While the 1960 version of The Time Machine remains a science fiction classic, this adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel benefits from a dazzling CGI facelift. Digital wizardry shows us the awesome splendor of eons passing in an eye blink, while Wells's heroic time traveler--played with appealing conviction by Memento's Guy Pearce--is given a stronger motivation for piloting his time machine 800,000 years into the future.
George Lucas's fascinating, almost art-house, film just took a quantum leap into the digital future. Never has the world of THX 1138 looked as bright, clear, and antiseptic as it does on this remastered version. It is equally impressive how far Lucas and the camera crew push the widescreen 2.35 aspect ratio, particularly on a film that emphasizes minimalism. For those that fault the film as being "soundless," prepare yourself for a shock.
James Bond's fourth adventure takes him to the Bahamas, where a NATO warplane with a nuclear payload has disappeared into the sea. Bond (Sean Connery) travels from a tony health spa (where he tangles with a mechanized masseuse run amuck) to the casinos of Nassau and soon picks up the trail of SPECTRE's number-two man, Emilio Largo (Adolfo Celi), and his beautiful mistress, Domino (Claudine Auger), whom Bond soon seduces to his side.
Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo catch fire (USA Today) in this sizzling, suspense-filled thriller from the director of Die Hard and The Hunt For Red October. Thrill-seeking billionaire Thomas Crown (Brosnan) loves nothing more than courting disaster - and winning! So when his world becomes too stiflingly "safe," he pulls off his boldest stunt ever: stealing a priceless painting - in broad daylight - from one of Manhattan's most heavily-guarded museums. But his post-heist excitement soon pales beside an even greater challenge: Catherine Banning (Russo).
In the future, Skynet, a computer system fights a losing war against the humans who built it and who it nearly exterminated. Just before being destroyed, Skynet sends a Terminator back in time to kill Sarah, the mother to be of John Connor, the Leader of the human resistance. The terminator can pass for human, is nearly indestructible, and has only one mission, killing Sarah Connor. One soldier is sent back to protect her from the killing machine. He must find Sarah before the Terminator can carry out it's mission.
With a reported budget of $172 million, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines starts in high gear and never slows down. The apocalyptic "Judgment Day" of T2 was never prevented, only postponed: John Connor (Nick Stahl, replacing T2's Edward Furlong), now 22 and disconnected from society, is being pursued yet again, this time by the advanced T-X, a sleek "Terminatrix" (coldly expressionless Kristanna Loken) programmed to stop Connor from becoming the savior of humankind.
Robert Towne is one of Hollywood's most celebrated screenwriters, but because his directorial efforts have been few and far between, anticipation was high when this star-powered crime story was released in 1988. Critical reaction was decidedly mixed, but there's plenty to admire in this silky, visually seductive film about a drug dealer (Mel Gibson) whose best friend from high-school (Kurt Russell) is now working for the Los Angeles sheriff's drug detail.
Kevin Spacey stars as Buddy Ackerman, a corporate cutthroat who reigns over an entry level job anyone would kill for. The catch is, Buddy is the "Boss from Hell." Ask poor Guy (Frank Whaley), Buddy's personal assistant, who is eager to climb the corporate ladder. On his first day, Guy quickly learns that no opportunity this promising comes without a cost. He soon finds himself ducking everything from insults to paperweights as he tries to satisfy Buddy's needs. But when those "needs" involve Guy's girlfriend, he snaps.
A trio of Krypton villains threaten havoc on Earth, while Superman and Lois Lane are just becoming involved in a long awaited love affair -- an affair which may cost Superman his super powers. Director Richard Lester (A Hard Day's Night) took over the franchise with this first sequel in the series. There is a lot to like about this movie, which finds Superman grappling with the conflict between his responsibilities as Earth's savior and his own needs of the heart.
Brian Keith, Ernest Borgnine, Suzanne Pleshette and Tony Curtis head a "first-rate cast" (Motion Picture Herald) in this "sharp, amusing" (The New York Times) comedy that pits the fed-up brass of an Army base against the fired up citizens of a nearby town!
