Hostage

Starring:Bruce Willis, Kevin Pollak, Jimmy Bennett (III), Michelle Horn, Ben Foster, Jonathan Tucker, Marshall Allman, Serena Scott Thomas, Rumer Willis, Kim Coates, Robert Knepper, Tina Lifford, Ransford Doherty, Marjean Holden, Michael D. Roberts, Art LaFleur, Randy McPherson, Hector Luis Bustamante, Kathryn Joosten, Johnny Messner
Director: Florent Emilio Siri
Studio: Miramax
Product Type: DVD

Amazon.com

Swordfish is a superficial movie, so let's address the superficial facts: Halle Berry was well paid to bare her breasts in this gratuitous cyber-action thriller, and while Berry's many fans will enjoy a cheap drool at the actress's expense, her brief topless scene doesn't justify this insipid parade of glossy violence from the director of 2000's Gone in 60 Seconds. Add yet another notch in John Travolta's bad-movie belt, and you've got Hollywood bankruptcy in full blossom. Go ahead, marvel at director Dominic Sena's biggest money shot--a 360-degree pan as a robbery hostage is blown to bits by a bomb that pelts a surrounding SWAT squad with deadly ball bearings.

The plot, as if it matters: Travolta's a slick, self-appointed antiterrorist who recruits a top-flight computer hacker (Hugh Jackman) to transfer a $9.5 billion government slush fund into a cluster of secret accounts. Berry's the curvaceous bait who lures Jackman into the scheme; Don Cheadle's an FBI agent hot on their tails; and an obligatory subplot turns Jackman's daughter (Camryn Grimes) into an innocent bargaining chip. By the time a hostage transport bus is airlifted in the film's not-so-thrilling climax, Swordfish will hold your passive attention or put you to sleep--it all depends on your tolerance for Sena's brand of derivative bloodlust. It's pornography of a sort, and efficiently mechanical, but you can bet good money that Berry and her costars didn't cash their paychecks proudly. --Jeff Shannon

Customer Reviews:

I really liked it, even more so in HD.......2007-06-14

I thought this was a great movie anyway, in HD it's even better.

Swordfish.......2007-06-08

Another great job by John Travolta and Hugh Jackman, both are great in this movie... John play such a bad boy so good...

Swordfish.......2007-06-02

Travolta is absolutely insane in this movie. He acts like a psychopath. He is crazy. The other actors aren't fit enough to hold Mr. Travolta's coat. He outperforms them all!! Pure evil genius!!

Miss Direction Stan.......2007-03-29

This movie is great. For one, there is no clear cut good or bad guy. To be honest I believe the reason I like this movie is because I identify with some of the thoughts portrayed by John Travolta's character. With terrorism on everyones mind, Swordfish gives an aggressive response to would be terrorists and those who wish to do harm to America and our interests. To often we trade security for sheer diplomacy, this film shows another way. The acting is great, and panning special effects are stunning. Computers, Robbery, Corrupt Politicians, Fast Cars, Explosives, Big Guns, and ... Halle Berry

Not worth the price of the breasts.......2007-03-09

Well given performances by Don Cheadle, John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, and Halle Berry, breasts notwithstanding (the woman does have undeniable sex appeal, and it's in full swing in this flick). The story does have a flaw when Travolta's character interacts with a certain governmental agent - it just doesn't work for me as a motive. Travolta's greed would have been a much better plot line. Jackman gives a fun performance as a dancing (!) hacker who wants to get his daughter back from, for all you Soprano fans, a very drunken and drugged out Drea. I love the music - Paul Oakenfold, who perfectly catches the action and the drama as it unfolds into the magic of misdirection.

Average customer rating:

5 stars for one line
Lotsa action, but that's about it.
Why The Rock deserves to be Criterion
Stupid but slick
Watched it OVER AND OVER!!!!

The Rock
Starring: Sean Connery , Nicolas Cage , Ed Harris , John Spencer , and David Morse
Director: Michael Bay
Manufacturer: Walt Disney Video
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ASIN: 6304711891
Release Date: 1997-12-03

Amazon.com

Between his high-octane debut, Bad Boys, and 1998's wannabe blockbuster Armageddon, hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris's top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris's terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It's a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there's enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you're ordering this movie on DVD, be careful with the volume knobs on your home-theater sound systems, because The Rock could cause partial hearing loss and structural damage to your home. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Hollywood superstar Sean Connery (FINDING FORRESTER) joins Academy Award(R)-winner Nicolas Cage (1995 Best Actor -- LEAVING LAS VEGAS) in the action-packed thriller of the year, THE ROCK! All of San Francisco is taken hostage when a vengeful general (Ed Harris -- A BEAUTIFUL MIND) seizes control of Alcatraz Island, threatening to launch missiles loaded with deadly poison gas! With time running out, only a young FBI chemical weapons expert (Cage) and a notorious federal prisoner (Connery) have the skills to penetrate the island fortress and defuse the lethal situation! Edge-of-your-seat suspense and unstoppable action explode off the screen in this must-see motion picture event!

Customer Reviews:

5 stars for one line.......2007-07-02

I don't like Nicholas cage at all. He is one of the most annoying obnoxious people of all time. I cannot stand his voice or anything else. so I am not talking about the follow up line to the coolest line in this movie or in many other movies.

Do you remember when the man Sean Connery said the following line : "Losers complain Winners Go %&$# the prom queen." That was the best line I have heard in a while. That was great. As far as cage's follow up line who cares. Sean Connery is the man.

I know that wasn't much of a reveiw but that was great.

Lotsa action, but that's about it........2007-05-08

Soldiers dropping like flys, an improbable ending, and restrained acting are the unfortunate highlights of this film. To me at least, the storyline was too weak, or at least the location. Just didn't work for me.

Why The Rock deserves to be Criterion.......2007-04-24

It is the age old question. The first time I ever saw this on a friend's DVD shelf, I though that it must be some old 1930s noir movie titled "The Rock", but no, it was Michael Bay's action movie.

And I love me some Criterion collection, though I have to wonder why they put out The Rock and yet have long neglected Orson Welles' films.

In any case, the reason this movie deserves Criterion status is that it's probably one of the best action movies ever made. If you are looking for slam-bang, hammy acting, bullets everywhere, bad puns, buddy-cop drama, pseudo-governmental double-crossing, well, this is about as good as it gets. Whether or not it's you cup of tea is a different issue. But you just have to read Ebert's review to see why this movie is so damn good.

