Summer Blockbuster 2020: June 12 – FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF (1986), GHOSTBUSTERS (1984), THE TRUMAN SHOW (1998), DEAD POETS SOCIETY (1989), RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (1981), JURASSIC PARK (1993), E.T. (1982), SPEED (1994), BOYZ N THE HOOD (1991), GREMLINS (1984), PREDATOR (1987)
Steven Spielberg is the father of the modern blockbuster, and the second weekend of June is the one he came to rule.
Welcome to Week 7 of Summer Blockbusted 2020.
Through the end of August, I am curating a weekly slate of movies from summers past, ranging from big blockbusters to small counter-programming indies, and dramas and comedies in-between. With the multiplexes still closed, these are classics you can enjoy again or discover for the very first time in the safety of your home theater.
Every single Friday. All summer long.
(To read more about how each week’s slate is determined, click here.)
This week: films that were (mostly) released over the second weekend of June. My REC OF THE WEEK is a double-feature that includes 1 of 6 movies highlighted this week either directed or produced by Steven Spielberg.
When possible, I’ve included archived video reviews from Siskel & Ebert, whether I agree with them or not.
Also included when possible: links to streaming services where these movies can be seen. (If a link isn’t provided, you can rent the film on most VOD platforms.)
(Find links to other weeks from Summer Blockbusted 2020 at the end of this article.)
NOW PLAYING…JUNE 12, 2020
- REC OF THE WEEK: Harrison Ford Double-Feature: Raiders of the Lost Ark / Regarding Henry
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) 115 min; Rated PG
Streaming on Netflix - Regarding Henry (June 12, 1991) 108 min Rated PG-13
Streaming on HBO Max - Raiders cuz Raiders. I mean come on. If you need to hear more from me on that, read this. But here’s the hot take: Regarding Henry is a really good movie, and definitely worth watching. Released exactly 10 years later to the day of Raiders’ decade anniversary, watching these two is a study in Harrison Ford contrasts.
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I heard a film professor once say that the first ten minutes of Regarding Henry is a case study in how to perfectly establish a character through action and anecdotal drama rather than blatant exposition. And he’s right. You’re unlikely to find a better sequence of character establishment than this one.
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But the rest of the movie isn’t a big drop-off from there, despite its reputation as being a maudlin melodrama that mixed midlife crisis with Illness Oscar-baiting. Ford plays a cutthroat lawyer who, following a near-fatal gunshot, loses most of his memory. As he comes to piece his life back together, he grows to hate what he once was, directly because his whole demeanor and spirit has changed. Through his change his family changes, too, and heals.
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In his review, Roger Ebert said, “It’s about how a man becomes a child.” Given the two-star rating he gave it, I suspect that wasn’t necessarily a compliment. To be sure, most critics found it downright cloying. And yes, aspects are cloying, including moments in Ford’s performance. But it’s the core virtue that most critics (and cynics) had no patience for — Henry becoming like a child — that makes Regarding Henry so powerful and, yes, substantial. Innocence isn’t the same as naivete. In fact, innocence not only sees the truth more clearly, but it has the clarity to acknowledge it, speak it, and live it. That’s what Regarding Henry is about.
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Annette Bening and Kamian Allen give deeply felt, at times raw performances as Henry’s wife and daughter, with moments that are award-worthy in their own right. Most consider this a career-miss for legendary Graduate director Mike Nichols, but the only miss is that conventional opinion. Regarding Henry works because of Nichols’ own intuitive humanity, from a script by young screenwriting wunderkind Jeffrey Abrams…a.k.a. J. J. Abrams. Only 24-years-old at the time his screenplay sold, it’s no wonder that Abrams’ script attracted the talent that it did. (You can also see him make a cameo as a delivery guy.)
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And of course, little did Ford know at the time that young Abrams would eventually be the guy to finally convince him to play Han Solo one last time.
d - Raiders of the Lost Ark (Final numbers: $248 million domestic; $390 million worldwide.)
- Regarding Henry (Final numbers: $43 million domestic and worldwide.)
d - There is no Raiders review clip available online from Siskel & Ebert, but you can hear Gene sum up their high praise via an end-of-show brief recap in this video compilation of S&E review recaps. (Note: the error of listing it as Rated R.)
- Raiders of the Lost Ark (June 12, 1981) 115 min; Rated PG
- Spielberg Triple-Feature: E.T. / Poltergeist / Super 8
- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (June 11, 1982) 115 min; Rated PG
Streaming on Netflix - Poltergeist (June 4, 1982) 114 min; Rated PG (would be PG-13 today)
- Super 8 (June 10, 2011) 112 min; Rated PG-13
Streaming on Amazon Prime - Released just one week apart, June was Spielberg month in the Summer of 1982. First on June 4 was Poltergeist, the horror film that he co-wrote and produced (and, according to rumors, essentially directed). Then on June 11 came E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the small budget passion project that went on to be the #1 movie in the world, a title it held onto for nearly 15 years.
