American Pie (1999)

American Pie

What is it that attracts us to somebody else? Body language? Pheromones? Location? Lighting? Lots of liquor? It is these and many other things. It is only later that we come to reflect on the merits of what we did. Paul Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) happens to be beside the pool table when Stifler’s Mom (Jennifer Coolidge) comes into the room. He looks at her. She looks at him and asks if he is trying to seduce her. They both then look at the pool table. He is horny teenager and she’s a horny housewife. If doesn’t take rocket science to know what happens next. It seems likely that post-coital reflection is the least of their thoughts.


Director:  Paul Weitz; Chris Weitz
Writer:  Adam Herz
Cast:
Jason Biggs -  Jim Levinstein
Chris Klein -  Chris ‘Oz’ Ostreicher
Thomas Ian Nicholas -  Kevin Myers
Alyson Hannigan -  Michelle Flaherty
Shannon Elizabeth -  Nadia
Tara Reid -  Victoria ‘Vicky’ Lathum
Eddie Kaye Thomas -  Paul Finch
Sean W. Scott -  Steve Stifler
Eugene Levy -  Jim’s Dad
Natasha Lyonne -  Jessica
Mena Suvari -  Heather
Jennifer Coolidge -  Stifler’s Mom
Chris Owen -  Chuck Sherman
Molly Cheek -  Mrs. Levinstein (Jim’s Mom)
Lawrence Pressman -  Coach Marshall
Clyde Kusatsu -  English Teacher









Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)

Beverly Hills Cop III

Go ahead, admit it. You’d like to wear one just to see what it is like. No? OK, I will. I’d love to try on of those fuzzy cartoon animal suits you see in theme parks. Okey-Dokey, a blue elephant, is the choice of Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) as he goes after the bad guys. But then the scene of the four other animals, playing poker and chewing stogies makes me uneasy.


Director:  John Landis
Writer:  Danilo Bach; Daniel Petrie, Jr.; Steven E. de Souza
Cast:
Eddie Murphy -  Det. Axel Foley
Jon Tenney -  Levine
Joey Travolta -  Giolito
Eugene Collier -  Leppert
Jimmy Ortega -  Rondell
Ousaun Elam -  Pederson
Ray Lykins -  Nixon
Tim Gilbert -  McKee
Rick Avery -  Cline
Gil Hill -  Insp. Douglas Todd
Dick Purtan -  Detroit disc jockey
Fred Asparagus -  Bobby
Louis Lombardi -  Snake
Lindsey Ginter -  Holloway
Timothy Carhart -  Ellis De Wald
Michael Bowen -  Fletch









National Treasure (2004)

National Treasure

Why do adults think that kids don’t know what they are doing? After getting the cryptic letter codes from the Silence Dogood letters needed to locate the next clue in their scavenger hunt for the legendary Knights Templar treasure, Riley Poole (Justin Bartha) wonders aloud whether the copied results are correct. The young lad next to him gives him the hairy eyeball implying that is question he may regret asking.


Director:  Jon Turteltaub
Writer:  Jim Kouf; Oren Aviv; Charles Segars; Cormac Wibberley; Marianne Wibberley
Cast:
Nicolas Cage -  Ben Gates
Diane Kruger -  Abigail Chase
Justin Bartha -  Riley Poole
Sean Bean -  Ian Howe
Jon Voight -  Patrick Gates
Harvey Keitel -  Sadusky
Christopher Plummer -  John Adams Gates
David Dayan Fisher -  Shaw
Stewart Finlay-McLennan -  Powell
Oleg Taktarov -  Shippen
Stephen Pope -  Phil
Annie Parisse -  Agent Dawes
Mark Pellegrino -  Agent Johnson
Armando Riesco -  Agent Hendricks
Erik King -  Agent Colfax
Don McManus -  Dr. Stan Herbert









I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Denial in the face of overwhelming evidence is not a smart position to take, particularly when it could affect whether you die. Barry Cox (Ryan Phillippe) gets run down by a Beamer late one night and a guy wearing a sou’wester with a hook pops out and stands over him with murderous intent in his demeanour. The next day in hospital with his co-conspirators Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze, Jr.), Barry is still denying that someone or something is out for revenge. He may want to rethink that position.