So buy it, put on your best surround, get an HDTV and watch the flashy explosions.

Stupid but slick.......2007-01-15

This is probably Michael Bay's second best film, behind the original 'Bad Boys' (the sequel to which is surely one of the very worst pieces of "cinema" I've ever had the displeasure of seeing). The reason 'The Rock' falls behind his debut is obvious: Bay can't, to my mind, produce any sort of convincing dramatic effect; what little emotion the movie does evoke comes courtesy of the outstanding cast -- primarily Cage, Connery, and (by far the most of the bunch) Ed Harris. 'Bad Boys', on the other hand, was much more suited to Bay's ludicrous, a.d.h.d mentality; it was bogus, but never strove to be anything more -- and it was fun, and funny.

The concept of 'The Rock' is intriguing and unique, but the problem that reveals itself fairly quickly is that Bay uses it as a catalyst to throw in action scenes around every corner. I personally don't have a problem so much with the sequences themselves being ridiculous. The car chase scene, for example, in which Cage just happens to handle a ferarri (or lamborghini -- not really sure) like a professional driver of whatever sort, making his way through a circus-esque obstacle course of insane proportions, is beyond unrealistic. But hey, Bay's sense of speed and excitement, alongside Hans Zimmers' adrenalized score, provide for good, stupid fun. It's that, following this scene, the action just does not stop, and it's usually far less creative and ambitious. It's just quarrel after quarrel, gun fight after gun fight, and though Bay employs neat tricks here and there that make him a unique director, most of it ends up becoming monotonous and stale.

I don't even know if the film deserves three stars, because it's so hokey and implausible, but, it must be said, 'The Rock' was one of my very favorite movies back in high-school. Bay was also one of my favorite directors at that point, in contrast to my general spite towards the man at the current place in time -- times have changed; it doesn't help that every film proceeding 'The Rock' has been fairly atrocious, either. But the fact remains the man has incredible talent at establishing a particular visual mood and is able to conduct a sequence of shots that provide a rousing, flashy response. The final standoff in the film, as well as the climactic scene of Cage injecting the holy needle into his heart as jets prepare to blow-up the island, is, in its own way, exhillirating and awesomely impressive. But you know what? 'Armageddon' has sequences as such laced with brilliance too, but in the end it doesn't matter much when the overall film is such a turd. 'The Rock' isn't a turd, but it's not one of the greater action flicks out there -- not by a long shot. To my 14 year old self it might be, but to my more evolved, rational brain, it ain't I'm afraid.

Watched it OVER AND OVER!!!!.......2006-11-10

This is a great movie. You sense a lot of sarcasm and cockiness throughout the movie which makes it even more enjoyable. Moments like when Sean Connery comes strolling out saying he's always the one left to the enemy. I watched this movie 5 nights in a row and I laughed and tensed up at the same places every time. This is just an overall good movie. It can get a little gory at times, but nonetheless, a great movie to add to your collection.

From Dusk Till Dawn (Dimension Collector's Series)

Average customer rating:

tarantino lover
Psychos don't explode when sunlight hits them, I don't care how crazy they are!
~I can't get enough of Seth Gecko!~
Possibly the BEST MOVIE EVER!
Vampires and Skin

From Dusk Till Dawn (Dimension Collector's Series)
Starring: Harvey Keitel , George Clooney , Quentin Tarantino , Juliette Lewis , and Ernest Liu
Director: Robert Rodriguez , and Sarah Kelly
Manufacturer: Dimension
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ASIN: B00004RJ74
Release Date: 2000-10-03

Amazon.com

From a match made in heaven comes a movie spawned in hell! Young hotshot director Robert Rodriquez (El Mariachi, Desperado) teamed up with Pulp Fiction auteur Quentin Tarantino (offering his services as writer and co-star) to make this outrageous, no-holds-barred hybrid of high-octane crime and gruesome horror. QT plays Richard Gecko, a borderline psychopath who breaks his career-criminal brother, Seth (George Clooney), out of prison, after which they rob a bank and leave a trail of dead and wounded in their bloody wake. Then they hijack a mobile home driven by a former Baptist minister (Harvey Keitel) who quit the church after his wife's death and hit the road with his two children (played by Juliette Lewis and Ernest Liu). Heading to Mexico with their hostages, the infamous Gecko brothers arrive at the Titty Twister bar to rendezvous for a money drop, but they don't realize that they've just entered the nocturnal lair of a bloodthirsty gang of vampires! With not-so-subtle aplomb, Rodriguez and Tarantino shift into high gear with a nonstop parade of gore, gunfire, and pointy-fanged mayhem featuring Salma Hayek as a snake-charming dancer whose bite is much worse than her bark. If you're a fan of Tarantino's lyrical dialogue and pop-cultural wit, you'll have fun with the road-movie half of this supernatural horror-comedy, but if your taste runs more to exploding heads and eyeballs, sloppy entrails and morphing monsters, the second half provides a connoisseur's feast of gross-out excess. Bon appétit! --Jeff Shannon

Description

It's nonstop thrills when George Clooney (THE PERFECT STORM, THREE KINGS) and Quentin Tarantino (PULP FICTION) star as the Gecko brothers -- two dangerous outlaws on a wild crime spree! After kidnapping a father (Harvey Keitel -- U-571) and his two kids (including Juliette Lewis -- NATURAL BORN KILLERS), the Geckos head south to a seedy Mexican bar to hide out in safety. But when they face the bar's truly notorious clientele, they're forced to team up with their hostages in order to make it out alive!

Customer Reviews:

tarantino lover.......2007-05-28

The movie itself is five stars. I love it. The one star is for the lousy non-anamorphic transfer. All other Tarantino movies have been transfered in anamorphic except this one. WHY??

