A classic movie is quite simply a movie that has stood the test of time, regardless of genre, regardless of age. A classic transcends all its classifications and manages to hold your attention all over again. In reverse order here are my top 10...

10. Casablanca - 1942

In one of the most famous films of all time: Humphrey Bogart plays Rick Blaine, an American nightclub owner working in French Morocco. The high-stakes story is set against the backdrop of the Second World War and tells the story of Blaine, a disillusioned idealist, as he sacrifices love to join the fight against the Nazis.

9. Citizen Kane - 1941

Orson Welles' first feature film, acclaimed for its soundtrack, photography and innovative narrative structure, is considered by many to be the greatest film ever made. It traces the life of a newspaper tycoon from his humble beginnings and follows his ruthless ascent to power and back down again to his inevitable sad and lonely end.

8. The Godfather - 1972

Francis Ford Coppola took the outstanding novel by Mario Puzo and turned it into one of the all-time classic movies. Marlon Brando, in his startling Hollywood comeback, is Don Vito Corleone the head of a New York crime family and shares the screen with a handful of actors whose careers were launched on the strength of this film and their performances. The film tells the story of the hopes and dreams of an immigrant family in America and how the children raised, struggled to fill their fathers' shoes. Beautifully shot scenes are contrasted with graphic violence.

7. Psycho - 1960

In this classic suspense/thriller from Alfred Hitchcock, Marion Crane is on the run with stolen money and makes the mistake of checking into the Bates Motel - run by mama's boy Norman Bates and his mother. Bernard Herrmann's chilling violin score and the shower scene are now synonymous with horror.

6. Raging Bull - 1980

Based on the career of 1940's boxing champ Jake La Motta, Raging Bull marked the high point of director Martin Scorsese's and Robert De Niro's work together. A study on the nature of violence itself has produced one of the most poetic and brutal sports films ever made. De Niro's performance is a triumph of acting as he journeys from a young fighting machine to an overweight boxing has-been.

5. The Graduate - 1967

In this biting coming-of-age comedy set in the late 60's, Dustin Hoffman plays Benjamin Braddock a recent college graduate wondering what to do next with his life. Seduced by an older friend of the family, Mrs Robinson, Ben continues with the affair even while falling for her daughter. The Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack seals this movie classic.

4. Chinatown - 1974

Roman Polanski's Chinatown delves into the darker side of Los Angeles in the 1930's. Jack Nicholson plays Jake Gittes a private detective investigating what appears to be a routine case of infidelity. All is not what it seams as Jake is drawn into a world of water rights and land deals, greed and murder.

3. 2001: A Space Odyssey - 1968

Arguably the greatest science fiction film ever made, Stanley Kubrick's visionary epic begins on the plains of Africa and takes us all the way to the planet Saturn. Shot in 70mm, the film took four years to make. The attention to detail is incredible and the result is a movie that doesn't look dated even after forty years.

2. Apocalypse Now - 1979

Martin Sheen is a battle-weary captain journeying into the depths of the Vietnamese jungle to assassinate the renegade Colonel Kurtz, who has gone into a mystical state of insanity and started his own tribe. The movie is almost surreal in its depiction of incredible battle scenes and of course the famous helicopter raid set to the tune of Richard Wagner's "Ride of the Valkyries".

1. Bonnie and Clyde - 1967

Set in the depressed 1930's, this film set a milestone for screen violence as it follows the infamous Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow from their first meeting, through shoot-outs and hold-ups, to becoming America's most feared and ruthless bank robbers.



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*Warning it may contain spoilers*

The Story

Twilight's plot was designed to make tweens and teenagers swoon. High school boy meets the new girl in school and they eventually fall in love. In the tradition of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, the guy being a vampire complicates things here. With this sure-fire plot, it's no surprise that the movie, just like the book, became a huge commercial success.

Why Did the Film Disappoint?

One of the key elements as to why this movie sucked was the casting. Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen and Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan looked physically good together. However, their acting needs some major work! Kristen sighed every time she had to deliver a line and she fluttered her lashes for most of the film. Both mannerisms irritated me, to say the least. I don't really know if those were her own approach to the character or if director Catherine Hardwicke advised her to do it. Robert, on the other hand, did not really act like THE Edward Cullen. He seemed like a normal human being in the film. Aside from the fact that his face is powder-white and he can climb trees, there was nothing extraordinary about him at all. Also, I have to say that I did not find Rosalie Hale (portrayed by Nikki Reed) to be extremely beautiful and graceful in the movie, which was how she was described in the book.

The effects also proved to be another disappointment. Edward shimmering like a diamond in the sunlight while Bella stared adoringly at him was one of the most poignant moments in the book. I was kind of sad that Robert just looked like he was drenched in sweat in the film. They actually had to do a close-up of his chest to make it seem like he was "glistening" in the sun. However, the effect that they were aiming for was not achieved at all.

