Red Eye

After multiple delays, Lisa Reisert boards a red-eye flight to Miami. The man sitting next to her on the plane, Jackson Rippner, seems charming enough, at first. But, not long after takeoff, his true character is revealed. Kicking off a deadly game of cat and mouse with multiple lives on the line. Wes Craven's Red Eye is a slick little thriller. So fast and direct that the movie is, without credits, barely 80 minutes long. The leads, Rachel McAdams and Cillian Murphy, are both great and there are some good supporting parts played by Brian Cox and Jayma Mays.

Rating: 69%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Earthshock

Deep underground, two deadly androids protect a small metal hatch. Behind the hatch is a remote controlled bomb, capable of causing serious planet-wide devastation. After disarming the bomb, the Doctor traces the source of the signal controlling the bomb to a large freighter headed for Earth. Once upon the freighter, the Doctor comes face to face with one of his oldest and deadliest enemies, the Cybermen. Earthshock is a fairly memorable story on two fronts. On the one hand, it was the first appearance of the Cybermen in almost seven years. Not having been the program since Revenge of the Cybermen during the Fourth Doctor's first season. And, probably most famously or infamously, the story ends with the death of Adric. While Adric might not have been a popular or beloved companion, think of him as the Wesley Crusher of Doctor Who, his death must have come as a surprise to the show's viewers. Even though many companions had received less than stellar send-offs over the years, no companions had actually died since Katarina and Sara Kingdom were killed during The Daleks' Master Plan. Overall, Earthshock is a good story despite a few minor flaws. 

Rating: For some people, small, beautiful events is what life is all about%

The Killer

Ah Jong, an assassin, accidentally blinds an innocent woman during a hit. Wracked with guilt, Ah Jong inserts himself into the woman's life, hoping to help her get the expensive surgery needed to repair her vision. Meanwhile, Detective Li begins to investigate the killing. And, as he gets closer to finding Ah Jong, he begins to understand the assassin's methods and complicated moral code. But, soon enough, all hell breaks loose when the people who hired Ah Jong decide to get rid of him to cover their tracks. The Killer is probably John Woo's most popular and most imitated film and it should come as no surprise. It's a frickin' masterpiece. It has everything: guys falling off roofs, guys falling off balconies, guys falling off scaffolding, guys going through windows, guys going through windshields, car chases, boat chases, explosions and slow motion doves. It's a spectacular cornucopia of two-fisted, gun blazing action. While A Better Tomorrow will probably always be my favorite John Woo film, there's no denying that The Killer is fantastic. 

Rating: 84%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Twilight Zone: The Movie

Watching Twilight Zone: The Movie has always come with one great big caveat, can you enjoy the movie knowing that three people lost their lives during an accident on set? It's not an easy thing to get past. If you are able to set that aside for an hour or two, there is still plenty to enjoy in the movie. Sure, it's pretty well impossible not to think about the accident during the film's first segment. Directed by John Landis, "Time Out" is the story of an angry racist who gets to experience what it's like to be on the other side of bigotry and hatred. The second segment, "Kick the Can," directed by Steven Spielberg, doesn't quite fit the tone of the rest of the movie but is helped by Scatman Crothers' endless supply of charisma. The movie really kicks into high gear in the back half, with remakes of two all-time classic Twilight Zone stories. "It's a Good Life," directed by Joe Dante, pairs a lot of Dante's favorite cartoons and character actors with some memorable special effects from Rob Bottin. And finally, "Nightmare at 20,000 Feet," directed by George Miller, which features John Lithgow (in a role originally played by William Shatner) as a man desperately trying to convince his fellow passengers that there's a gremlin on the wing of their plane. The movie also includes appearances from Albert Brooks, Dan Aykroyd, Vic Morrow, Kevin McCarthy, Nancy Cartwright, Dick Miller and narration by Burgess Meredith.

Rating: 74%

(Image from Wikipedia)

Fun Fact: Steven Williams, who played a bar patron in the first segment, also played Creighton Duke in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday and a tree trimmer in Better Off Dead.