Psychos don't explode when sunlight hits them, I don't care how crazy they are!.......2007-05-27

I was lucky enough to see this masterpiece in the theaters without any prior knowledge of the madness to come. Flying blind into this movie is the best way to go if you can, it blew me away!
Before the opening credits roll, the movie starts in crazy fashion. Just a lazy afternoon at a country liquor store, where the locals are swapping tales. This quickly turns into a bloodbath with microwave popcorn popping from the flames of the scorched store clerk.
Quentin's signature is all over the first half of this film. Good action, witty dialogue, awesome character development. Clooney is perfect as the tough, cocky bank robber. Tarrantino plays his sex offender brother a little too well for comfort. As they're being hunted by the cops, the two kidnap a family and head for Mexico.
Once they're south of the border, Rodriguez takes the story's reins and turns everything upside down with a gruesome battle against zombie-vampires. It's just outrageous crazy fun! At the theater, I was so completely shocked by this drastic turn of events, I had trouble breathing. But my girlfriend at the time was plain irritated, she needed more normalcy to enjoy it, I guess.
The only movie I can remember having such a different second half would be Million Dollar Baby. From Dusk til Dawn didn't get the Oscar recognition like that movie, but it's a lot more fun! A must own for the fellas.

~I can't get enough of Seth Gecko!~.......2007-05-10

This is my all time favorite George Clooney movie. The action never seems to die in this movie. I loved George Clooney as Seth Gecko. You've gotta buy this movie if your a fan of George Clooney.

Possibly the BEST MOVIE EVER!.......2007-04-24

BEST MOVIE EVER????? How can I make such an outrageous claim? Simple.

1. Solid action tale of criminals and abductions...with the Quentin Tarnetino flavor.

2. Boobs. I'm talking to you guys...that's right! They end up at a strip clubs and you get to see all kinds of boobs! Just when this movie gets good...it gets better...everyone loves boobs!

3. VAMPIRES! Can this movie be any cooler????? First action, then boobs, now we get vampires and the biggest, baddest vampire fight you ever saw. The freakin strippers turn into freaking VAMPIRES! This great movie just keeps getting better! What more could you ask for!

As you can see from these three points...this quite possibly the greatest movie ever made. Thank you.

Vampires and Skin.......2007-03-08

If you like blood and vampires and of course nked woman this is a must see. Very good detail and awesome scenes.

Average customer rating:

Justifying Revenge
Lest We Forget
Spielberg clarifies on the DVD
Well done, but has flaws.
Speilberg made the movie he set out to make when he chose 'Vengeance'

Munich (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Eric Bana , Daniel Craig , Ciarán Hinds , Mathieu Kassovitz , and Hanns Zischler
Director: Steven Spielberg
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
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ASIN: B000F1IQN2
Release Date: 2006-05-09

Amazon.com

At its core, Munich is a straightforward thriller. Based on the book Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas, it's built on a relatively stock movie premise, the revenge plot: innocent people are killed, the bad guys got away with it, and someone has to make them pay. But director Steven Spielberg uses that as a starting point to delve into complex ethical questions about the cyclic nature of revenge and the moral price of violence. The movie starts with a rush. The opening portrays the kidnapping and murder of Israeli athletes by PLO terrorists at the 1972 Olympics with scenes as heart-stopping and terrifying as the best of any horror movie. After the tragic incident is over and several of the terrorists have gone free, the Israeli government of Golda Meir recruits Avner (Eric Bana) to lead a team of paid-off-the-book agents to hunt down those responsible throughout Europe, and eliminate them one-by-one (in reality, there were several teams). It's physically and emotionally messy work, and conflicts between Avner and his team's handler, Ephraim (Geoffrey Rush), over information Avner doesn't want to provide only make things harder. Soon the work starts to take its toll on Avner, and the deeper moral questions of right and wrong come into play, especially as it becomes clear that Avner is being hunted in return, and that his family's safety may be in jeopardy.

By all rights, Munich should be an unqualified success--it has gripping subject matter relevant to current events; it was co-written by one of America's greatest living playwrights (Tony Kushner, Angels in America) and an accomplished screenwriter (Eric Roth); it stars an appealing and likeable actor in Eric Bana; and it was helmed by Steven Spielberg, of all people. While it certainly is a great movie, it falls just short of the immense heights such talent should propel it to. This is due more to some questionable plot devices than anything else (such as the contrived use of a family of French informants to locate the terrorists). But while certain aspects ring hollow, the movie as a whole is a profound accomplishment, despite being only "inspired by true events," and not factually based on them. From the ferocious beginning to the unforgettable closing shot, Munich works on a visceral level while making a poignant plea for peace, and issuing an unmistakable warning about the destructive cycle of terror and revenge. As one of the characters intones, "There is no peace at the end of this." --Daniel Vancini

Customer Reviews:

Justifying Revenge.......2007-07-03

We have gotten awfully used to the defense of inaction in this country. From Kindergarten on, we are told to turn the other cheek, tell the teacher, sticks and stones... blah, blah, blah. Here, however, is another take on this dilemma, one terribly relevant, it would seem, in this time of arbitrary killings, defended by grinning thugs. We can wring our collective hands or we can act. This film takes on this subject in a time when America's revenge genre, the Western, has gone out of fashion. "Munich" really is "The Unforgiven" set in Europe. The killers are hunted down and killed in return. It's more or less as simple as that, but here one is asked to identify with the assassins and to ask oneself if it would be as easy as it may have seemed, in so many movies where the good guys catch up with the bad guys. It's a film built around an ethical issue, a real issue, it seems to me. The film is not fully satisfying, but it is hard to say why. The acting is fantastic. I came away thinking the ending was weak. The entire sequence is New York seemed soft and sentimental suddenly and out of keeping with the film. The screen play by Kushner has other weaknesses. For example, I had trouble accepting that these guys would be so amateurish. Each killing is botched, which, were the assassins American, would seem believable but, given that they are Israeli, the finest intelligence units the world, it seemed somehow contrived. The setting is great, the subject matter thankfully adult, and it is finally a political film, which is a rare and fine thing.

Lest We Forget.......2007-06-05

"They're all gone," intones sportscaster Jim McKay. McKay and other ABC news folks of 1972 have their TV footage mixed with a quick montage of violent filmed movie scenes of the '72 Olympics where 11 Israeli Olympians were massacred by the Arab Black September group.

Five men led by a young Israeli named Avner are assembled to revenge the massacre of the Munich Olympians. The Munich Avengers hook up with a family that has been in private intelligence since the Vichy Government ran France during World War Two. Lebel (Michael Lonsdale) is its patriarch. He becomes a sage to the Five. "Never work for any government" he warns. Well, its a little late to change that just now. At first everything goes swimmingly. The movie looks like other well made thrillers. These 'pros' who have never exactly done this kind of work in their lives 'seem' very successful.

