First off, don't make the mistake of thinking the title has anything to do with the plot; I made that mistake. Gee, who'd have thought that a movie called Chinatown would have absolutely nothing to do with that area of town in L.A., where the film takes place? I didn't mind, though, because it is a fairly interesting mystery and Jack Nicholson didn't "phone in" his performance.

Actually, Chinatown is mentioned about ten times in the film because Nicholson used to work there and Dunaway's butler lives there. One scene, about six minutes takes place in Chinatown, which is unrecognizeable and except for the dozen or so oriental men walking around the background it could just of easily of been Terre Haute, Indiana.

That being said, I liked the picture. Even Nicholson, who is difficult to gauge. Sometimes he's brilliant (the neurotic neighbor in As Good As It Gets, the only bright spot in a movie I hated), other times I severly dislike him -- mainly as a person in real-life. In Chinatown, Nicholson made the film what it is, No. 19 in the American Film Institute Top 100.

However, leading lady Dunaway doesn't do much acting. She's done up like a doll or even a Japanese geisha girl with less make-up. And she speaks softly, many times mumbling unintelligibly. This is little compared to the fact that she Dunaway possesses no facial expressions save two: bored with mouth open and bored with mouth closed.

Best Quote: "Politicians, ugly buildings and whores all get respectable if they last long enough." - Noah Cross (Huston).

Overall, there's great dialogue and enough plot twists to keep me interested, seeing as there's little to no action, and the key bad guy is obvious halfway through.

The verdict: -- Good dialogue, good lead by Nicholson.

The Deer Hunter
1978, 3hrs 3 minutes, Rated R. Dir: Michael Cimino. Cast: Robert De Niro (Michael), Meryl Streep (Linda), Christopher Walken (Nick), John Savage (Steven), John Cazale (Stan), George Dzundza (John), Chuck Aspegren (Axel).

This is a powerful film, and I can't imagine the impact it had having been released in 1978, just a few years after the final blows of the Vietnam War. Number 79 in the American Film Institute's Top 100 of All Time, The Deer Hunter won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Supporting Actor (Walken), as well as for sound and editing.

It's a "War is Hell" picture, and presents it with an emotional wallup as it chronicles the lives of a group of friends from a Pennsylvania steel town before, during and after the war.

These are GUYS in every bit of the word: work in a factory, drive cool cars fast and wild, gamble, hunt deer and watch football every weekend at a bar while playing pool. But all that changes when three of them take part in the ultimate guy act; the primitive urge to go to war for God, for country, for their women and to prove their mettle.

What happens when that world turns upside down?

I'm generally tough on De Niro because he plays the same character in many of his roles. However, in The Deer Hunter I found him captivating and credible in Michael, the leader of the gang at home and as a very good soldier. When he, Steven (Savage) and Nick (Walken) are taken as P.O.W.s, Michael is the one who stays calm and keeps the other two calm when the Viet Cong captors play games with their lives. And it is Michael who comes up with the plan for escape, and ensures its success. De Niro should've won a Best Actor award.

The major theme I got out of The Deer Hunter is that war, and life in general, is a game of Russian Roulette. The game is played several times throughout the film and provides for some gut-wrenching moments of tension. But the metaphor is that in war and everyday "normal" reality, what happens to us is many times by chance and how we react to that is what shapes our lives.

When Michael returns home, alone and withdrawn, he is able to explore his love for Linda, played by Meryl Streep in -- as usual-- a stunning performance. She is a natural beauty and I love anything she does, just awed by her presence. If I ever met her I guarantee I'd be tripping over myself in a very gawky/geeky manner.

Walken showed range as Nick, the lover of Linda and emotional wreck who makes a living after the war playing Russian Roulette. Nick is successful, but to a point. Walken is more known for being an eerie on-screen presence, but his troubled character is designed for award glory.

There is some of the clearest foreshadowing I've ever seen contained in the first 45 minutes of the film, as Steven marries Angela before shipping off the next Monday. For example, when they drink from a double-glass that is good luck for life, we see close up a tiny drop that drips on her dress. Second, a green beret drinks alone at the bar, and when the buddies approach him as a hero who should be toasted, his only response is "F**k it." The audience is assured that when Michael, Steven and Nick return, to expect a similar inner withdrawal.

