Total Number of Movies in Joel’s Collection: 1,338 Page Number: 14 / 27
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Machete

Director: Robert Rodriguez, Ethan Maniquis
Starring: Danny Trejo, Steven Seagal, Robert De Niro, Michelle Rodriguez, Jessica Alba
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.8 (112,665 votes)
Release: Jan 2011
Summary: As a tribute to both the hyperbolic excesses of 1970s drive-in cinema and the fearsome screen persona of veteran character actor Danny Trejo, producer-writer-codirector Robert Rodriguez's "Machete" is, in grindhouse parlance, one mean mother. A full-length version of Rodriguez's faux "Mexsploitation" trailer in "Grindhouse", "Machete" sketches, in the boldest strokes possible, the adventures of its titular hero (Trejo), a former federal agent turned day laborer after losing his wife and child to a katana-wielding drug lord (Steven Seagal, of all people). Recruited by shady businessman Jeff Fahey ("Lost") to assassinate a rabble-rousing senator (Robert De Niro) with a particular hate vibe for immigrants, Machete soon finds himself the target of government agents, border vigilantes (led by Don Johnson!), and about half the state of Texas. Unfortunately, none seem to realize the film's central thesis: Machete's business is killing, and business is booming.
Viewers expecting subtlety or even story coherence in "Machete" should probably check out another movie; the script by Rodriguez and cousin Alvaro leaves no genre cliché or absurd scenario untouched, resulting in less of a plot than a collection of over-the-top set pieces, dialogue, and casting stunts (Johnson, Lindsay Lohan as Fahey's libertine daughter, and Rodriguez regulars Cheech Marin, Daryl Sabara, Tom Savini, Michael Parks, and an uncredited Rose McGowan). Most of the cast seems in on the joke, most notably a gleefully over-the-top De Niro and Michelle Rodriguez as a taco truck operator/revolutionary leader who borrows her look from the infamous "Thriller: A Cruel Picture" (Jessica Alba is also on board as a sympathetic fed who becomes Machete's love interest). Though it's occasionally overlong and unnecessarily convoluted, the film's value rests on how well it allows star Danny Trejo to exude his steely, implacable Danny Trejo-ness; on those merits alone, "Machete" is a blockbuster. "--Paul Gaita"
 

Machine Gun Preacher

Director: Marc Forster
Starring: Gerard Butler, Michelle Monaghan, Kathy Baker, Michael Shannon, Madeline Carroll
Genre: Action, Biography, Crime, Drama
Studio: Relativity Media
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.8 (6,493 votes)
Release: Nov 2011
Summary: The story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing biker tough guy who found God and became a crusader for hundreds of Sudanese children who've been forced to become soldiers.
 

Mad Monster Party

Director: Jules Bass
Starring: Boris Karloff, Allen Swift, Gale Garnett, Phyllis Diller, Ethel Ennis
Genre: Animation
Studio: Lions Gate
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 6.4 (1,423 votes)
Release: Mar 1967
Summary: Baron Von Frankenstein (voice of Boris Karloff) has decided to retire as the head of the Worldwide Organization of Monsters. But first, he must inform the other monsters about his plans. How to deliver the news? How else - through a MAD MONSTER PARTY! Von Frankenstein’s guests include a who’s who of Halloween favorites, including the Werewolf, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Mummy, the Invisible Man and more. But who among them is fit to be the new head of the monsters? Find out in this treasured stop-motion classic from the team who brought you "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” "Frosty the Snowman” and other beloved holiday specials.
 

Madagascar

Director: Tom McGrath, Eric Darnell
Starring: Ben Stiller, Chris Rock, David Schwimmer, Jada Pinkett Smith, Sacha Baron Cohen, Paco León
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Family
Studio: Dreamworks Animated
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 4
Release: May 2005
Summary: At New York's Central Park Zoo, a lion, a zebra, a giraffe, and a hippo are best friends and stars of the show. But when one of the animals goes missing from their cage, the other three break free to look for him, only to find themselves reunited ... on a ship en route to Africa. When their vessel is hijacked, however, the friends, who have all been raised in captivity, learn first-hand what life can be like in the wild.
 

Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted

Director: Tom McGrath, Eric Darnell
Starring: Ben Stiller, Sacha Baron Cohen, David Schwimmer, Frances McDormand, Chris Rock, Jada Pinkett Smith, John Di Maggio, Cedric the Entertainer, Jessica Chastain, Bryan Cranston, Martin Short
Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Animation, Family
Studio: DreamWorks Animation
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 8
Release: Jun 2012
Summary: Alex, Marty, Gloria and Melman are still trying to get back to the Big Apple and their beloved Central Park zoo, but first they need to find the penguins. When they travel to Monte Carlo, they attract the attention of Animal Control after gate crashing a party and are joined by the penguins, King Julian and Co., and the monkeys. How do a lion, zebra, hippo, giraffe, four penguins, two monkeys, three lemurs travel through Europe without attracting attention and get back to New York? They join a traveling circus. Their attempts to get back to New York are consistently hampered by the Captain of Animal Control who wants to make Alex part of her collection. Once they make it back to New York Marty, Alex, Gloria and Melman realize that they want to be part of the traveling circus.
 

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa

Director: Tom McGrath, Eric Darnell
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jada Pinkett Smith, David Schwimmer, Chris Rock, Cedric the Entertainer, Andy Richter, Bernie Mac, Alec Baldwin, Sacha Baron Cohen, Sherri Shepherd, Will.i.am, Elisa Gabrielli, Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, Christopher Knights, Conrad Vernon, Quinn Dempsey Stiller, Declan Swift, Fred Tatasciore, Eric Darnell, Willow Smith, Thomas Stanley, Zachary Gordon, Meredith Vieira, Lesley Stahl, Al Roker, David Soren, Phil LaMarr
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Family, Comedy
Studio: DreamWorks Animation
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 8
Release: Nov 2008
Summary: Alex, Marty, Melman, Gloria, King Julien, Maurice, the penguins and the chimps are back and still marooned on Madagascar. In the face of this obstacle, the New Yorkers have hatched a plan so crazy it just might work. With military precision, the penguins have repaired an old crashed plane... sort of.
 

Magic Mike

Director: Steven Soderbergh
Starring: Channing Tatum, Matthew McConaughey, Olivia Munn, Cody Horn, Alex Pettyfer, Joe Manganiello, Matthew Bomer, James Martin Kelly, Reid Carolin, Adam Rodriguez, Kevin Nash, Gabriel Iglesias, Betsy Brandt, Riley Keough
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Studio: Warner Bros.
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.1 (49,155 votes)
Release: Oct 2012
Summary: Mike, an experienced stripper, takes a younger performer called The Kid under his wing and schools him in the arts of partying, picking up women, and making easy money.
 

The Magnificent Seven

Director: John Sturges
Starring: Yul Brynner, Steve McQueen, Charles Bronson, Eli Wallach, Robert Vaughn
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.8 (43,763 votes)
Release: Aug 2006
Summary: Akira Kurosawa's rousing "Seven Samurai" was a natural for an American remake--after all, the codes and conventions of ancient Japan and the Wild West (at least the mythical movie West) are not so very far apart. Thus "The Magnificent Seven" effortlessly turns samurai into cowboys (the same trick worked more than once: Kurosawa's "Yojimbo" became Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars"). The beleaguered denizens of a Mexican village, weary of attacks by banditos, hire seven gunslingers to repel the invaders once and for all. The gunmen are cool and capable, with most of the actors playing them just on the cusp of '60s stardom: Steve McQueen, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, Robert Vaughn. The man who brings these warriors together is Yul Brynner, the baddest bald man in the West. There's nothing especially stylish about the approach of veteran director John Sturges ("The Great Escape"), but the storytelling is clear and strong, and the charisma of the young guns fairly flies off the screen. If that isn't enough to awaken the 12-year-old kid inside anyone, the unforgettable Elmer Bernstein music will do it: bum-bum-ba-bum, bum-ba-bum-ba-bum.... Followed by three inferior sequels, "Return of the Seven", "Guns of the Magnificent Seven", and "The Magnificent Seven Ride!" "--Robert Horton"
 

Magnolia

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jason Robards, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly
Genre: Drama
Studio: New Line Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.0 (180,864 votes)
Release: Mar 2000
Summary: 24 hours in L.A.; it's raining cats and dogs. Two parallel and intercut stories dramatize men about to die: both are estranged from a grown child, both want to make contact, and neither child wants anything to do with dad. Earl Partridge's son is a charismatic misogynist; Jimmy Gator's daughter is a cokehead and waif. A mild and caring nurse intercedes for Earl, reaching the son; a prayerful and upright beat cop meets the daughter, is attracted to her, and leads her toward a new calm. Meanwhile, guilt consumes Earl's young wife, while two whiz kids, one grown and a loser and the other young and pressured, face their situations. The weather, too, is quirky.
 

Mallrats

Director: Kevin Smith
Starring: Shannen Doherty, Jeremy London, Jason Lee, Claire Forlani, Ben Affleck
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Gramercy Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.1 (74,166 votes)
Release: Jul 1999
Summary: Sophomore jinx hit hard in this second film by Kevin Smith, whose debut "Clerks" transcended the limits of its setting and budget to become something memorably funny. (Smith followed "Mallrats" with the wonderful "Chasing Amy", so "Mallrats" definitely had the old curse.) A ramshackle comedy set in a mall, the film follows several story lines involving lovers, enemies, friends, goofballs, and Smith's own "silent" character, who also appeared in "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy". A heavy self-consciousness weighs on everything, as if Smith forgot how to make obscenity funny instead of tedious. Still, it's nice to see some of the director's film family on screen, among them Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams. "--Tom Keogh"
 

Mama

Director: Andy Muschietti
Starring: Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan Charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse, Daniel Kash
Genre: Horror
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Jan 2013
Summary: Guillermo del Toro, the Academy Awardr-nominated writer of Pan's Labyrinth, presents this supernatural thriller that tells the haunting tale of two little girls who disappeared into the woods the day that their parents were killed. When the young sisters are found alive in a decrepit cabin, their uncle (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Game of Thrones) and his girlfriend (Oscarr nominee Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty) take them in. As they try to introduce the children to a normal life, Annabel (Chastain) begins to wonder if the traumatized girls are the only guests they have welcomed into their home.
 