Thriller afficionados will remember Michael Lonsdale as the French inspector who traced assassin Edward Fox across France in the Day of the Jackal 33 years ago. Older and heavier, Lonsdale is right at home as patriarch of the French family aiding the Israeli assassins in targeting their victims.

The Israelis find themselves sharing a room in Athens with five Arab Assassins but arrange a truce by convincing the Arabs they are part of the German Beider-Meinhof gang. Avner discusses middle east morality and politics with the Arab gang leader. Avner is seen by the audience as losing that argument. Later the forger has to 'fix' a foiled murder attempt in a hotel room. He is wounded. Several of the Arabs Avner's crew boarded with are killed in a gunfight outside. Carl (Cirian Hands) is murdered in bed later by a comely prostitute after Avner has turned the woman down. The Israeli avengers trace her to a Brussels houseboat where each fires a shot into her as she vainly attempts a seductive but grotesque striptease to save her life. An attempt to kill the architect of the Munich Murders is foiled when five Brits, posing as drunks, interfere. Avner's men are now aware they are being followed and watched. Who do the five Brits work for, the CIA or Britain's MI-6? The hunters are now the hunted.

The foiled Assassination perplexes and demoralizes. Their Israeli handler Ephraim calls Avner home to tell him their work is splendid. Not to them it isn't. Avner doesn't want to continue. He suspects they have killed Arabs not involved in Munich and balks at giving names and addresses of contacts to Ephraim. They discover the CIA has protection deals with some of their targets. The remaining Four don't know who is after them or for what. Two more die and a demoralized Avner and Steve(Daniel Craig) split up.

Afraid now, Avner flees to his wife and baby in Brooklyn. But unknown agents follow and scare him. Avener fears for his wife and child. He attacks a bureaucrat in the Israeli Mossad office in Manhattan. He is desperate now. Ephraim meets with him and admits some of the six killed were not Black September but old Israeli scores being settled. Avner won't cooperate with Israel now. And Ephraim won't help him if Avner doesn't agree to continue.

Except for a nightmare-freighted, overdone sexual episode between Avner and his wife, the film is effectively over. Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner have carved this thriller into a political morality tale. The Israelis cannot assume the higher moral ground if they are as murderous as Black September. Every act of revenge sews the seeds of more violence and death. What is the point of that, ask the Authors? An Arab character argues with Avner that the Jews in Israel are outnumbered by the Arab populations that are all around them and growing in numbers much faster than the Israelis. The Authors are saying the Israelis will never win, that time is on the side of the Arabs. Israel will not win and will not survive.

I agree with them. The American War in Iraq will not succeed either. Americans and Israelis will both lose because the Arabs are fighting for their homeland. The Americans, and the Israelis who claim THEY are fighting for their homeland, cannot succeed.

Spielberg and Kushner have loaded the dice too heavily here. Avner and his four henchmen have an underlying innocence about international terrorism calculated to buttress this story and its moral. But would the Israelis really have chosen such a bunch of innocent plebes to carry out a mission as cynical, dangerous and important as this one? Its a great story but it won't play in Bagdhad, Tel Aviv or Peoria not to mention on the big screen.

Spielberg clarifies on the DVD.......2007-06-04

What I watched was the single-disc widescreen edition which contained no DVD extras but for a short intro by the director Steven Spielberg. If you haven't seen the movie before, I recommend you leave the intro for after you've finished watching the film.

In his piece, Spielberg emphasizes that the movie is neither attacking Israel nor arguing for non-response. He says that in the context of responding to terror today, we have to "try and ensure that the results we produce are the ones we really intend." I think he was successful in getting that point across in this movie.

I usually prefer knowing as little as possible about the background of a film's story, so that I can enjoy it in its "pure" form. But I think I benefited from having seen One Day in September, the documentary about what happened during the 1972 Olympics. I recommend you see it before this film. (Makes chronological sense that way...)

Spielberg acknowledges taking the indisputable facts (11 targets, decision by Golda Meir...) from George Jonas's book Vengeance, published in 1984 and recently re-issued. The details are of course unknowable and it's those gaps in knowledge that made possible the effective dramatization of the material.

Well done, but has flaws........2007-05-30

I was very curious to see this chapter of history. The story of the 11 Israeli athletes getting killed by Palestinian terrorists and the story that followed. I feel the actors chosen to play the characters couldn't have been better and the movie itself was incredible. However I feel the message that was sent to the movie going public was the incorrect one. (Caution: when I say incorrect I don't mean untrue)

Right now we are living in a very controversial time where the situation in the Middle East is a very sensitive subject. I am one who wants to see peace, but with the violence escalating every day we are far from reaching that goal. What people need to understand is that only one side wants peace and unfortunately `Munich' did not elaborate on that enough. The Israeli task force is depicted to be just as uncaring as the Palestinian extremist groups in this movie. (Never do they show actual Palastinans that truly want peace). In the beginning the message is to kill the plotters of the Munich murders and in the end the Israelis are leaving bodies uncovered in shame and the main character gives up his love for his homeland. The scene where Eric Bana's character sees himself fighting along side the terrorists is an absolute disgrace. The pieces of the movie that should have been elaborated more were the people they were killing. These were Palestinian officials high in power living far away from the Palestinian hostage camps in lavish mansions and accepting money from all different governments just to keep the violence going. Those are actual living breathing people in the P.L.O. that are still alive today. The should have made it more clear that the mission was to kill the terrorists and not to hurt the innocent Palestinians like the women and children as well as Palestinian men that had nothing to do with assassinating Jewish people.

Is this movie good...yes it is a brilliant film worthy of its credit. Will is be nominated for awards...absolutely. I don't think that Spielberg displayed anything untrue in this movie. He did however show more sympathy towards the wrong side. I believe his message was to say he wants peace and the only way to show that was that both sides shedding blood constantly would only make it worse and there never will be peace. I feel there is nothing wrong with showing there are two sides fighting and only one side wants peace. If the world can understand that there are certain people (not a nation) that don't then the true evils in this world will be wiped out and there finally will be peace.

