A year in Review 1990: Part Three
October 21st 2010 08:33
Well i am past half way in my review of 1990. This part will cover movies released in the third quarter of the year.
Some very good movies were released in this quarter with some classics that still live today.
#5 Arachnophobia
A group of scientists, led by entomologist Dr. James Atherton (Julian Sands), head to the Amazon with the hope of discovering new species of insects. The scientists identify a new species of spider, which is pretending to be dead and carries a type of venom that causes near-instantaneous death to its victims. The spider is captured and chloroformed for research. A nature photographer Jerry Manley (Mark L. Taylor) takes a rest under the tree where the spider was found, and the 'general' (leader) spider jumps into his backpack, later sneaking into his sleeping bag and killing him with a bite to his hand. The remainder of the scientists take his body back to the US, in a wooden box, with the original spider from Venezuela inside, blaming Jerry's death on fever.
#4 Problem Child
The film opens with a woman leaving a bassinet on the porch of a fancy home; the baby, named Junior, promptly urinates on the woman who picks him up. From there, we witness Junior being repeatedly discarded at various homes throughout many years by guardians who have tired of his destructive behavior--which includes demolishing a mobile home with a bulldozer in retaliation for his favourite toys being stepped on--until he is eventually deposited at a Catholic orphanage, where he continues to merrily wreak havoc on the strict nuns.
Ben Healy (John Ritter) is a pleasant but brow-beaten husband working for his father "Big Ben" (Jack Warden), a tyrannical sporting goods dealer who is running for Mayor. Recently, Ben has discovered that his father intends to sell his store and the land to a Japanese company rather than leave it to him; when he asks why, Big Ben reveals that it is because his son "stubbornly refuses to follow my example" by adopting an honest work ethic instead of a ruthless drive to usurp. Ben would love to have a son, but his selfish, gold-digging wife Flo (Amy Yasbeck) has been unable to conceive. Ben approaches less-than-scrupulous adoption agent Igor Peabody (Gilbert Gottfried) with his dilemma, and Igor presents Ben and Flo with a cute 7-year-old boy, Junior (Michael Oliver).
#3 Ghost
Sam Wheat (Patrick Swayze), a banker, and Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) are a loving couple living in New York City. At work, Sam discovers discrepancies in some accounts. He advises friend and colleague Carl Bruner (Tony Goldwyn), who offers to investigate, but Sam decides to investigate himself. Soon afterward, Sam and Molly are mugged by Willy Lopez (Rick Aviles) and Sam is killed. However, Sam remains on Earth as a ghost, and humans are not aware of his presence. He learns the attack on him was planned.
Sam meets Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), a con artist posing as a medium, and realizes she can hear him. Oda Mae tries to pass on Sam's warnings that Molly is in danger, but Molly is skeptical. Carl learns of this and convinces Molly that Oda Mae is a fraud. Sam discovers that Carl was behind a money laundering scheme at the bank and that the mugging was an attempt by Carl to acquire Sam's security codes.
#2 Die Hard 2
On Christmas Eve, LAPD detective John McClane is waiting at the Washington Dulles International Airport for his wife Holly (Bonnie Bedelia) to arrive from Los Angeles - with reporter Richard Thornberg (William Atherton), who is on the same flight, as involuntary company. While sitting at the bar area, he spots two men dressed in army fatigues and carrying a package and sees that one of them has a gun. Suspicious, he ends up following them into the baggage area. McClane ends up in a fight, killing one of them while the other escapes. Learning the dead man is a mercenary who was thought to have been killed in action, McClane believes something is about to happen and tells the news to airport police Captain Carmine Lorenzo (Dennis Franz), but Lorenzo refuses to listen and has McClane thrown out of his office.
#1 Goodfellas
Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) admits, "As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be a gangster," referring to his idolizing the Lucchese crime family gangsters in his blue-collar, predominantly Italian-American neighborhood in East New York, Brooklyn in 1955. Wanting to be part of something significant, Henry quits school and goes to work for them. His Irish-American father, knowing the true nature of the Mafia, tries to stop Henry after learning of his truancy, but the gangsters threaten the local postal carrier with dire consequences should he deliver any more letters from the school to Henry's house. Henry is able to make a living for himself, and learns the two most important lessons in life: "Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut," the advice given to him after being acquitted of criminal charges early in his career.
Henry is taken under the wing of the local mob capo, Paul "Paulie" Cicero (Paul Sorvino) and his associates, Jimmy "The Gent" Conway (Robert De Niro), who loves hijacking trucks, and Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci), an aggressive armed robber with a hair-trigger temper. In late 1967 they commit the Air France Robbery, marking Henry's debut into the big time. Enjoying the perks of their criminal life, they spend most of their nights at the Copacabana with countless women. Henry meets and later marries Karen (Lorraine Bracco), a Jewish girl from the Five Towns. Karen is initially troubled by Henry's criminal activities, but is soon seduced by his glamorous lifestyle. When a neighbor assaults her for refusing his advances, Henry pistol-whips him in front of her. She feels aroused by the act, especially when Henry gives her the gun and tells her to hide it.
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