"Varisty Blues"

James Van Der Beek
John Voight
Paul Walker
Amy Smart
Ron Lester
Scott Caan
Eliel Swinton
Ali Larter

R           106min           1999


“Varsity Blues” is about one high school Texan footballer player’s rise from the shadow of his friend to the star quarterback. He’s now faced with the pressures and politics of and overbearing coach, town, while trying to do the right thing.

A starring vehicle for James Van Der Beek, this is an instant classic. This not only a good football film with the great drama of “All the Right Moves”. Brian Robbins, from “Head of the Class” fame one of his first times directing has become a powerhouse in televisions and movies. His created portray of an high school footballer’s life has been emulated several times through the years.

The drama on and off the field is some what exaggerated but nonetheless the stuff that happens. Winning athletic programs are treated like rock stars even in my town. Years after teams have one a championship people still talk about them as if they are mythical legends such as Beowulf. It’s these types of pressures that these athlete face and that can sometimes crumb them. This is at the heart of this film.

A backup quarterback flying under the radar, thrust into the limelight, and the pressure of being the one to lead a team. Everything rides on your decisions and at the core is a coach that only focus is winning championships, no matter the cost. Robbins shines a light on how easy sports can become bastardize and raped. It’s a film that the MTV generation can relate to.

More of a dramatization than fact, “Varsity Blues” opened the door to more football films that showed the darker side of high school football like “Friday Night Lights.” Even with the fact that its more of a dramatization its still an entertaining film, and not to just the football fans.

This is the film that brought us the whipped cream bikini and made ‘Ali Larter’ a household name. This is the film that made you think what that hot teacher did as a second job and ‘Who she go to prom with you?’. It tells a story that is relatable not just to athletes but also to parents. Jon Voight gives a great performance that is revered by the community but is as sinister as the anti-Christ.

I give it 4/5.

"The Quiet"

Elisha Cuthbert
Camilla Belle
Edie Falco
Martin Donovan
Shawn Ashmore
Katy Mixon
David Gallagher






R           96min           2005




“The Quiet” is about a deaf and mute girl Dot (Belle) who is sent to live with her godparents (Falco and Donavan and their daughter Nina (Cuthbert). As she adjusts to her new surroundings she realizes that this idyllic family is not as picture perfect as it would seem.

It does what an indie film is supposed to do. This is a disturbing film yet a compelling movie to watch. Elisha Cuthbert and Camilla Belle are a dynamic duo on screen.

“The Quiet” is one of those films that take a subject matter that is taboo and grays it. Yes he was wrong but was Nina not complicit in the crime too? There wasn’t that much marketing behind the film and it came and disappeared into oblivion much too quickly.

The subject matter is disturbing and it brought many emotions in me, and I think that’s what good films are supposed to due. Many times I who stop the film, because I needed to digest what I had just seen but I was compelled to find out what would happen next. You’re an observer of this family knowing most of the angles even before it begins yet you know its going to be an interesting journey.

Elisha Cuthbert and Camilla Belle as Nina and Dot are compelling to watch. Cuthbert moves from a seductress to a vengeful lover to a mournful child, seamlessly. Belle playing a deaf and mute girl plays it outstanding. There are clues to her secret throughout her performance whether intentional or not they make the character so much richer. That other characters never pick them up makes the betrayal so much more resonating.

For some “The Quiet” will be off putting, for some mildly disturbing and for others another walk in the park, either way it’s an interesting journey to the end. I personal appreciated the film and what Jamie Babbit did with this film, once I made that journey.

I give it 4/5 Gs.

"Waiting...(2005)"

Ryan Reynolds
Anna Faris
Justin Long
David Koencher
Luis Guzman
Chi McBride
John Francis Daley
Kaitlin Doubleday
Rob Benedict
Alanna Ubach
Vanessa Lengies
Jordan Ladd
Max Kasch
Andy Milonakis
Dane Cook
Emmanuelle Chriqui

Unrated           94min           2005

“Waiting…” follows one day in the life of a fictional restaurant named Shenanigans where it focuses on a waiter Dean (Long) and the realization that he may have wasted the last four years of his life working here.

This is a film that everyone should see. Some will say that this is fictionalized but in fact I know that some of these things happen in real life. Some of the things that happened in this film my sister told me happened when she worked for a similar restaurant. Even before I watched this film I was weary of pissing off my waiter or waitress in restaurants.

The entire establishment from the wait staff to the cook are a nuthouse of functioning ‘mentally handicaps, see I used the politically correct term there, but Mitch explained it best with ”…it like being the smartest kid with down syndrome.” Its there insanity that makes them funny, it’s getting a behind the scene look at a world that is never seen by the public.

