The D.I. 4 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1957 and running 106 minutes this is a mostly forgotten film.It's a shame because it starred Jack Webb as Gunnery Sgt. Jim Moore in what many believe is the finest portrayal of a DI on the screen to date.I can only think of two others to compare it with,an officer and a gentleman and full metal jacket, and this is still my favorite.Sadly many people knock Webb as the knock Wayne,for their off camera politics, and therefore they only deprive themselves of great films.The only reason I took 1 star off was the b&w film and some physical contact that the corp stops these days.This movie was filmed only 12 years after WW11 and right after Korea so the strong sense of patriotism is there before Vietnam killed it till the first gulf war.The story is about Moore trying to make a raw marine Don Dubbins     as Pvt. Owens, muster through without hurting the whole platoon.
Two scenes stand out.Owens mother Virginia Gregg as Mrs. Owens ,telling Moore in a stirring speech worthy of a old Trojan widow,that he can't be allowed to quit.See she had already lost a husband and older son to the corp and she'd be damned if they died so he could bug out..The second is a great scene where the platoon is looking for a dead sand flea that Owens killed therefore reveling the platoons position.Moore wants that exact sand flea found for burial.It's fabulous when one marine kills a flea than runs over to Moore screaming,I've found it,and Moore asks Owens was it a male or female?Owens hesitates than says it was a male sir.Moore looks at the flea and proclaims,keep looking,that ain't the one.Trust me on this one.Trailer URL below pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3OyvlTRhj4A

True Romance - 5 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1993 and running 120 minutes this movie beats Pulp fiction by 1 year and I also believe is a better picture.It's very violent to be sure with lots of bad language to boot,but,it's adult fun to the absorb max.The acting is top notch and my 2 favorites are a short stint by Gary Oldman as a drug dealing pimp Drexl Spivey and Christopher Walken as a mob enforcer Vincenzo Coccotti .The rest of the cast is outstanding and 2 much to list but Samuel L  Jackson was Pulp is also in this film as well as Brad Pitt and James Gandolfini and Dennis Hopper and well you get the picture.The story centers on a film buff ,Christian Slater as Clarence Worley, whose work friends get him a whore, Patricia Arquette as Alabama Whitman, to do him in a movie theater as a birthday present. Well they fall in love instead and a wild cross country trip to sell coke they stole from Alabama's pimp Drexl after Clarence shot him in the face like a dog,per Elvis Presley's spirt telling him to,insues.Well that coke belonged to the mob and well Clarence has a Holly wood wanna be friend who can sell the coke to studio bigs and well some LA cops are looking to do a big time bust and well,there be a big crash a comm'in !!!!The final shootout day of reckoning is something to see.Trailer URL follows pix

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4110352665/

Night of the Comet - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Funny little sic -fi film from the 80's about valley girls sisters who survive a passing comet that disintegrates all who view it.The girls are not alone.If you caught a slight glimpse you become a slowly developing zombie.So they have to avoid those while trying to find others who might have survived.Of course some government types on their why to zombie hood trying to capture the girls and use their blood for a serum to keep themselves alive.Finally the girls do meet a guy and at the end another guy so maybe the world will live again.Silly idea but done well a and the only other film with a vaguely  even similar plot line was day of the triffids.I took the  1 and 1/2 stars off for being "valley girls".Released in 1984 it only runs 94 minutes.The girls are played by Catherine Mary Stewart as Regina  and Kelli Maroney as Samantha.Robert Beltran plays Hector  the first guy.Trailer URL below pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d6dOoyghxb0

The Sorcerer's Apprentice - 4 stars out of 5 stars

I'm not really into magic and sorcery movies like Harry Potter ect. Some thing from my catholic up bringing I guess.However when I saw the cast I gave it a watch.It's ok if you like that sort of stuff,magic,that is.I took 1 1/2 stars off because I don't.Released in 2010 and running 109 minutes,its the story of 1000 year old imprisoned sorcerer about to be freed to raise the dead and end the world.However through the years a good sorcerer who had imprisoned the bad one,searches for a descendant  of the master sorcerer Merlin who will be able to slay the bad one.Ok as I said magic stories are crazy and require a real stretch of logic and as a sci-fi fan logic I can't do that.But as I said the cast.Nicolas Cage as Balthazar Blake,the good sorcerer.My favorite new actor,Jay Baruchel  as Dave Stutler,the descendant,and finally,Alfred Molina as Maxim Horvath,servant sorcerer to the bad sorcerer.So if you like this kind of film,the CGI will impress and you will enjoy.For me,once is enough,though I did enjoy it, just won't buy it.Trailer follows pix and oh yes the NYC backdrop is cool.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi780142105/

Anzio - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Sadly this film isn't on many best war movies lists.I guess because at its core its anti war.I'm mentioning it now because sadly Peter Falk as Cpl. Jack Rabinoff  just died 2 days ago.The film also stars Robert Mitchum as Dick Ennis,IP war correspondent.Anzio was a poor invasion by the US on Italy during WW11.Poor because it could the Germans off guard but timid advances afterwards allow the germans to regroup and make it a bloody slow slog up the "boot."Into this mess a small group of soldiers survive and bond with the IP correspondant  who won't carry a gun,he reports not fights,as he searches for the reason why we fight as a species.Falk is the cold hard killing machine with a good heart IF you can find it. Only after a sniper kills Falk and forces Mitchum to pick up a rifle or die,does he get the answer.At no time are we more alive than when we face death,we live for that rush.Or so he tells the General that messed this all up at the start,now at the end.The general reply was that can't be true,but God help us all  if it is. Released in 1968 at 117 minutes,I highly recommend this film and do own it.Trailer URL follows pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOcMOmEW6-s

Takers - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Adrenaline rush with no good ending for a change unless 2 bad guys are less bad than everyone else.Movie opens with bank robbery and than the Russian mob and double crosses and tough cops,one dirty,STOP me if you've seen it before.Released in 2010 and running 107 minutes,what makes this film watchable  is a outstanding cast.I had to take off 1 1/2 stars because we've seen it all before,but just not as well done or acted.I wouldn't buy this film,but hell,it's a good watch when you want a rush.The cast includes Idris Elba as Gordon Cozier the leader of this crew including members Hayden Christensen as A.J.,Chris Brown     as Jesse Attica,Michael Ealy as Jake Attica  and T.I. as Ghost who just got out of jail after a job gone wrong when he had put this crew together.All to short roles by Gideon Emery     as Sergei ,leader of a russian crew and much to short role by Zoe Saldana as Lilly and Nicholas Turturro    as Franco Dalia and Glynn Turman as Chief Detective Duncan.Into this mix are the 2 cops.Matt Dillon as Jack Welles  and Jay Hernandez as Eddie Hatcher ,and many,many others. The next to final shootout in a hotel reminds one of "true romance"which I'll review down the road.See it once,like eating cotton candy.Trailer URL follows pix

