The movie was set in the war torn Yugoslavia of Eastern Europe during the late 1990s. A young navigator pilot on board a military aircraft carrier was bored of the unexciting routine flights and planned for an early retirement from the US Navy.What was meant to be another routine flight over a demilitarized zone at the borders of Yugoslavia suddenly turned into a dreadful experience when his plane was shot down and his pilot friend murdered by a mercenary sniper attached to the Serbian army. The "downed" navigator soon became a victim trapped in a web of war and suffocating politics, relentlessly pursued by the mercenary sniper as well as the Serbian army under the command of a merciless Serbian general. The general was determined to cover-up the perpetrated genocide of the Bosnian population by recovering the digital photographs of the mass graves taken from their fighter jet plane during their failed reconnaissance mission.

I especially liked the scene where the jet plane was pursued by 2 heat seeking missiles. When the man was about to fire the missiles, the camera focused on the man’s face as he looked into the sky purposefully and confidently. Then instantly the camera switched to his hands pushing the button to fire the missiles with "techno" music playing in the background. The next clip was of the missiles shot from the tank. The release of the missiles started with a loud and solid blast to a shrieking sound as it gained speed. The scene got more exciting as another missile pursued the jet fighter through the forest, brushing the snow off the tree tops at speeds past the sound barrier caused by the jets loud sonic boom. Unable to "shake off" the last missile, the pilot then decided for an almost suicidal "head on pass" maneuver to confuse the missile’s targeting system. The pass was almost successful except that the missile had "clipped" the right wing of the jet. The right wing was split into 2 rendering the plane uncontrollable. As the "smart" missile made a return path and approached its target, the camera then focused on the missile releasing its deadly payload in stages onto the jet. The navigator’s eyes were wide in shock as his face turned to look at the exploding missile amidst the heavy sounds of triggered alarms, highly charged and emotional background orchestra and opera music. The scene paused during shots and that created a more dramatic overall situation. The exploding missile triggered a fire that engulfed and cut the plane in half.

The same "pause" technique was used during the ejection scene and throughout the film to capture the similar intense moments. Such a combination of computer graphics and fantastic camera angles and video techniques in the sky made the scene successful in the sense that I felt as excited and intense just like being one of the pilots themselves.

Thereafter, unsuccessful rescue attempts to save the surviving navigator, the Navy Admiral of the aircraft carrier battle fleet began to feel responsible for the unfortunate events that had come upon the surviving navigator and the murdered pilot. The US Navy Admiral felt frustrated by the political hindrance set upon him because his counterpart from the allied forces unjustly opposed his actions for the sake of maintaining the realistically non-existing peace treaty in the Balkan Regions.

After receiving news that the surviving navigator had been found dead by the Serb forces, the US Navy Admiral was notified of a radio signal that could have only be activated by the downed pilot previously thought dead. Consequently US Navy Admiral decided to lead a final rescue mission to extract the surviving navigator pilot from behind enemy lines regardless the consequences to his safety and to his own career.

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 106 min

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About the Author:

Abas Kamal bin Sulaiman is a movie enthusiast minus the ability to produce, act & the desire buy every new release movie DVD. He writes on a variety of movie based topics. Visit http://abassterinternational.blogspot.com

Popularity: 4% [?]

Once a week my boyfriend and I will sit down to watch a movie. Every time we do, we run into the problem of what to watch. This movie Cinderella Man was an easy pick for both of us. A five star rating indeed!

Cinderella Man (2005 Release)

Starring Russell Crowe, Renée Zellweger, and Paul Giamatti.

Cinderella Man is just a given for both of us. Russell Crowe stars as James Braddock. The story takes place in the 1930's, during the Great Depression. Braddock is stricken as hard by the Depression as the rest of the working world. When forced to take Public Relief and faced with losing his family, driven by his determination and the love of his family, Braddock once again rises to the top. The underlying motivation for him being first his family, and then the determination to succeed is truly inspirational. A simple man, he does whatever it takes to keep his family together and to put food on the table.

