Franchise Review- Beverly Hills Cop

Forty years ago this month, a 23 year old Eddie Murphy became one of the biggest stars in the world. "Beverly Hills Cop" spent thirteen consecutive weeks as the #1 movie at the box office(14 total). That won't ever happen again. The Axl Foley phenomenon rolled on through the summer of '87 with it's first sequel, and remains Murphy's defining role, with all due respect to Donkey, Akeem, Sherman Klump, and Reggie Hammond. The franchise produced two more installments, with the LONG-awaited fourth film generating substantial buzz for Netflix. Four decades, four directors, one great character. But Foley wouldn't have been able to take down the villainous Victor Maitland(Steven Berkoff) and his ilk without the lovably square duo of Judge Reinhold and John Ashton(the super-cop story was working). I'm shoving a banana in your tailpipe with Harold Faltermeyer's synth score in my head as I type this. So, fire up some Glenn Fry and join me as I recap their adventures. We need these guys now more than ever.

"Beverly Hills Cop"(1984) The FIFTH highest-grossing film of the 1980s was turned down by Al Pacino, James Caan, Mickey Rourke, Harrison Ford and many others. Michael Eisner and Don Simpson both claimed credit for the fish-out-of-water concept, that was crafted(separately) into a high-octane action comedy by screenwriters Danilo Bach and Daniel Petrie Jr. Director Martin Brest was a perfectionist that brought a gritty realism to the Detroit opening and a sunny sheen to buttoned-up Beverly Hills. Sylvester Stallone came VERY close to playing Axl Foley(or Axl "Cobra" Cobretti, I should say) before his "Rambo"-style heroics were deemed too ambitious and expensive by Simpson and his producing partner Jerry Bruckheimer. "48 Hrs." made Eddie Murphy a viable replacement in the spring of '84, and the "SNL" sensation delivered one of the most entertaining, electric screen characters of all time(with a ton of improvisation, of course).

Every great movie is a perfect storm of the right people/elements coming together at the right time. The quiet hallway murder of Foley's jailbird buddy James Russo by HOF-worthy right-hand man Jonathan Banks is like something out of the '70s. Btw, Ronny Cox(as the brave Sgt. Bogomil) can boast of being a key part of the two best "BHC" movies. Patti LaBelle's "Stir It Up" is practically an antidepressant. I've personally outgrown strip clubs, but I'll hit one with Axl any night of the week. We can assume that Lisa Eilbacher's Jenny Summers(a love interest in earlier iterations) left L.A. Bronson Pinchot's "Serge" stayed. This is a special film.

"Beverly Hills Cop II"(1987) Roger Ebert gave it one-star. Giddy moviegoers didn't give a shit. The late, great Tony Scott was offered the directing reins by Simpson and Bruckheimer, based on the enormous success of 1986's top grosser "Top Gun", and his fingerprints are all over Foley's second trip to the West Coast. From the soundtrack("Shakedown") to the Aviator sunglasses to the Stallone jokes and casual misogyny/gun-play(Brigitte Nielsen is a big bitch), there may be no more EIGHTIES movie than "Cop II". I'm certain it will be studied in the year 2087. Emboldened by his audience approval rating, Eddie is an unstoppable comedic force in every exchange. That wouldn't be the case for much of the '90s.

An evil Nielsen, Jurgen Prochnow, Dean Stockwell, Allen Garfield, Gilbert Gottfried, and the Detroit tag team of Paul Reiser and Gil Hill all keep "II" from being a one-man show. That's a seriously good supporting roster. Movie buff Hugh Hefner granted rare access to the Playboy Mansion(and a Chris Rock cameo). Most of all, I watched this a hundred times on cable because of the Foley/Taggart/Rosewood dynamic. Their friendship is the heart of the series("I love you, guys"), and the next two films were foolish not to fully realize this.

"Beverly Hills Cop III"(1994) After a few years of resistance, Murphy was persuaded by Paramount(and a $15 million salary) to put on Axl's Detroit Lions jacket and cruise through Los Angeles to uncover another criminal conspiracy. Simpson and Bruckheimer dropped out over the story and budget, but Eddie reconciled with his "Trading Places"/"Coming to America" director John Landis, ending their fued(read about it). The magic was gone the moment we find out that Taggart is retired(Hector Elizondo is subbed in for John Ashton) and all the action takes place at the Disney-like Wonderworld amusement park- a wonky construction of "Die Hard" screenwriter Stephen E. de Souza. Musician Nile Rodgers is no Harold Faltermeyer, and Murphy's misguided belief that Foley is "more mature now" kept the laugh quotient strangely low, as early summer audiences saw "Speed" and "The Flintstones" instead.

I like the chop-shop shoot-out/chase, and an excited Bronson Pinchot who clearly understood his assignment. In a world with ten "Fast in the Furious" films, it's weird that we didn't get five "BHC" movies between 1984-1998. Foley should've matched the film count of Rocky Balboa and Captain Jack Sparrow. I don't think Eddie knew what he had. "The Rush Hour" movies ran with the mismatched funny cop formula, with director Brett Ratner professing his love for Axl F. in the mid-'00s and officially breaking the ice on discussions for a fourth film. Nobody could've imagined how long that would take.