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3048801817/

Mad About Mambo - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 2000 and running a short 88 minutes,this is a little flawed gem.I took off 1 star because it's not a new story and well the dancing is not important and there in is the charm.Football and dance interweave in Northern Ireland's Belfast where the memories of the "troubles "are still fresh in the mind and cause tensions between the Catholics and Protestants.Into this mix are thrown high school  students in a coming of age romantic comedy which is quite cute.I recommend a view but not a purchase.There are many cultural errors between Spanish and Brazilian the main one is Mamba while Samba is the dance the young lad ,William Ash as Danny Mitchell wants to learn,because the Belfast United team just signed a Brazilian star and he stated how the rhythms of the Samba helps in the rhythms of football.The young lady,Keri Russell as Lucy McLoughlin,at least says at one point,Brazilians speak Portuguese not Spanish,but the music is never really clarified.But the main focus is the 2 teens and their ambitions and dreams.The girl comes from a successful catholic family and the boy from a just getting by one.Both are still in the minority and Northern Ireland is predominately Protestant.He wants to be a footballer and she,well,likes to dance.
Even with the errors it's still fun to see a attempt at humanizing Belfast.Remember thats where U2 came from.Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1687421209/

Northwest Passage - 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1940 and running 126 minutes,a olde but goode. I always knew there should be a sequel but alas was not to be.Historical dramas have always been a fav of mine and the time of the French and Indian wars classic of "last of the mohegans"is the only story better than this.Hey military folks out there,is this were the"rangers"come from?
I took 1/2 star off because the title is wacked without a sequel.Just a passing reference to the mythical passage is made while the war is the real theme.Below is a review from IMDB and below the pix is a trailer URL.Let me add Langdon becomes a real man and Major Rodgers IS the man.Only Patton came across as a greater leader in films I've seen.Enjoy

Northwest Passage is based on a novel of the same name by Kenneth Roberts, in fact it is an adaptation of its first part The Roger's Rangers, the second part was also originally planned to be filmed by King Vidor, but MGM dropped the project fearing the costs involved. As a consequence only the first part of the novel was brought to the screen where passage through the northwest never actually happens but only is talked about.
The story is centered on Major Robert Rogers (Spencer Tracy) and his rangers who take a dangerous and adventurous journey through the territory controlled by the Indians and the French troops in 18th century America in order to destroy a hostile Indian village from where English settlements are constantly being attacked.
Right in the beginning the rangers are joined by right out of Harvard idealistic young cartographer Langdon Towne (Robert Young) who is dreaming of becoming a great painter `like Velasquez or Rubens' and is enthusiastic about the journey because of possibility it offers to paint portraits of Indians and landscapes in contrast with the other rangers who are mainly driven by yearning of revenge for relatives murdered during Indian raids.
Northwest Passage is possibly the best and the most visually impressive King Vidor's adventure film. Breathtakingly beautiful landscapes shown here certainly stand out as the most wonderful even among King Vidor's work who was well known for beautiful Technicolor exteriors in his movies. A beautiful film, definitely worth watching. 8/10 by Ilya Mauter

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arnQTAHKBI8

Remember Me - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

It will be difficult for film makers to add 9/11 to a movie plot and make the event a finalization of a drama not based on such a event.This film tries and comes close.Released in 2010 and running 113 minutes we have Robert Pattinson as Tyler Hawkins and i'm afraid this film will only solidify his typecasting as that brooding yet strangely appealing  young man of a woman's affections.Emilie de Ravin as Ally Craig is such a woman.In 1991 while waiting for a train with her her mom,they are mugged and her mom is gunned down.Her father is a old school cop forced to raise her alone and now 10 years later she's in college.There she meets Tyler who is the son of  broken marriage who only cares about his young sister since his older brother hung himself after a failed music career and working for a rich lawyer dad law firm.Tyler never adjusted and guards his young sister like a lion.The bulk of the movie is your regular growing and coming of age angst,until finally just when things seem to be coming together for everyone now thanks to the stubbornness of Tyler,a tragic ending ensues.That is,Tyler goes to his fathers law firm on the 88th floor of the WTC on the morning of 9/11 to talk to dads lawyers while dad switches places to take the young girl to school.One can only guess that all the players now will remember Tyler for helping put their miserable sad lives back together while he lost his that morning.
I had to take the 1 1/2 stars off because the story itself is nothing special UNTILL the double pain of 9/11 is added.Can many of survive such double blows?I recommend it as a start of 9/11 reflections but I wouldn't buy it.Trailer URL below pix.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMBfTdm9ALk

"It " - 4 stars out of 5 stars

I missed this because it was a TV movie but its now on DVD and my daughter in law lent it to me.I took 1 star off for the length and it does have a TV feel.Still its a very good scary flick.First shown in 1990 its long at 192 minutes.I haven't read any Steven King books but seen many of his film adaptations and frankly this TV flick held my interest more than any other.It's a forward and back film about 7 kids growing up in the 50's who reunite in the 80's to fight a evil and  sinister force they only can call it,"IT"All the cast was great so I won't name them here,but the story is basically that some evil feeds every 30 years and a small town in Maine is the focus.The town is oblivious to the pattern and treats it as morbid disasters.Only 7 kids are drawn together to fight it and the story goes back and forth as they finally triumph.There bonding is sweet and touching against both the evil and bulling they are face as "the losers"club.That alone makes it relevant to day.Bulling lives on.It starts with a clown killing children,so its rather intense,be warned.Trailer URL follows pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYW3NyAPuMI

Night of the Living Dead - 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

For those who don't know of this picture,it was the film that started the Zombie craze.Released in 1968 and filmed in B & W,directed by the godfather of horror,George A. Romero,it runs only a eternity at 96 minutes.This is horror as a metaphor.For the first time in my reviews i'll start with the endThe lone survivor of the night of horror is shot dead by redneck white good old boys who thought he was a Zombie and then burned on a pile of dead bodies.A chilling sign of the times in the 60's.Burning that is and the racial innuendo.However the film doesn't bludgeon you with that,no,it churns your stomach with everyday normal fat,short,old recognizable folks chowing down on you and me.The hight of horror was a mother who was trying to comfort her bitten young girl who then dies and comes back to stab her mother to death with a garden hand spade so she can feast on her.
The memorable line from the movie comes early when a brother and sister are at a cemetery and the brother try to scare her by saying"Their coming to get you Barbra"and as he finishes,a zombie gets him.Its hard to believe this film is over 40 years old.
The filming in B& W makes up for some spotty acting although over half the cast plays dead zombies so who knew?Now don't misunderstand,I know Zombies come from the Caribbean  voodoo cults,but Romero gave them a new life and origin and brought them to the mainstream of film horror. This was the most historic horror film of my lifetime.The 1/2 star is for the amateur acting,however,in parts,that in itself is relevant and in no why camp.If you enjoy horror of any sort,this is a must see.Trailer URL follows the pix

