Anger Management a movie about Adam Sandler getting stepped on and eventually standing up for himself. Sound familiar? Okay, okay… more specifically… Adam Sandler, who plays the part of Dave Buznik, is wrongfully accused of causing some disturbance on a flight and is sentenced to anger management therapy. Buznik is again caught in some unfortunate circumstances instigated by one of his therapy mates and again, appears before the judge who upgrades his punishment to a month of intensive therapy with Dr. Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson),  and the zany antics begin. Buddy moves in with Dave and slowly gets him to realize that he’s a pushover by subjecting him to some vary unorthodox methods.

Adam Sandler assumes his usual roll as “nice guy” whose pure and noble intentions only seem to invite everyone to take advantage of him.

What a lot of crap.

This movie had the potential to challenge that whole cockamamie formula and it begins to, but no.

That being said, the nut-so doctor played by Jack Nicholson is a refreshing contrast to Sandler and really makes the movie worth watching. He’s just crazy enough and he gives Sandler enough hell to be funny and interesting.

Allow me to modify the original synopsis.

Buddy Rydell (Jack Niccholson) is a doctor who’s attempts to get a whiny pushover Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler) to come to terms with the fact that he’s not nice… just lame. The good doctor ultimately fails though... Too bad.

The ending is rather disappointing but does treat viewers with some good tight shots of Rudy Juliani.

All in all this movie is a fun forgettable knee slapper that will provide any average Joe with 90 minutes of entertainment and will provide any pretentious hipster with 90 minutes of sarcastic banter about the decline of cinema and the comedic form. The movie is certainly better than this review.

-by Daniel Alexander

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The director Andrzej Bartkowiak brings a concept story about a heist that goes in every direction. Staring Jet Li as a Taiwanese Government agent and Rap artist DMX as a gang leader by the name of Anthony Fait. When Anthony and his gang gets hired to rob a major downtown vault filled with diamonds and other precious stones, his contact isn’t the only one who wants in on what he stole (particularly, one of them being a bag of what looks like black diamonds). Within all the mess, the same enemy kidnaps Anthony’s daughter. Jet Li (The government agent from Taiwan) is up against an enemy from his homeland. Jet Li, and DMX find a way to get his kidnapped daughter back from the same enemy. So what’s makes the stones so special? That’s for you people to find out!

Remember True Lies? Or maybe Raider Of The Lost Ark, I found a little of both in this film. Kelly Hu and Mark Dacascos play the enemies; Kelly was born and raised on the island of Hawaii and became Miss Hawaii in 1993. Like True Lies, Tia Carrere played a villain and she is also born and raised from Hawaii. I’ve also seen Dacascos in several other films based in Hawaii, but I’m unsure if he is from Hawaii or not.

Truly, the action is to speak of. Although the cinematography seemed rather choppy (put together too quickly), it definitely kept me at the edge of my seat wanting to know more about what was coming up. The whole plate of questions seemed to pop into my head. “Where are the stones?” “What is he going to do?” “I wonder if they plan on killing that girl.” While all these questions came to me, the one thing found interesting was that the story kept me wondering what was so darn special about those stones? And it’s not till the grand finale that they find out what was special about it.

Now the correlation that it had to Raiders of The Lost Ark was at the end. Remember the part where the guy had turned inside out and his soul grinded into smithereens as the very life of him came out of his body and the rest of the Germany army.

The fighting scenes are outstanding. I can say suave with a touch of uniqueness. Jet Li almost had me wondering about the style because so many films with Jujitsu, Kung Fu, and Karate seem to fall similar. He had something special. Let’s compare; it was a cross between Steven Segal (because of the standing still part) and Jackie Chan meeting Charles Bronson. I thought that was so cool. I will let this mingle in your head fellow reader and you will know what I mean when you see it.

