Meliton's Movie Minute

Movie #137 - The Shining

2010-01-03T00:14:00.004-05:00

"A masterpiece of modern horror."

As one of the biggest fans of this movie, you really cannot argue with this tagline. Not surprisingly, this movie is in my personal top three movies of all time, with the list being somewhat interchangeable with The Exorcist and Psycho included.

This movie is Jack Nicholson at his best - way before he just became a shell of the actor he was in the late 70's and early 80's. Nowadays, Nicholson is playing himself, as opposed to actually adopting roles and flexing his acting prowess.

The movie has some slow points and after watching it on average seven to nine times per year when it's on television, this movie is no longer scary for me. It probably didn't help because it is one of the first movies I remember ever watching when I was a kid, so I probably saw this movie back when I was about three or four years old. Great parenting eh? No big deal, not like it made me into an ax murderer or something, just made me pretty jaded and not afraid of most current horror movies.

Plus, not to sound too old (29 turning 30 in 2010), this movie is still quite good compared to some of the crap that is being churned out these days. Current horror movies are glorified slasher films, using gore tactics and loud music. Gone are the days of the classic musical score, elite level acting, and just a good story to tell and a great screenplay. Cinematography is no longer an art form, as CGI and horror costumes are taking over... sorry, but the Saw series and anything by Eli Roth for example cannot hold a candle to this movie.

The acting is superb, even with a small cast of characters. The movie is about cabin fever combined with what a haunted hotel will do to someone. Nicholson is complemented well with the frantic acting of Shelley Duvall, while Scatman Crothers makes another appearance with Jack in this film - seek out One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest for the other collaboration between these two. However, for those who have seen this film, Crothers and Nicholson are only briefly on screen together.

Danny Torrance is the real treat of this movie. Not only is he creepy (portrayed by Danny Lloyd), but his character is what makes this movie work. He sees all of the echoes of the past and he sees all that is bad with The Overlook Hotel. The explanation of the "shining" power is better explained in the book by Stephen King, however, I like Stanley Kubrick's adaptation here, although there is much lost, despite the length of the movie.

There was a remake of this movie done about 12 years ago starring Steven Weber and Rebecca De Mornay, however, I will leave that poorly done adaptation out of this discussion. I personally saw that mini-series, and although it is closer to the work of King's novel, it was so poorly done and over-hyped, that is was quite the disappointment.

Overall, I will never get sick of this movie. I love the score and there are some great scenes to this film. That's all I do now - watch these classic films for my favourite scenes.

I've got a few, but I decided to go with this one instead - it was a tough decision, but I think I made the right one:

As for the trailer, here you go... not a bad way to entice audiences back then. If they re-released this movie in theatres now, I would present it in the same way. Maybe upon the 30th anniversary in May 2010... methinks this is a good idea.

Movie #136 - Sleepless in Seattle

2009-09-25T09:18:00.000-04:00

"What if someone you never met, someone you never saw, someone you never knew was the only someone for you?"

One of the many romantic comedies written and directed by Nora Ephron. The only difference between this movie and some of her other movies, she cast Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan together. This is one of three films in which the two are paired, and apart from the flop, Joe vs. the Volcano, this movie and You've Got Mail are definitely keepers.

I am not one to openly claim that I like many romantic comedies, but I do like this movie. Not only is it well written and has an elaborate plot, it is well cast, a recipe that makes for a great movie in the end.

To complement Hanks and Ryan, you have appearances from Rob Reiner, Bill Pullman, David Hyde Pierce, Rosie O'Donnell, and Rita Wilson. However, the driving force behind this movie is the work of Ross Malinger, who portrays Jonah Baldwin, the son of Hanks' character. He is the main reason why this romance starts off in the first place and the main reason why it comes to fruition in the end.

Also, to add, Meg Ryan is again bubbly, perky, and beautiful in this film... too bad she looks somewhat scary nowadays with botched plastic surgery and time catching up with her. I believe she would've maintained that level of beauty from her earlier roles if she just let time do what it had to... instead, she caused her own demise.

And yes, I know... I've spoiled the ending so to speak. But Ephron romantic comedy have you seen where the two love interests didn't get together in the end? If you haven't watched this film after 16 years on the video shelves, pick it up. Not only will your wife, girlfriend, or fiancee thank you for it... but you'll definitely show a softer side... a level of sensitivity that she's never seen before.

However, if you are a female reader and want to pick this movie up on a date night with your boyfriend, husband, or fiancee... please don't. It's not fair to subject most men to these films... I am capable of sitting through them at nausea and I seek them out in order to amass more films on my database, however, I wouldn't openly recommend this film to punish men who would rather enjoy films such as Aliens or The Terminator or Rocky IV. There is romance in all three of those films... you'll greatly appreciate it. Get any of those films instead!

Hehehe... I love double standards.

Movie #135 - The Terry Fox Story

2009-09-24T11:49:00.000-04:00

"Courage. Heartbreak. Romance. Determination."

One of the greatest true stories of a life that inspired a nation, and now inspires millions worldwide to fight cancer. The story portrays the life of Terry Fox and his determination to raise money for cancer research.

I will not attempt to comment on the compelling life story and tremendous courage, passion, and leadership this many showed fellow Canadians with his Marathon of Hope. However, this movie captured a great deal of that story and did its best to hold true to it.

The movie is cast with Eric Fryer, a real-life amputee who won a Genie award for Best Actor. The Genies are the Canadian equivalent to the Oscars. His portrayal of Fox was spot on and since the film was only made shortly after Fox's death, it must have been difficult to portray such a Canadian hero at the time of production.

The story follows the interaction between Fox and Doug Alward (portrayed by Michael Zelniker). Alward and Fox traveled together throughout the Marathon of Hope and its through the perspective of Alward that part of the story is told. Although Fox is not showcased through much heroism in his treatment of Alward throughout the journey, it shows the pain and suffering Fox had to endure to complete it, not to mention that he didn't intend to be a hero, but just someone who wanted to motivate others and prove a point. I believe he accomplished that as he is known as one of Canada's treasures in history and still impacts the lives of many every September.

There aren't many names in this film as the cast is composed of many Canadian actors. The only true headliner is Robert Duvall, who gives this film credibility and exposure to the U.S. film audience, but his role is more narrative and minimal to the entire storyline. Rosalind Chao (Rika Noda) is probably the only other recognizable name from this cast, known for her minor television roles and appearances.

In the end, I don't think the intent of this film was to make money or win accolades. It was to tell a compelling story, one that everyone in Canada knows about. It did win almost every award available in the dramatic movie categories at the Genies that year, however, telling a brief snapshot of the life and times of Terry Fox was the main reason it was made.

I apologize that I could not find a trailer for this film, but if I do, I will add it to the post afterwards.

Movie #134 - Gremlins

2009-09-23T09:25:00.000-04:00

"Cute. Clever. Mischievous. Intelligent. Dangerous."

I remember seeing this film as a child and didn't think twice about it scaring me or not. Was probably already desensitized at an early age with exposure to horror films such as Psycho, The Shining, or The Exorcist, so Gremlins was pale by comparison.

However, Executive Producer Steven Spielberg got a great deal of flack back in 1984 when this movie was first released. Coming off of his box-office and critical success with E. T. The Extra Terrestrial, Gremlins was marketed as a holiday film, especially with cute Gizmo on the poster.

Parents unwittingly took their young children hoping to see a feel good story, only to be surprised to watch a film filled with violence and death. Yes, although cute and silly, Gremlins is actually a very violent movie, but made to be more of a dark comedy... something that is quite common in the here and now.

Despite the protests of the select few who got offended, this is a great movie from the 80's. Another member of the quintessential 80's films, its also a classic to enjoy during the Christmas season because its unconventional and definitely worth a laugh instead of the warm, fuzzy feeling from some of the other Christmas standards.

The cast itself is somewhat forgettable. Zach Galligan is the protagonist. Also, see if you can spot a young Corey Feldman and even Judge Reinhold is here - he's in almost every 80's film. Many young boys were distracted by the casting of Phoebe Cates - who didn't have a crush on her back in the 80's? I was only 4 years old when this film was released, but later developed that crush too watching these various 80's films over and over again in the early 90's.

The true star of this movie is the special effects utilized to create Gizmo and the entire cast of Gremlins monsters. Using specially designed puppets and animatronics, this type of technology was cutting edge before CGI was ever used on a regular basis. In addition, the cute character of Gizmo was accomplished by the voice over work of Howie Mandel... way before Bobby's World or Deal or No Deal.

In the end, the most infamous aspect of this movie is the rules. The Gremlin rules... coincidentally, similar rules that pertain to me:

1. Keep them away from water.
2. Keep them away from bright light.
3. The most important rule. No matter how much they cry, no matter how much they beg, never, never feed them after midnight.

Movie #133 - I Know What You Did Last Summer

2009-09-22T10:55:00.005-04:00

"He's got a hook on them..."

One of those summer thrillers from 1997, this movie was the start of the wave of successful teen and young adult movie actors and actresses.

From this movie you have Jennifer Love Hewitt, who at the time was known for her work on Party of Five, but is know a recognized movie and television actress with her recent success on Ghost Whisperer.

Next you have Sarah Michelle Gellar, who has recently quieted down on leading movie roles and is probably living off her syndication money from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In terms of long-term acting potential, you have Ryan Phillippe, who has not only appeared in some critically acclaimed films over the past decade, but has shown that he can act in some serious roles, action movies, and even dark comedies. He has showcased the most versatility and could end up being the most recognized member of this film cast.

The one with the least success thus far is probably Freddie Prinze Jr. I believe he was originally in line to become the next Keanu Reeves, but his time might have passed to supplant Reeves in the roles in which solid acting and even facial expressions are not necessary. Prinze Jr. has chosen some poor roles since this movie, especially with a recurring role in the Scooby Doo franchise... yikes!

Other cameos from semi-stars you might recognize are Bridgette Wilson (Mrs. Pete Sampras), Johnny Galecki (known for his roles on Roseanne and the clever comedy The Big Bang Theory), and even Anne Heche, who seems grossly out of place with these younger stars.

In the end, they made a sequel to this film, which they only made because of the success of the original. The cast and popularity of these teenage / young adult actors is what sold this movie... not the plot or storyline. I also discovered that they made another sequel sans Hewitt - probably a straight to video type of thing, but hopefully, with some nudity. Hey, you gotta have a positive somewhere... this is a 14-A horror movie. Back when I was 17, this was a total rip-off.

Movie #132 - Spaceballs

2009-09-21T10:53:00.000-04:00

"May The Farce Be With You."

You have to hand it to Mel Brooks. He took one of the biggest franchises in movie history in Star Wars and made one of the most clever spoof comedies. Not only was Brooks able to accomplish such a feat, but he used a large movie production budget and was very respectful to the Star Wars franchise in the jokes that were told.

This is definitely how movie spoofs should be made. The Airplane franchise is another set of movies that does it right. More recently, the disastrous movies such as the ones made by Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer are horrible. Poor examples of super spoofs in which every movie of the summer is made into a spoof segment of the film. Stay away from these films.

Mel Brooks did it right with this film. The cast is remarkable in the use of top actors of the 80's such as John Candy, Rick Moranis, and Bill Pullman. Also, the other cast members are pretty good too such as Daphne Zuniga, Dick Van Patten, and Joan Rivers. Mel Brooks is also in this film along with some clever cameos from John Hurt and George Wyner.

Of the Brooks films, this is one of his best. I appreciate his brand of humor, because its creative and unique. He utilizes a basis for his plot, but takes the film into a whole new direction, telling an entirely different story that is only loosely based on the original film.

For you Star Wars fans out there... you'll love the use of various references from the franchise such as the Schwarz instead of the Force, Yogurt instead of Yoda, Dark Helmet instead of Darth Vader, and Pizza the Hut instead of Jabba the Hutt. Overall, Star Wars fans should enjoy this movie, not only for its farce comedy, but for the efforts made to pay homage to the original franchise.

Movie #131 - The Siege

2009-09-18T09:16:00.000-04:00

"On November 6th our freedom is history."

I recently caught this 1998 film by Director Edward Zwick, and I noticed how prophetic this film was. Released three years before September 11, 2001, a day in which similar attacks on the U.S. was orchestrated by terrorists, Zwick's film discusses a number of major issues related to government policy and reactionary measures made during the fictional terrorism threats to New York City.

The reason this film was so compelling was that I watched it in 2009, during the post 9/11 era. Looking back, the reaction of the government and the paranoia that ensues in the film is quite similar to what the U.S. and other first world countries decided to do in order to combat terrorism.

Martial law was a very close reality for Americans and the threat that they faced in the days, weeks, and months after 9/11 were real. Zwick's commentary to how society would crumble and the removal of constitutional rights and freedoms on its own citizens due to racial profiling is still abundant today, albeit to a lesser extent. However, shortly after 9/11, this was a reality for many people and thus, this film is a must see for how accurate the commentary truly was.

Although the action sequences, suspense, and acting of this film are top notch with roles portrayed by Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Annette Benning, and Tony Shaloub, the movie takes some wild turns in the end, almost like a rush to finish the film. Throughout the movie, you are compelled to find out what happens - but in the end, you are left wanting more.

If you ever want to see a fictional 9/11 story, this is one to watch. There have been many 9/11 films documenting the heroic stories of the passengers of the planes and the World Trade Center victims, but this film looks at a fictional representation of what could happen if the terrorism threat in the U.S. becomes real.

Looking back at recent history, Zwick's predictions and conclusions aren't off base and it shows that fiction can become reality at times. I won't use this post to comment on my personal views of the state of society in relation to 9/11, but I urge readers to seek out this film to see its fictional parallels to the events that followed this important time in our history.

Movie #130 - A Fistful of Dollars

2009-09-17T09:32:00.000-04:00

"This short cigar belongs to a man with no name. This long gun belongs to a man with no name. This poncho belongs to a man with no name. He's going to trigger a whole new style in adventure."

One of the quintessential Western movies of all time, A Fistful of Dollars introduces us to not only one of the greatest characters portrayed by Clint Eastwood, but probably one of the better set of films from this genre. Included in this Man with No Name trilogy are For A Few Dollars More and The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.

What makes this film great is the contrast between the Eastwood character and Gian Maria Volonte (Ramon Rojo). Volonte is a villain in two of the three trilogy films and his great performances is what drives us to root for the protagonist in the end.

In fact, the Eastwood character in all three films isn't entirely good, he just has an ideal moral standard that he lives by, but in the end, he's either a bounty hunter or a petty thug in most cases. However, in the West, having a moral standard is quite rare, hence the character is compelling.

You can obviously tell that I am quite biased to these films. In a prior post, I believe I claimed that For A Few Dollars More is the best of the three films. I think its the tandem of Lee Van Cleef with Eastwood opposite Volonte that makes that film work.

Sergio Leone does some masterful work in this trilogy. Leone was definitely the king of the "spaghetti westerns" and its unfortunate that he didn't do many other films for U.S. release. However, this lack of exposure probably led to the cult status that has followed the Man with No Name trilogy. Had Leone done more films in this genre, I think he'd do just fine with the quality of work and the cinematography used for his films.

In the end, A Fistful of Dollars is a delight to watch and you'll just be sucked into the machismo that it exudes. As a suggestion, seek out the Japanese film Yojimbo (1961), which is what the story of this film is based on. If you don't want to go back that far, seek out Last Man Standing (1996) starring Bruce Willis and Christopher Walken. Its the exact same film with an updated cast and plot, but same concept. However, you'll like Leone's rendition of this story - its the most entertaining.

Movie #129 - Brewster's Millions

2009-09-16T08:55:00.000-04:00

"An American excess story."

After doing some research for this blog post review, I learned that this movie is a remake of a number of films of the same title from the early era of movies. This film has been made in different varieties in 1914, 1921, 1935, and 1945, with the 1985 version being the latest. There is also rumours that another remake is in the works for 2012 release, but I'll stick to what I know.

The concept of all of these films, including this version is that Richard Pryor's character of Monty Brewster inherits $30 million, but must spend it in 30 days in order to inherit $300 million that he is entitled to. Also, there are stipulations. He must not inform anyone that he has to spend in this fashion and he cannot buy anything that he can keep after the 30 days are over - removing the aspects of buying property, investments, etc.

Probably everyone's dream of the 1980's, to learn of a distant relative that has given you such a windfall. The act of spending the money itself is entertaining due to its extravagance. I enjoyed the plot of this quirky 80's film and its cast of comedic actors to provide support to Pryor's character.

In addition to Pryor, you have supporting roles offered by the likes of Stephen Collins, John Candy, Jerry Orbach, Lonette McKee, and Hume Cronyn as his ominous distant relative. Pryor is a treat to watch in this film, despite the fact that the humour and comedy throughout the film are actually quite limited.

The quest to spend this money is both frustrating and creative. $30 million is quite a sum, especially if you cannot keep anything and have to spend every penny. So if you've ever dreamt of doing this in your lifetime, this is a movie that you will enjoy.

Movie #128 - U-571

2009-09-15T09:10:00.000-04:00

"You won't come up for air until it's over!"

Great premise to this movie. If you are an avid fan of the History Channel, you have probably seen a number of documentaries on the effort to retrieve the Enigma device, a machine that allowed the Nazis to be able to communicate without detection - one of the key strategic advantages of the WWII U-boat campaign.

Although the U-571 film itself was fiction, it is based on various true missions in which the effort to obtain the Enigma device and its relevant code books to decipher the code were made by the Allied forces.

Cast with a solid team of actors, Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Bon Jovi are the headliners. There are some solid support roles offered by David Keith, Jake Weber, Jack Noseworthy, Will Estes, and Erik Palladino.

The film starts off fairly slowly as we learn of the plot and the mission to be undertaken by the cast. With unforeseen changes to the original plans, the remaining cast members are forced to use the U-boat that they have raided to escape the Germans.

Once that part of the story begins, the movie itself becomes scripted and predictable. With a submarine movie, apart from torpedo scenes and compelling moments with depth charges, the movie isn't really exciting anymore. Maybe I am just a little jaded with this film, considering I watch the second half of it almost every time its on television. I've probably seen the chase scenes more than 10 times at the very least.

In the end, what's amazing is that the sailors of WWII actually had missions like this and that our grandparents' generation had to endure such events in their lives. For that alone, this movie is a must see, maybe not for its acting or overall quality as a film, but for its historical references to what did in fact occur during those U-boat / Enigma campaigns.

Movie #127 - Mortal Kombat

2009-09-14T09:33:00.004-04:00

"Choose your destiny..."

One of the more popular movies of my youth, at 15 years old, this movie was a must-see. Especially since everyone was either playing this game at the elite level at the arcades or at least had a copy of the game either on Super Nintendo or Sega Genesis.

Unfortunately, similar to all of the video game movie adaptations that you see nowadays, Mortal Kombat was a poor rendition of the very popular game. Although the film itself had some strong special effects for 1995 and was well-cast in terms of martial artists who could act, the storyline and plot behind the game was somewhat silly.

Characters portrayed by Christopher Lambert (Rayden), Robin Shou (Liu Kang), Linden Ashby (Johnny Cage), and Bridgette Wilson (Sonya Blade) were the good guys of the story while Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (Shang Tsung) was the leader of the bad guys. The plot behind this film - a battle between good and evil, the final battle to decide who will rule the world.

Beyond the video game plot, I enjoyed the action sequences in this film. The martial arts is top notch, however, this film would've been more enjoyable had the scenes been shot in full speed and not riddled with slow-motion sequences. Shou and Ashby are solid martial artists and this is also enhanced by the stunt work and choreography utilized in the film. Mixed in with a soundtrack that everyone remembers from 1995, and you definitely have a high octane film on your hands.

Lambert is still a creepy dude in this film and every warm-blooded male probably had a thing for Sonya Blade, either on screen or in the video game. Wilson was a perfect casting for Blade as she had the build and look, and was quite a popular female actress during the middle part of the 90's as she is known for her role in Billy Madison and for marrying tennis superstar Pete Sampras.

If watched today, this film is quite silly, even in comparison to some of the recent video game adaptations. Back when I was 15, I probably thought this was one of the best movies of the year, watching it with a bunch of friends in high school and probably sneaking in candy and snacks into the theatre. Back when kids used to go to movie theatres instead of downloading them or buying bootlegs at flea markets, of course.

Movie #126 - Under Siege

2009-09-11T08:25:00.000-04:00

"It's not a job...It's an Adventure!"

Somewhat of an odd tagline considering this movie has a number of other themes to play on. Steven Seagal was at the top of his game in this movie and unfortunately for his career, was the beginning of the end. Also cast in this film was Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, who in the early 90's were the best villains money could buy.

For Jones, Under Siege was a string of films in which Jones was grossly over exposed. From 1989-1994, Jones completed 13 films. All of which are overshadowed by his solid performance in The Fugitive. However, his maniacal role in this film suited Jones' ability to act serious. Providing support on the evil side is Gary Busey, who was coming off of his success on Lethal Weapon and Predator 2. Unfortunately, Busey's career as a villain didn't really take off as most would've expected - probably a product of poor career management and role selection.

The concept of this movie is good. Capturing the retired battleship with nuclear warheads within the arsenal. Pitting a number of rogue special operations soldiers against a cook in Seagal's character. Although we later find out that Seagal is actually a former Navy Seal, its funny to see the reactions everyone has to his "cook" moniker.

I remember watching this film when it first came out on VHS at a birthday party. My friends and I were 12 years old and Baywatch was definitely a popular television show of that era. Erika Eleniak was a nice bonus to this film, full of action, violence, and suspense.

Unfortunately, for Seagal's career, Under Siege represented the high point of his accomplishments. His Casey Ryback character was one of his best and his role on this film was well cast and suited for his persona. He quickly made other films to follow that were poorly done, including a sequel that was ill-advised.

