My Favorite Movies

The follow-up to the action hit Batman Begins, The Dark Knight reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne. In the new film, Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker. The cast is uniformly excellent. Bale is a fantastic Batman, the perfect mix of playboy playfulness as Bruce Wayne and tortured crime fighter as Batman. You can sense that the time between the two films has allowed Bale to refine his take on the dual characters, and the end result is an even more nuanced performance than his first time out in the cowl. He remains the only actor other than Adam West to make the character his own. The rest of the cast is equally impressive. Aaron Eckhart continues to demonstrate just how diverse an actor he is. Aaron Eckhart's Two-Face is also light years removed from Tommy Lee Jones' loud and overbearing Two-Face. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine bring depth and respectability to their roles. Maggie Gyllenhall makes a fine replacement for Katie Holmes. The performances are great. The reinterpretation of the two villains in Dark Knight beats both previous incarnations hands down. Whereas Nicholson played the Joker as a portly, slightly menacing clown, the younger Ledger plays him as a dangerous psychopath with makeup by Francis Bacon. Ledger is all unpredictable brooding menace and psychosis with none of the cartoonish maniacal laughter and other clichéd hammy mannerisms of Nicholson's Joker. Nothing is wasted, there's not a minute in the film that doesn't fit into a bigger, broader, deeper picture. That goes for everything, right down to the way Nolan filmed it. The Dark Knight is both entertainment and art, slipped into a dark, gritty package. It marks a completely new direction for that which we've come to know as the superhero genre, here's hoping others have the sense to follow it. Whether or not they do it's unlikely anyone, including Nolan himself, will ever top what's been accomplished here. It works on every level.

The tag line says it all: Oh yes, there will be blood!

Saw II follows on the heels of Saw, as another taught, tense thriller. This is NOT a movie where people walk backwards into dark rooms. This is NOT a movie where people pull sheets off bodies. That's all too predictable for Saw II. In fact, there's virtually nowhere in this film, where you can say that you've got it figured out. From the start until the end, you'll be given puzzling situation in which you wouldn't like to be part of at any time in your life. The sadistic approach of the Jigsaw killer is still pretty impressive. Worth watching again and again.

So they're back, for a third time, after Ocean's Eleven in 2001 and Ocean's Twelve in 2004. First they took out three of Terry Benedict's (Andy Garcia) Las Vegas casinos at one go with a smart and clever plan in Eleven, then they had to pay it all back with interest to Benedict in Twelve by staging a different theft, now in Thirteen the team of eleven are back to casino stealing with a little help from again, Benedict. The unlucky guy is Willy Banks (Al Pacino) who owns a series of highly rated "5 Diamonds" hotels. The team is not in for the money this round but for revenge because Banks had done the disfavour of first knocking Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould), one of the Eleven, from a hotel deal causing the man a heart-attack and a sudden lost in zest for life. You could say old Willy Banks had it coming for him because his ego was too big for himself. He had without any regards dismissed the Eleven's attempt for him to reinstate Reuben's share of the hotel. Danny Ocean (George Clooney), Rusty Ryan (Brad Pitt), Linus Caldwell (Matt Damon), Frank Catton (Bernie Mac), Virgil Malloy (Casey Affleck), Turk Malloy (Scott Caan), Saul Bloom (Carl Reiner), Basher Tarr (Don Cheadle), "The Amazing" Yen (Shaobo Qin), Livingston Dell (Eddie Jemison) and Reuben Tishkoff (Elliott Gould) make up the Eleven. Strong cast and strong performance is to describe the ensemble. What make a film like Ocean's Thirteen worth watching is watching all the characters. It is fun to see all of them coming together in their own way to give the story its life. The acting is in one word, superb. And the actor who plays the bad guy, Willy Banks, Al Pacino is great. The facial expression whenever the veteran actor appears on screen is beyond words. Overall Ocean's Thirteen is a masterclass in smart, silly blockbusters. Its storyline is preposterous, and how the heist goes is a bit silly, but that's part of the fun, that's what makes the Ocean's series in general such a blast.

Elliot Moore: "If we're going to die, I want you to know something. I was in the pharmacy a while ago. There was a really good-looking pharmacist behind the counter. Really good-looking. I went up and asked her where the cough syrup was. I didn't even have a cough, and I almost bought it. I'm talking about a completely superfluous bottle of cough syrup, which costs like six bucks."



