MrWhite2

Before I saw this movie I thought it was going to be terrible! Mostly because of John McTiernan's last film, Rollerball, which was probably one of the worst filmed and thought out movies made. Another reason was because of John Travolta's downward slope since the absolutley unbearable "Battlefield Earth". The only reason I went to see 'Basic' was because of Samuel L. Jackson is one of my favorite actors of all time. But, when those credits started to role at the end of feature, I thought to myself, "That wasn't that bad. Actually, it was kind of good." The film had very interesting plot twists. The plot twists never stopped though. Hell, it had more twists than a bag of pretzels. The story is about a army trained DEA Agent Tom Hardy (John Travolta) who with the help of Lt. Julia Osborne (Connie Nielsen) investigates the disappearance of a training Sgt. named West (Samuel L. Jackson) and his soldiers during a training mission in a rain forest. Only two of Sgt. West's soldiers are found Dunbar (Brian Van Holt) and a General's son Kendall (Giovanni Ribisi) and they are questioned by Tom and Lt. Osborne, and both survivors give different stories about what happened in that rain forest. But who are Tom and Lt. Osborne going to believe? The film also stars Timothy Daly, Taye Diggs, Roselyn Sanchez, Harry Connick, Jr., Dash Mihok and Cristian de la Fuente. The film is good, but isn't very good. I recommend you wait for DVD. Grade: C+

This film is most likely one of the best films to come along in years. Every aspect of this movie just shines with perfection. The writing is intruiging,the directing is great, but the thing that really stands out is the acting: Three great female performances are givien by Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore. Also Ed Harris gives such a pure and magnificent peformance that he deserved the Oscar. The story is kind of complex. The story takes place in three time periods (1923, 1951 and 2001) and each story stars each of the leading ladies. The First story is set in 1923, when writer Virgina Woolf (Nicole Kidman in her Academy Award Winning performance) is writing her book "Mrs. Dalloway", which is about a depressed woman trying to plan a party. While writing the book Virgina suffers severe depression, and ends up commiting suicide by walking into a river with rocks in her pockets after she finishes her novel. The Second story is set in 1951 where a depressed house-wife (Julianne Moore) is planning a little party for her husband (John C. Reilly) while reading Virgina Woolf's novel "Mrs. Dalloway". She really relates to the book, because like Virgina, the author, she also feels the same way she did. The Third story is set in 2001, and is about a lesbian woman (Meryl Streep) who is planning a party for her dear homosexual friend dying from the AIDS virus. During this, she realizes she is living the same life as Mrs. Dalloway in Virgina Woolf's book. The film is filled with great scenes and interesting plot twists. The only downside is the severe depression of this film. I have seen an uncountable number of films in my life so far, but this is by far the most depressing movie I have ever seen in my entire life! That is counting the holocaust movies! Do not go see this if you are in a bad mood, because you'll probably end up crying or questioning the meaning of life on the car ride home.

Alot of people say this is a chick flick, but this film couldn't be more far from a chick flick. The thing this film contains the most of is people wanting or trying to commit suicide and girls kissing each other (in all three stories; Virgina kisses her stepsister on the lips in the first story; Julianne Moore kisses her female friend on the lips after she tells Julianne Moore she has a tumor in her uturus; Meryl Streep briefly kisses her girlfriend played by Allison Janney). The film is a memorable art house film, but again very depressing. See at your own risk. Grade: A.

This is actually very different from Quentin Tarantino's two earlier films 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Reservoir Dogs'. First of all, it isn't nearly as violent as those films, but still has some intense brutal violence. Second of all, this wasn't an original screenplay, it was an adaptation of Elmore Leonard's novel 'Rum Punch'. This really didn't differ all that much from Rum Punch, accept Jackie Brown was white instead of black. I think this different kind of Tarantino movie is actually a masterpiece! I think this is a fantastic film, with great writing, directing and especially acting (like all of Quentin's films). The story is about a middle-aged black woman Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) who is a stewardess for a crummy airline that flies from L.A. to Cabo San Lucas. When she gets caught by two police detectives Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and Dargus (Michael Bowen) for transporting drugs and money for a brutal thug Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) she ends up in jail. When she gets out of jail on bail, an older bail bondsman named Max Cherry (Robert Forrester) who is Ordell's bail bondsman as well, falls for her. Out of jail, she must help Nicolette to catch Ordell, but if Ordell finds out her plan, he will have absolutley no problem killing her. With the choices of helping Ordell and risking going to jail and helping Nicolette and risk getting killed, she decides to play them both and work with Max to get $500,000 from Ordell, turn Ordell into the cops, and run off with the money. This film also stars Robert DeNiro as Ordell's partner in crime, Louis, Bridget Fonda as Ordell's girlfriend, Melanie, and Chris Tucker as a loud mouth petty thief, Beaumont Livingston. Great performances given in by Pam Grier, Robert DeNiro, Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda and especially, Robert Forrester in the role which earned him an Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor of the Year in 1997. This film is great, and I highly recommend you see it. Although not as good as 'Reservoir Dogs' or 'Pulp Fiction', this is still going to be a memorable Tarantino film. Rent it Today (But see 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction' first). Grade: A-