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1800339993/

Battle Los Angeles - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Before we begin,do NOT confuse this with a film called Battle for Los Angeles  released in 2010.I did NOT see that film but it seems no one liked that one.This was released in 2011 and runs 116 minutes and has fair reviews.Now to this movie.Stop me if you've heard this before.Group of Marines  caught in a desperate fight against evil on their soil and meet it with courage and self sacrifice and then for each other as one after another falls and innocent civilians become involved as a reminder of why they fight.
Yes that old chestnut is revived and rather well.Why you see this movie once or more up to you,is the CGI.I said before CGI is a gimmick and substitutes for a lack of story.THIS is a rare case where this old chestnut is given a new coat BY the CGI.Finally,what CGI should be,a enhancement,NOT a story unto itself.However I had two take 1 1/2 stars off for the fact that in this retelling of the chestnut,the enemy are invaders.Hey thats fine,maybe good even.Sadly thats whats wrong with the film unless a sequel will answer the sci-fi issues created by the enemy being not of this earth.For me the questions MUST be answered of who and why they invaded.The poor reason was they wanted our water and nowhere is the water in the universe.Sadly thats week.Also the aliens seem to be sort of like the Borg from star trek BUT as hard as they were to kill early in the film,they die MUCH easier as the film continues.Also as far as wanting our water,it seems they want it as a power source???
Sorry the sic -fi was terrible.BUT the old soldier story was retold as well as ever by up and coming actors.My two favorites were Aaron Eckhart  as Sgt. Michael Nantz and Michelle Rodriguez     as TSgt. Elena Santos .I won't buy it for the sic fi flaws but the story never gets old when done right.See it and judge for yourself.Trailer URL follows pix

ttp://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3897661977/

Point Break - 5 stars out of 5 stars

I'm on a surf kick after reviewing Blue Crush I had to mention this film.Released in 1991  and running a just right 120 minutes it was directed by Kathryn Bigelow before anyone ever heard of her.It also was the best performances in my opinion by both Keanu Reeves as Johnny Utah and Patrick Swayze as Bodhi and a fine turn by everyones favorite crazy man Gary Busey as Pappas and a fine love interest by Lori Petty as Tyler.The story is fairly simple but filmed beautifully and makes wonder where duty and friendships line cross.After this film it's no wonder Bigelow could do Hurt Locker. Below is a brief summery from IMDB and then below the pix in the trailer URL

Johnny Utah (Reeves) is a Special Agent for the FBI. Utah gets partnered with Angelo Pappas (Gary Busey) an experienced agent who is more than committed to his work. The two are asked to investigate the number of robberies committed by a group called the Ex-Presidents, who wears masks of Presidents Reagen, Nixon, Carter and Johnson for their robberies. Pappas has a theory that the Ex-Presidents are a group of surfers, and asks for Utah to go undercover as a surfer. The problem is, Utah couldn't surf to save his life. That plus the two continuously being hassled by unpleasant and rough Agent Harp (McGinley). With the help of Tyler (Petty) a competent female surfer, Utah begins to gain the respect of local surfer Bodhi (Swayze) and his group. Utah forms a close bond with Bodhi, but the relationship between Utah and Bodhi becomes limited when Utah suspects that Bodhi and his group are the Ex-Presidents. Written by Jeremy Thomson

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi3766485273/

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior 5 stars out of 5 stars

This might well be 2 firsts for a picture.One,a sequel MUCH better than the original and two,I think its the first famous and successful of a new genre of film,the so called post apocalypse film.The film was released in 1981 and is a tidy 91 minutes.It stars Mel Gibson, in the role that really made him a star,as Mad Max Rockatansky .Max had lost his wife in the first Mad Max film as a oil shortage was turning Australia into a crazy land.Now a World War has caused Max to lose civilization too.How to survive??That is what this film deals in and the choices harken back to our own old west.There are no gray areas here.Only good and evil.Mankind has turned back to the stone age but with the remnants of cars and trucks.Gas is truly now black gold.Violence and car chases fill out the rest of the story which is sort of like the western were a lawman rides into town to save it from the bad guys.Nothing new but the firming of this new genre.Worth the view and bloody good fun.Trailer URL follows pix.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi1156776217/

Die Hard - 5 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1988 and running 131 minutes this is the first of 4 movies starring Bruce Willis (in his finest role)as Officer John McClane,everyman who has all kind of problems including ones he makes for himself.Not a hero type at all.But what he is,is unlike most, as he's just a overgrown boy scout who only knows right and has smarts that border on dumb. However that is what makes him a hero,truth and righteous dedication.  
In this first installment he is separated from his wife who has taken his daughter and moved to LA from NYC.It's christmas and John is flying out to visit for the holidays.There is a party at the office where his wife works and he attends but goes to the bathroom to change.At that moment Alan Rickman as Hans Gruber leeds a group of terrorist types and take over the building.The rest of the movie is lone John trying to stop this all alone in the building as the police and FBI outside argue over jurisdiction.There are many good performances including various bad guys played by Alexander Godunov and Huey Lewis lookalike Dennis Hayden and Clarence Gilyard Jr.FBI stooges played by Robert Davi and Grand L. Bush.The one LA cop who gets whats going on is Reginald VelJohnson as Sgt. Al Powell.A must see for all action film fans and gave us Johns memorable line,Yippie-ki-yay, m*therf*cker.Trailer URL follows pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qxBXm7ZUTM

Knight and Day - 3 stars out of 5 stars

Interesting only because of Tom Cruise as Roy Miller and Cameron Diaz  as June Havens.They seem to have a real chemistry and both play that"cutesy funny"better than anyone else.However the story is very weak and been done before.Bad fed agent tries to frame good fed agent for bad thing he wants to do.Even the innocent bystander brought into the scheme has been done as well as good guy and bystander falling in love.The only reason to see this once and NOT buy it,is the bang up CGI car chases and Cruise and Diaz.I smell a sequel.Released in 2010 it runs 109 minutes.Trailer URL below the pix.

