The Age of Commercialism

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

The Skulls (2000): Dir: Rob Cohen / Cast: Paul Walker, Joshua Jackson, Craig T. Nelson, Leslie Bibb, Christopher McDonald: Ridiculous thriller that tries to take itself seriously but hardly avoid being a joke. The Skulls is a secret society of complete morons. Those chosen are drugged and awaken in coffins where they await assignments to prove worthy a Skull. The results are a life of luxury, expensive cars, a rule book, and acceptance to the college of choice. The Skull mark is burned on their wrist and covered with a wrist watch. Paul Walker and Joshua Jackson are chosen as soul mates but it is obvious that they will be pitted against each other by the film's end and it is all about as suspenseful as a game of tag. Laughable setup trudges into formula with only a conclusion to aid it when conviction is brought on. Directed by Rob Cohen who has proved capable of a variety of projects, many of them bad. Among his directing credits are Dragonheart and Daylight. Asides from Jackson and Walker living the life of total bull here, there is wasted supporting work by Craig T. Nelson and Leslie Bibb. While many recent thrillers are laughable, this pretty much takes the cake on stupidity. While a thriller about secret societies can be interesting, this one is by the numbers and about as funny as a game of Checkers. It is a laughable teen horror film that should be locked in a coffin and never surface again. Score: 2 / 10

The intention to show this supposed community, and utilize it in a thriller where the poor good guys beat the rich and influential evil guys, is great apart. The script is smart with breathless succession (It's written by John Pogue who wrote U.S. Marshals, a very good action thriller, 2 years earlier). I love (Rob Cohen)'s work in anything. He nails the right way to "tighten" things on screen, with all the senses of the word. The humid colors, the narrow cadres, the hot pace…etc. they are all his elements to make an exciting time. This movie is no exception. But why I felt that it was like fancy dinner party with only cheap rusk to serve ! (Joshua Jackson) can't be the lead. He's uncharismatic and uninteresting to the max. Among the ones chosen for the skulks who were entering the center for the first time/namely the movie's extra, he was the least noticeable. I'm no fan of (Tom Cruise) but the young him should have been more fit for such a role (a la he did in The Firm once). Further, although looks are deceiving but by a look to the movie's poster you'll grasp that (Paul Walker) was catchier than (Jackson). It's an irony wasn't for the sake of the lead, his persuasion, or our interaction with him.(Hill Harper), as the friend, is one annoying actor who many viewers thank god that he got killed earlier in the movie. He was in bad corner too concerning the way his role was written. The character, so hastily, hates how his friend becomes a Skull, for no logical reason (I got the feeling that he was gay, loving his roommate secretly, refusing that he goes to another class and another "friend" !). As you see the bad writing perfected with the bad acting to produce something between bad and laughable !(Steve Harris) as Detective Sparrow was a joke. He looked like another student yet fatter, doing his job usually or badly ! Long story short, save the old actors (Craig T. Nelson and William Petersen), this movie has a major casting, and acting, problems. But maybe it was all due to a lack of budget. Notice well that there was no sex scene between the lead and his love, since – naturally – there are no bankable stars in the first place. So, it tells you that (Rob Cohen) wanted to make this movie anyway, despite the small production, and with small stars. Yes, the presence, or not, of sex or nude scene can tell you a lot about a movie's production these days !The emphasis on the yellow color was terrible. I know that (Rob Cohen) wants us to live that sick phase of the lead's life, however not to the extent of making us sick ourselves! I noticed that many directors many times intend to use this color in specific exaggeratedly in their movies or TV shows lately. Is it a way to prove how artistic their work is? Is it a way to cut down the budget ? Is it a way to hide defects in the image ? I really don't know. What I do know is too much of something is bad enough !Generally, it's a very good thriller with different atmosphere and major casting problem maybe caused by the budget. I wanted to say to hell with the big names, but this cast forbids me. It's obvious that The Skulls just needed more skills to be more effective and, why not, believable.

The Skulls is a decent mystery/drama that has some intensity, keeps you interested, and moves well enough. But in the end though, you feel like there should have been, well... more. It has a similar feel to "Enemy of the State" but fails to strike you at home, for the struggle comes to the privileged membership of an elite college, and not to the ordinary man (although they do their best to make Joshua Jackson seem as normal as possible) The acting is fair, bordering on good. Paul Walker, does his part justice and the veterans of this cast- William Petersen (in one of his last films before CSI) and Craig T. Nelson both give the film credibility but the characters are restrained as to not overshadow the youngsters. Leslie Bibb is somewhat limited as her character's dialogue and use is at times asinine. Director Rob Cohen built a movie exactly for the PG-13 rating, using actors mostly known for TV teenage dramas, he does not over complicate things for the sake of the age group it's aimed for. Still, when all is said and done, the fact that it played it safe made certain that this movie did not fall on it's face. If there is one thing I take away from this movie, it has a classic last line delivered by William Petersen- but you're gonna have to watch it to find out.

this movie really has it all,, action, violence, pretty girls,, intrigue , mystery, real life aspects,, stars Paul Walker, and a great cast of others too many to mention here,, paul plays caleb a son to Craig T. Nelson who plays one of the leaders of the Skulls, apparently there are roughly 322 members worldwide, give or take.. so our hero Joshua Jackson gets accepted into the Skulls where he had to pass a number of tests before he could get accepted, once inside the Secret Society that's where the real fun starts. a reporter friend of his is killed and Joshua starts to wonder if Caleb had something to do with his death,, well without giving away any endings or anything like that the intrigue does build as people within the skulls start to take sides against one another , pitting good against evil, this is a great moviein my opinion that should not be missed.