Film - Raising Arizona - Starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter (released in 1987)

Sometimes you have movies that do not do great when they are released, but then attain the status of a cult classic over a period of time, and this ends up benefiting the DVD sales of the movie. The movie was made on a low budget of $6 million and earned $22 million, so one really cannot claim that it was a big hit at the time of release. However, it now finds mention in the list of top 100 comedy films, especially with the background that is a Coen brother film (some of their other films include Fargo, No country for old men, The Big Lebowski, etc). The brothers had made their previous film Blood Simple as a crime film, and wanted to make a different kind of film, one that was more optimistic and full of life. The movie stars Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, Frances McDormand, and Randall 'Tex' Cobb.
Raising Arizona was shot in a short period of time, taking a total of 13 weeks to shoot. On release, the critical review was mixed with many reviewers liking the style of the movies, and others having the same reaction, complaining that the movie focused more on style than on substance. However, recent reviews have been more positive, and the movie has an enviable rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site. The scene depicting the bank robbery has come in for a lot of praise.




The movie takes the life of Herbert I. "Hi" McDunnough (played by Nicolas Cage) and policewoman Edwina "Ed" (played by Holly Hunter). Their meeting is very interesting, since Hi is a criminal who Ed met when he was in jail, and they continue meeting when Hi is in jail. When he gets out of jail, they decide that they want to live together and get married, and start living in a mobile home in the desert. Next, they want to have a baby, and that is where the problem starts. They discover that Ed is infertile, and they will not be able to adopt a child because of the past criminal record of Hi. So what to do ? They hear of the 5 sons of the local rich man, the furniture king Nathan Arizona and decide to kidnap one of these sons, this boy being Nathan Junior.
However, life is never so simple. They get a visit from his former prison buddies, Evelle and Gale; with their presence, there is a lot of temptation for Hi to back to doing the stuff he used to do earlier, even though he is now married. And then, his supervisor Glen (played by Sam McMurray) proposes a wife swapping, leading to Hi assaulting him. And then, in a comic caper, Hi decides to steal some diapers for the baby, and is seen by Ed, and pursued by the police and by the cashiers of the store he was stealing from. Ed does rescue him, but there is tension between them now. Things get even worse the next day. His supervisor has learned the identity of the child and wants it, and Evelle and Gale hear this and also turn on Hi, binding him and taking junior. They decide to rob a bank, and the fun starts; Ed and Hi decide to get the baby back, and so does Nathan Arizona as well as a bounty hunter who had offered to get the child back.
What happens next ? Well, you need to see the movie and enjoy for yourself.

All I Want for Christmas (release in 1991) - starring Lauren Bacall, Thora Birch and Ethan Randall and directed by Robert Lieberman

'All I want For Christmas' is like many movies put together and finding nothing of a story in it. You have scheming Kids from The Parent Trap (thank god they are not twins), Good Santa from “Miracle at 34th street” and divorced mom and Dad from many other movies. So you have the kids trying to reunite Mom and Dad with the help of a department store Santa and a pet mouse. Directed by Robert Lieberman, it stars Thora Birch, Ethan Embry, Lauren Bacall in the main roles along with a assemble cast.
Ethan and Hallie O' Fallon live in a Manhattan Mansion with their mother and grandmother. Both their Mom and Dad are divorced as Mom does not approve of Dad opening a diner. Mom starts seeing creepy Tony Boer (or is it Bore, one never knows) who is hated unanimously by the siblings. Hallie voices her one wish to the department store Santa, to get their Mom and Dad to be reunited for Christmas. So comes the enormous planning of Operation reunification. Step one is to lock Mom's boyfriend in an ice-cream truck which takes him far away to the land where ice creams are made. But are Manhattan ice cream truck drivers taken in to confidence that they pretend not to listen to the loud bangings the poor guy makes!! Mom thinks that she is stood up and break up with him. Step two happens as Hallie feigns illness at Dad's diner to get mom over.



As the things move in one after another there are minor things happening like Ethan falling for a nice girl who helps him and the maid going in to labor on the kitchen floor. You also have many moments of Grandmother, grand daughter bonding over songs which must be avoided for you mental health. Lauren Bacall plays the Grand-mom who was supposedly the Dame of Broadway and thus you wonder the kind of taste people have to watch her. The ending is a real scorcher, with kids walking in, the maid in the throes of child birth, ambulances and other sirens blaring and the boyfriend who has been locked in the ice cream truck running in. So Mom takes one look at the deranged man who raves against the injustice done by her kids and breaks up with him. With Boer cleared out both Mom and Dad reunite. Well there is the appearance of the Santa coming home with Snowball, the pet hamster completing the happy family.
The movie is one of most rehashed ones of the century. There is nothing in this family comedy which would make it a Christmas treat. Ethan Embry and Thora Birch play the roles of the cutesy kids to the book. The adults are typical comic book characters with no depth in their roles. The Mom and Dad are rich and still love lorn, the boyfriend is creepy to the core and the Grand-mom ditsy as you can get. It just does not happen in real world with human's who have real feelings. Sugary to the core this movie is capable of making you a diabetic. So beware!!!