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Firestarter



Drew Barrymore plays Charlie McGhee, a pre-pubescent girl whose moods of anger and frustration are manifested in the telekinetic creation of raging fires. Her parents participated in dangerous government experiments in the 1960s, and their bodies were altered in ways that affected the physical and mental makeup of their child. Now the CIA wants to harness Charlie's powers and use them as weapons of destruction. They successfully kidnap her, but can they contain her fears and blistering rage

Extremly dated, but a reasonable adaptation sticking fairly close to the book.
Barrymore shows early class, and the support cast inclusive of Scott and Sheen work well together.
The low budget effects and at times splintered dialogue though keeps this movie below average and at times boring.

Baby on Board



Power couple Angela (Heather Graham) and Curtis (Jerry O'Connell) have a seemingly flawless marriage, but a surprise pregnancy could end up turning their carefully ordered world upside down in this riotous rollercoaster of a romantic comedy. Between their know-it-all best friends (John Corbett and Katie Finneran) and Angela's task-master boss (Lara Flynn Boyle), the perfect pair could end up imploding before the bundle of joy's even born.

Unoriginal, unfunny, unpleasant and unappetising.
Tired old predictable story, a cast that should have known better, and so poorly scripted it did not raise one laugh from me during the whole movie.
Avoid this, even if it soon finds its way into the bargain bins.

Pink Panther 2 (2008)



Steve Martin returns to the scene of the fun as the brilliant, bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau in this side-splitting slapstick comedy for the whole family! When legendary treasures from around the world are stolen, including the priceless Pink Panther diamond, Clouseau is assigned to a dream team of international detectives who are under pressure to bring the master thief to justice before he strikes again. Co-starring Jean Reno, Alfred Molina, Andy Garcia, Lily Tomlin and John Cleese, The Pink Panther 2 will steal your heart...and keep you laughing!

Martin has a slightly better 2nd attempt at Clouseau, but is still at a French snails pace in comparison to Sellers. One would of hoped he had learned with the first film, and his disasterous attempt at Bilko.
It is so ridiculous in parts you cannot help laughing, but overall it is slightly embarrassing to view this pathetic offering.
John Cleese for some reason appears as Clouseaus boss, but he plays the part as Basil Fawlty and this makes no sense at all and does not work.
Wait to watch this one on telly one day you are bored.

Flightplan



Academy Award® winner Jodie Foster (Best Actress, The Silence Of The Lambs, 1991) gives an outstanding performance in the heart-pumping action thriller Flightplan. Flying at 40,000 feet in a state-of-the-art aircraft that she helped design, Kyle Pratt's (Foster) six-year-old daughter Julia vanishes without a trace. Or did she? No one on the plane believes Julia was ever onboard. And now Kyle, desperate and alone, can only count on her own wits to unravel the mystery and save her daughter. From the producer of Apollo 13 and A Beautiful Mind, Flightplan is an intense, suspense-filled thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire flight.

Enjoyed watching this film again, Jodie Foster seldom disappoints and the action and suspense of the film was smoothly produced.
Skarrsgard and Bean support well, in a movie set almost entirely on a seemingly huge jumbo jet. It delivers the 'guess who the baddie is' right to the last 20 minutes, and you can't help thinking 'what if' for those who fly regularly.
The extras 'making of' detailing the planes construction and the camera angles used etc was fascinating.
A must have in dvd.

Jennifer 8



They are the unidentified victims of an unsolved death spree, women linked by a killer's gruesome handiwork...and by police files giving them the code name "Jennifer." Homicide investigator John Berlin believes he's made a breakthrough in the case when he uncovers a key witness: a young blind woman named Helena. Yet who can rely on the testimony of a witness who cannot see? Who can trust Berlin when he is ultimately suspected of the murders? And who can keep vulnerable Helena from becoming the next Jennifer?
Andy Garcia (Hero) portrays Berlin and Uma Thurman (Final Analysis) is Helena in this tightly coiled mystery costarring John Malkovich, Lance Henriksen and Kathy Baker. With top stars, top suspense and a surprise ending, it's no surprise "Jennifer 8 is a 10!" (Bill Diehl, ABC Radio Network).

Atmospheric and tense, a great cast is well directed in this excellent suspenseful thriller.
Awash with red herrings, this whodunnit gives Garcia a platform to truly impress, unlike the last few movies I've seen him in. It does stray a little bit with too many coincidences, but nevertheless still holds firm leading up to the final conclusion and some good scenes between Garcia and Malkovich.
Underrated and relatively unknown remake, it is worth a viewing.

Taxi Driver



Robert De Niro stars with Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle and Albert Brooks in the all-too-real story of a psychotic New York cabby who is driven to violence in an attempt to rescue a teenage prostitute.

Intense movie starring a young DeNiro as a menacing insomniac taxi driver whose life slowly unfolds, and unravels, on a self believed righteous and heroic path to kill a senator and save a child prostitute.
His portrayal of a lonely, at times desperate, disengaged and rejected member of society is convincing, and the bloody climax is brutal, graphic and shocking.
You Talking to me?
Top drawer with a great script from Schrader, masterful Scorsese direction, and a support cast including Keitel, Shepherd and Foster.
Treat yourself.