One beautiful fall morning, all activity in New York's Central Park suddenly stops. Soon, people are cutting their own throats and stabbing themselves to death. Downtown, workers at an office building throw themselves off in a lemming-like mass suicide. In Philadelphia, science teacher Elliot Moore (Mark Wahlberg), his wife Alma (Zooey Deschanel), their best friend Julian (John Leguizamo), and his daughter Jess (Ashlyn Sanchez) all decide to head to the countryside to avoid the city -- and the source of the so-called attack. Soon, rumors begin flying of terrorist involvement, while others think the local nuclear power plant may be responsible. All anyone really knows is that the psychological virus is spreading and no one appears immune or safe. Beneath the considerable negative publicity he is attracting, M. Night Shyamalan is not a negligible filmmaker. He certainly has a directorial command, is capable of creating scenes that are genuinely eerie, and has an ability to obtain fine performances from most of his casts (one exception might be Zooey Deschanel here). His constant theme of predestination and mystical outlook frequently descends into the wacky, but you cannot deny that his films have an originality of ideas that is lacking in most of his Hollywood contemporaries. Mark Wahlberg is terrific as Elliot Moore, an intelligent, heart-on-his-sleeve protagonist that is nothing like the tough-guy roles he's typically known for. With a highly-touted R rating and a premise involving a cataclysmic event that chillingly recalls 9/11 on a larger scale, the film demands to be an unflinching, violent, no-holds-barred horror tale. Indeed, that is exactly what the first half is, and the way that Shyamalan portentously sets up the story and his characters, all of whom are in the dark about what is going on and why, is close to flawless. It all proves too good to be true.

"The Man in the Moon" is a beautifully realistic look at life through the eyes of an adolescent. This film is incredible, all the acting first rate, especially Sam Waterston and an astonishing performance by Reese Witherspoon in her film debut. You will feel every emotion as this life changing summer in 1957 on the Trant family farm comes to a conclusion. This film is truely the essence of filmaking at its finest.

Superbad was an absolutely hilarious film. It had its completely gross-out teen moments, but those were grounded by its hilariously absurd and witty, conversations. Superbad is a teen movie. It also will draw comparisons to American Pie, in it's "losers try to get laid" themes, and occasional gross-out comedy. But the comparison is unfair - Superbad is a funnier, more subversive and more importantly genuine movie than American Pie. The story starts with two best friends Seth(Johan Jill) and Evan (Michael Cera). Seth, is an obnoxious, loudmouthed, 18 year old whose only goal in his last weeks of high school, is to get laid. Evan on the other hand is more quiet, shy and sentimental compared to his best friend. Evan wants to make Jules (Emma Stone) her girlfriend, and hopefully have sex with her. Seth, just wants to express his feelings for Becca (Martha MacIsaac), the girl of his dreams. When Jules tells Seth that she is throwing a party, she invites Seth, much to his surprise. Seth tells her that he'll get the alcohol, seeing this as his opportunity to get the girl and hopefully, get laid. All this causes our main characters to go on an epic quest of bad words, fake ID's, singing crack users, period-dancing, the two coolest cops ever and Fogell(Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Seth and Evan's other friend that accompanies them on their odyssey. It holds it's style and is funny throughout the whole movie, their are some uncomfortable parts, but they are short and don't hurt the story.

Set in LA, the film stars Pfeiffer as Rosie, both a successful TV sitcom producer in a cruelly youth-oriented industry and a recently divorced mother raising her adolescent daughter Izzie through puberty. Similar to the set-up of Jake Kasdan's "The TV Set", Rosie uses her daughter as a litmus test for a teen sitcom called "You Go Girl", which seems like a cross between "Saved by the Bell" and "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". In a casting call, she meets the boyishly charming Adam, and sparks inevitably fly despite an age gap of at least fifteen years. Naturally, complications ensue when Adam becomes a breakout star. Moreover, throughout the story, Rosie's conscience shows up in the scabrous form of Mother Nature who is lightning-quick with her "I-told-you-so" invectives. There are a variety of supporting characters and subplots to track in this melee, much the same way Heckerling handled the shenanigans in her fondly remembered "Fast Times in Ridgemont High". One funny conceit that Heckerling exploits is the casting of jaded older actors as the teens in the sitcom, and in that spirit, she recruits Stacey Dash and Paul Rudd, both from 1995's "Clueless", to play two of the actors. At forty, Dash looks great and completely convinces as a self-absorbed Lindsay/Britney-wannabe. Showing off the comic chops he displayed with aplomb in Judd Apatow's mega-comedies, "The 40 Year Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up", Rudd steps up to the plate as Adam and has genuine chemistry with Pfeiffer. As Izzie, Saoirse Ronan is terrifically winsome.

