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The Story: An oddball teen tries to cure her lycanthropic sister.

Brigitte (Emily Perkins) and Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) are a pair of misfit teens with a touch for the morbid; as a school project, they photograph one another in various scenes of death, including one with Ginger impaled on a white picket fence.

The girls are shunned and made fun of at school, and their home life isn't any better; both girls are three years past the age where menstruation starts, and their flakey, June Cleaver-ish mother (Mimi Rogers) is a dopey pain in the ass. The father's not much to speak of either, as he's constantly disregarded by both the girls and their mother.

But there's something wrong with the neighborhood, as well; a wild beast has been making meals out of neighborhood pets, ravaging them and ripping them to bits. One night while out, the girls walk through a playground and come across a still-warm dog that's been shred to pieces; that instant, blood begins running down Ginger's leg as her long-delayed menstrual cycle abruptly begins. The smell of fresh blood draws the attention of the mysterious animal, and Ginger is quickly attacked and dragged into the woods. Brigitte gives chase, trying to pinpoint where her sister's terrified screams are coming from.

Within moments, Ginger reappears, bloodied and torn, and the sisters run for their lives. Still hungry for prey, the creature follows them across a highway where it is suddenly pulverized by a passing van belonging to the school pot dealer, Sam.

Back at home, the sisters sneak into their basement bedroom where they're amazed to see that Ginger's wounds are already healing. From this point on, Ginger begins acting strangely; you see, she's becoming a werewolf. Soon, Brigitte hooks up with Sam as the two try to find a cure for Ginger.

Ginger Snaps is a terrific example as the horror movie as metaphor where lycanthrope is compared to puberty. Brigitte is aghast as her sister suddenly begins to grow hair in funny places, starts dressing sexy, and even grows attracted to members of the opposite sex. The metaphor is justly taken to the extreme and by the halfway mark Ginger's attraction to boys has literally turned her into a bitch in heat. It's this kind of blatantly metaphorical approach that makes Ginger Snaps work so well.

The performances aren't too shabby, either. Perkins is perfect as the painfully shy Brigitte who, after a lifetime of having her sister take up for her, is pushed into having to look out for the now feral Ginger. Isabelle, as Ginger, is also very good in a role that requires her to wear at first subtle fangs and claws and eventually full body prosthetics. Rogers is a gas as the ditsy mother whose face lights up with glee when she learns Ginger's period has begun.

The strengths of this movie lie in the treatment of the material and the fantastic performances, but there are a couple weaknesses.

First off, the father at one point is shunned out of a conversation between mother and daughters and is never seen or heard from again. Rogers also disappears after going to a party to pick the girls up, and this is after having found a body the girls buried and telling Brigitte that she'd take the girls, burn down the house and they'd get away. It would have been interesting to have seen her during the finale, or in an epilogue, if they had one (I'll get to that in a sec).

The final werewolf creature is a disappointment as well. Despite the fact that Ginger Snaps is a low budget Canadian production, it still could have been a bit more convincing; as it is, it more resembles the Rat Creature that Tom Savini turns into in From Dusk Till Dawn than any kind of wolf. However, the rest of the makeup effects in the film are well done.

And lastly, the ending itself is a bit of a letdown. It really could have used an epilogue, letting us know what happened to the characters after the final ordeal. Though there is definitely an ending to the film, it seems hollow without any kind of follow up.

Still, Ginger Snaps is a great little movie. Though the story weaknesses do indeed have an effect, the rest of the movie is so fresh, and done so intelligently and convincingly that I'm willing to let some of the faults slide. But not all of them.

Summing up, Ginger Snaps is, despite it's few weaknesses, one of the best werewolf movies since An American Werewolf In London. Definitely try a rental before purchasing, but I think it's worth the money.

The Story: A broken down architect preys on the families of the recently deceased by using his ability to communicate with the dead.

We start the film with Patricia Bradley (Dee Wallace-Stone of Cujo, The Howling, and E.T.) being chased through her home by some sort of entity. This entity is after her with a vengeance and is coming at her through the house. It crawls through the walls, carpet and furniture. The second it catches her, Patricia's mother (Julianna McCarthy) puts it down with a double barreled shotgun.

Frank Bannister (Michael J. Fox) has a unique ability. After a car accident years ago, he's now able to communicate with the dead. Not only does he communicate with them, he uses them to make a living as a psychic investigator. Cyrus (Chi McBride of Fox's Boston Public), Stuart (Jim Fyfe), and the Judge (John Astin) all work with Frank haunting houses. Frank's plan is simple; plant a business card in a house (or a pocket), send the ghosts to haunt it, and wait for the phone call.

