Runtime: 96 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA
Director: Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (co-director)
Release Date: 08/04/09
Awards: Won Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score Michael Giacchino and Best Animated Feature Film of the Year Pete Docter
More: Computer-animated family-oriented adventure film

One lazy evening, I rented Up, and was totally blown away. This movie is a great story of adventure and one of those rare films that lives up to the “for the whole family” label. When Disney and Pixar team up, you know that you are in for a treat.

The story is about a little boy, named Carl Friedricksen that loves to hear all about the adventures of his favorite explorer Charles Muntz. Muntz is some great combination of a Jacques Cousteau and astronaut to little Carl and you can see the eagerness in Carl’s eyes to be in his own adventure. Poor Carl, however, is not the most athletic kid that you will ever see, and in fact he is charmingly klutzy.

Little Carl passes a condemned house and decides to investigate the racket he hears inside. Cautiously peering inside, he sees there is a person. Of all the good fortunes, she is dressed in the same flight cap and goggles as he. Little Ellie is a gap-toothed, fast-talking wonder. She shares all the same passions for adventure as Carl and they become fast friends. Ellie makes Carl promise that he will go to Paradise Falls, South America with her.

Being such a perfect match, they get married and live their life happily married with a sweet little house. Just as our childhood dreams turn into nothing more than a memory, so did the Friedricksen’s promise to travel to Paradise Falls. As the couple grows older, Ellie passes. Carl mourns her and misses her, but continues his daily routine. The dream of Paradise Falls seems like nothing more than a childish fancy.

However, the world all around Carl is changing. There are high-rise developments going up all around his home. He is determined to keep the house, as if Ellie’s memory still lives in the walls. Due to some big trouble he gets into, he is sentenced by the courts to move into a retirement home. Carl has one last trick up his sleeve and it couldn’t possibly be more dramatic! Carl unfurls the thousands and thousands of colorful balloons that lift his life-long home off the ground and set course for Paradise Falls. His promise to Ellie is at last fulfilled and he is able to squeeze in a great adventure in his final years.

There is a knock on the door. A knock on the door as this house is sailing through the air! What a great surprise for the audience who thought the story was already tied up nice and neat. A wilderness scout named Russell has been trying to convince Carl, the oldest man around, to let him be helped across the street in order for Russell to receive his final badge: assisting the elderly.

Russell is the perfect new partner for Carl. Russell is young, rotund and so very much like a young Carl. Everyone can see that except the grouchy old sour-puss Carl. With the house on its way to Paradise Falls, Carl is forced to deal with Russell which is a million laughs for the audience. Carl is so earnest and loveable that he attracts the affection of a large blue bird in the jungle. The guys are tugging the balloon-float house to its perfect spot and begin a whole new series of adventures that tests their mettle.

Dug is a sweet mutt that is searching through the jungle when he runs into the guys and the house. Dug is wearing the greatest imaginary invention ever imagined. He has a collar that can vocalize his dog thoughts. If you have ever had a dog, then I am sure, like me, you will be in stitches. Dug is so funny, loving and distractible. Just like a real-life dog.

The guys come to find out that Dug belongs to, none other than, THE Charles Muntz. Muntz is the very same explorer that young Carl idolized decades earlier. Muntz had disappeared in the jungle surrounding Paradise Falls in search of the big blue bird, that Russell named Kevin. After all this time, the bird had continues to allude him. Muntz was unable to return to the USA and restore his reputation without the bird, Kevin.

Muntz turns out to be a very greedy man, either because he is consumed by this life-long bird-search or because he has always been this way. There is a strong connection between all three of the guys there: Carl, Charles and Russell. Carl and Charles are at the end of their life and wondering what their legacy will be to the world. Carl thought that his would be to fulfill his promise to his wife and land his house on the waterfall of Paradise Falls. In the end, he has one amazing adventure that only a child could have thought possible.

Russell returns home to his scout troop ceremony where Carl pins him with the same grape soda pin that a young Ellie pinned him with when they first met. The adventure story is warm and sweet. The technology that Disney/Pixar uses is so gorgeous that you can feel the colors and movement so exactly. I love that their movies are top notch on every level. I love good animation and I think that you can feel the love and detail that has been scrutinized. Up made me laugh, cry and laugh again. I loved it because I am feeling that slip into adulthood and loss of childish fantasies. But the childish fantasies and adventures may very well be our own legacy to the world.