Man of Steel

Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane, Russell Crowe, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Christopher Meloni, Laurence Fishburne, Jadin Gould, Tahmoh Penikett, Ayelet Zurer, Antje Traue, Richard Schiff, Dylan Sprayberry, Michael Kelly
Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Studio: Warner Bros.
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.5 (248,557 votes)
Release: Jun 2013
Summary: A young boy learns that he has extraordinary powers and is not of this Earth. As a young man, he journeys to discover where he came from and what he was sent here to do. But the hero in him must emerge if he is to save the world from annihilation and become the symbol of hope for all mankind.
 

Man of Tai Chi

Director: Keanu Reeves
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Tiger Hu Chen, Jeremy Marinas, Steven Dasz
Genre: Aciton
My Rating:
Rated: R
Release: Nov 2013
Summary: In Beijing, a young martial artist's skill places him in position to experience opportunities and sacrifices.
 

Man on Fire

Director: Tony Scott
Starring: Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning, Marc Anthony, Radha Mitchell
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.7 (170,670 votes)
Release: Sep 2004
Summary: A wave of kidnappings has swept through Mexico, feeding a growing sense of panic among its wealthier citizens, especially parents. In one six-day period, there were twenty-four abductions, leading many to hire bodyguards for their children. Into this world enters John Creasy, a burned-out ex-CIA operative/assassin, who has given up on life. Creasy's friend Rayburn brings him to Mexico City to be a bodyguard to nine-year-old Pita Ramos, daughter of industrialist Samuel Ramos and his wife Lisa. Creasy is not interested in being a bodyguard, especially to a youngster, but for lack of something better to do, he accepts the assignment. Creasy barely tolerates the precocious child and her pestering questions about him and his life. But slowly, she chips away at his seemingly impenetrable exterior, his defenses drop, and he opens up to her. Creasy's new-found purpose in life is shattered when Pita is kidnapped. Despite being seriously wounded during the kidnapping, he vows to kill anyone involved in or profiting from the kidnapping. And no one can stop him.
 

Man on Wire

Director: James Marsh
Starring: Philippe Petit, Jean Francois Heckel, Jean-Louis Blondeau
Genre: Documentary, Biography
Studio: Magnolia Home Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.9 (22,815 votes)
Release: Aug 2008
Summary: On August 7, 1974, Philippe Petit, a French wire walker, juggler, and street performer days shy of his 25th birthday, spent 45 minutes walking, dancing, kneeling, and lying on a wire he and friends strung between the rooftops of the Twin Towers. Uses contemporary interviews, archival footage, and recreations to tell the story of his previous walks between towers of Notre Dame and of the Sydney Harbour Bridge, his passions and friendships, and the details of the night before the walk: getting cable into the towers, hiding from guards, and mounting the wire. It ends with observations of the profound changes the walk's success brought to Philippe and those closest to him.
 

Manhunter

Director: Michael Mann
Starring: William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen, Brian Cox, Dennis Farina
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.2 (34,162 votes)
Release: Jan 2001
Summary: Though it will always be remembered as themovie featuring the "other" Hannibal Lecter, Michael Mann's 1986 thriller "Manhunter" is nearly as good as "The Silence of the Lambs", and in some respects it's arguably even better. Based on Thomas Harris's novel "Red Dragon", which introduced the world to the nefarious killer Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter, the film stars William Petersen (giving a suitably brooding performance) as ex-FBI agent Will Graham, who is coaxed out of semiretirement to track down a serial killer who has thwarted the authorities at every turn.
Graham's approach to the case is a perilous one. First he seeks counsel with Lecter (Brian Cox) in the latter's high-security prison cell--an encounter that is utterly horrifying in its psychological effect--and then he begins to mold his own psyche to that of the killer, with potentially devastating results. As directed by Mann (who was at the acme of his success with TV's "Miami Vice"), this sophisticated cat-and-mouse game never resorts to the compromise of cheap thrills. Predating Anthony Hopkins's portrayal of Lecter by four years, Cox plays the character closer to Harris's original, lower-key conception, and he's no less compelling in the role. Petersen is equally well cast, and as always Mann employs rock music to astonishing effect, using nearly all of Iron Butterfly's heavy-metal epic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" to accompany the film's heart-stopping climactic sequence. All of this makes "Manhunter" one of the finest films of its kind, as well as further proof that Harris's fiction is a blessing to any filmmaker brave enough to adapt it. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Maniac

Director: Franck Khalfoun
Starring: Elijah Wood, America Olivo, Nora Arnezeder, Zoe Aggeliki
Genre: Horror, Crime, Mystery
Studio: Naoj Company, The
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Release: Aug 2013
Summary: The owner of a mannequin shop develops a dangerous obsession with a young artist.
 

Margin Call

Director: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley
Genre: Drama
Studio: Before The Door Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6
Release: Oct 2011
Summary: A thriller that revolves around the key people at a investment bank over a 24-hour period during the early stages of the financial crisis.
 

Maria Bamford: The Special Special Special!

Director: Jordan Brady
Starring: Maria Bamford, Wayne Federman, Jackie Kashian
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Brady Oil Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 6.6 (22 votes)
Release: Nov 2012
Summary: Welcome to the special special special comedy special. It's very good. I love comedy. And who do I want to make laugh more than Marilyn and Joel Bamford, my parents? So, we've cut out the middle man of 200 strangers in a tv studio and gone right to the source. With some paid audiences, the feigned enthusiasm can be a little uncomfortable to watch, but I genuinely rock the house. My parents only wish they could be there with you when you watch this with your parents.
 

Martyrs

Director: Pascal Laugier
Starring: Mylène Jampanoï, Morjana Alaoui, Mike Chute, Catherine Bégin, Robert Toupin, Patricia Tulasne, Juliette Gosselin, Anie Pascale
Genre: Horror, Foreign, Drama, Thriller
Studio: Optimum Home Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.9 (34,449 votes)
Release: Apr 2009
Summary: A young woman's quest for revenge against the people who kidnapped and tormented her as a child leads her and a friend, who is also a victim of child abuse, on a terrifying journey into a living hell of depravity.
 

Marwencol

Director: Jeff Malmberg
Starring: Mark Hogancamp
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Open Face
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 7.5 (1,659 votes)
Release: Apr 2011
Summary: "Marwencol" is a documentary about the fantasy world of Mark Hogancamp. After being beaten into a brain-damaging coma by five men outside a bar, Mark builds a 1/6th scale World War II-era town in his backyard. Mark populates the town he dubs "Marwencol" with dolls representing his friends and family and creates life-like photographs detailing the town's many relationships and dramas. Playing in the town and photographing the action helps Mark to recover his hand-eye coordination and deal with the psychic wounds of the attack. When Mark and his photographs are discovered, a prestigious New York gallery sets up an art show. Suddenly Mark's homemade therapy is deemed "art", forcing him to choose between the safety of his fantasy life in Marwencol and the real world that he's avoided since the attack.
 

Mary And Max

Director: Adam Elliot
Starring: Toni Collette, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Eric Bana, Barry Humphries, Bethany Whitmore, Renée Geyer
Genre: Animation, Drama, Family, Kids, Romance
Studio: Melodrama Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Release: Jan 2009
Summary: Mary Dinkle, a chubby lonely eight-year-old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max Horovitz, a 44-year-old, severely obese, Jewish man with Asperger's Syndrome living in the chaos of New York, strike up an extraordinary bond. Spanning twenty years and two continents, Mary and Max's friendship survives much more than the average diet of life's ups and downs. Their story is innocent but not na ve and takes you on a journey exploring friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, where babies come from, obesity, kleptomania, sexual difference, trust, copulating dogs, religious difference, agoraphobia and much much more.
 

Masada: The Complete Epic Mini-Series

Director: Boris Sagal
Starring: Peter O'Toole, Peter Strauss, Barbara Carrera, Anthony Quayle, David Warner
Genre: Action, Drama, History
Studio: Koch Vision
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 7.0 (2,041 votes)
Release: Sep 2007
Summary: This 1981 television miniseries, based on Ernest K. Gann's historical novel "The Antagonists", is a dramatization of a documented revolt by nearly a thousand Jerusalem Jews against Roman oppressors in A.D. 72 to 73. Following a city-wide siege by Rome's soldiers, Jewish Zealots move into a fortress in the mountains of Masada, from which they present a defense strong enough to convince the enemy to negotiate. Peter O'Toole, in all his golden dignity, plays Cornelius Flavius Silva, commander of the Roman legions, and Peter Strauss is Zealot leader Eleazar ben Yair. Both are outstanding as representatives from each side trying, in good faith, to find a way out of the deadlocked situation. Unfortunately, neither realizes that Rome has no intention of yielding, resulting in one of the greatest tragedies in Jewish history. A strong cast of character actors--David Warner, Barbara Carrera, Timothy West, and Anthony Quayle--is rewardingly watchable, the action and sets are persuasive without overwhelming the story's human dimension, and direction by Boris Sagal ("The Omega Man") is crisp and enthralling. This was a pleasure to watch when it was first broadcast, and it holds up very well today. "--Tom Keogh"
 

