Rating: Summary: President Bush's Club Review: The Skulls is obviously based on the society at Yale known as the Skulls and Bones Society of which the Bush's are perhaps the most famous members. This is of course a hollywood move and not a documentary so dont take it too serious. It is however a highly entertaining movie with a fairly descent plot. The straight to video sequel is dismal at best.
Rating: Summary: The skulls had me watching! Review: This was a good movie about secret societies and how they operate in the world. Joshua Jackson plays a college student waiting for the Skulls to ask him to join and when he joins he realizes the great financial benefits and political power that goes with being a Skull. However, things begin to go wrong and Jackson finds that this great group he joined is not so great.The movie was well-paced, the acting good for the most part and the plot very well-designed. The ending was good but not great, but this is a good movie to see.
Rating: Summary: ??? Review: Good movie. Good plot. Really three and a half stars. It's a little predictable. I would have liked it more if the ending was clearer. I had more questions when the movie ended than when it began. Was anyone punished for the murder? What happened to the kid who tried to kill himself???
Rating: Summary: What happened to Pacey? Review: This movie stinks. I mean, it really does. It is a bad WB television movie gone wrong. The actors seem to know this also. Do not buy this. Rent it if you'd like..but you have been warned.
Rating: Summary: a great, underrated film Review: THIS REVIEW DOES NOT GIVE ANY OF THE PLOT AWAY. When I was home for Christmas break at my parents house I was bored. They have DSS and 10 movie channels that are all the same except at different times. I came across The Skulls one night and was happy to watch it. I had always kinda wanted to see it, but never bothered. Needless to say I saw that movie 5 times in those 3 days and didn't get sick of it. This is definately a film worth watching. I thought it was an excellent performance from all of the cast.
Rating: Summary: Bad writing provides many unintended laughs Review: There are those who believe that a movie critic is usually someone who wouldn't know how to make a movie if his or her life depended on it. I won't argue this point, but I do know that at the core of the process there is writing, which I do know something about. A movie script contains two kinds of writing and is usually composed in two columns. One column is the dialog, while the other contains notes about the setting, the tone and the actors' body language. Some scripts that a studio buys contain a great story but lousy writing. This has created a whole other profession, that of the script doctor. After watching The Skulls, I thought to myself, "Is there a doctor in the house?" The Skulls is about a secret society that has existed for decades in an Ivy League university. They never say which school it supposed to be, but since the letter 'Y' is seen several times, I suppose it's Yale. The alumni of this society are very rich and very powerful. To be selected to join it means that one has a leg up in life. Luke McNamara [Joshua Jackson] is a student from the lower middle class who is working his way through college. This is a stock character in such movies and is written to evoke sympathy in the audience, which is presumed to care less about the ins and outs of rich kids. Luke needs a lot of money to get through law school. The Skulls, he thinks, would be of great benefit to him. When he is chosen he is thrilled, but it doesn't take long for him to find out that there is now a barrier between him and his best friends, Caleb and Chloe [Hill Harper and Leslie Bibb]. When a grisly murder occurs in the society's mansion, Luke discovers he could lose a lot more than just his friends. This brings us back to the writing, which is so bad that it makes The Skulls enjoyable in a way no one intended it to be. It is one of those movies that make us laugh in all the wrong places. This is the kind of entertainment we watch in morbid fascination, gleefully hoping it gets even worse. In this, The Skulls does not disappoint. There is, for example, an initiation scene in which the new recruits are literally branded on the wrist. They are each then given a new Rolex watch to wear, I guess because this is a secret society. Give us a break! The dialog is so silly that it is impossible to tell if any of the young actors can act or not. Paul Walker, who plays Caleb Mandrake, has a lot of pained expressions on his face, but I can't say for certain if these looks pertain to the lines he is forced to utter.
Rating: Summary: Thrilling Movie. Review: Luke McNamara, a poor student with a dubious previous history is lured into a secret college fraternity group, "The Skulls", despite being warned by his room-mate that "if it's secret and elite, it's not good". And so it proves, although to start with, its simply amazing; Luke finds himself saddled with a soul-mate, a shiny new car, and $20,000 in his bank account. But things soon go awry, when Luke's room-mate supposedly committs suicide. As the plot develops, Luke discovers the detail behind the death of his best friend, and the true nature of the society that is suddenly a dangerous burden rather than the step-up to Harvard Law School that he had previously believed. The film moves along at a cracking pace, and Joshua Jackson leads the cast with an excellent and mature performance as the embattled Luke. Luke's soul-mate, the tortured Caleb Mandrake, son of the Skulls's chairman, is played by the dashing Paul Walker who gives a performance of great charisma. All-round, the cast is strong, and the performances solid, helped no doubt by the very good script. The plot has some interesting twists, and is never boring, for the director Rob Cohen (who directed the excellent The Fast and the Furious, also starring Paul Walker) keeps it moving. The music is good, the scenery and background understated but very effective, and the whole idea of the film is brilliant; there are undoubtably secret fraternities of a similar kind in American colleges today, and it is a fascinating thing to speculate on what might go on in them, and how deeply-rooted they are. Certainly however, The Skulls is a excellent film, exciting, fast-moving, and intriguing. Admitedly, it lacks a sense of humour, but then, it isn't really that type of movie. Enjoy it for what it is - it's well worth a look at.
Rating: Summary: Good Movie, Excellent Thriller Review: I really liked this movie mostly because of the story line. Its kinda the government consperiecy idea taken on a Collage world. If you like mysteries/thrillers youll really enjoy this movie.
Rating: Summary: Not the typical teenage horror movie... Review: This movie doesnt have all of the blood and gore, but it does have suspense. It has a few surprises and the ending comes out great. This is one of those all-of-the-pieces-come-together kind of films. It has good characters and not too many to get confused. The plot is well put together. It is a good movie to watch, although it is not the best horror film ever made. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the movie, but I think that there is just something missing to make it a five star movie.
Rating: Summary: The Skulls Review: I am a William L. Petersen fan, But if I had a choice on watching this video again or being bashed in the skull. I would take the skull bash thank you very much.
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