Rating: Half-Full

 

Cast: Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, Dan Aykroyd, Erik Per Sullivan, Cheech Marin, Jake Busey and M. Emmet Walsh

 

Director: Joe Roth

 

Writer: Chris Columbus

 

Based on: Skipping Christmas by John Grisham

 

Producers: Michael Barnathan, Chris Columbus and Mark Radcliffe

 

Music by: John Debney

 

Oscar Nominations: 0

 

Rated: PG for brief language and suggestive content

 

Release Date: 11/24/04

 

Favorite Character: Vic Frohmeyer

 

Quote: “You’re skipping Christmas! Isn’t that against the law?”- Spike Frohmeyer

 

Fun Facts: When Nora drops the ham in the shopping center parking lot and the truck runs over it and she screams, you can hear the theme song from “Halloween” which Jamie Lee Curtis also starred in.

 

Julie Gonzalo, who plays Blair Krank, and Jamie Lee Curtis also star together in Freaky Friday (2003) in which Gonzalo plays the nemesis of Curtis’s daughter.

 

After the party had already started, the burglar who lies about having kids tries to escape from the upper floor and walks out onto the roof. Tim Allen’s character “Luther” yells “Hey, get down from there” which was similar to him yelling at Santa Claus on the roof in one scene from “The Santa Clause” starring Tim Allen.

 

The swimsuits the models are wearing in the advertisement for the cruise the Kranks are taking are the same ones Luther and Nora wear when they go tanning in the mall.

 

Summary: When their daughter left for the holidays, a couple decides to skip Christmas and take a cruise but things take an unexpected turn when their daughter announces that she’s coming home for Christmas.

 

The Review: I don’t see how it’s too funny but it is quite a holiday story. Perhaps a moral film for those who want to skip Christmas.

 

 

Rating: Half-Full

 

Cast: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Emmy Rossum and Sela Ward

 

Director: Roland Emmerich

 

Writers: Roland Emmerich and Jeffrey Nachmanoff

 

Producers: Mark Gordon and Roland Emmerich

 

Music by: Harold Kloser

 

Oscar Nominations: 0

 

Rated: PG-13 for intense situations of peril

 

Release Date: 05/28/04

 

Favorite Character: Sam Hall

 

Tagline: Now it’s fiction… Tomorrow it’s real

 

Quote: “I will come for you, do you understand me? I will come for you.”- Jack Hall

 

Fun Facts: South Park (1997) Creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone managed to get their hands on a copy of this film’s script during its pre-production. The two planned to secretly shoot the same film with puppets instead of actors, word for word, and release it on the same day. The duo abandoned these plans after their lawyer convinced them that such a film would never get released.

 

20^th Century Fox decided to preview the film for a group of scientists but they were pretty unimpressed with the science stuff in the film.

 

Lindsay Lohan was in talks to play Laura, and came close to signing a contract to star in the film. She had to back out last minute due to major scheduling conflicts.

 

The film was promoted with Countdown-to-Doomsday style clocks in Cinemas.

 

Summary: When the northern Hampshire plunges into ice age, a paleoclimatoligist must get to New York City to find his son and his friends.

 

The Review: As disaster films are fun for me, this one is pretty unrealistic. I mean, I love films that take you places and the story is great, but how in the world would things freeze real fast like that? On the other hand, it’s a thrill ride with excellent visual effects.

 

 

Rating: Full

Cast: Pauly Shore, Carla Gugino, Lane Smith and Cindy Pickett

Director: Steve Rash

Writers: Fax Bahr, Patrick J. Clifton, Peter M. Lenkov, Susan McMartin, Adam Small and Shawn Schepps

Producers: Peter M. Lenkov and Michael Rotenberg

Music by: Richard Gibbs

Oscar Nominations: 0

Rated: PG-13 for elements of sensuality

Release Date: 07/02/1993

Favorite Character:

Tagline: He’s a relative nightmare.

Quote: Crawl sings about the Hungry Man TV dinner he was about to eat. Mason Adams, who plays the grandfather in the film, was the voice over announcer at the time the film was released.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist, Flea, appears as a tattoo artist.

Crawl was originally named “Snakes.”