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3528000537/

Stargate - 4 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1994 and running a little long at 121 minutes,this film spawned at least 3 TV series and a couple of TV movies.The story answers the question of the Pyramids and ancient Gods in a very modern way.
In 1928 in Egypt lying in the desert dig area,a large circular object is found.Swing to now(1994) and a struggling young egyptologist,James Spader( in I think his finest role)as Dr. Daniel Jackson   is presented with a opportunity that turns out to be a government project to figure out what this circular object is.With his help the "Stargate"as the circular object is now to be known,is activated and he and a army recon team lead by Kurt Russell as Col. Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neil,enter.They emerge across the universe in a far flung galaxy and then the story bogs down a bit.It seems the ancient God"Ra" was really a dying super alien who stole the body of a young boy on this planet and built the gates to get cheap slave labor from earth.The old earthlings rebelled and Ra knocked the gate down so the rebellion wouldn't spread to this planet forcing the remaining inhabitants to worship him and continue to be his slaves.I think you can guess the rest,thats why I only gave it 4 stars.Still it is a original idea even if the scenes in the desert steal from other films.Trailer URL follows the pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s1BiL8GPqc

Get Him to the Greek - 3 stars out of 5 stars

One day late.Should have posted yesterday.
Once before I stated its hard to review comedies because its not always funny the second time around as well as humor being very personnel to many folks.So i'll state upfront I won't own this DVD but I will recommend the viewing.I took 2 stars off because its a Apatow Productions film and their  too over the top as druggie humor film makers as well the story is nothing special.So why did I see it?Well I saw Colm Meaney as Jonathan Snow in the credits and being a DS9 and all STNG junkie I had to see it.Truth be told he wasn't that good in this but the film has its moments sans the drugs and well thats not much:(.
The only thing else I'll say since humor is so personnel,its a much"smarter"film than Sasha Baron Cohen's flicks as well as more shocking in some respects.So if you want a dirty but funny laugh,see this once.It was released in 2010 and runs 109 minutes.Trailer URL below the pix.Oh and the vague storyline below from of IMDB.

English rock star Aldous Snow relapses into drugs and booze after a break up and a disastrous record. In L.A., Aaron Green works for a record company stuck in recession. Aaron's boss gives him a career making task - to bring Aldous from London to L.A. for a concert in 72 hours. That day, Aaron's girlfriend Daphne tells him she wants to finish her medical residency in Seattle. Aaron's sure this ends their relationship. In London, things aren't much better: Aldous delays their departure several times, plies Aaron with vices, and alternates between bad behavior and trenchant observations. Can Aaron moderate Aldous's substance abuse and get him to the Greek? What about Daphne? Written by <jhailey@hotmail.com> 

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi288228377/

Amores Perros 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

In 2004 a film came out of nowhere called "Crash".It won some academy awards but I won't review it because THIS film used that story telling idea and it was released in 2001.The film industry always copies what sells and this sort of idea of combining 3 or 4 different little vignettes has been around for quite sometime but  "Amores Perros"made it popular again.Normally  I don't like foriegn films because of the sub titles but this film being action and full of over the top TV"novella"style acting is a exception.You can follow it fairly well by the raw emotion.
The  three vignettes are tied together by a car crash (sound familiar ?)caused by Octavio,played by the GREAT Mexican actor Gael García Bernal.Fleeing a dog fight,yes all you Michael Vick haters,dog fighting is big,like it or not,Octavio caused a car crash that sets this whole film in motion.My favorite segment is about Valeria a supermodel played by Goya Toledo who is having  affair with magazine publisher Daniel,played by Álvaro Guerrero,and has her leg broken in the crash.Her carer is finished and Daniel must now take care of her.There is a scene where she complains of a mouse under the floor tormenting her and gets Daniel to remove it.The scene is a metaphor of her life to come and Daniel's quilt of causing her condition by the affair. I have never seen anything like it before.
I took off 1 and 1/2 stars because it is foreign and I wasn't thrill with the third and final segment.However it's worth seeing for that second segment alone and the whole idea of the dog fight not be a culture event is debunked and its long before Vicks case.It might be a little long at 154 minutes as well.Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XToRtfQbeHg

Blue Crush 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Ok,3 girls surfing in Hawaii,teeny pix right?Well maybe.Still I found the blue water and the surfing as attractive as the girls,throw in a vacationing Brady like QB and things were kinda cool.Music was nice and cool as well.1 1/2 stars off for being a teeny flick:)Released in 2002 and running 104 minutes,I have no intention of seeing the sequel or part 2 released this year as this was a guilty pleasure to begin with.Hard to review that sort of film.Here's the storyline from IMDB.

Nothing gets between Anne Marie and her board. Living in a beach shack with three roommates including her rebellious younger sister, she is up before dawn every morning to conquer the waves and count the days until the Pipe Masters surf competition. Having transplanted herself to Hawaii with no one's blessing but her own, Anne Marie finds all she needs in the adrenaline-charged surf scene ... until pro quarterback Matt Tollman comes along. Like it or not, Anne Marie starts losing her balance - and finding it - as she falls for Matt. Written by Schleppy 

Trailer  URL follows pix as usual

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi784007449/

Bobby Fischer Against the World - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Released in 2011 at 90 minutes this is a HBO films documentary I just saw and while I won't buy it because watching and re-watching a documentary is sort of like re-watching the evening news,it's worth a view for the following reasons.First in 1972 many things were going on BUT the Chess match in Iceland between Bobby and the Russian champion was on the news as if it was as important as Watergate,Ali,of Vietnam.Second in a sports sense it had the interest of a Ali fight or in the cold war sense,the Miracle on ice. Finally what fame demands as payment from its hero's.
Almost 40 years ago,at the hight of the cold war,Chess became the latest battlefield of the cold war between the Russians and the US.The Russians dominated the sport for many years but a brass almost white version of Ali was challenging all that.Ali version in the sense of being young and innovated and controversial.There the similarities end.We all know the story of Ali's conversion to Islam and his objection to the war in Vietnam.Bobby was far more dark and troubled.Here is a Jew who was anti-Semitic.Even as he was beating the Russian Boris Spasky in 1972,he was being possessed by his own demons.
Born a bastard of both a Jewish mother and father,he was raised by the mom who was on the FBI watch list as a communist and anti-war agitator.I'm sure the is a rich story there that helps shape his future.The documentary starts with his childhood,through 1972 and his death in 2008.Its a well crafted 90 minutes with plenty of old footage for those of you under 40.I had to take off 1 1/2 stars because it IS a documentary and well he was a prick and does he deserve this attention??However,many would say the same about Ali.What is UNDENABLE,is Ali is the best boxer who ever lived and Fischer,Chess player who ever lived.You should see the film and decide for yourself.Trailer URL follows pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qIuLPAyyzc

Escape From New York 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

Sadly this movie lost some steam with events of 9/11.However the only reason  I took 1/2 star off was the vague plot references to war then and just earlier. Released in 1981 and running 99 minutes its a few movies in one.Its a war movie,though not too clear,a sci-fi fantasy possible future movie and its a jail break flick.
The President's plane,played by Donald Pleasence,goes down on Manhattan Island NYC only its a isolated federal prison.Once you go in,you don't come out.The Island has been cut off and the capital crimes convicts inside fend for themselfs.Sort of a post apocalyptic world of their own.Well the President was on the way to a peace conference to end a war.The Warden,Lee Van Cleef  as Hauk,has 24 hours to rescue him or the conference is kaput.Lucky for him a new prisoner is being brought in and he's a super soldier type called Snake Plissken played surprisingly  well by pretty boy Kurt Russell.The catch,if he succeeds he gets a pardon,if not they have injected pellets of explosives in his body that will dissolve in 24 hours.So Snake lands a glider on the top of the WTC and well from there the movie is really tense and full of action.Great supporting roles by Isaac Hayes as The Duke,Ernest Borgnine as Cabbie,my man Harry Dean Stanton as Brain  and Adrienne Barbeau as Maggie,yes its a co-ed prison.I'll only say that the President and Snake do get out in time.However,there is a cost that Snake extracts and he gets vengeance for himself and well,maybe for us all?The Theme from American bandstand was never so unsettling.
Trailer URL follows the pix.

