The Librarian - Quest for the Spear (2004) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Noah Wyle is charming as Flynn, a professional student turned reluctant hero when he finds himself named The Librarian, and is charged with guarding a number of priceless artifacts he previously thought were only the stuff of myth. Flynn's race to recover the stolen section of the Spear of Destiny and prevent the Brotherhood of the Serpent from finding the remaining sections is Indiana-Jones-esque action and adventure at its light-hearted best.
Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart display their usual dry wit, with Newhart's scene with the bad guys near the end of the movie alone worth watching the movie for. Olympia Dukakis plays Flynn's mother, who wishes her boy would just find a good woman and settle down.
This is entertaining fare, a nice mix of action, adventure, brain teases and yes, a bit of romance. It isn't a big-budget Raiders of the Lost Ark production, but for a made-for-TV movie it does a fine job, and holds up on repeat viewing.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Librarian - Quest for the Spear (2004)

To be a librarian, you must master the Dewey Decimal System, ace internet research and, if you're new librarian Flynn Carsen (Noah Wyle), save the world! Wyle (ER) heads a sterling cast in a fun, fantastical, special effects-laden adventure that soars around the world from the Metropolitan Library to the Amazon jungle to the Himalayas. Geeky Carsen lands a job as the Librarian, keeper of such top-secret Met treasures as Excalibur and Pandora's Box. Then the Serpent Brotherhood, seeking world domination, steals one of three parts of the magical Spear of Destiny from the library. Only Flynn, aided by a gorgeous bodyguard, has the knowhow to thwart their plan. But does he know how to be a hero? He will - even if he has to gouge, kick, punch, brave Mayan death traps and plunge off icy precipices every inch of the way!DVD Features:Additional Scenes:15 minutes of unaired bonus footage and special effectsEaster Eggs:Hidden interviews with castFeaturette:Behind-the-scenes featurette including never-before-aired interviews with cast and crew Special effects featurette narrated by director Peter Winther Introduction:Introduction by Noah WylePhoto gallery

Click here for more information about The Librarian - Quest for the Spear (2004)

Nothing But the Truth (2008) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)"Nothing But the Truth" is based on the events surrounding the prison sentence of "New York Times" reporter Judith Miller after she refused to reveal the source who identified undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame.
Prompted by a failed assassination attempt on the President of the United States, investigative reporter Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) discovers that a neighborhood woman is a CIA operative. Rachel believes she has happened upon the Big Story, and is backed by her editor (Angela Bassett), the newspaper's legal counsel (Noah Wyle), and her First Amendment lawyer (Alan Alda). Federal prosecutor Patton Dubois (Matt Dillon) wants her to name her sources. She refuses and is thrown in jail for contempt of court. She thinks she will soon be released, but as her incarceration lengthens, her relationship with husband (David Schwimmer) and son (Preston Bailey) starts to deteriorate.
Performances are first-rate in this tense political thriller. Beckinsale is sympathetic as the idealistic yet frightened reporter, but Dillon dazzles as the Javert-like Fed who will use anything and everything within his power to break the reporter's will. The changing relationship between Rachel and her family gives the film humanity and elevates it from a mere "ripped from the headlines" flick to one of depth.
Bonus extras include deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, and filmmakers' commentary.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Nothing But the Truth (2008)

Inspired by true events. Kate Beckinsale and Academy Award® nominee Matt Dillon (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Crash, 2004) lead an all-star cast in this explosive story about a Washington, D.C. reporter who faces a possible jail sentence for outing a CIA agent and refusing to out her source. The all-star cast includes Academy Award® nominees Alan Alda (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for The Aviator, 2004), Angela Bassett (Best Actress in a Leading Role for What's Love Got to Do with It, 1993); Emmy® Award nominee David Schwimmer (Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Friends, 1994), Golden Globe® nominee Noah Wyle (Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture for ER, 1997-99) and Vera Farmiga (The Departed).

