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The Time Machine has a brilliant 1800's inventor driven to create a time machine. Alexander Hartdegen, played by Guy Pearce, proposes to his girlfriend, but she is then killed in a hold up. Alexander is then finishes his time machine and goes back in time to save her , however she is killed again. At this he becomes frustrated and decides to go forward in time to see if he can work out why he can't save her. Along the way he comes across a future exploration development by humans that ends up destroying life on earth. In the process he is knocked unconscious and he travels past the year 800000. He then discovers life that has been recreated.

This movie showed real potential for a novel idea, but feel flat in the delivery. The new world existence was a little uninspiring and resulted in ending that was very predictable.

Confidence is an excellent crime double cross movie. This is a movie that would appeal to people that enjoyed The Italian Job. Confidence however uses the Pulp Fiction story telling format. In this case the time line jumps about as Jake Vig, played by Edward Burns, is retelling the story while being held at gun point. One line from the movie is about expert chess players being able to think up to 20 moves ahead, and that describes how complex this movie gets. This is not a movie to watch if you are feeling tired, this one keeps you thinking. There are some great art styling without detracting from the story line. Overall I feel this is a great movie.

Wonderland is a thriller that presents a Pulp Fiction or Sliding Doors treatment of the "Wonderland" murders in LA in the 1980's. It follows the two accounts of the events that let up to the murder of four people on a street named Wonderland. The Movie is OK, and includes some high profile actors, like Val Kilmer, Lisa Kudrow, Christina Applegate, Carrie Fisher and Dylan McDermott from The Practice. Given the art gore movie last week, Chopper, this was just a little bit too much of the same (the gore bit is saved for the end). I need a comedy to pick up my interest again.

Cheaper by the Dozen is a comedy about a family of extra large proportions. That is all you can say about having twelve children. Tom Baker played by Steve Martin is a college football coach (university gridiron to us aussies). When the family grew to four they moved out of the city and Tom gave up his big league coaching ambition. Well now after many years he is offered the opportunity to coach his old school team in the top division. So the family moved into the city, at the same time Tom's wife, Kate, is offered a book deal with a book tour for three weeks. Now the chaos beings as Dad tries to coach a top league team and still run an extraordinary large family. There is lots of physical comedy, that makes it a great family movie.

Chopper is the nick name for Mark Read one of Australia's criminals. The movie is an art movie about his life. I didn't really want to see this movie but these things happen and the movie met my expectations. The characters main plot device is to stab or shoot each other and then apologise while going for help. It one scene Chopper is stabbed a few times but then hugs his attacker. While the movie had some artistic scene compositions the art aspect was degraded by blood spurting scenes.

The Last Samurai is a last century war movie. Tom Cruise, plays Nathan Algren, a US military advisor hired to train Japanese troops to kill rebel Samurai. After a spectacular demonstration of who incompetent the troops are with so little training, it is no surprise the initial force is defeated. Nathan is captured and held prisoner. While captive he learns the way of the Samurai and fights for their cause.

A good classical war movie.

What Women Want is a romantic comedy about Nick Marshall, played by Mel Gibson, an advertising executive who is looked over for a promotion. His new boss Darcy McGuire, played by Helen Hunt does not sit well with the male chauvinistic Nick.

Darcy tried to turn the male orientated view of the advertising firm by getting her new staff to trying on some women's products like stocking and eye makeup. When trying out the wax, Nick nearly electrocutes himself and is amazingly given the ability to hear what all of the women around him are thinking.

The movie is more a comedy than romance, however there is the sprinkling of romance throughout. The funny scenes are quite good and play on the well establish male ego verses women's feelings

This is a good movie.

Something's Gotta Give is an excellent romantic comedy that left me in stitches. The movie stars Harry Sanborn played by Jack Nicholson and Erica Barry played by Diane Keaton and as an over 50 odd couple. They meet when Zoe Barry, the daughter of Erica, brings Harry to her mum's beach house for a romantic weekend. Unknown to them mum is there with a friend writing her play. At first Erica calls the police to report an intruder but is then more shocked to find that he is dating her daughter. After an initial awkward moment they decide to be adult about the whole weekend and share the house.

Just before a moment of passion with Zoe, Harry has a heart attack is Erica saves him by giving him CPR. The young doctor that treats Harry is a big fan of Erica's play and fall head over heels for Erica. As part of the recovery Harry ends up back at Erica's house with her looking after him, and he falls for her. This web of relationships allows many to discover feelings they didn't think possible and some really funny moments.

This is a great movie and you and your partner must see it.

