- 12 Monkeys directed by Terry Gilliam (1995)
[7/10]
"We come to expect the ending, but I felt somewhat disappointed with the conclusion, which left me with an empty feeling like an unfulfilled promise."
- Absolute Power directed by Clint Eastwood (1997)
[6/10]
"Eastwood does manage the suspense of Absolute Power very well. So well that I didn't really notice many of the flaws until I watched the film a second time. So, I recommend seeing Absolute Power once for the pleasant thrill, but then don't pollute the pleasant memory with closer scrutiny of repeated viewings."
- American Gangster directed by Ridley Scott (2007)
[6/10]
"From the trailers, I expected to see scene after scene of gore and violence, but I was pleasantly surprised at the intellectual comparison of these 'real life' characters from our recent past."
- Apt Pupil directed by Bryan Singer (1998)
[6/10]
"Ian McKellen and Brad Renfro provide the life force in Apt Pupil, but even with such good efforts, the final act leaves us wanting more."
- Bad Beginning, The by Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler (1999)
[6/10]
"The Baudelaire children -- Violet, Klaus, and Sunny -- certainly do get off to a bad beginning. Their home burns down, killing their parents. Fortunately, the children's parents left them an enormous fortune. Unfortunately, their next of kin, Count Olaf, wants to do away with the children to get the money for himself."
- Boondock Saints, The directed by Troy Duffy (1999)
[7/10]
"The Boondock Saints presents an interesting conundrum. When you look back at the plot, the movie really doesn't have too much substance. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed watching The Boondock Saints."
- Capote directed by Bennett Miller (2005)
[8/10]
"Bennett Miller does an excellent job creating an overall tone and mood in Capote that simultaneously evokes the 1950s but also stays subtle enough to work as a canvas for Capote's character."
- Crash directed by Paul Haggis (2005)
[8/10]
"Crash demonstrates that everyone makes decisions based on preconceived ideas about race. Regardless of our racial background, we make decisions about how we react to and treat other people based on racial profiling."
- Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time, The by Mark Haddon (2003)
[8/10]
"I think that the best fiction opens up our minds to a viewpoint that we otherwise would find foreign or complicated. In The Curious Incident, Haddon provides a view of autism in a engaging way that we want to read for the mystery and enjoy because we like Chris as a person -- something that we might not have understood if we bumped into him on the street and heard him bark like a dog."
- Density of Souls, A by Christopher Rice (2000)
[5/10]
"Even though I had some problems with the construction of A Density of Souls, I found the plot reasonably well formed for a first novel. The story keeps you reading because you find the characters interesting although ultimately underdeveloped."
- Devil's Own, The directed by Alan J. Pakula (1997)
[5/10]
"Ford and Pitt have enough charisma and talent to carry most of the scenes, but by the end, all the scenes don't make a very satisfying, or even logical, plot."
- Die Hard directed by John McTiernan (1988)
[9/10]
"You can watch Die Hard over and over and still get a pleasant thrill with each viewing."
- Donnie Darko: The Director's Cut directed by Richard Kelly (2001)
[7/10]
"Generally I liked Donnie Darko, but I think the ambiguous ending and the cultural commentary distracted from an otherwise well-made film."
- Fog, The directed by John Carpenter (1980)
[7/10]
"The Fog doesn't have the best acting and doesn't have the most original storyline, but John Carpenter masterfully manipulates our anticipation of impending doom for the community of Antonio Bay. And maybe the next time you see a fog bank, you might just wonder what could hide within."
- Frequency directed by Gregory Hoblit (2000)
[6/10]
"Quaid and Caviezel both provide convincing performances, so much so, that the total familial love barely avoids going over the edge into pure sappiness. So if you cry at movies, take a hanky to Frequency."
- General's Daughter, The by Nelson DeMille (1992)
[5/10]
"I found The General's Daughter an enjoyable, light read that lost its appeal 100 pages before the denouement."
- Grosse Pointe Blank directed by George Armitage (1997)
[9/10]
"The story combines hit men, romance, fights, explosions, and comedy. And all this accompanied by well chosen music from the 1980s."
