One of my resolutions for 2003 is to watch a new film every Saturday night.  Of course, my definition of new might be different than yours - with small children, going out to an newly released film at a theater every week is out of the question.

For me 'new' means a film I haven't seen before, that was just released to DVD that week.  Okay, I'll break that rule occasionally here, since all rules were meant to be broken.  But those are the films you'll usually see reviewed here each week.

But why review movies?  Why not?  I've been reviewing toys for years, and another of my passions is film.  No, I'm not a wannabe actor, director or screenwriter.  I didn't minor in film in school or even take a film appreciation class at the local community college.

In other words, I'm pretty much like 90% of the people who watch the movies made by the film school graduates each week.  I know what I like, I know what I don't like, and I'll do my best to be literate when trying to explain my thoughts to you.  And I promise to never use the word 'sublime'.

My reviews are broken into four sections.  First, I'll give a very brief plot summary.  Then on to the fairly spoiler free review.  I'll do my best in this section to keep all the juicy stuff out of there.  Then, my overall rating.  My rating system is based on one of three recommendations - 

Buy It - go buy this DVD now.  I mean right now.  Before the first week discount price runs out.  It's an excellent flick, worthy of repeated watchings.

Rent It - a large percentage of the movies are going to end up in this category.  A movie that's worth your couple hours and four bucks will end up here, and there are plenty of those on the market.  Deciding for yourself whether it's up your alley or not will depend on other things like genre, actors, and perhaps my general comments.  I've also updated this recommendation to also included a possible 'qualified'.  That means I recommend renting it under certain qualifications around what types of films you usually enjoy, or who is in it.

Skip It - don't even waste your time in front of the tube.  Turn on Celebrity Mole if you have to, or maybe Joe Millionaire.  On second thought, don't do that - pop in an old favorite of yours instead.

The final section will be spoiler heavy.  I'll go into the actual plot points, devices and specifics about what made the film work, or not.  

If you liked this review and would like to read more like this (or even submit your own reviews) then check out Film Emporium. This is a discussion group started by a friend of mine dedicated to movie/DVD talk and reviews. They're always looking for new members to join so check it out:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/filmemporium/

Now on to the reviews!