During a call to a clients house, Dr. Lucy Lynskey (Trini Alvarado), Frank sees a number carved into the forehead of the Doctors husband Ray, (Peter Dobson). Shortly after this, Ray dies and Frank runs into his ghost on the way to the funeral. Frank explains to Ray that he's dead and Ray forces him to communicate with Lucy. During a dinner with Lucy and Ray's ghost, we find that the marriage between the two had fallen apart and Ray had lost a large amount of Lucy's money on a bad investment.

While in the bathroom, Frank sees a second man with an incremental number carved into his forehead. He then witnesses the Grim Reaper reach into the mans chest, crushing his heart, killing him. Frank runs from the restaurant chasing the cloaked figure in an attempt to catch it. Shortly after this at a local museum, Frank sees a third number engraved into a reporters forehead. He kidnaps her in an attempt to save her life but the Grim Reaper catches them and kills the woman anyway. The local Sheriff, played by Troy Evans, brings Frank in for questioning after the reporters death.

Frank is introduced to FBI Agent Milton Dammers (Jeffery Combs). Dammers is an odd agent with 20 years of parapsychology case experience. We also find out later in the film that Dammers is obsessed with parapsychology and the ability to communicate with the dead and other things.
While Frank is incarcerated, Lucy comes to visit and attempts to bring him out of his depression. Once Frank comes around, he hugs Lucy and sees a number carved into her forehead. Seconds later, the Grim Reaper pays a visit to the cell and tries to kill Lucy. But thanks to Frank's sidekicks Cyrus and Stuart, Lucy is saved and they both escape the jailhouse.

After this event, the story starts to unfold and the viewer gets a peek as to who the Grim Reaper is and why he's taking the lives of innocent people.

Although you'd never know it due to its all American cast, The Frighteners was produced and shot in and around New Zealand. The countryside settings and the remarkable sets all add to the atmosphere of the film.

Performances by Fox, Stone, McBride, Alvarado, and Combs are all outstanding. Combs in particular plays his role as FBI Agent Milton Dammers brilliantly and should have been nominated by the academy with a "best supporting" actor nomination. If you ask me, this is his best performance in a horror film since his role as Herbert West in Re-Animator.

The script and story are fairly tight but could have used a bit more polishing. For the most part though, the story is believable and the mix of comedy and horror make this a fun film to watch. This is something Peter Jackson has a knack for.

I didn't care too much for the CGI effects, but they work well in adding to the film and it's over-all goal to scare the audience. For those of you who despise the over-use of CGI, no fret here, it's only used when needed.

As in most Jackson films, Peter does make an appearance in the film. Although he's tough to see, you can catch him bumping into Frank Bannister coming out of the Gazette. Just look for the punk rocker with the Grim Reaper t-shirt.

In the end, I highly recommend this modern day ghost story. It's fun from start to finish and has a bit of everything for everyone.

Dream is something elusive but can be achieved if we only find ways of getting what we want. When we are up there succeeding we can look down to where we came from as looking viewing from the top. This inspirational movie "View from the Top" tells us about not giving up, pursuing and later achieving things that make us matter.

I just happened to watch a collection of stories from courageous people in all types of field whether in politics, community involvement, students achieving and all people who rose beyond their situation. This let me remember about this movie, dreaming and making it come true. It is so easy to look back what we just sowed and reap its glory but we neglect how difficult it is to get to the top. Many believed that to achieve our dreams it will cost us power, money, influence and even social status. But it is far more appreciated and most celebrated if man was raised from rags to riches, from difficulty to glory and from nothingness to abundance. This we attribute to what man can achieve if he has perseverance, faith and courage.

View from the top is a story about a girl who just happen to dream and that all she has. Raised from a very poor family where education seems neglected, Donna Jenson starred by Gwyneth Paltrow is about an amazing life struggle and achieving goals. She thought of leaving her small town where she lives and where people thought of her as small. She yearns to follow her dreams after being dumped by her own boy friend through a happy birthday card she received from him. It is all for the reason that she is small town girl who lived up to her boy friend's dreams.

She instantly found interest seeing a successful flight attendant on television. Hypnotized by all its claims, she soon bought a book and studied how to get to her dreams. With a few dollars, a suitcase and a dream, she followed as what the boy says. She went to a local airport in her first internship. From a very local flight attendant, she soon find friends Kelly Preston and Christina Applegate as flight attending buddies and drag them over to their higher dreams. They knew that they had all the potential as any royale flight attendant can.

