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gsp_me
Reviews
Cellular (2004)
Never has the prefix "555" ever been uttered so much,...
Kim Basinger plays a school teacher whose family is systematically kidnapped by a group of unsavory characters. Their motivations remain a mystery until the last half of the film. Plot is a little above average fare and is helped by Basingers' well restrained, yet tense performance. Chris Evans, playing the hapless jock pulled into the whole mess delivers a performance on par with most any TV actor today. William Macy, playing the clueless cop who finally gets a clue is quite likable. It's almost as if the man can do no wrong.
Director David Ellis does a good job maintaining pace where you'd expect the film to slow down. I look forward to seeing more of his work.
This film is not one for the library, however, it IS a great "date" film.
The Manchurian Candidate (2004)
An X-Files wannabe
Obviously, the original Manchurian Candidate should be seen before even attempting to view this remake - just so you can compare the differences. That being said, I wanted to enjoy this movie, but ultimately, it's a disappointment. Meryl Streep came off as being only a shadow of the character Lansbury portrayed in the original. Denzel should have fought for a deeper script - the man deserves it, he's a wonderful actor, as is Leiv Schrieber and the rest of the supporting cast. I think the biggest flaw though is the ending,...
My point is, we know at this date and time, that we are being lied to by our government(s) and they're getting away with it. This film presents a relatively "happy" ending to a government conspiracy, but in real life, that is not necessarily true. If the writer and director of this film had any vision (i.e. "balls"), this film would have had a much darker ending than the original.
It would have also left the "X-Files" plot twists in the garbage.
Star Trek: The Next Generation: All Good Things... (1994)
One of the best final episodes for a TV series
Your reading this for one of possibly two reasons:
A) You want to know how others feel about this final episode that you've also seen or,..
B) You have no idea about Star Trek
Given the popularity of this series, I'll assume "A" is your reason. However, if your the rare "B" person, then I recommend avoiding this episode until you've watched at least a few episodes of The Next Generation.
This wonderful 2-hour finale utilizes the history of these characters and plots beautifully and with reverence.
The lead character of the series, Jean Luc Picard, finds that he is inexplicably shifting between 3 time periods within his own liftime (past, present and future). Once he finds the reason for this, things become more complex and intriguing. His eyes are opened to an even greater threat than what he had perceived to be his own. As wonderful a premise that is, the subplots greatly enhance the characters and draw you into the story.
For example, Tasha Yar, a well regarded character in the series was killed early in the shows run. In his shift into the past, Picard once again sees her alive, accompanying him to the Enterprise for the first time (again, ironically). Once he returns to the present, he laments over having seen her again. A beautifully played little scene.
The main story combined with these subplots makes for one of the best written series endings ever in TV history.
Let's hope that future TV series (not necessarily Trek, of course) have the opportunity to do the same.