"Suicide, murder, revenge. It's high school, it's expected."



At Westerburg High School there is a hierarchy of popularity, and you can't get much higher than the clique of "Heathers." Each Heather is beautiful, well-off, and extremely snotty, looking down upon most all of the students attending their school. Veronica (Ryder) is part of this group, though she's not quite as evil and vacuous as the other three girls (played by Shannon Doherty, Lisanne Falk, and Kim Walker). In fact, while Veronica enjoys hanging out with her popular friends, she doesn't quite agree with what they stand for. When a new student named J.D. (Slater) shows up, Veronica falls head over heels for him, even if he is a creepy outcast packing heat. Upon hearing about Veronica's distaste for her friends, J.D. devises a plan to get rid of them using suicide as their supposed motive. Things go well until the plan starts to spin of control, causing Veronica's attempt to end J.D.'s murderous plan once and for all. Heathers is really an anti-John Hughes movie. In Hughes' films there were always outsiders and losers along side popular girls and jocks. However, in those movies there seemed to be a invisible theory that at the end of the day we can all get along. Heathers holds to none of that. Christian Slater fares best, utilizing his outstanding Jack Nicholson acting style. He and Ryder make a demented, funny pair. This movie is perfect for anyone who ever hated their entire high school class, who hated high school, or just had one bad day in high school. Besides the obvious revenge elements, this movie is funny and full of cool stuff to watch for. The colors people wear show their ranks and there are pieces of dialogue that are said during mundane parts of the day that are repeated during what should be a somber scene.

On the surface, Gone Baby Gone tells the story of a missing child and the two private investigators who are hired to find her. The story transforms into a highly disturbing tale of selfish, terrifying characters and the fact that no matter what people never change. As they navigate through the neighborhood's seamy underbelly of pimps, drug dealers and crack whores they uncover an ever-expanding mystery that takes on the added dimension of provoking the question of just what is right and what is wrong, firmly pitting both story and viewer in a struggle between situational ethics and moral absolutes. Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris round out an impressive cast, but it's the younger Affleck who takes this movie on his back and runs with it, easily surpassing his director brother in terms of acting breadth and range. Gone Baby Gone brings it to a new level. This film is about a society, a society who has lost the importance of innocence and the beauty of life. It focuses on the beauty of children and rest assure, when the film is over, if you're not yearning to be a better parent of embrace a child as a blessing, there is probably emptiness in your chest. This film is marvelous, beautiful and spectacular. A must-see film of the year and a pleasant surprise coming from Ben Affleck.

The most important thing to note about "An American Werewolf in London" is that it is more of a pure horror-comedy than any other film in history. It isn't a spoof of the genre like "Scary Movie", nor is it cartoon-ish to the point of being silly and humorous like "Evil Dead II"; instead it truly is a seamless blend of the genres. There are equal amounts of true horror and ingenious comedy in this 1981 John Landis classic, making it a unique and unforgettable film that will live on for generations to follow.

Both the comedy and the horror in the film are fully committed to, unlike many attempts to merge the two. The comic bits wouldn't be nearly as delightful if they didn't supervene on the disturbing, and the horror wouldn't have near the impact if they didn't arrive in the context where you half-expect the next moment to be just as lighthearted and amusing. Both the initial "animal attack" and the apocalyptic ending are perfect examples of this.