The reason I can watch this movie over and over is because of the TRUE "feel good" nature of the film. My boyfriend will say he loves the film due to the fact that it portrays a chivalry that no longer exists, and that Cinderella Man is one of the few movies that he can say portrays a "true" hero.

At the end of the movie, you are left with a warm feeling, a feeling that will stay with you for awhile. I definitely recommend this movie for movie night! It gets a five star rating from me, and is beyond rating for him.

Happy Movie Watching!

Rated: PG-13

Runtime: 144 Min

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Josie is an avid movie watcher, video game player, and all around media geek. Check out movie reviews and more at her website: http://OnlineMoviesAndMore.com/

Popularity: 4% [?]

As a winner of the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Chariots of Fire won the hearts and minds of millions of people all over the world. The story is centered on two young, English men striving to achieve nothing less then the Olympic gold medal.

Who can not admire any person who strives with a constant, determined effort by the sweat of his brow, and the rush of his adrenalin, in order to be first - or nothing at all. Starring Ian Charleson and Ben Cross as two long distance runners in early 1900s England. For either of these men, second place is as good as a defeat.

Driven by desperate desires, Eric Liddell, played by Ian Charleson, and Harold Abrahams, played by Ben Cross, compete in arduous endurance training to give world Olympic glory to the United Kingdom. Liddell is a man of stern, Christian faith and believes God has given him a fateful gift, the ability to be one of the fastest runners in the world. Described by a bystander in the sidelines, "He runs like a mad man", as they watch him race, Liddell yearns to have victory for God first, and then Great Britain.

Likewise, Harold Abrahams looks at winning as a repudiation of the creeping anti-semitism within Europe and America. As a student at Cambridge, England, he is confronted with the long standing tradition of using only amateur trainers from the athletic department at school. His response is to make his point known to the president of the school; "You want what I want and that is to win, and that takes a professional trainer, not an amateur."

The two men run in both the rain and sunny skies alike, through the beautiful English countryside and along the beach. Both endure extreme workouts to build and tone their bodies. Both men sacrifice their personal lives to completely devote their time to training in order to get that extra few seconds of speed over each other, and all other rivals.

In the meanwhile, Harold Abrahams falls head over heels in love with a popular singer that does not understand his relentless ambition to always win every single race. Even though she walks away, later she decides to wait for him as he trains for the Olympics, even if it means him leaving her for a long extended period.

At the same time, Eric Liddell works at a feverish pace at both his missionary purpose and his running, often ending his races with a sermon on winning for God's glory. Later, the story takes a turn when he decides to lets his love, and fellow lady missionary, take over the mission - at least until he wins at the Olympics for God.

This movie shows the pressure put on these two men by the elaborate English culture filled with pomp and circumstance characteristic of the elite and royal families of that era. Even the Prince of Wales, the future King of England, gets involved with Eric Liddell in a politically sensitive matter. Thankfully help arrives, but from a totally unexpected source.

Based on a true story, Chariots of Fire won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1981 and is rated PG.

Rated: PG

Runtime: 123 min

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About the Author:

Tom Straub is a successful author, and webmaster of the DVD Reviews web site, which offers reviews of both the latest and your favorite DVD releases.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Kim Basinger in this film brings to life one of the strangest paths that leads from catatonic grief to no holds barred carnal pyrotechnics that I've ever seen in a movie, which makes it not easy to understand the Marion character.

How can a mother bring "closure" to her son's death by having sex (and definitely not "love") with a college kid that exactly looks like her son, and do it not once or twice but 60 times over a few months is really hard to understand.

Yet it is clear that she thinks not to be a mother to her young daughter is better than to be a "bad mother" to her. That's a little bit more understandable a motivation that helps us put her final act into a perspective. And at the end, our sympathies are still with her. That's the kind of winning performance she manages to pull through.