The film is just over three hours long, and for someone who doesn't mind longer movies, it's okay. And it's amazing that the director was able to present his vision in as long as it took, but there were some points where it seemed to focus on one scene a bit too long and could've used some editing, such as the overlong wedding and reception, the first hunting trip to the mountains. But it wouldn't prevent me from watching it again.

The verdict: -- Emotional wallup, first of many on the Vietnam subject.

The Sugarland Express
1974, 1 hr 49 min. Dir: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Goldie Hawn (Lou Jean), Ben Johnson (Captain Tanner), William Atherton (Clovis), Michael Sacks (Patrolman Slide).

I'm a big Steven Spielberg fan (I know, who isn't?), and have always loved his movies, but haven't been able to watch his first two works, The Sugarland Express and Duel. The former is his first theatrical work, while the latter was a made-for-TV movie. After seeing A&E's intriguing two-hour Biography on Spielberg last fall, I knew I had to watch both, and they finally were shown on TNT this week. So here goes my Spielberg double-dip:

No, The Sugarland Express is not a train. It is a well-made look at two "minor" criminals on the run who are trying to get back their son from the foster home that child welfare services placed him. The son, Langston, resides in the small town of Sugarland, Texas--thus the name of the film. After Lou Jean (Hawn) breaks Clovis (Atherton) out of minimum-security prison--with only four months left until he's to be paroled--she orchestrates a car theft that leads to the kidnapping of a Texas Highway patrolman, Maxwell Slide (Sacks), and leads an armada of cops and press and mesmerized onlookers through the small roads and towns of south Texas.

Ben Johnson is the commanding presence of Captain Tanner, a patrolman who is proud of his record for having never killed a person in the line of duty. And he doesn't want to now, knowing that Lou Jean and Clovis are a couple of nervous kids who have never committed a serious crime with a gun. So he's not willing to end their young lives so quickly, despite given the chance numerous times. A few Rangers are called in for their sharpshooting skills, and make it seem so simple and professional as they talk of shooting the young couple in the skull for a quick kill. Of course, isn't that how we want our Rangers? Meticulous and professional, with no doubt that they can take out a bad guy with no regrets. But Tanner lets Lou Jean and Clovis make it all the way to Sugarland, where naturally the cops have no intention of them every seeing the child.

Hawn is intensely likable in her role, pre-"Private Benjamin" days, so she wasn't annoying. But, oh, how cute! What a darling ripple her presence makes on screen.

You may remember William Atherton (Clovis) as the SOB journalist in Die Hard and Die Hard 2, but here is a film where you can actually let yourself like him, as the lovesick criminal who just can't say no to his honey, and knows it will be his downfall. As cute and persuasive as Lou Jean is, I may not have been able to say no, either, to her doomed lust to get their son back.

You will recognize numerous cinematography and directing effects that Spielberg continues to use today. The character studies are solid, the action works, and the fact that it is based on a true story makes it even more worthwhile. Rent it tonight!

The verdict: -- Express lane to success for Spielberg.

Duel
1973, 1 hr 30 min., Not-Rated (TV Movie). Dir: Steven Spielberg. Cast: Dennis Weaver (David Mann).

After seeing the Biography referred to above, Duel stood out most. The story of a man driving alone in the desert, terrorized by a semi-truck and faceless driver, is terribly intriguing.

Spielberg makes this truck evil incarnate. The dirty, smelly smoke spewing forth, the rumblings from its souped-up engine and the fact that we never see the driver or know his motivations gives Duel a suspenseful twist to what could have been poorly done by any other director. But Spielberg turns a normal guy on a normal drive on a normal day into a movie that makes you think, out loud and within.

I know what you're thinking. Hey, if the truck is on your butt, just gun it to 85 mph and leave him behind. Ahh, but Spielberg is ahead of you. This truck is one souped-up mean rig, and rolls through the desert at 90+ mph to terrorize his victim.

It's a tale of Man vs. Beast, literally. The normal guy's name is David Mann. I guess it's Mann vs. Beast.

It is a movie that even more had me going because of my intense dislike for the big trucks. I hate them! They take up the entire road and don't care if you exist. I especially dislike when there are 20 of them lined up in the rain, so basically, I can barely see the road. *sigh* You get my point.