Runtime: 125 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA
Director: Garry Marshall
Release Date: 02/12/10
Film star: Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel and Eric Dane

This year, just a few days after Cupid’s holiday of romance and roses, I decided to get into the spirit of things by heading to the theater to see Valentine’s Day. I hadn’t heard much about this romantic comedy, aside from it’s long list of all star cast members, and went in with a completely open mind and no expectations at all. Only later did I begin hearing about the ghastly reviews this film has been getting and I’m sorry to say that I will have to agree with most of them.

But let’s start out with the positive things about this film, which follows in the footsteps of the British love story hit, Love Actually. The film follows the lives of a number of couples and singles as they intertwine on Valentine’s Day. The characters are played by a star-studded cast (maybe the largest in history!) including Ashton Kutcher, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Patrick Dempsey, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Queen Latifah, Taylor Swift, Julia Robert, Shirley McLaine, George Lopez and Cathy Bates, just to name a “few.” Personally, I thought that it was cool to see such a large number of hugely popular actors together in one film. However, the fact that the cast was so huge didn’t really allow any one character to take the limelight and really stand out.

There were far too many characters and storylines. If you saw a character that you liked they may not appear again in the film for another hour and, in the meantime, you had to sit through a number of much less interesting characters and plot lines. Some of the more experienced actors, such as Julia Roberts, Ashton Kutcher, and Queen Latifah, really stood out in a positive way. However, the younger newbies like Taylor Swift seemed all the more inexperienced next to this huge cast of big stars. Jessica Biel, who hasn’t been seen much since her role of Mary Camden on the TV series 7th Heaven, had an abysmal performance.

I think that what really separates Valentine’s Day from more successful films of the same genre, especially Love Actually, is the fact that they tried to squeeze too much in—too many stars, too many characters, too many plot lines. As a result, as a viewer I felt that I didn’t have anything to connect to. I wanted to be able to connect with the characters on a deeper level and to understand where they came from and where they were going, but they simply didn’t get enough screen time. There were a number of characters and plot lines that didn’t add anything to the film as a whole, such as the youthful romance between Taylor Lautner and Taylor Swift. If these could have been taken out and more time could have been spent on the more interesting plot lines then maybe it would have given the film the “oomph!” it needed to be a successful romantic comedy.

I wouldn’t say that nobody should go see this film. I think that it is a one-of-a-kind experience to see so many amazing stars perform together. However, don’t go in with high expectations. Go in ready to see a lot of stars and you may be slightly entertained.

Runtime: 138 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: English/German
Country: USA
Director: Martin Scorsese
Release Date: 02/19/10
Film star: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams and Emily Mortimer

Going into the theater to see Scorsese s new film, Shutter Island, I wasn t sure what to expect. From the trailers this film looked like a purely terrifying horror film, but I knew that since it was directed by the great Scorsese it had to be more than that. I wasn t disappointed. Shutter Island is a rollercoaster ride-one of the best psychological thrillers I ve ever seen, with ups and downs and turns at every corner.

Shutter Island tells the story of two U.S. Marshals, Teddy Daniels (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) who are investigating the disappearance Rachel Solando, a mental patient who disappeared from her locked room at the Ashecliff Hospital for the Criminally Insane on Shutter Island. Rachel, the missing patient, was institutionalized after she drowned her children, although according to her doctors she thinks that her children are alive and well and that she is at home.

The film follows Teddy and Chuck as they search for Rachel, interview doctors and patients, find Rachel and ultimately discover a very real and surprising truth, which you ll have to watch the film to find out for yourself! As the film progresses we delve into the mind of Teddy, learning about the recent death of his wife and visiting his past through flashbacks and visions, as Teddy slowly seems to deteriorate. Is Teddy really losing his mind? Is it the island that is bringing out these flashbacks in him? What is real? This film really makes you think and wonder about what is really going on under the surface.

I was glued to the screen throughout the entire film, and not just because of the dramatic twists and turns of the plot. The film is a period piece, set in the 1950s and everything from the costumes to the set design and dialogue put you back in that time. Scorsese also did a fantastic job of integrating modern technology into this period piece. The techniques and technologies used to create the eerie atmosphere, Teddy s creepy flashbacks and the ghostly ambiance of the film do not take away from the 50s-era feel of the film at all. Rather, they add to it and result in a mood like none other seen in a 1950s period film.

