qttroassi Reviews

Spike of Bensonhurst (1988)

a complete bomb ...

[19 March 2002]

I agree with most of the other people posting on this site that the movie was horrible. If there has ever been a film that has been defaming/disparaging to Italian-Americans this is it, not to mention just about every other ethnic group depicted in the movie. One of the main reasons for this is because the story is crude, obnoxious, and in bad context, there's maybe just one funny moment where a group of young boys are asked if they know the Italian alphabet, the rest of it is just crash and burn.

It's actually strange that although Italian-American activists that have complained about "The Godfather" and other similar films most of which were considered monumentally well made and won academy awards (oscars)(with the exception of Disneys' "Mafia") didn't complain about "Spike of Bensonhurst". This may very well be because it is was much lesser known film that hadn't received much attention.

Malarek (1988)

a must for Koteas fans

[19 February 2002]

This is the story of Victor Malarek a man who becomes a reporter inspite of his troubled childhood and attempts to expose the problems of a juvenile facility.

If you are a fan of Elias Koteas, you MUST see this film. Koteas gives a tremendous performance in one of the only films where he is the main character. The soundtrack is OK and Michael Sarrazin is also pretty good as "Moorcraft" although he seems tired in the role. The only real flaw in the movie is that Koteas was approximatley 27 years old during during production playing a 23 year old combined with him also playing flashbacks of the characters teen years (you could clearly tell that Koteas is much older) however, his performance by far makes up for this.

Tap (1989)

A mans' decisions

[16 February 2002]

This is a fine performance by Gregory Hines as a extremely talented tap dancer who also uses his flexibility and physical agility to be a cat burglar and comes to a crossroad in his life. Sammy Davis Jr. is also very good as an elder hoofer(tap dancer) who is trying to convince him to do the right thing.

The Cover Girl and the Cop (1989 TV Movie)

should have been retitled the cover girl and the flop

[16 February 2002]

This movie was aired as it's original title on Lifetime and it's aka title on WABC 7 NY's late movie in the early 1990's. This is literally the worst made-for-TV movie that has ever been produced ... I couldn't believe that Parker Stevenson was talked into this after leaving Baywatch because of contract disputes. How ever it is about the speed of something that David Carradine would be in. The story is supposed to be about a "tough tomboy type female cop" that protects an emotionally weak model that is mixed up in murder and it was set in Washington D.C. of all places. Between the stupid soundtrack coming on and off at the wrong time and the crumby acting this is like watching two early teenage girls running around with a video camera acting like imbeciles. Anyone who can sit through this entire film should receive a special award.

Runaway (1984)

futuristic crime/action

[16 February 2002]

A lot of critics complain about this movie but it was very well made for it's time. Not only does the movie show robots going out of control but it also shows a society of complete distrust and characters that are very cold. Gene Simmons from Kiss is perfect in the role with his looks and his voice as a sadistic villain that keeps managing to circumvent authorities. Chris Mulkey a bit actor is also good as an idiot that gets involved with Simmons. The script and soundtrack are excellent. Tom selleck also goes well as a frustrated cop who is fiercely determined to stop the bad guy and is humorously sarcastic to the people he deals with.

A Deadly Business (1986 TV Movie)

A great character study/drama, not completely factual

[15 February 2002]

This was a very good and forgotten TV movie that was shown on CBS once, and I don't think was ever aired again, anywhere-I'm lucky for my mother to have recorded it. Alan arkins' performance along with the performance of Michael Learned as Kaufmans' girlfriend, Ray Serra, and Jon Polito were fantastic. Original soundtrack flows superb. However this story is solely according to Harold Kaufman and the NJ Starledger news paper, and it makes Kaufman out to be an aging not-so-bad thief that suddenly has a crisis of conscience, in fact in a Starledger article released on the date the movie was aired, Kaufman admitted Michael Learneds' character never existed and was created for dramatic purposes