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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Runtime: 111 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Language: English/Russian
Country: France/USA/UK
Director: Mike Figgis
Release Date: 10/27/95
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Elisabeth Shue
Award: Academy Award for Best Actor(Nicolas Cage), Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama(Nicolas Cage)

The 1995 hit Leaving Las Vegas opens with the leading character Ben Sanderson, played by Nicolas Cage, getting fired from his job as a Hollywood agent. An alcoholic, sinking further and further into the depths of depression, Ben resigns to head to Las Vegas with one mission-to drink himself to death.

Ben arrives in Las Vegas, a fitting destination as the world’s capitols of self-pity and self-loathing, spinning in a downward spiral of drunk and drunker. He is alone until he crosses paths with Sera, a troubled hooker with masochistic tendencies and a heart of gold played by Elisabeth Shue, that Ben hires for conversation. Sera is drawn to Ben’s vulnerability and doomed outlook on life and asks him to move in with her. He agrees, but only under the circumstance that she won’t bother him about his drinking-after all, he is planning to drink himself to death. Sera agrees to leave Ben alone about his drinking, as long as he won’t judge her or interfere with her hooking.

Leaving Las Vegas follows the lives of Ben and Sera as they continue in their downward spiral together, intermingling their companionship with love and their depression with a faint glimmer of hope.

Alcoholism is a heavy subject and Leaving Las Vegas doesn’t glamorize it. Director Mike Figgis does a fantastic job of showing the true pain of addiction and manages to completely avoid all the clichés of glitz and glamour that go along with the bright lights of Las Vegas nightlife, drinking and partying. Most films that take place in Las Vegas focus on bright lights and casino nights, but not Leaving Las Vegas. Much of the film takes place in seedy motel rooms and on grey, hazy mornings-gloomy and depressing.

However, as much as Figgis works to portray the reality of alcoholism, in no way does Leaving Las Vegas preach. The film is non-judgmental and viewers are encouraged to make their own conclusions about alcoholism. Leaving Las Vegas is merely a character study of one alcoholic and his tumble into the abyss.

Nicolas Cage does a superb job of playing the part, which can be confirmed by the fact that he took home the Oscar for Best Actor at the 1996 Academy Awards. Elisabeth Shue was also nominated for Best Actress, but was beat out by Susan Sarandon in Dead Man Walking. The film, actors and director also took home awards from the Boston Society of Film Critics, the Chicago Film Critics, the Directors Guild of America, the Golden Globes, the Independent Spirit Awards, the LA Film Critics Association, NY Film Critics, Screen Actors Guild, and more.

Leaving Las Vegas is by no way an uplifting film. It deals with incredibly tough subjects-alcoholism, depression, and prostitution. However, in contrast to what one may think Leaving Las Vegas is not a dreary and depressing film. Although parts of the film are in fact a downright downer, the movie is romantic and even humorous at times.

Some critics of the film have said that Leaving Las Vegas doesn’t really go anywhere. They’ve said that it moves at a slow pace and the characters don’t really go through a huge transformation by the end of the film. However, Leaving Las Vegas was not meant to be a fast-paced action film, a romantic comedy or even a gripping drama. Rather, Leaving Las Vegas was a small art film meant to be a compelling character study of two individuals sucked into addiction, depression and the melancholy of life-looking for hope and better times. This goal was succeeded masterfully.

Runtime: US 86 minutes
Color: Color
Language: English
Country: USA
Director: Gil Cates Jr.
Release Date: 06/12/08(Germany)
Cast: Burt Reynolds, with Bret Harrison, Shannon Elizabeth, Jennifer Tilly, Maria Mason

Maybe it has something to do with the recent surge in the online poker and online casino industry or maybe it’s a complete fluke, but in recent years films about poker, blackjack and the Vegas gambling scene have been on overflow-mode. Deal, released in 2008, is one of the newest additions to this collection of films that “take a gamble” by basing their plot around poker. In Deal, an ex-gambler teaches a young man everything he knows about the game of poker and the ways of the world, only to meet him across the final table of the World Series of Poker at the end of the film.

