Mad Max | Mafia! | Malèna | Man in the Iron Mask | Man on the Moon | The Man with the Golden Gun | The Mask of Zorro | The Matrix | Me, Myself & Irene | Meet the Parents | Men of Honor | Mercury Rising | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil | The Mighty | Les Misérables | Mission: Impossible | Mission: Impossible 2 | Mission to Mars | The Mod Squad | Memento | Monty Python and the Holy Grail | Moonraker | Mouse Hunt | Mr. Nice Guy | Mulan | Mulholland Drive | Mumford | The Mummy | Muppets From Space | The Muse | My Dog Skip | My Favorite Martian | Mystery, Alaska | Mystery Men

Mad Max (1979)
(R)
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A man must deal with being a cop in the future, where the streets are out of control. Eventually, he goes on a much needed vacation, and has to fight off a group of bad guys after his wife. The movie didn't have much emotion to it, and wasn't much more than cars and motorcycles chasing each other and people getting hurt. The plot almost seemed non-existent to me, and the film just felt like an excuse to cause as much pain to the characters and blow up as many vehicles as possible. Unfortunately, the movie seemed less exciting than another episode of The Worlds Scariest Police Chases on TV. Over all, the film just didn't come off right for me.

Links:
Mug's Mad Max Page
Kirby Dog's Mad Max Page
A Fan's Page
An Analysis of Mad Max
Mad Max Chronology

Mafia! (1998)
(PG-13)
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A good parody of recent Hollywood movies, this film had enough stupid humor to keep me fairly entertained. The plot and characters were just used for laughs, but enough jokes actually work to make this movie worth it. Not quite The Naked Gun, but funny none the less.

Links:
Official Studio Site

Malèna (2000)
(R)
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An attractive woman's husband goes off to war, much to the delight of the local male residents, especially a 13 year old boy who has become obsessed with her. This upsets the local women, who's husbands get lustfully distracted every time she walks by, and they start spreading nasty rumors that threaten to destroy the woman's life. The movie never really succeeds at creating a style it can handle, falling a little short of becoming a good drama, comedy, or even soft core porn, even though the elements are there for any of them. Although the movie does show glimmers of promise at times, it never really lives up to them.

Links:
Film.com's Review
Roger Ebert's Review

Man in the Iron Mask (1998)
(PG-13)
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A dark version of the continuation of the Three Musketeers story, this one is surprisingly well acted and scripted. King Louis XIV is mistreating his country, so the main characters of the Three Musketeers reunite years later to rescue the king's twin from prison (where he's sentenced to wear an iron mask so no one will recognize him) and have him replace the king. The acting was far better than I thought it would be, and the story was very interesting to me. Not a must-see, but very good.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Cinema 1's Man/Iron Mask Page
Radio Free's Review

Man on the Moon (1999)
(R)
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A look at the life of comedian (or, as they say in the movie, "song and dance man") Andy Kaufman and how he related to other people. The movie was able to get me to really care for him and was able to get me to feel a little of what it was probably like to have lived his life, or at least have been there to see him do it. I was fascinated by his "characters", and was actually interested in what would happen to him in his rather unusual life style. The cast does a great job of making the characters interesting, and everyone involved helped to make the film work very well without turning it too melodramatic in the heavier parts. Overall, an intriguing look at a fairly different and interesting life.

Links:
Official Studio Site

The Man with the Golden Gun (1974)
(PG)
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Video Pick of the Week
(7/27/03 - 8/2/03)
This is one of my favorite entries in the James Bond series. Why? Because it's just so overwhelmingly silly. Those who aren't familiar with the Bond franchise might actually mistake this for a comedy! The acting is cheesy, the stunts are painfully implausible, and the ending is curiously drawn out (trust me - the appalling nature of this movie is what makes it so much fun to watch). The plot is loosely based on Ian Fleming's last novel - 007 learns that he is the intended target of a famous hitman named Francisco Scaramanga (a.k.a. The Man with the Golden Gun). Rather than lay low, Bond sets out to confront his would-be assassin. Roger Moore delivers a far better performance here than he did in Live and Let Die, but Christopher Lee steals the show as the evil, but charming Scaramanga (watching this film, you almost wonder if the villain is the intended focal point of the story instead of 007). If your in the mood for a campy spy adventure, you can't do much better than this.

