The Witches Of Eastwick (1987)

It's Friday and hopefully everyone is ready for the long weekend because it's Memorial Day weekend. So for today, I decided to breakout the VCR (Videocassette Recorder) for old times sake and I decided to check out one of my recent acquisitions in the 1987 film The Witches Of Eastwick which was directed by George Miller (Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior) and based on the novel by John Updike. The film stars Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) as Jane Spofford, Cher (Mask) as Alexandra Medford, and Michelle Pfeiffer (Murder On The Orient Express) as Sukie Ridgemont, three friends who are either widowed or their husbands left them and they are feeling pretty lonely especially with the prospects in the small New England town they live in. One night, they wish for the perfect man (or at least what their version is), but what they get might be more than they bargained for when a mysterious man shows up the next day. The film also stars Jack Nicholson (The Little Shop Of Horrors) as Daryl Van Horn, Richard Jenkins (Fun With Dick and Jane) as Clyde Alden, Veronica Cartwright (Flight Of The Navigator) as Felicia Alden, Carel Struycken (The Addams Family) as Fidel, Helen Lloyd Breed (Mickey Blue Eyes) as Mrs. Biddle, and Keith Jochim (A Pleasure Doing Business) as Walter Neff.

I have a couple of things that I want to say about this film and I am going to start this paragraph with them. The first thing is that before this film, the only other film that I ever found Michelle Pfeiffer attractive in was Batman Returns when she played the Catwoman. I take back all assumptions because she was an absolute fox in this film and one of the best things about the movie besides Cher who was proving once again that she had acting chops. The second thing is that in Jack Nicholson do we trust because if Jack can't do it then no one can! Jack Nicholson once again proved in this film why he is one of the G.O.A.T.'s of Hollywood with his hellraising performance as the devilish Daryl Van Horn. He had some amazing dialogue in the film and he absolutely nailed it with his sinister wit and charm. Seeing Jack Nicholson perform in this film is the reason I never became an actor because I couldn't pull off that performance. The part of the film when he becomes beats like just brought chills to my spine and gave me goosebumps because it reminded me of how great he was in The Shining and it makes me want to see the film Wolf just to see how he does in that film. Some of the stuff in the film was a little zany, but it worked with the subject matter at hand. The cinematography in the film was excellent and not enough credit goes to Richard Jenkins and Veronica Cartwright who put on one hell of a performance as well. This was a very fun film to watch which is why I am giving the movie an A- for a final grade.

Flight Of The Navigator (1986)

Sometimes when you are in the mood for something, you just have to go with your gut and you go with it. That is kind of what happened to me today when I was trying to decide what to watch and so I turned to good ol' Walt Disney and I checked out 1986's Flight Of The Navigator which was directed by Randal Kleiser (Honey, I Blew Up The Kid). The film stars Joey Cramer (The Clan of the Cave Bear) as 12 year old David Freeman, a regular kid who is about to have his world turned upside down. You see, one night David is tasked with bringing back his little brother back home, but David has an accident and is knocked out. The only problem is that when he wakes up, it's eight years into the future and he hasn't aged at all. Everyone is stunned when David arrives at home and his issue might have to do with a wisecracking alien ship. The film also stars Paul Reubens (Pee Wee's Playhouse) as Max, Cliff De Young (The Craft) as Bill Freeman, Veronica Cartwright (Invasion Of The Body Snatchers) as Helen Freeman, Sarah Jessica Parker (Sex In The City) as Carolyn McAdams, Howard Hesseman (Head Of The Class) as Dr. Louis Faraday, Robert Small (Spring Break) as Troy, Raymond Forchion (Point Break) as Detective Banks, Albie Whitaker as 8 year old Jeff, and Matt Adler (Teen Wolf) as 16 year old Jeff.

The life of a child star is always a hard one it seems especially for some Disney stars and that goes for Joey Cramer who was convicted of robbing a bank in Canada. Nonetheless, he did a fantastic job in the film as this films version of E.T.'s Elliot. The real thing that gets me is that Pee Wee Herman was the voice of the alien technology in the film and the whole time I was like why is this guy copying Pee Wee Herman because his name is Paul Mall (that's how he was credited). After thinking about it, I was like that's definitely Paul Reuben and sure enough it was. If we were using he Disney Pixar formula, then Paul Reuben was the comedic relief in this film for sure and he was definitely my MVP. I definitely appreciated how they used real shows and real bands of the 80's during the film when Cramer's character was trying to figure it all out including the fact they introduced him to MTV. There was a lot of cheese in the film to go along with it, but this was an enjoyable 80's flick to watch especially in a time when tons of films just like it were coming out like Explorers or even D.A.R.Y.L. or maybe even *batteries not included. The film did kind of make NASA look incompeitent at times, but isn't that fun of these movies that kids seem to be more willing to take risks then adults and so that is where the adventure is. The spirit of being a kid and feeling alive rather than dragged down by bills and other adult stuff. The film is a lot of fun and you can check it out now on Disney Plus and with that being said, I am going to give it an B-/C+ (somewhere in there) for a final grade.