Coyote Ugly is a story about dreams chased and life in the big city. Set in New York, Violet is new in the big city from New Jersey. Now her mother has passed away she wants to chase her dream of song writing into the big apple. She doesn't have the courage to sing her own songs live so she sends out some demo tapes. After she is robbed and has her rundown apartment trashed she is ready to give it all in. But then she hears about Coyote Ugly and applies for work there. Little does she realise that at this bar the drinks are not the only attraction. After nearly losing her job on the first night, she holds her own until dad comes into the bar to see just where she is working. I'm a fan of Jerry Bruckheimer and I love this movie too.

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The music is great and I would recommend the sound track.

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The Cat in the Hat is a "real life" recreation of the Dr. Seuss book by the same name. The movie stars Mike Myers as the Cat in the Hat and they have put a lot of work into creating the Dr Seuss elements. For those familiar with the books illustrations will recognise the move in an instant, from the cat to the things to the trees. the movie faithfully follows the story with only a few extra bits, but even with the extra bits the movie is still quite short. As a kids movie this could be quite entertaining, however I felt that the "adult" jokes that Pixar movies have come to be famous for were not as well hidden, so that it was quite obvious to all that there was supposed to be a word and the word had to rhyme was grass. In Pixar movies these gaps have been filled with something else so that innocent children would not realise there could have been a joke. In this movie however it was almost drawn to attention that such a word was going to be used but was not.

Blade II an action thriller about vampires. The movies follows the half vampire blade played by Wesley Snipes. If you haven't seen the first movie like me, then this movie holds you hand to get you up to speed. Blade is half vampire because his mother was bitten while she was pregnant and was born shortly after. He is the same as other vampires except he is not affect by sunlight, which destroy's normal vampires. Vampires are not affected by normal weapons, you need silver weapons to hurt them. Now Blade hates normal vampires and is trying to kill all of them at this point they get into the movie. The overall plot is that there are some 'mutated' vampires that are killing everyone and everything. Blade thinks this is great and hopes they kill all the vampires, but they convince Blade to help kill the mutated vampires and save the human race, because they will have to kill something to eat after all the vampires are gone. Now you can guess that working with the enemy can be a problem and it sure is for Blade. This movie makes great use of special effects, especially in the destruction of a vampire. It is a good movie although a little gory is parts hence the high rating classification.

Monsters Inc is the fourth movie from Pixar studios and continues the trend to extended the possibilities with Digital Animation. In this movie the technical achievement was to have free flowing hair on one of the main characters. apparently it takes about 3 million hairs to cover the character Sully. The animators move and place a 'nude' character and then the computers spend all night and then some to add the hair or shirts to the character. Monsters Inc is an excellent children's story that plays on something from nearly everyone's childhood. The monster in the cupboard. The movie is presented from the monsters point of view, where they catch 'scream's to produce clean energy for their world. Millions of doors a stored and brought to the ready for monsters to jump dimensions and create the 'scare', then jump back and wait while the next door is brought out. However something goes wrong when a child enters the world and threatens to destroy it, resulting is a chaotic journey to return the child and save the company Monsters Inc.

Charlie's Angels: Full throttle is the sequel to the Charlie's Angels movie directed by McG, based on the TV series by the same name. Well if you have seen the first movie and thought that is 'stretched' the imagination then you have to see this. If you can sit back and enjoy the opening scene where the Angels rescue and US Marshal but launching a helicopter off the back of a low loader while falling down the side of a dam, then this movie is for you. It continues the Angels theme of going under cover the find the answers to the riddle they need to solve, in this case to save hundreds of innocent victims. It also build on the first movie by playing the innuendo to the max, having the Angels appear with a leading strip club dance troop, amongst other things. What I loved about this movie is the songs the feature in it. My usual favourite is the high use of rare and exotic cars. The movies villain's drives and Ferrari Enzo, Maserati, GTO and Shelby Cobra. Along with a range of other classic cars. One interesting 'backlot' irony is that the orphanage run by nuns was filmed at the Playboy Mansion.

Pretty Woman is one of those classic romantic movies that doesn't age. It is the classic Cinderella story where a lady who works the streets, to avoid tell her family that she can't make it in the big city, is 'rescued' by a prince in shinning armour. Well in a sports car at least. When she shows she can drive the car better than he can he offers to have her be his 'girlfriend' while he is finishing a billion dollar takeover. This leads to some interesting situations where she is trying to act all prim and proper but her street background keep being revealed. There is this great scene where a waiter catches a 'flying' sail that she just can't get open.

This is a great movie and I wholly recommend it.

S.W.A.T. is an action movie that starts with the breakup of a cop partnership. One is a rebel that will not follow orders, while the other is a excellent example of how it should be done. But when one too many order are not followed the pair is kicked to the SWAT equivalent of desk duty, so the rebel calls it quits and leave. After spending six months in the 'cage' he is given a break and becomes part of an elite SWAT team formed to encourage morale within the LAPD. The team is called upon to capture and international terrorist that attempts a breakup while in transport. After being captured he offers to the close by news cameras and reward of $100 Million dollars to any one who can get him out and so the city is alive with every two bit crook trying to cash in on the reward. This leads to an exceptional chase throughout the city to capture him again. With double crosses and lots of distractions the final chase scene has everything in it.

