Movie Review: Twisted (2004)

Genre: Psychological Crime Thriller  

Director: Philip Kaufman  

Starring: Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson, Andy Garcia, David Strathairn  

Running Time: 97 minutes  

Synopsis: In San Francisco, police officer Jessica Shepard (Ashley Judd) is promoted to a homicide detective under the tutelage of Commissioner John Mills (Samuel L. Jackson), who has mentored her ever since she lost her parents in shocking circumstances. Now she partners with Detective Delmarco (Andy Garcia), and they start investigating a series of murders with one thing in common: the victims are men who have had one-night stands with Jessica. As she grows closer to Delmarco and attends sessions with a therapist (David Strathairn), Jessica experiences blackout episodes and starts to suspect she may be a murderer.

What Works Well: This is an engaging-enough psychological mystery, with a flawed but worthwhile protagonist grappling with more questions than answers. Ashley Judd is serviceable in the main role and receives strong support from Samuel L Jackson (confident), Andy Garcia (weary), and David Strathairn (thoughtful). Director Philip Kaufman demonstrates interest in both character-building and investigative machinations, throwing enough clues and red herrings into the grisly-past-casting-a-shadow-on-the-present premise to sustain momentum.

What Does Not Work As Well: Not much distinguishes the script from countless slick 1990s thrillers, and despite the twists and turns, the evil mind behind all the murders is not difficult to guess. The motive and timing of all the killings are at best questionable, and the final act stretches the limits of logic and is more frantic than considered.

Key Quote:

Jessica: Everyone who kisses me... turns up dead.

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Movie Review: Southern Comfort (1981)

Genre: Survival Thriller  

Director: Walter Hill  

Starring: Keith Carradine, Powers Boothe, Fred Ward, Peter Coyote, T.K. Carter, Brion James  

Running Time: 105 minutes  

Synopsis: It's 1973 in rural Louisiana, and National Guard soldiers led by Staff Sergeant Poole (Peter Coyote) convene for a training exercise in the swamplands. The minimally competent men are armed with blank bullets, and include newcomer Hardin (Power Boothe), the easygoing Spencer (Keith Carradine), and the intense Reece (Fred Ward). Early in their training mission, the guardsmen antagonize Cajun hunters who live in the dense woods, triggering violence. The inexperienced Casper (Les Lannom) is forced to take command, while Hardin and Spencer realize they are being ruthlessly hunted deep in hostile territory.

What Works Well: This powerful metaphor for the Vietnam War drops poorly trained and ill-equipped soldiers into a fog-shrouded forest, and allows the conflict between hubris and locals to unfold with relentless intensity. Director Walter Hill packs plenty of individual personality into the men, while majestic Andrew Laszlo cinematography and Ry Cooder's music score create disorientation in outdoor terrain. The limited visibility, absence of landmarks, and swampy waters spill off the screen, and once the mission unravels, discipline disintegrates and the guardsmen fracture into individuals. Powers Boothe as Hardin and Keith Carradine as Spencer stand out by adhering to personal codes rather than any loyalty to the unit.

What Does Not Work As Well: Once the premise is set, the whittling away of the group proceeds on a linear path, and the you-don't-belong-here anti-war message is none too subtle.

Key Quote:

Sergeant Poole (puzzled by an unexpected body of water): Either this map is wrong, or all of a sudden I can't find my way around the block.

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Movie Review: The Face Of Love (2013)

Genre: Romantic Drama  

Director: Arie Posin  

Starring: Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Robin Williams, Amy Brenneman  

Running Time: 92 minutes  

Synopsis: The happy marriage of Nikki and Garrett (Annette Bening and Ed Harris) ends suddenly when he drowns on their 30th anniversary vacation in Mexico. Five years later Nikki is trying to move on with help from her neighbour Roger (Robin Williams) and daughter Summer (Jess Weixler). She then spots college art teacher Tom (also Ed Harris) who looks exactly like Garrett. She initiates a romance with Tom, without telling him about the uncanny resemblance.