Links:
007.com

The Mask of Zorro (1998)
(PG-13)
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Antonio Banderas (Evita) and Anthony Hopkins (Amistad) star in this update of the Zorro character, and do a good job. The entire movie was fun and enjoyable, and had more elegance than most summer blockbuster want-to-bes. Zorro continues to help his country, but wants to find a replacement for when he can't fight any more. He takes another man into training, and the two of them take on some bad-guys trying to buy the country with stolen gold. It could have used a little more emotional depth, but the movie is fun and exciting.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Bookhouse's Mask of Zorro Page

The Matrix (1999)
(R)
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Keanu Reeves finds out that the world as we know it is created by human-made artifical intelligence using computers to control us all. He then goes into the "real world" to help the resistance fight the aliens. The acting is good all around, and the effects are very well done and help tell the story. The story is actually very interesting for a special effects movie, and was able to keep me entertained. The action sequences were filmed very well and helped keep the movie moving. Over all, fun entertainment.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Dark Horizon's Page

Me, Myself & Irene (2000)
(R)
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A cop from Rhode Island with multiple personalities escorts a woman to New York to discover that she's been set up and the cops are in on it. They then spend the rest of the movie running from the cops and going from one gag to the next. The film is very disgusting, mostly an excuse to set up as many gross sight gags as possible, but does it well enough that it should keep you entertained if you're in the mood for off the wall gross humor. If not, than don't bother.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review

Meet the Parents (2000)
(PG-13)
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A woman brings her date home to meet her parents, resulting in much slapstick and situational humor. The humor is good, and the cast, including Robert De Niro as the father, make the jokes work perfectly. The film wasn't as intellectual as I thought it would be with De Niro in the cast, but that adds to the fun. Overall, entertaining enough to be worth seeing.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review
Roger Ebert's Review


Men of Honor (2000)
(R)
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Cuba Gooding Jr. gets into the Navy and attempts to become the first black Master Diver but goes up against his instructor, Robert De Niro, who's encouraged not to let him complete the diving program. The movie is fairly generic and seems fairly contrived sometimes. It's biggest problem is that in doesn't go very far into the emotion of the story. The film never allows De Niro's character to have much bite with his bark or Gooding to show more emotion than just determination. I always felt there must have been more to the story than what they were showing, and that it could have been more interesting had they included it. The story the movie does have is well done, however, and the acting helps to keep the movie mildly interesting. Overall, good, but seemed fairly two dimensional.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Roger Ebert's Review

Mercury Rising (1998)
(R)
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A FBI agent takes an autistic boy into his care after the boy's parents are killed. He then has to figure out what's happening when people start trying to kill the kid. A very quick moving suspense/chase movie, the director managed to keep the movie's pace up from beginning to end. He also managed to make it good, with the action and characters coming off very well. The acting from the leads (Bruce Willis, Alec Baldwin) was good, and the supporting actors were great. Overall, a very good movie.

Links:
Mercury Rising Picture
Official Studio Site
Dark Horizons's Mercury Rising Page
Radio Free's Review
Mr. Showbiz's Review

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
(PG-13)
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This movie is based on one of William Shakespeare's plays, and is typically long winded. Through the first hour and a half, the film is fairly boring, with the occasional good joke or interesting visual image. The last half hour, though, is fairly entertaining, with a lot of slapstick humor involving a group trying to perform a play. The end isn't quite worth the wait, though, unless you're a Shakespeare fan.

Links:
Official Studio Site

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (1997)
(R)
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A look at the lives of a group of people living in the town of Savannah. A man is put on trial for murder, and turns to a reporter who's covering his parties for help to get evidence that can clear his name. In return, he lets the reporter cover the story for a book he wants to write about the trial. This is a very entertaining look at the absurdities of the lives of the people involved, and the trial itself would do John Grisham proud.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Cinema 1's Midnight in the Garden... Page
The Ultimate "Midnight" Site
Mr. Showbiz's Review

The Mighty (1998)
(PG-13)
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Two boys, both made fun of a lot a school, make friends and work together to go on quests and live their lives. A well done melodramatic movie, which actually doesn't feel forced. The characters are allowed to develop in a way that seems real, and that helped me enjoy the film more. The acting is good, and although some of the adult characters do go a little over the top, this is a movie written from a kid's perspective, with his view of every character. Overall, a fairly good kid's-eye-view at what it's like to be different and a few other high points of life.

Links:
Official Studio Site

Les Misérables (1998)
(PG-13)
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A very well made movie, this is about a man running from a policeman who wants to bring him to justice. He promises to take care of a child, even though he continually has to run from the policeman. The movie focuses primarily on the relationship between the two men, but does do adequately well with the rest of the story. The story is taken from the book, not the play, and does have a few big differences from the play. The movie is very well acted and directed. I really liked it.

Links:
Official studio Site
Radio Free's Review
Roger Ebert's Review

Mission: Impossible (1996)
(PG-13)
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An enjoyable action film. It's very generic, but has some fairly impressive moments. A group of agents are brought in to recover a disk for a government before the information falls into the wrong hands. This leads to a lot of plot twists, some of which are almost believable. This movie tries to be impressive, and comes very close to hitting it's mark, going overboard just a little.