Director:  Jim Gillespie
Writer:  Lois Duncan; Kevin Williamson
Cast:
Jennifer Love Hewitt -  Julie James
Sarah Michelle Gellar -  Helen Shivers
Ryan Phillippe -  Barry William Cox
Freddie Prinze Jr. -  Ray Bronson
Bridgette Wilson -  Elsa Shivers
Anne Heche -  Melissa ‘Missy’ Egan
Johnny Galecki -  Max Neurick
Muse Watson -  Benjamin Willis
Stuart Greer -  Officer David Caporizo
J. Don Ferguson -  Emcee
Deborah Hobart -  Mrs. James
Mary McMillan -  Mrs. Cox
Rasool J’Han -  Deb
Dan Albright -  Sheriff
Lynda Clark -  Pageant Official
Shea Broom -  Contestant #1









Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Spider-Man 2

Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is a brilliant scientist and Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) finds him to be a kindred spirit after meeting with him to get some background for a school report. He may be the mentor for which Peter has been searching as he has time for both romance and science much like Peter would like to have with Mary Jane Parker (Kirsten Dunst). But Peter’s view of him is sadly torn asunder when he discovers that this kind and gentle soul has morphed into Doc Ock following the laboratory accident which has fused mechanical arms to his body and killed his beloved.


Director:  Sam Raimi
Writer:  Stan Lee; Steve Ditko; Alfred Gough; Miles Millar; Michael Chabon; Alvin Sargent
Cast:
Tobey Maguire -  Spider-Man/Peter Parker
Kirsten Dunst -  Mary Jane Watson
James Franco -  Harry Osborn
Alfred Molina -  Doc Ock/Dr. Otto Octavius
Rosemary Harris -  May Parker
J.K. Simmons -  J. Jonah Jameson
Donna Murphy -  Rosalie Octavius
Daniel Gillies -  John Jameson
Dylan Baker -  Dr. Curt Connors
Bill Nunn -  Joseph ‘Robbie’ Robertson
Vanessa Ferlito -  Louise
Aasif Mandvi -  Mr. Aziz
Willem Dafoe -  Green Goblin/Norman Osborn
Cliff Robertson -  Ben Parker
Ted Raimi -  Hoffman
Elizabeth Banks -  Miss Brant









28 Days Later… (2002)

28 Days Later...

I’m a consumer. I like shopping for stuff. I like reading about stuff that’s coming (and wish it were here now for me to buy). I like to follow the evolution of stuff as it comes to market and see how the roll out of new stuff is accepted. I’ve got lots of stuff that never got that public acceptance it should have received. It sits right next to the stuff that did that is often replaced by the next gen stuff. I guess I’m the poster boy for consumerism. So this movie was a blow to my mad subconscious that regulates my buy, buy, buy fever. It shows a world where there won’t be any new books, movies, CDs and all manner of other toys that keeps me distracted from the real problems our world faces. And then Selena (Naomie Harris) has the gall to tell Jim (Cillian Murphy) essentially the same thing. I was bummed for a time until a buddy called to tell me what he discovered in his latest foray into the shops and I remembered this is just a movie.


Director:  Danny Boyle; Toby James
Writer:  Alex Garland
Cast:
Alex Palmer -  Activist
Bindu De Stoppani -  Activist
Jukka Hiltunen -  Activist
David Schneider -  Scientist
Cillian Murphy -  Jim
Toby Sedgwick -  Infected Priest
Naomie Harris -  Selena
Noah Huntley -  Mark
Christopher Dunne -  Jim’s Father
Emma Hitching -  Jim’s Mother
Alexander Delamere -  Mr. Bridges
Kim McGarrity -  Mr. Bridges’ Daughter
Brendan Gleeson -  Frank
Megan Burns -  Hannah
Justin Hackney -  Infected Kid
Luke Mably -  Private Clifton









The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

How does one decide when your time is over? Do you follow your heart or your head?

In Rivendell, Arwen (Liv Tyler) knows her heart belongs to Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen). She also knows she will live on as he ages, grows old and dies. Should she give up her immortality and be with the man she loves or follow her family into exile? She is convinced by Elrond (Hugo Weaving) that the age of Elves is ending and leaves for the West.