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The third instalment of the American Pie series continues the tradition of placing Jim Levinstein in the most impossible situations and then her manages to get out of it. All the time focusing on how he and his friends can get with the girls. In this instalment Stifler actually appears to be helpful towards Jim although not without creating his own problems. I love this series and this continues the series by being an excellent movie.

Crimson Tide highlights the problem faced by modern society. The the enemy in war is war itself. After the current XO called in sick Denzel Washington is called in to go with the USS Alabama to take up strategic position against Russian rebels. In the course of the trip the situation deteriorates and they are order to launch when ready. While preparing to launch a Russian sub controlled by the rebels attacks and a message is cut off when communications are lost. Standard procedure is to follow orders to hand and so launch the missiles. However the XO wants to confirm the orders and so the power struggle begins between the Captain of the boat, played by Gene Hackman and the XO with sailors swaping sides. As a result of the real events that lead to the movie the order to launch missiles was placed solely with the President.

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I have a personal preference for car movies, but they often don't rate well so they don't hang around. I still think this one is cool. The number and variety of cars is exceptional. And not just your Ferrari's and Lamborghinni's either. The star of the show is a classic Shelby. The story starts with the little kid brother being having his car boosting operation busted, while to crime boss placing the order threatens his life. So big brother is called in to say save his kid brother. Cage assembles his old team to do a 50 car one night boost. All goes well until the cars with the laser encoded keys have the cops watching. After a few Plan B's they are left with the Unicorn (unobtainable) car with the cops right on their heels. Like I said I have a personal bias when I say this is a great movie with a spectacular chase scene at the end.

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The Italian Job begins with the ultimate heist. After blowing away the floor from under a safe with gold in it there is this great boat chase scene while in reality the safe is being worked on under water. All goes well until time to drop off the gold when a double cross leaves all the gold with just one of them. Years later to avenge the killing of his father in the double cross the son get the original team plus his sister to seal back the gold. Not for the money but to see the look on his face. Using some fancy technology the crew has everything set including faking a date to get the house empty. Only thing is a party blocks the get away and attracts too much attention. After being caught out over dinner they crew has to capture the gold in armoured guard transit with two dummy trucks and helicopter support. The result the most amazing robbery you are likely to see. This is a great movie the only down side is how they get out of the freezing water at the double cross, but hey you can't have everything, this is Hollywood!

The Art of War stars Wesley Snipes as an under cover UN operative that gets caught up in a double cross to destroy a Chinese US free trade agreement by killing the Chinese ambassador. With lots of action and specular stunts this movie has potential. Being a little lacking in the story line, there are some nice twists, but in the end the number of impossible sequences and slow parts in the story bring this movie down. It does have some credit in focusing not on America but instead using the UN, as the all powerful organisation, but it just needed a little work.

Is a drama that follow ladies from a small English town, which are members of the Woman's Institute (WI). John the husband of Annie "surprises" her when he announces that he will be going to hospital to be treated for cancer. While on one of the visits to the hospital Chris her best friend, nearly injures herself on the sofa in the relatives lounge. Unfortunately the therapy does not work and John passes away. Meanwhile Woman's Institute is preparing the annual calendar, and Chris is inspired by a calendar in the local mechanic's garage. Having been bored by the meetings discussing Broccoli, Chris asks her friends if they want to help shoot a nude calendar. If is quite funny as they try to find a suitable photographer, shoot the photos and get approval to print the calendar. Things become difficult towards the end of the movie and the project appears to grow beyond the friendship that was the inspiration for the calendar.

This is a good movie and given the ending I believe it is based on a true story. Oh and they raise enough to replace the sofa.

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Enemy of the State is a drama thriller that follows Robert Dean, played by Will Smith, a labour lawyer. An old friend that studies nature, captures the murder of a politician on video. While trying to avoid being caught he passed the video to Robert Dean before being killed. Robert then has his life fall apart as the murderers try to get the video back using all the technology of the NSA. Dean is saved by 'Brill' Lyle, played by Gene Hackman. Brill is an ex-intelligence officer that worked in Iran and was 'dropped' when international relations collapsed. Ever since he has been living a secret life away from probing technology, but watching everyone else with technology. The movie presents the technology as being able to do anything, and while I don't doubt the computing power governments throw at keeping tabs on us, I feel being able to bring up a wire frame diagram of a building on demand is a little bit much. The drama is good and it is a not so scary thriller. Good looking for the geeks among us.