Sound cliché? It is. Deal seems to replicate the plot of so many other films about poker. To expand on the summary, Deal tells the story of Alex, a recent college graduate who feels he is wasting his life away as a law clerk at his dad’s firm. When he wins an online poker satellite tournament that gets him a spot on a televised game he sees an opportunity to make something of himself. He loses badly in the televised show but an ex-gambler named Tommy, played by Bert Reynolds, watches the game and sees potential in Alex. He offers to teach him and mold him into a world-class poker player. Alex gratefully takes him up on his offer.

Deal isn’t only about poker, though at times it seems like sheer advertisement for online poker sites and poker television shows. It has a back story that involves Tommy’s relationship with his wife as she leaves him for getting back into gambling and Alex’s conflict with his father about law vs. poker and his brief relationship with a drop-dead gorgeous hooker played by Shannon Elizabeth, which leads to the disintegration of Tommy and Alex’s partnership. However, the plot is weak and not very suspenseful. For many critics the best parts of the movie are the poker scenes, and even those are not very worthy of sitting through.

When you watch a movie about poker, as a poker player, you want to learn something new-some tricks of the trade, as it were, to help you improve your own game. You would think that in a movie like Deal, that revolved around the story of one poker player teaching another everything he knows, that you would be able to reap more benefit as a poker player. While there are a few tips given about how to read tells (which most serious poker players should already know), nothing really insightful is offered up on the subject of poker strategy in the film.

Deal did not win any awards and the only award it was nominated for was the Razzie Award for Burt Reynolds as Worst Supporting Actor. However, Burt Reynolds was certainly not the worst actor in the film. Bret Harrison, who plays the character of Alex, gives an amateur performance. Shannon Elizabeth doesn’t do an outstanding job of acting either, although she looks good and that is about all that matters for her sleazy role.

Deal isn’t the worst poker movie ever made-it’s just nothing new. Though it’s plot and character studies don’t drive too deep and the acting isn’t Oscar-quality it is engaging and tolerable if you are into poker. However, it isn’t the kind of movie that you should shell out ten bucks to see in a theater or take home from Blockbuster. With all the cliché themes and storylines that you would expect from a typical film about poker, Deal doesn’t bring much to the table, even for the most diehard of poker fans.

Runtime: Germany 108 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.33 : 1
Language: English
Country: Canada/USA
Director: John Woo
Release Date: 05/12/98
Cast: Dolph Lundgren, Saul Rubinek, Fred Williamson, Kate Vernon, Phillip Mackenzie

Blackjack is a “made-for-TV” feature length movie released in 1998. Directed by popular Hong Kong action flick director John Woo, Blackjack tells the story of Jack Devlin, an ex-US Marshall who now serves as a professional bodyguard.

As the film opens Devlin guards Casey, a nine-year-old daughter of a casino owner that is threatened by the mob. Devlin saves Casey from an attack in her home. During the attack he is temporarily blinded by something called a “white light grenade” and following the incident he freezes up whenever he sees the color white. Later, when Casey’s father is killed by the mob Devlin goes a step further, taking her under his wing and inviting her to move in with him where she will take care of him in place of her father.

Once Casey’s father is gone, Devlin begins to guard a new client – a supermodel named Cinder James. Cinder needs to be guarded from a stalker who is trying to kill her. The stalker turns out to be Cinder’s ex-husband and Devlin discovers that the stalker is in cahoots with Cinder’s agent. As he investigates and ultimately saves the day he grows closer with Cinder and Casey and overcomes his fear of the color white.

Blackjack incorporates a variety of exciting themes – action, high stakes, fashion and family. Though the story keeps your attention, at times the film feels confused, like it isn’t sure which genre it wants to be a part of. The addition of the young girl Casey makes it seem almost like an action-packed, crime fighting rendition of A Family Affair.

