It’s difficult to explain “Streets of Fire” to anyone and make it sound coherent. Walter Hill’s action film has just about everything, and ends up creating one of the most vivid and exciting amalgams of genres and themes I’ve ever seen. “Streets of Fire” is a film you just have to sit down, shut up, and experience. It’s a post depression, mid-fifties, action, crime thriller and romance noir with a rock and roll and soul beat. See? I can’t sum this movie up in one whole sentence, and I’m not going to try to. I’m ashamed I took so many years getting around to watching “Streets of Fire,” but goddamn I’m very glad that I did.
Tag Archives: Musical
Bump in the Night: The Complete Series (DVD)
Rejoice “Bump in the Night” fans, Mill Creek has re-released the entire series of your beloved stop motion animated series on DVD. Every single episode is included in the new release, including the once rare episodes like “Night of the Living Bread” and “Twas the Night Before Bumpy.” Every single frame is included from every episode, so you can breathe easily, and pop in your DVD’s to celebrate one of the many misunderstood animated gems of the nineties.
An American Tail: Mystery of the Night Monster (2000)
After doing research online I learned that these clumsy sequels to “An American Tail” are actually intended to be in-betweenquels. “Fievel Goes West” is, as many fans have debated, the final film in the chronological timeline. That doesn’t make much sense since the character Tony is nowhere to be found in “Fievel Goes West,” and the Mousekewitz’s only have two children, rather than two and a half. In either case, it’s probably best not to think about it, and just accept these movies however you want to.
An American Tail: Treasure of Manhattan Island (1998)
The globe trotting Mousekewitz family find themselves now living in Manhattan again, their new home after New York, and the West apparently didn’t quite work out for them. This new movie is set directly after the short lived animated series on television, so this is kind of a new continuity rather than the one after “Fievel Goes West.” I assume to understand why the Mousekewitz’s are back in New York, you’d have to have seen the series, but the least they could have done was inject a few lines to help the audience catch up.
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (1991)
“Fievel Goes West” is a childhood favorite and a fitting end to the legacy of Jimmy Stewart. Not only does Stewart play an old dog who was once an old West hero, but Stewart was a man very fond of family friendly entertainment. “Fievel Goes West” is a film just as good as the original where the Mousekewitz family find themselves being exploited by a capitalist cat who wants to enslave the mouse community before eating them. Masquerading as a Southern mouse promising a new start in the old west town of Green River, the Mousekewitzes make another trek in to a new frontier after the crowded slums of New York didn’t quite work out for them.
An American Tail (1986)
Like a lot of Don Bluth’s films, “An American Tail” feels like a very personal animated film that tells a universal story about the immigration experience. It’s sad that “An American Tail” has gone somewhat pushed to the corner of the animated world over the years, since it’s such a touching movie and brilliant exploration of family and bonds. Fievel is one of the most likable and human protagonists of all time. He’s not heroic or overly courageous. He’s just a young mouse looking to make his way in the world and explore the vast open land that lies before him.
Alleluia! The Devil’s Carnival (2016)
I assume somewhere down the line we had to fill in the holes and explore how the battle between heaven and hell ensued. I’m just not sure we had to spend the majority of the sequel doing so. “Allelulia!” is mostly a misfire of a sequel to the raucous and wonderful “The Devil’s Carnival” that fills in the questions from the first film. In the duration of the follow-up, we get to discover how the war began, how the battle became personal for hell’s minions and heaven’s warriors, and there’s even the origin of one of the Devil’s Carnival’s most infamous minions who we see a great deal of in the original film.