Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Year: 2008

Country: USA, Germany

Rating:

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Jon Voight

Director: Seth Gordon

My Review: This 'Christmas' movie certainly didn't fill me with the holiday spirit. It was something like 'Meet The Parents' with a holiday theme. The roles felt like they were written for Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Maybe they were, maybe they passed on the script. Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon were cast in the lead roles. A couple going on their third year of dating. When Christmas arrives they typically lie to their parents; telling everyone that they're off to Burma to inoculate children or some other charitable deed which won't upset the family too much. This year their plans to slip away on a tropical vacation are interrupted by a airport closing snow storm, and they're forced to spend Christmas with the family. Since their parents are all divorced, they'll have to endure four Christmases. Of course, despite the gigantic snowstorm that's shut down all air travel in a 500 mile radius, they have no problem driving up and down the California coast to four different locations in less than twenty four hours. It helps that they drove a Range Rover, but I can't imagine Vince Vaughn fitting into anything smaller. Pairing Reese Witherspoon with Vince Vaughn was an odd choice as he's 6'5" and she's 5'1". They just seem a bit improbable as a couple, and their chemistry was almost non-existent. The acting was luke warm. Vince Vaughn did well with his comedic dialog, but Reese Witherspoon seemed like a cut-out. Her character had very little personality. The holiday visits were quite dark, as each family seemed more bizarre than the last. The movie was filled with satire about Christmas traditions, and poked fun at various religions, ethnicities, and generally bashed the holiday spirit out of Christmas. The following tag-line kind of sums up this movie's theme: "There can't be families without LIES in it". Its a sad comedy, filled with crass, low-brow humor, sex jokes and over the top satire at the expense of Christmas traditions and family bonds. The editing, lighting and other technical aspects were well handled, and I give the film high marks for the production aspects. Unfortunately, the script actually left me feeling worse about Christmas. I give it a 2 out of 5.

Summary: Brad and Kate have been together three years, in love, having fun, doing all sorts of things together with no intention of marriage or children. Christmas morning, they're on their way to Fiji, having told their two sets of divorced parents that they're off to do charity work. Through a fluke, they have no choice but to visit each of their four idiosyncratic parents. As the day progresses, Brad and Kate remember growing up, each learns more about the other, and Kate realizes that her life may not be as good as it could be. Do they know each other well enough to weather the storms families bring?

Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller

Year: 1988

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Bruce Willis, Alan Rickman, Bonnie Bedelia, Alexander Godunov, Reginald VelJohnson

Director: John McTiernan

My Review: A classic American action flick - A blockbuster with starpower and great lines. Bruce Willis plays John McClane; a kick-ass, take no shit New York cop. For Christmas he catches a flight to L.A. He's planning to spend the holidays with his wife and kids, maybe patch up his marriage, enjoy the smiles of his kids, and knock back a few cups of egg-nog. All those plans go out the window when a group of European terrorists decide to target the Nakatomi tower. The party-goers soon become pawns and hostages in this high stakes heist. There's just one problem - Hans didn't calculate the odds with one loose cannon in the works. John McClane shows these terrorists what one New York cop can do. Yipee Ki Yay, Mother… Great dialog, excellent pacing, editing and direction. The acting was o.k. but the action was the star. Thrilling, suspenseful, roller-coaster of action. 5 out of 5.

Summary: New York City Detective John McClane has just arrived in Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his wife. Unfortunatly, it is not going to be a Merry Christmas for everyone. A group of terrorists, led by Hans Gruber is holding everyone in the Nakatomi Plaza building hostage. With no way of anyone getting in or out, it's up to McClane to stop them all. All 12!

Genre: Documentary, Adventure

Year: 2012

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Kristos Andrews, Joseph Garner, Gina Keatley, 357 Magnumm, Fran McGee

Director: Joseph Garner

My Review: An inspiring documentary about one man's travels across America. Joe Garner (29 year old documentarian) sets off on a journey to discover whether America still treats strangers as people. Will Americans help a stranger in need? Will they lend a helping hand? Is there still a sense of community in America? Are there still some good samaritans out there? Joe's journey is guided by Craigslist. He uses it to find rides, places to sleep, no notice jobs, dates, and food for work. Joe spends one month traveling the country without credit cards, without phoning his friends, without the comforts of a traditional support structure. The premise was great, and Joe is a very likable guy, but I wonder what would have happened if the camera had been more candid. Everyone acts differently when a big camera and spotlight are pointed their way. A very inspiring documentary (if you forget about the camera pointed in the face aspect), which helps reinvigorate my belief in American generosity. The people that Joe meets may seem strange at first, but one must remember that America is strong because of its diversity. It takes all kinds to make a tolerant, giving, caring community. If everyone was the same, we'd expect the same from everyone, and our tolerance would be limited to what we expect from ourselves. I give this movie a 3 out of 5.

Summary: In a time when America's economy was crumbling and sense of community was in question, one guy left everything behind to see if he could survive solely on the support and goodwill of the 21st century's new town square: Craigslist.

