N-Nz Movies

Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad (1988)  Lieutenant Frank Drebin is a clumsy police detective of Police Squad, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department. Frank returns home to L.A from a vacation in Beirut, when his partner and best friend, Detective Nordberg is gunned down in a undercover operation. Frank's investigation into Nordberg's attempted murder leads Frank to become suspicious of well-respected businessman Vincent Ludwig and discovers Vincent Ludwig plans to brainwash a baseball player with mind control device, and assassinate Queen Elizabeth who is visiting L.A. on her American tour.

According to David Zucker in the DVD commentary, the studio insisted on the casting of an Oscar winner in one of the major roles. This led to the casting of George Kennedy, who had been actively campaigning for the role of Ed Hocken for months, saying that he was furious at having missed his chance to spoof himself in the movie Airplane!.

Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear (1991)  Lt. Frank Drebin loves a mystery. Why are we here? Is there life after sex? Yes, Drebin tackles the big issues--and the biggest of all is how to stop devious Quentin Hapsburg's plan to destroy the environment! Returning are Jane, the woman who can melt a cheese sandwich from 20 paces; the intrepid Capt. Ed Hocken; and the man so famous a beverage is named after him, as hard-luck cop Nordberg.

The pictures displayed in the Loser's Bar include: the Hindenburg, the RMS Lusitania sinking (often confused with the Titanic), the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Ford Edsel, the DeLorean DMC-12, the Hubble Space Telescope (considered a failure at the time), Neville Chamberlain and Michael Dukakis.

The opening credits sequence ends with Zsa Zsa Gabor slapping the police car. In 1989 Gabor was arrested for slapping a police officer and driving with an expired license.

The ship "Hapsburg Valdez," and the TV commercial making fun of the process of hiring tanker captains (breathalyzers, urine tests, etc.), are references to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which took place on March 24, 1989. Over 10 million gallons of oil were dumped into the sea in this ecological disaster. Exxon Valdez was the original name (later Sea River Mediterranean and eventually Mediterranean) of an oil tanker owned by the former Exxon Shipping Company, a division of the former Exxon Corporation. It gained widespread infamy after the March 24, 1989 oil spill in which the tanker, bound for Long Beach California, captained by Joseph Hazelwood, hit Prince William Sound's Bligh Reef and spilled an estimated 10.8 million US gallons (40.9 million liters) of crude oil. This has been recorded as one of the largest spills in U.S. history and one of the largest ecological disasters at the time.

 Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)  Frank Drebin is persuaded come out of retirement to go undercover in a state prison. There he is to find out what top terrorist, Rocco, has planned for when he escapes. Frank's wife, Jane, is desperate for a baby.. this adds to Frank's problems. A host of celebrities at the Academy awards ceremony are humiliated by Frank as he blunders his way trying to foil Rocco.

 The first scene of the movie, a spoof of The Untouchables, was meant to be used on the very first movie, but due to budget problems, the makers couldn't go on with the idea. They thought of using the joke on this last one because they figured enough people had watched "The Untouchables" so that they could understand what was going on.

The Naked Spur (1953)   A bitter Howard Kemp heads westward to the Rockies from Abilene, Kansas on the trail of murderer Ben Vandergroat and the $5000 reward on Vandergroat's head, money after which Kemp lusts in order to re-purchase the ranch that his absconding fiancée had sold during his stint in the army. Kemp unexpectedly crosses paths with an old, star-crossed gold miner, Jesse Tate, and with a recently-discharged soldier of questionable repute, Roy Anderson. Teaming up, they nab Vandergroat and his girl, Lina Patch, but Vandergroat tries to turn his three distrustful, avaricious captors against each other during the return trip.

The Name of the Rose (1986)  1327 A.D. after a mysterious death in a Benedictine Abbey, the monks are convinced that the apocalypse is coming. With the Abbey to play host to a council on the Franciscan's Order's belief that the Church should rid itself of wealth, William of Baskerville, a respected Franciscan monk, is asked to assist in determining the cause of the untimely death. Alas, more deaths occur as the investigation draws closer to uncovering the secret the Abbey wants hidden, and there is finally no stopping the Holy Inquisition from taking an active hand in the process. William and his young novice must race against time to prove the innocence of the unjustly accused and avoid the wrath of Holy Inquisitor Bernardo Gui.