And let's not forget the two other actors who contribute significantly to this solid production.

Mimi Rogers (as Ted's painting model and humiliation object Evelyn Vaughn), smart and strong in every film she did in the past, still looks so irresistible at her mid-age and delivers her part without a flaw even though it has relatively few lines. She is as dependable a supporting actress as they come.

Let's also applause the 5 year old gem, Elle Fanning, who plays Ted and Marion's precocious little daughter Ruth. It's scary to witness the intelligence and talent this little girl has at only age five. What's she going to be like when she is fifteen or thirty five? How many Oscars will she line up on her mantel when she is fifty five? I hope life will spare her from the dead ends that some similarly talented youngsters before her could not back out from -- observe Britney Spears. I wish this lovely and immensely talented acting prodigy many fruitful years ahead.

This is a small-budget movie with great actors and a terrific script and everything works like a (to use a contemporary metaphor) well-configured operating system ("well oiled machine" is so nineteen century). Or "Apple of a movie," I guess, if you excuse the irresistible world play there.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy intelligent adult dramas without any special effects or car chases -- well, almost no car chases. Highly recommended for those who enjoy intelligent adult dramas without any special effects or car chases -- well, almost no car chases.

Rated: R

RunTime: 111 min

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Ugur Akinci, Ph.D. is a writer with 20 years of experience. He is available for a wide variety of freelance assignments. Visit his web site http://www.writer111.com/ for more information on his services.

Popularity: 2% [?]

"Guys and Dolls" is a charming movie based on the Broadway musical of the same name. The movie stars Frank Sinatra as Nathan Detroit, operator of a floating crap game in New York City in the 1950. It also stars Marlon Brando as Sky Masterson, a high roller with lots of luck, Jean Simmons as Sgt. Sarah Brown, a young woman in charge of a mission, and Vivian Blaine as Adelaide, a nightclub singer and Nathan's fiancee of 14 years.

At the beginning of the film, Nathan is in trouble because he and his associates are unable to find a suitable location for their floating crap game, and Lt. Brannigan is hot on their trail. His only option is to pay $1000 to have the game in the Biltmore garage, but he doesn't have the money. In order to try to obtain it, he decides to bet Sky $1000 that he can't take Sarah to Havana with him. Sky finds he's hard-pressed to win this bet, but after much persuasion, he gets her to agree to come with him in exchange for a dozen sinners to be delivered by him to her mission.

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In Havana, Sky and Sarah end up falling in love. Once they return, they find the mission taken over by a group of gamblers led by Nathan. They rush out once they discover Lt. Brannigan is looking for them there. Sarah is heartbroken, thinking Sky was responsible. The gang decides to continue their crap game at a new location under the sewers of New York. Then Sky gets a brilliant idea of betting the rest of the gamblers $1000 each against their souls, so that if he wins they all have to agree to come to Sarah's mission. He wins and they all arrive shortly after midnight, making good on Sky's earlier promise to Sarah. Sarah protects the gamblers from Lt. Brannigan when he comes looking for them. Sky also tells Nathan that he lost the bet and pays him $1000.

The movie ends with a double wedding at a busy street corner in New York City, in which Sky marries Sarah and Nathan marries Adelaide.

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http://www.yourmoviepal.com/movies/daves-best-100-movies/Guys-and-Dolls.html”> Guys and Dolls - Dave's Top Movies

Popularity: 3% [?]

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Ellen Burstyn, Mark Margolis
Directed by: Darren AronofskyBrave and beautiful, ‘The Fountain’ is one of the most striking and most wonderful films I have ever seen in my entire life. This experimental narrative impresses and indulges. It is such an organic opus for director Darren Aronofsky… and I really salute every single person involved in the making of this film.

