Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) - Movie Review

I love this series. I love some of these movies more than the others, and for different reasons. I won't go into those reasons, I'm just glad I can talk about another Resident Evil movie.

I will tell you that I am happy that Milla Yovovich is back in this third Resident Evil movie. In this movie though we see multiple Alices, as Umbrella has cloned Alice in an attempt to figure out why the T-Virus reacts the way it does in Alice. Unfortunately for Umbrella without the real Alice, they can't complete their research.

Joining Milla Yovovich is Ali Larter as Claire Renfield, returning is Oded Fehr as Carlos Olivera, and joining the cast is Spencer Locke as K-Mart. The story line is pretty good in this Resident Evil. Paul W.S. Anderson did a very good job creating a story line that catches and keeps the viewers attention; only a little absurd toward the end when we get to Dr. Isaacs becoming a mutant.

My favorite scenes begin with when Alice joins Claire Redfield's convoy, about 10 minutes or so into the movie. The convoy has stopped at an abandoned motel for the night. When they wake in the morning it is to find a couple hundred crows all over the camp site. At one point K-Mart notices the eyes of a crow and asks about them. Claire replies that the birds have been eating infected flesh; crows being carrion birds. However, the best part of this scene is that the crows start attacking the different vehicles and are successful in many respects as they kill several characters. But it is when Carlos runs the protect a young girl from the crows and then a flame thrower that Alice joins in the fight. Alice stops the flames from reaching Carlos and then turns the fire against the crows, killing them all.

I loved the scene closer to the beginning of the movie where Alice goes to an abandoned radio station. Alice gets ambushed by what appears to be a family of degenerates. One of the men attempts to prove how much of a man he is by attempting to rape Alice. Unfortunately for the man, Alice kicks him in the face and kills him. One of the other members of the family knocks Alice out. Alice wakes in a pit, and realizes that there are some infected dogs. Alice avoids the dogs and uses some electrical cables to tie them to a support post holding up the floor the family are on watching the events below. The dogs are pulling so hard that they pull the post down causing the floor to come crashing down. The family are deposited for fodder for the dogs, and Alice escapes.

My next favorite scene is the fight scene between Alice and Dr. Isaacs, or I should say the mutated Dr. Isaacs. Everything that Alice does to try to kill Isaacs is a futile attempt because Isaacs can heal himself. However, Alice and Isaacs make it to the corridor with the lasers where Alice attempts to sacrifice herself in order to kill Isaacs. Killing Isaacs is successful, but an Alice clone saves Alice by turning off the lasers.

A bonus scene I liked was when the different department heads are "meeting" with Albert Wesker to discuss the different items going on around Umbrella, especially in North America with Dr. Isaacs. After deciding to writing off the North American facility and deciding to transfer all data to China, Alice crashes the meeting (holographically) and warns everyone that she is going to hunt them all down. When she leaves the meeting, the camera pulls back and you see how many clones of Alice Umbrella has made.

I give this 10 out of 10 stars. The story is great, especially depicting Las Vegas being reclaimed by the desert. The fight scenes are more elaborate. Milla Yovovich teaming with Ali Larter in this movie just increases the eye candy; it doesn't hurt to have Spencer Locke either. And for the ladies, you have Oded Fehr and a few others.

Clue (1985) - Movie Review

Clue is one of my favorite movies of all time. Yeah, I know. I have a lot of favorite movies. What can I say, I love movies.

This movie I like because it is a mystery and a comedy rolled into one. The cast that was assembled made this movie what it was. Tim Curry is great as Wadsworth, the Butler. Martin Mull is awesome as Colonel Mustard. Lesley Ann Warren is pretty darn good as Miss Scarlet, and beautiful too. So is Colleen Camp as Yvette. Christopher Lloyd is great as Professor Plum and Michael McKean is a convincing bumbling Mr. Green. I could go on, but I won't.

Again as has become my custom I have several favorite scenes, which I will list.

My first favorite scene is the three endings. The three endings are a series of endings in which the many different murders are explained. Wadsworth begins to explain how the cook, the motorist, Yvette, Mr. Boddy, the cop, and the singing telegram girl. All three endings are slightly different giving the viewer a "murder mystery" feel as they try to figure out who-done-it.

The next like of mine really isn't about any one scene in particular. I like the awkwardness of each character interacting with the others. The script calls for several of the character, Wadsworth in particular, to utilize double talk, or using words that have double meaning. Some of it is confusing and the viewer almost gets lost in the conversation, but in a weird way it's funny.

The last part of Clue that I like is the sexual innuendo, and the not so subtle sexual tension, aspect of the script. Colonel Mustard, Professor Plum and Mr. Boddy all hit on either Miss Scarlet or Yvette. Mr. Boddy attempts to feel up Yvette while at dinner, but she steps away before he can get too far. Professor Plum did feel up Miss Scarlet by moving his hand to her rear-end while waiting for the front door to open.

I give this 8 Stars out of 10, only because it is out of date. Yes, I know that it is period movie, set in the early 1950's. However, we are talking about a movie that hit the theaters nearly 30 years ago.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) - Movie Review

Milla Yovovich is back as Alice in Resident Evil: Apocalypse. YES!!!!!!

This movie is a continuation of the previous movie, almost as if no time has passed. Alice wakes up in the hospital with needles in her arms and head. Whatever they, The Unbrella Corporation, were pumping into her enhanced her abilities.