National Treasure (2004)  Ben Gates comes from a family of treasure hunters. Now his grandfather believes that the forefathers' buried a treasure somewhere in the country and have placed clues everywhere but unfortunately the clues are highly cryptic and scaterred all over the place. Now Ben thinks he has found it but it only leads him to another clue which is on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Now one of his associates Ian wants to steal it so that they could get the clue but Ben refuses to do it so he tries to kill Ben. But Ben evades him and tries to warn the authorities about Ian's plans but they don't believe him. So Ben takes it upon himself to steal it in order to protect it. And he does but Abigail Chase the curator of the National Archives, where it is kept, discovers what he has done and tries to stop him but gets caught in the crossfire between Ben and Ian, so Ben takes her with him. While she doesdn't believe him, he is determined to prove he is right about the treasure. But it won't be easy cause Ian's always a step behind him and he is being hunted by the FBI.

The movie suggests that something is written on the back of the Declaration of Independence. It is true that something is written on its back. The writing on the back of the Declaration of Independence reads: "Original Declaration of Independence dated 4th July 1776" and it appears on the bottom of the document, upside down. While no one knows for certain who wrote it, it is known that early in its life, the large parchment document (it measures 29 3/4 inches by 24 ½ inches) was rolled up for storage. So, it is likely that the notation was added simply as a label.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)  Ben Gates and his father have lobbied to get their ancestor Thomas Gates, the man who was entrusted with the secret of the Templars treasure, honored as a historical hero. They believe that Gates was approached by two men who unbeknown to him were members of a group loyal to the confederacy, and one of the men, John Wilkes Booth, gives him his journal and shows him something they want him to decipher. Booth then leaves to assassinate Lincoln. Gates completes the deciphering and discovers that it's a clue to a great treasure but when Gates learns who they are, he rips out pages that had the clue and tried to burn them, he would then be shot. At the unveiling, a man named Wilkinson stands up claiming to have in his position one of the pages that Gates tried to burn and in it, is something that claims that Gates may have been involved with the plot to assassinate Lincoln. So now Thomas Gates is labeled a traitor. But Ben and his father don't believe it. So they acquire the page and discover what Gates was deciphering and sets out to prove that Gates is innocent. But Wilkinson is following him. Ben's trek takes him to France, England, and eventually back to Washington but they hit a road block. And to find the clue Ben is forced to kidnap the President.

Not as good as the first, but still worth a watch.

The Natural (1984)  An unknown middle-aged batter named Roy Hobbs with a mysterious past appears out of nowhere to take a losing 1930s baseball team to the top of the league in this magical sports fantasy. With the aid of a bat cut from a lightning struck tree, Hobbs lives the fame he should have had earlier when, as a rising pitcher, he is inexplicably shot by a young woman.

Neighbors (1981)  One man's quiet suburban life takes a sickening lurch for the worse when a young couple move into the deserted house next door. From the word go it is obvious these are not the quiet professional types who *should* be living in such a nice street. As more and more unbelievable events unfold, our hero starts to question his own sanity... and those of his family.

John Belushi was originally cast in the role of Vic and Dan Aykroyd in the role of Earl. The two decided to switch roles just prior to filming the movie. As such, Belushi and Akroyd starred in this movie acting against type, loud-mouthed Belushi played a quiet character whilst the meeker Aykroyd played an over-the-top character.  It would have been better had they not done so.

Joh Belushi's last movie.   He would die shortly after its release from a drug overdose.

Network (1976)   In the 1970s, terrorist violence is the stuff of networks' nightly news programming and the corporate structure of the UBS Television Network is changing. Meanwhile, Howard Beale, the aging UBS news anchor, has lost his once strong ratings share and so the network fires him. Beale reacts in an unexpected way. We then see how this affects the fortunes of Beale, his coworkers (Max Schumacher and Diana Christensen), and the network.

From about 1980 owward the News went from less about the truth to more Infortainment and getting more market share.  This has given us Fox News'es "Fair and Balanced Bullshit" AND worse the Truth is becoming what I can make you believe rather than anything based on facts.

