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Big Fish

Screenwriter John August is well-known for his inventive adventures with director Tim Burton, and their adaptation of Daniel Wallace’s novel “Big Fish,” while more grounded in the real world than one might expect, will not disappoint fans of any of these men’s work.

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Wanted

From the trailers, “Wanted” looked like a god-awful cheese fest. Bullets that swerve around targets in mid-air, really? How did Morgan Freeman get hoodwinked into such nonsense? Imagine my surprise when I found myself totally sucked into this creative, riveting, non-stop action roller-coaster.

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A Beautiful Mind

Every once in a while, there comes along a movie so perfect that you don’t want to watch it again for a very long time for fear of dispelling its particular magic. “The Sixth Sense” is one of those movies. “The Beaver” is another.
 
“A Beautiful Mind” makes that list.

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Bubble Boy

This is not, as everyone asks, the true and inspiring story of that immuno-deficient kid who lived in a plastic bubble as played by John Travolta in the 70s. This overlooked gem from director Blair Hayes and writers Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio bursts into an entirely different dimension of filmmaking. In a good way.

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Gladiator

It’s formulaic, it’s shallow, it’s historically inaccurate. And it’s far, far better than it has any right to be. Ridley Scott’s “Gladiator” is Dick Flick in its purest form, and it’s a shining example of how to do it right.

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Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

I may be in the minority, but I love this movie, flaws and all.
 
Everyone knows the story of Robin Hood, played in this version by Kevin Costner, so only a snippet of synopsis is required: He steals from the rich, he gives to the poor, he’s been banished by Prince John and is adored and aided by just about everyone else. Screenwriters Pen Densham and John Watson give us some of everything here, a bit of origin story, a lively bout with the familiar characters, a good dose of honest thievery and flying arrows, and a few novel twists.

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Finding Nemo

Yes, a cartoon can be stamped dick flick or Not-A-Dick Flick. Happily, it’s the latter in this case. And yes, a cartoon can be one of the best movies ever. Even to an adult.
 
It’s a coming-of-age story. It’s a father-son tale. It’s a high-testosterone action movie wrapped in little-kid packaging. It’s glowing proof that you can start with a formula (Disney, to be exact) and create something that soars beyond formulaic. And it packs a hell of an emotional wallop in more than one spot.

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Pathfinder

Laeta Kalogridis. Famous for “Shutter Island” (screenwriter) and “Avatar” (producer). Writer/producer for the short-lived “Birds of Prey” TV series and the “Bionic Woman” reboot. I mention the last two with regret; I was a big fan of both. So I was excited to see Kalogridis’ take on this spin of the intruder-goes-native flick, based on Nils Gaup’s 1987 script.
 
Don’t get your hopes up.

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