Director:  Peter Jackson
Writer:  J.R.R. Tolkien; Frances Walsh; Philippa Boyens; Stephen Sinclair; Peter Jackson
Cast:
Elijah Wood -  Frodo Baggins
Ian McKellen -  Gandalf the Grey/Gandalf the White
Liv Tyler -  Arwen
Viggo Mortensen -  Aragorn
Sean Astin -  Samwise ‘Sam’ Gamgee
Cate Blanchett -  Galadriel
John Rhys-Davies -  Gimli/Voice of Treebeard
Bernard Hill -  Theoden
Christopher Lee -  Saruman the White
Billy Boyd -  Peregrin ‘Pippin’ Took
Dominic Monaghan -  Meriadoc ‘Merry’ Brandybuck
Orlando Bloom -  Legolas Greenleaf
Hugo Weaving -  Elrond
Miranda Otto -  Eowyn
David Wenham -  Faramir
Brad Dourif -  Grima Wormtongue









X-Men (2000)

X-Men

Senator Robert Kelly (Bruce Davison) has an agenda all of his own. He wants this mutant thing to be brought under control whereby all of them and their talents are known. On his way to Washington in Helicopter One for a vote, he extols the virtues of a war upon them and the need to exterminate them somewhat like his governmental predecessors did in another country a couple of generations ago. Unfortunately for him, his aide has been replaced some time ago by the shape-shifting Mystique (Rebecca Romjin-Stamos). A struggle ensues and the poor man has little recourse but to be paddy-whacked into unconsciousness by her feet. Such an ignominious defeat and beaten up by a girl too.


Director:  Bryan Singer
Writer:  Tom DeSanto; Bryan Singer; David Hayter
Cast:
Hugh Jackman -  Wolverine/Logan
Patrick Stewart -  Professor Charles Xavier/Professor X
Ian McKellen -  Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr
Famke Janssen -  Dr. Jean Grey
James Marsden -  Cyclops/Scott Summers
Halle Berry -  Storm/Ororo Munroe
Anna Paquin -  Rogue/Marie D’Ancanto
Tyler Mane -  Sabretooth/Victor Creed
Ray Park -  Toad/Mortimer Toynbee
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos -  Mystique
Bruce Davison -  Senator Robert Kelly
Matthew Sharp -  Henry Peter Gyrich
Brett Morris -  Young Erik Lehnsherr
Rhona Shekter -  Mrs. Lehnsherr
Kenneth McGregor -  Mr. Lehnsherr
Shawn Roberts -  Cody









Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

In each life there are a number of rites of passage. Some are simple, some are strange and some are confusing. One I remember as a highlight was the first time I was allowed to go to the corner store by myself. I had no idea what I wanted to buy, it was being allowed out on my own to spend my pennies that filled my mind. I remember the journey but not the purchase. Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe), who is turning eleven, is ushered into Mr. Ollivander’s (John Hurt) shop by Rubeus Hagrid ( Robbie Coltrane ) to buy a wand. He’s breathless to see all of the choices available. He has some trouble in finding the right one but Mr. Ollivander is up to the challenge. Harry agrees and stumbles distractedly out of the shop. He bought something on his own.


Director:  Chris Columbus
Writer:  J.K. Rowling; Steven Kloves; Steve Kloves
Cast:
Daniel Radcliffe -  Harry Potter
Emma Watson -  Hermione Granger
Rupert Grint -  Ron Weasley
Richard Harris -  Albus Dumbledore
Maggie Smith -  Professor Minerva McGonagall
Robbie Coltrane -  Rubeus Hagrid
Saunders Triplets -  Harry Potter (Age 1)
Fiona Shaw -  Aunt Petunia
Harry Melling -  Dudley Dursley
Richard Griffiths -  Uncle Vernon
Ian Hart -  Professor Quirrell
Ben Borowiecki -  Diagon Alley Boy
Warwick Davis -  Professor Flitwick/Goblin Bank Teller
Vern Troyer -  Griphook the Goblin
John Hurt -  Mr. Ollivander
Matthew Lewis -  Neville Longbottom