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let me start off by saying that leading up to the release of the latest bond film , i really was n't looking forward to it as much as i have with some of the previous films . i 'm not sure if it was the fairly lackluster trailers or the ever - present dread that the next film will fall back into the miserable ways of the timothy dalton years . i 'm happy to report that any doubts were erased after about the first 10 minutes of the film . by that point , it was evident that mr . bond was back with a vengeance . all doubts would have probably been erased sooner except for the fact that the first ten minutes of the film were n't exactly a pleasant experience . it seems that nobody told the geniuses working at the theater that the house lights are supposed to be turned off when the movie starts . it took a reminder from an audience member to clue them in . i guess they can be excused though , taking tickets and cleaning up popcorn between shows is extremely taxing on the brain . anyway , after somebody remembered what the light switch was for , i settled in for bond . i think the most noticeable aspect of this , the 19th film in the series , is that it really goes back to the almost tongue in cheek style of the roger moore films . there were probably more one - liners in this movie than in the last several combined . and bond 's last one - liner in the film is about the best of the series . the world is not enough also contained perhaps the most action of any movie of the series . everything from wild boat chases to the usual assortment of cool bond gadgets trotted out just when there seems to be no way out for 007 . for the most part , the action sequences worked very well . although , there were a couple of times that i thought some things were a bit over the top , even for a bond film . i think some of the blame can be laid at the feet of director michael apted . while he did a good job for the most part , there were points in the movie , specifically during action sequences , that he seemed to loose site of the fact that he was making essentially an action film . most noticeably sequences on a snow covered mountain and one involving bond getting through a closing door looked like apted thought he was filming some sort of high brow art movie . he almost seemed like he did n't know what he was doing . but they were brief scenes and really should n't take away from the otherwise solid job that apted did in directing . if you have ever seen a bond film , you wo n't be shocked to learn that plot has never been their strong suit . the world is not enough is no exception . this time we have yet another over villain that bond has to stop for the good of the world . 007 matches wits with the terrorist renard ( robert carlyle ) , a man who has a bullet lodged in his brain that makes him impervious to pain . why this point is included is beyond me . they took great pains to explain his condition , but it only came up later in the movie as a scene that can only be described as looking like an afterthought . anyway , renard , like the typical terrorist that he is , is bent on some harebrained scheme involving a mid - east oil pipeline . i guess world domination just is n't as attractive to terrorists as a money making venture anymore . bond is brought in to protect the pipeline 's owner , elektra king ( sophie marceau ) , who is the daughter of one of renard 's recent victims . along the way , bond has to enlist the help of a nuclear scientist , dr . christmas jones ( denise richards ) , and his old rival valentin zukovsky ( robert carlyle ) . like all bond films , you basically just have to suspend disbelief over the plot , since it is ridiculous beyond words . my biggest complaint would be that it was about the most disjointed of any of the bond films . there was at least one point that i had to stop and try to remember why bond was where he was and why he was doing what he was doing . the buddy that i saw the movie with was completely confused over an earlier kidnapping of marceau 's character . it was alluded to earlier in the movie briefly -- although not included in the film . later , it became a big part of the story and left him with the distinct feeling that he had missed something . but because it is a bond film , the beautiful women and nifty gadgets seem to make you forget about script problems quite quickly . after all , it is n't shakespeare . how about the cast ? brosnan seems to get better with each of his appearances as 007 . i grew up with the roger moore version of bond , so i really enjoyed the lighter style that brosnan brings to the character . judi dench , as m , had a bigger role in this film than in her two previous appearances in the role . she brought the talent with her that one would expect from an oscar winner . robbie coltrane was easily one of the best parts in goldeneye , so it was nice to see his russian mobster character revived in this movie . coltrane gets more screen time , which simply leads to him stealing even more scenes . then there are the bond girls . sophie marceau might be one of the most beautiful actresses working today . there is just something about her breathtaking eyes that makes her a natural to play the innocent victim . those that saw her in braveheart know she is more than just a pretty face . marceau may be the most talented actress to ever play a bond love interest . then we have denise richards . there was no doubt in my mind that she was cast exclusively for her looks . and after you see the outfits she wears , you wo n't have any trouble guessing what part of her anatomy caught the producer 's eyes . i was pleasantly surprised to find that she really did a good job playing a nuclear scientist . admittedly , there was one point that the audience snickered a bit at one of her technical lines of dialogue , but other than that she stacks up ( no pun intended ) to her bond girl predecessors nicely . i must say that the biggest disappointment was robert carlyle 's character . while carlyle did a fine job with the material that he had , his character just never worked for me . the producers tried very hard to add more complexity to his character , but it just never quite got off the ground . i guess i was hoping for a bit more regarding the whole impervious to pain aspect of his character , but the writers decided to play up the emotional side of his character . this might have worked well in another movie , but i do n't go to see bond movies for their deep characterizations . last , but not least , we have desmond llewelyn as q . this is the 17th appearance for llewelyn as bond 's gadget guy , and he is as good as ever . although his screen time has grown far more limited in the past few films , he is still a treat to watch . rumors abound that this may be his last appearance in the role . he says future appearances are up to a higher power . the producers have introduced his protege and future replacement , a bumbling and somewhat pompous character played by comedy master john cleese . while we do n't see much of him in this film , i think it is fair to say that desmond llewelyn 's legacy , whenever it is passed on , will be in very capable hands . so how does it stack up ? despite some problems , the world is not enough is a very entertaining movie . and , all things considered , what problems it does have are small compared to some that have plagued earlier bond movies . this is easily the best of the brosnan films . it may even be the best of the entire series , certainly in the top 3 . one thing is for sure , even after 19 movies , there is still plenty of life left in the james bond series . here 's looking forward to bond number 20 .

1POS

seen september 5 , 1998 at 10 p . m . at the sony nickelodeon theaters ( boston , ma ) , theater # 2 , with matt perreault for free using my sony / loews critic 's pass . [ theater rating : * * 1/2 : okay seats , sound , and picture ] modern society is now inundated with more sex and sexuality than it ever has been before , from teenage sitcoms to nc-17-rated films about fetishes . the biggest debate of the subject is whether or not it affects reality or just reflects it . " your friends and neighbors " takes a different approach as it 's a film that revolves almost entirely around sex and how can be used for both pain and pleasure even within a small circle of friends . one of the most important aspects of the film that most be noted and analyzed before the film can really be dissected as a whole is writer / director neil labute 's basic setup and some of the unique methods he employs to tell the story . firstly , and most importantly is the fact the script tells a rather complex , detailed story of lust , betrayal , arrogance , hypocrisy , greed , and just plain stupidity between six different characters ( three men , three women ) , without hardly any supporting characters , ( a few have a line or two ) , mostly extras . everything they do will somehow affect another character and ultimately come full - circle back to themselves , whether it be positive or negative . but to just state this is arbitrary , and explaining and criticizing the process is difficult . labute 's ability to tell his story through a few characters is a remarkable feat , but what 's specifically impressive is the fact the characters ' names are never revealed until the end credits roll . for the sake of this review , i will describe the characters and refer to them as their main characteristic . another interesting accomplishment is the fact every scene takes place inside with limited focus . we 're always able to tell where the characters are ( someone 's home , the gym , a restaurant , hotel room , etc . ) , but what the city they live in , what year it is , what the society is like , etc . is relatively unknown . the film is a complete character study with the tight , intense drama of the theater . no one plot dominates the story , which makes the first act a bit tedious for its lack of background . we 're simply dropped in on the characters ' lives and are expected to figure out the rest . the characters are a group of middle - class white people who are all successful at what they do , but they 're only concern right now seems to be their sex lives . first there 's barry ( eckhart ) and mary ( brenneman ) , a married couple who are going through a dry spell not unlike many other couples in other situations who do n't know what they 're problem is . barry is kind of a dorky businessman who loves his wife , and the sex they have , but does n't have a lot of ambition - he just follows everyone else . mary is a writer of some sort , but lacks aggression and emotion like her husband and is the meekness character , but ironically , does n't hesitate to commit adultery just to feel something . labute 's script does a good job in characterizing mary and barry as individuals , but is very light on chemistry and connection between the two . obviously , this is the theme , which is enhanced by the actors ' good performances , but at the same time seems just a bit hollow . another couple is jerry ( stiller ) and terri ( keener ) who live together and seem to have been involved with each other for a long time , yet they constantly argue over anything and everything . their sex life is also fraught with problems and for some reason they continue to do it throughout their infidelitous relationship . if only one aspect of the film could use improvement , it would be this area . it 's natural for a married couple to become bored with each other , but why would two people who can barely stand each other continue to have sex and live together ? what did they ever see in the other person to begin with ? labute never really answers , but since the film is more concerned with the payoff than the process , it still makes for good drama , tension , and manip ulation so intricate and deceitful it 's fascinating . two other characters act as catalysts , cary ( jason patric ) and cheri ( natassja kinski ) . cary is an arrogant , hostile sex - maniac who defines the word " bastard . " somehow he is able to bend women to his will , either through charm or just attitude , into getting his way . he 's the kind of guy everyone should stay away from as we realize he 's secretly perverted , but somehow barry finds comfort in his company , although jerry is always nervous around him . patric gives an outstanding performance , so much so that we want to know more about him despite how intimidating and unlikable he is . cheri is a character labute uses as a catalyst to see how the other characters react to her . she works in an art museum and at some point throughout the film , each character will engage her in almost the exact same conversation and her reaction is always different , from becoming involved in a relationship with one , to brushing it off as small talk with another , to being outright appalled by yet another . she 's a sweet woman , perhaps the most normal of any of the characters , and although her symbolism is obvious , her role as the outsider is the most relatable . i will not reveal who cheats on who and how each character is specifically affected by the others ' action , as that 's the hook of the film . the first two acts begin to set up the characters and each 's scenarios , but it 's often difficult to tell what they will do about it and with whom . the result is sometimes surprising , other times predictable , but the actual course of actions is always fascinating . for a while everyone has their fun , but ultimately each character 's guilt , attitude , or ignorance will disserve them . one of the most important things to note is how realistic the story is supposed to be . since the characters only interact with each other there is n't much pop culture references , as almost everything has a deeper philosophy behind it . are we to assume that these people are , as the title states , our friends and neighbors ? i do n't know of anyone going through the same situations as these people . often times the film is not unlike a network melodrama , other times situations are like those not seen outside a porno movie . but what this film does have that the others do n't is repercussions in the end . although the film creates its own reality , it goes to show that even the immoral are n't immortal . in what way " your friends and neighbors " is supposed to work is open to interpretation . it definitely has a lot to say about the price that comes with infidelity , but it could have been even better had it expanded on that theme more specifically . still , it 's an accomplishment in film - making because it has put a timeless theme into a modern perspective .

1POS

the characters in " palmetto " collectively sweat enough to fill lake erie , and it 's just the right way to capture the film 's ripe atmosphere of sensuality , tension and even farce . this humid florida - set thriller nurtures a modestly absurd edginess that often winks at itself , which is very much a good thing since the actors and director are in on the joke . as far as set - up is concerned , the movie is nothing we have n't seen before , but be patient -- " palmetto " spins some pretty wicked story twists that we really do n't see coming . it 's not a classic by any means , but it sure is quite an engaging surprise . harry barber ( woody harrelson ) is fresh out of prison , where he 's served a couple of years for a crime he did n't commit . even though he harbors animosity towards the obtuse local officials , harry 's first order of business is to return to his home town of palmetto to be with his sculptor girlfriend nina ( gina gershon ) . while searching for work , he catches the eye of rhea malroux ( elisabeth shue ) , the mysterious sexbomb wife of a palmetto millionaire . rhea proposes a scheme that 'll get harry $ 50 , 000 easy -- to play a small part in the staged kidnaping of her jailbait stepdaughter odette ( chloe sevigny ) . " you do like risks , do n't you , mr . barber ? " rhea alluringly coos . boys , form a line behind me . part of " palmetto " 's success can be attributed to the performance of elisabeth shue , who demonstrates here that her oscar - nominated turn in " leaving las vegas " might merely be foreshadowing great things to come . shue 's a seductive , campy delight , and pulls off a barbara stanwyck - gloria swanson combo with admirable relish . the other actors form a solid ensemble around her , including sevigny ( " kids " ) , tantalizingly slutty as a teen tease , as well as the ever - likeable gershon , cast a far cry from her extreme roles in " bound " and " showgirls . " harrelson is still doing fine follow - up work to " the people vs . larry flynt . " " palmetto " does have its share of grievances . harrelson 's narration is needless , i suppose , and gershon 's nina cries to be meatier than she ultimately is . one of the plot 's unexpected angles -- that harry is asked by the police to become the press liaison for the very crime in which he 's involved -- could have been played a little better . there are moments when you question the tone , but it 's never so unstable that it deserves the reproach it 's been receiving from most other critics . if " palmetto " did n't want to be laughed at , would it really have tacked on a climax that plays like a live - action " who framed roger rabbit " ? although a few elements can be questioned , the movie works well on its own terms . thanks to a juicy cast -- especially shue -- and the nifty material approach from director volker schlondorff ( you remember him from last summer 's suddenly re - popular " the tin drum , " right ? ) , everything runs smoothly . and for fans of revelation - heavy endings , this film 's got a few shocks in store that i wo n't even dream of revealing . " palmetto " is a generous amount of fun to watch , and that 's all you need to know .

1POS

" you 've got mail " is the very definition of a " cute " movie . it 's got cute stars , a cute story - line , and even cute pets . despite this over - whelming cuteness ( or maybe because of it ) , i loved " you 've got mail " . i know , i know . i 'm supposed to be a film critic . i 'm not supposed to love transparent and formula pictures like this . but darn it , somewhere along the way , " you 've got mail " reeled me in , hook , line , and sinker . the movie stars tom hanks and meg ryan as two somewhat unhappy new yorkers who meet in an aol online chat room and quickly become close friends , without ever knowing each others identity . as the movie progresses , though , they begin to discover that they have a lot in common with each other . meanwhile , in " real - life " , they are bitter competitors . she owns a quaint little children 's bookstore , he owns one of those gigantic super - bookstores that offer impersonal service and discount prices . while his store threatens to run her store out of business , their online relationship grows stronger . " you 've got mail " is as artificial as movies come . everything is nice and happy and by the end , all the characters have gotten exactly what they wanted out of life . there are no real conflicts , no major disappointments , no unresolved issues . nevertheless , i quite enjoyed it . in fact , i ca n't remember the last time i had such a good time at the movies . i think sometimes you have to be able to watch a movie and just get drawn into it . the fact that stars hank and ryan are at the top of their game does not hurt either . in particular , hanks is at his best here , turning his " charm - meter " up to 11 . everytime he was on screen , he had my full attention . and despite the fact that he was driving little bookstores out of business , i was rooting for him . it was good to see hanks back doing what he does best : playing the affable everyman . " you 've got mail " certainly wo n't be winning any awards , but as an exercise in pure entertainment , it 's as good as it gets .

1POS

with the sudden liberal emergence of personal privacy abounding in the news lately , what with that whole clinton thing going on ( you know , 100 million bucks to discover the president got boinked by an intern - oh , please , government , waste my taxes just a bit more , would you ? ) , it 's about time tony scott helmed the newest action pic disguised as an important if not slightly ignorant social statement . with this and " crimson tide , " he 's created two successfully chilly films that are interesting , exciting , even pretty smart , but never totally riveting as cinema , and the problem i think with each of these films is that each film is too obsessed with its message to ever be really satisfying , and too obsessed with looking all cutting edge to ever be totally smart . that film dealt with a civil war inside a nuclear submarine over whether or not to follow rules or question them , and was appropriately scary and all , but never totally thrilling or overly brilliant . " enemy of the state " is the same way : it 's engrossing for its entire running time , and it 's scary the way that it shows a man 's decent into kafkaism , but it 's too technical . it 's too cold and not as fascinating or exciting as it could be . it casts will smith , one of the better big budget leading men in movies these days because he 's charming and witty and never uninteresting , and hopes that his charisma can make up for his character not being well developed enough to really be a person . i hate to do this , but last year 's film " the game " got it damn perfect : it casts michael douglas as a deeply flawed human being , a man who is cold and has cut off everyone from his life , and then pulls everything he thought he had as a security blanket away from him and watched what happened . the result was not only a film that was exciting and chilling , but also the best mindfuck of the entire year . not that i want every kafkaesque film to be " the game " ( this year 's " the spanish prisoner " succeeds with less thrills and chills ) , but it should be an example of what works and what does n't . will smith 's character is , frankly , too perfect , at least too movie perfect . he had an affair with another woman ( lisa bonet , ha ha ) , but his relationship with his wife ( regina king ) is basically fine regardless . he has a kid , and he 's raking in money as a lawyer , albeit a very good and reasonably moral one . so he generally does n't have any real problems as a human being , and is therefore boring . . . except that he is played by will smith , who embodies him with about as much will smith charm as he can without entering " id4 " / " men in black " territory . he 's a good dramatic actor ( just see the first half hour of " six degrees of separation " for proof of this , not that he is n't great the whole time ) , and here , he makes his character likable and sympathetic without any real strain on his character , which makes the film lack any real deep interesting qualities . smith becomes involved in a mass conspiracy involving the assasination of a senator opposed to a government law that would create world surveillance , extinguishing privacy as we know it from the world , under the pretense that it would make crime easier to control , when he is passed a disk of the event caught on tape by an outside party ( a nature observer played by , uh , jason lee ) . the government wants the disk , and is prepared to destroy his life to get it . as smith 's plight is dramatized , we are introduced to the masterminds who surveillance him , sitting in vans disguised as other businesses , staring at computers and pulling out tricks faster than a speeding bullet . these guys ( played by jack black , jamie kennedy , and seth green ) are the most interesting part of this film because they 're , well , fascinating : they 're doing their jobs , which are evil , but the film does n't view them as such , and they almost become our friends . we like these guys for the sole reason that the film does n't automatically judge them as the villains . they 're also scary because we get the idea that they 're not fully aware of the impact their jobs have on the world . it 's as if they 're obsessed with their jobs , not because they 're evil , but because , hey , it 's a fun job , and no one else can do it like them . unfortunately , this also backfires a bit on the film : instead of being the flashlight in the darkened room that " the game " was , you see everything , and are thus not as freaked out because you know what is going on . sure , you 're chilled , but you 're not exacty freaked out by what 's going on . but what do you expect from tony scott , the man who never met a five - second piece of film he ever liked . he 's a not - bad director because , hell , he is always interesting to watch ( if not occasionally moronic - exhibit a : " days of thunder " ) , but the reason he 's not great is because he 's too technical and calculated . his shots are perfectly executed , and leave nothing to the imagination , and they 're always making sure you 're paying attention . this is incredibly annoying , and it reduces " enemy of the state " to a mechanical mishmash of flashy images that never expand the mind at any great depths , but still manage to entertain without any real problems . despite never actually becoming great , it 's never actually boring and it 's always intriguing . watching the government set - up smith is endlessly fascinating , and since we care about smith 's likeable protagonist , we are set - up for a good two hours worth of tom clancy - esque entertainment . add the best big cast this side of the annual woody allen film ( everyone from gabriel byrne to dan butler pop up for cameos ) , and you 've got a good old fashioned escapist drama which does all the thinking for you so that you never have to actually question the debate over personal privacy and so you can follow will smith 's plight without a minute 's worth of boredom .

1POS

mary norton 's children 's book series , the borrowers , has been made into several below - average television movies . so , i was n't too enthused as i entered the theater for the big - screen debut of the minute clan . but i was in for a shock , the borrowers is actually a thoroughly delightful movie with plenty of good laughs and even some decent special effects . the lender family is being thrown out of their longtime home . their aunt , who owned the property , never left a will . now , an unscrupulous lawyer , ocious potter ( john goodman ) plans to demolish the house and replace it with an ultra - modern housing development . but the lenders are not alone in their house . living under the floorboards is a family of borrowers , 4 inch tall people who make their living as scavengers from the human " beans " above . the clock family of borrowers is as distressed as the lenders , especially once they discover the evil potter actually has a copy of the will which leaves the home to the lenders . so it is up to the clocks ( pod ( jim broadbent ) and homily ( celia imrie ) , along with their kids , arrietty ( flora newbigin ) and peagreen ( tom felton ) ) to recover the will and save the household . but when potter learns of the tiny people , he enlists the skills of exterminator jeff ( mark williams ) to kill off the clan . there 's plenty of attention to detail in the borrowers , especially in the furnishings of the clock family house , made out of lost board game parts and credit cards . the background details are nearly as rich as the entertaining story . the various predicaments of the clock family are clever and thrilling . based on an original story , the screenwriters did a good job at imagining all the potential and unusual perils that could exist for a 4-inch tall person . as the villain , john goodman 's performance veers on the edge of being over - the - top . but his performance suits the role well , and he does very well in the film 's many slapstick moments . with a nearly seamless mix of oversized sets , bluescreen shots and cgi , the special effects in the borrowers are very well done . there are a few times when you can spot the effects at work , but none of them are so jarring that you lose the suspension of disbelief . hopefully the borrowers will surpass the curse of being labeled a children - only movie , for it is surprisingly entertaining and fun to watch .

1POS

touchstone pictures and spyglass entertainment presents a birnbaum / barber production in association with a jackie chan films limited production jackie chan owen wilson " shanghai noon " lucy liu music by randy edelman co producers ned dowd jules daly executive producer jackie chan willie chan and solon so produced by roger birnbaum gary barber and jonathan glickman written by alfred gough & miles millar directed by tom dey rated pg-13 for mild language , adult situations , drug use , martial art action and violence . 107 minutes . super 35 mm / panavision ( 2 . 35 : 1 ) what can you say about jackie chan that has n't already been said . since the release of ' rumble in the bronx " back in 1996 ( the u . s . release ) , jackie has become a fairly recognizable commodity on america 's video shelves . having made over 80 films , jackie has finally succeeded in bringing his style of action - comedy to the west . his latest release , " shanghai noon " , is a joyful tribute / spoof of the classic western . and by adding jackie chan into the genre , the tag line for the film ( " the western gets a kick in the pants " ) rings true . jackie stars as chon wang , a lesser imperial guard in the forbidden city of china . the royal princess pei pei ( lucy liu ) is set to be married to the obnoxious son of a nobleman from another prefecture . unwilling to follow her father 's wishes , princess pei pei with the assistance of her english tutor , decides to escape to america . but this is all a ploy devised by exiled guard lo fong , which will lead to the princess ' kidnapping and ransom . unable to take any legal action , the ransom demands are met and three of the forbidden city 's bravest guards ( played by cui ya hi , rong guang yu , and eric chen ) are ordered to transport the ransom payment to lo fong in carson city , nevada . chon wang pleads with the imperial court and is given permission to join the team , as he is looked upon as a buffoon . on a train in the u . s . jackie meets up with bandit roy o'bannon ( owen wilson ) . he is much less of a bandit than he is a glory hog , looking simple for the notoriety and fame that being a bandit will bring him . with his gang in tow , roy attempts to rob the train , when one of his gang murders the chinese interpreter of the royal court , who also happens to be chon wang 's uncle . chon wang gives chase , foiling the attempted robbery , but also leaving himself stranded in the desert . as the disgraced guard wanders through the desert , he again comes upon roy , who has been left for dead by his former gang . buried up to his neck in the desert , roy pleads with chon to dig him out . chon demands to know where carson city is . roy directs him , and chon leaves . but not before sticking two chopsticks into roy 's mouth and telling him to dig himself . chon soon finds himself confronted by angry crow warriors , a friendly sioux tribe , gunslingers , a horse that thinks and behaves like a dog and an indian bride ( brandon merrill ) , before once again running into roy . " shanghai noon " is just good fun . the chemistry between the cast is remarkable . the performances are all acceptable within the whimsical levels of the film . jackie 's performance is as good as anything he 's done before . he 's not called on to do much acting here , as the character is not written with any depth . but jackie 's natural charisma shines through , and his comic timing is so perfect , both physically and ( surprise ) verbally that once again he commands the screen whenever he is on . owen wilson , last seen in the embarrassing remake of " the haunting " , gives a good natured performance as roy o'bannon . his innocence is refreshing and fun . a bad guy that 's not really bad . his scenes with jackie are some of the best bits of comic dueling since martin and lewis . lucy liu as princess pei pei is given little to do in the script , but for a change does not play a nymphet or some other deviant . the character is a noble woman of status and wealth , but finds a greater cause as a result of her own imprisonment . the rest of the performances are all broadly drawn comic performances . nothing here is realistic , mind you . " shanghai noon " is first and foremost a light , jovial film . and the performances match that style with ease . the cinematography by dan mindel is gorgeous . using calgary , alberta as the prime location . mr . mindel is able to create a lush , romantic western feel to the film . nothing here really looks like nevada , but the locations are so beautifully shot and staged , the film can be looked upon as a loving tribute to earlier films of the genre . and as such , the script by alfred gough and miles millar plays fast and loose with history , but with reverence to past films . homage to such films as " high noon " ( obviously ) , " red river " and most notably " butch cassidy & the sundance kid " all bring a sense of nostalgia to the film . it is a comforting experience . at a time when the western is considered either old hat or irrelevant , here is a film that embraces those old attitudes and ( dare i say ) clich ? s and manages to make them palatable and refreshing . here is a film that is not contemptuous of the genre . this is the purest " horse opera " since the days of george o'brian or john wayne . director tom dey has crafted a loving tribute to hollywood 's past . in this , his first film mr . dey shows both a love of character and of craftsmanship that is refreshing to see . nothing here really stands out , or takes one 's attention away from the story or action . and that is as it should be , when jackie chan is your star . and what of the action and stunts . well , while not up to a level of " drunken master 2 " or any of jackie 's hong kong films , " shanghai noon " is miles ahead of anything jackie has done in an american film before . his timing , choreography , and creativity are still as sharp as ever . jackie even gets to recreate a few scenes from his earlier films ( obvious to those of us that have seen those films , but refreshingly fun for those unfamiliar ) . finally jackie can honestly say , that he has made an u . s . , his way and incorporating his style . to sum up , " shanghai noon " is a fun summer confection . not too heavy and not too light . a fun and entertaining film that the whole family can enjoy ( parents be advised there are scenes of smoking , drunkenness and peyote use ) . an enjoyable and charming film that can and will be enjoyed again and again .

1POS

the reunion film is not an original idea in any way , shape , or form . it 's been done throughout film history over and over again , and has become one of the many sub - genres , like the prep school sub - genre , the angst - filled teen sub - genre , and the slasher sub - genre . what makes " peter 's friends " so remarkable is not how it does n't follow the rules of this sub - genre , but how it follows it so well , and creates characters that i would n't mind hanging with . what are the rules of the reunion sub - genre ? well . . . . 1 . you need a group of friends , most of them married or at least dating , and sometimes even married or dating eachother . 2 . you need to have them brought back together over some sort of a crisis . 3 . they are not to have spoken together much since they split apart . 4 . the reunion has to come in intervals divisible by 10 . 5 . they all have to be slightly to highly neurotic . 6 . the reunion has to bring them together , seperate them with little crises , then bring them back together because , after all , they 're friends . 7 . there has to be some sex or at least some making out either between the friends or with other people that are there or were invited . 8 . eightly , they 're all unhappy or marginally so . 9 . there 's some sort of sexual tension amongst some of them that 's built up over the years . 10 . the friends are all wildly successful in the world of entertainment and the arts , sometimes internationally so . 11 . the film is filled with nostalgic radio hits from the time when they were friends , sometimes causing them to get together in dance / song . since it follows these rules so closely , it will probably be ( and has been ) coined off as just a " british ' big chill . ' " and in some ways it is . both follow the rules , as i said , and both feature lots of bitching , big confessionals , and broken relationships . but while " the big chill " was , at least to me , a tad too whiny and unsatisfying , " peter 's friends " hits its mark , making this film funny , dramatic , and poignant . the friends of peter 's were all in the same theatre group back in ' 82 , performig wildly outrageous british acts for people far too stuck up to enjoy them ( the opening scene has them all dancing in tux tops and tutus ) . after peter 's ( stephen fry ) wealthy father ( richard briers , hardly on screen enough to register , but oh well ) dies , leaving a giant mansion to him , he has to decide whether or not to keep it . not sure what to do with it immeadiately , he decides to throw a giant reunion party , inviting back all his old chums . of course , all or most of his chums follow the tenth rule . andrew ( kenneth branagh , also directing here ) is an actor who 's unhappily married to a tv star , carol ( co - writer rita rudner ) . maggie ( emma thompson ) is a successfuly publisher of self - help books , but looks like she needs them more than her customers , as she is lonely and unhappy . roger and mary ( hugh laurie and imelda staunton , who were also married in " sense and sensibility " ) are married , and are the most successful creators of jingles in the uk , but have suffered a tragedy as one of their newly born twins has recently died . and sarah ( alphonsia emmanuel ) is as promiscuous as ever , having a new boyfriend as of two weeks named brian ( tony slattery ) who 's married and wants a divorce because of her , giving her doubts . as for peter , things seem okay . . . the film features lots of inner - friend jokes , and even some old theatre anecdotes ( which i at least find a lot of fun in , as i 've done lots of theatre myself ) . and there are big confessions , brawls between the friends , and by the end , almost everyone is unhappy , even though some have resolved their problems long before the end ( which i kinda dug ) . the final twist would seem forced an anti - climactic , but for some reason , i felt the same way the rest of the friends did . maybe it 's because the people in this film are so likable that i just wanted to join their clique . that 's really what makes " peter 's friends " so lovable : the way you just want to hang with a group of friends who can be so dysfuntional sometimes , but when someone 's in crisis , can come together wonderfully for one another . it 's when you have a giant crisis like this and people want to selflessly help you out instead of subtely pushing you away that makes you realize you have true friends , and these people are true friends . not to mention kenneth branagh is able to make the film seem nostalgic for the 80s ( a decade i grew up in , unfortunately ) without taking us outside of the 90s . there are some 80s classics and anti - classics like tears for fears " everybody wants to rule the world , " but unfortunately no stupid / fun 80s songs ( i think if i ever did an 80s reunion film , i 'd put some crap go gos song on , or at least some good old " come on eileen " ) , but this is the british 80s we 're talking about . oh well . but anyway , the direction is pretty good , although nothing amazing . branagh 's forte is really making shakespeare fresh and magical , but at least he 's very good with making a less ambiguous film like this . the writing is good from rita rudner and martin bregman , with lots of good one - liners , and even some really bad but good puns ( to mock the fact that andrew lives in l . a . , peter , while cutting some logs , asks him is he has wood in l . a . , and andrew says , " no , but we have hollywood " - punishment like that ) . the actors , as in most speaking movies , are better than their material , though , with some stand - out performances to the six friends , as well as the outsiders like slattery , rudner , and phyllida law as the old housekeeper of the peter 's mansion . a little note should be made about hugh laurie 's performance , as he looks like he took some massive doses of prozac before doing this - i mean , i 've never seen him actually act this dramatically . " peter 's friends " is a really enjoyable film which makes people like me pine for some sort of future reunion , although i do n't know what kind i 'll have ( like most people , i do n't look forward to my high school reunion ) . because of the way these friends are still able to maintain the same amount of care they have for one another and after such a long period of seperation , i just look forward to the day when i can have friends like that .

1POS

once upon a time a solitary ogre named shrek ( mike myers ) was really annoyed to discover that his swamp had been invaded by three blind mice , seven dwarves and all the other fairy tale characters in the land , banished from their home by lord farquaad ( john lithgow ) . unwittingly befriended by a non - stop talking donkey ( eddie murphy ) , shrek travels to dulloc to speak with farquaad , where he stumbles into a joust and comes up the winner . his prize ? to save princess fiona ( cameron diaz ) from a tower surrounded by molten flame and protected by a dragon so she can become farquaad 's bride . the ogre agrees to the task in return for getting his solitary lifestyle back in " shrek . " it took four writers ( ted elliott and terry rossio ( " the road to el dorado " ) , roger s . h . schulman ( " balto " ) and joe stillman ( " beavis and butthead do america " ) ) to adapt william steig 's children 's book . the bad news ? they 've genericized an already simple plotline while heavily under the influence of william goldman 's " the princess bride . " the good news ? there 's so much wacky humor culled from both fairy tales and popular culture that this movie should keep you in stitches . we get our first inkling that we 're in for a real treat as one of farquaad 's men , intent on rounding up magical creatures offers ' five schillings for the possessed boy ! ' after observing dreamworks ' rendition of disney 's animated pinocchio . meanwhile within the castle walls , a gingerbread man being tortured by farquaad spits icing and yells ' eat me ! ' before breaking down and solemnly asking ' do you know the muffin man ? ' shrek , a green giant with bobbly antennae - like ears , is a grumpy recluse who really yearns to fit in ( although who could put up with his habit of making candles from his own ear wax ? ) . donkey is a hyperactive , endearingly stunted creature who can talk and , therefore , believes will make a great misfit pairing with the uncooperative shrek . donkey proves his worth sweet talking the princess - guarding dragon . the princess proves to be more than a shade offbeat after learning she 's not getting the fairy tale issue rescue she 's been expecting . when fiona 's true colors are exposed ( including opportunies for some tomboyish gross out humor ) , a spark develops between her and shrek . the script 's details are gleefully impish , constantly poking fun at disney from the theme park world of farquaad 's dulloc with its turnstyle entrance and ' it 's a small world ' parody of an information booth to the blue bird which meets a most un - disneyish fate after duetting with fiona ' snow white ' style . popular culture is represented with film references to " babe " and " charlies ' angels " via " the matrix . " myers chooses his ' so i married an axe murderer ' scottish brogue for shrek in order to give his voice some heft . while this may prove distracting for anyone familiar with that film , overall it works more than not . eddie murphy steals the show as the fast - talking , motown - singing donkey , proving once again his talent as a vocal performer ( is it another wink at disney that donkey is paired with a dragon , a creature murphy portrayed in disney 's ' mulan ? ' ) . lithgow 's a good choice for the supercilious , height - challenged villain lord farquaad . diaz is energetic but ultimately nondescript voicing princess fiona . ( a better choice would have been minnie driver , who 's proven herself a terrific vocal talent in such diverse animations as disney 's " tarzan , " " princess mononoke " and the " south park " movie . ) the computer animation looks terrific ( particularly donkey ) , although it wo n't elicit the types of oohs and aahs of pixar 's work ( " toy story , " " a bug 's life , " " toy story 2 " ) . in keeping with its hip style , pop music is used , which like myer 's voice may be initially jarring , but ultimately satisfies ( while surveying bridal candidates via a ' dating game ' parody broadcast by snow white 's evil queen 's mirror , farquaad is told ' fiona likes pina coladas ' - cue jimmy buffet ! ) . " shrek " has good lessons for kids and humor targetted at every age group in the family . while it may be derivative of the 1987 's " the princess bride , " " shrek " addresses a new generation with similar sensibilities and does n't suffer in the comparison .

1POS

some movies have such an impact that they linger in your mind long after the credits have rolled , making you think carefully and recollect on what you have just seen . i finished mike figgis ' " leaving las vegas " hours ago , and it is still as haunting as when i hit rewind on the vcr . alot of people refer to this film as " that flick where nick cage plays that alcoholic dude " . " leaving las vegas " is not so much a movie about alcoholism as it is a story about two people who except each other for what they are : a drunk and a whore . ben ( nicolas cage in possibly the best male performance of the past twenty years ) is the drunk . his family and friends have long since abandon him , and all he has left is his liquor . in a scene early in the film , we see ben staggering into a resteraunt , looking for a " friend " of his to mooch some money off of . he finds the guy ( richard lewis ) having dinner with a buddy and two chicks , trying to crack witty jokes that just come out stupid . when ben approaches the table , you can clearly sense that everyone immediatly feels uncomfortable . after lewis gives ben the money , he coldly says " i think it would be best if you did n't contact me again . " now even though through the course of the film , some much more depressing things happen , this is when i felt the most for ben . there was such a look of sorrow and dispare on his face , ( not to sound hokey or anything ) it almost brought a tear to my eye . it turns out that ben was once a semi - successful hollywood player , and apparently a pretty popular guy . now he spends his time getting robbed by hookers and trying desperatly to pick up women , not so much for the sex , but for the company ; for someone to talk to or spend time with . once he is fired from his job , ben decides to burn all his belongings , collect all his cash and relocate to las vegas to slowly drink himself to death . one night he runs into a prostitute ( a brilliant performance by elizabeth shue - how far she has come since " adventures in babysitting " ) named sera . she is involved in an abusive relationship with her pimp , a scumbag who gets - off by cutting her . they are both very lonely , self - destructive people . they immediatly hit it off , both of them realizing that they need one another . and it is n't even a sexual relationship . they do n't even have sex until , like , the last ten minutes of the film . " leaving las vegas " is not a film about plot . with the exception of what i have already revealed ( which all happens in the first thirty minutes or so , by the way ) , there is n't too much of a story to it . it is more a film about people and how they react to one another . from what i can see , this is basically a perfect film . the direction is great ( with mike figgis doing a brilliant mix between the glamor of las vegas and the moody , smokey atmosphere of a film noir ) and it contains two of the best performances to come out of the 90s , or any other decade for that matter . but do n't go rushing out to see this movie without knowing what you 're getting yourself into . first off , if you are easily offended by frank sexual dialouge , stay away from " leaving las vegas " . it is filled with lengthy discussions of orgasms , rape and various forms of perverted activities involving burbon ( that 's right ) . secondly , if you are not in the mood to see a very depressing film , do n't see it . however , if you are cool with those two things , you are in for one of the most memorable experiences you will ever have .

1POS

` run lola run ' , a german import that gained a stellar reputation at the sundance film festival , is a dazzling and kinetic film that deals with the subjects of fate and chance . for a berserk and retroactive 81 minutes of non - stop movement , we follow a fiery - haired heroine named lola ( franka potente ) as she sprints to save her boyfriend from the clutches of drug dealers . lola has roughly twenty minutes to somehow retrieve 100 , 000 marks in time to save manni ( moritz bleibtreu ) from being killed by the dealer . but , in something of a pseudo- ` groundhog day ' approach , director tom tykwer gives lola three separate chances to best navigate her way toward the goal . in these trio of episodes , we gradually learn the unique effects of fate , for even if tiny changes are made in lola 's journey , the future can be seriously altered . ` run lola run ' is an experience like ` fight club ' or ` the matrix ' , in that each film takes you through a super - charged wormhole of bending reality in surreal and exciting ways . in addition , all three movies have a visual style that separates them from the rest of the pack . ` lola ' is no exception , with stylish quick - flash camera work and cinematography that serves as scintillating eye candy from the get - go . tykwer 's world is a landscape of mood and color , with brilliant shades of red and pink ( including lola 's fiery hair ) used as effective symbolism throughout . with it 's visual style and mind - blowing pace , ` run lola run ' is one of the more invigorating movies of the year . even more so when considering the fact it 's all stuffed rather nonchalantly into an 81-minute time period . as a heroine , potente does little more than run wildly through the streets ( as the title suggests ) , but she has a certain flair and charisma . her exemplary running form made me wonder if she is actually a track star . meanwhile , bleibtreu does an equally fantastic job of bringing the dopey but passionate manni to life . both actors perform beyond the call of duty . the dazzling fun comes from predicting what each episode holds in store for lola , and the outcome is ultimately rewarding - several twists and turns are unique and unexpected . the other characters lola runs into ( both purposely and inadvertently ) include her banker father ( herbert kraup ) and a friendly security guard ( armin rohde ) , but aside from the two leads , no one has more than a few minutes of screen time . additional stars that could n't possibly be ignored are cinematographer frank griebe and editor mathilde bonnefroy , who are both responsible for the film 's eye - catching visual elegance . ` run lola run ' is subtitled , so be prepared to meet the challenge of reading the lightning - fast dialogue - occasional sections of it are especially fast . this is only one of the minor chores involved in watching . the other is the sense that we never get to really recognize who the real people are in this hyperactive situation . most are just chess pieces in tykwer 's elaborate game of visual presentation , and he never really makes a significant move with any . but , the average viewer is likely to be so absorbed in the action that few will realize the lack of potency in a few elements of the screenplay . a few petty gripes aside , this film is a wild , exhilarating ride that turns maniacally on its wheel of originality . most people believe foreign films are mainly boring , talky character studies . perhaps ` run lola run ' will recharge their batteries . not only does this film offer insight into some intriguing questions of fate and destiny , it also delivers a white - knuckle visual rollercoaster ride of overwhelming audacity . like how the experience must have been for the persistent title character , ` run lola run ' is exhausting .