From the beginning to end you will constantly laugh because the jokes come at rapid fire. This is a full out comedy; not only does it come from the jokes, but it comes from the situations that happen and the actor’s skills. The actors cast shine in their parts, but Alanna Ubach standouts with her delivery and her character quirky. Although she doesn’t have that much screen time she steals the show every time she is on.

“Waiting…” has not easter eggs that I can find and it has a complete separate disk of special features. On the second disk is the feature with the director and producer commentating and writing on a tele-monitor over the film. The rest of the disk is just some cast scene specific commentary. Mainly it contains a bunch of features that talk about the film and the process of making the film from script to production.

I give it 4/5 Gs.

"Torque"

Martin Henderson
Ice Cube
Monet Mazur
Adam Scott
Matt Schulze
Will Yun Lee
Jaime Pressly
Max Beesley
Jay Hernandez
Christina Milian
Faizon Love
Fredro Starr

PG13           84min           2004


“Torque” is the “Fast and the Furious” on motorcycles, it’s about a biker exiled to Thailand comes back to California to get the girl and correct the situation that exiled him to Thailand in the first place.

Although it’s from the same producers as “Fast and the Furious” Torque tries to hard to separate itself from its cousin. It’s a basic story with bike as the highlight and nothing else. It displays some of the most over the action sequences on film.

I think of “Torque” as Fast and the Furious: Torque, just another one of the stylized racing films. One of the problems with “Torque” is that it tries to separate itself from “Fast and the Furious”. For one it stars Matt Schulze one of the stars of “Fast and the Furious.” One the commentary they talk crap about the Fast franchise until Matt Schulze speaks up. In the open sequence the motorcycle pass a sign that it spins to form ‘Cars Suck’. Second if it weren’t for the Fast franchise they would have never been greenlit. Never SH*t where you butter your bread, it just makes you look like an ass.

This is a basic redemption story with bikes as the highlight of the film. As the case with the rest of the franchise the machines are the highlights of the film; but where as most people are fascinated with the cars, the bikes came of as nothing more than stylized motorcycles. “Torque” came off more of a western set in modern times using motorcycles instead of horses.

“Torque” displays some of the most over the top action sequences of all the Fast franchise. At least with the sequences in the Fast and the Furious auto films most of the sequences could be believable. When Monet Mazur and Jaime Pressly joust there is nothing believable about that sequence, you really have to suspend you disbelieve to go with that sequence. Then at the end with motorcycle chase the viewer is to believe that they are going so fast that everything else is a blur and they still navigate traffic with ease. That at those speed Martin Henderson as enough strength to flip this bike in the air and land perfectly on Matt Schulze.

Please if you want to suspense our belief in reality and go with the reality you’re trying to portray at least make sensible. This isn’t the Matrix; yes some rules can be bent but they can’t be broken. This is a movie that tries too hard to be too cool. It does have a cast of characters that does make this film entertaining to watch.

I give it 3/5 Gs.

"The Girl Next Door"

Emilie Hirsch
Elisha Cuthbert
Timothy Olyphant
James Remar
Chris Marquette
Paul Dano
Amanda Swisten
Sung Hi Lee
Jacob Young
Olivia Wilde
Autumn Reeser

Unrated           110min           2004


“The Girl Next Door” is about a high school senior (Emilie Hirsch) who meets the girl next door (Elisha Cuthbert) and the adventures he faces with her and his friends during his final days of high school.

It stars some of ‘Young Hollywood’s bright stars.’ To me this is a modern “Risky Business”, but with its own flavor. Just as ‘Risky Business’, “The Girl Next Door” will become a cult classic.

Emilie Hirschis a relative newcomer and with Elisha Cuthbert, they lead a cast that you may know their faces but not there names. Chris Marquette (Joan of Arcadia) and Paul Dano play his faithful friends. Jacob Young noted for his role of JR Chandler on All My Children play a big man on campus jock. Olivia Wilde and Auteem Reeser having had significant parts on ‘The O.C.’ play popular girls of the campus.

“The Girl Next Door” is a more daring “Risky Business”. The both following the same major plot the all-American boy on the fast track to success meets a girl that uses sex as a living but with a heart of gold. They fall for each other and face difficulties on their relationship road. Both star relative unknowns in the leads but where they differ is that TGND has a more hopeful outlook.

Even though it has many similarities to “Risky Business” it has its own story to tell. Risky Business is a tame version of “The Girl Next Door”. The tings brought up in TGND were taboo when RB came out and American are less uptight about the sex they see in films. TGND takes more ‘risk’ than business did and it makes for a funnier movie.

Sex and the American dream sells and I think that’s why these themes and films will always be classics. Americans are always searching for the American dream of power, money and success; both movies deliver. Sex, which will always be fashionable in movies, is display in both but differently, reflection the changes in the society. “Risky Business” displayed it’s sexual content more subtly, where 'The Girl Next Door' has it in your face, the normalcy in today’s cinema.

