If you enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hero, or House of Flying Daggers, you may still not enjoy Curse of the Golden Flower.

The movie following the lives of the royal family during the Tang Dynasty. There is an excessive amount of lying,...
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If you enjoyed Crouching Tiger, Hero, or House of Flying Daggers, you may still not enjoy Curse of the Golden Flower.

The movie following the lives of the royal family during the Tang Dynasty. There is an excessive amount of lying, backstabbing, incest, and other dark activities transpiring, contrasted against the brightly lit - indeed, as bright as any Chihuly - palace. However, the movie relies less on the dance and choreography of its predecessor fight scenes and more on a twisting, woven script.

The acting is impressive, but we care naught for the characters, be them victim or antagonist. The events themselves that move the plot along are indeed shocking at times, but they are so drawn out they become boring after the first hour of walking around the palace.

If it is one thing Director Yimou Zhang can convey, however, it is scale. And not just large scale scenes in the palace courtyard and beautiful rolling hills, but the crushing claustrophobia of small spaces in small country inns and rural estates. The opulence of the palace will have you rubbing your eyes after its two-plus hour running time.

However, despite strong cinematography, impressive visuals, and entertaining performers, the movie's pacing is too slow to keep the viewer engaged. There is also too little action to keep a martial arts fan's attention, as well.

Fans of its predecessor will enjoy Rise of the Silver Surfer, but that does not necessarily mean that it is a good movie.

The second Fantastic Four knows that it is not a Spider-Man or an X-Men. No, the movie understands that it is a...
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Fans of its predecessor will enjoy Rise of the Silver Surfer, but that does not necessarily mean that it is a good movie.

The second Fantastic Four knows that it is not a Spider-Man or an X-Men. No, the movie understands that it is a tongue-in-cheek comic with bright scenes where its lead characters laugh-off near death events through witty one-liners. Every scene is brightly lit and bordering cheery, even when a lead character is in mortal peril. To be sure, the movie is fun. You will smile to yourself as the heroes onstage deal with an intersteller threat to the future of the planet.

The newest movie finds our heroes living in the limelight, doing their best to deal with sudden celebrity. The marriage of Reed Richards to Susan is the most anticipated of the century. Indeed, helicopters buzz the service trying to take snapshots, and The Thing is handing out autographs (sort of). Suddenly, the Silver Surfer appears on the planet, heralding its destruction. Our heroes whisk off to save the Earth.

The beauty is the newest film is its composition: 80% interaction among our four leads and 20% action involving the Silver Surfer. This means we see a lot of back and forth between Johnny and his sister, Johnny and The Thing, and Reed and Sue's relationships. The characters do not develop, but they become more three-dimensional. As a viewer, it feels like a peek into their lives.

Of course, every line is delivered through the side of the mouth with a wink and a chuckle, but we can forgive our seemingly invulnerable lead characters' follies as they mirthfully take on the possible destruction of the planet. We can even forgive Reed's seemingly limitless I.Q., which allows him to develop sophisticated physics monitoring systems within hours.

We can forgive them because they make us smile and laugh. If you can forgive implausability and enjoy the ride for what it is, Rise of the Silver Surfer is an enjoyable comic-based science fiction. If you groan through a badly-written script and cannot forgive the excessive amounts of makeup heaped on Jessica Alba - who appears to be a fem-bot covered in silly-putty - you might want to skip the Surfer.

The Prestige is an intriguing story of rival magicians, but do not expect to like any of the characters by the end of the movie. Still, if you enjoy a mystery with a twist ending, you'll want to take this ride.

Rupert (Hugh Jackman)...
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The Prestige is an intriguing story of rival magicians, but do not expect to like any of the characters by the end of the movie. Still, if you enjoy a mystery with a twist ending, you'll want to take this ride.

Rupert (Hugh Jackman) is styled as our protagonist, though one of obsession and revenge. His rival Alfred (Christian Bale) began as an apprentice alongside Rupert. However, tragedy strikes which sunders their relationship irrevocably.

The pacing is excellent, with a string of developments that accelerate the rivaly. Everything is about having the best magic act, the best tricks, and the best presentation to the young magicians. Their careers blossom before their audience, both we as the viewers and their on-screen audiences.

The cinematography, musical score, costuming, and effects are all top-notch and blend to create a beautiful turn-of-the-century world for our rivals.