Even better, Mann was doing everything I told him. "Hey, stop at the diner for a few hours and let him go." Did that, the driver waited for him outside. "Go 100 mph and get over the mountain where he has to slow down." Did that, but going that fast in the desert in a '70's car tends to overheat (okay, so it was a cheap move, but Spielberg had to employ it or the movie would be over quickly and boring). "Get off the road and hide behind a hill." Yep, tried that, but the truck pulled off and waited.

After all that, what else is there to do? Talk to yourself. A lot. I talk to myself about other drivers all the time anyway, I can't imagine having someone try to kill you. It would most likely range from annoyance, to anger, to intense road rage, to prayer, to intense making-deals-with-God praying, and finally to exhaustion and babbling incoherantly about why the Red Sox were swept by the stinking Montreal Expos.

The verdict: -- Simple yet suspenseful.

The Exorcist
1973, 2 hrs 12 min., Rated R (for strong language and disturbing images). Dir: William Friedkin. Cast: Linda Blair (Regan), Ellen Burstyn (Chris MacNeil), Jason Miller (Father Karras), Max von Sydow (Father Merrin), Lee J. Cobb (Det. Kinderman).

Admitted often, I'm not a horror fan. Admitted often, I hate to be scared. So whenever the opportunity arose for me to see what is called the scariest movie of all-time, I turned it down, every time.

However, it's been retooled and re-released on the big screens, so I decided now was the time to see The Exorcist. Officially it's called The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen Before, but since I never saw The Version You've Seen Over and Over, then this was a fresh view. Also, at least I could see it someone else who's never seen it before, Joelle. So i drove down to Athens (not where they wear togas, but where they tear down goalposts when beating a 2-2 Vol team).

What better way to see a horror thriller but with a female, too? If I'm going to be jumpy, then I might as well have Joelle on my right, since she is also scared to be scared, and thus ready to burrow into my shoulder.

Well, surprise, surprise and actually somewhat disappointing, I wasn't scared one itty-itty bit. All the hype was for naught, as apparently I am more desensitized to disturbing images and language than I thought. Too many Sunday nights watching The X-Files and reading Stephen King as a kid, I suppose. But The Exorcist wasn't even intense. I realized this when during the movie I was less frightened than amused by the demon.

"What an interesting fellow," I thought, wanting to know more about how this evil was spawned, "I bet he has an interesting story to tell." But no, the priests get all touchy over this demon possession thing, and seek to remove it. An opportunity is lost to explore the demon's feelings, see why it does what it does, and sic Freud or Jung on it for some introspection. Or am I on the wrong train of thought about The Exorcist?

Heck, what the doctors did to Regan (Linda Blair) during testing (which I think was an added scene) was scarier than Captain Howdy (which we're led to believe she calls the demon initially). As much as thriller/horror flicks have changed since The Exorcist, so has medical science. It seemed like they were out of the Dark Ages, ready to drill her skull and remove a lobe or two, then sacrifice her to the Mayan god of big nose rings.

The movie was fine on its merits, though, and I was very interested in the theology and pacing of it. I found more fascinating than anything else how people reacted to Regan's condition, how her mother (Ellen Burstyn) had to come to grips with the religious implications, and then how the Father had to deal with inner demons while fighting a real one.

I know that this movie affected the moviegoers of its day greatly, and some coworkers said they still get the chills thinking about it. Yet I never had one nightmare, never gave it a thought. Even being a horror wus, frankly I was disappointed that I wasn't hiding more, with my head facing the seat and my rear facing the screen, as Dad says I was prone to do as a young-un. Bummer.

The verdict: -- I ain't scared of no stinkin' demons.

The French Connection
1971, 1 hr 44 min. Dir: William Friedkin. Cast: Gene Hackman (Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle), Roy Scheider (Buddy Russo), Fernando Rey (Alain Charnier), Tony Lo Biano (Sal Boca).

PLOT: Two New York City cops, mainly Hackman and supported by Scheider, are out to bust a large heroin shipment from France. 'Popeye' (Hackman) is a hard-working and dedicated cop, but also has a short fuse and a tendency to drown in the bottle. During a routine surveillance job, he and Russo (Scheider) discover that the bad guy, Charnier (Rey), is a wealthy man about town, but ruthless when it comes to his real profession of running a drug cartel. Action, twists and one of the best, if not the best, car chases in film history.

