Joel Schumacher died yesterday, so this is a tribute. When he was bad he was bad (his Batman films, for example), but when he was good he was brilliant. “St. Elmo’s Fire”, “The Lost Boys”, “Flatliners”, “Falling Down” and “A Time to Kill” are all iconic 80s and 90s movies.
But one of my favourites is the smaller movie “Phone Booth”, which is amazing in its audacity. Based on a script by the great Larry Cohen and made in less than two weeks, a sleazy publicist is pinned down by a sniper in, yes, a phone booth. Colin Farrell turns in a great performance, and the film keeps ramping up the tension until you chew your nails off.
R.I.P Joel. You were fantastic. And I forgive you for Batman.
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