A group of semi-criminal ex soldiers travel through the galaxy from one job to another, trying to make their way, but two passengers cause more trouble then expected and suddenly the Alliance is after them.

Based upon the short lived Firefly series, Serenity is a well written, well made, very witty sci fi western. Stacked to the gills with great and varied characters. Captained by Nathan Fillion as Mal, second in command
Zoe (Gina Torres) and some excellent parts played by Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin (possibly the most beautiful woman in the world), Adam Baldwin, Summer Glau and Chiwetel Ejidfor as The Operative (the bad guy).
As well as having a very well made look, Serenity also has a great story and plot that keeps the action. Its a wonder why this was not a more successful TV series as it appears to have all the ingredients to be well
loved. Serenity proves that a sci fi movie can be exciting, funny without resorting to slapstick and enjoyable. A must see if you appreciate good science fiction.

A simple military training operation goes into the jungle in Panama and only 2 of the original 7 soldiers come out of the jungle alive. Tom Hardy is called in by his old friend to help the Provst Marshall discover what happened in the jungle.

John Travolta & Samuel L Jackson both revise similar roles from previous movies. Travolta in a role similar to The Generals Daughter and Jackson plays a character similar to one he played in Rules of Engagement. Both
are very good in their defined roles and are well supported by several notable actors. The movie offers several versions of what happened and the viewer is thrown various explanations before the truth is revealed and its well done how everything is strung out until the end.

An enjoyable movie, not a classic but far from being a bad movie also!

A San Francisco cop is ordered to protect a witness who is going to testify against the mob but when the witness is killed, the cop must find out who and why.

Steve McQueen stars in this classic cop movie that is perhaps most famous for its iconic Mustang vs Charger car chase. The movie itself is full of late 60s cool, with McQueen being the coolest of the cool. Even the simple act of Lt. Bullitt walking to the corner shop and picking up some food is cool. There are no actors today who can match the masculinity and cool factor of McQueen who, without even trying, simply by the way he dressed or moved, exuded star power.

The funny thing about the movie is that so many people remember the car chase but unlike most movies, the car chase isn’t the climax of the movie, it takes place in the middle,

Bullitt is a movie that, without which, there wouldn’t have been some of the later classic movies such as French Connection. This is a classic movie in every possible way.

A Army criminal investigator is called in to investigate an apparent rape and murder. It becomes more complicated when it is discovered that the victim is the daughter of a high placed general who is looking to go into politics.

Based on the excellent book of the same by Nelson DeMille, The Generals Daughter is a tight military drama where the obvious answers aren’t usually the right ones. John Travolta plays Paul Brennan and pretty much acts it as with all other roles he takes, ie, I am John Travolta and today I will be playing a military investigator. It can be annoying but once you get over that he is John Travolta rather than the actual role he isn’t too bad, although his accent is a bit grating.

The generals daughter is a good movie for several reasons. It has excellent source material. It has a solid cast, and it doesn’t forget its a tense military drama.

When a US Marine is charged with defending an American embassy from violent protesteres, things end badly and the Marine is court martialed. He calls on his friend, who he fought with in Vietnam to defend him, even though his friend doesn;t believe he can win.

Samuel L Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones star in this tight military drama about a soldier court martialed for doing what he believed was right. Its a good story let down but a script that seems to deal only lightly with the court room scenes. The build up and the action scenes are realistic and enjoyable but once the pace slows down to the court room the movie loses its way slightly.

A good supporting cast are underused and various plot points that could have been used are either ignored or briefly dealt with. When it was over I felt that this movie is a good example of a good movie that could have been much better. It is not in the same league as A Few Good Men or Word of Honour but still a good military court room drama.

A female author from New England travels to New York to get her book, Down With Love, published. In order to get the book publicized, the author and her editor try to get the most famous journalist and world renowned playboy to interview the author but things don’t go as planned.

