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Taken, a review by Jon

Taken ***
3 out of 5

Taken is a solid, unambitious thriller with plenty of bone-crunching action. If you love action movies, then this is for you. It's pacy and violent, with none of that pesky plot stuff to get in its way and if it did, Liam Neeson would just cut its balls off. That's the kind of straight-forward film this is.

Ok, if you want to get picky, then the script is lazy, convenient and predictable, almost insultingly so in the last act where it resembles a typical cathartic game plot, with a daft escape from certain death and a string of bad guys leading up to the "boss". It's got the style of The Bourne Identity, but filtered through black and white 80s brutality. Typically for that era, it's also reassuringly xenophobic. This is doing for France what Hostel did for Amsterdam and Slovakia; American kids are fair game, apparently!

I don't give a damn though. It steams through the plot holes with glorious, vicious momentum. It's great, nasty fun and if Parisian producer Luc Besson is happy to reduce his home town to a tourist hell-hole, then we shouldn't mind watching. The pedigree of the modern Euro-thriller can easily be traced back to Besson's Leon, but recently he seems content producing old-fashioned stuff like this and Transporter. Taken owes a lot more to Bourne than anything else, with good solid car chases and fist fights.  It takes itself very seriously, with no trace of irony and it works because of Liam Neeson. He is fantastic as a cold-hearted arse-kicker. In fact, get him in Bourne 4! He could take that wuss Matt Damon, no trouble!

(From Jon's Random Reviews on August 29th, 2009)

National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
Year: 2007
Director: Jon Turteltaub
Rating: PG
Length: 125 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital: Dolby Surround
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Commentary

Stars:
Nicolas Cage
Justin Bartha
Diane Kruger
Jon Voight
Helen Mirren
Ed Harris

Plot:
Join Nicolas Cage on a heart-pounding adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat in a race to find the Lost City of Gold. Grounded in history, imbued with myth and mystery, Disney's National Treasure: Book Of SecretsNational Treasure: Book Of Secrets is a movie your entire family will want to rediscover again and again.

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Bonus Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
A year or so ago I saw the first part on cable... and enjoyed it. This is the first time I ever seen part 2. And I enjoyed this one just as much as the first one. It is very entertaining. I like how they put together all the clues and puzzles. I also enjoyed the entire main cast... thought they all did a good job. Now I just need to get part 1 in my collection and I will be all set.



(From What Movies I Been Watching on August 20th, 2010)

Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon, a review by Tom

01. Anne (1998-09-29)
Writer: Joss Whedon (Created By), Joss Whedon (Writer)
Director: Joss Whedon
Cast: Sarah Michelle Gellar (Buffy Summers), Nicholas Brendon (Xander Harris), Alyson Hannigan (Willow Rosenberg), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia Chase), David Boreanaz (Angel), Seth Green (Oz), Anthony Stewart Head (Giles), Kristine Sutherland (Joyce Summers), Julia Lee (Lily), Carlos Jacott (Ken), Mary-Pat Green (Blood Bank Nurse), Chad Todhunter (Rickie), Larry Bagby III (Larry), James Lurie (Teacher), Michael Leopard (Roughneck), Harley Zumbrum (Demon Guard), Barbara Pilavin (Old Woman), Harrison Young (Old Man), Alex Toma (Aaron), Dell Yount (Truck Guy)

For a season opener rather weak. It had its moments (like the long camera shot in the beginning on the first day of school). But I think Buffy's return to Sunnydale was not handled really well and came much too fast.

Rating:

(From Tom's Buffy and Angel Marathon on February 22nd, 2009)