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Year: 2009

Country: France

Rating:

Starring: Diane Kruger, Willem Dafoe, Guillaume Canet, Fred Ward, Alexandra Maria Lara

Director: Christian Carion

My Review: Outstanding Cold War Thriller - Based on true life events. A thoughful, intriguing, intelligent and taught thriller. The cast was excellent. The acting by Guillaume Canet, Emir Kusturica, Fred Ward, Niels Arestrup, and others was truly outstanding. The direction by Christian Carion was so good that I decided to add more of his movies to my queue. Unfortunately, Netflix only carries two others. One I've seen (Joyeux Noel - Rated 4 of 5), and the other I added. The story is based upon a novel (Bonjour Farewell) by Sergei Kostin. It's the story of Vladimir Vetrov (Sergei Grigoriev in this movie), a high ranking (held the rank of Col. in the KGB) Soviet bureaucrat with the KGB in Moscow. Sergei has access to high level secret documents. He's got a conscience and a plan, a plan to overthrow the Soviet regime. He begins feeding secret documents to an unaffiliated French Man. An engineer working for Thomson-CSF in Moscow. No one suspects this simple technician to have any affiliation with intelligence work or spies. In fact, Pierre Froment walks a very dangerous line by acting as a go-between. He takes delivery of the material and relays it to the DST (Direction de la Surveillance du Territore), a French National Police organization (during the cold war) charged with counterespionage and the security of France against foreign threats. These documents were then shared with the U.S. Government. While the movie doesn't follow the story of Vladimir Vetrov in all its detail, it makes for a gripping cold war spy thriller. Filled with Nostalgia, some humor and a sense of honor and political ideals in a world now complicated by more mundane socio-economic realities. The camera work, and Brezhnev era sets were superb. The script was tight, concise and laced with poignant film-noir quality morality. I give this movie a solid 5 out of 5.

Summary: In 1985, Sergei Gregoriev, a Soviet colonel, wants to force his nation to reform, so he leaks secret information to the West. He picks an unlikely contact, a Pierre Froment, French nebbish in the diplomatic corps. Gregoriev keeps a lot of balls in the air - a marriage, a teen son he's trying to bond with, a mistress who's a colleague at work; his tradecraft is equally reckless. Meanwhile, Froment keeps his spy work secret from his German wife, and Mitterrand uses Gregoriev's information to make France indispensable to Reagan and his government. When Gregoriev leaks a list of key Soviet moles and spies, Gorbachev is left without secret intelligence. Will Gregoriev get what he wants?

Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi

Year: 1972

Country: UK, Spain

Rating:

Starring: Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Alberto de Mendoza, Silvia Tortosa, Julio Peña

Director: Eugenio Martín

My Review: A Trans-Siberian Express carries a deadly cargo. Eminent Archeologist Prof. Caxton (Played by Christopher Lee) has unearthed the remains of an ancient man-ape in Manchuria. The specimen is loaded aboard a Russian train and the Horror Express has departed the station. Only the Professor's academic adversary, Dr. Wells (Played by Peter Cushing) and the keen intellect of both men combined can avert a complete disaster as a plague of death spreads forward from cargo car to first class. The story is a campy, crazy, Tsarist era horror flick with an extra-terrestrial twist. I really liked the fact that nearly all the action takes place aboard a train set. The low budget effects, make up, and costumes were an added bonus. Some of the dialog was ridiculous, but that only added to the charm of this low budget movie. The creature's red glowing eyes were reminiscent of the Terminator, the confining spaces of the train heightened the tension. The pacing was perfect. The constant grinding, jarring motion and howling whistle also heightened the suspense. The dark Siberian countryside in the dead, dark, cold of winter was a perfect setting. The acting was a bit on the 'oh-so-proper' British side; broken only by the ridiculous cameo by Telly Savalas as Capt. Kazan, a flamboyant self-proclaimed Russian Cossack. The direction was excellent for such a low budget horror flick. The movie had much more going for it than I expected. Not only was it an enjoyable campy horror flick, it also contained far more surprises than I had hoped for. The plot twists were quite interesting, and the characters more than fodder for a bumbling Zombie thing. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Summary: An English anthropologist has discovered a frozen monster in the frozen wastes of Manchuria which he believes may be the Missing Link. He brings the creature back to Europe aboard a trans-Siberian express, but during the trip the monster thaws out and starts to butcher the passengers one by one.

Genre: Thriller

Year: 1972

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Jack Ging, Edith Atwater, Antoinette Bower, Kent Smith, Robert Emhardt

Director: Randall Hood

My Review: Not really a horror movie - It's a murder mystery. A low budget murder mystery. With television style budget and production, the direction was sorely lacking. If it hadn't been for Edith Atwater playing Amanda Price, all the acting would have been 'community theater' level. The story - Amanda Price has attempted suicide on two occasions this year, and Edward thinks its time to hire someone to keep an eye on his sister. He hires a disgraced nurse with a sordid history to 'look after' his sister. Why is Amanda so troubled? What nightmares haunt her sleep? What secrets does this family hold close to the bosom of their victorian era mansion? The mystery takes about 15 minutes to deduce, and the pacing makes you wish for a swift ending as Edward's dear sister laments her fate. The quality of this direct transfer was so abysmal that I thought the entire movie was shot at night. I didn't care for it. 2 out of 5.