“The Girl Next Door” gives a tale that has been seen several times over the years of cinema, not as successful but just as entertaining. It displays some of the young talent that Hollywood has to offer. It is this generation “Risky Business”.

I give it 3/5 Gs.

"Suprecross: The Movie"

Steve Howey
Mike Vogel
Sophia Bush
Cameron Richardson
Aaron Carter
Channing Tatum
Robert Patrick
Robert Carradine




PG13           80min           2005

“Supercross”is about two brothers KC (Howey) and Tripp (Vogel), trying to make their dreams of racing dirt bikes a reality.

If you’re not a fan of any of the actors then it’s not worth your time to watch. Even then it’s questionable to watch this more than once. I can’t say that I hated; I was just disappointed in the final product. I’m a fan of supercross as were the moviemakers too.

The characters were never fully developed and it felt that the film was either hacked apart for timing or the script was incomplete. Everything besides the race footage felt it was thrown into appeal to the MTV generation instead of telling a story.

Its like they built the film around the race scenes and they were the main focus of the filmmakers. The amazing race footage can’t even save this film from being garbage. If they would have put a little more effect into creating more complete characters this film would have been a box office hit.

Having never read the screenplay I can’t say what the condition the script was in when “Supercross” was made but some one should have raised some major red flags. You can’t just puts some hot young actors and some awesome dirt bike riding on the screen and expect a hit. Maybe it read better on the page than what was shown on screen.

If there was more to this script and it was cut for pacing then they need to put it back in. It feels like a nice center up steak cut from the cow and served to on a cold plate. It has all the making of a great film but its prepare correctly; its just plain rare. That’s what hurt this film.

I give it 2/5 Gs.

"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"

Arnold Schwarzenegger
Nick Stahl
Claire Danes
Kristanna Loken
David Andrews
Earl Boen






R           120min           2003

“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” this time around John Connor (Stahl) is in his twenties and living ‘off the grid’ and by chance events encounter another T-101, sent to protect him and a new female Terminator (Loken) sent to kill him and his lieutenants on day of Judgment talked about throughout the trilogy.

This is a sequel just as good as the previous outing of Terminator films, but it does have its inferior moments. The logic behind this new Terminator can be confusing. Overall it’s a good action film that you come to know from Arnold Schwarzenegger.

This chapter adds just another dimension of the characters in the previous film and wraps up there stories nicely. This film felt like a closing of chapter. This is one of the final films before Arnold became “the Govenator.”

“Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines” shows that the future for John Connor was already written and the damaging effect this situation has been on his life. The addition of Danes as a love interest is a familiar dynamic that has been seen since the first one and John’s conception.

Overall this time around it didn’t feel as fresh as the others but did deliver on action and answer some of the major question that the series brought up. A rumor in Hollywood is that there may be more films to come without Schwarzenegger. If its does I’m guessing they will deal more with John Connor and his war with the machines and less about the Terminators.

I give it 3/5 Gs.

"School of Rock"

Jack Black
Jordan Claire Green
Veronica Afferbach
Miranda Cosgrove
Joey Gaydos Jr.
Robert Tsai
Angelo Massagli
Kevin Alexander Clark
Joan Cusack
Mike White
Sarah Silverman

PG13           108min           2003

“School of Rock” is about a slacker musician, Dewey Finn (Jack Black) that gets kicked out of his band, his best friend is about to kick him out on the street, and he’s looking for a new band to take to battle of the bands. When Dewey decides to impersonate his best friend Ned at a prestigious school, he finds the talent for his new band.

“School of Rock” is a film tailor made for Jack Black. He shines in this role as a slacker musician teacher student the world of rock and sticking it to the man. The talents of these kids are another thing that makes this film shines. It’s a feel good film and is enjoyable from beginning to end. “School of Rock” is a must for any music lover’s film collection.

Jack Black is naturally passionate about rock and it shows through in his performance. Dewey antics are miss guided by come from a place the heart. His passion for music is the passion that we want all our teachers to have.

The amazing thing about “School of Rock” is that the kids are actually playing the instrumentals. These are some talented kids to be so young. The excitement that these kids play and the transformation from awkward kids to superstars make this film appealing. Dewey imparts the wisdom of the rock generation upon them, Stick it to the man and live to play one great rock show.

“School of Rock” is a rock music lovers dream come. Showcasing so them most recognizable rock song. The songs chosen highlight the film and tell the story like a good soundtrack should. It’s a soundtrack that should be loved by most.

The DVD has two commentaries one with Jack Black and the filmmakers and the other is the “Band Kids”. There are feature about the film; an interesting is the one that follows the kids during their press junket tour at an film festival. The DVD also has a successful plea from Jack Black to ‘Lynard Skynnard’ to use one of their songs.