Nevada Smith (1966)  Nevada Smith is the young son of an Indian mother and white father. When his father and mother are killed by three men over gold, Nevada sets out to find them and kill them. The boy is taken in by a gun merchant. The gun merchant shows him how to shoot, to shoot on time, and to shoot straight. Everything that Nevada does goes to killing those three men. He learns to read and write just to learn their location. He pays people to tell him where they're at. He even goes to prison to kill one of them. While the movie is a Western and has plenty of action, it also takes a deep look into vengeance and how one can change after a haunting incident.

The name "Nevada Smith" was the original inspiration for the name "Indiana Jones"; the Raiders of the Lost Ark character's name was originally "Indiana Smith". George Lucas named him "Indiana" after his dog, and "Smith" after this movie. But then it was changed to "Indiana Jones".

Never Been Kissed (1999)  Chicago Sun Times copy editor Josie Gellar (25), who was desperate to promoted from perfectionist copy editor to reporter, gets her chance when the goody owner orders the editor to cover the high-school scene by undercover. Josie, who was a frustrated, ridiculed nerd, gets a popular make-over from her drop-out, naturally funny brother Rob Geller. Both siblings find love and joys of youth again. But in Josie's case, it's sensitive bachelor teacher Sam Coulson, who enjoys sophisticated conversation. As the publication deadline approaches, the price of blowing their cover seems ever more daunting, yet inevitable unless she sacrifices her career.

The closing credits feature school photos of the cast and crew.

Never Ending Story (1984)  Bastian is having a hard time recovering from his mother's death when he stumbles into a bookstore and learns of a book that's "not safe". Unable to resist such a temptation, he borrows the book and begins to read about the land of Fantasia, the land of human fantasy. The land is being consumed by the Nothingness, and the Empress is dying. A warrior named Atreyu is chosen to save Fantasia from the Nothingness. As Bastian reads the adventures, he is drawn into the story, identifying with Atreyu. Soon, however, he learns what the storekeeper meant about the book when he finds that the characters in the book seem to be aware of him, as well. All seems hopeless as the Nothingness is consuming Fantasia. Can Atreyu save them? Can Bastian?  Can you?

Even you have a role to play, unless you want The Nothing to win.

Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941)  Fields wants to sell a film story to Esoteric Studios. On the way he gets insulted by little boys, beat up for ogling a woman, and abused by a waitress. He becomes his niece's guardian when her mother is killed in a trapeze fall during the making of a circus movie. He and his niece, who he finds at a shooting gallery, fly to Mexico to sell wooden nutmegs in a Russian colony. Trying to catch his bottle as it falls from the plane, he lands on a mountain peak where lives the man- eating Mrs. Hemogloben. When he gets to the Russian colony he finds Leon Errol (father of the insulting boys and owner of the shooting gallery) already selling wooden nutmegs. He decides to woo the wealthy Mrs. Hemogloben but when he gets there Errol has preceded him. The Mexican adventure is the story that Esoteric Studios would not buy.

Never Say Die (1939)  Bob Hope is being stalked by a predatory widow who is a widow of wealthy husbands many times over. Martha Raye is a Texan heiress who wants to marry her boyfriend Andy Devine, but her father is determined that she marry into royalty. To solve both their problems, Martha Raye and Bob Hope decide to marry, but will they ever find love together?

A New Kind of Love (1963)  The fashion industry and Paris provide the setting for a comedy surrounding the mistaken impression that Joanne Woodward is a high-priced call girl. Paul Newman is the journalist interviewing her for insights on her profession.

When his editor tells him he's being reassigned to Paris, "where you'll probably die," Newman replies, "Yeah, but what a wonderful way to go." The line turned out to be prophetic - the very next year, Newman played an American living in Paris in What a Way to Go!.

The Next Three Days (2010)  In Pittsburgh, the family man and community college teacher John Brennan has his life turned upside down when his beloved wife Lara Brennan is arrested, accused for murdering her boss, and sent to the Allegheny County Jail. A long three years follows, John raises their son Luke alone and appeals to the court; however, the evidences against Lara are solid - the motive, since she had and argument with her boss; her fingerprints on the murder weapon, a fire extinguisher; blood stain on her coat; and a witness that saw her leaving the parking lot - and her lawyer exhausts all the possible resources in justice. John believes in the innocence of his wife and interviews a former escapee from prison to learn how to plan a prison break. Then he plots a scheme to release Lara and travel abroad with Luke and her. However, he needs documents for the family; an escape plan; and lots of money. When John is informed that Lara will be transferred to the state prison within the next three days, he needs to raise a large amount and anticipate his strategy before the transference.

