William Shatner as James T. Kirk courtesy of Wikipedia

William Shatner was wonderful as Captain James T. (Tiberius) Kirk! I am so happy to hear that he is still with us.

As I mentioned in Leonard Nimoy’s Happy Birthday article here earlier today (which was the 26th of March), Star Trek is likely one of my most favorite franchises of all time — the love of this franchise spans from the 60s to present day. It grew with me from childhood to adulthood.

The wonderful blending of personalities on Star Trek was led by William Shatner as well as the way the writers and actors’/actresses’ characters kept the sense of loyalty, friendship and understanding going between them no matter what the situation was on the shows and movies. Each character was diverse, but with a common thread between them of the mission and their part in it.

Over the years, it has been hard to know what my absolute favorite character was in Star Trek, but William Shatner as Captain Kirk has certainly played a big role in keeping it on top of my favorite list year after year. As well as Spock, Doctor McCoy, Scottie, Lt. Uhura, and so many others! They each played their roles so well over the years, but the focus and loyalty of their roles was to the Captain, Star Fleet, and the mission .. but the Captain embodied that loyalty. So it is hard to not find William Shatner’s role as being focal for me. He did such a great job in TOS to bring that to pass in what was presented to us on the screens on our old black and white, tube type televisions from the first year it was presented to us.

Thank you so much William Shatner for being there and carrying through with it till the end of TOS series. He certainly has done other things very well, but he will always be best embodied as Captain James T. Kirk. Not type cast, just admired for a role that was the glue for Star Trek, TOS.

Happy Birthday William Shatner! May you have many more, as many as you wish! In the words of Mr. Spock, “Live Long and Prosper”.

Leonard Nimoy as Spock courtesy of Wikipedia

Star Trek is likely one of my most favorite franchises of all time — the love of this franchise spans from the 60s to present day. It grew with me from childhood to adulthood.

Leonard Nimoy has certainly had his hands in so many creative areas, but he always seems to make time for those who love Star Trek, and for that I am very thankful. He truly understands how we view Spock and helped to shape Spock as well as maintain that image for us through the years.

There is a wonderful article on StarTrek.com entitled Happy 80th Birthday, Leonard Nimoy, as well as a great, indepth, 3-part interview with Leonard Nimoy entitled “Orbiting 80, Nimoy Looks Back… and Ahead” Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

It is also very interesting that, as different as they are, both William Shatner, (Captain James T. Kirk) and Leonard Nimoy (Spock) share not only the same birthday month, but the same year as well. They both turned 80 this month, within a week of each other. I will talk more about William Shatner in his separate birthday wishes article. I almost missed it!

I also will talk more about Star Trek in other articles for 5BuckReview over time, especially since I not only loved TOS (The Original Series), and all the other wonderful series based upon the Star Trek franchise (as well as all the movies), but I also watched and loved the perfect solution in the ingenious alternate reality created for Star Trek (2009) movie. It was done so nothing was lost or invalidated of the original Star Trek sets of series and movies. What a wonderful way to handle it. I can’t wait for the next movie!

Thank you for all the wonderful years as Spock, Leonard Nimoy and Happy 80th Birthday! I wish you many more as long as you wish for them! Live Long and Prosper!!!

You can check out Leoard Nimoy’s thoughts at @TheRealNimoy on Twitter and wish him a Happy Birthday!

25 Mystery Classics

It has 2 double sided DVDs — over 30 hours of movies!

There were some Sherlock Holmes movies (The Sign of the Four and The Triumph of Sherlock Holmes, Murder at the Baskervilles, The Woman in Green, Terror by Night, Dressed to Kill, A Study in Scarlet), some Tales of the Unexpected (The Sound Machine, Shatterproof, The Stinker, I’ll Be Seeing You), some Mr. and Mrs. North episodes, some Crime Stories (Highway Patrol, Boston Blackie, Public Defender), and some stand alone movies (Death Sentence, Dangerous Assignment, Mr. Wong Detective, Midnight Manhunt, Murder by Television and The Black Raven).

