Reviews

History of Violence has some great performances. I love Mortenson, Harris and Hurt, but the plot seemed a little too thin in the end. Reason why it seemed a bit thin was because it's hard too tell if Mortenson was Joey or Tom. It seemed like he was a witness protection program for awhile. I kept thinking which guy is the villain.

The performances are great. I love Foggerty's bruised eye and Mortenson saying "Jesus Ritchie". The violence is flawless and understandable. Go Viggo Mortenson for an Oscar Nomination Overall, i give this flick an 8/10

Joe Calahan

This is about as good as it gets when it comes to revenge pictures. A women played by Uma Thurman sets out to kill 5 people who murdered her husband at the twin pines wedding chapel during their marriage. She's out on this big long killing spree. First, she's goes after Veronica, then O-Rhen Ishri and the Crazy 88. You'll never believe what happens in volume 2. "Kill Bill is one of the best movies I've ever seen. Quentin Tarantino takes his direction to a new level and it never gets boring. The incredibility and authenticity in this film is sharper than a double edge sword. It's perfect. That scene where The Bride(Uma Thurman) is fighting the Crazy 88 is so compelling. The scene where O-Rhen Ishri chops the head off Boss Tinkea is bone chilling.

What a movie this is?

When Phillipa boyens and peter jackson and fran walsh sat down to write that first few words of the return of the king, they were beginning to write a epic classic. The emotional structure of this movie kicks ass and the battle scenes come clean. But it is the moral of the story, friendship, loyalty, courage, death, bravery, heroism, etc... that make this piece of entertainment worthwhile. From start to finish, the movie excels with it's writing style and characters. It gives us many heartfelt moments and by the end of the movie were all crying and weeping about Frodo leaving the shire and going to the grey havens.

What a finish. This deserved 11 academy awards, no doubt.

I think Austin Powers is one of those rare great comedies that you find something funny about it every minute. It's a classic. Mike Myers plays a British eccentric agent named Austin Powers. He's going after his father Dr. Evil, who is going to blow up the world. Dr. Evil is also played by Mike Myers. He delivers one of the funniest villains ever captured in cinematic form.

Austin Powers is also best on a lot of 60's spoofs such as James Bond, and a lot of 60's trends. It uses those trend in the correct way.

Austin Powers is one of the funniest comedies of 1997.

"Open Water" is a low budget flick about Daniel and Susan(Daniel Travis and Blanchard Ryan), a couple who go on a getaway to the Caribbean Islands to scuba dive, but instead they end up in shark-infested waters.

The movie opens as the couple starts their vacation, relaxing at their hotel, and looking at the sites.

In the morning, they're planning to take that scuba diving trip.

The boat leaves at 8:55 a.m. The diving instructor allows them 35 minutes in the coral. Unfortunately, the couple heads in the wrong direction and the boat leaves them behind. Miles away from land, they are now left alone in the open water.

The first thing Daniel and Susan do is send a distress signal to the boats out in the open. Then, they try and weight out their options, should they swim or wait for the boat? They go unnoticed for about seven hours.

"Open Water's is best described as a character study and in a sense, a cautionary tale about two divers becoming shark bait. Writer-director Chris Kentis(Grind) has crafted a harrowingly effective look at an unthinkable horrible situation, loosely based on fact.

If you're planning to see Open Water and loved the film "Jaws", don't think that your to see a re-make of it. You're going to see something with more authenticity and complete realism.

Open Water is a thriller that will make you think that the hazards of everyday accidents, such as showing up late for a boat or going out in the deep water. It will certainly give you even bigger fear of swimming near shark waters, because of its documentary style film-making.

"Anacondas: The Hunt for the Black Orchid" is the sequel to the 1997 film. While the first film, seemed to have great special effects and the acting was descent from such stars as Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight and Owen Wilson, this film has a relatively unknown cast that makes it so miserable. I didn't know any of the stars from this film and the plot abou going to find this flower in the middle of Borneo, South America was too cheesy. The snakes were very fake, too. They didn't look real. "Anacondas: The Hunt for the Black Orchid" just doesn't add up to the original and I wish it would have.

Joe Calahan 2 stars C-

The first installment of this series is a marvel both technical and character. Based on the books by J.R.R. Tolkien, "Lord of the Rings" is a story about a fellowship of comrades and a hobbit named Frodo Baggins who is going to try change Middle Earth for the better and go on a journey to destroy a magical ring in the fiery caverns of Mount Doom. Hobbits are elflike creatures who love peace, posterity, partying and consveration. The beginning of the movie starts out with a narration by the elf queen, "Galadriel" about the ring and it's power towards the dark lord "Sauron. The prologue is fantastic with great

introduction and presence. Running at 3 hours long, "The Fellowship of the Ring" could be boring, but director Peter Jackson keeps us entertained for 3 hours of adventure, drama, and comedy. "The Fellowship of the Ring" has got it all and is very faithful to the text.

First, of all it is impossible for a 12-year old kid to have a friendship with a killer whale. However, it is pure magic. A 12-year street kid Jesse(Jason James Richter) ends up getting arrested for spraying graffiti all over a northwest aquatic park. He ends up having the responsibility to clean up. Meanwhile, he lives with a foster care family, the Greenwoods(Micheal Madsen and Jayne Atkinson) until Dwight(Mykelti T. Williamson)can find his mother. But, he ends meet a pal by the name of Willy. He's a killer whale. He's a beautiful animal and well tamed, but he is very, very sick, needs his family and wants to go back out into the ocean. The emotion in this movie is touching.

Being a 24 year old, I had a ball.