Bad Company (2002)

Bad Company

Faith. It is hard to have faith in people, year over year, day after day. Jake Hayes (Chris Rock) runs away from Gaylord Oakes (Anthony Hopkins) and the CIA after someone tries to assassinate him while masquerading as his dead twin brother. He lands in the home of his foster mother who whacks him for surprising her in the dark and then ask him whether he needs money. She then expresses her faith in him. Unlike his foster siblings, Jake has yet to make something of himself like she knows he will.


Director:  Joel Schumacher
Writer:  Gary M. Goodman; David Himmelstein; Jason Richman; Michael Browning
Cast:
Anthony Hopkins -  Oakes
Chris Rock -  Jake Hayes/Kevin Pope
Peter Stormare -  Adrik Vas
Gabriel Macht -  Seale
Kerry Washington -  Julie
Adoni Maropis -  Jarma/Dragan Henchman #1
Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon -  Nicole
Matthew Marsh -  Dragan Adjanic
Dragan Micanovic -  Michelle Petrov
John Slattery -  Roland Yates
Brooke Smith -  Officer Swanson
Daniel Sunjata -  Officer Carew
DeVone Lawson Jr. -  Officer Parish
Wills Robbins -  Officer McCain
Marek Vasut -  Andre
Majed Ibrahim -  Dragan Henchman #2









Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

Bubba Ho-Tep

The residents of many nursing homes are placed into a passive mode. They are subject to the whims and vagaries of services provided by others. When they decide to become active for some reason, it takes an enormous amount of convincing of those in control that something needs to change. That is the case for two denizens of a home in Mud Creek, Texas. Toss in the fact that Elvis ( Bruce Campbell) thinks he is The King who swapped his status for an impersonator to get away from the limelight and Jack (Ossie Davis) who claims to be John F. Kennedy and has had his skin dyed and the chance of anyone believing them that something evil is afoot is marginal at best. So the duo decide that it is up to them to tackle it themselves, Elvis with his walker and Jack in his wheelchair.


Director:  Don Coscarelli
Writer:  Don Coscarelli
Cast:
Bruce Campbell -  Elvis Presley
Ossie Davis -  John “Jack” Fitzgerald Kennedy
Ella Joyce -  Massaging Nurse
Bob Ivy -  Bubba Ho-Tep
Heidi Marnhout -  Callie
Daniel Roebuck -  Hearse Driver
Daniel Schweiger -  Hearse Driver
Harrison Young -  Bull Thomas
Larry Pennell -  Kemosabe









Federal Protection (2002)

Federal Protection

Some folks get blinded by greed. They can’t see what they have stepped into due to the green glare. Bootsie Cavander (Dina Meyer) and Leigh’s (Angela Featherstone) unfaithful husband Dennis (David Lipper) figure out Howard Akers’s (Armand Assante) real identity and decide to rat him out for cash. Little do they know nor do they understand that these pros play for keeps. But they soon find out. Now, Bootsie can’t back down nor back out of her plan and she has nowhere to turn.


Director:  Anthony Hickox
Writer:  Craig Smith
Cast:
Armand Assante -  Frank Carbone/Howard Akers
Angela Featherstone -  Leigh Kirkindall
Dina Meyer -  Bootsie Cavander
David Lipper -  Denny Kirkindall
Frank Chiesurin -  Sid
Tony Calabretta -  Pasquale ‘Patsy’ Dilepsi
Mark Camacho -  Joseph Pagnozzi
Steven Park -  Chong-Sung
Chip Chuipka -  Marshal Donald Powers
Danny Blanco Hall -  Marshal Chuck Sturdevant
Maxim Roy -  Marjorie Watts
Anatoly Zinoviev -  Teddy
Michael Filipowich -  Johnny the Face
Carl Alacchi -  Gio Brogianto
Maria Yvonne Bertrand -  Vicky Brogianto
Bob Babinski -  Newscaster









New Best Friend (2002)

New Best Friend

How well do you know someone as they become a big part of your daily life? Alicia Campbell (Mia Kirshner) glides into the life of Hadley Ashton (Meredith Monroe) becoming indispensable, charming, helpful, subservient, manipulative, corrupting and eventually switching roles in her life. Watching this happen is so reminiscent of the process that Mia Kirshner uses so successfully in her role on the TV show, The L Word.


