In “Carlito’s Way,” actor Al Pacino, director Brian De Palma, and producer Martin Bergman reunited for the first time since making their classic film “Scarface (1983).” Returning to the gangster genre, something De Palma was reticent to do, and using similar story elements brings inevitable comparisons between the two projects although “Carlito’s Way” comes up short on its own due to its mediocre and illogical script. Two novels by Edwin Torres, “Carlito’s Way and “After Hours,” are the source materials for the film. The first of the rise of Carlito Brigante, a Puerto Rican gangster from the streets of Spanish Harlem, who works his way up to kingpin of the heroin trade, and his eventual arrest and conviction for 30 years. The second novel, from which the film’s story is primarily taken, shows Carlito’s life after an early release from prison ...

  "The Bourne Ultimatum” brings one of the most unique movie series in recent years to a whole new level. “The Bourne Identity” introduced us to a confused Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) looking for answers to his past. “The Bourne Supremacy” took us further into Project Treadstone and the masterminds behind the assassination training program. Now, in “The Bourne Ultimatum” Jason is more confused than ever, and the CIA is not making his life any easier. The third film picks up about 10 minutes after where “Bourne Supremacy” ended. Injured in Moscow, Bourne manages to escape on a train and heads to Waterloo in England. It is there that he meets with Simon Ross (Paddy Considine), a security correspondent for a local newspaper. He has been writing a series of articles on the identity of Jason Bourne, using a source deep inside ...

  "Darkman" is a flamboyant, richly romantic and very colorful story, laced with humor and horror, but the baroque style turned some off. When it was released, there were those who stubbornly insisted that the kind of wit displayed in the film can only be accidental. There were those who felt themselves above the film—possibly because of its comic book-like story—and so laughed at what they thought of as the film's stupidities. But you tell me: at one point, a character who expects to be murdered realizes that that isn't going to happen right now. "If you're not going to kill me," she snaps, "I have some things to do." The audience howled—but that's obviously a deliberately funny line. It was conceived and directed by Sam Raimi, who at the time had made only three commercial features: "Evil Dead," "Evil Dead 2" and "Crimewave" (which he pretty much disowns). Raimi was unlike ...

  In the city of Richmond, rocker Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) is abducted during a benefit concert by a motorcycle gang lead by the memorably owl-coiffed Raven (Willem Dafoe). Reva (Deborah Van Valkenburgh), a fan of the singer summons her renegade brother Tom Cody (Michael Pare) to help rescue Ellen. Cody, who has an unsavory reputation with the local police, is also Ellen’s ex-boyfriend. Cody returns to Richmond where he assembles an offbeat band of rescuers, including Ellen’s mouthy manager, Billy Fish (Rick Moranis) and a tomboyish war veteran (?!) named McCoy (Amy Madigan). The group heads into “the Battery”, the bad area of the city where Raven’s gang holes up at warehouse-sized bar and roadhouse. Ellen’s rescue is handled easily, but not without a sizable amount of combustive mayhem and calamity. Pursued by Raven and his gang, Cody and his bunch must fight their way across the city to Richmond, where they will ...

  When the movie of “The Bourne Identity” was announced, it seemed that Universal’s gears had slipped a cog. The Robert Ludlum novel had already been done as a TV miniseries in 1988. And Matt Damon as the lead? Give us a break—Matt Damon, action star. Hardy har har. Then the movie was released and the laughter was silenced at once. Damon, it turned out, was perfectly cast as Jason Bourne, the man who’d lost most of his memories, but none of the skills he’d been taught so expensively. Doug Liman, best known for “Swingers,” proved to be the right man to direct the intricate, fast-paced movie. It was a hit world-wide and produced two sequels of almost the same quality—some say they’re even better than “Identity.” Liman directed from a tight, well-plotted script by Tony Gilroy and W. Blake Herron; it’s so involving that it’s easy to watch several times. This well-produced high-definition ...