I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

The Man With One Red Shoe (1985) Director: Stand Dragoti Writers:   Francis Veber, Yves Robert, Robert Klane Cast:  Tom Hanks, Dabney Coleman, Lori Singer, Charles Durning, Carrie Fisher, Edward Hermann, Jim Belushi, Irving Metzman, Tom Noonan, Gerrit Graham Synopsis: Based on the French film, The Tall Blond Man with One Black Shoe , this film focuses on internal politics within the CIA. Copper (Coleman), the agency's deputy director, has designs on the director's position, which is currently held by Ross (Durning). To achieve this, Cooper attempts to show that Ross is corrupt and orchestrates a Senate inquiry. Ross is aware of the plot and devises one of his own in an attempt to foil Cooper's machinations. Ross feeds Cooper misinformation by openly sending his underling, Brown (Hermann), to fetch someone at the airport, which is a critical witness that can bury Cooper for good. The thing is, there is no such person, and Brown is instructed to pick just a random person to...

The Edge (1997) Director:  Lee Tamahori Writer:  David Mamet Cast:  Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, Elle MacPherson, Harold Perrineau, Larry Musser Synopsis: While staying in a remote northern resort cabin, billionaire Charles Morse (Hopkins), along with fashion photographer Robert Green (Baldwin) and his assistant Stephen (Perrineau) are involved in a plane crash, which leaves them stranded in the wilderness. Left with no food and no means of contacting civilization, the trio are forced to try to walk out of the wilderness. Along the way, they are forced to contend with harsh weather, rough terrain, aggressive wildlife and perhaps even betrayal from a friend.  First Impressions: I've always had a fascination with movies depicting man's struggle to survive the wilderness. I'm not sure why but I'm constantly drawn to those types of stories. So, when ads for this film started hitting TV back in 1997, I was obviously interested. I was able to catch it in theaters with a ...

The Untouchables (1987) Director:   Brian De Palma Writer:  David Mamet Cast:  Kevin Costner, Sean Connery, Robert De Niro, Andy Garcia, Charles Martin Smith, Patricia Clarkson, Billy Drago, Jack Kehoe, Richard Bradford Synopsis: Chicago during the prohibition era is plagued with gang violence stemming from the illegal sale of alcohol. The situation is so bad that a young treasury agent, Eliot Ness (Costner) is tasked with bringing to justice the chief purveyor of that violence, Al Capone (De Niro). After learning that the city's police force is corrupt and determined to prevent him from completing his assignment, Ness decides to create a small team of Untouchables to bring Capone town. Joined by veteran beat cop Jim Malone (Connery), police cadet George Stone (Garcia) and Treasury accountant Oscar Wallace (Martin Smith), Ness starts to bring the fight to Capone to once and for all free Chicago from his clutches. Violence ensues. First Impressions: I don't recall how old ...

RoboCop 2 (1990) Director: Irvin Kershner Writers:  Edward Neumier (characters), Michael Miner (characters), Frank Miller (story/screenplay), Walon Green (screenplay) Cast:  Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Belinda Bauer, Dan O'Herlihy, Felton Perry, Tom Noonan, Willard E. Pugh, Gabriel Damon, Galyn Greg, Stephen Lee, Jeff McCarthy Synopsis: RoboCop (Weller) is still on the job in Old Detroit, fighting a new menace to hit the street, the designer drug Nuke. RoboCop, along with his partner Ann Lewis (Allen), work to clean up the streets despite the fact that most of the city's police force is on strike due to poor treatment from the mega-corporation OCP. In reality, OCP wants the cops to go on strike so they can replace them with technological solutions such as RoboCop 2, an upgrade on the original version. In order to overcome numerous failures in launching the new version of RoboCop, the morally questionable Dr. Juliette Faxx (Bauer) uses the brain of deceased Nuke Cult leader, Cai...

RoboCop (1987) Director:  Paul Verhoeven Writers:  Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner Cast: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Ronny Cox, Miguel Ferrer, Kurtwood Smith, Dan O'Herlihy, Robert DoQui, Ray Wise, Paul McCrane,  Synopsis: Alex Murphy (Weller) is a Detroit cop in a dystopian future, where the city has become overridden with crime  and gang violence. While pursuing a group of bank robbers with his partner Ann Lewis (allen), Murphy is violently killed. OCP, the mega-corporation contracted to run Detroit's police department, reconstructs Murphy's body with cybernetics turning him into the ultimate crime-fighting machine, RoboCop. While, RoboCop is successful at stopping crime, he is soon brought up against the gang responsible for Murphy's death, led by Clarence Boddicker (Smith), who was hired to take him out.  First Impressions: I didn't catch RoboCop  in theaters as I was only 11 years old when it was released and I'm pretty sure my mother would be appalled a...

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) Director:  Peter Weir Cast:  Russel Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy, Edward Woodall, Chris Larkin, Max Pirkis, Max Benitz, Lee Ingleby, Robert Pugh, Richard McCabe, Billy Boyd Writers:  Patrick O'Brian (novels), Peter Weir (screenplay), John Collee (screenplay) Synopsis: Jack Aubrey (Crowe), captain of the H.M.S. Surprise, is tasked by the Admiralty to track and capture or destroy the French privateer Acheron. The target ship is currently in the Atlantic of the coast of Brazil, making its way towards the Pacific in order to extend Napolean's reach during the war. Jack soon learns that his mission is more difficult than anticipated, as he learns that the Acheron not only out-classes the Surprise but also that her captain is as skilled a seaman as Jack. Aubrey is single-minded in his pursuit of the French ship, which puts him at odds with Steven Maturin (Bettany), the ship's surgeon and Jack's closest friend and...

Heat (1995) Director:  Michael Mann Cast:  Robert DeNiro, Al Pachino, Val Kilmer, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, Amy Brenneman, Ashley Judd, Natalie Portman, Mykeleti Williamson, Wes Studi, Ted Levine, Dennis Haysbert, William Fitchner, Jon Voight, Tom Noonan, Hank Azaria Writer:  Michael Mann Synopsis: Neil McCauley (DeNiro) leads a crew of ruthless bank robbers taking down scores around Los Angeles. After their recent job goes wrong and results in the murder of three armored car guards, McCauley and his crew draw the attention of LAPD Robbery Homicide detective Vincent Hanna (Pachino). What follows is an epic cat-and-mouse game as Hanna attempts to track down and stop McCauley before he can take down his next score. In the process of the hunt, Hanna and McCauley grow to respect one another, despite being on opposite sides of the law.  First Impressions: I did not see Heat in theaters, in fact when it was released I wasn't even aware of its existence. Despite the criti...