I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

Lethal Weapon 4 (1998) Director:  Richard Donner Writers:  Shane Black (characters), Jonathan Lemkin (story), Alfred Gough (story) Miles Millar (story), Channing Gibson (screenplay) Cast:  Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, Joe Pesci, Rene Russo, Chris Rock, Jet Li, Steve Kahan, Kim Chan, Darlene Love, Traci Wolfe, Eddy Ko, Mary Ellen Trainor Synopsis: After blowing up a city block in process of stopping a maniac with a flamethrower, Detectives Riggs (Gibson) and Murtaugh (Glover) are promoted to Captain because the LAPD will lose its insurance carrier if they're kept on the street. Things have also changed in their personal lives as Riggs and Lorna (Russo) are expecting their first child, while Murtaugh is about to be a grandfather for the first time. The pair become embroiled in a case involving a Chinese human trafficking ring and enlist the help of the irascible Leo Getz (Pesci), who is now a PI, and the young Detective Lee Butters (Rock) to investigate local Chinese gangster ...

Liar Liar (1997) Director:  Tom Shadyac Writers: Paul Guay, Stephen Mazur Cast:  Jim Carrey, Maura Tierney, Amanda Donohoe, Jennifer Tilly, Justin Cooper, Cary Elwes, Anne Haney, Jason Bernard, Swoosie Kurtz, Mitchell Ryan, Christopher Mayer, Eric Pierpoint, Randal 'Tex' Cobb, Cheri Oteri Synopsis: Fletcher Reede (Carrey) is a fast talking and successful lawyer who has built his career on lying. He also has a habit of putting his career first over everything, including his his young son Max (Cooper). After breaking another promise and missing his birthday party, Max makes a wish that for one whole day, his father can't tell a lie. Shockingly, the wish comes true and Fletcher has to navigate life without being able to tell any sort of lie, white or otherwise. Mayhem ensues. First Impressions: I originally saw this one in theaters when I was in my early 20s. I generally liked most of Carrey's movies back then (it was before he started trying so hard to win an Oscar), howe...

Dumb and Dumber (1994) Directors: Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly (uncredited) Writers:  Peter Farrelly, Bobby Farrelly, Bennett Yellin Cast:  Jim Carrey, Jeff Daniels, Lauren Holly, Mike Starr, Karen Duffy, Charles Rocket, Victoria Rowell, Hank Brandt, Teri Garr Synopsis: Lloyd Christmas (Carrey), a limo driver who's dumber than a sack full of bricks, takes his equally clueless roommate Harry Dunn (Daniels) on a cross-country trip from Providence to Aspen to return a briefcase left at the airport by his passenger Mary Swanson (Holly). Unbeknownst to the two idiots, the briefcase was left behind on purpose because it contained a sizable ransom payment for Mary's husband, who is currently kidnapped. Along their journey, Lloyd and Harry encounter all manner of obstacles, including angry truck drivers, hostile police officers, spicy peppers, diarrhea and, of course, the pair of hitmen sent to retrieve the briefcase. Hilarity ensues. First Impressions: I saw this in theaters when I...

The Princess Bride (1987) Director: Rob Reiner Writer:  William Goldman Cast:  Cary Elwes, Mandy Patinkin. Robin Wright, Chris Sarandon, Christopher Guest, Wallace Shawn, André the Giant, Fred Savage, Peter Falk, Peter Cook, Mel Smith, Carol Kane, Billy Crystal Synopsis: An elderly man (Falk) reads the book The Princess Bride  to his grandson (Savage), home sick with the flu. The book tells the story of Buttercup (Wright), a farm owner in the kingdom of Florin, who falls in love with Westley (Elwes), one of her hired hands. After Westley is killed while seeking his fortune, Buttercup agrees to marry Prince Humperdink (Sarandon), even though she does not love him. However, while enjoying a spirited horse ride early one morning, Buttercup is abducted by Vizzini (Shawn) and his associates Inigo (Patinkin) and Fezzik (André the Giant). The abduction was orchestrated to bring about a war between Florin and its rival Guilder. Things don't go according to plan, though, as the ki...

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...

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...

The Ref (1994) Director:  Ted Demme Writers:  Marie Weiss (story), Richard LaGravenese (screenplay) Cast:  Dennis Leary, Judy Davis, Kevin Spacey, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr., Glynis Johns, Raymond J. Barry, Richard Bright, Christine Baranski, Adam Lefevre, Bill Raymond, J.K. Simmons Synopsis: Cat burglar Gus (Leary) is left stranded in an upscale Connecticut town after his partner Murray (Bright) abandons him during a heist on Christmas Eve. Alone and on the run from the police, Gus takes a married couple, Lloyd (Spacey) and Caroline (Davis), hostage and hides out in their home until he can craft an escape plan. Unfortunately for Gus, Lloyd and Caroline are a dysfunctional couple on the brink of divorce and frequently get into loud arguments. To make matters worse, the couple is not only expecting their son, Jesse (Steinmiller Jr.), to arrive home from military school that evening but also Lloyd's mother (Johns), as well as his brother (LeFevre) and his family. To avoid th...

Zombieland (2009) Director:  Ruben Fleischer  Writers:  Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick Cast:  Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, Woody Harrelson, Abigail Breslin, Amber Heard, Bill Murray Synopsis: Columbus (Eisenberg) is a shy and awkward student attending college in Texas when the zombie apocalypse grinds the world to a halt. Despite lacking in physical gifts, he manages to survive Zombieland by following 30 simple rules. While trying to get back north to his family, Columbus joins up with Tallahassee (Harelson), a twinkie-loving zombie-killer making his way to Florida. They soon encounter two sisters, Wichita (Stone) and Little Rock (Breslin), who are on their way to California to visit the amusement park Pacific Playland which is rumored to be the only place left in America zombie-free. So naturally, end of the world hijinks ensue. First Impressions: This film came out at the beginning of the zombie-craze that hit during the mid-to-late-naughties, which we're just now comin...

Shaun of the Dead (2004) Director:  Edgar Wright Writers:  Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright Cast:  Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Kate Ashfield, Lucy Davis, Dylan Moran, Penelope Wilton, Peter Serafinowicz, Bill Nighy Synopsis: Electronics store employee Shaun (Pegg) has no direction in life and spends most of his time drinking at his favorite pub, The Winchester, or playing video games with his slacker best friend, Ed (Frost). After being dumped by his long-time girlfriend Liz (Ashfield), Shaun goes on a bender with Ed and wakes up to find that London has been overrun with the living dead. Shaun and Ed ignore instructions to stay in their home and set out into the zombie-infested streets to rescue Liz, her roommates David (Moran) and Dianne (Davis), as well as his mother, Barbara (Wilton). Will the down-on-his-luck Shaun emerge as a hero, or will he end up just making things worse? Zombie hijinks ensue. First Impressions: I came to this film quite by accident. I had read about it somew...