You Don't Mess With The Zohan

You Don't Mess With The Zohan

Who's in it: Adam Sandler, John Turturro, Emmanuelle Chriqui

What's it about: The greatest Israeli counter-terrorist, Zohan(Sandler), is finally wanting to stop the war against the Palestinians. Zohan has superhuman characteristics and fakes his death against Palestine's greatest terrorist, Phantom(Turturro). Zohan then leaves for America with his dream to become a great hair stylist. He get's a job at a salon with his lovely boss, Dahlia(Chriqui). He begins to rush in phenomonal amounts of business and everything is changing very quickly. Zohan, along with Dahlia, want the hostility between Palestine and Israel to stop and will go to any length to stop it.

What I Think: I have always loved Adam Sandler and all of his movies. He has a charm that is getting harder and harder to find these days. He can be completely serious, yet so funny you pee your pants. This is just one more blockbuster for Sandler to add to his neverending list of greats. Turturro was also very funny. Sometimes it's hard to watch him, but here he was in his element. He was also in The Big Lebowski but I didn't mention it because he did not play that much of a significant character. Anyways, I loved this movie and it had me laughing the whole time

Saw 5

Saw 5

Who's in it: Tobin Bell, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson

What's it about: Jigsaw(Bell) has left someone to continue the work that he started. Officer Mark Hoffman(Mandylor) is living the legacy of Jigsaw to its fullest when he starts a new maze for 5 unfortunate souls. During this he is also luring Agent Strahm(Patterson) into his greatest creation ever. Hoffman has learned everything from Jigsaw and he wants to share the knowledge with as many people as he can. He wants an appreciation for life and the thankfulness for redemption to spread among people. The final scene brings the worst possible thought of deception and trickery known to man.

What I Think: This is by far the best of the Saw series. I was amazed at the diverse types of torturous devices. I really think that they reall outdid themselves this time. The way that Strahm was unraveling the true mystery of Jigsaw and the apprenticeship of Hoffman was outstanding. It was truely breathtaking from the beginning scene to the finale. I was cringing at parts but applauding the plot the whole way through. I mostly hope that this is not the end. I continue to be awed by Saw and really anticipate a sixth movie. Each just keeps getting better. I can't wait for most twists for my mind to conceive and attempt to solve. Just when you thought this movie couldn't get any better, the final scene will absolutely blow your mind.

The Big Lebowski

The Big Lebowski

Who's in it: Jeff Bridges, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi, David Huddleston, Tara Reid

What's it about: After his rug is peed on by some house robbers, Jeff Lebowski... I mean, The Dude(Bridges) goes out after the other Jeff Lebowski(Huddleston), who happens to be a millionaire, for compensation. Mr. Lebowski tells The Dude that he will not get him a new rug, but after Mr. Lebowski's wife, Bunny(Reid), is kidnapped, The Dude is called for help. The Dude calls up his best friends Walter(Goodman) and Donny(Buscemi) to help him retrieve the beautiful Bunny so that he can get his new rug for his house. However, The Dude didn't know that the road would be so dangerous and that the people involved would be so deceiving.

What I Think: This movie was recommended to me by John from the Blockbuster that I go to. I thought that this movie was pretty funny. I'm not too fond of the nudity because it was pretty unecessary and stupid. Bridges did a great job being a bum trying to get his rug replaced. That was pretty much the entire story. He was only interested in getting a new rug that would look good in his house. I really liked that! Goodman was hilarious. Everything that he said made you want to hate him, but you just couldn't because he was just too funny about it. Although Buscemi had a very small part, he did a great job. He always looks like the frail, scared man, and he didn't cease to disappoint me. This was a good movie to watch with friends.

X-Men I

X-Men I

Who's in it: Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, James Marsden

What's it about: Logan(Jackman) has been a loner since his operation. He has indestructable claws that retract into his arm and he uses them to his advantage all of the time. He is nicknames Wolverine. When he meets Rogue(Paquin), they travel to Professor Charles Xavier's(Stewart) school for gifted youngsters. When Storm(Berry) discovers that Rogue has the power to "borrow" another mutants powers for a short period of time, Magneto(McKellen) becomes interested in her. It's up to Wolvering, Storm, Dr. Jean Grey(Janssen), and Cyclops(Marsden) to keep Rogue safe and out of Magneto's dangerous grip.