Seagal is hoping to rejuvenate his career on television for A&E (Steven Seagal: Lawman). He is portraying himself as a fully-commissioned deputy in Louisiana. Early reviews are mixed, but seeing Seagal in a similar light to Dog the Bounty Hunter might just work in the end.

Movie #125 - To Sir with Love

2009-09-10T08:51:00.000-04:00

"A story as fresh as the girls in their minis. . .and as tough as the kids from London's East End!"

I must admit, I haven't seen this movie since I was probably around 15 years old, back when my older sister was obsessed with movies from the 60's and 70's. I am happy to convey that there isn't much to this film. Teacher tries to reach out to a bunch of troubled kids and succeeds in the end.

Although this plot line is similar to many films that have been produced in recent years, its obviously one of the first movies to try to do it. You can loosely tie this plot line to films such as Dangerous Minds, although I'm sure the original producers would not want to be affiliated with such a bad film from the 90's.

As you can see from the trailer below, Sidney Poitier is the main driving force behind this film's promotion. In the 60's, Poitier was one of the most highly coveted actors of his generation, starring in a number of pivotal movies of the era such as Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? and In the Heat of the Night - all made in 1967 like this film. Poitier is an acclaimed actor and won an Academy Award in 1963 for Lilies on the Field and was nominated for 1958's The Defiant Ones.

However, as you can see with the promotion of this movie, the producers intended to position it more as a teen angst film, casting a British pop singer, Lulu as one of the characters who also sang the famous score of the movie. In the end, this movie accomplishes that feat, however, the adaptation intended probably wasn't captured. There are too many fluff 60's scenes: inopportune dance sequences, singing montages, etc. The film doesn't have an identity and because of that, it falls flat for intention. Poitier looks grossly out of place in this film and I believe its one he'd be willing to hide from his dramatic acting resume.

Movie #124 - Bee Movie

2009-09-09T09:51:00.000-04:00

"On November 2 Hold on to your honey."

Back when I still had The Movie Network, I was watching movies every couple of days. I decided to give Bee Movie a chance, even though I think I've grown out of the CGI type of cartoons. Despite this lack of enthusiasm to watch the movie, I found it quite entertaining. I've noticed a trend ever since Toy Story - all of these CGI films are actually geared more to adults than children. Adults are the ones with the money, the ones who have to sit through countless repeat viewings of these films on DVD, and they are the ones who buy the kids the merchandise, clothing, and toys.

All that being said, the film would be quite entertaining for the kids and for the adults who think or still act like children. The film is cast quite well, with an abundance of recognizable names including Jerry Seinfeld, Renee Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, John Goodman, Chris Rock, and Kathy Bates. You'll also get quite a few celebrity cameos with Ray Liotta, Larry King, Sting, Oprah Winfrey, Megan Mullaly, and even Michael Richards.

Originally, I wasn't sold on the fact that Seinfeld could produce some good voice over work. He's no Robin Williams, but he does a good job emoting and providing intonation in his voice. Children love it when the character voices are quite animated (no pun intended) and he does a good job with it. Ideally, from the adult perspective, having a plot, well-written comedic script, and a happy ending for the children in the audience helps bring this movie along. However, when you've seen one summer blockbuster cartoon, you've seen them all.

Despite having a clever cast and a strong plot, this movie is similar to every other cartoon that is generated every quarter year or so. Children are a large marketing target, and unfortunately, also have short memories. Because of this, movie corporations are churning out children's cartoons at an alarming rate due to the technology available. Gone are the days of the hand drawn cartoon movie epics - hello to the movies you can make in 3-6 months using a bunch of Mac computers.

Don't get me wrong, I like the fact that the new technology makes larger panoramic cartoon shots and allows the producers to spend on voice over talent budgets, but scripts still need to be fresh and dynamic. Despite being somewhat predictable, Bee Movie is a fun film for the family and one of the better CGI cartoons I've seen recently. That being said, I've only seen three in the past five years, so that may not say much either!

Movie #123 - Planes, Trains, and Automobiles

2009-09-08T11:02:00.003-04:00

"Steve Martin had no reason to panic...until John Candy came along."

One of the funniest movies of the 1980's, the continuous exchange between Steve Martin and John Candy is superb. I picked up this movie on DVD a couple of years ago when I first decided to start flying for work - having to travel to San Diego by plane for the first time in my life. Knowing the type of trip Martin and Candy had to go through in order to get to their final destination, made me feel a little bit better.

Written and directed by John Hughes, the 80's was his decade. I think I rhymed off a number of his key films in another recent post, but Hughes was definitely one of the best directors of that decade... and then, once the 90's hit, Hughes was obsessed with Home Alone and Beethoven. Being a pseudo-professional writer myself, maybe Hughes was just suffering with a decade long version of writer's block, but he churned out way too many of the cute, family films and forgot what his success was built upon. Teen angst and witty comedy.

As for Martin and Candy - they are a great tandem as both can deliver a punchline and are both physical comedic actors. With Martin, you are given the persona of the serious, businessman, almost somewhat snobbish in nature. With Candy, you are given the Uncle Buck persona, the gregarious every man who is very annoying.

Whoever decided to put these two together on the same screen was a genius. Martin and Candy drive this film and the trials and tribulations of their journey, causing them to rely on each other more makes this film even funnier than originally intended.

My favourite scene is depicted in the photo above, showcasing the moment in which Martin and Candy are forced to share a hotel room bed due to lack of funds. Its a classic scene and one that breaks up all of the laughs - especially the reactions the guys have when they discover that they are in a romantic embrace.

In the end, you'll enjoy 93 minutes of hilarity with these two guys taking you through their adventure. Have fun - it definitely makes traveling more bearable.

Movie #122 - Star Trek: The Motion Picture

2009-09-04T09:01:00.000-04:00

"The human adventure is just beginning."

After many years of syndication, 1979 marked the return of the crew from the Enterprise. This time, on the big screen. The much anticipated return of Star Trek and its original crew was definitely exciting for all Trekkies. Unfortunately, I am too young to remember this film on the big screen for I was not born yet, however, I have watched this movie many times and believe its a good one. It definitely does not rank that high in terms of the entire lot of Star Trek films, inclusive of the TNG group and the most recent prequel completed by J.J. Abrams, however, its a good start.

Nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Visual Effects and Original Score, this film brings back the familiar crew to their leap to the big screen. The storyline of this film is a little weak, but what was to be expected for a long hiatus from television and a big budget. The story behind this movie is that a planetary force is making its way to Earth and the Enterprise is sent to investigate and see if they can stop it from destroying the planet.

Although compelling and beautifully shot despite the limited special effects of the late 70's, the story is extremely slow and the drama that we were accustomed show with the television cult classic was lost in this drawn out, 2.5 hour version of a poorly edited television episode. The graphics are top notch for the era, however, most of the budget went to making this film a cinematic piece as opposed to creating a solid plot or developing the characters further beyond what we knew of them in the show.

Unfortunately, this is exactly what was done in other Star Trek films as well. I am a big fan of Gene Roddenberry, but he always assumed that movie-goers watching his movies knew about the characters involved. However, character development is the biggest aspect lacking in many science fiction blockbusters - we spend too much time worrying about the special effects and the action sequences, we forget that some fans just want a good story to be told.

Despite this flaw, the first installment of the movie franchise is a hit overall. Its much better than Star Trek III, and probably better than IV and V as well. I liked VI and obviously, everyone enjoys the movie Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which is one of my personal favourites as well.

This movie does have some new cast members in the likes of Stephen Collins (known for his role as the father on 7th Heaven) and Persis Khambatta (a former Miss India from the early 60's). Both characters are developed as the main side storyline of the movie and you gravitate towards the romantic background offered by these two side characters from the main cast. However, even with these strong performances of these side cast members, the main cast is very limited in their reprised roles.

The Spock / Kirk play between characters is not focused upon in this film as opposed to the contrast in the television show and further sequels. The poor ranking of this film in the Star Trek franchise can probably be attributed to the lack of interaction between Kirk and Spock, as the focus is on attempting to develop Collins' character of Commander William Decker.

In the end, this is a good movie to start a Star Trek marathon off from (which by the way is taking place on Labour Day weekend 2009 in Canada on Space Network), however, it could easily put you to sleep as well - which for some isn't necessarily a bad thing... but only if you are narcoleptic.

Movie #121 - Robocop

2009-09-03T08:46:00.000-04:00

"Part man. Part machine. All cop. The future of law enforcement."

One of my favourite movies coming out of the 1980's, only because I am a big fan of science fiction and I like action movies that have some possibilities for the future. Coming off the popularity of The Terminator just a few years earlier, Robocop is a movie about a cyborg police officer who is used to clean up the crime-riddled futuristic version of Detroit.

The futuristic predictions of this movie are definitely those being used or implemented today. There is references to GPS tracking devices, large scale photon weapons, metallic armor, and even cybernetic technology. Also, RC driven technology is portrayed throughout this film, quite an imagination from Paul Verhoeven and his production crew.

Verhoeven's big break into mainstream Hollywood was through the cult success of Robocop. Through the first installment, Verhoeven was able to get other projects such as Total Recall, Basic Instinct, Showgirls, Starship Troopers, and Hollow Man just to name a few. Unfortunately, all had mixed success with Basic Instinct and Total Recall being his most renowned.

Peter Weller, on the other hand, didn't really parlay his role as Robocop into other successful roles. Coming out of small roles on television and B-rated movies, Weller was cast to play Robocop, a role that curtailed his ability to land bigger roles shortly afterwards. Weller was type cast into science fiction roles throughout his career and even the Robocop role in the unsuccessful sequel in 1990.

This film does have a strong supporting cast, with appearances from Ronny Cox, Miguel Ferrer, Paul McCrane, and Kurtwood Smith. All went onto solid cast members on television, most notably Ferrer on Crossing Jordan, McCrane on ER, and Smith on That 70's Show.

In fact, its Smith's role as the main villain that makes me laugh the most whenever I watch this film, because Robocop is getting his ass kicked by Foreman's Dad and the surgeon from ER. Quite funny when you start crossing more notable roles into other bodies of work. It ends up becoming a fun game when you start referencing previous roles for various actors in movies and television. I suggest you give it a try - the game itself tends to be quite fun when you know this much about movies and television.

Movie #120 - Die Hard

2009-09-02T08:47:00.000-04:00

"It will blow you through the back wall of the theater!"

One of the more entertaining films to come out of 1988, this film created the persona that Bruce Willis now utilizes in almost every one of his action movies. Definitely one of the crown jewels of Willis' career, the Die Hard franchise has been a box office success overall, and has some memorable moments for action movie fans everywhere.

If you watch this movie with a keen eye, you notice that the film was shot in a stretched lens, probably to make Willis look a little slimmer and taller, something that was pure illusion. Leading up to his Die Hard role, Willis was mainly known as a big time television actor, especially in his role on the romantic drama Moonlighting opposite Cybill Shepherd. That show started Willis' career and ran from 1985-1989, but was the stepping stone Willis needed to get into the big screen roles.

After Die Hard, Willis was over exposed fairly quickly both on the screen and off the screen. He quickly made a number of forgettable movies, too many to name here, and married Demi Moore, who was also one of the "it" female celebrities of the early 90's. Together, Willis and Moore became one of Hollywood's 90's power couples and thus, Willis movie career took off.

However, going back to Die Hard, this movie was both action packed, witty, and quite clever in its overall delivery. The concept of holding a bunch of people at the penthouse of a high-rise business building on Christmas Eve was intriguing and made for great suspense. The stars of the show, however, were the villains that were cast to contrast Willis (Alan Rickman and Alexander Godunov), and the supporting roles offered by the likes of Reginald VelJohnson and Paul Gleason. Other cast members such as Bonnie Bedelia and William Atherton provided some consistency in the sequels to follow, but were also strong in this film.

Without Rickman, though, the McClane character would not be as favoured, without a great villain. In Rickman, the casting was perfect. Although born of Irish and Welsh descent, Rickman is a chameleon type actor, similar to the likes of Gary Oldman or even Johnny Depp. Rickman immerses himself 100% into his character and has portrayed a villain in many strong roles over the years. His portrayal of Hans Gruber in Die Hard is one of the main reasons to enjoy this movie and this boosts the approval rating for the protagonist in the end.

Movie #119 - Metro

2009-09-01T22:17:00.000-04:00

"San Francisco's top police hostage negotiator is about to get more than he ever bargained for."

This movie was a bomb at the box office and is definitely not a good representation of Murphy's overall body of work. In his career, Eddie Murphy has made a number of bad movie projects, Metro is one of those films. Although I have not seen his most recent box office disaster, The Adventures of Pluto Nash, critics and fans alike have made that decision for me. However, I'll stick to reviewing this film, for I know Murphy at least deserves to be slaughtered for each film individually.

With Metro, the movie is way too long with too many slow spots in between. As shown by the trailer below, it was originally marketed as a comedic action film, similar to the Beverly Hills Cop franchise or even the Lethal Weapon franchise. However, this movie falls flat, from cast members to production quality - showing the level of expertise Murphy has had in choosing some of his major roles.

Metro was supposed to be one of those films that allowed Murphy to jump back and forth from goofy, comedic roles, to action-packed summer blockbusters. Instead, many blamed Metro for fans to forget the box office success of The Nutty Professor from 1996, and recall the disastrous films such as Vampire in Brooklyn and Beverly Hills Cop III shortly before and Holy Man, Life, and Bowfinger shortly afterwards.

Overall, if you cut out the crappy films, Murphy's career is filled with gems such as the Beverly Hills cop franchise sans #3, his voice over work with Mulan and the Shrek franchise, and his more recent work like Dreamgirls. However, everything always comes back to Pluto Nash, which is Murphy's version of Waterworld, the film that will forever follow Kevin Costner.

Unfortunately for Murphy, this film sees better acting from both Michael Wincott as the villain and Michael Rapaport as his rookie cop partner. However, as previously mentioned, this movie drags on and the violent, action scenes are misplaced throughout the duration of this film.

If you take my advice, do not see Metro as it falls in line with some of the poor decisions Murphy made in the mid-90's. If you want to see some stellar work, go through Murphy's earlier stuff or seek out episodes of his time on Saturday Night Live or even his stand-up work. I actually hope that he goes back to doing that, because he ranks up there in terms of delivery and quality of jokes. Maybe in the latter part of his career, he'll dust off the microphone, but I think he desperately wants to win his Oscar first... maybe a sequel to Pluto Nash just might be in order.

Just kidding!

Movie #118 - As Good as It Gets

2009-08-31T11:20:00.005-04:00

"Brace yourself for Melvin."

Winner of two Academy Awards (Helen Hunt and Jack Nicholson - both for Best Actor/Actress) and also nominated for five more awards, this movie was one of the surprise hits of 1997. Not only was this film well cast from top to bottom, with Hunt and Nicholson leading the way, but it was definitely well-written.

James L. Brooks, probably more famous nowadays for his lifetime of work on the television blockbuster cartoon, The Simpsons, is the main person responsible for this movie. However, James L. Brooks has had a distinguished career in both television and film. From the television side of things, beyond The Simpsons, Brooks has been a writer for such hits as The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off Rhoda, not to mention an extended run behind Taxi. As for the big screen, Brooks is best known for Terms of Endearment and Broadcast News.

Casting Nicholson as a neurotic, rude, paranoid, crazy man wasn't much of a stretch. In fact, most of Nicholson's current roles now play on his Melvin character from this film - which probably is not a real stretch from his personality in real life, hence its so easy for him to play this type of character. Helen Hunt was the surprise of this film, but deserved her Oscar due to the ability to play alongside Nicholson throughout this film and having the uncanny ability to steal some scenes from the great actor as well.

The other cast members really make this movie work, from Greg Kinnear, Cuba Gooding Jr., and even a rare live appearance of Simpsons' alumnus Yeardley Smith, the voice of Lisa Simpson, who coincidentally is playing a character named Jackie Simpson. The real show-stopper was the pet dog, Vardell. This dog was the real driving force behind the friendship of the Kinnear and Nicholson characters, but was definitely well cast and well trained.

Anyhow, this movie is a treat for all you Jack Nicholson fans out there, however, it is the start of many movies similar to this in his resume. I'd like to see Jack begin to branch back into playing an evil villain similar to what he accomplished in The Departed or his earlier 90's roles such as in A Few Good Men. However, because this type-cast character is so successful and comedic at the same time, I doubt we'll ever be rid of this version of Jack anytime soon.

Movie #117 - We're No Angels

2009-08-26T14:14:00.000-04:00

"The con is on."

A remake of the 1955 original of the same name, the updated version starring Robert De Niro and Sean Penn is a funny comedy of the late 80's that I am sure that no one watched. Growing up in a household in which my father ensured that he watched every De Niro movie ever made, this was obviously rented back in 1989 when it was first released.

The concept of this movie is quite comedic. Two convicts escape prison and are attempting to cross the border. When they are detained, they are mis-identified as two missing priests, who were traveling to join a local church.

The cast is full of recognizable names. Outside of Penn and De Niro, there are the likes of Demi Moore, Bruno Kirby, and a young John C. Reilly. Also, the production crew behind this film was actually top notch, as it was directed by Neil Jordan - famous for The Crying Game and Interview with the Vampire. It was also written by David Mamet, best known for his writing abilities on The Untouchables, Hoffa, Ronin, and Hannibal.

Overall, this movie has some funny scenes and does have a strong ensemble cast, but it falls flat in a lot of places. This movie is one of the first of many De Niro films in which he is poking fun at his tough guy persona in film and is playing a comedic role. There are probably more films like this now in his resume than serious ones. Also, Sean Penn is playing a real dope in this film - going back to his Fast Times at Ridgemont High days, but I like him better as a serious, dramatic actor.

This movie is a hidden gem amongst 80's comedies as many people did not watch this movie when it first came out in theatres or went to video, so it will also be tough to find to rent or purchase. However, if you are able to do so, you won't be overly disappointed as it does provide you with many laughs in the end.

Please note - was having trouble finding a trailer for this movie, so we'll have to settle for a scene from the film.

Movie #116 - Teen Wolf

2009-08-25T15:29:00.000-04:00

"He always wanted to be special... but he never expected this!"

Definitely one of those quintessential 80's movies, starring one of the more recognizable 80's actors of all time - Michael J. Fox. Fox had everything going for him during the 80's. He never seemed to age or grow up, which worked to his advantage of playing a teenager, long after he had already become an adult.

Fox has a number of 80's hit roles both on television and in the movies. Family Ties was his big television role, which he portrayed the business crazed Alex P. Keaton. After Family Ties, Fox went on to Back to the Future - which became an instant classic.

With Teen Wolf, we were starting to get to the point of over-exposure for Fox. A silly, comedy about a teenager who discovers that he is also a werewolf makes this film's storyline quite appealing and obviously brainless as well. Written by Jeph Loeb, Teen Wolf is very early on his resume.

Who is Jeph Loeb you ask? Well, he is one of the brain trusts behind some of the hottest television shows on the tube right now, ranging from Lost, Heroes, and Smallville to name a few. His writing comes from the comic book world, hence his style of storytelling involves elaborate story arcs.

Loeb's other early stuff include Commando and Teen Wolf Too. Weird combination on his resume, but definitely a sign of his multi-faceted writing capabilities to both do comedy, action, comic book story lines.

Apart from Loeb and Fox, there really isn't much more to talk about for this film. Its a silly comedy which should make you laugh, especially to see how geeky 80's teenagers were. Fortunately, I was a 90's teenager, but I know and am related to a number of 80's teenagers and I love the hair, the clothes, and the style that people thought was cool back then. Despite the resurgence of popularity of the 80's, I honestly hope at the very least, the hair does not come back with a vengeance.

Movie #115 - Batman Begins

2009-08-14T09:15:00.000-04:00

"Beginning in Summer 2005."

In my opinion, this is definitely one of the best films from 2005 and probably one of the most underrated. Many fans missed this movie the first time around, mainly because movie goers were getting tired of the prequel idea, especially if it meant changing the storyline of the main character.

In terms of Batman Begins, Director Chris Nolan and Writer David S. Goyer went back to the basics and re-told the original Year One storyline. Being a former comic book collector, the Year One storyline is probably one of the strongest stories of the Batman franchise, as it delves into his past, why he became Batman, and obviously how he went about doing it. This movie holds true to many aspects of the original storyline, as opposed to the 1989 Tim Burton version.

Although many fans loved the 1989 version as it was dark and action-packed, not to mention stellar performances by Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton, this Batman is better than all of the ones made thus far, including The Dark Knight.

Without the development of the key characters such as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Lucius Fox, Alfred, Jim Gordon, and Rachel Dawes, you cannot appreciate the villains of this first film and the critical success achieved by Heath Ledger in the sequel. In fact, having three villains in this prequel was a tremendous challenge to overcome and was done quite nicely - mainly by having the movie be longer than your typical action film.

Christian Bale does a wonderful job in portraying the conflicted lives of Batman and Bruce Wayne. The telling of his rise to the cape and cowl is a tribute to the original Batman character developed by Bob Kane many years ago. You generally feel the pain that he suffers through and the determination he has to fix Gotham in order to bring justice into the lost lives of his family.

The cast is spectacular in terms of ensemble and overall resume. There are supporting roles offered by veteran actors Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine. The villains are portrayed by Cillian Murphy, Tom Wilkinson, Liam Neeson, and Ken Watanabe. While there are other cameos from recognizable actors such as Rutger Hauer.

I especially like the casting of both Katie Holmes and Gary Oldman. Holmes does a better performance in this film than her re-casted doppleganger in the sequel by Maggie Gyllenhaal. No offence to the Gyllenhaal's, but they really cannot act and it was difficult to take things seriously when both Bale and Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent) are fighting over the Dawes character - Gyllenhaal is not very attractive... I just don't see the appeal.