Hackman is always a reliable actor, and it's little wonder this movie won an Oscar for Best Picture. Scheider is solid in the supporting role in his pre-Jaws days before he was a well-known celebrity. Scheider was definitely the weaker half of this partner relationship. He had no say in what he and Hackman did. Rey gives a chilling performance as the enemy, someone who will do whatever it takes to stay ahead in the business.

I enjoyed The French Connection, but not as much as a Best Picture nod would demand. The car chase is memorable, but I still think Bullit with Steve McQueen deserves the top spot.

The verdict: -- Didn't really connect.

Network
1976, 2 hrs, Rated R. Dir: Sidney Lumet. Cast: Peter Finch (Howard Beale), Faye Dunaway (Diana Christensen), William Holden (Max Schumacher), Robert Duvall (Frank Hackett).

As someone who makes their living in television news, this is naturally a must-see for me. But it's also a must-see for anyone who watches tv at all.

Network is an overall satire of the news business, and how it has developed into entertainment rather than straight news. And even though it came out in 1976, the message still holds today. In reality, it doesn't matter which era you're in, many people will say that society is in danger of collapsing and life is too stressful. Basically that life sucks. Therefore we get one of the more memorable lines in film history, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

THE PLOT: The fictional network UBS wants to fire an aging anchor named Howard Beale, played by Peter Finch. With continually sliding ratings he is being encouraged to resign. Instead, he tells America that he intends to commit suicide on-air. When the network allows him badck on the air, he begins a rant against the media machine and how everything presented is just "bulls**t." Naturally, the ratings drastically shoot up, and Diana Christensen (Faye Dunaway) exploits Beale's cracked mind in order to create a hit program.

Dunaway's character, Christensen, is the representation of what's wrong with television programming. To her, everything is a script from a show. Which becomes apparent as she and Max (William Holden) have a fling. When he has to break it off with her and return to his wife, he must use dialogue similar to a plot device in order to get through. I would rate Faye Dunaway's performance second to Bonnie and Clyde, which is a compliment. I never doubted her as Diana, and the soullessness it took for this character.

William Holden is Max Schumacher, head of the UBS news division and Beale's best friend. Max is an old-school journalist, and believes that the media's image is increasingly dwindling in terms of reliability. He wants Beale to be taken off the air in order to get the treatment he needs rather than be used for ratings. Robert Duvall's character, Frank Hackett, fires Holden for this disagreement.

Network also gives a pretty real look at what goes on behind the scenes of a news network. I had a big chuckle when Beale announced on air that he's going to commit suicide, but the producer, director and everyone else but one person don't hear him because they're focusing on the next element of the show. That is true to life, something that would happen, because nobody really listens to the anchor, everything is scripted ahead of time and you just do it in order.

It is common knowledge that everyone knows how ratings are the most important thing in the television business, even in news. Why else do you think there are so many news networks nowadays? Headline News is revamping its image for a boost in ratings, and CNN recently unveiled its new set to bring it into the next millenium.

And many journalists believe the media is less and less reliable nowadays, because as news becomes immediate, and the internet increases in popularity, the line for exactly what is news becomes blurred. And the new press is not, in most respects, a dependable, fact-checking bunch.

The verdict: -- For anyone who's ever wondered what television's all about.

The Omega Man
1971, 1 hr 38 min. Dir: Boris Sagal. Cast: Charlton Heston, Anthony Zerbe, Rosalind Cash.

Charlton Heston in his sci-fi days (The Omega Man, Planet of the Apes) was not as good as the biblical ones (Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments) in my opinion, but that's not to say he wasn't as likeable and kicking tail all the way through.

In The Omega Man, Heston is the last man on earth, only he's "not alone" as the poster states. Over two years after germ warfare decimated the planet's inhabitants, he wanders the empty streets of Los Angeles during the day, and holes up in his fortress at night to prevent being killed by a group known as "The Family."

But, to enjoy "The Omega Man" you need to take it as camp instead of serious fare. For me, at least, because I was laughing the entire movie, especially with the scenes involving The Family. These guys reminded me of the unruly crowd trying to burn the witch in Monty Python and the Holy Grail or the clumsy biker gang in Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way But Loose."

Nowadays, liberals and the media call Mr. Heston a "nutjob" as president of the National Rifle Association. They should watch The Omega Man and realize that when the world comes to an end and zombies roam the earth, you better hope he saved some of those guns!