I think this is the most personal film review I have ever made to date…

More than being an audio-visual masterpiece, this open-ended, surreal, and lingering within human’s stream-of-consciousness film triggers a world of visionary artistry stimulating not just the eyes and ears – it goes down to a human being’s very senses until it reaches the core of the soul. A haunting and remarkable journey that takes a viewer to various places and levels of consciousness, ‘The Fountain’ addresses such a metaphysical, emotional, and spiritual topic by utilizing an instinctive human language of pure cinematic poetry. Indeed, it gives that mystical, astonishing, and evocative film experience.

I do know that this film won’t affect every person watching it the way it struck me, but surely, at one point, every person who gets to watch this film will get a knock on the door of his/her soul… with lingering questions about love, life, and death... Some of the people from behind me at the moviehouse have actually called it weird. Maybe it is… and maybe I just share the same wavelength with such a vision that’s why I have appreciated it so much… but with all conviction, I do believe that if a person opens his/her mind to the ‘weirdness’ that they call, this cinematic poem will surely tap the subconscious into some miraculous transcendence. It will make the viewer wonder, question, and evaluate the unanswered inquiries he/she has since his/her childhood days… The film will not impose a concrete answer – but the magic of it is that it makes the viewer think and absorb the experience to think and act for the more important things in the present life than getting the concrete answers to the questions left unanswered since time immemorial.

‘The Fountain’ is a meditative film. Some may find it a soothing and suiting meditation on love and life, on life and death, on struggling and accepting, on beginning and end. It works in many levels. And yet there is a perfect coherence in Aronofsky’s sense of imagery. With a careful and artistic hand, he paints complementing images and scenes that are meant to invoke feelings than making outright conclusions. It has an amazingly unified theme-driven story. Moreover, ‘The Fountain’ is an experimental narrative with such experimental film elements evoking the right emotions and triggering a validating stream of consciousness from its metaphysical aspects to convey its message and promote the film experience it aims. Indeed, this film about humanity's mad struggle to find a cure for man’s transience is a powerfully engaging examination of mortality and loss wrapped up in a finely weaved sci-fi fantasy. And the film makes its own representation of addressing such an idea as: ‘Life is short, and so, we should make the most of it, and at the same time, live by the values we learn from it, and we shall finally find contentment with what forever has in stored for us…’

The splendid visual, sound and music elements, the enchanting storytelling, the taut acting, the powerful direction… together they make up this masterpiece. With each rhyming images and visual metaphors, every beat and unit of the actual film are carefully threaded together to give a tap to the soul and its lifetime of inquiries – its very idea may go beyond the scope of human understanding; but its emotional force really surfaces effectively to bequeath that mystical, soulful experience.

‘The Fountain’ is a risky and yet uncompromising cinematic work. Aronofsky tries to replace the prose of the already marked narrative storytelling by coming up with three distinct themes that gradually come together in a movement that is both powerful and beautiful. It’s a thought-provoking, emotionally honest drama that is steeped in love and loss. And with its time-spanning love story, it is inventive in using organic means to come up with much of its special effects; thus, creating a more organic and dynamic feel to it. Furthermore, the film pushes the audience’s flights of imagination into new facets and dimensions. Indeed, Aronofsky displays such an admirable film discipline. He proves that film is a really powerful medium, and even though the formula conquers the motion picture industry, a filmmaker can still live up with a unique language that is challenging and refreshing – and this is such an achievement.

Noticeably, in the film’s flash website under Warner and the write-ups/PRs directly coming from Warner, I would have to agree with Aronofsky advocating the idea that the people working for the film are all filmmakers. It is such an honor to share some similar insights with one admirable filmmaker as him. And one of these insights, I can not let pass not saying here… I have publicly said in one of my film reviews before (from my film review of the Filipino film entitled ‘Ilusyon’), that in any filmmaking endeavor, every person, whether working in front of the camera or behind the scene, is a filmmaker. I know this is fair enough to understand; while elaborating with this would probably need a new article/essay to write about.

