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When you hear Kevin Smith is making a film you tend to know what you are going to get. It’ll be a comedy with a heart, but there will be witty writing, biting dialogue and lots of sex and drug jokes – it’s almost his signature. You don’t expect a lot of visual flair, but it will be a well shot movie with actors you enjoy watching and if you are not a person easily offended by language you will walk out of the theatre having enjoyed what you just saw.

It’s for these reasons that I had no idea what to expect out of Cop Out. Every single film Kevin Smith has ever released has been written and directed by Smith, that’s how you can tell it’s a Kevin Smith film – it feels like him on every level. Cop Out is completely different; it’s scripted by Robb & Mark Cullen and only directed by Smith - Cop Out doesn’t look or sound like a Kevin Smith film. I was excited to see the film but I wasn’t sure what any of this would mean…I was surprised. I really liked Cop Out.

Cop Out is not my favorite Kevin Smith film, I have a feeling Mallrats will always be that film for me, but not only did I enjoy Cop Out as a comedy I enjoyed it for its visual style.

The thing about Kevin Smith films is that he tends to be so much about the writing that while his films look good, the camera just tends to stay in one location and let the actors move around it. His writing has consistently gotten stronger and matured with every film he’s put out but the only difference in his visuals seemed to be his budget…and then Clerks II came out. For the first time ever I saw a camera move in one of his films and let me tell you I adore that shot, not because it’s “Kevin’s first dolly move” but because I think it was a spectacular looking shot that was well placed, used perfectly and was vibrant. I have yet to see Zach & Miri to see if he kept up his visual evolution there, but it’s all over Cop Out.

The camera work and cinematography was one of my favorite parts of Cop Out; while Smith may not have made a film quite like Hot Fuzz or Shawn of the Dead, Cop Out is a loving homage to the police action film and Smith uses direct shot styles from films like Bad Boys to get that across on screen. It was subtle and wonderful to watch.

I had so much fun watching Smith try something new and the chemistry between Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis there wasn’t any way I could walk out of this movie unhappy. I commend Kevin Smith for making this and I can’t wait to see what he tries next!

Director: Kevin Smith
Writers: Robb Cullen & Mark Cullen
Jimmy Monroe: Bruce Willis
Paul Hodges: Tracy Morgan
Raul: Juan Carlos Hernandez
Hunsaker: Kevin Pollak
Barry Mangold: Adam Brody
Ava: Michelle Trachtenberg
Roy: Jason Lee
Debbie: Rashida Jones
Dave: Seann William Scott

Mary is one of the most sought after wedding planners in the greater San Francisco area and it finally looks like she is going to land the job that will get her the partnership in her wedding firm with the marriage of new-money Fran Donolly. However, Mary soon figures out that the wedding will be more complicated than it seems when she realizes that Fran’s fiancé Eddie is actually Dr. Steve Eddison, a doctor she had a romantic interlude with right after meeting Fran. What follows is a romantic comedy in the style of the Hollywood classics as Steve has to come to terms with why he flirted with Mary and Mary needs to deal with her attitude towards all of the men in her life.

The Wedding Planner really is one of my guilty pleasure movies. I can’t tell you quite why except I feel like it could have been made forty years ago and starred Rock Hudson & Doris Day. This film is soft, sweet and funny to it’s very core and will undoubtedly score well with the hopeless romantic types or fans of Jennifer Lopez or Matthew McConaughey.

Normally, the “seductive” smile of Matthew McConaughey has no effect on me, but in this movie hid good old southern charm comes shining through and he is pretty impossible to resist.

There is not really a whole lot I can say about this movie. It’s a guilty pleasure for a reason and talking too much about it would spoil it as I’d have to look to hard and find the flaws that I know are there but have cheerfully been avoiding.

Director: Adam Shankman
Writers: Pamela Falk & Michael Ellis
Mary Fiore: Jennifer Lopez
Steve Edison: Matthew McConaughey
Fran Donolly: Bridgette Wilson
Massimo: Justin Chambers
Penny: Judy Greer
Dr. John: Kevin Pollak

Mary: Y'know, "those who can't do, teach"? Well those who can't wed, plan.

I was in high school when I bought my first DVD player (at the time DVD’s were brand spankin’ new) and I still remember the first DVD’s I bought, these two DVD’s are probably the perfect example of the diversity in my movie vocabulary, these DVD’s are The Silence of the Lambs and She’s All That.

I adored She’s All That in high school and it still amuses me greatly. The movie really is My Fair Lady set in high school. Class president Zack, the most popular guy in school has come back from spring break senior year and been promptly dumped by his girlfriend Taylor – the most popular girl in school. Zack proposes a bet that he can make any girl in school prom queen, that most of Taylor’s appeal comes from her attitude, clothing and her social circle. Wanting to bring Zack down Dean chooses a girl for the bet – Laney Boggs – one of the most unpopular and awkward girls in school. After Zack convinces Laney that he wants to be friends with her he of course falls for the girl but can’t quite make him believe that he is on the level.