"Beverly Hills Cop: Axl F"(2024) Thirty years. My god. Many writers and directors(and a TV show) were rejected before Netflix and Jerry Bruckheimer made #4 a reality. I wish I could say it was worth the wait. An ageless Eddie tries to summon the energy that made Foley such a fun character in the '80s on his 40th anniversary, but is let down by a pedestrian script and first-time filmmaker Mark Malloy. The Axl I knew wouldn't be estranged from his daughter(a dour Taylour Page). It doesn't make sense that we don't know who her mother is. Where's Theresa Randle("Bad Boys")? Kevin Bacon's underwritten bad guy doesn't get enough to do. I honestly prefer Ellis DeWald(Timothy Carhart). Yes, Judge Reinhold, John Ashton(R.I.P.), Bronson Pinchot, and Paul Reiser are all present. But this movie blew it's only chance to put Foley's friends in the same place at the same time(sigh).

Nostalgic callbacks aside, Malloy and Bruckheimer couldn't even get the soundtrack right. You'd think a $150 million budget would've allowed the use of "Going Back to Cali" from The Notorious B.I.G., in the actual movie and not just the trailer. Malloy was more focused on his helicopter stunts(Murphy and young gun Joseph Gordon-Levitt hover above BH in the biggest set-piece) to be bothered with the little details that make a film rewatchable. But I'm not mad, I'm glad I grew up with "Cop I and II". The only films in the franchise anyone will return to.

Great Movies- Beverly Hills Cop

Forty years ago today, Eddie Murphy

Great Movies- Pulp Fiction

Thirty years ago today,

The Worst Movies I Have Ever Seen Vol. IV

1. "Cannibal Holocaust"(1980) It took me a long time to watch this notoriously-violent Italian found-footage exploitation film. It's reputation preceded it. I'm here to tell you not to ever bother. Sexual assault, violence toward animals, and of course, cannibalism all takes place in this Amazon rainforest. A sick, revolting piece of shit.

2. "Transylvania 6-5000"(1985) This horrible horror comedy failed miserably at both, and did nothing for Jeff Goldblum and Geena Davis. Leonard Maltin succinctly reported that Ed Begley Jr.'s trip to Central Europe "stunk". First-time writer-director Ray De Luca never stood behind the camera again.

3. "Earth Girls Are Easy"(1988) We might as well double up on Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum. The now-married pair were going places in Hollywood and must have been too in love to look long at this script. Take a gander at those lousy alien get-ups. "Earth Girls" wasn't easy for me to endure, but may have been a necessary evil- Jim Carrey landed on TV's "In Living Color" with his costar Damon Wayans in 1990.

4. "Troll 2"(1990) My god. This "sequel"(there's no narrative connection) to the 1986 oddity earns every bit of it's infamy. Are these cheap costumes supposed to be trolls or goblins? Writer-director Claudio Fragasso claims that he set out to make a comedic film. You decide, but the 2009 "Best Bad Movie" doc attempted to turn a negative into a positive.

5. "Zandalee"(1991 The cinematic rise of Nicolas Cage hit a road block in New Orleans. His sleazy artist-drifter is one of many bizarre choices by the quirky workaholic and unlikely A-lister. Erika Anderson(as the sexy title character) later said she felt violated by the production. She's not the only one. "Zandalee" was so bad, it barely got a release in the States. Judge Reinhold costars with an annoying accent and no dramatic acting talent whatsoever.

6. "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday"(1993) New Line Cinema(after cruelly acquiring the character rights from Paramount) and producer Sean S. Cunningham sent every summer spectator straight to hell with this nasty, needless ninth visit from supernatural slayer Jason Vorhees.

7. "Man's Best Friend"(1993) A killer genetically-engineered canine was a career killer for Ally Sheedy. The upstart New Line Cinema was still an indie horror outfit, and not yet the classy home of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy. This dog of a movie did nothing to build that bridge. Sadly, writer-director John Lafia("Child's Play 1 and 2") committed suicide in 2020.

8. "Cabin Boy"(1994) If you had asked my 14 year old self to name the worst movie ever made, I might have pointed the finger at cult comic Chris Elliott's first AND last starring role. Elliott got his showbiz start working for late-night legend David Letterman, who lent writer/director Adam Resnick to a doomed production(and the short-lived sitcom "Get a Life"). This is 80 minutes of pure misery.

9. 'Major Payne"(1995) Pain is a precise description of this Damon Wayans military school comedy that's somehow worse than "Blankman". I groaned the minute I saw it advertised on television. Which is where Wayans belonged(bit part in "Beverly Hills Cop" aside). Damon only ever worked in small doses.

10. "The Glimmer Man"(1996) While we're at it, Steven Seagal and Keenan Ivory Wayans were a match made in hell in this wildly-inept actioner that felt ten years too late. Perhaps, the worst buddy cop film ever created.