The sterling performances from its actors and actresses are splendid. Even the minor characters not uttering much dialogues show distinctly effective roles with their few seconds of screen time. And of course, the two main characters wonderfully validate the film’s vision. This is a film anyone seeking a truly original experience at the cinema should partake in.

Personally, ‘The Fountain’ goes along with films like ‘Pi’ (Aronofsky’s first feature), ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (from the late film genius Stanley Kubrick) and ‘Solaris’ (from insightful filmmaker Steven Soderbergh). Just like these classics, ‘The Fountain’ is hugely ambitious and visually commanding, misunderstood by many, and respectively underrated. It has a complex impact that defies mainstream’s overused receptivity.

With this profound work, Aronofsky speeds back and forth across centuries with such virtuosity. He is a visionary director. And he is one of the rare filmmakers offering up such a challenging vision to a mainstream audience without playing safe and making much pretentions. Also, it is interesting to note that no spoilers can mainly affect every single film experience one can get in this motion picture.

The only thing that becomes a little more ‘improvable’ (pardon my lack of a better term for now) – as for how it struck me then – is the presentation of the future Tommy who is an astronaut in a bubble-looking spacecraft. Actually, I can clearly appreciate the point that Tommy’s various incarnations are being presented with the distinct position/profession complementing the eras that they live: a conquistador, a scientist, and an astronaut. All of them work effectively to the idea that Tommy’s soul explores and seeks answers for all those lifetimes. However, while watching the film, it has never gotten into me that the future character is actually an astronaut… I am not completely sure if there is something I missed to further understand its deeper roots, or maybe it will just come in time for me after carefully digesting the story, or maybe it will get into me only after watching it again… I have actually gotten the fact that he is an astronaut only upon reading the film’s synopsis. I just missed that with me thinking that the astronaut character is actually a person from the future who is meditating, and at the same time, struggling in his sacred space. Well, I guess, just like any other true work of art, there are things that can become a little missed by a spectator/appreciator. (Sometimes, I just wonder if I might then be a poor victim of the too conquistador clichés, too scientific interpretations, and too objective approaches seeking for much literality for the images I see…) Nevertheless, this is another interesting part – that my mind further gets stimulated with it while initially thinking and evaluating the film.

Personally, it is my dream to make a film that can weave the various cultures of the world and impart a universal message. And it is impressive to note that ‘The Fountain’ achieves this dream. And as a part of the audience drawn by its brilliance, it is so wonderful to see a collaboration of concepts from science and religion, art and science, and physicality and spirituality within one ‘whole’ film. Furthermore, it is fulfilling to see all the elements of drama, romance, fantasy, and sci-fi all in the right places as it crafts such a marvelous piece of work.

Just like a friend of mine saying, ‘Either you love it or hate it,’ and I would have to agree with that, this film is definitely not something for everyone, as a lot of people will probably think it's too difficult or eclectic. It can probably get underappreciated by most. But come to think of it, it’s not a matter of extracting mathematical results from the story. Its very essence would like to make people feel and experience… and think. And if a viewer just opens, at least, a curtain from the windows of their mind and hearts, they can later on embrace the totality of the film experience… and that’s where some form of appreciation and fulfillment comes... In another manner of saying it, one can appreciate it in a similar way as appreciating a poem or an impressionistic painting.

This film is the type of film that one can actually watch over and over again and still get significant meanings from every cinematic experience it offers. It touches and enlightens in various ways and means. With me, after going out of the cinema, I have told myself: ‘This film opens up lessons for the soul…’