Knowing



In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule but one mysterious girl fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead. Fifty years later, Professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts every major disaster of the past 50 years. As John further unravels the document's chilling secrets, he realizes the document foretells three additional events - the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale and seems to somehow involve John and his son.

Excellent idea for a film, and the first hour or so was enough to convince me I should exchange this for blu-ray. Unfortunately the Hollywood disease hit it at this point, and it disappeared down the toilet with too typical mushiness and far-fetched ending to spoil the whole movie.
The action scenes are spectacular, great attention to detail, dramatic realistic crashes (subway and plane), the fast paced action is fairly breathless once it gets into it's stride, and the production excellent.
However what will totally deflate the viewer is the out of context ghost story that develops, and the bullshit ending that was way too out there, bunnies and all!
Fell into the rail just before cleaning up the pins!

Quote from: Rich on July 05, 2009, 10:11:29 PM
Taxi Driver

Did you get an impression of "deja vue" while watching Rich?

Sometime Sweet Susan review

Quote from: Jimmy on July 06, 2009, 10:39:30 PM

Quote from: Rich on July 05, 2009, 10:11:29 PM
Taxi Driver

Did you get an impression of "deja vue" while watching Rich?
Sometime Sweet Susan review

You know it was bugging me where I had seen that title before - I should have known 

Quote from: Rich on July 05, 2009, 10:11:29 PM
His portrayal of a lonely, at times desperate, disengaged and rejected member of society is convincing, and the bloody climax is brutal, graphic and shocking.

On the DVD release I have there is an excellent feature by Laurent Bouzerount(sp? ), who else, and I believe the DoP mentioned that the colors of that scene have always been of and everything should have looked even more bloody than it already does. He was hoping they'd find a better source one day to restore it to the intended state. (maybe even some shots are missing...)

However, Taxi Driver is indeed a great film.

He's Just Not That Into You



Remember that really cute guy who said he'd call...and didn't? Maybe he lost your number. Maybe he's in the hospital. Maybe he's awed by your beauty, brains or success. Or maybe He's Just Not That into You. An all-star cast — Ben Afleck, Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin Connolly, Bradley Cooper, Ginnifer Goodwin, Scarlett Johansson and Justin Long – looks for love and finds laughs in this savvy, sexy, right-now romcom. Based on the runaway (like some guys you know) bestseller by Sex and the City series writers Greg Behrendt and Liz Tuccillo, He's Just Not That into You sparkles with zingy aha moments any survivor of the dating wars will recognize. See it with someone you'd like to love.

Brainless romcom that misses the mark in every department. Tedious and dull, it is basically a movie about a herd of desperate whining women bemoaning men and there ways. Are there really such naive and narrow minded people still in existence?
Too few laughs and up moments, overall a depressing view of love and dating in USA, one to avoid.

Quote from: Rich on July 06, 2009, 09:37:27 PM

Fell into the rail just before cleaning up the pins!

Love that sign-off!

Taken



Liam Neeson stars in this action-packed international thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. When his estranged daughter is kidnapped in Paris, a former spy (Neeson) sets out to find her at any cost. Relying on his special skills, he tracks down the ruthless gang that abducted her and launches a one-man war to bring them to justice and rescue his daughter.

After reading good reviews here I purchased this, and was not disappointed. It is a top notch action-thriller, full of pace and punch, delivered straight into your face. It is a surprise it was so underhyped by the studio?
The leading role is seemingly crafted for Liam Neeson, and he is totally convincing playing the father hell bent on rescuing his daughter from sex slave traders. Seldom does he appear in bad films, clearly fortunate to be able to select the best scripts/roles. Perhaps a future Bond?
Although there is a major amount of violence, it is never too OTT, and the production values and pacy plot make it addictive edge of the seat viewing.
Close enough to Bourne standards to be cousins.

Quote from: Rich on July 09, 2009, 10:59:53 AM
Taken
...
After reading good reviews here...

Not from me.

Quote from: Rich on July 09, 2009, 10:59:53 AM
It is a surprise it was so underhyped by the studio?

Was it? At least here in Germany, I remember seeing the trailer everywhere, even on the subway.

Watchmen



Someone's killing our super heroes. The year is 1985 and super heroes have banded together to respond to the murder of one of their own. They soon uncover a sinister plot that puts all of humanity in grave danger. The super heroes fight to stop the impending doom only to find themselves a target for annihilation. But, if our super heroes are gone, who will save us?

A superhero movie for adults, sadly missed the mark for me but I am finding it difficult to ascertain exactly why this is the case. It is way too long, and I continually lost interest and found myself willing it to speed up and give me more action. It is ponderously slow, and at several points drawn out scenes accompanied usually by various 60 and 70's music were unnecessary. Some very cheesy sex scenes just did not fit into the film, and the whole script was quite complicated for someone like myself who knew nothing about the history and past of The Watchmen.
I will watch this again to see if it makes more sense, but on first viewing it was a disappointment.