Shaft
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Vanessa L. Williams, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Busta Rhymes, Dan Hedaya, etc. An updated version of the earlier flick starring Richard Roundtree (who also cameos in this movie), the action is more in your face and, of course, Samuel L. Jackson just oozes COOL out of his pores. So, is the movie everything that it could be? Sorry, but it is far from being completely "bad to the bone". While the acting and action made for an entertaining flick, it's shortcoming is just what it is, a simple action/comedy/badass dude movie. In and of itself, it makes for a fun trip to the movies. But don't expect to leave the theatre thinking to yourself, " WOW, that was completely AWESOME!" Jackson portrays Shaft as being the type of cop who wants to do the right thing, irregardless of how he accomplishes it. Of course, this makes for a more enjoyable movie than watching a cop follow all procedures and play completely within the rules.....but, some of the scenes stretch the plausibility just a bit much and hinders my ability to be swept up in the story enough to overlook some of the little things.

Gladiator
Starring Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Oliver Reed, Connie Nielsen. This was my first big hope for a blockbuster epic flick in quite some time. The early buzz about the movie was extremely positive. I'm happy to report that the flick lives up to "most" of the hype but unfortunately not as completely as I would have liked. Russell Crowe begins the movie as Maximus, a Roman General preparing his troops for war with Barbarian Hordes in Germania. I don't want to give away any spoilers here, but the preparation and lead-up to this battle had me believing that this one might actually live up to all of the hype that preceded it. The battle begins with archers and catapults unleashing salvos of destruction on the opposing side (and looks great on the screen). Okay, the adrenaline is flowing, the audience is psyched up and now the letdown that made me worry that the movie might not measure up at all. As soon as the hand-to-hand battle begins, the director's style of camera movement basically ruins the scene. The battle is a series of very "quick-cut" snippets and scenes of various encounters between enemies. It seems as if instead of simply going for an all-out, edge of your seat war, the director tries to inject some type of "artistic" effect into the battle. I don't know if it is for this reason or simply for budget concerns, but Braveheart did it much better during the onscreen battles. All right, enough of the bad...luckily, the movie made up for that letdown with the scope of the story. When Maximus finds that he is to be chosen by the emperor of Rome to succeed him even over the Emperor's own son, he attempts to decline and return to his family and farm. Of course, when the emperor's son Commodus discovers his father's plans, he has his own ideas. The plot of the movie begins as Maximus escapes assassination only to fall into slavery and be forced to fight as a gladiator. He does this in anticipation of one day confronting and exacting his revenge. After the disappointment of the first massive battle, the rest of the movie was done quite well, with intriguing characters and good performances.

U571
Starring Matthew McConaughhey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel, Jake Weber. This is an entertaining entry into the World War 2 action movies. This flick doesn't attempt to emotionally bond you with the main characters (such as can be said about Saving Private Ryan), but rather let's you experience with them a mission that takes a severe turn for the worse. Not that you don't care about the characters, it's just that, without a couple of exceptions, they are just average joe's trying to survive. The movie begins as we see a German U-boat sinking a ship and then in turn being attacked and heavily damaged. When the Americans intercept word that the sub is awaiting a supply vessel to provide repairs, they launch their own plan to be one step ahead and pose as the supply sub in order to steal the "enigma" code box from the stranded U-boat. What follows is a pretty decent action flick. Some of the scenes of relentless depth-charging that occur is overdone somewhat but still decently entertaining.

Rules of Engagement
Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Tommy Lee Jones, Guy Pierce. Hmmm...another military courtroom drama. This time, Samuel L. Jackson portrays Col. Terry Childers, a career military man who has stuck with the career and seen plenty of action in various locales throughout the world. Tommy Lee Jones is Hays Hodges, a washed out military lawyer who was saved by Childers in VietNam. After Childers is sent in to a middle eastern country on a mission to evacuate a US embassy, things go very wrong as the crowds surrounding the embassy begin a violent riot. When Childers orders his men to shoot, the question later arises if he ordered innocent men, women and children to be murdered. When all the odds appear to be stacked against him, he calls on Hodges as his only hope for defense. The movie does a pretty good job demonstrating that no matter what the facts might be, if powerful enough people have influence, truth and justice might not always be easily achievable. The performances are all credible and pull you along into the story. It does a decent job of not really letting the audience know for sure just who is right and wrong.

High Fidelity
Starring John Cusak, Iben Hjejle, Todd Louiso, Jack Black, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tim Robbins, Joan Cusak. John Cusak stars as record store owner Rob Gordon (that still offers hundreds of "vinyl" records to discriminating consumers). Rob is in his mid-thirties and just been dumped by the last girl in a long list of failed relationships. Of course, since Rob and his loser buddies/employees at the store continually relate everything to "Top 5 Of All Time" lists, Rob looks into the camera and begins relating each one of his top relationship failures in his attempt to understand what could be going wrong. Cusak has done this before in his movies where he acknowledges the camera and basically treats the audience like someone that he is striking up a conversation with. He is one of the few that can pull this off without ruining the movie. The movie is basically a dark comedy (we laugh at some other losers misfortunes) but is actually pretty entertaining. As the story unfolds, we learn more about his character and draw our own conclusions as to why he is so unsuccessful at love. This could almost be designated as a chick flick other than for the fact that I'm not sure how many guys would want their girlfriends/wives wondering if they might share too many similarities to the characters in the movie.