1POS

in " the sweet hereafter , " writer / director atom egoyan takes us beyond the tragedy of death into the tragedy of living . he shows us how it is n't dying that hurts , but rather the pain of living in the hereafter of death , and dealing with the loss and grief that it brings . on a cold winter day in a small , isolated town in british columbia , a school bus full of children slides off the highway and onto a frozen lake , where it cracks through the ice and sinks . fourteen children die , and numerous others are hurt . for the residents of this small town , all of whose children were on that bus , it is an earth - shattering event that resolutely alters their lives . they have always relied on each other in the past to deal with heartache and pain , but it seems that this tragedy is more than they can handle . alberta and risa walker , who own a local motel and lost their child in the accident , hire an attorney named mitchell stephens ( ian holm ) to bring a lawsuit against someone , anyone for responsibility . the bus driver , dolores driscoll ( gabrielle rose ) , is a kindly woman who loved the children and , although she lives with a burden of guilt , is not held responsible for the accident . the bus seems to have simply slipped on some ice , and there was nothing should could do to prevent it . however , according to stephens , there are no " accidents " in life , and someone will pay for this tragedy , whether that be the manufacturer of the bus or the guardrail the bus broke through . he goes through the town , approaching the parents who have lost children , asking them to join the class action suit and find vent for their anger . and , for his work , stephens will receive one - third of the settlement money . however , it is immediately apparent that stephens has little or no interest in the money . he is driven by something else , something deeper that he shares in common with the grieving parents . he has lost a child , too , but not in the same manner . his daughter , zoe ( caerthan banks ) , who once almost died in his arms as a young child after a spider bite , has been in and out of drug re - hab clinics and detox stations for ten years . she calls him on an irregular basis , begging him for money , but refusing to tell him what she needs it for . " i do n't know who i 'm taking to , " he tells her . in his mind , his daughter is dead . the lawsuit is , to stephens , not only a way to mend the town 's pain , but also his own . however , not everyone in town wants it to happen . billy ansell ( bruce greenwood ) , who was driving behind the bus when the accident happened and lost two children , wants nothing to do with it . he has already lost his wife , and he buries his grief in an affair with a married woman . he does n't want to talk about the accident , and he sees the lawsuit as nothing more than the unnecessary opening of old wounds . to him , the town should be able to take care of its own pain , and it does n't need outsiders like stephens getting in the way . central to " the sweet hereafter " is the tale of nicole burnell ( sarah polley ) , a teenage girl who dreams of being a singer before the accident turned her into " a wheelchair girl , " as she puts it . aside from stephens , nicole is the most complex character in the film , and it is she who ultimately decides the fate of the town and how the lawsuit will turn out . it is also her sad , haunted voice that we often hear on the soundtrack , reading robert browning 's poem about the pied piper , and how when he led all the town 's children away , one was left behind because he was crippled . obviously , nicole is that child , and she feels somehow betrayed that the rest of the town 's children left her alone by dying in the wreck . her situation is further complicated because she is involved in a loving , but incestuous relationship with her father ( tom mccamus ) . there is only one , fleeting scene that suggests this relationship , but it is somehow tied into the final act of the film . of all the storylines in " the sweet hereafter , " this is the most complicated and unresolved , although its implications stretch throughout the entirety of the film . egoyan knows that the kinds of questions he brings up have no simple answers -- if any at all -- and he does n't condescend to the audience by trying to neatly wrap it up . what egoyan has done in " the sweet hereafter " is really nothing short of miraculous . in his adaptation of the novel by russell banks , he has made a deeply moving film about a lawyer by transcending the pettiness of law and driving headlong into the deeper meaning of what is loss , and how pitiful monetary and material possessions are when compared to human life . egoyan has always been a talented , but distant and cerebral filmmaker whose work suffered only in that it felt so cold . " the sweet hereafter " is quite the opposite ; egoyan 's stylistic and narrative structures work brilliantly to heighten the impact of the natural emotion , and draw the audience into the tragedy . " the sweet hereafter " seems to contain the combined emotional impact that all his other films lacked . the film is filled with beautiful , subtle performances from all the actors , especially ian holm as the lawyer and sarah polley as the sad child who was left behind . the beautiful , roving camerawork by paul sarossy and the haunting , melodic musical score by mychael danna ( both previous egoyan collaborators ) give the film a visual and aural cohesiveness with the thematic elements . like his earlier films , egoyan weaves together multiple storylines that form a blanketing whole . he works with time as a fluid substance , shifting back and forth between the past , the distant past , and the present with effortless ease . the actual bus wreck itself does n't happen until midway through the film , but by that time the event has built up so much emotion that egoyan can film it from a distance with no graphic detail , and still have it carry great , devastating weight . because human life has become such a cheap commodity in movies , it is astounding that egoyan can convey so much heartbreak in such simple , direct terms . certainly one of the best films of 1997 , " the sweet hereafter " is a deeply rewarding , mystifying , and ultimately human film .

1POS

when i first heard about scream in 1996 , i was told that it was a spoof of horror movies . from the master of the horror himself , wes craven , it ridiculed the cliches of the genre by overemphasizing them , by making the teenagers do what they know they 're not supposed to do when a serial killer is stalking them ( do n't run up the stairs when you can easily go out the front door , never say " i 'll be right back , " etc . ) . when i first heard this description , i figured that it was an easy way out of making a bad movie . how hard is it to make an extremely terrible film but claim it is actually a mockery of other bad movies . was this wes craven 's remedy from making " real " bad movies such as vampires in brooklyn ? it just seemed cheap to me . then i actually saw the movie and the first twenty minutes , involving drew barrymore and a nail - bitingly intense phone conversation , completely changed my attitude . scream is not only a clever parody of your standard horror flick , it 's also a pretty scary movie . if you 've seen a million of these kinds of films , you know exactly what is going to happen . this is part of the fun of watching scream . the movie reminds avid horror fans how similar and repetitive the genre is and it also reminds them how great a guilty pleasure it can be to watch pointless and predictable violence to innocent , attractive teenagers . to those who rarely see these types of movies , scream is a thrilling unpredictable ride that could be mistaken as a serious slasher film . there 's nothing wrong with that misjudgment though . i have witnessed viewers from both sides of the audience , the newbies to horror and the fanatics . their opinions on the film were so different but both very positive . from these varied reviews , i am convinced that scream has not only revived the teen horror movie and the normal teen romance movies but also the hilarious parodies of these and other categories . films that both deride and celebrate genres like galaxy quest and the big hit would not have existed , in my opinion , if it was not for the outstanding success of scream . the low - budget 1996 gem may , alongside pulp fiction , be the most influential film of the 1990 's . this influence may exist to the chagrin of some moviegoers who despise movies like teaching mrs . tingle or television programs such as dawson 's creek but to others such as myself , we congratulate the movie that has opened new doors for excellent young actors , screenwriters , and directors . scream is also an extremely funny movie thanks to its quickly - paced script by kevin williamson . within the film are characters who tell other characters , as well as the audience , the basic rules and cliches of a horror movie . mainly from the rants of randy ( jamie kennedy ) and stu ( matthew lillard ) , we are reminded not only of the obvious and hilarious rules but also some of the more subtle stereotypes that when thought over are mostly true as well ( the virgin always survives ; have sex and you 're dead meat ) . not only are we treated these rules on a plate but also the rules are referenced to a number of different films and actors . the script feels like an obsessive essay from a college film geek who has nothing better to do but find every little blunder from every little film for his own self - satisfaction . in this case , williamson finds these errors for the audience 's satisfaction and amusement . i hear there is a new movie coming out called scary movie which is a spoof of scream , which is a spoof of scary movies . i will certainly see the film but i have the feeling that this parody will be more obviously ridiculing the genre rather than scream 's perfect subtlety . however my last gut feeling about this stuff , scream , was dead wrong . . . so who knows .

1POS

in present day hanoi , three sisters reflect on their parents ' relationship while trying to define their own in writer / director tran anh hung 's ( " the scent of green papaya " ) " the vertical ray of the sun . " youngest sister lien ( tran nu yen - khe ) greets the day with hai ( ngo quanq hai ) , the only brother whom she rooms and relentlessly flirts with . their morning ritual of tai chi and lou reed precedes crossing the street to eldest sister suong 's ( nguyen nhu quynh ) cafe , where lien works , for breakfast . the three sisters lovingly prepare their mother 's memorial banquet of traditional delicacies , prepared as much for look as taste , while giggling over the differences between the sexes . after the family breaks from the banquet , we learn that suong 's young son ' little monkey ' is doted upon , but there 's a distance developing with her husband quoc ( chu ngoc hung ) , who 's leaving for one of his habitual botanical photography trips . middle sister khanh ( tran manh cuong ) tells her writer husband she 's pregnant before he leaves on a trip to saigon to research tuan , a mysterious man in his mother - in - law 's past . lien keeps crawling into hai 's bed at night , causing him to fall out of it . the initial serenity we witnessed starts turning into a soap opera before coming to full circle one month later , as the three women prepare their father 's memorial banquet . " the vertical ray of the sun " is a contemplative piece where strong passions exist underneath calm exteriors . sly humor , self deceit and harsh truths all exist in the cyclic screenplay . tran anh hung and his cinematographer mark lee ping - bin ( " flowers of shanghai " ) linger over and repeat the small gestures of everyday life - a wife washes her husbands hands , a woman makes water dance in a bowl , a man pulls his lover to face him before they part . small spaces such as rooms , alleys and courtyards create intimacy . the color green , symbolizing life and tranquility , is used heavily in the film 's visual styling , lapsing into yellowish hues and blues . writer / director tran anh hung 's film recalls ang lee 's " eat drink man woman , " another tale of three sisters of varying modernity coming together traditionally for a parent . but while lee 's more traditionally story - driven film resulted in radical changes for all concerned , " the vertical ray of the sun 's " characters strive for peaceful harmony . watching it is like trailing your fingertips in a stream on a cool spring day .

1POS

star wars : episode i - the phantom menace review a review by jamey hughton stars ) starring - liam neeson , ewan mcgregor , natalie portman and jake lloyd director - george lucas rated g with all the hype that star wars : episode 1- the phantom menace has been receiving , it seems almost impossible to avoid interest in seeing the film . the movie is easily the most anticipated motion picture ever , with a marketing campaign so strong it has brought colonel sanders , the taco bell chihuahua and pizza hut together . can george lucas succeed yet again with transporting us back a long time ago , in a galaxy far , far away . . . . ? yes . this star wars prequel may be the worst of the bunch , with amateurish dialogue and an overall lack of humanity . but that does n't mean it fails to comply on the basis of solid entertainment . the phantom menace features the most eye - catching , jaw - dropping visual look in cinematic history . the tremendous action sequences will have you clinging to your arm rest , and the special effects are nothing short of the best ( and most plentiful ) to ever be caught on film . the vast digitized worlds and sheer imagination that was applied to this project is astounding . the phantom menace is a delectable feast for the senses , even if it has some disappointing aspects . after we 're treated to the famous prologue in the sky , with john williams ' thundering score , we meet qui - gon jonn ( liam neeson ) and young obi - wan kenobi ( ewan mcgregor ) , a jedi master and his trainee ` padawan ' . they are on the ship accommodating the fleet headquarters for the evil trade federation , and have been sent to settle disputes regarding the taxation of trade routes to the planet of naboo . oh , but enough about that . the prime concern for this prequel is introducing young anakin skywalker ( jake lloyd ) into the picture . as you already know , this seemingly charming lad is the boy who will soon become darth vader . a spectacular pod race comes soon hereafter . this particular race is the most exciting , energetic , high - octane action sequence that you 'll ever see . one of the delights of the series is meeting the newest set of strange alien creatures that lucas has devised , and the phantom menace is no exception . i loved sebulba , the rat - like scoundrel whom anakin has to face in the pod race , and boss nass , the leader of the gungans ( who are a neighbouring species to naboo ) . one character who has been subject to criticism is jar - jar binks , a member of the gungan race . jar - jar speaks like roger rabbit on a hallucinogenic drug , and is there for the sole purpose of supplying comic relief . yes , he is initially annoying , but i can admit to laughing over some of his harmless , goofy antics . there is some lack of dramatic pull in this star wars entry , but the presentation almost makes you forget the plot and character lapses . the final light - saber battle , between the jedi 's and the horrific ( and terminally underused ) villain darth maul , is spectacular to behold . jabba the hutt , yoda , c-3po and r2-d2 have cameo appearances . lucas has not forget how to captivate an audience , even if his latest shows obvious signs of tiredness . one can only wonder what the possible technology will present for the next two installments , episode 's i and ii . when they arrive , you 'll know where to find me .

1POS

bob the happy bastard 's quickie review : i must admit , no doubt 's single " new " is quite catchy . it was bouncy and energetic enough to get me to go see this new film from director doug limon , the man who had brought us the humorous swingers a little while back . the result ? a movie that 's just as good as that song , really . it follows the lives of several individuals over the course of one weekend . first we hear about a grocery bagger ( sara polley ) who runs into a monetary situation problem and ends up selling bogus drugs at a rave ( with bad results , as a drug dealer feels he 's been swindled by her ) ; then comes the story of an english grocery store worker ( same store ) who heads to vegas for the weekend with friends , where sex , gunplay , and stolen car trouble come into play ; then we see the story of two gay movie actors ( played by scott wolf and jay mohr ) who deal with a cop 's strange insurance presentation and hitting a girl ( sara ) with their car ; and , finally , we come to another grocery worker ( katie holmes ) who has a strange fascination with said drug dealer ( the one mentioned earlier ) . really , it 's all confusing to keep track of in review format , your best bet is to just , well , go . the movie features some very good acting from all angles , and limon adds the same humorous energy he had with swingers to this particular product . the dialogue is pretty snappy and the resolution is pretty well realized , not going for the sappy happy ending nor the dreaded bad ending . think of it as a , well , ending . the intertwining of stories is a particularly good element to the movie , as it 's never really confusing and tells different sides of the story , like sliding doors kinda did . however , it 's better suited for the younger generation who want a little spice in their flicks , which sliding doors kinda is n't .

1POS

while watching " shallow grave , " i found myself periodically noticing thematic similarities to the coens ' " blood simple . " both are good films in which several characters , none of whom are the most conscientious to have walked the earth but still are not really evil , indulge in an act of deception that soon necessitates more serious crimes . the body count rises , and before long seemingly normal people have blood on their hands . both films are also flawed , but for different reasons . " blood simple " is unrelentingly dark and moody , but its characterizations were a little hollow . " shallow grave , " on the other hand , is nearly flawless for an hour and twenty minutes , and then the filmmakers throw away much of what they 'd accomplished for a more standard , audience - pleasing ending . the events of the film were sufficiently intense and disturbing that i honestly felt quite troubled by what i was witnessing on screen most of the time , yet there was a slight grin on my face at the end . as the film begins , we are introduced to alex ( ewan mcgregor ) , juliet ( kerry fox ) , and david ( christopher eccleston ) , a scottish trio living in an apartment in glasgow . they are all sarcastic and occasionally obnoxious , but other than that they seem like a fairly normal bunch . a man named hugo moves into the apartment 's remaining vacancy , and the next morning he is found dead of a drug overdose . juliet is about to call the police when alex discovers that hugo had brought with him a suitcase filled to the brim with cash ( presumably from criminal activities ) . the three eventually decide to keep the money and cover up the death ; after a drawing of straws , the particularly unenviable task of mutilating the body so as to make it unidentifiable and burying it falls to david , who had been the most reluctant to partake in the scheme from the beginning . all of this transpires in the first twenty minutes or so of the film , and part of what makes " shallow grave " so brilliant for a while is that i honestly had no idea what was coming next . other than the obvious question of why they do n't report the death and simply hide the cash , which is not addressed , the plotting and characterization , while sometimes predictable , worked in a way that kept my attention and , on more than one occasion , gave me chills . i will , therefore , attempt to continue this review in a way that does n't give away too much of the plot . broadly , the trio are in danger due to hugo 's underworld connections , as two goons search for the money and kill several people in the process . a police inspector ( ken stott ) is clearly suspicious and visits the apartment , asking pointed questions and trying to unnerve the three suspects by exchanging banal and weirdly humorous bits of dialogue with a junior detective . david , meanwhile , becomes increasingly paranoid , moves into the attic , and develops an affinity for sharp objects . director danny boyle effectively creates an atmosphere of mounting tension and suspicion in the apartment , and finally the three seem ready to turn against each other . while i do not consider myself the " happy endings are automatically stupid " type , i thought that " shallow grave " really should have ended in tragedy - a realistic analysis of the story up to the last ten minutes of the film would indicate that all three characters were probably about to end up in prison , in the mental hospital , or in the morgue . this could have been accomplished , quite credibly , but then boyle and screenwriter john hodge seem to flinch and opt for a more conventional " caper " ending in which we get a kick out of seeing who outsmarted whom , and nothing more . granted , this is n't really a " happy " ending , but it 's still pretty light - hearted compared to what preceded it . i really should n't say anything more about the ending as far as details go , but let me add that it seemed not only shallow and lazy but also inconsistent with the rest of the film and not very believable . yes , this ending made me crack a smile for a couple of minutes , but ultimately it left me feeling as if i 'd been cheated . still , " shallow grave " was brilliant most of the way through , and it does at least meet the minimum requirements for an entertaining thriller , and i am therefore awarding it three stars . i guess i just ca n't help but think about that fourth star that boyle and hodge let slip away .

1POS

since most movies about slavery shield us from the true horrors of what they 're portraying , it 's fitting to say that " beloved " come as a real shock as a film . it 's confusing , bizarre , and as tough a film to watch as any film i 've seen all year , and that 's not necessarily because of the three - hour running time . " beloved " is challenging to watch , filled with tough and powerful poetry that takes us completely off guard , and instead of a straight - forward , hollywood - ized story about what happened to the slaves after they were freed , " beloved " comes off as a cry of anguish from all those who actually lived through what happened ( or , rather , toni morrison , who wrote the novel upon which this is based ) . " beloved " tells the story of an ex - slave named sethe , played by oprah winfrey , who lives on a large farm in the north with her children . when the film opens , her house is being terrorized by a poltergeist , which shakes things up , wounds the dog , and makes things generally uncomfortable for the family . sethe is proud , though , and will not move . her sons run away , leaving only her and her daughter , denver ( kimberly elise ) alone with the ghost which is there without any factual explanation . a couple years pass , and the ghost remains , and one day , a man named paul d ( danny glover ) , another ex - slave who knew sethe years ago when they worked on a plantation together , arrives , asking for lodging . he has been wandering around since he left the plantation , and when he enters the house , it turns red and becomes incredibly hot . when he remarks about what he thinks is evil , sethe replies " it ai n't evil . it 's just sad . " some more time passes , and paul d has become a fervent member of the household , and the ghost disappears . but when they return one day from going out , they discover a young woman sitting in the house . her name is beloved , and as played by thandie newton , she has almost zero motor skills . she stumbles around , half - grabbing onto things and knocking them over , and when she speaks , she lets out a low guttural sound that eventually turns into baby talk . they let her into her house , and she begins to turn things upside down . " beloved " acts like an incredibly difficult chamber drama paired with a ghost story . most of the scenes consist of people arguing in one claustrophobic , low - lit room , with the occasional flash to the past , where we see images of such horror that we thank god for modern - day psychoanalysts . sethe and paul d have lived through such hellish times that they are forever implanted with the memories of their slavehood on the old plantation , which includes such images as sethe being raped by the white plantation hands , with her nipples being licked , prompting her to cry out to paul d when reminiscing about it , " they took my milk ! " worst of all was the month after her freedom , when she was allowed to live like a free person , working with other blacks on a farm , and then seeing that her old plantation owners have arrived to presumedly take her and her children back . she runs to the barn near by , carrying her four children , and when her old owners burst in , they discover she has murdered one of them and is ready to murder the rest of them if they do n't leave them alone . when she is inquired about this moment by paul d in a moment halfway through the film , she says she does n't regret it . she killed her daughter so that she would not have to live through the horror she did , and she has convinced herself she did the right thing . of course , beloved is really her daugher materialized , though we are n't flat out told that until later on in the film . beloved represents the pain and suffering the slaves went through and shows how difficult it was for them to deal with their freedom after being tortured for so long . thus , " beloved " becomes a sorta - redux of the andrei tarkofsky sci - fi classic , " solaris , " where a cosmonaut discovers that his wife , who commited suicide years before , has materialized when he is orbiting over a planet with a complex brain system . that film spoke volumes about humanity and our memories , how we are constantly regretting what happened in the past , and when if it ever literally came back to haunt us , it would control us completely . " beloved " moves along freely , without a lot of explanation , and for the most part , this is extremely respectable . the most interesting films are the ones that do n't explain everything for us , leaving gaps in the characters that we are supposed to fill in with how they act in the present tense . sethe is never fully explained as a character , but we understand all her actions since she 's being played by oprah winfrey . it 's been well over a decade since her last major performance in " the color purple , " but judging from these two films , i 'll bet she 's one of the best actresses working today . . . if she was strictly an actress . her talk show , which i suppose is a great entity , has prevented her from becoming a noteworthy actress , and that 's a shame because she brings so much to this movie . emotion . sadness . strength . watching the strong sethe , who 's so afraid of the past that she 's built a rather strong protective coating around herself , break down when she discovers who beloved really is is what makes this movie really great . she makes it real . that 's not to say this is a perfect film . in fact , i 'd wager to say that the fact that it 's confusing and painful to watch is what prevents this from being the truly great film it is . while oprah 's performance is powerful and easily sympathetic ( and i 'm dying to see her win at least an oscar nomination this february ) , the structure of the film , which does n't show what happened to her children till halfway through the film , prevents us from really making a cohesive connection to the film . it does n't necessarily move as though they 're memories of one particular character , and by the end , it has lost control over sethe , and as she takes to bed , we are unable to truly identify with her anymore . but despite its tediousness , perhaps that 's the point . the distancing by the end of the film may be just part of the way it has been built from the start , since they figure she has crossed over from being identifiable , and it needs to get back with reality . and for the most part , this film seems like the cry of pain from the slaves that it really wants to be . jonathan demme 's direction is bizarre , in nature with the story , and he creates the right mood , making it a tough film to sit through , making sure that the audience feels as uncomfortable as the characters . there 's more to admire here , like the way that the flashbacks pop up freely and without real organization , just like they would be in real life ; and the way that the ending leaves it somewhat open to more pain and suffering , but laced with a touch of optimism . the acting , not only from winfrey , is amazing , and i anticipate not only she will get an oscar nomination . everyone has been raving about thandie newton 's performance , and how it should be rewarded . however , it must be noted that out of everyone , she had the easiest part . act like a baby . throw things . stumble around . chew food with your mouth open . i do think there 's another performance worthy of oscar conisderation , but it 's kimberly elise , as the daugher who has to stay sensible and sane , and has to carry the burden of her mother 's loss of reality towards the end . it 's not that newton is n't great : she 's as annoying and wacky as the role demands . it 's just that elise has the tougher job and pulls it off even better . despite the fact that this film has winfrey written all over it , and not that of writer morrison or director demme , " beloved " has still not done well . costing , i think , around ninety million dollars , it has since grossed about twenty - two . unfortunately , this film is a little too intense for viewers , even for me , and i can stand almost anything ( i recently viewed the 2 1/2 hour long epic " caligula , " the worst film i have ever seen in my life , and did it in a mere 2 sittings ) . although i respect " beloved , " i ca n't say that i really enjoyed it .

1POS

usually a movie is about something more than a soiled rug , but not the big lebowski . the new offering from the creators of 1996 's critical hit fargo , is to say the least , wildly entertaining . originality has always been a strong trait in the coen brother 's movies , and the big lebowski is insanely original . it begins oddly enough when jeff " the dude " lebowski ( jeff bridges ) is mistaken for a millionaire , jeff " the big " lebowski ( david huddleston ) , who 's wife , bunny ( tara reid ) owes money all over town . two goons , out to collect on bunny 's debt break into dude 's house . they attempt to collect the money that bunny owes them and one of them urinates on his rug . the next day dude explains his situation to his bowling team ( steve buscemi & john goodman , respectively . ) he is advised to go to the big lebowski and get him to pay for the defiled rug . he does this , and shortly after gets tied up in a kidnapping caper . this is a extremely funny movie with lots of belly laugh moments . the coen brothers have assembled a great cast that play off each other perfectly . also several great supporting roles , john turturro as a child molesting bowler named jesus . the coen 's script plays off perfectly and it all goes together to make it extremely entertaining . i doubt this movie will be nearly as popular as fargo , but its off the wall moments make it so far the best of 1998 . if you like anything else the coen brothers have done you will love this one , if not they give this one a try its a little different .

1POS

with the opening scene of a young couple in a van pulling up , loading their guns , kissing each other and uttering what sounds like " rock and roll ! " ( actually , it 's " lock and load " ) , you ca n't help thinking tarantino . and of course with its storyline of a crazy girl and boy in love who turn to violent bank robbery , the film unapologetically takes its place alongside all those other films from bonnie & clyde to natural born killers . but if most of those movies have their roots in pulp fiction , exploring a modern myth of the doomed rebels on the run , normal life takes a much more psychologically realistic look at the phenomenon . " inspired by true events " -- we 've heard that one before , and yet in no other tale of violent couples has it seemed so solidly demonstrated . . . or so strangely poignant . for this is a story of real people whose lives take on a steadily unreal quality , who in their search for a normal life find themselves increasingly unhinged . beginning with their final arrest , the film goes back to trace the relationship between chris ( luke perry ) , a policeman , and pam ( ashley judd ) , a factory worker . they fall in love and marry , but pam 's increasingly erratic behaviour ( going on spending sprees , slashing herself with a knife after an argument ) begin to trouble the solid and stable chris . when chris gets sacked , they find themselves heavily in debt and near breaking up . then , chris begins to rob banks . . . luke perry accomplishes the not - inconsiderable feat of making us nearly forget that he was ever in beverly hills 90210 or buffy the vampire slayer . moustached , with a tough paternal look and yet a voice and eyes that suggest sadness verging on exasperation , he is perfectly cast as the long - suffering husband . ( it 's another of john mcnaughton 's coups of casting - against - type , after transforming robert de niro into nerd and bill murray into gangster in mad dog and glory ) . but it is the character of pam who commands centrestage , and ashley judd rises to the challenge with great alternating currents of ferocity and tenderness , making pam into a fascinating yet often infuriating person . if the performance falls short of greatness , however , it is perhaps because the role of the mad woman has been done so often before it is virtually a staple of cinema , whether it 's in betty blue , tom & viv or georgia . as in those movies , there 's the danger that the performance seems mannered , a collection of screwy tics and tantrums designed for the oscar presentation piece . judd does n't entirely avoid this pitfall , but pam 's ' craziness ' is best and most movingly presented in counterpoint to the more ' normal ' chris . when pam reacts to her father - in - law 's death by showing up at the funeral in rollerblades and blaring headphones , chris ' face is the picture of pained restraint . of course , it 's the question of what is ' normal ' that is asked in normal life . mcnaughton constantly offers up the ironies of the aspirations for the average domestic life and its kinship with insanity . it is the rational chris that loves guns ( " shooting is about precision , control " ) and the ' crazy ' pam that loves astronomy and yearns for a dog ( who is then called chaos -- " chaos and you and me . . . we 're a real family " , she notes wryly ) . it is chris ' methodical mind and his knowledge of police procedure that allows him to be such a successful bank robber ( his well - planned disguise as a bearded , roaring man of terror is another piece of method in madness ) . in the carpark where he sets out for his first robbery , a huge sign on a shopping mall stands out in the background : " buy - more " -- the perfectly respectable consumption - crazy american dream that has driven pam to her extravagant purchases , and both of them into desperate situations . it 's not a perfect film . some of the dialogue is a touch too banal ( perhaps intentionally ? ) . the use of the punk hardcore soundtrack in pam 's crazed scenes comes rather too close to making emotional disturbance seem glamourous and sexy an image which only detracts from the rest of the film . indeed , as in mcnaughton 's seminal film henry : portrait of a serial killer , it is the avoidance of glamour or sensationalism , the denial of some of the standard thrills of the outlaw film genre , that gives this determinedly unflashy , moving film its great strengths . mcnaughton has filmed this story with a quiet , coolly ' realistic ' method that works far better than any nbk theatrics at unsettling the viewer . the suburbs , with their miles of white - fenced houses and identikit malls , take on a sense of claustrophobic blankness . in its very different way , this makes for as haunting a backdrop as the wide open spaces in terence malick 's badlands . while pam shares the yearnings of malick 's heroes to escape from ordinary life , chris takes up crime precisely so that they can lead a ' normal life ' - their little house on the suburbs is financed by his violent robberies . but these are dreams defined by , constrained by , and even doomed by , the limitations of the ' normal ' , conventional world . pam 's final scene takes place at the edge of the suburbs , where wild bushes grow -- symbolically the frontier , the outer limits of her society , but also quite literally the end of the road , where there is nowhere left to go but to the final tragic denouement . the flying inkpot 's rating system : * wait for the video . * * a little creaky , but still better than staying at home with gotcha ! * * * pretty good , bring a friend . * * * * amazing , potent stuff . * * * * * perfection . see it twice .

1POS

it 's not often that i laugh so hard at a movie that my head hurts . but that 's just what happened to me at uhf , weird al yankovic 's big screen debut . uhf is a television parody a la airplane , and like airplane , the movie is extraordinarily stupid . but it 's dumb in the best way a movie can be dumb : it 's so silly and outrageous it 's hilarious . the movie stars weird al as george newman , a world class nerd with a hyperactive imagination , the type who fantasizes he 's indiana jones and who uses hostess twinkies as hot dog buns . george is basically a loser ; his daydreams and smart - alec attitude perpetually prevent him from holding onto a job for more than two weeks . but george finally gets a chance to funnel his creativity into something productive when his uncle wins channel 62 in a poker game and makes him the general manager of the struggling uhf television station . george revives channel 62 with innovative programming : shows like " wheel of fish " and movies like " conan , the librarian . " as the station 's ratings rise , it comes into competition with channel 8 , the leading vhf network - affiliate . as r . j . fletcher -- channel 8 's ill - natured , hard - nosed owner -- veteran stage and film actor kevin mccarthy is flamboyantly sleazy ; he really hams it up with his snorts , grimaces , and scowls . uhf satirizes anything and everything to do with television , including game shows , tabloid talk shows , children 's shows , dizzy news women , and movies -- everything from rambo to close encounters . the funniest scene , the one that made my head spin , is a commercial for spatulas which has to be seen to be believed . like most movies in its genre , uhf is hit or miss . for every gag that works , at least one fizzles . for instance , weird al 's mock video of " money for nothing " by dire straits is only mildly amusing and brings the film to a grinding halt ( although it does have some nifty computer animation ) . but the funniest bits in uhf are so hysterical that we can forgive the ones that fail ; we know another gut wrencher is on the way . in fact , uhf hits the mark often enough to make it the most effective airplane - type movie since . . . well , since airplane . much of the credit goes to weird al 's exceptionally inventive script and to the movie 's winsome cast . weird al seems a little stiff at the beginning , but because he 's not afraid to look silly , he ultimately has a lot of fun with his character . the real standout is michael richards as stanley , the dim - witted janitor who becomes the host of his own children 's show : " stanley spadowski 's playhouse . " stanley 's off - beat , mixed - up personality is a big hit with the audience and makes him an over - night star . he is an endearing mixture of good - natured innocence , high - energy enthusiasm , and puppy - dog cuteness . and above all , he 's a good janitor who adores his work . another highlight is a vintage cameo by the incomparable emo philips . the cast also features gedde watanabe ( the chinese foreign - exchange student in sixteen candles ) as the karate master who hosts the hit series , " wheel of fish . " also aboard for the ride is fran drescher , who plays pamela finklestein , channel 62 's roving reporter . unfortunately , as weird al 's girlfriend , victoria jackson is wasted in a role that calls for nothing but whimpering , whining , and sulking . her character is extraneous and should have been either further integrated into the story or cut from the script altogether . while uhf is not an absolute must - see , it 's definitely the ticket if you 're looking for a wild and zany , whacked - out comedy . the movie is good enough to see in the theaters , but it may work even better on television , the very medium at which it pokes fun .

1POS

it 's hard not to recommend " the others . " the supernatural thriller , written and directed by alejandro amen ? bar ( " open your eyes " ) , adroitly establishes and maintains a low - key atmosphere of menace . the cinematography , by javier aguirresarobe , is as good as i have ever seen and nicole kidman gives another in her growing body of fine performances . but the pacing of the story moves from deliberate to downright sluggish and the payoff of the tale left me less than satisfied . overall , the film plays like a very high quality version of any number of old " twilight zone " episodes where the characters spend a great deal of time wandering about looking afraid and disoriented , only to learn they are actually a child 's toy , a military test subject or a department store dummy . watching those vintage shows and listening to the players chatter , i always wanted to shout , " get on with it ! " as much as i appreciated the atmosphere and acting in " the others , " my reaction was much the same . set at an island mansion off the coast of england during world war ii , the story focuses on grace ( kidman ) , who tends to her children anne ( alakina mann ) and nicholas ( james bentley ) and worries about her husband , charles ( christopher eccleston ) , a missing serviceman . anne and nicholas suffer from photosensitivity and grace patrols the estate with the keys to all 50 doors , protecting the little ones from excess light by making sure that only one door is open at a time . at the beginning of the film , three servants , mrs . mills ( fionnula flanagan ) , young , mute lydia ( elaine cassidy ) , and mr . tuttle ( eric sykes ) , an aging gardener , join the family . the two that speak seem agreeable enough at first , but it soon becomes apparent that they know something that grace does not . to make matters worse , the children are upset : nicholas is unusually jittery and anne claims to be seeing ghosts . grace attempts to blame the troubles on the new arrivals to her home , only to realize that whatever is happening is beyond them . that 's essentially the whole story , with the tension growing until the pivotal moment when everything becomes clear . earlier , there is an outstanding scene where grace darts outside , only to be enveloped in fold after fold of shimmering fog . the visuals in the otherworldly sequence , courtesy of aguirresarobe , are simply astounding . i also enjoyed the presence of religion , a rarity in films dealing with the supernatural . grace is a christian and answers her children 's questions about life and death with the assurance of a devout worshiper . when mother is away , though , the kids speculate whether her statements are fact or folklore , just as real children do . but those nice touches fail to enliven a film that is too slow or make up for a lackluster ending . " the others " sets out to be a classic ghost story , but fails to grasp that special something that makes such films more than layers of mist .

1POS

" a private matter " is based on the true story of sherri finkbine and the events in her life during the 1960s . after becoming pregnant ( for the fifth time ) she learns that some tranquilizers she had taken have seriously deformed her unborn child . she and her husband decide , with the help of her doctor , to have an abortion . but this is the 1960s , and abortion is illegal . her doctor has made arrangements to have the procedure performed withing the law , by claiming that the child is endangering the mother 's life . everything is about to work out just fine , until sherri has the uncontrollable urge to talk about her situation with a local reporter . this sets off a media frenzy and immediately sherri is the most hated woman in the world . she and her husband are fired from their jobs , reporters are surrounding their home at all times , and most importantly , no one in the country ( and eventually other countries ) will perform the abortion . this causes emotion problems for all involved . " a private matter " is a fascinating story and it 's hard to believe that this only happened 30 years or so ago . it 's only flaw is that not once is there ever a satisfactory confrontation with sherri and any of her opponents . one woman passing her on the street telss her to burn in hell , and when sherri appropriately yells back , " just tell me what i 'm supposed to do , " the woman has no answer . no one apparently had an answer , they just wanted to control what should have been only the choice of sherri and her husband . this is an important film , telling an important story . it 's not just about not wanting another child , it 's about not wanting a child who will cause severe changes in their family , none of which could be beneficial . sydney pollack served as executive producer for this made for hbo movie .

1POS

director jan de bont certainly knows how to make top quality action films . you need look no further than die hard ( he was director of photography ) , speed and last years twister for examples of his hi- octane , edge of your seat thrill prowess . speed 2 is no exception . this time , the action takes place on a huge cruise liner , on which sandra bullock and jason patrick are trying to develop their relationship . yep , that 's right , no keanu reeves this time , but fear not , jason patrick is more than up to the job . speaking of which , the job at hand is to stop completely bonkers terrorist , willem dafoe , from crashing the liner into a huge island , after stealing a diamond collection . the reason for this act of destruction is revenge . after years of working for the company that builds cruise liner computers , he contracts copper poisoning and is retired . naturally , what entails next is a lot of running / jumping about and general high quality action as jason patrick does his level best to save the day . thinking back on this film , you ca n't help , but admire it 's structure . the way , willem dafoe initiates his plan and throws red herrings to the crew and passengers . the race against time to save the liner from crashing , and of course , the finale chase scence . ( although this is ruined by an over the top , one too many stunt and explosion . ) simple in construction , effective in it 's execution , and the result , a clear and concise , highly enjoyable action film . the acting is adequate , although it 's darned obvious that sandra bullock is only in it to create a ' hot totty ' appeal to the men ( and she does that perfectly ! ) , jason patrick fills the action hero role superbly and willem dafoe is just great as the crazed terrorist . overall , speed 2 is a most enjoyable thrill ride . not up to it 's predecessor 's high calibre but very good all the same . there is plenty going on , some of the thrills are quite tense and it also proves that you do not need blood and guts to make a good action movie .

1POS

after indecent proposal and up close and personal , redford was wise to direct himself in a picture at last . redford may look great on - screen , but over the past few years , he 's proven himself a bigger talent behind the camera . ordinary people is one of the best films of the nineteen - eighties , and it was the first picture he helmed . while the milagro beanfield war was only occasionally successful at combining magic - realism with . . . um , realism , and i 've never been much of a fan of a river runs through it ( to the chagrin of many ) , quiz show was dazzling , energetic and convincing . the horse whisperer represents both his directorial return to nature films and the first time in that sub - genre redford seems equally concerned with humans and scenery . scott - thomas plays annie maclean , an uptight but respected new york magazine editor whose daughter grace ( johanssen ) loses a leg and a good friend when an early morning ride climaxes with their horses colliding with a semi . grace 's horse survived , but barely , and has gone mad . annie refuses to put the animal out of his misery , believing that if the horse heals it will mend grace 's newly - broken spirit . eventually , mother and daughter travel alone to montana to be with tom booker ( redford ) , a famed " horse whisperer " who has a gift of calming horses with simple looks and touches , leaving busy husband neill behind . eventually , they move onto the booker ranch with the rest of tom 's family , and annie finds herself falling in love with all things montana , including , naturally , tom , the wise and lonely trainer . the horse whisperer is delicately made . i dare say lyrical , since to many people 's ear , that word is synonymous with boring . hardly . the horse whisperer has little to offer in the way of surprise , but it does have an honesty that is refreshing and consistently enjoyable to watch , especially in the final third of the story . scott - thomas and johanssen seem like mother and daughter , and you have no doubt believing that the mountain vistas would put these new yorkers under a spell , especially since d . p . robert richardson 's photography casts montana as heaven on earth . ( a gimmicky but effective technique the filmmakers employ is a switch in aspect ratio from squarish to widescreen when the central location shifts from new york to montana . ) the underrated sam neill turns in perhaps his most heartfelt , emotive performance as the nice - guy husband , who is as authoritive and likeable as tom . he is indeed a refreshing change from the sexist , lout of a husband so many writers resort to as a short - cut for explaining away the cheating spouse 's motivation . unfortunately , one of the horse whisperer 's only flaws is the chemistry between would - be lovers scott - thomas and redford . i liked both of them , but i did n't necessarily believe that redford would fall for such a cold fish , even if the countryside air thawed her slightly . luckily ( and curiously ) , this is such a rich and textured movie that it does n't quite matter - their adultery seems like an afterthought , the obligatory sub - plot that ties many of the characters ' complex relationships together .

