The Barber (2001)

The Barber (2001)

At Christmastime, in a northern Alaskan town where everyone is crazy from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), an old serial-killer-turned-barber (Malcolm McDowell) is back to his old tricks. Never quite hitting its stride as a comedy or as a thriller, The Barber is nonetheless an entertaining and well made confusion.  The murders are nothing special and

Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

Beyond Tomorrow (1940)

Three old men (Charles Winninger, C. Aubrey Smith and Harry Carey), with nothing to do for Christmas, toss three wallets into the snow, hoping that whoever finds them will return them and stay for dinner.  It works in two cases, reeling in a young girl and a down-on-his-luck Texan (Richard Carlson) who find each other

Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)

Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001)

The trials and tribulations of a pleasant, silly “every-woman” (Renée Zellweger) as she attempts to lose weight, smoke less, and find a man who isn’t her boss (Hugh Grant).  It couldn’t possibly be that rude Darcy (Colin Firth), could it? Quick Review: Not a romantic comedy, but a comedy about romance, Bridget Jones’s Diary is

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the  Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005)

Four children, Lucy (Georgie Henley), Edmund (Skandar Keynes), Peter (William Moseley), and Susan (Anna Popplewell), sent to the country to avoid the blitz, travel through a magical wardrobe to the land of Narnia, where an evil witch (Tilda Swinton) keeps the land in perpetual winter.  A prophecy declares that four humans will start the overthrow

The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

The Curse of the Cat People (1944)

Amy (Ann Carter), the daughter of Oliver and Alice Reed (Kent Smith, Jane Randolph), is a lonely and overly imaginative child.  With no friends, she wishes for one, and Irena, the ghost of Oliver’s first wife, appears.  Amy also meets an old, pleasant, but mentally unstable neighbor (Julia Dean), who is cared for by a

Desk Set (1957)

Desk Set (1957)

Efficiency expert Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) is secretly hired to computerize a research department run by the brilliant Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn).  As Bunny worries about her boyfriend’s unwillingness to commit and the possible loss of jobs due to the computer, she finds herself drawing closer and closer to Richard. Quick Review: This is a

Die Hard (1988)

Die Hard (1988)

New York cop John McClane (Bruce Willis) is visiting his estranged wife (Bonnie Bedelia) when terrorists, lead by Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman), take over the building she works in.  It is up to McClane to save his wife and get out alive. There are a lot of action films out there, most with poor acting,

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Die Hard 2 (1990)

Once again on Christmas, John McClane (Bruce Willis), finds himself battling terrorists in order to protect his wife.  This time, he stumbles into them at the airport where they are trying to free a South American Fascist leader. Quick Review: It is unfair to compare the sequel to the original Die Hard, but I just

Fitzwilly (1967)

Fitzwilly (1967)

Head butler, Fitzwilliam (Dick Van Dyke), and his loyal staff rob and con in order to raise enough money to keep Miss Vicky (Dame Edith Evans) convinced she’s still rich.  But their perfect world is upset when a new secretary, Juliet Nowell (Barbara Feldon), enters the household. Quick Review: A skillfully written piece of Christmas

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005)

The Adventures of Harry Potter during his fourth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) finds himself mysteriously chosen as a fourth competitor in the very dangerous TriWizard Tournament, even though he is too young and there should be only three.  He must survive three challenges, and determine who submitted his

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)

The Adventures of Harry Potter during his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), who has been raised by his unpleasant guardians without being told there is a secret world of magic and that he is a wizard, is taken to Hogwarts by the giant Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane).  There he

Lady in the Lake (1946)

Lady in the Lake (1946)

At Christmastime, Detective Philip Marlowe (Robert Montgomery) is hired by magazine editor and femme fatale Adrienne Fromsett (Audrey Totter) to find her boss’s (Leon Ames) wife, in the hopes that the wife has done something illegal and Fromsett can take her place.  Marlowe follows the trail to Chris Lavery (Dick Simmons), the wife’s supposed boyfriend,