The Crow -- 1994 -- R

This film was based on the underground comic book of the same name and was very gritty and dark. It followed a guy who was brutally murdered with his girlfriend, and then comes back a year later to avenge his own death under the watchful eye of a crow. Overall, the film was very good with lots of action, feeling, and plot. I really feel the weakest point was the beginning.

It opened with the death of our main character. If the filmmakers had tried to flesh out the guy and his girlfriend just a little bit before they were murdered (get some of those hopes and dreams stuff going), then their deaths would have had more impact. We would be expecting a movie about them, and then wonder what just happened when they get killed.

Doing this would have spoiled nothing since the guy learns most of it during the first 10-15 minutes of the film anyway. I think knowing the relationship between himself and the girl would have helped this movie tremendously. As it is, it's good, but it could have been better.

The Shawshank Redemption -- 1994 -- R

I finally got around to seriously watching this one, and found out I saw part of it at some point in another life or something. This is an amazing film to behold. Tons of solid emotional moments. Great character development even on the minorest of characters.

We meet Andy: a man who was accused of murdering his wife and her lover and thereby sentenced to two consecutive life sentences in Shawshank Prison. There, he meets Red, who is continually turned down for parole at various points in the film. These two build a strong relationship throughout the film, and various other minor characters who serve to exemplify prison life and afterlife are explored. These characters are supremely introduced, briefly (but as completely as needed) developed, and then their purpose fulfilled.

This film ranks number 2 of imdb's top 250 and for good reason. It is an exceptional film and anyone who claims to be a fan of movies needs to view it at least once.

As an update now in 2008, the film has progressed to number 1 on IMDB, and what's more interesting is that this is one of very, very few movies that lists only one genre on its IMDB page. I guess simplicity does pay off.

Pulp Fiction -- 1994 -- R

I first saw this film in 1994 when I got to Fort Carson in the military. I didn't understand it at all at the time. Now, 12 years later, I've watched it again, and I get it.

The genius of this film rests in the dialogue. There is endless banter running through this film among all the characters which serves to firmly root them as people with lives outside of the narrative of the plot. This is a fundamental necessity of any story and it is done with ease throughout the movie.

The stories are told out of order like you have a stack of pulp fiction books and are going through them in the order of the stack, but not necessarily the order of release. When I first saw this, I thought the story being out of order was someone's warped mind, or just projectionist screwing up on the film. Well, it is a warped mind, but as I said, seeing years later, I understood it and it works beautifully.

The only problem this film has is the tendency to drag a little bit when the conversations go on too long. Some of what is being discussed is interesting, but sometimes, the banter just drags and although well delivered, you just want some scenes to get moving on to the next one. We're dealing with a 2 1/2 hour movie here, so brevity should be the rule, but it wasn't always.

All in all, this was a very good film to watch. It really didn't have a point to it beyond a collection of clever little stories that intertwine somewhat, but it was a lot of fun.

Only You -- 1994 -- PG

It had apparently been too long since I watched a chick flick, so here I am again watching this one with Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey, Jr. about the same basic thing all the other chick flicks are about. I can't complain much though. All slashers have basically the same plot, too.

The story here involves a girl that at two points in her life, she has seen the name Damon Bradley pop up as the man she is going to marry. She got it once off a Ouiga board and another time from a gypsy fortune teller, so she knows that this name will be her future husband. Well, time passes and no Damon Bradley, so she ends up engaged to a podiatrist, but 10 days before the wedding, she receives a call from an old friend of her fiancee -- an old friend by the name of Damon Bradley who will be in Italy and can't make the wedding. Needless to say, she hops the first plane to Italy with her best friend (who is contemplating leaving her husband, who also happens to be our heroine's brother) to track down this mysterious Damon Bradley to know for sure whether he is or isn't the one for her.

It's a pretty formulaic construction that flows pretty well through its plot. It provides a couple of reversals here and there which help to keep it interesting, while developing the characters, so it doesn't feel like another retread with a different subject. Everything came off pretty natural so there weren't any real distractions nor were there really any contrivances to take me out of the story.

The characters were typically developed for this type of film, so we cared for the situation by the time the split occurs at the third act break leading us to hope, of course, that they come back together at the end.

These films lend themselves easily to emotionally dramatic stories, and this one follows the mold fairly closely to deliver the goods. While the plot is interesting and gives us a couple of unique reversals, it ultimately offers nothing new in the movie world of romantic comedies. So it works well for what it is, and that's an easy film to watch, follow, and enjoy.

Leon (The Professional) -- 1994 -- R

Here's something rather special...Jean Reno, always the French cop, never the lead, takes the lead in this film about a "cleaner" who is highly skilled at his craft. Natalie Portman in her first big screen appearance 5 years before Star Wars: Episode 1 showing how good she is. It all amounts to a movie that is equal parts disturbing, touching, and tragic but well crafted.

Leon is a professional hitman who handles jobs given to him by a man named Tony. 12-year-old Mathilda lives next door to Leon with her family (mother, father, sister, brother), and they've passed each other in the hall before, so they're familiar with each other. Worst comes to worst one day when Mathilda's father is set upon by a set of goons lead by Stansfield (played by Gary Oldman, who is rather wirey and psychotic in his performance), and they wipe out her entire family while she is out for groceries. Upon seeing the carnage, she wisely walks past the door and acts as if she lives with Leon instead. So begins a relationship between the two where she wants to be trained as a cleaner so she can exact revenge for the death of her little brother, but Leon wants no part of that, though some part of his cold self wants to take care of her.

The film is centered around the relationships between these characters and the situations they find themselves in. Leon does take Mathilda in as an apprentice of sorts, allowing her to accompany him on his hits and even assist him in drawing out the bad guy. Mathilda falls for Leon in a way only a little girl can, and he wisely maintains a fatherly distance from her. Stansfield maintains his psychosis throughout his bizarre part of the overall plot which I would not spoil here. These are three very well drawn characters that lead us through this interesting little story.

The whole thing flows very naturally and smoothly, and I didn't find it dragging at any point really. Leon is exceptionally clever in escaping difficult and dangerous situations and watching the intelligence given to him is nothing short of impressive.

This is a very cool film with lots of action and character built in which not only gives you a satisfying movie experience, but one that allows you to sink into the story presented and feel like you just viewed something that might have actually happened instead of some kind of sick fantasy. Definitely worthy of its place in the greatest films of all time.