Carla Gugino already has a butterfly tattoo so the tattoo part was added to the script.

Summary: A farm girl returns home from collage for thanksgiving, bringing along the relative’s worst nightmare…her collage neighbor who is a party animal.

The Review: Paul Shore is totally a zany party animal. A farm movie that’s for everyone. From L.A. to South Dakota. A thanksgiving tradition!

 

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Scatman Crothers and Danny Lloyd

 

Director: Stanley Kubrick

 

Writers: Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson

 

Producer: Stanley Kubrick

 

Music by: Wendy Carlos and Racheal Elkind

 

Oscar Nominations: 0

 

Rated: R

 

Release Date: 06/13/80

 

Favorite Character: Jack Torrence

 

Tagline: Stanley Kubrick’s epic nightmare of horror

 

Quote: “Here’s Johnny!”- Jack Torrance

 

Fun Facts: The famous quote ‘Here’s Johnny!’

 

In tribute to the film, the makers of “Toy Story” made the carpet in Sid’s house the same as the carpet from the famous hallways scene in The Shining.

 

The film is in the Guinness Book of Records for the most retakes of a single scene with 127 takes for a scene with Shelley Duvall.

 

The baseball bat which Wendy Torrance uses to hit Jack is signed by Boston Red Sox legend Carl Yastrzemski.

 

Summary: A new hotel caretaker and his family spend all winter in a hotel when he goes insane and his psychic son sees stuff from the past and the future.

 

The Review: Another Stephen King well adapted. Great Story and terrific performances. You’ll think twice before going to a Colorado hotel.

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nelsen, Oliver Reed, Derek Jacobi, Djimon Hounsou and Richard Harris

 

Director: Ridley Scott

 

Writers: David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson

 

Producers: Douglas Wick, David Franzoni and Branko Lustig

 

Music by: Hans Zimmer

 

Oscar Nominations: 12; Best Picture (Douglas Wick, David Franzoni and Branko Lustig), Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Supporting Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Director (Ridley Scott), Best Original Screenplay (David Franzoni, John Logan and William Nicholson), Best Original Score (Hans Zimmer), Best Film Editing (Pietro Scalia), Best Cinematography (John Mathieson), Best Art Direction (Arthur Max and Crispian Sallis), Best Costume Design (Janty Yates), Best Visual Effects (John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke and Rob Harvey) and Best Sound (Scott Millian, Bob Beemer and Ken Weston)

 

Oscar Wins: 5; Best Picture (Douglas Wick, David Franzoni and Branko Lustig), Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Costume Design (Janty Yates), Best Visual Effects (John Nelson, Neil Corbould, Tim Burke and Rob Harvey) and Best Sound (Scott Millan, Bob Beemer and Ken Weston)

 

Rated: R for intense, graphic combat

 

Release Date: V/V/MM (05/05/00)

 

Favorite Character: Maximus Decimus Meridius

 

Quote: “Are you not entertained? Are you not entertained? Is this not why you are here?”- Maximus Decimus Meriduis

 

Fun Facts: Mel Gibson turned down the role for Maximus, which is technically wasn’t Ridley Scott’s first choice for the role.

 

The forest for the opening scene was scheduled for the deforestation, so Scott got permission to burn it down for them.

 

Oliver Reed passed away before the film is finished, so Scott used CGI on another actor in order to finish the film with Reed’s character in it.

 

Russell Crowe had a lot of injuries while filming, he had an aggravated Achilles tendon, a broken foot, a cracked hip bone and popped bicep tendons and lost all feeling in his right forefinger for two years after the sword fight.

 

Summary: After the Emperor’s son betrayed the roman general and murdered his family, he came to Rome as a gladiator to seek revenge.

 

The Review: This is like ‘Game of Thrones’ but in roman times. It has some epicness in it, and the epicness is battles and Russell Crowe’s performance. But try not to use this for a school report on Roman history.

 

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, Matthew Lillard, Rose McGowan, Skeet Ulrich and Drew Barrymore

 

Director: Wes Craven

 

Writer: Kevin Williamson

 

Producers: Cary Woods and Cathy Konrad

 

Music by: Marco Beltrami

 

Oscar Nominations: 0

 

Rated: R for strong graphic horror violence and gore, and for language

 

Release Date: 12/20/96

 

Favorite Character: Sidney Prescott

 

Tagline: Don’t answer the door, don’t leave the house, Don’t answer the Phone, But most of all, Don’t SCREAM.