Great thriller that will keep you attentive and on the edge of your seat.  Enjoy.

A Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian (2009)  Security guard Larry Daley infiltrates the Smithsonian Institution in order to rescue Jedediah and Octavius, who have been shipped to the museum by mistake.

Not great, but still good enough to see.  First movie ever filmed in the Smithsonian.

A Night at the Opera (1935)  The Marx Brothers take on high society. Two lovers who are both in opera are prevented from being together by the man's lack of acceptance as an operatic tenor. Pulling several typical Marx Brothers' stunts, they arrange for the normal tenor to be absent so that the young lover can get his chance.

Incredibly funny and zanny too of course.

Nine to Five (1980)  Frank Hart is a pig. He takes advantage in the grossest manner of the women who work with him. When his three assistants manage to trap him in his own house they assume control of his department and productivity leaps, but just how long can they keep Hart tied up?

In the middle of the film, Dolly Parton and her colleagues send a nosy secretary to the Aspen Language Center in Colorado to learn French. The particular TWA 747 shown in the film later was used in reality on the ill-fated flight of TWA 800, which exploded off of Long Island, NY.   The son of a woman I went to high school died on Flight 800.

Ninotchka (1939)  Soviet emissaries Buljanoff, Iranoff, and Kopalski no sooner arrive in Paris to sell some jewelry for the government, than soft capitalist ways begin to corrupt them. Grand Duchess Swana, former owner of the jewels but now exiled in Paris, sends her very good friend, playboy Leon d'Algout, to interfere with the sale. When sly Leon meets stern Comrade Nina Ivanovna, sent to take over from the hapless emissaries, east-west romance results; but major complications intervene.

This is definitely a best film.

Greta Garbo did not wear any makeup for her scenes where she is the stern envoy.

Banned in the Soviet Union.

Grim gritty movie but well worth viewing. Javier Bardem's performance as a psychopath is incredible.  Won four Oscars including best picture, best director.

No Highway in the Sky (1951)  Theodore Honey is an aeronautical engineer who is conducting stress tests on the tail assembly for a relatively new airplane, the Reindeer, manufactured by his employer. He is convinced that at approximately 1440 hours of use, vibration will have caused sufficient metal fatigue for the tail to just fall off. A Reindeer recently crashed in Labrador and he is sent there to see if the tail can be found and examined. The flight is on a Reindeer and when he learns that the plane is fast approaching it's limit, he causes quite a commotion. He's returned to England and will now likely be fired. He does have some supporters however including stewardess Marjorie Corder and actress Monica Teasdale but his testing has not yet provided any definite proof there is a design flaw in the aircraft.

I saw the movie as a boy and read Nevil Shute's book, No Highway in 1961 when I lived in Big Spring, Texas.  Although the book is fiction, it compares well with the relife problems of the British Electra which had problems in the late 50s.

Nobody's Fool (1994) Sully is a rascally ne'er-do-well approaching retirement age. While he is pressing a worker's compensation suit for a bad knee, he secretly works for his nemesis, Carl, and flirts with Carl's young wife Toby. Sully's long- forgotten son and family have moved back to town, so Sully faces unfamiliar family responsibilities. Meanwhile, Sully's landlady's banker son plots to push through a new development and evict Sully from his mother's life.  

Great shot of Melaine Griffith flashing her breasts at Paul Newman and catching him by surprise.

Noises Off (1992)  Lloyd Fellowes is the director of a theatre company. He's desperately trying to get his production together, despite the best efforts of the cast, the crew, and Lady Luck. We follow the production from final rehersals, through opening night, and onto the tour: as with any group of actors forced to work closely together for any great length of time, romances and arguments are bound to break out. Quite often, what's happening on stage is nothing compared to what's happening backstage.

Entirely too funny.  Having been in many amateur plays, I can tell you this all happens.

