During my boyhood, cowboys and Indians were all the rage. TV was festooned with westerns. I remember pretending to be one or the other day in and day out. So when a movie like Tombstone comes along, it wasn’t long before I bought a DVD copy to see if the memories held. It did. When Wyatt Earp (Kurt Russell) sets off for the showdown, not knowing Doc Holliday (Val Kilmer) beats him there. Doc confronts a surprised Johnny Ringo (Michael Biehn) but Ringo is nervous and tells Doc that he doesn’t want to fight. But being a black hat, Ringo’s nature gets the better of him and he accepts. The classic image of two men staring each other down as they circle leads to both men reaching for their pistols. Doc gets the first shot off, hitting Ringo in the head and killing him. Yep, I’m six-years-old again.

Director:  George P. Cosmatos Writer:  Kevin Jarre Cast:
Kurt Russell -  Wyatt Earp Val Kilmer -  Doc Holliday Sam Elliott -  Virgil Earp Bill Paxton -  Morgan Earp Powers Boothe -  Curly Bill Brocious Michael Biehn -  Johnny Ringo Charlton Heston -  Henry Hooker Jason Priestley -  Deputy Billy Breckinridge		Jon Tenney -  John Behan, Cochise County Sheriff Stephen Lang -  Ike Clanton Thomas Haden Church -  Billy Clanton Dana Delany -  Josephine Marcus Paula Malcomson -  Allie Earp Lisa Collins -  Louisa Earp Dana Wheeler-Nicholson -  Mattie Blaylock Earp, aka Celia Maddon Joanna Pacula -  Kate Fisher

Sometimes being in a service industry makes one wish for a tidier, saner career. During a cab ride to the party after a gallery show, the banter between Oscar Novak (Matthew Perry) and Amy Post (Neve Campbell) so freaks out the cabbie (Ho Chow), that he’s thinking there are better jobs for him to undertake. Compound that with mechanical failure—the taxi engine begins to smoke and while Oscar investigates, it blows up in his face—and he knows that there are safer jobs and it’ll be the first thing he does in the morning.

Director:  Damon Santostefano Writer:  Rodney Patrick Vaccaro; Aline Brosh McKenna Cast:
Matthew Perry -  Oscar Novak Neve Campbell -  Amy Post Dylan McDermott -  Charles Newman Oliver Platt -  Peter Steinberg Cylk Cozart -  Kevin Cartwright John C. McGinley -  Strauss Bob Balaban -  Decker Deborah Rush -  Lenore		Kelly Rowan -  Olivia Rick Gomez -  Rick Patrick Van Horn -  Zack David Ramsey -  Bill Kent Staines -  Gallery Owner Ho Chow -  Cabbie Michael Proudfoot -  Diner Waiter Shaun Smyth -  Intern #1

I came across this movie in one of those bargain bins. You know the kind where you can buy two and get three for a buck. I don’t think they were cut-outs. Maybe they were a dumped to make room for smothering else. It didn’t matter much to me once I saw Sybil Danning above the title. I picked it up and clasped it to my chest with all the anticipation of a 15-year-old. Like many lads, Sybil Danning just has to stand there with her feet spread apart a foot or so with her fists on her hips and smoulder. I was under her sway. She could have her way with me and I’d smile and smile and smile. Sadly for me, it has yet to happen but one can dream. As for the movie, I’m having some trouble remembering.

Director:  Howard Avedis Writer:  Howard Avedis; Marlene Schmidt Cast:
Sybil Danning -  Diane Stevens Eric Brown -  Jay Richard Andrew Prine -  Michael Stevens Paul Clemens -  Martin ‘Bird’ Johnson K.T. Stevens -  Lillian Stevens Gene Bicknell -  George Johnson Curt Ayers -  Bartender Dominick Brascia -  Glenn		Bill Conklin -  The Preacher Therese Hanses -  Pub Singer Greg Kaye -  Dale Suzanne Kennedy -  Janice Violet Manes -  Jenny Alvy Moore -  Jimbo Joe Portaro -  Professor Beth Shaffel -  Cynthia

What happens when you finally find that you’re really good at something but that something is considered morally reprehensible in the eyes of many? Find another job? That’s not so easy when you’ve already been tainted. Nick Naylor (Aaron Eckhart) is the face and the voice of “Big Tobacco.” He’s tasked by the Colonel (Robert Duvall), tobacco’s grand poobah, to bribe the original Marlboro man, Lorne Lutch (Sam Elliott), into clamming up over his condemnation of tobacco as the cause of his lung cancer. Nick offers him a choice of either keeping the cash or giving it away publicly on news TV to selected charities and continuing his struggle. Not an easy choice for a dying man.

