Reviews

Mystic River Director: Clint Eastwood Jimmy: Sean Penn Dave: Tim Robbins Sean: Kevin Bacon

You know it took a while, a long while. The first three quarters of this year produced very few movies that rose above "entertaining". Hell going into October there were only three movies I had seen which I would qualify as great, Phone Booth, X2 and Dirty Pretty Things(T3 came close). Then came Kill Bill. It blew everything away and was my lock for movie of the year...that lock lasted an entire week. Mystic River is THE best picture of 2003 so far. Better than Lost in Translation, better than Th13teen, better than Phone Booth and, yes, better than Kill Bill.

Mystic River takes you on an emotional ride through a small neighborhood and a murder which brings very ugly memories, and even uglier futures. I won't go over the plot, cause really it's pointless. Plus I don't wnat to spoil anything although it really doens't matter. This aint about a big twist ending or a big shoot-out ending, Mystic River's ending is just another step in life and it's heart wrenching getting there.

I must first commend the great Clint Eastwood(one of the most underrated movie makes of our time IMO). This movie features no quick cuts or camera tricks. No special effects or action set pieces. It features realism(and soemtimes graphic realism), it features real characters gonig through troubles and trying to find real solutions. Eastwood has a sure hand in all this and stages the film perfectly. Not one shot is wasted and it is all Eastwood's vision, all the way down to the beautiful score.

The acting, just by the actors names, you know is good. But I never expected it to be this good. Sean Penn wins the Oscar already with his performance. If he is not rewarded with the best actor statuette it's ultimate proof of the Academy's bias and BS. Penn is gut wrenchingly powerful in the early part of the film but in other parts is coldly sadistic but with a reason and thus even in his more sadistic scenes there is a sense of truth and tragedy towards Jimmy, making this Penn's greatest performance of his great career.

Tim Robbins puts in, arguably although only Shawshank comes close, the best performance of his career as his lack of emotional range fits perfect for Dave's traumatic state. Laura Linney, Marci Gay Harden, Laurence Fishburne and Kevin Bacon provide ample support to the leads making this the best ensemble cast of the year.

Overall there isn't much to say about Mystic River except this will move you and it will make you feel. It could possibly be classified a Shakesperean tragedy rewritten in modern time. The guilt, the revenge, the inner struggle it's all there. The acting is the best of any movie this year. But in the end this is Clint Eastwood's movie and, as he always does, Eastwood "makes our day" by making the best picture of 2003.

****3/4(out of 5*)

It's funny because only 3 weeks ago I saw "Scarface" for the 1st time and then last week I saw "Traffic" for the 3rd time. And now I see "New Jack City". Out of the three "New Jack City" is the worst, but that by no means implies that it is a bad movie. But just for a fact there aren't too many drug related movies even in the same league as "Scarface" or "Traffic".

In this review I will not use "Traffic" for any comparison because the two films are completely different. But "Scarface" on the otherhand is almost an exact replica of "New Jack City", except it came out 8 years earlier. Both movies are about how a guy starts out on the bottom, works his way to the top and goes overboard falls back down in the drugworld. It's nearly the same movie except you have Wesley Snipes as Nino Brown, instead of Al Pacino as Tony Montana.

The plot in this isn't anything you probably haven't already figured out. Picture "Scarface" except this time there more emphasis on the cops played by Ice - T, Judd Nelson and Mario Van Peebles. But for those who haven't seen either movie here's a short rundown. Nino Brown is a small time hood who along with his partner and best friend Gee Money (Allen Payne, in a role strikingly similar to that of Steven Bauer in "Scarface") gets a tip on something called crack cocaine. Three years later Nino has become the god of the drug world and is above the law. His life is perfect until police officer Stone(Van Peebles) gets Scotty Appleton(Ice - T) and Nick Peretti(Judd Nelson) to head up their own case on Nino. That's the basic plot and you figure out the rest yourself.