I just love the old mystery movies and TV shows! It has provided hours and hours of great old classic movie watching!

Amazon has some great combo DVDs of old mysteries too, including the one at Target but it’s not on sale for $5 (at Amazon it’s still the normal $5.98):

All I can say is wow! What a powerful movie. It was wonderful to see so many great actors and actresses in this movie, as well as those I hadn’t seen before, and all doing such a tremendous job.

John Grisham’s bestseller A Time to Kill hits the screen with incendiary force, directed by Joel Schumacher (Batman Forever, The Client). Sandra Bullock, Samuel L. Jackson, Matthew McConaughey and Kevin Spacey portray the principals in a murder trial that brings a small Mississippi town’s racial tensions to the flashpoint. Amid a frenzy of activist marches, Klan terror, media clamor and brutal riots, an unseasoned but idealistic young attorney mounts a stirring courtroom battle for justice. The superb ensemble also includes Brenda Fricker, Oliver Platt, Charles S. Dutton, Ashley Judd, Patrick McGoohan, Chris Cooper and both Donald and Keifer Sutherland. These and other talents make A Time to Kill “one of the year’s most powerful films” (Jeffrey Lyons, SNEAK PREVIEW/ABC WORLD NEWS NOW).

This is a tragic, heartwarming, heartbreaking story. It is a must see movie, and an amazing book by John Grisham. I can’t say it enough … it was an exceptional movie. My copy of this DVD movie is an older, two sided DVD that has the cardboard snap cover on it, rather than a standard plastic DVD cover. I got it from a bin somewhere, maybe Walmart, or maybe even a thrift store somewhere, or maybe even on eBay’s Half.com. I can’t remember for sure as I have had it for several years now. The movie itself was done in 1996.

If you ever have an opportunity to rent or buy this movie, I don’t think you can be disappointed in it.

The big names, the well known actors and actresses were fantastic in their roles, as was the leading role played by Matthew McConaughey (he did a great job!), and his wife by Ashley Judd were very deep roles, as was Sandra Bullock’s role. It was great to see father and son (Donald and Keifer Sutherland) in the same movie and playing such dramatically different roles. I don’t think I remember seeing the two of them together in a movie before. Have you?

You wouldn’t know it by watching the Batman movies they collaborated on, but this smart adaptation of John Grisham’s novel proves that director Joel Schumacher and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman have some talent when the right project comes along. Schumacher had previously directed Grisham’s The Client, and brought equal craft and intelligence to this story about a young Southern attorney (Matthew McConaughey, in his breakthrough role) who defends a black father (Samuel L. Jackson) after he kills two men who raped his young daughter. Sandra Bullock plays the passionate law student who serves as McConaughey’s legal aide and voice of conscience in the racially charged drama. Added to the star power of the lead roles is a fine supporting cast, including Kevin Spacey, Ashley Judd, and Oliver Platt. –Jeff Shannon

Just picked up Gattaca from a WaWa store while getting gas for the car for $5.99. Definitely within the ‘affordable’ range.

This was a great movie we saw years ago on a movie channel back when we had cable TV. And I have not seen it in the $5 bin at Walmart or over in the inexpensive DVDs at Target either. I have been watching for it because it was such an excellent movie. It still after 13-14 yrs, it is still 7.8 out of 10 stars at IMDb as of today.

Gattaca has a very important message that is even more relevant today than it was back in 1997 when the movie was made.

The movie starred Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Gore Vidal, Ernest Borgnine and others.

It shows what can happen when genetic markers/identities become the norm, when they think they can predict someone’s future by their genetics and people’s lives and jobs are what suffers…despite it being illegal to choose job applicants by their genetics.

It is the story of a ‘normal’ person and his ‘genetically engineered’ brother and how genetic differences affected their lives, and those around them.

A gripping story. Prophetic. And maybe we can keep this from happening … If only …

Karate Kid (2010) was a thoroughly engrossing and great movie. It had all the the same elements as the original Karate Kid. Jackie Chan and Jayden Smith did a great job.