I give it 5/5 Gs.

"The Crow"

Brandon Lee
Rochelle Davis
Ernie Hudson
Michael Wincott
Ling Bai
Sofia Shinas
Anna Levine
David Patrick Kelly
Tony Todd



R           102min           1994

“The Crow” is about a musician and his fiancée are brutally murdered the day before there wedding on Halloween and one year later the crow brings back the spirit of the groom as an invincible avenging angel.

If you take this film at face value it’s an ok film but far superior than any of its sequels. It’s a basic revenge tale and that’s all. What makes this film an instant classic is the tragedy behind this film. That the star of this film Brandon Lee died because of an on set accident that could have been prevented is just disturbing.

Knowing that “The Crow” was made in Wilmington and visiting the city several times, the world created by the crew is a dark, gloomy and unrecognizable. I don’t know if its knowing that Lee died or not but every time I watched this film the world these characters live in feels heavy and malignant. It’s a world where good has lost the fight against evil.

Lee’s performance is haunting and mesmerizing at the same time; it’s filled with a playful anger that you would associate with a deranged psychopath. He captured the heartbreak, angst and rage that the character felt. His talent really shines through in this part.

Researching the tragedy behind the film, it’s said that Lee stated that there was a dread he felt around this character. That it was draining to play this part and that it was hard to shake this character when he went home. For an actor cut down at the beginning of his career this film made me think of what he could have accomplished.

Overall “The Crow” is the best in the series that has gotten progressively worst. In my opinion this is the only one to date that captured the message of the comics. Brandon Lee shines in his final performance. This film is to mature for children under twelve and for most thirteen and fourteen years old.

I give it 4/5Gs

"Spider-Man 3"

Tobey Maguire
Kristen Dunst
James Franco
Topher Grace
Thomas Haden Church
Bryce Dallas Howard
Rosemary Harris
JK Simmons
Bill Nunn
Dylan Baker
James Cromwell
Elizabeth Banks
Cliff Robertson



PG13           140min           2007

“Spider-Man 3” is once again about Peter Parker trying to come to grips with the responsibilities in his life. This time around an alien symbiotic goo that crashes to earth and attaches itself to Peter bringing out his darker impulses complicates his life, by making him turn his back on the things he loves the most and indulge his ID personialty; not to mention there are eventually three villains for him to fight this time: Flinto Marko, who becomes Sandman, Eddie Brock, who eventually becomes Venom, and his former bestfriend Harry Osborn becoming the New Goblin.

As a fan of Spider-Man, I found 3 having an amazing story. This time it finds Peter having a harmonious balance with Spider-Man. Peter is happy with Mary Jane and excelling in college. Spider-Man finally has the city loving him. Everything in his life is great and he’s ready to take the next step in his life.

Sam Raimi brings some of the most outstanding action sequences to the screen even topping the ones in “Spider-Man 2”. The fights between New Goblin & Peter and Harry and Spider-Man are top notch fighting sequences. The action sequences are so well done I could even began to comprehend how many effects it took to pull off what was displayed on screen. They are a truly an action lovers treat.

The visual effects are, for the most part, flawless and just stellar. There are a few hiccups and they are noticeable. When the black Spider-Man outfits are a visual effect you can tell because the suit is too shine. The first time he has it on and lands and it cuts between the two it horrendously noticeable.

Sam Raimi did a great job of weaving more of the comic book history into ‘Spider-Man 3’. The introduction of Gwen Stacey and Venom did a great job of servicing the comic fans. It gave a nod to the comic in showing even though Peter is a ‘nerd’ he did have girlfriends and was a ladies. He gave a second-string villain in Sandman a more moving and engaging story, he humanize a trivial character in my opinion.

As this being “Spider-Man 3”, Raimi brings closure to some of the prevailing stories through out the three films, but never really concludes the film. It ends leaving you with a WTF moment, having you question is this the end? He found a satisfying closing to the Harry revenge story and opened the door to some other stories. But overall if this is the final Spider-Man then it’s an anticlimactic ending.

It wasn’t truly an ending to the questions that were brought of in the films. There is a prevailing story left to be told and that’s the wedding and marriage of Peter and Mary Jane. As a fan I don’t think Spider-Man should end like this, not after some of the most satisfying storytelling by Sam Raimi and company. To end this way would be an injustice to what they started with the first film, and I think that this will hurt the film.

Overall “Spider-Man 3” is an amazing film with some of the most mind mesmerizing action sequences. It has visual effects that complement Spider-Man with only a few flaws that were bound to show up sooner or later. "Spider-Man 3" has a story that is satisfying yet an anticlimactic ending to a truly pleasurable trilogy.

I give "Spider-Man 3" a 4/5 Gs.