One thing that puts "New Jack City" aabove an average gangster movie is the acting. Snipes is excellent(this still stands as the best performance of his career), Ice - T has never been, and considering how many direct-to-video stinkers he's been in recently, and never will be better and Chris Rock explodes onto the screen stealing every scene he's in. Well to be honest every peroformance is great except for Nelson, who in my opinion gave his character to moral centre at all and seemed lost the whole movie.

So comparisons to "Scarface" aside and little problems aside, "New Jack City" is a good movie and a top notch gangster movie. 7/10

Brian De Palma's remake of the 1932 classic "Scarface" nearly drowns in excess at times, but flourishes from it at other times. None of this is surprising considering Oliver Stone wrote the script. But this movie has to also be considered one of the bravest films of all time.

I won't say much about the plot which is pretty standard when it comes to gangster movies. It's about cuban refugee Tony Montana's(Al Pacino) rise and fall in the drug world. Eventhough other characters come and go, notably wife Elvira(Michelle Pfeiffer), best friend Manny(Steven Bauer), boss Frank Lopez(Robert Loggia) and sister Gina(Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, this is basically Montana's/Pacino's show.

In "Scarface", Al Pacino is at his over-the-top best as Montana. Whether he's burying his face into a pile of coke, shooting someone point blank in the head or refusing to kill two small children Montana always seems like a real, deep character. He's a ruthless business man and killer, but he also has an honour code, He'll become a drug addict as long as his sister doesn't ect. But what really makes this film work is how visibly Monatana evolves from a young hothead looking to get rich, to a burnt out, paranoid addict who has it all and wants even more.

I have heard a lot of arguments as to whether "Scarface" belongs in the company of "The Godfather" and other gangster classics. Well in my opinion it does. If not for being very original or deep, but for having enough balls to go further than any other gangster movie, plus for having one of the most brutal antihero/villains in history. Oh yah and don't forget it's 206 uses of the F-word third mot in history(After Pulp Fiction and what I consider the best gangster movie of all Goodfellas). Great study in excess and brutality. 9/10

'Finding Forrester' is without any doubt the best movie of the year 2000. I've heard many people say that this is just director Gus Van Sant's retread of his oscar winning hit 'Good Will Hunting'. That is the furthest statement from the truth. Eventhough the general idea of two different people bonding is here, everything else is as different as it comes.

The story is about Jamal Wallace(Rob Brown, making his bigscreen debut), an allstar basketball player who's only 16 but has a passion for writing and reading. One night on a bet he breaks into the apartment of a person only known to the neighborhood kids as "The Window". But when he's caught, Wallace bolts and forgets his backpack. Later he gets his backpack back, with all his written material analyzed, corrected ect. After revisiting the man, Wallace finds out that "The Window" is none other than reclusive author William Forrester(Sean Connery), who has been hiding for 40 years. They cut a deal that as long as Jamal doesn't tell anybody about William, then William must help Jamal with his writing. Over the course of the movie a beautiful bond forms as the two different people become friends and partners. Along the way William helps Jamal deal with his biased english professor Robert Crawford(F. Murray Abraham), his new girlfriend(Anna Paquin), his brother(rapper Busta Rhymes) and everyone else in his life.

The acting in this film is universally excellent, and no matter how it is billed Brown is the real star of this movie. Connery is brilliant but isn't on the screen enough to outshine Brown. Abraham comes off as the perfect nemesis and Busta Rhymes acquits himself rather well. Anna Paquin isn't too bad but she isn't given too much to do. Excellent supporting cast withstanding the best scenes in the film are the one on one interactions between Brown and Connery. I especially loved the "Soup questions" scene and the Jeopardy scene.

Considering this is Van Sant's first film since the terrible 'Psycho' remake he made a few years back he does very well. And surprisingly he generates more tension and suspense in one basketball sequence late in the movie than he did in all of 'Psycho'.