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The two movies are studies in both contrasts and comparisons.
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As contrasts, Poltergeist plays like a not-so-PG Exorcist (it would be one of three Spielberg films to incite the creation of the PG-13 rating, and I “recommend” watching it but with reservations, and mostly as a study in Spielbergian style) while E.T. is a sentimental, full-hearted family classic.
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As comparisons, both are set in suburbia where extraordinary things end up happening to everyday people, and both are clearly from the same filmmaker (Poltergeist owes a lot to Close Encounters of the Third Kind).
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Add to those two films J. J. Abrams’ Super 8; released nearly twenty years after those two films, not only does it take strong inspiration from Spielberg’s suburban sci-fi flicks, it was also produced by Spielberg himself.
d - E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (Final numbers: $435 million domestic; $793.4 million worldwide.)
- Poltergeist (Final numbers: $76.6 million domestic; $121.7 million worldwide.)
- Super 8 (Final numbers: $127 million domestic; $260 million worldwide.)
- Due to the back-to-back release of both films in 1982, Siskel & Ebert reviewed Poltergeist and E.T. back-to-back on the same program.
- After its record-breaking box office run, Roger Ebert reflected on the success of E.T. in this local Chicago news piece.
- E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (June 11, 1982) 115 min; Rated PG
- Sci-Fi Comedy Double-Feature: Ghostbusters / Gremlins
- Ghostbusters (June 8, 1984) 105 min; Rated PG
- Gremlins (June 8, 1984) 106 min Rated PG
Streaming on HBO Max
(both films would be PG-13 today) - While E.T. and Poltergeist were released one week apart, Ghostbusters and Gremlins were two comedy sci-fi classics released on the same exact day. If you can only watch one, make it Ghostbusters; it’s fun in so many ways, but also remains one of Bill Murray’s all-time great showcases.
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Gremlins, by contrast, is a threadbare Spielberg production (directed by Joe Dante, and scripted by future Home Alone & Harry Potter director Chris Columbus). This little creature feature spends its first half padding a build-up to the second, where it then devolves into full-blown random anarchy as the little Gremlins multiply into Star Trek-like tribbles gone demonic.
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I can’t say I particularly like Gremlins but it is absolutely fascinating to watch, mostly because it still boggles my mind that any studio would actually greenlight this gonzo piece of quasi-horror schlock.
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(Yes, it was the third Spielberg production – along with Poltergeist and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom – to necessitate a PG-13 rating.)
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Also, when you see the chaos spill out into the streets of the local movie theater, take notice: it’s the same exact “town square” studio lot set that was used a year later for Back to the Future.
d - Ghostbusters (Final numbers: $229.2 million domestic; $282.2 million worldwide.)
- Gremlins (Final numbers: $148.1 million domestic; $153.1 million worldwide.)
- Jurassic Park (June 11, 1993) 127 min Rated PG-13
- To complete the June Spielberg: Jurassic Park. Enough said. But if you’d like to hear more, check out my review of the game-changing blockbuster here. (Final numbers: $402.8 million domestic; $1 billion worldwide.)
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- To complete the June Spielberg: Jurassic Park. Enough said. But if you’d like to hear more, check out my review of the game-changing blockbuster here. (Final numbers: $402.8 million domestic; $1 billion worldwide.)
- Matthew Broderick Double-Feature: WarGames / Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
- WarGames (June 3, 1983) 112 min; Rated PG
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (June 11, 1986) 103 min Rated PG-13
Streaming on Netflix - Two cool teen guys. Both good at tech hacks, including changing school records. Both with laughably clueless parents. One triggers a countdown to World War III. The other is just trying to skip school. Each have so many things in common, including being played by Matthew Broderick.
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Released three years apart, it’s interesting to see the growth of the young teen idol over that time, especially at an age when it was more obvious. A fun double-feature throwback, Ferris especially, and a great one for Millennials and Gen-Z’s who only know Broderick as some frumpy middle-aged theater guy.
d - WarGames (Final numbers: $79.5 million domestic and worldwide.)
- Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Final numbers: $70.1 million domestic and worldwide.)
- Speed (June 10, 1994) 116 min; Rated R
- Of all the Die Hard rip-offs, this “Die Hard on a bus” is the best, perhaps in large part because Speed was directed by Die Hard cinematographer Jan De Bont. And like that 1988 Bruce Willis classic, this 1994 movie took an actor (Keanu Reeves) that no one saw as an action star and turned him into one overnight.
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Sandra Bullock charms in a big breakthrough role for her, and Dennis Hopper effectively chews the scenery (but with some credibility) as the maniacal bad guy with an ingenious hostage/ransom plan…even if he’s not quite as sinister or chilling as Alan Rickman’s Hans Gruber.