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2175074585/

The Final Countdown - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

You want your sci- fi with your WW2 well this is the flick.What if todays super carrier ,well 1980 release 103 minutes version,of the Nimitz could go back in December 7th and attack the Japanese fleet before it gets to Pearl Harbor??? Well,no doubt history would change radically.This film concerns it self with just such a dilemma.Casting Kirk Douglas as Capt. Matthew Yelland,commander of the Nimitz  and Martin Sheen as Warren Lasky  as a contractor,the die is cast.Sheens character is also a talisman for the old time travel paradox that becomes clear at the end of the picture.There is also a death that happens in the past that is ignored,a marine guard and Japanese pilot, as the bum who died in the famous Star Trek episode,The City on the Edge of Forever.I'm NOT talking about the senator like I'm not talking about Sister Edith Keeler.Both serve to give you endless discussions of what ifs?Yah go ahead and say they would have died later in the war anyway.Humm butterfly effect anyone?That to me is the real talking point of this film.Strongly recommended for those who like what ifs'.I took 1 1/2 stars of because they didn't save Pearl Harbour.The big fight was stopped by the same storm that brought them there.I would preferred a more time line changing ending such as in A Sound of Thunder which I gave 4 stars in a earlier review.Trailer URL follows pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=min2ohR8j3U

The Magnificent Seven - 5 stars out of 5 stars

It's not often some one can take a idea and re-set the location and still make it more powerful.This is such a case.Originally a Japanese Samurai movie  called 7 Samurai,its been re-done to the old west of the US and peasant farm villages of Mexico. Sadly a by product of the movies music and character formed the bases of"the Marlboro man"cigarette  commercials  of the 60's and 70's.
The movie opens in a poor farming village in Mexico where a band of bandits come to rob whenever they want to.The bandits are led by that GREAT Jewish actor from Bronx Eli Wallach as Calvera,6 years before he played the ugly in the good the bad and the ugly.This film was released in 1960 and runs 128 minutes while the G&B&U came out in 1966.Anyway,the farmers decide to go north to the US and buy guns to fight back.In Dodge city they witness 2 gunman drive a hurst to bury and indian on boot hill.  They would be Yul Brynner as Chris and Steve McQueen as Vin Tanner and they shoot a few bad guys to get the indian up the hill.So impressed are the farmers that they ask Chris to get them guns.Chris tells them men today are cheaper than guns.The west is getting"civilized "and there really isn't much work for his kind anymore.So he and Vin recruit 4 more,Charles Bronson     as Bernardo O'Reilly,Robert Vaughn as Lee,Brad Dexter as Harry Luck and James Coburn as Britt .There are 4 good scenes showing how Chris recruits them.As Chris tells the farmers everyone up here has a gun.They wear it like they wear  their pants,ah but good gun man are something else. There's a young hi strug kid who wants to join them,Horst Buchholz as Chico,but at first Chris thinks he too hot headed but later on the way to Mexico he relents and lets him come along.
Thats about 1/3 the picture then the fun REALLY begins.Only 3 of the 7 survive,but Calvera and his gang of thugs doesn't.As the old man says at the ending,only the farmers have won.BEST western of all time even as a retold Japanese Samurai movie.Good,bad,honor,redemption,everything a western MUST be.Trailer URL below the pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWIlGnJDRzw

Saturday Night Fever - 5 Stars out of 5 stars

Released in 1977 and running 118 minutes,I relate to this movie more than any other.No,I'm not the great dancer or looked as good as John Travolta who plays Tony Manero.It's just the story I relate to.Hollywood,everyone looks good but the starts can and often are,ugly.In a classic moment in this movie,Tony is asking for his pay on friday rather than monday and Sam Coppola as the boss,Dan Fusco,try to explain that getting money on friday,you blow it and can't prepare for the future,in reply to Tonys rant about f- - k the future,he further states,no the future f - - k s YOU. True,oh so true.I was working since high school and like everyone I knew then we pissed it away every weekend while living at home as Tony does.Unlike Tony,I hung out in Queens rather than Brooklyn but it was pretty much the same on the weekends.My club was"Mickeys"on Woodhaven Blvd,Tonys was "2001 Odyssey"on 64th Street.
But this is not about me,its about him.Lower working class italian,Tony has a older brother whose a priest and a young kid sister,very religious mom and unemployed dad and a grandmother.Tony lives for the weekend to get away from the crap at home and a dead end hardware store job.What he can do is dance.One day his priest brother returns to inform everyone he's quit the priesthood telling Tony maybe he never really wanted to be one and was only living his parents dreams for him.Tony answers well maybe if your not so good,I'm not so bad.Like most of us,his"crowd"is going nowhere and will take him down with them.Drinking,random sex and racial separation is all they care about.Tony meets a status climbing female dancer he can pair of with in dance contests.Karen Lynn Gorney plays Stephanie that dancer but the real female part in this movie is the poor young girl who loves Tony but he's too blind to see it.Donna Pescow play Annette,and your heart really goes out to her.They way Tony treats her proves he is no hero,just a surviver like us all.The music,most by the Bee Gess,is still the biggest soundtrack album of all time.
The acting is good all around and the story has no happy ending.Only the realization that there must be something better and to try to achieve it.That my friends,is 50 % of the battle.
Trailer URL follows the pix

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YAfC1kYap0&feature=fvst

Casablanca - 4 1/2 stars out of 5 stars

The classic wartime love story.This may be the most quotable movie ever made.Rather than write a regular review I will post the Trailer URL below the pix as usual and state the film was released in 1942 and runs 102 minutes.I took  1/2 star off only for the b&w film. 
Here to end this review is list of the memorable quotes courtesy of IMDB.Enjoy the memories and see if your the one person in the world who hasn't yet seen it.


[denying an official of the German National Bank entrance to the casino]
Rick: Your cash is good at the bar.
Banker: What? Do you know who I am?
Rick: I do. You're lucky the *bar's* open to you.

Woman: What makes saloonkeepers so snobbish?
Banker: Perhaps if you told him I ran the second largest banking house in Amsterdam.
Carl: Second largest? That wouldn't impress Rick. The leading banker in Amsterdam is now the pastry chef in our kitchen.
Banker: We have something to look forward to.