Apocalypse revolves around the virus escaping The Hive because The Umbrella Corporation just wouldn't leave it alone. Umbrella opened up the Hive because they wanted to know what went wrong. The team that went into The Hive was attacked and left the doors open allowing the zombies out.

The zombies escaping prompts a protocol for Umbrella where some of the top scientists and executives are evacuated before the civilians can be allowed to leave, assuming that they aren't infected. One of the scientists is Dr. Ashford, played by Jared Harris, who is taken away, but anxious to get his daughter out as well. The vehicles that Angie Ashford, played by Sophie Vavasseur, is in is hit by a semi truck. The two agents that were with Angie appear to be dead, while we see Angie move her fingers telling the audience that she is alive.

Using his computer, Dr. Ashford locates his daughter, but there is evidence of zombies in the area. Therefore, Dr. Ashford looks for recruits to help save Angie.

Before we get to this point though, we meet Terri Morrales, Jill Valentine, L.J., Carlos Olivera, and Sgt. Peyton Wells. It is a combination of these characters and Alice that eventually locate Angie and bring her to safety.

My three favorite scenes are pretty cool, two of them have Alice fighting the creature from the Nemesis Program.

The first scene is when Alice and Nemesis fight for the first time. The best part of the scene is when Alice escapes down a trash shoot in a police precinct. While falling down the shoot one of Alice's fingers gets caught on some fencing and either brakes or dislocates. Nemesis fire a rocket down the shoot, but Alice escapes anyway. The end of the scene is when Alice fixes her finger.

The second scene I liked was the scene when the rescuers get to the school that Angie has taken refuge in. As they search the school for Angie, Terri is attacked by several children who have been turned into zombies. L.J. is attacked by a zombie, but Carlos saves him. Jill locates Angie and tries to reconnect with the others from her group. Jill takes Angie through the Cafeteria not knowing that there are zombie dogs loose in the school. They get trapped in the kitchen and Jill eventually turns all the gas burners of every stove on intending to blow up the kitchen with the dogs inside. The book of matches Jill throws into the kitchen fails to set the gas off, but Alice arrives and throws a lit cigarette in... KABOOM!

The third scene I liked was the final fight scene between Alice and Nemesis. Umbrella wants to see who is better. Between the two the fight is pretty evenly matched. Alice, however, impales Nemesis on a piece of steel. Alice eventually realizes that Nemesis is Matt, the only other survivor of the battle in The Hive from the first movie.

I won't give away the ending of the movie. Suffice it to say that Alice "survives" yet again. If that is too much of a spoiler alert, I apologize, but you would have figured that out if you looked at the cast for the next movie in this series. Hint, Alice is the central character for the movies, she survives through the end of the fifth movie... and beyond.

I give this movie 9 Stars out of 10. The fight scenes are better and more elaborate. Milla Yovovich is sexy as hell, even as a zombie killing machine. Sienna Guillory is another sexy zombie killing machine and is perfect as Jill Valentine. Oded Fehr is another great casting choice for Carlos.

Resident Evil (2002) - Movie Review

For those of you that played the video game of Resident Evil I am sure you had a lot of fun playing. Unfortunately, I don't think I ever did play the game, at least not outside of an arcade version. Certainly not on Playstation or Sega or Nintendo. Yes, I am that old.

Anyway, I love these movies. There is not any one part of any of these movies I don't like. If I could watch them all the time I would. Not because of the walking dead, but because Milla Yovovich is hot! It doesn't hurt that we see Milla almost nude a couple of times and there is a nipple glimpse; I won't call it a nipple slip, it was there on purpose.

Anyway, like I said, there is literally nothing about any of the Resident Evil movies I don't like. However, as has become my custom in my reviews I have to list my all time favorite scenes. There are three I absolutely love.

The first is the scene where the group of soldiers along with Alice (Milla Yovovich) and Spence (James Purefoy) attempt to turn off the Red Queen. Four of the soldiers enter a corridor which leads to the Red Queen's mainframe; after opening the door to her mainframe, the Red Queen closes the doors at both ends and traps the four soldiers. The Red Queen activates her defenses, in the form of lasers; first one that travels along one line, then one that moves up and down depending on if the soldier jumps or crouches, and finally a laser that turns into a grid and slices through the last soldier.

I like a lot of the scenes where Rain (Michelle Rodriguez) is the macho soldier. At one point she tells another character to "blow her", hilarious. Several scenes into the movie after being bit, Rain is taunting the zombies by dripping blood from a wound in her hand down from pipes the group (Alice, Rain, Spence, Matt and Kaplan) is crawling along.

The second scene I like is when the remaining members of the group, minus Kaplan, figure our that Spence is the one who released the T-Virus. Alice attempts to stop Spence's escape but he does so anyway, after a long speech how he did everything for Alice. In the end Alice doesn't buy anything that Spence says and he leaves. But Spence doesn't get far. He is soon killed by a Licker, a mutated monster that is hunting the survivors.

The final scene I like is when the Licker attacks the train as the survivors are trying to make their way out of the Hive and the Mansion. The Licker claws it's way to the control end of the train, scratching Matt's arm in the process. When it reaches the controls of the train it attacks Kaplan and kills him, then goes after Alice, Matt and Rain. While Alice and Matt are fighting the Licker, Rain finally turns into a zombie. Now Alice and Matt have to fight the Licker and Rain. Alice traps the Licker's tongue with a pipe and stabs it with another pipe trapping it, yelling to Matt to open the doors to the undercarriage. Matt does this by shooting Rain in the forehead forcing her back into the button for the doors. The Licker falls through the door and from the electricity of the third rail catches fire. Alice closes the doors and cuts the tongue of the Licker letting it tumble away from the train.