Summary: A man hires a nurse to care for his ailing but nasty and shrewish sister. What he really intends to do, however, is to convince the nurse to join him in a plot to kill her.

Genre: Action, Crime, Sci-Fi, Thriller

Year: 2012

Country: USA, China

Rating:

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Bruce Willis, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan

Director: Rian Johnson

My Review: I love time travel movies, I love sci-fi, I like action. This movie has plenty of all three. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt (as Joe the present tense Looper), Bruce Willis (as the future tense Joe), Emily Blunt (as Sara), Pierce Gagnon (as Cid), Jeff Daniels (as Abe), and many others. The story - In the year 2042, Joe is a Looper; a hired assassin working for the mob. Joe's job is to kill people sent back from the future (2047). No questions asked. When Loopers find that they're closing the loop (by killing their future selves) more frequently than normal, they start to ask questions, and that's not good for business. When Joe messes up and fails to kill his future self (played by Bruce Willis), the action moves into a higher gear. Why exactly is the future Joe here? Why did he appear later than the exact time expected? What will happen if he isn't hunted down and killed? The mob sends out teams of Gat Men to hunt down the two renegades and restore order to the universe. The movie had plenty of unknowns and it kept me guessing throughout. Thankfully the pacing wasn't impossible to keep up with. There were slow moments and that helped develop the characters. The acting was pretty good. Especially by Pierce Gagnon (the child actor). This young actor (5 years old) was very good. His expressive ability and delivery were surprisingly good. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is getting much better as an actor. Filling this lead role seemed quite simple and natural for him. Bruce Willis was… Well, he's Bruce Willis - Still playing the same character all over again. There are time travel loopholes in this movie, but the timeline is treated as a single, self-correcting stream, and most of the paradoxes are simply avoided in script. No discussion of the problems equals no problems. The action was quite good as well; with Bruce Willis providing some convincing performances despite his ever increasing age (62 years old). The story is dense in plot threads and there's plenty of twists to keep it interesting. I liked the near future setting created; it felt very comfortable and plausible. The ending was truly surprising. I simply didn't see it coming at all. I give this movie a 4 out of 5. Repeated viewings may improve the rating.

Summary: In the year 2044, a man working for a group of killers called "Loopers" (they work for the mob and kill people who are sent blindfolded back in time from the year 2074 by their bosses) recognizes a victim as himself. He hesitates resulting in the escape of his older self.

Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi

Year: 1960

Country: USA

Rating:

Starring: Betsy Jones-Moreland, Antony Carbone, Robert Towne

Director: Roger Corman

My Review: The Last Woman on Earth was one of the films (15 movies total) included on a DVD horror collection (Night of Horror - Do not watch alone) that I picked up from Wal-Mart. Thankfully there were several more movies in the collection. Directed by Roger Corman (a favorite director), starring the stunning beauty Betsy Jones-Moreland (as Evelyn Gern), Antony Carbone (as the arrogant Harold Gern) and Robert Towne (as Martin Joyce). The story is a low-budget sci-fi 'end of the world' scenario, filmed in Peurto Rico, the scenery must have been beautiful, but I couldn't tell with the horrible transfer in this collection. The film transfer was so bad it became laughable at times; with the colors constantly shifting between black, gray, white and a washed out excuse for color. Numerous artifacts, pixelization, sound and frame drops, spots, you name it, this transfer was an excellent of a bad transfer. The story - Self made millionaire Harold Gern is vacationing in Peurto Rico with his trophy Wife, Evelyn. While they're there, they're visited by Martin Joyce. Harold's lawyer. Martin's there to give Harold some bad news about an investigation into some shady business dealings. While he's there, Harold talks him into a brief scuba outing with him and Evy. While they're cavorting down below, the world above is suffocating. For some reason the worlds oxygen supply was completely eliminated while they were breathing canned air. From that point on its a 'Last Woman on Earth' drama as the two men seemingly compete for the amazingly beautiful Evy (Betsy Jones-Moreland). The acting was actually quite good, as Corman had very little else to go on with this movie. No special effects (to speak of), no cgi, an extremely small cast, an extremely low budget and a weak script. Roger Corman saved money on this film by shooting two films in the same location, with the same film crew and the same actors. Oh yeah, he also convinced Robert Towne (the script writer) to act in the movie. I give it a 2 out of 5. The poor transfer ruined my viewing experience.

Summary: Ev, along with her husband, Harold, and their lawyer friend Martin, are swimming while on vacation in Puerto Rico. When they resurface, they gradually conclude that an unexplained, temporary interruption of oxygen has killed everyone on the island... maybe even the world!