Director:  Jason Reitman Writer:  Jason Reitman; Christopher Buckley Cast:
Aaron Eckhart -  Nick Naylor Maria Bello -  Polly Bailey Cameron Bright -  Joey Naylor Adam Brody -  Jack Sam Elliott -  Lorne Lutch Katie Holmes -  Heather Holloway David Koechner -  Bobby Jay Bliss Rob Lowe -  Jeff Megall		William H. Macy -  Senator Ortolan K. Finistirre J.K. Simmons -  Budd “BR” Rohrabacher Robert Duvall -  Doak ‘The Captain’ Boykin Kim Dickens -  Jill Naylor Connie Ray -  Pearl Todd Louiso -  Ron Goode Marianne Muellerleile -  Teacher Joan Lunden -  Herself

I’ve has bosses who want results, no if, ands or buts. Just do it and don’t bother me with details. So I gave them results, albeit fabricated results but they never figured it out. Why would they? They didn’t care. They were pressured from above just like me. But mine didn’t have any impact on people’s lives, no losses for anyone came about. It was about filling out bureaucratic paperwork.

Andrew Osnard (Pierce Brosnan) is in the same boat as my boss. Except he’s a British spy in Panama and he picks Harry Pendel (Geoffrey Rush), an supercilious tailor serving the Panamanian elite. Harry claims to be a transplant from Britain’s renowned Saville Row, but he is really an ex-con who served five years in prison for an insurance scam and up to his nose in debt. Osnard will pay for information Harry has gathered from his upscale clientele. When he has run out of info, Harry starts concocting tidbits to keep the cash coming but makes the mistake of getting too grandiose in his lies which include his wife, Louisa (Jamie Lee Curtis), an aide to the Canal director. All of a sudden, London and Washington are interested and Harry is sweating.

Director:  John Boorman Writer:  John Le Carré; Andrew Davies; John Boorman Cast:
Pierce Brosnan -  Andrew ‘Andy’ Osnard Geoffrey Rush -  Harold ‘Harry’ Pendel Jamie Lee Curtis -  Louisa Pendel Leonor Varela -  Marta Brendan Gleeson -  Michelangelo ‘Mickie’ Abraxas Harold Pinter -  Uncle Benny Catherine McCormack -  Francesca Deane Daniel Radcliffe -  Mark Pendel		Lola Boorman -  Sarah Pendel David Hayman -  Luxmore Mark Margolis -  Rafi Domingo Martin Ferrero -  Teddy, A Reporter John Fortune -  Maltby Martin Savage -  Stormont Edgardo Molino -  Juan-David Jon Polito -  Ramón Rudd, The Banker

Jazz fans are a fevered lot. I’ve met a couple who travel the world to find particularly obscure recordings and hear their faves play live. Such musical dedication should be rewarded for it is keeping music alive and well. Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), who is from Krakozhia, an eastern bloc country that overthrown by rebels during his flight, finds that he now holds an invalid passport, leaving him stranded at JFK in New York. Unable to leave, one of his new airport friends, Amelia Warren (Catherine Zeta-Jones), learns the purpose of his visit is to collect an autograph of the jazz tenor saxophonist Benny Golson. His father had discovered the “Great Day in Harlem” photograph in a 1958 newspaper and vowed to collect autographs of all the 57 jazz musicians. He go all but one in 40 years.