-by Jennifer Nacino

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Dare Devil is an extremely entertaining movie. It's the real thing, we have a real sense of life here. The main character goes through a hardship of loosing his sight as a child, and at nearly the same time loosing his father. However those incidents that gave him hardship also gave him superhuman senses and balance. Like a superhero he learns to use his newly found strengths out of a tragic event. Here we follow a boy through his vunerability and trials and watch him become the Dare Devil. The movie is filmed in a darker light but somehow you find yourself rooting for the main character, hoping that he can do it. He's against all odds, being a blind kid, who just lost his father, and he lives in a bad part of town, but it makes him who he is. The scenes of superhuman strength, speed, and cunning are done well. The only real flaw of the film is that the fighting scences are so close up you can't tell what's going on until it's over. Definately a must see, if just for the industrial-like Batman similar characteristics of the film.

-by Billie Diemand

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I hope that many people enjoyed this thriller as much as I know I did. I know that Stephen King is head honcho for being the king of scare and thrill; I’ve read two of his books. I must say he truly has a way of making the Audience consume the understanding of how twisted he can get. If some of the scenes you see in this film are not too twisted for you then start with a healthy dose of The Shinning, or even Tommy Knockers. Overall, his stories draw attention. The attention of questioning the “impossible?” and make you fall into the statement of saying, “Oh, I seen that before, now what?” Dreamcatcher, has left me thinking about other science fiction stories and tales about growing up. Yes, both of these concepts are in one movie.

In short, Morgan Freeman is Colonel Abraham Curtis, who plays the head of the military CIA. They are mobilizing a community of people they believe are taken over by alien life forms. Within the mobilization, four friends who have gifts of their own are in the same area on a camping trip. When the military and these four meet up the four friends find that they aren’t there just by coincidence.

I guess one of the reasons I felt I could compare this film with a film about growing up was the close friendship the four guys had. I began to think of movies like Stand By Me, and Now and Then. When you finally get to see this, just think of the first Aliens movie and you will absolutely feel that I had the correct comparison in my mind for Dreamcatcher. (Think stomach)

The Last Flight of Osiris is an installment of nine chapters to the Animatrix for the film called The Matrix. This short film was mentioned during the advertisement of Dreamcatcher. That is a great way of getting an audience to the theatre to see this most exciting short. This short film was seen after Dreamcatcher, and I had seen this film a week before release. Undoubtedly, computer imaging has changed for the best. Technology has proven to excide the power of visual perspective and has given the viewer eye candy. The part I would love to mention best about this short is the relationship the Wachowski brothers implemented in the animation. It was purely a multi-racial courtship between the head guy who is African American and a female who is Asian American. The most interesting idea they conquered here is both a story and an international relationship. Also on a last note, if many of you recall seeing Final Fantasy, yes these guys also created The last Flight of Osiris. This short is much better in story. Keep in mind that computer graphics have come along way, and it’s in our own minds that we welcome any kind of new and fresh idea. After all, Hollywood is certainly running out of ideas.

-by Jenn Nacino

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The first Final Destination brought about a set of teens experiencing freak of nature accidents and strange occurrences in death. The second is somewhat similar. This time around death is back with a vengeance, or to say that he’s back to tie up loose ends because of one surviving person, Clear Rivers. Clear, who wishes to stay in a mental ward is asked for help by one of the survivors of a deadly car wreck who saw the accident in a premonition. Like the first, the survivors fight to stay alive and many fall into a “sort of once in a lifetime chance accident happenings.”

I hadn’t seen the first Final Destination and I found it quite intriguing that the story was thought about without over emphasizing the necessity of real acting. I got an idea of the possibility that as people you never know how safe we are, how secure things are around us, and the question of the higher being at work. The film is directed by David Ellis and has also done Armageddon 1998. The subject matter that he brings to film is what caught my attention. It’s the kind of stories that ask the “what if” question. Questions that I particularly ask is, “Is that possible and it is, so what if? In Final

Destination 2, I see many questions coming to me in this form. I believe situations that occur and place us in death can be questioned in how it happens, but not why. The characters of the film go through such parole and mental pain that everything they do gets to a point of feeling like nothing around them is safe and it makes them go into a fret of panic. One important factor that the story brings is the relation of the first final Destination. It was not implicated until half way through the film that Clear Rivers was seen, hence audiences related her to the first. Then when the characters began to talk about how they managed to dodge death in a so-called coincidences, they discovered amoungst them that they all knew somebody from the incident of the first Final Destination. The filmed runs about an hour and a half and has tons of blood, gore, drugs, and language, for mature audiences only.