I love both Freddie Prinze Jr and Rachael Leigh Cook in this movie, but I have to say that I can’t name a single big thing they’ve done since She’s All That. I think that this movie and its stars remain mostly in my high school experience and not in contemporary pop culture. But I still find this movie fun.

Director: Robert Iscove
Writer: R. Lee Fleming Jr.
Zack Siler: Freddie Prinze Jr.
Laney Boggs: Rachael Leigh Cook
Brock Hudson: Matthew Lillard
Dean Sampson: Paul Walker
Taylor Vaughan: Jodi Lyn O’Keefe
Wayne Boggs: Kevin Pollak
Mackenzie Siler: Anna Paquin
Simon Boggs: Kieran Culkin
Katie: Gabrielle Union
Misty: Clea DuVall

Zach Siler: She kinda blew me off.
Mackenzie Siler: I like her already.

The first time I watched The Usual Suspects it was a turning point in my love affair with movies; I had never been so powerfully affected by a film in my life. However, it wasn’t until years later that I realized that The Usual Suspects was my favorite film. It is that one film that every time I hear the theme, or see a piece of it playing on TV I want to stop whatever I am doing and watch the entire movie. I can quote almost the entire movie line for line; I truly believe that in this film Bryan Singer created a masterpiece.

Before going into my breakdown of the plot I need to lay something out; one of the cardinal, unspoken rules when discussing The Ususal Suspects is to not talk about the ending – to do so would spoil one of the greatest cinematic moments in film history. It simply is not discussed; even AFI adhered to this rule when they released their list of greatest moments/film villains. If you’ve seen the film you know why.

The Usual Suspects is put together like a puzzle, a puzzle laid out by one Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey). It begins with an exchange between two men on a boat; one man, Dean Keaton, is obviously not long for this world and the other we never see, but Keaton calls him “Keyser” before the man shoots Keaton in the head and sets fire to the boat. This enigmatic character introduction is soon brushed aside as the film brings us to the present and reveals the boat has exploded, and Agent Kujan from Customs gets involved with the questioning of Kint about his involvement with the crime and his associates who died on the boat, trying to unravel the fate of a former cop-turned-criminal Dean Keaton; meanwhile, at the county hospital FBI Agent Jack Baer begins to question the lone survivor of the explosion Arkosh Kovash.

During questioning Kovash reveals that it was not as simple a crime as the authorities thought and Kint begins his tale: in New York, weeks prior to the boat explosion Kint along with criminals Keaton, Fenster, McManus, and Hockney were brought in for a false line-up by the NYPD and the cops created a deadly alliance between the criminals. From there the story grows until it takes a sharp turn into the middle as the question is raised – Who is Keyser Soze? The film soon becomes a hunt for not just the motive of the crime that was committed, but a search for the truth behind the identity of the greatest criminal mind of all time.

The expertise with which this film is put together would make you think that this was not Bryan Singer’s first major film but it is. Before The Usual Suspects he had only done the film festival hit Public Access which now meets mixed reviews depending on the audience. As I stated before, this film is put together like a puzzle with multiple timelines, flash backs, and flash forwards that lay out the pieces of the story only as Bryan Singer and Christopher McQuarrie see fit. The visual style is one of the most striking that I have seen in any film, and I don’t say this very often but the lighting is beautiful.

While all of the actors from Stephen Baldwin to Pete Postlethwaite are phenomenal, this is the film that gave Kevin Spacey his first Oscar. Let me tell you he more than deserved this nod for best supporting actor; the entire film hinges on his performance as Kint. Spacey manages to play the character with such ease that you would think he too were a crippled con man who thinks the world is out to get him, there is not a nod of his head or shift of his eyes that is not 100% in tune with the character and the world that has been created in the film.

This film also owes props to the talented John Ottoman. Why more musicians are not editors is beyond me; the skills do actually have quite a bit in common when dealing with rhythm and tempo and The Usual Suspects does benefit greatly from having an editor who also wrote the score. The rhythm of the cuts and the film score blend seamlessly to create some of the most fluid footage I’ve ever watched; it’s so subtle it’s almost beyond description but having seen the film as many times as I have you notice the subtlety.

I do urge everyone to see this film in their lifetime. I promise you that you will not regret it. Just remember, don’t discuss the ending.

Director: Bryan Singer
Writer: Christopher McQuarrie
McManus: Stephen Baldwin
Keaton: Gabriel Bryne
Fenster: Benicio Del Toro
Hockney: Kevin Pollak
Kint: Kevin Spacey
Kujan: Chazz Palminteri
Kobayashi: Pete Postlewaite
Jack Baer: Giancarlo Esposito
Edie Finneran: Suzy Amis
Jeff Rabin: Dan Hedaya

Verbal: You tell me, Agent Kujan, if I told you the Loch Ness Monster hired me to hit the harbor, what would you say?