The Mask of Zorro

Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Yolanda Orisaga, Paco Morayta
Genre: Action, Adventure, Romance
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.7 (90,887 votes)
Release: Jul 1998
Summary: In this day of movies in which one can't tell whether the action was manufactured by computer generation or by a cookie cutter, "The Mask of Zorro" is a grand throwback. It recalls and celebrates the fantasy workshop that Hollywood was and can be at its best. It's an audience pleaser in the best sense of the word, combining great-looking performers with gorgeous vistas and production design, a story that is familiar yet never insults the viewer's intelligence, and plenty of eye-popping action.
Anthony Hopkins stars as the original Zorro, a masked vigilante protecting his people from official corruption in Mexico and what will become California (from Hannibal Lecter to Merchant-Ivory to action hero--is there nothing this man cannot do?). He's imprisoned for his troubles, and upon his release, mentors an impetuous pupil (Antonio Banderas, more suave than ever) in the fine arts of swordplay and triumphing over evil. Catherine Zeta-Jones capably portrays the beauty linked to both men--Zorro I's daughter, Zorro II's object of desire.
The plotting contains few surprises, but the interplay between the three leads is always winning, and the winks to the swashbuckling genre are playful without ever being heavy-handed or campy. "--David Kronke"
 

The Master

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Price Carson, Mike Howard, Sarah Shoshana David, Bruce Goodchild
Genre: Drama
Studio: Weinstein Company, The
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.5 (22,802 votes)
Release: Sep 2012
Summary: Returning from Navy service in World War II, Freddie Quell drifts through a series of PTSD-driven breakdowns. Finally he stumbles upon a cult which engages in exercises to clear emotions and he becomes deeply involved with them.
 

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

Director: Peter Weir
Starring: Russell Crowe, Paul Bettany, James D'Arcy, Edward Woodall, Chris Larkin
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Studio: 20th Century Fox
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Nov 2003
Summary: In the capable hands of director Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" is a seafaring adventure like no other, impeccably authentic, dynamically cast, and thrilling enough to give any classic swashbuckler a run for its money. In adapting two of Patrick O'Brian's enormously popular novels about British naval hero Capt. Jack Aubrey, Weir and cowriter John Collee have changed the timeframe from the British/American war of 1812 to the British/French opposition of 1805, where the "HMS Surprise", under Aubrey's confident command, is patrolling the South Atlantic in pursuit of the "Acheron", a French warship with the strategic advantage of greater size, speed, and artillery. Russell Crowe is outstanding as Aubrey, firm and fiercely loyal, focused on his prey even if it means locking horns with his friend and ship's surgeon, played by Crowe's "A Beautiful Mind" costar Paul Bettany. Employing a seamless combination of carefully matched ocean footage, detailed models, full-scale ships, and CGI enhancements, Weir pays exacting attention to every nautical detail, while maintaining a very human story of honor, warfare, and survival under wretched conditions. Raging storms and hull-shattering battles provide pulse-pounding action, and a visit to the Galapagos Islands lends a note of otherworldly wonder, adding yet another layer of historical perspective to this splendidly epic adventure. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Match Point

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Alexander Armstrong, Paul Kaye (IV), Matthew Goode, Brian Cox
Genre: Crime, Drama, Romance
Studio: Dreamworks Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.7 (109,907 votes)
Release: Apr 2006
Summary: The passion of mad love and the cold calculations of social climbing collide in Woody Allen's "Match Point". Former tennis pro Chris Wilton (Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, "Velvet Goldmine") stumbles into good fortune when Chloe Hewett (Emily Mortimer, "Lovely & Amazing"), the daughter of a wealthy businessman, falls in love with him. But when Chris meets Nola Rice (Scarlett Johansson, "Lost in Translation"), a much deeper passion is stirred--and his desire isn't deterred when he discovers that Nola is already dating Chloe's brother. But when their affair threatens Chris's increasingly cozy lifestyle, Chris begins to consider a drastic solution. "Match Point" starts deftly and ends with cunning; though the middle bogs down in banal plot mechanics, Woody Allen fans have justly hailed it as a comeback after Allen's last few cinematic stumbles. Despite weaknesses (Allen still seems to have lost touch with the mundane realities of life; his characters operate in a strange, weightless world of wealth and privilege), the strong performances and clean direction carry the movie through. Also featuring Brian Cox ("X-Men 2", "Adaptation"). "--Bret Fetzer"
 

Matchstick Men

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Alison Lohman, Sam Rockwell, Bruce Altman, Bruce McGill
Genre: Action, Adventure
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Sep 2003
Summary: Marking a welcome return to the breezy style of "Thelma & Louise", Ridley Scott's "Matchstick Men" reminds us that the director of "Gladiator" is equally adept with quirky comedies and offbeat characters. Smoothly adapted from the novel by Eric Garcia and set amidst the sunlit, 1950s-style architecture of L.A.'s San Fernando Valley, this gently dramatic comedy centers on Roy (Nicolas Cage), a divorcée whose career as a con artist is complicated by: (1) his ongoing struggle with obsessive compulsive disorder, which manifests itself through various quirks and rituals; (2) a wily partner (Sam Rockwell) whose criminal ambitions are greater than Roy suspects; and (3) the arrival of 14-year-old Angela (Alison Lohman), claiming to be the daughter he's never known. Turns out she's got a knack for dad's profession, and that turns "Matchstick Men" into a multilayered comedy with unexpected twists and surprising revelations. To say more would spoil the fun; suffice it to say that Hans Zimmer's playful score and a Sinatra-laced soundtrack are perfect complements to Cage's engaging eccentricities. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

The Matrix

Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, Gloria Foster
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.7 (695,978 votes)
Release: May 2007
Summary: By following up their debut thriller "Bound" with the 1999 box-office smash "The Matrix", the codirecting Wachowski brothers--Andy and Larry--annihilated any suggestion of a sophomore jinx, crafting one of the most exhilarating sci-fi/action movies of the 1990s. Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Keanu Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal--from what or whom he doesn't know--until one night, a mysterious woman named Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) seeks him out and introduces him to that faceless character he has been waiting for: Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long: "You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is--a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend.
Neo thus embarks on an adventure that is both terrifying and enthralling. Pitted against an enemy that transcends human concepts of evil, Morpheus and his team must train Neo to believe that he is the chosen champion of their fight. With mind-boggling, technically innovative special effects and a thought-provoking script that owes a debt of inspiration to the legacy of cyberpunk fiction, this is much more than an out-and-out action yarn; it's a thinking man's journey into the realm of futuristic fantasy, a dreamscape full of eye candy that will satisfy sci-fi, kung fu, action, and adventure fans alike. Although the film is headlined by Reeves and Fishburne--who both turn in fine performances--much of the fun and excitement should be attributed to Moss, who flawlessly mixes vulnerability with immense strength, making other contemporary female heroines look timid by comparison. And if we were going to cast a vote for most dastardly movie villain of 1999, it would have to go to Hugo Weaving, who plays the feckless, semipsychotic Agent Smith with panache and edginess. As the film's box-office profits soared, the Wachowski brothers announced that "The Matrix" is merely the first chapter in a cinematically dazzling franchise--a chapter that is arguably superior to the other sci-fi smash of 1999 (you know... the one starring Jar Jar Binks). "--Jeremy Storey"
 

The Matrix Reloaded

Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Starring: Ray Anthony (III), Christine Anu, Andy Arness, Alima Ashton-Sheibu, Helmut Bakaitis
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.1 (279,544 votes)
Release: Oct 2003
Summary: Considering the lofty expectations that preceded it, "The Matrix Reloaded" triumphs where most sequels fail. It would be impossible to match the fresh audacity that made "The Matrix" a global phenomenon in 1999, but in continuing the exploits of rebellious Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) as they struggle to save the human sanctuary of Zion from invading machines, the codirecting Wachowski brothers have their priorities well in order. They offer the obligatory bigger and better highlights (including the impressive "Burly Brawl" and freeway chase sequences) while remaining focused on cleverly plotting the middle of a brain-teasing trilogy that ends with "The Matrix Revolutions". The metaphysical underpinnings can be dismissed or scrutinized, and choosing the latter course (this is, after all, an epic about choice and free will) leads to astonishing repercussions that made "Reloaded" an explosive hit with critics "and" hardcore fans alike. As the centerpiece of a multimedia franchise, this dynamic sequel ends with a cliffhanger that virtually guarantees a mind-blowing conclusion. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

The Matrix Revolutions

Director: Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski
Starring: Mary Alice, Tanveer K. Atwal, Helmut Bakaitis, Kate Beahan, Francine Bell
Genre: Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.6 (240,710 votes)
Release: Apr 2004
Summary: Despite the inevitable law of diminishing returns, "The Matrix Revolutions" is quite satisfying as an adrenalized action epic, marking yet another milestone in the exponential evolution of computer-generated special effects. That may not be enough to satisfy hardcore "Matrix" fans who turned the Wachowski Brothers' hacker mythology into a quasi-religious pop-cultural phenomenon, but there's no denying that the trilogy goes out with a cosmic bang instead of the whimper that many expected. Picking up precisely where "The Matrix Reloaded" left off, this 130-minute finale finds Neo (Keanu Reeves) at a virtual junction, defending the besieged human enclave of Zion by confronting the attacking machines on their home turf, while humans combat swarms of tentacled mechanical sentinels as Zion's fate lies in the balance. It all amounts to a blaze of CGI glory, devoid of all but the shallowest emotions, and so full of metaphysical hokum that the trilogy's detractors can gloat with I-told-you-so sarcasm. And yet, "Revolutions" still succeeds as a slick, exciting hybrid of cinema and video game, operating by its own internal logic with enough forward momentum to make the whole trilogy seem like a thrilling, magnificent dream. "-- Jeff Shannon"
 

