Movie #372 - Devil's Advocate

Devil's Advocate
1997 - Rated R - 2 hr 24 min
Director: Taylor Hackford
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Al Pacino, Charlize Theron, Jeffrey Jones, Judith Ivey, Connie Nielsen, Craig T. Nelson

Oh man.  I haven't seen this one in years but I was so excited to pick it up to add to the collection.  What a great movie to revisit after so long!  And you know what, still awesome.

It has a perfect title, too. Perfect on so many levels.

Anyway, Keanu Reeves is a lawyer in Florida who always wins. Always.  And he'll do anything to keep it that way.  When he gets discovered by a New York city firm, he thinks it's because of his talent.  He lets himself get wrapped up in the "blood money," as his wife (Theron) says later.  They live the life for a while but as their marriage falls apart, so does her sanity... or so it seems. 

I really don't want to spoilt this one because, if you haven't seen it, you need to.  There are a few gory scenes, but you'll live.  And the ending of this movie is so perfect... you gotta love it.

Movie #354 - The Lake House

The Lake House
2006 - Rated PG - 1 hr 39 min
Director: Alejandro Agresti
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, Christopher Plummer, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Dylan Walsh, Shohreh Aghdashloo

I hate to admit this out loud... or in print, as the case may be... but I really like this movie.  I know, I know. How cornball of me.  But really, it's different.  And it's a romance, which we already know I like.  And even Keanu doesn't ruin it. 

He's got good chemistry with Sandra Bullock. Which is probably why they keep getting paired up.  And no, a speeding bus does not burst onto the scene and obliterate the lake house, sorry to disappoint.

It's just a pure and simple romance, with not so simple circumstances.  And it's beautiful in this odd construction, weirdly relatable despite the time-traveling weirdness.  Hey, if we blindly accept The Time Traveller's Wife, why not this? Right?

Anyway. I like it for its creativity.  And for how much they make you sweat that ending!

Movie #327 - Johnny Mnemonic

Johnny Mnemonic
1995 - Rated R - 1 hr 43 min
Director: Robert Longo
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lundgren, Dina Meyer, Ice-T, Takeshi Kitano, Henry Rollins

Pre-Matrix Keanu still hadn't earned his acting chops.  In this movie, his talents are just one level up from his Bill & Ted days... not quite at their best yet.  In other news, he stars opposite the chick from Starship Troopers, so that's interesting.

This movie takes place in 2021... sooooo long from now, right? And although we've advanced enough to download 80 GBs of data into people's brains (in exchange for their own memories), we're still sending faxes and dialing up with modems.  Really?  We can imagine memory chips in people's brains but digital phone cables are too much for us to think up in 1995?

Keanu's a "mnemonic courier" who moves info for people. In his head.  He's got something big in there that's too much for his brain to manage so his adventures center around getting that stuff on out.  When he discovers he's got the cure to a futuristic plague-like disease known as NAS, he might have to sacrifice some of himself to save the world. Dun dun DUN!

In its day, I'm sure this movie was pretty rad.  Now, it's kinda lame. Some cool concepts executed poorly, but only because the technology of 1995 wasn't able to look this far ahead.  As we approach 2021, I don't think we're quite where they wanted us to be in some areas, but I think we've made sustantial progress elsewhere.  Somehow, we'll have to muddle through.

Movie #130 - Constantine

Constantine
Warner Bros
2005 - Rated R - 2 hr 1 min
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Rachel Weisz, Shia LeBeouf, Djimon Hounson, Gavin Rossdale, Tilda Swinton

Here's a creepy movie for you!  Religious thrillers scare the bejeebers out of me, usually, but Keanu Reeves seems to neutralize the scary parts of this movie.  That's actually a good thing, not me making fun of him, because it allows me to really enjoy watching this from beginning to end.

What a twisted premise. What an interesting cast.  I don't know what it is that I like so much about Constantine, but I could watch this almost anytime.  Maybe it's Rachel Weisz. Maybe it's Tilda Swinton's amazing, androgynous Angel Gabriel. But this heaven vs. hell, with humans caught in the middle, movie is dark, dreary, and awesome.

Movie #73 - Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure
Orion Films
1989 - Rated PG - 1 hr 30 min
Director: Stephen Herek
Starring: Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, George Carlin

I have to admit that this movie was not as funny as I remember it being when I was 10. Although I did get a lot more of the jokes.... "69, dude!" Anyway...

Bill and Ted are your typical 80's Cali stereotype teens. Big dreams, big confidence, but not so big on the brains. My favorite line sums them up:

BILL: This is a history report, not a babe report.
TED: Bill, these are historic babes.

Don't even get me started on the sloppy time travel that happens in this movie. I find if you start to over think Bill & Ted, the whole thing falls apart on you. I treasure my childhood memories of this movie so much that I just can't do that to myself. So for now, I still love this movie, I still think it's pretty funny (I laughed out loud when they're wearing the armor and Ted says, "Dude! Heavy metal!" and air guitars ensued. Genius.), and it's kinda like opening a time capsule itself. The clothes, George Carlin, the metal phone booth, the lazy crazy teens... this is one of those movies that holds the essence of the 80s. It will always be a personal favorite.