The Runaway Bus and The Last Tycoon

The Runaway Bus - A pleasant and forgettable English comedy-thriller staring Frankie Howerd as a hapless Bus driver lost in fog in route to an alternate airport, On board are a mixed group of passengers (well acted by Margaret Rutherford, Petulia Clark, and Belinda Lee) one of whom is the mysterious criminal mastermind "The Banker". The film does a good job of disguising who is "The Banker" till the very end and several comedy bits are quite funny. However, there's a lot of Frankie Howerd, so if you find him tiresome, you're in for a long 88 minutes.

The Last Tycoon - Based on F. Scott Fitzgerald's unfinished novel, it tells the thinly disguised story of MGM's wonder boy Thalberg. Given talent involved, De Niro, Kazan, Mitchum, Pinter, this was quite a disappointment. Its not bad, it just never got me involved. De Niro does his usual good job as the lead and the direction is fine, but there's just nothing in the story/script that got my pulse racing. Its one of those movies where you get to "the end" and ask "what was the point?" Others may find it deep and subtle.