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Grosse Pointe Blank

A friend of mine convinced me that we should attend our high school reunion. Although we went to the same high school and knew one another by name, we didn’t become chums until we were in university. We didn’t see anyone we knew from high school except maybe in passing. All our high school buds seemed to have drifted off to other parts of town, other jobs, other schools or other cities and contact with them waned. There was no email in those days and guys don’t write letters except under protest. So we thought it might be interesting to see how those we knew and those who ran the school had fared. One of us decided we needed some stuff not sold on street corners, at least in our neighbourhoods. So, slightly tight and somewhat buzzed, we strolled into high school and found out that reunions portrayed in movies did emulate life. Maybe it was not as bizzare as that of Martin Blank (John Cusack) but then I’ve never been a freelance hit man, yet. I did see my high school sweetie and she hadn’t fared as well as Debi Newberry ( Minnie Driver ), Martin’s girl. Mine seemed happy with her three kids, her louse of a husband so we got along that evening as best as possible. But then I didn’t stand her up on prom night like Martin did. Debi is not a happy camper but maybe if Martin can prevent her dad from being taken out by another button man, she’ll come around.


Director:  George Armitage
Writer:  Tom Jankiewicz; D.V. DeVincentis; Steve Pink; John Cusack
Cast:
John Cusack -  Martin Q. Blank
Minnie Driver -  Debi Newberry
Alan Arkin -  Dr. Oatman
Dan Aykroyd -  Grocer
Joan Cusack -  Marcella
Hank Azaria -  Steven Lardner
K. Todd Freeman -  Kenneth McCullers
Jeremy Piven -  Paul Spericki
Mitchell Ryan -  Mr. Bart Newberry
Michael Cudlitz -  Bob Destepello
Benny Urquidez -  Felix La PuBelle
Duffy Taylor -  Ultimart Carl
Audrey Kissel -  Arlene
Carlos Jacott -  Ken
Brian Powell -  Husky Man
Ann Cusack -  Amy









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The Girl Next Door

It is always surprising when people get upset when the tables are turned on them. What do they expect?

Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) is mesmerized when he sees his new next door neighbour getting undressed. She know he is there but he tries to hide. Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert) drops by to introduce herself and get a local tour. While driving around, she manipulates him with a cocked eyebrow to disrobe so she can see him naked too. Reluctant to do so, a crooked smile and a cocked eyebrow soon have the teenage Matthew in the street, naked, running along with only an inner tube to shield the neighbours.


Director:  Luke Greenfield
Writer:  David Wagner; Brent Goldberg; Stuart Blumberg; David T. Wagner
Cast:
Emile Hirsch -  Matthew Kidman
Elisha Cuthbert -  Danielle
Timothy Olyphant -  Kelly
James Remar -  Hugo Posh
Chris Marquette -  Eli
Paul Dano -  Klitz
Timothy Bottoms -  Mr. Kidman
Donna Bullock -  Mrs. Kidman
Jacob Young -  Hunter
Brian Kolodziej -  Derek
Brandon Irons -  Troy
Amanda Swisten -  April
Sung Hi Lee -  Ferrari
Ulysses Lee -  Samnang
Harris Laskawy -  Dr. Salinger
Julie Osburn -  Jeannie









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The Good German

I had been given The Good German by Joseph Kanon as a gift. Now it isn’t the usual sort of book I read as my gifter knew but she thinks I should broaden my horizons. Being polite, I thought I’d give it 50 pages, work up a blurb for her so it would seem I’d finished it and toss it into the corner with other book gifts of dubious interest. Silly me. I got so hooked on it I didn’t put it down until I’d read it straight through. I was mesmerized and completely taken with the characters, setting and plot.

When I saw that it had been made into a movie, I wondered how much of the magic of the book could be transformed to the screen. Filmed in black and white using a 4×3 format, I thought that might work, sort of like the Pathé News reels I remember watching. George Clooney as Capt. Jake Geismer—sure, as long as he isn’t too much of a smarty-pants, Cate Blanchett as Lena Brandt—sure, she can do just about any role and as long as her German accent isn’t too odd and Tobey Maguire as Corporal Patrick Tully—maybe, maybe not but then I saw him in Sin City and thought he can handle the role of this two-faced sleaze.