 

Quote: “Do you like Scary Movies?”- Phone Guy

 

Fun Facts: When Sidney comes out of the closet and stabs Billy with an umbrella, the stunt man was supposed to hit a pad on Skeet Ulrich‘s chest. The first hit got the pad but the second one slipped and hit him in the chest. Ulrich’s chest has metal wiring beneath the skin from open-heart surgery he had as a child, which causes him intense pain should it be struck or have pressure applied to it. Thus, when the umbrella accidentally stuck his chest, his shocked expression and scream of pain were genuine. Wes Craven kept it in because of its authenticity.

 

Director Wes Craven made a cameo as Fred, the janitor. He’s wearing a red and green shirt, just like Freddy Krueger. They are also the actual clothes from the movie.

 

At one point during the filming of the opening scene, somebody forgot to unplug the phone that Casey used to try and call the cops. This resulted in real, puzzled 911 operators hearing Drew Barrymore screaming for her life on the other end.

 

During production, Ghostface’s signature black robe was going to be white, to make him appear even more like a ghost. This was changed in fear of people comparing the costume to those that the Ku Klux Klan wear.

 

Summary: A teenager is stalked by a horror movie obsessed killer who uses it for a deadly game.

 

The Review: Horror movies are supposed to scare people and this is more likely to really happen. It is also something you will be guessing who done it. The mask is nice touch. A perfect MTV movie!

 

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young and Edward James Olmos

 

Director: Ridley Scott

 

Writers: Hampton Fancher and David Peoples

 

Based on: the novel “So Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick

 

Producer: Michael Deeley

 

Music by: Vangelis

 

Oscar Nominations: 2; Best Art Direction (Lawrence G. Paull, David L. Snyder (Art Direction); Linda DeScenna (Set Decoration)), and Best Visual Effects (Douglas Trumbull, Richard Yuricich and David Dryer)

 

Oscar Wins: 0

 

Rated: R for violence

 

Release Date: 06/25/82

 

Favorite Character: Roy Batty

 

Tagline: Man Has Made His Match… Now It’s His Problem

 

Quote: “All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain…”- Roy Batty

 

Fun Facts: Dustin Hoffman was going to play Rick Deckard but declined it.

 

Although Philip K. Dick saw only the opening 20 minutes of footage prior to his death on March 2, 1982, he was extremely impressed with it.

 

The film was released at the bad time at the box office because its release is the same year as E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Poltergeist, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, etc.

 

Today, the “spinners,” the flying cars (above), would probably be created digitally, but for “Blade Runner,” Scott’s production crew built life-size spinners that weighed several tons each. To simulate flight, they were hoisted by cranes. The constant rain effects helped hide the cables.

 

Summary: A former police officer is assigned as the Blade Runner to hunt down four of the human-like Replicants.

 

The Review: Fasten your seatbelts cause this sci-fi gives a powerful drama. I can actually follow it good, even though it didn’t exactly satisfy the movie goers in the 1982 and I can see why. And for this film, it should be shortened. Despite that, this is probably the best Noir films I saw (so far).

 

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Uzo Aduba, Ashleigh Ball, Emily Blunt, Kristen Chenoweth, Taye Diggs, Andera Libman, Michael Pena, Zoe Saldana, Live Schreiber, Sia, Tabitha St. Germain, Tara Strong, and Cathy Weseleck

 

Director: Jayson Thiessen

 

Writers: Meghan McCarthy, Rita Hsiao, and Michael Vogel

 

Producers: Brian Goldner, Stephen Davis, Marcia Gwendolyn Jones, and Haven Alexander

 

Music by: Danial Ingram

 

Rated: PG for mild action

 

Release Date: 10/06/17

 

Favorite Character: Capper

 

Tagline: Discover a different breed of hero

 

Quote: “All this power, wasted on parties, when there are far greater uses.”

 

Fun Facts: Live Schreiber took the role as the Storm King because he wanted to be in the film that his kids can see.

 

Kristen Chenoweth helped choose the color for her character’s mane.

