Mean Girls 

After being raised in Africa, 16-year-old Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) moves home to Illinois with her family and goes to high school for the first time in her life; she…

The Bourne Ultimatum

As Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) goes after the people who “created” him and killed his girlfriend, more CIA operatives are realizing that he may not be the enemy. The third…

For Your Consideration 

When veteran actors Marilyn Hack and Victor Alan Miller (Catherine O’Hara, Harry Shearer) are working on a movie together, they learn that their performances are generating Oscar buzz for the…

Princess Mononoke 

Ashitaka, a warrior who suffers from a curse, ends up in the middle of a conflict between humans who are wrecking the forest, and its creatures who are accompanied by…

From Hell: The Ripper Unmasked (Again)

Johnny Depp. Photo: 20th Century Fox When I was 16 years old, I wrote a paper on Jack the Ripper. I suspect my teacher worried about my choice of subject,…

Rear Window: A View to a Kill

James Stewart. Photo: Paramount This masterpiece from Alfred Hitchcock reunited the director with James Stewart from Rope (1948), another thriller that was set entirely in one apartment. This film has…

North by Northwest: Rushmore Rumble

Cary Grant. Photo: MGM According to one biography on Alfred Hitchcock, it was Bernard Herrmann who introduced screenwriter Ernest Lehman to the director. They hit it off and decided to…

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

As the new leadership of Hogwarts turns increasingly fascist, Harry Potter (Daniel Radcliffe) is angry to learn that few people are willing to believe that he did meet Voldemort. Many…

Madagascar

In a desperate attempt to find wilderness, a zebra escapes from the New York Central Zoo, inspiring other animals to join him. In 2005, there were plenty of good computer-animated movies,…

Live Free or Die Hard 

The FBI finds itself under cyber attack and John McClane (Bruce Willis) is ordered to pick up Matt Farrell (Justin Long), a brilliant hacker who might have something to do…