Links:
MovieWeb's Mission: Impossible Page
Film.com's Review

Mission: Impossible 2 (2000)
(PG-13)
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A monster virus is created to allow a man to make money off the cure, and it's up to Tom Cruise to stop the virus from being turned loose on the general public. The movie tries to have fun while sticking to a very simple plot, and does a decent job. The action is the best part, with director John Woo using his typical video game action staging. The rest of the movie isn't quite as good as I had hoped, but is still mildly amusing.


Links:
Official Studio Site
The Unofficial "Mission: Impossible 2" site
The Movie Page's Mission: Impossible 2 site

Mission to Mars (2000)
(PG)
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A group of NASA astronauts head to Mars in the year 2020, but some phenomenon kills three of the crew, destroying most of the equipment so the fourth can't get back. NASA then sends more people on a rescue mission for the survivor who, when they arrive on Mars, try to figure out what it was that had happened. Instead of using the all out assault method of making movies that many of this type of film use, it keeps everything simple and still manages to create an interesting story. This is hard to accomplish when you give the audience time to think, but the movie manages to create several interesting developments and characters and keep the suspense up even without throwing in four plot devices at once. Overall, an interesting movie, and especially good if you want a change of pace from recent event films.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review
Radio Free's Review

The Mod Squad (1999)
(R)
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Three teens get out of jail in order to help the police by getting in to places where the cops would stand out, which would ruin their cover. This movie is surprisingly simple, ever to the point of being boring. It doesn't help when the characters stop every half hour to recap what has happened and explain it to the audience. This seems to be trying to be a first timers' suspense thriller for teens, but doesn't pull it off very well. Over all, they were on to something, but it's too sluggish to be very entertaining.

Links:
Official Studio Site

Memento (2001)
(R)
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In this fun puzzle of a movie, a man suffering from permanent short term memory loss tries to figure out who he is and what the notes he has left to himself mean. The movie actually starts at the end of the story and moves backward scene by scene to the beginning, revealing more and more of how the man ended up doing what he did. It also allows you to experience each scene exactly as the main character does, with no memory of the events leading up to it. The movie has some great twists, and although none of them are incredibly over the top (unlike the Keyser Soze twist in The Usual Suspects), together they make for a creative, enjoyable, and almost believable movie.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review
Roger Ebert's Review

Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1974)
(PG)
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Video Pick of the Week
(6/22/03 - 6/28/03)
A great comedy. King Arthur goes in search of knights worthy of becoming one of the knights of the Round table, and then goes in search of the Holy Grail. The movie is basically a bunch of sketches thrown together, but does have a plot. The acting is great, and some of the sketches are down right hysterical.

Links:
A Fan's Site
Knights Who Say Ni Homepage

Moonraker (1979)
(PG)
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Video Pick of the Week
(8/3/03 - 8/9/03)
Roger Moore's fourth outing as secret agent James Bond. This time, 007 ventures into outer space to stop yet another megalomaniac, Hugo Drax. Although a lot of noise is made about the sci-fi aspect of this film, the reality is that only the last 30 minutes take place on the space station! Still, this is easily the most lavish film in the James Bond series (many agree that this was as far as the "Bond formula" could go). All the classic ingredients are here: gratuitous sex, fantasy violence, delicious one-liners, and a great score by John Barry. Moonraker may not the best Bond film, but it still ranks as one of the most fun.

Links:
007.com

Mouse Hunt (1997)
(PG)
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This movie is almost a smarter version of Home Alone. The plot centers around two brothers who try to work together to restore a house they inherited and discovered was made by a famous person, so they can auction it off and get rich. Their only real problem is that the house is home to an unrealisticly intelligent mouse, whom the brothers try to kill and wind up making a mess of the house and each other. Along the way, they learn about each other and start getting along with each other, even though they have different views on life. The slapstick almost seems like it can happen, and is not for people who can't take seeing others get hurt. But if you like the style of humor and can accept the idea of an extremely intelligent mouse, you'll probably like this movie.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Cinema 1's Mouse Hunt Page
a Mouse Hunt fan's page
Mouse Hunt Visual Effects Site
Radio Free's Review
Mr. Showbiz's Review

Mr. Nice Guy (1998)
(PG-13)
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Jackie Chan plays a chef who runs into a T.V. newsperson who videotaped a gang drug sale and is being chased by the gang. He helps her, and is then also targeted by the gang. The stunts are great, and the movie was fun. There wasn't much in the way of plot, but this helps get to the action faster.

