This is a low budget movie and proves not all low-budget thrillers are bad. I’m still holding my breath from this one. “If I Die Before I Wake” opens on a dark night and starts off very fast with three hillbillies breaking into a house. Quickly they beging terrorizing and torture the poor defenseless suburban family within their home. The oldest daughter realizes her house is being infiltrated early, and hides herself and her little sister, devising a plan to get back at the murderers and defend her house once and for all. “If I Die Before I Wake” is an excellent thriller, mainly for the atmosphere and breakneck pacing.
Tag Archives: Drama
Cast Away (2000)
Ladies and gentlemen, we bring you the age old story of man vs. Nature! In one corner, a city man who is stranded on an island, on the other corner, a deserted island in the middle of nowhere with no food or shelter! Who will conquer? You have to watch to find out! Every once and a while, every two or three years, a movie comes along with such power, such strength, and such drama, it makes me realize maybe Hollywood hasn’t lost all of its hope in making a good movie. Tom Hanks’ role is so excellent and powerful, that he actually touches you through the screen with his performance.
Almost Famous (2000)
The movie starts off sometime in the sixties with Francis McDormand (Wonder Boys, Fargo) talking to a young William Miller (Patrick Fugit) our reluctant hero about characters from “To Kill a Mocking Bird”, The sister comes home with a record of “Simon & Garfunkel” which the mother bans in the house along with Eggs, Bacon, and meat. Eventually The sister leaves home to become a stewardess and tells William: “Look under your bed. It will set you free”. The Young William discovers a case of classic rock records Like “Zeppelin”, “Cream” and “The Who”. He then begins playing “The Who’s Tommy” and gets introduced into another world. We fast-forward into 1973, where young William becomes an amateur rock critic. He then is sent on an assignment with a not so famous band Named “Stillwater”, where he is introduced into a world of rock, women, and love.
Finding Forrester (2000)
Jamal Wallace played by newcomer Robert Brown is an excellent basketball player who is recruited by a top school in Manhattan for his skills in basketball. But he is also a literary prodigy who is somewhat unrecognized. He then meets William Forrester played brilliantly by Sean Connery who is an excellent yet reclusive author who teaches Jamal the art of writing and creating a good novel. The acting in this is excellent, especially by the two main actors who play off each other very well and have an excellent chemistry together.
Felix Vasquez Jr.'s Top Ten Films of All Time
10. BEN – HUR (1959)
(Starring: Charlton Heston, Tony Curtis)
Charlton Heston is the main man of epic roles in movies such as “The Ten Commandments”, “Planet of the Apes”, and this. This is arguably the greatest gladiator movie of all – time and my favorite. Who can forget the epic exciting chariot race, and who didn’t nearly burst into tears as Hesston’s character, thirsty for water is helped by an unlikely biblical figure. Heston is truly a commanding actor as he takes this role into him and never comes back. I was breath taken throughout the entire movie’s genius directing and visual style. Truly a movie for all to see.
Neal Bailey’s Top 10 Films of all time
10. HIGH FIDELITY (2000) (Starring: John Cusack, Jack Black) – I don’t like romantic comedies, I really don’t, but this movie was a romantic comedy told from the honest and thus sexual perspective of an adult man, trying to decide whether to give up on a girl or try to win her back. It’s also the story of a niche geek, which I am, struggling to decide whether to keep his hobby even though it makes him an outcast, or come to terms with it and profit from it. I generally don’t like Cusack, but here, he turns in a banner performance, and if you’ll recall, this is the first place that Jack Black really started shining on…good stuff.
The Iron Giant (1999)
I was pleasantly surprised at what I was watching when watching this movie. It is a gem to behold. The movie’s animated style is probably the most unique of the movie as it fits well with the fifties pop aesthetic. Many of the characters look very similar to the style of folks like Chuck Jones or Bob McKimson, offering a new innovative style that sets it apart from other animated movies.