Poseidon

It's New Year's Eve and festivities have begun aboard the luxury cruise Poseidon, at sea in the North Atlantic--that is until the First Officer senses that something is wrong. Scanning the horizon, he sees a rogue wave; a monstrous wall of water over one hundred feet high, bearing down on them with tremendous speed.

This movie will, for obvious reasons, draw a lot of comparision with Titanic. But there is one stark difference between Poseidon and Titanic. Titanic spends 90% of the movie in character development before any disaster, Poseidon spends about 20 minutes in character development and uses the disaster for all other character development. If you enjoy edge-of-your-seat disaster movies, this one fits the bill. Kurt Russell is great as always and I really enjoyed Josh Lucas's performance in this film. Some of the situations though were a bit unbelievable. One scene where they had the people swimming underwater through and area and holding their breathes for well over a minute was a bit too unbelievable. I can understand if the former navy guy or firefighter have no problem doing that, but there was also a 10ish year old child and an older man and we are supposed to believe that they can hold their breath that long with no problem?

Violence here and there, no nudity but some language. Nothing different than usual PG-13 action movies.

I think most people going into Poseidon would realize that realism is not what they are shooting for. Just the fact of a huge wave sinking a cruise ship is pretty unbelievable in itself but combined with the incredible breath-holding, ability to get hit in the face very hard with a metal door and still live, and a thin metal table holding two men across a chasm, Poseidon goes from far-fetched to impossible. However, it is obvious that the film maker is going for breathtaking views and narrow escapes, not realism. I just wish we could have gotten to know the characters a little better before disaster struck as I found myself caring little whether they lived or died.

3.0 out of 5

An American Haunting

Based on a true state-documented case that took place during the 1800s. Between the years 1818-1820, the Bell family of Red River, Tennessee was visited by an unknown presence that haunted the family and eventually caused the death of one of its members.

I'd heard mixed reports about this film and thus was skeptical going into it. However, I was pleasantly surprised. This movie's intent is to be creepy with plenty of "jump" points and it succeeds. I always enjoy Sissy Spacek in scary movies and she does great here. Donald Sutherland is also great in this film.

Nothing too graphic, some language a bit of violence. Most of the PG-13 rating is for scary situations.

A decent opener to the Summer movie season. An American Haunting is a good scary movie with an interesting twist at the end.

3.6 out of 5

Mission Impossible IIII

Recently retired, Agent Ethan Hunt lives a slower-paced life training new IMF agents. With this change, new opportunities enter his life, including a possible marriage to his girlfriend Julia. However, when a new conflict arises, Ethan is called back to duty to confront the toughest villain he’s ever faced – Owen Davian, an international weapons and information provider with no remorse and no conscience.


I absolutely loved the first Mission Impossible movie and detested the second. While the first movie was smart in its twists and gotchas, the second movie was just an action movie, nothing memorable. Thankfully, Mission Impossible III is more like the original. In all honesty, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Tom Cruise's acting and passion is what makes this movie very watchable. The result when those two personalities collide is one of the better hero/villian dynamics that I've seen. Great movie that feels a bit drawn out, but nothing too bad. That being said, I don't know who edited this movie but they could really have done a better job. A great example is when Cruise is running along side a bayou they focus on a side view of him running for a good 8-10 seconds. Transition scenes are necessary but it seemed like that was an obvious attempt to fill more time into the movie.

PG-13 is a good rating for this movie as there is plenty of violence and language to warrant it. Parents of smaller children should be warned that there is a point where we get a good look at dead woman's face and her eyes are pointing in different directions among other things. Might be a little much for the younger crowd.

Not as memorable as the first movie, yet not as forgettable as the second; Mission Impossible III is a great action movie that will leave you walking away from the theater glad that you watched it. Not an outstanding movie but a great way to kick off the summer movie season.

3.8 out of 5

Slither

Local businessman Grant Grant--successful, albeit oafish--is one of the few leaders of Wheelsy's pack. With beautiful young wife Starla, a large house and fat bank account, Grant truly relishes his "big fish-small pond" role in the town. Other than the fact that the passionate love he feels for his woman goes completely unrequited, he's a man content. But things are about to change for Grant.

I didn't go into this movie expecting much and you shouldn't either. This movie relishes the fact that it's a B-movie heavy on gore and tongue-in-cheek humor. I was reminded why I enjoy Nathan Fillion so much as an actor in movies like these. From playing the Captain in Firefly/Serenity to his performance as the Police Chief in Slither, Fillion consistently provides great laughs.

This movie can be very disgusting at points and you should realize that going into it. From bloody corpses of everything from dogs to cows to people as well as gruesome deaths, Slither isn't shy with the violence and gore. Well deserving the R-rating.

If you enjoy gory alien invasion movies that are fun and funny at the same time, Slither is a great choice. Just don't expect to see this one up for any Oscars.

4.0 out of 5