In Oldman, this was a very strong selection for Gordon - he's one of my favourite actors of all time and is quite versatile and brings a ton of credibility to the role and the franchise.

With Holmes, I don't understand the reasoning behind not doing the sequel... ever since she's become affiliated with Tom Cruise and Scientology, she's become a lost cause. Having the main characters fight over her beauty would've made sense in the sequel, but the re-cast was poorly executed and was my only complaint about The Dark Knight.

Overall, enjoy this film. 2005 was a great year for movies and you can easily catch this film on television as the popularity generated by Ledger's death in 2008 really pushed The Dark Knight and the remainder of this franchise in the forefront. Many probably regret not seeing this film in theatres the first time around, but the wife and I were fortunate to catch it before it left theatres. We almost missed the sequel due to similar reasons... however, I am grateful to have seen all of the Batman films in theatres... even if some of them were duds.

Movie #114 - Along Came a Spider

2009-08-10T08:52:00.000-04:00

"The game is far from over."

A sequel to the critically acclaimed, Kiss the Girls, this film follows the character of Alex Cross (Morgan Freeman) as he tries to solve another mystery - the kidnapping of an U.S. Senator's daughter.

Based on the novel by James Patterson, Cross is pitted against another criminal mastermind in trying to solve this elaborate plot. As an audience, you are captured by this film from the beginning. Its filled with drama, suspense, and intrigue that you are somewhat disappointed by the ending, which I won't spoil here.

This film is highly underrated on the whole because its actually a solid suspense thriller. Morgan Freeman is the protagonist, but similar to his bumblings in Kiss the Girls, he makes a number of mistakes and poor decisions, leading to the deaths of many people in the process of attempting to save the young girl.

Monica Potter provides a solid support role in this film. Its one of only a few films that Potter completed in the early part of the decade in which it was not a time piece (seek out Patch Adams and Without Limits as examples). She does have that 70's look to her, even with the modern clothing and style - probably just type-cast and its hurt her longevity in the movie business. Potter has moved onto starring television roles, which has proven to be fruitful for her career in the end.

In the end, the real treat of this film is the kidnapper, portrayed by Michael Wincott (Gary Soneji character). He not only scares you throughout this film, but it follows a strong line of movies in which he plays a shady character or villain. Not known for any of his other movies, he is a great antagonist in this movie, which makes it a fun watch overall. I'd like to see Wincott continue in his portrayal of evil villains - he could easily capture the essence of a serial killer, crazy mad bomber, or even a mad scientist.

Movie #113 - The Terminator

2009-07-28T11:00:00.000-04:00

"In the Year of Darkness, 2029, the rulers of this planet devised the ultimate plan. They would reshape the Future by changing the Past. The plan required something that felt no pity. No pain. No fear. Something unstoppable. They created 'THE TERMINATOR.'"

Probably one of the longest taglines in movie history, but this movie deserves it. Back in 1984, no one knew what to expect from this film. Before The Terminator, unknown Canadian director James Cameron had only done two films - Xenogenesis and Piranha: Part Two. Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, I haven't seen either film, so I cannot comment on the overall quality of his work leading up to The Terminator.

So technically speaking, The Terminator was Cameron's coming out party so to speak as he propelled the cult and commercial success of this film into exclusive directing responsibilities on the Aliens sequel in 1986 and in the writing the screenplay for Rambo: First Blood in 1985.

Everyone knows Cameron's biggest success... blah blah blah, sinking ship... blah blah blah, Leonardo DiCaprio, blah blah blah, 'I'm the king of the world.' However, with Cameron, his body of work is quite strong with The Abyss, True Lies, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, and of course, bringing us Dark Angel on television.

As for Arnold Schwarzenegger, he was coming off minor roles in B-rated films and television appearances, but was best known for his dubbed roles in the Conan franchise. He was considered a no-name at the time, more brute than acting ability. Although The Terminator didn't change people into moving away from that label, it did allow him to propel his acting career into more commercial roles.

At the time of its release, the premise of The Terminator was actually quite scary and the casting of Arnold as the menacing machine out to kill Sarah Connor was a perfect match as he was quite a large specimen at the time of production. Although not much "acting" was required of Arnold, the persona he brought onto the screen was enough to convince the audience that he was in fact, a killing machine.

The concept of the film was quite good too... unless you live in a hole somewhere, you'll know the premise of the franchise. Sarah Connor gives birth to the savior of mankind, the one responsible for the resistance in the war against the machines. Machines send a Terminator to kill Sarah Connor to prevent all this from happening, thus altering the timeline in the future. Great concept - wonderful science fiction.

For those that watched the short-lived Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles series on television, this is exactly what was the focus of the show. In this film, we see the early parts of Sarah's life and how the one night of horror changed her life and the lives of millions to follow forever.

Great casting by Cameron all around with Michael Biehn (Sigma Nu fraternity alumnus) as Kyle Reese and Linda Hamilton (Cameron's first wife) as Sarah Connor. Also included in the cast are Lance Henriksen, later cast as Bishop in Cameron's work on Aliens, who many know as the actor originally cast as the Terminator in pre-production. See if you can also find Bill Paxton in this one and even Brian Thompson, who many believe could now pass as a Terminator, as he was cast as one of the menacing forces in the X-Files series.

Although not one of the better films of the 80's, its definitely a must watch for the action movie fan and for fans of Arnold. I like watching this film every time its on television, however, its worth watching uncut if you can find it on a channel that allows violence and swearing. Reason being - if you watch Total Recall for example, you'll enjoy it more in its true form... censorship sucks when it comes to action movies... sometimes its funny, but mostly, it takes out all of the good parts. Enjoy!

Movie #112 - Mask

2009-07-20T10:59:00.000-04:00

"They told 16-year-old Rocky Dennis he could never be like everyone else. So he was determined to be better."

This movie is one of the more powerful dramas of the 1980's. In similar fashion to the movie, The Elephant Man, which was released a few years earlier, Mask follows the life of a teenager who is trying to live a normal life with a grotesque disfigurement and is based on the true story of the life of Rocky Dennis.

In a related recommendation, I recently watched The Elephant Man in 2008 and didn't find it compelling, probably because it was a true story and there wasn't much more intrigue that could be conveyed by the life of John Merrick that you couldn't read about in books or on the Internet. Not fair to judge The Elephant Man in that fashion though, because in 1980 when it was produced, there weren't a great deal of references available on the subject matter.

Back to Mask, the film received two two Golden Globe nominations. Both were for acting for both Cher and Eric Stoltz, the film did in fact win an Oscar for Best Make-up.

To be honest, I have not seen this movie in about 15+ years as every time it would be on television, my sister would change the channel as the make-up created for Stoltz's character used to give her bad dreams. However, back when I did see this film, I acknowledged the story and the drama behind the life experienced by Rocky Dennis (Stoltz). Not only is he growing up as an awkward teenager, but he's also growing up with a disfigurement that makes his life more difficult. It takes the relationships with his mother and close friends to make a difference and its one of those moving stories in the end.

Beyond this film, Cher has gone on to a strong acting career and may actually have a better portfolio in films than with her music. Stoltz has really not moved beyond the 80's, mainly making television and movie cameos as either a villain or side character. Director Peter Bogdanovich has actually done more acting than writing or directing recently, as he retained a recurring role on the Sopranos. His other known film from his resume is the cult movie, The Last Picture Show.

This movie is highly recommended, even if you are technically taking the recommendation from a 14-year old version of myself 15 years ago. I plan on updating my knowledge about this movie in more-depth in the coming weeks by watching it again... its just another one of those films that you rarely see on television anymore and that's a shame, because it has a great story to tell.

Movie #111 - The Breakfast Club

2009-07-17T09:01:00.000-04:00

"They only met once, but it changed their lives forever."

One of my favourite 80's films of all time, if you spend a couple of minutes watching the original trailer, you'd realize that if they made this film today, you probably wouldn't watch it.

Thankfully, this film was created in the 80's - a time when the 80's brat pack ruled supreme. This film was a breakthrough accomplishment for writer and director John Hughes. Unfortunately for fans of Hughes, he hasn't done anything significant since the infamous decade. His directorial resume includes such 80's classics as Sixteen Candles, Weird Science, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, She's Having a Baby, and Uncle Buck. However, for some strange reason, Hughes went into relative obscurity in terms of directing and focused his career on writing and producing.

As a producer, Hughes brought us Home Alone, Christmas Vacation, and unfortunately, the Beethoven franchise. Hughes has become a little obsessed with this dog franchise, as he's written all the way up to Beethoven's 5th (2003) - probably a tremendous case of writer's block.

Either way, Hughes has lost his muse, but thankfully, he was able to churn out a great film such as this one. Not only is the film powerful in terms of breaking the barriers between different cliques of students in every high school, but even in terms of the youth of the current generation, many of the issues discussed in this film are relevant today.

Due to its cult status, The Breakfast Club has been spoofed in television and copycat films. From my recollection, I know that Family Guy has made a reference to it along with a full episode of Dawson's Creek back in the day making an identical set to use for its homage. I could spend time looking up more references, but I'll let the readers do that.

What makes this film work is the contrasting acting styles and ages of the people portrayed. Anthony Michael Hall (before the steroids that made him gigantic in Edward Scissorhands) is supposed to be a freshman (or for us Canadians, in Grade 9). While the rest of the folks - Sheedy, Ringwald, Nelson, and Estevez are supposed to be seniors. I relate more to the Hall character of Brian as I was always a small kid in high school and somewhat of a braniac. I'm sure if everyone goes back to their high school years, they can relate to someone on this list... the jock, the criminal, the queen, and the outcast.

There are some powerful scenes of drama and intrigue in this film along with some great quotations - especially coming from John Bender (Judd Nelson). My fraternity brother and I have a great scene that we tend to bring up every couple of years - I even used it to toast him during our annual formal (text provided below).

What's funny is that for many of the actors in this movie, no one went on to do anything more of significance. I mean Nelson went on to play a side character on Suddenly Susan on television and was the voice of Hot Rod on the Transformers cartoon movie. Estevez went on to do the Mighty Ducks franchise and pretty much fell off the flat side of the Earth. Sheedy has done a ton of television cameos, but really couldn't shed her brat pack label. While Ringwald was the love interest of most teenage men from the 80's, her career really didn't go beyond the 90's, although she has recovered in her recurring role on television's The Secret Life of an American Teenager.

In the end, this movie is highly recommended and is a treat to watch. If you are going to watch it though, please watch the uncensored version either on television or as a rental - the censorship is only funny once you know the real script.

John Bender (Judd Nelson) Quotation:
"My impression of life at Big Bri's house."
'Son?'
'Yeah, Dad?'
'How was your day, son?'
'Great, Dad. How's yours?'
'Super. Say, how would like to go fishing this weekend?'
'Great, Dad. But I got homework to do.'
'That's okay, son. You can do it on the boat.'
'Gee.'
'Hon, isn't our son swell?'
'Yes, dear. Isn't life swell?'
[kiss]

Movie #110 - Edward Scissorhands

2009-07-14T16:13:00.000-04:00

"His scars run deep."

At the start of the decade, director Tim Burton was at the top of his game. With Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton was relying on the previous success of films like Batman and Beetlejuice. Not only was Edward Scissorhands a great addition to Burton's repertoire, this was the beginning of Burton's obsession with the casting of Johnny Depp.

My wife and I have noticed that Burton has continued to utilize Depp and his wife Helena Bonham Carter in almost every project that he has worked on in this decade. Burton is currently working on his next project, Alice in Wonderland, which is in post-production for 2010 release. Guess who is in that movie - Depp and Carter.

Either way, Burton does have a way with telling a fairytale story, with both dark undertones and a wondrous theme. I enjoyed the storyline related to the Scissorhands character and I like the fact that apart from his ailment, that is the only thing wrong with him.

Post-Scissorhands, Burton went on somewhat of a flop run... but he's recovered nicely in recent years. This obsession with Depp and Carter will hopefully end soon - its getting kinda creepy seeing the three of them continue to work together... like a pseudo-threesome if you ask me.

Anyhow, with Scissorhands, Burton had the writing and casting of actors perfectly executed. Depp was just an emerging teen heartthrob at the time and this was his ground breaking role in his career. Ryder was just coming of age as she went on to make Dracula and Reality Bites shortly afterwards... not surprising is that Ryder worked with Burton on Beetlejuice, so he really does like using people he's comfortable with as part of his main cast.

Diane Wiest was a nice addition to the overall cast and an Anthony Michael Hall on steroids was cast as the villain. No matter what he's done since the 80's, I still see him as the "nerd" from Weird Science and Sixteen Candles, despite his accomplishments on television's Dead Zone.

In the end, if you like the romantic-comedy-drama-thriller film wrapped into one, you'll like this PG movie from the 90's. What's funny to see is how far of a contrast the acting careers of Depp and Ryder have gone in opposite directions... how much further can it go?

Movie #109 - Fatal Attraction

2009-07-11T08:39:00.000-04:00

"On the other side of drinks, dinner and a one night stand, lies a terrifying love story."

In a decade of promiscuity and infidelity, this movie probably scared a number of couples straight - especially straying husbands. For those who haven't seen this film, even after 22 years, this movie is an intense drama with a simple premise.

Man cheats on woman with another woman.
Another woman becomes obsessed with man.
Another woman is crazy.

This film follows a line of movies by Michael Douglas that is both very sexual and filled with crazy women - if you seek out his movie resume, you'll find Fatal Attraction alongside Basic Instinct and Disclosure. At the time of this film, Douglas was trying to reinvent himself as a serious actor after his romantic comedies / action films with Kathleen Turner - Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile. 1987 was a watershed year for Douglas as he appeared in Fatal Attraction and Wall Street - which achieved his goal of becoming the renowned dramatic actor that he wanted to be.

However, the real treat from this film is seeing the contrasting performances of both Glenn Close and Anne Archer. Close has a prestigious film resume and has five separate Oscar nominations, all for films in the 1980's. Archer, on the other hand, is a former model turned actress. Her nomination as Best Supporting Actress is the only one of its kind in her repertoire, as her resume includes a number of television appearances on evening dramas such as Falcon Crest and a number of films where she was cast more for her beauty than her acting prowess. She might best be known for her two performances as Jack Ryan's wife in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger... however, Archer's overall career was always hampered by her beauty.

In the end, if you really want to be startled and scared with a great movie from the 80's... see this film. If you haven't seen it in awhile, I would recommend it too, because the special edition DVD's has extended versions, which also includes an alternate ending to the awesome fight scene between Close, Douglas, and Archer.

Because this film was nominated for Best Picture in 1987, it ranks as one of the better films coming from that year and that era of movies, but the real reason to watch this is to enjoy the deterioration of a great character in Alex Forrest (Glenn Close). You really buy into her demise and her destruction as a person with borderline personality disorder. That accomplishment on film alone should be a good reason to watch it!

Movie #108 - Interview with the Vampire

2009-07-03T12:16:00.000-04:00

"Drink From Me And Live Forever."

1994 was a funny time in Hollywood. This was a time when movie goers were obsessed with vampires and how the heartthrobs of the day were portraying them... fast forward to now and we have a similar obsession with Twilight. I must refrain from commenting on the reinvention, as I have yet to see the movie myself as it has been placed on the banned movie list by my wife.

What's interesting from this observation is that for the last 20 years, television and movie fans have enjoyed following the lives of vampires. What is the obsession that we have with them? Is it cool to be a vampire? Is it cool to drink blood? Or is it cool to wear feminine clothing and grow your hair long? Whatever the reasons, vampires are usually portrayed with various homosexual undertones - which was the case with this film.

Not only was the director the infamous director of The Crying Game (Neil Jordan), but the Anne Rice inspired character of Lestat de Lioncort had a number of homosexual tendencies. This film portrays vampires a little different than Bram Stoker's Dracula starring Gary Oldman as that movie follows the romance between Oldman and Wynona Ryder. Interview with the Vampire is a story told through the eyes of Brad Pitt's character - at the high point of the rise of his career in which he was the main focal point of the ladies in the 90's.

In terms of acting and cast selection, Jordan put a strong cast together composed of Pitt and Cruise, to go along with Antonio Banderas, Christian Slater, and younger versions of Thandie Newton and Kirsten Dunst. In general, the overall performances of each actor / actress were poor by comparison by the performance given by Dunst as the character of Claudia. She was the creepiest vampire portrayed in the film and somewhat overshadowed both Cruise and Pitt combined.

In the end, this movie ranks higher than the B-rated movies of the vampire era owned by Christopher Lee and Bela Lugosi, however, this film is really for the fans of the Anne Rice novels as it brings her main character of Lestat to life. I have not read any of the books, so unfortunately, I cannot comment on the relative success of bringing the character to the big screen, however, I wouldn't be surprised if many were disappointed in both the casting of Cruise and his overall performance in the film.

Movie #107 - Star Trek (2009)

2009-06-30T08:49:00.000-04:00

"The future begins."

For you Lost fans out there, J.J. Abrams is starting to take his influence outside of television and impressing us with his elaborate plot themes and clever story-telling in a storied franchise that to this point had gotten quite stale. Abrams' reinvention of the Star Trek franchise is both bold and compelling. I finally got the chance to see this movie over weeks of procrastination, but low and behold, it was a great investment of time and money.

The only true disappointment related to this film is the fact that it was originally promised for a Christmas 2008 release. In retrospect, a release date during the holidays of 2008 would have had more of an impact in terms of ticket sales and merchandising, not to mention not having to compete with the abundance of summer blockbusters that captivate the younger viewers. Having to make fans wait an extra five months or so is acceptable as the movie was done extremely well in my opinion.

However, Star Trek will always have a loyal audience and this movie does not disappoint. Abrams teams up with Damon Lindelof, Roberto Orci, and Alex Kurtzman to derive a wonderfully written script and plot. For those of the fans of the original series and relevant movies of the 80's and early 90's, nothing is lost in the flare for the dramatic combined with strong character development and relationships amongst the key players - mainly Spock and Kirk.

The great benefit of this film is Abrams' comic book way of solving timeline issues and predictability - allowing newer audiences to enjoy the movie and upcoming sequels, but also taking into account a progression that many die-hard Star Trek fans were hoping for... a reinvention of the whole scheme.

Not only does Abrams mix in a great deal of special effects, wonderful set designs, and creative action sequences, but similar to his success with Lost, the casting in this movie is superb. Having to re-cast the original cast of actors from the series must have been quite difficult, but Abrams accomplished this feat with a wide array of unknowns.

Chris Pine as Kirk was a gamble, but similar to the one accomplished in the 60's with William Shatner. Zachary Quinto of Heroes television fame is an awesome Spock and actually outshines Pine in terms of full character development. Not surprisingly, Leonard Nimoy reprises his role as Spock as well (I won't tell you how), which pays homage to the older fans of the genre. Zoe Saldana, Anton Yelchin, Simon Pegg, and Karl Urban round out the original cast and there is Canadian content in there - with Bruce Greenwood donning the Captain Christopher Pike character.

Overall, the movie does the original series and subsequent movies justice. No one can say that this film usurps Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan as the best of the original films, however, many can believe that this might be the first of many spectacular films produced by Abrams within this franchise. I've seen all 11 Star Trek films now and in retrospect, I would have to rank this one pretty high.

In terms of the films - here is where it stands already... maybe after a few more viewings, it might go up in rank:

1. Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan
2. Star Trek: First Contact
3. Star Trek (2009)

For a first attempt - it already broke through my top 3... not a bad start.

Movie #106 - The Deer Hunter

2009-06-24T10:36:00.000-04:00

"Best Picture 1978."

I love this tagline - I wasn't around in 1978, but I am hoping that they didn't use this as the actual tagline back then... if they did, it was definitely presumptuous, however, was quite accurate.

From a personal opinion, this is one of my favourite movies out there... it obviously doesn't outrank some of my top 5 movies, however, it is in my top 10 for sure. Over the years, I have tried to get people in my circle of friends and family to watch this film and give it an unbiased chance. Unfortunately, for many, the movie comes off the same way - the consensus feedback I get is that the movie tends to move too slowly and its almost like two separate movies.

If you watched this film in the 80's or 90's, you would enjoy this movie as a two-pack VHS box set. In fact, the movie itself is written in a way that it tells two different stories. What life was like before the Vietnam war and what life is like after the Vietnam war. For those that enjoy strong character development and background story, this movie is definitely for you. However, if you are the "action movie" type, then you will easily enjoy the Russian roulette dramatic sequences.

However, as a fan of this entire film, you really cannot gauge the movie on specific scenes alone as everything ties in together. You follow the characters of Michael (Robert De Niro), Steven (John Savage), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Linda (Merryl Streep) as they experience life in a small steel town before and after the ill effects of the Vietnam War.

Its great to see a collaboration of stellar acting in this film, deserving of the Best Picture award and awards for Best Supporting Actor (Christopher Walken) and Best Director (Michael Cimino). I recently watched an interview with Cimino on TVO's Saturday Night at the Movies and he stated that the concept of the Russian roulette scenes were never in fact confirmed by the Vietnam government as being based on true events, however, they were never denied either. Also, although many have tried to interpret the storyline of this film, Cimino does tie everything into the "one shot" theme - a sort of masculine way of expressing camaraderie, toughness, and the bond that Michael and Nick have for each other.

If you have about 3 hours or so to kill, please find the time to watch this movie. There are no special effects and there is some stock footage intertwined from historical references of the war and scenes filmed in the Philippines. This movie is truly about friendship and the effect war has on it - as it shows the demise of the lives of the friends at home and the lives of the people coming back.

Its a treat to watch 3 Academy Award winners on the same screen (Streep, De Niro, and Walken), something that nowadays would be the only thing used for promotional purposes. Back in 1978, producers just wanted to entertain and tell a compelling story... they really hit the mark with this one.