What Works Well: In the central roles, Annette Bening and Ed Harris are reliably excellent, leaning on low key emotions to convey late middle age wisdom being buffeted by unexpected circumstances.

What Does Not Work As Well: A premise in search of a movie, the what-if question posited by writer and director Arie Posin quickly bumps against questionable character choices. The seemingly smart Nikki ignores the obvious dead-end of not telling her new lover about his resemblance to her ex-hubby. Her selfish emotional cruelty sets up inevitable conflicts when daughter Summer and neighbour Roger meet Tom. The drama then withers and dies on predictable meltdowns, made worse by a questionable ending that somehow contrives to misuse tragedy as a celebration of emotional re-birth.

Key Quote:

Tom (to Nikki): I could take a bath in how you look at me.

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Movie Review: Greenland 2: Migration (2026)

Genre: Apocalyptic Thriller  

Director: Ric Roman Waugh  

Starring: Gerard Butler, Morena Baccarin  

Running Time: 98 minutes  

Synopsis: A comet strike has wiped out most life on Earth. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and son Nathan have been living in a Greenland bunker with other survivors for five years. But now seismic activity destroys the bunker, forcing the Garritys to flee. They travel by sea and land to Liverpool, where an old family friend is running a shelter, then onto France, where rumours are circulating that life is resprouting at the main comet crater site.

What Works Well: Gerard Butler's grizzled never-give-up attitude rescues a few moments. 

What Does Not Work As Well: More of a filmed video game than a serious movie, this unnecessary sequel is a listless and repetitive adventure where the Garrity family faces a frantic existential crisis (a planet convulsion, a human threat, or a plain old obstacle course) every 10 minutes. The special effects are cheesy and overcooked, the aesthetics grimy, the logic absent (everyone looks remarkably healthy given the absence of food and water; gasoline, bullets, and functional armaments seem plentiful), and the science ridiculous.

Key Quote:

John (to Ally): I promise you...I'm going to get you to the crater.

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Movie Review: Rudy (1993)

Genre: Biographical Sports Drama  

Director: David Anspaugh  

Starring: Sean Astin, Ned Beatty, Jon Favreau, Charles S. Dutton, Lili Taylor  

Running Time: 116 minutes  

Synopsis: It's the 1960s, and young Rudy Ruettiger is growing up in a Midwest blue collar family. His father Daniel (Ned Beatty) works at the steel mill, but Rudy dreams of entering the University of Notre Dame and playing on its famed football team. After high school, and despite receiving no family support and lacking university-level grades, Rudy (Sean Astin) strikes out on his own and gains entry to Holy Cross College. He befriends Notre Dame's head groundkeeper Fortune (Charles S. Dutton), and perseveres in pursuit of his dream.

What Works Well: Based on actual events, this is a classic sports-and-academia underdog story. Writer Angelo Pizzo charts Rudy's determination to rise above family expectations and play college football, despite lackluster academic performance and physical attributes limited to speedy resilience. The standard lessons of pursuing the dream, bouncing back up after every setback (here demonstrated literally as Rudy becomes a punching bag for the larger players on the practice roster), and exceeding family expectations, are delivered with appropriate polish. Sean Astin brings genial likeability to the central role. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The music soars frequently and loudly to underline the many this-is-important moments. Charles S. Dutton (in a composite role rather obviously named Fortune) adds weary wisdom, but all the other secondary characters (including Jon Favreau in a clumsy turn as a college classmate) are one dimensional. A feeling lingers that this is a minor story over-inflated to Hollywood proportions.

Key Quote:

Fortune (to Rudy): In this life, you don't have to prove nothin' to nobody but yourself.

