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During the 90's, the cable television station Nickelodeon hosted a 2-hour Saturday evening program block of half-hour shows known as "Snick" (Saturday Night Nickelodeon). Airing from 8 PM to 10 PM, Snick featured shows geared to a (slightly) older audience in the preteen demographic by airing programs featuring more mature themes then the daytime programs. From season to season most shows risked being moved/canceled in their 8 to 9:30 slots, but the 9:30 slot stayed the same for a record of 5 seasons (from 1991 to 1996). That show was known as "Are You Afraid Of The Dark?" AYAOTD was a program featuring a cast of preteens who called themselves "The Midnight Society", a group of friends who gathered weekly in a forest campfire setting to tell spooky tales of ghosts, goblins, and anything within the supernatural and paranormal realms. A simple introduction into each weekly story began as "submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, I call this story..." following a title for the episode ("The Tale of the Dead Man's Float", "The Tale of Apartment 214", etc). Seasons to season, members of the society were changed, replaced, but the stories never got stale.

What made AYAOTD revolutionary for its generation was within its story structure: the show avoided criticism that normal sitcoms and shows face because it avoided cliché formatting. The show never lost its spirit because each week featured new characters and scenarios, keeping the show fresh and appealing. It was an "X-Files" or, even closer, "Tales from the Crypt", for a younger audience.

But the show can still be appreciated at an older age: AYAOTD did truly deliver for its genre. To assume the show couldn't deliver scares because it targeted such a young age group is false because the show certainly did. Its demographic allowed more focus on creating natural suspense and fear rather than artificially supplying it in the forms of over-excessive gore, violence, and language. Because the show avoided those clichés, it used strong mood lighting, clever camera-work and omniscient music in order to heighten the tension and fear. AYAOTD's writers were sharp enough to create scary tales that tapped into primal fears and childhood nightmares. The stories covered every type of unnatural force possible but somehow spun them into its own creative style. In its first season alone, AYAOTD covered topics such as clowns, ghosts, possession, vampires, creatures lurking in basements, and things hiding in the dark. It also knew its strengths and weaknesses: it was good at making the things that needed to scary scary, but strong dialogue was an apparent flaw. The acting was at best B-material, but in itself it shows the appeal of AYAOTD: the show was a light horror pop confection that took itself just serious enough to make your pulse race and your breath to shorten.

10 out of 10 is a grade that shouldn't be given out like candy, and I abide by that opinion. In essence, AYAOTD deserves a 10/10 because it accomplishes the primary requirement: to entertain. AYAOTD accomplishes this effortlessly, even in its later seasons, because it applied a format that allowed for fresh new ideas every week, never tiring the storyline or the viewer. AYAOTD told its last tale in 1996 when it was sadly canceled. But its popularity and fan-base was so strong that the show was remade with an all-new cast in the 99-00 season. Sadly, while it sounded like a good idea to bring back such a favored show, it just wasn't the same without the original Midnight Society and was quickly canceled after its first season. AYAOTD is not a television show to scares your pants off if you're above the age of 10, but even if you are older, you can't help but feel your spine tingle at the thought of what may be lurking within each episode. And if that isn't entertainment, I don't know what is.

Three years after the huge success of the pop-culture phenomenon "Pulp Fiction", Quentin Taratino serves up a quiet little success named "Jackie Brown", which I found, is more pleasing in substance the "Pulp Fiction", and many other films. On a slight homage to blaxploitation films of the 70's, he gives us a drab, seedy region in California, where we meet the most complex and colorful characters, including Ms. Brown. What really hits you hard is the interest in these character, their emotions, their behaviors, their life. It's one amazing film.

The main character, as you already know, is Jackie Brown, a stewardess who works in California. In her mid-40's, Jackie knows a man by the name of Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) who is an illegal gun merchant. Jackie and Ordell are connected to the same bail-bondsman by the name of Max Cherry (Robert Forster in an unbelievable performance). With Ordell's wealth of cash from his sell's, he hires Jackie to import them into California from Mexico (Where her flights come and go). The police however, are catching on to Ordell, and one cop by the name of Ray (Michael Keaton), is on Jackie's trail. Along for the ride is Ordell's ex-con friend Louis (Robert DeNiro) and one of Ordell's stoned-out-of-her-mind girlfriends, Melanie (Bridget Fonda). These six players are all on the trail of Ordell's half a million dollar profit, and like the DVD box exclaims "The only questions are...who's going to get played...and who's going to make the big score?".