I found it exciting, engaging, heartwarming, and a great sequel to the original Karate Kid. I found it refreshing that they decided to use Kung Fu (one of my favorite TV Shows too), instead of Karate this time around, and who better to show that off as the teacher then Jackie Chan! He did a great job, and Pat Morita was a tough act to follow. He was wonderful in the Forbidden Kingdom as well, BTW.

I was highly impressed with Jayden’s first truly leading role, hats off to you Jayden. Great job. I am sure Dad, Will Smith, and the rest of your family are very proud of the job you did.

This is not Jayden Smith’s first movie though, he also played Jacob Benson in the new The Day The Earth Stood Still as well. Another movie where I enjoyed the remake as much as the original.

Considering that the original Karate Kid movie got high ratings, as it should (it is one of my favorites, btw), it was a tough act to follow, even though it was done back in 1984. Which is all the more reason that Karate Kid (2010) still stands tall as a great flick, to me. And the fact that I can say that many good things about this movie, gives Jayden’s performance even more of a thumbsup. And who better to take over the role of reluctant Kung Fu teacher than Jackie Chan, the drunken immortal from Forbidden Kingdom…and all of his other wonderful, action packed films. I make it a point never to miss any of Jackie Chan’s movies, or Jet Li’s for that matter.

I thought it was great to take this remake to China. The scenery was gorgeous and so fitting for such a movie.

I saw Karate Kid was out at Red Box, so I figured what could I lose, right? But to my surprise was thoroughly pleased with the choice and the movie. When I got it, I got it from Red Box on the movie name alone. I didn’t realize who was it it. Just wanted to see the remake for myself. Very glad I did!

Like they mentioned in the Editorial Review at Amazon, I too agree that this should be 8-12 or older, with parental guidance. But with that guidance, I think it would be an inspiration to most kids in that age group, or kids of any age.

It is with a very sad heart that I report that one of my all time favorite actors, Tony Curtis, has passed away.

Tony Curtis, born Bernard Schwartz on June 3, 1925, in New York City, was a prolific, extremely talented actor, dancer, painter and much more.

I sometimes feel as though as a little girl, that I grew up with Tony Curtis. My Dad and I watched so many Tony Curtis moves; from his comedy, dancing, serious, dramas, crime dramas, military, gladiator, college type, you name it movies! He could do any type of movie.

He was simply amazing.

I was looking over the Amazon page on Tony Curtis and just reminiscing about each movie there. I have seen them all!

OK, I can’t list them all here!!! There’s just too many! At the end of this article are only a few of my favorites!

There are lots of places to read Tony Curtis’ intriguing biography:

www.TonyCurtis.com
Tony Curtis -IMDb
Tony Curtis – Wikipedia

Tony Curtis also has a successful second career as a painter. Check out his own original art gallery on his site here.

Tony Curtis’ wife, Jill, and family have a horse rescue and sanctuary in LA called Shiloh.

Tony Curtis, I will miss you greatly. Another chapter in my childhood closes. I can’t tell you how sad it is to hear the news of his passing.

My fondest thoughts, memories, and of course my prayers are with his family at this time.

Just a very few of my all time favorite Tony Curtis movies:

‘Crocodile’ Dundee (1986)

‘Crocodile’ Dundee, the original/first one, was as usual the best of the trilogy. However, I enjoyed ‘Crocodile’ Dundee II very much as well. I have not seen ‘Crocodile’ Dundee in Los Angeles.

For me, Australia, and in particular, the Australian Outback holds a bit of mystique with all the unique animals, interesting and varied terrain, and the people. If I had a chance to visit any country in the world, it would be Australia. So you can imagine, any movie about Australia would intrigue me.

‘Crocodile’ (Michael J.) Dundee is wonderfully played by Paul Hogan. I think this was the first movie that I really saw Paul Hogan play a leading role and he did an outstanding job. Linda Kozlowsk played Sue Charlton, the female lead in the movie. She was as fantastic in the role, as she is beautiful. These two have some real chemistry between them.