Ugarte: You know, Rick, I have many a friend in Casablanca, but somehow, just because you despise me, you are the only one I trust.

Berger: We read five times that you were killed, in five different places.
Victor Laszlo: As you can see, it was true every single time.

Captain Renault: Carl, see that Major Strasser gets a good table, one close to the ladies.
Carl: I have already given him the best, knowing he is German and would take it anyway.

Captain Renault: In 1935, you ran guns to Ethiopia. In 1936, you fought in Spain, on the Loyalist side.
Rick: I got well paid for it on both occasions.
Captain Renault: The *winning* side would have paid you *much better*.

Captain Renault: Rick, there are many exit visas sold in this café, but we know that *you've* never sold one. That is the reason we permit you to remain open.
Rick: Oh? I thought it was because I let you win at roulette.
Captain Renault: That is *another* reason.

Ilsa: I wasn't sure you were the same. Let's see, the last time we met...
Rick: Was La Belle Aurore.
Ilsa: How nice, you remembered. But of course, that was the day the Germans marched into Paris.
Rick: Not an easy day to forget.
Ilsa: No.
Rick: I remember every detail. The Germans wore gray, you wore blue.

Rick: Tell me, who was it you left me for? Was it Laszlo, or were there others in between? Or - aren't you the kind that tells?

[about Rick]
Major Strasser: You give him credit for too much cleverness. My impression was that he's just another blundering American.
Captain Renault: We musn't underestimate "American blundering". I was with them when they "blundered" into Berlin in 1918.

Major Strasser: Are you one of those people who cannot imagine the Germans in their beloved Paris?
Rick: It's not particularly my beloved Paris.
Heinz: Can you imagine us in London?
Rick: When you get there, ask me!
Captain Renault: Hmmh! Diplomatist!
Major Strasser: How about New York?
Rick: Well there are certain sections of New York, Major, that I wouldn't advise you to try to invade.

[Rick and Renault discussing Victor Laszlo's chances of escaping Casablanca]
Captain Renault: This is the end of the chase.
Rick: Twenty thousand francs says it isn't.
Captain Renault: Is that a serious offer?
Rick: I just paid out twenty. I'd like to get it back.
Captain Renault: Make it ten. I'm only a poor corrupt official.

[Ugarte sells exit visas]
Ugarte: You despise me, don't you?
Rick: If I gave you any thought I probably would.

Ilsa: I can't fight it anymore. I ran away from you once. I can't do it again. Oh, I don't know what's right any longer. You have to think for both of us. For all of us.
Rick: All right, I will. Here's looking at you, kid.
Ilsa: [smiles] I wish I didn't love you so much.

Ugarte: Rick, think of all the poor devils who can't meet Renault's price. I get it for them for half. Is that so... parasitic?
Rick: I don't mind a parasite. I object to a cut-rate one.

Yvonne: Where were you last night?
Rick: That's so long ago, I don't remember.
Yvonne: Will I see you tonight?
Rick: I never make plans that far ahead.

[Annina is contemplating Renault's offer of exit visas for sex]
Annina: Oh, monsieur, you are a man. If someone loved you very much, so that your happiness was the only thing that she wanted in the world, but she did a bad thing to make certain of it, could you forgive her?
Rick: Nobody ever loved me that much.
Annina: And he never knew, and the girl kept this bad thing locked in her heart? That would be all right, wouldn't it?
Rick: You want my advice?
Annina: Oh, yes, please.
Rick: Go back to Bulgaria.

Captain Renault: Hello Rick.
Rick: Hello Louis.
Captain Renault: How extravagant you are, throwing away women like that. Someday they may be scarce. You know, now I think I shall pay a call on Yvonne. Maybe get her on the rebound. Hmm?
Rick: When it comes to women, you're a true democrat.

Captain Renault: What in heaven's name brought you to Casablanca?
Rick: My health. I came to Casablanca for the waters.
Captain Renault: The waters? What waters? We're in the desert.
Rick: I was misinformed.

Rick: I stick my neck out for *nobody*!

Major Strasser: What is your nationality?
Rick: I'm a drunkard.
Captain Renault: That makes Rick a citizen of the world.
[all laugh]

Rick: *I'm* the only "cause" I'm interested in.

Rick: [to Ilsa] I wouldn't bring up Paris if I were you, it's poor salesmanship.

Captain Renault: Ricky, I'm going to miss you. Apparently you're the only one in Casablanca with less scruples than I.

[Of Victor Laszlo, who wants to escape from Casablanca]
Captain Renault: No matter how clever he is, he still needs an exit visa... or I should say two?
Rick: Why two?
Captain Renault: He is traveling with a lady.
Rick: He'll take one.
Captain Renault: I think not. I have seen the lady.

Rick: I congratulate you.
Victor Laszlo: What for?
Rick: Your work.
Victor Laszlo: I try.
Rick: We *all* "try"; *You* succeed!

Rick: You know what I want to hear.
Sam: [lying] No, I don't.
Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
Sam: [lying] Well, I don't think I can remember...
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it!

Captain Renault: We are very honored tonight, Rick. Major Strasser is one of the reasons the Third Reich enjoys the reputation it has today.
Major Heinrich Strasser: You repeat *Third* Reich as though you expected there to be others!
Captain Renault: Well, personally, Major, I will take what comes.

Rick: Who are you really, and what were you before? What did you do and what did you think, huh?
Ilsa: We said no questions.
Rick: ...Here's looking at you, kid.

Major Strasser: We have a complete dossier on you: Richard Blaine, American, age 37. Cannot return to his country. The reason is a little vague. We also know what you did in Paris, Mr. Blaine, and also we know why you left Paris.
[hands the dossier to Rick]
Major Strasser: Don't worry, we are not going to broadcast it.
Rick: [reading] Are my eyes really brown?

Rick: I'm on their blacklist - their roll of honor!

Captain Renault: [after Rick pulls a gun on him] Have you lost your mind?
Rick: I have. Sit down!
Captain Renault: Put that gun down!
Rick: I don't want to shoot you, but I will if you take one more step!
Captain Renault: [With amusement] Under the circumstances I will sit down.

Senor Ferrari: Might as well be frank, monsieur. It would take a miracle to get you out of Casablanca, and the Germans have outlawed miracles.

[after observing the gambling tables at Rick's]
Customer: Are you sure this place is honest?
Carl: Honest? As honest as the day is long!

[as he goes to hand Renault a bribe]
Jan Brandel: Captain Renault... may I?
Captain Renault: Oh no! Not here please! Come to my office tomorrow morning. We'll do everything businesslike.
Jan Brandel: We'll be there at six!
Captain Renault: I'll be there at ten.

Rick: How can you close me up? On what grounds?
Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
[aloud]
Captain Renault: Everybody out at once!

