Move over, Vin Diesel, because The Transporter, Hong Kong action veteran Corey Yuen's English-language directorial debut, is revving up to steal your thunder. As the other top-billed action star to emerge in 2002, British hunk Jason Statham--previously seen in Snatch, Ghosts of Mars, and The One--plays a hard-driving courier for well-heeled underworld clients. He follows simple rules: (1) Stick to the deal; (2) Don't ask names; and (3) Don't look in the packages he transports.
In between the disaster movie satire Airplane! in 1980 and the hardboiled cop show parody The Naked Gun in 1988, the comedy crew of Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, and David Zucker put together a picture that's almost as funny as their better-known hits. Top Secret! sends up spy movies and cheesy teen rock & roll musicals.
An unreachable shot to the green. A hopeless romance. Driving-range pro Roy McAvoy can't resist an impossible challenge. Each is what he calls a defining moment. You define it. Or it defines you. With lady-killer charm and a game that can make par with garden tools, Kevin Costner rejoins Bull Durham filmmaker Ron Shelton for another funny tale of the games people play. For Costner's Roy, golf is a head - and - heart game. On both counts, that's where shrink Molly Griswold (Rene Russo) comes in.
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.
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.
Like an airport running at peak efficiency, The Terminal glides on the consummate skills of its director and star. Having refined their collaborative chemistry on Saving Private Ryan and Catch Me if You Can, Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks mesh like the precision gears of a Rolex, turning a delicate, not-very-plausible scenario into a lovely modern-age fable (partly based on fact) that's both technically impressive and subtly moving.
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.