The acting in the film is superb, of course. Leonardo DiCaprio does an amazing job of convincing the audience of his situation as his mind deteriorates and he gets more and more sucked in to his investigation. Other all-star performances include those of Mark Ruffalo and Ben Kingsley.

If you enjoy feeling scared and uneasy then this film is a must-see. Every twist and turn of the plot makes you question everything, including yourself. It takes a lot to accomplish what Scorsese has in this film-to make the viewer believe everything he is seeing as it unfolds, to make the viewer really get inside the head of the main character, and to end with the biggest twist and turn of all and have it come as a true surprise. But I guess it s not a big surprise that he gets away with it in Shutter Island-after all, he is Martin Scorsese!

Runtime: 105 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA
Director: Gene Saks
Release Date: 05/02/68
Film star: Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau

I believe there are those timeless stories that, no matter which year the story was originally told, it is still entertaining. The Odd Couple is one of these special stories even though it was first played on the movie screens in 1968. The movie is an adaptation by Neil Simon of his Broadway show by the same name.

The premise of the story is absolutely timeless: two divorcees must start their life again. The twist is that this time they are men starting anew. Walter Matthau plays sportswriter Oscar Madison and Jack Lemmon plays news writer Felix Ungar. These two actors are among my all-time favorites because of their superb comic timing and great chemistry together.

The movie starts out with a very sad and depressed Felix wandering around the town at night. He checks into a dingy hotel room and requests the highest floor. The men at the desk seem to gather, as does the audience that Felix does not plan to check out the same as he checked in. The downtrodden Felix prepares to end his life in that dim hotel room, but is foiled again and again. His failed suicide attempts even make me fell sadder for this pathetic and funny Felix.

In the next scenes you see men around a poker table in a house that is so hot and stinky; you can almost feel the nausea of those men inside. While Oscar has made a great mess of his house, there is still evidence of a woman’s touch who decorated with an eye for style. The phone rings and Oscar speaks to Felix’s wife on the other line. She is worried about him and that he is suicidal since they have decided to split.

The guys, being friends with Felix, all worry and wonder what they should do to find their friend, when the doorbell rings. On the other side of the door is the downcast Felix. What is so funny to me is to see this story that we have heard a million times over for a divorcing woman, we haven’t heard for men. The men around the table behave just like women would. They try to act like they don’t know about Felix and his separation until he tries to jump out the window at Oscar’s house. Felix is such a high-strung and melodramatic fellow, he is the exact opposite to Oscar.

So you may be able to predict, that these two mismatched friends live together and try to heal their wounds from divorce. If you have ever had a roommate, you can sympathize with both Felix and Oscar. Felix is fastidious and obsessively clean. It is not only that he loves to cook and clean, but that he can’t tolerate the way that anyone else would cook or clean. Oscar, on the other hand, is a fantastic mess. He loves to smoke cigars in the house, leave rotten food out and doesn’t mind grinding his potato chips in the rug. Both of them are completely happy with their way and don’t seem to notice how others might see their extreme behavior.

The two men interact with all the same stereotypical complaints that a man and woman have in a marriage. This leads Oscar to suggest a night out with some women. The Pigeon sisters (Pigeon because Oscar says they “coo” when they laugh) are two young English women that live in the same building as Oscar. Maybe if Felix can quit his tendency to dote on Oscar, he can snap out of his divorcee funk. However, it turns out to be too soon for Felix to date. He ends up crying on the Pigeon sister’s shoulders and talking nonstop about his lovely ex-wife and his precious children.

This is the final straw for Oscar who throws his spaghetti in anger at the wall and demands that Felix leave it just like that. Felix leaves and Oscar begins to feel guilty and goes to look for Felix with his poker buddies. When he returns home, he sees that Felix is moving in with the Pigeon sisters. The movie ends with everyone better off than they had started. However, The Odd Couple franchise was just getting started. The Odd Couple 2, the televisions series and loads of other spin-offs were created to satiate our curiosity of how the story would continue.

When you watch The Odd Couple, you can ask yourself how much of you is Oscar and how much of you is Felix. I love this movie first because it is hilarious and second because it is I can relate to both characters. If you want a big laugh timeless story, then The Odd Couple is a great classic to check out.

Runtime: 162 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.78 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA/UK
Director: James Cameron
Release Date: 11/10/09
Film star: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang
Awards: Won 3 Oscars, another 25 wins and 56 nominations

The Wolfman is a remake of the classic 1941 film of the same name and, as a sucker for horror movies, I was really excited to see it. I have to admit that the story was pretty predictable. However, for me the all-star cast and delicious goriness of the film really made it stand out.