Overall this is not only Van Sant's best movie but also the best film all year. And after seeing this movie three weeks after the Academy Awards it makes it all the more shocking that 'Gladiator' won as I can't see how, in any way, it is better than this great film. Like a great book 'Finding Forrester' gets better every viewing and i'm sure it will stand the test of time. 10/10

"Space Cowboys" pulls off a miracle. Specifically, not movie itself but Director/Star Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner. While the script of "Space Cowboys" isn't topnotch, the acting and directing are. Let's with the way Eastwood directs. The whole process is all very smooth and eventhough the story is 100% implausible, Eastwood somehow makes the story seem possible and maybe even likely to actually happen.

The aformentioned story is about how in 1958 four men get screwed out of going to space by Beaurocrat/NASA worker Bob Gerson(James Cromwell). Then in 2000 the same four men have to go to space to change the direction of a satellite which was invented by one of the old guys, Frank Corvin(Clint Eastwood). Along with Hawk(Tommy Lee Jones), Tank(James Garner) and Jerry(Donald Sutherland), Frank goes to space only to find out that everything isn't as advertised.

The acting is what makes this movie work. The four guys have such great chemistry it's just fun to watch them on the screen. Whether i'm laughing as they go through training or holding my breath as they try to survive in space, the whole time I was cheering for them.Led by Eastwood all four actors shine. I also noticed for the first time in any Eastwood movie i've seen(And i've seen almost all of them), Clint gives someone else the best and most well-written role. That role went to Tommy Lee Jones as William 'Hawk' Hawkins. Tommy Lee Jones brings real depth and skill to what, in the hands of a less capable actor, would have been just another cliched character. Jones is also the only one of the four whose given a real romantic subplot, which is comes off very well and mature. As his love interest Marcia Gay Harden was excellent. Out the rest of the cast Sutherland stands out the most in what is probably the most comedic of the characters.

Not with standing all the script problems and all that the whole movie is just watching four great veteran action stars saddle up for one last ride. And if the day does come when of these great actors passes on they will always remember this wonderfully enjoyable space movie. Hats off to you Clint. 8/10

On the outside "The Immortals" just looks like another in a long line of standard heist thrillers, with the only difference being that this one's probably much more violent. But as the story starts developing we find out that all these characters aren't your stereotypical 'I want money' robbers, they're all doing it out of necessity. Thats the very unexpected and unusual twist in this very violent movie.

The plot isn't extremely complicated. It's about a nightclub owner, Jack(Eric Roberts who shows why all his movies lately have been direct-to-video) who picks 8 people(Tia Carrere, Chris Rock, Joe Pantoliano, Clarence Williams III, William Forsythe, Keiran Mulroney, writer Kevin Bernhardt and Brian Finney), all with terminal illnesses to rob a crimelord(Tony Curtis). But when they get betrayed it turns into an all-out battle for survival...and a very entertaining one at that.

After the movie gets into its second act it turns into 'Predator' style game of who's next to die. But one thing that raises "The Immortals" above the average heist thriller is that the characters aren't stereotypes but real people. I actually cared for the characters when they died.

While "The Immortals" won't win any Oscars, and won't make any critics top ten list, it's still an entertaining rental. 7/10

"3000 Miles To Graceland" is one of the most violent films in a long time. The body count rivals that of World War 2, the blood quotient rivals that of Reservoir Dogs and there are enough bullets fired to justify changing the title to "3000 Bullets To Graceland", but the movie is entertaining as hell.

Being an action I personally loved this movie, but that doesn't mean I recommend it to everyone. This movie will appall some people and make others leave 15 minutes into the movie. But one area in which this movie won't disappoint is pleasing it's target audience, 20 something males looking for more bullets than plot, and for that I applaud it.

Now on to the movie itself. As most of you know it's about how five Elvis impersonator's(Kevin Costner, Kurt Russell, Christian Slater, Bokeem Woodbine, David Arquette) rob the Riviera casino during an Evis convention. As you can expect the usual double-crossing ensues and without revealing plot points I can say a lot of people end up dead and somehow a con-artist mother(Courtney Cox-Arquette) and her klepto-maniac son(David Kaye) end up on the run with the survivors with 3.2 million at stake. Through all the commotion two FBI agents(Thomas Haden-Church, Kevin Pollak), a high priced helicopter pilot(Howie Long), a shady but weasely money launderer(Jon Lovits) and an independent killer(Ice-T) get involved.