Aside from that exquisite unusualness, An American Werewolf In London has many other superb characteristics. The cast is perfect. The cinematography is excellent. The shots of the countryside (actually filmed in Wales) are actually both beautiful and very eerie at the same time. The make-up effects are awesome, and the transformation effects are unsurpassed. The music, which is primarily a number of different "moon" related pop songs, is also perfect, partially because of the bizarre contrasts in mood that the music creates, which echoes the comedy/tragedy juxtaposition. Unlike many other films, every scene in this one is a something I'd like to spend years exploring. The settings, the characters, the scenarios are all so fascinating. Naughton isn't much of an actor but he IS good-looking, has a nice body and is nude frequently. Agutter is a little better. The special effects are still impressive today. Jack's body is decomposing more and more each time he's sees David. It's gross but it works. And the transformation sequence is still very good (much better than the CGI crap we get today). Unlike most movies from the same era, it doesn't feel dated and still looks very fresh today. The mix of black humor and tragic horror works nicely against all odds and is the trademark of the movie. Baker's remarkable work in the make-up department is now a classic work in the history of the genre, and helped him to take his career to new heights after the slight downfall he had after "King Kong". The transformation scene is definitely now an iconic scene in the genre, pretty much in the same way as Jack Pierce's make-up for "The Wolf Man". Still, this film is much more than impressive effects, it's a tale of fantasy and horror told in a very classy and entertaining way. With all respect to Waggner and Fisher's movies, Landis' spin on the werewolf's myth is personally, the best rendition of a werewolves' story ever put on film. This could be considered a good "middle ground" film:a horror film for people who are not really into horror,or a comedy for those whose humor is more fond of the macabre or dark.

Roberto Benigni's Vita e bella, is in many ways similar to Chaplin's Great Dictator. Both are comic attacks on fascism, but the former's is the more successful. Benigni initially accesses the emotions of his audience through simple comedy, which is a pleasant mix of Keaton and Chaplin. Romance ensues with his real life wife Nicoletta Braschi. Life Is Beautiful manages to walk the extremely thin line between humor, fantasy, and tragedy. Sure, the film is clearly comedic, but nevertheless it manages to very effectively communicate the tremendous losses suffered in the Nazi concentration camps and has scenes at least as intense as any scene in Schindler's List. One of the best foreign language film I have ever seen.

The main character is a young girl named Pai (Keisha Castle-Hughes) who is the grand-daughter of the chief of a Maori tribe in New Zealand. Her twin brother, who was to be the future chief, died along with the mother in childbirth. Grief-stricken, her father (Cliff Curtis) fled, leaving Pai as the only family descendant, but of course she can't be chief because she's a girl. That doesn't stop her from trying, though. Her grandfather (Rawiri Paratene), a stern, traditionalist chief, loves Pai dearly, but refuses to mess with tradition by even attempting to train her to be the chief of the tribe, even though she truly believes she is meant to be chief. He begins to train first-born male sons of other tribesmen, but Pai eavesdrops, soaking up all the knowledge she can. The 11-year-old first-time actor Keisha Castle-Hughes gives the most astonishing performance by a child that I have ever witnessed, and lifts the movie from being just plain good to a profoundly moving experience. Castle-Hughes conveys both sorrow and pity as she dreams of being a chief. A remarkable performance that was crucial to the film. Without her performance the film would come across as more distant emotionally. The images of Castle-Hughes on the back of the whale as it submerges are so haunting and beautiful and its these scenes that give it a lyrical quality and the emotional impact of the story is impossible to ignore. This is proof that a good movie-maker can do just fine without including swearing, violence, sex and drugs. This is life on Planet Earth, with all the mystery of the Universe, depicted through the eyes of a little Maori girl. The photography itself makes the film worth seeing, and the last scene - where Pai really is a Whale Rider - will leave the viewer with a feeling of a deeper understanding for the nearly forgotten cultures, from which we have so much to learn.

"Juno" however is a marvelous exception: an offbeat comedy not defined by eccentric character qualities nor propelled by over-the-top antics. It's just a perfect mix of what is unique and original, witty and observant, plus warm while serious. A great majority of the film's delight also stems from its rich and perfect cast. Michael Cera (hilariously accentuated in track shorts) is dry but likable as the meek, soft-spoken teenage father. J.K Simmons is great as Juno's (the center character) father, as are the two actresses whom I cannot name who play Juno's stepmother and best friend, and equally excellent are the adoptive parents: played by Jenifer Garner (a sympathetically nervous performance) and Jason Bateman (a man whose so laid back you know he has issues). But of course the real winner is Ellen Page. Not many genuinely great female roles are viewable these days, but Page's Juno is a feminine icon for the ages. Fast-speaking, individual, cultured Juno is made such a charming portrayal by Page its impossible not to like her. She embodies the performance so well and with such dead on comedic timing it may be the single most memorable performance of the year. The dialog is, in fact, so brilliant because it isn't searching for quotability or lowest-common-denominator relatability, but it's also not bone-dry humor and totally obscure referencing. This movie had a lot of the feel of "Napoleon Dynamite." That is, the characters are quite real, not cheesy teen stereotypes. I highly recommend Juno, it's a well put together film that has a terrific story and was just a pleasure to watch.

