Disney built part of its earlier movie franchise on the films, "Escape to Witch Mountain" and its sequel, "Return to Witch Mountain."  Each of the films came out in the mid to late 1970s.  Disney has resurrected the story of alien crash landings with "Race to Witch Mountain."  The film was not widely liked when it debuted in theaters early in 2009.  Nevertheless, there is something for everyone in the film. Dwayne Johnson stars as Jack Bruno, as cab driver in Las Vegas.  He is an ex-convict that has turned the straight and arrow, mush to the dismay of his former crime boss employer.  Being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Bruno picks up, unbeknownst to him at the time, two teenagers, Sara (AnnaSophia Robb) and Seth (Alexander Ludwig).  Sara and Seth are siblings that have come to Earth ...

  In 1996 I was mesmerized as a teenager went I went to theaters and saw "Twister."  The film brought back the disaster genre.  After "Twister," disaster films such as "Armageddon," "The Day After Tomorrow" and "Dante's Peak."  And just one month after "Twister" came alien disaster film, "Independence Day."  While "Twister" is not perfect be any means, there is just something about it that draws you in, making you want to watch it many times over.  While many will not agree with me, I stand by my opinion. "Twister" stars Helen Hunt as Jo Harding, a storm chaser.  Her almost ex-husband, Bill (Bill Paxton) left the storm chasing group to pursue a weatherman career.  However, it is obvious that he still longs to be in the field.  As the film opens we see a young girl, destined to become the adult ...

  Okay, first things first.  Let's settle the name confusion.  This saga consists of four titles.  The first in the series was "THE Fast AND THE Furious."  The second was "2 Fast 2 Furious."  The third was THE Fast AND THE Furious: Tokyo Drift."  And finally, the fourth installment released earlier this year is Fast AND Furious."  It is confusing to define movie title by definite articles.  The initial success of the 2001 film spawned two sequels.  And now, fans finally get the original cast back for the 2009 edition of the saga.  However, the wait may not have been worth it. I'm sure a great many of filmgoers are going to see the suped-up cars.  However, there still needs to be a pleasing story and that is lacking for "Fast & Furious."  The film has a promising beginning with a quite ...

  There is no denying it, this is just a crummy film.  I was surprised when I learned that the film was released in 1996.  Despite starring Russell Crowe, I had never heard of this film.  It has been lost in obscurity since its inception.  I'm not sure how Sony came about releasing this film on Blu-ray.  I still think the studio has a giant wall of movie title names and they just throw darts at the wall.  It just so happens that this time the dart landed on "No Way Back." The plot of the film is a complete joke.  The audience is not privileged to any more information than the actors are.  That is not the issue.  The issue is that the audience is able to figure out the entire film from about five minutes into the film, yet the ...

  "Striking Distance" is a 1993 Bruce Willis movie that has faded into obscurity.  But is it really as bad as everyone says it is?  The answer is yes, and no.  By present action movie standards the film is corny and simple, without any real good action sequences.  However, the film is not an insufferable bore to sit through. There are a lot of films out there that never grab an audiences' attention.  "Striking Distance" does have the ability to grab, but somehow the filmmakers constantly let it slip through their fingers.  The plot is entirely too simple that even a toddler could have predicted the outcome.  At the same time, some of the plot motives feel stretched without any basis for their existence.  On the plus side, the film flows rather well.  Sure there are lulls, but for the most part ...