Drop Zone (1994) --> It took Wesley Snipes seven years to star in an action movie that was worth watching since his role as Nino Brown in New Jack City (1991). The movie I speak of is Blade of course. Drop Zone can be included in a string of movies Snipes did in the '90s (along with: Passenger 57 (1992), Boiling Point (1993), Rising Sun (1993), Demolition Man (1993), Money Train (1995), The Fan (1996), Murder at 1600 (1997), and U.S. Marshals (1998)) that were mediocre at best. Drop Zone is the worse of these films ( U.S. Marshals is the best) and has Snipes playing a Federal Marshal hunting down the killers of his brother. Other than a few skydiving scenes, this movie has little to offer the action junkie. Stick with the first two Blade movies if you wish to see Snipes at his best.
   
Full Spectrum Staff

The Prince & Me (2004) --> There seems to be a renaissance of fairytale romance movies lately and The Prince and Me is the next Hollywood installment. With A Cinderella Story (2004), Ever After (1998), and The Princess Diaries (2001), Hollywood can't seem to get away from the sappiness of the form and all are not worth the time to watch unless you are a hopeless romantic.
    Full Spectrum Staff

Batman Begins (2005) --> Although I love Tim Burton as a director, I mean who couldn't with such great movies as: Beetle Juice (1988), Edward Scissorhands (1990), and Mars Attacks! (1996), just to name a few, Batman Begins is the best movie about the caped crusader to date. Christopher Nolan (of Memento (2000) fame) directs this look into one of comic book's greatest characters and does a spectacular job. Taking the darkness of Burton's version (although Nolan stated that Blade Runner (1982) was the movie he used as an influence) and adding a more realistic and believable storyline (written by David S. Goyer), Nolan makes Batman less comic bookish and more human. How Bruce Wayne becomes Batman is explored in depth rather than passed over quickly. How Gotham became so corrupt and how the main villains Batman will need to fight came to be on the streets of the city are explained demonstrably. With Memento and now Batman Begins, Nolan is marking out territory as one of the finest film directors of the new millennium.
    Scott D. Brown
Kissing Jessica Stein (2001) --> A witty comedy that explores lesbianism, Kissing Jessica Stein is directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld ( Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde (2003)) and written by Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt (who also star). The movie tells the story of a straight woman who, because she is chastised by a former lover for being too uptight and critical about the men she dates, decides to explore a relationship with a member of the same sex. Although not an dramatic look into gender roles such as Kiss of the Spiderwoman (1985) or The Crying Game (1992), it is even lighter than a film such as Better than Chocolate (1999), it does do a good job in pointing out that love is not as cut and dry as many wish to believe. Sexuality does not always come compartmentalized into gay or straight relationships, there are crossovers.
    Full Spectrum Staff
|