I said it before, and I'll say it again. I love these movies. I give this one 10 stars out of 10.

The Zombie Survival Guide (2003) by Max Brooks - Book Review

I like just about everything that deals with zombies. NO, I don't believe zombies exist. But I do like the sub-genre of horror movies and books that includes the zombie.

It was hard to read this book because it doesn't read like any other book, well, except how-to books. But this is a how-to SURVIVE a zombie apocalypse. When is that ever going to happen?

If you find yourself face to face with a zombie, here is a hint... you either hit your head and your hallucinating or you have been cast in a movie where the theme is zombies. If the second is true, lets hope that the zombies aren't as fast as the zombies in 28 Days Later. If the first part is true, see a doctor right away, because you may have a concussion.

If you look at this book from a purely entertainment standpoint it is pretty funny. And why not, the author was a writer on Saturday Night Live for three seasons starting in 2001. Max Brooks is also the son of Mel Brooks. If you don't know who Mel Brooks is, think Robin Hood: Men in Tights or Spaceballs or many other screwball comedies.

Combining the how-to genre of books, like how to fix your car, with the zombie genre of horror books and films is really nothing short of genius. It makes for a dark comedy that is bordering on insanity. But as has been said before "There is a fine line between genius and insanity." Not that I am calling Max Brooks insane.

Looking at the Table of Contents you will find everything you need to know about how to survive a zombie apocalypse. The first thing you need to know is what kind of zombie you are dealing with, that is chapter one. Once you figure out what your enemy is Max has listed the different types of weapons and combat techniques to use, chapter two.

Chapter three is how the space you're in is defensible or not. Some structures are more easily defensible than others. Chapter four describes what to do if you suddenly find yourself on the run and in the open. If you decide that enough is enough and you want to try to reclaim your village, city, state, country or even the planet Chapter Five gives helpful tips on how to attack the zombie threat head-on.

Chapter six explains how to survive an apocalypse. The other five chapters tell you what you are facing and how to face it. Chapter six tells you where you should go to survive and hopefully live out the apocalypse, which should last up to ten years or longer.

Chapter seven is the most entertaining of all as it takes many historical events and turns them into zombie attacks. For instance, the disappearance of the settlers at Roanoke, VA. Max Brooks says that a group of men were sent to the main land in search of food, but only one returned. He was declared a murderer and a liar, and was hung the following day. A second group was sent after the condemned man's group, but returned exhausted and wounded with scratches and bites. Medical attention was given to the men, but they soon died. Before they could be buried the next day, the members of the search party reanimated as zombies and massacred the entire village. However, Max does suggest that the Croatoan Nation recognized the severity of the situation and took action.

After reading this book, and getting many quizzical looks when reading it in pubic, I have to give this book 6 out of 10 stars. It was entertaining, but still had the how-to book feel, which I don't like. Maybe Max Brooks's World War Z will be better.

Leprechaun (1993) - Movie Review

This is quite possibly the most ridiculous horror movies I have ever seen, and I have seen plenty. I can honestly say that I have only watched this movie about half a dozen times. Before I describe it I will go ahead and give you my rating. I give this 4 stars out of 10, only because one of the stars of this movie is Jennifer Aniston.

The plot for this movie is pretty bad. No amount of star power could have hoped to make this a classic horror movie. With a budget of $900,000 it's hard to imagine what they could have done to make it better. During it's opening weekend Leprechaun garnered just shy of $2.5 million. Since it's release though in 1993, Leprechaun has grossed over $8.2 million. Unfortunately, it has become an almost cult classic, especially around St. Patty's Day in March. Go figure! I guess there is no accounting for taste.

Warwick Davis plays the nasty little Leprechaun who is in search of his pot of gold. The pot of gold was stolen by a man named Dan O'Grady and brought from Ireland to the United States. The Leprechaun follows O'Grady to reclaim the gold, but O'Grady traps the Leprechaun. Unfortunately, O'Grady suffers a heart attack after the confrontation. Also, O'Grady's wife was killed by the Leprechaun before being trapped.

Ten years pass and J.D. Reding buys O'Gray's home. He begins to move in with his daughter, Tory (played by Jennifer Aniston), accompanying him for the summer. Reding hires a local trio to repair and paint the house. Almost immediately the trio of handymen, along with Tory and her father, are tormented by the sadistic Leprechaun.

I cannot list my favorite scenes because I don't have any. Some of the scenes of the Leprechaun driving a small car are pretty funny.

The Great Outdoors (1988) - Movie Review

This has to be one of my favorite comedies of all time. Teaming up John Candy and Dan Aykroyd was a comedic masterpiece. I love it! John Hughes did an awesome job writing and directing this movie.

The Great Outdoors is the story of two families on vacation. One family is down to earth, the other are snobs. Mixing the two makes for a great combination. Chet Ripley brings his family up to the Great North Woods for vacation and to relive his and his wife's honeymoon. Little does he know that his brother-in-law invite himself, his wife, and his twin daughters to join in the fun.

As has become my custome, I will list my favorite scenes. Usually there are only three, but with this movie it's very difficult to pick just three.