Well if your looking for a entertaining 'guy movie' or plain and simply a blood bath, see "3000 Miles To Graceland". But if your looking for a smart, plot driven thriller steer clear of this movie. I give it 7/10

"The Patriot" is another in the long line of patriotic summer movies, with recent examples being Independence Day and Armageddon. But unlike those two other pro-US patriotic movies, "The Patriot" is excellent. Eventough it's mostly the same point as the other patriotic movies, the United States can prevail over anything, this benefits from great performances by two Aussie's.

The two Aussie's in question are Mel Gibson and Heath Ledger. Gibson puts in a performance which stands as some of his best work, while Ledger(in his first major role) proves he can hold his own with even the best actors. All the other actors in this movies acquit themselves quite well. Led by a scary performance from Jason Isaacs as the main villain. Tcheky Karyou proves that with the right material he can also be excellent.

The plot is based on the Civil War and eventhough the main character and most of the other characters are all made up the story stays loyal to the source. One thing this movie does well is put in a right mix of action and drama. At some points I was nearly crying and at others I actually stood up and cheered. The character of Benjamin Martin(Gibson) is very intelligently written, while his Gabriel(Ledger) is at times under-written but comes off very convincingly. The only character that I didn't specifically like was that Colonel William Tavington(Isaacs). Eventhough the movie made me hate the character like it was supposed to, Tavington was just a bit too cartoonish in his evilness and it was hard to believe that he was a real person.

But overall "The Patriot" overcomes it's small flaws and becomes one of the best films of the year. I highly recomend "The Patriot" 9/10

"L.A. Confidential" is one of the most masterfully spun conspiracy movies in history of cinema. It's also one of the darkest and most violent film noir's i've ever seen. But none of that will matter as you watch because all you'll be able to think about is how the three main police officers can uncover the web and not get killed in the process.

The three main police officers in question are Jack Vincennes(Kevin Spacey, The Usual Suspects), Bud White(Russell Crowe, Gladiator) and Ed Exley(Guy Pearce, Ravenous). Jack is a hollywood cop. He lives for his role as technical advisor on the Dragnet-like show Badge of Honor. He also gets payed by journalist Sid Hudgeons(Danny DeVito, Twins) to give Sid info on busts of celebrities. Bud White is a thug of a cop. He lives to beat confessions out of suspects and to punish woman beaters. Ed Exley is a politician cop. He lives to rise in the ranks of the LAPD and doesn't even care if the whole station despises him.

Add to the mix Captain Dudley Smith(James Cromwell, Babe), callgirl Lynn Bracket(Kim Basinger, The Marrying Man), pornographer Pierce Patchett(David Strathairn, The Firm) and dirty District Attorney Ellis Loew(Ron Rifkin, The Negotiator) and you have a web of corruption, cops, porn and Los Angeles that makes for the most entertaining and best movie of 1997.

This is the movie which should of swept the 1997 oscars not Titanic. Overall L.A. Confidential is the bets movie about L.A since Chinatown and deserves to be seen. 10/10

"The Truman Show" is one of the most original, captivating and entertaining comedy-drama's i've ever seen. This movie is very different from any other movie i've ever seen. Eventhough in plot it's not extremely deep, it has an excellent premise which is more than a twilight zone rip-off.

One of the things that sets this movie apart from other alternate reality movies(edTV, Pleasantville)is the exquisite acting. Led by the pitch-perfect performance from Jim Carrey this movie has a great mix of excellent character actors. But like I said it is all fueled by Jim Carrey's brilliant Golden Globe© winning performance as Truman Burbank, a man whose life is on television 24/7. It is still beyond how he didn't even get nominated for an oscar when his performance was by far the best of that year. The other oscar worthy performance comes from the great Ed Harris(The Abyss, The Rock). Unlike Carrey, Harris did get nominated for an Academy Award©(He lost to James Coburn).