Also, for those who have watched this film in its entirety, please watch the trailer... its pretty much a cut and paste job of the entire movie from beginning to end - with The Deer Hunter title screen every 5 seconds... I love trailers from the 70's!

Movie #105 - Three Amigos!

2009-06-22T09:10:00.000-04:00

"They're Down On Their Luck And Up To Their Necks In Senoritas, Margaritas, Banditos And Bullets!"

As part of a recent fan poll, Three Amigos! was selected for the next review. I figured I'd sway away from the Oscar reviews at this point and move onto the regular movie selections - including the weekly fan poll to select the Friday blog entry.

Three Amigos! is one of those hilarious 80's films starring a multitude of funny actors from television and film. Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase play three silent film actors who are fired from Hollywood and are mistakenly cast into what they believe is a Mexican silent film - hired to thwart the exploits of the local thug, El Guapo - loosely translated as Mr. Handsome.

The hijinks that ensues is worth the effort of finding this film on DVD as a Friday night rental. The plot is somewhat silly and the action sequences are super cheesy, but that is the point - what else did you expect from these three yahoos. Either way, you are bound to get entertained... especially with the physical comedy displayed by the three actors and the abundance of one-liners.

Whenever this movie is shown on television, like many of the films reviewed in this blog, I tend to watch it from beginning to end. Its a fun film with many laughs and generally much better than many of the comedies rolling out nowadays. I actually hope that in the near future, producers decide to remake this movie with the original script, but a re-tooling of the cast. I can see many of the current comedic stars doing a great job with this silly film - possibly having fun with the casting of the main characters... going over the top in many cases.

I could easily see this film reuniting some of the cast members from Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy being in this film, probably minus Will Ferrell, who has been a little overexposed in terms of television and film these days. I could easily see Steve Carrell replacing Steve Martin in the lead role - that would be a treat. Either way, of all the recent remakes coming out recently, I would like to see some new blood infused into comedies such as Three Amigos! - at the very least, they won't break any budgets on movies like this one.

Movie #104 - The Silence of the Lambs

2009-06-01T09:07:00.000-04:00

"Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Brilliant. Cunning. Psychotic. In his mind lies the clue to a ruthless killer. - Clarice Starling, FBI. Brilliant. Vulnerable. Alone. She must trust him to stop the killer."

A very descriptive tagline for a movie that almost everyone watched back in 1991. What's funny is that many casual movie fans consider this role as the defining moment in the career of Anthony Hopkins, however, leading up to this ground-breaking film, Hopkins had a wonderful resume of great film and television achievements across the pond in the United Kingdom along with a number of North American film roles that achieved critical acclaim.

Most notably, Hopkins was part of the ensemble cast for the war epic, A Bridge Too Far (1977), along with the creepy horror film Magic (1978), and the stark drama The Elephant Man (1980). It actually took Hopkins quite some time to cross into mainstream recognition, but he accomplished that with his portrayal of Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Based on the Thomas Harris novels, the Lecter character is viewed as both an antagonist and protagonist in many of the films that were produced for this franchise.

If you watch Hannibal, the storyline follows more of a romantic infatuation between Lecter and FBI Agent Clarice Starling, mixed in with the suspense and violence associated with his character. If you watch Hannibal Rising, we are shown the younger version of Lecter and why his life is what it becomes.

Outside of this original film, however, I enjoy the prequel of Red Dragon as much as Silence of the Lambs - it goes slightly before the timeline of Lecter and Starling and adds in a wonderful ensemble cast of Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton, Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker, and Philip Seymour Hoffman - however, nothing beats the original.

At the time of production, Foster was in her prime coming off her Academy Award performance in The Accused (1988) and her character portrayal of Clarice Starling has had loose ties to the development of the Dana Scully character from the X-Files. Outside of the poor attempt at a southern accent, which I believe is the only drawback for this film, The Silence of the Lambs is a suspenseful, intense, and psychotic thriller - with great scenes to enjoy due to wonderful scene development and exceptional acting.

Well deserved Oscar wins for Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor, and Best Actress, and Best Writing - this movie shows that you don't necessarily need to spend a ton of $ on a movie budget - a good script, great actors, and a creative director will result in a tremendous movie... one that is highly recommended.

Movie #103 - Dances with Wolves

2009-05-29T09:07:00.000-04:00

"Inside everyone is a frontier waiting to be discovered."

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1990, this marked one of the earlier films where Kevin Costner tried his hand at directing. Based on the novel and subsequent screenplay of Michael Blake, Costner and Blake also won Oscars for their directing and screenplay efforts - not to mention a nomination for Costner for acting.

Little did everyone know that Costner was at his pinnacle of success, a meteoric rise followed by a slow fall from grace to where he has produced nothing of significance and is now known for his biggest box office flop - Waterworld.

As a fellow Canadian, I am also proud to report that Graham Greene got an Oscar nod as Best Supporting Actor - better known in Canada for his roles as narrator of Exhibit A: Secrets of Forensic Science or any U.S. or Canadian television cameo as a Native Canadian / American. He's had a successful niche market career and this role in Dances with Wolves helped catapult his relevance in the industry.

Personally, I haven't seen this movie since I was about 12 or 13 years old, so its been more than 10-15 years since I recall the plot and the storyline. However, I just remember that its a really long movie, with some stellar scenes and character development, but is definitely an epic style movie (meaning two VHS discs from back in the day) that does require patience. Like most epic movies... I actually think epic is the Hollywood buzz word for lengthy.

In the end, I want people to watch this to see what Costner's career was like pre-Waterworld and pre-Postman... he had a great deal of potential and was a good actor in his prime. Nowadays... he's playing second fiddle in action movies starring opposite Ashton Kutcher... too bad for Kevin... we'll always have Field of Dreams won't we.

Movie #102 - Rain Man

2009-04-17T09:05:00.000-04:00

No tagline available.

It's weird that a movie does not have a tagline associated with it, especially one that won the Best Picture Oscar in 1988. This movie marks the beginning of Tom Cruise's pursuit of the elusive Oscar award. Unfortunately, Cruise's role was grossly overshadowed by the performance of Dustin Hoffman as Raymond Babbitt.

For those who haven't seen this film, it's a great dramatic movie from the Barry Levinson resume and one of those late 80's films that you enjoy watching for different aspects. I enjoy watching this film because Hoffman completely immerses himself into the character. Cruise fits into his role perfectly as the deceptive younger brother trying to take advantage of his mentally challenged older brother Raymond. Cruise was just coming off his popularity from Top Gun and a strong supporting role in this film boosted his stock in the early 90's, which Cruise wasn't able to translate into any significant hardware or respect in the industry.

In the end, the real treat to watch in this film is the performance of Hoffman. Although Hoffman only has a handful of great fulls in his repertoire, this is one of them. He captivates the audience and is deserving of his Oscar win for that year. Unfortunately, Hoffman has slowly fallen into the habit of doing money grabs or puff pieces in recent years, rarely taking a role that takes advantage of his acting prowess. We miss the stellar roles from Kramer vs. Kramer, Tootsie, The Graduate, and Midnight Cowboy. These have been sadly replaced by mediocre films such as the Meet the Parents/Fockers franchise, where a new sequel is in production for 2011 release.

Movie #101 - The Last Emperor

2009-02-25T10:00:00.000-05:00

"He was the Lord of Ten Thousand Years, the absolute monarch of China. He was born to rule a world of ancient tradition. Nothing prepared him for our world of change."

The Last Emperor is one of those films that won a number of Oscars (nine in total), including Best Picture, but is a film that few people watched when it was originally released in theatres. The story is about the last emperor of imperial China and follows the life of the man selected for this throne.

It definitely has a great deal of historical significance, although I doubt it is entirely accurate for entertainment purposes. However, you cannot question the wonderful script, the cinematography, and overall costume and set design. These were done with such care and detail, the time period for which Director Bernardo Bertolucci was attempting to capture was easily conveyed to his audience.

The Last Emperor was one of those films that did a complete clean sweep of every category for which it was nominated. Some may question why leading actor Jone Lone (Emperor Pu Yi's) or even supporting actor Peter O'Toole (R.J. Johnston) were not recognized for this film. Lone does a tremendous job as the adult Emperor Pu Yi and his acting is compelling throughout the film. O'Toole, best known for his role in Lawrence of Arabia, was snubbed throughout his stellar career to this day and has yet to win an Oscar for acting on his own (recently recognized for lifetime achievement).

Although The Last Emperor is definitely a must see amongst Best Picture winners from 1980-2008, it is quite long and it is a period, historical piece that has some slow parts to it. The set design and filming of this movie provide breathtaking panoramic shots, however, for the everyday movie goer, this movie might seem boring at times.

As a recognition of its overall achievement, The Last Emperor is one of those films that was included in the famed Criterion Collection. Many international films belong to this elite group of movies. The collection recognizes the best films from many countries - selecting the key classical and contemporary films of each nation. Its a wonderful collection to view and own - unfortunately, the films are in limited release and are quite expensive. My mother has found a nice cache of films in the public library system - probably the best way to view these without shelling out a large sum of money. Either way, the entire collection is worth checking out for the more advanced movie fan - especially if you are interested in seeing classics from other countries.

Movie #100 - Platoon

2009-02-25T09:46:00.000-05:00

"The first casualty of war is innocence."

This movie was made during a time in the 80's when making movies about the Vietnam War was commonplace. There are other movies that look at this war, such as Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Hamburger Hill, Bat 21, Born on the Fourth of July, The Killing Fields, The Deer Hunter, and Casualties of War. More recently, there are films like We Were Soldiers and ForrestGump that look at different aspects of the war itself.

I am a big fan of The Deer Hunter as this film is in my top 20 movies list, however, Platoon is probably Oliver Stone's best film as it is a loose biopic of his personal experience in Vietnam. The movie follows Charlie Sheen's character as he goes through his tour of duty in the war. During his time, we meet other characters portrayed by solid performances from the likes of TomBerenger, Willem Dafoe, Forrest Whitaker, and Johnny Depp . Based on these names alone, you wouldn't be able to make a movie of this magnitude anymore unless you had a big budget. However, you must also take into account thatDepp and Whitaker were still relative unknowns and had minor support roles in this film.

Charlie Sheen's character goes through the trials and tribulations of what the Vietnam War experience is like as told through Oliver Stone. Although his portrayal is dark, saddened, and filled with iconic scenes that impact the movie viewer, it is quite frank and provides a stark look at what life was like for the soldiers over there.

I would've liked to see more character development amongst the various actors that appear in this film... (*Note: spoiler alert) the biggest conflict developed through the movie is the rivalry between Dafoe and Berenger - which is culminated by Dafoe's memorable death scene at the end of the movie.

For those who have yet to see this movie - it is definitely one to watch, however, Deer Hunter is still probably the best movie to be made for the Vietnam War... not because of the action sequences or the storyline itself, but it is a movie contrasting ChristopherWalken with Robert De Niro in their prime - enough said!

*Note: As a bonus - I have finally reached 100 movie reviews. Starting with movie review #100, I will also be providing a trailer of the movie through You Tube. Hopefully, this will entice readers to watch this film. As previously mentioned, I will continue reviewing the Best Picture winners from 1980-2008, however, I will only review those films that I have seen at this point - there are about five or six films that I have yet to watch... I'm working on it. EM

Movie #99 - Amadeus

2009-02-24T11:44:00.000-05:00

"Amadeus. The man. The music. The magic. The madness. The murder. The mystery. The motion picture."

One of my favourite movies from the 1980's, this one has probably been skipped by a number of movie goers from my age group because it is a time piece, despite the fact that it won for Best Picture in 1984. It is set during the time of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and is full of costumes, set design, and makeup from that time period - however, do not let that aspect sway you from watching this amazing movie.

Milos Forman does a great job in depicting the life of Mozart along with the wonderful music composed during that era. Forman is one of those directors that doesn't do a movie every one or two years, so his films are usually of great quality. Seek out some of his other great works such as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Man on the Moon for some examples.

The real treat in this film is the contrasting leading role actors. Tom Hulce (probably better known for his role in Animal House, which is a major extreme in comparison to his accomplishments here) does a superb job as Mozart, while the darkest role of the movie is portrayed by F. Murray Abraham as Antonio Salieri. Similar to other roles in Abraham's resume, Salieri's character is devious, evil, and is one you love to hate. If you want a good movie villain template, use Abraham's Salieri - his scenes strengthen the movie and Abraham is a fitting Oscar winner for Best Actor. Unfortunately, for Hulce, Abraham and Hulce were nominated for Best Actor for the same movie - so someone had to win here.

F. Murray Abraham has done quite a few movies in his time... best known as a movie villain, he's been in a number of movies that I find amusing or entertaining such as Scarface, Mimic, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Thirteen Ghosts. However, it seems that Abraham has become quite fond of voice over narration, as he is now the permanent voice of PBS' production of Nature and some Nova broadcasts - he's good at it, don't get me wrong, but I'd like to see him do more villainous work.

Apart from the set design, the acting, and the music, Amadeus is just a good story. There is deception, greed, anger, jealousy, and love all wrapped into this time piece. If you choose to watch this film with an open mind, Milos Forman won't let you down. If you were to do a marathon of his acclaimed movies - you will definitely enjoy a nice range of great movies!

Movie #98 - Terms of Endearment

2009-02-20T14:36:00.000-05:00

"Come to Laugh, Come to Cry, Come to Care, Come to Terms."

This is one of those can't miss chick flicks - thankfully, for you guys out there that cannot stand these films, rent this one for the wife, girlfriend, or fiancee and you'll enjoy it too - I promise.

There are a number of reasons why this is true. First of all, its written and directed by James L. Brooks. For you Simpsons fans - its the same guy... back when he was doing something else other than cartoons. For those that don't know this, Brooks is a big influence on television viewers from the 70's to today. He is responsible for such classics as the Mary Tyler Moore show, Rhoda, and Taxi to his recent stuff with the Simpsons. Throw in As Good as it Gets and you have a very versatile talent with Brooks.

However, Brooks isn't the driving force behind this film. The contrasting roles of Debra Winger and Shirley MacLaine in the typical mother-daughter love-hate relationship is what brings this film to life. MacLaine plays the nagging mother perfectly and Winger's acting compliments MacLaine's domineering character - which I believe will remind many female viewers of similar relationship woes with their mothers. Throw in some comedic relief from the likes of Jack Nicholson and you have some good chemistry for a great film.

Nicholson, MacLaine, and Brooks swept the awards that year and deservedly so. Insert other Hollywood notables such as John Lithgow, Danny DeVito, and Jeff Daniels and you have a great ensemble cast to enjoy.

There are some very funny scenes and to go in line with the chick flick recommendation, there are some very heartwarming scenes. Overall, your female companion will shed a tear and the male viewer will definitely need to prepare an excuse why there is suddenly dust in the room or an allergy that developed to some unknown animal. However, please enjoy this film as although it is over 26 years old now, it is a timeless classic that takes full advantage of actors in their prime combined with a wonderfully written script.

Movie #97 - Gandhi

2009-02-20T14:20:00.000-05:00

"His Triumph Changed The World Forever."

With the Academy Awards ceremony soon approaching, I figured I would get some more entries into the system to allow readers to look back and reflect at some of the great movies that were recognized as Best Picture during my lifetime (1980-current).

Gandhi ranks up there as one of the greatest movies ever made, not only because of the epic nature for which this film was shot, but for the life of the man portrayed. Sir Ben Kingsley won the award for Best Actor and the film was recognized in a number of other important categories such as Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, and Costume Design.

However, looking back at this film, Director Richard Attenborough attempts to stay as true to the story of the life of Mohandas Gandhi that by the end of the film, many viewers are compelled by the performance of Kingsley as the great man. Kingsley gives a riveting performance here in this film, only to be compared to one of his other great roles in Schindler's List. However, his role as Gandhi will definitely be his crowning performance as an actor.

There are some other strong performances by the supporting cast that make this film a must watch. Although somewhat long in comparison to current movies being churned out in Hollywood, this is a movie that you cannot miss. In support of Kingsley's performance, you have solid appearances from Candice Bergen, John Gielgud, Martin Sheen, and Roshan Seth to name just a few key actors.

A bonus with this film are some of the epic panoramic shots of the landscape combined with the major action sequences requiring thousands of extras - typical for an epic motion picture. This movie is one of those films that you need to watch in your lifetime as a biopic of Gandhi's influential life and his impact on society today.

In an unrelated Gandhi viewing story, I am reminded of a certain fraternity brother protesting to my friends and I at the time for his preference to stay at home and watch Gandhi instead of going to the bars to pick up women. Considering we were all in our early 20's, I still cannot respect this person's decision to stay at home with Sir Ben Kingsley... I mean, the movie is spectacular and all, but not to the point where you can justify missing a night out with the boys.

Movie #96 - Ordinary People

2009-01-23T09:25:00.000-05:00

"Some films you watch, others you feel."

*Note: In honour of the upcoming Academy Awards in February, I have decided to focus my reviews on previous Best Picture winners dating back from 1980-2007. This will showcase the range of films that were produced during my lifetime.

Ordinary People is one of those quintessential 80's dramas. A film built by a solid script, good directing, and a wonderful cast of high quality actors. Such is the case with this film, an adaptation of the novel written by Judith Guest, but more importantly - the directorial debut of Robert Redford.

Now Redford has not done many films behind the camera, but the ones he has done have all received critical acclaim. Some of the highlights on his resume are Quiz Show, The Milagro Beanfield War, and a River Runs Through It. We can probably forget The Horse Whisperer, which is defined as a chick flick, and although many fans liked The Legend of Bagger Vance - I wasn't entirely convinced. On the whole - Redford is an accomplished director, producer, and the founder of the Sundance Film Festival. Redford has established a niche in this field, especially since his rugged good looks are now starting to droop - he should join Clint Eastwood behind the camera full time.

This film is a powerful portrayal of family conflict. On the surface, life is great for the Jarrett family, but deep down, there are major problems associated with a highly dysfunctional family. The film is filled with stunning performances, which was acknowledged back in 1980 during the Academy Awards. Nominations included Mary Tyler Moore (Best Actress), Judd Hirsch (Best Supporting Actor). Winners from the film included Timothy Hutton (Best Supporting Actor) and Robert Redford (Best Director).

Not bad for first films for both Hutton and Redford. Unfortunately for Hutton, he has yet to translate this instant success to anything tangible beyond Ordinary People. He has made a number of television movies and is generally cast as a side actor in support of the lead characters - however, Hutton can no longer hold a film on his own. So technically speaking, if you wanted to see the greatest movie of Hutton's career, just find this first one.

I would've liked to see Moore win for this role. Known for her quirky roles on television, Moore plays the hated Beth Jarrett and does a convincing job in that character. In the end, you feel for both Hutton and Donald Sutherland's characters, but you have no sympathy for the pain and suffering caused by Moore in the end. Her character is the driving force of this film.

If want to be captivated by a dramatic film of the 80's, look no further than Ordinary People. Although Redford has yet to top his first effort, its good to see where his roots began as a strong director in Hollywood.

Movie #95 - 12 Monkeys

2009-01-23T09:09:00.000-05:00

"The future is history."

I didn't get to see this movie until 2001 and it still is one of those films that I enjoy seeing parts of when it gets shown on television. Director Terry Gilliam has done a tremendous job on this film and his resume preceding 12 Monkeys includes classics as Brazil, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and the Fisher King.

The movie is dark and morbid - but you get captivated by the concept of the world ending. The concept has been done countless of times, especially for summer blockbusters, but 12 Monkeys definitely does not fall into that category.

The screenplay is very clever and is unique as it takes you back and forth following Bruce Willis' character James Cole. We are treated to a solid supporting role performance by Brad Pitt - who got nominated for an Oscar for this film in 1996. It is also refreshing to see Pitt returning to working on more serious films with the Curious Case of Benjamin Button - as his last ten years of movies have been somewhat forgettable in terms of critical acclaim.

This movie also has some solid cameo performances by Christopher Plummer and David Morse (who fits in well as a crazy, psychotic, bio-terrorist). However, the one detractor of this film is the poor performance of Madeleine Stowe. I was somewhat confused looking back at Stowe's casting - previous to this film, her best known role was for Unlawful Entry. Unfortunately, Stowe's character brings this film back down in terms of high ranking science fiction thrillers, as Stowe rides the coattails of both Pitt and Willis.

In the end, this movie is highly recommended... a little confusing, but a great science fiction movie from the mid-90's era of films.

Movie #94 - What Dreams May Come

2009-01-13T14:05:00.000-05:00

"After life there is more. The end is just the beginning."

For all of you movie-goers out there, this movie is a guaranteed tear jerker. This film is both beautifully shot and the cast put together is quite good overall: Robin Williams, Cuba Gooding Jr., Max von Sydow, and Annabella Sciorra.

An Academy Award winner in 1998 for Best Visual Effects, the colorful palette that this movie utilizes is what makes you appreciate the story and plot. Without providing too many spoilers, this movie deals with death and the afterlife - at least an entertaining rendition out there.

Also, for you chick flick movie fans, this film is definitely one of the better ones out there, not because it is a defined chick flick, but becomes it evokes a dramatic emotional response - dealing with issues related to death, dreams, and love.

There are some disturbing images portrayed in this movie and it does give a stark interpretation of what the afterlife may be like - but its definitely a movie to watch from beginning to end. If you have the opportunity to rent the DVD version of this film, please take notice of the alternate ending - it definitely does not make any sense and would have completely destroyed a wonderfully composed film had it been used instead of what they actually came up with.

