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The Pelican Brief , a review by Dragonfire

The Pelican Brief



Julia Roberts and Denzel Washington headline and Alan J. Pakula (Presumed Innocent) directs this first-rate thriller based on the best-selling book by John Grisham.

Two Supreme Court justices have been murdered and a lone law student (Roberts) turns her suspicions about the deaths into a speculative brief that sends shock waves into the highest levels of government. She and a determined investigative reporter (Washington) want to tell the world what they have uncovered - if they live to tell it. The race is on and these two are more than runners. They're moving targets.

My Thoughts

This is probably my favorite of the movies based on Grisham books.  It is also the first one I saw.  After I first saw the movie - in the theater when it first came out - I picked up the book.  The movie stays fairly close to the book.  Things are mainly condensed a bit, though there are a few minor changes.  I do think this is a good adaptation.  Fans of the book should give the movie a chance.

The plot is interesting and there is a good amount of mystery and suspense to what is happening that helps keep the movie interesting and entertaining.  A few things that happen are more predictable, but there are also a few surprises.  There is some action in a few scenes, but the movie isn't action packed.  Some scenes do move slower, though I wasn't bored by what was going on.  The slower pace allows for things to be set up properly and some suspense and tension to build.  Several things happen, but that doesn't make the movie confusing.  The movie works as an entertaining thriller.

Darby is a good main character who is likable and interesting, though she could have been developed a bit more.  Gray is also a likable character.  Julia Roberts and Denzil Washington handle their parts well. 

For some reason, with the DVD I have, it has to be flipped over about half way through the movie.  This isn't that long of a movie, so I'm not sure why that was done.  It is annoying.  It also seems like every time I watch the movie, I put it in wrong at first and then have to stop it and flip it.

The movie has held up well and is still worth seeing, especially for fans of the cast.



I did get a review posted on Epinions if anyone would like to take a look.

Pelican Brief


(From Pelican Brief on August 23rd, 2010)

The Substitute, a review by addicted2dvd

Title: The Substitute
Year: 2007
Director: Ole Bornedal
Rating: R
Length: 92 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital 5.1, Danish: Dolby Digital 5.1, Commentary: Dolby Digital Stereo
Subtitles: English, Spanish

Stars:
Paprika Steen
Ulrich Thomsen
Jonas Wandschneider
Nikolaj Falkenberg-Klok
Emma Juel Justesen

Plot:
A small-town sixth-grade class gets a new substitute teacher who wants to train them for a mysterious international competition in Paris. But something isn't right. How is she able to read their minds? Why is she so mean? And how does she so cleverly manipulate all of their parents into believing how great she is when it's obvious to the whole class that she's a nightmare come true? As the story unfolds, we find that there's a reason she seems to be from another planet...

Extras:
Scene Access
Audio Commentary
Trailers
Closed Captioned

My Thoughts:
I blind bought this DVD last month after watching the trailer and reading a positive review or two. I have mixed feelings after watching this one. It isn't exactly what I expected. but it is an enjoyable movie. Though I have seen better. This movie is originally in the Danish language. So I ended up watching the dubbed version. Which I normally preferred. But after watching some foreign movies without  dubs I discovered today I prefer the original language track with the subtitles now. So that kinda took away from my enjoyment a little as well. While I didn't enjoy this one as much as I hoped I would... it was worth the time I put into it.



(From Weekend Movie Marathon: Unwatched DVDs on November 13th, 2009)

"Big Bang Theory" Marathon, a review by Tom

11. The Pancake Batter Anomaly (2008-03-31)
Writer: Bill Prady, Stephen Engel, Chuck Lorre, Lee Aronsohn
Director: Mark Cendrowski
Cast: Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter), Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper), Kaley Cuoco (Penny), Simon Helberg (Howard Wolowitz), Kunal Nayyar (Rajesh Koothrappali), Carol Ann Susi (Mrs. Wolowitz), Erin Allin O'Reilly (Cheryl)

Sheldon is sick and is being a pain in the ass. A good episode (though not as good as other Sheldon-centered episodes so far).
And Sheldon got Penny to rub his chest. Lucky guy!



12. The Jersualem Duality (2008-04-14)
Writer: Dave Goetsch, Steven Molaro, Jennifer Glickman, Stephen Engel
Director: Mark Cendrowski
Cast: Johnny Galecki (Leonard Hofstadter), Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper), Kaley Cuoco (Penny), Simon Helberg (Howard Wolowitz), Kunal Nayyar (Rajesh Koothrappali), Mark Harelik (Dr. Gablehauser), Austin Lee (Dennis), Emma Degerstedt (Emma)

Nice idea for an episode, but the execution could have been better. Nothing really funny about this episode.

(From "Big Bang Theory" Marathon on October 1st, 2008)