I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

Courage Under Fire (1996) Director:  Edward Zwick Writer:  Patrick Sheane Duncan Cast: Denzel Washington, Meg Ryan, Lou Diamond Phillips, Michael Moriarty, Matt Damon, Bronson Pinchot, Seth Gilliam, Regina Taylor, Zeljko Ivanek, Scott Glenn, Sean Astin Synopsis:   Lt. Col. Nat Serling (Washington) is called on by the army to investigate Capt. Karen Walden (Ryan), a helicopter pilot who was KIA during the opening days of Desert Storm. Serling is tasked with determining whether Walden's actions prior to her death merit consideration for the Medal of Honor. Since Walden would represent the first female recipient of the MOH, Serling is facing pressure from his commanding officer General Hershberg (Moriarty), to rubber-stamp the approval. Still, Serling uncovers inconsistencies in the testimonies of Walden's surviving crew members that warrant further investigation. To make matters worse, Serling struggles with alcoholism brought on by his own traumatic experiences in the war ...

The Great Outdoors (1988) Director:  Howard Deutch Writer:  John Hughes Cast:  Dan Aykroyd, John Candy, Stephanie Faracy, Annette Benning, Chris Young, Ian Michael Giatti, Hilary Gordon, Rebecca Gordon, Robert Prosky, Lucy Deakins Synopsis: Family man Chet Ripley (Candy) decides to take his family on holiday to a cabin in the same north woods community he used to go to with his father. Chet's hoping to spend some quality time with his sons Buck (Young) and Ben (Giatti) to try and reconnect away from the hustle and bustle of Chicago. However, Chet's peaceful getaway is interrupted when his rich, obnoxious brother-in-law, Roman (Aykroyd) and his family decide to crash the party. Chet must navigate his annoying in-laws and a series of misfortunes, including hungry leeches, mischievous raccoons, and an angry bear from his past, to enjoy his much-needed vacation. Hilarity ensues. First Impressions: I don't think I saw this in theaters, but I definitely saw it on home video sho...

Sicario (2015) Director:  Denis Villeneuve Writer:  Taylor Sheridan Cast:  Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Jon Bernthal, Victor Garber, Daniel Kaluuya, Jeffrey Donovan, Julio Cesar Cedillo, Maximilliano Hernandez Synopsis: FBI agent Kate Macer (Blunt) is recruited to work on a special operations team devoted to combating Mexican drug cartels operating in the southern states. Macer, who has seen first-hand the violence perpetrated by the cartels, reluctantly joins the team but is wary of its leader, Matt Graver (Brolin), who claims to be with the Department of Defense. Kate soon learns that the unit operates within its own rules, using methods and tactics that would not generally be considered  "legal." While she disagrees with Graver's methods, Kate understands that the cartels don't play by the rules either. She is then left to decide whether the ends justify the means. First Impressions: I saw this one in theaters back in 2015. It was one of those films...