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Sneakers
(1992) [Drama / Adventure] Sneakers is quite a fun movie to watch if you're interested in surveillance, privacy, and computers or if you just want to see a good movie. Sneakers hosts a cast which seems to work well together. The basic idea of this movie is that a group of private investigator-types are requested to recover a black box which holds the key to deciphering all modern US government cryptography methods. But the plot gets much more intricate than that. Almost all of the methods used by the group in this movie can be back up technologically and can be done today. Kinda scary... |
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Edward Scissorhands
(1990) [Fantasy / Drama] Edward Scissorhands is an awesome movie about a boy who was created with scissors for hands. This boy, Edward, lives a secluded life in a deserted mansion (or castle?) until he is taken in by a family in the suburbs. At first, everyone likes Edward, but eventually problems arise. Although some people find this movie silly or freaky, I find that it really does a good job of looking into human nature. This movie is also popular with many people into Gothicism. A great surrealistic orchestral piece was written for the movie, and it's played at both the beginning and during the credits of Edward Scissorhands. |
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Falling Down
(1993) [Drama / Action] Falling Down has a lot of swearing in it and its fair share of violence too. So it's my kind of movie - just kidding! Actually, there is something in the movie which redeems it from being classified with all the other "violent/action" movies. The movie is about a business man who is trying to get home from work for his daughter's birthday. In his struggle to get home, he's sees all of the horrors of this world and decides to take matters into his own hands. I think that this movie has an important underlying idea to it. Falling Down truly evaluates our modern American society and its problems. |
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Akira Kurasawa's Dreams
(1990) [Drama / Fantasy] *Excellent* film involving several shorter plots combined into one full movie. This movie goes to great extremes to show many sides of human nature, character, and understanding. The intricacies of this film can barely be described in words. Outstanding, breath-taking, deep, magnificent, beautiful. Although it has become rare in the US and expensive, I recommend watching it if you ever have the chance! I'm pretty certain this was the last complete film Kurasawa was involved with. |
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Lillies of the Field
(1963) [Drama / Light Comedy] Mr. Smith, played by Sidney Poitier, stumbles into a town in the southwestern US, seeking a way to make some money. Somehow he ends up finding himself in the position where he will be building a chapel (or "shapel", as the nuns refer to it) for a small group of German nuns. The Spanish-speaking church members, the nuns who barely speak English, and Sidney trying to supervise the whole project makes for a funny scene as they all try to combine their forces to construct the "shapel". This classic movie was probably the first in this country which focused on a black character accomplishing things not because of his race but due to personal abilities. |
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The Truman Show
(1998) [Drama] Truman is a man who has been living his entire life in front of television cameras, although he has not discovered this until he is 30 years old. He was adopted by a corporation and has had his life broadcast 24 hours a day to the world, through the use of millions of hidden video cameras. He lives in a town (encapsulated in a huge globe structure) full of paid actors, and he finally realizes that everything that takes place is synchronized to his actions. Eventually he gains freedom of this controlled life, but not without great struggle. Jim Carrey plays the part of Truman, although it's not a role that would be typically associated with him. This film emphasizes determination most of all, and it's quite a wonderful work. |
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The Man Who Knew Too Little
(1997) [Comedy] This is a hilarious movie in which the main character visits London from the US and becomes involved in a spy ring. Originally it was supposed to be an opportunity to act in a movie, however he, thinking it was all part of the acting deal, met up with the wrong people -- actual spies. Thinking it was all fake and part of the movie in which he was acting, many funny events ensue! Very funny! |
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The Man Without a Face
(1993) [Drama] A pretty good movie which focuses on the ideas of acceptance and true care for people. Essentially it consists of boy who seeks the tutoring help of a former teacher, an outcast whose face was injured in a car accident. Speculations develop regarding how the man got his injury, and the townspeople begin to believe in the myth that he is a child molestor. |
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The Sixth Sense
(1999) [Drama / Suspense] This movie is about a young boy who has a special ability -- he can see dead people. Most people treat him as sort of an outcast or weird kid, so he has no one with whom he can tell about his secret ability. Finally someone takes interest in the young boy, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (played by Bruce Willis), and attempts to help him with this problem. Although most of the dead characters the boy encounters seem threatening and tormented, this movie does have a surprisingly good ending. |
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Better Off Dead
(1985) [Comedy] Quite a funny movie involving a teenage guy, the main character, and his personal struggles in his life in a common suburban city. Everything seems to be going wrong in his life ever since his girlfriend broke up with him. From having to work while wearing a dorky pig hat, to failed attempts at suicide, all the while being stalked by a psycho paperboy who wants $2 that the main character owes him! Eventually, towards the end, the main character is desperate to regain his hope in life and challenges the school's ski team captain on a K12 race! This film brings together many of the ideas and things that were part of the 80's, while being fairly realistic and funny. |
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Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House
(1948) [Comedy] Mr. Blandings, played by Cary Grant, decides that he is tired of living in the congested city and would rather try to find a home out in the country than to put more money into his cramped townhome. He and his wife find a home that has been around since the Civil War, and think that for just a little more than it would cost to re-decorate their old place they could fix this one up. Unfortunately, they end up having to tear down this heap of a building for which they paid way too much already. And what follows is Mr. Blandings being faced with tremendous expenses to build a home for his family, which seems to endlessly be consuming money, as one disaster after another arises. I dunno, it was pretty funny and entertaining to me. |
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The Game
(1997) [Suspense] Wow! This is a movie that throws you for a loop and keeps doing so right until the very end! It is about a very wealthy businesman whose brother tells him about a "life changing experience" in which you pay a company to design a game custom tailored to your preferences. He decides to go ahead and try it out and soon becomes the victim of an organization which is seemingly trying to take all of his money and take his life. The ending is quite surprising but good! |
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Ferris Bueller's Day Off
(1986) [Comedy] A great film about a high school student, played by Matthew Broderick, who does what every kid in high school only dreams about. He skips school for the day, along with his girlfriend and best friend, and convinces his whole town that he's severly ill. They all visit many sites in Chicago and have a lot of fun taking advantage of the day. But his sister is on to his tricks, his principle is after him, and his parents could find out what he's really been up to all day. |
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LOtR: The Fellowship Of the Ring
(2001) [Fantasy] This film is of course based on the classic Lord Of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien, and I think that the director (Peter Jackson) did an excellent job recreating the words of the author onto the screen. The scenery and characters look exactly as one would imagine when reading Tolkien's books, and events unfold with the same detail as the original storyline. While Jackson did change a few small things about the story (mostly for the audience to understand better), he was very careful to be true to Tolkien's writings. This movie is 3 hours long but does not seem that way while watching it! It's a nearly flawless interpretation of the Lord Of the Rings series, and should be viewed by all! |
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