The action scenes in Blackjack are higher budget and much more awe-inspiring than most made-for-TV movies and television shows. However, many John Woo fans will be disappointed. The action scenes in Blackjack have nothing on other Woo films like Hard Boiled and The Killer. It is important to note that Woo had to deal with television restrictions and censorship issues, but that doesn’t seem to be an excuse for the very apparent decline in John Woo’s normally outstanding style. The action scenes in the movie are so over-done with pyrotechnics, slow motion shots and more that it is absolutely ludicrous at times.

Despite John Woo’s failures, Actor Dolph Lundgren did a remarkable job in his portrayal of Jack Devlin. Devlin is likeable and down-to-earth and some critics have even gone so far as to call this Lundgren’s best role. Though his white light “Achilles heel” is a bit lame, Lundgren shows a lot more emotion than he has in other films and really stands out as the movie’s star. The other characters in Blackjack, on the other hand, are forgettable.

Aside from forgettable characters, the plot is also pretty forgettable. It is slow moving and many scenes stretch on to the point that you wish they had been edited out. If you are a diehard fan of John Woo or Dolph Lundgren then you may decide to see the movie, but take it with a grain of salt. It’s a good thing that the movie went straight to television, because it would have surely bombed in the box offices.

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Runtime: 97 minutes/Germany 89 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Language: English/Spanish
Country: USA
Director: Paul Rachman
Release Date: 2000
Cast: Olivia Williams, Balthazar Getty, Stacy Edwards, Daniel London
Award: Award for Best Debut Film at Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival

Four Dogs Playing Poker, released in 2000, is a strangely compelling story of four friends who find themselves involved in a botched heist. Under the tutelage of a man named Felix, a professional smuggler played by Tim Curry, the four friends head to Buenos Aires, where a womanizing art collector named Carlo is hosting his daughters wedding. The friends drug Carlo and steal his valuable Degas Statue, The Dancing Lady. The friends then put the statue on a boat to Manhattan Harbor and head back to Los Angeles.

It seems as though the heist has been a success, until Felix’s boss finds them and tells them that the statue is not on the boat. He tells them that if the Dancing Lady is not on the boat when it arrives in Manhattan Harbor then the friends will be subject to a million dollar fine and if they cannot pay they will all be executed, one by one. Not knowing how else to raise one million dollars, the friends take out million dollar life insurance policies on one another and decide to, secretly and randomly, choose one friend who will have to kill another friend so that they can collect the million dollar life insurance policy and the rest of the group can survive.
They will choose the killer and the victim by picking playing cards. Whoever’s card is drawn must kill or be killed. Just as in poker, this deadly game is filled with bluffing and deceit and sends the characters on a wild ride.

Four Dogs Playing Poker is reminiscent of puzzlers like The Usual Suspects. It is revealed that one of the friends is betraying the rest and clues throughout the film lead the viewer to try to figure out just who it is who is betraying his friends. One friend may decide to kill everyone in order to collect on all of the life insurance policies. Is it the paranoid druggie, the reliable girl, the seductress, or the womanizer? You’ll have to watch to find out.

However, the question comes to be, is it worth it to sit through Four Dogs Playing Poker in order to find out who is betraying their friends? Though the film has a great mix of actors, many moviegoers have said that they didn’t care about a single one of these characters. The character studies don’t go very deep and actions and reactions seem farfetched and unbelievable. The film’s all-star cast includes Olivia Williams, Tim Curry and Forest Whitaker.

However, though not everyone loved Four Dogs Playing Poker, it has still received positive reviews by some critics and viewers. While you may not care which character, if any, is going to be killed you can still enjoy the wild and fun premise and plot and the wildly random mix of actors and actresses. Just like The Usual Suspects, Four Dogs Playing Poker draws you in and keeps you guessing from start to finish.

While Four Dogs Playing Poker may be predictable at times and could have been more action-packed, less predictable and more of a psychological thriller it isn’t the worst thing ever made. It’s the kind of movie that you take out from Blockbuster when nothing else on the shelves catches your eye and, though it isn’t a work of cinematic genius, it’s sure to keep you entertained.

