Children of the Revolution (1998): The setup of this Australian film is certainly inspired: in 1951, Josef Stalin recieves several fan letters from a somewhat nutty Australian communist. Stalin invites her to Moscow, and while there, they have a one-night stand. Unfortunately for Stalin, the sex kills him; unfortunately for the woman, she becomes impregnated. She returns to Australia and raises her son as normally as a militant communist can (which isn't very), all the while hiding the identity of his biological father from him. As expected, the past comes back to haunt them; the son of Stalin turns out to be quite a bit like his old man, both in physical appearance and megalomaniacal ambitions. A quite entertaining farce - they could have done a bit more with such clever material, but with a setup up like that, how could the movie be bad? They even get a bit of humor from the ridiculousness of communism in Australia - the son of Stalin rants to his revolution-loving mother about how Australians aren't exactly ready to rise up from the beaches and dust off the sand off their tanned bodies to overthrow the state.
Grade: A-
Convoy (1978): As entertaining as it is stupid, this basically amounts to a two-hour Dukes of Hazzard eposide on a Hollywood budget. Based on a novelty hit that cashed in on the CB craze (ah, the ever tasteless '70s - gotta hate'em), this cartoon deals with the pressing social issue of police harassment of truckers. After engaging in a barfight with some corrupt Arizona policemen (who have the temerity to give the truckers tickets for speeding), Kris Kristofferson leads the gang on a chase to get to New Mexico, "where they can't touch us". Upon reaching New Mexico, Kristofferson & Co. are joined by another gang of truckers, and before long a caravan of several hundred vehicles are being led by the anti-establishment hero. Stick it to the man, Kris. Ali McGraw plays the token babe interest. There are so many holes in the setup that this doesn't bear the slightest bit of scrutiny, but it's trashy fun if you leave your brain at the door. One of my uncles was a cop and another was a trucker, so I can state pretty authoritatively that the whole cop/trucker rivalry played up in several '70s films has no basis in reality (see Smokey and the Bandit for further reference.
Grade: B
Cross of Iron (1977): A dark, depressing film from the point of view of a platoon of German soldiers on the Eastern Front during the final days of WWII. One of the best anti-war movies I've seen, as one is dragged alongside the soldiers as they make retreat after retreat, living in hellish conditions. For some reason a lot of critics consider this a minor Sam Peckinpah piece, more evidence of his decline, but I just don't see it. Not a fun or uplifting picture, but I was completely gripped, and the scene involving the tank near the end is nothing short of amazing.
Grade: A-
Cruising (1980): A film so slimy that you want to take a shower after watching it. Al Pacino wanted out of this movie as soon as he realized how bad it was going to turn out, but a contract's a contract - one look into his eyes and you'll see the desperation of an actor trapped, and after while it's rather amusing how Pacino doesn't even try to hide his discomfort with the whole project. He plays a straight San Francisco cop put on the case of a serial killer who picks up gay men and stabs them to death, which the movie displays in sickening detail. Since the movie doesn't explain exactly how Pacino is searching for the killer except by hanging out in leather bars and moving into a gay apartment building (quite convenient to have those around, so we'll know where all the gay men live), when he does find the killer, there's absolutely no suspense. Directed by William Friedkin, this stirred up quite a bit of controversy by being one of the first mainstream film to tackle the homosexual subculture, but that doesn't excuse the exploitative nature of this trash.
Grade: D