround, Dolby SR, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo, aspect ratio, flat (1.85:1), distributor, 20th Century Fox, streaming release date, Mar 5, 2002, theatrical release date, Apr 14, 1989 Wide
 

Cast & Crew

John Cusack

Ione Skye

John Mahoney

Lili Taylor

Amy Brooks

Lloyd Dobler

Diane Court

James Court

Corey Flood

D.C.

John Cusack – Lloyd Dobler
Ione Skye – Diane Court
John Mahoney – James Court
Lili Taylor – Corey Flood
Amy Brooks – D.C.
Pamela Adlon – Rebecca

 

Cameron Crowe

Cameron Crowe

Polly Platt

Director

Writer

Producer

Producer

Producer

Director(s)
Cameron Crowe
 
Writer(s)
Cameron Crowe
 
Producer(s)
Polly Platt

 

Film Festivals

 
Awards & Nominations
1 win & 3 nominations
 
Academy Awards

Top Reviews

Ryan Fujitani

Kirk Honeycutt

Bill Weber

Variety Staff

Mark Salisbury

Hollywood Reporter

Slant Magazine

Variety

Empire Magazine

Chicago Reader

SAY ANYTHING…
  All Critics (47) | Top Critics (11) | Fresh (46) | Rotten (1)
  Test
 
  December 17, 2021
 
  Ryan Fujitani
  Ryan’s Test Source
  TOP CRITIC
  Say Anything is an easy film to like.
 
  April 14, 2017
 
  Kirk Honeycutt
  Hollywood Reporter
  TOP CRITIC
  Say Anything was a singularly three-dimensional teen romance after a decade of broad gags and breakfast-club stereotypes in John Hughesland.
 
  November 19, 2009 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
  Bill Weber
  Slant Magazine
  TOP CRITIC
  Cusack and Skye’s relationship develops nicely and believably, but Crowe has not written an entirely convincing character for the latter to play.
 
  July 17, 2007
 
  Variety Staff
  Variety
  TOP CRITIC
  Rewarding if slightly off-beat, and genuinely funny.
 
  July 17, 2007 | Rating: 4/5
 
  Mark Salisbury
  Empire Magazine
  TOP CRITIC
  At last, a teenage love story with real characters instead of cliches, poses, and attitudes.
 
  July 17, 2007
 
  Jonathan Rosenbaum
  Chicago Reader
  TOP CRITIC
  Even though there are some unexpected leaps in the plot, the emotional genuineness wins out.
 
  September 7, 2020 | Rating: 8/10
 
  Mike Massie
  Gone With The Twins
  A nuanced and masterfully written script
 
  June 25, 2019 | Rating: 9/10
 
  Rachel Wagner
  Rachel’s Reviews (YouTube)
  What makes Crowe’s film worth seeing…is the writer’s care in developing characters and situations of infinitely greater credibility than those which litter 99 percent of today’s adolescent screen romances.
 
  May 30, 2019 | Rating: 3/4
 
  David Baron
  Times-Picayune
  Cameron Crowe’s graduation-speech homilies are given an effervescent sincerity by John Cusack.
 
  June 3, 2015 | Rating: 3.5/4
 
  Josh Larsen
  LarsenOnFilm
  Cameron Crowe creates a beautiful film filled with uncertainties and paints romance as horrifying, but an experience that’s also very much worth it.
 
  February 15, 2014
 
  Felix Vasquez Jr.
  Cinema Crazed
  This is an iconic role for John Cusack and easily one of the movies that made him such a respectable actor today.
 
  June 27, 2011 | Rating: 2/5
 
  Kevin Carr
  7M Pictures…

 

Plot
High school senior Lloyd Dobler wants nothing more than to go out with beautiful and intelligent Diane Court. Lloyd attempts to win her heart over the objections of her over-protective father before Diane leaves for a scholarship in England.
 
Trivia

 
Goofs / Tidbits
No goofy or funny or odd comments were found on Fresh Kernels about the film Say Anything…
 

 
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