-by Jennifer Nacino

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Martin Scorsese works his unique ability to tell a one of a kind story in "The Gangs of New York." With its colorful and well acted cast, Leonardo Di Caprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz, the film weaves a sharp view of a violent world that was almost forgotten. It seems Scorsese's vision, what some might claim as outlandish in "Gangs," takes on a vibrant life of its own, showing the audience a history almost forgotten and an aura of a young city.

-by Ian Paul

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When Hollywood came out and started movies they also started trailers and the trailers were suppose to tease the viewer into seeing the movie, well this was the teaser that was told the second I saw the film.

Charlie Carbone played by (Jerry O’Connell) was only 12yrs old when he was drowning and was saved by Louis Booker (Anthony Anderson). They became friends since and life has thrown them in the mix. Until Charlie’s step father who is head of the mafia gets fed-up with him and his friend Louis. He gives them a simple job in Australia that goes terribly wrong and involves a kangaroo.

I couldn’t help, but wonder if they were trying to target the children in the audience or the adult audience. One of the interesting things they managed to depict is the friendship of the characters. Children wouldn’t understand some of the dialogue that they had in this film. I’m almost positive that Louis Booker had gotten laughs out of almost everyone in the audience. When there were clumsy, clunky, funny situations these are the parts that the kids mostly enjoyed. The whole audience enjoyed this film. My guess is that mainly the fact that it’s something that the family would enjoy. That’s why I went with my neighbor and her kids.

Along with the film, at the end there is also what I call “Kangaroo outtakes.” This is where the kangaroo does some of his own comical stuff and even does something from the Austin Powers, the Spy that shagged me. (Not that I even seen it, but I know where it’s from). I always think that films that have outtakes at the end show the audience the other side of the filming aspect to seem light hearted and fun added into the production of filming.
In any case the film had fluked out on the trailers and commercials, but given the story and the comical idea placed in the film it turns out for the younger generation of people. If you have children to see it with, go bring them. If not, it’s definitely something to rent (on sale!) or purchase as a gift for someone with children.

-by Jennifer Nacino

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In this sequel to Shanghai Noon, Chon Wang (Jackie Chan) and Roy O’Bannon (Owen Wilson) get together for another adventure. This time Chon’s sister Lin played by Fann Wong has witnessed their fathers murder and is out to get revenge and to retrieve the imperial seal. With the help of her brother Chon and his friend Roy, they cross the seas to London to help Chon’s sister. They meet up with adventure, fun, and learn a lesson on friendship.

The film directed by David Millar and written screenplay by Miles Millar and Al Gough, the action placed Jackie’s character in yes, looking like it was all natural. His character seemed to be more so the kind of guy that doesn’t want any trouble, yet when he is bothered by the bad guy he manages to jump into action and display the funny side that everyone loves him for. Jackie Chan is also the Executive producer for the film and his brother help out also, but I’m not sure of what his first name is.

The Genre of this film is action, comedy, and sequel and is rated PG-13 for the action violence and sexual content. In my opinion the film is certainly great for the comedy, but the beginning is much better then the last one. I also love the fact that there are always outtakes at the end of the film. Most of the film’s that Jackie Chan has done all have some kind of outtake. In Shanghai Noon and in Shanghai Knights Jackie makes it fun for everyone by incorporating the whole cast.

-by Jennifer Nacino

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Do any of you recall watching war films that showed the main character as being mean, rouged, and tough? Mention that to many other people and I’m pretty sure you would get the same answer. Tears of the Sun can be mentioned as one of the many films that rammed right though that thought of rough and tough. It’s my idea of a great there after thought with a hint of compassion.