Speilberg made the movie he set out to make when he chose 'Vengeance'.......2007-05-27

Steven Spielberg took a lot of flack for "Munich," which he admits is neither pro-Israeli nor pro-Palestinian. From Spielberg, I suppose many expected - or wanted - something more ardently Zionist. But Spielberg cast the die when he decided on George Jonas' Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team as his source material. Vengeance's point of view - and its tortuous history - is predicated on the moral ambivalence of 'Avner,' the pseudonym of the team leader, as played on-screen here by an excellent Eric Bana. I read "Vengeance" a couple of months prior to seeing the film, and my feeling is that Spielberg accurately captured Avner's feelings as well as his metamorphosis. The one thing that got left out was Avner's complex relationship with his Dad, who - in the book - essentially foretells Avner's denouement at the outset.

Jonas' book is controversial. There are ongoing disputes over its inherent accuracy to the point where people doubt the essence of the story or whether an 'Avner' actually existed. In the most recent release - coinciding with the film - Richard Ben Cramer writes a nice new introduction with a pithy comment that the debate has evolved to the point where the essence of the argument is people now saying "Hey, my part in the movie wasn't big enough."

There are some nice surprises in the film including a pre-Bond breakout appearance by Daniel Craig as part of Avner's team, as well as appearances by first-rate Israeli Arab actors Makram Khoury and Hiam Abbass. It goes without saying that their roles here are all too brief (it belabors the point to mention why). I suggest you see The Syrian Bride to see these two talented professionals in top form. There's also the inclusion of a way-inside joke of encountering future Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak - dressed in very unconvincing drag - prior to a raid in Lebanon.

Average customer rating:

Excellent movie with realistic negotiation tactics
One of the best action-thrillers
Exciting...
Too much drama
Underated Drama

The Negotiator
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson , Kevin Spacey , David Morse , Ron Rifkin , and John Spencer
Director: F. Gary Gray
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Client

ASIN: 0790739739
Release Date: 1998-12-15

Amazon.com essential video

Although it eventually runs out of smart ideas and resorts to a typically explosive finale, this above-average thriller rises above its formulaic limitations on the strength of powerful performances by Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey. Both play Chicago police negotiators with hotshot reputations, but when Jackson's character finds himself falsely accused of embezzling funds from a police pension fund, he's so thoroughly framed that he must take extreme measures to prove his innocence. He takes hostages in police headquarters to buy time and plan his strategy, demanding that Spacey be brought in to mediate with him as an army of cops threatens to attack, and a media circus ensues. Both negotiators know how to get into the other man's thoughts, and this intellectual showdown allows both Spacey and Jackson to ignite the screen with a burst of volatile intensity. Director F. Gary Gray is disadvantaged by an otherwise predictable screenplay, but he has a knack for building suspense and is generous to a fine supporting cast, including Paul Giamatti as one of Jackson's high-strung hostages, and the late J.T. Walsh in what would sadly be his final big-screen role. The movie should have trusted its compelling characters a little more, probing their psyches more intensely to give the suspense a deeper dramatic foundation, but it's good enough to give two great actors a chance to strut their stuff. --Jeff Shannon

Description

This film centers on a former FBI hostage negotiator who, after being framed for murder, tries to clear his name by taking several people hostage in order to uncover the guilty party.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent movie with realistic negotiation tactics.......2007-06-08

I had seen this movie many times over the past few years, but decided to buy it to incorporate into a presentation I recently did on Crisis/Hostage Negotiation. It was the first time that I watched the movie with the intent of evaluating the accuracy of the movie's portrayal of actual negotiations. I was surprised how accurate the negotiation processes were portrayed in the movie...it matched many of the conflict communication theories I studied.

On the entertainment side, getting Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson together in the movie surely didn't hurt. Good cast, decent story line, well put together and enjoyable to watch.

One of the best action-thrillers.......2007-05-29

The Negotiator is an excellent action/thriller with 2 great performances from Kevin Spacey and Samuel Jackson. Despite being billed as an action film, this isn't your standard brainless Van Damme flick. The impression throughout the movie is tense. The best thing about the movie is the dialogue.

Both Spacey and Jackson are negotiators. Jackson is accused of murdering his partner and is determined to prove his innocence. He does a good job acting as an on the edge, almost out of control guy to the negotiators but also does a good job convincing his hostages and the audience that he is innocent. Spacey arrives almost half way thru the movie but is outstanding in his scenes. He immediately takes over the negotiations with Jackson's character from a helpless, nervous negotiator who Jackson made a complete fool of in a couple of especially good scenes.

This film made sense, and provided a good, logical ending. I wish more movies were half as good as this one. The plot twists are interesting, and not as shallow as the average film in the genre. The story is very original, and Gary Gray is in my opinion one of the most underrated directors today and deserves credit for putting this together. Fans of the genre should admire this movie, while many others can probably appreciate what it has to offer. Solid entertainment for 140 minutes.

Exciting..........2007-05-04

to the end! That is the best word to discribe this movie! Great action and drama. Perfect casting with great acting. The truth will be brought out in the end!

Too much drama.......2007-03-15

A friend told me alot about this movie and I happened to buy this movie from Wal-Mart and I watched it and it doesnt sound the same as what my friend told me about. This movie is about drama and crime and she knows I am not into drama and crime so I made her buy the DVD from me. I am not too interested in this movie.

Underated Drama.......2006-06-29

Going through my DVD's I have never seen before I came across a film called the "negotiator," with Kevin Spacey and Samuel Jackson. Jackson plays a hostage negotiator that is framed for murder. The police plant evidence to make it appear that he is putting money in overseas accounts. When his partner is murdered in a park the police see Jackson with his gun at the scene. Fact is that he was set to meet his partner only to find him slumped over the steering wheel. Everything unravels for Jackson. He goes to confront the man whom he suspects set him up. One of his body guards pulls a gun on him. Jackson's character disarms him and ends up taking everyone hostage in the process.

Kevin Spacey stars as a negotiator who knows little about him. Having an objective view will help the case. It has lots of twists and turns that are too numerous to mention, however it is a good thriller/action movie. Yet it doesn't easily fall into that category. If Stallone were in this one, it would have been a standard action yarn. This one is a lot more intense and realistic. A lot of areas explored in this movie could actually happen in real life.

