"Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior" (1981)

Starring Mel Gibson, Bruce Spence and Kjell Nilsson
Written by Terry Hayes, George Miller and Brian Hannant
Directed by George Miller
Rated R — Violence, language, nudity
Running Time: 96 Minutes
Trailer

Years after the deaths of his wife and son, after civilization crumbled, Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) wanders the wasteland with only his dog as a companion, looking for food, water and juice for his modified police interceptor. When he happens across a gyrocopter pilot (Bruce Spence), he learns of a nearby refinery where the locals have more gas than they could possibly need.

But when they arrive, Max is dismayed to learn that the refinery is under siege by a war party led by Lord Humungus (Kjell Nilsson), whose gang had previously encountered Max. Humungus wants the gas, and promises to let the refinery residents go free if they give it to him. That seems unlikely.

Max, desperate for the gas, rescues one of the refiners from Humungus' men and enters the refinery, hoping to make a deal. But the refinery residents want more from Max than just the return of their dying friend. If Max wants gas, and if he wants to get out alive, he's going to have to help them escape Humungus' wrath.

"Godzilla" (1954)

Starring Akira Takarada, Momoko Kochi and Akihito Hirata
Written by Ishiro Honda and Takeo Murata
Directed by Ishiro Honda
Running Time: 96 Minutes
Trailer

Off the coast of Japan, fishing boats begin to go missing. Survivors are soon found - wounded, delirious, telling stories of a gigantic monster that attacked them. The fishing community of Odo Island is hit by what is first assumed to be a typhoon - but the survivors describe a massive creature stomping their homes.

The country's eminent scientist, Dr. Yamane (Takashi Shimura) heads an expedition back to Odo Island and makes startling discoveries: Gigantic footprints that are radioactive, and a living specimen of a trilobite, which should have gone extinct millions of years ago. As Yamane and his daughter Emiko (Momoko Kochi), along with her lover, a salvage ship captain named Ogata (Akira Takarada) investigate, Godzilla appears once more.

Soon enough, Japan is gripped by fear. What is this creature? Where did it come from? Most importantly: How can it be stopped? The answer may lie in the research of Emiko's fiance, Dr. Serizawa (Akihiko Hirata)... who doesn't yet know that Emiko is really in love with Ogata.

"Logan's Run" (1976)

Starring Michael York, Richard Jordan and Jenny Agutter
Written by David Z. Goodman
Directed by Michael Anderson

In the 23rd century, the remnants of humanity live in a great, domed city.  Everyone lives their life in total pursuit of pleasure until the age of 30, when they are called to Carousel, a strange and deadly ritual which promises that some will be reborn in Renewal.  Logan-5 (Michael York) is a Sandman, whose responsibility is to police the city and track down Runners, those who defy the rules and attempt to flee instead of going through Carousel.

One day, he meets Jessica-6 (Jenny Agutter), who has a strange pendant around her neck that Logan doesn't recognize.  He's attracted to her, and her to him, but she's frightened by the fact that he's a Sandman, and she leaves.  The next day, Logan is tasked with a secret mission: to contact Jenny and have her take him to Sanctuary, where it is believed runners who have escaped the Sandmen may be hiding.  Unfortunately, this mission puts him at odds with his partner and friend, Francis-7 (Richard Jordan) who hunts Logan and Jenny when they become Runners.  Also after them are Jenny's friends, who don't believe Logan is really running, and want him dead because he's a Sandman. 

"Die Hard" (1988)

Starring Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman and Reginald Veljohnson
Written by Steven E. De Souza and Jeb Stuart
Directed by John McTiernan

"Die Hard" is the best Christmas movie ever.  It has rightfully cemented itself as a modern classic, an action picture that changed the genre entirely, set the stage for three successful sequels and made a career for its star, Bruce Willis.  Filled to the gills with suspense, action, humor and lively, memorable characters, "Die Hard" is just an all-around awesome movie, the kind of summer blockbuster that moves beyond simple, disposable fun.

