title: The Negotiator function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); <br> studio: Warner Studios MPAA rating: R starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, David Morse, Ron Rifkin, J.T. Walsh release year: 1998 film rating: Two and One Half Stars reviewed by: Bill Warren When two can-do-no-wrong actors like Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey, both of whom specialize in complex, manipulative characters, star together in something called 'The Negotiator,' it seems reasonable to expect that we're going to see something with intricate plotting, smart dialogue and some major plot surprises. What we get instead is a decent but largely routine action thriller that is better than it should be thanks to the efforts of the aforementioned leads and a strong supporting cast.

title: The Hunt for Red October function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); studio: Paramount Home Video MPAA rating: PG starring: Sean Connery, Alec Baldwin, Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones, Sam Neill release year: 1990 reviewed by: Bill Warren Harrison Ford has made such an indelible impression on audiences as Tom Clancy’s CIA hero Jack Ryan in ‘Patriot Games’ and ‘Clear and Present Danger’ that it’s easy to forget that the character first made his screen appearance played by Alec Baldwin in ‘The Hunt for Red October.’

title: A Perfect Murder function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); <br> studio: Warner Home Entertainment MPAA rating: R starring: Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen, David Suchet release year: 1998 film rating: Two and One-Half Stars reviewed by: Abbie Bernstein As one character here points out, sexual jealousy and money are the two biggest motives for murder. Odd, then, that 'A Perfect Murder' doesn't generate more sense of lust or greed. It is diverting and reasonably competent, give or take a few plot holes, but the film disappears from memory minutes after it ends.

title: Sharky's Machine function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); <br> studio: Warner Bros. Home Video MPAA rating: R starring: Burt Reynolds, Rachel Ward, Henry Silva, Brian Keith, Charles Durning, Bernie Casey, Earl Holliman, Richard Libertini, Vittorio Gassman release year: 1981 film rating: Three stars reviewed by: Bill Warren Probably Burt Reynolds' best movie as a director, "Sharky's Machine" is a brisk, efficient latter-day film noir; the plot (from the novel by William Diehl) is satisfactory if familiar, the characters are standard but well-played by an excellent tough-guy cast that seems carefully hand-picked. When it was first released, the movie was regarded as excessively violent, even crudely brutal, but the excesses of the years since have made this one seem almost tame, at least in terms of excessive gore. But Reynolds handles the violence so vividly that it still has considerable impact, even on video, even on this unfortunately panned-and-scanned DVD.

title: Palmetto function popUp(URL,NAME) { amznwin=window.open(URL,NAME,'location=yes,scrollbars=yes,status=yes,toolbar=yes,resizable=yes,width=380,height=450,screenX=10,screenY=10,top=10,left=10'); amznwin.focus();} document.open(); document.write(""); document.close(); <br> studio: Castle Rock MPAA rating: R starring: Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue, Gina Gershon, Rolf Hoppe, Chloe Sevigny, Tom Wright, Michael Rapaport release year:   film rating: Two and One-Half Stars reviewed by: Bill Warren It's not necessary to notice that 'Palmetto' is based on a James Hadley Chase novel entitled "Just Another Sucker." All we need to do is watch flawed hero Harry Barber (Woody Harrelson) in action for a minute or two to guess which way the wind will blow. Despite this, the film succeeds in orffering a couple of genuinely startling plot twists, along with some good laughs. The problem here is that director Volker Schlondorff and screenwriter E. Max Frye don't entirely have a handle on how to maintain the bemused tone they occasionally succeed in setting. Sometimes the tone becomes so dark that it curdles the intended levity; in other sequences, would-be suspenseful action is played so broadly that it becomes comical.