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Runtime: 144 minutes
Color: Color/Black&White
Aspect Ratio: 2.35 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA/UK/Germany/Czech Republic
Director: Martin Campbell
Release Date: 11/17/06
Cast: Daniel Craig, Eva Green, Mads Mikkelsen, Judi Dench
Award: Award for Best Sound at the 2006 British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards etc, won 16 awards

James Bond’s Casino Royale, released in 2006, has been touted as not only one of the best Bond films in years, but as one of the best Bond films ever. Daniel Craig portrays an edgier Bond and a more realistic Bond in a darker, more brooding atmosphere and plot than we are used to in earlier Bond films.

In the past when a director has tried to make a bond movie that reveals the darker Bond portrayed in Fleming’s books, as John Glen did in the 1987 Bond film The Living Daylights, it was not received well. Moviegoers were looking for the invincible, superhuman Bond from previous Bond films. However, it seems that times have changed and the critics just loved the ominous, human Bond portrayed in Casino Royale. Director Martin Campbell seems to have hit the nail on the head with this one.

Casino Royale is based on Ian Fleming’s novel by the same name-Casino Royale, the first book in the Bond series. The story begins before Bond has achieved Double-O status as an agent. He is not yet the trained killing machine, equipped with gadgets and experience that we know from other Bond films. Rather, he is somewhat clumsy and not self-assured in the slightest. When the film begins we see no hints of the man we have grown to know and love as “Bond, James Bond”. However, as the movie progresses and he puts on his first tuxedo, learns to seduce, learns to love and learns to kill, we see him grow into the great 007.

Casino Royale opens as Bond corners and kills the corrupt MI6 section chief and his contact in the underworld to earn his Double-O status. The film then goes on to show Bond’s first mission as 007. Bond’s mission is to prevent a terrorist-funding banker named Le Chiffre from winning a casino tournament. Le Chiffre needs to win the tournament in order to recoup his clients’ money that he lost in a botched deal, which happened to have been foiled by Bond. Throughout the course of the plot, Bond floats through scenes of seduction, terror and violence, fear, love and recklessness. These experiences turn him into the fearless, superhuman man seen in earlier Bond films.

Though Casino Royale does away with some of the Hollywood glitz, glam and gadgetry of other Bond films it is still action-packed. The film has some awe-inspiring stunt work, realistically violent torture scenes and doesn’t skimp on the fancy cars-incorporating a 1964 and later 2006 Aston Martin DB5 into the film.

Casino Royale is a fresh change from the Pierce Brosnan Bond of recent films, which many Bond lovers were getting sick of. Aside from the darkness of the character and plot, a noted change from electronic music to orchestral scores demonstrates a throwback to earlier Bond films. Many critics were baffled by the decision to cast Daniel Craig in the role of James Bond before they saw the film. However, it seems to be an unwavering consensus that he is the best Bond in years and moviegoers around the globe look forward to seeing more of him in future Bond films.

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Runtime: 101 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.85 : 1
Language: English
Country: UK
Director: Robert Parrish
Release Date: 11/11/69
Cast: Roy Thinnes, Ian Hendry, Lynn Loring, Patrick Wymark

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun is a 1969 British science fiction film that was originally released in the UK under the title of Doppelgänger. However, after the film’s US release it became better known as Journey to the Far Side of the Sun.

In true Twilight Zone style, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun tells the story of two astronauts trapped in a parallel universe. The European Space Exploration Council sends American astronaut Colonel Glenn Ross and British astrophysicist John Kane on an expedition to a new planet that is located directly across from Earth on the other side of the sun. However, their rocket crashes en-route and they find themselves back on Earth-or do they? Clues lead Glen Ross to the realization that they are not on Earth at all, but rather on a parallel universe that looks exactly like Earth except that everything is a mirror image of what it should be. They are on the Doppelgänger Earth-one that is nearly identical to the Earth they are familiar with, but not quite. The writing is backwards; the furniture in Ross’ house is set up backwards; the people drive on the wrong side of the street; and everyone’s internal organs are even the reverse of our own.

Ross tries to explain to the European Space Exploration Council that he is actually from the “real” Earth and that the Glenn Ross that the doppelgangers sent to “his” Earth must have switched places with him, but nobody will believe him. When he finally convinces them of the truth it may be too late for him to return home.

