Collection ID 180
Director: Lee Tamahori
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott, Dylan Baker, Mika Boorem
Genre: Thriller
Studio: Paramount Pictures   Release date: 2001   Rated: R   
Language (Country): German, English, Czech (USA)
Summary: A congressman's daughter under Secret Service protection is kidnapped from a private school by an insider who calls Det. Alex Cross, sucking him into the case even though he's recovering from the loss of his partner.
My Rating:
My Review: A fine thriller, with some great twists. This movie moves along nicely, with some fair acting (Morgan Freeman is the lead). The best performance came from Mika Boorem (as Megan Rose) as the young spoiled kidnap victim. Morgan Freeman plays a damaged police detective. Down on his luck, trying to recover from the death of his partner. He blames himself for her death, and I was starting to blame myself for picking a standard no plot 'psycho kidnaps kid' profiler plot. But, what stats out as a standard crime drama, quickly turns into a head turning mystery, where the plot twists kept me guessing. Even after watching this movie for the fifth time, I was surprised at a couple of turns. On the down side, the acting wasn't all that good, and their wasn't much in the way of character development.

Collection ID 43
Director: Ken Russell
Starring: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis
Genre: Drama
Studio: Warner Bros.   Release date: 1980   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.
My Rating:
My Review: Amazing, mind blowing, dramatic sci-fi based on a novel by Paddy Chayefsky. Starring William Hurt (as Eddie Jessup the Harvard Scientist). This movie explores inner-space. Eddie is engaged in mind-expansion experiments. Hallucinatory drugs, meditation and a sensory deprivation chamber. When Eddie stumbles upon a truly new combination, he finds that he's capable of experiencing the full spectrum of human evolution. This shocking movie featured some excellent special effects, made far more dramatic with the excellent music and sound effects. Highly original movie worth watching again and again. I give it a 5 out of 5.

Collection ID 852
Director: Ken Russell
Starring: William Hurt, Blair Brown, Bob Balaban, Charles Haid, Thaao Penghlis
Genre: Drama
Studio: Warner Bros.   Release date: 1980   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English, French (USA)
Summary: A Harvard scientist conducts experiments on himself with a hallucinatory drug and an isolation chamber that may be causing him to regress genetically.
My Rating:
My Review: Amazing, mind blowing, dramatic sci-fi based on a novel by Paddy Chayefsky. Starring William Hurt (as Eddie Jessup the Harvard Scientist). This movie explores inner-space. Eddie is engaged in mind-expansion experiments. Hallucinatory drugs, meditation and a sensory deprivation chamber. When Eddie stumbles upon a truly new combination, he finds that he's capable of experiencing the full spectrum of human evolution. This shocking movie featured some excellent special effects, made far more dramatic with the excellent music and sound effects. Highly original movie worth watching again and again. I give it a 5 out of 5.

Collection ID 1587
Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Audrey Tautou, Mathieu Kassovitz, Rufus, Lorella Cravotta, Serge Merlin
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Studio: Claudie Ossard Productions   Release date: 2001   Rated: R   
Language (Country): French, Russian, English (France, Germany)
Summary: Amélie is a story about a girl named Amélie whose childhood was suppressed by her Father's mistaken concerns of a heart defect. With these concerns Amélie gets hardly any real life contact with other people. This leads Amélie to resort to her own fantastical world and dreams of love and beauty. She later on becomes a young woman and moves to the central part of Paris as a waitress. After finding a lost treasure belonging to the former occupant of her apartment, she decides to return it to him. After seeing his reaction and his new found perspective - she decides to devote her life to the people around her. Such as, her father who is obsessed with his garden-gnome, a failed writer, a hypochondriac, a man who stalks his ex girlfriends, the "ghost", a suppressed young soul, the love of her life and a man whose bones are as brittle as glass. But after consuming herself with these escapades - she finds out that she is disregarding her own life and damaging her quest for love. Amélie then ...
My Rating:
My Review: A great movie. A charming romance, a fantastic fairy tale. A naive young woman is alone in Paris. She reaches a turning point in her life and decides to help those around her. In helping others she helps herself and falls in love. Great characters, great casting, excellent direction and splendid camera work. The traveling Gnome thread was brilliant. The ending was terrific. This is the second time I've seen this movie.

Collection ID 64
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Studio: Universal Pictures   Release date: 1973   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: It's the proverbial end of the summer 1962 in a small southern California town. It's the evening before best friends and recent high school graduates, Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander, are scheduled to leave town to head to college back east. Curt, who received a lucrative local scholarship, is seen as the promise that their class holds. But Curt is having second thoughts about leaving what Steve basically sees as their dead end town. Curt's beliefs are strengthened when he spots an unknown beautiful blonde in a T-bird who mouths the words "I love you" to him. As Curt tries to find that blonde while trying to get away from a local gang who have him somewhat hostage, Curt may come to a decision about his immediate future. Outgoing class president Steve, on the other hand, wants to leave, despite meaning that he will leave girlfriend, head cheerleader and Curt's sister, Laurie Henderson, behind. Steve and Laurie spend the evening "negotiating" the state of their relationship. Meanwhile...
My Rating:
My Review: Written (in part) and directed by George Lucas. Starring - Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Manuel Padilla Jr., Harrison Ford and many others. This summertime smash is a movie about the coming of age for several characters. As they celebrate the final days of their High-School journey, they make decisions, forge, affirm and break relationships that will affect them for the rest of their lives. It's a light hearted comedy, a romance, and a serious drama. George Lucas does a fantastic job directing this teeming, seething, powerful cast. The film itself was also a transition piece in American Culture. It definitely marked the end of an era, the anachronistic sets, locations and props all pointed to the end of an era in American culture. The car-hop, leave-it-to-beaver, soda-fountain ethic was coming to an end, and so was the Eisenhower, 50's, episode of these Characters lives. The casual attitudes of these characters belie the serious consequences of their actions. This movie, like 'Dazed and Confused', represents a biographical effort by its writers and directors, to recapture a youth lost. In that effort, this film was a smashing success.

