Written and Directed by : George Lucas
Obi-Wan Kenobi : Ewan McGregor
Padmé : Natalie Portman
Anakin Skywalker : Hayden Christensen
Supreme Chancellor Palpatine : Ian McDiarmid

You’ve probably already heard people say that this movie is good and they are right, it really is.

This movie is the conclusion of the trilogy telling the story of Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into the evil Darth Vader.

As you already know, the original Star Wars (the first movie) was actually episode four of the series. It was followed by two sequels Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back and Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi that told the story of the restoration of the Jedi knights and the fall of the evil empire. The latest movie, Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith is the conclusion of the second trilogy which was actually the prequel of the first trilogy. Confused yet? This might help:

1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (Movie #4 Released 1999)
2. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (Movie #5 Released 2002)
3. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (Movie #6 Released 2005)
4. Star Wars (Released 1977 Movie #1)
5. Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (Movie #2 Released …

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Karen and I went to see the latest Star Trek movie last weekend - Star Trek Nemesis and I must say I was a little disappointed with it. It wasn’t really a bad movie, it just wasn’t a very good movie. I have been reading interviews with cast members and other production staff for over a year and everyone of them gave it glowing reviews. The hype was that it was the best Star Trek movie ever, and that it was built on a solid story with lots of action and drama. I really got sucked into the hype and went to the theater expecting something spectacular. Unfortunately, it was anything but.

Don’t get me wrong, the story was OK, but much of it had been recycled from “Star Trek - The Wrath of Kahn” and other assorted episodes. And as advertised, there were a lot of action sequences but most of them seemed poorly choreographed and because of this were much less suspenseful then they should have been. It also didn’t help that the peek sequences in the action had been used as part of the commercials for the movie so I knew what was going to happen before it actually occurred. A great way to kill the suspense.

The movie also dragged somewhat in the beginning and could have been helped out by a little bit of judicious editing.

Written and Directed by Ben Younger
Rafi Gardet - Uma Thurman
Lisa Metzger - Meryl Streep
David Bloomberg - Bryan Greenberg

Casting can make or break a movie and in the case of Prime it definitely makes it.

Uma Thurman plays Rafi Gardet, a recently divorced women in her late thirties who is seeing a psychoanalyst to help her through her troubled times. The psychoanalyst, Lisa Metzger, played by Meryl Streep has a good relationship with Rafi and in some ways they appear to be more like mother and daughter then doctor and patient.
Rafi is somewhat depressed about the future and things appear bleak until she meets what she believes is the perfect man. The only problem is that he is much younger then her.

She continues to attend her therapy sessions, expressing her concerns about the age difference in the relationship and sharing with Lisa all the steamy details of her sex life. Lisa encourages her. Telling her that she deserves the best and that the age difference is not a problem. With her approval Rafi moves forward and things are going great until one day, Lisa discovers that the man that Rafi has been dating is her son. Then the fun begins.

As I said in the beginning, casting makes this movie. Uma Thurman is totally believable as the older women that …

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Adam Sandler : Paul ‘Wrecking’ Crewe
Chris Rock : Caretaker
Burt Reynolds : Coach Nate Scarborough
James Cromwel : Warden Hazen
Directed by Peter Segal

I went to this movie with full expectations that it was going to be a total disaster but I ended up really surprised; it wasn’t half bad. Don’t get me wrong; this movie will most likely not be nominated for any Academy Awards, but it’s a fun movie to watch and worth a couple hours of your time.

This summer season has been filled with remakes and the 2005 version of The Longest Yard is a remake of the 1974 picture of the same name that starred Burt Reynolds. I had seen the original movie and really liked it. (although I was pretty young at the time so I liked just about any movie that had lots of violence and scantly clad women), but I had big doubts that this movie would live up to the original. Really, Adam Sandler, playing the part of a tough football player? It just didn’t seem like it would work.

But it did work.

Adam Sandler was able to pull of the part of Paul Crewe, an ex-quarterback with a reputation for point shaving who ends up being sent to prison after stealing his girl friends car and running from the police.

Sandler …

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Gracie Hart : Sandra Bullock
Sam Fuller : Regina King
Jeff Foreman : Enrique Murciano
Stan Fields : William Shatner
McDonald : Ernie Hudson
Cheryl : Heather Burns
Joel : Diedrich Bader

Why do they make bad sequels?

More important why does an actress the quality of Sandra Bullock get involved in a bad sequel?

I suppose it could be for the money, but I doubt it. She’s had a successful enough career for me to believe that money in not an issue.

I suspect the real reason goes something like this;

Hollywood Executive (Imagine Jon Lovitz at his sleaziest) - Have we got a great idea for a movie!

Sandra - Tell me about it.

Hollywood Executive - You know that movie you were involved in a couple of years ago.. What was it? Oh ya, Miss Congeniality.

Sandra - Ya.

Hollywood Executive - It was a big hit. Made the studio lots of money. Well, we’ve decided to make a sequel.

Sandra - A sequel. OK. Can I see the script?

Hollywood Executive - Ah, ummm… Well we don’t really have a script yet.

Sandra - No script?

Hollywood Executive - Ah… No. But we have some of the greatest writers in Hollywood working on it.

Sandra - Well, OK. What’s the premise of the story.

Hollywood Executive - Ah, ummm… …

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