Romeo Must Die
Starring Jet Li, Aaliyah, Russell Wong, Isaiah Washington, Delroy Lindo. A rap-music Hong Kong style action flick. Two rival gangs, one Asian and the other African-American, each have their own interests regarding some waterfront property. Of course, things escalate and the next thing you know, the Asian leaders son is found dead. Guess who gets accused. Jet Li portrays Han Sing, presently in prison in Hong Kong. Once he gets word of his brothers death, he escapes and makes his way to the States. He arrives and attempts to get information about what has happened. While doing so he meets up with the beautiful daughter (Aaliya) of the Black gang leader (Delroy Lindo). Well, guess what happens next....the two start seeing more and more of each other in chance and not-so-chance encounters. I suppose by now that you can figure out what the title of the movie means, huh? Two rival families, two offspring that develop feelings for each other regardless of their families wishes....it sounds almost, uh.....Shakespearean doesn't it? Anyway, the movie was actually all right, with some fairly decent fight scenes, some comic relief, too much rap music, and also some cheesy fight scenes. But not highly recommended by any means. It could have been much better but wound up just being a decent way to waste a little time.

Final Destination
Starring Devon Sawa, Ali Larter, Kerr Smith. Another teen horror/slasher "who's gonna be next" type of flick. One big difference is that this one started out with a lot of promise. What begins as a senior trip to France ends up quite differently when one of the students boards the plane, takes his seat and is suddenly thrust into a vision/hallucination of the plane in a horrific disaster just after takeoff. When he comes out of it prior to takeoff, he and a few others are removed from the plane for causing such a disturbance. I guess we can figure out what must happen next as the plane taxies and takes off without our group of "special" kids.  The first half of the movie actually presents itself pretty well as it delves into the question, "what if everything truly is decided by fate and therefore predetermined?" As our youngsters soon find out, although you might foil fate's plan in one instance, your number is still due....it just might have to be accomplished in a different way. As stated earlier, even though this is a rehash of the same type of movies done before, this one did a few things slightly better. Unfortunately, the latter half of the movie falls back on the typical clichéd stunts that so many others fall prey to.

Mission to Mars
Starring Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Jerry O'Connell. Unfortunately, this latest Brian DePalma directed film is pretty dissapointing. This film appears to have had lofty goals in mind but simply comes up short in many ways. The story starts with a manned mission to Mars in which something unexpectedly happens to the crew on the planet. Robbins and Sinise among others are part of the rescue mission that will take months to make the trip. The story of the movie revolves around what they "find" once they reach the planet. Some of the plot is done well, but overall, the movie's "cheese" factor detracts from my ability to enjoy the flick. I was kinda/sorta/maybe all right in some ways but not by much..

Reindeer Games
Starring Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron, Dennis Farina. Directed by John Frankenheimer who also directed Ronin. Is it me, or does it seem that Affleck has a hard time carrying "this type" of movie as the star.  He plays a con who listens to the stories of his cellmate as he continuously describes his "girlfriend" on the outside whom he has met through correspondence and who has never actually seen him. Can you guess what happens next?...I thought you could - when an unfortunate "incident" guarantees that his cell-buddy won't be getting released like originally planned, what does our boy do? Well, he sure remembers how pretty that girl was from her pictures....hmmmmm...and she doesn't know what her "boyfriend" even looks like.....well, I think we can put two and two together and see what that adds up to.  No sooner do our happy couple get together than Affleck's character gets a rather unfortunate chance to meet here quite angry "brother". This guy and his surly gang of hoodlums decided to use Affleck in a plan to knock over an Indian Casino out in the middle of nowhere. The movie has some decent moments and even some of the humor works but as an overall package something just wasn't quite right about it.

Pitch Black
Starring Vin Diesel, Radha Mitchell, Keith David, Cole Hauser.  This is a low-budget (at least by todays "blockbuster" standards) Sci-Fi/Horror/Nail-biter suspense flick. I began getting hopes up for it to be a pleasant surprise after I began seeing more and more people speaking highly of it during pre-release screenings. The movie begins with a transport ship carrying settlers to a new planet (and one hardened criminal to a new prison) when a meteor storm hits the ship and forces a crash landing on a seemingly barren planet. The crash scene is definitely nerve-jarring but, although many have raved about it, I still believe that the director made up for budget deficits with the "shake the camera real hard and quick-cut many jarring scenes together" too much to make it truly satisfying. Of course, after the crash, we have very few survivors, no water and now a vicious murderer that has broken free. As the group attempts to pull itself together, they find that they might "not" be alone on this desert planet but that there is something else that only comes under the veil of darkness, and a human murderer might just be the least of their worries. The movie didn't live up to my expectations by any means but over all it was an enjoyable attempt at building tension with the battle for survival.

