Dangerous Aliens & Paranoid Plots

Men In Black
Review by Matt Stills
Story - "They are the best kept secret in the universe. Working for a highly-funded yet unofficial government agency, Kay & Jay are the Men In Black, providers of immigration services and regulators of all things alien on earth. While investigating a series of unregistered close encounters, the MIB agents uncover the deadly plot of an intergalactic terrorist who is on a mission to assassinate two ambassadors from opposing galaxies currently in residence in New York City. Kay and Jay must track down the terrorist before the earth is destroyed in the bargain.
From the minute the movie started with a pretty good theme, and unusually good popcorn :), I knew I was going to like it. As it starts out,
actor Tommy Lee Jones (Playing Agent K.) and his partner find a thought-arrested alien from out-of-state. Sometime after killing the alien,
Kay's partner decides to retire. In the next scene, actor Will Smith (Playing Agent J.) is chasing after an Alien 'thug' when the alien disguised
as a human draws a weapon that breaks into a million pieces. The alien then leaps up and climbs up a tall-building and drops off. Agent Jay is invited to try-out to be Kay's supposed assistant. I won't tell you much more about this movie, you'll have to go see it.
This was a great movie, that almost everybody I've talked to, adults, younger children, and teenagers, loved. It had many funny lines, mixed in with action. I suggest that most anybody between 9-40 would like this movie.
Conspiracy Theory 
Review by Jeff Walters
Story - "Jerry Fletcher is a paranoid cab driver who keeps coming up with theories about the government. Jerry is so obsessed that he publishes a newsletter titled "Conspiracy Theory." He falls in love with a U.S. Attorney Alice Sutton) and together they realize that one of Fletcher's theories is correct, but which one? Others want him dead and he places his trust in Alice who is the only person he can trust."
When I entered the theatre I was expecting a fairly light mystery type movie, and came away pleasantly surprised and somewhat dissappointed at the same time. The film opens with an extremely amusing sequence which sees Gibson's character (paranoid cabby Jerry Fletcher) trying to convince various fares of several different conspiracies. Jerry is just a treat to watch, especially in the first hour, where he manages to be funny and touching in the same scenes.
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According to Jerry... |
"All the fathers of Nobel prize winners were rounded up by United National Military and actually forced at gunpoint to give semen samples in little plastic jars which are now stored below Rockefeller Center underneath the ice skating rink. You don't want to be there for the thaw. I mean it's disgusting." |
Jerry's manic behaviour is countered nicely by Julia Roberts' portrayal of a caring Justice Department official, Alice Sutton, and it is through her eyes that you experience most of the movie. Several of the key scenes involving Jerry and Alice are genuinely touching, like in Jerry's apartment where he gives his explanation for owning so many copies of "Catcher in the Rye". There is no doubt that this film's strength lies in the interaction between Mel and Julia. The pair just have terrific on-screen chemistry.
Conspiracy Theory takes a dramatic change of direction not too long into the film, with a fairly confronting torture scene that really surprised me and many others around me, especially after the light-hearted introduction. Don't get me wrong though, the scene is terrific and Gibson does a brilliant job conveying the outright terror the character is experiencing.
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I feel though that the 'conspiracy' storyline was disappointing and bungled to a certain degree. What started out as an intruiging premise (i.e. One of his theories is correct - But which one?) peters out and when the conspiracy is revealed, it is after no real deductive work at all by the main characters. Also, Conspiracy Theory's main villan, Dr Jonas (Patrick Stewart), is not explored as much as you'd probably like, but Stewart does a terrific job with what he was given and was well cast. I'd never have picked him as a villan before, but he's very cold and convincing.
Overall, I'd say this is a film well worth seeing. The acting was simply terrific and the movie was filled with genuine humour, not lame Batman & Robin one liners. If it wasn't for the fairly weak 'conspiracy' storyline - this would have been a classic. Many people have said that this film was simply too long, but I didn't seem to notice any problem there. Anyway, go and see it, if for no other reason than to listen to Jerry's off-the-wall conspiracy ideas or to take a look at his apartment........he's got a combination lock on the fridge and he stores his coffee in a padlocked container.
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