When you put all that together, along with the brilliant direction of Peter Weir, and you not only the best movie of 1998 but also one of the best movies of the 90's. See this movie. 10/10

Hannibal isn't better than Silence of the Lambs it's just different. It is more entertaining and much more graphic and gruesome. One thing that is an improvement is the acting. Anthony Hopkins puts in the best performance of his career outdoing his Silence of the Lambs performance. Julianne Moore makes Clarice Starling her own character. Moore in my opinion completely in all forms of the word outdoes Jodie Foster's work in the previous movie. Ray Liotta in my opinion is completely wasted playing a totally stereotypical role of the superior officer who has it in for Clarice. A completely unrecognisable Gary Oldman(Who unlike a few people said is credited in the end credits) is brilliant as usual in his role as Mason Verger. But the person solely responsible for Hannibal being as good as it was is director Ridley Scott. His great direction makes every scene seem beautiful. I won't lie this movie is extremely gruesome, sick and graphic at times. In one scene in specific people were leaving the theatre in disgust. During that scene I heard people in the audience saying things like 'Oh My God','Holy Christ' and 'This is sick'. Hannibal isn't for everyone but if you have a strong stomach I suggest you see it. 8/10

"They Live" is one of the most original and underrated sci-fi action movies i've ever seen. Eventhough the acting isn't spectacular, and by the end turns into a down right urban action movie, "They Live" is one of the most entertaining ever.

The plot is quite simple, Nada(Roddy Piper) a homeless drifter stumbles upon a pair of sunglasses through which you can see the world for what it really is, a communist type environment controlled by aliens, and then joins up with his buddy Frank(Keith David) to stop them. In the middle of all this there a lot of great one liners, a lot of harebrained action and one of the longest, and best, fist fights ever filmed.

The way John Carpenter directs really makes the film work. Everything seems downbeat and realistic. The acting of ex-pro wrestler Roddy Piper is better than expected but not too spectacular and Keith David isn't at all convincing. But none of that matters, the real reason to see this movie is just to be entertained and on that level is suceeds. My Rating is 8/10

As I said in my opening line this movie has a bit of everything, well only one dog actually but its as funny as 50 can be. Guy Ritchie's "Snatch" is one of the craziest movies I have seen in my life. Every laugh is genuine, every twist and turn is unexpected and every one of the 20 - 30 characters in the movies has atleast one moment to shine. This movie is very reminiscent of Pulp Fiction in the way that everything happens unexpectedly, a bunch of stories interwind and gruesome violence is actually hilarious.

To fully figure out the plot to "Snatch" it'll take 3 or 4 viewings atleast, but from one I figured this out. Frankie Four Fingers(Benicio Del Toro) steals an 84 Carat diamond the size of a golf ball from Antwerp. He goes to London where his gun dealer Boris the Blade(Rade Serbedzjia) betrays him hiring a pair of pawn brokers(Robbie Gee, Lenny James) and their driver(Ade) to steal it off Franky. When Franky disappears his boss Cousin Avi(Dennis Farina), the one to who the diamond was headed, comes to London and hires thug Bullet Tooth Tony(Vinnie Jones) to find Franky. While Turkish(Jason Stratham) and Tommy(Stephen Graham) are staging an illegal boxing in which their fighter must go down to the fighter selected by notorious gangster Brick Top(Alan Ford) but when Mickey O' Neil(Brad Pitt) knocks Turkish and Tommy's fighter out they have to convince Mickey to fight. He does but instead of taking a dive knocks his opponent out in one punch. Then it gets complicated.

