movies i have seen...
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Woman of the Year (1942) ***
Newspaper colleagues Sam Craig (Spencer Tracy) and Tess Harding (Katharine Hepburn) -- he a brash sportswriter, she a headstrong political columnist -- trade barbs in print, then meet, fall in love and walk down the aisle. But balancing work and marriage turns out to be a problem for the cosmopolitan Tess, whose prosaic hubby strives to foster her ambition while keeping the relationship afloat. The film won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
Starring: Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy
Director: George Stevens
50 First Dates (2004) *****
Henry (Adam Sandler) is a player skilled at seducing women. But when this veterinarian meets Lucy (Drew Barrymore), he realizes it's possible to fall in love all over again … and again, and again. That's because the delightful Lucy has no short-term memory, so he must take her out day after day until he finally sweeps her off her feet. Co-stars Sean Astin, Dan Aykroyd and Rob Schneider.
Starring: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore
Director: Peter Segal
Matchstick Men (2003) ****
A professional con man (Nicolas Cage) struggling with an obsessive-compulsive disorder meets the daughter (Alison Lohman) he never knew he had, inadvertently jeopardizing his very organized and artificially controlled life. Sam Rockwell plays Cage's partner and protégé in the con man business, and Melora Walters plays Cage's ex-wife. Directed by Ridley Scott and based on Eric Garcia's novel of the same name.
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Sam Rockwell
Director: Ridley Scott
Seabiscuit (2003) *****
During the Depression, a former bicycle repairman, Charles Howard (Jeff Bridges), owned a small, knobbly-kneed horse called Seabiscuit. Howard teamed up with half-blind ex-prize-fighter Red Pollard (Tobey Maguire), who became the horse's jockey, and former "mustang breaker" Tom Smith (Chris Cooper), who became the horse's trainer. People around the country became fascinated with the story of Seabiscuit, who won Horse of the Year honors in 1938.
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Chris Cooper
Director: Gary Ross
Contact (1997) ***
Jodie Foster stars in this adaptation of Carl Sagan's thoughtful novel about the attempt to reconcile science and religion. After idealistic Dr. Ellie Arroway (Foster) discovers a signal being broadcast from outer space, the race is on to interpret humanity's first contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. Matthew McConaughey co-stars as Father Palmer Joss, Ellie's friend/lover; Robert Zemeckis directs.
Starring: Jodie Foster, Matthew McConaughey
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Thursday, November 18, 2004
The Abyss (1989)
When a nuclear submarine sinks, a team of divers descends the depths to conduct a rescue mission and to determine the cause. Led by "Bud" Brigman (Ed Harris), the crew includes his estranged wife (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio), who's an engineer, and a paranoid Navy lieutenant (Michael Biehn) with an agenda. During the investigation, it becomes evident that an extraterrestrial power is at work. The film reeled in an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
Starring: Ed Harris, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
Director: James Cameron
Cocoon (1985)
A group of shut-ins at a rest home get a new lease on life when they're offered the gift of eternal youth by visiting aliens led by Brian Dennehy. Steve Guttenberg plays a charter boat captain who helps Dennehy and Don Ameche (who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar) marshal their fellow seniors (Hume Cronyn, Wilford Brimley, Jack Gilford, Jessica Tandy and Maureen Stapleton) into making the choice between perennial youth or old age.
Starring: Don Ameche, Wilford Brimley
Director: Ron Howard
The Experiment (2001)
An artificial prison has been built as part of a psychological experiment in which 20 male participants are asked to take roles as either prisoners or guards. As psychologists watch the results unfold, our focus is on a former journalist who was intrigued by the experiment and volunteered to be one of the prisoners, thinking there might be a big story in it for him. But he ends up getting a lot more than he bargained for. …
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Christian Berkel
Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Clear and Present Danger (1994)
Superspook Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) gets political when an unconstitutional "war on drugs" -- fought with U.S. soldiers -- goes awry. Ryan uncovers the secret plan just as the troops are abandoned, and he realizes he's being set up to take the fall. Can Ryan save the soldiers, save himself and save the day?
Starring: Harrison Ford, Willem Dafoe
Director: Phillip Noyce
Desk Set (1957)
Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn) is a reference librarian whose tepid long-term relationship with television executive Mike Cutler (Gig Young) is fizzling. Enter Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy), a no-nonsense computer genius who's created a new product named Miss Emmy to automate the work of Bunny and her co-workers. The two butt heads in the beginning, but soon their disdain for one another turns to romantic sparks.
Starring: Spencer Tracy, Katharine Hepburn
Director: Walter Lang
You Can't Take It With You (1938)
In this Frank Capra classic, Tony (James Stewart) and Alice (Jean Arthur) meet and fall in love. But things are far from rosy: He's the son of a millionaire, and she and her wacky family live in a house that's in the way of the senior Kirby's construction project. Will an office building literally stand in the way of true love? The movie, adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart, delivers the answer.
Starring: Jean Arthur, Lionel Barrymore
Director: Frank Capra
Patriot Games (1992)
CIA desk jockey Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) plunges into the heart of international terrorism after spoiling an assassination attempt on a British royal family member. Ryan's heroics earn him noble gratitude – and a death warrant from the Irish Republican Army! Director Phillip Noyce deftly juggles high-tech spy-craft and high-tension thrills, and Sean Bean (Ronin) chills as Ford's nemesis.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Anne Archer
Director: Phillip Noyce
Sommersby (1993)
This romantic drama stars Richard Gere as Confederate soldier Jack Sommersby, who goes home to his wife Laurel (Jodie Foster) after the war. Feeling guilty for assuming Jack was dead and getting engaged to another man, Laurel decides to take back the husband she never loved and finds he's a different man -- perhaps literally. His benevolent acts attract the attention of Laurel's scorned beau, who digs into Jack's past and finds he's a wanted man.
Starring: Jodie Foster, Richard Gere
Director: Jon Amiel
Don't Say a Word (2001)
We'll never tell! Michael Douglas stars as a renowned New York City shrink who must extract from the mind of a violent and catatonic mental patient (Brittany Murphy) the whereabouts of some hidden bank loot. If he doesn't -- by five o'clock -- his kidnapped daughter is history. Famke Janssen and Sean Bean co-star in this suspenseful amalgam of Girl Interrupted and Ransom. Quick, pass the lithium!
Starring: Michael Douglas, Brittany Murphy
Director: Gary Fleder
Freaky Friday (1976)
Ellen Andrews (Barbara Harris) and her teenage daughter, Annabel (Jodie Foster), can barely stand each other. Tess thinks her daughter is an incorrigible rebel, and Anna thinks her mother is wound tighter than a spool of thread. But one fateful and freaky Friday the 13th, they discover what it's like to be in each other's shoes when their souls are switched.
Starring: Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster
Director: Gary Nelson
The Fugitive (1993)
Wrongfully convicted of murdering his wife, Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) escapes custody after a ferocious train accident (one of the most thrilling wrecks ever filmed). While Kimble tries to find the true murderer, gung-ho U.S. Marshal Samuel Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones, in an Oscar-winning performance) is hot on Kimble’s trail, pulling out all stops to put him back behind bars.
Starring: Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones
Director: Andrew Davis