"Shoot Em' Up"--a relentless, simultaneously energizing and hilarious movie--is a surprisingly smart confection. As conceived by writer-director Mike Davis its an over-the-top send-up of every action film ever made - to the bloody overkill of "Die Hard" and "Rambo", the gleeful excitement and charm of "Indiana Jones", the cornball abandon of "James Bond", the who cares of "North by Northwest", the heroic terseness and ease of "Bourne", the ultra-stylized and preposterous overdrive of "The Matrix" or anything ever made by John Woo and even in one scene the splendid lunacy of "Raising Arizona". Owen plays Mr. Smith -- and that's probably not his real name -- a guy who is simply waiting for a bus when he gets drawn into one of the wildest, most crazy-violent action opening scenes of all time. By the time the bullets stop flying, Smith is on the run with a complete stranger's targeted-for-death baby and one hell of a lot of questions. Smith enlists a kinky "got milk" hooker (Monica Bellucci) to wet-nurse the infant. Despite some tough talk, she turns out to be more placidly sensual and maternal than kick-ass tomboy, which makes for a nice change in this kind of movie. Meanwhile, a sadistically evil genius appropriately named Hertz (Paul Giamatti) dogs their trail with a never-ending army of hired killers and, yes, a couple of dogs. Giamatti scores as this badass with brains, who is shocked and hilariously furious about how Smith & Company keep managing to survive. "Do we suck this bad," he says at one point, "or is this guy really that good?" At a little under an hour and a half, Shoot 'Em Up successfully delivers a perfect dosage of action, guns and puns.

"Dahmer" tries to tell one of the most horrific stories of recent years. But the whole story of Jeffrey Dahmer does not get told in this movie. There are some shocking moments, but most of the movie gets bogged down in flashbacks (and even flashbacks-within-flashbacks). At some points, you cannot tell if you're watching another flashback or the present moment in the story.
The performances are good all-around. Jeremy Renner does an incredible job at playing Dahmer, expressing a laundry list of emotions with his face and body language alone.I think you'll find it dull if you are looking for blood and gore but Dahmer wasn't one of those kind of killers, he killed for company, not blood lust.

Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr. complement each other well in this simple comedy. Roger Spottiswoode has made some remarkably good action films in his time, light, non-gory violence with some humanity and a decent storyline to boot. Some might find this funnier than I did, and the acting is pretty good. Robert Downey Jr. is especially effective as the straight man.

"Basic" takes a lot of plot twists through the steamy jungles of Panama. They are often impossible to follow. No, literally. Impossible. As in they literally do not piece together. You can try to analyze them, but when you do, you find out there is nothing really to be analyzed. But the film, by confusing and tricking the audience, makes it appear as if something is there, which is almost as good as if something really is there. Therefore, the movie, though frustratingly difficult to follow at times, is entertaining. The dramatic tone suffers for this reason and, after a good start it all too quickly loses it's impact. Travolta tries hard and for the most part he does OK, but his slick character loses it towards the end, and his final `winks' are not easy to understand. I got the feeling that he didn't understand his character anymore that I did. Jackson gives a better performance in flashback although his character is pretty much a basic sergeant-major cliché, until the ending goes and ruins a fair amount of what he had done up till that point. Nielsen is pretty good but gives a masculine performance in a masculine film. The support cast is actually pretty good although Ribisi damaged his reputation with me by doing some sort of weak effeminate spoof character. Diggs, Holt, Daly and Sanchez all do pretty well and their solid flashback sequences help the interrogation to be more dramatic.
Overall this film is too twisty and some of them really demand jumps that are just not made possible by a script that doesn't do enough to help the audience out. It still manages to be pretty dramatic and enjoyable for at least the first half, but the final third demands too much and twists too much for the material to cope with.

