On this IMDbrief, we break down the worst gifts ever given in our favorite holiday movies. For some great gift ideas, check out IMDb's Holiday Gift Guide, curated with the entertainment lover in mind!
A man heading to Vegas to pay off his gambling debt before the Russian mafia kills him is forced to stop in an Arizona town where everything that can go wrong does go wrong.
Ben Sanderson, a Hollywood screenwriter who lost everything because of his alcoholism, arrives in Las Vegas to drink himself to death. There, he meets and forms an uneasy friendship and non-interference pact with prostitute Sera..
In order to foil a terrorist plot, an FBI agent undergoes a facial transplant surgery and assumes the identity and physical appearance of a terrorist, but the plan turns from bad to worse when the same terrorist impersonates the FBI agent.
A mild-mannered chemist and an ex-con must lead the counterstrike when a rogue group of military men, led by a renegade general, threaten a nerve gas attack from Alcatraz against San Francisco.
A fast-lane investment broker, offered the opportunity to see how the other half lives, wakes up to find that his sports car and girlfriend have become a mini-van and wife.
A firefighter, injured and trapped in a burning building, has flashbacks of his life as he drifts in and out of consciousness. Meanwhile, fellow firefighters led by the Chief attempt to rescue him.
Director:
Jay Russell
Stars:
Joaquin Phoenix,
John Travolta,
Jacinda Barrett
A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, Welles relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town private eye.Written by
Columbia Pictures
Composer Mychael Danna's original score was recorded at the Manhattan Center in New York City which was not far from many of the films' New York locations such as the Christian Mansion in Long Island, Machine's house in Queens, Dino Velvet's offices in Manhattan, and the Wherehouse in Brooklyn. See more »
Goofs
On the Missing Persons card, Mary Anne Matthews is spelled with a "E" in Anne. It is also spelled this way in the credits. However, on the thank you card to Tom Welles from Mary Anne's mother at the end, the girl's name is spelled without an "E" by the mother. See more »
Quotes
[first lines]
Airport Announcer:
Welcome to Miami. While in the airport, please observe Florida and local laws which prohibit any smoking in the terminal. Thank you for not smoking.
See more »
Alternate Versions
The film was heavily cut before release to gain an 'R' rating. Joel Schumacher's audio commentary on the DVD points out the multitude of MPAA cuts throughout the film. The cuts include:
Sex throughout the movie. For example, background sexual activity was trimmed under the "no more than two buttock-thrusts rule"
A lot of a conversation between Phoenix and Cage was removed because a bank of TV monitors in the background were showing hardcore pornography footage
Sequences in the underground sex club were trimmed to remove shots of enema porn (which were in fact real)
Come To Daddy
Written by Richard James
Performed by Aphex Twin
Courtesy of Sire Records Group/Warp Records Ltd.
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products See more »
I walked into the movie theater last Friday not expecting at all what I was about to see. I'd heard about it, thought "Oh, another Seven". Same screenwriter, but I was way off track. I can stomach a lot, having no problem stuffing down popcorn during very graphic scenes. In 8MM, my coke had trouble going down. 8MM did not have consistent gory/violent scenes, but the way the movie was made made you fill in the blanks of what the makers of the movie could not screen. And if you pay attention and immerse yourself, you fill in more blanks than you really think you could, or want. As Max put it: "the devil changes you." The perversity and deep rottenness of the human minds displayed in 8MM is what disturbs you. Then you realize, that "snuff"-movies are real, that there are individuals twisted enough to endorse/enjoy/take part in it. And worst of all, that these individuals don't look like monsters, they're perhaps just overweight nearsighted men who look like your dad, your son, your brother, even yourself. And if you don't look out,(no matter how secluded you think you are in your suburban home, with a wife, a daughter, and a dog named Shep) you dive into the pit of perversion and rottenness as well, finding no way out. In conclusion: excellent music, acting very sufficient, the plot: a must see. Just don't bring popcorn, and prepare to walk out of the movie theatre disturbed, asking questions, and a little bit more suspicious of those walking around you, and yourself.
200 of 235 people found this review helpful.
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I walked into the movie theater last Friday not expecting at all what I was about to see. I'd heard about it, thought "Oh, another Seven". Same screenwriter, but I was way off track. I can stomach a lot, having no problem stuffing down popcorn during very graphic scenes. In 8MM, my coke had trouble going down. 8MM did not have consistent gory/violent scenes, but the way the movie was made made you fill in the blanks of what the makers of the movie could not screen. And if you pay attention and immerse yourself, you fill in more blanks than you really think you could, or want. As Max put it: "the devil changes you." The perversity and deep rottenness of the human minds displayed in 8MM is what disturbs you. Then you realize, that "snuff"-movies are real, that there are individuals twisted enough to endorse/enjoy/take part in it. And worst of all, that these individuals don't look like monsters, they're perhaps just overweight nearsighted men who look like your dad, your son, your brother, even yourself. And if you don't look out,(no matter how secluded you think you are in your suburban home, with a wife, a daughter, and a dog named Shep) you dive into the pit of perversion and rottenness as well, finding no way out. In conclusion: excellent music, acting very sufficient, the plot: a must see. Just don't bring popcorn, and prepare to walk out of the movie theatre disturbed, asking questions, and a little bit more suspicious of those walking around you, and yourself.