My absolute favorite scene is the scene in which John Candy's character, Chet Ripley, is pulled all across the lake on skies. The scene starts when he is trying to teaching  his son, Ben, the basics of water skiing. Chet is wearing the skis and holding the tow rope; at one point Chet waves to Roman, played by Dan Aykroyd, who takes the wave to mean that Chet will take the first trip around the lake. The whole scene is amazing when you see an overweight man being dragged, against his will, all over a lake... it is one of the most hilarious scenes of the movie. Chet even ends up on one ski!

The next scene I like is when the two families go out to eat one night. At the restaurant they are ordering their dinners and Chet sees the entry for the "Old 96'er", a 96 lb steak. The restaurant has a "contest" that if any one that orders it and finishes the whole meal is on the house. Chet orders the "Old 96'er" and does very well. He finishes eating all the meat, but the cook says he hasn't finished. Chet has to eat the gristle and fat as well. It isn't shown, but it is assumed that Chet eats the remaining items on the plate. When the two families get home some raccoon get into the house to get at the garbage. Roman points out that there are a lot of maggots, especially on the meat, which causes Chet to run to the bathroom to throw up.

I also liked the scene when Roman's twin daughters go off to the abandoned mine during a rain storm and fall down the shaft. Chet and Roman go looking for the girls after not finding them in the house. Locating the girls in the mine, Chet returns to the cabin for some rope, while Roman stays behind. Roman rescues his daughters without help from Chet and returns to the cabin. Chet returns to the mine, thinking that Roman and the girls are still inside, throws the rope down hoping to help. Unfortuately, Chet helps a bear escape the mine, which chases him back to the cabin. The bear happens to be the same bear that Chet told a story of earlier in the movie. The resort owner arrives and shoots the bear, not fatally or even wounding it much, just taking off the hair from it's butt.

The other scenes I like are a collection of scenes involving a character named Cammie, played by Lucy Deakins. Cammie is a local girl who tries to keep vacationers at arms length, but Buck, Chet's oldest son, falls for her, and she for him. The first time we see Cammie, Buck and Ben are playing pool. Buck leans down for a shot at the same time Cammie does at the next table. Buck's pool stick ends up going between Cammie's legs from behind. Cammie feels the stick and whips around to confront Buck, sending the stick flying. It's not a hilarious scene, but a pretty good scene nonetheless. I like it because I think Lucy Deakins is a pretty woman, she has the sweet, girl next door look.

I give this 8 out of 10 stars because it is pretty funny. John Hughes did a fantastic job of putting this movie together.

The Bourne Legacy (2012) - Movie Review

Of the four Bourne movies this is my second favorite. Only because it doesn't have Matt Damon or Julia Stiles. However, to make up for it not starring Matt Damon they brought in Jeremy Renner. The director and producers didn't bring Renner in as a replacement of Matt Damon. Matt Damon decided that if Paul Greengrass wasn't the director on this movie that he wouldn't be in it. Tony Gilroy directed Legacy, so the producers were forced to go in a different direction. They did so by bringing in a new character, Aaron Cross.

Aaron Cross, played by Jeremy Renner, is similar to Jason Bourne. He is an agent of the CIA, black-ops kind of stuff. However, Aaron suffers from a learning disability. Well, at least his alter ego does.

Again I have to list my favorite scenes. The first is Aaron removing the tracking beacon from his hip. He lures a wolf in and forces the beacon down the wolf's throat. The wolf takes off in one direction, Aaron in another. Unfortunately for the wolf, with the beacon in it's stomach, a guided missile blows it to smithereens. After this scene Aaron gets to a small airport and steals an airplane.

My next favorite scene is when Aaron saves Dr. Marta Shearing (played by Rachel Weisz) from being taken out by a CIA assassination squad. He kills each member of the squad and then helps Marta to burn her house down with the bodies still inside before escaping through the woods to an awaiting car.

I of course like the chase scenes in Manila. They are separated only by a few minutes but they should considered a continuous chase scene. The first part is of Marta running away from Manila Police and Aaron running along the rooftops in order to catch her and save her. Which he does. The second part is when another assassin, only referred to as LARX #3, chases both Aaron and Marta through the streets of Manila on motorcycles.

I would still choose Jason Bourne over Aaron Cross. I would also choose Julia Stiles over Rachel Weisz. Although, I do have to admit to having crushes on both Julia and Rachel. I can do that, can't I?

Anyway, I give this 10 stars out of 10.

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007) - Movie Review

If I had to choose one of these films I would definitely choose this one as my favorite. I didn't choose this one because the action is great. I didn't choose this one because the chase scenes are pretty damn good. I chose this one because Julia Stiles plays a much bigger role in this one than the other two together. I have a crush on Julia Stiles, sue me.

Let's get my favorite scenes out of the way. The first scene I like is the train station scene. I like how Jason Bourne tries to help Simon Ross, a journalist. Simon Ross is writing a newspaper article about Bourne, Treadstone, and Blackbriar. The CIA tries to take out Simon Ross and, despite the help of Jason Bourne, succeeds.

My next favorite scene is when Jason and Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) take a trip to Tangier. Jason and Nicky get separated and an assassin is sent after both of them because they were trying to get information from Neal Daniels. The assassin, Desh Bouksani, kills Daniels and thinks he kills Bourne. Bourne realizes that he and Nicky are now in danger and chases after Desh to save Nicky. The best part of Bourne chasing after Desh is his running along the rooftops of Tangier and getting into a fist fight with Desh.