Road to Perdition is a gangster drama set in 1930's America. The movie takes a different perspective to most gangster movies, instead of focusing on the battle between one part of the family and another, this movie shows the Sullivan family where the father works for gangsters. The children go to school and they live a normal life except that dad's work is not discussed. Being a curious 12 year old boy his son, Michael, hides in the back of his car on one 'mission' and sees his father involved in killing another gangster. Regrettably for the family the person Sullivan is working with is the son of the local godfather. So a hit is put on Sullivan's life, but the killer dosen't kill Sullivan or his son Michael, he instead kills his wife and younger son. Sullivan then heads on a journey of revenge stealing Mob money and plotting to kills his families killer. This is an excellent drama with the suspense held right up to the end. It is not just a shoot fest but builds on the characters.

Pirates of the Caribbean is a great thriller, that follows the curse of Aztec Gold, that once stolen curses the thieves to walk the earth as undead. The plot I believe is the retelling of an original story, but in any case is a great story line with interesting interrelationships between characters. The special effects are excellent, with the cursed characters transforming seamlessly between human and undead as they walk from candle light to moon light. This is an great movie with just a little bit of horror.

Con Air stars Nicolas Cage as a US Ranger who on return to his wife gets involved in a bar brawl and kills a man. Cage, misses out on seeing his daughters birth and early years and is desperate to see his wife and daughter. His transport home will be with a bunch of other inmates that are being transferred to a maximum security prison. On the way home Cage is then caught up in a jail break by the other prisoners using their transport plane. The trip goes from bad to worse as Cages attempts to have the prisoners caught place him in dangerous situations and then double crosses by inmates creates total chaos. There is a little bit of romance for the ladies but there is plenty of action for the guys.

Chocolat is a romantic movie about a gypsy that moves into a devout church going village. The Mayor has everyone 'under his thumb' and makes sure they all go to church. However not all is as it appears, there are relationships breaking up and the town is very miserable. When Vianne opens a chocolate shop during lent the town is torn between the new shop and the mayor. This is a lovely movie about food, love and living one's life. Just make sure you have some chocolate handy when you watch it.

Armageddon stars Bruce Willis as an oil driller who has to save the world. The problem is NASA has found a asteroid that is heading to Earth and will destroy all life on Earth. Given its speed and late detection, the only method NASA can come up with is to land people on the asteroid and drill into it, to plant a nuclear bomb and detonate it to split the asteroid in half. This is a fantastic ride and you have to ignore probability, but entertaining.

Top Gun is one of my all time favourite movies. I just love the speed and skill factor in flying something like a F-14. Since I recently got a home theatre surround sound system this movie takes on a even better view. For those that don't know this is follows some pilots (two in particular) through the Naval Aviators 'Top Gun' class, a school for the best of the best. This movie even gets a little romance into it. Well worth buying the DVD for full on surround sound.

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Office Space is a dry comedy about work. A bit like Falling Down but as a comedy. In this movie a stressed out (from boredom) employee takes hypnotherapy to try and get along with his girlfriend better. However the therapist has a heart attack and he is left with permanently not giving a dam. So he goes to work late and doesn't do his work. Then some consultants come through to gain some efficiencies (sack people). The consultants think he is made for middle management. This is a movie for you if you like watching people attack fax machines and have nightmares about their boss.

Space Cowboys is a dramatic comedy, if there can be such a category. The movie follows Dr. Frank Corvin, who is played by Clint Eastwood, who also directed the film. Corvin, is one of a team of four experimental Air Force pilots that were pushing the envelope just before NASA was formed. They were then pushed aside from the program and have felt cheated out of going into space. Thirty years later is that the control software for a satellite that Corvin designed is on a critical Russian satellite that is falling out of orbit. Given the small amount of time remaining Corvin convinces NASA to send the old team up to fix it, provided they pass fitness. It is an alright movie that is easy entertainment. Some of the funnies are a newspaper headline describing the team as the 'Ripe stuff'. There are a few twists towards the end and a dramatic finish as one of them makes the ultimate sacrifice. So like I said a dramatic comedy?

Crimson Tide is a drama set upon a US nuclear submarine. In the movie Russian rebels take over a naval base in south east Russia and threaten to launch nuclear missiles against Japan and the US. The mission proceeds as expected until they receive orders to launch the nuclear missiles and they run into an attack sub. During the encounter with the rebel sub, another message is only partly received. At this point the captain, played by Gene Hackman wishes to proceed and launch based on orders to hand while the Ex O, played by Denzel Washington, wants to confirm the incomplete orders to avoid a nuclear holocaust. I think the movie is great, and I love how it plays on the problem setout at the start of the movie. The three most powerful people in the world The president of the United States, the president of the Russian republic and the Captain of a Nuclean submarine.

Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines once again stars Arnold Schwarzenegger again sent back in time and like the second movie to save the world. This movie continues the saga where we meet John Conner as an adult who has managed to stop the day of reckoning, or so he believes. The Governator Terminator lets him know that he has been sent back in time to protect, not just him, but his lieutenants as well. This movie then sets up the scene where we see the decision about starting Sky Net. The movie was a little flat as it appears to be setting up for yet another sequel, although given the Governator is now so busy I don't know if this will happen. This movie was a bit like The Empire Strikes Back or The Two Towers where the characters appear to get into an unrecoverable position and it is left the next instalment for them to get out of it. I hope there is another instalment.

Kate & Leopold is a romantic comedy staring Meg Ryan as a successful career woman in a advertising company. Her ex-husband is a 'mad' scientist that discovers are 'rip' in time that allows him to travel back to the past. The only problem is that he brings back Leopold. Played by Hugh Jackman. Like most romantic movies they fall for each other, but face the problem that they come from different centuries. There are some real funny part like when Leopold walks the dog and is caught by a police office for not collect the dog's poo, it is just lovely how he describes what the police officer is asking him to to. When the police officer ask for his name even that gets to be funny. As for the realism, there are quite a number of problems that just get glossed over. He adapts to modern clothing too easily, but if you suspend that reality it is a fun movie.

Serendipity is defined within this movie and a fortunate accident. This romantic comedy play on that to show how two people can be truly 'destined' to be with each other. It would appear that these two have trouble staying apart. It a funny and has a love story that make it not to much of either. A great way to spent an evening with your parnter.

I bought There's Something More about Mary last week and so far I only seen the original cut of the movie, and this is one of those movies that is almost cult like. It is not a must have movie but it is so good you just can't not have it. It so cool how Cameron Diaz has so many men following her character and so of the silly things that happen. This is not slapstick humor, but very good physical humor, like the 'hair gel' scene and the 'beans above the frank' scenes. This is a great comedy.

Head of State stars Chris Rock as a politician who wants to change the world, but because he does not play the party line he not going far. When the presidential running mates from his party are killed in a plane crash, he is selected because the scheming party room wants to set him up to fail, so they can landslide it at the next election. However Chris's style wins the electorate and he looks like wining. That is when everything starts to backfire on him. This movie was alright, but it is very in your face humor so you never miss a joke, but then you never feel like you found a 'hidden' one either. very easy watching.

Sweet Home Alabama is a romantic comedy that based on the differences in the deep south of the US. The story starts with an up and coming fashion designer you is proposed to by the son of the mayor of New York. However she has a little secret. She is still married to her high school sweet heart and her parents are a battling working family. She makes her way back to her home town and then struggles to leave as she realises the difference between wealth and relationships.

I saw Hollywood Homicide and I tell you what I loved this movie. It stars tow cops who are also trying to run their own lives. One played by Harrison Ford also runs a real estate business on the side, the other played by Josh Hartnett thinks he want to be an actor. They are chasing down a bight club murder and an old disgruntled cop now in internal affairs launches an investigation into them. There are heaps of laughs and a few twists of the plot. Excellent viewing.

This movie is the sequel of the movie based on the computer game all of the same name. Angelina Jolie again stars as Lara Croft and like to computer game it would appear that the size of her breasts is decreasing as the number of titles progresses. Anyway Lara is again called on to save the world, although this time MI6 is doing the asking. It would appear someone has found the original Pandora's' Box and want to sell it as a weapon. As usual the action stunts are out of this world and over the top, although this time there seems to be a lot of 'travel' time. We watch the characters get from place to place. This appear to be used to insert some stunts, but really leaves the story telling little room to work. If you are happy with high level action this is a must see.

The Thomas Crown Affair is a remake of a 1960's movie of the same name. This thriller has been updated to reflect slightly more modern thinking. The movie stars Pierce Brosnan as Thomas Crown, a high flying business executive who has become bored with multi million dollar takes overs, so he plans to steal a painting from the art gallery across the road. Once successful, the art gallery's insurance company send Catherine Banning, played by Rene Russo, to find the missing painting. She uses all the available tricks she has to uncover the painting with almost no morals. However she falls in love with Mr Crown and he appears to return the feelings. I'll leave the ending up to you so see.

You've Got Mail is a romantic comedy staring the classic duo of the nineties, Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. This movie cemented Tom and Meg as romantic stars following on with their success in Sleepless in Seattle. While it follows the classic boy meets girl they fight and then get together again, what is different about this story is that they love each other and hate each other at the same time. Using the Internet they have met each other without the baggage of their working lives. Professionally however they are arch enemies. Of course I would love to know what happens in the "happily ever after" but that would ruin a great romantic story. This is a great movie to sit and cuddle a loved one on the lounge after dinner.