If you aren’t familiar with the plot of The Wolfman I’ll give you a quick rundown. The film begins when Gwen Conliffe (played by Emily Blunt) sends a letter to Lawrence Talbot (played by Benicio del Toro) to tell him that his brother has gone missing. When Lawrence arrives he learns that they have discovered the mauled body of his brother, dead. Lawrence visits a band of gypsies to find out more about his brother’s death during a full moon where he is attacked by a werewolf. He is bitten, but not killed, and is turned into a werewolf himself. He must live with this curse, and through his experience he learns a number of surprising secrets about his family and his past. The film also follows the blooming relationship between Lawrence and Gwen, and it’s ultimate demise.

My main complaint about the film was its predictability. But then again, everyone knows the “rules” about werewolves-they change during the full moon, they can be killed with silver bullets-just as everyone knows the “rules” about vampires. There isn’t much that a screenwriter or director can do to get around these facts. Additionally, the film was a remake of an already released film, and it did stay true to the plot of the original.

Aside from the film’s predictability, it did manage to keep my eyes and ears on screen the entire time. The acting was superb. Benicio del Toro’s performance was fantastic, as were the performances of Anthony Hopkins (who plays Lawrence’s father) and Hugo Weaving (who plays an inspector). However, I felt the most drawn to the performance of Emily Blunt. Blunt’s acting was definitely the shining star of the film, and she really draws you in and makes you understand how it feels to be in love with a beast.

The atmosphere of the film is also enthralling. They went with a very Gothic setting, reminiscent of the original film, as well as other similar films like An American Werewolf in London. Everything from the costumes to the sets for the pub, the gypsy town, Talbot Hall and the institution where Lawrence is sent add to the atmosphere and culminate to create a very realistic Gothic world. I really liked that they decided to stay true to the original, and the film really had the same feel as the classic horror films it attempted to emulate.

Finally, when it comes to the violence and gore, The Wolfman does a great job of finding the perfect balance between gross-out horror and prude. It isn’t so gory that you find yourself having to turn away from the screen, but there is definitely some very well planned out violence. I think that is a necessary part of any horror film-especially one involving werewolves.

Runtime: 162 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.78 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA/UK
Director: James Cameron
Release Date: 11/10/09
Film star: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez and Stephen Lang
Awards: Won 3 Oscars, another 25 wins and 56 nominations

I’m going to prerequisite this by saying that I’m a self-proclaimed James Cameron fanatic. I loved all the Terminator movies, True Lies, Titanic, and Aliens so it’s no surprise that I was absolutely ecstatic when I heard about Avatar. I had heard that Avatar combined all the best things about Cameron’s other movies-the romance of Titanic, and the action and fantasy of Alien and the Terminator movies-and incorporated awesome 3D graphics to boot! Sufficed to say, I was excited to see this movie. The movie wasn’t perfect, but when push comes to shove I would definitely recommend it to everyone.

For those of you who haven’t seen Avatar yet, I’ll give you a brief description of the plot. Avatar is the story of paraplegic war veteran, Jake Sully. Jake has recently lost his twin brother, as well as the use of his legs, when he is sent on a secret mission to the planet of Pandora. Pandora is a distant civilization where a colony of creatures known as the Na’vi lives. Pandora is also home to large quantities of Unobtanium, a rare and expensive mineral that can save Earth from an energy crisis. Jake’s mission is to infiltrate the Na’vi civilization, under cover in an “avatar” that makes him look like the Na’vi, and persuade the Na’vi to move to a new location to free up a massive deposit of Unobtanium. However, as Jake spends time getting to know the Na’vi and learn the ways of their culture he begins to see things in a different way.

When it comes to the story, Avatar isn’t the most original movie in the world. It takes elements from Pocahontas and Braveheart as well as a number of other action films and cross-culture romances throughout history. The film is stretched out over three hours and the dialogue is, at times, a bit cliche and cheesy, as it is in many of Cameron’s films. However, despite the lack of originality in the story, I still thought Avatar was amazing simply because of its amazing use of 3D and the advances it shows in movie-going technology.