1POS

sam ( matthew broderick ) is an astronomer in a small american town and engaged to teacher linda ( kelly preston ) . he is head over heels in love and lindas sudden departure to new york city to live with her new lover anton ( tch ? ky karyo ) comes as a complete surprise to him . but as we all know love is blind and so sam leaves for new york as well to win her back . he moves into an abandoned house across the street from anton 's apartment and installs a camera obscura to watch them . suddenly anton 's ex maggie shows up , but she does not want her former lover back . on the contrary , all she wants to do is vaporize him . she may say that she does n't want to kill him , but the possibility does n't bother her too much either . after all , people die every day . in spite of their different motives the two team up and fall for each other as things move on . the story sounds like something we all have seen a million times . but we have n't . griffin dunne brings us the most charming comedy since " while you where sleeping " . the camera obscura adds a " special something " to the movie and makes it an exceptional romantic comedy . everything about the movie is perfect , from set design to casting . the dialogues are inspired and the touches of black humor add a certain bite . meg ryan , known from " when harry met sally " or " sleepless in seattle " , surprises in a role that may finally help her get rid of her sweet little girl image . she impresses the viewer as a maneating biker girl . even more surprising is the fact that the viewer believes her , much more so than in last years " courage under fire " where she played a gulf war pilot . matthew broderick is the goodnatured and somewhat naive sam who has trouble accepting reality . the viewer can tell that he does n't only watch the stars but also tries to reach out for them . he has trouble keeping in touch with reality . after all , who would leave everything behind to chase a lost love ? his naivet ? that we do n't question for a minute throughout the movie clashes with maggies exaggerated wish for revenge . she would do anything to harm anton . she does n't hesitate to use sam for her plan and makes him understand right from the beginning that nothing will happen between the two of them . that makes the scenes when they innocently share a bed , have potatoe chips and watch the action across the street like a saturday night show on tv even funnier . tch ? ky karyo is perfect as anton . he is , well , repulsive . that 's all there is to say about him . you ca n't really manage to pity him , even after all his mishaps . he not only took sam 's bride away from him , he is also a french chef . worlds collide , i . e . the usa and france . this can only go wrong . even if maggies revenge schemes are at times shocking , you just ca n't sympathize with a man who plays " je t'aime . . . moi non plus " on his tape deck . not everyone is captured by the french charme that linda and even maggie fell for . sam certainly is n't . too bad for anton . for him things take a turn to the worse . " addicted to love " is one of this year 's most pleasant surprises .

1POS

copyright 1996 graeme huggan carry on henry is all about henry viii and his eight wives ! sid james plays henry , who no sooner has the film started , is getting rid of his present queen and hopes to find another one soon . as part of his alliance with france , he requests the hand - in - marriage to the queen of normandy ( joan sims ) . she comes to england in the hope of marrying henry but when he finds out that she loves garlic and has a reeking garlic breath , he is totally averse to the idea of marriage . henry 's court is very corrupt , with the cardinal ( terry scott ) trying to bribe cromwell ( kenneth williams ) and cromwell trying to bribe the king . there is a state of crisis when the king puts marie the queen ( sims ) in the tower of london ready for execution . the queen is pregnant but she has not liased with the king before , so fingers are pointed at sir roger de lodgerley played by charles hawtrey , who has a rather lecherous character to play this time . the cardinal and cromwell decide to get a signed confession from sir roger by using all kinds of torture devices ! owing to circumstances , sir roger is sometimes needed to sign that he is the father and sometimes that he is n't . this is because of renewed threats by the king of france ( peter gilmore ) to come over himself , which in the end he does . by then , henry has found himself a new queen , played by none other than barbara windsor ! it looks like he has some explaining to do ! there are stand - out performances by sid james as henry , joan sims as marie , and terry scott in an unusual role as the cardinal . also there are cameos from kenneth connor and peter butterworth , who plays barbara 's father . the set and costume design is first class and the overall production of this film is good . there is even an early appearance from david prowse , who later became the green cross code man and darth vader . the film does have it 's downsides though , as it is getting pretty routine for the carry - on team to stage historical films and the inventive streak of the script seems to run out pretty quickly . there is also the absence of hattie jacques and bernard bresslaw , who could have helped the film along . however , overall the film is funny and there are plenty of laughs and saucy jokes , so that is why i mainly recommend it to carry on fans only , but there is enough humour in the film to make it worth anyone 's while to sit down and watch it .

1POS

this " dumb " cowboy blondie who thinks he is a ` darn ' good loverboy , decides to leave his dusty ol' town somewhere in texas and go to new york . he puts on his beloved cowboy attire and off he hops on the next new york coach . when he arrives to new york , he immediately sets out to play mr playboy thinking he is the best ` darn ' ` stud ' in the whol'o ' new york city . obviously he fails . he meets the ' cripple ' rico ( dustin hoffman , who is terrifically good ) in a bar . rico has a leg that is paralysed from the knee down , so he walks in a peculiar way . rico is a thief and wants to get some money off this ' rich ' dumb cowboy . he cheats our cowboy out of $ 20 through a somewhat detailed routine and disappears . soon , our cowboy runs out of money : he gets kicked out of his hotel , and starts getting hungry . walking through the city , with " everybody 's talkin ' " playing in the background ( oh , and his prided techno transistor radio in hand ) , he spots rico in a cafe . rico , half - scared , pours out all the money in his pocket . 60 filthy cents . our cowboy , hungry , is forgiving . he is glad he found someone he knows . rico offers to make it up for him . and he invites him to his place . and what a filthy , cold place it is . our cowboy falls asleep instantly in the ( junk ) bed . when he finally wakes ( jumps ? ) up , he finds rico looking at him . " you wanna cup'a'coffee ? " rico asks in his friendly , sleazy , somewhat - childish manner while he smokes on a ciggy . " what 're you ? a goddamn faggot ? what do you want from me ? where are my shoes ? what did you do to them ? " but all his doubts turn out to be unfounded . rico really has a heart . together , they live in the junk apartment and almost freeze to death . rico is convinced that the best place to be is florida , where the sun shines beautifully and there are lots of coconut trees . but he falls sick and is convinced that his cure is to go to florida . " we will soon be in miami " is the last sentence uttered in this film and what a shocking , moving end of a film it is . the classic theme music : " midnight cowboy " helps bring about the feeling of attachment that most viewers will experience towards the end of the film . whether the attachment is to the two main characters or to their dreams , is probably as debatable as whether it was the acting or the direction that makes this film so memorable .

1POS

playwright tom stoppard and screenwriter marc norman took on an astonishingly difficult task : they wanted to write a script about william shakespeare that parallels shakespeare 's works . they also wanted to poke fun at the way all of us envision shakespeare : i mean , really , who does n't think of shakespeare as a guy seething with so much passion that he can barely write a play without exploding into a passionate , introspective verbal couplet of iambic pentameter ? stoppard and norman are men who love shakespeare , and they wanted to make a movie for everyone else who loves shakespeare . and , despite the difficulty of their task , they have succeeded . shakespeare in love is one of the smartest , funniest , most touching films of the year . it 's so rare that a picture with such high aspirations succeeds in all of its endeavors , but here we have a movie that defines success : it is at once charmingly acted and flawlessly written . it could have been a smug , self - important movie that panders to die - hard shakespeare fans , but the appeal of this film is almost universal : if you 've ever read a play by shakespeare , or know anything about his life , it 's likely that you 'll find grand entertainment in shakespeare in love . joseph fiennes , brother of ralph , stars as shakespeare himself ; he 's a delightful , irresistible lad , concerned mostly with women and detached from life 's more serious problems ( debt , plague , etc . ) . he 's commissioned to write plays for various people : queen elizabeth ( judi dench ) wants comedies , while local slimeball philip henslowe ( geoffrey rush ) needs him to write a play so that he can pay off his debts to hugh fennymann ( tom wilkinson ) . shakespeare , however , has trouble focusing on his work . he begins work on a comedy about a boy named romeo and a girl named ethel . this all changes , however , when he meets viola de lesseps ( a radiant gwyneth paltrow ) , a young heiress set to marry the financially - oriented lord wessex ( colin firth ) . shakespeare instantly falls in love with her ; he first meets her when she pretends to be a man to try out for the part of romeo . he discovers her identity and confronts her later ; she , of course , falls in love with him , although their love is doomed because she absolutely must marry the tyrannical lord wessex . but she continues to act because she loves shakespeare 's writing so much , and soon the production ( which later becomes romeo and juliet ) is set to be performed . shakespeare in love is an amazingly good film , not because it works as great entertainment , but because it pays attention to detail and knows its subject matter . i was instantly won over by joseph fiennes in the lead role : he has such searing optimism and energy ; he 's clearly a man who admires shakespeare , and even in the shortcomings that he gives his character ( inability to turn away from women , attention deficit disorder ) , we sense a great deal of affection and care . he practically overflows with passion in every scene . fiennes is matched by paltrow ( whose english accent is so good that wonder where she actually comes from ) ; she is an actress who exudes strength and conviction in every performance i 've seen her in . the two performers work perfectly together , taking the passionate scenes as far as possible without making them melodramatic , and wringing the comedic scenes for every conceivable laugh . of course , it does n't hurt that they have a masterful script to work with . stoppard , whose play rozencrantz and guildenstern are dead inspired an interesting film , is full of dry wit and boundless understated humor ( all of his plays have similarly dry humor ) . the first intelligent step stoppard and norman took was harmonizing the events of the film with romeo and juliet . one of the funniest scenes in the film is an imitation of the famous terrace scene from the play ; in the movie , shakespeare is bumbling about while viola is trying to fend off her nurse maid . director john madden does a fantastic job dabbling in slapstick humor -- scenes like these would have seemed obtuse in the hands of a lesser director . i 'm going to have to see the movie again ; i 'm certain there are numerous references that i missed . in fact , i doubt it 's possible to gather everything with just one viewing . stoppard is a master of detail : you 'll notice familiar lines placed throughout the film , not as lines of a play , but as dialogue , suggesting that shakespeare simply spoke like that all the time . there 's also a brilliant running joke in which shakespeare is in constant competition with christopher marlowe ( and the fact that marlowe is played by the openly - homosexual rupert everett is a joke in of itself ) , proposing a slightly twisted explanation to marlowe 's mysterious death in a pub . there 's also a scene featuring a wide - eyed dog that is so funny that i hurt myself laughing . " there 's no dog in this play ? " " no ! no dog ! " the ensemble cast is perhaps the strongest this year . geoffrey rush is nearly unrecognizable as the detestable henslowe ; wilkinson is also hard to recognize , but has a great role as a thug who takes his part as the apothecary so seriously . ben affleck , playing one of the actors in the company , shows great range , both in his accent ( his is almost as good as paltrow 's ) and in humor ( he has some of the best one - liners in the movie ) . colin firth , always stuck playing the sap , does a good job being hateful . judi dench , however , has the best supporting performance as queen elizabeth : rarely has so much depth been conveyed in so few words . my single , minor complaint about shakespeare in love is that i feel like i could have been more moved by the end . the story is moving , but there are a few missed opportunities in the final scenes . but my quibbling is not important . what is important is that i acknowledge the quality of this picture , the sheer skill with which it has been written , acted , and produced . shakespeare in love tries so many things , and nails every one of them : it 's a film that both loves shakespeare and makes fun of him , a film in which the actors , writers , and director are all perfectly in sync . it 's also a movie that has the potential to introduce a lot of people to shakespeare 's work in a positive way , without seeming condescending or superior . i admire this film not only because it passes so pleasantly , but because it has lofty aspirations and succeeds in them . not just any film can poke fun at shakespeare and get away with it .

1POS

titantic , writer and director james cameron 's much anticipated and sometimes ridiculed $ 200 , 000 , 000 epic , arrives shortly into the theaters so the question naturally arises , whether the film is worth it ? as a business proposition , it seems hard to see how it can ever break even , but as a movie it is nothing short of wonderful . if you 've already neatly categorized it as yet another disaster movie a la volcano or the poseidon adventure , think again . the movie is both a great love story told with the disaster as a backdrop and a portrayal of one of the world 's most memorable disasters made real and personal by seeing it through the eyes of two young lovers . in either case , it is filmmaking at its best . when we entered the press screening , my wife asked the publicity rep if there would be an intermission since the film runs three and a quarter hours long . he said no but that the time would go by so fast she 'd never notice the length . amazingly , he was right . titanic is one of the few long films that does n't suffer because of it . the lush picture , filmed by russell carpenter in 70 mm , opens in the present with two diving subs exploring the wreck of the titanic on the bottom of the ocean . fortune hunter brock lovett ( bill paxton ) leads the expedition looking for the world 's most valuable diamond necklace that went down with the ship , known back then as " the ship of dreams . " the necklace 's hundred - year - old former owner , rose dewitt bukater ( gloria stuart ) , finds brock to tell him her story . although almost all of the movie happens in flashback , one of the engineers shows the elderly rose exactly how the ship was sunk . using a computer simulation , the movie takes the time to explain what will happen later , which adds immensely to making a lucid story out of what would have otherwise been hopelessly confusing . after twenty minutes , the story makes its jump to the past as the titanic leaves on her maiden voyage . in a classic movie theme , the two parts of the ship , first class and steerage ( third - class ) exist in sharp contrast . the strength of the script is the way it paints the differences between rich and poor without excessive moralizing . entering the ship on its day out is rose along with her millionaire fiance , cal hockley , played with perfect snobbishness by billy zane . and thanks to a last minute winning poker hand , an itinerant artist named jack dawson gets himself into a little shared cabin in third class . even with her own promenade deck , rose feels trapped on the ship , what with an upcoming marriage to a man she loathes . in contrast , jack can barely contain his euphoria at being on board . after jack saves rose from committing suicide , they start a brief but impassioned love affair . never tawdry and rarely explicit , their romance has the power to sweep the audience into the story . leonardo dicaprio in his best performance ever plays jack with confidence and charisma . in so many ways , small and large , he makes all the right decisions in his approach to the part . when he confronts cal , for example , he remains composed and polite and yet subtly undermines every one of cal 's supercilious put - downs . kate winslet gives a wonderfully captivating performance as young rose . the chemistry between these two academy award nominees , him for what 's eating gilbert grape and her for sense and sensibility , is nothing short of astonishing . from the scene where he embarrasses her by repeatedly asking if she loves her finace to the beautiful one of them hanging off the ship 's bow to the one where she embarrasses him by asking him to paint her nude , they dazzle the screen with a pair of mesmerizing performances . if the film breaks after an hour and a half , which is how long cameron wisely waits to have the iceberg show up , you will still get one of the best films of the year . peter lamont 's sets are more than authentic . one scene , for example , starts with the planning - to - retire captain , played with insouciance by bernard hill , having his tea on deck . it then shifts to the ship 's massive gears and then to the bright - hot boiler room filled with sweating muscular men shoveling in the coals . the handsome interior common rooms of the ship resemble a palace more than an ocean liner . easily the most fascinating part of the story is what happens after the iceberg hits and before the battle with the water begins in earnest . at first , since the iceberg tears a series of little gashes in the hull , not some big gaping hole , the passengers view the hit as more of curiosity than anything else . what a lark . we 've struck an iceberg . now let 's get back to our brandy and cigars . the ship 's musicians play like troopers through it all , even after the panic sets in . after all , they see it as their duty to calm the passengers . when the musicians are about to die , they politely thank each other for the pleasure of being able to play together , and they mean it . their civility borders on insanity , but it is touching nevertheless . the story is so rich that my description has merely touched the surface . there are more than enough characters to love and to hate , and all of the casting is dead - on . special effects work best when their presence becomes almost undetectable . in titanic , for which he created a nine - tenths scale model of the entire ship , cameron strove for accuracy at all costs . the most dramatic moment in the film happens when the ship breaks in two , and the front section becomes vertical in the water . people are flung like ants either into the water to be shortly frozen to death or into other parts of the ship to be crushed immediately . besides being romantic and dramatic , the script includes liberal doses of humor . from the many deliciously subtle verbal put - downs to the physical comedy , as when jack teaches rose to spit like a man , the show elicits laughter in addition to perhaps a few tears . " it 's good - bye for a little while , " a less than confident father tells his little girl since it was indeed women and children first . " this boat 's for mommies and children . there 'll be a boat in a little while for daddies . " basically there was a design decision to have fewer than half of the necessary life boats -- it made the decks look too crowded otherwise . perhaps the sinking is best summarized by one of the guggenheim 's on - board the ship . in the dining room with the lifeboats gone and the ship certain to sink , he is offered a life jacket by one of the crew . " no thanks , " the elegantly attired guggenheim replies . " we 're dressed in our best and would prefer to go down like gentlemen . but we would like a brandy . " titanic runs 3 : 14 . it is rated pg-13 for tastefully and delicately presented sex and nudity and would be fine for kids twelve and up .

1POS

the sweet hereafter could serve as a textbook example of the difference between television movies and " real " movies . consider for a moment what a television producer would do with a book that features a fatal school bus accident and a lawyer out to sign up the bereaved -- lots of hot sensationalism interrupted with breaks to sell beer and toothpaste . top - flight writer and director atom egoyan delivers instead a film with tremendous power whose most notable trait is its touching subtlety . based on a respected book of the same name by author russell banks , the movie represents a rethinking of the story 's structure , not merely a literal adaptation of the novel . told in linear form by four narrators in the book , egoyan 's version happens instead in overlapping time sequences and without a narrator . the author is even on record as applauding egoyan 's changes . in the press notes the book 's author describes the story as " a parable of lost children . " he says it asks what a town does in the absence of its children . picking up on this , egoyan has a flashback in which a sitter , nicole burnell , played with grace by sarah polley , reads parts of " the pied piper " from an old , illustrated book to her two charges . periodically throughout the picture , nicole 's readings are heard in voice - over . you have never heard this moving poem read so sweetly or in such an appropriate moment . they and the rest of the town 's children come into harm 's way -- some live and others are seriously injured . and the entire small canadian town where the accident occurs is never the same again . although the physical damage is inflicted mainly on the children , the adults bear the emotional scars of the loss . ian holm , in arguably the best performance of his distinguished career , plays mitchell stephens , an intense man of quiet misery . mitchell is the outsider in the story set in a small , snow - encrusted community in the british columbian wilderness . his mission there is a singular one , to sign up the parents so that he can sue someone , anyone , on their behalf . if this seems crass , well it is , but mitchell approaches his job with the dedication of a religious zealot . the story unfolds slowly and always believably . each little aspect has its own fascination . as mitchell interviews wendell and rita walker , played with quiet realism by maury chaykin and alberta watson , he has a simple task . he wants them to suggest some model couple in the village who has a lost a child so that he can use that couple to form the basis of the suit . wendell ticks off one town member after another and then , as one can in a small town , enumerates each person 's numerous faults . although the town is no peyton place , people there do have their foibles . one of the best parents in the town appears to be billy ansell ( bruce greenwood ) , who rides his pickup behind the school bus everyday just so he can wave good - bye to his kids . well , single parent billy 's fault is that he has regularly scheduled trysts with the married rita . his confessions to rita about his feelings of loss are one of the many heartfelt outpourings in the story . the accident itself , a simple one of a bus hitting a patch of ice , is n't shown until the middle of the picture , but , nevertheless , the mystery about it builds throughout the film . although the picture is no detective story , finding out exactly what happened is a subtheme in a movie that is primarily a character study of a town gripped by tragedy . as the injured bus driver , gabrielle rose , dolores driscoll plays the role of a dedicated individual who loves kids with a passion and for whom the tragedy takes on special meaning . to round out the story , mitchell has his own private tragedy to bear . his daughter zoe ( caerthan banks ) is a drug addict who has bounced in and out of one half - way house and recovery center after another . fond of calling her dad on his cell phone so she can ask for money or help , she interrupts him at many emotionally charged moments as he attempts to sign up the townsfolk . ( " i can help you , " mitchell tries to reassure billy . " not unless you can raise the dead , " billy snaps back . mitchell 's pitch is never an easy one and worrying about zoe only makes it harder . ) mychael danna 's haunting music sets the stage for tragedy . the cinematography by paul sarossy is sweeping in its outdoor grandeur , but it is in the warm , shadowy , intimate moments indoors where it works best . the show , which is ripe for emotional manipulation , never plays with its audience . still , when the house lights go up , you may feel as i did . i could barely breathe ; i was so overcome by the sum total of what i had witnessed . more than anything , the film is like a master painting . each cinematic brush stroke is carefully laid down by egoyan with the beauty building with each dollop of paint . with the final color in place , the masterpiece is complete , and the ending credits roll . the sweet hereafter runs 1 : 50 . it is rated r for mature themes , sexuality and some profanity and would be fine teenagers .

1POS

( warning to those who have not seen seven : this review contains some spoiler information . ) seven is a powerful , fully - realized film on the level of the silence of the lambs . it is a disturbing film that accomplishes its biggest of goals -- it occupies the viewers mind long after the closing credits have rolled . while this film is not for the squeamish , there is no denying that seven demands attention , for it is a film that transcends its genre in both style and substance . for starters , classifying seven as a " thriller " would not be an altogether complete classification of this film . while i was genuinely thrilled throughout , i would rather call seven an " intense drama , " because that is what it delivers -- meaningful scenes with a relentlessness that does not readily let up . part of director david finchers accomplishment is in style . he seems to have a knack for knowing exactly how the average person fears something as " simple " as a corpse . and visually , fincher shows us the remains of murder victims in all - too - realistic and graphic terms ( courtesy of rob bottin 's always - grisly special effects ) . throw in the appropriate but not - to - be - underestimated effects of lighting and a foreboding score and the result is a technical masterpiece of the murder scene . these scenes alone are quite impressive ; as fascinating as they are harrowing . yet , seven is more than just a technical accomplishment . in addition to style , fincher supplies substance . seven has compelling characters that it wants us to know and understand , and fincher ties them all together in a completely pessimistic view of society . detective william somerset ( morgan freeman ) is a man who has nearly given up on the world . its easy to see why . the world does n't make sense . ( somerset drives this point home with a rather ghastly story of a robbery victim who was attacked just blocks from the police precinct . after knocked down and robbed of his wallet , the attacker stabbed the helpless man in both eyes . ) why should somerset believe that by following this murder investigation and " picking up the pieces " he will be able to catch the killer ? somersets new partner , david mills ( brad pitt ) has not given up on the world , perhaps because he is still young ( and perhaps by having this optimism he 's naive in this films portrayal of the world ) . he completely disagrees with somersets abandonment of hope . however , david 's wife ( gwyneth paltrow ) has so much fear of her urban surroundings , she is n't even sure if she wants to * tell * her husband about her recent pregnancy , let alone carry it until birth and attempt to raise it in this environment . these three characters are all performed with skill and authenticity that makes them feel like real people and not the typical hollywood characters a lesser film might have offered . and in addition to making clear how each of these characters sees the world , fincher gives us support for * why * they feel the way they do . but if there 's one character that underlines the message seven is trying to convey , it has to be the killer , john doe ( kevin spacey ) . seven 's payoff lies in its ability to allow us to see how the killer views the world and what drives him to do what he does . one important thing to remember about doe is how easy it is to simply dismiss him as a " psycho , " with no motives behind his slayings . this is exactly the mistake mills makes . in the extremely intense and superbly performed closing scenes , were allowed to see that doe is , in his mind , merely a product of society . he 's a killer who kills those who are bringing society down . in his mind he did n't kill " innocent " people , and , perhaps , they were not completely innocent ( but , then again , who is ? ) . he s absolutely infuriated that mills believes that the murder victims were innocent . really , seven does n't just comment on the superficial obviousness of how screwed - up john doe is . seven makes larger statements about how screwed - up society is , hinting that society 's degradation is simply conducive of creating more john does . besides the stylistic and larger - issue arguments for seeing this film , i recommend seven because it is , after all , also a very slick and well - made thriller . it features exciting plot developments , commanding performances , lots of suspense , and a conclusion that is chilling , riveting , and quite unfair . but then again , its a cruel world .

1POS

modern audiences are more likely to be familiar with les misirables from the pop - broadway musical rather than victor hugo 's original tome . adapted several times for the cinema , this latest effort does a superb job of translating the characters , story , and heart of the novel to the screen . liam neeson stars as jean valjean . as a young man , valjean stole some bread to satisfy his hunger . . . and he was sentenced to 19 years of hard labor for his crimes . prison hardened him , and on his release he seems doomed to a life of crime and squalor . however , an unexpected act of compassion changes his outlook on life , and he vows to become a better man . however , he runs up against one man who does n't believe in reform . inspector javert ( geoffrey rush ) is an obsessive law abider . he has no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules , even with benign intentions . he once served as a guard at the labor camp where valjean served , and after valjean breaks his parole , javert devotes himself to bringing him to justice . two women also get caught up in the struggle . fantine ( uma thurman ) is an unwed mother suffocating in an unforgiving society . her daughter , cosette ( mimi newman , and later , claire danes ) , is her life , yet she can not afford to raise her . instead , cosette is sent to live with a cruel foster family which extorts money from fantine , and forces cosette into a life little better than a slave . director bille august manages to create a faithful adaptation of victor hugo 's novel , which , though omitting some of the political undertones , remains true to the overall story and tone of the book . hopefully you wo n't , as some clueless members of the audience did , wonder where all the songs went . the movie manages to be completely engrossing without the andrew lloyd webber flourishes . the experience is bolstered by strong performances throughout , though neeson and rush deservedly take center stage with their core roles . neeson in particular deserves kudos for his portrayal of a man trying to do good , but continually haunted by his past . the supporting cast is also extraordinary . the only actor who dims in comparison is hans matheson , playing the revolutionary , marius . the film slightly loses its luster during his brief love affair , but it is transitory , and truly only distracting when contrasted with the rest of the film . the novel les misirables is , by any account , an epic , both in its scope and in its length . while it would be nearly impossible to cram everything from its pages into a two hour movie , this latest attempt does an admirable job at the translation . it , too , is an epic . . . and one worth seeing .

1POS

i was born in 1970 , which makes me barely old enough to remember bell buttons , 8 tracks and disco . however , since i was 17 years old i 've seen more than my share of adult films . i mention this only because i thinks its important to state up front that i 'm not against pornogrpahy . i 've seen enough of these films to know the range of content and quality available . director paul thomas anderson 's boogie nights offers us a view into the world of porn during the period considered to be the golden age of adult cinema , the mid to late 70s . this was the period when x - rated movies were real movies , shot on film , shown in movie theaters and even reviewed by legitimate critics . this was an age when porn directors actually aspired to make innovative often educational films , films that attempted to tell a real story . one of the more fascinating aspects of this film is how , like in an any other billion dollar industry , the creative visionaries tend to be ignorant to the trends that will soon make them obsolete . in this case , the arrival of the now ubiquitous videocassette . burt reynold 's manages to resuscitate his career portraying such an auteur , known as jack horner . horner 's has a steady " family " of performers , some of whom live in his plush l . a . home . but in the world of porn , performers are a commodity - the fresher , the better . when horner scouts a fresh faced stud bussing tables at his favorite discotheque , he decides to add him to his stable . it is a pairing that leads to a meteoric rise and fall for a young man reaching his prime and an old man rapidly speeding past his . as directed by anderson , the camera moves through many of the scenes with an eerie omnipresence and an almost childlike curiosity to peer beyond the closed door . boogie nights provides a voyeuristic peep into the underbelly of l . a . 's hardcore film scene . but the peep show doesnut let us walk away when the titillation ends . the downside of voyeurism is sometimes we end up seeing things we wish we hadnut . by the film 's final image , what we we once found titillating has now become a grim reminder of the vanity of fame and the high price of realizing your dreams . boogie nights is not about sex . it does not glorify porn or the lifestyles of the performers . in fact , the film is n't really about pornography at all . pornography is merely the setting to tell a compelling story about a lost and forgotten group of people who form their own sub - culture to find acceptance of who they are . the film goes to brilliant , often hilarious and sometimes harrowing lengths to show us that the people who choose to produce or perform in these films are generally not all that bright and lack the basic tools to function in the mainstream world . yet , like in the lauded tarantino films , these people still have their own moral code , their own concepts of integrity and their own needs to experess themselves creatively . the characters we meet are like a road map of dysfuntion . first stop , the den mother ( julianne moore ) in denial about her addiction to cocaine as she tries to retain custody of her son . second stop , the cuckold crewman ( william h . macy ) who keeps discovering his wife having sex with anyone and everyone ( the wife is played in hilarious cameos by real - life porn star nina hartley ) . but the driving force behind the plot is 17 year old eddie adams . eddie is blessed with a natural endowment so famous that people actually pay just to see it . with no real ambition of his own , he hooks up with jack horner to fullfill his destiny of fame . his alcoholic mother , clearly dissatisfied with her own lot , abuses him verbally and drives him out of the house . horner introduces him to amber waves ( moore ) who immediately adopts him , a nuclear family is born . the surrogate relationship that develops between amber waves and her " babies " provides some of the films most poignant scenes . clearly , she is not even fit to manage her own life , let alone nurture these lost children . but the need to love and be loved is so strong , they easily ignore the dangers of the less subtle addiction she introduces them to . even the viewer is somehow lulled into feeling like the love she offers is similar to being in a real family . then again , perhaps its not so different from real families at all . eddie adams , who later takes on the screen name " dirk diggler " , is skillfully acted by former pop - star , mark wahlberg . i say " former " pop star because with this performance wahlberg can officially quit his day job . this is bold and brave territory for such a young man . he pulls it off marvelously . wahlberg is a " big , bright star " with a big bright future . boogie nights plays very much in the spirit of the people versus larry flynt , without the first amendment preachiness . its intimate studies of character make it the superior film . wahlberg 's surprising performance is on par with woody harrelson 's . but in my opinion , boogie nights , is not the best film of the year . i got the feeling that itus 2 1/2 hour running time could have been cut by 15 or 20 minutes without losing any of its resonance . still , if the subject matter of this film intimidates you , thereus no doubt that once you start watching boogie nights you may still feel like its not your thing , but youull find yourself grooving to it anyway . . . ya know , kinda like disco .

1POS

i remember making a pact , right after ` patch adams ' , to not be easily be suckered by movies dripping with sentimentality . but darn it , ` music of the heart ' is just layered with feel - good material and bright characterizations . it 's hard to dislike a movie that uses such skill with it 's manipulation . in addition , it 's also a terrific family film . this is the true story of violin teacher roberta guaspari , who fought the school board to keep the musical program active in a handful of inner city harlem schools . it could also be described as ` mrs . streep 's opus ' . yes , meryl streep brings her dramatic clout to the demanding role of guaspari , and that brings both good news and bad . out of the gate , possibly because of her distracting star power and the rushed writing , it is relatively difficult to identify with roberta 's character and grasp her academic point - of - view . she is very strict with her students , but what insight does that create into the story ? slowly but surely , we begin to recognize the intentions of the character , and show admiration for the thoughtfulness and human feeling that streep has once again applied . one thoroughly interesting fact about ` music of the heart ' lies with the unlikely presence in the director 's chair : horror veteran wes craven . after leaving an impression with the ` scream ' films and the original ` nightmare on elm street ' , craven has attempted a precarious cross - over to drama . at first , his inexperience with the genre is fairly obvious , but as the film progresses craven finds a surprisingly comfortable niche with directing this material . it does n't carry the heart - warming courage of ` mr . holland 's opus ' , but ` music of the heart ' is casually assured and filled with little morsels of dramatic truth . the tag team of streep and craven works better than you would anticipate . yes , oscar could come calling once again for meryl streep , but it 's the solid ensemble cast that makes ` music of the heart ' work . angela bassett displays her usual forceful stamina as janet williams , the principal at an inner city school who initially does n't hire roberta because of her lack of experience . blue - eyed adian quinn is endearing , as always , playing a new love interest . gloria estefan also delivers in the tiny role of a supportive second - grade teacher , and the three lead actresses together produce a flaming fireball of estrogenic force . it 's like a schoolteacher 's version of ` thelma and louise ' , in a restrained but effective manner . the movie tackles more issues than just guaspari 's teaching of violin . there 's some powerful moments between roberta and her two sons , who must cope when their father leaves them for another woman . in it 's dramatic build - up , the movie manages to produce some authentic moments of feeling and warmth . it 's a good movie for anyone to see , although missing out on the experience would not be a life - altering decision . it 's commendable of wes craven to be attempting such a difficult cross - over , and also for achieving his intricate goal . watching this heartfelt chick flick about morals and musical instruments , who may ask yourself : this is the guy who directed ` scream ' ? of course , when the third installment of that series comes around in february 2000 ( with craven directing ) , you may find yourself wondering : this is the guy who directed ` music of the heart ' ? mission accomplished , wes . thankfully , there is no layer of artificial sentiment covering the film . in it 's entirety , it 's a wholesome and agreeable movie for the whole family , despite the periodic flaws that surface every once in awhile . the child actors are cute and perform up to par , even if some of their problems are clich ? d and predictable in the extreme . the mother who does n't want her son to be learning ` white man 's music ' , the unexpected casuality . . . basically everything is there . it does n't strike the perfect chord , but ` music of the heart ' is highly convincing . the uplifting true story of roberta guaspari could have been told better , but ` music of the heart ' is still edifying enough to properly divulge her morals .

1POS

vannesa kensington : ` austin , do you smoke after sex ? ' austin powers : ` i do n't know baby , i 've never looked ! ' and so begins our journey into the most anticipated sequel of the summer season . austin powers 2 , the sequel to the sleeper hit of 1997 , is filled to the brim with uproarious sight gags and lurid toilet jokes that will make you keel over with hilarity . the mind of mike myers is obviously a very bizarre place . myers returns as the swinging 60 's spy and his arch - nemesis , the bald headed dr . evil , who is given much of the spotlight here . there 's an early scene in which dr . evil and his son scott ( seth green ) appear on a jerry springer segment entitled ` my dad is evil and wants to take over the world ' , hosted by springer himself . most of these talk - show gags , spoofing everything from oprah to regis and kathie lee , are no longer as funny as they once were . happily , this is an exception , especially when a fight breaks out between dr . evil and the other guests . ( sample dialogue- ` come back here you mother # @%$^ ! ! you want a piece of me ? ' ) the audience was in stitches . there are many good things about this sequel . dr . evil is now assisted by mini - me ( verne troyer ) , a pint - sized clone who is the result of an experiment gone awry . mini - me is the most perfect new character that any fan could ask for , and troyer does a terrific job of mimicking everything that his big brother does , pinkie and all . mindy sterling returns as frau farbissina , evil 's loud - mouth assassin sidekick , and here we are treated to a brief romantic liaison between the two in an underground bedroom chamber . this works surprisingly well . afterward , there 's even a meeting at the coffee machine , where their awkwardness is expressed in a scene you would expect in any normal office environment . oh , yes . . . the plot . after a short honeymoon with vanessa kensington ( elizabeth hurley ) that goes disastrously wrong , powers is back on the case to thwart the diabolical plans of dr . evil . in the original , the subject of the day was cryogenic freezing that enabled the characters to hop between two time periods . here , it 's time travel . dr . evil has this crazy plan to steal austin 's mojo ( the source of his sexual powers ) , so he jumps through a time portal back into 1969 when powers is still is his freezing chamber . there , he employs a grotesque 600-pound scottish assassin named fat bastard ( also myers ) to commandeer the mojo , so that our future hero is left completely shagless . meanwhile , austin is informed of evil 's wrong - doing by basil exposition ( michael york ) , and is supplied with his very own time - traveling device in the form of a volkswagen beetle . once back in 1969 , powers meets a foxy cia operative named felicity shagwell ( heather graham ) , and learns of dr . evil 's plans to destroy washington dc with a lazer on the moon . in one of the many uproarious jabs at star wars , evil calls the moon base a ` death star ' . if there ever was a movie that knew from the start it was a complete joke , it 's austin powers : the spy who shagged me . ap2 has many hilarious moments , much more so , than the original austin powers . but what it does n't have is the confident support system that the first boasted , and the jokes are now more scattershot and hit - and - miss . while myers has a knack for delivering clever , inspired gags , he sometimes does n't know when to call it quits . the hilarious scene in the original involving mustafa ( will ferrell ) and his refusal to die is played out here in a disappointing and tired manner . robert wagner , as dr . evil 's # 2 man , has only one scene early on in the film , where he lacks all the focus of the character . one nice surprise is rob lowe , as the young # 2 , who patterns wagner 's voice and movements right down to a tee . there are more recycled jokes from the predecessor , including kristen johnston as ivana humpalot ( an unfunny rendition of alotta fagina ) . but myers has clearly put so much dedication into this project , and many bits are side - splittingly funny . do n't miss an extended visual gag in a tent , where the shadows leave much to the imagination . . . . of the new characters , graham does n't leave much of an impression . her performance is merely okay , and she lacks the gung - ho enthusiasm that made elizabeth hurley so enjoyable before her . and as for fat bastard . . . well , he provides one or two hilarious moments , but all of the obesity jokes and bathroom talk go too far . but my most severe complaint : mr . bigglesworth was only in one scene ! ! but , with gritted teeth , i managed to get over that . this sequel will not leave fans disappointed ; it 's more often than not a laugh riot . and , i look optimistically to the future , where i foresee more installments to the austin powers collection . if myers can up the quota of fresh ideas , we should be in store for much more . ( c ) 1999 , jamey hughton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . jamey hughton ( 15 ) has written a weekly column in the starphoenix , saskatoon , sk since november , 1997 . he was a 1999 writing finalist in the canadian ytv achievement awards .