Tomb Raider is a movie based on the computer game with the same lead character. Lara Croft, played by Angelina Jolie is your Raiders of the Lost Ark type of character. This is one action adventure my wife likes I guess because the hero is played by a woman with attitude. Like most action adventures Tomb Raider is an amazing adventure. This is a fun movie with some minor scary parts. Some of the characters are a little dry and almost seem irrevelent to the story but it is great viewing.

The Whole Nine Yards is an excellent comedy with a little romance. The movie follows Oz played by Matthew Perry, who is a dentist married to a wife that hates him. The only reason they live together is that her father embezzled some money and then suicided leaving Oz with a huge debt. She won't divorce him until the debt is paid and if he tried she would sue him for the divorce. Things get on edge when Jimmy "Tulips", played by Bruce Willis moves in next door and Oz's wife sends Oz to Chicago to rat on Tulips. This is an excellent movie with twists right to the end.

Ballistic: Ecks vs. Sever is an unusual title. To me it would appear that the movie writers thought the title should be longer. I guess much like the dialog, they thought there should be some. But there is not very much. This is high level action, no words required. There are some spectacular scenes and it won't tackle your mind. Very easy watching.

The Matrix, is one of those ground breaking movie that sets the path for others to follow. Like the special effects in Star Wars, this movie has effect that have lead the way in the movie industry. However the movies is not just an effects movie. It also has a story line that make you think about the world around you and how we perceive things. This is a must have movie of the nineties.

Four Weddings and a Funeral is a romantic comedy following Hugh Grant as a hopeless single always going to other people's weddings. This was the movie that really moved Hugh's career in to high gear. One of the characters is deaf and is played by a deaf actor, this is great to see. It is happy, funny, sad and romantic. It even has a great ending.

Die Hard 2 is the next instalment in the Die hard series. This time the action takes place in an airport and, still Christmas eve, same heroes. Although the trouble makers are more like terrorists unlike in Die Hard where they were really just stealing. The terrorists take over the airport controls and stack planes in the air to run out of fuel unless they get what they want. I guess from the terrorists point of view they were lucky their flight was scheduled to land at night in a storm or the plot would not have worked. Great viewing and excellent sequel.

Over the Christmas break I saw the final instalment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King. This bring to a close this excellent movie series in a climatic finish. There are excellent special effects, although as with the last films tastefully done. Still sticking true to the books Peter Jackson has allowed the books to come to life, with awesome creatures and what has to rate as the largest battle scene yet, with hundreds of thousands of combatants. In among all of this you are still able to follow the heartfelt moments as the struggle to destroy the Ring become so difficult.

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Well you can probably guess what I got for Christmas. And what a great Christmas story it is, this original action movie was the start of action hero career for Bruce Willis. This movie has an excellent twist to the plot terrorists. It has excellent levels of action, like the police tank, the helicopter double cross. If only a little unbelievable like jumping off a building with only a fire hose. I love the music that goes with this movie and cinematography, the over the shoulder shots and the way the camera moves with the action in the story.

Striking Distance is an action movie staring Bruce Willis as a river cop who was kicked out of the Police force because he thought a cop killed his father. It is a reasonable movie, a little predictable and has the classic "whodunit", "I'm framed" elements, with just a little twist at the end. Good Viewing.

See No Evil, Hear No Evil is an excellent comedy about two disabled men. Richard Pryor plays a blind man, and Gene Wilder plays a deaf man. Both of these men try to pretend that they don't have any disabilities and when a murder occurs at the shop they run they are left with being convicted for the murder. Showing ingenuity they outwit the police and escape jail, and find the real murders. The catch line says it all "The blind man didn't see, the deaf man didn't hear it, but they know whodunit."

I love this movie. I love the rich colours, and I have heard this was bundled as a DVD to help show of the quality of the DVD format, because the colours are so rich. I love the story line, that aliens help control the universe with us, not against us or that we try to defeat them. I love the humor, the deaf pop star, the number of Korben Dallas's that try to check in on the flight. I also love the editing, how near the end the question asked by someone is then answered by someone else in a different space craft.

Basic looks like your classic action flick from the director of Die Hard, and you can just sit there and enjoy the action if you like. Try and follow the story line and work out who did what and I ended up with a Pulp Fiction like story line. There are constant twists and turns you don't know who is good and who is bad, even at the end I still couldn't work it out for some characters. Very involving and an interesting movie, and very good combination of murder mystery and action movie. I look forward to seeing more murder mysteries that don't have little old ladies solving it.