Not only does Avatar bring photo-real CG to life for the first time in history, but it also takes 3D to a whole new level. As 3D has become more and more common in the film experience over the last couple of years we have seen a wide variety of children’s animated 3D masterpieces. However, Avatar is the first film to really bring a mix of live action and realistic CG elements to life. The 3D in the film isn’t in-your-face. It is subtle and beautiful and really makes you feel like you have entered the magical alien world of Pandora, as you fly through the lush mountains and view the planet all around you.

The landscapes and creatures in the film are masterfully designed. Everything truly is beautiful, from the arresting environments to the creatures, including the Na’vi and other beautiful and frightening beings. What really separates Avatar from many other animated films is that all of the characters, including the CG, blue, catlike Na’vi show real human emotion when they speak and act for a truly realistic and amazing experience.

When it comes to the acting there is some give and take. Sam Worthington shows a lot of heart in his role as Jake, although he has some problems with his accent from time to time, and Sigourney Weaver, who plays Dr. Grace, has a fantastic on-screen dynamic with Worthington. However, I thought that the best performance of the film came from Zoe Saldana, who plays Neytiri, a Na’vi huntress who grows close to Jake.

What the film lacks in originality it makes up for with beauty. I would recommend this film to everyone for the sheer perfection of the landscapes, the inventiveness of graphics and the amazing use of 3D.

Runtime: 158 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: English/Russian
Country: USA/Canada
Director: Roland Emmerich
Release Date: 11/11/09
Film star: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton and Woody Harrelson

I have to admit that ever since I was little I have been slightly nervous, maybe even slightly terrified about the whole 2012 prophesy. You know the one I’m talking about-the end of the world, the sun crashing into earth, the world crumbling beneath us, Armageddon, and whatever else is supposed to happen. Therefore, when I heard that the film 2012 was coming out I was a little bit uneasy.

Who wants to watch a movie about the end of the world, especially when a lot of people think this is really going to happen in less than two years? But I decided that I might as well face my fears, so I headed to the theater to see 2012, and I can now safely say that I am no longer afraid. The outlandish situations in this movie, paired with the shallow dialogue and incredulous action scenes make 2012 seem so farfetched that it eased my fears.

If you haven’t seen 2012 or heard anything about it, the plot is really quite simple. An American geologist visits India where he learns that the core of the earth is rapidly increasing in temperature. He returns to the United States to inform the President, played by Danny Glover, that this will ultimately result in the end of the world as we know it. The solution is to choose 400,000 people who will be saved from the destruction in a series of arks.

We follow another character, Jackson Curtis, a Los Angeles writer played by John Cusack, as he and his children outrun earthquakes and tsunamis, escaping just in the knick of time as entire cities fall off the edge of the earth into the ocean. Who will survive? Who will die? Will the entire human race be wiped out? I guess you’ll just have to watch to find out!

The good thing about this movie is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and maybe that’s the reason why it was able to assuage my fears of our impending 2012 doom. You can sort of laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation as John Cusack drives a limo through LA as streets and skyscrapers crumble all around him and escapes, unscathed. Planes take off just in time for the runways to crumble into nothing behind them, well-known landmarks like the Sistine Chapel collapse and characters escape from the most inescapable situations imaginable. The visual effects in this movie are nothing short of amazing. However, despite the fact that they may look realistic, the sheer ridiculousness of what is going on around the characters makes you feel safe and unafraid of what may or may not lie in our own futures.

All that being said, I can see how a lot of people could have been disappointed by 2012. The dialog is incredibly cheesy, none of the characters showed much emotion and it was hard to get attached to any of the characters that were killed in the disaster (and a lot of them were killed). The constant close calls that all of the surviving characters had to go through made the movie extremely unrealistic. However, if you are looking for a completely outlandish action-disaster film then 2012 is a must see.

Runtime: 100 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA/Germany
Director: Todd Phillips
Release Date: 06/05/09
Film star: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham

In one of the most hilarious movies ever made about a trip to Vegas, The Hangover serves up nonstop laughs and one of the most absurd plots ever to hit the big screen. From Todd Phillips, the director of the hit comedic flicks Road Trip and Old School, The Hangover is a must see for anyone with a good sense for the bizarre who wants to laugh and laugh and laugh some more.

The Hangover tells the story of four guys who head to Las Vegas for a bachelor party. Doug, played by Justin Bartha, is the one who’s getting married; Phil, played by Bradley Cooper (Wedding Crashers), is a married high school teacher who stoops to the maturity level of his students when he’s with his friends; Stu, played by Ed Helms (The Office), is a dentist with a controlling girlfriend who he plans to propose to at Doug’s wedding; and Alan, played by Zach Galifianakis, Doug’s brother-in-law to be who is just as smart as he is socially inept.

