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Showing posts with the label William Sadler

Movie Review: 'The Shawshank Redemption'

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Pros: Good - if a bit overlong - script. Fine cast and great performances. Cons: Leisurely pace might be a turn-off to some viewers. One of the few good things about television and the home video business is that, on occasion, a box-office "flop" that is simply a good movie that didn't find a receptive audience in theatrical release can still make a comeback thanks to repeated airings on cable networks such as TNT and through sales and rentals of videocassettes (remember those?), DVDs, and Blu-ray discs. Such is the case of Frank Darabont's first major feature film, 1994's The Shawshank Redemption, which he adapted from a Stephen King novella ( Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption ) which had been published in a mid-1980s anthology, Different Seasons . Though it was given good reviews in its initial release back in 1994, The Shawshank Redemption tanked at the box office...badly. Viewers, perhaps puzzled by its strange title or by it

Movie Review: 'Die Hard 2: Die Harder'

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Die Hard 2 (1990) aka Die Hard 2: Die Harder Directed by Renny Harlin Written by Steven E. de Souza and Doug Richardson Based on the novel 58 Minutes by Walter Wager Starring: Bruce Willis, Bonnie Bedelia, William Sadler, John Amos, Dennis Franz, Fred Dalton Thompson, Franco Nero Rent-A-Car Girl: I close in about an hour. Maybe we can go get a drink? John McClane: [shows his wedding ring] Just the fax, ma'am. Just the fax. Finnish director Renny Harlin's Die Hard 2: Die Harder is a decent but derivative sequel to 1988's megahit Die Hard . This time around, John McClane (Bruce Willis), now a Los Angeles Police  Department lieutenant must match wits, fists, gunfire, and banter with a band of heavily armed bad guys that have taken over Washington, D.C.'s Dulles International Airport. Based on Walter Wager's novel 58 Minutes , Steven E. de Souza and Doug Richardson's script closely follows the format of John McTiernan's Die Hard .  Once