The tagline for "Clifford" reads, "What's the difference between Clifford and a pit bull? One will tear your heart out, scare your friends and wreck your house. The other one is a dog." Martin Short relies heavily on facial movement and voice tonal changes to make his character Clifford funny. Clifford's story begins in present day. Clifford is now a small boy, but he is still played by Martin Short, oddly enough. At first he appears a normal enough child, happy and bright and just a bit overly creepy. Clifford and his parents are on a flight to Hawaii for business purposes. Clifford wants to land in LA to visit "Dinosaur World". Clifford is the ultimate pest, a spawn of Satan. Everyone knows someone like Clifford, but Martin Short stretches his character a bit more. Clifford is an odd child. He responds with gleeful joy and says things like, "Oh, yes, my dear Uncle Martin!" We are supposed to sympathize with Clifford by the end of the film, but the problem is that we don't know how or what to sympathize with. Short makes Clifford more of a devil than a rascal, and we never truly get the sense that he is a human. By the end of the film, we're not all that sure if Clifford is human or not, or whether that evil streak is gone, and that is one of the film's flaws. Other than that, it's a general its a really funny movie.

Waitress is a film that is almost impossible not to love. It is such an obvious labor of love for all involved and brings out some of the best work of many of those involved. And unlike many "labor of love" films, this one is actually both highly entertaining and easily accessible. From start to finish, it is a heart moving and amusing film with many quirks and magnificent originality. The film starts with Jenna, perfectly played by Keri Russell, a waitress at a southern diner, who soon discovers that she is pregnant. Jenna's greatest gift is her apparent extraordinary ability to create amazingly delicious pies. Making her own original pies with inventive names seems to help her escape from life with her angry, insecure, narcissistic husband (Jeremy Sisto). Giving Jenna more of a reason to simply run away from her marriage is her new gynecologist, Dr. Potmatter (Nathan Fillion), whom she soon has an affair with. The film is loaded with other memorable roles including her fellow waitresses Becky (Cheryl Hines), and Dawn (Shelly), Dawn's eccentric poetry shouting stalker/boyfriend Ogie (Eddie Jemison), and Old Joe, the diner's owner, and the man whom only Jenna can tolerate, unforgettably brought to life by Andy Griffith. Waitress is a humble return to the romantic comedy genre; one not relying on humor to carry the film or its romance. Like the pies created inside its running time, it takes just the proper blend of all the ingredients to make everything taste absolutely perfect.

Sean Astin pulls off another amazing performance in "Toy Soldiers". He plays the highly intelligent prankster, Billy Tepper along with Wil Wheaton and Keith Coogan who play his best friends, Joey Trotta and Jonathan "Snuffy" Bradberry. During a regular day at Saint Anselm's school for boys, a group of dangerous terrorists take all the boys and teachers as hostages and threatens to blow up the school if the leader, Luis Cali (Andrew Divoff's), father isn't released from the American prison, but these aren't just ordinary boys that are taken hostage, most of these kids are the sons of very powerful people in America and half of them were expelled from other schools before they came to Saint Anselm's. They're mouths and actions just may get them killed. When the government is desperately trying to figure out a way to help, Billy, Joey, Snuffy and some more boys decide to take matters into their own hands. All around this is a good movie that will have you at the edge of your seat at times and the plot will keep the movie moving itself.

28 Weeks Later is a truly psychologically terrifying film that doesn't revert to sudden jolts or lingering shots of gore to unnerve you. You could feel every death, and that's a good thing. Real death IS tragic. The deaths in the movie (not just main characters) made people in the theater gasp, shift in their seats, put one hand to their face, and yes even cry at times. The violence is brutal and quick, and in one scene, involving helicopter blades, the gore is unparalleled with any film violence I've seen before. The characters are smart and believable, and the zombies are a real threat, since they actually run after their victims. The ending, while inconclusive, is dark and harrowing nonetheless. This film builds on what the first set out to do; create a realistic atmosphere in an unrealistic situation.

