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About Schmidt Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   08 February 2003 Jack Nicholson (who has been on the Brando Diet, by the look of things) tries to deal with the world's lack of need for him after his retirement. Middle America co-stars, with big Nebraska skies, motor homes, and corny roadside attractions. Without Jack it could have been dull, but he turns in a great performance.

Anger Management Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   05 May 2003 Jack Nicholson brings some much needed Jack Nicholson into this Adam Sandler comedy. I do think Adam Sandler is funny, I just don't think his movies are much better than the condensed previews of them.

Bruce Almighty Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   01 June 2003 Jim keeps the God gag rolling for an hour and a half.

Chicago Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   24 January 2003 It's definitely a musical, but more watchable than that sensation from last year, even with Richard Gere.

Collateral Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   07 August 2004 Michael Mann plays to his strengths in this cool crime thriller. Count the trademarks: a steely, calculating bad guy (sprinting in a suit with gun in hand, but never breaking a sweat); cool blues and warm reds in handpicked art deco city scenes; a knack for setting the mood with music; great camera work. The story is little more than what you would expect from a good Miami Vice episode, but impressive star talent and the director's mature touch make this a masterpiece on the big screen.

Dirty Pretty Things Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   31 August 2003 Affecting story of London immigrants struggling to survive and solve the mystery of a stopped toilet.

Hotel Rwanda Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   15 January 2005 Paul Rusesabagina was the Schindler of Kigali during the Rwandan nightmare. Powerful and guilt-trippy, without any "I didn't do enough!" melodrama.

Intolerable Cruelty Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   14 October 2003 The brothers Coen score again with a clever comedy, spiced with the usual offbeat scenes. George Clooney carries the entire movie, not as well as Jeff Bridges carried The Big Lebowski, but well enough.

Kill Bill Volume 2 Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   16 April 2004 Uma didn't quite get around to dispatching with Bill in the first volume, but he gets his due in part two, along with a number of minions.

Kill Bill: Vol 1 Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   31 October 2003 Elaborate, choreographed fight sequences as seen in The Matrix, beautiful settings like those of Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, with delightful, quirky scenes as seen in Tarantino's other work, and great gushing gouts of blood never before seen by man. Actually, imdb reveals that most of the movie is composed of homages to films that only a kung-fu-loving video store clerk would recognize.

Lost in Translation Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   15 February 2004 Nicely done story, with great visuals and a terrific set in the Park Hyatt Tokyo.

Matchstick Men Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   26 September 2003 Nicolas Cage is great as a nut, but the first hour was slow going. Does it really take that long to establish the character of a psycho con artist (lots of blinking) and an annoying daughter (lots of whining)? Things improved once the story got going.

Monster Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   18 January 2004 Heavy, well-performed based-on-a-true story of a disturbed prostitute who goes from turning tricks to killing and robbing johns. It pays better, after all.

Mystic River Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   23 January 2004 Clint Eastwood directs a good story about three Boston kids whose lives cross again years later. Despite some unnecessary flourishes and plot problems, the story keeps your attention and the star performances are watchable.

Phone Booth Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center Cinema   18 April 2003 You know the whole plot -- some jerk is held hostage in a Manhattan phone booth by a psycho sniper. It keeps your attention to the end, but you remember it more for the gimmick than anything else.

The Ladykillers Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   31 March 2004 You can hardly go wrong with the Brothers Coen. This comedy remake has all the elements: a great lead, an oddly amusing plot, and a great soundtrack. I didn't notice any fixation on round spinning objects, however.

The Matrix Reloaded Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   15 June 2003 After the "burly brawl" punch-fest, how can you take any of the later fight scenes seriously? Just a bunch of blurry forearms. And by now the philosophical pretense has been sidelined by the mind-blowing special effects. I am in favor of the cool explosions, I just get a little bored waiting for them. The Gigeresque sets of the underworld were cool.

Wedding Crashers Steve Gadd   Reston Town Center   29 July 2005 Pairing the indomitable cuteness of Owen Wilson with blustering, crass Vince Vaughn was inspired, but there just aren't enough jokes to make the comedy work, and not much else to go on. Christopher Walken is always fun to watch, of course.