Determined to pass all the exams, she persistently and consistently did her best in all their activities until the final exam. In all sudden, she was scammed by her own friend by changing the control number in their exam papers. Although she still belong to Royale flight attendant only for local commuters and not the prestigious family of Royale flight attendant in Paris.

Donna in the long run also finds the law student she bumped in during their vacation. They were in loved but Donna's determination of getting her place to the Royale family even leaving her own boy friend. But nothing can stop her from following her dreams.

Through the help of her mentor played by Candice Bergen who supported her all the way and to the discovery of the scam she soon earned her place in the Royale family. Being one of the best flight attendant there is, she never ceases to belong in her dreams to get to Paris and other parts of European countries. Weeks turn months and months turned years, Donna was happy but never been happier when she was with her boy friend. In that one realization, she knew that she was not chasing her dreams anymore but her happiness.

Finally, Donna got back to her boyfriend but did not end on dreaming. She soon become a plane pilot herself.
View from the top movie is witty-hilarious film having scenes wherein Gwyneth struggles how to get things right during the activities and all girl type funny scenes. Nevertheless, it did not eliminate the drama especially in her photographic scenes in Paris, the feeling of loneliness. The interview with Mike Myers as John Whitney was also amusing. The cross-eyed flight attendants together with other interns are just a big gag.

As a whole, the movie is inspirational in nature. Gwyneth portraying as an achiever all throughout and watching this film wants you to kick your butt and get things done. It also depicted about happiness that cannot be bought by money and that is love. She thought that without her lover, she could still move on in her life. Donna sets her priorities and these might give answers to what we call happiness and success.

The movie is funny at the same time dramatic. People who want to have a few laughs; this movie is just entertaining with its shallow aspects of funny scenes. Gwyneth just appropriately casts along with her girls that brought all blond funny jokes.
View from the Top showed us how humble beginnings can be glorifying if done in hard work. There was never a bit in the movie where Donna stopped dreaming and succeeding. Learning from her, it all takes small steps and trying to alleviate yourself from where you are. She constantly encourages herself even though she lived alone, without guidance and even the sight of her lover, she placed priority to where she wants to be. The most influencing character is her mentor who never ceases to give her support and words of wisdom. What is really good about the movie is also surrounding yourself with people who in the end can help you get to where you want to go. Their influence can be a great factor also in inspiring her and same true to us.

After the huge success of his first feature film, "Rocky" in 1976, Sylvester Stallone could have taken it easy. Rocky, after all, won an Oscar for Best Picture and Stallone became a very, very rich man. But his story of Rocky Balboa, the underdog boxer, wasn't finished. In fact, Stallone would continue Balboa's saga in 5 more feature films over the next 30 years. I have seen all of them, except for the recently released "Rocky Balboa" (in theaters now), but I can firmly say that my favorite movie from the entire Rocky series is 1979's Rocky II. In fact, the release of "Rocky Balboa" prompted me to dust off my old DVD of "Rocky II" and my husband and I watched it last night.

"Rocky II" starts off with a recap of the first l Rocky movie. Rocky's big fight against champion Apollo Creed was deemed a draw-- and Apollo isn't one bit happy about it. But Rocky has retired from boxing after this match, as he was beaten up pretty badly.

Meanwhile Rocky asks girlfriend Adrian to marry him, and then they proceed to spend the 37 thousand dollars he cleared from his fight with Creed. They buy furs, a car (even though Rocky can't drive) and a house in Philly Before long the money is gone, Adrian is pregnant and Rocky is working manual labor jobs. He does try a stint at commercial acting but he's not good at it and ultimately would rather be a meat packer. After Rocky gets laid off from the meat packing job, he goes to the gym and lugs buckets and mops floors for his former trainer, Mickey. He loses most of hi self respect at this point, the sees Apollo Creed on TV demanding a rematch. Creed calls him things like "The Italian Chicken" and Rocky knows what he needs to do-- he needs to get back in the ring and prove that the last fight was not a fluke and that he is worthy of fighting the champ, that he can indeed defeat the champ. He agrees to the rematch, despite breaking his promise to Adrian that he would never fight again. She is devastated by the thought of a rematch and it causes a distance between the two of them.