The next favorite scene is Jason being chased across New York City. At one point he drives off the roof of a parking structure, which begins the chase. He steals a police car and is chased by another assassin named Paz. Paz forces Jason into a barricade and they both crashes. They both survive the crash and Jason aims a gun at Paz, but doesn't pull the trigger. Later Paz asks Jason why he didn't pull the trigger. Jason doesn't answer, but he asks Paz if he even knows why Paz is supposed kill him.

I suggest watching all of these movies. I give this 10 stars out of 10.

The Bourne Supremacy (2004) - Movie Review

The pace of these movies are fast. If you look away from the screen for a second you miss something. This movie doesn't disappoint. I love these movies. None of these movies have outdone any of the others. They have matched each other in every way.

Matt Damon reprises his role as Jason Bourne. Back again is Franka Potente as Marie; Brian Cox as Ward Abbott; and Julia Stiles as Nicky. New characters are Pamela Landy, played by Joan Allen, and Kirill, played by Karl Urban.

Two years after the first movie Jason Bourne is drawn out of hiding, well hiding in plain sight, because he is set-up as the fall guy. Because of the set-up Pamela Landy is set on Bourne's trail and she is relentless. Relentless until she figures out that Bourne had nothing to do with what went wrong with her operation.

The chase scenes are really what make this movie worth while. Those and the rest of the script. So I would have to say that from start to finish this is a great movie... just like the others.

Just like Identity I have some favorite scenes. And guess what? They are all action scenes.

The first is the scene where Jason and Marie are trying to get away from Kirill. Kirill is the one who has set Jason up that screwed up Pamela Landy's operation. Kirill goes to India to kill Jason, but he kills Marie instead.

The second scene I like is when Jason goes to Moscow to apologize to the daughter of the couple he killed in his first assignment. He was only supposed to kill Vladimir Neski and make it look like natural causes. However, Neski's wife arrives unexpectedly and Jason has to change his plans. He set it up to look like Neski was killed by his wife and then shot herself.

Another favorite scene is when Jason and Pamela have their final phone conversation. Pamela tells Jason what his real name is. This scene shows at least some familiarization or a friendship brewing between Pamela and Jason.

I love these movies.

I give this 10 stars out of 10.

The Bourne Identity (2002) - Movie Review

I love this movie. I like the action, the drama, and the especially the chase scenes. Matt Damon does a phenomenal job bringing this character to life as only he can. Like so many other actors in so many other roles it isn't easy to imagine someone else in those roles.

I have listed favorite scenes in other movies, but not all movies I have reviewed. I have three scenes that I especially like.

The first scene I like is when Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) and Marie (Franke Potente) leave Bourne's Paris apartment. They are cornered and Jason decides to run, but he is trying to get Marie to leave. Marie doesn't want to leave so Jason brings her along for the ride. And what a ride it is!

Jason drives an Austin Mini Cooper through the streets of Paris to escape the Paris Police. One of the best parts is when he drives the car down a set of stairs. He escapes the police and does so with flare. Can you imagine having a high speed car chase in a Mini Cooper? I think it is funny as hell.

The next best scene is when Jason confronts The Professor (Clive Owen), another agent like Bourne. He does this with flare as well. Bourne blows up a large propane tank to distract The Professor. Then Bourne runs into a field and is able to shoot and wound The Professor. After getting little information from him, Bourne watches as The Professor dies.

The last of my favorite scenes is after Bourne confronts Conklin (Chris Cooper), his former boss. Bourne hits Conklin and renders him unconscious, seconds later Bourne must fight his way out of the apartment building by killing four agents. One agent he kills by shooting through the forehead while falling through the air and landing on the body of one of the agents.

I do have some advice for those that want to read the books by Robert Ludlum or Eric Van Lustbader. Don't read the books thinking that you will be able to follow the movies. I have only ever read the first book. The only similarity between the first book and the first movie is as follows: the title, many of the character names, and Jason Bourne's amnesia. The rest of the book is completely different from the movie. I have to say that that was probably as it was supposed to be, since the book was released in 1980 and the movie came out 22 years later.

I give this movie 10 stars out of 10.

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013) - Movie Review

This is not one of my favorite Die Hard movies, but I do maintain that it is better than the second movie. In this movie John McClane tries to repair his relationship with his son, Jack. Jack is played by Jai Courtney. John travels to Moscow because Jack has been arrested for murder. Unbeknownst to John, Jack is a CIA agent on a mission in Moscow.

John mistakenly interferes in Jack's mission and causes a lot of problems. The twists in this movie are pretty good. The animosity between John and Jack is also a pretty good facet of the script. The fact that this Die Hard movie has gone international is also a pretty good aspect of the script.

The pace of this movie is the same as the other four. Slow for the first ten to fifteen minutes... fast for the rest of the movie.

The action scenes are much more elaborate. The chase scene is pretty awesome. The killing of the two main bad guys are more elaborate.

I give this 9 stars out of 10. It's the action that gives this movie a boost in stars.

Live Free or Die Hard (2007) - Movie Review

This is perhaps my favorite Die Hard movie. Mainly because it has John McClane trying to rebuild a relationship with his children... one at a time. In this case he is trying to have a relationship with his daughter, Lucy.

Just like the other three movies the pace starts out slowly but after about ten or fifteen minutes the action picks up. It's not so fast paced that you miss anything. Or that the movie is faster than the other movies. The pace of these movies is one element that makes them so enjoyable for me.

