"The Rock" is an action movie, alright, but it's an action move about its characters, and that's what saves it. It has a strong cast and strong characters and therefore the plot, about a militia group taking Alcatraz hostage and threatening to fire bombs into San Francisco if they don't get 100 million dollars, isn't what comes off the best.

There are four central characters in this film. Hummel is the man in charge of this hostage takeover. He is a highly-ranked general who is doing this to teach the government a lesson: they've been neglecting forgotten soldiers who died in the Gulf and Nam, and instead of their families being told the truth, they've simply been marked as "Missing in Action." He is played by Ed Harris, who does such a good man torn between duty, conscience, and vengeance, he is the best film villain since Jack Nicholson in "The Shining."

Goodspeed is a computer nerd working for the C.I.A. He's never been in combat situations, but because of his advanced knowledge of chemical bombs, they've sent him into Alcatraz with a group of Navy SEALS, and he has no idea how to react in war-like situations. Played by Nicolas Cage, his performance is believable and powerful.

Anderson is the man in control of the Navy SEALS on the mission to Alcatraz. Tough as nails, bound by duty, he freely admits he agrees with Hummel's reasoning, but he says those are risks that are part of the job, and Hummel is wrong in his action because he took an oath to serve his country no matter what. He is played by Michael Biehn, who delivers a top-notch performance, and one similar to his role in "Terminator."

But the most powerful character in the film is Mason, the only man who has ever escaped from Alcatraz. Tough, cunning, and full of one-liners, he has been caged up in a maximum security prison for years. It's hard to say whether the viewer can trust him or not, and he has many secrets and much knowledge of the facility...which is why he was chosen to go with the SEALS. He is played by Sean Connery, who's performance is perfectly Sean Connery-ish. But who would want it any other way?

Older Norman: [narrating] My father was very sure about certain matters pertaining to the universe. To him, all good things - trout as well as eternal salvation - came by grace; and grace comes by art; and art does not come easy.
Paul: Oh, I'll never leave Montana, brother.
Older Norman: [narrating] In my family, there was no clear division between religion and fly fishing.
Norman: Truth is, I'm not sure I want to leave.
Jesse: Montana? Why? It'll always be here.
Norman: Not Montana.
Jesse: Then what? WHAT?
Norman: I'm not sure I want to leave you.
Norman: 183 Dear Jesse, as the moon lingers a moment over the bitterroots, before its descent into the invisible, my mind is filled with song. I find I am humming softly; not to the music, but something else; some place else; a place remembered; a field of grass where no one seemed to have been; except a deer; and the memory is strengthened by the feeling of you, dancing in my awkward arms.
fe3 [last lines]
Older Norman: [narrating] Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise. Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.
Older Norman: [narrating] It is those we live with and love and should know who elude us.
Rev. Maclean: Each one of here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing help, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don't know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them - we can love completely without complete understanding.
Jesse: Why is it the people who need the most help... won't take it?
Rev. Maclean: [walking away from the river] The Lord has blessed us all today... It's just that he has been particularly good to me.
Older Norman: And I knew just as surely, just as clearly, that life is not a work of art, and that the moment could not last.
Norman: You're late, Neal.
Neal Burns: Yeah, yeah, I didn't get in until late.
Paul: Well, I didn't get in at all but I was here.
Norman: Neil, Paul. Paul, Neil.
Paul: Neal, in Montana there's three things we're never late for: church, work and fishing.
Paul: Couldn't you find him?
Norman: The hell with him.
Paul: Well, I thought we were supposed to help him.
Norman: How the hell do you help that son of a bitch?
Paul: By taking him fishing.
Norman: He doesn't like fishing. He doesn't like Montana and he sure as hell doesn't like me.
Paul: Well, maybe what he likes is somebody trying to help him.
Norman: I'm in deep trouble.
Paul: Yep. Want me to come over and protect you?
Paul: Hello, Jess.
Jesse: Hey, Paul.
Paul: How's your brother?
Jesse: You both left him alone.
Paul: Well, I'm sorry about that. That was my fault.
24 Jesse c68 : Well, you're not forgiven.
Paul: Was Norman forgiven?
Jesse: Norman's not funny.
Older Norman: [narrating] As time passed, my father struggled for more to hold on to, asking me again and again: had I told him everything. And finally I said to him, "maybe all I know about Paul is that he was a fine fisherman." "You know more than that," my father said; "he was beautiful." And that was the last time we spoke of my brother's death.
Older Norman: [narrating] They were Methodists, a denomination my father referred to as Baptists who could read.
Norman: My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night. But ah my foes, and oh my friends - it gives a lovely light.