Mean Girls

Director: Mark Waters
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Jonathan Bennett, Rachel McAdams, Tina Fey, Tim Meadows
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Paramount Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.9 (136,844 votes)
Release: Sep 2004
Summary: The cutting wit of Tina Fey (the first female head writer for "Saturday Night Live") brilliantly fuses pop culture and smart satire. Fey wrote "Mean Girls", in which a formerly home-schooled girl named Cady (Lindsay Lohan) gets dropped into the sneaky, vicious world of the Plastics, three adolescent glamour-girls who dominate their public high school's social hierarchy. Cady first befriends a couple of art-punk outsiders who persuade her to infiltrate the Plastics and destroy them from within--but power corrupts, and Cady soon finds the glory of being a Plastic to be seductive. "Mean Girls" joins the ranks of "Clueless", "Bring It On", and" Heathers", cunning movies that use the hormone-pressurized high school milieu to put the dark impulses of human nature--ambition, envy, lust, revenge--under a comic microscope. Fey manages to skewer everyone without forgetting the characters' hapless humanity; it's a dazzling and delightful balancing act. "--Bret Fetzer"
 

The Mechanic

Director: Simon West
Starring: Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Donald Sutherland
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.5 (74,871 votes)
Release: May 2011
Summary: Arthur Bishop (Jason Statham) is a 'mechanic' - an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It's a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business. But when his mentor and close friend Harry (Donald Sutherland) is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed - he wants those responsible dead. His mission grows complicated when Harry's son Steve (Ben Foster) approaches him with the same vengeful goal and a determination to learn Bishop's trade. Bishop has always acted alone but he can't turn his back on Harry's son. A methodical hit man takes an impulsive student deep into his world and a deadly partnership is born. But while in pursuit of their ultimate mark, deceptions threaten to surface and those hired to fix problems become problems themselves.
 

Meet the Parents

Director: Jay Roach
Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, Nicole DeHuff
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.0 (174,217 votes)
Release: Mar 2001
Summary: Randy Newman's opening song, "A Fool in Love," perfectly sets up the movie that follows. The lyrics begin, "Show me a man who is gentle and kind, and I'll show you a loser," before praising the man who takes what he wants. Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) is the fool in love in "Meet the Parents". Just as he's about to propose to his girlfriend Pam (Teri Polo), he learns that her sister's fiancé asked their father, Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro), for permission to marry. Now he feels the need to do the same thing. When Greg meets Jack, he is so desperate to be liked that he makes up stories and kisses ass rather than having the courage of his convictions. It doesn't take an elite member of the CIA to see right through Greg, but that's precisely what Jack is. Directed by Jay Roach (the "Austin Powers" movies), "Meet the Parents" is an incredibly well-crafted comedy that stands in nice opposition to, say, the sloppy extremes of the Farrelly brothers. Stiller is great at playing up the uncomfortable comedy of errors, balancing just the right amount of selfishness and self-deprecating humor, while De Niro's Jack is funny as the hard-ass father who just wants a few straight answers from the kid. What makes the Jack character all the funnier is Blythe Danner as his wife, the Gracie to his George Burns, who is the true heart of the movie. Oh, and Owen Wilson turns in yet another terrific comic performance as Pam's ex-fiancé. "--Andy Spletzer"
 

Megamind

Director: Tom McGrath
Starring: Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey, Jonah Hill, David Cross
Genre: Animation, Action, Comedy
Studio: Paramount Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 7.3 (97,908 votes)
Release: Nov 2010
Summary: After super-villain Megamind (Ferrell) kills his good-guy nemesis, Metro Man (Pitt), he becomes bored since there is no one left to fight. He creates a new foe, Titan (Hill), who, instead of using his powers for good, sets out to destroy the world, positioning Megamind to save the day for the first time in his life.
 

Megan Is Missing

Director: Michael Goi
Starring: Amber Perkins, Rachel Quinn, Dean Waite, Jael Elizabeth Steinmeyer, Kara Wang
Genre: Drama
Studio: Trio Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 5.4 (2,781 votes)
Release: May 2011
Summary: Megan Stewart, 14, and her best friend Amy Herman, 13, though opposites in personality, are best friends. Megan carries the front of being the most popular girl in school, but this masks a lifestyle of hard partying, drugs, alcohol and indiscriminate sex. Amy, unpopular and socially awkward, clings to her relationship with Megan as a lifeline to social acceptance. Together, these two young girls forge a deep friendship based on their mutual needs. The two girls regularly communicate by web chat cameras or cell phone, and even meet boys online. As Megan seeks friends who are different from her usual posse of hanger-ons, she is introduced by a friend online to a 17 year-old boy named Josh in a chat room. Megan and Josh bond quickly, leaving Amy feeling a bit left out. One day, Megan goes to meet Josh in person, and she is never seen again. Amy launches into a concentrated effort to find her friend...
 

Memento

Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, Mark Boone Junior, Russ Fega
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.6 (506,186 votes)
Release: Sep 2001
Summary: Guy Pearce ("L.A. Confidential") and Joe Pantoliano ("The Matrix") shine in this absolute stunner of a movie. "Memento" combines a bold, mind-bending script with compelling action and virtuoso performances. Pearce plays Leonard Shelby, hunting down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The problem is that "the incident" that robbed Leonard of his wife also stole his ability to make new memories. Unable to retain a location, a face, or a new clue on his own, Leonard continues his search with the help of notes, Polaroids, and even homemade tattoos for vital information.
Because of his condition, Leonard essentially lives his life in short, present-tense segments, with no clear idea of what's just happened to him. That's where "Memento" gets really interesting; the story begins at the end, and the movie jumps backward in 10-minute segments. The suspense of the movie lies not in discovering what happens, but in finding out "why" it happened. Amazingly, the movie achieves edge-of-your-seat excitement even as it moves backward in time, and it keeps the mind hopping as cause and effect are pieced together.
Pearce captures Leonard perfectly, conveying both the tragic romance of his quest and his wry humor in dealing with his condition. He is bolstered by several excellent supporting players, and the movie is all but stolen from him by Pantoliano, who delivers an amazing performance as Teddy, the guy who may or may not be on his side. "Memento" has an intriguing structure and even meditations on the nature of perception and meaning of life if you go looking for them, but it also functions just as well as a completely absorbing thriller. It's rare to find a movie this exciting with so much intelligence behind it. "--Ali Davis"
 

Men in Black

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Will Smith, Linda Fiorentino, Vincent D'Onofrio, Rip Torn
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.2 (249,163 votes)
Release: May 2002
Summary: This imaginative summer comedy from director Barry Sonnenfeld (Get Shorty) is a lot of fun, largely on the strength of Will Smith's engaging performance as the rookie partner of a secret agent (Tommy Lee Jones) assigned to keep tabs on Earth-dwelling extraterrestrials. There's lots of comedy to spare in this bright film, some of the funniest stuff found in the margins of the major action. (A scene with Smith's character being trounced in the distance by a huge alien while Jones questions a witness is a riot.) The inventiveness never lets up, and the cast--including Vincent D'Onofrio doing frighteningly convincing work as an alien occupying a decaying human--hold up their end splendidly. --Tom Keogh
 

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Director: Grant Heslov
Starring: George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges
Genre: Comedy, War
Studio: Overture Films/Anchor Bay Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.3 (77,590 votes)
Release: Mar 2010
Summary: Hard to define but easy to enjoy, The Men Who Stare at Goats is the preposterous yet more-true-than-not story of a small-town journalist named Bob Wilton (Ewan McGregor) who, trying to prove himself in Iraq, stumbles upon a man named Lyn Cassady (George Clooney) who claims to be a psychic spy for the U.S. Army. With dazzling cinematic efficiency, the movie bounces back and forth between the origins of the New Earth Army--a squad of American Jedi warriors--and Bob and Lyn wandering through war-torn Iraq, pursuing a mission that turns out to have been assigned by a vision. The movie shifts from giddy comedy to melancholy as a portrait of human pettiness, manifested in military paranoia and corporate greed, unfolds. The ending loses a bit of steam, but most of The Men Who Stare at Goats is a delight--unusual yet satisfying, funny and thoughtful in turns. Jeff Bridges plays--of course--the addled yet charismatic founder of the New Earth Army, while Kevin Spacey plays--of course--the weaselly, manipulative psychic spy who turns what was meant to transform the world for the better into a mechanism for propaganda and worse. Adapted from the bestselling nonfiction book of the same title by British journalist Jon Ronson, The Men Who Stare at Goats niftily balances surface lunacy with serious undercurrents, buoyed by excellent performances from all involved. --Bret Fetzer

Stills from The Men Who Stare At Goats (Click for larger image)
 

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster

Director: Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
Starring: Joe Berlinger, Dan Braun (II), Stefan Chirazi, Erica Forstadt, Mike Gillies
Genre: Sports
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.8 (2,474 votes)
Release: Jan 2005
Summary: With voyeuristic intensity, "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" explores the intricate connections that are created, nurtured, and challenged between members of a long-lasting band. That this intimate odyssey of group therapy and self-discovery involves Metallica--the most successful heavy metal group of all time--is just one reason this film is so uniquely fascinating. Having proven their documentary skills with "Brother's Keeper" and "Paradise Lost" (which included Metallica in its soundtrack), filmmakers Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky spent two years with Metallica as the band survived the defection of long-time bassist Jason Newsted, struggled to record "St. Anger", and recruited $40,000-per-month "performance enhancement coach" Phil Towle to counsel members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, and Kirk Hammett as they confronted alcoholism, creative obstacles, and themselves in an effort to determine the viability of Metallica's future. With sincere hope, honest discussion, and the hiring of new bassist Robert Trujillo, Metallica battle their personal and professional demons, showing the vulnerable side of a business that thrives on raging testosterone. The effort pays off for everyone involved, especially the fans: Like the ultimate backstage pass, "Some Kind of Monster" is a healing journey into the hard-beating heart of rock & roll. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Metropolis