What I Think: I've always been amazed with the X-Men. I used to watch the cartoon as a child and always wished that I too could be powerful like them. I'm glad to see some of the acting in this really portrays the characters from the comic and the cartoon. I wonder if they all had to watch hours upon hours of the cartoon and read the comics for months! I was specifically impressed with Jackman. He's Australian but you can barely tell when he plays as Wolverine. He gets the anger down and he can really make the right facial expressions. The humor was kind of hard to pick up but I got most of it! I loved Stewart and Berry. I thought that they were able to really dig into their characters personality and bring it to life. I was, however, disappointed with the way Paquin did Rogue. It was probably the script writers fault, but I found her character way out of wack.

Pirates of Silicon Valley

Pirates of Silicon Valley

Who's in it: Noah Wyle, Joey Slotnick, Anthony Michael Hall, Josh Hopkins

What's it about: Bill Gates(Hall) was not always the rich, ingenius man people believe him to be. When the computer was really starting to take off, he jumped on the bandwagon to help develop computer code with his best friend Paul Allen(Hopkins). While he was doing this in Albequerque, Steve Jobs(Wyle) and his best friend Steve Wozniak(Slotnick) were developing a computer with a screen in their garage. Jobs eventually founds Apple and Gates founds Microsoft. The two battle it out but find their common ground against IBM. Together and work with, yet decieve, the other in hopes to bring their company out on top

What I Think: I have always been impressed with technology, yet I have never know the story behind the success of Bill Gates. I thought that it was amazing how everything worked out between all of these companies. The acting wasn't great, but it wasn't supposed to really be great. These actors were portraying real live people and this is what I would've thought of them to be. It was great how it was really being told like a story of the success of these men. The transitions should've been done more smoothly as the scenes switched between the two sets of friends.

Kung Fu Panda

Kung Fu Panda

Who's in it: Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, David Cross, Ian McShane, Randall Duk Kim

What's it about: Po(Black) is a panda working in a noodle shop. His dream is to be the greatest Kung Fu master in all of China. After he is chosen to be the Dragon Warrior by Oogway(Kim), he is to work with Shifu(Hoffman). Shifu has trained the Furious Five, which includes Tigress(Jolie), Mantis(Rogen), Viper(Liu), Monkey(Chan), and Crane(Cross). When Tai Lung(McShane) escapes from prison, the village is in deep peril. Po must learn the way of Kung Fu quickly before Tai Lung arrives. The only problem is that not only Po, but Shifu also, doesn't believe that Po can live up to the title he'd been given.

What I Think: I first saw this movie in theatres. I loved it then and I love it even more now. There were so many things that I missed the first time around and then I got the DVD and was able to really inspect some of the things. I listened to some of the commentary and it was amazing how many things I didn't catch on to! Anyways, Jack Black is always awesome and I loved him doing a big, fat panda. His humor and way of distorting his voice made everything really fit. You felt as if he were really the panda. Hoffman I didn't even notice wasin the movie until the credits. I knew that I recognized the voice and then it hit me when I saw the name.

Wall-E

Wall-E

Who's in it: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin

What's it about: The world has been left for ruin and robots are being used to clean it up. The human race blasted off to space in hopes of the world returning to it's natural state. Wall-E(Burtt) is the last of the cleaning robots and has created a world of his own. When EVE(Knight) arrives from the mothership, he falls in love with her. She is only interested in finding sign of life on Earth. Wall-E gives her the plant that he found and she is picked back up and taken to the mothership. Wall-E holds onto the ship and finds himself among humans again. The captain(Garlin) is going to go back to Earth and start life over but AUTO, the autopilot on the ship, will not allow it. In hopes of returning to Earth, the captain puts all of his hope into the hands of Wall-E and EVE.

What I Think: This movie jumped straight to the top of my favourites. There was not alot of dialogue in this movie and it didn't really need any. The message that this movie is sending to people is crucial and we all need to begin to realize that this is exactly what the world is heading for. Epic disaster is in store for us. The animation was superb. I know that they worked very hard on every bit of detail that the designers could and it really paid off. This is one of the best movies I've ever seen and I will never get tired of it!