Average customer rating:

Leonard and Frankenheimer get down and dirty
interested in a jag
"Gotta lot a mileage on her"
A nasty little gem..."Hey SPORT"
Awesome Movie

52 Pick-Up
Starring: Roy Scheider , Ann-Margret , Vanity , John Glover , and Robert Trebor
Director: John Frankenheimer
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000OPOAPC
Release Date: 2007-06-12

Customer Reviews:

Leonard and Frankenheimer get down and dirty.......2007-06-20

52 Pick-Up was one of the few rays of light in the dark days when every screen adaptation of an Elmore Leonard novel would go horribly wrong and when John Frankenheimer's name on the credits wasn't exactly a guarantee of quality any more, although it sank quickly due to a botched marketing campaign (the producers decided to play up the good reviews by touting it as `The best film this season from Cannon,' which is a bit like boasting about having the least contagious form of VD). A riff on his earlier Western The Tall T, this sees businessman Roy Scheider set up by a trio of blackmailers who, not taking kindly to him confessing his affair to his wife rather than pay up, murder his girlfriend with his gun so as not to miss out on their payday, only for Scheider to turn them against each other. While it's no Out of Sight, it's an effectively seedy L.A. thriller with a couple of outstanding supporting turns by John Glover and a seriously mucked-up and dangerous Clarence Williams III.

No extras at all, but it does have a decent 1.85:1 widescreen transfer.

interested in a jag.......2006-10-02

52 pick up is a tightly woven film noir that builds the suspense right from the outset. Harry and Barbara
Mitchell (Roy Scheider and Ann Margret) play an upscale professional couple in their mid fifties. Harry owns a steel manufacturing business while Barbara is an evironmental oversight board chairman with political connections. As the film begins Harry is sandbagged by three individuals who entrap him with a video showing
him in an extramarital affair with a young woman named Cinny. (Kelly Preston) As the blackmail scenario
unfolds. Harry is ordered to pay a large sum of money by the ringleader of the trio. Alan Raimey (John Glover)
with sidekicks Leo Franks (Robert Trebor) and Bobby Shy. (Clarence Williams III) After informing his lawyer
Jim O'Boyle, (Lonny Chapman) Harry decides not to be intimidated and dismiss the trio as folly. As the story moves along Harry and Barbara develop a determination to deal with the trio. As in the tradition of original film noir Harry and Barbara are trapped in a Catch 22 scenario with the lowly trio. Frankenheimer builds up the intensity and gets excellent performances from the entire cast.
John Glover is superb as the homoerotic protagonist Alan Raimey as well as Robert Trebor and Clarence
Williams III as the other two components of the trio. Alan's psychosis becomes a fulcrum for destruction.
Meanwhile Bobby Shy's girlfriend Doreen (Vanity) cuts both sides of the fence with equal disdain for Harry and Bobby while concealing the triangle that has developed between Harry, Cinny, and herself. The scenes are fastmoving with crisp and candid dialogue. Frankenheimer holds nothing back with realism and taut direction. This film takes one on an emotional rollercoaster with no gimmicks from start to finish. 52 Pick Up
is a great example of modernist flim noir and I believe that is an excellent film. Transfer to dvd in widescreen format is excellent.
Audio in 5.1 surround sound is really incredible and adds a new dimension
to the viewers experience. All of these factors engage the viewer
at an incredibly intense level.

"Gotta lot a mileage on her".......2005-10-08

I've been waiting for this movie to be released on dvd in widescreen with extras for years. I hope Roy Scheider knows about this non release. The movie has been forgotten or hung up for whatever reason and it's a damn shame. The acting is superior all around. John Glover plays one of the best weird, cleverly evil criminals of filmdom. Yes I'd go that far. The movie has a mixture of many elements. One element captures perfectly the decadent street sex of the eighties. Also mixed in between Roy Scheiders affluent fish out of water charactor are drugs, kidnapping, revenge, love, lust, redemption and betrayal. Also added to the boiling pot are an unusual assembly of actors. Some are the epitome of the eighties. Others are old screen stars, decent tv actors, then unknown names, great charactor actors and even a "cameo" by a renowned porn "star". This caldron, well paced and plotted really nails it. Some may say I'm overratting it, and maybe I am a bit, but hey, I'm the reviewer. 52 Pickup is well done, particually now in a nostalgic way. Forget the VHS tape(even laserdisc). DVD only. Hang in there sport. [UPDATE 6/9/07: Im sure Roy Schieder does know what happening with this film. I have a multi region dvd player and have finally seen this classic on dvd. It can be purchased through Amazon as a region 2 disc. Several web sites have also pointed out that it will be released in the good old USA this summer. The region 2 disc picture and audio are just ok. Im hoping the region 1 release will be much improved with seriously needed extras. "She still cooks." ]

A nasty little gem..."Hey SPORT".......2005-08-10

I saw this in the theaters when it first came out in the 80s, not expecting much, but then - BAM! - this nasty little gem of a thriller delivers thrills in spades. JOHN GLOVER creates one of the most chilling, yet hilarious, villains in film history - and the film's most infamous sequence - the videotape replay of Cindy's snuff-movie murder that Glover forces Scheider to watch in horror SITTING THE SAME CHAIR WHERE SHE WAS KILLED! - still never fails to disturb the viewer. Frankenheimer directs how the best do: so seamless and suble and unobtrusive, you never notice him tightening the screws right up until a white-knuckle climax. I cannot quite believe this film is still NOT ON DVD, even though the shelves are crammed with lesser product. C'mon, guys, get with it! Once you see 52 PICK-UP, you will never forget it.

Awesome Movie.......2005-03-05

When is this movie gonna be on DVD, It's totally awesome, John Glover plays the best bad guy ever,This movie has everything you could want in a movie, Sex, drugs, blackmale, murder and porno theatre,Check it out.

Average customer rating:

Proof that editors add value
Action, Ideas, and Doing the Right Thing
Proof of my best movies
No Proof Required, This Movie's Got Life!
A very under-rated film!

Proof of Life
Starring: Meg Ryan , Russell Crowe , David Morse , Pamela Reed , and David Caruso
Director: Taylor Hackford
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Negotiator
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ASIN: B00005BCKF
Release Date: 2001-06-19

Amazon.com

When someone in Proof of Life says "Don't leave me hanging," you can bet they're going to be left hanging. That's what happens when Alice Bowman (Meg Ryan) learns that her husband Peter (David Morse) has been kidnapped by rebels in the (fictional) Latin American country of Tecala. He's building a corporate-funded dam there, and that makes him a fine target for kidnap by the rebels, who barter with the lives of well-insured executives. Enter Terry Thorne (Russell Crowe), former soldier-turned-"K&R" (kidnap and ransom) negotiator for a global firm that collects a commission for rescued hostages. With no guarantee of payment, Thorne takes the job out of moral obligation (and a yearning for would-be widow Alice).