John McClane (Bruce Willis) is a New York detective visiting his estranged wife and kids in Los Angeles for the holidays.  Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) is now a high-powered executive whose job has taken its toll on their marriage, since John simply couldn't handle the fact that in order to further her career, she would uproot the entire family across country.  But with this visit, John hopes to patch things up and reunite with his family.  He's picked up at the airport by Argyle (Deveroux White) and driven to the Nakatomi building where Holly works.  The only people left in the building are the skeleton security staff and a bunch of employees having a Christmas party on the 30th floor, including Holly, her slimy associate Ellis (Hart Bochner) and her boss Joseph Takagi (James Shigeta). Not long after John and Holly's brief but tense reunion, the party is cut short by the arrival of a group of heavily-armed terrorists led by the classy, well-educated Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman).

"Young Frankenstein" (1974)

Starring Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman and Peter Boyle
Written by Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder
Directed by Mel Brooks

Mel Brooks is a damn genius.  As I get older, I find myself suffering from that same thing I told myself growing up that I never would: more and more I think the old stuff is better than the new stuff.  The other night as I was watching "Young Frankenstein" I came to a terrible realization: Someone in the room wanted to watch the flop-tacular "Grown Ups" rather than Brooks' comedy classic.  This saddens me, to no end.

I don't understand how this attitude exists.  Don't get me wrong, Adam Sandler has made some funny movies.  But really, not much that he's done can stand the test of time like the run of Brooks' films through the 70s and 80s.

"Young Frankenstein" stars Gene Wilder in the role of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein (Fron-ken-steen!), great grandson of the original Dr. Frankenstein.  After his grandfather dies, he leaves his fiance (Madeline Kahn) and travels to the family castle in Transylvania where he meets his assistants: Igor (eye-gor!) (Marty Feldman) and Inga (Teri Garr).  He also meets the mysterious Frau Blucher (Cloris Leachman) who seems to have had some kind of relationship with his grandfather.  Although Frankenstein rejects the ridiculous notions that his grandfather had created some sort of monster in a secret laboratory, he soon finds that the rumors were actually true.  Becoming obsessed, Frankenstein goes about attempting to recreate his father's experiments and breathe life into dead tissue.

"Forbidden Planet" (1956)

Starring Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis
Written by Cyril Hume
Directed by Fred M. Wilcox

"Forbidden Planet" is one of those sci-fi movies I've heard about for a long time but never got around to seeing, much like "The Day the Earth Stood Still."  Recently released on blu-ray, I rented it from Netflix and finally got down to seeing what the hubbub was all about.  I've known for a long time that "Forbidden Planet" heavily influenced "Star Trek," of which you should know by now I'm a huge fan.  I think I was a little unprepared for just how heavy that influence was, however.  "Star Trek" seems like a straight rip-off, to be perfectly frank.

Leslie Nielsen (!!) stars as Commander John J. Adams of the star cruiser C-57-D.  His ship is on a mission to investigate the planet Altair IV, where a research ship named Bellerophon disappeared some 20 years earlier.  Upon arriving at the planet, Adams and his crew are met by Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), the lone survivor of the Bellerophon expedition.  Adams and his first officer, Lt. Jerry Farman (Jack Kelly) and "Doc" Ostrow (Warren Stevens) meet with Dr. Morbius and discover that Morbius is not alone: he has constructed a magnificent robot named Robby, which is capable of incredible feats... and his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis) who has never seen a human besides her own father.

"King Kong" (1933)

Starring Fay Wray, Robert Armstrong and Bruce Cabot
Written by Ruth Rose and James Ashmore Creelman
Directed by Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack

Everyone's heard of King Kong.  The giant ape that climbs up a skyscraper in New York is pretty much a household name.  Since his first appearance in 1933, Kong has had a steady career in movies, cartoons and videogames, facing off against humans and other monsters alike.

But it all started as a take on the 'jungle picture' genre, going a little meta by shaping a story around the idea of a film crew going to make a jungle picture.  Film director Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) has hired a ship to take him to a mysterious island only described on a map he acquired in the orient where he believes he'll find the mysterious "Kong."  He doesn't know who or what Kong is, but he's determined to film it.  And because he believes more people will go see his film if it stars a beautiful woman, he manages to find Ann Darrow (Fay Wray).  Ann is poor, and Denham catches her stealing food to survive, but he recognizes her beauty and offers her the chance of a lifetime.

The two board the SS Venture where Ann meets and begins to fall for First Mate Jack Driscoll (Bruce Cabot).  Jack is stern, and not particularly fond of women, but even he begins to warm to Ann after a short time on the ship.  Soon, however, the Venture reaches Skull Island and encounters a society of natives that live there who worship Kong.  Unfortunately, the natives notice Ann and kidnap her under cover of night to sacrifice her to Kong.  Jack and Denham gather up the crew to go rescue her, and the adventure is on.