Bolt

Bolt

Who's in it: John Travolta, Miley Cyrus, Susie Essman, Mark Walton

What's it about: Bolt(Travolta) has always been on the set with his human Penny(Cyrus). He, however, has never known that his whole life has been filmed. His character on the show is a super dog who beats through evil to save his beloved Penny. After escaping from the set in hopes of saving Penny, he suddenly finds himself on the streets of New York City. Here he meets Mittens(Essman), an alley cat that has been without a home for a long time. Together they make their way across the United States with Rhino(Walton), an adventrue-seeking hamster they meet along the way, to find Penny again and reunite the two friends once more.

What I Think: I love everything that Pixar does. They just get better and better every time they do something new. The story was great and the depth of the characters was even better. I thought it was great that you could feel along with everything. The voiceovers were very clear and easy to understand. Good actors and actresses were chosen for each character and that's sometimes hard to find for an animation. I think that the tone of voice fitted every aspect of the character they portrayed. Loved the music that was involved.

Australia

Australia

Who's in it: Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Bryan Brown, David Gulpilil, Brandon Walters, David Wenham

What's it about: The death of her wealthy husband sends Lady Sarah Ashley(Kidman) to the down under. In Australia, she meets the Drover(Jackman) who leads her to Far Away Downs, their cattle droving business headquarters. There she meets Fletcher(Wenham), who abuses the Aboriginal women who live on the estate. Nullah(Walters) and his grandfather King George(Gulpilil) lead Lady Ashley and the Drover through the Never Ever Land to deliver the cattle before their rival King Carney(Brown). In a time when equality is out of the question and acceptance is hard to find, the Far Away Downs family is sent on a grueling journey to become the head cattle drovers in Australia.

What I Think: I have to say that I loved Kidman and Jackman in this movie. Everything about them was perfect. Kidman looked as if she were never in make-up. She's absolutely gorgeous even without it. Jackman, People's most recent Sexiest Man Alive was stunning. There were so many scenes where I just about died they were so romantic. The story was very inticing and I loved every thing that was thrown into it. The movie was very long but it was worth every second that passed. Walters did one of the best acting jobs I've ever seen a child perform. It was hard to take your eyes off such a cute little guy.

Trapped

Trapped

Who's in it: Kevin Bacon, Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend, Courtney Love, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Dakota Fanning

What's it about: Always wanting to bring families back together, Joe(Bacon) is targeting a new family. Karen(Theron) and Will(Townsend) are separated by a presentation that Will must make, leaving Karen with their only daughter Abigail(Fanning). Joe, his wife Cheryl(Love), and his other partner Marvin(Taylor) work together to keep the family apart for 24 hours in order to make them realize that they need to spend more time together. What Joe didn't find out is that Abigail has severe athsma and must be medicated several times every day. After finding this out, the family works together to bring everything to a stop before someone gets hurt.

What I Think: I have to say that the one thing that I really liked about this movie was Kevin Bacon. He really brought out his character. I also loved the spiderweb tattoo that was around his bellybutton. I loved the acting from everybody. Theron is absolutely gorgeous, as is Love. Townsend's accent left me breathless and his wit left me wanting to know what he would do in other situations. They really sold themselves in this movie and I want to definitely see more movies with the like of them in it.

Beowulf & Grendel

Beowulf & Grendel

Who's in it: Gerard Butler, Ingvar Sigurðsson, Sarah Polley, Stellan Skarsgård

What's it about: Beowulf(Butler) is a superhuman figure who lives in Geatland. He is called upon King Hrothgar(Skarsgård) to help save his army from the devilish figure named Grendel(Sigurðsson). When he arrives to take care of Hrothgar's problem, he meets that lovely witch Selma(Polley). She can talk with Grendel in his unknown language of the Trolls. Beowulf is told to extinguish the life of Grendel, but when Selma tells his not to do so, Beowulf is stuck in a rut between love and duty.

What I Think: Seeing as I know the real story of the ancient Beowulf, I was not so impressed with this movie. So many things were twisted around differently and I didn't like that one bit. Beowulf was supposed to pull off Grendels arm painfully and he wasn't supposed to fall in love with a witch. However, I loved listening and watching my favourite actor of all time, Gerard Butler. The continuous peeing on things began to get old after a while. This could have been done way better than it was.