The Terminal is an incredible fairy tale of a movie-it's quietly captivating, rich in interesting colorful characters and superbly acted and directed.

Tom Hanks as Victor Navorsky is quite simply entrancing to watch. He is an amazing character actor and in The Terminal he again creates a character who is instantly embraceable. You care about Victor and want things to turn out OK for him as much as his friends in the Terminal do.

This is a movie that actually got some bad reviews and I'm baffled by why. Although, I usually can see flaws in even the movies I think are 8's and 9's there isn't much to be critical of here. Some people have said it's to "feel good". That it's lacking in reality. I don't necessarily see those as negatives, there are many good movies that are feel good or unrealistic, just as there are some bad ones. The Terminal has a lot that's likable about it.

Firstly, there's Hanks himself and I will admit if any other actor had played Victor it might not be the movie it is, Hanks is simply amazing, you forget who he is within the first five minutes. I won't mention everyone by name, but the rich array of supporting actors/actresses were all good as well. It is an unusual movie that really isn't either a straight comedy OR a straight drama-it perhaps falls through the cracks of genres but I'd call this mostly a heartwarming and completely absorbing character study of one man's attempt to make a life for himself in an airport terminal. It's a very different type of movie-for all the strategically placed product adds, there's something quietly uncommercial about Terminal and watching it is an interesting experience.

The movie is about 2 hours and you get a lot in those two hours. For me what was striking was how genuinely interesting this movie turned out to be. I'm one who finds airport terminals fascinating anyway-all the hundreds of and thousands of people rushing about to hop on a plane and start some new adventure....but to actually live in a terminal-an interesting (and rather strange) concept-Hanks acting here is quiet and understated and at a level surpassing merely "talented". He manages to make nibbling a cracker fascinating. I would give this a 10 of 10 and know there are many who may think it's not for them but I found this movie to be a beautiful fairytale of a picture and hope at least Hanks gets an Oscar nod. I also hope that skeptics give this movie a chance-as good a movie as any Hanks film I've ever seen. 10 of 10.

The club was founded in 1899 under the name of Milan Cricket and Football club, and the first official headquarters was the Fiaschetteria Toscana of Via Breschet. The first President was Mr. Edwards, who was partnered by Alfred Kipling who chose the official club colours. On the 4th of April 1900 the first official match was played, a 3-0 defeat against the Torinese. The following year the first Scudetto was won, followed by two others in 1906 and 1907, years in which the Cricket part was removed from the name of the team. In the 1940s the team took the definite name of AC Milan, but it was in the 1950s that the team returned to winning ways thanks to the purchases of players such as Liedhol, Gren and Nordhal. In the following decade two more affirmations arrived, which brought other important signatures like those of Schiaffino, Altafini, Rivera and leader Nereo Rocco. Also at international level great successes arrived, such as on the 22nd of May 1963, when Milan won the Champions Cup in London. These were also the years of Rivera, who became the undisputable leader and flag of the team. The results of the 1970s were less brilliant, but the worst moment in the rossoneri’s history arrived in 1980, when the club was involved in the ‘totonero’ scandal and relegated to Serie B. President Colombo was banned for life, leaving his position to Morazzoni, who immediately took the team back to Serie A. The return was not a happy one, and a 14th place finish relegated the rossoneri once again. The club fell in the hands of another owner, Farina, who took Milan back to Serie A and helped them to stay in the top positions of the league, but the definite change arrived in 1986, when the club was bought by Silvio Berlusconi, who in the next twenty years built one of the most successful teams in the history of football. There was the Sacchi cycle, the arrival of Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten, the domestic and international victories, and then the arrival of Capello who continued from where his predecessor had left off, taking Milan to the top of the world. Zaccheroni, who won the tricolore in his first season, and then Ancelotti, able to win the Champions League and a Scudetto in two years, gave continuity to the team.