Some Kind of Wonderful (1987)

I hadn't seen SKoW before, but it felt very familiar. It turns out it's a retelling of Pretty in Pink (1986) with some gender roles reversed. (Thanks, Wiki.).
In this version the love-struck youth is Keith (Eric Stoltz), an eighteen-year-old working class student who falls for Amanda (Lea Thompson), a high-schooler with a self-important attitude that's encouraged by her middle class friends.
It wears its 80s heart on its sleeve, but has weak leads and a final third that's some kind of boring. The only memorable youths were Keith's tomboy friend Watts (Mary Stuart Masterson), who resides on the sidelines, overlooked and underappreciated, and the bullying skinhead played by Elias Koteas.

2½ drumsticks out of 5

The Prophecy (1995)

Stories about war in heaven and angels using Earth as a battleground were less common when The Prophecy was released than they are now, so it's useful to view it with that in mind. Directed by the writer of Highlander (1986), i.e. Gregory Widen, it attempts a similar balance of fantastical and human story. As such, it's less action-packed than some of the other works I alluded to above. It's slowly paced in the first half, but more rewarding in the second.
On one side there's a cop with a religious background who's hunting for answers, and on the other is an angel played by Walken who's hunting for something entirely different, but the two things are connected.
The black comedy misfires about 99% of the time, but there's enough conflict and drama to keep the core subject matter interesting to the end.

3 perched arguments out of 5

Pulp Fiction (1994)

QT’s second film is a nonlinear collection of about half a dozen stories that overlap in interesting ways, even though none of them really go anywhere meaningful. On one hand it’s deserving of being pulped, but the performances, dialogue and love shown to established filmic techniques (rear projection car rides, long tracking shots, split-focus lens and even a McGuffin) are indulgently entertaining. It’s not unlike the tasty burger that Sam Jackson makes a big deal over in one of the stories: it’s constructed from chopped up pieces and satisfies for a brief time. However, at 154 minutes I do feel that it pushes against the limits of acceptability for that kind of thing.

4 moral tests of oneself out of 5

Killing Zoe (1993)

Eric Stoltz attempts the kind of bank withdrawal that involves more than a signature and a smile. Unfortunately for him the people he chooses to work with are reckless assholes. His surprise when things go bad highlights a naivety someone in his role really ought not to have.
There’s a lengthy drug-addled scene that irks me, but it’s as well-considered as the rest when put into context. I do feel, however, that the same result could've been achieved in less time had the director wanted to do so.
Thankfully, the rest of the film is top class, well-framed and successfully paced, simmering constantly until the pot inevitably boils over.
The number of times its best moments have been copied over the years is a testament to how good it was at the time of release.

3½ party masks out of 5

THE RULES OF ATTRACTION [2002]

Director Roger Avary's theatrical follow-up to Killing Zoe is an adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' unhinged dark satirical novel The Rules Of Attraction.
It's the surreal story of three attractive Camden College students who lead jaded lives filled with sex, drugs and a multitude of selfish deeds.  Easton Ellis excels at creating despicable characters who we can't help but be intrigued by, knowing damn well he makes sure they all get their dues by the end.  Here, Avary does a fantastic job at capturing the non-linear storytelling of the novel, while giving it a gnashing bite all his own, which quite often you wish would be just a bit more subtle than it is.  The film completely lacks any sort of charm or anything even remotely pleasant to make it a comfortable viewing.  Front-to-back, it's pretty disgusting and if you realize that's exactly what it sets out to be and you're down with it, then it's pretty damned entertaining.  Who doesn't want to see Kevin Arnold shoot up heroin or Dawson Leery attack a guy with an electric carver?

3 vaginal infections out of 5

The Fly II (1989)

Here’s a movie that actually seems to have grown on me through subsequent viewings. However, I still view it as a completely unnecessary sequel to an otherwise perfect film. Here we find that Brundlefly’s offspring (Eric Stoltz) has survived and suffers from an accelerated rate of growth. The first hour or so is interesting, but then gets kind of ridiculous in the last 30 minutes as the movie starts resembling Alien. Overall, I feel it undercuts the emotional resonance of the original and just seems more cruel than humane this time around.

2.5 mutated gene splices out of 5