Ghost Writer

Ghost Writer

Who's in it: Alan Cumming, David Boreanaz

What's it about: John(Cumming) has always wanted fame and fortune. He has always loved music and helping other people. After allowing Sebastian(Boreanaz) into his home, John begins to obsess and fawn over him. He thinks that he is sheltering the greatest writer that ever lived, even though he hasn't seen one page of the novel. When he helps in the murder of young Sebastian, he turns in the novel under his own name. Riden with guilt, he begins to see and hear Sebastian around his home and other places he happens to be.

What I Think: I might tell you that this movie is originally under the name Suffering Man's Charity. I just so happen to love Alan Cumming and everything he's in and everything he does. I was surprised by this movie and all of the sexuality that happened to be in it. I thought that the story needed a bit more work before it was produced, but all in all, it was a great movie. Not one for a family, but more of a movie to watch by yourself when you don't plan on doing anything for a while. You need to pay close attention to the movie to really get it. Boreanaz did a great job, in my opinion, and deserves special appraisal for being put through his torturous scene in women's underclothing.

Rain Man

Rain Man

Who's in it: Dustin Hoffman, Tom Cruise, Valeria Golino

What's it about: Based on the true story, Raymond Babbitt(Hoffman), or more well known as Rain Man, is an autistic genius. He is stole from his asylum home by his newly found brother, Charlie(Cruise). Along with Charlie and Susanna(Golino), Raymond sees the world for what it is. He experiences things that he'd never knew existed in the 30 years he'd been living. In a fight to get custody of his brother and the estate left to Raymond by their father, Charlie changes his ways in response to the ways of his childhood hero, the Rain Man.

What I Think: This story was so great. I was impressed by Hoffman's performance as a highly intelligent, yet mentally challenged man. To show that such a wonderful man could change one of the most deceitful men in only 2 hours time, is an amazing feat for a film maker. Cruise did an amazing job as the jealous and younger brother. I was impressed at Hoffman's consistency of the actions he had to perform to be Rain Man. Great movie of a great man.

Fluke

Fluke

Who's in it: Matthew Modine, Samuel L. Jackson, Nancy Travis, Eric Stoltz, Max Pomeranc

What's it about: Tom(Modine) dies in a car crash that he barely remembers. His soul is transferred to a newly born homeless puppy. As he grows up as a dog, he meets Rumbo(Jackson). They have their own adventrues until Rumbo dies from a gunshot. Now he's remembering that his best friend and business partner, Jeff(Stoltz), was the one that killed him. In a desperate attempt to save his wife, Carol(Travis), and his son, Brian(Pomeranc), he must find and fix everything that he's ever done.

What I Think: This was one of my childhood favourites. I first saw it in Ohio with my family on a summer trip. I didn't quite remember it as well as I thought I had, and was slightly surprised about the ending. I thought that the story was well thought out and played. A little much at times, but nothing more than a movie today with all sorts or weird and different scenes. I was impressed that a 1995 movie was done so well. The special effects during the soul transfer was kind of sad, but I loved it all the same. Great performance by Pomeranc and Travis. Stoltz could have acted a little more evil to portray the character that Fluke thought he was.

No Reservations

No Reservations

Who's in it: Catherine Zeta-Jones, Aaron Eckhart, Abigail Breslin

What's it about: After the death of her sister, Kate(Zeta-Jones) is given her niece, Zoe(Breslin), and is her legal guardian. Kate has never been much of a people person and is always thinking about food and her job. She works as head chef for a restaurant. After her leave from work, she comes back to see that she has a new co-worker. Nick(Eckhart) is coming up fast to getting Kate's hard-earned position. Oblivious to Nick's love and worried about her new found parenthood, Kate is burdened by too many feelings at once and has to sort them out in order to finally have the happy life she always wanted

What I Think: Definitely a great movie to me. I had no clue that Eckhart could be so flexible with himself. I mean, Harvey Dent and Two-Face, but still able to do a lovey-dovey sous chef? I hadn't seen a movie with Zeta-Jones in it lately, but I must admit that she hasn't changed a bit. Breslin, I've realized, is coming up as the cute little girl in almost every upcoming movie. I've seen her in 'Nim's Island', 'Definitely, Maybe', and now 'No Reservations'. She's done a great job in all of them. Watch out Dakota!