Rick: Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, she walks into mine.

Ilsa: I love you so much. I hate war so much.

Ilsa: [laughs ironically] With the whole world crumbling, we pick this time to fall in love.
Rick: Yeah, it's pretty bad timing. Where were you, say, ten years ago?
Ilsa: [trying to be cheerful] Ten years ago? Well, let's see...
[remembers, smiles]
Ilsa: Oh, yes, I was having a brace put on my teeth. Where were you?
Rick: Looking for a job.

Ilsa: Kiss me. Kiss me as if it were the last time.

Rick: And remember, this gun is pointed right at your heart.
Captain Renault: That is my *least* vulnerable spot.

Captain Renault: Major Strasser has been shot. Round up the usual suspects.

[last lines]
Rick: Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Rick: Last night we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. Well, I've done a lot of it since then, and it all adds up to one thing: you're getting on that plane with Victor where you belong.
Ilsa: But, Richard, no, I... I...
Rick: Now, you've got to listen to me! You have any idea what you'd have to look forward to if you stayed here? Nine chances out of ten, we'd both wind up in a concentration camp. Isn't that true, Louie?
Captain Renault: I'm afraid Major Strasser would insist.
Ilsa: You're saying this only to make me go.
Rick: I'm saying it because it's true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life.
Ilsa: But what about us?
Rick: We'll always have Paris. We didn't have, we, we lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night.
Ilsa: When I said I would never leave you.
Rick: And you never will. But I've got a job to do, too. Where I'm going, you can't follow. What I've got to do, you can't be any part of. Ilsa, I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that.
[Ilsa lowers her head and begins to cry]
Rick: Now, now...
[Rick gently places his hand under her chin and raises it so their eyes meet]
Rick: Here's looking at you kid.

Captain Renault: Realizing the importance of the case, my men are rounding up twice the usual number of suspects.

Captain Renault: Oh no, Emil, please. A bottle of your best champagne, and put it on my bill.
Emil: Very well, sir.
Victor Laszlo: Captain, please...
Captain Renault: Oh, please, monsieur. It is a little game we play. They put it on the bill, I tear up the bill. It is very convenient.

Victor Laszlo: Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.

Ilsa: Who is Rick?
Captain Renault: Mamoiselle, you are in Rick's! And Rick is...
Ilsa: Who is he?
Captain Renault: Well, Rick is the kind of man that... well, if I were a woman, and I were not around, I should be in love with Rick. But what a fool I am talking to a beautiful woman about another man.

[Ugarte gives letter of transit to Rick for safe keeping]
Ugarte: Rick, I hope you're more impressed with me, now? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll share my luck with your roulette wheel.
[Starts to walk away]
Rick: [stands up; Ugarte stops] Just a moment. I heard a rumor those two German couriers were carrying letter of transit.
Ugarte: Huh? Oh, huh, I heard that rumor too. Poor devils.
Rick: [sternly] You're right, Ugarte. I *am* a little more impressed with you.
[Rick exits casino]

Captain Renault: [seeing a uniformed French officer talking non-stop to an Italian officer] If he ever gets a *word* in, it'll be a major Italian *victory*.

Captain Renault: By the way, last night you evinced an interest in Señor Ugarte.
Victor Laszlo: Yes.
Captain Renault: I believe you have a message for him?
Victor Laszlo: Nothing important, but may I speak to him now?
Major Heinrich Strasser: You would find the conversation a trifle one-sided. Señor Ugarte is dead.
Ilsa: Oh.
Captain Renault: I am making out the report now. We haven't quite decided yet whether he committed suicide or died trying to escape.

Rick: I don't like disturbances in my place.
[to the German officer]
Rick: Either lay off politics, or get out.

Rick: You'll excuse me, gentlemen. Your business is politics, mine is running a saloon.

Captain Renault: I've often speculated why you don't return to America. Did you abscond with the church funds? Run off with a senator's wife? I like to think you killed a man. It's the Romantic in me.
Rick: It was a combination of all three.

Rick: [getting drunk] First they take Ugarte and then she walks in. Well, I guess that's the way it goes... one out and one in.

Ugarte: Too bad about those two German couriers, wasn't it?
Rick: They got a lucky break. Yesterday they were just two German clerks. Today they're the "Honored Dead".
Ugarte: You are a very cynical person, Rick, if you'll forgive me for saying so.
Rick: [shortly] I forgive you.

Sam: Boss, ain't you going to bed?
Rick: Not right now.
Sam: Ain't you planning on going to bed in the near future?
Rick: No.
Sam: You ever going to bed?
Rick: No!
Sam: Well, I ain't sleepy either.

Yvonne: [Yvonne is drunk] Give me another.
Rick: Sascha, she's had enough.
Yvonne: Don't listen to him, Sascha. Fill it up!
Sascha: Yvonne, I loff you, but he pays me.

Ugarte: Well, Rick, after tonight, I'll be through with the whole business and I am leaving finally this Casablanca.
Rick: Who did you bribe for your visa? Renault or yourself?
Ugarte: Myself. I found myself much more reasonable.

Rick: If it's December 1941 in Casablanca, what time is it in New York?
Sam: What? My watch stopped.
Rick: I'd bet they're asleep in New York. I'd bet they're asleep all over America.

[first lines]
Narrator: With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas. Lisbon became the great embarkation point. But, not everybody could get to Lisbon directly, and so a tortuous, roundabout refugee trail sprang up - Paris to Marseilles... across the Mediterranean to Oran... then by train, or auto, or foot across the rim of Africa, to Casablanca in French Morocco. Here, the fortunate ones through money, or influence, or luck, might obtain exit visas and scurry to Lisbon; and from Lisbon, to the New World. But the others wait in Casablanca... and wait... and wait... and wait.
French officer: To all officers - two German couriers carrying important official documents murdered on train from Oran. Murderer and possible accomplices headed for Casablanca. Round up all suspicious characters and search them for stolen documents. Important.

Captain Renault: [to Rick regarding Ilsa] She was asking about you earlier in a way that made me very jealous...

Rick: Why did you come back? To tell me why you ran out on me at the railway station?
Ilsa: ...Yes.
Rick: Well, you can tell me now. I'm reasonably sober.

[Rick has just allowed Jan and Annina Brandel to win at roulette in order to get money for their exit visas]
Sascha: [kissing Rick on both cheeks] You have done a beautiful thing!
Rick: [embarrassed] Get outta here, you crazy Russian!

Ilsa: [in her goodbye letter] Richard, I cannot go with you or ever see you again. You must not ask why. Just believe that I love you. Go, my darling, and God bless you. Ilsa.

[Rick has been on a long drinking binge]
Emil: [serving Rick another drink] *You* are becoming your *own* best *customer*!
Captain Renault: [surprized] Why Ricky, I'm *pleased* with you- *Now* you're beginning to live like a *Frenchman*!