The movie starts out just as you would imagine any movie about a wild bachelor party in Vegas. The guys get a suite at Caesar’s Palace, head up to the roof to toast the groom, ready for their night out on the town. Fast forward to the next morning, when the guys wake up, their hotel room trashed, with no recollection of what happened the night before. They find a tiger in the bathroom (that belongs to Mike Tyson!), Stu is missing a front tooth, there’s a baby in the closet and, worst of all, Doug is missing.

Phil, Stu and Alan set out on a mission to backtrack their steps from the night before and find Doug so they can get him home in time for the wedding. In the process, they find out that their night in Vegas was even crazier than they could possibly have imagined. Why is there a naked Chinese man in the trunk of their car? Why does Phil have a hospital bracelet on his wrist? And, for goodness sake, why is Mike Tyson’s tiger in their bathroom?

The Hangover was one of the biggest comedies of summer 2009. Although it doesn’t star any of the popular comedic geniuses of our time (Will Farrell, Adam Sandler, Steve Carell), the movie still received outstanding reviews and moviegoers flocked to the theaters to see it. What makes The Hangover so hilarious is it’s “anything goes” mentality. From one scene to the next the plot is so unpredictable and the humor is so warped and almost morbid that the movie is like a rollercoaster ride for the viewers. You just can’t guess what’s coming next.

Pf course, Bradley Cooper is the best known of the actors in The Hangover, having played memorable roles in Wedding Crashers, All About Steve, and He’s Just Not That Into You. However, the rest of the actors stand up well. Justin Bartha, as Doug, is missing for much of the movie. However, Helms and Galifianakis, as Alan and Stu, have without a doubt boosted their careers as comedic actors with this film. Heather Graham also plays a supporting role in the movie, filling the role of “hot chick” in The Hangover, a role that every comedy needs.

While The Hangover isn’t deep and you won’t gain anything from seeing it, on an intelligent level, it is one of the most entertaining and uproarious comedies of recent years. For moviegoers who love wacky, bizarre comedy The Hangover can’t be missed.

Runtime: 128 min/USA:131 min (NC-17 version)
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: English
Country: France/USA
Director: Paul Verhoeven
Release Date: 09/22/95
Cast: Elizabeth Berkley, Kyle MacLachlan, Gina Gershon, Glenn Plummer, Robert Davi, Alan Rachins
Awards: Worst Picture (Won), Worst Director (Paul Verhoeven, Won), Worst Screenplay (Joe Eszterhas, Won), Worst New Star (Elizabeth Berkley, Won), Worst Screen Couple (”Any combination of two people, or two body parts”, Won), Worst Original Song (”Walk Into the Wind”, Won)

Showgirls opens with a young woman, Nomi Malone, hitching a ride to Vegas at a truck stop. Nomi seems sweet and innocent, until we find out that she is on her way to Las Vegas to make it big as a topless dancer, the driver tries to his on her and she pulls out a switchblade. However, tough as she is, the driver succeeds in robbing her-leaving her sitting alone in a casino as he drives off with everything she owns. Luckily, Nomi meets a nice seamstress named Molly who helps her by taking her in.

Nomi gets a job at as a dancer at a sleazy topless bar called Cheetah’s. Although she dreams of bigger and better things, as a Vegas showgirl, she settles for Cheetah’s for the time being because it allows her to dance for a living, which is what she loves to do. She gets a taste for the bright lights when she goes backstage at Goddess, a big time topless Vegas show at the Stardust that Molly works at as a seamstress and Nomi decides that starring in a show like this is her ultimate dream.

The viewers are then given a true glimpse of the seedy Las Vegas strip scene. We see Nomi turn from innocent (in the loosest description of the word, of course) to a catty vixen that will do almost anything to get what she wants, and all the wile a parade of topless women flutter about the screen. The topless women are one of the things that Showgirls is most notorious for. Showgirls is erotic and highly sexually charged and is the first major motion picture to receive an NC17 rating, restricting all moviegoers under the age of 17 from the theater. But are breasts and eroticism the only things the film has to offer?