The acting in "Snatch" is top notch with every actor turning in a great performance. Eventhough it's extremely hard to pick a main character in "Snatch" I'd have to say Turkish gets the most screentime barely edging out Mickey and Avi. Jason Stratham plays Turkish with ease and makes him a very fun character. The only reason I chose Turkish as the character with the most screentime is because also the narrator and describes all the other characters. But the actor who stands out most is Brad Pitt. He is hilarious as the gypsey boxer who as we later find out is probably the smartest character in the movie. His accent is so thick even the other characters don't know what he's saying.

Personally I found "Snatch" a number of notches better than the extremely overrated "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" and as one of the most purely entertaining films I have ever seen. "Snatch" is the freshest movie if the year and also one of the funniest. Great Movie. I give it 9/10.

"Knig of New York" is in my opinion a brilliant gangster movie which over the years has been forgotten and overshadowed by other gangster flicks. When I rented this movie I didn't expect to much considering i'm not exactly a huge Abel Ferrara supporter. But what drove me to rent it was a magazine which listed Frank White(Christopher Walken) as one of the nuttiest psychos of alltime.

Not expecting much I was pleasantly surprised to how good this movie actually was. The plot isn't particularly complicated starts off with Frank White being released from prison. Then with the help of his crazy henchmen Jump(Laurence Fishburne) starts taking over the city by eliminating all the other drug lords, pimps and gangsters in his way. We later find out this is all to fund for a hospital to help underpriviliged kids in the ghetto.

What holds this movie together is the brilliant performance by Christopher Walken in the lead role. The whole movie he doesn't show not one emotion and that's what makes Frank so creepy. He has the exact same facial expression killing a gangster as when he is showering. Laurence Fishburne stands out of a stellar cast as Jump. He crazy but sane and has a great sense of humor this makes the audience cheer for him. Also good performances are turned in by Wesley Snipes, David Caruso and Victor Argo as cops trying to hunt Frank down.

Overall an excellent movie definitely worth watching. 9/10

Picture this: A married couple is driving somewhere in the middle of America and nearly sideswipe a pickup truck. After stopping for gas they keep going when there car suddenly stops. They're clueless until a friendly truck driver offers a lift to the nearest diner.The wife goes and never comes back.

Now picture that the couple is Jeff and Amy Taylor(Kurt Russell & Kathleen Quinlan), and they're taking the scenic route from Boston to San Diego. They nearly hit a dirty black pickup truck and then stop for gas. They are confronted by the driver and at that point the suspense slowly starts building. Then trying to distance themselves from the pickup, they crank there brand new SUV up to full speed and drive away. But since its a new car it overheats and breaks down. Then a friendly truck driver comes along offering to give them a lift to Belle's Diner where they can call a tow truck. Amy takes the ride while Jeff stays with the car. After a while Jeff gets the car working and goes to Belle's. When arrives he is informed no one there has ever heard of his wife.

From that point on the suspense hits full blast as every scene is used to pump every last bit of suspense out of it. Eventhough the storyline is nothing original and just sounds like a changed version of The Vanishing(1988 one not the remake) and the characters are quite thin this movie is still unbearably suspenseful. Jonathan Mostow the director borrows from a number of movies quite heavily. You have the crazy truck driver from Duel, the psycho hillbilly's from Deliverance and the missing wife from The Vanishing.

What makes this movies so much better than the countless other missing-wife thrillers is first of all Jeff doesn't seem like a Schwarzenegger or Stallone and we really do believe this is all happening to him. As played by Kurt Russell Jeff is like Jon Voight's character in Deliverance, at first scared and by end he is pushed to fight back. Kurt Russell really makes Jeff a believable character because you could tell that the fear is for real and that the sweat is real. Another plus in Breakdown is how real the villains seem. It seems that they have other lives and at no point do we doubt that they mean business.

The only real letdown this movies has is the ending, which I won't describe for those who haven't seen the movie. But just to say the ending changes pace from the rest of the movie. Other than that this is by far one of the most suspenseful thrillers i've seen in many years. I believe this is one movie that you can mention in the same breath as Deliverance or Duel. Great Movie 9/10

"The Shawshank Redemption" is without a doubt one of the best films of the 90's and one of the best prison dramas of all time.