1POS

the premise of the new teen - targeted horror film ` final destination ' causes a recollection of a memorable ` simpsons ' halloween episode . after attempting to repair a malfunctioning toaster , lovably ignorant patriarch homer realizes he has created a portable time - machine . after a trek into the cretaceous period , homer observes that any minor alteration made there will erupt into a starling chain of events and seriously modify the present world . again and again , homer toys with the master plan and pays dearly for it . the characters of ` final destination ' have also tampered with the blueprint schematics of their existence - their ` design ' . someone is after them with the strict intent of correcting the mistake . that someone is death . you see , alex browning ( devon sawa ) and six others have cheated the grim reaper . . . . but the dude has got some tricks up his sleeve . for a high school excursion , alex 's french class is traveling to paris by airline transport . alex , tense and neurotic , has a shocking premonition after boarding : he sees the plane , and every passenger on it , spontaneously explode in mid - air . in a panic of sheer lunacy , alex charges his way through the aisle and demands removal from the aircraft . after a handful of others ( including one teacher ) follow and are denied admittance back onto the plane , the unwitting ? survivors ' watch in horror as the plane actually explodes in the drizzling night sky . the loony vision alex experiences does actually materialize . but death wo n't be cheated so easily , and one by one , the survivors of flight 180 are offed in mysteriously gruesome circumstances . the grisly murder count baffles the local officials and fbi . before i delve into the meat of the review , i 'd just like to confer . . . . is that one helluva premise , or what ? ` final destination ' , creepy beyond rational comprehension , probably reads more like an unsettling ` x - files ' episode than ` the simpsons ' - therefore , the surprise is minimal when you discover the mutual creators behind both are glen morgan and james wong . on familiar turf , the task of establishing footing is not difficult for morgan and wong , and the opening 20 minutes of ` final destination ' reflects that . unlike most thrillers , the set - up is crisp and cool . you just deeply , sincerely hope that the momentum wo n't unspool , leaving us with a second - string effort with nothing but cheap , derivative shocks . young viewers have a palpable reason to expect this kind of formula deterioration , what with ` i know what you did last summer ' and sequel , ` idle hands ' and -- a movie with a nifty premise that just plunged like an anvil -- ` urban legend ' . after the set - up , when i remained slouched apprehensively in my chair , i started to really have fun with ` final destination ' . low and behold , a teen thriller that is actually unsettling , actually suspenseful and -- yes -- actually intelligent . some splotty logic and a heap of characteristic genre flaws aside , this film is among the most refreshing and all - out enjoyable horror movies to submerge since the cutting - edge ` scream ' in 1996 . ` final destination ' stimulates the nerves and offers a exhilarating retaliation strike against all the blood - spattered slasher crap we 've endured throughout the past few years . not that the characters are that good . sawa is game as alex , a connect - the - dots personality that we never fully comprehend . in addition , the survivors are endearing geek tod ( chad e . donella ) , jocky control - freak carter ( kerr smith of ` dawson 's creek ' ) , carter 's ditzy girlfriend terry ( amanda detmer ) , the none - too - subtly named billy hitchcock ( seann william scott , supplier of lukewarm comic relief ) and a lone teacher - the emotionally delicate ms . lewton ( kristin cloke ) . aside from alex , the primary center of interest is intended to be ali larter ( ` varsity blues ' ) , playing an abstract character named clear rivers ( what were her parents thinking ? ! ? ) . the personality of clear is written with such a vague , nebulous definition that she resembles a walking flash - card saying ` hello , i am the offbeat character designed to identify with the main character 's plight ! ' toss a few stereotypical fbi agents ( daniel roebuck and roger guenveur smith ) and a . . . . ummm . . . ` spiritual ' mortician ( former ` candyman ' tony todd ) into the mix , and you have what could be another generic teenage frightfest with slicing , dicing and assorted disembowelments . not so . ` final destination ' has no slicing and dicing , or at least none dealt by a human killer , and the thought of death itself as the unseen stalker is unique and frightening . the extra dimension of disconcerting irony rejuvenates the decaying ? murderer - on - the - loose ' concept , with assistance from a shrewd , intelligently paced screenplay by morgan , wong and jeffrey reddick . the plot twists are fun and clever without toppling into utter absurdity ( listen up , ` reindeer games ' ) . but i suppose the most satisfying aspect of ` final destination ' is the murder scenes . creative , resourceful and breathlessly inventive , the death sequences involve an unlikely string of events leading to a character 's demise . what will trigger the accident ? will it be the john denver record , just put on to play ` rocky mountain high ' ? ( yeah , sick humor ) . will it be the leaking toilet ? the falling fishing reel in the corner ? the murders are startling and largely unforeseen , including one surprise incident that made the audience jump out of their seats and giggle nervously for roughly a minute afterward . a sense of giddy unpredictability is added with this inventive approach . it gets sorta tasteless and cheap sometimes , but who cares ? it 's fun . in that simple regard , ` final destination ' is my cup of tea . this stylishly executed thriller , although tagged with laughable circumstances and the occasional snippet of lame dialogue , is an immensely entertaining jaunt to the dark side . after the show , it will also have an frightening impact on you . when will your ? design ' expire ? is death waiting around the corner ? the ` final ' effect is a major case of the heebie - jeebies .

1POS

it is easy to see why the late stanley kubrick believed steven spielberg would be the perfect director for his a . i . artificial intelligence , just as it is understandable why spielberg was attracted to the material . for here we have another lost boy trying to find his way home , an outcast seeking family , themes very familiar from most of spielberg 's body of work from sugarland express to close encounters of the third kind to e . t . to empire of the sun to hook to saving private ryan , naming just a few examples . a . i . is set in an undefined near future in which giant technological advances have led to the creation of robots who serve every purpose from housekeeping to fulfilling sexual fantasies . it is an era when robots are treated merely as sophisticated appliances . the last great leap in robotic evolution is the addition of emotions , and with the number of births limited by the government , many couples are yearning for children . and professor hobby ( william hurt ) has the solution . a robotic boy named david ( haley joel osment ) , who is programmed to love . as a test , david is placed with henry swinton ( sam robards ) and his wife , monica ( frances o'connor ) . their natural - born son has been cryogenically frozen until a cure can be found for his illness . the first third of a . i . deals with david 's life with the swintons and how that is changed by the recovery and return of their son , martin . circumstances force david to be cut off from the swintons . he is abandoned and alone . david , highly influenced by the fairy tale , pinocchio , feels that if he becomes a real boy he can rekindle monica 's love for him . the film 's second act follows david 's search for the blue fairy , whom he believes will be able to fulfill his wish . during these adventures he meets and is helped by gigolo joe ( jude law ) , a robot who specializes in sex . spielberg is at his top form in this sequence , offering a brutal " flesh fair " where robots are destroyed via sadistic methods for the amusement of paying customers . here , is where kubrick 's influence is strongly felt , as the movie explores the fear and distrust humans have for robots . the savagery conjures up images from the late director 's a clockwork orange . at about two hours and 30 minutes , the film begins to falter during the last 20 minutes , a sequence that seems most spielbergian with images that appear to be borrowed from close encounters . it is all very anti - climatic and jarring . these scenes seem almost superfluous , as if from a different film . a . i . is a dark fairy tale that deserves its pg-13 rating . it is a story combining hope and intolerance , sacrifice and bigotry , and while it does not coalesce perfectly , the movie does offer some disturbing images . but a . i . is really a showcase for the acting talents of the amazing young osment . if ever an actor deserved an academy award nomination , it is this lad , who brings a sense of joy and wonder to the role of david , a being created for the express purpose of loving . he shines when with monica , beaming with love , as eager as a puppy to please . after being left in the woods , he is confused , lost , hurt , focusing on one objective : to become a real boy and find his way home so he can redeem himself in his mother 's eyes . law is pleasant as the care - free robot who really does n't understand david 's quest , but is nonetheless happy to help him on his journey . probably the toughest role is o'connor 's monica . playing an emotional fragile woman who sees david as a substitute for her lost martin , she grows conflicted after her boy returns and she begins to perceive david not as a second chance , but as a threat to her family . she gives her character enough emotional chaos that you can not fault her for her course of action . many of a . i . 's futuristic sets are breathtaking , especially a mostly submerged new york , lost to the world by the melting of the polar ice caps . a . i . is a flawed film , and you can not get through the entire feature without pondering - even subconsciously - how it would have turned out with kubrick instead of spielberg behind the camera . would it have been darker ? more cynical ? we will never know . we can only judge what is before us on the screen , a collaboration of two cinematic giants . a . i . is a most interesting and thought - provoking examination of a future that is quickly gaining on us .

1POS

here 's a word analogy : amistad is to the lost world as schindler 's list is to jurassic park . in 1993 , after steven spielberg made the monster dino hit , many critics described schindler 's list as the director 's " penance " ( as if there was a need for him to apologize for making a crowd - pleasing blockbuster ) . now , after a three - year layoff , spielberg is back with a vengeance . once again , his summer release was special effects - loaded action / adventure flick with dinosaurs munching on human appetizers . now , following his 1993 pattern , he has fashioned another serious , inspirational christmas release about the nature of humanity . that film is amistad . although not as masterful as schindler 's list , amistad is nevertheless a gripping motion picture . thematically rich , impeccably crafted , and intellectually stimulating , the only area where this movie falls a little short is in its emotional impact . watching schindler 's list was a powerful , almost spiritual , experience . spielberg pulled us into the narrative , absorbed us in the drama , then finally let us go , exhausted and shattered , three - plus hours later . aspects of the movie have stayed with me ever since . amistad , while a fine example of film making , is not as transcendent . the incident of the ship la amistad is not found in any history books , but , considering who writes the texts , that 's not a surprise . however , the event is a part of the american social and legal fabric , and , while amistad does not adhere rigorously to the actual account , most of the basic facts are in order . several , mostly minor changes have been made to enhance the film 's dramatic force . on the whole , while amistad may not be faithful to all of the details of the situation , it is true to the spirit and meaning of what transpired . one stormy night during the summer of 1839 , the 53 men imprisoned on the spanish slave ship la amistad escape . led by the lion - hearted cinque ( djimon hounsou ) , they take control of the vessel , killing most of the crew . adrift somewhere off the coast of cuba and uncertain how to make their way back to africa , they rely on the two surviving spaniards to navigate the eastward journey . they are tricked , however , and the la amistad , which makes its way northward off the united states ' eastern coastline , is eventually captured by an american naval ship near connecticut . the kidnapped africans are shackled and thrown into prison , charged with murder and piracy . the first men to come to the africans ' defense are abolitionists theodore joadson ( morgan freeman ) and lewis tappan ( stellan skarsgard ) . they are soon joined by roger baldwin ( matthew mcconaughey ) , a property attorney of little repute . aided by advice from former president john quincy adams ( anthony hopkins ) , baldwin proves a more persuasive orator than anyone gave him credit for , and his central argument -- that the prisoners were illegally kidnapped free men , not property -- convinces the judge . but powerful forces have aligned against baldwin 's cause . current president martin van buren ( nigel hawthorne ) , eager to please southern voters and 11-year old queen isabella of spain ( anna paquin ) , begins pulling strings behind - the - scenes to ensure that none of the africans goes free . at its heart , amistad is a tale of human courage . cinque is a heroic figure whose spirit remains unbreakable regardless of the pain and indignity he is subjected to . he is a free man , not a slave , and , while he recognizes that he may die as a result of his struggle , he will not give it up . effectively portrayed by newcomer djimon hounsou , whose passion and screen presence arrest our attention , cinque is the key to viewers seeing the amistad africans as more than symbols in a battle of ideologies . they are individuals , and our ability to make that distinction is crucial to the movie 's success . to amplify this point , spielberg presents many scenes from the africans ' point - of - view , detailing their occasionally - humorous observations about some of the white man 's seemingly - strange " rituals " . the larger struggle is , of course , one of defining humanity . as the nazis felt justified in slaughtering jews because they viewed their victims as " sub - human , " so the pro - slavery forces of amistad use a similar defense . the abolitionists regard the africans as men , but the slavers and their supporters see them as animals or property . in a sense , the morality of slavery is on trial here with the specter of civil war , which would break out less than three decades later , looming over everything . amistad 's presentation of the legal and political intricacies surrounding the trial are fascinating , making this movie one of the most engrossing courtroom dramas in recent history . four claimants come forward against the africans : the state , which wants them tried for murder ; the queen of spain , who wants them handed over to her under the provision of an american / spanish treaty ; two american naval officers , who claim the right of high seas salvage ; and the two surviving spaniards from la amistad , who demand that their property be returned to them . baldwin must counter all of these claims , while facing a challenge to his own preconceived notions as the result of a relationship he develops with cinque . even though attorney and client are divided by a language barrier , they gradually learn to communicate . aside from cinque , who is a fully - realized individual , characterization is spotty , but the acting is top - notch . matthew mcconaughey successfully overcomes his " pretty boy " image to become baldwin , but the lawyer is never particularly well - defined outside of his role in the la amistad case . likewise , while morgan freeman and stellan skarsgard are effective as joadson and tappan , they are never anything more than " abolitionists . " nigel hawthorne , who played the title character in the madness of king george , presents martin van buren as a spineless sycophant to whom justice means far less than winning an election . finally , there 's anthony hopkins , whose towering portrayal of john quincy adams is as compelling as anything the great actor has recently done . hopkins , who can convincingly play such diverse figures as a serial killer , an emotionally - crippled english butler , and richard nixon , makes us believe that he is adams . his ten - minute speech about freedom and human values is unforgettable . one point of difference worth noting between amistad and schindler 's list is this film 's lack of a well - defined human villain . schindler 's list had ralph fiennes ' superbly - realized amon goeth , who was not only a three - dimensional character , but a personification of all that the nazis stood for . there is no such figure in amistad . the villain is slavery , but an ideology , no matter how evil , is rarely the best adversary . it is to spielberg 's credit that he has fashioned such a compelling motion picture without a prominent antagonist . amistad 's trek to the screen , which encountered some choppy waters ( author barbara chase - riboud has cried plagiarism , a charge denied by the film makers ) , comes in the midst of an upsurge of interest in the incident . an opera of the same name opened in chicago on november 29 , 1997 . numerous books about the subject are showing up on bookstore shelves . it remains to be seen how much longevity the amistad phenomena has , but one thing is certain -- with spielberg 's rousing , substantive film leading the way , the spotlight has now illuminated this chapter of american history .

1POS

you know you 're in for a truly different cinematic experience the moment you realize steve buscemi has been cast as the movie in question 's most normal character . such is the case with " the big lebowski , " joel and ethan coen 's first venture since their " fargo " nabbed nationwide acclaim and a mantlepiece of academy award nods . there 's no need to fear that the coens suffered creative burnout with that accomplishment , because " lebowski " is an effort that makes words like " strange " and " unusual " seem like an understatement . thanks in part to delicious characterization and an all - encompassing sense of humor , the film is a smashing success . the central oddball here is the dude ( jeff bridges ) , an unemployed cad whose ambitions appear to be zilch beyond smoking pot , drinking beer and going bowling ( are you college students already rooting for him , or what ? ) . one night , a pair of thugs break into his house and pee on his carpet , a threatening act that 's supposed to be carried out against a famous pasadena millionaire ( david huddleston ) who shares his birth name -- jeff lebowski -- with the dude . once the dude realizes this coincidence , he visits the big lebowski in hopes to claim reparations for his soiled rug , and is back to his normal life with alley pals walter ( john goodman ) , a hotheaded vietnam vet , and donny ( buscemi ) , a mild - mannered surfer , before too long . soon , though , lebowski 's trampy trophy wife bunny ( tara reid ) is kidnaped and held for a hefty ransom , and he turns to the dude for help . it seems bunny 's troubles are related to a line of work she 's kept secret from her husband -- she 's actually an adult film star and is very in debt with a shady producer named jackie treehorn . the dude , now on lebowski 's payroll , accepts the offer and agrees to handle the money drop ; walter tags along and insists that the dude keep the cash for himself . chaos obviously ensues , and the dude eventually finds himself in hot water with cops , crooks and lebowski 's ultra - eccentric artist daughter maude ( julianne moore ) . " the big lebowski " deserves to win the coens the same amount of acclaim that " fargo " did ; while that 1996 black comedy was certainly a better film , " lebowski " is at least as breathtakingly imaginative . the movie boasts a mile - high absurdity level that sometimes threatens to topple over , but thankfully never does . the coens ( joel directed , ethan produced and both wrote ) keep you in stitches as they unravel their exceedingly loopy tale , and must be commended for juggling a number of people and subplots one would expect to find in a robert altman flick . whether we 're watching bridges fend off a marmet in his bathtub or moore don viking duds and dance in a busby berkeley - esque dream sequence , " the big lebowski " is immensely lively . there are those who will dislike this film , but not because it 's boring . the cast has a great deal of fun with the bounteous material they 're given . bridges exudes a likeable , surprisingly sweet presence ; his dude sure is n't the cleanest guy around , but you 'd still follow him to another movie . goodman merits 1998 's first oscar consideration , as walter 's manic temper is one of " the big lebowski " 's many highlights ; the same goes for moore , whose throaty , delectable performance as maude is a hilarious hoot . john turturro may very well steal the movie with his two scenes as a colorful bowler from a rival faction . sam elliott 's rambling narration gets the film off to a solid start . and some will recognize peter stormare -- " fargo " 's silent heavy -- as carl hungus , a porn star who 's really a samurai sword - wielding german nihilist and has - been pop star . only in its final third does the movie falter , with a couple of loose plot threads and some cast members who quickly disappear and never emerge for a curtain call . these flaws are forgivable , though -- the coens have crafted a tale so rich with personality that it 's hard to look at the final product with anything but a big grin on your face . without a doubt , " the big lebowski " is the best film so far this year . sure , we 're only three months in and the competition ( " deep rising , " " desperate measures , " " the wedding singer , " etc . ) has been pretty bland , but it 's still the gospel truth . maybe during next awards season , " lebowski " wo n't be a far cry from " fargo . "

1POS

a couple of months ago , when i first downloaded the face / off trailer from the net , my initial reaction was a fourteen carrot gold ' yawn ' . followed swiftly by a press of my computers delete key , not wanting to waste six or seven megabytes of precious space on this piss - poor trailer . then i started reading the first wave of reviews from the u . s . . . . . unique . . . excellent . . . . must - see . well , i thought still skeptical , i suppose i might as well go see it when it gets here . ' here ' , of course , was still three months away . i 'll admit , when i trotted off to see this film , the only john woo movie i had seen before was the fairly enjoyable but highly forgetable broken arrow . i 'd heard good things about his previous work with movies like hard boiled , but his films were definitely not on my must - see list . that , let me tell you , has changed completely . i knew this fact only five minutes into the film , after the brilliantly shot and acted opening sequence where sean archer loses his son blew me off my feet . the acting throughout the film is staggeringly good for an action flick . seriously . i 've never been a big john travolta fan , but he , like cage , perfectly suited his role in the movie . . . . . sorry , make that ' roles ' in the movie . even travolta 's great performance , however , paled in comparison to cage 's character portrayals . my favourite cage scene was definitely when he was crashed out in compardre dietrich hassler 's hideout . half drugged out of his mind , he sits there reclining back in a chair talking about his son 's death from castor 's perspective - " does n't it just break your heart . " he mutters coldly . now do n't go thinking from the previous comments about brilliant acting that this is a drama focused movie - it 's not . that 's what really makes this movie unique . it 's an action movie with brilliantly portrayed characters . . . . . not a common mix at all . suspension of disbelief is paramount in this movie though . . . . . that 's the only way to overlook the fact that travolta and cage fire around 5671 rounds at each other . . . . and never hit . several action scenes are just so well choreographed that they just make wish that you could press ' rewind ' and watch it over again . the part where archer and troy have a stand off on either side of a double - sided mirror is just plain brilliant . whilst cage 's and travolta 's performances would be enough alone to sustain most movies , the lesser characters are just as intriguing . joan allen , who usually sticks to the straight drama movies , plays her part perfectly as archer 's long suffering wife . i like the fact that her character did n't end up toting a gun at the end of the movie . . . it would have wrecked her potrayal . gina gershon was surprising to say the least as castor troy 's mistreated girlfriend . . . . . make that * one of * castor troy 's mistreated girlfriends . other movies would have used her character as just window dressing . . . a sex object , but instead her character is very strong and independent . dominique swain , who plays archer 's daughter , also does a nice job , though her character is not as explored as much as allen 's or gershon 's . faults ? well . . . there were some i have to say . first , the movie 's ending , whilst being very good overall , was a bit too drawn out for it 's own good . after the two combatants begin duelling again after the final boat crash you ca n't help but think - " geez , are you guys nuclear powered or what ? " . there were certain bits that were n't handled properly , like where archer appears safe and sound on solid ground after jumping off the converted oil platform / prison - more explanation here would have been nice . overall , this movie was not perfect . but i thought it was about as close as an action movie has ever came to perfect . many critics have claimed that this movie will change the way action movies are made . . . . . i certainly hope so .

1POS

those print and television ads trumpeting that " ' grease ' is still the word " are right on the money . to celebrate its 20th anniversary , this quintessential movie musical is getting the royal treatment reserved for classics like " star wars " -- a well - deserved , red - carpet rerelease . that 's fantastic , especially when considering of all the classic characters and scenes the film has served up -- who can forget aspiring beautician frenchie ( didi conn ) being serenaded by her tell - it - like - it - is guardian angel ( frankie avalon ) ? or the hard - nosed principal ( eve arden ) reminding the student body to " be an athletic supporter " by rooting for the home team ? or national bandstand emcee vince fontaine ( edd byrnes ) flirting with marty ( a pre- " empty nest " dinah manhoff ) ? and these are all probably considered minor moments . . . a very skinny john travolta and a very young olivia newton - john have the respective leads of danny zuko and sandy olsson , and their pairing still ranks as one of screendom 's most effervescently charming . for those eight of you who are n't familiar with the story , here 's a brief recap : greaser bad boy danny and aussie good girl sandy are reunited for their 1959 senior year at rydell high after a brief fling during the summer ; both thought she was going to return to her native continent before school started , but both were wrong . sandy tries to rekindle their relationship , but danny 's too cool a cat to fall for her wholesome appeal in front of his t - bird buddies ( including jeff conaway ) . so sandy hooks up with a gang herself -- the pink ladies , headed by sassy , sexy rizzo ( stockard channing , just superb as an independent woman well ahead of her time ) -- and danny , who still really feels love for her , attempts a compromise of ideals in order to win her back . the drag race finale is yet something of a drag , and i never have thought much of " greased lightening , " the film 's big " guy " number ( that choreography -- ack ! ) , but " grease " 's flaws amount too few to carp . the movie 's first showpiece is " summer nights , " where danny and sandy separately recount wildly different versions of their fun - in - the - sun romance . not only is " nights " tremendously catchy , but it 's also a smart look at how men and women see the same events with varying eyes . there has yet to be a live - action musical sequence that rivals the one - two punch of " you 're the one that i want " and " we go together , " " grease " 's euphoric cappers . all this and some of the most pleasing moments come from the smaller , quieter moments ; the oscar - nominated " hopelessly devoted to you " is a lovely showcase for newton - john , and channing 's lamenting ballad " there are worse things i could do " is one of " grease " 's most unjustly overlooked tunes . the soundtrack is remastered ( though travolta still hits that awful high note at the end of " nights " ) and the restored widescreen allows us to see previously pan - and - scanned - out choreography , but nothing else has changed -- no computer - generated backgrounds , no outtakes or new musical numbers , no jabba the hutt cameos . and it 's a testament to " grease " 's timeless success that nothing needs to be changed -- it 's the same all - around blast it 's always been , with an appealing cast in a fun story told with great music . to ' 90s viewers , " grease " will probably recall disco and bellbottoms as much as it made its original audience nostalgic for doo - wop and poodle skirts . but regardless of what decade it transports us to , we can all agree on one thing -- without a doubt , " grease " is still the word .

1POS

the party is one of those classic slapstick comedies that will leave you , at times , cracking up . the film takes place , for the most part , in real - time during an exclusive evening party that is attended only by the biggest names in hollywood . hrundi v . bakshi , played very well by peter sellers , is a struggling actor who just came to america from his homeland , india . hrundi tries out his acting talents , but it seems that he just is n't cut out for the job . on the set of his current film that he stars in , hrundi seems to make everything go for the worse . during the filming of this movie set in the 1800 's , hrundi manages to annoy the director ( herbert ellis ) in any way he can . this includes a pitiful acting job in many scenes , wearing an underwater watch in one scene , and accidentally detonating a massive set . many of the hollywood producers and big names want hrundi out of the business forever . and when the director makes a personal phone call to mr . clutterbuck ( j . edward mckinley ) pleading for hrundi 's ejection from hollywood , everything is pretty much over for hrundi . clutterbuck writes his name down on a piece of paper to insure that hrundi will never again work in hollywood . but when this piece of paper turns out to be the guest list for clutterbuck 's exclusive party , hrundi is invited , and certain chaos is bound to occur . of course , as predicted , hrundi causes lots of trouble . each scene in which hrundi encounters a situation , usually one that he ca n't handle , is almost always very humorous . and each scene with hrundi and the drunken waiter , who is alone hilarious , adds to the comedy in a great way . the party can be compared to many other films of it 's type , specifically the trio of naked gun movies and the airplane movies , but the party is a delightful movie that incorporates very well played out comedy into believable situations . it also includes a number of memorable scenes ( can anyone say " birdy num - num " ? ) . if you 're in the mood for fun and enjoyable slapstick comedy , check out the party . it 's not going to be one of your all - time favorites , but if you enjoy this type of humor , you 'll enjoy the party .

1POS

once again , the battle is dreamworks versus disney : earlier this year , the mammoth companies fought to the death with their end - of - the - world asteroid flicks , deep impact and armageddon . here we are now , just a few months later , and they 're at it again with dueling bug movies , antz and a bug 's life . what i find so astonishing is that both pairs of movies are so inherently similar in both story and execution . i mean , come on -- what were the chances of two studios both deciding to bring out computer - animated films about bugs ? as was the case with the meteor movies , disney has come out on top : though antz is a likable movie , a bug 's life is far superior . in fact , this movie made me realize what was wrong with antz : i became immersed in the world of a bug 's life , while antz just made me scrutinize everything . but it 's not really fair to base an entire review on a comparison . a bug 's life is a remarkable film in its own right , and deserves to be seen apart from any other computer - animated film about bugs . in fact , it 's one of the best films this year : it 's smart , subtle , and funny , but it 's also perfect family entertainment and relentlessly entertaining . i have n't had such a good time at the movies in months . it tells the story of an ant named flick ( voice by dave foley ) ; he 's a nice guy , but he 's also a troublemaker . the ants spend all season putting together the offering , a big pile of food that they provide for the grasshoppers . just before the grasshoppers come , flick accidentally knocks over the offering , and ruins everything for the entire colony : the grasshopper 's leader , hopper ( kevin spacey ) , is enraged , and tells them that the ants need twice the food by the end of summer , or they 're all dead . flick , feeling responsible for this , sets off to look for help -- he realizes that the only way to be rid of the grasshoppers is to fight them . he heads to the city ( the city being a house a few miles away ) , where he finds a colorful bunch of circus bugs : a ladybug ( denis leary , who is spectacular ) , a black widow ( bonnie hunt ) , a caterpillar ( joe ranft ) , a butterfly ( madeline kahn ) , a rhinoceros beetle ( michael mcshane ) , and a stick ( david hyde - pierce , also giving a hilarious performance ) . flick does n't know they 're actors , and they do n't know that flick needs them to kill a bunch of grasshoppers , so they return to the colony with flick and find themselves in an unusual position . the most obvious element of a bug 's life is the quality of animation . created by pixar , the same people who brought us toy story , a bug 's life has some of the most amazing visuals i 've ever seen . the bugs seem to inhabit a three - dimensional space , and occasionally there will be a shot that is indistinguishable from live action . this is a lush , colorful world , full of life and imagination : the way the animators insert the things all of us see in our daily lives ( matches , bottlecaps , tin cans , etc . ) and make them active objects in the bugs ' world is innovative . the film is also mercilessly exciting , particularly in a superbly - staged scene involving our heroes ' escape from a bird ( a little bird never seemed so huge and threatening ) . but the makers of a bug 's life know where the importance lies : story and characters . flick , with solid voice work from foley , is a great guy to lead the story . but the real treat comes with the circus bugs ; they 're such a likable group of characters -- the standouts are the stick ( hyde - pierce is so good ) , francis the ladybug , and the big fat caterpillar . all of these bugs have more than a token personality , which makes the suspenseful scenes work because we care about the bugs , and it also keeps the tear - jerking scenes from seeming obligatory . in my review of antz , i said that the film is a clever cop - out because it presents a bunch of little humans reacting to an ant - like existence . in concept , a bug 's life is basically the same movie , except that i was never given enough time to find things that i did n't like about it . with such strong work in both animation and script , a bug 's life is nothing but a joy to sit through . it really is too bad that it had to come out so close to that other bug movie , but a bug 's life is so good that i 'm sure it will find its audience . after a slew of endlessly violent and cynical movies , it 's downright refreshing to sit through an innocent picture like this and laugh without feeling guilty .

1POS

eight years after its release , disney has decided to re - release the little mermaid theatrically for 17 days ( and 17 long nights ) only . coincidentally , it was reintroduced to theaters the same day fox 's animated film anastasia was released . you know disney , they ca n't deal with the threat of any other studio getting even a small piece of the crust of the kiddie entertainment pie , so when someone else wants to make a little money , they counter with an old " masterpiece " from their vault and , you know what , i went to see this 1989 cartoon rather than the brand new one from fox . let no one say disney is losing its monopoly on the market . they still have hotels on boardwalk _ and _ park place . believe it or not , today , november 25 , 1997 , at 5 : 05 p . m . , i saw the little mermaid for the first time . it took me a few years to get over an aversion to this movie that was caused seven years ago , when i stayed with one of my mom 's friends for a couple weeks . they had a young child who listened to the little mermaid soundtrack constantly and , over that two week period , i heard every song from the movie probably a hundred times . by the time i got back home , i promised myself i 'd never see the movie . but promises are made to be broken , especially when you 're looking at a 17-day , limited engagement . damn those shrewd disney marketers and their mind games . the little mermaid is based on a hans christian anderson fairy tale , but it 's disney - ized , which means lots of talking animals and bursting into song . it also means the heroine is a total babe who shows off cleavage from a seashell bra at all times . i never wanted so much to be a pair of shells . . . the heroine , of course , is ariel ( voice of jodi benson ) , a 16-year - old mermaid who is going through that rebellious phase . she skips her concert to explore a wrecked ship and hang out with a seagull that talks like buddy hackett , who tries to orient her to the mysterious world of humans . she 's also dealing with feelings she has n't had before -- which comes when you get scales in places you did n't use to have them -- about a handsome prince ( no disney movie would be complete without one ) . her father , king triton of the merpeople , strictly forbids such lusting after the ways of the " savage " humans , in a condemnation that reads as a not - so - subtle analogy about old- fashioned parents who forbid interracial dating . what 's a king to do , though ? the girl 's in love and even total destruction of her little shrine to the human world does n't deter her . ariel saves the prince 's life when a hurricane rises up , and just has to meet him . she makes a deal with ursula , the sea witch ( voice of pat carroll ) . you know she 's evil because she has a huge potbelly and one of the worst asses in cartoon history . she also has octopus tentacles for feet ( something those dr . scholl 's corn pads will not fix ) and offers to help ariel out . she 'll make her a human for three days if ariel will give up her pretty voice ; ariel has three days to make that prince kiss her , or else she becomes a slave to the witch forever . and if she pricks her finger on a sewing machine or eats an evil apple , she 'll fall asleep forever . it 's a simplistic plot , yes , but the little mermaid was a revolution in the disney world , coming after such lackluster efforts as the black cauldron and oliver and company . it ranks as one of the best disney cartoons , certainly since the ' 50s . all the elements are there -- memorable songs like " under the sea " and " kiss the girl , " cartoon animals like sebastian and flounder , an evil villain who still has characterization and charm , and a fair amount of humor that caters to adults as well as children . the little mermaid is worth a big - screen ticket in 1997 , so hurry up , you only have five days left . serving america for more than 1/25th of a century !

1POS

in a flashback , the teenage girl in the eccentric family in the canadian film , the hanging garden , tells her senile grandmother that she is going to a school dance . horrified , the grandmother wants to know if her granddaughter knows " the rule of 6 . " if you do n't break off a kiss by the count of 6 , then you committed a sin with the boy . and most of all , the grandmother wants to know if she has " protection ? " she must carry a rosary in her pocket at all times . the richly acted film is written and directed by thom fitzgerald in a quirky but loving style . although some may refer to the film as yet another dysfunctional family picture , that moniker misses the mark . yes , every member of the household has their own special problems , but the writer did n't choose to name so many characters for various flowers by accident . this delightful little picture mixes love , tragedy and pathos , resulting in a hopeful and almost magical concoction . during the opening credits we observe the boy , sweet william , at the center of the story . first , he 's an average sized young lad who is slapped off - screen by his father . next , he 's 300 pound teenager , played with hopelessness and depression by troy veinotte . when the opening credits end , we cut to 10 years later . william is now an average - sized , reasonably happy adult , played with love and compassion by chris leavins . william has returned after 10 years absence to attend the marriage of his free - spirited and foul - mouthed sister rosemary to his first childhood lover , fletcher ( joe s . keller ) . kerry fox from an angel at my table and shallow grave plays rosemary with a compelling joy . nicole burnell , who gave such a devastating performance in the sweet hereafter , plays the teenage rosemary . the father of the family , whiskey mac ( peter macneill ) , is an alcoholic autocrat who is more obnoxious than harmful . his wife , iris ( seana mckenna ) , says that she would have left him years ago to at least go to some place warm were it not for her lack of money and her obligations to the kids . rounding out the family is christine dunsworth as nine - year - old violet , the sister whom william meets for the first time . as the exuberant irish music fills the air at the wedding in the family home , william wanders off to try on one of his old coats , which causes him to laugh at the size of his former self . the director manages to stage simple scenes in wonderfully imaginative ways . he takes a common wedding dress train and uses it to set up scenes in fresh and fascinating ways . rosmary 's trip to the bathroom after drinking too much beer is beautifully orchestrated , and kerry fox is at her hilarious best trying to cope with the long train in a small bath , all while talking to her brother . as much as anything , the film is a series of character sketches . in one of the strongest we watch william in a flashback as he has his first sexual encounter , a homosexual one . although he is perfectly happy liking the same sex , his mother is aghast . a woman friend of hers suggests she take william to a local housewife , dusty miller ( martha irving ) , who , for a fee , will have heterosexual sex with william . with absolute finesse the director crafts a subtle scene that manages to yield significant emotional punch without being sensational . dusty , after asking iris to watch her daughter , takes william and gently introduces him to the joys of sex with the opposite sex . all of this notwithstanding , he still prefers males . the film is at its most poignant in several sequences in which the grown william comes face - to - face with himself when younger . this causes his ugly old memories to be reignited . in the most devastating , he has to come to grips with his former self who was so overwhelmed with the stress that he tried to hang himself . even here , the director touches your heart without ever letting the story dissolve into anything approaching a tearjerker . the ultimate result is an uplifting story that has more hope that one would ever expect from the outline of its plot . the hanging garden runs 1 : 31 . it is rated r for strong sexuality , language , violence and some teen drug use and would be acceptable for teenagers only if they are quite old and mature .

1POS

( dimension films , " scream 2 " 's distributor , has asked press to say extremely little -- if anything -- about the film 's twisty plot . that 's no easy task considering the wit that deserves to be mentioned here , but i will do my best to be vague ( now , there 's a first ) . ) " the first one was [ good ] , but all the rest sucked , " said a cinematically - savvy teen in last winter 's wes craven thriller " scream , " her statement referring to the films of the " nightmare on elm street " series but really putting down franchise overkill in general . the comment certainly carries clout : for every truly great sequel , there appears to be a couple of duds , making one wonder if writers are better off sticking solely with fresh ideas . but like it or not , along comes " scream 2 . " and believe it or not , it 's a doozy -- a slick , sinister , madly subversive good time at the movies , as intent on sending up hollywood 's sequel syndrome as much as its prequel poked fun at slasher conventions . " scream 2 " is definitely that rare movie thing -- a follow - up that can stand along side its original with pride . it 's been two years since a pair of overzealous horror movie fans clad in edvard munch - esque get - ups carved their way through the young populace of woodsboro , california . those surviving the ordeal have gotten on with their lives . plucky heroine sidney prescott ( neve campbell ) is a drama student at the midwestern windsor college ; her pop culture - whiz pal randy meeks ( jamie kennedy ) has tagged along . trash tabloid reporter gale weathers ( courteney cox ) has written a best - seller based on their ordeal , the basis of which has been turned into a ( very bad ) movie called " stab . " and dewey riley ( david arquette ) , still suffering from wounds inflicted during " scream , " has left his job as a police officer for a while . life is tranquil . . . at least for a while . several sudden murders bring sidney , randy , gale and dewey together again , but with suspicious eyes cast on each other and most of those in their surroundings -- if these four people learned anything from the past , it 's to trust no one . thus , the possible victim / potential killer list includes said quartet , as well as : derek ( jerry o'connell ) , sidney 's new beau ; cici ( sara michelle gellar ) , a chatty sorority gal ; joel ( duane martin ) , gale 's cameraman who 's not too thrilled with her blood - soaked past ; hallie ( elise neal ) , sidney 's sassy roommate ; debbie ( laurie metcalf ) , a local reporter who gives gale some not - too - friendly competition ; and mickey ( timothy olyphant ) , randy 's good friend and fellow film student . cotton weary ( liev schreiber ) , the man sidney wrongly accused of her mother 's murder in scream , also shows up on campus -- but why ? like the first scream , craven and screenwriter kevin williamson inaugurate things with a bang . this time , it 's an extended sequence that finds an african - american couple ( jada pinkett and omar epps ) attending a sneak preview of " stab , " making sly references about everything from sandra bullock to the lunchmeat non - roles of blacks in slasher cinema . before tragedy ensues at the screening , the movie - within - a - movie setup allows for plenty of jokey moments , including a scene from " stab " which turns scream 's now - famous drew barrymore prologue on its ear . ( " b---- , hang up the phone and star-69 his a-- ! " pinkett yells at the screen . ) it 's funny , creepy stuff ( i do n't think i 'll ever feel safe in a movie theater again ) that effectively foreshadows the ratio of smart scares and spoofy laughs down the road . another flawless example of this is a riotous cell phone - assault of the killer on randy , dewey and gale in broad daylight ; it builds comedically and ends with genuine terror because of the emotional investment made on these delicious characters . there are other superb set pieces , but explaining them risks ruining their effect . there are more players this time around as to provide both a higher number suspects and a staggering body count . it 's something of a trade - in -- the new characters are too large in number to be as fully - developed as the original " scream " gang , but this movie packs in knowing performances ( especially by kennedy and cox ) and more death for your dollar . it can be argued that , while the original might outclass it by a tad , scream 2 is both scarier and funnier . it certainly does n't skimp with shocks -- a major one being the killing of one cast member very near and dear to my heart ( i actually questioned craven and williamson 's judgment here , considering how much this person has added to these films ) . sometimes you wish that more could have been done with stab -- the two scenes we 're shown are dead - on -- but for film fans , there are plenty of subtle nods to movies like " the usual suspects , " " aliens " and " the empire strikes back . " still , " scream 2 " does so many things right , it 's petty to quibble . its penchant for parody is irresistible , discussions of the merits of film sequels and all . the attractive , solid cast is a definite bonus . and the denouement ( while not as shocking as " scream " 's ) is priceless ; the film 's final revelation incorporates bits of a particular horror film prominently referred to in " scream " with one of the best bad guy motives ever put on paper . all this and a " scream 3 " is in the works . knowing the series ' tendency for self - reference , perhaps one of its characters will again discuss the concept of sequel justice . mentioning " scream 2 " 'll help them in their argument .

1POS

edward zwick 's " the siege " raises more questions than it can convincingly answer or even clearly articulate . its subject is the rising threat of terrorism in american cities . denzel washington is anthony " hub " hubbard , who runs the fbi 's anti - terrorism task force in new york . his investigation into arab terrorist cells intensifies when suicide bombers take out a busload of people . hub focuses on a mysterious cia operative ( annette bening ) , whose goes by both " elise " and " sharon . " as the terrorist attacks continue and the body count rises , the question of martial law is raised . enter general devereaux ( bruce willis ) , who opposes martial law at first but who , as soon as the president decides to send in the army , begins herding arab immigrants into a prison camp and attacking every link that hub uncovers in the terrorist chain . hub listens as devereaux tortures and murders a suspect . the future zwick and screenwriter lawrence wright offer is all too possible . what would happen , they ask , if terrorism became as much a fact of daily life in new york as it is in cities like beirut and belfast ? what would happen to our civil liberties if soldiers patrol our streets with machine guns ? these questions " the siege " answers in realistic detail . it implies tougher ones , though : what can be done to combat terrorism without sacrificing justice and freedom ? if we encourage terrorism abroad ( from bening 's character we discover that the cia trained the bombers ) , will it inevitably come back to us ? " siege " avoids the tougher questions by endowing its hero , hub , with a uncompromising sense of clear right and wrong . this comforting fantasy of sir galahad confronting the evils of the modern world is an escape from the thought - provoking issues the movie raises . still , zwick deserves credit for at least addressing the issue with as much realism as he does where so many movies ( willis ' " die hard " series , for example ) offer only a comic - book view on terrorism .