'National Lampoons Senior Trip' is probably one of the last great National Lampoon's films. The premise is quite simple - a bunch of school misfits are invited to Washington to speak on behalf of the President as part of a presidential reform bill on education. The movie, albeit an incredibly stupid plot, it is outrageously funny, watching Dags, Reggie, and the gang foil Principal Moss's plan to keep these misfits from causing too much trouble. Besides Dag's (Jeremy Renner), the arsonist, and Reggie, his spaced out friend, there's Virus, the horny Audio/Visual geek; Wanda, Reggie's equally spaced out girlfriend;, Lisa, the brain; Herbert, the guy who is in perpetual mourning; Meg, the lesbian; Steve, the preppie jerk who gets his just deserts; Miosky; and Carla, the nymphomaniac. These kids do everything from locking their principal in a flooding convenient store bathroom to steal beer, to drugging their principal and chaperone, a timid math teacher, to throwing a rad party in a crude man's huge hotel room. It is one of the better teen comedies you'll find in the late 90s and one of the last few National Lampoon movies. I recommend checking it out.

The screenplay also uses story elements of innumerable other movies (the farm-setting, the space prison concept?) and yet it never really directly rips off any of them, which is quite an admirable effort. Hairy little space monsters, with funky red eyes and an insatiable appetite, escape from their prison transport and land in rural Kansas where they immediately attack farmer Jay Brown's cattle and family. The son of the family tries to reach the nearby village for help, but the Critters (or "Krites", as they're called in space) make it impossible to get away. Luckily enough, there also are two intergalactic bounty hunters with heavy artillery looking for the murderous furballs. The story opens a little slow with an overly extended family portrait of the Browns but, once the critters are rolling over the earth and eating their way through the countryside, Stephen Herek's film is both funny and action-packed at the same time. The dialogs are surprisingly witty and contain numerous references towards great Sci-Fi classics. Particularly the bounty hunters are hilarious, with one of them impersonating a famous rock star and the other indecisive about what appearance he wants to take on. The sharp-teethed Critters are engaging creations, made by the endlessly talented Chiodo-brothers of the aforementioned "Killer Klowns?" The acting performances are rather forgettable. M. Emmet Walsh is underused as the town's sheriff and Dee Wallace Stone tries to look too much like a teenage scream queen. There are early roles for Billy Zane and Lin Shaye, who would only reach their popularity-peak in the 90's. This movie does have some good special effects for it's time including those bounty hunter transformations, if your looking for a fun lighthearted Sci-fi/horror combo with humor then this is it.

Better than anticipated big-screen adaptation of the 1970s cult classic police drama about the elite Special Weapons and Techniques division of the LAPD skillfully directed by tv veteran Clark Johnson. The screenplay by Ron Mita, Jim McClain and Davids Ayer and McKenna keep things lively but allow the action to occur gradually after each new member is incorporated into the fold, and (finally) Farrell proves his worth as a leading man in a big Hollywood film as the head-strong yet by-the-book disgraced member looking for redemption and Jackson as his no-nonsense leader of the pack. Expertly choreographed action sequences and some needed humor add to the mix of the been-there-done-that histrionics that naturally unfold. Overall this is a reasonably enjoyable piece of noisy entertainment. If you expect anything unique or clever then you will be really disappointed. However if you are prepared for lots of running with guns, noise and macho posturing then this should be enough to satisfy you.

"Two Weeks" is a serious film about a family going through a tragic experience, it is also very funny and true. Stockman, who wrote and directed the film, manages to capture the humor and emotion of a family as they cope with of the impending loss of their mother. It is a brave and honest film. Sally Field is wonderful as the strong and funny matriarch who stares death down. Her performance is powerful and complex. Ben Chaplin, Tom Cavanaugh and Julianne Nicholson deliver honest and subtle performances. They truly seem like a family sharing all of the affection, sorrow and conflict you would expect of siblings going through such a difficult experience. The film is funny and moving.

What makes this movie so very charming is the incredible ensemble acting. Movie about three young waitresses who work at Mystic Pizza. Good girl Kat (Annabeth Gish)is going to college and falls in love with a married man (William Moses). Her sister, bad girl Daisy (Julia Roberts), falls in love with rich kid Charles (Adam Storke). And Jojo (Lili Taylor) is deeply in love with Bill (Vincent D'Onofrio) but is afraid to marry him. Mystic Pizza is a pleasant-but-slow slice-of-life comedy-drama. Seen in a small role that if one blinks, one would miss him, is Matt Damon making his first screen appearance.