"The Shawshank Redemption" can go head to head with any great movie of the 90's and probably win. The plot is airtight with only one or two mistakes through the whole film, not a lot of films could say the with even the likes of Forrest Gump, Titanic and Unforgiven have mistakes in them. One thing that Darabont does better than any director i've seen in a long time is pace every scene perfectly.

Another great thing about this film is the pitch perfect cast. Tim Robbins puts in the best performance of his career, even topping his role in "The Player" and Morgan Freeman is outstanding as "Red" Redding and old tymer who knows everything and has seen everything about jail. Bob Gunton is also brilliant as the evil sheriff putting in his best performance. But the most underrated performance in my opinion is the one put in by James Whitmore as "Brooks".

Eventhough "The Shawshank Redemption" may seem like a tear jerker or like a tragic drama by the end you will have a smile on your face . I won't ruin it for you but the ending is one of the best I have ever seen, only rivaled by the unexpected twist in "The Usual Suspects". So if you want to feel some emotion, be surprised and enlightened or just plainly watch a great movie rent "The Shawshank Redemption". 10/10 Near Perfect Movie

After having seen Deliverance, movies like Pulp Fiction don't seem so extreme. Maybe by today's blood and bullets standards it doesn't seem so edgy, but if you think that this was 1972 and that the movie has a truly sinister core then it makes you think differently.

When I started watching this movie nothing really seemed unusual until I got to the "Dueling Banjos" scene. In that scene the brutality and edge of this film is truly visible. As I watched Drew(Ronny Cox,Robocop)go head to head with a seemingly retarted young boy it really shows how edgy this movies can get. When you think that the kid has a small banjo, which he could of probably made by hand, compared to Drew's nice expensive guitar, you really figure out just how out of their territory the four men are.

As the plot goes it's very believable and never stretches past its limits. But what really distinguishes this film, about four business men who get more than they bargained for on a canoe trip, is that director John Boorman(Excalibur) breaks all the characters away from plain caricatures or stereotypes. So as the movie goes into full horror and suspense I really cared about all four men and what would happen to them.

The acting is universally excellent. With Jon Voight(Midnight Cowboy, Enemy of the State) and Burt Reynolds(Boogie Nights, Striptease) leading the great cast. Jon Voight does probably the hardest thing of all in this film and that is making his transformation from family man to warrior very believable. Unlike Reynolds whose character is a warrior from the start, Voight's character transforms over the course of the movie. Ned Beatty(Life) is also good in an extremely hard role, come on getting raped by a hillbilly, while Ronny Cox turns in a believable performance.

One thing that really made this movies powerful for me is that the villains were as terrifying as any I had ever seen. Bill Mckinney and Herbert "Cowboy" Coward were excellent and extremely frightening as the hillbilly's.

Overall Deliverance was excellent and I suggest it to anyone, except for people with weak stomachs and kids. 10/10. See this movie.

Gia is a very graphic, powerful and engaging film which also has very graphic depictions of drug abuse, a lot of lesbian content (Which rivals the sexual content of Basic Instinct) and a tour-de-force performance from lead star Anjelina Jolie. Good Show 8/10

Shaft the old version was considered a black action classic. I expected this update to a retreat of the original but weas pleasantly surprised. This update was a brilliant improved version of Shaft for the year 2000. The acting is also top notch. Especially Jeffrey Wright's hilarious but somewhat serious performance as Peoples Hernandez. Samuel L. Jackson fits perfectly as John Shaft (The original Shaft's nephew). The original Shaft, Richard Roundtree makes a great cameo as Jackson's mentor. Vanessa Williams is great as is Dan Hedaya. But to me the standout performance was Christian Bale's performance as psycho rich kid Walter Williams Jr. This is Bale's second straight performance as a nut following his great performance in American Psycho. Great Film 9.5/10