 

Songbird Serenade is modeled after her voice actress, Sia.

 

Fan favorites Trixie and Starlight Glimmer only made cameos.

 

Summary: Six mares and a baby dragon must leave their home when the dark forces invades Equestria. Along the way, they meet new friends and challenges.

 

The Review: This film will please the fans. I mean the songs will not be the next Frozen soundtrack but it is still meaningful. And the animation is so unusual. Of course, Charlize Theron would actually be perfect for Tempest Shadow.

 

 

 

Rating: Overflowing

 

Cast: Cary Elwes, Robin Wright, Mandy Patinkin, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, Peter Falk, Carol Kane and Billy Crystal

 

Director: Rob Reiner

 

Writer: William Goldman

 

Producers: Andrew Scheinman and Rob Reiner

 

Music by: Mark Knopfler

 

Song: Storybook Love by Willy DeVille

 

Oscar Nominations: 1 (Best Original Song)

 

Oscar Wins: 0

 

Rated: PG

 

Release Date: 09/25/87

 

Favorite Character: Fezzik

 

Tagline: Heroes. Giants. Villains. Wizards. True Love. – Not just your basic, average, everyday, ordinary, run-of-the-mill, ho-hum fairy tale.

 

Quote: “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!”- Inigo Montoya

 

Fun Facts: When Count Rugen hits Westley over the head, Cary Elwes told Christopher Guest to go ahead and hit him for real. Guest hit him hard enough to shut down production for a day while Elwes went to the hospital.

 

Writer William Goldman was on set during one of the flame burst scenes in the forest when Robin Wright‘s dress caught fire. Although Goldman knew this was intentional, he was so caught up in the moment that he shouted, “Her dress is on fire!”, thus ruining the take.

 

Max and Valerie, played by Billy Crystal and Carol Kane respectively, were named after author William Goldman‘s parents, Max and Valerie.

 

The title on the 20th anniversary edition DVD cover is an ambigram (it can be read right side up or upside down).

 

Summary: A grandfather reads his sick grandson a fairy tale entitled, “The Princess Bride”.

 

The Review: Move over Zorro! Inigo is headed your way! One of the greatest live action fairy tale films of all time! It has a touch of magic to it. Beyond fun for the whole family!

 

 

Rating: Full

 

Cast: Jaeden Lieberher, Bill Skarsgård, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis and Finn Wolfhard

 

Director: Andy Muschietti

 

Writers: Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunuga and Gary Dauberman

 

Producers: Roy Lee, Dan Lin, Seth Grahame-Smith, David Katzenberg and Barbara Muschietti

 

Music by: Benjamin Wallfisch

 

Rated: R for violence/horror, bloody images, and for language

 

Release Date: 09/08/17

 

Favorite Character: Beverly Marsh

 

Tagline: You’ll float too

 

Quote: “We all float down here.”- Georgie Denbrough

 

Fun Facts: 27 is defiantly the films’ number. This film was released 27 years after the original 1990 television mini-series. In the book, it is mentioned that “It” returns to Derry approximately every 27 years. Jonathan Brandis, who played young Bill in the original film, died at 27 years old. This movie was released one month after Bill Skarsgård 27th birthday. The official US release date is 9/8/2017. 9+8+2+0+1+7 = 27.

 

The kids are kept separated from Skarsgård so that way when they film the projector scene, their terror will be so realistic.

 

Due to the town being called “Derry”, a name similar to the city in Co. Londonderry, Northern Ireland, the country had its own premiere of the film there. Before the movie began, there was special video from the child actors greeting the Derry audience.

 

The Losers’ Club 1980’s shirts pay homage to various Stephen King properties including The Shining, Carrie, Christine and Pet Semetary

 

Summary: When a shape shifting demon terrorizes children of Derry, Maine, a group of misfits bands together to stop this monster.

 

The review: People may be laughing at Tim Curry’s performance in the 1990’s miniseries, but they certainly won’t be laughing at Bill Skarsgård’s terrifying performance. The ‘Losers Club’ are the next ‘Stranger Things.’ This film has good humor, all star cast and is, of course, terrifying. Sorry Curry, but you can’t out scare Skarsgård’s terrorness.