Dave is a real feel good comedy with a romantic. The story begins with the President of the U.S. going into a coma in not so nice circumstances and Dave is asked to double for the President to 'maintain stability' for the country. However it is clear that the political minders have their own agenda and when Dave is put in the position of having to veto a bill that would help the homeless he puts in place a plan of his own to save the bill. The ensuing mudslinging between Dave and the minders, who are all playing up to the public about him being President is great comedy. This is and oldie but a goodie.

This is a classic terrorist rescue movie staring Kurt Russell, Halle Berry and what has to be one of the shortest appearances that still gets a top billing by Steven Seagal. Steven play Lt. Col. Austin Travis and is killed in a failed boarding of the hijacked plane early in the movie. The action is intense and looking at this movie with a post Sept. 11 view is interesting. The terrorists refer to the Quran and plan to kill people using an airliner as a nerve gas missile. It has great action and keeps you on the edge of your seat, although you can tell how it ends, but not how they will get there. There is one glaring tech mistake. The bomb has a computer trigger with an onboard hard drive. Only problem is you can see the platters and heads operating freely in open air. If only the producers knew that a cigarette smoke particle is about twice as big as the gap between the platter and heads, let alone dust and rubbish in a cargo bay.

X-Men 2 in the sequel to the Marvel Comics movie X-Men, based on the comic book with the same name. The first movie had been criticized for being too slow, they had to introduce the characters into the movie. Well this time around no such introduction is required an the movie gets straight into the action and there is plenty of it. The movie explores the tension between the humans and X-Men mutants. It jumps straight into assassinating the President of the U.S. From the ending, clearly there will be more to the saga.

Daddy Day Care is a movie about a family that faces the usual problem of finding day care for their preschooler. This is made worse by Charlie the father, played by Eddie Murphy losing his job. After no luck finding decent affordable care Charlie and his work mate Phil, who also lost his job, start "Daddy Day Care". This is a funny movie that explores the problems of advertising executives trying to care for children. They get involved in a fight with a local prep school that tries to use Children's Services to close them down. Overall a good laugh and family viewing.

Deep Impact is one of a groups of movies that has to make you wonder and movie making conspiracies. How can there be some many movies like Deep Impact, and Armageddon released so close together and then follow up with The Core all based on the U.S. saving the world from nature.

Anyway Deep Impact again has the U.S., with others for a change, trying the put a comet off course to stop it from destroying earth. Same basic plot man goes to comet, original plans fails alternate plan has to be made up. At least there is no military style "Plan B" that includes killing themselves, like other movies using this plot. This is good viewing.

Chicken run is a animated comedy about the plight of some chickens in a chicken run. It is not animated in the carton style. It is in the style of Thomas the Tank engine in that it uses clay-animation instead of pictures. The story line is very funny and this is a movie I like. The story starts with Rocky, a circus chicken that escapes from the circus into the chicken run. The chickens of the chicken run plan to escape and mistaken believe that Rocky can fly, so they ask him to teach them. The story then follows their escapades as they plan the escape while the owners of the run plan to start selling chicken pies instead of eggs. It has some great takes offs including scenes reminiscent of Raiders of the Lost Ark. A great family movie.

The Core can only be considered an action comedy. The movie takes the similar approach to Armageddon, Deep Impact, etc. Basically the world is in trouble and the U.S. is here to save it. At least in The Core the U.S. is cleaning up it own mess. The story line is basically that the U.S. tested a earthquake making weapon and this has upset the core of the Earth, causing magnetic disturbance that threatens the planet. So a team is put together to save Earth. Very predictable, easy viewing. Errors include using http error 404, page not found, for access denied, not 401, but hey I'm a geek.

What Women Want is a romantic comedy about an advertising executive, Nick Marshall played by Mel Gibson, who misses out on landing "his" job when Darcy McGuire, played by Helen Hunt is recruited from outside his firm. As part of trying to increase the market share Darcy asks her new staff to try and appeal to women and gives them a pink box of women's products to try and develop ideas for. Nick while trying this electrocutes himself in the bath and acquires the ability to hear what women are thinking. The movie is a great comedy, and includes some great ideas, there is a scene where having discovered his new talent he tries to listen to two "tea" ladies and hears nothing. This is great viewing.

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen if a old time fantasy, based on history greatest "traditional" heroes. People like Alan Quartermain, played by Sean Connery, Captain Nemo, The Invisible Man and Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde and others. This group is brought together to stop a world war. A group formed by Unique Individuals. Of course there is a twist, they do have to stop world war but not the way they though. This is a great movie, lots of CGI, but not overdone. I especially like how they show the Jekyll/Hyde transition.

Matrix Reloaded is the second movie in the Matrix Trilogy. Regrettably like The Empire Strikes Back and Two Towers this movie suffers from being a 'hump movie'. The first movie introduces you to the new world and shows you things you never though possible. The second movie get everyone into trouble, saving the final action for the final movie.

