Jurassic Park: A Day at the Zoo

Photo: Universal Computer animated effects was not a new thing in 1992 when Steven Spielberg started shooting this film. Beauty and the Beast (1991) had certain parts of its animation…

The Departed: Keeping Your Enemies Closer

Leonardo DiCaprio and Jack Nicholson. Photo: Warner When I went to see this movie with a friend the other night, his expectations were not too high. Martin Scorsese had, in…

Aliens: Mother Against Mother

Sigourney Weaver. Photo: 20th Century Fox When I first heard about this film, I was 11 or 12 years old and pretty much a novice when it came to movies.…

Rocky Balboa 

Aging champ Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) decides to come out of retirement for one final fight against the reigning champion, Mason Dixon (Antonio Tarver). That’s the predictable, simple story for…

Fantastic Four 

Sometime in the future, five astronauts gain superpowers after being exposed to cosmic radiation; little do four of them know that the fifth (Julian McMahon) plans to use the powers…

National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

As Clark Griswold (Chevy Chase) waits for the all-important Christmas bonus, he starts planning for the best Christmas ever with his family. Of course, disaster looms in this third chapter…

Home Alone: Christmas with a Kick

Macaulay Culkin. Photo: 20th Century Fox I love everything about Christmas. Most people would pick It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) as their favorite Yuletide-themed film, and it certainly is a…

Final Destination 

High school student Alex Browning (Devon Sawa) has a nightmare where he and his classmates die in a plane crash; the dream is so vivid he skips an upcoming flight...…

Vegas Vacation 

The Griswolds go to Las Vegas on vacation, but Clark and Ellen's (Chevy Chase, Beverly D'Angelo) marriage hits a few bumps and cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid) shows up to cause…

Terms of Endearment: Fighting Back the Tears

Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger and Jack Nicholson. Photo: Paramount It never fails. I’ve seen this film, director-producer James L. Brooks’ first, four or five times and it always leaves me…