Back to the Future Part II
1989  PG  FANTASY  1h 48min
CAST— Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson
MUSIC— Alan Silvestri  DIRECTOR— Robert Zemeckis

     Marty and Doc are back in this sequel, the least of the trilogy. In a complicated plot, they start out in 1985 then go to 2015 then back to an alternate 1985 then all the way back to 1955 trying to get the altered ’85 back to normal. Fun premise doesn’t deliver like the first and third but is good enough as a middle entry. The best scenes are recreated scenes from the first film. Back to the Future Part II and Back to the Future Part III (1990) were filmed simultaneously.
OUR RATING— ** ½
PRECEDED BY— Back to the Future (1985)
FOLLOWED BY— Back to the Future Part III (1990)

     Back to the Future
1985  PG  FANTASY  1h 56min
CAST— Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover
MUSIC— Alan Silvestri  DIRECTOR— Robert Zemeckis

     The first of the trilogy, this one is fun from beginning to end. Michael J. Fox plays Marty McFly, a teenager from 1985 who travels back in time to 1955 and accidentally prevents his parents from falling in love, which of course means that he and his siblings will never be born. He has to help his father gain self-confidence enough to ask out his mother while avoiding her (ahem) improper advances, all the while trying to figure out a way home with the help of Doc Brown, the future inventor of the time-traveling Delorian. Sound confusing? Just wait for the sequel. Oscar-winner for Best Sound Effects Editing. Later developed into an animated series. Deemed “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant” by the United States Library of Congress National Film Registry.
OUR RATING— ****
FOLLOWED BY— Back to the Future Part II (1989), Back to the Future Part III (1990)

     Back to Bataan
1945  NR  ACTION  1h 35min
CAST— John Wayne, Anthony Quinn, Beulah Bondi
MUSIC— Roy Webb  DIRECTOR— Edward Dmytryk

     A terrific action-packed war drama, chronicling the aid the Allies offered in the Philippines. John Wayne heads the cast as a leader of a squadron comprised of both Americans and Filipinos. They receive orders to take down an enemy gasoline dump. But en route they come upon a village in dire need; Beulah Bondi plays an American schoolteacher who helps to organize the fight against Japanese invaders. A tense adventure film that will have you rooting for the good guys every step of the way.
OUR RATING— ***

Trailer Unavailable

     Bachelor Mother
1939  NR  COMEDY  1h 22min
CAST— Ginger Rogers, David Niven, Charles Coburn, Frank Albertson, Ernest Truex
MUSIC— Roy Webb  DIRECTOR— Garsin Kanin  BASED ON— A story by Felix Jackson

     …and baby makes two. Ginger Rogers and David Niven star in this lighthearted romp through motherhood. Young shopgirl Rogers tries in vain to help a stranger by placing their baby in an orphanage. The caretakers pretty much turn her away, claiming that she is the mother and that she should raise her own. They involve her employer, played by Niven, who becomes romantically attached to her. As they stumble into a relationship, Rogers becomes more and more the mother, forming an irrevocable bond between herself and her pseudo-child. If only the Maurey Povich show had been on the air back then…
OUR RATING— **
REMADE AS— Bundle of Joy (1956)

     The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
1947  NR  COMEDY  1h 35min
CAST— Cary Grant, Myrna Loy, Shirley Temple, Rudy Vallee, Ray Collins, Harry Davenport
MUSIC— Leigh Harline  DIRECTOR— Irving Reis

     This Cary Grant comedy targeted for a younger demographic leaves a lot to be desired for those used to his usual fare. A seventeen-year-old Shirley Temple falls in love with him and sneaks into his apartment. When she is discovered Grant is immediately arrested and it looks like his goose is cooked. Ya’see, Temple’s sister (played by Myrna Loy) just happens to be a judge and she could throw the book at him at any time. But her uncle, a psychiatrist, realizes that if Grant is put away, Temple will make a dramatic spectacle of her love now lost. The remedy, you may ask? Send Grant and Temple on numerous “dates” so that the girl will get over her undying affection for her one and only love. Think about this for a minute. That would only encourage her. Wouldn’t you want exactly the opposite to happen? The film has zero logic and just as many laughs, so basically forget this fluff. Oscar-winner for Best Original Screenplay (!). AKA Bachelor Knight.
OUR RATING— * ½

     Baby Mama
2008  PG-13  COMEDY  1h 39min
CAST— Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Greg Kinnear, Dax Shepard, Romany Malco, Sigourney Weaver, Steve Martin, Maura Tierney, Holland Taylor, Jonathan Hodgman, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Denis O’Hare, James Rebhorn, Will Forte, Fred Armison
MUSIC— Jeff Richmond  DIRECTOR— Michael McCullers

     Return to your seats, guys. Though the subject matter delves into chick-flickian territory the laughs are intended for all. Tina Fey plays a career oriented over achiever whose focus has recently shifted to all things baby. After trying more conventional methods she decides to outsource the project; she finds a surrogate mother to carry the child. The surrogate turns out to be an aimless, self-indulgent Dr. Pepper freak, in the form of a convincing Amy Poehler. Fresh out of an iffy relationship Poehler needs a place to crash while the bun is in the oven. It’s an easy guess as to who she goes to for a solid. What follows is an Odd Couple-esque comedy that features moments of laugh-out-loud hilarity delivered by the infallible Fey and the oddly charming Poehler. Steve Martin and Sigourney Weaver turn up in the supporting cast, as two of Fey’s contacts in the business world. See, guys; it wasn’t as bad as all that.
OUR RATING— ** ½

     Babylon A.D.
2008  PG-13  SCIENCE FICTION  1h 30min
CAST— Vin Diesel, Michelle Yeoh, Melanie Thierry, Lambert Wilson, Mark Strong
MUSIC— Atli Orvarsson  DIRECTOR— Mathieu Kassovitz  BASED ON— Babylon Babies (novel), by Maurice Georges Dantec

     Here we have a candidate for Big Dumb Action Movie of the Year. Starring Vin Diesel (now we’re talkin’ Oscars), this in-your-face noise-maker exceeds the legal limit of energetic confusion. The plot? Here goes: Diesel plays a former mercenary hired to escort a young girl from Europe to the states come heck or high water. And you’d better believe there’s a whole lotta heck; when the bullets and the fists begin to fly, they barely take a breather. Why is this girl so important? Or dangerous? The answer is as dumb as the rest of the movie. The film is neither compelling nor boring; the loud, over-blown effects are enough to pique your interest, but the pay-off seems more like a rip-off. Unrated version also available.
OUR RATING— **