North by Northwest (1959)  Madison Avenue advertising man Roger Thornhill finds himself thrust into the world of spies when he is mistaken for a man by the name of George Kaplan. Foreign spy Philip Vandamm and his henchman Leonard try to eliminate him but when Thornhill tries to make sense of the case, he is framed for murder. Now on the run from the police, he manages to board the 20th Century Limited bound for Chicago where he meets a beautiful blond, Eve Kendall, who helps him to evade the authorities. His world is turned upside down yet again when he learns that Eve isn't the innocent bystander he thought she was. Not all is as it seems however, leading to a dramatic rescue and escape at the top of Mt. Rushmore.

North to Alaska (1960)  Sam and George strike gold in Alaska. George sends Sam to Seattle to bring George's fiancé back to Alaska. Sam finds she is already married, and returns instead with Angel. Sam, after trying to get George and Angel together, finally romances Angel, who, in the meantime, is busy fighting off the advances of George's younger brother, Billy. Frankie is a con man trying to steal the partner's gold claim.

I first saw this movie when I was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver, Colorado.  A fairly typical western exported to Alaska. 

The creek where the cabin is located is also the the same spot used in True Grit (where Dennis Hopper's character and his brother are killed) and in Nevada Smith (where Steve McQueen's character first meets Brian Keith's character).

Fabian had a hit with the title song for sometime after the movie faded from memory.

Great part for Ernie Kovacs who was known more for comedy.

Nosferatu (1922)  Wisbourg, Germany based estate agent Knock dispatches his associate, Hutter, to Count Orlok's castle in Transylvania as the Count wants to purchase a isolated house in Wisbourg. They plan on selling him the one across the way from Hutter's own home. Hutter leaves his innocent wife, Ellen, with some friends while he is away. Hutter's trek is an unusual one, with many locals not wanting to take him near the castle where strange events have been occurring. Once at the castle, Hutter does manage to sell the Count the house, but he also notices and feels unusual occurrences, primarily feeling like there is a dark shadow hanging over him, even in the daytime when the Count is unusually asleep. Hutter eventually sees the Count's sleeping chamber in a crypt, and based on a book he has recently read, believes the Count is really a vampire or Nosferatu. While Hutter is trapped in the castle, the Count, hiding in a shipment of coffins, makes his way to Wisbourg, causing death along his way, which most attribute to the plague. Hutter himself tries to rush home to save his town and most importantly save Ellen from Nosferatu's imminent arrival. In Wisbourg, Ellen can feel the impending darkness as Nosferatu gets closer. But she learns that a sinless woman can sacrifice herself to kill the vampire. Will Hutter be able to save Ellen either from Nosferatu and/or her self-sacrifice?

Many scenes featuring Graf Orlok were filmed during the day, and when viewed in black and white, this becomes extremely obvious. This potential blooper is corrected when the "official" versions of the movie are tinted blue to represent night.

Nothing in Common (1986)  David Basner is a successful advertising executive who has it all: Money, happiness, and women who want him. Then one day his world falls apart when his mother leaves his father. Now, he must balance his life between his mother, who is happy with her newfound independence, and his father, a recently laid off salesman who is hard-headed, stubborn, and hides a lot from David. Now David must cope with the downfall of his family and his life.

Nurse Betty (2000)  A Kansas City waitress with dreams of becoming a nurse becomes delusional after seeing her no-good car salesman husband murdered. Becoming delusional from shock, she becomes convinced that she is the former fiancée of her soap opera idol. What she also believes is that the soap opera is real and goes to LA to find the hospital where he works as a cardiologist. Meanwhile, her husband's murderers are searching for the drugs stolen by her husband and, as luck would have it, they are stored in the trunk of the car she drove off in. Freeman, an aging hit man planning his retirement after this job, also becomes delusional about the woman he is tracking.

Good satire with a father son road trip thrown in.  Very funny movie.

The Nutty Professor (1963)  Nerd. Milquetoast. Klutz. These are just three of the many undesirable words that can be used to describe Professor Julius Kelp. But all that changes when the chemistry expert invents a potion that transforms him into a suave, sexy chick magnet, whom Julius aptly names Buddy Love. Unfortunately, there's one side effect: Buddy can't control when he'll change back into Julius, an event that always happens at inopportune times. How will Julius/Buddy resolve his Jekyll-and-Hyde dilemma?

When I was a boy, I liked Jerry Lewis.  When I grew up, he was more pathetic than funny.  This movie is worth seeing.  It is a comic version of the classic Jekyll & Hyde.  Jerry Lewis plays this very well.