Quentin has a habit of resurrecting aging star's careers, such as Travolta's with "Pulp Fiction", but this time around he does it twice, with extraordinary performances from Pam Grier and Robert Forster. There's even a subtle romance between Jackie and Max. Even Ray, the cop, has an eye on Jackie. And it's within these subtle hints of the script that we get into these characters and feel for them. It's amazing what Quentin can do with them, and how each speech between two characters has such immense importance.

What's a great shock is the feel of how the movie takes it's time and does not rush to it's ending. It takes in as much as it wants, and so do we. The film is a long film, about 2 and 1/2 hours long, and yet we don't mind how long it takes, because we're not looking for the end. We're studying each scene with precision, admiring the character development. The ending is a cool, classy, laid-back approach. No startling revelations, but a very satisfying feel.

The soundtrack features the soul and sound of the 70's with featured bands like The Delfonics. The opening and closing will give you a great smile, and it's because of how Quentin chooses his musical arrangements. I could not have been happier to hear the music being played for the ending. I savored every moment of Jackie Brown and you should too.

My Ratings: * * * * (Out Of 4) A+ (A+ Being The Highest, F Being The Lowest) 10 (On the IMDb.Com's scale, 1 being the lowest)

I remember all the way back to the good ol' days of B&W, where Lugosi, Karloff, and Chaney Jr. ruled the horror silver screen. Nowadays, horror has expanded to evil maniacs, crazy monsters, and oddball zombie flicks. It's just not as scary as they 3 originals did it. Thank god that Steven Sommers (Of 'The Mummy' fame) has brought the 3 classic monsters: Drac, the Wolfman, and Frankenstein, back to the silver screen to rule over again. In "Van Helsing" I found myself at awe with the film. Hype has lead it to be this summers first blockbuster. With summer blockbusters you get a great mix of: action, comedy, special effects, and of course, the loose plot. Summer blockbusters were never meant to be analyzed. They were made just to go in, have some popcorn, and come out smiling. "Van Helsing" is the perfect example of a summer blockbuster. Hugh Jackman is charming and exciting as Gabriel Van Helsing, who's life work is to rid the world of monsters. Working for a secret society in Rome, he must travel to Translyvania to fight Dracula. What he comes upon is much more. There he meets more then just one vampire, but three more: Dracula's brides. He also runs into Frankenstein, who we find out was "created by and for evil, but not ruled by it", making the monster a gentle creature who just wants to help Van Helsing. Kate Beckinsale, who was just hot of the success of "Underworld" as a vampire as turned her roles right around, as the beautiful Anna Valerious, the last of the Valerious' who's life's work is to rid the world of Dracula as well. On their way, they run into the Wolfman, who is all special effect, and rightfully so, since it fits. I enjoyed how the transformation of man to wolf starts. Don't expect special effects from the original 'The Wolfman'. And of course, Dracula, played by Richard Roxborough doesn't quite hit the mark on his impression of Dracula (Or Bela). You, willingly or not, will automatically try a comparison to him and Lugosi. Does he top it? No, but he adds a new, more sadistic sense to the image. I did enjoy his performance. The film, a special effects extravaganza, is one of the most impressive works as FX goes. Amazing shots of Rome, Translyvania mountains, and inside masquerades make the locations amazing. The monsters, most of the pure FX are impressive, yet corny. The vampires switch from human-like form to more demon-vampire mode. When they do, they grow giant mouthfuls of fangs, about a foot long each. It looks hokey, but still fun to smile at. Like I was saying it being the perfect summer blockbuster: it's true. Amazing special effects light up and ignite the action throughout the film, the plot acts hokey, dumb, silly, but highly enjoyable, and also it is loose. Very loose. You will question scenes and moments at least more then twice to yourself. I tip my hat to Stephen Sommers, who keeps the film on fire from beginning to end. It also kept my mind spinning from beginning to end as well. Lugosi, Karloff, and Chaney Jr. would be proud.

My Rating: * * * 1/2 (Out Of Four) 8 (Out Of 10 On The IMDB) A- (A+=Highest, F=Lowest)