The film addresses the bullying in schools, a nightmare for those students that appear weak, or easy marks for these predators to make a name for themselves among their peers, at the others expense. When Clifford Peache, the son of a hotel manager in Chicago, changes schools, he meets his worst nightmare: Melvin Moody. Melvin terrorizes kids, especially those young and vulnerable. Clifford is the new target for Melvin to bring down and humiliate if he doesn't agree to do whatever he is told. Rick Linderman, the tall and strange guy in Cliff's class is the perfect candidate to be engaged as a body guard for all the kids being abused. In fact, Rick teaches Clifford a lesson when at the end he has to face the mean Melvin, who proves to be a coward, as all bullies are. In his debut performance, Adam Baldwin does a wonderful job portraying the alienated Ricky Linderman, who is seen as a hulking, violent "psychopath" by most of his peers. Baldwin's acting abilities are impressive and he touches the heart of the viewer by showing us Ricky's emotions. It smacks of realism. In fact, the movie not only smacks of realism, but of action and drama, too. Even the ending is realistic. It was a pleasant way to spend an hour and a half.

The movie captures the creation of the emotional rift between an adolescent girl and her mother. While the rift is eventually healed, the impact on the viewer is anything but easily forgotten about. Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Tracy, gives a daring performance in her portrayal of an emotionally troubled juvenile. She captures the mood swings, the dark brooding, the joy of being that age perfectly. Holly Hunter gives another stellar performance. Her character's balance, or lack thereof, between the enforcer of parental-rules and her desire to be involved in her daughter's life perfectly captures the connundrum of every parent.

On this level, the film is perfect. Exploring young love is a delicate situation but director Foley handles it with ease and he even shows the beauty of how love can make you feel. It's just too bad that the film has to take a different path at the conclusion because this could have been a great coming of age love story. I'm not saying the psycho elements to the film are terrible, I'm just saying that the innocence of the love story seems to work and fit better in here. There are some Slasher elements a la Scream in this movie that in the time were very effective (stabbing, dog's head cut off, minimal gore, and a psycho killer) and worked very well in order to create a tense atmosphere. The ending is quite predictable and expected. The actors they chose perform surprisingly good. If the plot is not very interesting then the least you can expect is to feel some sympathy for the characters. Whiterspoon is tender and beautiful and you totally believe her when she has different feelings for her boyfriend. Wahlberg delivers a good performance as a crazed angry boyfriend. This one is a decent rental, check it out.

That this is an utmost interesting film, which displays what humans are capable of in a very professional way. I must say this, for I felt this was not so much a dramatized version of a true life event, but rather a documentary on a true life event. This is neither a tear jerker, nor a graphically violent film but maybe that it is also the reason it is twice as memorable as your average psychological drama. This film will leave you sitting shocked and numb in front of your TV. The acting was excellent throughout and the interest was held by some fine directing. The storyline was great, except for the ending. At the end of the movie, they had text on the screen telling what happened to each character. But they didn't tell enough of what happened to Katie. After watching this you will most likely feel sad for how the world treats people or angry that something this terrible could happen to someone.

It's a very amusing and eminently likeable teen comedy that doesn't stoop to bad taste gags or gross-out schtick for its laughs and relies on its very eighties feelgood charm to win you over. Bobcat Goldthwaite is hilarious, Cusack is good, Demi Moore is Demi Moore. As goofy as this movie is, it's also a must have for anyone who is either a fan of 80's movies, or just happens to have a sense of humor.

Four Brothers is a gritty, testosterone-fueled crowd pleaser that mixes drama, action, and humor. As for the good guys, well, they fall under the "anti-hero" moniker. They aren't scared to sidestep the law in order to get what they're after. But within the context of the movie you can't really blame their motives. Their mother adopted them when nobody else wanted anything to do with them. They were considered lost causes, yet she took them in, gave them a family, and put her faith in them. Even though the acting was first-rate throughout, I especially liked the performances given by Josh Charles as Detective Fowler and by Garrett Hedlund as Jack Mercer. I know Josh Charles has appeared in movies I have seen but I don't remember his acting standing out as it does in this film. Also Chiwetel Ejiofor was just right as the slimy egomaniac Victor Sweet--and what a name for a character this egregious.

The action is first rate and there is plenty of it from start to finish. Hold on to your seats for the scary gun battle between mom's boys hold up in her old house and Sweet's hired thugs. You won't be able to get out of your seat during this shoot-out. I highly recommend this movie for fans of the genre.