Catch Me If You Can - stars Tom "gimme an oscar" Hanks, Leo Di Caprio

Every time I see the name Tom Hanks, I must confess it puts me off a movie straight away. Not like Julia Shiteberts, but not far off it. I avoided Castaway for as long as possible, and after the tooth-pulling scene, wished I had left it alone. But yeah, so I'm not Oscar's biggest fan, he just seems to take the roles that win statues and nothing else. Look at his last few and tell me he wasn't gunning for it each time...ok ok so one could make the point that perhaps this is just good management on his behalf in choosing good roles...or perhaps the voting public just can't seem to get the "cute" Hanks from the movie "Big" out of their heads.

Hanks can act, though never far out of his depth. Leo on the other hand, is this the most excrutiating actor on the planet or what??? That high-pitched whine he comes out with in times of stress that makes his voice sound like its still trying to break 10 years after the fact. He also walks funny, have you noticed this? Ok so I'm not Leo's biggest fan either, and shit, here they both are together, in the same movie, quite often in the same shot...CRAP.

Great movie, really enjoyed it. Without going into semantics I think Spielberg had a lot to do with it. As I mentioned with Minority Report, you could have anyone in these roles and Spielberg would mould it into something likable. But yeah, its set in the mid to late 60's and everything about this thing smacks of it. From the opening credits to the background music to the bright colours and free living and innocence of the time. Its total concept and really well done.

Frank Abagnale Jr (Leo) see's his parents' divorce and, for use of a better term, loses it. He decides that one way or another he will regain the money that his father has lost through bad business dealings and a long running case with the IRS, and hence get his mother to go back to him. He just wants his family to be whole again. Frank finds that forging cheques and cashing them is easy money, and that he's good at it. And so begins one of the biggest fraud cases in the history of America, and so Carl Hanratty's (Oscar) chase to bring him to justice.

This is based on a true story, and really focuses on what Frank was able to get away with. On one hand he really is taking advantage of the innocent, yet on the other he doesn't make anyone feel bad about doing it. And all along he's losing touch with reality. We also see a relationship develop between Abagnale and Hanratty over the years, only Hanks would want to play a focussed yet compassionate FBI agent. But I digress, kudos all round. Leo wasn't anything special - certainly not the critics' so called comeback role - and Hanks did a good job without being exceptional. If there's one thing Hanks can do, its play with his accent, though I'm not sure why the Boston inflection was put in this time round. And you know what, good to see Christoper Walken back on the big screen. Spielberg is the real hero behind this one me thinks. Very enjoyable. 4 stars.

Liberty Stands Still - stars Wesley Snipes, Linda Fiorentino

Do we take for granted that this kind've thing would never happen? Ok no, but also take this with a grain of salt too. A bit of escapist fun we'll call it. Snipes plays an aggrieved father who after losing his daughter in a school shooting, decides to take hostage the owner of a gun company in order to send a message. She does what he says, otherwise there's a big ass bomb that he's going to set off.

Its been done, sure, but this one has a couple of nice little twists. Firstly, Snipes is holed up in a multi-story building, Fiorentino is out in a public square, yet he maintains complete control, manipulating the scene as he sees fit and keeps in contact via mobile phone. I'm thinking this is pretty cool. He's also got a serious firearm at his disposal. If this movie was trying to push the moral that guns are bad (which in a way I think it tries to), they're going about it the wrong way by showcasing this type of weapon.

So in the end we have a battle of wits, and some of Fiorentino's attempts to get herself noticed by local police are entertaining. There's also a nice little twist involving the "rules of engagement" if you will, with regards to people who own gun companies. Like there shall be no negotiations, and anyone else of that seniority in the company must immediately evacuate the city should this occur. And some very dodgy goings on behind the scenes, I mean whose trying to off who and is there anyone really out there in the business of saving lives? This ain't great but it twists and turns enough to keep the intrigue going through the end...oh and the ending is appauling, switch off when...you'll know when. And here's a little bit of trivia, although set in LA, it was filmed almost entirely in Vancouver. 3 stars.

The Frighteners - stars Michael J Fox

One of my favourite sci-fi's, and definately Michael's best. The Frighteners also sees MJF in a mood he's not shown in anything else he's done. Not the big kid we see all the time; Back To The Future, Teen Wolf, The Secret Of My Success et al. Here we have a dark, brooding MJF, a scammer, not the nicest person although by no means the meanest.

MJF plays Frank Bannister who has the ability to communicate with the other side. He uses this to scam a living off the local residence, however it back fires when he starts witnessing bizarre murders, committed by something from the other side. And thanks to his notoriety in the town, noone believes he has nothing to do with it.

Any more and I'd spoil it. I love this flick, it was a real nice surprise when I first saw it, and now its on DVD I thought I'd give it anther shot. Its visually spectacular, and that's thanks largly to Peter "Lord Of The Rings" Jackson, some really great effects in there. Also impressive is the storyline, co-written by Jackson, its out of the box as far as originality goes. Kudos to the cast also, with MJF deserving extra for stepping outside as well, but the carrot for me was the very brief appearance of R. Lee Ermey playing what looks to be a similar role as his drill seargent in Full Metal Jacket. Anyone whose seen Full Metal Jacket will never forget the first scene he's in with the new recruits. "Sound off like you got a pair!". He's only ever had bit parts but they're inevitably classic, and one of his best was that of "The Coach" in Evil Woman, absolute scream! Its sort of a cross between Casper and Beetlejuice, if you can imagine that, this can have 3 and a half stars.

Face/Off - stars John Travolta, Nicholas Cage

Gotta be one of my altime top 5's this one ... "No more drugs for that man!" ... and it sees director John Woo in top form. Incorporating all that is action from the east and combining it with all that costs millions of dollars in the west. When you think Woo, think slow-mo action all over the place, sound effects for everything (like people moving their arms) and think amazingly coreographed fight scenes - especially with guns! Woo holds the record for the biggest body count ever put to screen, can't remember the numbers but if you can get a hold of "A Better Tomorrow" starring Chow Yun Fat, be prepared to soak up some carnage.

We all know the story line, suffice it to say "To catch him, he has to become him", something like that. And how does it translate to DVD? Well apart from the fact that the disc we hired was double-sided - yeah, you heard me, double-sided, we had to turn it over after the jail break, what the...? - and had not one skerrick of extra features, I loved it just as much as I have since the first time I saw it. Even Stace was sitting there quoting the movie with me. Absolute classic, 4 and a half stars.

That's it peeps, I have to go play volleyball, hhmm, and its cloudy...

BH