All my respect to Darren Aronofsky… Along with Tim Burton, meeting Aronofsky in person would be one of my greatest dreams (I wish I had the chance to meet the late Stanley Kubrick too…). If Aronofsky ever goes to the Philippines, or if I have the chance to meet him anywhere else in the world, I would never pass any opportunity to meet him in person and discuss something about his films and ask questions about filmmaking. And if, by any twist of fate, this article reaches him, with all respect, I would have to take the opportunity to say ‘I am grateful to have known a filmmaker as you who have offered me such resounding experiences through watching your films. I have watched ‘Pi’ when I was still in film school. I love your works and your discipline and your courage. I am a fan. If I were from America, I would most likely seek apprenticeship under such a respectable auteur as you. I will always live by the craft with inspirations coming from your works. You have been a great influence… And I am looking forward to seeing more of your films in this lifetime…’

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Check out Film Works: Rianne's Film Blog and Rianne's Homepage
Having been bitten by the film bug, I have realized that pain is temporary; film is forever. I'm a free-spirited artist who is in constant search for the ultimate experience in every place-seeking inspirations for every work...

Popularity: 3% [?]

"2010: The Year We Make Contact" is the long-awaited sequel to "2010: A Space Odyssey". Though nowhere near the quality of the original, it's still an excellent film in my opinion. The movie stars Roy Scheider as Dr. Heywood Floyd, the scientist who'd studied the Monolith on the moon in the original film, though a different actor was used in that one.

In "2010", Dr. Floyd is sent on a Soviet mission to Jupiter aboard the Leonov, a Russian spaceship, to investigate the larger version of the Monolith orbiting the planet as well as to determine what went wrong with the original mission. The United States and the Soviet Union are on very bad terms, but Dr. Floyd manages to convince the government to put him on the mission.

Dr. Floyd is awoken from hibernation and told of the possible discovery of life on Europa, one of Jupiter's large moons. The crew sends a probe down to Europa to investigate. They find a life form, but what appears to be a large electrostatic discharge destroys the probe along with its telemetry. Dr. Floyd interprets this as a warning from some higher intelligence connected with the Monolith to stay away from Europa.

After performing aerobraking through Jupiter's atmosphere, the crew arrives at the Discovery, which has become a derelict ship orbiting Io, a large volcanic moon. The other two American astronauts, Dr. Chandra, programmer of HAL, and Dr. Curnow, systems engineer who designed the Discovery, are revived from hibernation and board the Discovery along with Dr. Floyd. Curnow powers up the Discovery and Chandra revives HAL, determining the cause of his earlier malfunction as due to being given government orders to keep the Monolith a secret, which had conflicted with his design capabilities.

Next the crew journey to the Monolith, with both ships tethered together. Max, one of the Russian crewmembers, is ordered to pilot a probe down to the Monolith against the better judgment of his American counterparts. He ends up getting swallowed up by the Monolith and presumably killed.

Shortly thereafter, David Bowman's ghost visits his former wife, appearing to her on her TV screen. He also visits his mother in a nursing home, just before she dies. Meanwhile, relations heat up between the US and the Soviet Union to the point of a formal declaration of war, whence the Americans are ordered to return to the Discovery and prepare for a return trip home.

Dr. Floyd gets an unexpected visit from David Bowman's spirit, who tells him the crew must leave in two days because something wonderful is going to happen. In panic, Dr. Floyd rushes to the Leonov and tells the captain to prepare for an early departure. He devises a clever scheme of using the Discovery as a booster. Then they notice that the Monolith has mysteriously disappeared.

As the crew prepare for their departure, they discover a mysterious black spot on Jupiter. Upon further investigation, they notice that it's composed of millions of copies of the Monolith, which are multiplying exponentially and threatening to engulf the planet. HAL has been ordered to sacrifice the Discovery as well as himself in order to save the Leonov crew. Dr. Chandra tries to persuade HAL to do this at first without telling him the true reason, but eventually he does and HAL agrees to proceed. With the crew on board, the Leonov detatches from the Discovery, which ends up getting engulfed by the shock wave following the destruction of Jupiter, but the Leonov remains a safe distance away.