Bruce Willis reprises his role as John McClane. Lucy is played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead. Joining in the fun is Justin Long who plays Matthew Farrell; Timothy Olyphant playing the role of Thomas Gabriel, the bad guy.

If you remember, in the first movie John had to thwart the efforts of Hans Gruber in stealing money from a corporation by taking over a building and the occupants of the building became his hostages. In the second, John thwarted the efforts of a paramilitary unit from helping in the escape of a drug lord while holding an airport hostage as well as the many airplanes in the skies above. In the third movie, John must thwart the efforts of Simon Krige, better known as Hans Grubers baby brother, from stealing millions of dollars worth of gold.

In this movie, John must stop Thomas Gabriel from stealing the entire countries wealth. Gabriel tries to do this by forcing what is known as a "fire sale". A "fire sale" is where a hacker or a group of hackers take over three or more of the countries infrastructures. This can be banks, electricity, natural gas, or some other modern necessity.

Eventually, Lucy is kidnapped, so the task for john becomes one in which he must rescue her. Matthew Farrell helps John along the way, but eventually is captured as well. John comes in in the nick-of-time to save them both and kills the bad guys. But the way he kills Gabriel is probably the best I have seen in a long time.

I give this a 10 out of 10 stars.

Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) - Movie Review

John McClane is back and better than ever. He is back in New York and currently on suspension. That is until Simon plays his game.

Simon has McClane and Zeus Carver traipsing all over New York playing little games. McClane and Carver play along until McClane figures out that everything that Simon is putting them through is nothing but a wild goose chase.

Simon turns out to be Simon Gruber, brother to Hans Gruber. Hans as you remember was killed by McClane in Calafornia several years before. Simon is bent on revenge... and gets pretty damn close.

McClane does what he does best. He figures what Simon is really up to... the same thing that Hans was up to in California. Basically it's a heist, but the way everything is done is what makes the story so great.

Bruce Willis brings his best to this role, as he has done twice before. I still maintain that if Willis had not been cast in this role there is not telling how successful the Die Hard franchise would have done. Bruce Willis IS John McClane.

Jeremy Irons brings a different aspect to the story as Simon. The revenge angle has been done before but with the twist of the heist is a bit different. Samuel L. Jackson as Zeus Carver was a great move. Imagining someone else in any of these roles is unimaginable. The pace for this movie from beginning to end is fast, barely letting up for a breather.

I give this 10 stars out of 10.

Die Hard 2 (1990) - Movie Review

Of the five Die Hard movies this is my least favorite. Don't get me wrong it is still a great movie. It is the return of one of the best action characters of the second half of the 20th Century... John McClane.

Bruce Willis his role as John McClane, a police detective in the right place at the wrong time. This time he goes up against ex-military mercenaries in an airport. The mercenaries are trying to help in the escape of Ramon Esperanza, a general from the Republic of Val Verde, who is being extradited to the U.S. to stand trial for drug trafficking. McClane is, again, trying to save his wife who is on a plane in the skies above Dulles International Airport.

Again the action starts out slow, but picks up as soon as John McClane gets involved in the action. He runs all over the airport in his quest to save his wife. John is thwarted several times along the way. One poignant scene is of McClane trying to avert a plane crash of a British Airways flight. He makes makeshift torches and runs out on the tarmac to signal to the plane that they are in danger. McClane is unsuccessful as the British Airways flight crashes into the runway killing all aboard. This shows the futility of the situation McClane finds himself in, but he doesn't give up. Quit just isn't in McClane's make-up.

There are three parts of the movie I like the best. The first is when Richard Thornburg (played by William Atherton) is in the lavatory on the same plane as Holly McClane (played by Bonnie Bedelia). Thornburg is in the lavatory on the phone giving an account of the terrorist situation to the news station he works for; Holly uses the tazer of the lady next to her and breaks into the lavatory where she zaps Thornburg.

The next favorite scene is when McClane is trying to save the British Airways flight.

My third favorite scene is when McClane figures out a specific piece of information and brings it to the attention of Captain Carmine Lorenzo (played by Dennis Franz), of the Dulles Airport Police Department. Lorenzo, in his inexhaustible fashion, doesn't believe McClane. McClane takes his evidence, a machine gun, and proceeds to empty the clip at Lorenzo. The bullets in the machine gun are blanks.

Even though this is not one of my favorite Die Hard movies I still rate it an 8 out of 10 stars.

Die Hard (1988) - Movie Review

This is one of my favorite movies of all time. Bruce Willis is amazing as John McClane. Alan Rickman is perfect as the quintessential bad guy as Hans Gruber. These two characters facing off makes for a perfect mixture, adding in the roles of Holly Genero McClane (played by Bonnie Bedelia), Sgt. Al Powell (played by Reginald VelJohnson) and Karl (played by Alexander Godunov).

I watch this movie at least once a year because, even though it was released 25 years ago, it is a classic. This is the one that started the Die Hard franchise. And has continued to be built on since the franchise is now up to five movies.

The movie is fairly slow until Gruber and his cohorts take the 40 story Nakatomi tower and everyone inside hostage. This includes John McClane and his estranged wife, Holly; John is a NYPD detective on vacation visiting his wife and children for Christmas. When Gruber and company take charge John is thrust into saving the day and taking out the terrorists. Amazingly, he does this all while barefoot.