- Gun, with Occasional Music by Jonathan Lethem (1994)
[6/10]
"An interesting future that seems some middle point between now and Dick's future in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep (i.e.,"
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare (1970)
[8/10]
"While the accepted Aristotelian idea of the 'tragic flaw' provides a convenient means to discuss the characters in Hamlet, none of the characters actually demonstrate the 'tragic flaw' as defined by Aristotle."
- Hamlet directed by Michael Almereyda (2000)
[7/10]
"I don't think that this version with its modern setting brings too many young people to an appreciation of Shakespeare, but for those of us who have liked Shakespeare all along, it gives us some new ways of looking at a classic."
- Hannibal Rising (2006)
[7/10]
"Hannibal Rising describes the events that can turn a privileged little boy from Lithuania into the genius serial killer described in Thomas Harris's other books Red Dragon, The Silence of the Lambs, and Hannibal."
- Henry V directed by Kenneth Branagh (1989)
[8/10]
"Branagh plays Henry V with and easy elegance, and he delivers the king's motivational speeches with marvelous interpretation and dynamics."
- History of Violence, A by John Wagner (1997)
[6/10]
"A History of Violence doesn't ask any really deep questions, but it does neatly resolve the issues that the plot raises. "
- History of Violence, A directed by David Cronenberg (2005)
[6/10]
"A History of Violence asks serious questions about the generational effects of violence, but fails to provide any solid answers to these questions."
- Kaze no tani no Naushika [Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind] directed by Hayao Miyazaki (1984)
[7/10]
"Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind tells the story of a distant future where warfare and mass pollution have made the earth almost uninhabitable."
- Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card (1992)
[5/10]
"Unlike Ender's Game, Card's Lost Boys demonstrates that a successful short story cannot always make the transition to a novel."
- Mars Crossing by Geoffrey A. Landis (2000)
[7/10]
"The suspense pulls you forward, and Landis keeps you guessing right up to the very end about who will survive and who will get to return to the Earth."
- Matador, The directed by Richard Shepard (2005)
[5/10]
"In spite of the excellent acting of the parts, I cannot agree with the moral message of this film -- that one can benefit from the killing of other people."
- Metoroporisu [Metropolis] directed by Rintaro (2006)
[7/10]
"Metropolis keeps your interest and keeps revealing multiple layers of character motivation and intrigue."
- Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, The by Brady Udall (2001)
[9/10]
"If you met Edgar Mint in real life, you probably could not prevent yourself from saying, 'Oh, poor Edgar.' Edgar's life sucks."
- My Fellow Americans directed by Peter Segal (1996)
[7/10]
"Both Lemmon and Garner make believable presidents, and they easily execute their lines from the well crafted script. A cub reporter from the Washington Post could work out the political intrigue of My Fellow Americans in a matter of minutes, but then you don't need a Tom Clancy class scandal for a light comedy."
- Novel, The by James A. Michener (1991)
[6/10]
"Michener provides an interesting and detailed description of the publishing business from the points of view of fictional characters who are pivotal in bringing books to life: the writer, the editor, the critic, and the reader."
- Omen, The directed by John Moore (2006)
[5/10]
"Even though each of the parts of the remake surpasses the scenes in the original, the sum of the parts doesn't surpass the effect of the original."
- Omen, The directed by Richard Donner (1976)
[8/10]
"Donner has created a horror classic that lives on in popular culture and has done so without resorting to the pools of blood and gore employed much of today's horror genre."
- Prince Ombra by Roderick MacLeish (1982)
[5/10]
"I think kids and even younger teens will enjoy Prince Ombra, but any examination of the story beyond the surface leaves the reader to deal with a set of unsatisfactory philosophical conclusions necessary for the plot to function."
- Puppet Masters, The directed by Stuart Orme (1994)
[6/10]
"Nothing really stands out in The Puppet Masters, but none of the usual B-movie flaws drag it down ether, which leaves you with a mildly pleasant sci-fi feature."
- Quills directed by Philip Kaufman (2000)
[6/10]
"So how do you make a movie that documents the life or works of the Marquis de Sade, the person from whom we get the word sadism? Quills answers this question with, 'You don't,' but you can piggy-back your movie on his reputation."
