The Claw

To say that 'Saving Private Ryan' is a war film would be like calling a Corvette a wagon. War films tend to glorify war, and show the other side as being Supermeanbadguys (new word!). But 'Saving Private Ryan' can be more accurately described as a war drama. In it, the war is anything but glorified. The scale of the war is shown on both a massive size (the Normandy invasion) and on a more personal level. The Germans seem bad, but they're just doing what we would do under the circumstances. However, even with this in mind, the audience can't help but hate them. This is the most dynamic part of the film; and is enough to make us forget the appallingly deflated character's in Speilberg's 'Schindler's List.' And, of course, there's the acting, with Hanks at his best, and the rest of the cast (Tom Sizemore and Jeremey Davies in particular) shines as well. Overall, a great film. And an utter travesty that it lost the Best Picture Oscar to the massively inferior 'Shakespeare in Love.'

Show of hands: who remembers the original Mummy? Looked like some freak covered with Band-Aids, right? Well don't be expecting anything like that in the newest 'Mummy.'

'The Mummy' staring Brendan Fraser, has been able to shed the infamous bandages of previous mummies, making our dead dude look more like a melted Jujubee. But after he (at this point, he's really more of an 'it') wakes up, the film shifts gears from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' to 'Lifeforce' when the Mummy starts to suck the life out of those who opened his tomb, making him more alive. It's now up to our hero, O'Connell (played by Brendan Fraser, who looks as Irish as Otto Von Bismark. But I won't complain.) to stop the mummy from taking over the world.

While 'The Mummy' may be short on originality, the effects are a kick to watch, and the humor is surprisingly witty. Overall, 'The Mummy' is undeniably fun, and worth the price of admission.

Few films have ever been made with more class than 'Casablanca.' And no film yet made has ever been more solid and well acted. Yet for all its great dialogue and wonderful characterization, the script to 'Casablanca' was only half finished when production started! The final thirty minutes were being written an hour before they were shot.

But 'Casablanca' comes off looking anything but rushed. The acting shines from start to finish. The camera work progresses from normal shots in the beginning, to close-ups that fill the screen near the end. And let's not forget symbolism; A Free-French soldier being shot down in front of DeGaul's poster; and the characters, who mirror the European half of World War II.

'Casablanca' is not artistic. There are no fancy angles, weird-beard lighting effects, or enigmatic scenes. 'Casablanca' is not artistic because it does not need to be. At the end, good has triumphed over evil, the good guy walks off a hero, and his fate is simply left to the viewer to imagine. But beware of the dreaded colorized version.