Mary Lynn Rajskub and Harrison Ford in "Firewall"
courtesy of Warner Home Video
"Harrison Ford Gets Angry"

Remember how ferocious Harrison Ford could be in all those movies where he played Jack Ryan? He was even better when he got ticked off as Indiana Jones. Still the role I remember most (for anger) was "Air Force One." That's when he muttered that immortal line, "Get off my plane!"

Yes, Harrison angry is about as good as it gets, and in his new movie out on DVD, "Firewall" he gets really angry one more time. In this movie he plays a bank officer whose family is taken hostage. The bad guys, led by Paul Bettany (the albino in "The Da Vinci Code"), say if Harrison doesn't transfer millions of dollars to their bank account they will kill his wife (Virginia Madsen) and kids.

Of course Harrison tries to outfox them and to do so he needs an able assistant. Thank goodness he has Chloe from "24" working as his secretary. Well not really Chloe, but another character played by actress Mary Lynn Rajskub. And this character could be Chloe's younger sister.

The movie was savaged by the critics when it played in theaters but I thought and still think it is fun. Harrison is still on the side of right; he gets angry and gets going to best the bad guys; and the bad guys are led by a real baddie played by Bettany. What more could you ask?

So get this DVD and get ready for some Harrison Ford type of fun. He is still the best action hero around.

Tommy Lee Jones is currently on view in theaters in the movie "Prairie Home Companion." His role in that film is brief but important. If you want to see him in a movie where he is the "STAR" then check out the DVD of "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada." Jones not only stars in this film, he also directed it.

The film is a modern day western and concerns the theme of friendship and loyalty. Jones plays a ranch hand who is friends with a Mexican named Melquiades Estrada (Julio Cedillo). When Estrada is killed, Pete Perkins (Jones) remembers his promise to take his body back to his hometown in Mexico.

Before he starts transporting the body, Pete kidnaps the alleged killer of Estrada. This is a border patrolman named Mike Norton (Barry Pepper). The film covers the days of their travel to Mexico and the impact this arduous journey has on Norton.

The movie is a slow moving one but also one that you can feel in your bones. Pete and Mike's odyssey is a life changing one and watching the impact makes for a terrific adventure. Plus the acting by Jones and Pepper is some of the best work they have ever done.

The DVD release of certain programs includes some extras you don't expect. When you rent or purchase "Power Rangers: Mystic Force: Volume 1" you not only get a movie about the five warriors in a battle against evil, you also get a bonus. It is "Power Rangers Space Patrol Delta."

Yes, you get two adventures for the price of one. How's that for a bargain. And how's that for entertainment your kids are going to love. Watching this second movie featuring the Green, Red, Yellow, Pink, Blue and Gold rangers will be as much fun as watching the "warrior" film they bought the DVD to get.

So get this DVD and get extra entertainment to thrill your kids!

Sometimes the actors in a movie can make it better than it ought to be. Such is the case with "The Big white," a dark comedy starring Robin Williams, Holly Hunter, Woody Harrelson and Giovanni Ribisi. They are all better than the material they are given but make it entertaining just by the sheer force of their personalities.

Williams and Hunter play a couple living in Alaska who have money problems of the worst kind. In order to get some cash Williams tries to fake the death of his brother (Harrelson) and collect on the life insurance policy. The insurance investigator (Ribisi) shows up and tries to capture Williams and all in a lie.

In this film Hunter plays a woman who has diagnosed herself as having Tourette's and if you think that isn't funny then think again. Nobody could play this better than Hunter, nobody!

So settle down with this one, let the comedy play out and watch these excellent actors make it crazier and sillier than it ought to be. These guys know how to get the humor in black comedy and they do it with gusto.

Another film with an insurance plot is "Mystery Woman: Snapshot." This is another Samantha Kinsey movie. She is the woman who owns a bookstore but solves crimes on the side (and yes it is kind of a take-off on "Murder She Wrote" but this is more "Murder She Read").

Kellie Martin plays Samantha and her partner in crime investigating is played by Clarence Williams III. The guest star in this movie is Patty McCormack, who plays a woman who claims she is being cheated out of an inheritance by her relatives. After she makes this claim she is murdered and it is up to Samantha to solve the crime.

This is lightweight mystery fun and Martin makes a good investigator/heroine. For some fun pick this one up and play "solve the crime."

Finally there is "Vampire Wars: Battle For the Universe." Michael DeLuise and Joe Lando star as two men who are part of a crew battling vampires on an isolated planet. This is an R rated movie for violence and gore so expect this type of violence as you watch the film. 

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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