In the end, enjoy this movie for what it is worth: a great visual landscape and wonderful set designs. The acting compliments the imagery and the storyline compels the actors to grab the audience from beginning to end. This movie can be included into a solid film resume for all actors involved as it is an collaborative achievement with no particular standouts. Even Robin Williams, known for his flailing and antics on stage and in many of his roles, gives a solid, balanced performance - which is a breath of fresh air for this film.

For the guys out there... if your wife, girlfriend, or fiancee wants to rent a movie that you can both watch - I highly recommend this one. Trust me, she'll bawl her eyes out and you might shed a tear or two... its quite possible.

Movie #93 - 3000 Miles to Graceland

2009-01-12T10:03:00.000-05:00

"Crime is King."

A funny little movie about a bunch of robbers hoping to rob a Las Vegas casino, posing as Elvis impersonators. There are a number of quirky scenes in this film and a number of great cameo performances by the likes of Ice-T, David Arquette, Christian Slater, and John Lovitz.

Overall, the movie falls quite flat. I don't know what era you could include this movie in, but Kevin Costner has done a number of really bad films in the current decade and since the turn of the century, has not hit his stride in comparison to his ability to touch gold in the late 80's and early 90's. Same goes for Kurt Russell, although at least Russell has found some niche roles in some major blockbusters and children's films in recent years, not to mention appearing in some cult movies such as Deathproof.

I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to find and watch this movie, mainly because it is filled with a number of big name television and movie actors and actresses, however, the interaction between Russell and Costner makes this a bad film in the end. The concept is hilarious and the twists and turns of the plot should make for a clever film overall, however, for some strange reason, this movie takes a melodramatic turn in the last 30 minutes which will leave viewers with a sour taste for the entire film.

I would've liked to see more emphasis on the Elvis angle, more focus on the fun behind robbing a casino dressed up like Elvis - instead, the focus was on character development and the supposed evil side brewing inside of Costner's character. This gets lost somewhere in the plot and storyline as the movie almost plays out like its two separate films. In the end, the concept works, but the movie doesn't... which goes to show once again with "money grab" type films - you need a solid script and plot, the cast really doesn't matter.

I would like to see Costner and Russell team up again in the future if at all possible. Both are well beyond their years as leading role actors, but I think they could excel in a role built for their strengths. As with any set of actors on the downward swing, roles in a war movie or historical time piece can really hit it big with the die-hard fans - something both tried to do with their take on the Wild West in the mid 90's with Tombstone and Wyatt Earp. If I had to put these two actors together in a film again, another Western could be the way to go.

Movie #92 - What Lies Beneath

2009-01-04T11:23:00.000-05:00

"He was the perfect husband until his one mistake followed them home."

This movie probably marks the beginning of a string of bad films to be released by Harrison Ford, which is a string of about nine years. Unfortunately for a Sigma Nu brother, Ford continues to churn out films of poor quality - most recently, his resurrection of Indiana Jones.

I remember getting sick during exams in fourth year university and watching this film with my girlfriend (now wife) on VHS as part of an attempt to get better. I think I was having a fever when I watched this film originally and have not seen it since to update my opinion on the movie - but I still believe it is a poor film from top to bottom.

A casual movie fan would think that having a movie with Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer would have on-screen chemistry and a solid plot. Especially since this movie marks one of Ford's first "thriller" genre entries on his resume, I was excited to see what the duo could do. Mix in the respectable director, Robert Zemeckis, and you have the combination available to make a good movie.

Well, sometimes expectations are not met and movies fall flat, which is the case for What Lies Beneath. I think my poor review of this movie is linked to both being sick while watching the movie and not enjoying the poor CGI graphics used nor the poorly scripted film on the whole. In the end, I believe the team should just forget about this film in its entirety... unfortunately for Ford, he hasn't really recovered from this flop and there looks like there is no end in sight for him.

Movie #91 - Aliens

2008-12-15T21:28:00.000-05:00

"This time there's more."

Great tag line. Definitely one of my favourite James Cameron films - however, nothing beats Terminator 2: Judgment Day in my books!

For a horror / action movie, this movie received a great deal of critical acclaim, for acting, directing, and special effects. For 1986 and limited CGI technology, a number of these scenes had to be created with miniatures, life-sized puppets, and innovative filming techniques.

Winner of two Oscars for visual effects and sound effects, Weaver got nominated for Best Actress for her reprisal of the Ellen Ripley character... a recurring character in the original Alien Quadrology. Add in some strong cameos from everyone's favourite Sigma Nu - Michael Biehn, cult weirdo Lance Henriksen, and of course Bill Paxton and weenie Paul Reiser. Although I like Reiser in this asshole role... which is by far better than the crap he usually appears in (see all of his television roles for examples).

Three awesome scenes in this film make this movie worthwhile. 1. Bishop impalement scene - probably the best scene involving milk as a studio prop. You'll know what I mean when you see it. 2. Bishop knife scene - yeah... let's just say thousands of 80's teenagers probably tried to do this in real life, to no avail. I tried to do it with a sharp pencil back in the day and let's just say its better than using a knife. 3. Ripley vs. Queen Alien scene - awesome use of mechanical forklifts... enough said.

If after 22 years, you still haven't seen this movie, I have no sympathies for you. Its a must see if you are a fan of the genre, the franchise, and if you enjoy a great action movie where you don't have to think, but enjoy plain violence - 80's style!

Movie #90 - White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

2008-12-02T12:14:00.000-05:00

I watched this film back when my wife and I first got TMN. This is one of those powerful, historical documentaries that you are not watching to be entertained, but to be informed of how tragic our recent past has been and how much influence it still has for people of today.

The title says it all, but this movie is more than that. It is a full documentation of the remaining survivors of the atom bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of the Second World War. Some of the scenes and descriptions are quite graphic, but this is real life - which is what makes it powerful than anything a Steven Spielberg or Clint Eastwood could conjure up to depict WWII.

Director Steven Okazaki should be commended for telling a story that many people have since forgotten. Generations have come and gone since the tragic bombings of Japan and many of the country's own citizens have already forgotten what these victims had to go through just over 60 years ago. This notion was captured by Okazaki after interviewing a number of teenagers and twenty-somethings in the streets of both Tokyo and Hiroshima during the 60th anniversary of the bombing. Only a handful of young people interviewed actually knew the significance of the day in question - which was both heart-wrenching and not surprising at the same time.

Without getting too preachy, many young people of our generation have forgotten the many sacrifices that previous generations did to provide for a better world for the first world countries. This includes a number of issues, not just tragedies linked to war or oppression. Its good to see that movies like this exist to wake up people like me to realize how lucky we truly are. Hopefully, more people will have the chance to see documentaries like this one to know what really happened through a first hand account of the events.

I highly recommend this film. Its definitely not for the faint at heart, but one that I believe most people my age should watch. History is sometimes retold with a great deal of bias (e.g. old World at War documentaries produced by the BBC in the 70's), however, this first-person account really shows what truly happened - all biased removed.

Movie #89 - Akira

2008-12-02T12:03:00.000-05:00

"Neo-Tokyo is about to E.X.P.L.O.D.E."

Definitely one of the weirder films that I have seen over the last decade. I had wanted to watch this movie for many years after following suggestions and advice from movie critics such as Leonard Maltin, Gene Siskel, or Roger Ebert. From my recollection, I believe this film comes from one of Ebert's picks from many years back.

Have never been a real fan of anime, although I collect comic books - primarily mainstream issues from the DC and Marvel. I rarely ventured outside of my realm of superhero books, so this movie and its artistic style was intriguing and a treat to watch for the first time.

I stumbled upon a used copy on VHS from the local Rogers video store and forced my then girlfriend at the time to watch this movie with me on a Friday or Saturday evening. I cannot speak for her, but I was impressed by the plot, the artwork, and the action sequences... which you never see in any animated feature films of Batman, Superman, etc.

However, this movie was just plain weird. Probably the inspiration of late 90's and early decade music videos of Daft Punk, Gorillaz, or Linkin' Park, Akira is the mainstream anime film that many people know and actually accept as a solid movie.

Back in high school, I tried to get into it as one of my good friends was trying to introduce this genre to me along with other science fiction type activities (collectible card games - CCG's). However, it never caught on with me - probably just weirder than I wanted to let my mind get involved in at the time. The reason behind that was because I watched Ghost in the Shell. Similar to Akira, was beautifully shot and had a great plot, but took a tremendous twist in the end - making the whole movie watching experience somewhat cheapened as the film didn't make any sense once it was over.

If you like that sort of thing and enjoy other science fiction type films, you'll enjoy Akira. Even if you are not a fan of anime, you will find entertainment value in this film. Just stop the tape or DVD in the last 10 minutes and you'll be fine!

Movie #88 - Aeon Flux

2008-11-24T15:26:00.000-05:00

"The Perfect World Meets The Perfect Assassin."

There are really just two reasons to watch this film - Charlize Theron and black spandex. Really, that's all I have to say about this film, although I should say more about this movie.

Its a creative film about an assassin living in a Utopian society, and that Theron's character Aeon Flux, threatens to end this lifestyle when she's hired to kill the leader of the society. Movies like these are highly predictable and are only enjoyable for the wondrous set designs and beautiful women. In this case - win, win!

Theron has a rock hard physique in this movie and it is known that she did all of her stunts, which shows physical versatility and the fact that she is the epitome of the female specimen. The CGI set designs and scenes of violence and action are quite entertaining, but mainly because Theron is kicking ass and shooting large weapons.

Overall, the movie in itself is quite bad once you get passed seeing Theron for the majority of the film in tight clothing or without much clothing. Producers cast previous Oscar winners Frances McDormand and Pete Postlethwaite to add some credibility to the plot, script, and cast - although they both seem quite out of place without much dialogue or importance in the movie itself.

In the end, if you cannot enjoy this movie for any other reason than the admiration of Theron, than you are kidding yourself if you believe you will like this film for plot or science fiction content. Theron clearly did this role as a money making venture and a reason to get fit and show her abilities as a potential action star in future roles, but in the end, this is definitely one of her more forgettable roles and at the time, set her back a couple of steps of gaining critical acceptance as a serious dramatic actress.

It hasn't hurt her in the long-term, but it definitely is a black mark on a emerging resume of solid roles and movie selections for Theron in recent years.

Movie #87 - Legends of the Fall

2008-11-24T15:12:00.000-05:00

"After the Fall from Innocence the Legend begins."

Marking the beginning of a stellar, versatile career, Brad Pitt is the main driving force behind a solid cast in this time piece from 1994. Following critically acclaimed roles in Cool World, A River Runs Through It, and Interview with the Vampire, Pitt is able to capture the audience with his portrayal of Tristan Ludlow.

The whole plot revolves around the exploits of the Ludlow family and how love and sibling rivalries tear the family apart over the years. The story is narrated from a third person perspective, following the life of middle brother Tristan, alongside the other brothers Samuel (Henry Thomas) and Alfred (Aidan Quinn). The love interest of the film is the beautiful British actress, Julia Ormond and her influence on the three brothers is what makes this film so passionate.

Although I acknowledge that this movie is in fact a love story - because its a tragic love story makes it an entertaining story to follow. Combined with the fact that Anthony Hopkins does a wonderful job as Colonel William Ludlow and that the entire film is shot in B.C. with beautiful landscape scenes, this make the movie a great film.

Pitt steals the show from a great cast of good performances and he follows this role with a number of hit films in the mid to late 90's such as Se7en, Twelve Monkeys, Seven Years in Tibet, and Fight Club. With this handful of roles that followed, it is not surprising that Pitt showcases his talents here in Legends of the Fall, which are probably what landed him successive roles in the films listed.

If you have yet to watch this movie, please do so. You will be compelled until the very end, especially the final 10-15 minutes in which the entire storyline is brought together for a stunning conclusion. If you watch this movie and skip to the end, its still a powerful set of scenes, but is difficult to understand the emotion behind the events. This film is highly recommended in my books despite being labeled as a Pitt chick flick by many. Admittedly, its a great film from that era.

Movie #86 - Working Girl

2008-11-24T14:59:00.000-05:00

"For anyone who's ever won. For anyone who's ever lost. And for everyone who's still in there trying."

1988 must have been a slow year for movies... after doing some research on this quirky film, it seems that a number of Oscar nominations were given to the cast and film credits associated to this movie. Although it is a funny film from the 80's, there really isn't a reason as to why so many nominations were provided.

This film does mark one of the best performances in the long career of Melanie Griffith (pre-plastic surgery of course). If you want her best performance, seek out the WWII time piece Shining Through opposite Michael Douglas.

There are good points to this film - Sigourney Weaver plays the villain and she does it well. In fact, when you look back at the 80's, Sigourney dominated a number of key films of that era - the Alien franchise, the Ghostbusters franchise, and a number of romantic comedies such as this movie. This also marks one of those Harrison Ford films that I didn't add to my collection - he's not playing his standard Ford role of being a lawyer/doctor/analyst turned action star, so this film gets relegated to the second tier in his many roles.

However, the biggest selling point of this film is following the life of the character of Tess McGill. Since this movie was filmed in the heart of the 80's, the ability of women to advance in the shark-friendly corporate world of New York City is a rarity and its entertaining to see how she does it. Throw in a good soundtrack and some cameos from Alec Baldwin (the greatest actor of all time), Joan Cusack, and Kevin Spacey - and you got a pretty good 80's film.

I am glad to learn that neither Weaver, Cusack, or Griffith won an Oscar for this film, however, Griffith did in fact win a Golden Globe consolation statue instead. Hey - even the Globes make mistakes from time to time - look at Paul Hogan winning for Crocodile Dundee or Tom Cruise winning three times for Magnolia, Jerry Macguire, and Born on the Fourth of July.

Movie #85 - 54

2008-11-21T10:03:00.000-05:00

"Welcome to the party."

54 was a film made in 1998 and it is dated with movie and television actors and actresses who were hot back during that time period. For those that haven't seen this movie, it profiles the party lifestyle surrounding Studio 54 in New York City and follows a set of characters portrayed by Ryan Phillippe, Salma Hayek, Neve Campbell, and Mike Myers.

Considering 50% of the headline cast is Canadian content is a bonus for this movie. The soundtrack coming out of this film is great, including the remake of Gordon Lightfoot's "If you could read my mind" by the Stars on 54 - which consisted of late 90's artists Ultra Nate, Amber, and Jocelyn Enriquez.

This movie definitely had a lot going for it. It was a story about Steve Rubell (depicted by Mike Myers) and it was a feature about life in the late 70's during the high point of the disco era. Hence the musical soundtrack is great, but in the end, the movie is a flop. There is too much focus between the romance between Philippe and Campbell and there wasn't enough of Myers' acting as Rubell - which would've represented a strong debut of his more dramatic acting side. I believe all superstar comedians should do at least 3-5 dramatic roles either in television or movies in their careers - its helped Robin Williams and it has allowed Tom Hanks to evolve into the dramatic leading actor that he is cast for since the early 80's.

In Myers' case with his portrayal of Rubell - there just wasn't enough dialogue or plot focused on this enigmatic person - although Studio 54 itself was built and destroyed on the exploits surrounding Rubell. I guess knowing a little too much about the history behind the plot cheapens the movie in the end and so you are left unsatisfied when the storyline strays away from what the story could have focused upon.

With the romantic sub-plot of Campbell and Philippe, you are easily bored. Many women find Philippe attractive (my wife included), but only in his more recent leading roles has Philippe shown true promise as an actor. He needs to tuck this one away in the closet somewhere. Campbell - usually a solid leading or supporting actress in her various roles, falls flat. Also, she is cast a little older in this film (approximately in her late 20's) - which is surprising since she will always be cast as the 17-21 year old young adult in all of her roles. Although refreshing to see her in this age bracket, her performance weakens the film in the end, leaving only the music to enjoy.

Movie #84 - La Bamba

2008-11-10T22:33:00.000-05:00

"Born to poverty. Destined for stardom. He lived the American Dream."

1987 was a good year for movies that had a musical flare to them. This was the same year that Dirty Dancing was popular, and not surprisingly, both are clever time pieces. This movie follows the life of Ritchie Valens, a young Mexican-American teenager who quickly rose to stardom in the 50's rock & roll era.

Despite the predictable ending to this tragic true story, the portrayal of Valens' short life was entertaining. Lou Diamond Philips does a great job in capturing the youthful exuberance of Valens' life and the constant struggle that he endures dealing with his drunken, abusive older brother Bob (depicted by Esai Morales) really made this film a strong story to watch.

In the end, the music became the major selling point of this film. Many of the artists shown in this movie had their songs re-recorded, including all of the Valens' music. All of his songs were redone by the Mexican band Los Lobos. The updated La Bamba hit was actually a number one hit on the charts in 1987 - a true tribute that the music of the 50's is still relevant and that the updated version is quite good.

There are some cameos in this movie that make the film work as a time piece. Rick Dees plays a radio host of that era and Joe Pantoliano is Valens' record producer - back before Joey Pants had the attitude that is seen in many of his more recent roles in action films. From the musical side of things, Brian Setzer of the Brian Setzer Orchestra does a great Eddie Cochran for the soundtrack.

At the end of the movie, Valens' life ends tragically along with Buddy Holly and the Big Bopper. Its crazy to see how the true story actually ends and to know how easily Valens' would've lived - watch the movie if you don't know what I am talking about. I've read in some conspiracy stories that Elvis' record company sabotaged the plane so that they could remove some of the competition that was threatening Elvis' overall popularity - however, that would be an extreme conspiracy ranking up there with Area 51 and the JFK assassination.

What's funny about this movie though, is that Philips did such a solid performance in portraying Valens, he parlayed this role into some stronger supporting roles in Young Guns shortly thereafter. This is not the first time the death of an artist was made into a movie - other good examples include Gary Busey as Buddy Holly (1978) and Jennifer Lopez as Selena (1997).

Movie #83 - White Noise

2008-11-10T22:23:00.000-05:00

"The dead are trying to get a hold of you."

When I originally saw the trailer for this film, I was intrigued by the concept. Banking on the popularity of ghost hunting shows and the resurgence of belief in paranormal activity, White Noise portrays the ability to capture electronic voice phenomena or EVP's for short. Many believe these voices heard on recording devices or in this case, the white noise of television and radio are in fact voices from another realm or voices from the dead.

Keaton's character is desperately trying to search for a way to communicate with his dead wife and child in this film and his adventure exposes him to the extreme beliefs of EVP seekers. EVP's are sometimes seen as ways to communicate with the dead as you might have seen on silly shows such as Ghost Hunters or Paranormal State. More extreme believers are under the notion that this is in fact a way to bring people back from those realms where they may be residing or are trapped in.

This was the plot line in the many Poltergeist films of the 80's and is a common theme in a number of cheesy horror movies made to scare teenagers with impressionable minds. I honestly never thought Keaton would stoop low enough to make a film like this, but unfortunately, his movie resume has dwindled since his high end films such as the Batman franchise. In the end, if you go over his recent work - outside of some clever television cameos and voiceovers, Keaton hasn't done much since the late 90's and that includes bombs like Multiplicity or Jack Frost.

His body of work are a far cry from his rise to glory in Batman and Beetlejuice, but I truly believed Keaton's credibility could be salvaged with a strong thriller in White Noise... boy, was I wrong! The only saving grace in this film is the casting of Deborah Unger - however, she is poorly utilized and doesn't do enough to help this film in the end. If you like ghost hunting and the possibility that they might exist, this is still more enjoyable than the bad television shows available today - but not by much.

Movie #82 - The Abyss

2008-11-10T22:13:00.000-05:00

"There's everything you're ever known about adventure, and then there's the abyss."

This is one of my favourite movies from the James Cameron line of films. Although he is somewhat of a pompous ass, he's done some stellar films that I like to watch over and over again. This movie ranks up there with Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day and is a special treat to go along with his other films such as Aliens or True Lies.

A storyline about a deep sea mining team searching for a sunken nuclear submarine is fitting for the cold war era of the late 80's and it definitely has some unique twists along the way - opening up the imagination of fans. Cameron has a tremendous fixation on the wonders that await discovery in the deep sea areas and this movie gives him a chance to explore it.

This film is far better than his Titanic movie, although that one had a love story starring Leonardo DiCaprio. I doubt a love story driven by the great Ed Harris (who is a good looking man by the way) would cause much of a box office stir in comparison to Leo.

Anyhow, this film was groundbreaking for special effects and advancement of underwater cinematography. It was a well-deserved winner of the Oscar for Best Visual Effects in 1989 and set the tone for Cameron's upcoming film, T2, which utilized similar techniques to create his T-1000 character.

There is a solid performance by every one's favourite military hero/villain, Michael Biehn, who is cast as a villain in this film. Like every other movie he's been in except for a small handful, Biehn's casting leads to a tremendous death scene, as he is known in Hollywood for this guaranteed performance.

If you are as big of a fan of Biehn (who is also a Sigma Nu brother in case you didn't know) as I am - seek out his other strong performances in The Rock, Tombstone, and Terminator for his death scenes that strengthen the overall movie in the end.

Although Biehn has recently chosen to pursue the television roles to pay the bills, his appearances in most films are usually as a strong side character to help portray the protagonist in a better light. He accomplishes that here in the Abyss as you really hate him in the end.

Movie #81 - L.A. Confidential

2008-11-08T14:42:00.000-05:00

"Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush..."

1998 was a funny year for movies. This was the year of the juggernaut Titanic taking over both the box office draw and all of the critical acclaim. Also, 1998 was a tough competition amongst films with Good Will Hunting, Full Monty, and As Good as it Gets participating for Best Picture.

L.A. Confidential in my opinion is one of the better films coming out of that strong group in 1998. The Academy got it wrong with some of the winners related to this film. L.A. Confidential, like the others of 1998 got a number of Oscar nominations, winning for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress. I completely agree with the Screenplay nod as this movie is deep, with strong character development, a great murder mystery to drive you throughout the film, and is filled with deceit and mistrust - which makes for a great movie.