1POS

a movie that 's been as highly built up as the truman show , with reviews boasting , " the film of the decade ! " and " a breakthrough ! " can only be leading up to letdown . that 's no doubt -- it seems any movie with critical acclaim makes you think you 're going in for the ride of your life , that you 'll end up changed on the other side , and you come out of the theater going , " eh . . . * that 's * what all the fuss was about ? " so , naturally , the truman show was building up to what was going to be a dissapointment . and i convinced myself , as i nestled into my uncomfortable movie theater chair , actually to try not to enjoy it . let me tell you , that is an impossibilty . the truman show is truly " the film of the decade " and " a breakthrough " and more . and you will come out changed on the other side . such a movie comes around only once in a lifetime , where you find yourself feeling everything that the character is feeling , and this , friends , is it . jim carrey shows that he does n't need to talk out of his butt to entertain us ; that he can be as dramatic as any of hollywood 's leading men . the film has a difficult premise to tackle , trying to set us up thirty years into the " truman show 's " run , but tackle it it does , and perfectly . with flashbacks actually being flashbacks on the television show , you get the sense that you are viewing a * real * prime - time hit . and the way the camera constantly takes the forms it would in the " real " truman show is clever and well - done . people , rejoice ! this is the first oscar - worthy film of not only this year , but of the last five years . not since " schindler 's list " has a movie captured human spirit and true despair so well . this is a classic in the making , and ( to borrow a line from esquire 's review ) it stars jim carrey . nothing in his career to date and nothing he can do in the future will ever be able to top his role as truman burbank ; mark my word . for , as i said , this is the movie of a lifetime and the role is of the same calibre . forget special - effect ladden summer fodder . drop your romantic comedies in the trash . toss your thrillers and teen flicks on the pile . you need nothing more than " the truman show " to carry you through the summer , or for that matter , the year . oh ! and in case i do n't see you , good afternoon , good evening , and goodnight .

1POS

go 's is a gloriously slick hip machine . director liman ( who also photographed go ) and screenwriter august celebrate the drug / rave scene in l . a . , preferring to take ( comedic ) snapshots of troubled youth rather than critique them . after more than ninety minutes of pill - popping , tantric sex , car chases , and attempted murder , go even has a happy ending . this is the sort of film that gives members of the dove foundation splitting headaches ; as go wound down , i anticipated an anti - pill - popping - casual - tantric - sex - car - chase - attempted - murder sermon that ( blessedly ) did n't arrive . a la tarantino 's pulp fiction , go is comprised of three separate but related stories . the basics are as follows : ronna ( polley ) is a bitter grocery store clerk facing eviction who turns to drug dealing for extra dough . her co - worker , simon ( the improbably named askew ) , is a clubber from britain ecstatic about his first trip to vegas . zack ( mohr ) and adam ( wolf ) are soap opera stars escaping a career - threatening conviction by assisting a peculiar cop ( fichtner ) in a drug bust . perhaps because the innovative structure of tarantino 's non - linear masterwork is by now old hat , the id - fueled go delighted me but rarely surprised me ( with the exception of that mind - reading cat ! ) ; pulp fiction zigzagged down roads unforeseen , but we see go 's wheels turning from its first flash frame to the last . torontonian polley ( of the sweet hereafter ) refused to do publicity for this picture on the basis that she was " not pleased with " her turn as the ill - fated cashier . in go , she delivers , hands - down , her best performance to date . here 's an ( overrated ) actress who agreed to appear on the poster , but not support her team at the junket or in interviews ; this sort of arrogance is commonplace for ms . polley , as anyone who has read of her political agenda in the canadian press will tell you . if she does n't want to be the ingenue of the moment , she should have said " no , " not go . but i digress . go is a fun film , so chipperly depraved one ca n't help but turn off his moral judgment for its duration and enjoy the ride . in that sense , it 's a departure from liman 's last film , swingers , which at least lectured against self - absorption in the form of vince vaughan 's trent and his subtle comeuppance in the story 's clever epilogue ( which has been aped by mcdonald 's for their latest commercial ) . i wish i cared more about go 's characters : like the techno music they listen to , the bands of anarchists on display here are at once absorbing and vacuous . when the lights came up and stung my eyes , it was difficult to recall what about it entertained me . yet entertain me it did . go is light and frothy , featuring compelling if not endearing work by polley , timothy olyphant ( scream 2 ) , and especially fichtner , whose homoerotic behavior is milked for effective laughs . fichtner is a character actor best known for playing backstabbers ( in heat , armageddon , and others ) ; his previously untapped comic abilities shine in go . unlike much of the film , fichtner is unpredictable .

1POS

what 's shocking about " carlito 's way " is how good it is . having gotten a bit of a bad rap for not being a big box office hit like pacino 's previous film , " scent of a woman , " and not having as strong a performance as he did in that one ( he had just won an oscar ) , " carlito 's way " was destined for underrated heaven . that 's what it is : an underrated gem of a movie . and what a shame because pacino and de palma both do amazing jobs with it , and turn it into a great piece of a pulpy character study . " carlito 's way " deals with , well , carlito brigante ( pacino ) , a puerto rican ex - drug kingpin , who gets out of a long jailterm when his coke - addicted , curly - haired lawyer ( sean penn ) points out a legal technicality . of course , carlito was actually awoken in prison , and has decided to go straight , even if he 's really a crook at heart . carlito , like barry lyndon , is a man who is trapped by fate at every turn , and ca n't escape into something he is not . carlito 's attempts at a clean , legal life are thwarted at nearly every turn . when he first gets out , a friend of his ends up leading him into a big shoot - out , where he has to kill a couple people to survive . he 's constantly getting bugged by the government to see if he 's doing anything illegal , and his lawyer finds himself neck - deep in a pile of shit , needing him to try and help him out , which includes him doing some prison breaking . carlito , like ratso rizzo , wants to go to miami ( since , according to film logic , that 's where it 's at ) , but needs some funding . being a legend , he is quickly able to get a nice job running a big dance club ( this is the 70s , by the way , and since some of this takes place in night clubs , we get to hear all sorts of 70s classics , including several k . c . and the sunshine band tunes - my personal favorite ) . he gets a bodyguard ( the great luis guzman , at his best ) , and is soon running a pretty good business , even if he 's constantly attracting underworld young thugs , like benny blanco " from the bronx " ( john leguiziamo ) , who is more than once pointed out to be a young version of carlito . on the other side , the symbol of promise and hope , is gail ( penelope ann miller - what happened to her ? ) , his girlfriend from before prison . she 's a goregeous ballerina , and a stripper , and soon carlito is trying to get back with her , and take her with him when he finally leaves for miami . while this relationship is never fully defined or anything , we get a sense of love between them , and they have some truly interesting scenes between them ( she never gives him addresses or locales - he always has to track her down ) . all of these elements clash together at the end , in a brilliantly executed , emotional climax , which is inevitable . when i say inevitable , i mean we see it at the beginning and then backtrack , putting a great spin on it . sure , it 's going to eleveate some of the tension , but it gives the film a lot of depth , as carlito is seen trapped by fate . what 's amazing is the big chase sequence ( amazingly done by de palma ) has a lot of tension and thrills . like " apollo 13 , " we know what 's going to happen , but we 're still thrilled by what happens in the middle . it 's also very emotional , thanks to a great script by david koepp , and amazing performances by pacino and miller . de palma is famous ( or infamous ) for lots of violence in his films . his earlier flim , " scarface " ( which starred pacino in the lead ) , has a ton of it , especially at the end ( and a nasty chainsaw scene towards the beginning which i 'm still not over ) . but de palma actually reigns in more quieter scenes . to me , the best scene in the film is when carlito is on top of a building , looking down into the room where gail is doing ballet . this is the most brilliantly done , and most emotionally stimulating scene in the entire film , and probably the best in de palma film history . with a gorgeous soprano duet in the background , and rain pouring down onto a trashcan lid covering carlito 's head , and a saddened , remorseful look on pacino 's face , it 's a tear - jerker ( well , for me , i dunno about you . . . ) . the acting from all is great , especially from the three leads . pacino was panned for his performance , chiefly because his accent was n't puerto rican enough and , well , it was n't as " strong " as his oscar - winning role in " scent of a woman . " well , his " scent of a woman " performance was great and all , but it was nothing really but , as comic kevin pollack said , a " foghorn leghorn impression . " in " carlito 's way , " he 's emotional , and strong , despite the fact that he 's remorseful over his entire lifestyle , which he can not change . i felt more for carlito brigante than i did for the tango - dancing , insult - throwing blind guy in " scent of a woman . " as i said , penelope ann miller is great , and she and pacino actually have very good chemistry . and they 're scenes are well - written , with some good clever dialogue which adds some interest to an otherwise bland relationship . and sean penn is amazing as the coke - addicted rat attorney . every scene he 's in , he has great energy , and even measures up to the greatness that is pacino . in smaller roles , john leguiziamo and luis guzman are great . " carlito 's way " is one of those films which you heard about briefly , but when you finally watch it , you 're absolutely blown away . it 's a wonderful film , a highly underrated little masterpiece which was shelved after it did n't do so hot . but trust me and check it out . it 's a great little film , and proof that the residential critics and mass populus are not always right .

1POS

life is beautiful is a rare treat : a lighthearted comedy that tackles a very serious subject without committing the sins of being disrespectful , or , even worse , humorless . it combines a charming romance with a dash of farce , stirs in a little poignancy , and ends up a very enjoyable movie . it 's an italian film , but do n't let that discourage you . subtitle - phobes will be missing a wonderful experience . life is beautiful opens as a sweet romantic comedy , with the clownish , but good natured guido ( roberto benigni ) arriving in a rustic italian town to work as a waiter for his uncle . the year is 1939 , and guido literally stumbles into the girl of his dreams , dora ( nicoletta braschi ) . their romance seems to be picture perfect , with only one stumbling block : she 's already engaged to another man . can guido overcome the odds and win his girl ? what do you think ? however , five years later , things have taken a turn for the worse in italy . the fascists have stepped up their race initiatives , which is bad news for the jewish guido and his new son giosue ( giorgio cantarini ) , who are rounded up and shipped off to a concentration camp . unable to protect his boy in any other way , guido attempts to shield his young son from the horrors of the labor camp . he pretends that everything is all an elaborate game , with points awarded for such tasks as hiding , being brave and being very very quiet . as you can tell from the description , life is beautiful has two very different tones , but manages to excel at both of them . as a romantic comedy , it is sweet and funny . as a bittersweet tale of hope amid despair , it is touching . roberto benigni 's work here has been compared with some of the best of chaplin 's , and it is easy to see why . he is able to run the gamut of comic expression , from slapstick to farce , with a warm - hearted feeling that celebrates his downtrodden hero 's " triumph of the underdog " spirit . life is beautiful treads a thin line when it turns its attentions to the holocaust . however , it is able to successfully navigate the minefield , without demeaning the gravity of the horrors involved , nor without losing its humorous edge that allows you to smile through the tears . with life is beautiful , benigni has created a triumphant , but bittersweet comedy . it 's quite simply one of the most enjoyable times i 've had at the movies this year .

1POS

you 've probably heard the one about the priest and the rabbi , but never with the same dosage of featherweight charm that is sprinkled over ` keeping the faith ' . it 's a fluffy comedy , thoroughly glazed with a sense of innocuous innocence and good cheer , regarding two moral topics -- love and religion -- and how a romantic triangle causes the two to collide head - on . as youngsters , brian finn , jacob schramm and anna reilly were an inseparable trio . while their friendship progressed , anna always had the compassion to shower them both with the same love and support , so neither would feel excluded . but tragedy soon struck , as anna was forced to move away . now adults , brian ( edward norton ) and jacob ( ben stiller ) hold similar but contrastive jobs . the likable and kind - hearted father brian is a catholic priest , while the spry and outgoing jacob acts as a jewish rabbi . on the basketball court , they refer to themselves as ` the god squad ' . in the relationship field , brian abides by his catholic principle of celibacy , but jacob has reached the point where finding a jewish bride is practically mandatory . everything changes when anna ( jenna elfman ) returns to new york to visit her childhood chums . now a workaholic , she devotes endless hours per week to her business , but does find spare time to reminisce with brian and jacob - both ecstatic about seeing their elementary school sweetheart once again . with these oddball ingredients tossed into one cocktail , there 's bound to be some awkward romance between our three central characters . predicting the outcome is not entirely difficult , but ` keeping the faith ' is open , entertaining and refreshingly relaxed as it travels en route from point a to point b . edward norton has emerged as one of the finest , most flexibly versatile actors in hollywood - a success story sparked by his critically lauded debut in the 1996 thriller ` primal fear ' . after shockingly bitter roles in ` american history x ' and , most recently , david fincher 's vicious ` fight club ' , a quaint romantic comedy might seem like a peculiar choice . not in the least . norton slips into the director 's chair for the first time with ` keeping the faith ' , and here his incisive , resourceful approach helps add additional craft to a surprisingly perceptive screenplay by stuart blumberg . weighing every aspect , it is unanimously an impressive directorial debut . in addition , norton pushes all the right buttons with the sheepish sweetheart brian , generating a thoroughly likable screen presence . stiller ( the zipper guy from ` there 's something about mary ' ) is firm and funny , boasting a fully - ripened comic maturity . elfman 's perky repetition can grow tiresome ( such is occasionally the case on tv 's ` dharma and greg ' ) , but she seems perfectly rambunctious here . the remaining cast members offer fine support , from anne bancroft as jacob 's animated jewish mom to milos forman as an elderly priest quick to contribute intelligent advice . ` keeping the faith ' is the perfect date flick . . . though perfection is not a word to associate with the film in general . there is turbulence during the process of lift - off , as numerous failed attempts at establishing the situation cloud the projected comedy ahead . once the film does settle in , it is often funny and always cheerful . stiller , norton and elfman have created three enormously lovable personalities . we enjoy their interaction , understand their various dilemmas and feel humbled to realize everything rings perfectly true . this is excluding the ending , which is acceptable and all , but seems to lack the charm and spontaneity of the preceding romantic entanglements . nonetheless , a narrowly mishandled finale certainly wo n't wipe the smile off your face , nor anyone else 's in the audience . ` keeping the faith ' is a highly enjoyable romantic comedy , although one that is more observant while surveying the questions of love rather than religion . aww , what the hell . the quality is not quite heaven - sent , but this little charmer could revive our ` faith ' in a potentially tired filmmaking genre .

1POS

naturally , at the core of leon gast 's " when we were kings " is the fight itself , for what a fight it was . thanks to the business savvy of don king , an ageing muhammad ali was pitted against the formidable hulk of heavyweight champion george foreman . fans were treated to an 8 round battle of endurance and strategy , as much as brute strength , that immediately entered boxing lore . with the benefit of the first - hand recollections of that old ex - pug norman mailer , this classic conflict is brought back to life . but " when we were kings " tackles issues that are harder to pin down than the simple facts of a boxing match . questions of political power and social justice appear throughout this documentary . gast could hardly choose otherwise , considering the vocal , uncompromising politics of muhammad ali . a member of the controversial black separatist movement the nation of islam , ali opens gast 's film with a forceful swipe at the united states . when ali hollers " damn america ' , the audience knows the imprecation is heartfelt ; the brutal yet casual way it is uttered leaves no doubt that ali is speaking his mind . his decision to buck the draft for vietnam is defended with the same admirable fury : " no viet cong ever called me nigger " , ali reasons . despite showcasing ali 's proud unequivocal politics , one of the most impressive features of " when we were kings " is the subtle way in which the documentary considers the difficulties inherent in the overarching philosophy of black unity and black symbolism that ali and his supporters champion . listening to the film 's numerous commentators , it is clear that the geographic location for this " rumble in the jungle " is etched more in the imagination than anywhere you could place on a map . spike lee tells us that the event was a pilgrimage , a " coming home " to africa . foreman reminds us that africa is the " cradle of civilisation " . fair enough , but this homeland is a specific nation cursed with a less than inspiring reality . it is the newly founded zaire and it is ruled by president mobutu , a brutal dictator . while ali respects mobutu 's ability to forge an independent african state , mailer notes that beneath the stadium in which the titans battled lay hidden the presidents well - stocked torture chambers . mailer 's insights are lost on most of the film 's commentators . george plimpton recalls that he always felt he was in the congo , rather than the newly christened zaire . with admirable restraint , gast quietly suggests that for many the grandeur of myth and history all but obscured the reality of zaire ' s squalid ruling elite . mobutu is not the only dubious character to benefit from the heady symbolism of black power . don king , resplendent in yellow kaftan and at ease with the " messiah " label attributed to him by a loyal disciple , passes himself off as the voice of a new black international solidarity . understandably , foreman believes he has gotten a raw deal . he may be , as one sympathiser notes , " blacker " than ali , but he is denied the iconic status shared by ali , the thuggish mobutu , and the tacky huckster don king . africa , zaire , inspirational leader or vicious dictator , all is left undifferentiated , unconsidered , in this optimistic celebration of black unity . little wonder that the people of zaire were shocked to find that ali 's opponent was n't white . admittedly , these issues are only hinted at , rather than substantially explored . the audience must consider the significance of these issues themselves , in their own time . there is just too much to cover , too much that is truly worthy of celebration , for a protracted political analysis to be justified . the excitement of james brown and b . b king in concert , for instance . and of course there 's always ali to consider , as he shamelessly , and hilariously , hams it up in front of the camera , shadow boxing and uttering one inspired rhyme after another - " we gon na get it on coz we do n't get along ! " . doubtlessly , considering the multi - faceted nature of the extravaganza they chose to cover , the makers of " when we were kings " faced numerous difficulties in deciding what issues , and what personalities , best deserved their attention . fortunately , by refusing to simplify their complex subject matter , they have captured the richness and excitement of this unique event .

1POS

kolya is one of the richest films i 've seen in some time . zdenek sverak plays a confirmed old bachelor ( who 's likely to remain so ) , who finds his life as a czech cellist increasingly impacted by the five - year old boy that he 's taking care of . though it ends rather abruptly-- and i 'm whining , 'cause i wanted to spend more time with these characters-- the acting , writing , and production values are as high as , if not higher than , comparable american dramas . this father - and - son delight-- sverak also wrote the script , while his son , jan , directed-- won a golden globe for best foreign language film and , a couple days after i saw it , walked away an oscar . in czech and russian , with english subtitles .

1POS

anna and the king strides onto the screen in full regalia , wearing a brilliant suit of sumptuous landscapes , deep , vibrant colors and an epic storyline . it 's true beauty comes from it 's subtle ruminations on the politics of power , whether it 's between governments , or the interplay between a man and a woman . anna ( jodie foster ) is a widowed british schoolteacher with a touch of wanderlust trying to grasp her quicksilver feelings concerning the recent death of her husband . with son in tow , she takes the employ of king mongkut ( chow yun - fat ) to tutor his son in the english language . mongkut sees the strength of the british and correctly surmises that his country 's future lies in opening itself up to the ways of the western world . anna function is to help provide that link . the core of the film , of course , deals with the blossoming love between anna and mongkut as it attempts to germinate in the unfriendly soil of a shifting political climate . foster plays anna with equal parts clenched jaw and wide - eyed wonder . she is assertive , yet , respectful of the king as she initially tries to impose her western sensibilities upon him . it is one of foster 's strongest performances since silence of the lambs in a role she could not have played earlier in her career . she brings a mature self- awareness and determination that might not have come across from a younger foster . it 's a joy to watch her cagily bargain for her own measure of influence within the realm of mongkut 's monarchy . when she makes her entrance into a politically charged banquet mid - film , she exudes a hypnotic beauty that is deepened by her textured performance . chow - yun fat 's king mongkut is every measure of foster 's anna , perhaps even more so . this is the chow yun - fat that hong kong cinema has been in love with for nearly twenty years . he is imposing , yet vulnerable , playful , but stern . it is an impressively assured and nuanced performance . precious time is stolen from the movie 's 155 minutes running time by an unengaging subplot involving one the king 's concubines ( bai ling ) and her love of a commoner . it strikes with the subtlety of siam 's fabled white elephant as it stomps through the leisurely paced story . some may be put off by the action filled climax of the movie . although a bit inconsistent in tone from the rest of the film , it fits within the established subplot of a perceived siege by neighboring burma , a country backed by the british . anna and the king transcends being a predictable , traditional love story by avoiding mawkishness . it shows a seduction of intelligence . ever mindful of each other 's positions , anna and king mongkut negotiate a maze of social customs , conflicting world views and lost loved ones to connect on a level that ultimately proves deeply satisfying , if not achingly bittersweet .

1POS

while screen adaptations of john irving 's novels have been disappointingly uneven , the films have all shared one particular strength : key casting . who can forget john lithgow as roberta muldoon , the transsexual quarterback of " the world according to garp , " or nastassja kinski as susie the bear in " the hotel new hampshire " ? a lot of good casting decisions have gone into the making of " the cider house rules , " an adaptation of irving 's poetic 1994 novel about a restless young man called homer wells . among those sound judgments was the decision to have the splendid tobey maguire assume the pivotal role ; the decision to cast michael caine as his mentor and father figure , dr . wilbur larch , the ether - addicted head obstetrician of the st . cloud 's orphanage , maine ; and the decision to offer jane alexander and kathy baker supporting roles as his head nurses . then there are the brethren who populate the apple orchard where homer wells finds himself shortly after leaving st . cloud 's , including delroy lindo , oscar ? -worthy as the foreman of the migrant work detail that drifts up and down the coast as the seasons take them . there 's kate nelligan as the matriarch of the cider house , and charlize theron as candy , the lovely , lonely wife of a wwii bomber pilot ( paul rudd ) sent away on a mission overseas leaving candy to set lobster traps with homer wells , a man who 's never seen the ocean before let alone a lobster . am i forgetting anyone ? yes . kieran culkin and paz de la huerta as dissolute orphanage residents who make you sit up and take notice every time they 're on the screen . but with " the cider house rules , " the good people decisions do n't end with the cast . irving has written his own screenplay in order to get it right this time ( last year 's " simon birch , " loosely based on his " a prayer for owen meaney , " was a big - screen example of irving handled sub - standardly ) ; the author appears fleetingly as a stationmaster here . rachel portman , a composer of such sweet and lyrical tenderness , provides a score that 's absolutely right for the project -- sweet , lyrical , and tender . there 's impressive new england photography by oliver stapleton too . last but by no means least is " my life as a dog " director lasse hallstr ? m , who shows enormous skill in pulling this collective together and helping bring irving 's marvelously touching story to life . for the many beloved who pass away in " the cider house rules , " it 's an extraordinarily life - affirming story . and now , thanks to these talented individuals , it 's an extraordinarily life - affirming film .

1POS

scream 2 has a titillating little scene that lays down the unwritten law of horror movie sequels quite well . during a film - class discussion , windsor college students articulate what these inevitable laws are , and why sequels never live up to the originals . a few rare exceptions are noted , but they left out one . . . scream 2 ! 1996 's surprise horror blockbuster scream became an instant hit and developed an obsessive coterie of fans which included almost every teenager in america ! a sequel was unavoidable , but luckily the re - teaming of writer kevin williamson and director wes craven gives us nothing to fear in the way of lost entertainment . in fact , at the risk of sounding sacrilegious to all the adorning fans of scream , i would say that scream 2 might even be the better film ! sidney prescott ( neve campbell ) , the sinuous heroine who survived a series of murders in woodsboro , ca in the original scream , is now two years older and off to college , majoring in theater . meanwhile , tv journalist gale weathers ( courtney cox ) , who covered the murders in the first film , has since written a book about the dreadful events ; a book titled " stab " , which has been developed into a major motion picture . as scream 2 opens , a crowd of overzealous teenagers are piling into a crowded movie theater for the premiere of " stab " , and before long , a young couple are butchered to death , unnoticed in the midst of hysteria . this marks the beginning of a new murder spree as an unknown " copycat " sets out to repeat what 's been done . . . and finish what has n't ! of course the killer is just as obsessed with movies as the killer in the first film , and yes , movies play a huge role in the bizarre psychological outlook the murderer holds as he / she goes about slaying an assortment of gorgeous twenty year olds , but this * is * a sequel , and without deviating from the original groundwork we are still given a fresh outlook on horror movies . this is in large part due to williamson 's deliciously written script , which will easily leave you satisfied . as much as the film condemns the use of cliches , it is riddled with them , but it is done so effectively , and with skillful direction by craven , that you 're not bound to complain . i will note , however , that the " whodunit ? " did wind up being the first person i suspected , but believe me , i kept changing my mind as i tried to stay one ahead of the movie . all the actors outdo themselves here . we 're not talking oscar performances , but cambell , cox , david arquette as dewey riley , and jamie kennedy as randy all give surprisingly satisfying performances that go beyond their last outing . the characters remain true to their roots , and yet show a clear sign of development over the last two years . we can see how the events in the first film has affected them , but we do n't lose any of the luster that made them such a delight to watch in the first place . the nice thing about scream 2 is that it does n't seem off - kilter from it 's predecessor . it 's a natural , smooth , and believable ( as far as horror films go ) transition from film to film . we skip two years , but there does n't seem to be any holes or shortcuts taken in connecting the two flicks . it flows so well that you feel more like you 're reading chapter two of a book ( long chapters , eh ? ) than just revitalizing a cast of familiar faces . while main characters are usually the only connection in sequels , scream 2 's entire plot structure correlates * completely * with the first , making for immediate fondness and absorption . as i said before , scream 2 easily lives up to , if not surpassing , it 's precursor . the only reason scream will likely be hailed above scream 2 is because it was the first . this does n't mean that it overcasts the unique , whimsical humor or overall caliber of it 's sequel , it just means that scream will forever be known as the movie that mocked it 's own while maintaining it 's sought - after qualities . if ever a film followed it 's original so well , it would be scream 2 , and it makes this a definite must - see for all those unbridled scream fans out there . scream 2 fits snugly alongside scream , and will hopefully receive as many high remarks . it would top off the series quite well , if it were n't for the fact that two movies do n't really make a series . it 's unlikely to assume that a scream 3 wo n't appear in the next few years , but if they do decide to turn this into an undeniably acclaimed horror - trilogy , let 's hope they can keep up the fantastic work . like they say , do n't mess with perfection . . . but when a money - making smash - hit is almost guaranteed , who 's gon na listen ?

1POS

devotees of robert a . heinlein , be forewarned : paul verhoeven 's starship troopers is less an adaptation of heinlein 's novel than it is a literary satire . the author 's jingo - all - the - way militarism and his tendency to create plastic characters with plastic conflicts had me expecting a soulless , faceless parade of carnage from the film version . and i suppose that 's exactly what verhoeven delivers , with sometimes hilarious results . heinlein 's basic motifs are so faithfully rendered that their flaws become a source of amusement , while their strengths become the stuff of high - energy entertainment . outlining the plot of starship troopers is a fairly silly endeavor , since it 's basically a big bug hunt . . . aliens in broad daylight . sometime in the future , humanity is threatened by giant , malevolent insects which have evolved into twenty - foot - tall action figures ( arachnids with super - impaling spikes , beetles that spew forth lava , dragonflies with guillotine legs ) . among those who sign on to save the earth are a group of high school classmates from buenos aires : conflicted rich kid johnny rico ( casper van dien ) ; his math whiz girlfriend carmen ( denise richards ) ; dizzy ( dina meyer ) , who secretly carries a torch for johnny ; and carl ( neil patrick " doogie howser " harris ) , who not - so - secretly carries a torch for dizzy , and also has a talent for speaking telepathically to ferrets . while carmen heads for flight school and carl joins military intelligence , johnny and dizzy become mobile infantry , their various battles intertwining with romantic sub - plots out of a third season episode from " beverly hills 90210 . " so if starship troopers is another movie where one - dimensional characters wade through trite situations on their way to killing a bunch of aliens , what makes it any better than , say , independence day , a movie where one - dimensional characters waded through trite situations on their way to killing a bunch of slightly different aliens ? for one thing , you sense that the film - makers are aware of the pulp nonsense they have as source material . the very absence of major stars in the cast feels thematically appropriate , not just fiscally prudent . if starship troopers had been turned into a tv - movie , aaron spelling would have produced it . it 's a story which requires emoting , not acting ; it 's a prime time soap opera with big guns , played for all the dopey melodrama it 's worth . the no - name cast also plays into verhoeven 's treatment of heinlein 's most controversial conceit . in this society , we learn , one can only be a full citizen after completing some sort of federal service , military for most . verhoeven pays the notion plenty of lip service , then proceeds to skewer it with brilliant mock recruitment ads ( named after the world war ii - era " why we fight " series ) in which youngsters are indoctrinated into the joys of firearms , or the pleasures of stomping cockroaches . these characters really are just " fresh meat for the grinder , " as one character puts it , which makes their lack of familiarity all the more fitting . it 's not that starship troopers is anti - military , because it never treats the true horror of war as anything but a great big , violent video game . in fact , the characters are living the propaganda ( particularly johnny , who receives so many field promotions he may not remember his own rank by the time the film ends ) . verhoeven is actually having it both ways -- he 's making fun of gung - ho boosterism even as he fires his fresh - faced recruits into battle on a gung - ho booster rocket of visual effects . if that makes starship troopers hypocritical , at least it 's enthusiastically staged hypocrisy . there may not be a person worth caring about in the whole film , but it moves like nobody 's business . verhoeven stages some thrilling action sequences , sending swarms of bugs after the anonymous grunts then having various body parts strewn about the screen like landscaping . it is that rare special effects blockbuster which demonstrates a sense of pacing to match its budget ; i was caught up in the action enough of the time that i was n't perpetually groaning over the absence of real human beings . i wish i could find it in myself to work up more outrage over the callous way humans are dispatched in starship troopers , but it did n't work out that way . that would be punishing verhoeven for getting to the heart of his material .

1POS

no , it is not a bad film , in fact it is so good in achieving its = purpose , i actually wished for the film to end itself quickly . event = horizon is not your run - of - the - mill sci - fi film , i 'm sure many who have = watched this will agree with me . it is not even original in that sense , = and it does borrow heavily from films like alien , hellraiser and even = blade runner . the magic of this film lies in its unorthodox setting and = methodical build - up that makes it wonderfully horrifying . the story brings us to the year 2050 , where space travel have since = enormously progressed . the event horizon is actually a ship built for a = secret experimental purpose ; it has the ability to fold time and space = thus making it possible for travelling distances not reachable in a = man 's lifetime . the ship disappeared as soon as it went into operation = but after 7 years , it reappeared again within the orbit of neptune . a = search and rescue team led by miller ( fishburne ) is given the task to = check for survivors of the event horizon . the designer of the ship , dr . = weir ( neill ) follows along to satisfy his curiosity on what actually = happened to his otherwise technologically impressive ship . event horizon is a sci - fi horror film , much truer to the word than say , = alien would ever be . while in alien , the crew has to cope with a = ferocious creature while encased within tight spaces , in event horizon , = the forces which goes against the crew is undefined but yet so powerful = and horrifying . the story unfolds itself slowly and the suspense buildup = is superb , up till the point where i really felt like saying out loud = ` enough ! i ca n't stand this anymore ! ' . there are more than enough jolts = to send your adrenalin pumping overtime . the story in itself is not = exactly something very exciting and also , the acting is only at most , = average by most commercial standards . even so , the essence of horror is = carried out very well in this film , thanks to its well - paced = storytelling , disturbing set designs and some really gory sequences = ( which incidentally , has been quite generously removed by our censorship = board ) . = 20 director paul anderson ( who did mortal kombat ) and his team of = ` atmosphere ' creators have done well in keeping event horizon within the = bounds of the term ` horror ' . this picture did not do very well in the us = box - office most probably for the dread - factor impact it has on most = audiences ; people will not see it again and not many would recommend = their friend to watch this . although on the face of it , event horizon is = mostly molded for mass - entertainment ; many thrills , spills and suspense = to keep audiences in focus . however , the offbeat horror element which it = ultimately convey audiences is very disturbing . my friend and i could = not say a word to each other for quite a while after going through the = ` experience ' of event horizon . i guess it was just the immense feeling = of dread which the film had cast upon us . be forewarned , this film is not for the faint - hearted nor for pure = entertainment . be prepared to be disturbed if you should decide to watch = this film ! event horizon is highly recommended=85=85but at your own = risk ! it has been a long time since good - horror embraced the big screen , = and event horizon is one .

1POS

the " italian hitchcock " and acknowledged master of the giallo murder - mystery dario argento again offers us a fascinating turn on the formula in pheneomena . this time the twist comes in the form of jennifer corvino ( jennifer connelly ) , a bright teenager with gift for telepathically communicating with insects . sent to a girls boarding school in switzerland , she soon learns of a series of bizarre disappearances and at least one murder that has the school 's population terrified . a chance meeting with a brilliant entomologist ( donald pleasance ) leads the two of them to team up and solve the mystery with the aid of her remarkable gift . phenomena is an imaginative , original thriller . writer / director argento creates several sequences of surreal , haunting beauty here , including a masterfully shot sleepwalking episode and a striking scene when a swarm of flying insects descends on the school at jennifer 's beckoning . the plot takes some wonderfully bizarre turns and the killer 's identity is genuinely shocking and surprising . the director took a big gamble with a soundtrack that mixes elements as diverse as heavy metal band iron maiden , ex - rolling stone bill wyman , and argento 's favourite gothic / electronic outfit goblin . but it gels surprisingly well . the film 's opening music reccurs several times , an eerie and evocative score that perfectly sets the overall tone . argento fans beware : the film was released outside europe in a terribly butchered form re - titled as creepers . this deleted nearly half an hour of footage , mainly of key dialogue scenes .

1POS

film adaptation of hunter s . thompson 's infamous semi - autobiographical hallucinogen - fueled book of the same title . director terry gilliam of twelve monkeys ( 8/10 ) and brazil ( 7/10 ) fame , took over the helm of this project after fellow director alex cox ( sid and nancy ( 7 . 5/10 ) ) " apparently alienated everyone associated with the movie " , according to gilliam . plot : writer thompson ( depp ) heads down to las vegas with his attorney dr . gonzo ( del toro ) to cover a motorcycle race . during their trip , they systematically consume " two bags of grass , seventy - five pellets of mescaline , five sheets of high powered blotter acid , a salt shaker half - full of cocaine , a whole galaxy of multi - colored uppers , downers , screamers , laughers , a quart of tequila , a quart of rum , a case of beer , a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls . the movie presents us with the results of that heavy drug use . critique : i have given this movie two separate ratings because i believe that the enjoyment of this psychedelic picture is highly correlated with the amount of drugs or alcohol that would be floating around in the viewer 's own mind , whilst inhaling this cinematic vision of excess . if you are prepared to get high or intoxicated before watching this film , i would say that this is one picture that you will thoroughly enjoy on a multitude of colorful levels . if , on the other hand , you decide to stray from the addition of nefarious elements to your system , i could not imagine you truly appreciating much of this drug - induced picture 's entire ride ( 5 . 5/10 for all those sober dogs ) . note : i have not read thompson 's book . having said that , joblo did engage in an alcohol - based consumatory session before ( and during ) the viewing of this film , so his critique of the film should be appreciated on that level . this movie relies heavily on style and peculiar humour , rather than substance or plot . it moves admirably from one scene to the next , without much basis of their being , while presenting us with the two days in the life of writer hunter s . thompson during which he seemed to consume more drugs and alcohol than anyone could ever imagine . it was 1971 , and the times were apparently " a ' changing " in the states . johnny depp chews into his role like an overgrown child sucking on a chocolate lollipop . during the filming , depp apparently become fast friends with real - life writer thompson , and was known to wander off the set from time to time , for the sake of checking out the newest barmaid at the local watering hole . i thought he did seem to exaggerate his walk a little bit too much , but then again , this movie is supposed to be a wild exaggeration of everything and anything , so who am i to talk . the one thing that did blow my mind was the actual physical transformation endured by actor benicio del toro for his role as dr . gonzo . i could n't believe that this fat , samoan lawyer , was the same guy who played the slick mumbling criminal in the usual suspects ( 7 . 5/10 ) . word on the street is that gained over 40 pounds for this role , and i must say that his look was deliciously reprehensible . plenty of cameos also pepper this kaleidoscopic moving picture in the form of ellen barkin , christina ricci , tobey maguire and cameron diaz , along with a bunch of others . other than that , the soundtrack was expectedly eclectic , the style was not as wild as i thought it would be , and the ending was certainly not much of a barn - burner , but then again , who really noticed . this movie is about visions of bats floating through your head , johnny depp looking goofy and being bald , and the cornucopia of drug - ravaged scenes filling your own intoxicated system with ideas of anarchy , rebellion and the lost american dream . and for all those who plan on seeing this movie without the partnership of a mean drink or a mighty doobie , i suggest you move further down the aisle , buy yourself a ticket to godzilla ( 6/10 ) , and enjoy the visual fabrications manufactured for the unstimulated mind . little known facts : depp and del toro snorted plenty of powdered milk instead of cocaine . bill murray also portrayed a thompson - based character in the film where the buffalo roam . johnny depp turned down roles in the three musketeers , speed ( 7 . 5/10 ) , and legends of the fall ( 7 . 5/10 ) , for smaller and quirkier roles in benny and joon ( 6 . 5/10 ) and what 's eating gilbert grape ? ( 7/10 ) . in 1988 , depp told rolling stone magazine that he 'd tried every drug by the age of 14 . johnny hung out with some of the members of oasis while filming the uncompleted divine rapture in ireland , and later played some slide guitar on the 1997 album , be here now . johnny was born in kentucky , is a high - school dropout , has nicknamed himself " mr . stench " , has been engaged to four women until now ( including actress winona ryder , whose " winona forever " tattoo had to be altered to " wino forever " after their breakup ) , currently plays guitar in a band called " p " , and owns the viper room nightclub in l . a .

1POS

what is freedom ? how does one determine who is free ? in 1839 , those questions were more difficult to answer then they are now . yet , the mistakes of our forefathers must be examined in order to rectify current situations . that is , in essence , what steven spielberg 's gripping drama " amistad " is about . through its various dramas , spielberg presents a case about a group of africans , who , after being seized from their home , were forced onto a ship and sent to the united states aboard " la amistad " . on their way there , the slaves , led by cinque ( djimon hounsou ) , rebelled , killing off part of the crew . however , the ship was still directed towards the united states , where the africans were brought to trial under murder . in the court , various factions claim ownership of the slaves , and therefore try to seize them away . the united states government , led by president martin van buren ( nigel hawthorne ) , and secretary of state secretary forsyth ( david paymer ) , try to ship the africans to spain , where an 11 year old isabella ii ( anna paquin ) wants them back . the two spaniards who own " la amistad " want the slaves for themselves . the american ship that found the slaves also wants them . in the midst of this are two abolitionists ( stellan skaarsgard and morgan freeman ) , who want the slaves to be free . they enlist the help of lawyer matthew mcconaughey , who tries to free them . through various legal proceedings , the case appears before the supreme court , where it is argued by ex - president john quincy adams ( anthony hopkins ) . the film itself is a visual wonder . spielberg favorite janusz kaminski sets the film in a dark , somber mood when appropriate , and a visual setting when appropriate as well . at times , the film is very slow , and very methodical . however , spielberg is not at his finest here , because the courtroom scenes have a tendency to lag . the film is , in essence , a courtroom drama , one whose events are oversimplified . the characterization is also weak , displaying weaknesses in building up characters such as the lawyer baldwin ( mcconaughey ) , and especially morgan freeman 's abolitionist . but spielberg 's finest work in the film , the opening scene , a scene of cinque 's family , and the brutal voyage of the slaves to america , is altogether stunning . it is this emotional force that carries the film . mcconaughey is superb as the lawyer defending the africans , hopkins is sensational as the old adams , freeman is outstanding when used ( spielberg vastly under uses his supreme talents ) , and the rest of the cast is stellar . the movie , however , belongs to hounsou . his emotional intensity is brilliant . spielberg manages to make even the slowest scenes sparkle with focus on hounsou , and the film 's extraordinary power is simply captivating . the film is flawed , for most of the supporting characters are merely cardboard . but that does n't matter . the story is a gripping one , and one of extreme importance . kudos to spielberg for finding it , finding the right men for the job , and letting the audience listen to the words of cinque . a good job all around .