The story centers around ‘Crocodile’ Dundee who is to take a New York reporter, Sue Charlton, through the Australian Outback, or as Mick Dundee calls it, ‘the bush’ — to the place where he was ‘apparently’ attacked by a huge crocodile and survived, and proudly shows off his beautiful pair of crocodile boots. There is some great bantering in the film and great quotes for movie lovers like me. Sue learns some things about ‘the bush’ and Dundee and herself, as does Dundee; and of course Dundee protects Sue when needed. There are some wonderful characters in the film including Dundee’s friends Wally and Nev.

Crocodile Dundee is a charming movie, with a hoped for ending. Well worth seeing just for the banter, but there is so much more to it. It is, in my opinion, a must see movie.

‘Crocodile’ Dundee – Wikipedia
Crocodile Dundee – IMDB – 6.5/10 stars
‘Crocodile’ Dundee – Rotten Tomatoes – 88% on Tomatometer

Crocodile Dundee (trailer) – Youtube

Crocodile Dundee II (1988)

Because the movie takes place in New York initially, I wasn’t sure how it would work out, but they did end up back in ‘the bush’ being chased by drug dealers who kidnapped Sue and were threatening her life to get back pictures of the drug lord personally killing someone in South America. Those pictures were taken by an photographer, a friend of Sue. At least until the drug lord had him killed to get back the pictures. Again, some great fun and danger, and banter. It was a good film but not great like the first one.

‘Crocodile’ Dundee II – Wikipedia
‘Crocodile’ Dundee II – IMDB – 5.1/10 stars
‘Crocodile’ Dundee II – Rotten Tomatoes – 14% on Tomatometer

Crocodile Dundee II (trailer) – Youtube

Hulu – ‘Crocodile’ Dundee II – Full feature film

I was able to find both ‘Crocodile’ Dundee and ‘Crocodile’ Dundee II last month in the $5 bin at Walmart. Great finds! It was like seeing old friends to watch them again.

Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001)

I have not seen Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles. It does appear that as often is the case, the third in a series is the least favored, but I would still like to see it.

Since I don’t personally have much to say about it, I will let you look for yourself in the links below:

Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles – Wikipedia
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles – IMDB – 4.6/10 stars
Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles – Rotten Tomatoes – 12% on Tomatometer

Crocodile Dundee In Los Angeles Trailer HD – Youtube

Recently Sean Connery celebrated his 80th birthday and many, including me concluded that Sean Connery was in fact the best 007 ever!

But I digress…

We are obviously big fans of Sean Connery and have seen and enjoyed most of his movies. The whole week we watched movies that we have with Sean Connery in them in celebration with him. One movie that wasn’t specifically called out in many articles was Entrapment. Entrapment was done later in Sean Connery’s career, and we totally enjoyed it.

If you missed Sean Connery’s 80th birthday celebration, or if you just want to watch a very good flick, I really think you won’t go wrong here. We were fortunate enough to be able to get it in a $5 bin at Wal-Mart awhile back. But it is still less than $10 at Amazon.

I fully intend to go through many of Sean Connery’s films before it’s all said on our site where I can (remembering our frugal nature here). But that doesn’t mean you can’t talk about any and all Sean Connery movies on the site.

I felt the movie was very well done, and Sean Connery’s female partner in crime was amazing as well.

Entrapment is a 1999 American caper film, directed by Jon Amiel, starring Sean Connery and Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Entrapment – wikipedia
Entrapment – IMDB – 6.1 Stars out of 10
Entrapment – received 38% on Rotten Tomatoes

Maybe it wasn’t one of his very excellent 007 movies, or even on par with Medicine man and some of his greater works, but I think it may have been better than that.

Certainly worth a look at any rate.

OK, so this was not a major review of the movie … but I wanted to get one up after working on the website all day. So much more to do!

Come back and see us again and join us to see what we are up to. Contact us if you have any questions or problems with the site. It’s less than a day old and so much more to be done, so please, be gentle on us.

We are under construction at the moment, but please come back soon and see what we have for your perusal here at 5BuckRewview.com!