In the process of being destroyed, Jupiter is converted into a new star, providing heat for Europa. Just prior to the destruction of the Discovery, David Bowman's spirit had communicated with HAL and told him to broadcast the message "ALL THESE WORLDS ARE YOURS EXCEPT EUROPA. ATTEMPT NO LANDING THERE. USE THEM TOGETHER. USE THEM IN PEACE." The message appears on the ship's consoles monitoring the new star, whence they learn the true purpose of the mission. The United States and the Soviet Union also agree to end the war.

The movie ends thousands of years in the future, after the ice has melted on Europa, and it has become a lush jungle. A new version of the Monolith appears on Europa.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

"A Clockwork Orange" is a disturbing film set in a violent world in the near future. The film concerns Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell) and his gang of "droogs", who go out at night performing all manners of "ultraviolence". The language spoken in Nadsat, a fictional futuristic English dialect.

The movie begins in London, where Alex and his gang beat up an old beggar on a bridge near the Thames. They go on to perform more horrific acts, including beating up a rival gang, terrorizing drivers on a country road, and tying up and beating a writer at his house and raping his wife. Alex ends up antagonizing the rest of his gang, so they plot against him. Eventually they betray him to the police after he breaks into a house and murders a young woman.

Alex spends the next two years in prison. While there, he overhears of an experimental procedure known as the Ludovico technique, which supposedly makes bad people good, ensuring that they never return to prison. He opts for the procedure, which lasts two weeks. The procedure involves being given an experimental serum which produces an adverse reaction to violence and being forced to watch violent films. By the end of his treatment, he's supposedly cured, though he is unable to act violently, even in self-defense. The treatment also has the adverse side effect of making Alex go crazy upon hearing Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which he used to love.

The day he is freed turns out to be horrible for Alex. First he tries to return home, but finds his parents have rented out his room and won't allow him to return. He tries to fight off the new tenant but becomes sick in the process. Then he wanders out in the street where he encounters the same old beggar, who recognizes him and harasses him along with a group of old men. The police come to break up the brawl, but the policemen turn out to be none other than two of his old gang members, who beat him up and nearly kill him.

Wandering aimlessly, Alex ends up back at the house of the writer, who does not recognize him because he and his gang members had been wearing masks. The writer read about his treatment in the newspapers and sympathizes with him, so he agrees to take him in. Shortly thereafter, however, he discovers Alex's true identity, whence he drugs him and forces him to listen to Beethoven's Ninth. Alex tries to kill himself by jumping out of the window, but manages to survive.

In the end, Alex is hospitalized. The doctors reverse the Ludovico procedure, so he can once again listen to Beethoven's Ninth and no longer has an adverse reaction to violence. Alex ends up working for the Minister of the Interior, who'd approved the procedure which nearly killed him, in order to restore the Minister's public image.

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A Clockwork Orange - Dave's Top Movies

Popularity: 3% [?]

Stomp the Yard

This movie is the tail of coming of age.  Its the tail of DJ, a troubled youth from Las Angeles who attends a historically black college name Truth University in Atlantia Georgia.  It details the troubled life that DJ has to overcome in order to make a new beginning of his life.  He finds this new beginning through the interaction with fraternity life.  No, this is not a drink and sex movie.  This movie actually has a very distinct story line that shows how fraternity life can change a individual in a positive manner.  Stomp the Yard uses a ancient dance called stepping.  Through stepping and fraternity interaction DJ is able to humble his spirit and turn to a communial interaction with his fraternity brothers and life in general.

I truely loved this movie.  It is definitly a must see for the whole family.

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Stomp the Yard Homecoming DVD 2010

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Stomp The Yard DVD 2007 Widescreen

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Genres: Drama, Musical/Performing Arts and Teen

Running Time: 1 hr. 54 min.

Release Date: January 12th, 2007

MPAA Rating PG-13 for a scene of violence, some sexual material and language.