Lt. A.K Waters (Bruce Willis) and eight of the Navy Seals finest go into the jungles of Nigeria to recover Dr. Lena Kendricks (Monica Bellucci) along with the two nuns and a priest. She is a valuable asset to Africa, but because of the crisis in Africa and because she is an American she has to return. Waters and his men are convinced by Kendricks to take the refugees also. While they are evacuating, Waters leaves the refugees behind and decides to turn back to assist the victims in need. And in choosing to do so he has the future of Cambodia within the group of following refugees and an African rebellion Militia closing in fast.

Not only is this film deciphering the characters emotions the scenery is just amazing. Every shot, from beginning to end captured my attention and I’m positive that there has been real thought that went into editing and cinematography. I’m not going to say this movie is the best, but like the characters from Cradle 2 the Grave, this film was shot in Hawaii. Tourism may go up that way, but I can’t be sure. I want to believe that more men out there are as dedicated, this film’s plot surely pushes it, especially during this time that our country may go to war.

-by Jennifer Nacino

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If everyone is up for a brand new hit edition of a Classic, Who Framed Rodger Rabbit is a toy for all who enjoy the concept idea from Steven Spielberg and Robert Zemeckis. Extras galore! And not to mention any of the juicy details about the DVD, but the kids will also enjoy the special edition.

Now if there were a scenario that describes the major set up of the DVD I would tell you that no scenario could compare to the interactive play that it offers. The case offers a push button release of a neat DVD and a cover that embodies the look of leather. In every DVD there are offers also. This DVD has coupons that only your kids would appreciate. One of which is a coupon for free tokens at Chucky Cheese. When you look at the DVD’s, both of them have a film reel look. It really fits the whole feel of when the movie is taking place. I can remember just watching it for the first time and getting that whole feel of 1947 and the days of trolley cars and hard body Fords and Cadillac’s.

Some of the most interesting options are offered as soon as you get to the opening screen with the menu options. There are six different choices to pick from and in the Acme Warehouse the options get so interactive and the choices are so predictable. This is also where the Toon Town gameis found. It’s very comprehensive in design and is very simple to control. The set up is very clean and isn’t rough with options, just one push of a button and your there.

One thing that I hoped that would have been a great idea is the movie set up option. I think that if the creator could have placed the wide screen option in on the first disk and maybe offered the game on the second disk. This may get the viewer to change the disk and they will find out what’s on the other disk. Other then the movie screen options I truly don’t have a problem with the whole look and creativity that went behind putting it together. I would suggest this for the Rodger Rabbit enthusiast and for those who love the making of this film. The making of this film is something that many visual artists can appreciate. It’s packed with clips, photos, and readable options that are offered in the film when chosen. The clips aren’t long at all and it keeps your attention for the information on how they made the film. I am a huge fan of animation and the visual concepts that go behind making a film. The potential is unlimited and vast.

-by Jennifer L. Nacino

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Something told me that the makers of this film was going to go after the audience that had seen 70’s version of This movie called Ben (I think it’s called that). I’m sure that some of you remember it, but I’ll try to tell you more about it here. Ben was a story about a boy that had a rat as a pet the boy called him Ben. Something sad happened to either the boy or the rat. Michael Jackson did the song done for the film when he was much younger. The song was called Ben. Now, you all know that there was actually a film behind the song. Anyway, The way the creators used the song in this film is much far from what the 70’s version Ben was about.

Willard is about a young professional man named Willard played by Crispin Glover who lives with his mother and works at his deceased father’s company. When his mother asks him to rid the basement of rats, his lonesome world begins to take a turn for the worst. Problems come from his work, his mother, and the rats.

I want to say that this movie is dark, but I have found it to make me feel sympathy for the character Willard. Almost felt that the rats were right, but Willard is also wrong. I found the cinematic views to be catchy. I think if the cinematographer had taken a step back to see what the theme was on for that one scene then he would have came up with something that would be rather too much. I don’t believe that I would have done it any different. I see that the cinematographer examining the area well in advance of shooting it. Toilet scenes, popping heads in air vents, and taking notice of chewed holes in walls are handled differently then in other thrilling and scary movies like this.

This movie is rated “R” for it’s language, and often sketchy patterns of behavior. I say this because I know that the Ben film from the 70’s is nothing like this one.
Jennifer Nacino

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