The Frisco Kid is a 1979 movie directed by Robert Aldrich. The movie is a Western comedy featuring Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford in pivotal roles. Gene Wilder is Avram Belinski, a polish Rabbi who is traveling to San Fransisco to head a congregation there. He has graduated last in his synagogue and is sent to San Fransisco with the promise of a bride. He has a Torah scroll as a part of his meager possessions and is a trusting man of faith. A simpleton and an innocent traveler, Avram is duped by three con men who induce him to pay for the wagon and supplies and leave him behind.
Soon the adventures follow Avram as he determinedly follows the path to San Fransisco. There follows hilarious moments when he mistakenly resides with the Amish believing them to be Jews and fainting later as he discovers a Bible in their pockets. So one fine day while trying to catch fish for dinner he meets Tommy Lillard a kind hearted person on a horse back who in good humor takes him on. They journey through the American rough lands.

They are captured by the Indians and are almost burnt at stake and also meet the villains again who had robbed the Rabbi. The series of misadventures continue as Lillard is proved to be robber who robs banks. So Avram inadvertently plays a part in robing a bank with Lillard. But to Lillard’s dismay the rabbi refuses to ride away the horse laden with goodies as its a sabbath day even with the sheriff’s men hot on his tails. Their journey ends with lot of comical situations working to change their mindset. Both Lillard and Avram walk away enriched by their experiences and looking at life in a different sense.
I would not say that this is a typical slap stick comedy, but a comedy which makes you think. Many a time Avram has to propound his beliefs and faith in god and to explain to the agnostic the power and presence of God. He explains the Talmud and the point of view of his religion and still there is no preaching in it. It just says the love of God, so profound, humanistic and encompassing.
All the Actors have managed to capture our hearts with their endearing performances, but the cream of the acting is by Gene Wilder as the simpleton rabbi. The gems of a dialogue so rib-tickling and soul searching makes this film a classic. Harrison ford also in the role of the outlaw with a good heart is in great form. It is rumored that John Wayne was to play this role but had turned it down due to price constraints. But Johns loss is Harrison gains as he brings alive a outlaw turning over a new life on a journey with Avram.
This is may not be the top film of the decade or an academy award winner, but it has all ingredients to be your favorite film. So watch it to see God come alive through laughter.

From viewing Martin Scorsese’s movies, it would seem that Robert De Niro was a perpetual favorite of Scorsese, so when he would make a movie without De Niro, it was always a surprise, like the movie After Hours, which was the first movie in a decade by Scorsese that did not star De Niro. Martin Scorsese was not supposed to be the original director for this movie, which was based on a screenplay that Joseph Minion wrote (given that he was only 26 years old when the movie was made); the screenplay was wrote when Minion was doing an assignment as part of a film course at Columbia University. The movie also faced a court case after release since the radio host Joe Frank claimed that the screenplay and parts of the dialog were based on his radio monologue (and there was a settlement in which he must have got a good settlement). The movie was a fairly low budget movie, costing around $4.5 million to make, and made around $10 million; and of course, like many other movies, this was not very acclaimed when it was released, and only later was classified as a cult movie.

The movie deals with the sudden happenings in the life of Paul Hackett (although the night finally ends with everything turning out okay in the end). He meets a lady called Marcy Franklin (Rosanna Arquette) while in a cafe and they discover that they have a common interest in Henry Miller. They exchange phone numbers, and Paul also gets to know that Marcy lives with Kiki Bridges (Linda Fiorentino) – a person who sells Plaster of Paris paperweights. Paul is interested, and goes to meet Marcy, but he loses his $20, and has no money left to pay the cab, which of course means that Paul has to face the hostility of the cab driver. And then in the apartment, Paul comes across some photos of Marcy which imply that she has serious burns; he leaves soon after, with the would-be-relationship between them ending, and then he learns that those photos were not true.
No longer able to afford a cab, he tries to use the subway, but with a fare increase coming into effect just at the stroke of midnight, he no longer has enough money. He goes to a bar, but the owner does not have the keys to the cash register to help him, so he takes the keys to the apartment to get the keys to the cash register, but then things keep on happening .. which eventually ends with him being turned into a plaster of paris cast, which is then stolen and falls off at his place of work, and he is ready to start a fresh day. Interesting movie ..

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang was a movie released in 2005, but it was certainly not the first time that this term was used. It was used to represent James Bond (given the way he would use woman and kill people in his movies), and there were multiple movies and songs written with the same name. The movie name references the 1968 book, written by Pauline Kael, while the story of the movie is based on the novel by Brett Halliday “Bodies Are Where You Find Them”. The movie is acclaimed as a black comedy, and satirizes the film noir genre. The movie did not have a large public release and started gaining in popularity based on favorable critical reviews. The movie earned most of its money outside the US, with a total earning of around $15 million in the box office as well as around $6 million in DVD rentals.
The movie earned critical praise, earning praise for its black comedy, with the performances by Robert Downey, Jr. and Val Kilmer earning praise, as well as the direction by Shane Black (who was more famous for his screenplays for action movies such as Lethal Weapon and Last Boy Scout).

The movie is about a small time crook, Harry Lockhart (Robert Downey, Jr.), who also narrates the movie and talks to the audience from time to time. Harry is running from the police after a robbery gone awry, when he stumbles into an acting audition, and so impresses the crew that he is selected and taken to Hollywood. He soon meets a private investigator named Gay” Perry van Shrike (Val Kilmer), who has been deputed to help Harry prepare for his role.
And Harry also meets his long time dream girl from high school Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan), but soon gets involved in a very strange murder mystery. Now, he has to work along with Perry and Harmony for solving the case, which seems to go through all the various plots and subplots that you can find in a number of different movies. Fun to watch.

When you think of the Winter Olympics, what comes to mind ? People from the countries of US, Canada, North Europe, Japan, China, and other countries where there are regions of snow and tall mountains. If you were told that there would be contestants from countries that are more tropical, hot, and ocean going, you would be surprised; in fact, you could question whether such folks would have the ability to handle the type of sports that are part of the Winter Olympics. Sports such as skiing, ice hockey, and bob-sledding. And yet, in the 1988 Winter Olympics at Calgary, there was a team of bob-sledders from the small tropical Carribean nation of Jamaica.
Well, they did not win, but they lived upto the ideals of the Olympics, which is participating, especially when doing so with full spirits and with full conviction. From a time when they were jeered, they were actually applauded.

There are many inconsistencies in the movie and reality, especially the enthusiastic and formerly-cheating coach, Irving ‘Irv’ Blitzer (John Candy); the association “International Alliance of Winter Sports” does not exist, and of course, the Jamaicans did not reach the finals; so the movie was made out to be more romantic than it actually was.
The movie tells the story of Irving ‘Irv’ Blitzer, who was a former bobsled champion, convicted of cheating in the 1972 Winter Olympics and retired in disgrace. He settled in Jamaica, and was brought out of obscurity to coach a team from Jamaica to take part in the bobsled tournament. He finally manages to assemble a team, and as you would expect, there are many failures on the way, but they manage to reach the Olympics and slowly make their way up with improved performances. Finally, at a crucial minute, their sled breaks, and they carry the sled over the finish live to applause from the crowd.