There's little room for delicacy in Tony Gilroy's screenplay, adapted from an article by William Prochnau and the book Long Road to Freedom by kidnapping survivor Thomas Hargrove. A hint of romance between Crowe and Ryan (who enjoyed plenty of it off-screen) adds tension as the story shifts back and forth to Morse's captivity, but it also threatens to cast Alice in an unsympathetic light. Avoiding that pitfall, director Taylor Hackford crafts the plot as a latter-day Casablanca that unfolds on a grander canvas (at stunning locations in Ecuador) while favoring an exciting rescue-mission climax over the tragedy of an ill-timed affair. It might have worked better as a straightforward macho action flick (with David Caruso doing lively work as Crowe's gung-ho K&R cohort), but Proof of Life effectively conveys the two-sided torment of a hostage crisis, while Morse holds it all together as the character to root for. --Jeff Shannon

Description

Their lives are on the line. Their hearts are out on a limb. The wife of a kidnap victim and the hostage negotiator working with her navigate a brutal world of terrorism that values money over life - and find their tasks complicated by the growing awareness that they're attracted to each other.

Customer Reviews:

Proof that editors add value.......2007-06-04

If there was ever an argument for a good editor, this movie is it. The key elements of a great story are there. The characters are there. The lush visuals and outstanding photography are there. In fact, I find myself using the Chapter Select option more on this movie than any other in a collection of 400+ to jump to the action sequences, which are outstanding, or just to watch the sweeping photography of the cityscape and slums of latin america, fading into the jungles and mountains over which the final credits play.

What the movie needed more than anything was a hard-handed edit to chop out the extraneous garbage about Peter and Alice's backstory. We really didn't need to know (or care) about their marital conflict or any of the backstory about Africa or their lost child. These are not integral to the core plot: guerillas kidnap Peter, and Alice needs to learn a lot about the kidnap and ransom business and raise a substantial sum of money in a very short period of time. She also needs to learn who she can trust and how to get things done in the local culture. Meanwhile, Peter is learning how to avoid his captors' ire, and trying to cope with his fear and isolation as he is led farther and farther away from the civilization he has always known into the depths of the mountains and jungles. These are interesting issues and could have easily carried the film by themselves without all of the domestic filler, which proves to be a huge distraction.

If such a director's cut could be created, it would make this movie a five-star movie and I'd shell out the cash on the release date without a second thought. Unfortunately, due to the stigma associated with the release and lack of commercial success, that seems highly unlikely. The movie also cries out for a sequal with Caruso and Crowe's characters carrying out further K&R negotiations and rescues, but, again, that possibility seems remote.

Action, Ideas, and Doing the Right Thing.......2007-03-18

Terry Thorne (Russel Crowe), a kidnap and ransom negotiator for an insurance company, is sent to the country of Tecala in South America to negotiate the release of engineer Peter Bowman (David Morse). The insurance is canceled, as well as the negotiation, but Peter's wife Alice (Meg Ryan) asks Terry to help and they both have to cope with their growing attraction as they work together.

Taylor Hackford's film is doubly courageous and unique:

First, it addresses the idea of private rescue, both business and personal, in an age when most people look to the state for protection from criminals. Proof of Life not only illustrates the business aspect of private rescue (through an insurance company), but the idea that personal action of rescue can come from the the heart. Some reviewers try to include the state as a player by mentioning that the kidnapers are antigovernment and that Thorne once worked for a government.

Second, the movie illustrates doing the right thing (though perhaps after stepping over the line depending on how the viewer interprets one scene).

This is rated R and the foul language and profanity are very bad. The language issue makes it hard to share the movie with others. I considered dropping a star, but because of the above two points did not.

Action and ideas in a very good movie.

Proof of my best movies.......2005-12-26

Indeed this movie may seem like a common action-drama-love story but not really watch it attentively and you'll get what i mean. It gives you the message of professional and moral responsibility over a situation that is confusing whether to abandon your job or fulfill it. In this matter russell is divided with his affection towards his client's wife and the duty to save him. Great sequencing of events every part is juicy. the rescue in the end is classic special forces operations. the saddest moment was when meg drives away with her rescued husband and russell cant take off his eyes from the vehicle. Great movie indeed!

No Proof Required, This Movie's Got Life!.......2005-10-24

I like Russell Crowe and David Morse so when they are together in a movie of course I have to buy it. I probably would have given this five stars if I had reviewed it last year but I've watched it like twelve times so the absolute wonderfulness has worn off a bit. Definitely a fun movie to watch.

A very under-rated film!.......2005-08-16

I hate when a film fails in the box office due to off screen antics versus actually sucking. It still baffles me that 'Dukes of Hazzard' can overtake 'Cinderella Man' in the box office, all because Russell Crowe has a temper. WHO CARES!!! Cinderella Man was and is a far better movie. Now this brings me to 'Proof of Life' which failed in the box office mostly due to the offscreen affair between Meg Ryan and Russell Crowe. Now rumers circulated that it was Russell Crowe who ended the marriage of Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, although Ryan claims that their marriage was already on shakey grounds. Again, WHO CARES!!! This movie is still a great movie, a great plot and some equally impressive acting. WHile not Crowes best performance he still puts his heart and soul into Terry, a H&R negotiator (Kidnap and Ransom)...anyways...the story is like this. Alice (Ryan) and Peter have a rocky marriage. They are at ends with each other because Peter is to involved in his work that he neglects his wife. he's never around and when he is he's always preoccupied with getting his dam built. That is all until he is kidnapped and held ransom by a group of terrorists in South America. That is where Terry comes into play. He is sent to help negotiate Peters safe return. There are a few plot twists and it ends up that Terry is doing this mission seperate from his company (kinda probono). The movie realy revolves around the emotions of the charactors. You know, I feel it's unfair to feel that Meg Ryans charactor is unsympatetic because of the assumed affair between Alice and Terry. As the beginning of the film helped us see, her husband didn't pay any attention to her, and that is one of the main reasons that women leave their husbands in the first place, not because they don't love their husbands but because they don't feel their husbands love them and find that love in the eyes of a strager who gives them attention. Like Terry did, just by asking the name of her dead daughter, like she says "no ones ever asked me that before". I thought that this movie was very well done, and is worth a watch even if you aren't pleased with the off screen lives of the actors, it doesn't change the fact that they deliver above par on screen. The only, and I mean only, reason that I did not give this movie 5 stars is the fact that it is all to common to rate a movie R for no apparent reason. This movie has very little violence and NO sex (although a sex scene between Crowe and Ryan would have been welcome) and the only reason for an R rating is the unnessisary F-Word use...if only these words were ommited then my children could watch this great film!

