警探艾迪(罗伯特•德尼罗 Robert De Niro 饰)是纽约的知名人物,他长期在媒体上出镜为公众带来案件实况。两名出狱不久的东欧男子埃米尔(卡瑞尔•罗登 Karel Roden 饰)和奥列格来到纽约,他们找到背叛了自己的同伙,将其杀死后把现场付之一炬,崇拜美国电影的奥列格更把整个过程拍了下来。艾迪在被焚毁的现场遇到纵火调查员乔迪(爱德华•伯恩斯 Edward Burns 饰),后者的干劲令艾迪瞩目,随即两人开始合作。埃米尔和乔迪都发现了目击证人达芙妮的存在,双方展开了寻找达芙妮的竞争,期间埃米尔和奥列格又杀一人,艾迪颇感被动。终于,艾迪和乔迪在达芙妮工作的店中正遇两名嫌凶,艾迪将埃米尔击伤,而这令埃米尔把下一个目标锁定为艾迪……
Siskel and Ebert once ran a special show entitled "Movies I'm Embarrassed to Admit I Liked." I suppose that if I composed such a list of guilty pleasures, this one would be one of them . . . but upon reflection, it's really a lot better than that. Fifteen year-old science prodigy Mitch (Gabe Jarret) is recruited by ambitious college professor William Atherton (in yet another of his patented roles as a loathsome character) to work on the professor's prize laser project, not knowing that the prof is really developing a government weapon. Along the way, Mitch is befriended by Chris (Val Kilmer), another prodigy a few years his senior who teaches the Mitch how to loosen up.
This could have degenerated into nothing more than just another teen revenge comedy, but there's so much more: the dialogue is laced with sharp wit; there are some lovely scenes that have nothing to do with the story yet are carefully set up, almost as blackouts (e.g., Mitch goes to a lecture at which a few students have left tape recorders instead of attending; later, at another lecture there are more tape recorders than students; and, in a final scene, one large tape recorder gives the lecture to a room populated by nothing but other small recorders!); and throw-away scenes that make you want to stop and back up the tape (e.g., Chris off-handedly cutting a slice off a bar of solid nitrogen to make a slug for the coffee machine).
It's also one of the few movies to boast the presence of the memorable Michelle Meyerink -- as Jordan, the "girl-nerd" who made being smart and female something to be emulated. And there's Tears for Fears great song, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" providing the perfect coda as the closing credits begin to roll . . . . Yes: really now, what's there to be embarrassed about?
Set in the closing months of WWII, Fog of War tells the story of injured American pilot Gene and his OSS agent fiancée Penny as they retreat to a remote estate in Massachusetts to stay with Penny’s distant uncle Robert. Unbeknownst to her, the OSS has recruited Gene to spy on the family and the surrounding community as top-secret documents related to the D-Day invasion have bee...