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Movie Review: Vigilante Force (1976)

Genre: Exploitation Action  

Director: George Armitage  

Starring: Kris Kristofferson, Jan-Michael Vincent, Victoria Principal, Bernadette Peters  
Running Time: 89 minutes  

Synopsis: The small town of Elk Hills, California is experiencing rowdy lawlessness due to an oil boom. At the request of local leaders, respected businessman Ben Arnold (Jan-Michael Vincent) recruits his brother Aaron (Kris Kristofferson), a Vietnam War veteran, to hurriedly join the police force and restore law and order. Aaron and his buddies are initially successful and the locals are pleased, but Aaron then reveals his dark side, turning on the town and unleashing a wave of extortion and violence. A showdown looms between the brothers.

What Works Well: Some of the explosions and stunts are not bad, and Bernadette Peters as an out-of-tune singer adds a lonely touch of victimized humanity.

What Does Not Work As Well: In better hands, this trashy story could have better explored the foxes-invited-to-save-the-henhouse Vietnam War metaphor. And with some investment in character, Aaron's war-damaged soul could have been given expressive space. Instead, director George Armitage resorts to mass brawls and cold-blooded shootings every three minutes, with none of the deaths causing even a momentary pause for shock, reflection, or grief. Sophomoric writing merges with wooden acting to create bottom-of-the-barrel drive-in entertainment focused on ogling Kris Kristofferson's shirtless physique.

Key Quote:

Ben (to Aaron): I'm the one that brought you here, and I'm the one that's gonna run you out.

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Movie Review: People We Meet On Vacation (2026)

Genre: Romantic Comedy  

Director: Brett Haley  

Starring: Emily Bader, Tom Blyth, Molly Shannon, Alan Ruck  

Running Time: 118 minutes  

Synopsis: New York-based travel writer Poppy (Emily Bader) is invited to a wedding in Barcelona, where her former friend Alex (Tom Blyth) will be in attendance. Flashbacks reveal their complicated multi-year relationship. They initially meet as college students on a road trip. She is free-spirited and talkative, he is more grounded, and they develop a friendship and vow to vacation together every year. Their annual adventures build a deep connection bordering on unspoken love, disrupting their other romantic relationships and leading to conflict.

What Works Well: This mix of When Harry Met Sally and Two For The Road displays an occasional spark, thanks to a lively Emily Bader performance and attractive locations. Whether a man and a woman sharing a deep connection can ever be "just friends" underpins the dramatic moments, and the price of commitment fuels the tension between Poppy's desire to live in the moment and Alex's interest in defining a future.

What Does Not Work As Well: Almost everything here is derived from other movies, including the opposites attract trope, the manic pixie dream girl pulling the reserved guy out of his shell, romantic partners unable to express themselves just to prolong the running time, and vacations providing license for wild behavior (let's go skinny dipping!). The narration is trite, the music oh-so-sappy, and needless to say, the outcome a foregone conclusion.

Key Quote:

Poppy: I love it when you get weird.

Alex: I'm only weird when I'm with you.

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Movie Review: The Long Riders (1980)

Genre: Western  

Director: Walter Hill  

Starring: James Keach, Stacy Keach, David Carradine, Keith Carradine, Robert Carradine, Randy Quaid, Dennis Quaid, Pamela Reed  

Running Time: 99 minutes  

Synopsis: After the Civil War, the James-Younger gang is fueled by Confederate resentment and embarks on a crime spree in Missouri, holding up banks and trains. Jesse and Frank James (James and Stacy Keach) lead the gang, with support from Cole, Jim, and Bob Younger (David, Keith, and Robert Carradine). Clell Miller (Randy Quaid) stays with the gang even after his brother Ed (Dennis Quaid) is kicked out. In-between heists the men seek domesticity and the company of women, including Cole seeking comfort with prostitute Belle Starr (Pamela Reed). But as their list of victims grows, Pinkerton detectives descend onto the area to stop the gang's activities by any means.

