Phillip Noyce is very much a '90s director. He has continued to work past the '90s and directed before the '90s of course but he feels like a '90s director to me. He just makes those kind of slick popcorn films that were popular in the '90s. The two biggest everyone has no doubt seen are Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, the films where Harrison Ford plays Jack Ryan. But Noyce is so much more than those two films and we'll be celebrating him all through April. There will be one instance where I heavily criticize one of his films but that's part of doing these director spotlights. Writing about something I love is only half the battle. It's important to also look at what projects of their's didn't work for me. So onward to celebrate a consistent and mostly great director.
A retrospective by Brooks Rich Let's kick off the spooky season with a bona fide classic. I love the horror genre, but not much really scares or creeps me out. Most horror films I just watch and enjoy. However, 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is one of those that really gets under my skin, and not just because the Sawyer family are eating people. The way Tobe Hooper shoots the film gives it an almost documentary feel. If you have never seen 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' you should probably fix that immediately. Do I need to explain what it's about? A group of '70s kids is driving across Texas in a van and runs afoul of the Sawyer family, including the man himself, Leatherface. It's a classic of the horror genre and one of the pioneers of the '70s and '80s horror boom. The film has a reputation for being sickeningly bloody and violent, but that is not true. It's essentially a bloodless film, which makes it even more horrifying. Most of the violence