Derrick Bird
A disgruntled cab driver, Derrick Bird, 52, went on a deadly shooting spree in England, leaving 13 dead, including his twin brother. 25 people were also left injured, including his cancer stricken mother.
Bird became enraged when fellow cab drivers in his area, began stealing fares, via jumping ahead of him in the queue. He vowed revenge and began shooting at people in Britain's Lake District.
Britney Spears and Jason Trawick
Psycho pop singer, Britney Spears, was seen publicly fighting with her former manager and boyfriend, Jason Trawick. According to the New York Post, the argument took place in the Mondrian hotel in Los Angeles, California. Dude should be glad she didn't grab an umbrella and smack him down with it like she did that poor paparazzi in 2007.
Title: Back To The Future
Year Of Release: 1985
Review Date: May 31, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 116 minutes
Box Office Gross: $381,109,762
Site Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
The "Back to the Future" trilogy began with the first installment released in 1985. The series of films stars charismatic, Canadian actor, Michael J. Fox and were instant hits.
The Delorean time machine
The first film saw teenager, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), act as an aide to his friend and scientist, Doc Brown, who invented a time machine using a Delorean sports car, he custom fitted with a Flux Capacitor, the fictional apparatus, that makes time travel possible.
Eric Stoltz's screen test during "Back To The Future" pre-production
The part of Marty originally went to actor, Eric Stoltz, who tested for the role. However, right before filming began, the production company made a last minute change, replacing him with "Family Ties" actor Michael J. Fox.
The McFly home
In the film, Doc Brown stole plutonium to power his time machine, from Libyan terrorists, who chase after him in America, finding the scientist in the parking lot of a mall, after closing hours, as he meets with McFly, who begins to film his latest invention.
In attempting to escape with his life, McFly revs up the time machine, to flee the terrorists and is launched back to 1955. Many films have attempted to capitalize on the success of this franchise, but none have duplicated its popularity with the public.
The "Back to the Future" movies are an entertaining trio of films, but as it is geared towards all audiences, it could have done without the cursing and grown up sexual jokes. Leaving those elements out would not have hurt this funny film series.
Title: Back To The Future II
Year Of Release: 1985
Review Date: May 31, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 118 minutes
Box Office Gross: $331,950,002
Site Rating: 7 out of 10 stars
Michael J. Fox, of "Family Ties" fame, is back for a second installment in the "Back To The Future" franchise. He is once again in the Delorean time machine, traveling forward and back in time, with the assistance of Doc Brown, to solve problems that will strike his family.
"Back To The Future II" is the best of the three films, as it included greater special efx and storylines, building on the first film. In this film, the Delorean time machine could actually fly. Elizabeth Shue, replaced actress, Claudia Wells, as Marty's girlfriend, as she admirably quit the franchise, due to her mother developing cancer, in order to care for her. Scenes were re-shot to preserve continuity.
Title: Back To The Future III
Year Of Release: 1990
Review Date: May 31, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 118 minutes
Box Office Gross: $244,527,583
Site Rating: 6 out of 10 stars
The third installment of the "Back To The Future" film series, takes place in a western setting, as Marty and the Doc, go back to the time of cowboys in America. This film once again picked up from where the last installment left off.
In "Back To The Future II" Doc Brown's Delorean time machine was struck by lightening in mid-air. This transported him back in time, from the present day, 100-years to 1885 for "Back To The Future III."
Brown lives as a blacksmith, falls in love with a teacher and is confronted by the same cast of characters again, including Marty, who is reunited with him in that time period. This movie was the third best in the franchise.
Title: Igor
Year Of Release: 2008
Review Date: May 31, 2010
Rating: PG
Running Time: 87 minutes
Box Office Gross: $30,599,801
Site Rating: 2 out of 10 stars
For a PG cartoon, this animated film was awfully dark and certain to give kids nightmares. "Igor" is about a group of mad scientists that gather for an annual "Evil Science Fair" to display their evil inventions.
The chaos, confusion and violence in this PG film is not the best for kids. The cartoon borders on psychotic at points and contains too much symbolism and imagery for kids to understand it properly.
Title: Bring It On Again
Year Of Release: 2004
Review Date: May 31, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 90 minutes
Box Office Gross: N/A
Site Rating: 3 out of 10 stars
"Bring It On Again" is the sequel to the annoying "Bring It On" films that are back and more cruel than its predecessors. It revolves around a high school cheerleading squad's ruthless pursuit of national domination.
They operate like a new world order cult, even invoking the name of one time, real live cheerleader, former President, George W. Bush. It's your typical high school film and as such, it becomes non-descript and indistinct.
Title: Frontline's "College Inc"
Year Of Release: 2010
Review Date: May 31, 2010
Rating: PG
Running Time: 60 minutes
Box Office Gross: N/A
Site Rating: 8 out of 10 stars
"College Inc" is a PBS Frontline documentary on the high cost of going to university in America. It was a real eye opener, regarding massive debt and the unfulfilled promises of employment, some universities make prospective students, who end up disillusioned and disappointed.
It is a multi-billion dollar industry that has helped some, but hurt others, due to backbreaking debt, insufficiently accredited degrees and training, which are rejected by some employers.
Many of all ages, agree to student loans and end up in over their heads, as the phrase goes, saddled with five to six figure debt before they find their first job after university.
A university degree is wonderful, but do read the fine print, before you financially commit to something you cannot afford that will equal the price of a house.
