Video Movie Guide 2002

From American Beauty to Zorro, this reference guide has more than 18,000 informative and fun reviews for everything from film classics and blockbusters to B-westerns, TV series and everything in between. It has a rating system, a cast index, a director index and a list of Academy Award winners.

A COEUR JOIE (HEAD OVER HEELS) T Sixties fluff about a woman torn between two men. Original title in its American release: Two Weeks in September. In French with English subtitles. 89m. DIR: Serge Bourguignon. CAST: Brigitte Bardot, Laurent Terzieff. 1967

A LA MODE HHH A French teenager (Ken Hegelin) becomes apprenticed to an eccentric Jewish tailor and dreams of success in the world of fashion design. This lightweight, easygoing, coming-of-age comedy profits from good performances, especially by Jean Yonne as the old tailor, and from its witty, satirical jabs at the flashy world of haute couture. In French with English subtitles. Rated R for sexual scenes and mild profanity. 81m. DIR: Remy Duchemin. CAST: Ken Hegelin, Jean Yonne, Francois Hautesserre, Florence Darel, Maurice Benichou. 1993

A NOS AMOURS HHH This winner of the Cesar (French Oscar) for best film of 1983 examines the life of a working-class girl of 15 (Sandrine Bonnaire) who engages in one sexual relationship after another. In French with English subtitles. Rated R for nudity. 110m. DIR: Maurice Pialat. CAST: Sandrine Bonnaire, Dominique Besnehard, Maurice Pialat. 1983

A NOUS LA LIBERTE HH1/2 Louis and Emile are two prisoners who plan an escape. Only Louis gets away and, surprisingly, he becomes a rich, successful businessman. There are some slapstick segments, and many believe that this film was the inspiration for Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times. In French with English subtitles. B&W; 87m. DIR: René Clair. CAST: Raymond Cordy, Henri Marchand. 1931

AARON LOVES ANGELA HHH This Harlem love affair features a black youth (Kevin Hooks) falling for a sweet Puerto Rican girl (Irene Cara). Their relative innocence contrasts with the drug-dealing violence around them. Rated R for violence and profanity. 99m. DIR: Gordon Parks Jr. CAST: Moses Gunn, Kevin Hooks, Irene Cara, Ernestine Jackson, Robert Hooks. 1975

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO GO TO MARS HH1/2 The comedy team was getting a little tired when they made this movie, which has become a cult favorite. It’s set in space, but the plot is the same as a TV sitcom. B&W; 78m. DIR: Charles Lamont. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Mari Blanchard, Jack Kruschen, Horace McMahon, Martha Hyer, Robert Paige, Anita Ekberg. 1953

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN HOLLYWOOD HH Lesser Abbott and Costello effort has Bud and Lou trying to make it big as movie stars. Best scenes occur early in the film, with Lou playing a barber. B&W; 83m. DIR: S. Sylvan Simon. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Frances Rafferty, Robert Stanton. 1945

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO IN THE FOREIGN LEGION HHH1/2 Lou Costello inadvertently buys a slave girl in the Sahara just because he waved at the girl flirting with him. Watch for some of the team’s funniest routines. B&W; 79m. DIR: Charles Lamont. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Walter Slezak, Patricia Medina, Douglass Dumbrille. 1950 DVD

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET CAPTAIN KIDD HH One of Abbott and Costello’s few color films, this is strictly preschooler fare. The boys get chased around uncharted islands, pirate ships, etc., by the infamous Captain Kidd, as portrayed by Charles Laughton, who makes every effort to retain his dignity. 70m. DIR: Charles Lamont. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Charles Laughton, Hillary Brooke, Leif Erickson. 1952

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE HHH1/2 Fun mixture of comedy and horror has the team up against the smooth Dr. Jekyll and the maniacal Mr. Hyde. One of the boys’ better films of the 1950s. Boris Karloff is in top form in the dual role, and don’t miss the hilarious scene in which Lou is turned into a mouse! B&W; 77m. DIR: Charles Lamont. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff. 1953

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN HHHH For Bud Abbott and Lou Costello, this film meant a resurgence of popularity after a slow fall from favor as the 1940s box-office champs. Yet it never compromises the characters of Dracula (Bela Lugosi), the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.), or the Frankenstein monster (Glenn Strange). B&W; 83m. DIR: Charles Barton. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Lon Chaney Jr., Bela Lugosi, Glenn Strange. 1948

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE INVISIBLE MAN HH Bud and Lou are private eyes hired by a prizefighter to clear him of his manager’s murder. The fighter injects himself with a serum that renders him invisible and helps Lou kayo his opponents in the ring before the real murderer is exposed. B&W; 82m. DIR: Charles Lamont. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Arthur Franz, Nancy Guild, Adele Jergens, Sheldon Leonard, William Frawley. 1951

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KEYSTONE KOPS HHH1/2 A boon for nostalgia buffs, this film features pie-in-the-face director Mack Sennett and three of the surviving Keystone Kops in a climactic chase scene. B&W; 78m. DIR: Charles Lamont. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Maxie Rosenbloom, Lynn Bari, Mack Sennett, Harold Goodwin, Heinie Conklin, Hank Mann, Carol Costello. 1955