Get 16% OFF

Click here for more information about Nothing But the Truth (2008)

The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)- An outraged Flynn Carsen (on having his tuxedo shirt ripped during a sword duel): "This is rented!"
- His urbane (yet evil) opponent: "Of course it is."
It's always a guilty pleasure catching up with the Librarian, whose job is to guard history's secret relics and treasures, some of these magical in nature and all stowed away in the hidden chambers of the Metropolitan Library of New York. Flynn Carsen is sort of like a modern-day Indiana Jones, except that he's awkward and plenty nerdy. But Flynn does keep his wits about him, and, after years of holding down the Librarian gig, he now boasts experience and smidgens of confidence. This current Librarian may fumble about some, but it's always fun seeing how he'll get out of whatever scrape.
The more things change... The movie opens with Flynn at a posh event applying the finishing touches to his tuxedo. He then navigates down a stairway, sips champagne, and then does a spit take with the champagne. Which goes to show that, even after all this time, Flynn Carsen is still refreshingly hapless. But, after this latest escapade, which climaxes in a sword fight, Flynn Carsen is officially burnt out (his girlfriend dumping him has something to do with it). Back at the library, by virtue of sheer grousing, he gets himself some time off and ends up flying to New Orleans, all gigged out in bow tie and panama hat. So, as they say in the Big Easy, laissez les bon temps roullez.
Or not. The holiday rapidly turns into a desperate relic hunt, with Flynn taking on ex-KGB agents, voodoo magic, and the undead. Along the way, he partners up with a mysterious chanteuse to rescue a kidnapped scientist. The relic in question is the rumored Judas Chalice, of which origin dates back to Judas Iscariot and his 30 pieces of silver. The chalice reeks of malice but holds the brew that is true - that is, if you're a vampire in need of resurrecting. And, since those ex-KGB agents have unearthed the coffin of Vlad Dracul, you can see where this is going.
What I like best about TNT's Librarian series is that it's not at all pretentious. It wallows in its unabashed cheesiness and farce, even as it hunkers down with a pretty good adventure story. THE LIBRARIAN: CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE is the third in the series, and it doesn't disappoint its fans. Hokey fun, mythical artifacts, indecipherable manuscripts, supernatural villains, and a likable, nebbish, talky hero (even the bad guys complain of his always talking in paragraphs). By now, Noah Wyle's got his part down cold. The neat thing about his character is that he can do something heroic but, then, subsequently have the rug pulled out from under him. And, when this happens, he's so damn good-natured about it.
Flynn has had a hard time keeping his lady loves. First Nicole (Sonya Walger), then Emily Davenport (Gabrielle Anwar). This time out, Wyle's romantic interest is exotic Stana Katic, who plays bluesy singer Simone Renoir with femme fatale nuances. Maybe she's a keeper. Or not. Meanwhile, Jane Curtin and Bob Newhart (at his stammering best) are again solidly on board as the museum directors.
I never thought I'd ever say this, but I had a better time with THE LIBRARIAN: CURSE OF THE JUDAS CHALICE than with that last Indiana Jones flick. This movie, like its predecessors (The Librarian - Quest for the Spear & The Librarian - Return to King Solomon's Mines) are tongue-in-cheek throwbacks to those high adventure pictures churned out back in the 1930s, '40s and '50s. I don't think I'm reaching that much when I say that even the score here is rousing enough that it actually reminded me of those Errol Flynn swashbucklers. But, of course, Flynn Carsen is no Errol Flynn. Errol doesn't know the Dewey Decimal System.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008)

Noah Wyle (TV's ER) is back as Flynn Carson, along with Bob Newhart (Elf) and Jane Curtin (Coneheads), in the most thrilling adventure in The Librarian series yet! On a deadly mission to recover the historic Judas Chalice, Flynn is saved by - and falls in love with - Simone, a dazzling French woman who harbors a terrifying secret. But when double-crossed by a respected professor (Bruce Davison - X-Men, X2) and ambushed by a ruthless gang, Flynn realizes Simone's secret, his true mission and a shocking discovery are all lying within a decaying New Orleans crypt?a crypt that may be holding Prince Vlad Dracul, whom the world has feared for centuries.

