Good intentions aside, A Sounder of Thunder takes a fascinating Ray Bradbury idea and mutates it into a bald tire of a movie which never gets a grip on the material. When I first read about A Sound of Thunder, I was excited. I love time travel movies, especially those which tinker with the fabric of time. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the drill: In “The Dentist,” respected dentist Dr. Alan Feinstone had it all. A beautiful wife. A good life, and a successful practice. Feinstone is good at what he does, but he has one little hang-up: bad teeth. It drives him crazy. Really. On his trip there, he also learns that his wife is doing the pool boy. Read the rest of this entry »

Set in dark, smoky rooms bathed in harsh fluorescent and neon lights, “Rounders” is a somber, moody character study. It’s about good people who have bad habits, and how their compulsive behavior dictates their destiny. Read the rest of this entry »

What is it about quaint mountain top resorts that attracts ancient evil? Horror writers love the premise. Stephen King explored the theme in “The Shining,” and now comes Dean Koontz’s “Phantoms.” This is why I gave up snow skiing. Read the rest of this entry »

A year before “Star Wars” came out, MGM delivered “Logan’s Run,” an expensive, futuristic saga based on William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson’s novel. Set in the 23rd Century, “Logan’s Run” was considered cutting edge for it’s time. Read the rest of this entry »

As I begin this first column, I think back to the days when I was a little girl growing up in Beaverlick, Wyoming, and to what my mother always used to tell us. “Don’t put that in your mouth.” Words to live by. Mom was right. Read the rest of this entry »

First off, if you didn’t like “Kill Bill, Volume 1,” then move along. There’s nothing to see here. Skip on down and find a DVD to watch. Read the rest of this entry »

Stealing $35 million in gold from an Italian villa and staging a breakneck escape through the canals of Venice was the easy part. Retrieving the booty from a turncoat partner who obviously doesn’t believe in honor among thieves is the real “Italian Job.” Read the rest of this entry »

Based on a true story, the movie tells the story of two pigs, named Butch and Sundance, who staged a dramatic escape from an abattoir in January 1998 and remained at large for a week despite the best effort of the press and public to re-capture them. Read the rest of this entry »

In my opinion “Hilary and Jackie” was one of the best films of the 1998. It comes with all the obvious Oscar trappings: two strong female characters, accomplished writing and direction, it’s a period piece that spans four decades, and it’s British. It stars the vivacious Emily Watson, whose knock-out performance in her film debut, “Breaking the Waves,” garnered her an Oscar nomination. Read the rest of this entry »

A terrorist, Michael Kittredge (Jones), posing as an environmentalist protester leads a team of highly-skilled mercenaries to take control of an oil rig off the coast of California, intending to detonate an electromagnetic bomb over the United States, striking a sort of “new Pearl Harbor” attack on behalf of enemies to the nation. What Kittredge didn’t count on is a tugboat captain, Lamont Dixon (Griffin), who survives an attack on his ship, and is soon recruited by an FBI agent (Fox) to infiltrate the oil rig and procure information about their plans. Read the rest of this entry »

Peter LaFleur is a charismatic underachiever and proprietor of a rundown gym called Average Joe’s. The facility’s ecclectic clientele of decidedly less-than-average Joes is comprised of: a self-styled pirate; a scrawny nerd who dreams of impressing an unattainable cheerleader; an obsessive aficionado of obscure sports; a dim-witted young man; and a cocky know-it-all who, of course, really knows nothing. Peter’s humble gym catches the eye of White Goodman, the power-mullet-sporting, Fu-Manchu-d, egomaniacal owner of Globo Gym, a gleaming monolith of fitness Read the rest of this entry »

Heather Graham and James Purefoy play a couple who desperately want to have a baby. Unfortunately, she has been diagnosed as infertile, and the couple can’t afford the medical treatments that might allow her to conceive. Good fortune appears to be smiling on the couple when they are given an opportunity to receive free treatments at a mysterious fertility clinic Read the rest of this entry »

There are several jobs, for one reason or another, I would never take. Teacher at an inner-city high school. Shelley Winter’s gynecologist. Roberto Benigni’s interpreter. Martha Stewart’s cleaning lady. And an air traffic controller. Read the rest of this entry »

Fact-based story about a disturbed office furniture salesman (Sean Penn) who in 1972 concocted a plot to kill then-President Nixon by hi-jacking a plane to fly over the White House to drop a gas bomb. At the start of the movie, the man is separated from his wife and stressed in his job where he is made the butt of jokes and is an under-performer. Attempts to get his brother’s old tire business resurrected with a black partner is rejected by the banks Read the rest of this entry »