I've Totally Seen That Movie Before

Goldeneye (1995) Director:  Martin Campbell Writers:  Ian Flemming (characters), Michael France (story), Jeffrey Caine (screenplay) Cast:  Pierce Brosnan, Sean Bean, Izabella Scorupco, Famke Janssen, Joe Don Baker, Judi Dench, Robbie Coltrane, Tchéky Karyo, Gottfried John, Alan Cumming, Desmond Llewelyn, Samantha Bond Synopsis: When a Russian satellite weapon is stolen from a secret facility in a daring attack, MI:6 sends James Bond (Brosnan) to retrieve it. Bond heads to Russia to investigate the mysterious Janus Syndicate and determine who is behind the theft of the Goldeneye weapon. Little does Bond know that the mastermind is someone from his past who can predict every move he's making with a grudge against England. So bond teams up with computer programmer Natalya Simonova (Scorupco), a survivor of the Goldeneye attack, to locate Janus' whereabouts and retrieve or destroy the weapon before it can be used against London and the rest of the world. First Impressions: I ...

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) Director:  Steven Spielberg Writers:  Lawrence Kasdan (screenplay), George Lucas (story), Phillip Kaufman (story) Cast:  Harrison Ford, Karen Allen, Paul Freeman, John Rhys-Davies, Ronald Lacey, Denholm Elliott, Alfred Molina, Wolf Kahler Synopsis: In 1936, renowned archaeologist Indiana Jones (Ford) is hired by the U.S. government to find the Ark of the Covenant before the Nazis do. Unfortunately, the Nazis have enlisted the help of Indy's rival, Belloq (Freeman), who usually manages to best our hero at every turn. But Indy has the help of former flame Marion (Allen), who holds a key piece to the puzzle, and his friend Sallah (Rhys-Davies), the best digger in Egypt. Will Indy secure one of the greatest artifacts in history, or will the Nazis unleash its power upon mankind? Cinematic history ensues. First Impressions: I was 5 years old when this movie hit theaters and, thus, could not see it on the big screen. However, I was able to view it ...

A Few Good Men (1992) Director: Rob Reiner Writer:  Aaron Sorkin (play and screenplay) Cast:  Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore, Kevin Bacon, Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Pollack, James Marshall, J.T. Walsh, Christopher Guest, J.A. Preston, Wolfgang Bodison, Noah Wyle, Cuba Gooding Jr. Synopsis: At the Guantanamo Bay Marine base, private William Santiago is attacked by two of his platoonmates, Lance Corporal Dawson (Bodison) and PFC Downey (Marshall) and dies. During the ensuing investigation, Lt. Commander Jo Galloway (Moore) believes that the attack was a "Code Red," a type of hazing ritual no longer allowed in the military. To prevent any embarrassment for the Marines or for the base's commander Col. Jessop (Nicholson), the JAG assigns Lt. Kaffee (Cruise), a young lawyer just out of law schools with a penchant for plea bargaining, to defend the pair in the hopes that it never sees the inside of a courtroom. Soon, Kaffee, Galloway and their co-counsel Lt. Weinberg (Pol...

Robin Hood (2010) Director:  Ridley Scott Writers:  Brian Helgeland (screenplay), Ethan Reiff (story), Cyrus Voris (story) Cast:  Russel Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Matthew Mcfadyen, Max von Sydow, William Hurt, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Danny Huston, Eileen Atkins, Mark Addy, Kevin Durand, Scott Grimes, Alan Doyle, Douglas Hodge, Léa Seydoux, Johnathan Zaccaï, Robert Pugh, Gerard McSorely Synopsis: Following the death of Richard the Lionheart (Huston), archer Robin Longstride (Crowe) and his companions - Allan A'Dayle (Doyle), Will Scarlett (Grimes) and Little John (Durand) - travel home to England from France. On the way, they foil a French ambush of a caravan carrying the deceased king's crown back to England. One of the knights killed in the trap, Robert Loxley (Hodge), begs Robin to return both the crown to Richard's heir, Prince John (Isaac), as well as Loxley's sword back to his home in Nottingham. When they arrive, they meet Loxley's elderly and blind father, Sir...

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...