Director: Rintaro
Starring: Toshio Furukawa, Scott Weinger, Yuka Imoto, Kei Kobayashi, Kouki Okada
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 8.4 (68,016 votes)
Release: Apr 2002
Summary: Adapted from Osamu Tezuka's 1949 "manga", "Metropolis" (in Japanese with English subtitles) is an opulently beautiful film that fails to present a coherent story worthy of its extraordinary visuals. Evil Duke Red (voice by Taro Ishida) plans to rule the world from Ziggurat, his newly completed art deco tower. A new robot is being developed by his henchman Dr. Laughton (Junpei Takeguchi) to control all the machines in the world from Ziggurat. Japanese detective Shunsaku Ban (Kousei Tomita) and his nephew Kenichi (Kei Kobayashi) arrive in Metropolis in pursuit of Laughton and are plunged into Red's plot. When the duke's maniacal adopted son Rock (Kohki Okada) attacks Laughton's hidden lab, Kenichi and the waiflike android Tima (Yuka Imoto) flee into the city's subterranean slums and fall in love. Despite a protracted series of chases and violent shootouts, there's little excitement and less character development. Director Rintaro (Hayashi Shigeyuki) borrows heavily from Fritz Lang's 1926 "Metropolis", Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner", and Katsuhiro Otomo's "Akira", but his staging makes much of the action hard to follow. The film takes an unintentionally hilarious turn when Ziggurat crumbles to Ray Charles's "I Can't Stop Loving You." The computer-generated skyscrapers, machines, and airships offer dazzling vistas of an overscaled and sinister deco-dystopia. But Tezuka's flat little characters, with their big eyes, round noses, and bubble-shaped feet, don't fit into that realistic three-dimensional environment. MPAA rating: PG. Contains considerable violence and grotesque imagery. "--Charles Solomon"
 

The Mexican

Director: Gore Verbinski
Starring: Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, James Gandolfini, J.K. Simmons, Bob Balaban
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Dreamworks Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.0 (62,478 votes)
Release: Aug 2001
Summary: Part road movie, part romantic comedy, part thriller, and a whole lotta fun, "The Mexican" could get by on star power alone, but it offers Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, "and" a clever plot full of delightful surprises. It's a thoroughly enjoyable shaggy-dog story in which the downtrodden Jerry Welbach (Pitt) copes with a dual dilemma: his girlfriend Samantha (Roberts) has just dumped him to pursue solo ambitions in Las Vegas, and a manipulative mobster has ordered Jerry to Mexico to retrieve a coveted antique pistol (the "Mexican" of the title) that carries a legacy of legend, death, and danger. Jerry soon has his hands full with bandits, bloodshed, and a grizzly hound dog that vanishes and reappears with amusing regularity. En route to Vegas, Samantha's taken hostage by a burly assassin (James Gandolfini) who's attached to the gun-fetching scheme and is, in more ways than one, not who he seems to be.
Like a good magic act, J.H. Wyman's original screenplay distracts you from its gaps of logic, using unexpected revelations to fuel its strategic vitality. It also provides a wealth of character development, and director Gore Verbinski ("Mouse Hunt") gives his stellar cast equal time to shine. It hardly matters that Pitt and Roberts spend most of the film apart; their time together is worth waiting for, and the machinations that separate them play out like a cross between vintage Peckinpah and "Romancing the Stone". And why is the accursed "pistola" so valuable? That's just another surprise, setting the stage for the arrival of yet another big-name star, whose motivations are pure in a film full of double-crosses and darkly shaded humor. With a giddy plot like this, star power is just icing on the cake. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Michael Clayton

Director: Tony Gilroy
Starring: George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Michael O'Keefe, Sydney Pollack
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.3 (100,167 votes)
Release: Feb 2008
Summary: George Clooney's performance drives this tense corporate thriller from "Bourne" trilogy screenwriter James Gilroy, who makes his directorial debut here. Clooney is the eponymous "hero," a burnt-out lawyer who cleans up legal messes created by the clients of a large law firm. When a crisis materializes in the form of the firm's top shark (Tom Wilkinson) suffering an apparent meltdown while defending a shady chemical company from lawsuits, Clayton discovers not only a cover-up to deny payments to farmers injured by the company's products, but a chance to find some purpose in the face of his life's downward. Clooney (who also co-produced the film) brings soul and quiet determination to his beleaguered character, and there's excellent support from Wilkinson, Sydney Pollack (also a co-producer), and Michael O'Keefe; Gilroy's script also does a solid job of stacking the deck against Clayton as he attempts to ferret out the truth behind the cover-up. Unfortunately, the film settles for a pat conclusion that, while emotionally satisfying, feels forced and delivers an overly simplistic message (corporations can be bad; morally questionable work can make one feel dirty). And Tilda Swinton is wasted in a thankless role as the chemical company's nerve-wracked and unsympathetic legal counsel. Still, Clooney fans will appreciate this fine addition to his growing roster of flawed heroes. "-- Paul Gaita"
 

Micmacs

Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
Starring: Dany Boon, Dominique Pinon, André Dussollier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Julie Ferrier, Yolande Moreau, Michel Crémadès, Nicolas Marié, Omar Sy, Marie-Julie Baup
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Foreign
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.1 (16,704 votes)
Release: Oct 2009
Summary: A man and his friends come up with an intricate and original plan to destroy two big weapons manufacturers.Avid movie-watcher and video store clerk Bazil has had his life all but ruined by weapons of war. His father was killed by a landmine in Morocco and one fateful night a stray bullet from a nearby shootout embeds itself in his skull, leaving him on the verge of instantaneous death. Losing his job and his home, Bazil wanders the streets until he meets Slammer, a pardoned convict who introduces him to a band of eccentric junkyard dealers including Calculator, a math expert and statistician, Buster, a record-holder in human cannonball feats, Tiny Pete, an artistic craftsman of automatons, and Elastic Girl, a sassy contortionist. When chance reveals to Bazil the two weapons manufacturers responsible for building the instruments of his destruction, he constructs a complex scheme for revenge that his newfound family is all too happy to help set in motion.
 

Midnight in Paris

Director: Woody Allen
Starring: Owen Wilson, Rachel McAdams, Kurt Fuller, Mimi Kennedy, Michael Sheen
Genre: Comedy, Romance
Studio: Gravier Productions
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7
Release: Dec 2011
Summary: Gil and Inez travel to Paris as a tag-along vacation on her parents' business trip. Gil is a successful Hollywood writer but is struggling on his first novel. He falls in love with the city and thinks they should move there after they get married, but Inez does not share his romantic notions of the city or the idea that the 1920s was the golden age. When Inez goes off dancing with her friends, Gil takes a walk at midnight and discovers what could be the ultimate source of inspiration for writing. Gil's daily walks at midnight in Paris could take him closer to the heart of the city but further from the woman he's about to marry.
 

A Mighty Wind

Director: Christopher Guest
Starring: Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Jane Lynch
Genre: Comedy, Music
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.1 (18,076 votes)
Release: Sep 2003
Summary: There's "A Mighty Wind" a-blowin', along with the gales of laughter you'll get from Christopher Guest's third exercise in brilliant "mockumentary." After tackling small-town theatricals in "Waiting for Guffman" and obsessive dog-show contestants in "Best in Show", Guest and his reliable stable of repertory players (including Fred Willard, Parker Posey, and Bob Balaban) apply their improvisational genius to a latter-day reunion of fictional '60s-era folk singers, a comedic goldmine that Guest first explored 30 years earlier on "The National Lampoon Radio Hour". Collaborating with costar and cowriter Eugene Levy (who gives the film's funniest performance), Guest is so delicate in his satirical approach that the laughs aren't always obvious, and the subtlety can be as wistful (as in Catherine O'Hara's performance as Levy's auto-harpist partner) as it is hilarious. Some may wish for more blatant comedy, but that would compromise the genuine affection that Guest & Co. have for the music they're spoofing. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Million Dollar Baby

Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman, Jay Baruchel, Mike Colter, Brían F. O'Byrne, Lucia Rijker, Anthony Mackie, Margo Martindale, Michael Peña, Riki Lindhome, Brian F. O'Byrne
Genre: Drama, Sport
Studio: Warner Bros.
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 8.1 (274,431 votes)
Release: Dec 2004
Summary: Despondent over a painful estrangement from his daughter, trainer Frankie Dunn isn't prepared for boxer Maggie Fitzgerald to enter his life. But Maggie's determined to go pro and to convince Dunn and his cohort to help her.
 

Minority Report

Director: Steven Spielberg
Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow, Steve Harris
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Dreamworks Video
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Aug 2003
Summary: Set in the chillingly possible future of 2054, Steven Spielberg's "Minority Report" is arguably the most intelligently provocative sci-fi thriller since "Blade Runner". Like Ridley Scott's "future noir" classic, Spielberg's gritty vision was freely adapted from a story by Philip K. Dick, with its central premise of "Precrime" law enforcement, totally reliant on three isolated human "precogs" capable (due to drug-related mutation) of envisioning murders before they're committed. As Precrime's confident captain, Tom Cruise preempts these killings like a true action hero, only to run for his life when he is himself implicated in one of the precogs' visions. Inspired by the brainstorming of expert futurists, Spielberg packs this paranoid chase with potential conspirators (Max Von Sydow, Colin Farrell), domestic tragedy, and a heartbreaking precog pawn (Samantha Morton), while Cruise's performance gains depth and substance with each passing scene. Making judicious use of astonishing special effects, "Minority Report" brilliantly extrapolates a future that's utterly convincing, and too close for comfort. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Miracle

Director: Gavin O'Conner
Starring: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich, Sean McCann, Kenneth Welsh, Eddie Cahill, Patrick O'Brien Demsey, Michael Mantenuto
Genre: Drama, History, Sports Film
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 7.4 (25,134 votes)
Release: Feb 2004
Summary: Miracle tells the true story of Herb Brooks (Russell), the player-turned-coach who led the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team to victory over the seemingly invincible Russian squad.
 