In Matrix Reloaded, Zion is under the largest ever attack from the machines and Neo, played by Keanu Reeves, embarks on a quest to find The Architect of the matrix. Without giving too much away the movie ends with the struggle continuing and the final line is 'to be concluded'.

The DVD includes an extra disc of making of info. The car chase scene gets a 30 min. moviette, where they show the making of two and a half kilometres of freeway, overpasses and all, because it was too hard to use a real one. They show the tricks used to get cars to roll, trucks to jackknife and how to ride against the traffic, incredible stuff.

Meet the Parents is a comedy starring Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller. Ben plays Greg Focker who wants to marry Pam, played by Teri Polo. So Greg gets to 'Meet the Parents' Jack played by Robert De Niro. Now Greg is scarred off by Jack at first and tries to impress the father-in-law to be. Greg then has a whole range of things go wrong that make him out to be a horrible person. There is one scene where Greg is chasing a cat on a roof and drops a cigarette into a gutter full of leaves that starts a huge fire. Very funny movie and you just have to feel sorry for Greg.

The Bulletproof Monk, is an excellent movie about a monk that is entrusted to protect a scroll that if read will give the reader absolute power over the universe. The protector can only be selected by fulfilling a prophecy. Once selected exceptional powers are granted to assist the protector, including never getting old. The movie features some spectacular wire fight scenes as a Nazi officer who unsuccessful in WWII continues to try and obtain the scroll. Excellent viewing.

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The Three Musketeers is a great movie based on the adventure of three musketeers after The Cardinal has had the Musketeers disbanded. The Cardinal is plotting to kill the King and to take over ruling France. During this time D'Artagnan seeks to join the Musketeers. He runs into the three rebel Musketeers and uncovers the plot to kill the King. Together to try to save the King and expose the Cardinal. This is a really great movie with some excellent sword fight scenes.

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Snake Eyes stars Nicholas Cage as a Atlantic City Detective, who is invited to front row seats for the boxing fight of the year. But before the first round finishes, the Defence Secretary is shot in the crowd. Nicholas' best friend is assigned to provide security for the Secretary and the two try to solve the murder before the night is out. However not everything is as it would appear. This is an interesting movie that follows a number of twists and turns. Worth seeing.

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Well this is the second instalment in The Lord of the Rings story by J.R.R. Tolkien. The Peter Jackson film, makes great use of special effect to take you into the fantasy world of Middle Earth. Peter has said that he had been disappointed with previous efforts to make the Lord of the Rings into a film. Well he has made exceptional use of the latest technology to make the movie almost exceed your imagination. There are battle scenes with tens of thousands of creatures, down to the exacting details of the Ent tree guardians. This is a great film, but does suffer a little by being the middle book. It does not have the warm introduction of the first movie, and you are left a little hanging at the end waiting for the final instalment. It is great viewing, but if you need a story to finish, wait until the Return of the King is out.

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The Accidental Spy is a Jackie Chan movie where he plays the only descendant of his father. As part of his final words he gives Jackie a challenge to find his inheritance. As with all of Jackie Chan's movies he performs spectacular stunts himself and the fight scenes are the usual, amazingly co-ordinated "dances". Due to a cold I have at the moment I fell asleep, but from what I did see the plot was a little thin and most of my friends that saw it agreed that this was not his best.

Finding Nemo is a animated movie from the produces of Toy Story and Monsters Inc. The story is set in Australia, starting in the Great Barrier Reef. Nemo is the only remaining son of Gill, who is very protective of Nemo. Nemo tries to prove to his Dad that he is growing up but get caught by divers and is taken away. The story then follows Gill trail though the ocean meeting all types of creatures to find Nemo. Nemo having been caught by the diver is to become the birthday present for the divers niece. Placed into an aquarium while waiting for the birthday the other fish try to get Nemo to help them to escape.

This is a great movie with Pixar's usual mix of humor and story line. Well worth viewing.

I saw the movie Flubber over the weekend and I must say that I was impressed with the movie. I was expecting a bit of a kids movie, using a lot of visual effects. But I can say that the movie had more substance than the Flubber. With a bit of slapstick humor, Robin Williams plays a absent minded professor who misses his own wedding and creates a new energy source Flubber. This substance magnifies energy and will save his University School from closing. It it light humor with some jokes for parents.

One Hour Photo is a Thriller staring Robin Williams. Robin plays Sy, a mini lab technician who collects the photos of a local family. He does not have any family of his own and so values these customers as his own family. His boss fires Sy for the difference in the click counts and the number of photos sold, so when Sy discovers the Husband cheating on the wife a bizarre chain of events takes place.

I felt the ending left a little out but that is the nature of thrillers. I had a particular interest from photographers point of view, especially the scene inside the machines.