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE KILLER, BORIS KARLOFF HHH Second in the duo’s Abbott and Costello Meet . . . series, brought on by the tremendous popularity of their Frankenstein send-up the year before. In this enjoyable outing, Bud and Lou match wits with Boris Karloff, in classic form as a sinister swami doing away with his enemies at a posh hotel. B&W; 84m. DIR: Charles Barton. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Boris Karloff, Lenore Aubert, Gar Moore, James Flavin. 1949

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET THE MUMMY HH Final (and overdue) entry in the seven-year cycle of “horror comedies” pitting Abbott and Costello against Universal Pictures’ monster stable. Not without amusing moments, but mostly, the same tired vaudeville routines are dragged out as the boys flee two mummies—one real, one fake—in Egypt. B&W; 79m. DIR: Charles Lamont. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Marie Windsor, Richard Deacon. 1955

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO SHOW, THE (TV SERIES) HHH Set in Hollywood, this comedy series depicts Bud Abbott’s and Lou Costello’s efforts to improve their financial situation. Though the comics appear somewhat weary and the humor is often forced, enough of the gags work to make the episodes worth a glance. Many of Abbott and Costello’s classic routines are incorporated into the shows, boosting the slim plots. 53m. DIR: Various. CAST: Bud Abbott, Lou Costello, Sidney Fields, Hillary Brooke, Joe Besser. 1952–1954 DVD

ABDUCTED HH1/2 This is not as sleazy as the video box art would have you believe. A backwoods jogger (Roberta Weiss) is abducted by a crazed mountain man and taken back to his cabin. Nothing new, but some good chase scenes. Not rated, but has violence, profanity, and adult subject matter. 87m. DIR: Boon Collins. CAST: Roberta Weiss, Lawrence King Phillip, Dan Haggerty. 1985

ABDUCTED II HH1/2 Less a sequel than a remake, this time with three young lovelies terrorized by mountain man Lawrence King. Rated R for violence and nudity. 91m. DIR: Boon Collins. CAST: Jan-Michael Vincent, Dan Haggerty, Raquel Bianca, Lawrence King. 1994

ABDUCTION HH This film comes across as a cheap exploitation of the Patty Hearst kidnapping. It includes theories that may or may not be true. As in the real incident, Patty is kidnapped from the house she shares with her boyfriend. Rated R for profanity, violence, nudity, and sex. 100m. DIR: Joseph Zito. CAST: Gregory Rozakis, Leif Erickson, Dorothy Malone, Lawrence Tierney. 1975

ABE LINCOLN IN ILLINOIS HHHH Based on Sherwood Anderson’s Broadway play, this is a reverent look at the early career and loves of the sixteenth president. As contrasted to John Ford’s Young Mr. Lincoln, this is a more somber, historically accurate, and better-acted version. B&W; 110m. DIR: John Cromwell. CAST: Raymond Massey, Ruth Gordon, Gene Lockhart, Mary Howard. 1934

ABEL GANCE’S BEETHOVEN HHHH Originally titled Un Grand Amour de Beethoven, this contains some of Abel Gance’s finest work with sound, especially in the scene at the Heiligenstadt Mill when Beethoven first begins to lose his hearing. In French with English subtitles. B&W; 116m. DIR: Abel Gance. CAST: Harry Baur, Annie Ducaux. 1937 DVD

ABERRATION T A bunch of rubber lizards attacks a young couple in their cabin in the hills. Dullsville. Rated R for language and gore. 93m. DIR: Tim Boxell. CAST: Pamela Gidley, Simon Bossell, Valery Nikolaev. 1997

ABIGAIL’S PARTY HHHHH A superb slice of acerbic British social commentary. Beverly is a gin-sodden shrew with middle-class aspirations, who holds a small get-together for the neighbors. This movie is like an English version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, a group of adults congregate, imbibe vast amounts of alcohol, and squirm-inducing disaster ensues. 105m. DIR: Mike Leigh. CAST: Alison Steadman. 1977

ABILENE TOWN HHH Cattlemen and homesteaders are at loggerheads in the 1870s in this fast-paced shoot-’em-up. Randolph Scott is the trusty tall man with the star. Edgar Buchanan is sly, as always. B&W; 89m. DIR: Edwin L. Marin. CAST: Randolph Scott, Ann Dvorak, Rhonda Fleming, Lloyd Bridges, Edgar Buchanan. 1946 DVD

ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES, THE HHH1/2 Stylish horror film features Vincent Price in one of his best latter-day roles as a man disfigured in a car wreck taking revenge. Rated PG-13. 93m. DIR: Robert Fuest. CAST: Vincent Price, Joseph Cotten, Hugh Griffith, Terry-Thomas. 1971 DVD

ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN OF THE HIMALAYAS, THE HHH The writer and director of the British Quatermass series worked on what is probably the only intelligent yeti movie. Peter Cushing and Forrest Tucker are a botanist and an exploitative promoter (American, of course) searching for the legendary giant creatures in Nepal. B&W; 85m. DIR: Val Guest. CAST: Peter Cushing, Forrest Tucker, Maureen Connell. 1957

ABOUT LAST NIGHT . . . HHHH A slick adaptation of David Mamet’s play, Sexual Perversity in Chicago. Demi Moore and Rob Lowe meet for a one-night stand a...