What Works Well: Based on actual events, this is a stylish, lyrical, and violent chronicle of the famous outlaw gang. Actual Hollywood brothers portray the Jameses, Youngers, Millers, and Fords (Christopher and Nicholas Guest), with Stacy Keach as Frank James and David Carradine as Cole Younger emerging as the most grounded and charismatic characters. In the quieter scenes the script excels at filling-in the men's personalities, allowing human emotions to surface but never resorting to heroic portrayals. With the botched Northfield, Minnesota bank raid a stunning highlight, director Walter Hill and cinematographer Ric Waite deliver exceptionally gripping action scenes infused with stuntwork, slow motion, and no shortage of blood. 

What Does Not Work As Well: The production quality deserved a longer running time to more fully define the era and round-out more characters.

Key Quote:

Cole Younger: When this is all over, I'm goin' to write a book; make myself more famous than I already am.

Frank James: I trust you'll give me a copy.

Cole Younger: Nope. You gotta pay, Frank; you gotta pay.

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Movie Review: Tempted (2001)

Genre: Neo-Noir  

Director: Bill Bennett  

Starring: Burt Reynolds, Saffron Burrows, Peter Facinelli  
Running Time: 95 minutes  

Synopsis: In New Orleans, construction magnate Charlie LeBlanc (Burt Reynolds) wants to test the loyalty of his much younger wife Lilly (Saffron Burrows). He hires carpenter and aspiring law student Jimmy Mulate (Peter Facinelli) to seduce her in exchange for $50,000. Charlie also retains a private investigator to spy on Lilly and Jimmy. The loyalty test spirals into murderous intentions, resulting in violence.

What Works Well: Saffron Burrows does her best to try and create a mysterious, alluring, and scheming femme fatale, while the sex scenes between Lilly and Jimmy carry some heat.

What Does Not Work As Well: The attempt to create a modern noir in a steamy New Orleans milieu is appreciated, but almost nothing here works. The problems start early with cheap-looking production values and barely coherent motivations for Charlie, suffering from a vague ailment and wanting to "test" his wife, and quickly disintegrate into inexplicable desires for murder. Director and writer Bill Bennett skips key context scenes and character-building essentials, and throws in a dumbfoundingly unrelated high profile and barely investigated murder subplot, complete with throw-the-body-in-the-river-and-hope-for-the-best improvisation.

Key Quote:

Charlie (to Jimmy): Now what I'd like you to do...is I'd like you to take a run at my wife.

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Movie Review: Bounce (2000)

Genre: Romance  

Director: Don Roos  

Starring: Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Affleck, Tony Goldwyn  
Running Time: 106 minutes  

Synopsis: During a weather delay at Chicago Airport, advertising executive Buddy Amaral (Ben Affleck) meets fellow traveler Greg Janello (Tony Goldwyn). Buddy gives up his seat on the LA-bound flight to Greg, but the plane crashes, killing all on board. After a guilt-fueled descent into alcoholism followed by a stint in a rehab centre, Buddy seeks out Greg's widow Abby (Gwyneth Paltrow), a fledgling real estate agent now raising two kids on her own. A romance ensues, although Buddy does not reveal to Abby his fateful encounter with Greg.

What Works Well: In bold and confident strokes, the opening sequence at the airport packs an impressive amount of character building and narrative seeding. The premise carries emotional weight, allowing two characters to carry coherent burdens of guilt and grief. Gwyneth Paltrow provides Abby with an impressive range of complexity as a woman still searching for a new normal, and the script (by director Don Roos) adds an edge by empowering Abby to pursue the romance with Buddy after he seeks to pull away.

What Does Not Work As Well: While both primary characters are understandably vulnerable, they also resort to lies and omissions as fundamental script requirements to underpin the easily predictable drama. Ben Affleck's limited emotional range is exposed opposite Paltrow, and the secondary characters are weak. The second half starts to drag and occasionally dips into melodrama, not helped by a running time that could have used a trim.

Key Quote:

Abby: Bouncing. It's like crashing, except you get to do it over and over again.

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