Stalker
 1979  3.7 stars 163 mins Foreign (Russian)   Rated: NR

Reviewed on 19/Sep/07
If you could have your deepest wish come true, what would you risk to have it? What if you think your deepest wish is something good, but it turns out you don't know yourself as well as you think? The Stalker is a tour guide who leads folks on a dangerous journey to a place where maybe, or maybe not, their deepest wish comes true, for good or ill. It's a slow paced, beautifully photographed meditation, well worth the trouble.

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'Night Mother
 1986  4.2 stars 96 mins Drama   Rated: PG-13

Reviewed on 05/Sep/07
This is a realistic movie. Intense drama, great performances, disturbing subject matter. I think no child under 18 should see it.

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The Fountain
 2006  2.9 stars 96 mins Sci-Fi & Fantasy   Rated: PG-13

Reviewed on 27/Jan/07
I liked this movie, but I can't give it more than three stars because of the weirdness factor. It's definitely worth a look, because it's so imaginative and spiritual and romantic. The images alone are so amazing on the big screen that they are worth the price of admission. It has several layers of meaning which can be interpreted different ways, mainly through Eastern philosophy. Themes include loss, longing, fear of death, and love.

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Night at the Museum
 2006  3.7 stars 105 mins Children & Family   Rated: PG

Reviewed on 27/Jan/07
Night at the Museum (2006) is a fun old-fashioned movie, in that it's not cynical about family, not disrespectful of adults or parents or education or tradition and it shows that crime doesn't pay, but hard work does. Very few objectionable words, no sexual jokes, no smoking, no drinking, very mild violence. It has good messages and themes, interesting characters, lots of humor, and a happy ending. Children who aren't jaded or cynical or over-stimulated by violent video games will enjoy it.

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Catch and Release
 2006  3.4 stars 112 mins Romance   Rated: PG-13

Reviewed on 27/Jan/07
Alternate title: Three Men and a Babe. Premise: Jennifer Garner is the widow who's not technically a widow who finds that having premarital sex with the deceased doesn't get your name in the will, and she has a habit of sleeping with men she hardly knows. She's a baffling character, with incomprehensible motivations. They don't really justify her choice of love interest very well. Plot: sad beginning, lots of funny middle stuff, and "happy" ending. Bottom line: it made me laugh. This movie is worth seeing for Kevin Smith alone. He is a comedic genius.

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Facing the Giants
 2006  4.1 stars 112 mins Faith & Spirituality   Rated: PG

Reviewed on 07/Jan/07
This is one of the best movies I've ever seen, not technically, or in terms of entertainment value, but in terms of ministry value. It will inspire you to pray, to worship, and to love God more, which is to say it is the best use to which I've ever seen celluloid put, except it's digital. If you want to see real Christians live their lives on the big screen, this is it. This is an example of what God can do with people who put Him first. The success of this film is as much a miracle as anything I've ever seen. Read and watch the behind the scenes material. It will inspire you.

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Déjà Vu
 2006  3.8 stars 126 mins Thrillers   Rated: PG-13

Reviewed on 28/Nov/06
Very satisfying science fiction. All the loose ends are tied up at the end. The science is based on real theories, and the technology is right out of a conspiracy theorist's worst nightmare, and it serves a logically sound plot. It has exciting chases, a couple of magnificent explosions, and a love story. I found it plenty easy to follow. It didn't insult my intelligence. I think this thriller would have been right at home in the middle of the summer blockbuster season.

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Let's Go to Prison
 2006  3.1 stars 90 mins Comedy   Rated: UR

Reviewed on 18/Nov/06
I laughed a few times, but mostly went "huh?" The laughs are too few and far between. I couldn't believe even a career criminal would want to return to prison just to get posthumous revenge on the judge by tormenting his son. It didn't feel real to me.