However, the reason this movie still creates a stir in me after 10 years is the fact that Kim Basinger won for Best Supporting Actress for a film that she starred in for probably 15-20% of the time. I guess, by definition, 15-20% of the film constitutes the nomination, but her performance doesn't. She's horrible in this movie and it goes in line with many of her other films. Not to mention, she lowers the achievements made by the rest of the cast, from Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, and Kevin Spacey down to even the brief appearances by Danny DeVito and David Strathairn. Basinger does not add value to her role and to the overall cast - and apart from the tension created by her character between Pierce and Crowe, you could remove her role completely and still have a wonderful film in the end.

So I guess, in retrospect, a Best Supporting Actress winner should be a character who drove the plot of the film and added value... from my rant in the last paragraph, you know where I stand there. In defence of her win, there wasn't much choice from the other nominees... except maybe Julianne Moore from her role in Boogie Nights. Outside of that, I didn't see the Academy selecting Joan Cusack (In & Out), Minnie Driver (Good Will Hunting), or Gloria Stuart (Titanic) as none of these three performances should have even been considered in the end.

By the way, I still highly recommend this film, and for those who have yet to see it - you'll be thrilled when you find out who Rollo Tomasi is?

Movie #80 - You've Got Mail

2008-11-08T14:26:00.000-05:00

"Someone you pass on the street may already be the love of your life."

One of the more entertaining romantic comedies to go in the set of movies directed by Nora Ephron. Ephron fell in love with the on-screen chemistry of Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan, and especially has a strong infatuation with Ryan as she has appeared in a number of her films.

The story follows the online love affair between Ryan and Hanks, while their real life interactions are filled with tension and rivalry. There are a number of small cameos in this film, which enhance the progression of the film - Dabney Coleman, Dave Chappelle, Greg Kinnear, and Steve Zahn.

In addition, this movie marks an earlier appearance of the ever-annoying Parker Posey as Hanks' girlfriend, making Ryan look like the ultimate catch by the end of the movie. In every Ephron/Ryan movie, Ryan is set up as the beautiful, sweet, woman that every guy would fall in love with. Unfortunately, 10 years and a couple of botched plastic surgeries later - Ryan now falls into the Melanie Griffith category (also known as the don't zoom in too close category).

I don't know why Ryan decided that she needed surgery to address something that I believe she would've done quite naturally and still retained her inner and outer beauty. Instead, her on-screen presence that many fans endeared over the last 20+ years is grossly affected by the issues with her surgery blunders.

You won't see Ryan cast in any recent romantic comedies because the whole point of the movie is for the audience to fall in love with both actor/actress... not going to happen anymore with Ryan. Its too bad though since this was her bread and butter genre and unless she has a way to turn back the clock to reverse some of her procedures, she will continue to be overlooked for these roles.

Movie #79 - 2001: A Space Odyssey

2008-11-08T14:14:00.000-05:00

"Let the Awe and Mystery of a Journey Unlike Any Other Begin."

For years as an avid movie fan, I had wanted to watch this movie. In fact, I had only seen this movie once in my lifetime and since then, have only seen snippets on television or when they do profile or biography shows on Stanley Kubrick.

The build-up and anticipation of watching this film was huge back when I was a young teenager. Its been 14 years since I have seen this film, and my opinion still stands. It is one of the wonderfully shot and imaginative movies out there, with a classical soundtrack that suits the images on the screen - however... its just plain weird.

Don't get me wrong, I am a giant science fiction fan, growing up with shows and movies like Star Trek, Star Wars, X-Files... the list goes on. However, nothing can prepare you with how weird this movie is.

One of the main reasons that I haven't watched this film in quite a long time is its length and overall slowness to develop plot. Without providing too many spoilers, the first hour delves into the origin of the obelisk and how influential it was on the origin of mankind. Then the next hour seems to drag on as Kubrick focuses on the beauty of space and the various space vehicles and stations that exist in 2001.

What's great about this film - back in 1968, movies about space and space travel were never done before and so having a movie of this stature really influenced the genre on the whole. Kubrick's panoramic shots and use of angles captured the essence of the emptiness of space and the overall beauty at the same time. While using classical scores was a treat in the end. In addition, the character of the artificial intelligence, Hal 9000, has evolved into a cult classic, even being used as the AI in Apple Computers of recent years.

In the end - you'll like many parts of this movie, but you may end up on the fence of how much you like the whole picture. If you can avoid watching the sequel starring Roy Scheider and Helen Mirren, you're lucky... unfortunately, I wasn't able to avoid it and sought it out this year - big mistake on my part as it put a bad taste in my mouth on the franchise.

Movie #78 - Wild Things

2008-10-08T10:36:00.000-04:00

"No risk, no fun."

I caught this film on MPIX a few weeks ago and I can see why a number of people were hooked on this movie back in 1998. I am surprised that I never saw it before then, considering I was a teenager back in 1998 and this movie would've been the talk of the town back then amongst guys my age.

There are a couple of things that make me laugh about this movie...

1. How many times are we going to see Neve Campbell cast as a teenager? Campbell is in fact born in 1973. In 1998, Campbell would've been 25, a far cry from the 18 year old she was attempting to portray. It was a little obvious considering Campbell spent over five years as a "teenager" on the Canadian television show Catwalk and spent another five years as a "teenager" on the teeny-bopper television show Party of Five.

2. Can we really take Denise Richards seriously in any role? From Bond films to this kinky thriller, Richards is purely just cast as eye candy. She is entrusted with tremendous speaking roles in many of her films, but who is really paying attention. Not only can she not act, but she's stunning in most of her scenes, that her acting is more of a distraction more than anything. My favourite spoof on this assessment came on the television show Friends, in which Richards was constantly being viewed in slow motion by Chandler, Joey, and Ross with Barry White music playing in the background.

3. How many twists can we add to this movie in the last ten minutes? Without providing any spoilers to my readers, this movie ends as twisted as it begins... and not necessarily in a good way. The twists are tacked on as I believe writer Steven Peters and Director John McNaughton didn't know how to end this movie. I would've just flash backed to the sex scenes myself, but that's just how my brain works.

Either way, this movie is entertaining on many levels, but forgettable in the end. By the way, I couldn't resist to put this picture in as part of the post... I bet it will garner some extra viewings for my blog.

Movie #77 - Aladdin

2008-10-08T10:19:00.000-04:00

"Wish Granted!"

Back when I was twelve, this was one of my favourite movies at the time, combined with Transformers: The Movie and G.I. Joe: The Movie respectively. However, once the Lion King came out a couple of years later, all bets were off on the animated front and I am still supportive of the strength of that movie in the long term.

Going back to Aladdin, this movie was released at the height of Disney's success at hitting it big with the box office blockbuster animated films. With movies such as Beauty and the Beast and the Lion King released in the same time period, its amazing to see how far the industry has fallen in terms of churning out high quality films. I blame CGI technology, which has now given the industry the ability to animate or create almost anything in terms of cartoons, but is losing out on the sheer imagination of the films themselves. The writing and the voice casting, both integral parts of the film process. Sure, animation is shorter now, but look at how many animated films enter in each year and how many are actually of the quality of movies of old.

Aladdin was released at a time when the Academy Awards didn't recognize animated films as "movies" and thus did not have the Best Animated film category. If not, Aladdin would've received that 1992 Oscar to go along with its best song and best sound editing wins. In addition, you would be hard pressed not to acknowledge the work of versatile actor, Robin Williams, for his work on this film - as he became the anchor to the role and the main draw of the future of the franchise (merchandising and a couple of years on the television cartoon front).

In the end, Aladdin ranks high in the terms of animated films, but does not come close to the achievements of the Lion King. In the end, enjoy this film for its well-written plot, quirky humour of Williams as the Genie, and the wonderful singing of Lea Salonga during the Princess Jasmine singing scenes.

Movie #76 - Youngblood

2008-10-05T20:04:00.000-04:00

"The ice... The fire... The fight... To be the best."

There are only a handful of hockey movies out there, this being one of the better ones. Unfortunately, that doesn't really say much because of the fact that there aren't many good hockey movies - and sports movies in general.

Along with Youngblood, there are the Mighty Ducks trilogy, The Rocket, Mystery Alaska, The Cutting Edge, and of course Slap Shot. While many believe Slap Shot is one of the better films depicting sports out there, it still isn't a very good movie. It just became a cult classic with some of the funny quotes that you can extract from that film. Plus, Paul Newman really gives it his all in that movie.

Back to Youngblood, Rob Lowe portrays the title character - Dean Youngblood. He's a walk-on player that gets a chance to make it big playing for the fictional Hamilton Mustangs of the Ontario Hockey League. Its funny to see that this film is shot entirely in various places in Ontario, including a number of scenes shot in the "beautiful"city of Hamilton. What makes this film funny are the slow motion hockey scenes, probably because Lowe learned how to skate right before filming this movie... so they had to find a way to make him look faster than everyone else.

Swayze is also in this film, not previously playing hockey before, but professional trained as a figure skater in his youth. Look for cameos of Keanu Reeves as the Mustangs goaltender and of course, future NHLer's Peter Zezel and Steve Thomas.

In the end, Youngblood is a very bad film, which I still watch whenever its on television. But for what its worth, its great to see movies filmed in Canada. Also, this may rank in the top 5 of all-time hockey movies, but that doesn't say too much.

Movie #75 - Airplane II: The Sequel

2008-10-05T19:40:00.000-04:00

"For the ride of your life... All you need for Christmas are your two front seats!"

Banking on the success of the first Airplane spoof film, the hijinks's arise with this sequel. Returning are Lloyd Bridges and Robert Hays as main characters to create a proper transition from the first film. However, because of how much critical acclaim Airplane received the first time around, the sequel was filled with a larger influx of celebrities.

Added to the sequel cast were brief cameos of William Shatner, Peter Graves, Raymond Burr, Robert Stack, Rip Torn, and even Sonny Bono.

Similar to many of the recent spoof movies, Airplane II was far worse than the first film. Although the plot is as ludicrous, the jokes seem contrived and out of place from the get go. 26 years after this film was produced, we are still riddled with crappy spoof films - unfortunately, they aren't even cleverly done anymore... relying strictly on loose references to hit movies that the majority of the population should have seen.

Basing the content of current spoof movies on the success of others is a cop out and should not be continued. The new movies should go back to the classic storytelling of this spoof franchise such as Airplane. In time, we shall see if there will be more movies like Airplane again - the only ones that I have seen that might have come close are the comedic films of the 80's and 90's - but even those films are close to 15-20 years old themselves. So its truly few and far between.

As long as Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have anything to say about it, they will never stop making such crap films as Epic Movie or Meet the Spartans. If we could only convince Jim Abrahams and David Zucker to take control of this genre again, we can easily enjoy a good spoof again!

Movie #74 - X-Files: Fight the Future

2008-09-29T20:47:00.000-04:00

"Fight the Future."

I am quite unhappy that I missed the sequel to this film in theatres, but it wasn't in theatres long enough for me to see it. Probably some poor marketing campaign and a stale interest in the television show due to other recent science fiction marvels such as Lost, the X-Files is truly for the nerdy teenager of the mid to late 90's.

Seeing this movie again, I realize how little Chris Carter and company truly understood their fan base back in 1998 and even now with the sequel. They made two films that are strictly movies that only viewers of the show would enjoy, yet they forced national releases and distribution for both films, spending millions in promotions, etc., instead of targeting their key demographics.

X-Files: Fight the Future is a wonderful film, beautifully shot with an exciting plot and a great tie-in to the television show back during its original release. However, many casual movie-goers were deterred from watching this film, as not only would the theatre be filled with sweaty, nerdy boys going through puberty and playing hours of video games, but the plot is somewhat confusing if you don't know any background at all.

The true test of this was getting my father to watch this film - a big fan of action movies and conspiracy films... you'd think that this would be right up his alley. Not at all. Although a big movie fan himself, my father lost interest very quickly and was only impressed by cameos of Martin Landau.

Although I am biased towards the franchise and of course, Gillian Anderson, I have to admit, if someone asked me to watch a movie for a show like 24 for example, after five or six seasons, I'd be lost - even if the film took 10-15 minutes to explain what was happening... I wouldn't know.

Because of this, I would've expected a limited release of the sequel, creating a viral marketing campaign, and a word of mouth buzz. Instead, the 2nd X-Files film was put up against the big boys this summer and lost.

Movie #73 - Airplane!

2008-09-29T20:36:00.001-04:00

"You've read the ad, now see the movie!"

One of the earliest entourage spoof films, Airplane is a classic in how bad this film tries to be. Filled with a number of clever cameos, this film even garnered a Golden Globe nomination for best musical or comedy for 1980.

Included in this ensemble cast was Leslie Nielsen, Robert Stack, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Lloyd Bridges. This combination alone is quite impressive, but all do a wonderful job of being serious throughout this silly movie... especially the famous quote of Nielsen's, "Don't call me Shirley," which was part of a recent revival special edition DVD.

Although not a theatrical success, Airplane did start a phenomenon of spoof films. Some of the worst movies made today are these spoof films, and we can all thank Airplane for doing it so well that so many money hungry producers had to copy the idea.

However, the good thing that came out of this movie is the re-invention of Leslie Nielsen's career path. Known prior to this role as a serious actor on both side roles and in television appearances, Nielsen developed a strong niche as the spoof actor. The Airplane role catapulted Nielsen onto his television show, Police Squad, and eventually, to every one's favourite - Naked Gun franchise.

Some may say, because Airplane was the first spoof film to be made, it ranks up there as one of the best ever as it is definitely groundbreaking from that perspective. I would have to agree because some of the recent ones now are just plain stupid and horribly done. They really do not think highly of their audience and although its a spoof, it doesn't have to be idiotic.

Movie #72 - Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory

2008-09-26T15:21:00.000-04:00

"It's everybody's non-pollutionary, anti-institutionary, pro-confectionery factory of fun!"

Still one of my favourite movies of my childhood, every time I see this film, I have to watch it. After many viewings, I am starting to realize that this movie probably marked when I started to become quite cynical. This movie is filled with sarcasm and has a very dark tone to it, but its wrapped in sugar and chocolate, that you forget what is actually going on behind the scenes.

If you ever read the original books by Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator), there is a dark undertone in both children's books, which Dahl adapted into his screenplay for the 1971 movie.

I am surprised that to this day, Dahl's books have not been banned by those who would be offended by ground-breaking work. Its a goal of mine in 2009 to re-read these books to see if I can catch the difference between how children were intended to understand his writing and what he actually wrote.

In comparison to the Depp/Burton remake, the original film wins out. Call me nostalgic, but the musical scores, the set design, and the performance of Wilder alone make this movie a great film. Plus, you really feel for Charlie and his plight and you root for him to win in the end. I was sorry to discover that Wilder didn't win the Golden Globe that year for his performance here, because despite his wide array of films, this ranks up there as one of his best performances of his career next to probably Young Frankenstein (for which he garnered an Oscar nomination).

In the end - if you watch this film at face value, you'll enjoy the silliness of the factory and the wondrous colours and imaginative set design. If you enjoy the "dark side" of this storyline, then you're in for a treat - no pun intended!

Movie #71 - Air Force One

2008-09-26T14:57:00.001-04:00

"Harrison Ford is the President of the United States."

Yes, that is the tagline for this film. As a Sigma Nu brother of Harrison Ford, I am somewhat biased to his films - especially since I own 70% of the Ford VHS movie collection (I stopped when you couldn't buy VHS movies anymore at Wal-Mart).

The bonus of this film is that it stars Gary Oldman. Oldman ranks very high on my list of top actors, especially since his roles are so diverse and you really end up hating him as a villain, which makes the protagonist even better. In this case, Oldman is a terrorist that holds the passengers and crew of Air Force One hostage, including the President of the United States, Harrison Ford.

What makes this film and many of Ford's films funny is that he becomes an action hero as the film progresses... but is still unable to throw a proper punch on screen. Either cast as a lawyer, a surgeon, an IT specialist, or Indiana Jones, all of Ford's films end up the same way. For some strange reason, Ford is always wearing either a suit or a leather jacket... and to throw a punch in either of those is quite difficult - both are very constrictive that you end up throwing what I call a "suit punch." Suit punches are awkward looking and usually miss, unless you rip the elbow of the suit or throw your shoulder out in the process.

Anyways, getting back to AFO, Oldman steals the show here. I remember President Clinton was quoted as saying that this was his favourite movie... but I doubt that would be true, considering not only was he a draft dodger in the 60's, but if a terrorist ever held the first lady and first daughter hostage - Clinton would be the first to jump in that escape pod.

There are some other good cameos here: Dean Stockwell, Glenn Close, J.T. Walsh, and Jurgen Prochnow, however, the real storyline takes place between Ford and Oldman. Although Ford's performance is weak in comparison to Oldman's, it would be nice to see these foes do battle again in a future picture... it would easily rejuvenate the struggling career of Mr. Ford and be a treat to watch for sure!

Movie #70 - King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

2008-09-26T14:43:00.000-04:00

"Don't get chumpatized."

For 2008, this ranks as one of the best films that I have seen this year that I know no one else has seen. A documentary about the battle for Donkey Kong arcade supremacy and the hardships that one regular man must endure to win the recognition and validation from his arcade peers.

In the end, its a conspiracy movie portraying previous Donkey Kong guru Billy Mitchell versus a regular Joe named Steve Wiebe in their quest to be entered into the Guiness Book of Records with the highest score in Donkey Kong. This film follows the various efforts Wiebe must do to prove his Kong prowess and the relentless efforts of Mitchell's followers to sabotage and discredit the abilities of Wiebe.

Sounds funny, but you really get caught up in this documentary because Wiebe is the every man and Mitchell is the evil, deceitful man holding the keys to the clubhouse. By the end of the film, you are filled with utter frustration over what one man needs to go through to prove himself. And you also wonder why people waste so much time playing a video game that's older than me?

I feel fortunate to have watched this unique documentary. Its not the best movie out there, but it is definitely entertaining. I thought my hobby was bad - a bunch of adults collecting little pieces of paper and spending thousands of dollars in the process. This hobby takes the cake and it is a documentary that competes with Trekkies for those fans out there that watch this sort of thing.

If you can find it somewhere or have TMN, its definitely worth your time. Not only is it fun to watch men do battle on arcade games, but seeing the vintage machines is an added bonus.

Movie #69 - Without Limits

2008-09-26T14:20:00.000-04:00

"Pre - The way he competed...The way he lives his life."

Surprisingly, I am quite entertained by this film. Not because its a 70's time piece or because its a movie starring every one's favourite movie villain, Donald Sutherland, but because watching a compelling story about an athletic legend in terms of distance running was a treat.

Don't get me wrong, I am usually biased against anything affiliated with Tom Cruise (producer), but I was impressed by the overall cast of this biopic. Donald Sutherland gives the cast instant credibility, and is not a villain in this film as some might think. Monica Potter is once again cast in another time piece - seek out Patch Adams and you'll see a very similar performance, and pretty much the same set and costumes.

The real star of the show is the performance of then-unknown actor Billy Crudup. Not only does Crudup capture the essence of Prefontaine, but he conveys the true power inside the real Prefontaine from his rendition on screen. I don't know if Cruise intended to star in this film himself back in 1998, but Cruise and Crudup look very similar in stature and appearance. What's funny is that they appear together in MI:3, guess that's equivalent to coming full circle.

In the end, the movie plays out like every "true" story - you cannot change the ending... which is what makes it compelling. I like movies based on true events, but full adaptations usually turn out better since the events being portrayed actually happened... although glamourized, it is better than any script out there. Check out Pursuit of Happiness and you'll understand what I mean.

Movie #68 - Artificial Intelligence (A.I.)

2008-09-26T14:06:00.000-04:00

"David is 11 years old. He weighs 60 pounds. He is 4 feet, 6 inches tall. He has brown hair. His love is real. But he is not."

Conceptually, this movie could've been good. I recently watched a documentary on the life and times of Stanley Kubrick, and based on the script written and the plot and wonderful sets designed by Kubrick - this movie should've been good.

What went wrong you ask? Steven Spielberg. Kubrick entrusted AI to Spielberg as not only did he doubt the computer generated image technology at the time of original production, but Kubrick envied Spielberg's talent and timing to do blockbuster movies - readily accepted by the average movie fan.

Something went haywire with this film and I guess its somewhat ironic since this movie is about robotic lifeforms. In terms of CGI, this movie is top notch for its time. Fantastic images and set design capture Kubrick's original vision. The script itself is good and is believable (in science fiction terms) for about 95% of the film - until you reach the end of the movie, which I hated.

I usually don't dislike anything done by either Spielberg nor Kubrick, but this joint venture was a major disappointment for me. I cannot put a finger on who to blame? Was it Osment or was it Law? Good think Kubrick didn't see the end of this film being made, but I am sure he would've been disappointed too.

I guess in the end, the real culprit are expectations. You have two of the better directors creating a unique partnership to make this movie about the life of robots - great movie idea right. I guess some of these movies should just stay in that little vault, never to be made.

Too bad... maybe in 200+ years, the Earth will freeze over and the new inhabitants will find a copy of this movie on DVD and watch it and think its the greatest thing ever... nah... that would never happen - DVD players 200+ years from now? Who am I kidding?

Movie #67 - Kingpin

2008-09-16T15:18:00.000-04:00

"A comedy right up your alley."

My wife will definitely disagree with me on this one, but this film is a gem from the Farrelly brothers. The only film of the resume that competes with the acting and cast of this classic is Dumb & Dumber.

Filled with funny quotes and bowling hyjinx, this film follows Roy Munson and Ishmael Boorg, portrayed by the wonderfully contrast of acting skill - Woody Harrelson and Randy Quaid. Munson wants to prove that he can still bowl, while no longer having a right hand. Boorg wants to earn enough money to save his Amish farm.