Links:
San Francisco Chronicle's Review
San Francisco Examiner's Review

Mulan (1998)
(G)
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A girl in China pretends to be a man and takes her father's place in the military. This is a very well done animated movie from Disney. It had good characters, the songs and score were good, and I had fun watching the story play out. The animation for the movie was great. Some of the shots from a distance almost seemed real. They also got the songs to advance the story, instead of seeming almost separate from the movie as they do in many Disney movies. Overall, fairly entertaining, and my second favorite Disney movie ever, after The Lion King.

Links:
Dark Horizons's Mulan Page
Radio Free's Review

Mulholland Drive (2001)
(R)
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David Lynch is famous for making deliciously surreal movies that leave you scratching your head and wondering, "what was that all about?" In Mullholand Drive, we are presented with a dark and twisted satire of Hollywood culture. Lynch makes full use of all his trademark devices: identity switches, mystery men, scenes which seem to be totally unrelated to the plot, and a surprise appearance by a showbiz outcast (Ann Miller). The main story involves an amnesiac car crash victim played by Laura Harring. She is befriended by Betty (Naomi Watts), a naive Hollywood upstart who tries to help her remember who she is. Their journey together has almost a Nancy Drew quality at first, but becomes increasingly creepy with each opened door. This is arguably the best film in David Lynch's colorful body of work. Make no mistake - you'll still be analyzing it days after you view it!

Links
Roger Ebert's Review

Mumford (1999)
(R)
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A new psychologist in town starts getting all the towns-people to talk to him and tries to help them as best he can, even though he is just faking being a shrink. A good and enjoyable "I'm ok, you're ok" movie, it tries to show how it's possible to change simply by examining your life and figuring what you want to do with it. It has some very funny and touching moments, and doesn't get too wrapped up in the melodramatics of the story.

Links:
Official Studio Site

The Mummy (1999)
(PG-13)
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Brendan Fraser plays a man who helps two people find an ancient Egyptian city, and then must help undo a curse that brings a mummy back to life. A very corny movie, it's mostly just a lot of special effects and humor. It works fairly well, though, and kept me mildly entertained. It could have been helped by developing the characters a little more instead of so many special effects, but was still good corny fun.

Links:
Official Studio Site

The Muse (1999)
(PG-13)
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A very cute movie about a Hollywood screenwriter who is in a writing slump when he finds out about a woman who is believed to be a muse and to inspire writers to do some of their best work. Almost a Woody Allen movie crossed with a Sienfeld episode, The film has some funny parts, and nothing bad enough to really insult the audience. The cameos throughout the film are great, especially James Cameron and Martin Scorsese. Overall, entertaining enough for fans of the style of film.

Links:
Official Studio Site

Muppets From Space (1999)
(G)
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Gonzo receives messages from aliens and tries to make contact with them. This is a fairly bland movie, even with several good jokes. Most of the time the movie tends to drag on longer that it should, and while there are many tries at humor, only a few joke are memorable. The movie manages to be entertaining enough to sit through and chuckle a few times, but isn't as good as it should have been.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Roger Ebert's Review

My Dog Skip (2000)
(PG)
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A boy matures in a small southern town in the 60's with the help of a dog given to him for his birthday. A sedimental movie, it manages to pull it off better than most movies of it's type. It avoids simply becoming sappy and instead focuses on the real emotions that a kid goes through growing up, helping to make it seem real. The biggest help comes from the great directing and acting (including Frankie Muniz from Malcolm in the Middle, Kevin Bacon, and Diane Lane), which makes the characters and presentation very believable. Overall, a great look at growing up, and good for all ages.

Official Studio Site
Second Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review
Roger Ebert's Review

My Favorite Martian (1999)
(PG)
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A martian crashes on earth and hides out as the uncle of a ex-television news director. The movie spends most of it's time parading out sight gags centered around special effects, but doesn't come up with anything that hasn't been done before. The movie does have a few moments of humor, but is mostly just boring. Overall, very bland, with only the occasional chuckle.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Film.com's Review

Mystery, Alaska (1999)
(R)
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A town that plans everything around it's Saturday night hockey games gets a chance for it's hockey players to play against a professional team, and jumps at the chance. The film focuses on their lives as they prepare to take on the pros. A fairly enjoyable cross of The Full Monty and The Mighty Ducks, with good characters and acting. The movie could have been helped with a little more dramatic direction, instead of trying to be so restrained forward all the time, but is still an decent underdog movie with a few good creative parts.

Links:
Official Studio Site
Pictures From The Set

Mystery Men (1999)
(PG-13)
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A group of would be super heroes attempt to save the town's famous powerful superhero currently held captive by the movie's villain. A very campy film, this seems to be what Joel Schumacher was trying for when he directed the third and forth movies in the recent Batman series. This film manages to get it right, and has some very funny moments (in between a lot of groan inspiring jokes). Overall, a funny parody of the superhero genre.

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