The Best Five

1987's movie "The Running Man" may not be the greatest movie of all time, but it still has its share of entertainment value.  For one thing, it is the only Stephen King movie to star Arnold Schwarzenegger (who, before becoming a crappy Governor, was perhaps the king of "guilty pleasure" action movie stars). The rudimentary plot goes like this:  In 2017, America has become a totalitarian police state (not much of a stretch there, right?).  Arnold's character Ben Richards was wrongfully convicted of a helicopter massacre of civilians during a food riot.  Richards escapes, takes a woman named Amber Mendez hostage, but gets caught again after Amber alerts airport security.  Long story short, Richards is offered a chance at clemency by reality show host Damon Killian (played by real life talk show host Richard Dawson), if he is willing to star on The Running Man -- a show wherein "runners" are offered pardons if they can successfully evade various...

This movie is for the boids! (Nyuk nyuk nyuk!) (DON'T LOOK UP MOVIES ON THE INTERNET IF YOU'RE CONCERNED ABOUT SPOILERS. GET IT?  GOT IT? GOOD!) 5.   The Mere Fact That The Bad Guys Are Birds Alfred Hitchcock's " The Birds " is quite the masterpiece.  Not only is it a great horror movie, but it's also a great look into the psychology of its characters, and conveys the fear all of us have of being ganged up on.  The fact that the enemies are birds is a great idea, as birds typically serve no threat to human beings.  In this movie they are not only threatening but downright terrifying.  Just as mysterious are the moments where the birds calm down, seemingly lulled by some unknown force.      Then, when they begin acting up again, it is almost as though they reflect the growing insecurities of the characters -- particularly poignant when people start blaming it all on Tippi Hedron's character Melanie Daniels,who happens to be the stra...