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi6095897/

TV Series - Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 5 stars out of 5 stars

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - 5 stars out of 5 stars

I'm taking a break from movies to do a TV series review.Two things made the Internet WWW a stunning success.PORN and all things Star Trek.From those two things all else sprung.Arguably what is the worse and best of us.Star Trek has always been a refection of the times told in parables of the future.Between 1993 and 1999 DS9 ran for seven seasons of 173 total episodes and was true to the creed of Star Trek and the fears of that time.We had the First Gulf War and we were just beginning to understand terrorism from the first WTC attack and the Cole and two embassy in Africa. War was in the air though not yet upon us and the series took those fears as the original series took on Vietnam involvement and Cuba.What makes DS9 compelling today is its lead character a Captain Sisko is played by a black actor Avery Brooks.Can you say Barak Obama??Sisko has many flaws as does Obama,but like it or not,it's not a white world any longer and these two fail as much as any whites do and thats just the truth,like it or not.We are all full of nobility and frailty so say Star Trek and I.

Why do DS9 now??
In case you were not aware,Star Trek closed its show about the Borg in Las Vegas but a new theme park is being built in the middle east country of Jordan.For  more info on that story see Star Trek.com link below

http://www.startrek.com/article/star-trek-beaming-into-jordan

Remember fans,King Abdullah II bin al-Hussein is a Star Trek fan and even had a stand on in a "Voyager"episode.But this review is not about that series

I guess I'm reviewing it now because of the theme park being built in the middle east,the crazy stuff Obama must bear and the interpersonal struggles of its cast as if they were YOUR extended family.The allegory of space and the future make it easier to take your medicine on what is a turmoil filled  life we are forced to live both personally and professionally and with world events looming over our heads and beyond our control.If ever Star Trek spoke to us,it speaks in what I think is the most timeless series of the five,and I might add,my favorite.

The series seven years are the story of Sisko's life from losing his wife and raising his son in a out post far from home.He goes from picking up the pieces of his own life in this outpost as a whole world is going through the same basic problems after a 50 year occupation by another planet.To making a new life with new friends and family and discovering a greater conscience in life in a sort of religious awaking to a desperate war to hold on to this new way of life.Thats the human star trek parable.

The sic fi is this new world is called Bajor and the out post is DS9 and the former occupying world is Cardassia.After a war with the federation Cardassia is forced to leave Bajor and its orbiting space station Terok Nor,it has been renamed DS9 and Sisko has been put in charge and has to deal with a  liason Bajorian officer named Major Kira played by Nana Visitor.His son Jake Sisko played by the real life cousin of major league BB player James Lofton,actor Cirroc Lofton.I mention this because baseball is sort of a talisman in the story. There is a new fresh from the Star Fleet medical academy,Doctor Bashir,played by MY favorite actor in the show,Alexander Siddig,who was in real life born in the Sudan. They also introduce a combination of symbiosis between two living creatures.The symbiont is implanted into a humanoid Trill.In this case the symbiont in named Dax and it has lived 7 lifetimes in trills.It retains the memories of those lifetimes and allows the current trill to drawn on that experience to be more that anyone could hope to be.A win,win for both parties.Dax in its seventh life had be Curzon Dax,stern old man mentor to Sisko back in the day,now it is the Jadzia Dax,young and a beautiful woman Star Fleet officer played by Terry Farrell.Add two characters from Star Trek Next Generation,Colm Meaney as Chief O'Brien, and added for season 4 and beyond Michael Dorn as Lt. Commander Worf .Now this DS9 is like a small sea port in space with all that can be thought of in that light.We have a Ferengi bar keeper,Armin Shimerman as Quark,a Cardassian taylor(?REALLY?) Andrew Robinson as Garak,a bad bad Cardassian  Marc Alaimo as Gul Dukat    and finally a really interesting character.Station chief of security,one of a kind (?REALLY ?)changeling Rene Auberjonois as OdoThere are many more cast members but these are the real focal points over 7 years.

With 173 episodes I have chose one to highlight but there is a link below for a PDF file download of all the episodes.
Link to episode guide.I got it from TV.com

 http://dunsuls.opendrive.com/files/29678237_OuLI2_6312/Deep%20Space%20Nine.pdf  

The episode I choose is from the seventh and last season and its called  Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges.What the heck does that mean??Heres a explanation below.
Definition below from Wikipedia.com
Inter arma enim silent leges is a Latin phrase meaning "For among [times of] arms, the laws fall mute," although it is more popularly rendered as "In times of war, the law falls silent." This maxim was likely first written in these words by Cicero in his published oration Pro Milone, although Cicero's actual wording was "Silent enim leges inter arma."
At the time when Cicero used this phrase, mob violence was common. Armed gangs led by thuggish partisan leaders controlled the streets of Rome. Such leaders were nevertheless elected to high offices.


Deep hun?Well so is the episode.Bashir is duped into a real double dealing plot by Star Fleet to shape the future after the war is over.If you remember WW2 we were allies with the Russians but had a cold war with them afterwards.
Well in this case the Russians are the Romulans.Rather than try to explain all the intrigue and double dealing I'll just put the link below to the last 7 minutes of the episode that explains what had happened.
Link to brief ending of episode Star Trek DS9 - Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges


http://dunsuls.opendrive.com/files/29682251_d22Lj_6ab8/TV%20Trailer-Star%20Trek%20DS9%20-%20Inter%20Arma%20Enim%20Silent%20Leges.mov

The whole series is sort of grim but there are very funny moments as well.
Do watch it when you can.I have the whole series and I do watch it.

Taps - 4 stars out of 5 stars

A gem from 1981 running 126 minutes,this film is a showcase of young future stars let by a fading George C Scott as General Harlan Bache,superintendent of a young mens military academy.But its not his film and his character  dies of a heart attack not far into the film.No this film belongs to the cadets and their dedication to the academy that turns horribly and tragically wrong.Led by Timothy Hutton  as Cadet Major Brian Moreland,they try to keep the school open when the trustees want to close it for economic reasons.They can make more money off the real-estate than the tuition. Together with Sean Penn as Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer,and Tom Cruise as Cadet Captain David Shawn,Moreland decides to take over the academy and hold it till the trustees can be convinced otherwise.Unfortunatly along the waybthey clash with the locals and the General dies while a national guard unit under the command of Ronny Cox as Colonel Kerby,surround the academy and await as tensions rise.Many fine supporting roles are well acted as we await the inevitable.When children and weekend warriors have guns,no matter the values they claim to uphold,it WILL go violently bad.Tom Cruise is the lesser role of the three but you can just feel his presence in each scene and even though Hutton and Penn have great movies to come,you know Cruise is the man.I took 1 star off because this could never happen but gave it four because its so well done you actually believe it just might.Trailer URL below the pix

http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi2676818201/