The soaring adventure of a 13-year-old girl and her estranged father, who learn what family is all about when they adopt an orphaned flock of geese and teach them to fly! Read the rest of this entry

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In Independence Day, a scientist played by Jeff Goldblum once actually had a fistfight with a man (Bill Pullman) who is now president of the United States. That same president, late in the film, personally flies a jet fighter to deliver a payload of missiles against an attack by extraterrestrials. Independence Day is the kind of movie so giddy with its own outrageousness that one doesn’t even blink at such howlers in the plot. Directed by Roland Emmerich, Independence Day is a pastiche of conventions from flying-saucer movies from the 1940s and 1950s, replete with icky monsters and bizarre coincidences that create convenient shortcuts in the story. (Such as the way the girlfriend of one of the film’s heroes–played by Will Smith–just happens to run across the president’s injured wife, who are then both rescued by Smith’s character who somehow runs across them in alien-ravaged Los Angeles County.) The movie is just sheer fun, aided by a cast that knows how (more…)

Studio: Tango Entertainment Inc Release Date: 03/03/2006 Read the rest of this entry

This echo of 1970s disaster films stars Sylvester Stallone as the disgraced former head of New York City’s Emergency Medical Services, a loser who is nevertheless a compulsive rescuer of people in danger. When the Holland Tunnel is sealed off after a fiery explosion and car passengers are trapped within, he goes inside and leads a group of survivors (a mixed group allegorically representing America’s diversity) through all manner of pestilence toward safety. Directed by the imaginative Rob Cohen (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), Daylight finds Stallone outrageously (and to almost campy effect) pushing the envelope of his martyr persona to near-religious levels. He throws himself, quite literally, into this part, and between that entertainment factor and the unnervingly convincing effects, this is a pretty watchable film. –Tom Keogh Read the rest of this entry

Between his high-octane debut, Bad Boys, and 1998’s wannabe blockbuster Armageddon, hotshot director Michael Bay forged his dubious reputation with this crowd-pleasing action extravaganza. In it a psychotically disgruntled war hero (Ed Harris) seizes the island prison of Alcatraz and threatens to wage chemical warfare against nearby San Francisco unless the government publicly recognizes the men who were killed under Harris’s top-secret command. Nicolas Cage plays the biochemist who teams up with the only man ever to have escaped from Alcatraz (Sean Connery) in an attempt to foil Harris’s terrorist scheme. As one might expect, what follows is an action-packed barrage of bullets, bodies, and climactic confrontations, replete with enough plot contrivances to give even the most jaded action fan cause for alarm. It’s a load of hooey, but the cast is obviously having a grand old time, and there’s enough wit to make the recycled action sequences tolerable. If you’re ordering th (more…)

The majestic beauty of Alaska is displayed masterfully in this film, which was originally presented in IMAX theaters and received an Academy Award(r) nomination for Best Documentary in 1998. The landscape of Alaska is shown in magnificent aerial shots, and “white thunder,” the spectacular sight when enormous icebergs break off from glaciers, is shown in exquisitely sharp footage. As might be expected, much of the film is devoted to Alaska’s abundant wildlife, including moose, bears, seals, wolves, caribou, musk oxen, and whales. The narration, delivered by actor Charlton Heston, provides informative background on the animals, but the star of the film is always the stunning camera work. An underwater shot taken in the midst of dozens of diving seals is particularly memorable, and scenes of humpback whales breaching on the surface are simply spectacular. Bears fight each other over the best fishing spots, and even their prey, the salmon swimming upstream, are featured in an (more…)

Adam Sandler fans are sure to enjoy this no-brainer comedy, but everyone else is strongly advised to proceed with caution. Before scoring a more enjoyable hit with his 1998 comedy The Wedding Singer, the former Saturday Night Live goofball played Happy Gilmore, a hot-tempered guy whose dreams of hockey stardom elude him. But when he discovers his gift for driving golf balls hundreds of yards, he joins a pro tour to win the prize money needed to rescue his beloved grandma’s home from IRS repossession. The trouble is, Happy’s not so happy. He’s got a temper that frequently flares on the golf course (he even dukes it out with celebrity golfer Bob Barker), but a retired golf pro (Carl Weathers) and a compassionate publicist (Julie Bowen) help him to perfect his putting game and adjust his confrontational attitude. How much you enjoy this lunacy depends on your tolerance for Sandler’s loudmouthed schtick and a shocking number of blatant product-placement endorsements, but if y (more…)

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Inspired by Chris Marker’s acclaimed short film La Jetée (which is included on the DVD Short 2: Dreams), 12 Monkeys combines intricate, intelligent storytelling with the uniquely imaginative vision of director Terry Gilliam. The story opens in the wintry wasteland of the year 2035, where a virulent plague has forced humans to live in a squalid, oppressively regimented underground. Bruce Willis plays a societal outcast who is given the opportunity to erase his criminal record by “volunteering” to time-travel into the past to obtain a pure sample of the deadly virus that will help future scientists to develop a cure. But in bouncing from 1918 to the early and mid-1990s, he undergoes an ordeal that forces him to question his own perceptions of reality. Caught between the dangers of the past and the devastation of the future, he encounters a psychiatrist (Madeleine Stowe) who is initially convinced he’s insane, and a wacky mental patient (Brad Pitt in a tw (more…)

Take a technological thrill ride faster, higher, and wilder than modern science or even your imagination! Relive the historical first flight of the Wright Brothers in 1903, then soar with the world-famous Blue Angels as they defy the laws of gravity with their most breathtaking maneuvers. Narrated by Tom Selleck, The Magic of Flight highlights and salutes a variety of modern aircraft, the people who fly them, and the human potential of training and performance. Ever wonder “how did they do that?” “The Making of ‘The Magic of Flight’” (42 min.) puts you behind the camera and provides further insights into the world of aviation and the techniques used to get some of the most amazing airborne footage ever captured on film. Shot using high-definition cameras, “The Making of ‘The Magic of Flight’” captures the enthusiasm and excitement of the crew who made this groundbreaking film. Read the rest of this entry

Radio astronomer Zane Zaminsky (Charlie Sheen) believes he’s picked up a cosmic noise that signals extraterrestrial intelligence. His desperate search for answers leads him to Mexico and a mysterious power plant, where is arrested for the murder of a scientist. Zane must escape with his proof of the world-shattering alien invasion in this intense sci-fi thriller. Read the rest of this entry