Sneak Prevue Mailbag: We’re back after a brief absence

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

After a brief respite, Sneak Prevue returns today.

And one of the first things we’ll do is dig deep into our mailbag to answer several burning questions. You have questions – we have answers. You don’t have to agree with them, but we have answers.

So, let’s get down to business.

Mr. Cassreino: Where have you been? I’ve checked and checked and checked Sneak Prevue for a new critique, but haven’t seen one in a while. Did you shutter your blog? – Emily in Dallas


Dear Emily: No. I haven’t shuttered the blog. Sneak Prevue is still around. I’ve had a lot going on the past month, starting a new job and taking care of two beautiful children. I needed the time to settle into my new position before I could set aside the time I need to maintain the blog.

Hot movie trailer alert: ‘A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas’

I don’t like 3-D – I’ve made that point explicitly clear in several posts on the Sneak Prevue blog. I hate the effects. I don’t think it’s necessary. And I absolutely despise the extra surcharge theaters add to admission prices for the privilege to see a movie in 3-D.

That said, here is the trailer for “A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas.” This actually looks quite funny. And it looks like the makers exploit 3-D effects in a fun way. I might actually have to see this film at theaters. We’ll wait and see.

– TERRY R. CASSREINO

Sneak Prevue Mailbag: ‘Mary Poppins’ is practically perfect

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Good, live-action family films that appeal to children and adults are few and far between.

So, it should be no surprise that my pick for the best family film ever made is a movie the legendary Walt Disney produced in 1964. “Mary Poppins” is a classic, original screen musical.

In this week’s edition of the Sneak Prevue Mailbag, I answer questions about family films, movie lengths and other topics related to motion pictures. Every Friday I dig deep into the Sneak Prevue Mailbag to answer reader questions. If you have a burning question you need answered, write me at editor@sneakprevue.info.

Mr. Cassreino: What is the best family film ever made? – Ralph in Colorado Springs

Michael Crichton’s ‘Westworld’ fun, suspenseful entertainment

WESTWORLD (1973)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Twenty years before author Michael Crichton wrote “Jurassic Park,” he wrote and directed a small, low-budget film that shared a similar main plot: A high-tech amusement park goes madly out of control.

“Westworld” stars James Brolin and Richard Benjamin as two friends escaping for the week to Delos, a futuristic resort where vacationers interact with robots in Western, medieval Europe and Ancient Rome settings.

Shortly after Brolin and Benjamin arrive at Westworld, the computerized, life-like robots that populate a detailed reproduction of a Western town begin to act strange. Instead of shooting blanks, they fire real bullets.

Brolin and Benjamin suddenly find themselves stalked by The Gunslinger, a robot killer who looks exactly like Yul Brynner – a nod to the role he played in the classic Western “The Magnificent Seven.”

Overlooked and underrated: Coppola’s ‘The Conversation’

THE CONVERSATION (1974)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Between filming “The Godfather” and “The Godfather, Part II,” writer-director Francis Ford Coppola shot a small, fascinating drama – and one of the great paranoid thrillers that filled screens in the mid-1970s.

Gene Hackman stars in “The Conversation” as Harry Caul, a professional surveillance expert hired to eavesdrop on a conversation between two adults in San Francisco. While filtering through the tapes, Caul begins to suspect someone is in danger.

Coppola wrote, directed and produced this efficient, low-budget film – the second movie of the greatest four-film stretch in motion picture history.”The Godfather” in 1972, “The Conversation” in 1974, “The Godfather Part II” in 1974 and “Apocalypse Now” in 1978.

I guarantee you: No American film director can match the quality, depth and lasting power of each of those films. “The Godfather” and “The Godfather Part II” rank as the top two films ever made, closely followed by the other two.

Director John Frankenheimer in top form with ‘Black Sunday’

BLACK SUNDAY (1977)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Long before author Thomas Harris introduced Hannibal Lecter into the film and literary world, he wrote a crackling suspense thriller about a terrorist plot to bomb the Super Bowl in New Orleans.

“Black Sunday” was a page-turner unlike any other. I devoured the book quickly in the fall of 1975 during my one-hour commute after school aboard a series of New Orleans public busses.

So, when veteran film maker John Frankenheimer jumped on board to direct the movie version, I knew it had to be good.

Frankenheimer helmed such important political thrillers as “The Machurian Candidate” and “Seven Days in May.” Frankenheimer even directed the underrated sequel to “The French Connection” in which Gene Hackman reprised his role of Popeye Doyle.

Frankenheimer, to me, seemed a great choice for “Black Sunday.” I was right.

Sellers, Edwards team on only non-‘Pink Panther’ comedy

THE PARTY (1968)

By TERRY R. CASSREINO

Four years after director Blake Edwards and actor Peter Sellers finished their second Inspector Clouseau film, the two teamed again in 1968 for one of the most unconventional screen comedies ever made.

“The Party” is rarely mentioned when people talk about Edward’s long list of memorable film comedies that include “The Pink Panther” series, “Victor/Victoria” and “10.” And Sellers’ fans seem to forget “The Party” and usually focus on the “Pink Panther” films.

But with “The Party,” Sellers and Edwards prove they had more talent than people ever imagined. This hilarious, fish-out-of-water comedy is droll, off-beat, filled with great sight gags and uncontrollably hilarious.

Sellers stars as Hrundi V. Bakshi, an unknown Indian actor who has a small role in a big-budget epic motion picture. Despite his repeated clumsiness, Bakshi accidentally gets himself invited to a lavish Hollywood dinner party.