"Casablanca" (1942)

"Casablanca" (1942)
Starring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman and Paul Henreid
Written by Julius and Philip Epstein
Directed by Michael Curtiz

"I don't stick my neck out fer nobody... 'cept the hotties."

I can only imagine what it must have been like going to see a movie in the 1940s.  Without the ever-present glow of the television in American homes, only the squawky harsh sounds of the radio for electronic home entertainment... a night out at the cinema must have been a big deal.  Add to that the fact that the United States had just entered World War II, and it makes me wonder what seeing a movie like "Casablanca" might have been like.  I imagine that it might have been something like the blockbusters we see nowadays, only on a smaller scale.

Back then, movies weren't released simultaneously nationwide (let alone worldwide) like they are now.  Instead, they were rolled out slowly by location, sometimes taking months to be released in certain areas.  In the mid-1970s, "Jaws" would change that...

But in 1942, a film was released that would eventually become respected as one of the finest in history.  "Casablanca" stars two giants of Hollywood's golden era, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman as Rick and Ilsa, lovers torn apart by the politics they are so desperate to avoid in their lives.

Rick Blaine (Bogart) runs Rick's Cafe Americain in Casablanca, Morocco.  With the Nazis steamrolling across Europe, people hoping to escape their iron grip make their way on a long, expensive journey to Lisbon, last stop before boarding intercontinental trips to the United States.  On the way to Lisbon is Casablanca.  While maintaining an air of neutrality, Rick in fact uses his club as sort of a stop along this underground railroad, helping people get the money or papers they need to get to Lisbon.

One day, a detachment of Nazis led by Major Strasser (Conrad Veidt) arrives, searching for a man named Victor Laszlo - a leader of the European resistance movement against the Nazis.  It seems Laszlo escaped from a Nazi concentration camp and has made his way to Morocco.  Unfortunately, Casablanca is controlled by the Free French, and not the puppet Vichy government controlled by Germany.  In an effort to appease the Nazis, the local constable, Captain Renault (Claude Rains) will show Strasser courtesy and even do his best to keep Laszlo from escaping Casablanca, but he won't arrest him and hand him over to the Nazis.

Laszlo comes to Rick for help securing travel papers.  Although Renault would never grant him an exit visa, it seems that legitimate travel documents have been stolen from the Nazis, and are in Rick's possession.  All that needs be done is write the names on the papers, and whoever holds them has a free ticket out of Casablanca.  The one wrinkle in Laszlo's plan, unfortunately, is the sad history between Rick and Laszlo's wife, Ilsa (Bergman).

Ilsa broke Rick's heart years earlier in Paris, just before the Nazi invasion.  Now, Rick is a cynical shell of his former self, his eyes burning with a combination of hatred and desire for Ilsa.  As the Nazis close in, tensions in Casablanca begin to flare, and Rick finds his neutrality in all of this crumbling.  Does Ilsa still love him?  Does he still love her?  And what about Laszlo, who may be the key to freeing Europe from the tyranny of the Nazis?

"Casablanca" is a fine film, truly deserving of its status as a classic.  Memorable performances and a stirring storyline propel it beyond mere romantic junk.  The script is structured and staged much like a play, which the movie is based on.  In fact, with only a handful of locations and no real moving action, the whole thing could easily be put up on a theatre stage.  But with such an engrossing story, it's easy not to dwell on how simple this all seems at first glance.  Once the nuances of the performances start coming out, and once the story begins to unravel the history between Rick and Ilsa and the staggering emotional implications for the both of them, you'll forget about any problems like that.

This movie has left a lasting impression on pop culture.  A number of lines from "Casablanca" are oft-quoted (and misquoted - no one ever says, "Play it again, Sam" in this flick).  Rightly so.  This is just a great film.

Released not too long ago on blu-ray, it's also a great looking film, for one of its age.  Of course, it'll never look like it was shot recently, but the HD upgrade brings out a lot of excellent details like skin and costume textures, and wisps of smoke from all those cigarettes.  If you can view the movie this way, I highly recommend it.  There are a few questionable bits here and there where the black levels skew out, but for the most part, "Casablanca" just proves that even ancient classic films look great in HD.