While Down With Love was released in 2003, this is a movie very much in the style of Rock Hudson/Doris Day romantic comedies of the early sixties.  Apart from actually being set in the 1960s, Down With Love seems to capture the filmatic style of those earlier movies. Car scenes with poor back projection seems intentional rather the accidental.

Down With Love stars Renee Zellweger and Ewan McGregor, abley supported by Sarah Paulson and David Hyde Pierce as his neaurotic best. The acting is wonderful and fun to watch. Obviously this being a movie made in 2003, it is not as innocent as a Hudson/Day movie but they keep it in the same style and for children watching, most if not all the innuendo will be above their heads. The clever script keeps the movie sexy without being rude or obvious.

Technically not a chick flick, this is a movie that can be appreciated by either gender and should be viewed at least once a year, if only to counter balance all the juvenile sex comedies that are released all the time.

When a secret NSA base is taken out, Augustas Gibbons can only turn to one man to find out who is behind the attack, Darius Stone. After escaping prison, Stone tracks down who is responsible and finds the clues pointing to someone in the Whitehouse.

The first XXX was innovative, clever and enjoyable, partly because of Vin Diesel and partly because it was action packed and fun. This XXX is none of that. Ice Cube as Darius Stone is permanently scowling and has none of the charisma that the Vin possessed. Its not really his fault though as the material he has to work with is poor at best. Lines that would make the cheesiest actor blush and scenarios that are just plain silly make this perhaps one of the worst movies I have ever managed to sit though.

Its not just the script, the special effects appear to have been bought on the cheap as several “stunts” were as realistic as Jordans boobs. At every turn, the movie managed to amazing and surprise me, but never in a good way. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse, it does. Logic appeared to fly out of the window as soon as the title credits appeared.

I wanted to watch and enjoy this movie because I loved the first one. I liked Vin Diesel and I loved Sam the Man, but in State of the Union, Sam the Man has drank the Kool-Aid and bought into this poor movie, which is a huge shame. At the end of the movie, my face hurt from cringing so much. I am not a person who cringes, after all Amazon Women on The Moon is one of my favourite movies but this was a painful movie to endure.

In 1979, Iran had a revolution but by that time, two Americans had been hed in prison for several weeks already in an effort to extort money from the company they worked for. This is the story of how they escaped.

A true life tale of how far a man and his company could go to rescue two of his employees wrongly jailed in a middle eastern country. It is amazing how far Ross Perot is willing to go and how much he risks and yet he managed to organise this stunning rescue when all official options failed.

A page turning story that doesn’t let up until the end. A Very enjoyable book.

Egypt in World War 2, the Axis powers are closing in on Cairo and a desperate hunt is on for a Nazi spy, giving Rommel all the allies plans. The Major looking for the spy resorts to using a woman to entrap the spy but the woman changes things for him.

A good wartime story with great characters. While the action takes place over a small amount of time, a lot goes on, and yet the reader doesn’t feel rushed and as if they are missing anything. The characters, for the main part believable, draw in the reader, especially the female lead.

While shorter than most of his books, Ken Follett creates a book similar in pace and fashion to Alistair MacLean albeit more raunchy, violent and frank. Perhaps not his best but not a bad book by any means.

Jack Reacher is sitting in a bar in the Florida Keys when a private investigator comes looking for him. Reacher is drawn to New York where a person from his past gives him a reason to followup the work an old friend had started.

The third book featuring Jack Reacher, Tripwire is a violent, sometimes grusome story where things are not what they seem and yet Reacher always appears to be. Reacher is a character that is complex almost because he seems to have a very simple thought process. He doesn’t panic, he doesn’t run around, he doesn’t do anything that he doesn’t need to do and yet he is ruthlessly efficient when needbe and clever all the time. Reacher is such an interesting character although he himself doesn’t appear to think so.

The plot is a good one although the twist becomes obvious long before Reacher works it out and after that you are just waiting for the shoe to drop rather than wondering what else might happen.

A good book, one that keeps the readers attention but not that original.