Director:  Zoe Clarke-Williams
Writer:  Victoria Strouse
Cast:
Mia Kirshner -  Alicia Campbell
Meredith Monroe -  Hadley Ashton
Dominique Swain -  Sidney Connors
Scott Bairstow -  Trevor
Rachel True -  Julianne McDowell Levinson
Taye Diggs -  Artie Bonner
Glynnis O’Connor -  Connie Campbell
Joanna Canton -  Sarah
Eric Michael Cole -  Warren
Oliver Hudson -  Josh
Dean James -  Max
J. Michael Hunter -  Charlie
Edmund J. Kearney -  Dean
Don Henderson Baker -  Haas
Shawn Michelle Cosby -  Joanie
Ralph Price -  Eddie









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









A Walk to Remember (2002)

A Walk to Remember

One teenage summer, I met someone who I thought wanted to be my friend. She proved only to want something I had that she didn’t. Landon Carter (Shane West) knocks on Jamie Sullivan’s (Mandy Moore) door after blowing her off in front of his friends earlier in the day. Whatever his purpose, Jamie interrupts and suggests that they could be secret friends. In his stupidity, Landon grabs hold of the idea with both hands, lights up and says that he thinks it a swell idea. Jamie looks him in the eye and suggest he try telepathy to read what she things of the plan as she slams the door in his face. I wish I had had Jamie’s indignance when I capitulated lo those many years ago. My choice still sends a shudder whenever I recall it.


Director:  Adam Shankman
Writer:  Nicholas Sparks; Karen Janszen
Cast:
Shane West -  Landon Carter
Mandy Moore -  Jamie Sullivan
Peter Coyote -  Reverend Sullivan
Daryl Hannah -  Cynthia Carter
Lauren German -  Belinda
Clayne Crawford -  Dean
Al Thompson -  Eric
Paz De La Huerta -  Tracie
Jonathan Parks Jordan -  Walker
Matt Lutz -  Clay Gephardt
David Andrews -  Mr. Kelly
David Lee Smith -  Mr. Carter
Xavier Hernandez -  Luis
Marisa Miller -  Ms. Garber
Paula Jones -  Sally
Erik Smith -  Eddie Zimmerhoff









Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002)

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

I’ve met and known a number of people for whom others line up and are entranced by. Some are bewildered by the process, others are just happy that somebody else is interested in what they do and a few bathe in the spotlight and figure they deserve the adulation. But I’d have to say that I only know a couple like Gilderoy Lockhart (Kenneth Branagh), a chronic inept self-promoter. His act at the signing of his book, with the women swooning and the men rolling their eyes, is one I’ve seen but made me wish I were elsewhere. It isn’t much of a surprise to know that folks like him go on to bigger and better stunts but the number of repeat visitors seem to diminish with each audience.


Director:  Chris Columbus
Writer:  J.K. Rowling; Steven Kloves; Steve Kloves
Cast:
Daniel Radcliffe -  Harry Potter
Rupert Grint -  Ron Weasley
Emma Watson -  Hermione Granger
Richard Griffiths -  Uncle Vernon
Fiona Shaw -  Aunt Petunia
Harry Melling -  Dudley Dursley
Toby Jones -  Dobby the House Elf (voice)
Jim Norton -  Mr. Mason
Veronica Clifford -  Mrs. Mason
James Phelps -  Fred Weasley
Oliver Phelps -  George Weasley
Julie Walters -  Molly Weasley
Bonnie Wright -  Ginny Weasley
Mark Williams -  Arthur Weasley
Chris Rankin -  Percy Weasley
Tom Felton -  Draco Malfoy









Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002)

Austin Powers in Goldmember

Sibling rivalry is always present when sons are in the same room. Scott (Seth Green), the irascible son, presents his father with a pair of sharks with laser beams attached to their heads. Overjoyed, Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) professes his love for his son and seats Scott at his right hand, displacing Mini-Me (Verne Troyer), the sycophantic son, who leaves dejected, giving everyone in the room the finger. Mind you, he is evil so it isn’t surprising that he has set one son against another to curry his favour.


Director:  Jay Roach; Troy Miller
Writer:  Mike Myers; Michael McCullers
Cast:
Mike Myers -  Austin Powers/Dr. Evil/Goldmember/Fat Bastard
Beyoncé Knowles -  Foxxy Cleopatra
Seth Green -  Scott Evil
Michael York -  Basil Exposition
Robert Wagner -  Number Two
Mindy Sterling -  Frau Farbissina
Verne Troyer -  Mini Me
Michael Caine -  Nigel Powers
Fred Savage -  Number Three
Diane Mizota -  Fook Mi
Carrie Ann Inaba -  Fook Yu
Nobu Matsuhisa -  Mr. Roboto
Aaron Himelstein -  Young Austin Powers
Josh Zuckerman -  Young Dr. Evil
Eddie Adams -  Young Basil Exposition
Evan Farmer -  Young Number Two