This movie made Bruce Willis's career. Without this movie in his portfolio there is no telling where he would be today. On the other hand, without Bruce Willis there is no telling how successful the Die Hard franchise would have been. Alan Rickman also made the perfect bad guy, and there is no telling how well this movie would have done with someone else in that role.

Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (2012) - Movie Review

As a historian it is hard for me to like this movie, but I did find this an enjoyable movie. Not as good as Bram Stoker's Dracula with Gary Oldman, but still a pretty good vampire movie. The action is pretty good, the vampire hunting is excellent.

The pace of this movie pretty fast as we begin our story when Abraham loses his mother. She was poisoned by a Vampire named Barts. His father makes him promise not to go after Barts. Abraham promises but only keeps this promise until his father passes away.

The movie is different from the book as there are many things that have been changed. There is no mention of Abraham Lincoln's grandfather being killed by vampires. There is no mention of Anne Rutledge, although in the book she plays a major role but is killed in the same manner as Abraham's mother. Willie Lincoln's death in the movie is attributed to the same sickness that killed his grandmother.

Another scene that should have been in this movie was that John Wilkes Booth had been turned into a vampire. Abraham Lincoln was shot and his friend Henry turned him into a vampire instead of letting Lincoln die. However, Lincoln was turned at a time when nobody was around so everyone thought he was still dead.

The novel idea that Abraham Lincoln was a vampire hunter and had killed several vampires over the years is a pretty good idea. It is an amazing twist that the Civil War was fought to free the slaves because the vampires used slaves as food. It was not only humans that fought on the side of the south but vampires as well.

As a movie based on a book that is complete fiction wrapped around historical fact this is a very good movie. I would give this a 7 out of 10 stars, simply because the action and story is fairly well thought out. TimurBekmambetov did a very good job directing this movie, and adapting it from the book of the same name. But, as a historian, I can't bring myself to like this movie too much.

Hudson Hawk (1991) - Movie Review

For those of you that don't know, Bruce Willis can act in a comedy role. Hudson Hawk is one of those roles. Bruce Willis's character is more of a smart ass than a natural comedian, but his one liners and being a smart ass aren't mean... per se.

Bruce Willis plays a cat burglar, named Hudson Hawk, who just got out of prison. He is asked to steal an antique horse from an auction house, which he does. He does this by singing "Swinging on a Star" performed by Bing Crosby. However, Hawk and his partner, Tommy Five-Tone (played by Danny Aiello), almost get caught by a security guard.

There are some twists and turns in this movie. One twist is whether Tommy Five-Tone is really a friend to Hawk. Another is whether Anna Baragli (played by Andie MacDowell) is a friend to Hawk. Anna is certainly keeping a secret, but will that secret help or hurt Hudson Hawk.

I won't rehash the plot of this movie because I would rather you watch it. I like this movie, its quaint, its funny. It's not a timeless classic though. The delivery of each actor in their respective roles are flawless and not forced. The dialogue seems to flow pretty good. The action flows pretty good as well.

One thing I would like to say though, this is one of only two roles I like David Caruso in. In this movie Caruso plays a character named Kit Kat; Kit Kat doesn't speak, that is why I like Caruso in that role. The other role I liked Caruso in was NYPD Blue.

But I digress... This movie will get 8 stars from me on a scale of 1 to 10. I wish Bruce Willis would do more of these type of movies, although I like the ones he has done.

2012 (2009) - Movie Review

Of all the end of the world, apocalyptic movies that have been made this is by far one of the worst ones. I like movies and this one was not one of my favorites. I love watching John Cusack movies, but this is by far my least favorite.

The only redeeming quality this movie has going for it is the special effects. They would have to be pretty damn good to make this a halfways decent movie. The budget for this movie was $200,000,000, but it barely grossed $166,000,000 as of February 2010.

I like to find good in everything. Woody Harrelson's character is one of the best characters of this movie. He is the funniest. He is the strangest. All the other characters seemed awkwardly matched in the script.

2012 is based on the premise that the world will end or drastically change on December 21, 2012. This assumption is based on the Mayan Calendar ending on that date. However, the Mayan Calendar doesn't end it just recycles back to the beginning.

John Cusack plays Jackson Curtis, a limo driver who is an aspiring science fiction writer. Little does he know that he will be living one of the greatest science fiction adventures of all time as he tries to save his ex-wife, two kids and his exes boyfriend. Along the way Jackson picks up a Russian aristocrat, his two sons, his wife and his bodyguard.

While flying an Anatov An-225 aircraft to China they run dangerously low on fuel and plan for a water crash landing. However, they don't realize that while they are in the air the Earth has shifted enough that they are now several thousand miles further along. This allows them to crash land on land, but of course, with a twist. This wouldn't be a Hollywood apocalyptic movie without some sort of crazy assed stunt. That stunt is driving a car off the cargo ramp of the Anatov while it is careening toward a cliff. Does it work? What kind of movie would it be with killing off the lead character and his entire family just as he gets so close?

Anyway, I can't go on describing this movie since it was poorly executed. As usual, using IMDB's scalle of 10 stars I give this one a 6. Cusack, Harrelson and the special effects helped but not enough.

Cast Away (2000) - Movie Review

Cast Away is probably the most heart breaking movie I have ever seen. The main character, Chuck Nolan, loses everything. His life is put on pause for seven years because the airplane he was on crashed and left him stranded on a deserted island.

Tom Hanks gives probably his best performance as Chuck Nolan. Helen Hunt plays the female lead in the role of Kelly Frears. And who could forget Wilson?