Mix in the lovely (back in 1996) Vanessa Angel and a clever performance by Bill Murray, you got the making of a great adventure film. The bowling references are what make this film fun. And before they became redundant in films, the slapstick humor and gross sexual references were well placed throughout the script.

Many critics would say that Bill Murray's performance over-shadowed that of Quaid and Harrelson. Although I must agree, the comedic tone was set very early with the cameo appearance of Lin Shaye, who represented Munson's dysfunctional landlady. Shaye is a recognizable actress in other Farrelly comedies such as There's Something About Mary, and yet, her performance just makes you laugh.

I enjoy this film from beginning to end, so whenever I catch it on television, its a treat. Your better off renting this film or purchasing it from the cheap DVD's section as the edited versions really butcher the comedic script and innuendos. The best part of this film comes near the end when Munson and "Big Ern" Ernie McCracken (Murray) square off in the bowling final... what makes these scenes great are the hair sequences. Just make sure you aren't drinking something when you watch those scenes.

Movie #66 - The World Is Not Enough

2008-09-16T15:08:00.000-04:00

"Danger, suspense, excitement. There must be when he's around."

An obvious tagline for James Bond, this is one of the forgettable Bond films in the Brosnan repertoire. This movie is filled with the standard Bond beauties in Denise Richards and Sophie Marceau. However, this movie falls flat as the evil villain, portrayed by Robert Carlyle, doesn't enhance the performance of Brosnan. In the end, you don't hate Carlyle as much as you should and you get confused to why producers want us to believe that Richards is a nuclear weapons specialist.

I don't recall the exact quotations in a late exchange in the submarine, but Richards is trying her hardest to sound smart, which just came off as being stupid. Plus, who really cares what she's saying in this film anyway.

Despite these setbacks, the women cast in this film are quite beautiful and compete highly in terms of the Bond standard, especially when combined in the same film. You might recognize Marceau as Princess Isabelle from Braveheart, where she depicted the stunning Princess of Wales. Despite having a limited acting resume in North America, Marceau is recognized both for her beauty and her prowess on the French silver screen.

As for Richards, a suggestion - don't try to cast her as a nuclear specialist. A double agent would've worked or something of the sort. The movie loses its credibility every time she tries to relay her technical lines, so keep them simple and we'll appreciate her presence more!

Movie #65 - 30 Days of Night

2008-09-16T14:57:00.000-04:00

My apologies to many of my readers - I have been quite busy with life, that I haven't been able to keep my blog up to date. However, I am still watching a number of movies each week, so I have many topics to write about.

Watched this film with the wife a few weeks ago. It was one of those highly anticipated films in my list, unfortunately, this is a funny statement to make because I am not a big fan of any films starring Josh Hartnett. I figured, similar to the movie 300, this movie is well-scripted and framed in the comic book storyline... I thought wrong.

The vampires of this film are great. Quite scary and startling in various scenes and the concept of having vampires kill people living in total darkness in Alaska is a great plot. What wrecks this movie for me you ask? You guessed it... Josh Hartnett.

I honestly no longer know who is worse - Hartnett or Keanu Reeves. Both are stellar at giving no emotion in scenes which require at the very least, a pulse. However, with Hartnett, he is capable of over-acting other scenes and thus gives a consistently confusing performance in another flop at the box office.

The only reason to watch this movie is the performance of Danny Huston. This Italian actor is slowly becoming an A-List "That Guy" actor in which Huston is being cast to be a solid role actor in these protagonist centric films. Some of the films on his recent resume where you won't remember seeing Huston is Constant Gardner, Number 23, and Children of Men just to name a few.

Huston's "Marlow" vampire character is the scariest thing in this movie outside of Hartnett's performance. But overall, if you disregard Hartnett completely, you will enjoy this movie for what it was intended to do - to make vampires scary and violent again!

Movie #64 - The Accused

2008-08-27T11:04:00.000-04:00

"The first scream was for help. The second is for justice."

This movie was one of the critically acclaimed films of 1988, for which Jodie Foster won an Oscar as Best Actress. The film contrasted one of the up and coming actresses of the early to late 80's in Foster with one of the more accomplished veteran actresses in Kelly McGillis.

The storyline of this movie is quite disheartening - following a rape victim's trial to seek justice from the rapists and people who did nothing to help her. The movie is about the trial to charge the spectators who not only avoided helping Foster's character, but also cheered the rapists on to continue their heinous act.

Foster gives a powerful performance portraying the victim, but McGillis is a convincing female DA and shows her true acting prowess - especially absent a strong leading actor role in this film. Many of McGillis' films from this era had her opposite the protagonist male character - this movie allows her to excel on her own without the male lead.

Unfortunately, McGillis' career began to fizzle once the 90's hit, while Foster has been banking on her achievements alongside Anthony Hopkins in the Silence of the Lambs. McGillis has done a number of television show appearances in the last 20 years, but nothing compares to her run in the mid to late 80's - Top Gun, Witness, and The Accused. Guess it was just too much too fast, but thankfully, I married a pseudo Kelly McGillis clone - so no worries from my point of view.

Movie #63 - Welcome to Pornoland

2008-08-25T11:05:00.001-04:00

I caught this film on TMN a few months back and it was quite entertaining - posed as a documentary of a married couple who ventures to Hollywood in hopes of stardom.

The film follows a director, who has experienced critical acclaim and exposure in Hollywood North, but wants to branch out and be successful in the Holy Grail - Hollywood. Unfortunately, due to financial constraints and competition - this director is forced to become a porno movie director with his friend who is already entrenched in the business.

What follows is a stark and honest portrayal of the movie industry - not as glamourous as the television documentaries that follow the business, but more on the negative sides that take place on a daily basis. It was quite entertaining to see some of the minor "stars" in the films and how disconnected they are from the sexual acts they were performing.

What made this documentary compelling was seeing the deterioration of the bright-eyed director caused by the temptations of this business and the promise of easy money. In the end - its a wonderful Canadian film that comes highly recommended - not for the gratuitous nudity and sex scenes, but for the story.

Movie #62 - Across the Universe

2008-08-25T10:49:00.000-04:00

"All you need is love."

Well - that's not all you need to enjoy this movie. When my wife mentioned that we were going to watch this film, I was intrigued by a musical influenced by the music of the Beatles - one of my favourite bands of all-time.

However, the music is probably the only thing that is good from this film. Integrating the musical numbers into the plot were done well overall - but like any musical, the performances interfere with the progression of the movie in the end. In comparison to other musicals - e.g. Sound of Music or Phantom of the Opera, the music itself enhances the plot and storyline. In this case, the music becomes a nuisance as there is very little plot or explanation of what in fact is going on.

Depicted in the 60's, I guess the only way to enjoy this film is while on some sort of drug - however, as a non-drug user, I could not enjoy the weirdness of this film... despite the fact that I try to give any movie a chance. Thankfully, this movie did not fall under the "did not finish" category - mainly because I was still entertained by the musical performances and is impressed by the beauty of Evan Rachel Wood - a 21-year old actress constantly being cast to play a teenager in films and television.

Hopefully, Wood will choose more adult roles that will allow her to break the stereotypical teenage angst films. I am looking forward to her making the transition similar to those like Portman or Johanssen. Only time will tell.

Movie #61 - Bat 21

2008-07-25T13:07:00.000-04:00

"Trapped behind enemy lines. A whole army after him... And only one man can save him."

From the entire resume of these two actors in this film (Danny Glover and Gene Hackman), this is one of the better films made by these two gentlemen. Glover and Hackman have a strong rapport throughout the progression of this movie and you really begin to feel the despair of the issue at hand, the rescue of Hackman's character.

I believe this movie is influenced by actual events, but overall, it depicts some of the major problems with the Vietnam War. Without getting into details and political opinions, the Vietnam War was difficult for the U.S. military due to the extreme conditions of jungle warfare. As shown by this movie, we spent 2 hours watching how many lives would be lost to try to save one man who was stuck behind enemy lines.

What trivializes the strength of this movie is Hackman's failed attempt to "re-make" the concept of this movie by making Behind Enemy Lines starring Owen Wilson. Not only is Owen Wilson not an action movie star, but this movie follows the same progression and predictable plot as this 1988 classic, as Hackman really loses credibility in the remake for fans who remember this original film. Although not intended to actually be a remake - it clearly is.

Overall, Bat 21 ranks higher up on the Vietnam War movie genre. I wouldn't mind seeing films about this era again because I believe the WWII genre has been overplayed in recent years. Would definitely like to see some war movies out there... but I hope Hollywood stays away from the current incursions in the Middle East since there are still active soldiers there.

Here's a thought, maybe we should find out what happened in WWI, there are only a handful of movies done about that era and there are many more unexplored stories that could be translated into war movie classics in the future.

Movie #60 - What Women Want

2008-07-25T12:55:00.000-04:00

"He has the power to hear everything women are thinking. Finally... a man is listening."

Yeah right... men listen to everything a woman says... its just sometimes, they aren't saying anything that we find important (e.g. sports, women, money, etc.).

All kidding aside, this movie ranks up there with the Bridges of Madison County for submission to remove Mel Gibson from the men's secret society. Like Eastwood, we can give Gibson some grace because he's done so many masculine movies in the past (Braveheart, the Lethal Weapons, the Mad Max trilogy), but he came fairly close to be removed from the group. Swayze lost his membership when he did Too Wong Foo, so Gibson should count his blessings.

Again... all kidding aside, I actually enjoy this movie every time I see it on television - mainly because its silly to think how powerful his character would be if he could hear what women think. Like every other man out there... women end up being the most complex and enigmatic species out there, that historically, men have attempted to solve other problems in science and technology as opposed to solving the solution to the man's biggest problem - the woman.

Lastly... all kidding aside, Gibson benefits from having this ability... but in the end, the woman wins in the end. Not only has Gibson's character been molded to appreciate women more on the whole, but he's become a more well-rounded man in the end. Although women may say he's evolved... men would say that he's set us men back many years by agreeing to do this movie.

Which side should I take? If my wife reads this, which I know she reads on a regular basis... I'll stick to the more conventional answer.

Movie #59 - Balls of Fury

2008-07-25T12:42:00.000-04:00

"A huge comedy with tiny balls."

Far from it. A great tagline, but a horrible movie. Now, don't get me wrong, I enjoy teenage movies with no plot or are direct spoofs of actual successes, however, this movie does not have anything going for it.

I watched this movie based solely on the fact that Christopher Walken was in the cast. Not only was Walken cast to be a poorly developed villain, but he obviously didn't even take the time to memorize his lines - it looked like as if he was reading cue cards throughout the film.

There are some beautiful women cast in this movie - Maggie Q and Aisha Tyler, however, their roles are limited. Both women would serve better to enhance action movies instead (see MI:3 for Maggie Q's performance), but in this case, they were just cast as eye candy... I'm not complaining about that part of it, but I am complaining about this movie.

The main reasons for my complaints - George Lopez and Dan Fogler. Both are not equipped to be starring men on the big screen... and although an entire movie about the sport of ping pong is a great concept for a comedy... the casting of these gentlemen turn a good concept into a bad comedy.

Sad cameos in this film: Robert Patrick as Daytona's father, Jason Scott-Lee as Siu-Foo (ironically cast since this movie is a spoof on Enter the Dragon - Bruce Lee connection here), and James Hong as Wong (re-incarnation of his role from Wayne's World).

Movie #58 - Away from Her

2008-07-21T15:16:00.000-04:00

"It's never too late to become what you might have been."

This was one of those films that I didn't want to watch, but ended up watching because the wife had recorded it on our PVR. Fortunately, I enjoyed it - but not for the reasons as to why everyone else in Hollywood did.

Sarah Polley made her directorial debut with this film - made in the Canadian film style, the movie focused on plot development, character development, and a good story to tell. Not to mention, Canadian actors were riddled amongst the mainstream cast and did a remarkable job - resulting in Polley's critical acclaim for her directing - even resulting in an Oscar nod for writing / adaptation.

However, many believe the star of this film was the crucial role of Julie Christie - who is portraying a woman who is institutionalized with Alzheimer's Disease and ends up falling in love with another man in the hospital different from her husband. Although Christie's role is compelling, what made this story work is the accomplishments of long time Canadian icon actor - Gordon Pinsent.

I was disappointed to hear that Pinsent was looked over for any acknowledgement either from the Golden Globes or the Oscars similar to Christie. Pinsent's heartache throughout this film is well-established and you truly feel for his pain more than what you feel for Christie by the end of the movie.

The film and the acting helps depict what happens to real people when they get sick with this disease and what happens to the loving relationships when something like Alzheimer's strikes. In comparison to a recent movie that discusses the same subject matter - the overrated, The Notebook - this film is by far a better movie overall on all fronts - romance, acting, screenplay.

I would've liked to have seen Pinsent get his dues in Hollywood, but unfortunately, the voice of Babar will never get what he deserves.

Movie #57 - V for Vendetta

2008-07-21T15:02:00.000-04:00

"Remember, remember the 5th of November, the gun powder treason and plot. I know of no reason why the gun powder treason should ever be forgot."

Another film from the Wachowski brothers, thankfully, this time, they had a template from which to base the majority of the film on - a great comic book adaptation. They didn't screw this one up - unlike their attempts at the sequels to the Matrix.

Once again... Hugo Weaving is the star of the show. Not only was Weaving able to steal the thunder of Keanu Reeves in the Matrix trilogy, Weaving is a main cog in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as well. But here, Weaving achieves a great on-screen presence without ever showing his face - an accomplishment only worthy of James Earl Jones for example.

Weaving depicts V, a violent, dark, and sarcastic freedom fighter in a 1984-esque future in which freedom police and religion rule the city streets and society. In a planned casting, 1984's star, John Hurt, is cast as the villain of V for Vendetta, posing a credible adversary to Weaving's V.

The true bonus of this film though, is up and coming actress Natalie Portman. Not only is she beautiful to watch on-screen, but she ranks up there with some of the best actresses of her age group - let alone for her gender. Currently, I would rank her up there with Meryl Streep, Kate Winslet, and Cate Blanchett - not bad company if you ask me.

Portman represents an "everyman" character for this film - which is something that many readers of the V comic books establish for themselves. V represents anarchy against a system of oppression and Portman's character is one that bears personal witness to his glory in defying this system.

Wonderfully shot and creatively adapted to the big screen - I would hope that the Wachowski brothers leave this one alone after the film's conclusion and not decide to grab anymore $ - one can only forget Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions - I know that I am still trying!

Movie #56 - Awakenings

2008-07-21T14:48:00.000-04:00

"There is no such thing as a simple miracle."

One of my favourite films from the 90's era, this is definitely a great, feel good story about life and the perseverance of the human spirit.

Before I saw this film, I saw a documentary about Dr. Oliver Sacks on CBC Newsworld, portraying the doctor for which this film was based on. Sacks had worked on a number of encephalitis patients in the 1960's in a Bronx hospital, being able to "revive" them for a brief period of time using experimental medications.

The documentary was somewhat morbid, showing actual patients and their medical conditions / hardships... what better way to lighten up that story than make a fictional adaptation of Dr. Sacks' life - casting Robin Williams as Dr. Malcolm Sayer.

This film is a wonderfully shot movie by Penny Marshall with a beautiful score written by Randy Newman, which is prevalent throughout the scenes of the film. There are some strong cameos from Julie Kavner, John Heard, and Penelope Ann Miller. However, the real treat to this movie is the relationship built and established between Williams and Robert De Niro's character of Leonard.

De Niro and Williams work together on this movie like peanut butter and jelly. The contrasting styles of both acclaimed actors work well in this drama - as Williams really captures the shyness and awkwardness of the Sayer role. By the end of the film, you really feel for De Niro's character and the rest of the patients in this movie and you are genuinely touched by its message.

This movie also marks the transition that Williams makes into dramatic acting, something I wish he would continue to do. Not only has Williams been recognized for his role in Awakenings, but you can add Dead Poets' Society, Good Will Hunting, Jakob the Liar, Insomnia, What Dreams May Come, and One Hour Photo to his dramatic resume.

Unfortunately, similar to De Niro's recent works in the last 10-15 years, Williams resume is overshadowed by money grab films and box office flops such as Flubber, Jack, and RV. I hope that he begins to realize that a happy medium of drama and comedy can easily be established... we definitely need to see him in more time pieces or non-fictional movies - give us some more Patch Adams Robin, this is where you are at your best!

Movie #55 - Who Killed the Electric Car?

2008-07-21T14:33:00.000-04:00

"In 1996, electric cars began to appear on roads all over California. They were quiet and fast, produced no exhaust and ran without gasoline...........Ten years later, these cars were destroyed."

The wife and I caught this movie during TMN's Earth Week, in which they showed other films such as An Inconvenient Truth. This movie is a documentary of the rise and fall in popularity of the zero emission vehicles - specifically the GM / Saturn EV1.

What made this movie compelling is the fact that the EV1 not only represented a vehicle that produced zero emissions, but actually ran like a normal car. It utilized battery charge technology (fuel cell) and was inexpensive to produce. The only problem - supply and demand. There wasn't enough established demand to move the production of these cars further, there wasn't enough charging stations / infrastructure to make the car feasible, and there wasn't enough cars being produced.

Many EV1 owners were celebrities, to increase popularity and exposure of the vehicle. The likes included Tom Hanks, Mel Gibson, Ed Begley Jr., and Alexandra Paul. Unfortunately, not even the power of celebrities could stop the conspiracy that occurred which made these vehicles obsolete and unwanted in the automotive industry in less than 10 years.

Its sad to see that this technology actually works very well. Not only is the charging technology quite simple, the infrastructure is quite easy to establish. In addition, with the continuous development of battery technology these days, this car could've represented a move towards zero emissions within our lifetime.

Instead, hydrogen technology and hybrid cars became the "it" thing for the automotive industry. And although there was an outcry to keep these vehicles in production and operation, the EV1 was slowly made extinct by the very same industry which created it.

Normally, I don't enjoy the "thumping" that most celebrities get behind, but this is definitely one that deserves revisiting in the future. Global warming and the ramifications behind this event will continue to affect billions of people worldwide unless the global population makes some wholesale changes. Although North Americans are only beginning to see some of the signs of global warming, many regions around the world are being hit with devastating ferocity.

It is only a matter of time before we seek out alternatives to fossil fuel burning and resurrect ideas and concepts like the EV1 - only time will tell when we wake up and decide to do so!

Movie #54 - Witness

2008-07-21T11:51:00.000-04:00

"A big city cop who knows too much. His only evidence: a small boy who's seen too much..."

Probably one of the more underrated films in the resume of Harrison Ford, and possibly one of his better roles. Ford plays John Buck, a cop who is forced to protect a young omish boy and his family from his corrupt police colleagues.

Once again, its Ford against the world on this one... and yet, we always know he'll come out on top. Even against all odds, Harrison not only gets the girl, but captures all the criminals as well. The idealistic characters Ford portrays are consistent throughout his portfolio and this one is no exception.

A bonus in this film is the casting of Kelly McGillis, one of the hotter women of the mid-80's, the representation of attractive women of that era. This was before the days of botox or implants, women of the 80's were hot mainly because they were voluptuous or were strong willed. In this case, McGillis accomplishes both feats, despite the fact that she is cast as a shy, omish woman. However, seek out her roles in the Accused or Top Gun, and many men who grew up watching McGillis rank her high on the hottest women of the decade.

Its a breath of fresh air to see Danny Glover as a villain in this movie, something he reprised in a later role in Switchback (1997). Despite his type casting from his Lethal Weapon days, I actually believe Glover depicts a better villain than a protagonist. Although his role is limited in this film, you really believe that Ford is outmatched by Glover's abilities.

What made this film popular back in the day is the acting prowess of unknown child actor Lukas Haas as Samuel Lapp. For years afterwards, Haas was never fully cast to his potential - although his best role was in the television movie, the Ryan White story... one that is both touching and powerful due to the actual events that inspired his character. It would be a treat to watch this movie again in my lifetime as it was compelling back in 1989 and its definitely Haas' greatest role to date.

In the end... as with 99.9% of Ford's films - Ford gets his man... gets the girl... and is the hero. As a big fan of the Ford films, one cannot complain about this outcome. Astutely, my wife has pointed out that almost all of his films end this way... unfortunately, I have to admit - she's right!

Movie #53 - Andromeda Strain (TV)

2008-07-21T11:37:00.001-04:00

"It's a bad day to be a human."

Sounds like a tagline written for or by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Where else can you find Eric McCormack, Benjamin Bratt, and Ricky Schroder under the same headline - but as the cast for the remake of the Andromeda Strain. Graphics wise, this movie is far superior than the 1971 cult classic, however, overall, this movie falls short to capture what the first movie did - fear of the unknown.

Throughout this television remake, there are hints of government conspiracy riddled throughout the film. I haven't read the Crichton novel on this one, but I know that movie adaptations of films usually fall flat in comparison.

A positive note to this film was that it was filmed in Hollywood North - which was quite evident when you saw the U.S. Press Secretary cast as the "Dad" from one of the local Rogers Home Phone commercials. For us Canadian fans, its good to see that everyone in Canada can have a job in the U.S. government. Another obvious point was the West Jet private plane used to carry the scientists to the secret base facility.

The casting of Daniel Dae Kim gave this television movie instant credibility coming off his role as Jin from Lost. He does add to this movie, but there are too many detractors. Eric McCormack has yet to cast his type casting from Will and Grace and makes a poor troubled journalist in this film while Benjamin Bratt is not a believable doctor / lead scientist. I just cannot buy it!

