Reviews

I'm a big fan of Tony Scott, and I've always disliked Denzel Washington, so I didn't know what to expect with this movie. "Training Day" instantly went into my Top 10 movies of all time after I saw it once. Denzel is the perfect person for his role in this movie, and Ethan Hawke makes for a great guinea pig/scapegoat. Denzel plays a character so manipulative and so desperately evil, you'll forget that he is actually one of the "good guys". Sure, Denzel's character (Alonzo) has worked himself into a bind, and time is running out for him, so he has to act quickly and cunningly. It's easy to imagine Alonzo as a good guy before this, but as a good cop gone bad, he nails this performance. His best work ever, and Tony Scott's best ever.

This is a masterpiece. I love war movies, but this one beats them all, hands-down. Not just for its graphic, realistic depiction of being in the middle of battle, but also for the incredible characters that are developed, and the quiet, intimate moments, where a soldier's sadness, loneliness, depression, and fear all start to kick in. If you've seen "Platoon", "Full Metal Jacket", "The Thin Red Line", "Casualties of War", "Hamburger Hill", "We Were Soldiers", or any other war film, you need to see "Saving Private Ryan". It is the war movie by which all others will be judged for a very long time, maybe even forever. There are no words that can do it justice. This is the only movie I can give a "10" rating to, because in my mind, it literally is the perfect war movie in every sense. You will not be disappointed.

This is a fun movie that most everyone in the family can enjoy. It's rated PG, has some violence, but no nudity and no language. Younger kids will probably not understand the Masonic and Knights Templar references, but they'll probably still enjoy it. The only thing anyone needs to understand about the Masons is the Knights Templar eventually became the Masons, and many of our founding fathers were Masons, so there's a bit of Masonic lore/connection tied into the movie. Other than that, it's easy to follow. Ben Gates is chasing a dream of finding a lost treasure, the map to which is supposedly hidden on the back of the Declaration of Independence. He steals the Declaration, then takes off on his adventure to find the treasure. To put it simply, "National Treasure" will remind you of a cross between the Indiana Jones trilogy (minus the snakes) and "Ocean's 11" (minus the drinking and profanity). You don't have to be a genius to watch it, and you don't have to be a history nut to understand it. No, there isn't really a map on the back of the Declaration of Independence (Is there?), but Indiana Jones didn't actually find the Ark, either. It's a fun, fantasy, what-if, kind of movie. Enjoy it.