Get 20% OFF

Click here for more information about The Librarian: Curse of the Judas Chalice (2008)

The Librarian - Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)THE LIBRARIAN 2: RETURN TO KING SOLOMON'S MINES is the sequel to THE LIBRARIAN: QUEST FOR THE SPEAR (2004) and again features Noah Wyle as Flynn Carsen, the titular Librarian who, on the surface, toils in the New York Metropolitan Public Library but whose true purpose is to safeguard the ancient, historical (and often mystical) artifacts stored in a hidden section of the library - fabled artifacts such as the Holy Grail, the sword Excalibur, Pandora's Box, Tesla's Death Ray, Adam & Eve's apple, etc. As a side job, Flynn also gets to unlock the world's greatest mysteries. As he says in the movie, "You'd be surprised at what you can learn at the library."
TNT debuted THE LIBRARIAN 2: RETURN TO KING SOLOMON'S MINES on Sunday, December 3, 2006 and, yes, I tuned in with my large order of pizza and Pepsi. The breezy movie tagline for this one is "New Continent. New Adventure. Still No Clue." which is a strong hint to the viewer that it's time yet again to indulge in esoteric, anthropological silliness. When Flynn Carsen first got the Librarian position, he was nerdy, clumsy, inept at physical activities, and not good with women. Now, after over a year of settling in...well, he's still all of those. But, hey, at least he still lives with his mother (who just tried to set him up with a third cousin).
Here come the plot and the SPOILERS: the movie opens with an enigmatic scroll being mailed to Flynn, which sends him once more furiously scampering around the globe on a desperate quest, but not before Charlene, the librarian director, advises him: "Be safe. Don't get killed. Save your receipts." This time, Flynn must try to piece together clues to the location of the legendary King Solomon's Mines. Of course, it can't be as easy as it sounds. Our maladroit librarian must contend with a secret mason society, hungry hippos, a beautiful, competitive archaeologist, family secrets, and a corrupt warlord who really, really wants the treasures of King Solomon. Not to mention, he faces the possibility of having to consume termites. Working in a library has never been more perilous.
Noah Wyle remains endearing in his nebbish but, nevertheless, heroic lead role, while the straight-faced Bob Newhart (Judson), Jane Curtin (Charlene), and Olympia Dukakis (Margie Carsen, Flynn's mom) adequately reprise their supporting roles. I do miss Sonya Walger, who played the sexy and uber-capable Nicole Noone, but lovely Gabrielle Anwar, here sporting a faux Brit accent and, in one sequence, a drool-enducing red outfit, ably steps in as brilliant archaeologist Emily Davenport, whose vaunted academic skills may surpass even that of Flynn's (she has one more PhD than Flynn, which incenses Flynn). Now, can a dorky bookworm find love with an upper class, brainy beauty who's so way above his league? With Wyle's excellent, humorously combative rapport with Anwar, he's got a chance.
Jonathan Frakes directs this one with a decidedly tongue-in-cheek aplomb. In channeling the Indiana Jones and the Mummy features, Frakes and the producers make no bones about their intention to craft a homage and transport the viewer to a simpler era when the cliffhanger adventure films of the '30s and '40s ran amok in cinema. True, like in the first movie, THE LIBRARIAN 2 does adopt a certain B-movie sensibility, with its requisite campiness. Frakes knows we're not about to take this series too seriously; yet he manages to infuse enough humor, character development, storyline, high adventure, and fun facts within the film that I found myself being charmed and hugely diverted. Granted, the special effects range from decent to dubious and won't even impress a 5 year old, but the acting performances, the fantastical premise, the old-school, globe-trotting derring-do, and the exotic locales will spark the viewer's imagination and sense of adventure. It's good, hokey fun, worth 3 and half stars. Can't wait for the third film.

Click Here to see more reviews about: The Librarian - Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006)

LIBRARIAN:RETURN TO KING SOLOMON'S MI - DVD Movie

Get 27% OFF

Click here for more information about The Librarian - Return to King Solomon's Mines (2006)