In the end, the film was filled with too much government conspiracy and not enough science fiction... which I believe was still the intent of Crichton's literary version in the first place. However, this movie did not need to be a 2 part 4 hour blockbuster on A&E neither.

Movie #52 - The Wizard

2008-07-21T11:22:00.000-04:00

"They're on a cross-country adventure to the world's greatest video championship. It's more than a game...it's the chance of a lifetime."

Quite a lengthy tagline... really defeats the purpose of having one. However, it says exactly what happens in this movie, in a nutshell.

This movie represents the peak of popularity of the Nintendo Entertainment System or NES for short. In 1989, almost every household with a child / pre-teen / teenager had a NES system and about 15-20 games. 1989 also represented the point at which NES decided to expand its market share and release other gaming systems such as SNES and Gameboy.

However, 1989 also represented the launch of one of the most influential games of that era - Super Mario Bros. 3. What better way to do it then to cast Fred Savage in a crappy movie.

I was one of the lucky few back in 1989 to watch this film with my mother in theatres. Not only was I stoked as a movie fan to see Fred Savage on the big screen (at the time he was the star of the Wonder Years on the small screen), but this movie was about videogames - you cannot go wrong with that. I believe I was in awe at the number of games portrayed in this film and I do believe my parents bought the NES Power Glove which made a debut in this movie shortly afterwards - possibly for my birthday.

The games are the real bonus to this movie... as the acting and the plot twists are nothing to remember. I did laugh after seeing this movie after 19 years on television when I saw Christian Slater in the cast along with Beau Bridges. Both are highly recognized actors and I cannot see why they put themselves in this movie - if not to probably get first dibs on the pre-release of SMB3.

Super Mario Bros. 3 represents all that is good for NES and for videogames. It ranks up there in pivotal games of my generation. Everyone knows what a warp whistle is or a Tanooki suit, let alone a frog suit or a fire flower... all thanks to this game. Not to mention, the musical score, which is one of those songs that after hours of game play, becomes emblazoned in one's mind to repeat while you sleep. No game can match that level of influence and at the same time, no game could've provided more hours of fun during the time of its release.

So overall, the only things to enjoy here are the movie debut of SMB3 and a funny, uncredited cameo of Tobey MacGuire... see if you can find him - it was a challenge, but he's in this film somewhere.

Movie #51 - Above the Rim

2008-07-21T11:13:00.000-04:00

"The Hardest Part Of Winning Is Choosing Sides."

This movie showcases the acting talents of Tupac Shakur at a time when his rap career was at his peak. Not only does Shakur portray the role of the villain effectively, you can see how much potential this rap genius truly had.

For those of you that watched the movie Juice, you know that Tupac excels as the villain, despite coming off at the beginning as an ally. In both films, Shakur steals the scenes from the protagonist and by the end of each film, you really hate the character that he has depicted.

Overall, this movie has some highs and lows. The casting of Leon, Marlon Wayans, and Bernie Mac seem out of place - but I guess they didn't want to splurge on casting Samuel L. Jackson - especially as they didn't have a place to put him in this movie.

In the end, the best part of this movie are the cool basketball scenes combined with the soundtrack. You cannot go wrong with Nate Dogg and Warren G's rendition of "Regulate" on this soundtrack.

Its also a breath of fresh air to see a strong villain in a movie like this - which really drove the film to the end. As a fan, I would've liked to have seen Shakur establish himself as a villain in other roles, but he has definitely paved the way for other rappers wannabe actors to make the jump onto the small and big screens.

Movie #50 - Thir13en Ghosts

2008-07-08T16:00:00.002-04:00

"Terror has multiplied."

I must admit, a good friend of ours really got me going on thinking that this movie was one of the greatest horror movies of all time. Out of respect of my friend, I gave this film the benefit of the doubt and even spent 2 days trying to find it at a number of local Blockbuster locations. In retrospect, it still represents one of the best $2.49 I have ever spent... not because Thir13en Ghosts was in fact the best horror movie ever, but in actuality, it ranks as one of the worst horror movies ever. Its difficult to get a recommendation that missed so badly, but this one really missed...

Thir13en Ghosts is actually a remake of an older film (1960), which I had the opportunity to watch 50% of thanks to AMC during Halloween. Both are about a family down on its luck financially who inherit a haunted house from a long forgotten uncle. The concept is that this uncle just so happens to also be a ghost collector and that his house which he passed onto his nephew, contains 12 ghosts inside.

This is where the hyjinx begins. Not only are the 12 Ghosts attempting to kill the family once inside, but in both films, the 13th ghost is actually supposed to be one of the family members.

Sorry folks, I had to spoil it for you, but most of you reading this will probably not have the fortune / misfortune of watching either film in your lifetime... so I figured I would enhance your reading pleasure by dropping some plot hints.

As for the 2001 version, this film is cast with Tony Shaloub (Monk, Wings) and Matthew Lillard, with a useless casting of Shannon Elizabeth. I thought, with Elizabeth, we would at least see some T & A in this film, which could've salvaged it from the brink of bad horror movies, but instead, we only see dead prom queen nudity... something that you really cannot enjoy unless you are into that sort of thing.

The only saving grace is F. Murray Abraham... he's the villain of the film and I like his casting in any film, including this one. He ranks up there in underrated movie villains and he definitely went to the school of Donald Sutherland... he's very evil and he's slimy in this film and in his other roles. If you don't believe me, seek out Star Trek: Insurrection (1998), Amadeus (1984) and Scarface (1983). In all 3 films, not only does he steal the show in some cases, but his death scenes in 2 of the 3 films are movie magic.

As for Thir13en Ghosts, it has become sort of a little joke amongst some of my closer friends. If this blog entices you to see it, please don't think that you will get scared... I apologize in advance if you do... because you won't.

Movie #49 - X-Men 3: The Last Stand

2008-07-08T15:40:00.002-04:00

"Take a stand."

Alright... I will take a stand. I stand in protest to Marvel Productions from making anymore bad comic book movie adaptations. Stop it! I liked Spider-Man, but then you had to make that into a crappy franchise of poorly cast villains with bad acting to boot. You made everything under the sun in the Daredevil franchise - both movies we could've done without. You made 2 Hulk films now... and re-cast the actor portraying Bruce Banner / Hulk (Eric Bana first time around, now Ed Norton second time around). You seemed to have done well with Iron Man and that proves that casting does make perfect - Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man.

The list can go on. Your failed attempts at some other Marvel films such as Fantastic Four and Punisher are prime examples. Not to mention, you already did all of this in the early 1990's, back when everyone forgot about the original Punisher movie starring Dolph Lundgren (1989) or Captain America (1990), and Fantastic Four (1994). How many times are we going to hash out these poorly done films and bank on the success of teenagers and nerds like myself going to watch them in theatres or buy your DVD's.

Don't get me wrong, I used to collect comic books and my favourites have been Spider-Man, X-Men, and Batman (DC Universe). DC learned from their previous faux pas of the Batman sequels sans Tim Burton and finally did something right, re-vamping the prequels of the Batman storyline and casting those films with great performances and a killer script based on the Frank Miller Batman: Year One saga.

Back to X3, I like the casting of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, he actually resembles him quite nicely and you cannot go wrong with a blue Kelsey Grammar as Beast. Not to mention Rebecca Romijn in that murderous blue body suit as Mystique... someone was thinking there. In addition, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen as Professor X and Magneto are great ideas on the whole for the trilogy.

What was a bad decision is trying to cram as many X-Men into these 3 films as possible. The biggest fear with regards to the X-Men film adaptations is trying to develop full characters from the movies. Check out the Harry Potter franchise or even Lord of the Rings - this was accomplished, not only be strong scripts, but good casting and lengthy films.

X-Men has a number of core characters who should've been the focus of all 3 films - Wolverine, Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Rogue, Magneto, Iceman, and Professor X. We as fans do not mind the peripheral side characters and villains, but please develop these characters through the films and do not just put a whole bunch of action over 2 hours. Not to mention, you missed out on some cool villains such as Mr. Sinister, Master Mold / The Sentinels, and Apocalypse... all are which would've been easily accomplished with the right voice over actors cast and killer CGI technology.

Brian Singer had it right to attempt to create some films from the X-Men franchise, but I think he didn't map out the progression of the character storylines and didn't anticipate it having to abruptly end in X3. Like in the comic books of the last 15-20 years of plot, we get way too much of Wolverine and little of no one else... if that were to be true, then branch out with some Hugh Jackman Wolverine movies and re-write the Sabertooth foil character to enhance his background... Marvel - you did it with Elektra, now why don't you try it with Wolverine?

So this is my last stand... unfortunately, it is the X-Men's as well... and we shouldn't see another film with this band of heroes until another full generation of teens and tweens becomes old enough to forget about this trilogy - give it 12-14 years at most.

Movie #48 - 1408

2008-07-08T15:22:00.001-04:00

"The Dolphin Hotel invites you to stay in any of its stunning rooms. Except one."

In case you haven't guessed it, the room in question is 1408. Based on a Stephen King novel... isn't every good horror movie based on something written by someone with some credibility. Unfortunately, this is definitely not one of King's best movie adaptations. It ranks up there with Thinner.

John Cusack is a writer (of course) of Top 10 haunted locations. There are some additional key plot twists which is supposed to enlist sympathy for the protagonist... what the filmmakers didn't think of is having sympathy for the audience.

There are some weird twists to this movie... but I say weird in a bad reference kind of way... not in the good, 2001: A Space Odyssey type of weird.

Cusack's role is forgettable and unfortunately, he's starting to pick some poor roles for his acting expertise in recent years. I cannot think of anything good he has done recently, except for maybe Runaway Jury - which is already 5 years ago... going back further, you run into Being John Malkovich, which is now over 9 years old by my counts.

Samuel L. Jackson on the other hand... is working about par with what his skills allow. This movie is strictly another money grab for Jackson... something almost every role in his resume includes as a pre-requisite. Jackson does not add anything to the Gerald Olin hotel manager character, nor has he added anything to any of his other recent movies. If you want to look back - maybe Star Wars Episode I-III comes to mind (1999-2005 - mainly because his death scene from Episode III was pivotal to the character development of Darth Vader and he did have some cool fight scenes in the Episode II). But before that... possibly add A Time to Kill and Pulp Fiction, going back more than 12 and 14 years respectively.

I still question Jackson's validity of claiming to be the #1 actor of all-time in terms of gross movie revenues, usurping Harrison Ford in recent years. Many of Jackson's films are obscure at best and many of his roles (e.g. Star Wars) are supporting in nature. Also, although one can lay claim that Ford also has 3 Star Wars films to prop him up in this argument, at least Han Solo is included in the progression of all 3 films, yet Mace Windu is only prominent in pockets of II and III. I beg to question Jackson's self proclaimed movie dominance... hopefully, other actors will change that statement... but Jackson will continue to make crappy films, and you can probably rank many of his 2008 upcoming entries into that category.

Movie #47 - Rudy

2008-07-03T12:26:00.001-04:00

"When people say dreams don't come true, tell them about Rudy."

This movie ranks high amongst many men out there. Not only is it a film about football, Notre Dame, and has Sam Wise Gamgee in it... its a film about personal triumph and perseverance.

Sean Astin plays the role of Daniel E. "Rudy" Ruettiger in this movie... a biopic family film about one man's quest to play for the Notre Dame college football team. It follows all of Ruettiger's efforts from obtaining a college education, becoming a walk-on practice squad player, to winning the respect of both his coaches and his teammates.

Not to mention, the respect of one Charles S. Dutton. Dutton serves as his mentor both on and off the field, mainly due to regret that Dutton feels inside for not pursuing the dreams that Rudy hopes for himself.

Without ruining the film for those who have yet to watch it, there are some unimpressive cameos from strong movie personnel including a young Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn (cast as Vincent), and Patrick Warburton - David Puddy on TV's Seinfeld.

If you enjoy cheesy films - then please go ahead and watch this film. It is shown regularly on Family Channel and you are bound to appreciate the set design and underrated acting of Astin in this film. Beyond that... you really don't need to watch Rudy if you can avoid it - but many guys will rank this high on their personal movie lists.

Movie #46 - 300

2008-07-03T12:12:00.001-04:00

"Prepare for glory!"

Sounds like a Rickard's Red tagline doesn't it? Anyhow... one of the best films of 2006 and definitely full of action, suspense, drama, and of course, my favourite reason - Lena Headey.

This film represents the breakthrough role for Gerard Butler, who is making a name for himself as a strong leading actor. His portrayal of King Leonidas and his efforts to make himself look and sound like a true warrior are commendable, but I question some of his role choices in recent years... they're somewhat confusing. From 300 to Phantom of the Opera, Lara Croft, Beowulf, and the upcoming Untouchables film to P.S. I Love You. One has to ask Mr. Butler to please make up his mind... he's either setting himself up to be the next Russell Crowe or Mel Gibson or he can settle to be the next Hugh Grant.

What makes this film great is Lena Headey. Not only is she currently starring as one of the hottest renditions of Sarah Connor on television's Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles, but her achievement as the queen of Sparta is superb. You truly believe that she is in fact a royal queen as she commands respect, is powerful in her speech and candor, and her eyes say it all.

What makes me laugh in this film... both the casting of David Wenham (Dilios) and Dominic West (Theron). First with Wenham, we might remember him from his Faramir character of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but Wenham is a great story-teller in this film and serves as the narrator of this adaptation of the Frank Miller graphic novel. Wenham is over the top dramatic in his narration and his acting on screen, which strengthens the movie but also makes you laugh. With West, local Greater Toronto Area people might find a resemblance of Darcy Tucker in his make up, height, and appearance. I just couldn't get over the uncanny resemblance, which I found comical every time he stepped on screen.

Overall, this movie marks the universal acceptance of Frank Miller's stories and adaptations of film. It started with Sin City, but it will swiftly move forward with more films of his characters and his comic book creations. I have even heard that he is directing some films in the future... hopefully, he will break the stylistic methods he is using now and shoot a more traditional film. You can only take so much comic-esque screen shots.

Movie #45 - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

2008-07-03T11:35:00.001-04:00

"He's back in an all new adventure."

Not the most catchy tagline in movie history... but this is definitely one of those films that marked the start of the marketing scheme and product placement pushes of the late 80's, leading into the early 90's.

I remember when this film was released on Memorial Day in 1989, the commercials were rampant of a multitude of products that the character of Indiana Jones was trying to sell to its consumers. From soft drinks to candy bars, this was the beginning of what has now become common place in the movie industry.

Its not a surprise that it was enhanced by this film, considering it was made by two of the bigger movie "sellouts" - term used in the most complimentary tone - in movie history, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. If you compare how much these gentlemen have made from movie endorsements and product licensing, then you know what I am talking about.

The movie itself... I still believe is the best one of the whole lot. Not only are the whole cast of characters previously developed in this film, ranging from the villains to the side cast, but you add two actors / characters that strengthen the movie in the end. Sean Connery - cast as Indiana Jones' father Dr. Henry Jones and River Phoenix - cast to portray a young Indiana Jones. Both added depth to the Harrison Ford character and both allow Spielberg and Lucas to delve deeper into Jones' past.

I especially like the context of this film - the search for the Holy Grail. Its a great storyline and one that has been told in various adventure books and films - in a sense, the search for eternal life. The two collaborators get it right with this film and thus, should've represented the culmination of the Indiana Jones trilogy.

However, in the spring of 2008, the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls was released. Not only is Harrison Ford now 19 years older, but the appeal of the Indiana Jones franchise probably will not translate to success with this new generation of fans. Although the Indiana Jones franchise represents the advancement of the adventure movie - the CGI era has definitely taken away form many of the thrills one used to enjoy with plain old camera tricks and great set design. At least the villains changed for this one. I haven't seen the film myself, but I will definitely pick it up on rental just to ensure that I watched them all.

Movie #44 - Children of Men

2008-06-30T11:43:00.002-04:00

"No children. No future. No hope."

One of the best films that I saw from the 2006 class, this one is great from start to finish. Not only is the film well shot and well written, but the cast is wonderful.

The concept - no woman on Earth can have children anymore - or in other words, the human race is becoming extinct. There are some great scenes in this film (which I won't spoil for those who haven't watched it yet) and there are some strong commentaries on how our current society could potentially erode to what you see on screen here in just a few years.

Currently, the Earth is on a crash course to something like this - mainly caused by us. We are ravishing this world of our natural resources, our unique species, and our clean air and water supplies that eventually, a worldwide epidemic such as infertility could pose a major threat. Although quite extreme on the whole, this movie provides perspective of what would happen if the world was going to end - very slowly.

There are some heart-wrenching scenes here such as the battle scenes with the refugees / rebels and the deaths of some key characters throughout the film. The screenplay is adapted by Timothy Sexson and Alfonso Cuaron, both who were nominated for Oscars. The film was nominated for a Cinematography Oscar as well, but the film was shunned in 2006. I would've thought Clive Owen deserved acknowledgement for his role in this film, but I guess there were just some better performances out there in 2006 - I beg to differ.

Just on sheer concept alone, this movie is great. Once you commit yourself emotionally, you'll enjoy it even more because its dark, its dire, and it really hits you on the personal level. Especially if you are a parent or aspiring to be one - you'll know why. In the end, the movie provides a glimpse of a possible future if any of the pandemics imposing on society ever catch hold on the human race. I just hope that we can move away from this direction and save ourselves in the long run.

Movie #43 - Halloween (2007)

2008-06-30T09:28:00.001-04:00

"Evil has a destiny."

Being a massive fan of the original 1978 cult classic, I must admit, this movie did bring back a great deal of memories. The original 1978 film was in fact an independent film created by John Carpenter and starring the unknown phenom at the time - Jamie Lee Curtis.

I commend Rob Zombie in bringing this film back from the depths of VHS obscurity into the mainstream with his remake version. I liked the efforts made to make this movie his own, but I do love the fact that he retained a large portion of the original screenplay, score, and scenes to please both purists and new audience members alike.

I understand the appeal to bring this movie back - 1978 represents a whole generation of people, myself included (born in 1980) who grew up without CGI and grew up on epic films such as Star Wars. A large man walking slowly around a suburb in a mechanics outfit wearing a cheap William Shatner mask just isn't quite scary anymore for today's teenagers - the main demographic of the movie theatre audience.

The first full hour is a treat for us older viewers. The Zombie version goes into a strong background into Michael Myers' psyche and his development into the violent sociopath that he becomes. There are strong performances by Daeg Faerch as Michael Myers at age 10 and you become sympathetic with Deborah Myers (portrayed by Sheri Moon Zombie), as Faerch begins to tailspin into his madness and becomes obsessed with murder and evil.

Once that hour is completed, the movie returns to about 85% of the original screenplay. There are add-ons to the script such as the origin of Laurie Strode (Scout Taylor-Compton), a more in-depth character development of Dr. Samuel Loomis (Malcolm MacDowell), and some different death sequences. By that point, the movie became very predictable, which probably angered some movie-goers expecting to see a different film.

What are the takebacks? Getting to the know the Myers boy is perfect for the franchise fan. We really didn't know what set Michael off back in 1978, now we do. Faerch portrays a sick little boy to the tee and he does it convincingly... especially because his face can go from innocent and sweet to murderous and evil in a split second. The casting of Taylor-Compton was disappointing as the Strode character is supposed to represent the heroin in this film... something that Zombie did not accomplish with this actress. I was disappointed with MacDowell's portrayal of Loomis, but only because I am biased towards the late Donald Pleasence. If only he were still alive, I believe re-casting Pleasence in this role would achieve Zombie's goal to reinvigorate the franchise.

In my opinion, he accomplished as such. This is by far a strong attempt to bring back the Halloween franchise from obscurity - I just hope they stop at one remake this time around.

Movie #42 - Children of God: Lost and Found

2008-06-30T09:10:00.001-04:00

"A first-person account of growing up in an evangelical Christian cult."

There is not much to say here apart from watch this movie. Coming from a Catholic upbringing, there is a great deal of stuff that my religion has done in recent years to give the whole practice a bad name. However, with regards to Christian cults, like the one portrayed in this documentary, there are a lot of problems being expressed with this first-person account.

I commend Writer/Director Noah Thomson's efforts in trying to capture all sides to this story. The personal hardships and tragedies experienced by the real life people in this film make a strong commentary towards the negative effects of strong religious beliefs and what damage and pain these extreme beliefs do in fact cause.

This documentary provides an insight into what cult religions are like for young people growing up with these types of beliefs imposed on them at an early age. The documentary also delves into how Thomson and his brothers are attempting to cope with their own personal battles after leaving the religion to start their own lives as adults.

Movie #41 - Matrix Revolutions

2008-06-27T07:39:00.001-04:00

"Everything that has a beginning has an end."

Thank God! They really should've stopped with the first movie. One of the groundbreaking films of the era, The Matrix was a gem of a movie and many would have benefitted with the franchise stopping at one film.

However, when money is involved and a story needs to be told - you get your sequels. Don't get me wrong, many films have enjoyed better sequels than first films. This one... I tend to disagree. Not only were the other two films box office flops in comparison to the first movie... they didn't make much sense. And I am a big fan of science fiction / fantasy films and both were way out there... not because of plot, but strictly based on screenplay execution and lack of emotional presence on film created by Keanu Reeves (Neo).

There are some major bonuses in this film that I cannot complain about. Mainly the casting of Monica Bellucci as Persephone. Her role is more important in the second sequel, however, seeing her at any point in both films is a treat - especially leather clad no less. In addition, the Zion battle sequences were quite cool - specifically the giant mechancial soldier gunners were well designed.

In the end, Revolutions really took on an action movie feel to it, but really made no sense. The final battle sequence between Neo and Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) was very underwhelming and thus, the end of this franchise was welcomed. I do admit falling asleep in the drive-in back in the day when I watched Matrix Reloaded... unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky this time around with this one.