SoapBOX Motion Picture Discussions

People who come to the theatre LATE!
First, let me state that I understand that events sometimes happen beyond one's control...BUT, don't expect others to inconvenience themselves when this happens. Case in point, let's say the new multimillion dollar blockbuster has opened in town....many showings are at or near capacity for most showings. People that truly enjoy movies actually plan for the crowds and arrive appropriately early to get a choice of seating that is still available. Everybody happily watches the coming attractions begin and now...the beginning of the movie. Suddenly, there are shadowed forms meandering up and down the aisles gripping seatbacks and any other available appendage to guide them. Who could this be.....oh yeah...it's mom and dad with the two kids, and also uncle Cyrus and Aunt Betty. They've decided to have a family night out and enjoy the movies. Of course, at dinner, dad had to smoke that one extra cigarette as uncle Cyrus finished his margarita....and NOW THEY'RE LATE. Guess what, there are no longer SIX SEATS TOGETHER IN THE THEATRE. Now, if we are lucky they will make one of two choices, quickly look for individual seats and just split up or simply exchange their tickets for a later showing. But what typically happens?.......They stand around in a small bewildered herd state and stare with hatred at all of the evil people who are preventing their wonderful family from being seated together. All I can say is, "next time, wait for it at Blockbuster".......

Parents and their children
First, I'll voice a couple of observational complaints about too many of the movie going public. For the record, I am a 35 year old who is still a kid at heart. At the risk of sounding like an old fuddy-duddy, what is up with so many parents letting, and/or more often than not, actually bringing their pre-adolescent children into R-rated adult-themed motion pictures? Admittedly, I do not have any children of my own yet, but, have the majority of parents lost all sense of reality on what to expose children to. I have never seen more parents bringing in children ranging from toddlers to early teens to violent action flicks than in recent years. I know the argument that kids will always be able to find sources to see things that their parents will not allow them are true, but since when do parents actually encourage their children into seeing/doing things that they are not mature enough to handle.

Nacho Chips
Who was the GENIUS that came up with the idea that NACHOS would be a good menu item in public theatres? Let's see, we will take one of the LOUDEST crunchy foods that we can find, give it to a bunch of ravenous people, seat as many of them as close together as we can pack'em in, and expect them to eat them like they're dripping melted faux cheese whiz on their own coffee table back in front of the twenty-five inch Zenith at the house. Popcorn at least has more of a "subtle" crunch that is not quite so overbearing (and yes, I do eat popcorn myself at times).

Action/Horror Movies
What's up with a lack of any good "action/horror" movies anymore that don't resort to slapstick goofy humor throughout the movie. Now bear in mind, that I don't mind what I call "sarcastic" humor if used properly. The movie Aliens had actor Bill Paxton uttering some nice one-liners that I found funny, but they were said in situations that were not (for lack of a better term) "ha-ha" funny. These represent the type of "action movie" humor that I can enjoy. One of the blockbusters that I had high hopes for in the last 2 or 3 years was True Lies. This movie actually had the type of humor that I enjoy in action/horror flicks and the type of humor that I can't stand. The interaction between Tom Arnold and Arnold Schwartzenegger was done well...but some of the scenes that almost messed up the movie included when Jamie Leigh Curtis drops a submachine gun down a flight of stairs which sprays bullets and takes out all of the bad guys. To me there is a HUGE difference in making unbelievable events appear possible in movies (the harrier action was cool) and outright comedy. The fact is, that I actually enjoy movies that make the most impossible of situations APPEAR as if they could be possible. This can be with science-fiction, a cool monster in a horror flick, or almost superhuman abilities. A good mixture of action and comedy is evident in the original 48 Hours with Eddie Murphy and Nick Nolte. Once again, though, the "comedy" part of the movie had more of an "edge" to it than "silly" comedy.

Let's see...what are some of the motion pictures that I would include on my best of all time list:

Aliens One of my classics. What could James Cameron have done if he had the budget being spent on Titanic?

Shawshank Redemption Shows what can be accomplished when you base a movie "correctly" on a well-written Stephen King tale.

Braveheart Gotta give Mel Gibson credit, although he has become almost too one-dimensional in his Richard Donner directed flicks, he went all out on this one....great flick.

Strange Brew This movie based on two characters from SCTV is to most people one of two things: either the stupidest or one the most hilarious movies you have ever seen. My vote is for the latter.......Beauty, Eh!

The Valley of Gwangi I loved this one as I was growing up.

Total Recall

Conan the Barbarian

Brazil

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Die Hard This is one of the action movies that all others after it are compared to when based on a hero against all odds in some type of isolated location (unfortunately, few movies rate a "favorable" comparison...including it's own sequels.....both stinkers)

An American Werewolf in London A very cool movie. One of the rare one's that offered both a type of humor that I like and some pretty good horror elements. Can only hope that the sequel coming out, An American Werewolf in Paris, lives up to it's standards.