Misery

Director: Rob Reiner
Starring: James Caan, Kathy Bates, Wendy Bowers, Thomas Brunelle, Lauren Bacall
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.8 (83,099 votes)
Release: Nov 1990
Summary: Based on the chilling bestseller by Stephen King, "Misery" was brought to the screen by director Rob Reiner as one of the most effective thrillers of the 1990s. From a brilliant adaptation by screenwriter William Goldman, Reiner turned King's cautionary tale of fame and idolatry into a mainstream masterpiece of escalating suspense, translating King's own experience with obsessive fans into a frightening tale of entrapment and psychotic behavior. Kathy Bates deservedly won an Academy Award for her performance as Annie Wilkes, an unbalanced devotee of romance novels written by Paul Sheldon (James Caan), whose books provide Annie with a much-needed escape from her pathetic life and her secret, violent past. After Annie rescues the injured Sheldon from a car accident, she seizes the opportunity to nurse her favorite writer back to health, but her tender loving care soon turns to terrorism as she demands that Sheldon write his latest novel according to her wish-fulfillment fantasies. From this point forward, "Misery" percolates to a boil as equal parts mystery, thriller, and cleverly dark comedy, with the helpless author pitched in deadly warfare against his number one fan. While Bates carefully modulates her role from doting kindness to sympathetic loneliness and finally to horrifying ferocity, Caan is equally superb as the celebrated author who must literally write for his life. It's essentially a two-actor film, but Richard Farnsworth and Lauren Bacall are excellent in supporting roles as they investigate the writer's mysterious disappearance. Frightening, funny, and totally irresistible, "Misery" was such a hit that some of Bates's dialogue entered the popular lexicon (particularly her nagging reference to Caan as "Mister Man"), and its nail-biting thrills remain timelessly intense. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Miss Representation

Director: Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Starring: Cory Booker, Margaret Cho, Katie Couric, Geena Davis, Rosario Dawson
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Girls' Club Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 7.3 (221 votes)
Release: Jan 2011
Summary: Explores the under-representation of women in positions of power and influence in America, and challenges the media's limited portrayal of what it means to be a powerful woman.
 

Mission: Impossible

Director: Brian De Palma
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jon Voight, Emmanuelle Béart, Henry Czerny, Jean Reno
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.0 (183,844 votes)
Release: Nov 1998
Summary: Mission Impossible A flashy, splashy summer-movie blockbuster that's fun and exciting without being mindless? That's the impossible mission accomplished by director Brian De Palma, star-coproducer Tom Cruise, and the crack team of "Mission: Impossible". Based on the '60s TV show and an almost impenetrably complex (but nonetheless thrilling) original story by David Koepp ("Jurassic Park") and Steven Zaillian ("Schindler's List"), with a screenplay by Koepp and Robert Towne ("Chinatown, Shampoo"), "Mission: Impossible" begins with veteran agent Jim Phelps (Jon Voight) and his expert crew embarking on a mission that goes horribly, horribly wrong. But nothing is what it seems. The nail-biting set piece--always a signature of director De Palma (Carrie, "The Untouchables")--in which Cruise is lowered from the ceiling to retrieve information from a computer in a high-security vault--is an instant classic. But perhaps even more impressive, at least in retrospect, is a flashback sequence in which two characters attempt to reconstruct a series of events from multiple points of view. It's pretty daring and sophisticated stuff for a big-budget spy movie, but brains were always what put the "Mission: Impossible" team ahead of the competition, anyway, no? "--Jim Emerson"
 

Mission: Impossible II

Director: John Woo
Starring: Tom Cruise, Dougray Scott, Thandie Newton, Ving Rhames, Richard Roxburgh
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 5.9 (152,118 votes)
Release: Nov 2000
Summary: Mission Impossible II Visually stunning, and a likely must for John Woo aficionados, the second "Mission: Impossible" outing from megastar Tom Cruise suffers from an inconsistent tone and tired plot devices--not only recycled from other films, but repeated throughout the film. Despite remarkable cinematography and awe-inspiring, trademark Woo photography, the movie offers a tepid story from legendary screenwriter-director Robert Towne ("Chinatown, Without Limits") and a host of other writers, most uncredited. It is, regrettably, as forgettable as the first big-budget, big box-office "MI "in 1996, and it's clear (as Towne confirms) that the plot was developed around Woo- and Cruise-written action sequences. The film combines equal elements of romance and action, and is best when it features the stunning allure of Thandie Newton as Nyah, a master thief recruited by the sinewy charms of Ethan Hunt (a fit Cruise). Deeply in love after a passionate night, the couple must then combat "MI" nemesis (and Nyah's former lover) Sean Ambrose ("Ever After"'s Dougray Scott). Ambrose holds hostage a virus and its cure, and offers them to the highest bidder. Woo's famed mythic filmmaking is far from subtle, with heroic Hunt frequently slow-motion walking through fire, smoke, or other similar devices, replete with a white dove among pigeons to signal his presence. The emphasis on romance is an attempt to develop character and a more human side to superspy Hunt, but still the dreary story proves a distraction from the exciting action sequences. John Polson (as an "MI" team member) is an Aussie talent to keep an eye on. "--N.F. Mendoza"
 

Mission: Impossible III

Director: J.J. Abrams
Starring: Tom Cruise, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Billy Crudup, Michelle Monaghan
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.8 (155,862 votes)
Release: Oct 2006
Summary: Mission Impossible III At the time of its release, "Mission: Impossible III"'s box office was plagued by the publicity backlash against couch-jumping star Tom Cruise. It's too bad, because this third installment of the spy thriller franchise deserved a better reception than it got. First-time feature director J.J. Abrams (bigwig TV director/producer of "Lost, Alias, & Felicity") proves more than able-bodied in creating a "Mission: Impossible" that's leaner and less over-stylized than John Woo's sequel and less confusing than Brian De Palma's original. Plot is still a throwaway here (Cruise's Ethan Hunt rescues his kidnapped former trainee and works to steal a device that... well, we don't really know what it does, but it's something about mass destruction that costs $850 million), but the action sequences, particularly one where Ethan faces down a helicopter on a bridge and gets flung hard against the side of a car, are particularly impressive since Cruise, at 44, is still doing most of his own stunts and shows no hint of the weathered look that's struck his action-star peers. (Though no "Mission: Impossible" stunt will ever be quite as simultaneously nail-biting and funny as the first film's wire-dangling break-in of CIA headquarters.) "Mission: Impossible III" boasts a pedigreed cast, particularly Oscar® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Capote") as baddie arms dealer Owen Davian. Hoffman plays Owen all teeth-clenched and cool, especially when threatening to kill Ethan in front of his lovely new wife (Michelle Monaghan) who has no idea of his spy life. But in his first action-film lead role, Hoffman's almost too calm and collected to really make a memorable villain, especially when the rest of the cast--Ving Rhames (the only other cast member to return for all three films), Asian film star Maggie Q, and an underused Jonathan Rhys-Meyers--are a highlight as Ethan's IMF team. "Mission: Impossible" is still fun popcorn spy fare, and if Cruise chooses to end the franchise here, at least he goes out on a high note. "--Ellen A. Kim"
 

Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Director: Brad Bird
Starring: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Paula Patton, Michael Nyqvist
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: Paramount Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.6 (77,839 votes)
Release: Apr 2012
Summary: In the 4th installment of the Mission Impossible series, Ethan Hunt and his team are racing against time to track down a dangerous terrorist named Hendricks, who has gained access to Russian nuclear launch codes and is planning a strike on the United States. An attempt by the team to stop him at the Kremlin ends in a disaster, with an explosion causing severe destruction to the Kremlin and the IMF being implicated in the bombing, forcing the President to invoke Ghost Protocol, under which the IMF is disavowed, and will be offered no help or backup in any form. Undaunted, Ethan and his team chase Hendricks to Dubai, and from there to Mumbai, but several spectacular action sequences later, they might still be too late to stop a disaster.
 

The Mist

Director: Frank Darabont
Starring: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Toby Jones, Jeffrey DeMunn, Frances Sternhagen, Nathan Gamble, William Sadler, Andre Braugher, Alexa Davalos, Sam Witwer, Chris Owen
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction
Studio: Darkwoods Productions
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.3 (144,032 votes)
Release: Nov 2007
Summary: After a violent storm attacks a town in Maine, an approaching cloud of mist appears the next morning. As the mist quickly envelops the area, a group of people get trapped in a local grocery store — among them, artist David Drayton and his five-year-old son. The people soon discover that within the mist lives numerous species of horrific, creatures that entered through an inter-dimensional rift.
 

The Mod Squad

Director: Scott Silver
Starring: Claire Danes, Omar Epps, Giovanni Ribisi, Dennis Farina, Josh Brolin
Genre: Action, Adventure
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 6.7 (540 votes)
Release: Aug 1999
Summary: Julie Barnes (Claire Danes), Pete Cochrane (Giovanni Ribisi), and Lincoln Hayes (Omar Epps) have one thing in common: They're young adults on the wrong side of the law, arrested for crimes of robbery, grievous bodily harm, and arson. Taken in by mentor and father figure Captain Adam Greer (Dennis Farina), they are assigned to a special task force working undercover for the police--the logic being that these kids can get into the hip young establishments that the older, more cynical officers can no longer infiltrate. Ill-suited to each other and chastised by their peers, this rogue squad is forced to come together when they uncover a seedy world of police corruption. Not knowing who to turn to, the kids are left with their wits and street cunning (they're not allowed to carry guns) to overcome mounting odds against their survival.
With Hollywood facing increased pressure in 1999 to curb its screen violence, this film arrived with perfect timing. The only problem is the film was aimed at an audience that never saw the early-1970s TV series that inspired it, and this dubious recycling resulted in paltry returns at the box office. Nevertheless, this is an enjoyable action movie with some noteworthy performances--especially from Omar Epps, who shines with strength and vulnerability, like a young Laurence Fishburne. The energetic camera work and throbbing soundtrack also stand out, along with some retro styling and a plot that's refreshingly free of excessive violence or gratuitous special effects. "--Jeremy Storey"
 

Moneyball

Director: Bennett Miller
Starring: Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robin Wright, Chris Pratt
Genre: Biography, Drama, Sport
Studio: Columbia Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.9 (21,459 votes)
Release: Sep 2011
Summary: Oakland A's GM Billy Beane is handicapped with the lowest salary constraint in baseball. If he ever wants to win the World Series, Billy must find a competitive advantage. Billy is about to turn baseball on its ear when he uses statistical data to analyze and place value on the players he picks for the team.
 

