Movie #133 - I Know What You Did Last Summer

"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 #17 - Flags of Our Fathers

On paper, putting together the ensemble team of Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and Paul Haggis should result in a tremendous blockbuster. Overall, this movie does not disappoint.

Flags of Our Fathers follows the lives of six men who were involved in the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima, a pivotal battle won by the United States during WWII. What wasn't known at the time, is that the United States were virtually broke with the billions of dollars spent on WWII and the fact that many of its citizens grew weary of the whole campaign.

The movie follows three plot lines, which is quite common in Paul Haggis screenplays. It follows the lives of Ryan Phillippe (John "Doc" Bradley), Jesse Bradford (Rene Gagnon), and Adam Beach (Ira Hayes). All three men were involved in the raising of the famous flag, however, how this event affects these men is really a wonderful story to tell.

There are pockets of action sequences which are quite powerful and are inserted at strong points throughout the film. This provides the audience with the needed change of pace to maintain interest while at the same time, discuss the negative effects of the war on these three individual characters.

Brief cameos of war piece veteran actors such as Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) and Neil McDonough (Band of Brothers) show Spielberg's influence on the film. This enhanced the feel of the movie as both actors have been cast in various war pictures in the past and provide a strong representation for both the action sequences and the drama of the film.

Strong performances were achieved by both Phillippe and Beach. Both men were able to capture the characters being portrayed by the film. Since it was a true story being depicted in the plot lines, it must've been difficult to develop the characters any further. By the end of the film, you truly believed Phillippe and Beach were the men telling the story, which made the film powerful in the end.

I read somewhere that you needed to watch this movie first before watching Letters from Iwo Jima. This way, you could not only understand both perspectives of the story (United States and Japanese points of view), but could appreciate how important this battle was to both sides.

Having the trio of Haggis, Spielberg, and Eastwood work on these two films was a treat to the theatrical audience. Although from the box office perspective, both films didn't live up to expectations, as a fan of the collaboration, I am glad that these films achieved their goals - to tell the true stories from the heroes of this great battle of WWII history.

Reference: I originally published this article on Helium.com