Of course, I understand that this is a low-budget movie so they cannot produce the best of everything. It is particularly harder if the books are turned into movies because they have to condense the storyline up to just three hours tops. But then, having a low budget does not excuse the Twilight people for not thinking straight. How a wheelchair-bound man such as Billy Black (played by Gil Birmingham) can ably drive a truck really escapes my logic and inconsistencies such as this one could ruin any movie.

The Good Stuff

There are still some things that saved this film from total disaster. Billy Burke as Charlie Swan, Kellan Lutz as Emmett Cullen, Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen, and Peter Facinelli as Carlisle Cullen all delivered stellar performances. They fit their respective roles and they really brought to life the characters that I loved in the book.

Another thing that I found wonderful was the setting, which was in Forks, Washington. I must say that this town is incredibly lovely and it really looks like a place where one can find romance.

My younger brother actually liked this movie but I have a theory that if one has not read the books, you will probably love this film. Even if I did not go crazy over Twilight the movie, I am still looking forward to watching New Moon. Hopefully, having a new director at the helm might do wonders for the next installment - and how I wish they will get it right next time.

*If you want to check if the review is right or wrong, pre-order now your own Twilight DVD on Twilight Point and you be the judge on March 21.


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I suppose we all knew that things were going to go completely to hell in the last handful of episodes of Galactica. At this point, things are turning so ugly so fast that it makes you almost not even want to turn it on next week, not because the show isn't still maintaining a high level of quality, but because you just know how painful it's going to be watching the pathetic remains of the human race pretty much destroy itself over the next 8 or 9 episodes. And is anyone having starting to wish that they had gone ahead and tossed Felix Gaeta's ass out of that airlock a couple of seasons ago?

Thus begins my one of small beefs with A Disquiet Follows My Soul. Gaeta's turn for the ugly just seems wrong. His apprehension and dissent of the proposed Human/Cylon alliance was understandable and part of the continued development of his character. However, the journey from the Gaeta we knew to the Gaeta that would smirkingly enter in an alliance with convicted terrorist Tom Zarek in a plot that he knows is going to cause countless deaths of innocent people is a little too far of a fall for me to swallow.

In addition to the somewhat inexplicable turning of Gaeta to the dark side, they've finally gotten around to at least acknowledging that Tigh retaining his military position on the Galactica is a least a "controversial" move. We could feel the outrage of a colonial fleet on the vergue anti-Cylon mutiny with a single throwaway question at Adama's press conference. For those keep score at home, yes that was sarcasm.

I actually like the fact that Tigh remains in his position and still I consider him a compelling character, but on the flip side of this it just seems like a pretty major plot point being glossed over. Of course we could come to learn that it's more of a sticking point than is being portrayed yet as the impending mutiny against Adama boils to the surface next week. Thanks for that info courtesy of the preview of next week's episode at the end of the current one. Now, in the interests of making my review of one episode taking less time to read than actually watching the episode, let's just hit my bullet point summary.

- Starbuck needs to pound to crap out of Gaeta. This is a must. After Gaeta's flippant rude remarks and threats in the galley we just need to give her about 5 minutes locked in a cell sometime with gimpy Gaeta and teach that one legged sonuvabith a lesson in who wears the two-legged pants on that ship.

- Let's just get the full Roslin Sex Scene ON the screen next time. I understand what you're thinking. If you were to head down to you local adult video store, the last porn you're probably going to take home involves Edward James Olmos and a bald Mary McDonnell. However, after four years of utter misery it would be nice to actually see her caught in the act of actually enjoying herself. Let's see a liquored up Adama lay the wood to her right there on screen.

- Zarek needs to have a slow painful death scene. I am a pacifist at heart. In the real world I abhor violence, war and basically anything that unnecessarily leads to human suffering. However, within the 52 inch rectangle of my lovely Toshiba HD television set, Tom Zarek needs to a have slow, painful, deadly lesson given to him. I vote to let one of the Sharons have at him at some point, though the smart money would probably be on Adama shooting him in the head within the next 2-4 episodes.

- Lee Adama just needs to grow some testicles and learn to manipulate the Quorum the way Zarek does. Geez what a complete wuss.

- Baltar is a drag. Okay, a handful of episodes left, give our beloved masturbating scientist turned religious freak something interesting to do in this final stretch.

- My awesome spin-off idea this week- Doc Cottle M.D.G.D. (Medical Doctor Gods Damnit!). If there's one thing that I believe I can gather a 100% world-wide consensus on it's that there is nowhere near enough chain smoking doctors on TV. Any television program we can get started with Cottle counseling patients with a cig hanging from his lips each week is going to be huge. The pilot episode will deal with Cottle defending himself from a lawsuit from one of his patients claiming second hand smoke gave them cancer.

Actor Mark Sheppard reprises his role as lawyer Romo Lamplin to defend him!

My recommendation for BSG fans after this episode is to stop watching immediately. Stop your DVR series recordings, go to a movie on Friday nights for the next couple of months or whatever you have to do. I just don't see a lot of happy joyous times ahead for our travelers, so I think we'd all be better off spending Friday nights doing something that has a slightly better chance of bringing some happiness. You could take up smoking, for instance!


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