Monsters University

Director: Dan Scanion
Starring: Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, Billy Crystal, Helen Mirren, Charlie Day, Alfred Molina, Frank Oz, Dave Foley, Sean Hayes, Nathan Fillion, Aubrey Plaza, Tyler Labine, John Krasinski, Bonnie Hunt, Joel Murray, Peter Sohn, Bobby Moynihan, Julia Sweeney, Beth Behrs, John Ratzenberger
Genre: Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Family
My Rating:
Rated: G
Release: Jun 2013
Summary: A look at the relationship between Mike and Sulley during their days at Monsters University -- when they weren't necessarily the best of friends.
 

Monsters vs. Aliens

Director: Rob Letterman, Conrad Vernon
Starring: Seth Rogen, Reese Witherspoon, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Paul Rudd
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure
Studio: Paramount
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 6.9 (226 votes)
Release: Mar 2009
Summary: When a meteorite from outer space hits a young California woman named Susan Murphy and turns her into a giant monster, she is taken to a secret government compound where she meets a ragtag group of monsters also rounded up over the years. As a last resort, under the guidance of General W.R. Monger, on a desperate order from The President, the motley crew of Monsters is called into action to combat the aliens and save the world from imminent destruction!
 

Monsters, Inc.

Director: David Silverman, Lee Unkrich, Pete Docter, Ralph Eggleston, Roger Gould
Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Mary Gibbs, Steve Buscemi, James Coburn
Genre: Animation
Studio: Disney/Pixar
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 7.5 (809 votes)
Release: Sep 2002
Summary: The folks at Pixar can do no wrong with "Monsters, Inc.", the studio's fourth feature film, which stretches the computer animation format in terms of both technical complexity and emotional impact. The giant, blue-furred James P. "Sulley" Sullivan (wonderfully voiced by John Goodman) is a scare-monster extraordinaire in the hidden world of Monstropolis, where the scaring of kids is an imperative in order to keep the entire city running. Beyond the competition to be the best at the business, Sullivan and his assistant, the one-eyed Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), discover what happens when the real world interacts with theirs in the form of a 2-year-old baby girl dubbed "Boo," who accidentally sneaks into the monster world with Sulley one night. Director Pete Doctor and codirectors David Silverman and Lee Unkrich follow the Pixar ("Toy Story") blueprint with an imaginative scenario, fun characters, and ace comic timing. By the last heart-tugging shot, kids may never look at monsters the same, nor artists at what computer animation can do in the hands of magicians. "--Doug Thomas"
 

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

Director: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Starring: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 8.4 (243,350 votes)
Release: Oct 2001
Summary: Could this be the funniest movie ever made? By any rational measure of comedy, this medieval romp from the Monty Python troupe certainly belongs on the short list of candidates. According to "Leonard Maltin's Movie & Video Guide", it's "recommended for fans only," but we say hogwash to that--you could be a complete newcomer to the Python phenomenon and still find this send-up of the Arthurian legend to be wet-your-pants hilarious. It's basically a series of sketches woven together as King Arthur's quest for the Holy Grail, with Graham Chapman as the King, Terry Gilliam as his simpleton sidekick Patsy, and the rest of the Python gang filling out a variety of outrageous roles. The comedy highlights are too numerous to mention, but once you've seen Arthur's outrageously bloody encounter with the ominous Black Knight (John Cleese), you'll know that nothing's sacred in the Python school of comedy. From holy hand grenades to killer bunnies to the absurdity of the three-headed knights who say "Ni--!," this is the kind of movie that will strike you as fantastically funny or just plain silly, but why stop there? It's all over the map, and the pace lags a bit here and there, but for every throwaway gag the Pythons have invented, there's a bit of subtle business or grand-scale insanity that's utterly inspired. The sum of this madness is a movie that's beloved by anyone with a pulse and an irreverent sense of humor. If this movie doesn't make you laugh, you're almost certainly dead. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

Monty Python's the Meaning of Life

Director: Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam
Starring: Sydney Arnold, John Cleese
Genre: Comedy, Musical
Studio: Universal Studios
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.5 (52,188 votes)
Release: Mar 1983
Summary: Perhaps only the collective brilliant minds of the Monty Python film and television troupe are up to the task of tackling a subject as weighty as the Meaning of Life. Sure, Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, and their ilk have tried their hands at this puzzler, but only Python has attempted to do so within the commercial motion picture medium. Happily for us all, "Monty Python's the Meaning of Life" truly explains everything one conceivably needs to know about the perplexities of human existence, from the mysteries of Catholic doctrine to the miracle of reproduction to why one should avoid the salmon mousse to the critical importance of the machine that goes "ping!" Using fish as a linking device (and what marvelous links those aquatic creatures make), "The Meaning of Life" is presented as a series of sketches: a musical production number about why seed is sacred; a look at dining in the afterlife; the quest for a missing fish (there they are again); a visit from Mr. Death; the cautionary tale of Mr. Creosote and his rather gluttonous appetite; an unflinching examination of the harsh realities of organ donation, and so on. Sadly, this was the last original Python film, but it's a beaut. You'll laugh. You'll cry (probably because you're laughing so hard). You may even learn something about the Meaning of Life. Or at least about how fish fit into the grand scheme of things. "--Jim Emerson"
 

Moon

Director: Duncan Jones
Starring: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw, Adrienne Shaw
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: Sony Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 8.0 (150,204 votes)
Release: Jan 2010
Summary: Science fiction can encompass many genres--suspense, horror, action-adventure, romance, even comedy--but director Duncan Jones's "Moon" doesn't fit neatly into any of them. This smart, provocative film has no aliens or cool spaceships, and the effects (mostly consisting of model vehicles lumbering across the lunar surface) aren't all that special; instead, the material is character- and story-driven, centering on an excellent, multilayered performance by Sam Rockwell. The scene is some undetermined point in the future. Rockwell plays Sam Bell, an employee of Lunar Industries, the company responsible for mining a fusion energy source called Helium-3, which is vital to Earth's efforts to reverse a serious energy crisis and can only be found on the far side of the Moon. Sam is all by himself, and as he nears the end of his three-year contract, the solitude is starting to get to him ("Three years is a long haul," he says. "Way, way, way too long. I'm talking to myself on a regular basis"); his only contact with his wife and daughter back home comes through the occasional video messages he exchanges with them, while his sole interaction on the Moon is with GERTY 3000, a computer voiced by Kevin Spacey (and an obvious parallel to "2001: A Space Odyssey"'s HAL 9000). Things start to go seriously sideways when Sam crashes his vehicle while out inspecting one of the giant Helium-3 harvesters. He comes to in the base infirmary, seemingly none the worse for the wear; but an unnerving surprise awaits him when he goes back to check out the accident site, and the resulting complications occupy the rest of the movie. Fans of "2001", "Solaris", and other cerebral sci-fi will enjoy figuring out what's going on; others will find it slow-moving and tedious. Either way, "Moon", which was made quickly and on a relatively low budget, is well worth a look. "--Sam Graham"
 

Moonrise Kingdom

Director: Wes Anderson
Starring: Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Kara Hayward, Tilda Swinton
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Studio: Indian Paintbrush
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 7.8 (113,073 votes)
Release: Jun 2012
Summary: Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, as a young boy and girl fall in love they are moved to run away together. Various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down - which might not be such a bad thing.
 

More Than Honey

Director: Markus Imhoof
Starring: Fred Jaggi, Randolf Menzel, John Miller, Liane Singer, Heidrun Singer
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Zero One Film
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 7.0 (956 votes)
Release: Jun 2013
Summary: With dazzling nature photography, Academy Award®–nominated director Markus Imhoof (The Boat is Full) takes a global examination of endangered honeybees — spanning California, Switzerland, China and Australia — more ambitious than any previous work on the topic.
 

Mud

Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Tye Sheridan, Jacob Lofland, Sam Shepard, Reese Witherspoon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Ray McKinnon, Joe Don Baker, Paul Sparks, Stuart Greer, Michael Abbott Jr., Bonnie Sturdivant
Genre: Drama
Studio: Everest Entertainment
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Release: Apr 2013
Summary: 14 year-old Ellis (Tye Sheridan) lives on a makeshift houseboat on the banks of a river in Arkansas with his parents, Mary Lee (Sarah Paulson) and Senior (Ray McKinnon). He sneaks out early one morning to meet his best friend, Neckbone (Jacob Lofland). Neckbone, also 14, lives with his uncle, Galen (Michael Shannon), who makes a hardscrabble living diving for oysters. The two boys set out to an island on the Mississippi River, where Neckbone has discovered an unusual sight-a boat, suspended high in the trees, a remnant of an extreme flood some time in the past. They climb the tree and into the boat only to find fresh bread and fresh footprints. Realizing that they are not the only ones who have discovered the treehouse boat, they decide to leave. When they reach the shore, they find the same footprint in their boat. And that's when they meet Mud (Matthew McConaughey). Mud is a gritty, superstitious character; his clothes are dirty, his tooth is cracked, and he needs help.
 

