I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

The Replacement Killers (1998) Director:  Antoine Fuqua Writer: Ken Sanzel Cast:  Chow Yun-Fat, Mira Sorvino, Michael Rooker, Kenneth Tsang, Jürgen Prochnow, Til Schweiger. Danny Trejo, Clifton Collins Jr., Carlos Gomez, Frank Medrano, Leo Lee Synopsis: John Lee (Yun-Fat) is a hitman in the employ of notable Chinese gangster Terence Wei (Tsang). John is asked to avenge the death of Mr. Wei's son at the hands of police detective Zedkov (Rooker) by striking at all he holds dear. When the moment of truth comes, John cannot follow through on his given task. Knowing that his disobedience will anger Mr. Wei, John seeks the help of small-time documents forger Meg Colburn (Sorvino) to create fake travel documents so he can get to Shanghai to protect his mother and sister from Mr. Wei. Unfortunately, things don't go according to plan, and Mr. Wei's second in command, Mr. Kogan, tracks down John and Meg, who must go into hiding, avoiding both Wei's men as well as a pair of replac...

The Karate Kid (1984) Director:  John G. Alvidson Writer:  Robert Mark Kamen Cast: Ralph Macchio, Pat Morita, Elisabeth Shue, Randee Heller, Martin Kove, William Zabka, Ron Thomas, Rob Garrison, Chad McQueen Synopsis:   New Jersey teenager Daniel Larusso (Macchio) is forced to relocate to Los Angeles when his mother Lucille (Heller) scores a new job. While Daniel soon learns that he doesn't really fit in with the California surfer crown, he manages to catch the eye of Ali (Shue), one of the most popular girls in school. Unfortunately, Ali's ex-boyfriend Johnny (Zabka) still carries a torch for her and decides to take out his frustrations on Daniel by beating him up regularly. Daniel tries to fight back, but Johnny and his friends are black belt karate students trained by their sadistic sensei Kreese (Kove) to show no mercy to an opponent. The tide turns for Daniel when he meets Mr. Myagi (Morita), the maintenance man of his building who is also from Okinawa. Mr. Myagi agr...

News of the World (2020) Director:  Paul Greengrass Writers:  Paul Greengrass (screenplay),  Luke Davies (screenplay), Paulette Jiles (novel) Cast:  Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Ray McKinnon, Mare Winningham, Elizabeth Marvel, Michael Angelo Covino, Cash Lilley, Clay James, Tom Astor, Andy Kastelic Synopsis: Five years after the end of the Civil War, former Confederate Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd (Hanks) travels from town to town in Texas working as a non-fiction storyteller, reading news from around the world. While traveling between towns, he encounters Johanna (Zengel), a 10-year old girl taken in by the Kiowa and raised as one of their own after they murdered her family. Johanna was on her way to be returned to her aunt and uncle against her will when the wagon transporting her was attacked. So Kidd takes it upon himself to return the child to her family. As they travel, the pair face bandits, prejudice, sandstorms and exposure, and they eventually learn that t...

The Nice Guys (2016) Director:  Shane Black Writers:  Shane Black, Anthony Bagarozzi Cast:  Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer, Margaret Qualley, Yaya DaCosta, Keith David, Beau Knapp, Lois Smith, Murielle Telio, Kim Basinger, Jack Kilmer Synopsis:  Holland March (Gosling), a down-on-his-luck private investigator, teams up with local enforcer Jack Healy (Crowe) to locate the porn star Misty Mountains (Telio), who was supposedly killed in a car crash a few days beforehand. However, Misty's aunt Mrs. Glenn (Smith), swears she saw her in her apartment after her supposed death and hires March to find her. During their investigation, March and Healy uncover a massive criminal conspiracy and must contend with hired goons, a professional hitman and, of course, March's drinking problem. Hilarity ensues. First Impressions: I saw this film in theaters when it was released a few years ago. I've always been a fan of Shane Black's writing, and I didn't want t...