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RV
 2006  3.2 stars 99 mins Comedy   Rated: PG

Reviewed on 26/Apr/06
Aside from the vulgar humor and sexual sight gags, this is a good family movie, with a wholesome message. The humor is organic, rising naturally out of the characters and situations, and the pace is relatively calm. It's about learning to appreciate your unique family. Robin Williams is hysterical, with loads of great one-liners, and Cheryl Hines, who plays his wife, is a perfect fit.

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The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou
 2004  3.3 stars 118 mins Comedy   Rated: R

Reviewed on 02/Jan/05
This film is a live-action cartoon about a selfish jerk who, in the middle of his life, discovers and comes to terms with the realization he is a selfish jerk, through the nearly unconditional love of his family and friends.

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Baadasssss!
 2003  3.3 stars 109 mins Drama   Rated: R

Reviewed on 21/Jul/04
I was moved, educated, and entertained all at the same time, by this movie. At a time when cheesy horror films were a dime a dozen, Melvin Van Peebles had to finance his film himself in order to get it made. That's just one of the ironies I spotted in this story very effectively told by his son Mario.

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The Terminal
 2004  3.5 stars 128 mins Comedy   Rated: PG-13

Reviewed on 03/Jul/04
Director Spielberg has made an allegory of the plight of all poor immigrants. Here's a man, Navorski, starving and homeless, smack in the middle of the buffet of life available in this microcosm of America, an airport terminal, who is happy and decent, despite the government (and his own bad luck) standing in the way.

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Hitchcock: Blackmail and Easy Virtue
 1927  3.3 stars 165 mins Thrillers   Rated: NR

Reviewed on 11/Jun/04
Both Blackmail and Easy Virtue can serve as cautionary tales. Both feature blond women whose choice of male company results in an opportunistic observer holding them hostage to their past. Because Hitchcock began filming Blackmail as a silent, sound was added later. His leading woman had a foreign accent, so he had an off-camera actress speak the lines while the on-camera actress mouthed the words.

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Left Behind: The Movie
 2000  3.5 stars 95 mins Action & Adventure   Rated: PG-13

Reviewed on 28/May/04
I'm sorry to have to write a negative review of a film made by members of my own family, the body of Christ. I believe the entire Bible is the literal, inspired Word of God. I think movies that are faithful to the Word of God are wonderful, like The Gospel of John. There should be more of them! However, I found this film ineffective as evangelism (see the cynical comments by the unbelievers who've written their reviews here) and as entertainment (the story is a badly drawn fantasy based on one man's fictionalized interpretation of Scripture). Art and agenda are not incompatible: see Michael Moore's or Leni Reifenstahl's "documentaries", for examples. However, to get the second across, requires that you achieve the first, which is not the case here.

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An Affair to Remember
 1957  4.0 stars 114 mins Classics   Rated: NR  starting 01-Mar-2011

Reviewed on 28/May/04
This is Leo McCarey's remake of his own Love Affair (1939) which he modernized for the 1950s audience. Nickie (Cary Grant) plays the stylish "international playboy", the epitome of suave, who won't let himself be domesticated. Terry (Deborah Kerr) is someone else's "kept woman", who is equally reluctant to become a traditional housewife. The two meet on a cruise on their way home from Europe. They strike up a temporary flirtation to ease their boredom, but ever conscious of their notoriety, they take pains to keep it a secret. They don't quite know if they've fallen in love, so they make a date for six months hence to see if they are serious enough for a real relationship. Of course, an obstacle arises...and real romance results. All romance movies contain fantasy, but in this one, the beautiful people have to come down to earth and learn selfless love.

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Monsieur Ibrahim
 2003  3.9 stars 95 mins Foreign (French)   Rated: R

Reviewed on 23/May/04
A Jewish boy whose own father neglects and abandons him, finds a surrogate in an unlikely person, the neighborhood grocer, who is a Sufi Muslim. Takes place in the early Sixties, in Paris. Conventional melodrama, sentimental coming-of-age, with a "message." There's more fantasy in this film than in all of the Lord of the Rings, and not as much truth.

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