Unfortunately, both magicians are constantly at each other's throats for reasons with which the audience cannot sympathize. Further, we want to shake the characters by movie's end and shout, "Why didn't you just sit down and talk to each other for five minutes? Why not just apologize and make amends?"

This spirals out of control and out of reality by movie's end, but you'll find you will want to be there to find out how it all turns out. You will be rewarded for your patience with a genuine surprise, but do not be shocked to find fairness was not the goal of Director Christopher Nolan.

An Inconvenient Truth is a Powerpoint presentation designed by Al Gore to convey evidence of global warming and its immediate threats to any audience.

The documentary is biased and slanted, as most documentaries about controversial...
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An Inconvenient Truth is a Powerpoint presentation designed by Al Gore to convey evidence of global warming and its immediate threats to any audience.

The documentary is biased and slanted, as most documentaries about controversial subjects have been, as of late. This is not to say that there are any untruths, only that the film is designed to provide evidence that global warming is real, immediate, and that action needs to be taken.

In this sense the movie succeeds. The facts are obvious, the message basic, and length appropriate to convey Gore's message. However, it is difficult to shake the nagging feeling that Gore is a hypocrite, driving and flying constantly in traditional internal combustion powered vehicles when alternatives are available, at least for ground travel. The movie does occassionally get bogged down by internal monologues, as well.

Often the scenes of the film pan away from Gore's Powerpoint show, which is generally the best part, to show him sitting in a car thinking about his youth. You will also listen to voiceovers of Gore's ponderances while viewing a serene lake or mountain range.

As a movie, An Inconvenient Truth tends to be "preachy" and can plod during scenes where the filmmaker's wanted to convey information, but were unsure what images they wanted to put alongside the dialogue. As a source of information for the everyman, An Inconvenient Truth succeeds in being dumbed-down enough that everyone can learn how important it is to consider alternative fuel use, buying local foods, and other habits that can reduce fossil fuel consumption to slow global warming.

The Fifth Element continues to "wow" science fiction fans after over 10 years for good reason: it is truly amazing.

After 5,000 years a great evil is respawning in our universe. The only way to defeat the evil is to prevent...
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The Fifth Element continues to "wow" science fiction fans after over 10 years for good reason: it is truly amazing.

After 5,000 years a great evil is respawning in our universe. The only way to defeat the evil is to prevent it from standing in a particular place (Egypt, of course) at a particular time. Good must arrange four stones representing the four element around a fifth element, representing love. The fifth element is Milla Jovovoch, known in the movie as Leeloo.

Unfortunately agents of the evil are out to sabotage the agents of good by trying to steal the four elements. The remainder of the film is about getting the stones, bringing them to the temple, and activating the weapon before the evil arrives.

The film takes place 250 years into our own future. Bruce Willis plays Corben Dallas, a retired military officer and current cabbie. As the protagonist, he faces a series of challenges from alien mercenaries and corporate villainy. He has a number of allies, from the military, to a secret priesthood, to Leeloo herself. Chris Tucker guest stars as comic relief, a "shock jock" for an interplanetary radio program that follows Corben through the second half of the film.

Visually, the film is a masterpiece, used as reference for television and film for a decade. Sweeping vistas of future New York, Egypt, space, and other planets offer an impressive view of just how much the universe has opened to the human race over the past 250 years. The cinematography is equally impressive, with well-composed shots all angled to best convey a sense of atmosphere for its respective scene.

Costuming is amazing, with bizarre futuristic outfits designed to convey sex appeal for the flight attendants, cleanliness for scientists, and utilitarian for the police, whose suits have lights fitted to their armor. The costumes are also designed in typically primary colors, which appear to be matched to the scenery throughout the film in startling quality.

Finally, the soundtrack is masterful. The classical soundtrack complements the film without over-dramatizing the scene. When the aliens first visit Earth in Egypt in the opening scene, the ambiance is an ambivalent electronic sound similar to wind blowing. Scenes of heavy industry have similarly industrial music, with mechanical noises built into the classical melody. The cornerstone scene of the film, in which Corben Dallas goes to an Opera, blends modern techno with Opera to impressive effect, highlighting a fight montage occurring at the same time.

From pacing to script, The Fifth Element impresses at every turn. A PG-13 rating is appropriate, with some modest parental guidance during brief nudity and fantasy violence. The Fifth Element plays like a great ride, and everyone gets off enjoying themselves.