Weigh your options carefully to be certain the university you are choosing, fits your long term financial plans. If the total future debt will be too much, choose a less expensive university and make sure it is accredited.
Title: Billy
Year Of Release: 2008
Review Date: April 30, 2010
Rating: G
Box Office Gross: $347,328
Site Rating: 9 out of 10 stars
The film "Billy" is an inspiring, funny, charming bio-flick, exploring the life of one of the greatest Americans in world history, Billy Graham. It covers his early years, from skeptic to captivating preacher.
Billy Graham
The lighthearted film starts with Graham's rural roots in the idyllic city of Charlotte, located in the U.S. state of North Carolina, to his travels that saw him go to many places in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I loved this movie.
Title: G.I. Joe
Year Of Release: 2009
Review Date: April 30, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 118 minutes
Box Office Gross: $302,139,942
Site Rating: 1 out of 10 stars
"GI Joe" was a trite, uninspired, unoriginal adaptation of the successful cartoon series of the same name. The film was a disappointment that suffered from a weak, derivative storyline, miscasting and an excessive amount of violence.
For those that loved the cartoon as children, this film was a let down. The box office gross of this expensive movie, got off to a very slow start as a result.
The crazy story line involves nanotechnology, mites and cancer, with a weapon being harnessed to attack electronics and metal. This film mocks cancer and any potential cure, by turning it into a debased storyline, only Hollywood is callous enough to put on film.
G.I. Joe and co. are then called in to battle their enemies abusing modern technology, to bring about a new world order.
Title: Taken
Year Of Release: 2008
Review Date: April 30, 2010
Rating: R
Running time: 93 minutes
Box Office Gross: $226,830,568
Site Rating: 2 out of 10 stars
"Taken" is a very violent, unoriginal film about a government officer, Bryan Mills, searching for his kidnapped daughter, who was abducted on vacation in Europe and sold to a wealthy man. He goes on a violent rampage, taking out those that stand in the way of his objective, finding his daughter before it's too late.
I did not enjoy this film. It was dark and twisted, with so much senseless, pronounced violence, it destroyed any entertainment value the movie could hope to have, minutes into the film.
Title: The Colour Of War (Hitler)
Year Of Release: 2009
Review Date: April 30, 2010
Rating: PG-13
Running time: 60 minutes
Box Office Gross: NA
The documentary "The Colour Of War" examined Adolf Hitler's bloody reign, where he wreaked havoc on humanity, during the second World War.
The documentary chillingly starts with the words, "For 12 years Hitler dominated the German people and led them to the brink of a new world order. Hitler started a world war that cost the lives of 50 million people."
Beware of any man or woman seeking to bring about a "new world order." Such speech is usually associated with those immersed in madness, treachery, the occult and greed.
Adolf Hitler
The documentary goes on to quote inhumane lines from Hitler's diary, "This war will not come to an end the way the Jews imagine, with the extermination of the Aryan people. Instead it will see the complete annihilation of the Jews."
Hitler wickedly and psychotically mirrored his own conduct on his victims, defamatorily accusing the Jews of what he was actually doing to them - extermination. One of the cardinal marks of a sick mind is to accuse innocent victims of the terrible things one inflicts on them.
Nazis were characterized as socialists in the documentary. Hitler played on a nation's patriotism and destroyed many with it. He worshipped what he was not - blonde hair and blue eyes.
Old footage of kids heiling Hitler and crimson Nazi flags, the color of blood, were very jarring to watch in modern times. Kids were given "racial education classes" that promoted hatred, bigotry and stereotypes.
Such examples include a boy and girl in school, stating untruths they were indoctrinated with, "You can most easily tell a Jew by his nose. It looks like the number 6. You can tell by his eyes that he is deceitful" and "Jews often have an unpleasant odor. If you have a good nose, you can smell the Jews." Children were taught these terrible lies.
Such human rights abuses and social snubs, damaged the Jewish psyche. To add insult to injury, in September 1935, "Hitler announced new laws that turned Germany's Jews into second class citizens."
It's ironic that Hitler and his Nazis believed the Jews were inferior, yet certainly did not think the Jewish people's property was inferior. Hitler robbed Jewish people of their property, seizing it all and imprisoning them, when they had committed no crime.
Hitler and co. stole money, businesses, intangible assets, gold, jewelry, art and cars from the Jewish people. That's called hypocrisy. At the end of the day, Hitler and his Nazis, were common thieves and murderers.
Eva Braun
The documentary also featured Hitler's girlfriend, Eva Braun. The 25-year-old was so taken with Hitler, she irrationally twice tried to commit suicide, which is wrong, because he would not marry her.
Braun's dad, a Catholic, did not wish for her to have her own flat (apartment), which was provided by the fuehrer. He demanded Hitler send her home, as opposed to being his sex partner.
Hitler, who was no oil painting, thought quite a lot of himself, arrogantly proclaiming, "A highly intelligent man should take a primitive and stupid woman" for fear she would interfere with his work.
He went on to write, "I could never marry. It's the same with a movie actor. When he marries, he loses a certain something for the women, who adore him. He is no longer their idol." Dude was so deluded, believing he was a stud with movie star looks. Narcissism can play terrible tricks on the mind.
Images of mass graves and trucks carrying hundreds of bodies of Jewish victims that were sent to concentration camps, is horrible to look at in the film. In the end, 6 million Jewish people died, murdered on Hitler's orders.