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As 90s action movies go, this one’s pretty quintessential. (Final numbers: $121.2 million domestic; $350.4 million worldwide.)
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- Of all the Die Hard rip-offs, this “Die Hard on a bus” is the best, perhaps in large part because Speed was directed by Die Hard cinematographer Jan De Bont. And like that 1988 Bruce Willis classic, this 1994 movie took an actor (Keanu Reeves) that no one saw as an action star and turned him into one overnight.
- Predator (June 12, 1987) 107 min; Rated R
- This is one of those R-rated \ action flicks that I never got to see in the 80s when I was a kid and never got around to as an adult – until now! Yes, I finally saw Predator for the first time ever, and I can report back that it is awesome.
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As over-the-top as you’d want it to be, this pre-Die Hard jungle-war adventure from director John McTiernan doesn’t hold back on the machismo but it’s never a mess. McTiernan crafts one solid set piece after another in this battle against a cloaked alien creature deep in the Amazon. Sure, there’s a bit too much needless padding in-between each of those setpieces, but the wait is always worth it.
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The swagger of the whole thing starts early, too, when Arnold asks why he’s being recruited for a mission. Cue Carl Weathers off-screen saying forcefully, “Because some damn fool accused you of being the best!” I laughed out loud. That’s quickly followed by an arm-wrestle standoff. The whole movie is done in that spirit. Nearly every bit of Predator is complete overkill but, rather than being randomly indulgent, it’s all of a piece.
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Really good action score, too, from Back to the Future / Avengers composer Alan Silvestri. Rarely has mindless action been so smartly done. #GetToDaChoppa (Final numbers: $59.7 million domestic; $98.2 million worldwide.)
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- This is one of those R-rated \ action flicks that I never got to see in the 80s when I was a kid and never got around to as an adult – until now! Yes, I finally saw Predator for the first time ever, and I can report back that it is awesome.
- Peter Weir Double-Feature: Dead Poets Society / The Truman Show
- Dead Poets Society (June 9, 1989) 128 min; Rated PG
- The Truman Show (June 5, 1998) 103 min Rated PG
- Of these two films that garnered Peter Weir Academy Award nominations for Best Director, The Truman Show holds up much better as a serious piece of filmmaking despite Dead Poets Society being the lone Best Picture nominee.
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Dead Poets remains a heartfelt and moving drama about the power of poetry, literature, and an inspiring teacher, but it also panders as Oscar bait at times while also allowing Robin Williams to slip out of character as Professor John Keating to do stand-up style impersonations.
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The Truman Show, however, retains its integrity throughout – even in Jim Carrey’s starring turn, one that plays to the strengths of his range without letting him loose to do his fallback shtick. Not only was it prophetic about the Reality TV era that was about to come, but it’s a singular piece of filmmaking that’s difficult to find comparisons for. And while it may be the better of the two, you can’t go wrong with either.
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If you’re looking for a change of pace from typical summer fare, you’d be hard-pressed to do better than this Peter Weir double-bill that allowed two similarly zany comics to get serious.
d - Dead Poets Society (Final numbers: $95.8 million domestic; $235.8 million worldwide.)
- The Truman Show (Final numbers: $125.6 million domestic; $264.1 million worldwide.)
- Boyz N the Hood (June 12, 1991) 112 min; Rated R Streaming on Showtime Now
- It’s the last half-hour that people remember most, but it’s the first 90-minutes that made Boyz n The Hood a breakthrough. A non-sensationalized yet still gritty look into inner-city life, John Singelton’s heralded debut film was so well-observed and nuanced, it played like a Richard Linklater film (back when Linklater barely had a presence) before it exploded with the angry, lamenting spirit of Spike Lee.
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Boyz made such an impact that Singleton broke two records for the Academy Awards, becoming the first African-American and the youngest person ever to receive a Best Director nomination.
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It’s particularly intriguing to watch now as it is so singularly about the responsibilities of the African-American within their own communities, essentially ignoring broader cultural oppressions, issues of systemic racism, and so on; even the one abusive cop is black. (Final numbers: $57.5 million domestic and worldwide.)
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- It’s the last half-hour that people remember most, but it’s the first 90-minutes that made Boyz n The Hood a breakthrough. A non-sensationalized yet still gritty look into inner-city life, John Singelton’s heralded debut film was so well-observed and nuanced, it played like a Richard Linklater film (back when Linklater barely had a presence) before it exploded with the angry, lamenting spirit of Spike Lee.
If you’d like to suggest summer movie titles for future weeks, you can email your requests to: icantunseethatmovie@gmail.com
Other weeks from Summer Blockbusted 2020:
I Can't Unsee That Movie: film news and reviews by Jeff Huston 