Popularity: 5% [?]

by: Sharif Khan

I recently had the pleasure of watching Marc Forster’s film, Stranger Than Fiction, which I found to be a delightfully charming, intelligent comedy written by first-time screenwriter Zach Helm. I give it two guitars up. Way up. (Platonically speaking of course).

It’s about an uptight IRS agent, Harold Crick (Will Ferrell), who realizes that his mundane life is being narrated by the voice of a chain-smoking novelist played by Emma Thompson. The novelist is suffering from a bad case of writer’s block and is on the verge of a nervous breakdown because she can’t decide the ending to her story.

Going mad with the constant narration in his head that accurately predicts his every move, Crick solicits the help of a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman) to help find his voice. To his utter shock and dismay, Crick learns that the voice of his narrator belongs to this eccentric author that writes tragedies in which her heroes are killed off.

But Crick does not want to die! For the first time in his life he is discovering who he really is and what his true passions are. He sets out to meet the author with the determination to alter his fate. And upon meeting, the two worlds collide. The author is petrified to see that her main character has come to life and that he is very real indeed.

I can certainly relate to this movie as a writer working on my first inspirational novel. The movie raises some intriguing questions: What does it mean to be real? To find one’s voice? To express one’s voice? Who is narrating our story? Can fate be altered? Where do the boundaries of fiction and non-fiction collide?

I certainly don’t pretend to know the answers. I can only share my perspective as a writer. One of the challenges writers face is to know their characters inside and out and to have a complete understanding of the world they have created so that everything magically comes to life. As the story-writing guru, Robert McKee, likes to say, “Not a sparrow should fall in the world of a writer that he wouldn’t know.”

I believe in a sense that we are all writers. We are writers of our own play. In The Hero Soul (http://www.herosoul.com/), I close the last chapter of my book with a quote from Shakespeare:

“All the world’s a stage,
And all the men and women merely players.
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts,
His acts being seven ages.”

The world is a stage upon which we perform. Each age consisting of the acts and scenes of the play. But it’s our play. We choose how we act in each scene moment by moment. What type of play do you want to write? What type of a life do you want to live?

Realizing that he is going to be killed off, Harold Crick asks the literary professor for advice. The professor gives him a deceptively simple answer, “Go live your life! Do what you love to do!”

At first, Crick is offended by the professor’s triteness; but he realizes later that he has no control over his mortality and decides to do just that: live his life. He’s always wanted to play the guitar but never really had the time. For the first time in his life he walks into a guitar shop and sees this wicked turquoise guitar starring back at him. He picks up the guitar and begins strumming. In that moment his life is transformed from a tragedy into a divine comedy.

What have we been denying ourselves? What type of play do we want to have a starring role in? Sometimes we act in an “If Only” play with a bit part in shoulding all over ourselves until we are mired deep in our own pile of dung. I should write a novel. I should exercise. I should be a painter. I should start my own business. I should go on a dream vacation. If only I was younger. If only I was older. If only I had the money. If only I had the time.

In the professional world of writing there is a clause known as the “kill fee.” The kill fee is a fee paid by the editor to the writer for an assigned piece of writing that is killed off and never published. It’s usually a percentage of the total amount that was originally agreed upon between the editor and writer. Although there can be many reasons for rejecting a piece, the kill fee is often executed because the writing simply isn’t up to par.

When we’re not being our best selves, when we’re not expressing our unique voice, when we’re not being true to ourselves and not doing what we love to do, something inside of us dies. Life then pays us a kill fee: something less than what we truly deserve.

Are we living a life that’s worthy of being published, or will we live a life of mediocrity and accept the kill fee that’s assigned to us?

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About the Author:

Sharif Khan (http://www.herosoul.com; sharif@herosoul.com) is a freelance writer, inspirational keynote speaker, and author of the leadership bestseller, "Psychology of the Hero Soul." He publishes his monthly Hero Soul ezine for cutting-edge advice on success, leadership and personal growth. To contact Sharif Khan about his writing and motivational speaking services, call: 416-417-1259.

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