john frankenheimer

Behind The Scenes: Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron & John Frankenheimer On The Set Of REINDEER GAMES

Director John Frankenheimer’s Reindeer Games (aka Deception) is a festive thriller starring Ben Affleck as an ex-con forced into robbing a casino at Christmas dressed as Santa Claus. Frankenheimer’s film makes the most of film’s [...]

December 19, 2021

Movies To Watch This Christmas

Christmastime is here again and Movies In Focus is presenting you with a list of Christmas movies to watch over the festive season. Some are naughty and some are nice, but they’re definitely an intriguing selection of movies to light-up your [...]

December 4, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: Don Taylor’s THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU

Director Don Taylor’s 1977 screen adaptation of HG Wells’ 1896 novel The Island Of Doctor Moreau is a wonderful sci-fi/horror from the iconic masters of schlock at American International Pictures. Taylor’s film has the perfect pace to tell [...]

November 27, 2021

Uncovering Curiosities: John Frankenheimer’s SECONDS

John Frankenheimer’s 1996 film, Seconds is a wonderfully oblique paranoia thriller with a career best performance from Rock Hudson. Dark and thought-provoking, this is the type of movie that led to Hollywood’s hard-edged cinematic output [...]

May 4, 2021

Behind The Scenes: William Friedkin & Gene Hackman On The Set Of THE FRENCH CONNECTION

William Friedkin’s 1971 release, The French Connection is one of the finest films of the 1970s. Friedkin’s film is beautifully textured and there’s a real vérité style to the piece which adds to its authenticity (thanks to Owen [...]

January 19, 2021

John Frankenheimer’s DEAD BANG Starring Don Johnson Needs More Love

John Frankenheimer’s 1989 thriller Dead Bang needs more love. The film stars the mighty Don Johnson as Jerry Beck, a detective tracking white supremacists over the Christmas period. The supporting cast for the film includes Penelope Ann [...]

January 4, 2021

Top Christmas Movies: REINDEER GAMES/DECEPTION

Ben Affleck, Gary Senise and Charlize Theron star in Reindeer Games, a festive thriller about a bunch crooks dressed as Santa Claus robbing a casino at Christmas. John Frankenheimer directed the film which bombed back in 2000, grossing $23 million [...]

December 7, 2020

Remembering John Frankenheimer’s REINDEER GAMES Starring Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise and Charlize Theron

Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise and Charlize Theron star in John Frankenheimer’s Reindeer Games (known as Deception in the UK where it went straight to DVD). Frankenheimer’s festive thriller sees a bunch crooks dressed as Santa Claus robbing a [...]

November 21, 2020

Notebook Reviews: RONIN

John Frankenheimer – 1998 The great John Frankenheimer is almost at the top of his game with Ronin. The thriller features some truly dazzling car chases that have to be seen to be believed – much like the ones in his racing drama, Grand [...]

November 7, 2020

Uncovering Curiosities: Richard Stanley’s HARDWARE

It’s hard to believe that Richard Stanley’s Hardware is celebrating its 25th anniversary. This science fiction horror marked Stanley’s directorial debut and it showed him to be a unique voice in the world of genre filmmaking. Stanley was on [...]

October 16, 2020

Notebook Reviews: THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU

John Frankenheimer – 1996 Not as bad as the reviews suggest, The Doctor Of Island Moreau is a bizarre but entertaining adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel. Marlon Brando camps things up to great effect as the title character and Val Kilmer is [...]

September 12, 2020

When Movies Go Wrong: THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU

HG Wells’ 1896 novel The Island Of Doctor Moreau was adapted for the screen for the troubled 1996 film starring Marlon Brando, Val Kilmer and David Thewlis. The now infamous film was originally set to be directed by Richard Stanley (Hardware) but [...]

May 23, 2020