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Buried Alive II (1997)
It's not that bad!
True, this is very similar to the first "Buried Alive" as in the storyline, direction, characters and basic results. I will say this though: It's not as bad as people say. Tim Matheson does a good job at establishing the characters right off the bat- Ally Sheedy as the heroine who has ties to the characters from the first film, Stephen McCaffrey as the immature, cheating husband, Tracey Needham as the sexy b*tch who convinces McCaffrey to kill his wife, and Tim Matheson himself is great as a much older and hardened Clint Goodman who (ten years after the events of the first film) now is tormented by a bad heart and nightmares on a daily basis. There is a real bond between Sheedy and Matheson's characters, which I really wish could have been explored more in the film and helped made it better. But all in all, this is pretty good- not first-rate, but how many sequels are? When you watch it, don't hold any expectations that this will be better than the first (because it's not) and you'll have a better time enjoying it as a movie separate from the original. I did, and I found that the storyline is easy to follow, the characters and actors are great, and the film ends on a delightfully creepy ending as you wonder how long before the boat containing the husband and his lover will stay together before collapsing!
Buried Alive (1990)
I love it.
This is a simply scary film, and one that I have watched for years. Tim Matheson does a great job in his role as Clint Goodman, as a man who takes revenge on his cheating wife and her lover. He reprises his role in the sequel, and he is still great in that one too (even though he dies saving Ally Sheedy's character, which I HATED!). Jennifer Jason Leigh is good enough as Joanna, but I do think they could have gotten someone better. William Atherton is famous for playing the baddie (or at the very least, an annoying person), and he is perfect in this role. It's a shame we don't see any of these guys as much anymore. There is nothing fancy about this movie, and that is why it's so good. I highly recommend this to those who love a good chill but hate slasher flicks, as it is a great story with great actors. Period.
The False Faces (1919)
great WW1 flick!
This is a forgotten film for the most part, but not hard to buy online. The late great Henry B. Walthall (best known as The Little Colonel from "Birth of a Nation") plays dashing Michael Lanyard, aka "The Lone Wolf" whose thieving ways have made him a target for the authorities all over the world.
His skills as a thief enable him to get around several very sticky situations, as you will see in the film. The main storyline revolves around Lanyard's pursuit of Karl Eckstrom (played by Lon Chaney) who led a raid that killed Lanyard's sister and nephew. His seeking of revenge takes him from the battlefield of The Great War (WW1), in which he dodges the searchlights by dropping "dead" when the lights hit him, to the U. S. S. Assyrian, where he meets Cecilia Brooke and Lt. Thackeray, who entrust him with a cylinder containing important information which the enemy is willing to kill to get. Lanyard is ambushed by Eckstrom and Co., where the cylinder is stolen by Eckstrom, and Lanyard thrown overboard just prior to the ship's sinking. It is interesting to watch Walthall floating in the water seemingly to his death, when very slowly a submarine surfaces beneath him! This submarine was the cause of the ship's sinking, and its drunken captain was also the man behind the sinking of the Lusitania. Needless to say, Lanyard finds himself cracking into the submarine's safe and stealing money while left alone for a brief moment, then bearing witness to the murder of the captain. He escapes to New York, where he catches up with Cecilia Brooke (among the survivors of the Assyrian) and Eckstrom, which builds to a very interesting twist in which Eckstrom gets his just desserts, and Lanyard gets the girl.
All in all, this is a wonderfully action-packed film where you get to see Chaney without makeup for the most part, and Walthall in one of his best roles of his silent career. There are a few laughs here and there, a lot of suspense, and a great cat-and-mouse game is played between the two main characters. If you're a silent film buff, you must see this!
Drive Me Crazy (1999)
not quite like those OTHER teen movies
I think the story of it all is fresh and natural- like what you'd see at my high school, and it teaches you (yes I actually learned something from this movie) that the right person for you may have always been there to begin with, even with all of his imperfections. Adrian Grenier plays Chase Hammond very well with a lot of sarcasm, wit and intelligence. If he went to my high school I'd have snatched him up right away! :) Melissa Joan Hart's character (Nicole) starts out shallow but eventually grows a heart bigger than her high school ego. This movie altogether isn't necessarily the best movie ever made, but it is a funny and serious romp through the final days of high school (love, crushes, the final school dance, peer pressure)- harmless but sweet and full of characters that are likeable and might remind you of people you once knew.