In theory, this plot could serve as the makings for a very good movie. Unfortunately, Journey to the Far Side of the Sun missed the boat. While it may have made a nice short episode of Twilight Zone, as a full length film the plot grows a bit stale. The movie is full of long, drawn out scenes, none of which add any new information or excitement to the plot. The film seems to take itself too seriously, without any break for smiles or laughs. A little bit of the ol’ British humor might have done this film some good!

The movie does make up for the dull plot with the occasional top-notch special effect that is way out of its league for 1969. However, there are just as many special effects in the film that are a disappointment. The inconsistency between the qualities of effects has lead many critics to ask whether or not the makers simply ran out of money or time before they were able to finish the film. This could also account for the fact that the plot ends abruptly, without relevance.

Journey to the Far Side of the Sun was produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, the producers of the 1960s television series Thunderbirds. The style of the film is reminiscent of other Gerry Anderson productions including UFO and Space: 1999, though these productions followed Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. People who enjoyed these productions are likely to enjoy the film more than viewers who aren’t familiar with Anderson’s other work.

Runtime: 97 minutes /UK:101 minutes
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 1.37 : 1
Language: English
Country: USA
Director: Mario Van Peebles
Release Date: 03/08/91
Cast: Wesley Snipes, Ice-T, Mario Van Peebles, Judd Nelson, Chris Rock
The highest grossing independent film of 1995

Crack cocaine is the new disease on the streets. Gangs are the new crime syndicate. In a world of money, crime and betrayal, you never know where the truth is hiding. New Jack City is an action-packed crime story, wrapped in a drama. Nino Brown, played by Wesley Snipes, has hopes of becoming the biggest drug lord in New York City. He slings crack for cash and, with the help of his gang, takes his operation to the next level. After muscling out the tenants of a project called “The Carter”, he moves in his gang and turns the whole building into a crack house.

Undercover police officers Scotty Appleton, played by Ice T, and Nick Peretti, Judd Nelson, try to gather evidence on the gang to stick them with a drug trafficking charge. Pookie, played by Chris Rock, is their undercover informant. Pookie is a recovering addict that can’t stay clean working in the middle of The Carter. His body is found strapped to a bomb, in a jaw-dropping scene. The gang begins to fall apart as Nino’s greed and narcissism take over his life.

In a poignant scene, Nino watches Scarface and swears he will never make the same mistakes. With a directorial punch, Nino’s face is reflected on the dead face of Tony Montana’s foreshadowing the inevitable. So the dismantling of Nino’s empire begins to fragment as Appleton reveals to Nino that his best friend and partner is planning to start his own cartel and compete for Nino’s business. Nino’s childhood friend is killed in cold blood and the gang collapses.

Nino is finally brought to court through the work of Appleton and Peretti, but with disappointing results. In the final climax, Nino is given a pathetic charge for his horrific crimes. As he walks out of the courthouse, he is shot dead by a tenant of The Carter he had treated so brutally.

Mario Van Peebles’movie directorial debut was in 1991 with New Jack City. The story set in the New York City projects was based on a cover story written for the Village Voice by Barry Michael Cooper called “Kids Killing Kids: New Jack City Eats Its Young”. Cooper adapted this story to the script for New Jack City. Thomas Lee Wright is also credited for writing the script based on his original script called Leroy Nicky Barnes.

New Jack City was the top-grossing independent film released in 1991 and nearly recovered its production costs on opening weekend. The action-packed crime drama has a brilliant pace, whisking along the audience into the dark — if not glamorous — crime under world. There are some break-out performances that were highly regarded including Ice-T and Wesley Snipes.

Some of the criticisms following New Jack City include the disjointed narrative in the second half of the movie. There is a feeling that you are being rushed through without proper set-up. The fast-pace can be too aggressive for some with a camera that jerks around in a style that may have felt fresh in 1991. For a drug / crime drama of a different flavor, New Jack City is still referred to by hip-hop culture as a lesson in greed and the faulty notion of building your empire on crime.