Mulan

Director: Barry Cook, Tony Bancroft
Starring: Lea Salonga, Eddie Murphy, B.D. Wong, Ming-Na, Miguel Ferrer, Harvey Fierstein, Freda Foh Shen, June Foray, James Hong, Miriam Margolyes, Pat Morita, Marni Nixon, Soon-Tek Oh, Donny Osmond, James Shigeta, George Takei, Jerry Tondo, Gedde Watanabe, Frank Welker, Matthew Wilder
Genre: Animation, Drama, Music, Family, Adventure
Studio: Disney Studios
My Rating:
Rated: G
Rating: 8
Release: Jun 1998
Summary: A tomboyish girl disguises herself as a young man so she can fight with the Imperial Chinese Army against the invading Huns. With help from wise-cracking dragon Mushu, Mulan just might save her country -- and win the heart of handsome Captain Li Shang.
 

Mulholland Drive

Director: David Lynch
Starring: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Ann Miller, Dan Hedaya, Justin Theroux, Robert Forster, Lori Heuring, Brent Briscoe, Katharine Towne, Chad Everett, Scott Coffey, Billy Ray Cyrus, Rita Taggart, James Karen, Angelo Badalamenti, Michael Des Barres, Marcus Graham, Melissa Lahlitah Crider, Robert Katims, Jeanne Bates, Dan Birnbaum
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Mystery, Romance
Studio: Universal Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: R
Rating: 7.9 (163,650 votes)
Release: Oct 2001
Summary: After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesic, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
 

The Mummy

Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Kevin J. O'Connor
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: Universal Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.9 (203,361 votes)
Release: Sep 1999
Summary: If you're expecting bandaged-wrapped corpses and a lurching Boris Karloff-type villain, then you've come to the wrong movie. But if outrageous effects, a hunky hero, and some hearty laughs are what you're looking for, the 1999 version of "The Mummy" is spectacularly good fun. Yes, the critics called it "hokey," "cheesy," and "pallid." Well, the critics are unjust. Granted, the plot tends to stray, the acting is a bit of a stretch, and the characters occasionally slip into cliché, but who cares? When that action gets going, hold tight--those two hours just fly by.
The premise of the movie isn't that far off from the original. Egyptologist and general mess Evelyn (Rachel Weisz) discovers a map to the lost city of Hamunaptra, and so she hires rogue Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) to lead her there. Once there, Evelyn accidentally unlocks the tomb of Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), a man who had been buried alive a couple of millennia ago with flesh-eating bugs as punishment for sleeping with the pharaoh's girlfriend. The ancient mummy is revived, and he is determined to bring his old love back to life, which of course means much mayhem (including the unleashing of the 10 plagues) and human sacrifice. Despite the rather gory premise, this movie is fairly tame in terms of violence; most of the magic and surprise come from the special effects, which are glorious to watch, although Imhotep, before being fully reconstituted, is, as one explorer puts it, rather "juicy." Keep in mind this film is as much comedy as it is adventure--those looking for a straightforward horror pic will be disappointed. But for those who want good old-fashioned eye-candy kind of fun, "The Mummy" ranks as one of choicest flicks of 1999. "--Jenny Brown"
 

The Mummy Returns

Director: Stephen Sommers
Starring: Brendan Fraser, Rachel Weisz, John Hannah, Arnold Vosloo, Oded Fehr
Genre: Thrillers
Studio: Universal Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 6.2 (160,804 votes)
Release: Oct 2001
Summary: Proving that bigger is rarely better, "The Mummy Returns" serves up so much action and so many computer-generated effects that it quickly grows exhausting. In his zeal to establish a lucrative franchise, writer-director Stephen Sommers dispenses with such trivial matters as character development and plot logic, and charges headlong into an almost random buffet of minimum story and maximum mayhem, beginning with a prologue establishing the ominous fate of the Scorpion King (played by World Wrestling Federation star the Rock, in a cameo teaser for his later starring role in--you guessed it--"The Scorpion King"). Dormant for 5,000 years, under control of the Egyptian god Anubis, the Scorpion King will rise again in 1933, which is where we find "The Mummy"'s returning heroes Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz, now married and scouring Egyptian ruins with their 8-year-old son, Alex (Freddie Boath).
John Hannah (as Weisz's brother) and Oded Fehr (as mystical warrior Ardeth Bay) also return from "The Mummy", and trouble begins when Alex dons the Scorpion King's ancient bracelet, coveted by the evil mummy Imhotep (Arnold Vosloo), who's been revived by... oh, but does any of this matter? With a plot so disposable that it's impossible to care about anything that happens, "The Mummy Returns" is best enjoyed as an intermittently amusing and physically impressive monument of Hollywood machinery, with gorgeous sets that scream for a better showcase, and digital trickery that tops its predecessor in ambition, if not in payoff. By the time our heroes encounter a hoard of ravenous pygmy mummies, you'll probably enjoy this movie in spite of itself. "--Jeff Shannon"
 

The Muppets

Director: James Bobin
Starring: Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, Steve Whitmire
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Family, Musical
Studio: Walt Disney Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 7.8 (19,725 votes)
Release: Nov 2011
Summary: When 3 muppet fans learn that Tex Richman wants to drill under the muppet theater for oil Gary, Mary and Walter set out to find the muppets who have been split up for years so that they can put on one last show and save the muppet theater. Kermit now lives in his own mansion depressed in Hollywood, Gonzo is a high class plumber at Gonzo's Royal Flush, Fozzie performs with a tribute band called The Moopets, Miss Piggy is the plus-size fashion editor at Vogue Paris, and Animal is at a celebrity anger management rehab center in Santa Barbara.
 

Museum Hours

Director: Jem Cohen
Starring: Mary Margaret O'Hara, Bobby Sommer, Ela Piplits
Genre: Drama
Studio: Little Magnet Films
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Release: Jun 2012
Summary: In the Kunsthistorisches Art Museum in Vienna, Johann is a security guard who finds a special quiet magic at the institution. One day, a Canadian woman arrives on a compassionate visit to the city, and the two strike up a friendship through their appreciation of art. That relationship helps put all the other goings on at the museum and in the city in perspective as Johann observes and participates in them in a world where art can say so much more than a casual visitor might know.
 

Must Love Dogs

Director: Gary David Goldberg
Starring: Diane Lane, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer, Dermot Mulroney
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Warner Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: PG-13
Rating: 5.8 (19,314 votes)
Release: Dec 2005
Summary: The combined charisma of Diane Lane and John Cusack gives a lift to "Must Love Dogs", a romantic comedy built on the comic potential of internet dating. Sarah (Lane, "Under the Tuscan Sun"), a preschool teacher and recent divorcee, has her entire family bugging her to get back in the dating pool. Finally her sister (dependable second banana Elizabeth Perkins, "Big") puts an ad for Sarah online; a host of questionable prospects respond, but Sarah meets one guy--a boat builder named Jake (John Cusack, "High Fidelity", "Say Anything")--who shows promise, though he himself is recently divorced and a little tender. Unfortunately, Sarah also feels sparks with the father (Dermot Mulroney, "My Best Friend's Wedding") of one of her students, and when paths cross, trouble follows. "Must Love Dogs" has some amusing scenes, but the tone and quality is wildly erratic--it's as if the movie was broken into a dozen parts and randomly assigned to different writers and directors, some of whom were making a bad sitcom, some of whom were making a good sitcom, and some of whom were making a movie that blended wry comedy with some deft psychological insight. The great cast (in addition to solid work from those mentioned above, there's also Stockard Channing and Christopher Plummer) keep the story moving, but for every amusing moment there are two that are plastic, forced, or wince-inducing. "--Bret Fetzer"
 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Director: Joel Zwick
Starring: Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine, Christina Eleusiniotis, Kaylee Vieira
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Hbo Home Video
My Rating:
Rated: PG
Rating: 6.5 (72,888 votes)
Release: Feb 2003
Summary: It's not surprising that "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" grew more popular over the course of its theatrical release (whereas most blockbusters open big and then drop precipitously)--not only does it have believable situations and engaging characters, but these characters (particularly our romantic heroine, Toula, played by writer and performer Nia Vardalos) look like actual human beings instead of plastic movie stars. The result is the very accessible tale of Greek-American Toula (whose family sees her as over the hill at 30), who falls for a WASPy guy named Ian (John Corbett) and then has to endure the outrage, doubt, and ultimate acceptance of her deeply ethnically centered family. The actors invest their wildly stereotypical portrayals with sincerity and compassion, giving the movie an honest warmth instead of Hollywood schmaltz. But "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" ultimately succeeds because of Vardalos; her intelligent, down-to-earth presence and charm carry the film. "--Bret Fetzer"
 

The Myth of the American Sleepover

Director: David Robert Mitchell
Starring: Claire Sloma, Marlon Morton, Amanda Bauer, Brett Jacobsen, Nikita Ramsey
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Studio: Roman Spring Pictures
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 6.1 (1,508 votes)
Release: Apr 2011
Summary: Four young people navigate the suburban wonderland of metro-Detroit looking for love and adventure on the last weekend of summer.
 

The Mythology of 'Star Wars'

Director: Pamela Mason Wagner
Starring: George Lucas, Bill Moyers
Genre: Documentary, Television
Studio: Films for the Humanities
My Rating:
Rated: Unrated
Rating: 6.3 (46 votes)
Release: Sep 2000
Summary: The struggle between heroes and villains and the influence of a higher force are the essence of mythology and resonate within all cultures, providing storytellers with a natural framework for spinning tales. In this program, using extensive film clips from the Star Wars saga, George Lucas discusses his efforts to tell old myths in new ways, the role of faith in his own life, and the influence of his mentor, Joseph Campbell.