Mission Impossible 2 is by far the best pure action sequel to come out in many years. What makes M:I-2 so good is are the action sequences which couldn't be possible without the excellent direction of John Woo. Woo makes the most out of every scene, trying to squeeze every possible inch out of each scene. Tom Cruise puts on a good performance as IMF agent Ethan Hunt. Ving Rhames in top notch as Luther Stickell. Rhames surprisingly gets the best lines in the movie. Thandie Newton is also very enticing as Cruises partner and love interest. But the main acting asset of this film is Dougray Scott as the main villain Sean Ambroce. Scott's performance is interesting and riveting. Surprisingly M:I-2 has a pretty decent plot which never gets slow or uninteresting. So if your looking for a pure adrenaline rush or a top notch thriller see Mission Impossible 2. 9/10 Excellent Thriller

American Psycho is a classic in it's own mind. Yes some people like myself might enjoy it, some people will be disgusted by it and some people will hail it as a masterpiece, but overall this is just a very smooth, stylish and entertaining bloodbath.

But for a bloodbath with a lot of nudity American Psycho has a coherent story, excellent acting and a chilling if not satisfying conclusion. Give 90% of this movies credit to Christian Bale who is excellent as Patrick Bateman the very cool, handsome and smooth wallstreet trader who by night kills for fun.

The novel could of been translated better had Mary Harron not tried so hard to avoid an NC-17 and cut many scenes. Willem Dafoe gets quite annoying at times as the detective on Bateman's trail and Jared Leto is perfectly cast as smooth trader Paul Allen who has a nicer business card than Bateman. Witherspoon is average as Bateman's fiance Evelyn.

This movie won't please horror fans as much as it will please fans of smooth, entertaining thrillers. Overall 9 out of 10

Se7en is a very disturbing but entertaining film. David Fincher (The Game, Fight Club) moves things along slowly and powerfully in this tale of a young and cocky detective played excellently by Brad Pitt (Kalifornia, Fight Club) who is teamed with an old veteran who is about to retire played brilliantly by Morgan Freeman (The Shawshank Redemption, Unforgiven) and the serial killer who's identity I will not reveal is played with shocking brilliance by an actor I will not name. Overall a very dark but interesting thriller. 8.5 out of 10

If you ask most people they'll say that Quentin Tarantino's masterpiece is Pulp Fiction. But a few years earlier Tarantino made this excellent look at a jewel heist gone bad. The acting is superb and the plot is nearly perfect.

Let's start with the acting. The performances are mesmerizing especially Michael Madsen's brutal portrayal of Mr. White. Steve Buscemi (one of the most underrated actors in hollywood) almost makes us cheer for Mr. Pink and Tim Roth makes Mr. Orange his personal character.

If you like action movies, heist movies, suspense movies of just want an entertaining film rent Reservoir Dogs. 9 out of 10

Mission to Mars is an average movie. The character development isn't all it could be and the plot has holes but other than that this is a thrilling while it lasts. Speaking of that the 110 minutes it runs feels like atleast 180 minutes. Gary Sinise is excellent and so is Tim Robbins. But even if the plot and characters lack, the special effects are worth the price of admission alone. But it's a fun Mission while it lasts. 7 out of 10 stars

This is the type of movie hollywood likes to call a b-movie. Entertaining, fun and moderately funny. But that also means a very unbelievable script and plot, cheap humor attempts and the obvious bloodbath for a finale. Ben Affleck (Dogma, Armageddon) never passes off as an action hero, Charlize Theron (Astronaut's Wife, Cider House Rules) tries her best in an underwritten role and Gary Sinise isn't bad as the psycho brother. The real stars of this film however are the often funny supporting characters played by skilled actors such as Clarence Williams the third, Danny Trejo and Dennis Farina is funny and effective as the casino owner.

But the saving point of the film is that the film goes at a brisk pace and is for most of the movie very entertaining. Although there are more than a few dull spots. Overall a fun movie. If you like action thrillers with the occasional funny line, this movie is for you. 7/10.