Collection ID 835
Director: George Lucas
Starring: Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Studio: Universal Pictures   Release date: 1973   Rated: PG   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: It's the proverbial end of the summer 1962 in a small southern California town. It's the evening before best friends and recent high school graduates, Curt Henderson and Steve Bolander, are scheduled to leave town to head to college back east. Curt, who received a lucrative local scholarship, is seen as the promise that their class holds. But Curt is having second thoughts about leaving what Steve basically sees as their dead end town. Curt's beliefs are strengthened when he spots an unknown beautiful blonde in a T-bird who mouths the words "I love you" to him. As Curt tries to find that blonde while trying to get away from a local gang who have him somewhat hostage, Curt may come to a decision about his immediate future. Outgoing class president Steve, on the other hand, wants to leave, despite meaning that he will leave girlfriend, head cheerleader and Curt's sister, Laurie Henderson, behind. Steve and Laurie spend the evening "negotiating" the state of their relationship. Meanwhile...
My Rating:
My Review: Written (in part) and directed by George Lucas. Starring - Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Charles Martin Smith, Cindy Williams, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Wolfman Jack, Manuel Padilla Jr., Harrison Ford and many others. This summertime smash is a movie about the coming of age for several characters. As they celebrate the final days of their High-School journey, they make decisions, forge, affirm and break relationships that will affect them for the rest of their lives. It's a light hearted comedy, a romance, and a serious drama. George Lucas does a fantastic job directing this teeming, seething, powerful cast. The film itself was also a transition piece in American Culture. It definitely marked the end of an era, the anachronistic sets, locations and props all pointed to the end of an era in American culture. The car-hop, leave-it-to-beaver, soda-fountain ethic was coming to an end, and so was the Eisenhower, 50's, episode of these Characters lives. The casual attitudes of these characters belie the serious consequences of their actions. This movie, like 'Dazed and Confused', represents a biographical effort by its writers and directors, to recapture a youth lost. In that effort, this film was a smashing success.

Collection ID 830
Director: Nick Love
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions, Jonathan Billions, Andrea Cohen
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Studio: Vertigo Films   Release date: 2015   Rated: Not Rated   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: Melvin, a reluctant Superhero, lives only for crime, women and drugs - until he realises that the only way he will ever get to see his estranged son is to go straight and fulfil his potential as a crime fighter.
My Rating:
My Review:

Collection ID 1567
Director: Nick Love
Starring: Stephen Dorff, Eddie Griffin, Bill Billions, Jonathan Billions, Andrea Cohen
Genre: Action, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
Studio: Vertigo Films   Release date: 2015   Rated: Not Rated   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: Melvin, a reluctant Superhero, lives only for crime, women and drugs - until he realises that the only way he will ever get to see his estranged son is to go straight and fulfil his potential as a crime fighter.
My Rating:
My Review:

Collection ID 12
Director: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine, Lila Kaye
Genre: Comedy
Studio: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment   Release date: 1981   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: Two American tourists in England are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
My Rating:
My Review: Unfortunately, my VHS copy is in very bad shape. The entire movie seems like it was shot in the dark. Despite the poor quality of my VHS copy, I still enjoyed this movie. Here's another John Landis directed movie (Director of Animal House). This time it's a humorous horror movie. Something that was fairly novel at the time. The acting was pretty good, but the character direction poor. There were plenty of laughs, and the special effects (for the time) were great. The transformation scenes were particularly graphic. The ending wasn't all that satisfying, but the middle was full of savory meats. The writing and dialog (Attacked by a Lunatic - Beware the Moon! - carnivorous lunar activities - Boys, keep off the moors, stick to the roads) were outstanding. I give it a 4 out of 5.

Collection ID 1527
Director: John Landis
Starring: David Naughton, Jenny Agutter, Griffin Dunne, John Woodvine, Lila Kaye
Genre: Comedy
Studio: PolyGram Filmed Entertainment   Release date: 1981   Rated: R   
Language (Country): English (USA)
Summary: Two American tourists in England are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.
My Rating:
My Review: Unfortunately, my VHS copy is in very bad shape. The entire movie seems like it was shot in the dark. Despite the poor quality of my VHS copy, I still enjoyed this movie. Here's another John Landis directed movie (Director of Animal House). This time it's a humorous horror movie. Something that was fairly novel at the time. The acting was pretty good, but the character direction poor. There were plenty of laughs, and the special effects (for the time) were great. The transformation scenes were particularly graphic. The ending wasn't all that satisfying, but the middle was full of savory meats. The writing and dialog (Attacked by a Lunatic - Beware the Moon! - carnivorous lunar activities - Boys, keep off the moors, stick to the roads) were outstanding. I give it a 4 out of 5.