After some half-hearted attempts at training for the rematch, you can tell that Rocky has lost his drive. He's not focused and he's not training hard. His wife Adrian goes back to her job at a local pet store and, at 8 months pregnant, strains herself from overwork. She goes into early labor and is rushed to the hospital. The baby is born healthy, but Adrian has slipped into a coma from losing so much blood. It's at that point that Rocky halts everything and sits by Adrian's hospital bedside. He doesn't even want to see his newborn son until Adrian wakes up. He sits by her side day and night until one day when she squeezes his hand and opens her eyes. After a celebration and an introduction to their new son, Rocky tells Adrian he'll do whatever she wants-- he'll withdraw from the upcoming fight with Creed is that's what she wants. Instead she only wants him to do one thing. "Win" she tells him.
That's the only motivator he needs. Suddenly the feel good music starts up and you see Rocky running around Philly, up the art museum steps, lifting weights, punching bags, etc.

The night of the fight, Rocky prays while Apollo Creed strokes his own ego. The fight scene is pretty long and I don't want to give away how it ends. Ultimately, this is a great movie that shows things form the underdog's perspective. I love the acting and imagery in this movie, as I'm a Philly native. This is one of those films that I never tire of, and even though I could do without the bloody boxing scenes, that's what the movie is about. It's another well done movie by Stallone, who could have rested on his laurels an ended the Rocky saga after the first film. Instead, he treated us to several sequels, all of them worthy, but "Rocky II" being the most touching and my personal favorite.

Take an unbelievably gorgeous Elizabeth Taylor in her prime and pair her with an impossibly handsome young Paul Newman and you've got the main characters from one of my favorite movies, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Filmed in 1958 and directed by Richard Brooks (Looking for Mr. Goodbar, the Happy Ending), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is the story of Maggie "the cat" (Taylor) and her alcoholic, depressed husband Brick Pollitt (Newman). Based on the famous play by Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof packs in some powerful performances from all of the main characters.

Brick Pollitt is depressed. No longer a star football player, and recovering from a broken leg, he's a broken down and sad man. His wife Maggie is starved for his affection. Brick drinks all day long while his wife tries to cover for him. It's his father, Big Daddy's, birthday and Maggie picks out a luxurious robe which she says Brick picked out. The character of Big Daddy is portrayed flawlessly by the legendary Burl Ives. Although Ives was only in his late 40's when he played this part, he convincingly comes off as the patriarch to the Pollitt family.

Also living on the family estate is Brick's brother, Gooper (played by Jack Carson), his horrible wife (played by Madeleine Sherwood, best known as Mother Superior on The Flying Nun) and their unruly kids. Gooper and his wife are trying to set themselves up to someday gain control of Big Daddy's estate.

On the night of Big Daddy's birthday party, the family gets some devastating news from the family doctor: Big Daddy has advanced stage cancer and he doesn't have long to live. At first the family tries to keep the news a secret from Big Daddy (this would never happen today, due to patient privacy laws, but remember this film is from 1958).

Bi Daddy is one smart man and can instantly tell that something is up. He tries talking to his sons but no one tells him the truth. Meanwhile, Gooper and his wife begin gathering legal and financial papers in preparation for Big Daddy's death. Maggie "the cat" steps in and gives them all a piece of her mind. Meanwhile Big Daddy, on to his son Gooper's greedy ways, calls Brick down into the cellar for a little chat. In a powerfully emotional scene, all of the pain and hurt from the past come out and Brick has a compete breakdown. It is then that you see that this son and his distant father have a strong emotional bond. You can tell that Brick is Big Daddy's favorite and that he is disappointed in his other son, Gooper.

When they go upstairs, Big Daddy catches Gooper with the stack of legal papers and makes a snide comment. It is then that Maggie announces her birthday gift to Big Daddy-- that she is pregnant. Everyone knows this is impossible, as a perpetually drunk Brick has had no interest in her for quite some time. Gooper's wife even makes a comment about how she hears the "nightly pleadings and the nightly refusals". Still, Big Daddy and Big Momma are pleased as can be that Maggie is with child, even if they don't completely believe it. Then Big Daddy takes his wife by the arm (the first time he treats her respectfully in the entire movie) and they go out to stroll their grounds and take stock of the rest of their lives together.

The movie ends with Brick trying to make amends with his wife. It is clear that he realizes that she has always stood by him and that it is time that he treats her like a wife.

So why do I love this movie? Granted the subject matter-- family strife, mortality-- is not exactly uplifting. But the movie's performances are so well done and I love the Southern drawl of Liz Taylor. And Burl Ives and Paul Newman are always engaging to watch. In this day of high tech action films, it's sometimes refreshing to sit back and watch a story set in a simpler time. There are no elaborate sets or special effects like we see in today's movies-- just two or three sets and classic storytelling, with powerful acting performances. Now that's what makes a great movie, in my opinion.