The story begins with Neville (Heston) crusing the abandoned streets of L.A. with the top down and his 8-track playing loud. It's kind of eerie to see such a grand city so empty downtown. Before the movie began the American Movie Classics host, Bob Dorian, said that it was so empty because they filmed the scenes during weekends and holidays when downtown L.A. was a ghost town anyway.

Neville, however much he seems to be enjoying himself, is lonely. He constantly talks to himself (Of course, so do I and I'm not the only man left on earth. hmmmm); he talks to a statue as if it were playing chess with him (okay, I don't do that!) and keeps himself busy in his generator-fueled abode.

What he needs is an invention 10 years away, the VCR. If he could watch some movies or old tv shows maybe he wouldn't be so bored. Oh, well, you can't diagram the end of the world to fit your needs.

Life's not so peachy, though, because of The Family, a cult of Al Gore and Unabomber clones who blame the end of the world on technology. They wear black cloaks to hide the multiple lesions on their bodies, have white-stained skin and can't see during the day. Thus they directly blame Neville, a "refuse of the past" on their "punishment," and seek to capture him to be "cleansed," which basically means burning him at the stake. Neville's witty response: "You're full of crap." I tell ya, Bruce Willis learned a thing from Chuck Heston when he made Die Hard!

Neville kills as many of The Family as needed, but wants to take them all out. Therefore he seeks their Nest, the fictional movie place where where all bad guys stay together to make for easier pickings when the hero decides to open a can of whup-ass.

There's sort of a relationship between Neville and another normal human, Lisa (Cash), who also happens to be a black woman if you're into that whole "jungle fever" sort of thing. It didn't bother me, but I bet even in '71 it made a difference. I can't argue if they had chemistry or not because if a man hasn't seen a woman in nearly three years then it wouldn't matter how attractive or ugly she was, you'd fall for her! Brad Pitt would go for Bea Arthur! Heck, even Julia Roberts would go for Lyle Lovett! Huh? What? She did marry him? My only explanation is that maybe she thought we were all zombies and then dumped him when she realized she'd been duped.

I kept getting upset at Chuck because even though he seemed to be handling his unfortunate situation amicably, how the heck could you not be home an hour before dark every night or refuel the generator like clockwork!

But, seeing as I how I let it go as campy, fun fare, I let it go because it was a humorous hour and a half.

The verdict: -- If you take it as camp. If you take it serious, subtract one star.

Tora! Tora! Tora!
1970, 2 hrs 23 min., Rated PG. Dir: Richard Fleischer, Toshiro Masuda, Kinji Fukasuku. Cast: Dozens.

I hadn't seen Tora! Tora! Tora! for several years, so made sure to catch it on AMC last week. Being a patriotic American, watching this film in part angered me because it showed how inept the U.S. leadership was in preventing the attack, but I also realize that if not for the incredibly one-sided battle, it's unclear whether our involvement in the war would have been as well executed. We may have waited another year to enter on the side of the Allies in Europe, which could have made D-Day more harrowing than it was; we may have entered the Pacific campaign later after Japan had already solidifid its hold on much of the land and islands, extending the length of the war by years, not months.

It is not clear whether FDR "let" the attack happen, but Tora! is told by the officers who were involved, and its historical accuracy is undisputed, at least in what I have read on the subject. The added aspect of telling both U.S. and Japanese sides of the battle is another reason to watch this movie. Yamamoto, schooled in the U.S., knows that the attack didn't cripple the U.S. fleet, therefore the Americans would return stronger and with more resolve, dooming the Japanese to certain defeat: "I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

An especially eerie moment is when the Japanese pilots are making their final preparations, hooting and hollering in joy as they anticipate victory by destroying American vessels, thereby killing thousands of Americans.

An interesting note is that actor Jason Robards, who plays Lt. General Walter C. Short (Commander in Chief, Army, Hawaii), was a 19-year-old Navy radio operator in Honolulu when Pearl Harbor was attacked.

The attack itself is very well-done and tense. I can't imagine the horror of actually being there at 8 a.m. on a peaceful Sunday morning as the American flag is raised to music and church bells, seconds before hell comes over the mountains dressed as a Japanese plane painted with a red sun on the wing.

The verdict: