Scream 2

Scream 2 (1997)
Starring: Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox, and David Arquette
Directed by: Wes Craven
SC=5 V=10 C=6
Grade: A

I liked this movie, but not quite as much as the other one. Part of it might be the absence of Skeet Ulrich. The thing that makes this movie more awesome than it would have been, however, is Timothy Olyphant (oh yeah! :) and Jerry O'Connell (Vern from my favorite movie Stand By Me). In this sequel, it has been two years since the original events in Woodsboro. Sidney (Campbell) and Randy (Jamie Kennedy), two of the original survivors, are trying to move on with their lives at college. Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), the man originally convicted of Sidney's mother's murder, is trying to cash in on his wrongful incarceration. Gale Weathers (Cox) has written a best-selling book called "The Woodsboro Murders" which has been turned into a film called "Stab", starring Tori Spelling as Sidney. As the film's release date approaches, the cycle of death starts all over again. Dewey Riley (Arquette) immediately comes to Windsor College to protect Sidney, his "surrogate sister". As with the other Scream movies, Randy tells everyone the rules of horror movies. And, also as with all of the other movies, his predictions come true. And, in this sequel, the number of suspects only goes down as the body count goes up.

Catch and Release

Catch and Release (2006)
Starring: Jennifer Garner, Timothy Olyphant, and Kevin Smith
Written and Directed by: Susannah Grant
SC=5 V=2 C=3
Grade: A++

This movie is amazing. I know, it has Timothy Olyphant (I've seen almost all of his movies!!!) and most of his movies are amazing, but still. This one has Jennifer Garner, another one of my favorites (Alias anyone??). Gray (Garner), after the death of her fiance, has to move in with his old roommates, because she can no longer afford the house she and her fiance were going to stay in. These roommates are Dennis and Sam (Smith), but the house has also expanded to fit Fritz (Olyphant), who is the fiance's best friend who has come for his funeral, but also decides to stay and help Gray. They don't get along at all. Their relationship gets even worse after Gray finds out about Maureen (Juliette Lewis), who her fiance had been having an affair with for many years...it even turns out that he had a child with this woman. When the woman turns up at the house, can Gray find it in her heart to forgive her for what she did? Or will things get even uglier than they were before?

I Am Number Four

I Am Number Four (2011)
Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, and Dianna Agron
Directed by: D.J. Caruso
Produced by: Michael Bay
Grade: A-

Okay, I read this book. And it's AMAZING. I was pretty excited about Alex playing John (aka Number Four) but when I heard Timothy Olyphant was playing his guardian Henri, I was stoked! But I was disappointed overall in the movie. Timothy Olyphant was great, but his part was limited and they showed him to have a lot of weaknesses that he didn't have in the book. They also changed a lot of the dynamics between John and Henri. In the book, it's very much like a father/son relationship, because Henri is the only father John has ever known. But, in the movie, it seems that John is always annoyed and disrespectful to Henri, something that never happens in the book. Dianna Agron was very good as the cute and sweet Sarah, Callan McAuliffe was adorable as John's geeky friend Sam, and Theresa Palmer was the perfect choice for the tough but loyal Number Six. Overall, an enjoyable movie, especially if you haven't read the book, but it would have been even better had they not made so many changes.

The Crazies

The Crazies (2010)
Starring: Timothy Olyphant, Radha Mitchell, Joe Anderson, and Danielle Panabaker
Directed by: Breck Eisner
Tagline: Fear Thy Neighbor
Grade: A+++++

This movie is awesome...and completly terrifying. My entire family was screaming and had blankets over half of their faces. Luckily we watched it during the day. The movie starts in the small town of Ogden Marsh, Iowa. People in the town start behaving oddly, eventually turning psychopathic, trying to shoot people or murdering their own family. Sheriff David Dutton (Olyphant) tries to make sense of the situation (eventually figuring out that the people have gone crazy due to a toxin in the water). He and his wife (Mitchell) hook up with two unaffected townspeople (Anderson and Panabaker) and try to get to the next city without getting killed by the soliders guarding the town or the townspeople trying to kill the people left in it.