1POS

your friends and neighbors is a rather bizarre film about 6 people , who hop in and out of bed with each other . written and directed by neil labute , who 's first film , " in the company of men " was simply marvelous , disappoints a bit here with this one . the story involves two couples ( ben stiller & catherine keener and aaron eckhart & amy brenneman ) , an artist assistant ( nastassja kinski ) , and an egotistical women abuser ( jason patric ) . the character 's names are not apparent and are not mentioned in the entire movie . each of the characters has their own sexual style and they do n't seem to " merge " together well . so the group experiments behind their respective partners back . there are some hysterical scenes , one involves jason patric , aaron eckhart , and ben stiller 's characters . they are all in a sauna , talking about their best " lay " , when jason patric 's character makes a surprising confession . the whole scene is hilarious and exceptionally well written and acted . the enjoyed this movie , although it seemed a tad lengthy ( even though it only runs 99 min . ) . the film 's cast is exceptional with oscar caliber performances by catherine keener , aaron eckhart , and jason patric . i would not recommend this film , to people who are offended by conversations that are very sexually explicit . it did seem to offend people , more than half of the people in the theater left during the film . although your friends and neighbors does n't have the power of labute 's earlier film it still manages to be somewhat entertaining and funny , while maintaining a melancholy philosophy on human relationships .

1POS

i love this movie , and i 've just seen for the umptenth time . unfortunately , it is also completly unknown and very few have seen it . it 's my mission in life to spread the word : see this movie ! fred , george , doug and howie are reaching middleage . three of them have a wife , kids and a house in the suburb with a mortgage to pay . only fred is still a bachelor . together they take the local train every morning to work in town . on one of their organized thursday evenings at a bar , fred tells them of his boss and the arrangements he has made to keep a mistress . he has gotten an apartment in downtown where he can meet her but has told his wife that he needs the apartment to spend the night after staff meetings every thursday night . since they always split everything four ways , they decide that they should get an apartment with a young woman as well , kathy . however , kathy is n't completly honest to them . in fact , she is a sociology student writing a thesis about the sex life of the suburban male . with these four species she believes that she will make a very good paper . ok , have one thing clear though . the romantic rendezvous ' between kathy and each of the men are completly innocent . the script stays above the waist - or to be precise , above the neck . noboyd claims that kathy is their mistress , the four guys call her their ' companion ' . the censorship board here in sweden considered it to be suitable only for people above 15 years , but that only shows how long ago 1962 was . small children could watch this without being corrupted . kim novak is as lovely as always in this movie , even if she seems to be a bit too old for a student . james garner is the playboy just like in many other movies . i liked howard morris the best as howard the accountant who has to diet to support his wife . tony randall is funny as always . 1962 was more than 35 years ago . how many accountants , copywriters or investment bankers can today afford to live in a house in the suburb with a lot of kids and a wife who does not work ? this is the white middle class , i ca n't remember that i saw any blacks on the commuter train they use . these are the people who can count on their kids to live an even better life than themselves . perhaps this should also be a subject for a thesis in movie sociology ?

1POS

i remember seeing the trailer of the black cauldron on the pinocchio video . it really scared me , and i did n't want to go see it . however , after i heard about how wonderful it was , i wanted to see it . i did n't get a chance to do so , until now . the film , disney 's 25th animated feature , opens with a menacing shot of a great black cauldron unshrouded by mist as a narrator begins to tell the tale : a long time ago in the land of prydain , there was a king so evil , that his spirit was captured in the cauldron . it has been hidden for centuries , and whoever possesses it will have the power to conjure up an army of deathless warriors , and with them rule the world ? and destroy it . then , we meet a farmer - wizard , dallben , and his young apprentice , taran . taran dreams of being a warrior instead of being a ` pig - keeper ' ( they have a pig named hen - wen ) . one day , as he gives hen wen a nice warm bath , the pig goes crazy , and dallben then realizes , after watching hen wen 's thoughts through a bucket of water , that taran must hide hen wen in the forest . an evil ruler known as the horned king is searching for the black cauldron , and only hen wen has the power to show its location . taran leads hen wen into the forest , but of course , he loses her , and tries to go find her . along the way , he meets up with a mischievous little creature named gurgi , who desires ` munchings and crunchings ' , much to his dismay ( besides , he stole an apple that taran was trying to use to bring back hen wen ) . when he hears hen wen 's squeal from far away , though , he races to her rescue ? only to see her get kidnapped by dragonlike gwythants . taran chases after the gwythants and finds himself staring at the horned king 's castle from far away . taran climbs the castle walls , and brings himself into the castle , where he attempts to rescue hen wen . he manages to do so , but he is himself captured and thrown into the dungeon . there , he meets princess eilonwy ( and her magic bauble , another thing which the horned king was hoping to use to find the cauldron ) , and the two escape through the deep castle walls . along the way , taran finds a sword in a burial chamber , and they rescue a comic bard named fflewdurr flamm , who has a harp whose strings break whenever he tells a lie . the three manage to escape the horned king 's castle , but not before taran realizes that his sword is magic . as they rest in the forest , gurgi reappears , claiming to have found hen wen 's trail . he leads taran , eilonwy and fflewdurr , by way of ` pig tracks ' , to a whirlpool . suddenly , they all get sucked under , and they meet the fairy - like fairfolk . taran is reunited with hen wen , and informed that the black cauldron is hidden in the land of morva . he then devises a crazy idea that if they can destroy the cauldron , it would prevent the horned king from destroying their world . with the help of a grumpy fairy named doli , the four travelers manage to find themselves at a mysterious cottage . it turns out to be no ordinary cottage ; three comically strange witches inhabit the place . when taran tells them that they are searching for the black cauldron , they agree to let him have it ? in exchange for his sword . taran agrees , much to eilonwy 's horror , but at least they get the black cauldron . but ? the cauldron ca n't be destroyed , only its evil powers can be stopped . the only way to do so is for a living being to climb into it of his own free will ? never to return alive . things take a turn for the worse when the horned king 's henchmen capture taran , eilonwy , and fflewdurr , along with the black cauldron , and lead them back to the castle . taran , eilonwy , and fflewdurr watch in horror as the horned king unleashes the supernatural powers of the cauldron to ressurect his army of deathless warriors ( this is the most horrifying scene in the film , because here , a dead army comes alive ? ) . just when all seems lost , though , gurgi reappears , and rescues taran , eilonwy , and fflewdurr . taran is about to jump into the black cauldron , but gurgi stops him , not wanting him to throw his life away . gurgi then jumps into the black cauldron , and the deathless warriors decay . taran tries to find a way to rescue gurgi , but he is forced to do battle against the horned king . he kicks the horned king away , who is then magically sucked into the black cauldron , where its powers immediately destroy him completely . taran , eilonwy , and fflewdurr manage to escape from the horned king 's castle just as it self - destructs . the witches then reappear and attempt to take the now useless black cauldron away , but fflewdurr stops them , saying that they ` never give anything away , they bargain ' . in response to this , the witches offer taran his sword back , but taran instead has a new trade : the cauldron for gurgi . the trade is made ; gurgi 's seemingly lifeless body reappears before the heartbroken group . as taran cradles him in his arms , though , gurgi stirs - he is not dead after all ! the happy group then returns home , where hen wen ( brought home by the fairfolk once the dangers are past ) , dallben , and even doli , await their triumphant return . as spectacular as it sounds , the black cauldron really suffered a lot in its past times . before ron miller was fired from his position as chairman of walt disney productions , he had bought a novel by lloyd alexander called the black cauldron , a sword and sorcery tale for the studio . bringing this book to the screen was the studio 's fondest dream . miller , who entitled himself as the executive producer , promised that they would do so after they had proved themselves on other projects . when micheal eisner and his executives arrived at the disney animation studio , the animators were struggling to complete the black cauldron . by this time , things had gone really rocky for the animation department . many of the studio 's old men had retired or died . therefore , the animators suffered a hard time making this film . originally budgeted at $ 25 million , the costs raised to $ 40 million because of constant changes on everything ? and when it was finally released on june 24 , 1985 , the black cauldron was greeted by praising reviews from some critics , but somehow the film flopped . the film was rated pg and the film , although ` disneyfied ' from lloyd alexander 's chronicles of prydain ( which is what this film is based on ) , was much more scarier and darker than disney 's other previous efforts , such as the rescuers and the fox and the hound , which is probably why so many people considered it too scary and stayed away from it . in addition , other critics rejected it for having ` no heart ' and ` unmemorable ' , compared to other disney animated features . but whatever the real reason , the black cauldron was a financial disaster , grossing only $ 21 million . the failure of the film grounded the studio 's animation department , and exiled the animation team to annex buildings in nearby glendale , and it seemed like animated features would no longer become a part of the studio 's reputation . the next two disney animated features , the great mouse detective and oliver and company , although a little more lighthearted than the black cauldron , did n't do much better ( although oliver and company grossed much more than the black cauldron and the great mouse detective ) . only with the little mermaid did the studio regain its reputation for successful animated features . as for the black cauldron , it was rereleased in some cities for a temporary time under the title taran and the magic cauldron . finally , the studio locked the film in the film vault and denied that it ever even was released . because of all this , you might ask yourself , was the black cauldron really such a bad movie ? the people who had seen the film did n't think so . in fact , many people had calls to buena vista home video requesting for the film , but of course , they denied it . for a while , it seemed like the black cauldron would never be released to video ? until september 1997 , disney released the black cauldron to video in the united kingdom . few people imported the video from england and converted to ntsc ( including me ) and for those who had n't seen the film yet ( i am included here ) , they got quite a treat . but people who had bootleg copies of the black cauldron noticed that in the scene where the horned king raises his army of deathless warriors , about 12 seconds of ghoulish looking skeletons were slightly trimmed so that the film would get a u rating ( in the uk , the u rating means universal : suitable for all ages , kinda like their own version of g ) . somewhere online , a team of diehard the black cauldron fans signed a petition that said , ` bring back the black cauldron ! ' , and because of that , disney finally decided to release the video to the united states . before that time , rumors online had been made that the video would be trimmed , like the uk video , so that it would get a g rating , and that they would add in songs . those rumors were put to rest when the walt disney company announced that the black cauldron * would * be released in its pg rated version . even still , when it was finally released to the us , some reaction was mixed . some felt that it was indeed cut , but some felt that it was n't . but these where only minor criticisms which seemed laughable , since a film that was absent for thirteen years was finally available . as for myself , when i saw the movie for the first time ( on converted ntsc video ) , i did n't expect much at all . in fact , i had heard so many mediocre things about it , that i did n't think the film would ever be such a good film . much to my surprise , when i saw the first few minutes of the film , i was asking myself , " this is the same film everyone saw ? the one that flopped at the box office ? the one that critics and filmgoers alike called " a bad movie " ? this does n't seem like all of the above . instead , it 's a classic in its own right . the film has a wonderful cast of characters . there 's taran ( grant bardsley ) , an assistant pig keeper who would rather be a warrior than a pig - keeper , the story 's hero . the critics have said that taran is not likeable at all , but the opposite is true . he is brave , loyal , and eventually learns a lesson about friendship later on . there 's a likeable character here ! not that he 's the only likeable character in the film . there 's gurgi ( john biner ) , a lovable little , uh , thing who remains loyal to taran , even though they do n't quite hit it off at first . but another likeable character is the bad guy comic henchman , a dwarf named creeper ( phil fondacairo ) , who is loyal to the film 's imaginative and sinister villain , the horned king ( voiced gruesomely by john hurt ) , yet he also fears his neck . the other characters , including the sidekicks , a spunky , but sweet princess named eilonwy and the comic bard fflewdurr flamm , and three comically wicked witches who hide a dark secret , although pleasant and likeable , are n't quite as well rounded as they should be . the story itself is an adventurous one , a quest involving the mystical pig , hen wen , the black cauldron itself , and an army of deathless ones with everything : a hooking opening to a spectacular finale . elmer bernstein 's music also tells the story perfectly , in a dark , yet calming manner . the animation itself is surprisingly good considering that this film was created in the darkest time of the studios . even though there are some occasional effects that are not quite good , like the ground opening when the black cauldron rises out of the earth , the animation overall is top notch . overall ? this film is an entertaining endeavor . fans unfamiliar to the lloyd alexander chronicles of prydain will get a kick out of this one , except young kids . there are some extremely scary scenes which are more darker than disney 's other films ( although some consider the stampede sequence from the lion king and frollo observing esmeralda in the fires of hell in the hunchback of notre dame are just as scary ) , which is the main reason why this film is rated pg . fans familiar to the lloyd alexander series will recognize the differences between the novel and the movie . even though it does n't have all of the ingredients of a true disney film , this film is a classic in its own right , and deserves a far better chance than what it has been given . that better chance has finally come . whatever reason about why the black cauldron was such a big failure seems to have disappeared , and the film has finally achieved its place among disney 's most proudest achievements . i ca n't help but think though , whatever would have happened if the black cauldron * was * a box office success ?

1POS

quiz show , an almost perfectly accurate true story , is based upon the events of the popular television show of the mid-50 's , " twenty - one " . on this trivial game show , contestants were placed in isolation booths and then answered questions corresponding to a category of their choice , on which they wagered an amount of points on . the game went on until a player reached twenty one points on felt they had earned enough points to win . but , after ratings began to fall when players were struggling to break the zero mark , the producers decided to fix the game by giving the answers to a contestant before the game began . quiz show illustrates the true stories of two particular contestants , herbie stempel and charles van doren . stempel ( john turturro ) , a former g . i . and your jewish man raising a family . stempel has been the reigning champion on " twenty - one " for many weeks and has accumulated thousands of dollars . in his mind , he is the best thing on television and the people love him . although , in the mind of the show 's producers , herbie stempel is getting old . dan enright ( david paymer ) , in particular , feels that the people are tired of seeing a " jewish guy from queens with bad teeth " and that the kids need someone better to look up to . therefore , they need to find another contestant whom would be a worthy role model and the people will look up to and cheer to win . someone who can defeat stempel , even if they have to resort to cheating . enter charles van doren ( ralph fiennes ) , a well - educated professor from a widely recognized family . van doren had decided to try out for the game show " tic tac dough " because his friends thought he would be good at that sort of thing . but when albert freedman ( hank azaria ) , enright 's assistant , spots van doren , the two decide that they have found their soon - to - be - ruler of the " twenty - one " kingdom . van doren is not too keen on the idea of receiving the answers ahead of time , so enright tells stempel that he is going to give the wrong answer , on purpose , in order to lose the game . after stempel loses the " throne " to van doren , he starts to feel cheated ( which he should ) . meanwhile , on his own , dick goodwin ( rob morrow ) , a harvard law graduate , has decided to start an investigation on " twenty - one " to try and find out if there have been any wrongdoings . his investigation yields shocking results and leads to a trial for enright and the others involved . quiz show is an extremely well done movie , and robert redford 's direction is especially superb . the performances turned in by john turturro , ralph fiennes , and rob morrow are very good , although it seems that turturro stands out more than any . quiz show is also very precise when it comes to explicating the true events that inspired the film . definitely a film you should not miss .

1POS

is jimmy stewart the greatest actor of all - time ? it 's quite possible . his career spanned over 40 years , and he acted in more movies than most actors ever could . yet , when he is talked about in the media , he is generally thought of as an actor who played one type of role : the nice guy . and that 's really a shame . " the naked spur " features jimmy stewart in a role completely different than what people would expect from him . it 's a western , which stewart specialized in around this period , and it casts him as a desperate man out to collect a bounty on a man who used to be his friend . before he finds that man , though , he runs into two men who agree to help him , thinking he is a sheriff . when the criminal is eventually caught , the two men discover stewart 's secret , and decide they want a piece of the action too . the rest of the film is a suspenseful journey in which each man suspects the other constantly . also featured is the woman travelling with the criminal , well played by janet leigh . we 're never too sure who 's side she 's really on until the end . leigh is an actress probably best known for her role as the " shower lady " from " psycho " , and that 's unfair . she gives a strong performance as a woman who is pulled between these two men . stewart gives a performance unlike anything i 've ever seen from him . he usually keeps cool no matter what occurs , but here , he gets downright hysterical at times . i think perhaps he took this role to prove to the public that he was more than just a " nice guy " . his performance borders on psychotic at times , but i loved watching every second of it . it 's roles like this one that make me admire him as much as i do . he was an actor unafraid to take chances , and even ruin his public image .

1POS

every once in a while you see a film that is so effective in delivering the goods that it is easy to forget , and forgive , its glaring imperfections . such is the case with ? good will hunting ? , a subtle character study about a socially inept mathematics genius who struggles to find his path in life . despite some serious character problems , this is still a very good film . you probably know about the plot so i ? ll make it quick . will hunting ( damon ) is a janitor at m . i . t . , he ? s really smarter than einstein but nobody knows it . he likes to go out with his friend chuckie ( affleck ) and their other working - class buddies and drink beer . he ? s good - looking , charismatic , and witty but has a terrible time with authority and stiff college folk . after getting into a tiff with the law , a distinguished professor ( skarsg ? rd ) discovers will ? s genius and offers him a chance to clean up his record and avoid jail time , at a price : he must attend weekly sessions with a therapist and work on various mathematical problems ( that have stumped the academic elite ) with the professor . after outsmarting and scaring the hell out of a couple of different psychologists he meets his match when hooked up with a once - promising therapist named sean maguire ( williams ) who has his own problems . in the meantime will meets a british medical school student ( driver ) and they begin to fall in love . the story starts out well enough and is a pretty original basis for a film . even though we ? ve seen movies about misunderstood , erratic prodigies before ( ? shine ? ring a bell ? ) , the script here creates a complex narrative that doesn ? t just focus solely on one character . alas though , this is not a perfect film , as much as you feel like it could ? ve been while watching it . the one real problem i had with it is the unrealistic nature of the main character . is it possible for a lowly janitor to be this intelligent ? of course . is it possible for him to be estranged from any deep , human relationships ? usually , yes . but , is it possible for him to also be so handsome , funny , quick with the tongue , and city - street tough ? not very likely . come on , usually these guys are total nerds who can ? t even buy their own shirts , much less talk down a harvard student in a hip pub while picking up phone numbers from pretty med . -school girls . will is just a little too perfect , and in order to accept the character your disbelief suspension needs to be in excellent working condition . the heavy - handed , anti - war statement made by will at a government job interview late in the film is also boorish , overlong , pompous , and completely unnecessary . all this sounds pretty bad , but the film somehow makes up for it in other ways . damon ? s acting overshadows the fact that the character is slightly unbelievable , his performance is truly extraordinary . which leads me to the really good part of the review . the strength of this movie can be summed up in one single word : acting . i can ? t recall seeing a film recently that was so well - acted from top to bottom . from minnie driver ? s frustrated lover to ben affleck ? s laid - back best friend , and all the small roles in between , the performances are magnificent . robin williams ? skill is a given as a bereaved psychologist who could ? ve had a legendary career but was knocked off the path somewhere down the line . the real gem though is stellan skarsg ? rd ? s turn as professor lambeau , an award - winning mathematician who feels reduced in comparison to a younger , smarter will hunting . the scenes between williams and skarsg ? rd , as two old college pals who ? ve been brought back together by this enigmatic kid , display some of the best acting i ? ve ever seen . when i say delivering the goods , this is what i ? m talking about . watching these two work is what going to see movies is all about . gus van sant ? s ( to die for , drugstore cowboy ) cold , urban direction is right on , as well as danny elfman ? s sauntering musical score . i highly recommend ? good will hunting ? . despite its faults , it is still an intriguing and fascinating film and you are not likely to see a better acted one this year .

1POS

men in black is an explosive mix of science fiction , action , and comedy that hits the target in every possible way . although another alien movie , men in black succeeds in every way that independence day did n't , and towers above many other movies of its type . the brilliant acting , especially by tommy lee jones as agent kay , is also as good as it gets . director barry sonnenfeld , who was behind the camera for the addams family movies and get shorty , has crafted a masterpiece . the story behind men in black is just as interesting as you would want it to be . the men in black , or mib , are a top - secret governmental agency that is not known to exist . the mib are responsible for " saving the world from the scum of the universe " . a though job , indeed . the film opens with a truckload of illegal aliens ( the human kind ) being transported across the mexico border and into the united states . presumably , these " aliens " are all migrant workers . that is , until the mib show up and begin interrogating them . agent kay selects a particular suspicious worker and takes him away from the other local authorities to discover that he is not an illegal human alien , but a real extra - terrestrial alien . when the alien makes a run for it , agent kay is forced to eliminate the alien with one of the mib 's very unique weapons , and after one of the local law enforcement officers witnesses this bizarre occurrence , agent kay is forced to use another very unique device on them . the device , described as " out of state " , eliminates the memory of anyone it is used on . > from here , we are introduced to james edwards , played very well by will smith . edwards , a police officer , is chasing a fleeing criminal . the criminal gives a very good chase , and at one point when edwards confronts him , the criminal pulls out a very different looking weapon that disintegrated when it hit the ground . edwards continues to chase the very athletic criminal to the top of a building , where the criminal informs edwards that he must let him go , because someone is after him . edwards does n't take this seriously , but when the criminal shows very non - human characteristics and leaps off the building , he begins to wonder . back at the police station , agent kay shows up to ask edwards a few questions . he informs edwards that is was , in fact , a non - human that he was chasing , and that the gun he pulled out was definitely not man - made . he has edwards identify the gun , and asks edwards to come to the mib headquarters the following day . edwards arrives and finds that he is involved in a recruiting process , along with various other men who seem a bit more qualified than he . after goofing up for half of the time , edwards puts on a show at the firing range , and agent kay notes the reason why he feels edwards should be the man to join the mib : he chased down the " criminal " on foot , which is something that no one is supposed to be able to do . in the meantime , an upstate new york farm has a very close encounter . edgar ( vincent d'onofrio ) , owner of the farm , investigates a strange crash landing and is attacked by the inhabitant of the flying object , which presumes to jump inside edgar and use his body as a human transport . the " bug " , as he is called , is an intergalactic terrorist who has come to earth to attempt to kill two ambassadors . and it up to the mib , with newly recruited agent jay ( formerly james edwards ) to exterminate the bug and save the planet from intergalactic war . men in black delightfully combines fast - paced action with often hilarious comedy , which is usually from will smith , although tommy lee jones opens up his comedic personality in this film . the special effects are also very well done and are not the entire source of the plot , as in another big alien film from the past summer . screenwriter ed solomon , writer of super mario bros . and the upcoming x - men film , has surely struck gold with this story . all ages will enjoy men in black . it is an extremely fun film that you will want to see again . although it runs a very quick and speedy 96 minutes , the entire film from beginning to end is a non - stop adventure . the ending of the film , which ties up a few loose ends for one of the main characters , is also very well done . a sequel is already being planned , so there is more to look forward to !

1POS

ralph fiennes is carving out a nice niche for himself in the genre of period piece romances . for his followup to the academy - beloved the english patient , he has once again turned to a love story , this time directed by accomplished australian film maker gillian armstrong ( little women ) . despite some obvious overplotting , oscar and lucinda is a mostly effective and often affecting motion picture that touches our hearts while daring our minds to balk at its implausible coincidences . the film opens in the mid-1800s , with parallel storylines in new south wales , australia and devon , england . as the helpful narrative voice of geoffrey rush informs us , lucinda leplastrier ( cate blanchett ) is a headstrong young woman being raised in the australian outback . meanwhile , half the world away , oscar hopkins ( fiennes ) has broken with his puritanical father over religious issues , and has gone away to school to study to be an anglican priest . lucinda is fascinated with glass ; oscar is obsessed with theology . lucinda is rich ; oscar is poor . lucinda is forward and self - assured ; oscar is timid and uncertain of himself . yet one characteristic unites these two diverse individuals -- the compulsion to gamble , whether it 's on horses , dogs , cards , or the flip of a coin . and fate has decreed that they will one day meet . that day does n't occur until 45 minutes into the film , when oscar boards a ship bound for sidney , australia , where he hopes to change his life and minister to anyone in need of his help . another of the passengers is lucinda , who is returning from england where she was shopping for machinery to equip her newly - acquired glassworks factory . at first , their relationship is that of a reverend and a confessor , but it does n't take long for both of them to recognize a kindred spirit in the other . a friendship is born , and , once they reach australia , it develops into something more potent . but oscar is uncertain of lucinda 's affection , and feels he must do something to prove himself worthy of her . oscar and lucinda is n't beyond a little manipulation to get the desired emotional response , and there are times when the storyline curves in preposterous directions . on more than one occasion , it 's apparent that events are occurring specifically to funnel the characters into a position where there is only one possible route . coincidence is a crucial plot device ; without it , this movie ca n't go anywhere . the voiceover narration ( never one of my favorite techniques ) is too verbose and breaks into the story at undesirable moments . ( however , without it , the final twist , which i will not reveal , would not be as poignant . ) yet , despite these quibbles , i enjoyed oscar and lucinda . storyline faults pale in the light of two such finely - realized characters . thematically , the film is also strong . the unifying motif -- that everything in life is a gamble -- is successfully delineated . oscar and lucinda do n't just wager their money , they bet their hearts , minds , and souls . a card game they engage in shortly after they first meet could easily be considered a form of emotional " strip poker " where defenses are peeled away to reveal their shared , secret passion . oscar does not see gambling as a vice . in fact , he believes that the greatest chance one takes in life is betting one 's immortal soul on the truth of a religious faith . ralph fiennes , who normally plays strong , confident men , is very much at home as the fumbling , insecure oscar . the actor brings a variety of nervous tics to the part , all of which subtly add to a vague sense of discomfort whenever oscar is on - screen . as good as fiennes is , however , he is eclipsed by cate blanchett . the actress , who appeared earlier this year as one of the leads in bruce beresford 's paradise road , is mesmerizing as lucinda . she gives this liberated woman her flash , and feeds the chemistry between the two lead characters so that it sparkles rather than fizzles . effective support is provided by ciaran hinds ( the male lead in jane austen 's persuasion ) as lucinda 's close friend , tom wilkinson ( the full monty ) as oscar 's mentor , and clive russell as a self - serving adventurer . there 's a real magic in the way armstrong develops the story , keeping things moving in unexpected directions without lingering too long on any one moment or sequence . ( in fact , i wish she had devoted a little more time to the luminous middle act , which has oscar and lucinda together . ) with the skill of a consummate storyteller , she weaves romance , friendship , passion , humor , and tragedy together into a complete package . the characters , with all of their human foibles and neuroses , are wonderfully developed by fiennes and blanchett . so who cares if the storyline is a little ripe and unwieldy ? oscar and lucinda still offers abundant pleasures to reward the viewer .

1POS

in october of 1962 the united states found itself on the brink of nuclear holocaust when u2 spy plane fly - overs of cuba revealed that the soviet union was actively deploying and installing medium range ballistic missiles 90 miles from the us . president john kennedy ( bruce greenwood ) and his staff must face this major threat to world peace and stop soviet expansionism in director roger donaldson 's dramatic recreation of the most dangerous crisis in american history in " thirteen days . " one of the highlights to come out of made - for - tv movies was a 1974 entry called " missiles of october " that also recreated the historic event that almost embroiled the us , ussr and the world in an all out nuclear showdown . that teleplay , starring william devane and martin sheen as john and bobby , showed the political tensions of the period that brought to the fore the danger the world faced in those two weeks in 1962 . now , a quarter of a century after the landmark tv movie , director roger donaldson and producer kevin costner team together again ( the last time was for the taught spy thriller " no way out " ) to re - enact the events of that most dangerous time in america 's and the world 's history . taken from the viewpoint of special assistant to the president kenneth p . o'donnell ( costner ) , donaldson and crew recreate that volatile event , once again , as the country is plunged into what could have been total nuclear war . as o'donnell gets ready to head to work one october morning , he deals with the usual family crises and problems . meanwhile , a u2 spy plane photo mission over cuba has produced some startling images - medium range nuclear missiles in the first stage of deployment . suddenly , ken 's routine day switches into crisis mode as the president and his key advisor bobby begin to muster the considerable forces of the us military to face the soviet threat . where " thirteen days " differs most from " missiles of october " is , as expected , in the scope of the project . there is a big difference , budget - wise , between making a television docudrama and one that goes to the big screen . it shows as the makers of " thirteen days " craft a recreation of the cuban missile crisis that encompasses not only the political intrigue within the white house , it also depicts the events that took place as america girds itself for nuclear confrontation . the cast , a true ensemble , is led , surprisingly , by bruce greenwood as jfk and not by kevin costner . costner 's o'donnell represents the family guy thing as the drama of the crisis has its impact on him and his family . this puts a personal spin on the film as we see both the crisis and america 's preparation for war and the pressure it brings to bear on those in the know . kenny reassures his wife and kids that all will be okay and they will be safe , but he knows that , if the crisis comes to a head , his family will be no more . the meat of " thirteen days " is in the big picture , not the microcosm of family , though . this is where the film stands out as we see the workings of our government on the highest levels . the story does not just cover the face - off between the world 's two most powerful countries ; it also depicts the animosity between the president and the military / cia . the disaster of the bay of pigs invasion the year before left a distrustful taste in the mouths of the generals and admirals who blame the kennedys for not backing the cuban expatriates fighting fidel castro . the missile crisis becomes a struggle for power as the army / navy / air force want to flex their might and invade cuba , while jfk wants to end the confrontation peaceably but with america 's dignity and world leadership intact . while the internal battle for power rages in the white house , with air force chief curtis lemay ( kevin conway ) advising the president to bomb cuba into the stone age , our armed forces are set into motion to stop the soviets with a blockade of offensive weapons to cuba . this is where the political intrigues of high office are replaced by exciting action . when the first confrontation takes place between a us warship and a soviet freighter , the tension is palpable . the most involving action sequence takes place late in the game as another u2 is sent up to shoot some snaps of the buildup and the fully prepared soviet forces launch an anti - aircraft attack on the hapless pilot of the spy plane . this is a sweaty palm sequence to say the least , making you squirm in your seat as you try to help the pilot avoid those missiles . the ensemble cast places greenwood as the first among equals with like weight given to all the principle players . greenwood does not play act at being a caricature of jfk , foregoing the typical kennedy boston accent . instead , he plays the man as a powerful figure who has to maintain the dignity of the office , directing his subordinates but giving them the latitude to make clear all of his options . kennedy used this decision by committee method to good effect as his senior staff uncovers all the options available to the president . costner , as ken o'donnell , is really a supporting cast member as a kennedy crony brought on board as a personal political favor . costner plays o'donnell as if he crammed on old jfk speeches with a forced kennedyesque twang to his speech . the rest of the players are first rate from start to finish with steven culp looking and sounding just like robert kennedy . the rest of the familiar players in this drama are uniformly well cast , too . standing out are michael fairman as the beleaguered us ambassador to the un , adlai stevenson , who was forced to become the challenging voice of the united states in the united nations and i remember the confrontation vividly . the filmmakers capture the accusations laid down by stevenson with accuracy , using old style video footage to good effect . dylan baker has the look and feel of the intelligentsia as the brainy secretary of defense robert mcnamara . kevin conway gives his general lemay the right " bomb them to hell " attitude . also notable is christopher lawford as navy pilot william ecker who , with his wingman , takes on the dangerous mission of a low - level photo recon into the heart of cuba , bravely challenging kenny o'donnell 's admonition , " don ' get shot . " tech credits are superb across the board with an admirable depiction of the us armed forces being placed on a war footing . it 's an impressive production with the careful use of period aircraft and ships that gives the film a veracity fitting the event . solid costuming by isis mussenden is subtle but has the look of the kennedys . there is the usual array of vintage cars from the period to make things look right . the special f / x of the u2 sequences are a nice crafting of computer imaging . the cuban missile crisis is probably the most intense two weeks that the united states has ever faced in its survival as a world leader . helmer donaldson and his fine crew and cast have given the depiction of this crucial event with the care and attention to details that make this one of the finest docudramas of the year . i give " thirteen days " an a- .

1POS

true faith and its expression through organized religion is a difficult subject for a motion picture to tackle head - on , which is probably why so few of them do it . even the most religious directors - like martin scorsese or ingmar bergman - usually address issues of faith in implicit rather than explicit religious terms . so it 's not hard to see why it took robert duvall fifteen years to get " the apostle " onto the big - screen . as a matter of fact , even after fifteen years he still never managed to get financial backing , and he ended up paying for it with $ 5 million of his own money . he also wrote the script , directed the film , and starred as the central character , a fiery texas preacher named euliss " sonny " dewey . few filmmakers have the courage and sheer audacity to take on that kind of financial , technical , and creative responsibility single - handedly , and it 's testament to what an intensely personal project this was for duvall . and , thankfully , every bit of that personal investment translates on - screen into power and honest emotion . sonny is an energetic , pentecostal preacher who has been speaking ( actually shouting ) from behind the pulpit since he was twelve . he spends much of his time traveling about the country , evangelizing with other preachers at tent revivals . unlike most hollywood characterizations of intense preachers , sonny is not a phony or a swindler , and the film 's purpose is not to unearth hypocrisy and sin in either sonny or the church . duvall makes it abundantly clear that sonny truly believes in what he says , although like all humans , he has weaknesses . one of his weaknesses become apparent when he finds out that , not only does his long - suffering wife , jessie ( farrah fawcett ) , want to leave him for another man in the congregation , but the two of them have secretly plotted to remove him as preacher . faced with the loss of two things he loves passionately- his church and his family - that same raw power that allows sonny to get entire congregations rocking and swaying transforms into a violent temper . at his son 's baseball game , sonny snaps and smashes his wife 's lover in the face with a baseball bat , inflicting a wound that may be fatal . not knowing what else to do , sonny disappears . he throws away his identification , drives his car into a lake , and takes a bus to louisiana , hoping to start over again . in the tiny , mostly poor coastal town of bayou boutte , sonny once again finds his calling . after befriending a simple auto mechanic ( walt goggins ) and tracking down the town 's ex - minister ( john beasley ) , sonny sets up his own church , the one way to heaven temple . re - christening himself as " the apostle e . f . , " he quickly draws together an eager congregation , and together they realize real change in each other 's lives . but , always , sonny 's past is lurking a step behind him , waiting to swallow his progress . duvall has made his intentions in making " the apostle " clear . in a recent article in " newsweek , " he wrote : " filmmakers hardly ever depict spirituality with such a strong emphasis on the holy spirit , and when they do , it tends to be patronizing - full of charlatans and snake handlers . . . but what i really wanted to do was try to understand what these preachers go through and what they believe , and to portray it in an accurate way . " the strength of duvall 's convictions turn out to be the strength of his film - " the apostle " always rings true , even in the most painful moments , because we know he 's being sincere with the subject matter . after fifteen years of traveling the country , listening to all shapes and sizes of ministers and taking studious notes on what they said , duvall has captured the energy and vitality of what it means to be truly spiritual . his sonny is a man who speaks directly to god and expects to be spoken right back to . " i 've always called you jesus and you 've always called me sonny , " he says . when neighbors call and complain that he is being too loud one night in one his rants with the man upstairs , sonny 's mother ( june carter cash ) just hangs up on them because she knows there 's no sense trying to interrupt him . the main theme to emerge from " the apostle " is the fact that good can come from any situation . sonny 's act of violence toward another human being is inarguably a horrific thing , and duvall never shrinks from that fact . however , that very same act of violence is what brings sonny to bayou boutte , where he finds people whom he desperately needs and who desperately need him . in his short time in louisiana , he does a world of good , and when the police finally show up to take him away , he goes quietly , knowing that he deserves the punishment that is awaiting him . and , as a scene during the final credits shows , he even turns his punishment into a positive opportunity for change and betterment . it is that strength in sonny 's character that makes him so appealing and magnetic to others - he is flawed , but he is powerful enough to overcome those flaws . weak men are the ones who simply accept their weaknesses and lack the desire to better themselves . watching duvall on - screen , it 's not hard to imagine that he would have been a magnificent preacher if he had chosen that vocation over acting . as sonny , he completely inhabits the character , and his performance is certainly the best of the year . because he spent so much time absorbing the traits , methods , quirks , and personalities of real preachers , duvall was able to create a complete character who always feels indelibly human . as a director , duvall feels that less is more . his camera simply takes in what goes on in front of it , with very little intrusion . there are no fancy crane shots or extended dollies or excessive close - ups . duvall knew that the power of the film 's characters ( enhanced by the fact that he cast mostly non - professional churchgoers and actual ministers ) did n't need to be artificially enhanced . in this way , " the apostle " almost plays out like a documentary , not only in its technical simplicity , but more importantly , in its sense of reality .

1POS

when a someone journeys to the theater to see a comedy , he always risks having to sit through inanity such as what we recently saw in films like edtv and office space . it really is too bad that comedies are so hit- and - miss , because when a moviegoer goes in a theater expecting to be amused , it really is a shame when the alleged comedy fails to deliver . but weep not , dear readers , because the latest comedy out of the hollywood movie mill is nothing less than a sure bet . austin powers : the spy who shagged me is one of the funniest things i 've had the pleasure to see in a long time ; a completely looney , delightful parody of the often pretentious james bond flicks . if all comedies ( or even half ; or - - what am i saying ? -- even a fifth of them ) could be this consistently hysterical , i would take up residence at my local multiplex . even more to this movie 's credit is the fact that it is a sequel to the 1997 sleeper / cult hit austin powers : international man of mystery . the original came out of nowhere ; it was a low - budget , eccentric movie that many expected to flop like a leslie nielsen parody . all of a sudden it was being quoted by teenagers all over america . ironically , powers ' " yeeeeah baby , yeah ! " has almost become an icon of the late 90s . thus another installment was inevitable , but it 's also undoubtedly welcome . the spy who shagged me is one of the most unrestrained , over- the - top comedies i have ever seen in my entire life . it brings back most of the characters from its predecessor ( even if only briefly ) and adds new ones . austin powers ( mike myers ) , a swinging hipster from the 60s transported into the 90s has to go back to his own time to get back his mojo ( oh , you 'll figure it out ) , which dr . evil ( meyers again ) has stolen . he enlists the help of a gorgeous secret agent felicity shagwell ( now that his prior sidekick vanessa has been properly disposed of in a hilarious opening sequence ) , played without much distinguishable gusto by heather graham and together they go back to the 60s to defeat dr . evil yet again . surprisingly , the real star is dr . evil rather than austin . he gets most of the screen time because he was so popular in the first movie . perhaps this is true because he is portrayed and written so affectionately . instead of being the scheming , villainous mad scientist we might expect from a character like this he is a bumbling , often sweet mad scientist wannabe . the spy who shagged me has much of the same stuff we saw in the original , but that 's okay by me because the original left us wanting more . by the time that one was over we have n't had nearly our share of shag jokes , crude puns and powers ' antics and this sequel satisfies our appetites . even by its conclusions , i 'm still not sure i 've had my fill of bits like " do you smoke after sex ? " " i do n't know , baby , i never looked . " this may seem awfully immature of me , but understand that the austin powers series , unlike most of the crap hollywood feeds us these days , is genuinely funny . i do n't know if i 've ever laughed harder at any movie than i did during the jerry springer send up or the indubitably hilarious " just the two of us " rendition by dr . evil and his new miniature clone named " mini - me " . i do n't have any pretensions that this is particularly smart social satire or anything of the sort . indeed there is little beyond the joy a viewer feels when he sees something that is able to entertain him as much as this movie did . but as far as i 'm concerned , that is enough . ? 1999 eugene novikov & # 137 ;

1POS

almost a full decade before steven spielberg 's saving private ryan asked whether a film could be both " anti war " and " pro - soldier " , john irvin 's hamburger hill proved it could . lost in the inundation of critical acclaim that greeted oliver stone 's platoon , this excellent film was dismissed as " too militaristic " . it 's hard to understand exactly why --- unless irvin , in assembling his motley collection of young men who for predictable ( and often naive ) reasons " chose to show up " for the vietnam debacle , ---has refused to present us with the stone killer , drug - stoked psycho and ruthless opportunist who have become to vietnam war epics what " the polack , the hillbilly and the kid from brooklyn " became to wwii movies . hamburger hill , based on a true story , is not an easy film to watch . there is a scene that will have graying anti - war activists squirming in their seats , or moved to genuine tears . and the climactic final assault on the " hill " in question is visually confusing . gristly realities are presented in brief flashes , as if the brain dared not acknowledged what it had encountered . and in the mud and smoke officer and enlistee , veteran and " newbie " , black soldier and white , become almost indistinguishable from each other , as they do in the chaos of actual combat . the acting throughout is solid with an absolutely stellar performance rendered by courtney b . vance as doc -- in a role that will have many flatly disbelieving that this is same actor they cheered as " seaman jones " in mctiernan 's red october . if you 've seen private ryan , you owe it to yourself to see hamburger hill -- if only to determine that the all the valour and horror of spielberg 's vision was as present in the ashau valley as it was at omaha beach .

1POS

in these days of overlong movies ( meet joe black , the thin red line , the mask of zorro ) it is a shame that films like waking ned devine ca n't be longer than a paltry 90 minutes . this is just a cute movie , even through its mildly risque subject matter . old friends jackie ( bannen ) and michael ( kelley ) try to find the lottery winner ( they deduce must live in their dinky town of about 60 ) so that they might kiss up to him and share the winnings . through process of elimination , they find that it must be lovable old ned devine , who they find sitting in front of his tv , clutching the winning lottery ticket in his cold dead hand . what results is thuroughly amusing , as jackie tries to convince his wife that not claiming it would be wrong , and that they could really benefit . after all , old ned wo n't miss it . rather than divulge the later twists and turns , i 'll stop here merely pointing out that jackie and michael get into all sorts of trouble in their little sleepy irish villiage . bannen and kelly are a perfect pair . one slightly stout , the other as thin as a rail . both getting on in years , they make such a cute pair of old codgers . waking ned devine may even be seen as a " full monty " for the geriatric set , especially since kelly gets buff - o for one amusing scene . waking ned devine is by no means perfect , but it is so sincere and touching that it looks so much better than most films . the performances by everyone in the town are great , particularly the two leads . there is one twist at the end which i find unnecessary , but it hardly ruins the picture . writer / director kirk jones should be held up as an example to all those hollywood screenwriters . scripts as creative and endearing as this should be the norm , not the exception . perhaps it makes us appreciate this wonderful film even more . had i held off on my year 's best / worst list for another day , waking ned devine ( officially released in late november of 98 ) surely would have graced the short group of the year 's finest films . it is light , but thought provoking and sweet . i ca n't think of anyone who should n't see ( or would n't enjoy ) this film .

1POS

dark city is such a rare treat : it ? s a stunning , hyperkinetic vision of a place where our reality is fused with noir , science fiction and the darkest nights in manhattan and london . to boot , it is accompanied by an intense , well written and thoughtful story . movies of this caliber and idea aren ? t made too often , and it ? s unfortunate that i waited this long to see it . alex proyas , who ? s previous film the crow looked good but couldn ? t cover up the terrible acting or story , here shows a near masterpiece ; a combination of metropolis , edward hopper and phillip marlowe , fused seemlessly . at times it moves beyond film into artwork . it is the story of ? strangers ? , aliens from another planet ( and we know they ? re aliens because they shave their heads and wear overcoats ? one of the detractions of the film ) who experiment on humans to discover what makes them live , what makes up our ? soul ? . these aliens are superior to humans because they have mastered the ? ultimate technology ? of shaping matter with their mind , called ? tuning . they are aided by a human scientist , played by kiefer sutherland , who has ? betrayed his kind ? and at the start of the film watches as the entire city stops at exactly midnight . during this time , john murdoch , played swiftly by rufus sewell , wakes in a bathtub in a room with a swinging overhead light ( a terrific visual effect - not only is murdoch confused , but so is the audience ) . without a memory and a strange guilt that he may be a killer , he receives a phone call to flee , as the strangers are after him . i don ? t want to proceed to much further with the explanation of the story ; one of the pleasures of the film is watching it develop , in a way regaining murdoch ? s ? identity ? along with him . it ? s a pleasure to watch the characters develop through the cinematography . murdoch ? s wife , anna , is introduced through a stunning beam of light : she is a lounge singer who sings into a bright spotlight . shadows , outlines of men in hats watch , as she gently curves through the shine . we see the outline of her body from behind , an hourglass , as she sings a slow , rhythmic song . a great entrance . however , a film such as this is only successful if the morals and themes behind it are strong enough to leave the viewer satisfied . the city is nice to look at , but if it ? s a poor story then it ? s not worth watching . blade runner was popular not only because it ? s visuals , but it ? s story and themes were thought out and provoked strong response from the audience . it is discussed it and argued , therefore a success . other science fiction films of recent times , such as the fifth element , are nice to look at , but are dropped and forgotten because the cookie cutter moral behind them is so flimsy . we ? re left with ? love conquers all ? after finishing the fifth element . dark city is not so easily explained away . as the strangers discovered , locating the human soul and discovering what makes us survive is not such an easy task . where is reality ? dark city is certainly the best science fiction film of the 90 ? s , and ranks along with the best made in the 80s , such as blade runner and the two aliens films . perhaps it ? s the best of the both decades ; it had the darkness of the aliens films , as well as the visuals and compelling story of blade runner , but moved beyond , i think , because the themes behind it were much stronger . anyone who wants to make an argument for better science fiction films please feel free to write , i ? d love to hear it .

1POS

anyone who saw alan rickman 's finely - realized performances in truly madly deeply and sense and sensibility will be unsurprised that the actor - turned - director is a bit of a poet at heart . however , for those who recall him only as the maniacal villain of die hard and robin hood : prince of thieves , this recognition may be something of a shock . nevertheless , " poetic " is an excellent term to describe rickman 's feature debut as a director , the winter guest . the film has a simple , unhurried rhythm that uses all of the available elements to fashion a successful whole . the result is an occasionally haunting , sometimes magical , and always insightful human drama . the winter guest is n't about resolving plot threads and advancing a story line ; it 's about exploring relationships and examining life in all of its stages . the winter guest does not tell a traditional tale , nor does it ascribe to a conventional narrative structure ? there is no real beginning or end . instead , we are given an opportunity to observe one day in the lives of eight humans . they represent both sexes , multiple generations , and a variety of relationships ? male and female ; young , middle - aged , and elderly ; friends , would - be lovers , and kin . we see expectations fulfilled and disappointed , emotional boundaries eroded , and truths unveiled . there is comedy and tragedy . most importantly , much of what transpires during the course of the winter guest will find an echo in our own lives ? in this fiction can be found much truth . the setting is small town in scotland on the coldest day of the year . it 's so frigid that the sea has begun to freeze over . the onshore wind cuts like a knife and snow blankets the beach , giving the terrain an alien appearance . it is against this backdrop that the relationships of the film are captured . there are four pairings , and , although there is some interaction between the different twosomes , the winter guest 's focus is on the dynamics internal to each relationship . the first , meatiest pairing is that of elspeth ( phylida law ) and her recently - widowed daughter , frances ( emma thompson ) . these two have a stormy relationship . they love each other deeply , but both are stubborn and willful , and neither is willing to admit that they need the other . much of their interaction is argumentative , but , during the course of a long walk to the frozen shoreline , they come to an unspoken understanding of how much each means to the other . frances ' adult son , alex ( gary hollywood ) , is a lonely young man who has been caring for his mother since the death of his father . on this day , he meets a girl , nita ( arlene cockburn ) , who has secretly been spying on him for weeks . although their first encounter is antagonistic ( she throws a snowball at him ) , both quickly become aware of an undeniable attraction . once they retire to a place where they can be alone , however , things do n't go exactly as planned . lily ( sheila reid ) and chloe ( sandra voe ) are a couple of old friends who are frequent funeral attendees . death is a topic of endless fascination for them , perhaps because they are so close to it , and they spend their spare time scanning the obituaries , looking for the next funeral or cremation in the area . it does n't matter whether or not they knew the deceased . it 's the ceremony that they 're interested in . sam ( douglas murphy ) and tom ( sean biggerstaff ) , a pair of schoolboy chums , are spending this cold february day cutting classes and hanging out at the beach , horsing around , building a small fire for warmth , and walking on the frozen water . unlike lily and chloe , these two have their entire lives ahead of them . they are young enough to still believe in magic , but old enough to recognize that the process of crossing into adulthood robs life of the simple joy that only children can experience . the acting is strong and believable . the mixture of veteran performers and first - timers is effective , with the most successful choice being the casting of real - life mother and daughter phylida law and emma thompson in the most prominent roles . there is a chemistry in their interaction that would be hard to replicate with two different , non - related actors . and , of course , the physical resemblance makes it that much easier to accept elspeth and frances as parent and child . the winter guest began its life as a stage play in 1995 , with rickman as the director . four of the film 's principals , phylida law , arlene cockburn , sheila reid , and sandra voe , appeared in the theatrical version before moving to the film . unlike several recent motion pictures adapted from plays , the winter guest has been successfully opened up . the rough , bleak scottish countryside becomes as much of a character as any of the eight humans . in fact , considering how important the climate is to every relationship under rickman 's microscope , it could be argued that this is the single most important element of the movie . if you appreciate character studies , the winter guest is a solid effort with enough power to stay with you after you have left the theater .

1POS

i want to correct what i wrote last year in my retrospective of david lean 's war picture . i still think that " the bridge on the river kwai " does n't deserve being the number 13 in the american film institute 's list of the 100 greatest american movies . and i think that " 12 angry men " , " witness for the prosecution " and " paths of glory " would have been better choices for the oscar for the best picture of 1957 . but i ca n't deny the importance of " the bridge on the river kwai " - cinematically and in its contents . the film is set in burma in 1943 . a batallion of british soldiers in japanese war captivity is forced by the japanese to build a strategically momentous railway bridge over the river kwai . but the british commanding officer , colonel nicholson ( alec guinness ) , insists - corresponding to the geneva conventions - that his officers need n't work as simple workmen . struggling toughly , col . nicholson forces the japanese commandant , col . saito ( sessue hayakawa ) , to give way in this respect . afterwards col . nicholson assiduously commits himself for the building of the bridge . he considers it an opportunity to raise his men 's morale , and he wants to prove superior british capabilities to the japanese . but the british high command sends a few soldiers who shall destroy the bridge , among them the american shears ( william holden ) - an escapee from the japanese prison camp - and the british major warden ( jack hawkins ) . . . a flaw of the picture is the clich ? d characterization of the japanese people . they are presented as if they were intellectually inferior to the british - as if the japanese were incapable of building a bridge . and the film does n't consistently question the military spirit as kubrick does in " paths of glory " . lean seems rather fascinated by the military hierarchies . this is also perceptible in the conversations between col . nicholson and col . saito . in this regard it is symptomatic that shears , who doubts the military logic , is presented as a somehow unpleasant person . the audience is supposed to applaud col . nicholson 's perseverance concerning the question if his officers shall work on the bridge or not . the spectators are supposed to neglect the risks col . nicholson takes for his men . ( the plot by - passes these risks . ) that means , the picture is n't perfect . but it has a lot of virtues as well . " the bridge on the river kwai " shows the " madness " of war and what it can produce in people 's minds . it shows how colonel nicholson becomes possessed by the idea of being a hero and that others ( like shears ) get cynics . and lean 's film is an interesting study of characters with clashing interests . these points and the sometimes ironic dialogue make this film an anti - war film ( despite inconsistencies in the treatment of this theme ) . david lean 's direction is really effective and atmospherically perfect . his film is highly suspenseful , especially in its dramatic ( if not wholly plausible ) showdown . the film is also well - photographed and has an apt score . alec guinness does a magnificent job of bringing col . nicholson to life and making him such an interesting character . the other actors deliver fine performances as well . i like this extraordinary film despite its weaknesses . ( c ) karl rackwitz ( klein k ? ris , germany , 1999 )

1POS

recently i read 4 reviews of pleasantville - one from entertainment weekly , one from a newsgroup , and two from different online resources . each review compared this film to the truman show . why ? the only reason people compared pleasantville to truman is due to the fact that their lives are on television . other than that , the two movies are completely different from each other . reviewers seem to love to pick one movie ( i . e . the truman show ) , obsess over it , and make it a guideline for other movies . when pleasantville and edtv opened , all critics seemed to treat the two films like they were subjects of king truman . the same goes for the thin red line , as well . when it opened in decemeber , probably 98 % of reviews compared it to stephen spielberg 's saving private ryan , giving thin line no chance whatsoever . critics loved private ryan so much , that they automatically decided no movie is good enough to reach its standards . this is why i think pleasantville was underrated . if the truman show had never been made , pleasantville probably would have received better reviews , done better at the box office , and would be remembered after it 's long been on the video store shelves . sure , it was n't perfect , and it was n't very believeable , but neither was the wizard of oz or star wars , and there stands two of the most prominent movies in history . with the exception of don knotts as the annoying " tv repairman " the film is cast perfectly : the ice storm 's tobey maguire is david in real life ; he watches the old 50 's sitcom " pleasantville " to escape from his feuding parents . his twin sister , jen ( reese witherspoon ) is a popular slut who ( steriotypically ) smokes and wears revealing clothes . but what makes her character believeable is the dialogue - those excessive 90 's terms such as " like " , " whatever " , and " cool " make her sound like the total dimwit she 's supposed to be . the twins , with a little help from a tv repairman ( casting don knotts in this role was obviously a cameo - esque cast rather than a true acting one ) , are sucked into pleasantville by a magical new remote . their new parents , played by william h . macy and joan allen , are perfect in every way . their new names are bud and mary sue , and right away they start to corrupt the town of pleasantville . after the siblings fit comfortably in their new roles , the movie begins to take form . it 's just like watching a sitcom in itself ; you do n't want it to end . " mary sue " has sex with her date , the school basketball champion ; when he tells all his friends about it , they stop preforming perfectly at basketball , and things start to take color . soon we learn that these people do n't know how to express true emotions , and when they learn to do so , they eventually turn into color . this eventually sparks a racial war between the " coloreds " and the " black & whites . " entertainment weekly reviewer lisa schwarzbaum claims the movie has , " none of the depth , poignance , and brilliance of the truman show . . . " yes , the truman show was maybe a little more intelligent . but the racial setting - intensified by the forcing of the coloreds to sit in the upper box of the courtroom - certainly classifies as deep , considering it 's what i least expected . gary ross did not try to create an intelligent , award masterpiece - he just tries to convey moral messages within his work . take for example big and dave , his past films . big - be careful what you wish for . dave - good or bad lying is still lying . did these movies win big awards ? no , but they won the heart of millions . pleasantville could have done that too , if it was n't for snotty reviewers who set precedents with preceeding films . pleasantville : a- ad2am " i almost lost my nose . . . and i like it . i like breathing through it . " -jack nicholson , chinatown

1POS

note : some may consider portions of the following text to be spoilers . be forewarned . the teaser trailers for my best friend 's wedding scarsely gave reason for hope - it looked like the sort of goofy , light - hearted comedy than might put julia roberts back in the limelight , but little more ; i 'd frankly rarely seen a trailer place such an emphasis on people falling over for laughs so often . it was then to both my surprise and my delight to find that my best friend 's wedding was such a success - a strong , bouyant romantic - comedy with some decidedly unconventionally quirky comic aspects , featuring a triumphant performance from ms . roberts . the heroine of my best friend 's wedding is julianne potter ( julia roberts ) , a successful new york restaurant critic , and we open the film with a whimsical revelation to her editor george downes ( rupert everett ) that years ago , she had made a pact with her dear best friend and ex - lover michael o'neal ( dermot mulroney ) , a sports writer , that if they both had n't married by the time they reached 28 , they had promised to marry each other . both julianne and michael are both single , of course , and when george inquires about michael 's age , julianne realizes that he 's mere weeks away from his 28th birthday , and is quite distressed when she receives a phone call from michael later that day . however , she finds herself even more distraught when michael 's call is in regards to his impending marriage to heiress kimmy wallace ( cameron diaz ) , and when he asks julianne to fly down to chicago for the wedding , julianne suddenly realizes that she loves michael , and resolves to break up the wedding and steal the groom by any means necessary . the setup for my best friend 's wedding , then , is a fairly conventional one , and in many ways the film 's storyline is formulaic - but only to a certain extent : the film was directed by p . j . hogan , whose first feature , muriel 's wedding , had quite an offbeat tone for a traditional uplifting ugly - duckling story , and the same holds true for my best friend 's wedding , which confidently combines traditional romantic - comedy elements with a really eccentric sense of humour . the film is innundated with sly mischievousness which seems clearly the influence of mr . hogan . for example , there 's a heartfelt , emotional exchange between julianne and michael late in the film - with a trio of teenagers , inhaling helium and sounding every bit like alvin and the chipmunks , harmonizing in the background . my best friend 's wedding opens with an inspired opening credit sequence which sets the tone for the film , and there are scenes where actors spontaneously burst into song to good comic effect - it could almost be argued that this film is nearly as much of a musical as woody allen 's everyone says i love you ; i 'd even assert it 's a more successful one . my best friend 's wedding keeps breaking conventionality with its characters as well . in a typical romantic - comedy , kimmy would be portrayed as a snooty , conniving ice queen , and the audience would be cheering for julianne to rescue michael from her grasps ; this film is smarter than that - here , kimmy is sweet , sincere , and innocent ; julianne even admits at one point that had she not resolved to utterly destroy kimmy 's life , she 'd actually like her too . the george character is almost a staple of recent film - the homosexual male friend of the heroine who acts as a confidant and provides the guiding voice of reason - but in my best friend 's wedding , he gets to have a playful , mischievous and charming personality . throughout the film , the formulaisms one often sees is romantic - comedy are given little twists , and the result is a film which is compelling all the way to its somewhat unorthodox conclusion . there is a lot of smart writing in the well - paced screenplay by ronald bass ; we 're given four interesting , vivid , and likeable characters , with some good dialogue and some genuinely charming and touching moments . my best friend 's wedding marks a strong career rebound for julia roberts , who turns in a top - notch , confident and reassured performance as julianne . this is n't the sort of role one usually associates with ms . roberts - the julianne character 's neurotic , fumbling characteristics are more in line with a meg ryan role - but ms . roberts works wonderfully in the film and demonstrates her aptitude at comedy here , remaining compelling and empathetic to the audience , if not entirely sympathetic , even when her deeds done to destroy the wedding plans of her best friend are less than honourable . even better than ms . roberts though is cameron diaz , who turns in a shining performance in my best friend 's weddding . with a smile which lights up the screen , she effectively conveys kimmy 's insecurity and utter sweetness in an endearing manner , and never hits a false note in the film . she even sings - i wo n't soon forget her charming serenade of " i just do n't know what to do with myself " . rupert everett is given a very juicy role as george , and he makes the most of it with a hilarious turn which makes his character perhaps the most vivid and most memorable in the film . his george is a bit of a devilish rogue , entirely affable , and mr . everett 's performance is a delight to watch ; he 's clearly having fun , and his joy is infectuous . dermot mulroney is adequate in a thankless role - unlike the other characters in the film , he 's not given a lot to do , but there is a genuine onscreen chemistry between ms . roberts and mr . mulroney , and consequently the longstanding friendship between his michael character and the julianne character always seemed completely authentic . when julia roberts ' lustre began to fade , and she was usurped from her title as " america 's sweetheart " by sandra bullock , i thought it was a canny career move on her part to take supporting roles in prestige projects like michael collins and everyone says i love you to raise her profile . while that did n't quite work out , it 's near - certain that her successful return to the genre which made her a big star back in 1990 , the romantic - comedy , will once again raise her ante in the hollywood game . my best friend 's wedding marks a return to form for ms . roberts , and cements p . j . hogan 's reputation as a skilled director of comedy .

1POS

robocop is an intelligent science fiction thriller and social satire , one with class and style . the film , set in old detroit in the year 1991 , stars peter weller as murphy , a lieutenant on the city 's police force . 1991 's detroit suffers from rampant crime and a police department run by a private contractor ( security concepts inc . ) whose employees ( the cops ) are threatening to strike . to make matters worse , a savage group of cop - killers has been terrorizing the city . on murphy 's first day of duty , after his transfer from another precinct , these cop - killers brutally murder him by shooting off his limbs one by one . ( orion pictures had to edit this extremely graphic scene in order to get an r rating from the m . p . a . a . ) after the emergency room staff at the hospital can not save murphy and declare him clinically dead , s . c . i . recruits his remains for their new " robocop " program . using the remains of murphy 's body as a foundation , their scientists build a cyborg , made of both flesh and metal . the cyborg ( robocop ) is half human ( murphy ) and half robot ; the s . c . i . engineers have erased murphy 's memory and replaced it with a computer program ( or so they think ) . with his lightning quick reflexes , immense strength , and impenetrable armor , s . c . i . envisions robocop as an indestructible super - cop : the solution to detroit 's problems . the remainder of the plot follows robocop 's crime - foiling and vengeance on his murderers . as a science fiction action - thriller , robocop is extremely effective . dutch director paul verhoeven combines gritty action with suspense , shocking gore , and spectacular special effects . several sequences in the film , such as the one in which robocop employs his extremely precise aim to stop a rapist , are destined to become cult - classics . because robocop is so visually and emotionally rousing , it demands to be seen on a large screen with an audience -- in other words , in a movie theater . although the special effects and action are exciting , they do not by themselves set robocop apart from other films in the genre . rather , robocop stands out for its accurate and biting satire of american society . the movie makes a mockery of the star wars defense initiative , terrorism , board games , and television news broadcasts with air - headed anchors . these news broadcasts , which are exceptionally clever , recur periodically throughout the movie and help to provide comic relief from the intense action and gore . the satire in robocop , however , is almost as frightening in its own way as the suspense and blood . 1990 's america , as portrayed in the film , may seem far fetched but is in actuality ( i think ) only a slight exaggeration of the current state of american society . the humorous satire in robocop is simultaneously credible and absurd . verhoeven adroitly balances the satirical comedy with the gory action to create an entertaining and enlightening piece of science fiction / social commentary . unfortunately , robocop possesses several flaws which prevent it from qualifying as a classic within the genre . the movie lacks the lasting impact of such films as the road warrior , the terminator , and aliens . robocop 's main problem , aside from its dumb title , is that it does not sufficiently develop murphy 's character . we never learn the degree to which murphy ( as robocop ) is human and the degree to which he is a robot . does murphy have any human spirit or free will left , or is he merely a computer following a program ? the script halfheartedly raises these issues but then abandons them in its climactic flurry of gory action . moreover , it almost completely ignores the question ( and tragedy ) of denying a man his right to die in favor of turning him into a machine . robocop also contains several bothersome loose - ends . as you watch robocop , you experience deja vu ; you feel as if you have seen the film before . in many respects , robocop is reminiscent of several other films , including the terminator , return of the jedi , and even death wish . however , to its credit , robocop easily has enough originality and unique personality to avoid becoming a cheap rip - off .

1POS

probably the most popular and praised film of all time , turned out to be a primitive and predictable costume drama with a dose of social criticism . everyone knows about the greatest and most famous shipping disaster of all time . and the actual catastrophe is masterfully crafted by director james cameron , combining visual -and sound effects , he re - creates the frightening atmosphere of the sinking ship in the middle of nowhere . i liked very much the emotional and brutal contrast between the first and the third classes . while their cabin is slowly filling up with water , a mother is telling her children a fairytail -- " . . and they lived happily ever after . . " . and then the ship goes down and the few survivors are left alone under the stars and the chilling air . however , the actual disaster is happening almost at the end of the movie , while the first two hours are just beautiful sets and bad dialogues . in the present day , the rms titanic is explored by brock lovett ( bill paxton ) , a treasure seeker looking for the coeur de la mer diamond , lost during the sinking . somewhere inside the ship , lovett 's crew discover a sketchbook of an artist long dead . here , in the shape of a nude young lady , is a window into the distant age of 1912 . lovett is extremely surprised when he get 's a phone call from rose dawson , claiming that she is a model . she is immediately helicoptered onto the vessel , and she gets the first glimpse of the fated ship in 80 years . as the memories come flooding back , she once again becomes rose dewitt buketer ( kate winslet ) , the fianc ? e of wealthy cal hockley ( billy zane ) and daughter of ruth dewitt bukater ( frances fisher ) . on board there are rich and poor , everyone trust in the ship 's designer ( jonathan hyde ) and her master , captain e . j . smith ( bernard hill ) . on board the ship , rose , unhappy and restless meets jack ( leonardo dicaprio ) - a young american artist , poor , brave and attractive . a love story slowly emerges and the two lovers must not only experience the difference between the social classes , but also face the greatest power on earth - death . cameron could as well have called his picture " the never ending love " or " love at first sight " , as he concentrates all his energy on the young couple , and not on the disaster itself . the plot is anything but original and the dialogues sometimes resemble a television soap - opera . the director does n't even try to overcome his empty script . because of its primitive and predictable plot , titanic is totally depending on the visuals that truly are breathtaking . russel carpenter 's rich , majestic and incredibly detailed cinematography is certainly award - worthy . everything from art direction to visual and sound effects are a top notch . but it does n't help much when the costumes are more convincing than the actors who wear them . the actors are not to blame , because their characters are more like caricatures , in other words - fake . jack is a man with many talents : he is a talented artist , handsome , brave , honest , strong , funny . . . you name it . he does n't have any dark side , he does n't make any mistakes , that for a second would make him human . jack is perfect , but he is - poor . on the other hand we have cal . he is a bastard that treats rose as an odalisque and not as his wife - to - be . he lacks everything jack possesses , but he is -- rich . this childish contrast between the social classes is one of those things that makes titanic nothing more than a mediocre picture . cameron knows precisely what we want to see . his film therefore contains certain minimums to draw an audience - attractive actors , a " tragic love story " , beautiful visuals ( including expensive special effects ) , a dose of social criticism , a fascinating historical event ( we love true stories ) and last , but not least - an incredible media support , which proclaimed an average picture the " greatest film of all time " . on the outside titanic looks perfect , but behind that sparkling curtain of incredible visuals - is emptiness - nothing to think about . the main weakness of this film , which ironically became its success , is simplicity . cameron enables our basic and if you wish - primitive emotions : love , hate , fear and helplessness . everyone understands the power of love and the threat to our beautiful couple is likewise imaginable - a sinking ship . titanic is a typical hollywood production , totally and completely dependent on visual perfection to hide its primitive plot . it 's a good picture , but absolutely not a masterpiece . it 's among hundreds and thousands good films released every year , not better or worse than the average american film .

1POS

cinema has been around for about a hundred years now . ? it 's not my job to recap this century every time i talk about a new film , but i 'd like to think that i 'm beginning to understand the art more as i watch more films from before my time . recently , i 've seen the films of hitchcock , capra , fellini , godard , kurosawa , chaplin , lang , and many others . ? those men were talented artists , and their films reflect their genius . ? they are likely to be remembered for . . . well , quite a while . ? i like this film , too . ? yes , it 's a disaster - slash - action movie . ? true , its budget is a lot more money than i 'll ever see in my lifetime . ? and there 's not a doubt in my mind that the only reason it was conceived was to make a lot of money . ? in fact , i bet the producers of armageddon would have worked towards a lousy film , had they thought it would 've been more profitable . i certainly do n't care what their intentions were , because michael bay ( the rock ) is such a skilled director that i doubt he 'd ever make a film that is difficult to sit through . of course , skillful direction does n't complete the package , but the rest of armageddon manages to keep everything together . the story is well - thought out ( and perfectly paced to provide for an abundance of action sequences that never feel out of place ) , the acting is terrific , the script is sharp , and -- get this -- there are characters . yes , you read that right . armageddon actually has characters you can care about ! if you do n't like this film , then you have a problem with the genre itself : armageddon is as good as a film like this can be . if you 've seen deep impact , then you know the basic framework for the story . it turns out that an asteroid the size of texas is going to strike the earth eighteen days from the start of the film . so , it 's up to the u . s . government to stop it . ( why the u . s . is always exclusively saddled with these problems is never fully investigated . ) their plan -- to send a group of experienced oil drillers up to the asteroid , drill down several hundred feet , and detonate a nuclear warhead within . the head driller is harry stamper ( bruce willis ) . his group of men is a colorful bunch , including a . j . ( ben affleck ) , chick ( will patton ) , and rockhound ( steve buscemi ) . there 's also an interesting triangle formed between a . j . , harry , and grace ( liv tyler ) , who is harry 's daughter . a . j . and grace are , of course , romantically intertwined , and dad is n't too happy with the situation . it 's absurd to wish for a complicated story in an event movie or a special effects movie or whatever it is you 'd like to call armageddon . it 's not about story -- it 's about viscera and action , and thrills - a - minute , and all that stuff . it 's incidental , really , that the story is cohesive and even remotely believable , because most people will be too wrapped up in the explosions to give two seconds ' thought to what actually happens . but bay is the one to congratulate in this case , for he has made a film so entertaining and so visually sharp that i doubt any director could have done it better . i think most of the budget went to cameras alone , because bay films every action sequence from about thirty or forty different angles . take the spectacular opening scene , for instance , in which a meteor shower obliterates new york . a meteor flies out of the sky and crashes into a building , which sends fireballs erupting into the air and cars spinning like tops upon other cars . the action itself might take five seconds in real life , but bay edits so quickly that we get the same scene in six different ways . i like his quick - edit style , because it 's abrasive and exhausting to watch . it 's also very loud , and obnoxiously noisy at times . but it 's fun to be obnoxious sometimes . the special effects in this film put every other 1998 blockbuster to shame . deep impact , visually , has absolutely nothing on armageddon , and to offer a comparison between the quality of this film and godzilla is simply laughable . special effects are very important in a film like this : if they 're not good , then the image is not convincing , and the film does n't work . everything here looks bright and explosive -- from the little meteors bursting through skyscrapers , all the way to the shots of the earth through the jutting rocks on the ominously approaching asteroid . the effects that do n't look totally real are still a pleasure to behold , and i credit everyone involved for creating the first blockbuster so nice - looking that it actually qualifies as art . of course , all of this would add up to little more than an above - average light show , if i did n't get the feeling that bay cares as much about his characters as he does about his action . the film is two and a half hours long , and not all of that is spent submerged in numbing action . much of the film is dedicated to developing the various characters ' subplots . i wo n't suggest that these are complex characters , but their problems are real , and the emotions are n't put forth in a sentimental and overbearing way . in fact , there are three or four scenes here that had me pretty choked up , and that 's a lot more than i can say about deep impact , which was banking on the feel - good parts of its story . bruce willis is terrific , and i 'm glad to see him bigger than life again ( recent turns in films like mercury rising have been very disappointing ) . tyler and affleck are great together , and make a convincing couple -- all of the scenes between them work on a comfortable level . patton , who is a magnificent actor , thankfully is not wasted here , and the minor subplot revolving around his ex - wife and son is very moving . the comic relief from buscemi and peter stormare ( who plays a crazy russian astronaut ) is nifty , and keeps the film lively and funny . i was n't challenged to think real hard while watching armageddon , and i do n't mind too much . but the film does n't insult my intelligence -- it 's pitched perfectly to entertain , which is what all it really wants to do . it 's not mindless and escapist , but well - crafted cinema . it might have been created for the wrong reasons , but men like michael bay have my respect for showing me that they are interested in making something good , in spite of the producers and the budget . i 'm not saying that films like this are risky moves . what i am saying is that armageddon is a big , loud , expensive motion picture that reminds me that art often comes in the strangest of forms .

1POS

it 's no secret in the motion picture industry that the relationship between a script and the actors involved often makes or breaks a movie at the box office . a poorly - written script can be bested by a superb acting corps , and a well - written piece can be mangled by a group of amateurs . in directing his latest action - comedy , director brett ratner ( money talks ) takes a relatively mediocre piece of standup comedy and turns it into a funny as all get - out buddy cop movie . in addition , rush hour serves as a first - class example of directing a movie with conservative attitude - a feature that is sure to draw in crowds of all types . the two lead names share equal screen time here , mostly because they spend it together . jackie chan , in his first completely american production , makes an impressive debut by mixing dialogue with martial arts . the other martial arts flick from a few weeks ago , knock off , stands no chance against the content of this one . chan manages to make every fight scene exude grace and poise , and there 's no doubt that a large percentage of video sales for this movie will come from viewers who could n't believe their eyes the first time . chris tucker , on the opposite side , relates a hilarious comedic approach which smoothes out the rough edges to chan 's performance . he works perfectly with the script , and it 's quite likely he lent scribe jim kouf a hand with some of his lines . almost essential to the action genre , the plot is nonexistent . we 're quickly introduced to detective james carter ( tucker ) is a maverick officer for the lapd . cut forward to another scene where the daughter ( julia hsu ) of the american chinese consul ( tzi ma ) is kidnapped by a gang of swarthy characters . the fbi is quick to the rescue , but the consul insists that one of his men , detective inspector lee ( chan ) , be brought on the case to help . the fbi resists , but then requests that lapd send a man over to babysit the chinese detective . it 's here that carter and lee hook up , and the two unwittingly solve the case while the fbi rushes in to back them up . rattner does a fine job of going the extra mile to get his movie to move a step up , but it does n't quite reach the top tier of action - comedies like last year 's grosse pointe blank . there are moments where the plot strays too far off the straight line it sticks almost exclusively to , and if not for the comedic interactions between tucker and chan , this might be a major drawback . also , some supporting characters are almost entirely along for the ride , and others are there simply to look menacing . however , none gives a standoffish performance and they mostly mesh into the background . almost every member of the cast displays some reservation at one point or another - whether it 's tucker 's toned - down routine or chan 's tight rein on his action sequences - and that contributes greatly to this being a watchable movie for all types . a recommendable visit to the theater , indeed .

1POS

when andy leaves for cowboy camp , his mother holds a yard sale and scrounges in his room for old toys . one of these toys is wheezy , a penguin with a broken squeaker . woody ( tom hanks ) saddles up andy 's dog and rides out into the yard to rescue wheezy . woody succeeds in his mission , but does n't make it back to the house before al , the unscrupulous owner of al 's toy barn , recognizes woody as a rare collector 's item and steals him . buzz lightyear ( tim allen ) leads hamm ( john ratzenberger ) , mr . potato head ( don rickles ) , slinky dog ( jim varney ) , and rex ( wallace shawn ) into the city to find their friend . meanwhile woody discovers the reason he was kidnapped . al has collected every piece of merchandising from the 1950 's tv puppet show " woody 's round - up " except for a woody doll . now that the collection is complete , al plans to sell woody and his round - up gang - bullseye the horse , jessie the cowgirl ( joan cusack ) , and stinky pete the old prospector ( kelsey grammer ) -to a toy museum in japan . the gang is happy about the move ; they 've been in storage for years waiting for woody . if woody does n't go with them , they 'll be closed up in a dark box again , possibly forever . trying to convince him to stay with them , jessie tells woody how she was abandoned when her owner grew up , and woody realizes that his days as a beloved toy are numbered . while woody ponders whether to go to japan or to go home to andy , buzz and the boys invade al 's toy barn , where the buzz we know is replaced by another buzz who does n't know he 's a toy . the new buzz generates the movie 's biggest laughs as he leads the other toys in an assault on " zurg 's fortress " ( i . e . , al 's apartment building ) . the original " toy story " won me over because its central themes reflected a grown - up sensibility rather than the usual this - is - what - we - think - kids - want - to - hear . while most kids ' movies take the position that every person is special and has an extraordinary destiny to fulfill , in " toy story " buzz discovered that he was n't special , that he was just like everyone else . buzz sank into a suicidal depression , but woody showed buzz that being a toy was worthwhile because a toy is loved and a toy makes a child happy . in other words , it 's okay to be ordinary if you have love and a purpose in your life . most of us probably come to the same conclusion when we realize that we 're not space rangers and we 're never going to be . " toy story 2 " addresses the question raised by the conclusion drawn by the first movie . woody is forced to recognize that andy will grow up and forget him and that he will likely be discarded , abandoned , or sealed up in a dark box in the attic . this is another big grown - up theme : everything ends . the theme is introduced early in the movie when woody 's arm is torn and andy places him on a shelf rather than taking him to cowboy camp . on the shelf , woody meets wheezy , who 's dusty , broken , and forgotten . the other toys are shocked that woody has been " shelved , " and they worry that woody 's ride out to the 25-cent box at the yard sale is a suicide attempt . after he 's stolen , woody has to decide between a long life in a display case and an uncertain future with andy and his pals . of course , in spite of the heavy themes " toy story 2 " explores , it 's also very funny . most of the laughs come from the toys ' assault on al 's toy barn and on the apartment building . the brief substitution of a new , still delusional buzz was a welcome surprise ; i 'd wondered how a sequel could be as funny as the original without the pompous attitude buzz displayed in the original . most of the vocal performances are first - rate . tom hanks stands out for the level of enthusiasm he puts into his work . however , one voice - over also stands out as horribly miscast . kelsey grammer sounds nothing like an old prospector . although he does a lot of voice - over work in commercials and on " the simpsons " ( as sideshow bob ) , grammer only makes slight variations on his own voice . he does n't have the range to pull off a role like stinky pete . the animation is even better than in the first . especially impressive were the textures of the figures . we can now see the difference between flesh and plastic ; in the first movie the people looked just like the toys , but now human skin looks soft and has a slight bluish tint . we can also see that bo peep is porcelain . as you can tell from the long - winded phrasing common in the merchandising -- " disney and pixar 's ' toy story 2 ' " -- this is pixar 's coming out party . to celebrate they appended their first project , a hilarious short about two desklamps and a rubber ball , to the beginning of the movie . they made the short in 1986 , which is incredible when one considers the relatively primitive level of computer technology available then . on the downside , " toy story 2 " follows the formula of the original so closely that the sequel comes off a bit stale , and some sections tend to drag . overall , though , i had a great time and found " story 2 " to be a worthy successor to the first " toy story . " bottom line : this one really is fun for the whole family !

1POS

david lynch 's " blue velvet " begins and ends with colorful , bright shots of flowers and happy americans mowing their lawns in a seemingly perfect american town . however , what lies inside this nominally safe atmosphere is a " strange world " of drug dealers , sadists , and murderers . the opening and closing shots are a wonderful contrast to the rest of the gloomy , disturbing film . they show not to make assumptions from first glance and that oddness is common in all places under all circumstances . odd would be a perfect adjective to describe this film , its characters , its direction , and its story . thankfully , the obscurity that " blue velvet " relies on is enough to make this film enjoyable . since its elements are so originally weird , you never know what will happen next . this is the main goal of a movie ; to be spontaneous and surprising . " blue velvet " miracuously succeeds at this even though it contains mediocre acting . lynch creates such a hypnotic world that it is hard to resist his style of story telling . the film starts off with the discovery of a severed ear by a college boy ( kyle maclachlan ) . from this point maclachlan finds himself involved with a lounge singer ( isabella rossellinia ) who has lost her son and husband to a kidnapping . the plot is much more detailed than the aforementioned and this is what makes david lynch 's story telling so amazing . maclachlan becomes involved in a forbidden relationship , in another relationship that could have been taken straight out of a high school flick , and he is put into the shoes of a drug dealer who has some wild adventures with some wild friends . through these multiple stories , maclachlan lives multiple lives and as we follow maclachlan , we are introduced to a variety of interesting subplots . lynch masterfully builds these subplots but he does not piece them all together in the very end and make a convenient crowd pleasing conclusion . instead he leaves some ambiguity and forces those curious enough to get the real meaning to watch the film several several times . lynch has been known to do this with a number of his films meaning he may be too esoteric for some hoping to get a hollywood ending where the good guy gets the girl and everything turns out fine . however , for fans of odd difficult indies , " blue velvet " could be just what they are looking for . it is very hard to discuss " blue velvet " without discussing the performance of dennis hopper 's sadistic frank . most of the other actors in the film were not very memorable . kyle maclachlan lacked one important aspect for his role , a personality . laura dern was consistently annoying . but dennis hopper stole every scene he was in . his evil character was just plain old frightening in his mannerisms from his obsession to velvet to his incessant breathing from a gas mask . frank is a character that comes along once in a blue moon . many producers know this and have inevitably begun to typecast hopper as the bad guy . just like his villain in " speed " , hopper is over the edge with cursing and screaming every chance he has to speak . this harshness is exactly what frank is , so weird and twisted that it is hard not to look at him , even if he theatens you to look away . " blue velvet " has characters and stories you will never see in a movie again . for this sole reason it is recommended . but also see it to admire lynch 's obsession to avoid the norm . even if this film is a little too weird for you , it 's hard not to congratulate a guy for trying something new and sticking to it .

1POS

if chris farley had strapped some fake mutton - chop sideburns to each side of his head , spoken with a thick irish accent , and tried his damnedest to play it straight , he would n't have been nearly as funny as brendan gleeson in " i went down . " gleeson , who 's not dissimilar to the late " saturday night live " alumnus in terms of physical attributes , plays a character named bunny kelly in this delightful irish film . bunny is sent to county cork to " retrieve " one frank grogan for an irish gangster called tom french ( well dressed like all good gangsters should be and menacingly portrayed by tony doyle ) . bunny is to accompany git hynes ( peter mcdonald ) , recently released from prison and obligated to tom for disfiguring one of his cronies . that tom french is a mean bollocks . he wants frank back . and a small matter of some ? 25 , 000 that tom 's wife was supposed to have given to frank . for this he wo n't break anyone 's thumbs . maybe . inventively and engagingly written by conor mcpherson and directed by paddy breathnach , " i went down " follows the trials and tribulations of git and bunny as they knock around peat bogs , dimly - lit pubs , and seedy hostelries trying to stay alive and out of trouble . mcdonald is a newcomer and a promising one at that , but gleeson has been in over a dozen movies , most recently as father bubbles in another film with a very irish accent on hilarity , " the butcher boy . " even if you ca n't comprehend half of what they 're saying , gleeson and mcdonald together make " i went down " a trip worth taking . the film is in many ways reminiscent of another " little " independent feature , 1991 's " highway 61 . " that film , too , was a road movie and it shares the same kind of wry dialogue and humorous situations as mcpherson 's tale : whimsical observations on life , carefully - crafted vignettes , deadpan conversational asides , and scenes that 'll make you laugh out loud . witness the episode in which our good - natured protagonists bind frank ( played by peter caffrey ) to a hotel bed , leaving him with only the tv remote for company . that sequence alone is on a par with satan locking himself out of his car in " highway 61 . " what 's also charming about " i went down " is how the relationship between buddy and git develops . their trip becomes an education for both of them , but the way it 's handled is neither sappy nor labored . the only thing in the film which approaches clunkiness is the culminating explanation , via flashbacks , of the relationship between frank and tom . it 's a little too hollywood , and what makes " i went down " so refreshing is the fact that it rarely panders to traditional conventions of hollywood gangster movies . sure it 's gritty -- make that grubby -- but it 's also pretty goofy . although " i went down " emphasizes the comedic elements of dis - organized crime , there are a couple of fairly brutal scenes in keeping with the subject matter . do n't let these deter you , though ; " i went down " is a little gem . it 's only playing at one philadelphia - area theater -- and i suspect it wo n't be there for long -- so catch it while you can .

1POS

" you leave little notes on my pillow . i told you a million times i ca n't stand little notes on my pillow . ' we are all out of corn flakes - f . u . ' it took me three hours to figure out that ' f . u . ' was felix unger . " --- a frustrated oscar madison ( walter matthau ) running down a list of his complaints against his roommate felix unger ( jack lemmon ) , in the odd couple . the classic neil simon comedy ( based on his own stage play ) about suicidal felix ( lemmon ) , who is persuaded by his poker friend oscar ( matthau ) to stay with him in his apartment after felix 's wife throws him out and files for divorce . the hook : oscar is messy and likes his apartment that way , while felix is an obsessive / compulsive neat freak . the two men , despite their friendship , instantly clash . movies just are n't as delightfully funny as this one is . every line of neil simon 's dialogue flows like comedic poetry , and all the actors are just perfect in their performances . lemmon is at his best as the anxiety ridden felix , but it 's matthau who shines brightest as oscar , whose world is being invaded and rearranged , mostly against his wishes ( the type of character i always enjoy identifying with ) . and who can forget that catchy score by neal hefti ? the best thing about the film ( and this is a testament to the quality of the writing ) is that it 's a comedy with substance . these two men , even while at each other 's throats , genuinely care for one another as friends . when they clash , it is n't cartoonish hatred being displayed , but genuine frustration with the fact that they are such good friends but just can not manage to co - exist . movies nowadays , take grumpy old men for example , just do n't have that extra spark there . these days it 's just animosity for the sake of comedy . a television series followed ( starring jack klugman and tony randall ) , which i 'll admit i 've never seen an episode of in its entirety , and neil simon even scripted the sequel , the odd couple ii , which was released in 1998 . neither of them compare to this comic masterpiece though . it 's one of the best comedies of all time and easily earns its spot in my top ten favorite films .

1POS

ingredients : lost parrot trying to get home , friends synopsis : a russian janitor named misha ( tony shalhoub ) discovers a little old parrot languishing in the basement of a science research facility . " paulie the talking parrot " ( the voice of jay mohr ) soon regales misha with his life story . as a young bird paulie is raised by marie ( hallie kate eisenberg ) , a little girl with a speech impediment . by attending marie 's speech lessons , paulie learns to act / speak like a regular person . unfortunately , after being unfairly blamed for an accident , paulie is taken to a pawn shop and sold . paulie 's biggest wish is to return to marie . many years later , and after a succession of memorable owners ( gena rowlands , cheech marin , and jay mohr ) , paulie falls in with a bad crowd and is apprehended in los angeles trying to steal jewelry . he is sent to a cruel research facility , where he refuses to participate and is imprisoned the basement . will misha help paulie get back to marie ? opinion : every time people watch movies that portray animals as beings with cute human personalities , some well - meaning audience members go out next christmas or birthday and buy a dalmatian or whatever creature is currently popular . soon enough , " birthday kid " loses interest and the purchased pup ends up at the local pound , a victim of neglect . my sister owns a real paulie : it thinks like a parrot , bites like a parrot , and requires as much attention as a newborn human infant . please think twice before buying one . okay . back to the story . in movies , parrots usually play support characters , but paulie might be the first movie where the ( animatronic ) bird gets main billing . paulie , like those side characters in disney cartoons , is cute and sassy , a strutting , miniature human . actually , paulie is the voice of jay mohr ( he played jennifer aniston 's boyfriend on picture perfect ) doing his best buddy hackett impression ( which is interesting , since hackett himself cameos as the pawn shop owner , and mohr doubles as a customer ) . paulie is for kids . while watching paulie you hear little tykes in the theater laughing hysterically when paulie calls the cat a " stupid furball . " sometimes , however , there are statements the kids do n't get . for example , when paulie 's elderly owner ivy ( gena rowlands ) dies , paulie explains , " well , one day , the cat got her . " and you hear kids exclaim , " what cat ? ! " imagine lassie come home , except with a doll - sized human dressed as a bird , and you 'll have a good idea of the plot and characterization . bird tries to get home . bird meets elderly friend . bird loses elderly friend . bird meets eccentric friend . bird loses eccentric friend . bird meets bad influence . and so on and so forth , with paulie meeting friends and saying goodbye at a meandering pace until he finally makes it back to marie ( trini alvarado ) . the bottom line ? break out the popcorn money , moms and dads . paulie may be the low end version of lassie , bambi , or babe , but he 'll do . sometimes the wisecracks go over their heads , but i 'm sure youngsters can appreciate a story about a little person ( paulie ) trying to get home , meeting friends and experiencing moral lessons on the way . and good luck explaining what it means when paulie says of ivy , " well , one day , the cat got her . "

1POS

tempe mills cinema , az -- this movie had us in non - stop stitches from beginning to end . all those promotional clips that have been on tv for the past month came from the first five minutes of the movie . if you thought they were funny , see the rest of the movie . it 's hilarious . how does one go about making a movie about a couple guys whose only claim to fame is synchronized head - bopping on snl to exactly one song ? easy . write an interesting script around tried - and - true ideas , add some good lines and satire , and voil ? , you end up with an excellent , well - done , very entertaining flick . will and chris are idiot brothers forced by their father to work begrudgingly in the family flower business during the day . at night they pursue their life - long ambition to loose their virginity in failed attempts to get into the roxbury in beverly hills , ca , the only disco act worth going to . the only problem , the place is so popular and the waiting line so long that by the time the brothers make it to the front door , the roxbury closes , all the while bearing witness to guys with one - hundred - dollar bills and movie stars like richard grieco who get past the doorman without fuss . the script authors ( steve koren , will ferrell and chris kattan ) cleverly devised a way for our boys to get into the roxbury . their flower - shop van is rear - ended by richard grieco , who fears a law - suit and is surprised to see the idiots are too star - struck to think about the car accident they just had , but not about getting into the roxbury . grieco happily takes them in , even introduces them to the owner , which has the added benefit of enhancing the financial appearance of the idiot brothers in the eyes of a couple of gold diggers ( elisa donovan and gigi rice ) who bet their time and bodies on will and chris . what follows are some of the best slap - stick dancing routines ever . the music is superb , and could have only been made better had the producers added patrick hernandez 's born to be alive . the choreography at times was a parody of an era gone by , for example , the bee gees and their stayin ' alive . it is nostalgic for those of us who remember that far back , and the technique is a clever adaptation that worked well in forest gump . one of the funniest scenes is when the gold diggers discover that will and chris do n't have any mone y , and dump both on the spot , even expressing violence and anger that they gave sex away . an art - imitates - life poke at shallow women . it 's a scene that 's an approximate parody of the vinegar 's own rolf luedeke 's editorial this week national organization for men ( nom ) replaces now . ted " unabomber " kaczynski , himself rejected for not having money , will identify well with this scene , if he ever watches the movie . of course , the script would n't be complicated enough without adding molly shannon , the girl next door who has had a crush on will since they were kids , and who will has had an aversion to in quest of good - looking disco blondes ( proof that men will turn down perfectly good women when there are bay watch babes always lurking nearby ) . nevertheless , will 's father wants him to marry molly anyway , but thinks idiot chris is standing in the way and sends him into guest - quarter exile . during the wedding ceremony , will 's heart is n't exactly into getting married , and when his brother appears on the balcony with a ghetto blaster and more head - bopping music , will thinks worse of the knot - tieing idea and runs to chris . definitely an snl parody of the graduate where katharine ross changed her mind for the screaming dustin hoffman in the church balcony . i found this scene a riot , however , it went over brandi 's head -- she was born seven years after the graduate first appeared . the scene has a good punch line when molly shannon marries , instead , the step - in buddy / weight - lifter ( who looks like he could pass for the son of gary busy ) and who has been lusting for a good - looker for a long time , but ready now to take anyone . more art - imitates - life stuff -- not even muscles can substitute for money in the real world . the idiots ' mother is played by loni anderson , whose barbie - doll looks do n't play well anymore ( she 's a bit old ) , and whose cleavage looks like someone botched a tracheotomy too low down . i recommend this movie for anyone who wants to have a lot of fun or in need of a lot of laughs . go with a date . brandi laughed non - stop , as i did , and a deaf - mute might have concluded i was tickling her continuously for 105 minutes .

1POS

there is nothing like american history x in theaters or on video . no other feature film takes such a cold hard look at the lure , the culture , and the brotherhood of white supremacy . nice guy ed norton jr . ( who sang in everyone says i love you ) plays derek , a twenty - year old skinhead . dad 's subtle racism grew large in derek , after gang members killed his father . dad was fighting a fire when they shot him . now derek keeps his head shaved and has a giant swastika tattooed over his heart . derek is more interested in the ideas of white supremacy than in its culture of violence . at a basketball court , black and white tempers flare . derek channels the aggression into a game , black versus white , for ownership of the courts . when the choice presents itself , derek goes for game point instead of the sucker - punch . cameron ( stacy keach ) steps in to derek 's life as a surrogate father . he takes derek under his wing and nurtures his racist feelings . keeping his own criminal record spotless , he uses derek as a leader and organizer for high - visibility racial intimidation . derek obliges by leading his younger and dumber friends in race - motivated mob crimes . at the bottom of the chain , derek 's younger brother danny ( edward furlong , made famous in terminator 2 ) joins the skinheads not for ideological or intellectual reasons , but because he admires his brother and he wants to belong . one night three black youths break into derek 's truck , which is exactly what derek has been waiting for . outside in his shorts and his tattoo , he shoots them all . the third would - be thief , unarmed , is only wounded . in the key scene of the film , derek commands the kid into a position where he can be killed with one glorious , enraptured , awful stomp . ( the fun - spoiling nc-17 of orgazmo seems even more inappropriate , considering american history x was rated r . what sort of country is this that says sex comedies are a bigger threat to our youth than brutal , ecstatic violence ? ) the police arrive just as derek kills the last thief . derek does not resist the cops , and as they spin him around to cuff him , the film slows down . derek raises his eyebrows and smiles at his little brother in a chilling , sadistic , satisfied grin . now in prison , derek faces new challenges . as the black man in the laundry tells him , " in the joint , you the nigra , not me . " there is a clique of swastika - wearing skinheads , but they are not interested in the ideology of white supremacy . they only use the symbols as a means of intimidation . derek finds himself truly alone , truly in danger , and truly afraid . when derek finally gets out of prison , he finds that his friends from the gang have also changed . without derek 's leadership , they have shunned the white supremacist ideology for the white supremacist culture . it is the final factor that makes him realize how badly he 's screwed up . in the end , he spends quality time with is brother trying to undo the respect and admiration he had earlier inspired in danny . the film ends a little too deliberately , too neatly after the unchained emotion and violent glee of the rest of the film , but it barely detracts from the overall experience . edward norton gives an oscar - worthy performance . although some of his dialogue seemed to be written without enough conviction , norton 's performance compensated . ( an example that comes to mind is his pep talk before looting the store . ) he also captured the essence of an older brother . he took his responsibility as a role model to his younger brother very seriously , very lovingly , both before and after his change of heart . though clearly not for all tastes , this film is bold and daring . the subject matter is ugly , cruel , and at times hard to look at . nevertheless its subjects are part of humanity 's great face . kaye gives us a good look at this fascinating , if distasteful , american subculture .

1POS

john von neumann , progenitor of the computer age and critically important mathematician on the manhattan project , pointed out long ago that there is a great way to explore the cosmos , even without recourse to faster - than light travel . you send out self - replicating robot ships which explore and radio back information . it may take decades , centuries , or millennia , but it can be done with achievable technology , and does n't require a magical faster - than - light drive . in the fifties , british astronomer fred hoyle improved on this plan by suggesting that it would be better to radio plans for a complex computer and a program for it ; any civilization capable of receiving the transmission could build the computer , which would then engage in a real - time dialog with the aliens , exchanging information and technologies , and hopefully arranging to send back what it had learned . about thirty - five years ago , the bbc contracted with astronomer / writer fred hoyle and writer frank elliot to create the scripts for a mini - series called a for andromeda . afa concerned the reception of a hoyle transmission , the construction of a huge computer , the computer 's analysis of life on earth , and its creation of an apparently human intermediary to facilitate communication . she was played with ethereally inhuman perfection by the then - unknown julie christie . audience response was so strong that the bbc contracted for a sequel , andromeda breakthrough , which played to equally high ratings . dennis feldman , whose previous credits include the golden child , has never been noted for coherent , well - structured movie scripts ; they start out great , and then disintegrate into a morass of chase and action , mitigated only by the presence of the obligatory beautiful girl . feldman writes good scenes , but has no idea how to tell a story or write a movie , even with a previous version to use as a model . now , in species , we have a mundane retread of the andromeda plotline , derailed by a preoccupation with removing the clothes from the leading lady and further ruined by a mediocre attempt to emulate several recent horror films in terms of splatter , gore , and chases . species features ben kingsley , who is completely wasted in a badly - written portrayal of a feebly amoral scientist . forest whitaker and alfred molina are also served poorly by the script . the species story is relatively simple ; we have been radioing information about ourselves and our dna out into space since 1971 , and have been receiving answers for two years . ( note that , in the 1970 's , we really did n't know diddly about the human genome structure , and were hardly in a position to radio out a set of blueprints for human beings . even today , all we can do is give information about dna and how it works , not a copy of human dna , because we do n't have it analyzed yet . ) the answers we get from the unknown alien source are plans for recreating a member of the alien race , and doctor xavier finch , played by ben kingsley , is placed in charge of the attempt . the script begins to go off the deep end at this point , when the result is a beautiful young girl who can shape - shift into any of several ugly alien life forms . the first half of the film has something to offer , as " sil , " the alien girl , struggles with her multi - form existence , changing from beauty to lizard to giant cockroach and back again , all while trying to understand her own place in the cosmos . she seems oddly knowledgeable about human society , with glaring gaps where her social skills should be . her instincts are to mate and procreate , and some of the best scenes deal with her attempts in this area . escaping from her birth laboratory in utah , sil is pursued by a team of drafted civilians with orders to find her and kill her . she goes on an eating binge , spins herself a cocoon , and emerges as an adult , played by natasha henstridge , who goes a long way toward re - creating the sheerly inhuman beauty julie christie achieved in 1960 . the pursuers : michael madsen is an assassin / exterminator ; forrest whitaker is a convenient empath / psychic , just as though the u . s . government actually had such people on call . neither is able to do much with the writing and directing provided . whitaker 's role seems to be aimed at making whitaker a male copy of star trek : the next generation 's " counselor cleavage . " the other members of the strike team are played by marg helgenberger and alfred molina . kingsley and whitaker are both consummate professionals , too good to not work to the best of their abilities ; but the performances donaldson elicited from the rest of the cast are disappointing and bland , and it is apparent that the direction was a bit weak . h . r . giger 's design for the main form of the alien creature is actually a bit boring when we finally get to see it , although previous digital effects were done quite smoothly . the main fault of species is lack of originality ; it starts out with a wonderful , albeit borrowed , premise , and then does n't live up to it . all we get are chase scenes and a few nice sex scenes , with a few monsters tossed in . there is no buildup of tension and suspense , no climax worthy of the name ; species is just a sequence of " scare " scenes stuck together . the movie is carried by its chase and sex scenes , but not rescued by them . on the other hand , as an exercise in sci - fi action/ adventure , it certainly beats the ichor out of judge dredd . species earns an extra rating point or two for having ben kingsley and natasha henstridge on board , but by and large , it 's fun only for those of us who really like this sort of thing . my personal rating is three stars , but knock one or two of those off if you do n't enjoy pretty unclothed ladies and bloodthirsty alien monsters . mpaa classification : r ( violence , gore , nudity , sex , language ) stars : ben kingsley , michael madsen , forest whitaker , alfred molina , marg helgenberger , natasha henstridge directed by : roger donaldson produced by : frank mancuso jr . and dennis feldman typed by : dennis feldman cinematography : andrzej bartkowiak music : christopher young run time : 108 minutes aspect ratio : 2 . 35 : 1 from mgm , opens 7 july 1995

1POS

as the small boats rock slowly toward the shore at omaha beach normandy on d - day , the weary , seasick soldiers take a deep breath and open the large protective shield at the back of the boat . they are unaware of exactly what is going to happen . one man kisses the crucifix that hangs around his neck . as the flap falls , the battle begins . they are trapped like rats in a cage and proceed to be blown to pieces in the wake of enemy gunfire . amid the chaos of this massacre , stands a shot that , at least for me , hangs in the air like the girl in the little red coat in schindler 's list . a soldier , clearly missing an arm , wanders around the body - strewn beach like a lost puppy . we are not invited to know what he is searching for until he finds it himself . he bends over , picks up his arm and starts to carry it , probably not bothering to ask himself ; " what now ? " saving private ryan is a masterfully composed film . the direction is out of this world , surely the type of command that can win spielberg another directing oscar . the cinematography , by janusz kaminsky , is also astounding . but be forewarned , this is the most violent and graphic film i have ever seen . the articles you read and the warnings you see are justified ; saving private ryan is visually as disturbing as a film can get . the question is , " does the story and its realism justify the excessive use ? " the answer from my point of view is " no " . braveheart was a truly gritty , and , one would imagine , realistic battle film . ryan is ten times worse . expect disembowelments , sucked in skulls , heads blown to bits , arms and legs flying across the battlefield . many in the theater could not bear to watch . and it is a shame , too , because this is otherwise by far one of the standouts this year . but such graphic displays may turn away even the most loyal spielberg supporters ( and academy members ) . saving private ryan takes us from the attack at omaha beach on d - day , 1944 , through into the film 's primary mission . captain miller ( hanks ) assembles an 8 man crew and sets off to find a missing solider , private ryan , whose three brothers have already been killed on the battlefield . the government goes to great lengths to make sure that mrs . ryan does n't recieve a fourth letter of condolences about her sons , that no person should suffer such injustice . miller 's crew is not in favor of the mission and they begin to harbor a secret hatred for ryan , though they do n't yet know him . they resent having to trudge out to bring home one soldier who does n't have any more or less right to live than any of them . this film manages to keep up a rapid pace and , though there is a lot of set up between battles , the story continues full speed to the end . the pacing and dramatism of the extremely well choreographed battle scenes is really in a league of it 's own . spielberg , though not a student of the " quick cut " school of filmmaking , takes a stab at it here , and does it better than michael bay or any of his mtv counterparts could ever hope to do it . bay should pay close attention , take copious notes . if you want to jump cut every two seconds , do it the way spielberg does it in ryan . in the end , the extremity of the gory violence is not justified by the " importance " of the film . schindler 's list taught many people the truth about the holocaust . it opened eyes , sparked debate and study . though the battle scenes in ryan have never been portrayed as realistically before , they do n't amount to anything as serious or thought provoking as the schindler 's list . overall , this is just the truest depiction of the old adage , " war is hell . " but braveheart - dosage would have fit this movie much more appropriately , and would have made the difference between me getting up the nerve to see it again some day and realizing that this is something i doubt i could endure again . masterful work marred only by excessive gore .

1POS

" the faculty , " the heavily - hyped and advertised sci - fi / horror film that has teamed up director robert rodriguez ( 1995 's " desperado " and 1996 's " from dusk till dawn " ) and screenwriter kevin williamson ( 1996 's " scream " and 1997 's " scream 2 " ) , is being called a cross between " invasion of the body snatchers " and " the breakfast club , " and i do n't think i could describe it any better than that . the film sets up the six central teenage characters who do not seem to have much in common , and then the science - fiction aspect is added , involving the fear that the faculty at herrington high school are actually aliens who are quickly transforming everyone in the town . the six characters , as in " the breakfast club , " can be easily labeled as a stereotype , but as they are developed , they become far more complex : casey ( elijah wood ) , the much picked upon nerd ; stokely ( clea duvall ) , a goth outcast who hides behind the false facade of being a lesbian so everyone will avoid her ; zeke ( josh hartnett ) , a drug dealer who turns out to be a science whiz ; stan ( shawn hatosy ) , the star football quarterback who is considering quitting the team to concentrate more on academics ; delilah ( jordanna brewster ) , the popular cheerleader and newspaper journalist ; and marybeth ( laura harris ) , the sweet ' n southern new girl in town . although the characters are only slightly connected ( i . e . casey is delilah 's photojournalist assistant ; marybeth tries to become buddies with stokely , since they both do n't have friends , etc . ) , when they all begin to suspect the teachers due to some grotesque and strange occurrences , the only people they can count on for help is each other , even though they are n't really even sure if they can trust one another . " the faculty " is another smart and pop - culturally hip film from williamson , although it does not equal up to his best film , the original " scream , " and rodriguez , whose " from dusk till dawn " is still one of the more original genre films of the 90 's . williamson and rodriguez are so assured at their professions , respectively , that the idea of teaming up together is pretty much a no - brainer . the plotline of " the faculty , " involving aliens taking over other people 's bodies , has been done quite a lot before , from " invasion of the body snatchers , " to " the puppet masters , " to " invaders from mars , " so one of the obstacles that williamson and rodriguez had to overcome was to somehow make the idea seem fresh , and by setting the goings - on at a high school and having the protagonists be a group of teens , they were mostly successful . surely , the conventions of the story are still the same , and the climax was inevitable , but there were a few surprises along the way , including the question of who were the aliens , and who were n't . the epilogue was also a refreshing change - of - pace as it did not set up a sequel but ended on a note that probably could not have been any better . the performances in " the faculty " were a treat throughout , since there were so many recognizable actors in roles that were the polar opposite of what they usually do . one exception were the teens , who , aside from elijah wood , are not very well - known , but they all aquit themselves nicely , particularly wood ( the seasoned pro ) , clea duvall , and jordanna brewster . as members of the faculty , robert patrick ( " t2 : judgement day " ) was creepy as the gym coach ; piper laurie was amusing and threatening as the drama teacher ; bebe neuwirth actually was somehow able to look like an alien ; and salma hayek , as the school nurse with a bad case of the cold , was very funny in a small role . the standout , in my opinion , of the whole cast was famke janssen who turns in an oddly touching performance as the shy and meek english teacher who , after turning into an alien , becomes the sex bombshell . if there was any problem i had with the faculty , it was that some of them were given no real payoff in the climactic sequence . since the teenagers realize that in order to save everyone they must kill the " queen " alien , many of the faculty members disappear . it might have been more fun if they had to face every one of the teachers , although the finale is still pretty impressive , and includes some showstopping creature effects , especially for a relatively low 15-million - dollar budget . although not one of the best horror or science - fiction films i have seen , " the faculty " is still an exciting and worthy film that dimension films was smart to release around the holiday season when this type of genre offering is usually not released . while the story is as old as the hills , it is also , in a way , timeless , because everyone , i think , has suspected at one time or another that a certain person simply did not act right , as if they really were n't human . and by putting this idea in the setting of a small - town high school , it perfectly contrasts with the alienation that most teenagers usually go through when relating to adults and other peers . + note : the ad and poster campaign for this film is hugely misleading , as it features r & b artist usher raymond as one of the main characters . in actuality , he only has a small role as one of stan 's buddies who becomes quarterback after stan resigns from the team . if i were one of the heads from dimension , i would change this advertising at once , since it is unnecessary and rather deceiving .

1POS

the central focus of michael winterbottom 's " welcome to sarajevo " is sarajevo itself , the city under siege , and its different effect on the characters unfortunate enough to be stuck there . it proves the backdrop for a stunningly realized story which refreshingly strays from mythic portents ( " platoon " ) , racial tumultuosness ( the risible " the walking dead " ) or a tinge of schmaltziness ( " schindler 's list " ) . the two leads , stephen dillane as a reporter and emira nusevic as an orphan with a plight few can identify with , are extremely believable ; not one moment with them involved rings false . the question is not what went right . the question is what went wrong . for one , the film fails to provide a political overview of the war as it progresses ( the dillane characters reports an american plane departing from sarajevo as it departs , and that 's about it . ) . the assortment of high - profile supporting actors , ranging from woody harrelson as a yankee reporter " into " liquor and cigarrettes to marisa tomei as a huggable children 's aid or somesuch are incapable of rising above the sketchiness of their characters , albeit they strive . the interrupted use of authentic war footage somewhat hampers the rest of the film , it makes the fictional characters seem powerless by comparison . still , winterbottom eschews mawkishness through flashy , frantic editing and imaginative use of music . and it 's a plus , because he does n't toy with our emotions with sentimental blandness . he wants us to know that in war , no one is victorious . the sweet hereafter starring ian holm , sarah polley , bruce greenwood , tom mccamus , gabrielle rose , arsinee khanjian , alberta watson , maury chaykin , caerthan banks . produced by atom egoyan and camelia frieberg . script by atom egoyan ( based on the novel by russell banks ) . directed by atom egoyan . running time : 110 mins . rated r . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ atom egoyan 's powerfully meditative " the sweet hereafter " is as anything as haunting and transcendental as i 've seen this year . it not only explores the aftermaths of a terrible tragedy with magnificent subtlety , with cold , and stunning shots of the backdrop of this mistfortune but also by telegraphing the sense of devastation that has permeated the small town with an enormous amount of dignity and respect for each and every soul affected . ian holm as the somber , lonely lawyer seeking compensation for the townspeople , has a decency and a restraint uncommon with lawyers , he 's a lion for the wrong reasons : the pain for having lost his daughter ( she 's a druggie who frequently calls him begging for money ) is reflected on the town . and in some mesmerizing flashbacks , we witness how she lost her purity . it 's one of the most strikingly breathtaking takes on the loss of innocence i 've ever seen . but the most astounding part goes to sarah polly , the peaceful , benevolent girl who , in contrast to the other characters , remains the most mentally stable during past , present or future . her ability to convey concealed pain and unconditional love is the opposite , yet near - revolutionary role that won emily watson an oscar nomination for " breaking the waves " . both women are torn apart by an extraordinary incident but it is only then that we truly see , truly feel , their wordless , omnipotent love . " the sweet hereafter " though , is atom egoyan 's movie and as of now , he is emerging as the definite face of independent cinema . after surging to worldwide recognition with 1994 's " exotica " , " the sweet hereafter " makes him something few people in this industry can call themselves : an artist . he interweaves time with a delicacy and sees a soul with a purity that is just not common .

1POS

after the average mouse hunt , the silly small soldiers and the entertaining antz , dreamworks try again with the children 's film market with this stunning adaptation of the moses story . as the film warns us at the beginning , it 's not the full story , and some liberties have been taken , but generally this the bible story we all know and love , featuring burning bushes , the plagues and the parting of the red sea . the only thing missing is charlton heston . instead , we get val kilmer voicing moses , an hebrew who is placed in a river by his mother and rescued by the queen of egypt ( helen mirren . ) we flash forward several years to see moses and brother rameses ( fiennes ) all grown up . moses soon finds out from brother and sister miriam and aaron ( sandra bullock and jeff goldblum ) that he is n't really the son of the pharaoh seti ( patrick stewart ) and that it his destiny to free the hebrews from the egyptians tyrannical rule . he soon sets about this , along with his wife tzipporah ( michelle pfeiffer . ) rameses and his two wizard friends ( voiced by steve martin and martin short ) try to stop moses completing his task . while the plot is familiar and somewhat exciting for adults , for children reared on aladdin and hercules , this film could be the most godawful thing they 've ever seen . gone is the quick fire humour and standard , easy to follow plot . but , spectacularly , and to dreamworks credit , nearly every child in the audience was captivated by the story and events happening on screen . jeffrey katzenberg , who produced this film , certainly knows how to keep a child interested . he 's included some songs in the film , plus some comedy , and a exciting chariot chase , to keep the children interested . and somehow , himself and the directors still manage to get all the drama and intensity of the story across , without ever being boring . it 's a remarkable achievement . also remarkable is the animation , which puts hercules , an almost ' slap dash ' effort , to shame . relying on hand drawn and computer animation , the backgrounds and characters are amazingly detailed . the film seems a little caught up with it 's amazing visuals by showing a lot of sweeping visuals and ' moving ' shots , but they _ do _ look incredible . the final ' plague ' where god kills every first born child , and the parting of the red sea have to be seen to be believed . kudos to the animators . the vocal talent is also very good . val kilmer does a fine job as moses ( although he does n't sing ) and ralph fiennes is superb as rameses ( and he _ does _ sing . ) sandra bullock and jeff goldblum are great , and steve martin and martin short are very good , but not in the film long enough . finally , michelle pfeiffer does excellent work as moses wife . kudos also goes to the voice of god , who instead of booming and bombastic is quiet and subdued . sadly , he is uncredited , and i could n't quite work out who the voice was . ( but e - mail if you do . ) the songs are good , ranging from the usual love sonnets to the traditional big production number . they do n't disturb the movie , and while not particularly memorable , they are nice to listen to ( they 're well sung aswell . ) the musical score is suitably epic , with some beautiful tunes . coupled with the superb visuals , the prince of egypt is a visual and aural treat , backed up with a great story . entertaining both for kids and adults , this film is a must see . a david wilcock review ? 1998 " you know , for kids " - norville barnes

1POS

i have seen several ( but not that many ) woody allen movies . i did n't particulary like radio days , the purple rose of cairo , play it again , sam . i quite enjoyed manhatten murder mystery and everything . . . sex , and i loved might aphrodite . however i found bullets over broadway to be a snoozing bore . and bullets got some very raving reviews , but i did n't think i 'd like . but i finally saw it ( double feature with ready to wear i think ) and hated it . since . . . i love you also seems to be getting raving reviews i was n't sure if i 'd want to see . . . thankfully i did ! people burst into singing and dancing , something i hardly ever like . but this movie is so infectious . and funny ! and entertaining ! ( and unlike evita , they only sing when they need to . ) sure some of the actors may not be great singers , but they seems to be having a great time , and so does the audience . that 's all i have to say . really , if you think that is going to be a dull movie , you 're probably dead . and dead people should not be forced into movie theatres . is mark leeper dead ? he said that " this is an almost ghastly misfire " . the movie is rated r , for * one * use of the word motherf * * * * * .

1POS

fritz lang 's first american film since leaving nazi germany , is an eye - opener about a lynch mob in a small town . joe wilson ( spencer tracy ) is a regular joe , a hard - working stiff , a decent guy , who is living with his two brothers , tom ( walcott ) and charlie ( albertson ) , in chicago . he is engaged to katherine grant ( sylvia sidney ) , but ca n't save up enough money to marry her . she takes the train west for a better paying job as a teacher . before she departs , she gives him the wedding ring her father gave to her mother , sews up his ripped trench coat , corrects him when he mistakingly says the wrong word for memento , and kisses him goodbye . a year goes by and joe buys a car and tells katherine that he will meet her to get married in capitol city , that he has quit his job and hopes to open a gas station . driving through the rural backroads and camping out at night while going to met her , he arrives at a near - by town called strand . but the deputy sheriff " buggs " meyers ( walter brennan ) comes upon him waving a shotgun and arrests him . he accuses him of the kidnapping of a little girl . the sheriff ( ellis ) finds salted peanuts on him just like the kidnapper had in his pocket , he also has a five dollar bill on him that matches one of the numbers of the ransom money , and he fits the general description of the suspect . locked in jail , he waits for the district attorney to look at his claim of innocence . in the local bar , the town citizens go into a rage when learning that an arrest has been made in the kidnapping . fueled by angry talk about getting back at the kidnapper and of having the deputy inadvertently telling them of the ransom money found on the suspect , a mob storms the jail , burns it down and dynamites it when they ca n't get through to the prisoner 's jail cell . the sheriff called the governor for the national guard , but one of his political advisers countermanded that request , saying it would n't look right for the governor in an election year to call out troops for those he wants to vote for him . somehow joe escapes , but his dog rainbow dies . katherine hears what has happened on the radio and rushes to the neighboring town of strand only to see him engulfed by flames in his cell , and becomes convinced that he died . the next day the newspapers announce that the guilty kidnapper confesses . joe makes his way back to chicago and tells his brothers , who are startled to see him alive , that he wants revenge . he thereby supplies his brothers with the names of the 22 leaders in the lynch mob . an ambitious district attorney ( walter abel ) prosecutes the 22 for murder . katherine , not knowing he 's alive , remains in a state of shock , but is asked to be a witness that she saw joe burning to death . the defense claims that it ca n't be a charge of murder without a corpse . the trial proves to be interesting , as the citizens in this close - knit , respectable community , lie under oath , providing alibis for each other to prove they could n't have been at the jail . the sheriff also lies , saying he ca n't identify anyone in the mob . but proof comes by way of a newsreel cameraman who caught the whole incident on film . as for proof of the corpse , an anonymous letter is addressed to the judge enclosed with the wedding ring katherine gave joe . in the note , memento is misspelled , which makes katherine realize that joe is alive . when the sentence is announced , 20 of the accused are found guilty of murder , but joe marches into the courtroom and gives a pious speech about what happened . katherine forgives him , and this very strong film ends on a weaker note than i think it should have . but do n't blame lang for all the changes in the film , of trying to take the town off the hook by introducing this wild revenge motive . mgm could n't bear to have it made the way lang wanted it , that is , by having tracy die in the lynching . instead they wanted to stop short of condemning so many small american towns where lynchings actually do occur , and they thereby meddled throughout the entire script . to lang 's credit , even if this film failed to be a masterpiece because of the interference , it still did not let the good citizens off the moral hook . his portrayal of the attempted lynching was powerfully done and was not compromised . you could n't help get the feeling that the citizens did n't care that much that they almost lynched an innocent man , but cared more about protecting the reputation of their town and would do anything to keep their 22 vigilantes from going to jail , even perjuring themselves . their reaction to seeing joe alive was satisfying only in that it meant they were n't going to be convicted . lang by no means implies that the town has learned its lesson from this incident . he does imply that a dark side to joe wilson has been exposed , and the innocent , jovial good - guy , seen in the beginning of the film , has been largely altered forever by this traumatic experience .

1POS

veteran actor clint eastwood has never looked as grizzled as he does in true crime , his latest directorial effort . when steve everett ( his newest character ) gets angry at someone , he glares them down with those famous dirty harry eyes , furrows his brow and frowns like a grizzly bear who 's just lost his cubs . eastwood has played some particularly despicable characters in his time , but everett could just take the cake . he gets my vote , at least , partly because ` ev ' is a drunken affair - a - week womanizer who has many relationship problems , very few of which are with his wife ( diane venora ) . when his colleague at the oakland tribune is in an ugly car wreck and dies , everett must take over for her at a vital interview session . the interview is with frank beacham ( isaiah washington ) , a death - row inmate set to die at midnight for the murder of a pregnant convenience store clerk . eastwood furrows his brow . as everett gradually finds information , he realizes that beacham could very well be innocent . he interviews a key witness ( michael jeter ) , who claims that he burst in the door at pocum 's foods because his car had overheated , only to see beacham standing over the dead woman 's body , blood on his suspenders , gun in hand . but everett protests : how could he have seen the gun , which was lowered by his side , with the potato chip rack in front of him ? jeter does n't know what he 's talking about . eastwood furrows his brow . crinkled expressions and all , clint is the centre of energy of true crime . the film is by no means a standard action / suspense yarn , but a thoughtful human story in which the characters come before the shoot - outs . isaiah washington has a break - out performance as frank beacham , and scenes with him and his weary wife ( lisa gay hamilton ) are truly heartfelt moments . but the best scenes are ones that feature eastwood duking it out with those in authority over him . denis leary , as everett 's editor and boss , has more than a few memorable moments of restrained anger ( you see , ev is sleeping with his wife ) . but hands down , the most enjoyable segments of the film are when james woods is on camera . playing the big boss alan mann , woods and eastwood create amusing chemistry and laugh - out - loud punchlines . when true crime opts for a high - speed chase to the governer 's house at the finale , the quality of film - making takes an abrupt nosedive . eastwood was so successful with colorful character portraits that he did n't need to switch lanes . true crime is a tension - building , intriguing drama showcase for the talented director and star . this is a road block he could have easily dismissed ( i furrow my brow ) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1POS