Average customer rating:

Very entertaining, very clever
If you figured it out you're almost as clever as the kid next to me
Appearances Can Be Deceiving...
I expected more...
Hated it...

Inside Man (Widescreen Edition)
Starring: Denzel Washington , Clive Owen , Jodie Foster , Christopher Plummer , and Willem Dafoe
Director: Spike Lee
Manufacturer: Universal Studios
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000GFLKF8
Release Date: 2006-08-08

Amazon.com

Spike Lee scored his biggest hit to date with Inside Man, an unconventional thriller with fascinating details in the margins of its convoluted plot. The screenplay (by first-timer Russell Gerwitz) could've used a few more rewrites; it moves at a brisk pace but in hindsight a lot of it doesn't make sense. That makes Inside Man more fun to watch than to think about afterwards (when you discover plot holes big enough to drive a truck through), but it's curiously involving, especially as NYPD Detective Keith Frazier (Denzel Washington) struggles to outsmart a high-stakes bank robber (Clive Owen) who, along with a well-trained crew of accomplices, has seized control of a Wall Street bank, turning what initially looks like a hostage crisis into a personal crusade to expose some mysterious evil secrets. As you might expect from the director of Do the Right Thing, Lee seizes several satisfying opportunities to examine post-9/11 issues of racial prejudice and domestic terrorism, and the mysterious "problem solver" Madeline White (Jodie Foster), as eerily sinister as she is vaguely defined, is worthy of her own movie. With the benefit of his most stellar cast to date (including Christopher Plummer, Willem Dafoe and Chiwetel Ejiofor), Lee seems more interested in character details than well-crafted suspense, but that doesn't stop Inside Man from being engrossing, subtly amusing, and quirky enough to qualify as a welcomed break from the formulaic thrillers that are Hollywood's bread and butter.--Jeff Shannon

Description

Academy Award winner Denzel Washington, Academy Award nominee Clive Owen and Academy Award winner Jodie Foster star in this intense and explosive crime thriller. The perfect bank robbery quickly spirals into an unstable and deadly game of cat-and-mouse between a criminal mastermind (Owen), a determined detective (Washington), and a power broker with a hidden agenda (Foster). As the minutes tick by and the situation becomes increasingly tense, one wrong move could mean disaster for any one of them. From acclaimed director Spike Lee comes the edge-of-your-seat, action-packed thriller that The Wall Street Journal calls "a heist film that's right on the money."

Customer Reviews:

Very entertaining, very clever.......2007-05-22

As others have indicated, if you think you have it figured out, you will be totally surprised before the end. As suspense films go, everything fits together when you get to the end with nothing that suspends belief (unlike another film I recently saw). The acting is very well done.

I gave the film only four stars because of the thoroughly gratuitous use of one very frequent four letter word. Its use is so over the top that it takes away from everything else. I saw the film in a theater. Some months later we were on an overseas flight and "Inside Man" was the in-flight movie. There were small children on the flight. I wondered how that would work, given the ubiquitous use of that word. Well, the word never occurred anywhere in the film! Further, no one's lips were out of synchronization with the dialogue at any point. I have since read that Singapore will not allow films with foul language in them. Apparently, film companies must shoot two versions of the same film. They could give us films with less objectionable material, but choose not to do so. They even have the same films with less objectionable material already available. Can I give Hollywood two stars only?

If you figured it out you're almost as clever as the kid next to me.......2007-05-13

This kind of movie prompts you to take wild guesses, but what is fun is the process and class of the movie. While the kid in the theater next to me figured it out from the start, while having some small mistakes, there was nothing lost in seeing how it all went down and the slight surprise at the end. Inside man is a feel good example of an old and dying art of the con man movie. Technology is getting far too perfect for these kind of brilliant man versus the system type movie. With the need of hacking eye scanners, finger print machines, motion sensors, time locked safes, security systems with off-shore staff that is awake twenty four hours a day, and even more things we can't even imagine but someone else did coming into play you need to be a billionaire to be a thief in the first place. So these movies will become more and more rare, so we should enjoy them while we can.

Appearances Can Be Deceiving..........2007-05-10

I have to start out by saying that as an avid movie watcher I generally try to keep an open mind when approaching a movie. With that being said there are a couple of directors that I find this to be a particularly hard task to succeed in, Quentin Tarentino is one such director and the other is Spike Lee. I have to say that whenever either of these two critically acclaimed directors releases a movie (or a `joint' as Spike Lee prefers to label them), I find it difficult to get too excited about seeing them, and sometimes I don't end up seeing the movie at all, though I try to make an effort because you never know when one might hit you just right. So, when I saw the trailer for the upcoming Spike Lee movie "Inside Man" starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owen, I was somewhat interested in it simply because I enjoy both actors' work; however, Denzel had done a Spike Lee movie before that I didn't like, so that didn't guarantee that I would enjoy him in this one. Over time I saw more trailers for the movie and read what the film was to be about and I have to say that for the first time ever, I was actually excited to see a Spike Lee movie, but whether my anticipation was misplaced or completely justified would remain to be seen.

"Inside Man" presents us with the story of a brilliant criminal mastermind (Clive Owen) who has devised the perfect bank robbery and subsequent escape without being caught by the law. However, when the plan is hatched events quickly begin to spiral out of control and the police are fast on the scene led by a cunningly smart detective (Denzel Washington) who will not rest until the situation is contained. Just when negotiations are beginning to take shape between the criminals and the police, a government power broker (Jodie Foster) interferes throwing this delicate matter into a state of uncertainty where one wrong move could spell disaster for all involved.

After watching this movie I quickly came to the conclusion that even though I generally dislike most Spike Lee movies, even he can surp