The heart breaking part of this movie is when Chuck returns from his island to find his friends and family have moved on without him, including his girlfriend/fiance. Chuck explains to a friend of his that after a while of being on the island he came to terms of never seeing Kelly again. However, when he escapes the island and tries to get his life back Kelly has moved on and gotten married. He says that it was as if he had lost her all over again.

Switching gears here, to either show his mind slipping or to try to keep his mind together, Chuck befriends a Wilson volley ball he names... Wilson. It is up to the viewer to decide whether or not Chuck talking to a volley ball for seven years is sane or insane. I believe it was a way for Chuck to cling to his humanity and his sanity. When Wilson is lost on the open ocean Chuck mourns him.

I always wanted to know what happened after Chuck talked to Bettina. Bettina is the woman at the beginning of the movie in the welding shop on the farm. She is also the woman at the end of the movie who gives Chuck directions at the crossroads. I always wondered if he would go back to Bettina's farm to tell her that it was her "angel wings" that saved him.

Using IMDB's scale of 1 to 10 stars, I give this a 10. It was a powerfully dramatic movie. There was some comic relief thrown in with the interaction between Tom Hanks and the volley ball.

The General (1926) - Movie Review

Buster Keaton's The General is by far my most favorite of his movies. Again he does his own stunts. Almost every stunt is meant to be hilarious or awe inspiring. Every interaction between the characters is meant to be hilarious or ironic.

The General is based off of the great locomotive chase which really did take place during the Civil War. The movie does a fair job of accurately portraying the raid itself. However, since this is a comedic adventure the raid is more of a secondary story.

The true story of The General is Johnnie's (Buster's) desire to prove himself and his love to Annabelle Lee (Marion Mack), his fiancee. When the Civil War breaks out he tries to enlist, but when he tells the enlistment officer that he is an engineer for a railroad he is refused. The enlistment officer thinks that Johnnie would be more valuable where he is than in the army, but they don't tell him. Annabelle's father sees that Johnnie hasn't enlisted and thinks he is a coward and tells Annabelle. Annabelle confronts Johnnie and he says that he tried to enlist but they wouldn't take him. Annabelle tells Johnnie that she won't talk to him until he is wearing a uniform and he has enlisted.

A year goes by.

Annabelle gets word that her father has been wounded and she is traveling North to be with him. Johnnie is the engineer for the train she will be traveling on. When the train stops for lunch undercover Union soldiers steal the train. Unfortunately for Annabelle she is in one of the baggage cars and is taken along with the train. Johnnie takes off after the thieves... by himself, although he believes he has backup. Unfortunately for Johnnie he has to complete his task of retrieving his engine and his girl.

The next several minutes sees Johnnie chasing his engine in a variety of ways. He also has to contend with a myriad of obstacles thrown in his way. Many of these obstacles are hilarious. One of them is a train car that is left to slow him down. He pushes it to a bypass and then he continues on thinking he is rid of the car. He gets distracted by putting wood in the furnace and when he turns back the cars is back in front of him. At this point the "stone face" is back. Johnnie gets distracted again and when he looks out ahead of him the car is gone. He can't believe it and blinks twice thinking that he may have been seeing things.

Later, he finds Annabelle and together they steal his engine back so they can head south and warn the Confederate Army of an impending attack. The locomotive chase is reversed as Johnnie and Annabelle must create obstacles to hold up the Union Army. They are successful.

I won't give away the ending, except to say it is a happy one.

By the way the engine that Johnnie runs is named General.

I laugh every time I see this movie. Buster Keaton is one of my favorite comedians of all time. He is definitely in my top ten.

Using IMDB's scale of 1 to 10 stars I give this one a 10. It is hilarious and action packed.

Cops (1922) - Movie Review

Another of Buster Keaton's hilarious shorts is Cops from 1922. The movie short begins with Bust behind bars talking to a woman he would like to marry. It is revealed that she is on one side of a wrought iron gate with her on the other. She tells him that she won't marry him until he makes something of himself.

From then on he gets into quite a bit of trouble. After his girlfriend essentially breaks up with him he helps a man who had dropped his wallet by returning it, the man takes the wallet and pushes Buster away. In the end Buster get the money from the wallet.

A con man sees Buster with his wad of cash and tricks him into buying a pile of furniture on the sidewalk. Buster loads the furniture and drives away. He sets up a turn signal with a boxing glove that punches a police officer. Then he ends up in a policemen's review parade and again Buster gets into hilarious trouble.

Buster gets chased all across the city and eludes the police at every turn. Finally he runs into a building that turns out to be the police station. All the police chase him into the building and a lowly cop shuts and locks the doors. That cop turns out to be Buster. His girlfriend walks up and he introduces himself to her in his new profession. She is not amused and walks on by. Buster unlocks the doors and allows himself to be taken into custody.

This movie short begins to show that Buster will do his own stunts. And that there is nothing that he won't do. He has a very funny exchange with a horse. Again he utilizes the stone faces expression as if to say that "he isn't surprised about what is happening, so why should you be?" I have seen this used in may different movies in the last couple of decades, including Jumanji with Robin Williams. But Buster is the master of the stone face.

IMDB scale of 1 to 10 stars, I give this a 9. It was funny, but it didn't invoke any other emotions or utilize any other genre. There was very little drama, although if it were a longer movie I am sure it would be placed it the category of a dramedy, a drama that is also a comedy.