Director:  Steven Spielberg Writer:  Andrew Niccol; Sacha Gervasi; Jeff Nathanson Cast:
Tom Hanks -  Viktor Navorski Catherine Zeta-Jones -  Amelia Warren Stanley Tucci -  Frank Dixon Chi McBride -  Joe Mulroy Diego Luna -  Enrique Cruz Barry Shabaka Henley -  Ray Thurman Kumar Pallana -  Gupta Rajan Zoë Saldana -  Officer Torres		Eddie Jones -  Salchak Michael Nouri -  Max Jude Ciccolella -  Karl Iverson Corey Reynolds -  Waylin Guillermo Díaz -  Bobby Alima Rini Bell -  Nadia Stephen Mendel -  First Class Steward Valera Nikolaev -  Milodragovich

We all know that war is hell. The deprivation, the firing of guns, the taking of orders, the lack of proper sanitation. All contributes to making it at best uncomfortable. But then sometimes there are those who know how to make it a little less miserable. With two weeks to go before he retires, Major Archie Gates (George Clooney), a decorated Vietnam vet and special forces officer and his two buddies, Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) and Staff Sgt. Chief Elgin (Ice Cube), discover a map retrieved from the butt of an Iraqi soldier which may lead to a Kuwaiti gold stash stolen by Saddam Hussein’s forces. Using the UV setting on his flashlight to discover the location, they decide to follow the trail and take some of it for themselves. You gotta love American technology.

Director:  David O. Russell Writer:  John Ridley; David O. Russell Cast:
George Clooney -  Maj. Archie Gates Mark Wahlberg -  Sfc. Troy Barlow Ice Cube -  SSgt. Chief Elgin Spike Jonze -  Pfc. Conrad Vig Cliff Curtis -  Amir Abdullah Nora Dunn -  Adriana Cruz Jamie Kennedy -  PV2 Walter Wogaman Saïd Taghmaoui -  Capt. Said		Mykelti Williamson -  Col. Horn Holt McCallany -  Capt. Van Meter Judy Greer -  Cathy Daitch Christopher Lohr -  Teebaux Jon Sklaroff -  Paco Liz Stauber -  Debbie Barlow (Troy’s wife) Marsha Horan -  Amir’s wife Alia Shawkat -  Amir’s daughter

To stay ahead of a new and improved Terminator android called the T-1000 (Robert Patrick), the newly modified good-guy T-800 android (Arnold Schwarzenegger) breaks Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) out of the asylum and, along with son John (Edward Furlong), flee to the desert and the camp of Enrique Salceda (Castulo Guerra) to get some of his underground weapons cache and cross over the border into Mexico. While prepping for the trip, John tries to explain to the T-800 emotions such as why people cry. It is hard to put into words those things we take for granted.

Director:  James Cameron Writer:  James Cameron; William Wisher Jr. Cast:
Arnold Schwarzenegger -  The Terminator (T-800 Model 101) Linda Hamilton -  Sarah Connor Edward Furlong -  John Connor Robert Patrick -  T-1000 Joe Morton -  Dr. Miles Bennett Dyson Earl Boen -  Dr. Peter Silberman S. Epatha Merkerson -  Tarissa Dyson Castulo Guerra -  Enrique Salceda		Danny Cooksey -  Tim Jenette Goldstein -  Janelle Voight Xander Berkeley -  Todd Voight Leslie Hamilton Gearren -  T-1000 Sarah Ken Gibbel -  Douglas Robert Winley -  Cigar-Smoking Biker Pete Schrum -  Lloyd Shane Wilder -  Trucker

I’m a sucker for production design and this movie has some of the best I’ve seen. The portions set in 1937 Los Angeles are remarkable for their style, tone and nuance. I keep popping it back into my DVD player just to enjoy. But I must admit I was taken aback seeing Vincent D’Onofrio as a blonde.

Director:  Josef Rusnak; Chris Roach Writer:  Daniel F. Galouye; Josef Rusnak; Ravel Centeno-Rodriguez Cast:
Craig Bierko -  Douglas Hall/John Ferguson/David Armin Mueller-Stahl -  Hannon Fuller/Grierson Gretchen Mol -  Jane Fuller/Natasha Molinaro Vincent D’Onofrio -  Jason Whitney/Jerry Ashton Dennis Haysbert -  Detective Larry McBain Steven Schub -  Zev Bernstein Jeremy Roberts -  Tom Jones Rif Hutton -  Joe		Leon Rippy -  Jane’s Lawyer Janet MacLachlan -  Ellen Brad Henke -  Cop #1 Burt Bulos -  Bellhop Venessia Valentino -  Concierge Howard S. Miller -  Chauffeur Tia Texada -  Natasha’s Roomate Shiri Appleby -  Bridget Manilla