An experience audiences are unlikely to forget.


Star Wars: A New Hope

George Lucas's stunning sci-fi masterpiece, is arguably one of the most inventive and entertaining films ever made, garnering generations of loyal fans who are forever imprinted with the memory of its characters and dialogue. As the adventure begins, Luke Skywalker, an impulsive but goodhearted young man who lives on the dusty planet of Tatooine with his aunt and uncle, longs for the exciting life of a Rebel soldier. The Rebels, led by the headstrong Princess Leia, are fighting against the evil Empire, which has set about destroying planets inhabited by innocent citizens with the Death Star, a fearsome planet like craft commanded by Grand Moff Tarkin and the eternally frightful Darth Vader. When Luke's aunt and uncle are murdered by the Empire's imperial storm troopers and he mysteriously finds a distress message from Princess Leia in one of his androids, R2-D2, he must set out to find Obi-Wan Kenobi, a mysterious old hermit with incredible powers. On his journey, Luke is aided by the roguish, sarcastic mercenary Han Solo and his towering furry sidekick Chewbacca as they run into a host of perilous situations while trying to rescue the princess - and the entire galaxy.

A Classic American tale!

Lucas's trilogy earned its place in eternity not for its mechanical precision, but for its intangible qualities of inspiration and wonder.

This is the phenomenon that saved 20th Century Fox.

Star Wars remains a cinematic benchmark as one of the most memorable and glorious fantasies ever made and puts most recent epic blockbuster mediocrities to shame as well as its countless imitators of the past 20 years.


Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

Considered the most morally and emotionally complex of the original Star Wars trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back continues creator George Lucas's epic saga where Star Wars: A New Hope left off. The Rebel Forces - which include young adventurer Luke Skywalker, rogue pilot Han Solo, and the beautiful but seemingly humorless Princess Leia - have been successful in destroying the evil Empire's Death Star. However, the Empire's top commander, the terrifying Lord Darth Vader, is scanning the galaxy for the Rebels secret location. After a visually stunning showdown on the ice planet Hoth, the Rebels are forced to flee, and Luke separates from Han and Leia. Masterful storytelling weaves multiple, archetypal plotlines that pit Vader against Han and Leia as he desperately attempts to capture Luke for political and, secretly, personal reasons. Luke, meanwhile, finds himself under the tutelage of the tiny but powerful old Jedi Master Yoda, who teaches him the ways of the Force and warns the impatient but talented student against the threat of the Dark Side.

For many Star Wars fans, this second installment is the best of the George Lucas trilogy: the deepest, darkest, most mature, and most thoughtful entry in the series that has no triumphant happy ending.

Bigger, better, faster, wiser and funnier than its predecessor! The balance between action and mysticism in Empire provides fascinating energy. It is a visual extravaganza from beginning to end, one of the most visionary and inventive of all films.

Sci-fi cinema at its best.

The Empire Strikes Back is the backbone of the Star Wars saga... it takes the story and themes of the first film into deeper waters.

It is still one of the better sequels Hollywood has every produced! A dramatic illustration of the continued technical brilliance and leadership of the Lucas production team.


September Tapes

September Tapes chronicles one man's attempt to find notorious terrorist leader Osama bin Laden. Don Larsen is the man responsible for the filming; an intrepid documentarian, he was joined by a bounty hunter in his exhaustive search of the dangerous Afghan landscape. After a battle raged in Southern hills, eight tapes were discovered containing Larsen's efforts. Detained by the U.S. government for a lengthy period, it was believed the tapes would never be seen by the public. Until now. The sensational footage see Larsen confronted by the Taliban, make some thrilling headway into finding the terrorist leader, and attempts to provide salient comment on events the filmmaker experiences. The first film to be made in Afghanistan since the collapse of the Taliban, September Tapes is guerilla filmmaking at its gutsy best.

It shares a lot with the Hollywood product: a forced gimmick, a dislikable protagonist, a transparent plot twist and a lot of unconvincing drama. The film is a vile, thick reduction, making a 9/11 victim's last cries the catalyst for a dimwitted first-person shooter.

Painfully lacking in both emotional impact and insight into the country's tragic recent history.

It's riddled with stilted voice-overs and eye-rolling awful dialogue.

The movie's heart is in the right place, but it looks and sounds regrettably bogus.


Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

The third and final chapter in the Star Wars saga. Luke must save Han Solo from the clutches of the monstrous Jabba the Hut, and bring down the newly reconstructed and even more powerful Death Star. With Solo imprisoned, Luke accompanies his faithful droids R2D2 and C3PO in a rescue bid, with Princess Leia and Chewbacca also lending a hand. After they valiantly disentangle their friends from Jabba's clutches, Luke returns to his Jedi Knight training with Yoda. Meanwhile, the Rebel Troops amass in an attempt to see off the impending threat from Darth Vader and his new Death Star, with the operation being lead by Han Solo. But Luke must face Vader himself if he is to become a true Jedi Knight, and as he enters into a spirited battle with his light saber-wielding enemy, some surprising revelations await the young warrior.

The film is a huge, rousing finale that wraps up the Star Wars trilogy with a bang by delivering everything audiences expect and more.

It is a sweeping epic with classical themes lifted from the teaching of Joseph Campbell, but it maintains strong central characters.

Return of the Jedi has twice as many visual effects than the original first. The film sweeps to a climax that all but blows the theater apart!

Darth Vader is one of the most magnificent villains in movie history.

Return of the Jedi is a fitting climax to the most successful space adventure of all time.


Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

The first of three prequels to George Lucas's celebrated Star Wars films, Episode I: The Phantom Menace is set some 30 years before the original Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope in the era of the Republic. Naboo, a peaceful planet governed by the young but wise Queen Amidala, is being threatened by the corrupt Trade Federation, puppets of an evil Sith lord and his terrifying apprentice, Darth Maul. Jedi knights Qui-Gon Jinn and Obi-Wan Kenobi are called on to intervene in the trade disputes. Along the way, they acquire an apprentice of their own in the form of young prodigy Anakin Skywalker, or as Star Wars fans know him, the future Darth Vader. They also encounter Jar Jar Binks, a goofy, lizard like creature who has been banished from his underwater world for clumsiness. When the Trade Federation launches an attack on Naboo, the queen and her allies must battle hordes of robot troopers while Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan face off against the sinister Darth Maul.

One of the most anticipated films of all time, The Phantom Menace sets the stage for the tumultuous events to come.

After waiting 16 years for the overture to this epic saga, this is what we get? An in-progress trade war? This isn't so much a movie as a two-hour special-effects demonstration reel. Eye candy isn't a reward in and of itself - it has to be backed by substance.

Story. Character. They used to mean something to George Lucas. There is no romance, no humor, ultimately nobody to care about in this oddly sterile movie.

It is neither captivating nor transporting, for it lacks any emotional pull, as well as the sense of wonder and awe that marks the best works of sci-fi/fantasy. Still, you have to see it. But I can honestly say I was never really entertained.

Overwhelmed by digital effects and watered down for children... the narrative structure is just awful. The force is gone and George Lucas apparently has no idea where he left it!

The John Williams score is dynamite, the sound it brilliant.

The Maul Jedi fights were possibly the best part of the movie as it brought back what the original trilogy meant. An intense battle between good and evil.

This isn't a film that will change history the way the first Star Wars did 22 years ago. Lucas has protected his multibillion-dollar franchise by making a film targeted at children.

The biggest let down since the Clinton presidency!


The Skeleton Key

After New Orleans hospice worker Caroline answers a help wanted ad, she finds herself working as the live-in caretaker of Ben Deveraux, a stroke victim who has lost his ability to speak. Ben's wife, Violet, presents Caroline with a skeleton key to open any door in the house - with the exception of one, which she claims she has never been able to open. But curiosity gets the best of her, and Caroline opens the door to find a wealth of materials representing the old house's history of hoodoo, an ancient form of folk magic. She soon discovers that the house harbors a dark secret - one that Violet knows more about than she first admits.

Screenwriter Ehren Kruger's latest illiterate piece of crap.

A stylishly made but disappointingly lightweight psychological horror tale set in the bayou.

More thriller than horror movie, "Skeleton Key" is the latest in a brood of PG-13 rated so-called horror movies developed to draw in the junior-high and high school crowd.

Skeleton Key is for the most part neither horrifying nor thrilling, and its mystery is mostly related to trying to figure out what the filmmakers were thinking.

This is essentially a haunted-house horror flick that starts off with effectively eerie scenes but devolves into a forced and mildly ridiculous ghost story.

A sluggish ghost story that would have trouble scaring a toddler.

The Skeleton Key isn't exactly dull... but it isn't scary either. Features terrific Southern Gothic production design, credible acting and a fairly effective twist ending (doesn't have your standard 'Hollywood' ending ... and that's a good thing) but a five minute capper is hardly worth 100 minutes of crapper.

Hoodoo can't hurt you if you don't believe; unfortunately, it can't scare you either.

Serviceable but ultimately disappointing.


The Devils Rejects

The follow up to his 2003 horror hit House of 1000 Corpses, Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects continues the story of a bizarre group of very odd people who like to torture, maim, and kill virtually everyone they come in contact with. When Sheriff Wydell pays a visit to the body-ridden lair of Mother Firefly, her children Otis and Baby are forced to run, eventually holing up in a roadside motel with four hostages. Seeking help from creepy clown Captain Spaulding, they continue their murderous rampage while being tracked by Wydell, who is hellbent on avenging the death of his brother, which came at the hand of this very weird and dangerous family. As Wydell tortures Mother Firefly for answers, Otis and Baby torture their hostages for kicks.

In the genre of low-budget hillbilly slasher movies, it's a masterpiece.

Captures the visual texture, spontaneity, and mania of 1970s shock cinema classics like Last House on the Left and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Much better than the cinematic cesspool of substandard 70s horror remakes we've been seeing lately.

I have a soft spot for movies that are sick and twisted, and Rejects is the real thing.

Zombie doesn't appear to have any other goals besides assaulting the viewer with gore and callousness.

In a league of classic films that are legendary for how disconcerting they are. The Devil's Rejects will repel many but will thrill the fans and the daring. I think Rob Zombie has an instant horror classic on his hands.

The kaleidoscopic fun-house atmosphere of Corpses is gone, replaced by a more gritty, less inventive approach. The movie is not merely disgusting, but has an attitude and a subversive sense of humor.

The results are for seasoned - even hardened - horror-movie fans only; anyone else need not apply... For those who can stomach the violence, it is destined to become a classic.

It is possible to be repulsed by The Devil's Rejects while acknowledging it as something of a masterpiece.

This is a perfect B-movie, full of wicked dread. The movie features some of the ugliest people and most disgusting behavior this side of 'I Spit on Your Grave'... Makes 'Natural Born Killers' look like Harry Potter.

An exhilaratingly sick joke.