Many critics have said that the film lacks a coherent story, is badly written, badly acted and not worth seeing. Even for moviegoers who are just interested in the nudity, Showgirls is overwhelming as it is in-you-face nearly the entire duration of the film with full frontal nudity. This in-your-face style is anything but arousing.

The choice of actress for the leading roll, Nomi Malone, is a bit off. The character of Nomie is played by actress Elizabeth Berkley. Although Berkley can certainly dance and has the body for the role, Showgirls was made only two years after the graduation episode of Saved by the Bell, in which Berkley played one lf the lead roles, Jessie Spano. It is hard to differentiate between the sweet, goody two shoes character of Jessie Spano and this hard-edged topless dancer and sexual predator we see on the screen in Showgirls. The movie’s all-star cast also includes Gina Gershon as Cristal Conners, the star of Goddess; Kyle MacLachlan, who later starred in Sex and the City and Desperate Housewives; and Glenn Plummer.

Showgirls won nine awards. However, when you hear what awards this film took home you’ll understand more fully just how bad this film is. Showgirls took home the award for Worst Film at the DFWFCA Awards; Worst ‘Drama’ of Our First 25 Years and Worst Picture of the Decade at the Razzie Awards, in addition to Words Actress, Worst Director, Worst New Star, Worst Original Song, Worst Picture, Worst Screen Couple and Worst Screenplay. If there is any reason to watch Showgirls it’s to see just how bad it is.

Director Paul Verhoeven and writer Joe Eszterhas should be given credit for an attempt to break new ground-bringing the seedy world of prostitution, stripping and pornography to the mainstream. However, the story is too dull for the mainstream audience and viewers looking for an adult film are better off staying in and watching the Spice Channel.

Runtime: 124 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: English/Spanish
Country: USA/Australia
Director: Curtis Hanson
Release Date: 05/04/07
Cast: Eric Bana, Drew Barrymore, and Robert Duvall

Lucky You, released in 2007, is a poker lovers dream. Unfortunately, it was advertised as the next love story of our time-a romance between heartthrobs Eric Bana and Drew Barrymore. This misrepresentation led to some very disgruntled fans. Had the film been promoted as what it truly is-a feature film about poker for poker fanatics, it may have been received more positively.

Lucky You tells the story of Huck Cheever, played by Eric Bana. Huck is uncontrollably obsessed with gambling and plays poker for a living. The World Series of Poker is coming up and Huck needs to come up with $10,000 to enter the main event. He gambles, borrows and even steals to get the money, which he loses, regains and loses again.

In the meantime, Huck meets Billie, an aspiring singer played by Drew Barrymore. Billie’s sister warns her that Huck is trouble-he is a gambling addict with no history or future chances of commitment. However, Billie has a weakness for guys who need “fixing” and we follow the pair’s journey as a couple. Huck teaches Billie about Texas Hold’em, borrows and steals from her and apologizes time after time to her for his shortcomings and problems.

Huck’s estranged father L.C. Cheever, played by Robert Duvall, also appears on the scene. He’s come to play in the World Series of Poker as well, which makes it even more important for Huck to find the $10,000 to enter. Huck and his father have a lot of issues to work out, and they do over a number of poker games and conversations.

Although Lucky You follows Huck’s relationships with Billie and his father, the plot is basic and is really just a cover for a feature film consisting of poker match after poker match. If you are in the mood for romance then this can be a huge disappointment. However, if you are a die-hard poker fan then Lucky You is one of the best films out there. It’s sort of like watching a movie all about golf if you don’t have any interest in the sport-in order to enjoy Lucky You, you need to live for poker.

Lucky You has cameo performances by a number of big time poker players, who would be unrecognizable to anyone who isn’t a huge poker fan. Sam Farha, Chau Giang, Barry Greenstein, Jason Lester, Ted Forrest, Minh Ly, John Murphy, Erick Lindgren and Daniel Negreanu all make appearances in the film. The poker scenes are so compelling at times that the scenes with Drew Barrymore may be a bore to many poker enthusiasts, waiting to see more of the game.

Many critics think that Lucky You screenwriter Eric Roth, writer of Forest Gump, Munich, and The Good Shepherd missed the mark with this film. However, it could be that the advertisers missed the mark with the way the film was promoted. The acting doesn’t miss a beat and the directing and cinematography is top notch. The problem is simply that the movie, which was touted as a romance, is a movie about poker, plain and simple. Poker lovers should not miss it. Romantics, on the other hand, should stick to the chick flicks.

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