Director:  Steven Soderbergh
Writer:  Paul Attanasio; Joseph Kanon
Cast:
Jack Thompson -  Congressman Breimer
John Roeder -  General
George Clooney -  Capt. Jacob ‘Jake’ Geismer
Tobey Maguire -  Patrick Tully
Cate Blanchett -  Lena Brandt
Dominic Comperatore -  Levi
Dave Power -  Lieutenant Schaeffer
Tony Curran -  Danny
Ravil Isyanov -  General Sikorsky
J. Paul Boehmer -  British Press Aide
Igor Korosec -  Russian Soldier #1
Boris Kievsky -  Russian Soldier #2
Vladimir Kulikov -  Russian Soldier #3
Yevgeniy Narovlyanskiy -  Russian Soldier #4
Aleksandr Sountsov -  Russian Soldier #5
Beau Bridges -  Colonel Muller









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Gloria

I was chatting with a neighbour and her daughter the other day. Mostly about the snow melting and how much fun rubber boots are since it is tough to get abstract with a two-year-old. She knows my first name, where I live and sorta makes a sentence once every three tries. A few days later, I was being visited by a friend when there was a knock on the back door. It was my neighbour with her daughter who apparently wanted to talk to me some more even though I must look 60 feet tall to her. She got a few sentences out before she turned shy and decided to go home. When I turned to my visiting friend, she had teared up. That’s the way Gloria (Sharon Stone) feels when she finds out that Nicky Nuñez (Jean-Luke Figueroa), orphaned when his family is murdered, doesn’t have anyone in the world to care for him or to raise him. She figures she can give it a go much to the chagrin of her family and circle of friends.


Director:  Sidney Lumet; John Cassavetes
Writer:  John Cassavetes; Steve Antin
Cast:
Sharon Stone -  Gloria
Jean-Luke Figueroa -  Nicky Nuñez
Jeremy Northam -  Kevin
Cathy Moriarty -  Diane
George C. Scott -  Ruby
Mike Starr -  Sean
Bonnie Bedelia -  Brenda
Barry McEvoy -  Terry
Don Billett -  Raymond
Jerry Dean -  Mickey
Tony DiBenedetto -  Zach
Teddy Atlas -  Ian
Bobby Cannavale -  Jack Jesus Nunez
Sarita Choudhury -  Angela
Miriam Colon -  Maria
Desiree Casado -  Luz









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George and the Dragon

You’re a handsome British knight. You’ve come back from the Crusades, sullen and despondent over the horrors you’ve witnessed. All you want to do is settle down. A local king offers you a plot of land in return for a small favour. His beautiful daughter, Luma (Piper Perabo) has recently disappeared and he’d like you to find her. Reluctantly, you agree. Unfortunately, you come across a dragon’s egg. Intent on destroying this potential monster, you lash out with your sword only to wake up with the princess hovering over you with a club ready to clobber you again. Turns out she wants to hatch it as the dragon may be the last of its kind. The simple rescue has become not so simple, some bad guys show up and want to kidnap the princess and you wonder how things got so out of control. Such is George’s (James Purefoy) story.


Director:  Tom Reeve; Shaun O’Riordan
Writer:  Michael Burks; Tom Reeve
Cast:
James Purefoy -  George
Piper Perabo -  Princess Luma
Patrick Swayze -  Garth
Michael Clarke Duncan -  Tarik
Bill Treacher -  Elmendorf
Jean-Pierre Castaldi -  Father Bernard
Rollo Weeks -  Wryn
Paul Freeman -  Sir Robert
Stefan Jürgens -  Bulchar
Stefan Weinert -  Mercenary #1
Phil McKee -  McNally
Caroline Carver -  Sister Angela
Simon Callow -  King Edgar
Joan Plowright -  Mother Superior
Carl Chase -  Aard
Jamie Treacher -  Captain D’Arcy