- Reptile Room, The by Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler (1999)
[6/10]
"A nice continuation of a series that could quickly spoil if the narrative style remains so fixedly consistent."
- Return of the Great Brain, The by John D. Fitzgerald (1974)
[6/10]
"Although Tom Fitzgerald has supposedly reformed, he continues to use his great brain to wheel and deal -- sometimes to solve a murder, other times to just fatten his pocketbook."
- Riptide by Marion Smith (1999)
[4/10]
"Smith creates vivid scenes filled with emotional power, but her scenes repeat the same character and plot development without moving into new territory. You can also see Smith's agenda driving the characters' dialog into contrived paths that never get around to answering the real question: What should we do with a heightened awareness of abuse?"
- Shi mian mai fu [House of Flying Daggers] directed by Yimou Zhang (2004)
[6/10]
"Even if I weren't tired of watching martial artists dancing in the treetops, Yimou Zhang's House of Flying Daggers lacks the depth of story found in many of the recent Hong Kong martial arts epics such as Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and even his own Hero."
- Silverado directed by Lawrence Kasdan (1985)
[9/10]
"Westerns and comedies don't get much better than Silverado. You get good crisp writing, witty remarks, great characters, and fun rough-and-tumble, .45-blasting action."
- Snakes on a Plane directed by David R. Ellis (2006)
[5/10]
"Sure, Snakes on a Plane just duplicates the clichés of most air-disaster movies, but with Samuel L. Jackson, you just have more fun watching the mayhem."
- Snow Garden, The by Christopher Rice (2001)
[6/10]
"As Rice's second novel released when he was only twenty-two years old, The Snow Garden gives us the pleasant hope of enjoying his works over a long and prolific writing career."
- Solaris directed by Steven Soderbergh (2002)
[6/10]
"Tarkovsky's characters often deliver their lines in a flat tone, as if the characters not only believe the glass is half empty, but that it's filled with poison as well. In that sense, Soderbergh has made a 'happy' version of Tarkovsky's Solaris."
- Syriana directed by Stephen Gaghan (2006)
[6/10]
"In spite of good performances by an amazing cast, the preachy message of Syriana turned me off."
- There Will Be Blood directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (2008)
[7/10]
"I think Upton Sinclair would approve of this adaptation of his novel. We watch the self-destruction of the main characters as they focus on their greed and lust for power, and we see these empty lives -- like black holes -- draw the goodness and life unwillingly out of the people who happen to cross their path."
- Thin Man, The by Dashiell Hammett (1933)
[6/10]
"From a hardboiled detective story, I expected several shootouts and fist fights, but interestingly, Nick really only interviews numerous suspects and lets the police do most of the dirty work."
- United 93 directed by Paul Greengrass (2006)
[7/10]
"United 93 walks us through the transition from before 9/11 to after 9/11. Our lives take place with a much more hectic set of background noises playing than before, and with United 93, we watch the exact moment when the background noise increased."
- V for Vendetta directed by James McTeigue (2006)
[8/10]
"The twisting and engaging story line more than makes up for the 'comic book' characters, and director JamesMcTeigue displays an excellent balance of mystery, suspense, and violence."
- Watchmen by Alan Moore (1986)
[5/10]
"Visually, Watchmen bored me. Every page gets divided into a three-by-three grid. Although illustrator Dave Gibbons might occasionally merge two or three of the frames for a larger combined image, he never violates the essential lines of this grid."
- Wide Window, The by Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler (2000)
[5/10]
"Lemmony Snicket has followed his formula from the previous books exactly, and has not introduced anything new or interesting."
- Witness directed by Peter Weir (1985)
[7/10]
"Witness creates good suspense and shows the contrasting culture of the Amish without making any judgements. The script lays on the religious symbolism quite thick: John (an apostle of Christ), Book (a synonym for the Bible), and John knows carpentry (Christ was the son of a carpenter). With this setup, you must expect that John Book will function as some sort of savior figure, but that savior figure also has romantic inclinations."
- Zodiac, The directed by Alexander Bulkley (2006)
[5/10]
"The Zodiac tries to capture the zeitgeist of the San Francisco Bay area while the Zodiac serial killer actively killed victims and corresponded with the local press."
Average score: 6.48
