I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

Jurassic Park (1993) Director: Steven Spielberg Writers:  Michael Crichton (novel), David Koepp (screenplay) Cast:  Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Richard Attenborough, Bob Peck, Martin Ferrero, B.D. Wong, Joseph Mazzello, Ariana Richards, Samuel L. Jackson, Wayne Knight Synopsis: With the help of advancements in genetic engineering, theme park mogul John Hammond (Attenborough) has created an island populated with living dinosaurs for the public's enjoyment. However, an accident at the park causes some concerns from his investors and they want Hammond to get a group of experts to sign off on the park or they'll pull funding from the project. Hammond invites Dr. Allan Grant (Neill), Dr. Ellie Sadler (Dern) and Dr. Ian Malcolm (Goldblum), along with his grandchildren Lex (Richards) and Tim (Mazzello) to tour the park for a weekend. Unfortunately, disgruntled employee Nedry (Knight) chooses that weekend to enact a plan to steal the dinosaur embryos stored at the park to se...

Avatar (2009) Director:  James Cameron Writer: James Cameron Cast:  Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Stephen Lang, Giovanni Ribisi, Joel David Moore, CCH Pounder, Wes Studi, Laz Alonso, Dileep Rao Synopsis: When his brother is killed in a robbery, paraplegic marine Jake Sully (Worthington) is offered his place on a mission to mining facility on the distant world of Pandora. The mission involves using giant genetically engineered "avatars" to learn more about the planet's indigenous species the Na'vi. Dr. Grace Augustine (Weaver), the head scientist of the program, want to use the avatars to get a better understanding of the Na'vi's culture and their connection to Pandora. However, the facility's administrator Parker Selfridge (Ribisi) and his head of security Col. Quatrich (Lang) see the Na'vi as obstacles and seek to move them or eliminate them. Jake is successful in getting close to a local tribe, particularly the c...

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) Director: Steven Spielberg Writer:  Melissa Mathison Cast:  Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Peter Coyote, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, K.C. Martel, Sean Frye, C. Thomas Howell Synopsis: A lone alien botanist is stranded in a California suburb after his ship leaves without him. The alien is discovered by Elliott (Thomas), a young boy who lives in the area. Elliott befriends the alien and introduces them to his brother Michael (MacNaughton) and his sister Gertie (Barrymore). The alien, who the children have named E.T., forms a strong telepathic bond with Elliott that allows the two to experience each others feelings. The children soon learn that earth is not the safest place for E.T., who is trying to build a transmitter to call his ship so he can return home. However, government agents have become aware of the E.T.'s existence and have begun scouring the neighborhood for the alien. First Impressions: My first impression of this movie is that ...

The 6th Day (2000) Director:  Roger Spottiswoode Writer:  Cormac Wibberly, Marianne Wibberly Cast: Arnold Schwarzenegger,   Micahel Rapaport, Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rooker, Sarah Wynter, Wendy Crewson, Rodney Rowland, Terry Crews, Robert Duvall, Wanda Cannon, Taylor Reid Synopsis: In the near future, cloning technology has advanced to the point where it's possible to clone just about anything other than a human, which is illegal. Charter pilot Adma Gibson (Schwarzenegger) returns home from work to find a clone of himself with his family. But, before he can discover what's going on, he is attacked by a group of assailants who want him dead for some reason. Adam must escape and discover the truth about his clone from Michael Drucker (Goldwyn), the CEO of Replacement Technologies, a major conglomerate controlling cloning technology. Adam soon becomes embroiled in a massive conspiracy when all he wants is to get his life back. But is it really his life? First Impressions: I ca...

  Total Recall (1990) Director:  Pauk Verhoeven Writers:  Phillip K. Dick (short story), Ronald Shusset (screenplay), Dan O'Bannon (screenplay), Gary Goldman (screenplay), Jon Povil (screen story) Cast:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sharon Stone, Michael Ironside, Rachel Ticotin, Ronny Cox, Marshall Bell, Mel Johnson Jr., Michael Champion, Roy Brocksmith, Ray Baker, Dean Norris Synopsis: Construction worker Douglas Quaid (Schwarzenegger) is haunted by a recurring dream in which he travels to Mars. In an effort to make the dreams stop, and against the advice of his friends, he purchases a holiday from Rekall, a company that sell implanted memories. However, something goes awry during the procedure and Doug remembers that he's actually Howser, a secret agent fighting against Mars' tyrannical administrator Cohegaan (Cox). Quaid/Howser must now fend off repeated attempts to recapture him by Cohaagen's goon Richter (Ironside) and find his way back to Mars to uncover the truth o...

Aliens (1986) Director: James Cameron Writers:  James Cameron (story and screenplay), David Giler (story), Walter Hill (story), Dan O'Bannon (characters), Ronald Shusset (characters) Cast:  Sigourney Weaver, Michael Biehn, Carrie Henn, Paul Reiser, Lance Henrikson, Bill Paxton, William Hope, Jenette Goldstein, Al Matthews, Mark Rolston *** This review is dedicated to my Aunt Kathryn, who helped foster my love for all things cinematic. She's not dying or anything (though she's getting up there in years), but I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge her impact on my life. Thanks, Kath, I love ya, you old harpy! *** Synopsis: After floating aimlessly in space for more than half a century, Ellen Ripley's (Weaver) escape shuttle is discovered by a deep salvage team. She awakens on a space station near Earth, traumatized by the events on the Nostromo and facing legal troubles due to her actions taken to destroy the alien threat. She learns that the once unoccupied planet...

Alien (1979) Director:  Ridley Scott Writers:  Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusset Cast:  Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Ian Holm, Yaphet Kotto Synopsis: On their way back home from deep space, the crew of the commercial towing ship Nostromo receive an unknown distress signal emanating from a nearby planet. Under obligation by the company to investigate the source of the transmission, the crew set down on the planet and discover a derelict spacecraft of unknown design. A team consisting of Captain Dallas (Skerritt), Kane (Hurt) and Lambert (Cartwright) are sent to search the downed vessel. During the investigation, Kane comes into contact with an alien lifeform that attaches itself to his face. Against the objections of the ship's third officer, Ripley (Weaver), science officer Ash (Holm) allows the search party back aboard the ship. Ash wants to learn more about this new lifeform, but before he has the opportunity, it escapes...

The Running Man (1987) Director:  Paul Michael Glaser Writers:  Stephen King (novel), Steven E. de Souza (screenplay) Cast:  Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Conchita Alonso, Yaphet Kotto, Jim Brown, Jesse Ventura, Erland van Lidth, Marvin J. McIntyre, Gus Rethwisch, Professor Toru Tanaka, Mick Fleetwood, Dweezil Zappa, Richard Dawson Synopsis: In the near future of 2019, the world economy has collapsed, and the U.S. has sealed its borders and become a militarized police state. All art has been censored, with the cadres controlling all forms of media. Hunger and disease are rampant. When police officer Ben Richards (Schwarzennegger) refuses to fire on unarmed civilians during a protest, he is framed for their massacre and sent to prison. Following a daring jailbreak, Richards is recaptured and forced to participate in the country's most popular reality TV show, The Running Man, hosted by the sadistic Damon Killian (Dawson). With the help of two other convicts, Loughlin (Kotto...