11. "The Ladies Man"(2000) The long list of "Saturday Night Live" stars that went on to big-screen stardom does NOT include Tim Meadows, whose sex expert Leon Phelps made 16 appearances on the show and was promptly retired in October '00. A ONE-joke movie stretched out to 84 execrable minutes by "House Party" director Reginald Hudlin, I'd rather not get laid than have to listen to this ladies man.

12. "Say It Isn't So"(2001) The Farrelly brothers lent their names(as producers) to this pitiful comedy that blatantly ripped pages out of the playbook of "There's Something About Mary" without producing a single laugh. I don't like seeing Sally Field lowering herself like this. What a BAD break for the previously-hot Heather Graham and Chris Klein, whose careers never really recovered.

13. "Jason X"(2002)I think it's pronounced "Jason Ten", but this montrosity doesn't deserve to have it's name said correctly.

14. "Quicksand"(2004) Michael Keaton's worst movie? You learn something new every day. "The Squeeze" and "Jack Frost" can move over for this international crime thriller that got shelved for three years while the industry tried to decide if the beloved "Beetlejuice"/"Batman" actor was still a movie star. He is, but you'd never know it from this appropriately-titled trash. Michael Caine collected a paycheck for it too.

15. "Son of the Mask"(2005) Newsflash- Jamie Kennedy is NO Jim Carrey! I don't think anyone needed to be told that. The 1994 original is a triumphant fusion of manic comedy and clever FX. "Son of the Mask" is, you guessed it, a soulless cash-grab and one of the most depressingly awful sequels of all time.

16. "Derailed"(2005) Clive Owen and Jennifer Aniston are both badly miscast in a sloppy thriller that keeps piling on the absurdities.

17. "Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School"(2005) Mary Steenburgen is lovely, but I had a strong negative reaction to the rest of this dreadful dance drama that doesn't ring true on any level. I think the world would too, if anyone knew that it exists. Robert Carlyle, Marisa Tomei, John Goodman, and Donnie Wahlberg are wasted here as well.

18. "Inland Empire"(2006) David Lynch had a lot of nerve. The famously-enigmatic director of "Eraserhead" and "Blue Velvet" didn't do his three-time leading lady Laura Dern any favors, with his low-resolution handheld camera, non-existent script, and mind-boggling three-hour length. Unsurprisingly, his tenth film would also be his last.

19. "Snakes on a Plane"(2006) Samuel L. Jackson says the intention was always to make a cheesy "bad" movie. Congratulations, Sam. It's also boring, with an empty ensemble.

20. "Perfect Stranger"(2007) Halle Berry is beautiful. I wanted to say something nice. Bruce Willis(here in rare bad-guy mode) has been in over 100 movies. I took a date to see this one, and things didn't work out. Lame, lackluster, laughable, and ludicrous.

21. "Death Sentence"(2007) I wanted revenge on Kevin Bacon after sitting through this rancid, thoroughly unpleasant "Death Wish" rip-off. Brian Garfield's 1975 novel of the same name, was actually intended to be it's sequel. John Goodman is gross in this. Director James Wan("The Conjuring", "Furious 7", "Aquaman") would do better.

22. "Disaster Movie"(2008) At least the title is apt.

23. "Crank: High Voltage"(2009) This sadistic sequel to the equally-sinister 2006 turkey is the cinematic equivalent of brain damage and should be kept far away from impressionable minds. The joyless Jason Statham never should've become famous. As soon as I got to the end of this garbage, I destroyed the DVD.

24. "The Chaperone"(2011) Pro wrestling legend Paul "Triple H" Levesque laid a beating down on fans that got lured into his pathetic family comedy, directed by former hitmaker Stephen Herek. At least only a few were hurt- WWE Films could only generate $279,000 on a $6 million budget for this pre-WrestleMania wreck. Vince McMahon should have to answer for this too.

25. "The Fanatic"(2019) I like John Travolta, even though he's become a regular on these lists. I wish I could clean up his filmography. This insanely ill-conceived stalker drama was directed by "Limp Bizkit" frontman Fred Durst(WTF?), and is infinitely worse than his "Gotti" misfire from the year before. A flailing JT just hasn't been the same since "Battlefield Earth", and was in badly in need of career advisers as he searched in vain for another comeback. An absolute embarrassment.

R.I.P. James Earl Jones 1931-2024

The Year in Review- 2004

It was the year Clint Eastwood and Hilary Swank got ready for a fight and Leonardo DiCaprio took flight with Martin Scorsese. Mel Gibson got crucified, Jamie Foxx was blind, and Alexander Payne taught us about wine. Spiderman and Shrek owned the summer box office while the artsy crowd got caught up with Jessie and Celine. Here are the ten best films in order for 2004.

1. "Million Dollar Baby"(2004) Clint Eastwood staked his claim as possibly the biggest living legend in Hollywood with the staggering one-two punch of "Mystic River", and the greatest boxing movie this side of "Rocky" and "Raging Bull". The sheer quality of the man's directorial output is enough to put him in rarified air, even if you erased his movie star run from the previous four decades. A crusty Clint guided Hilary Swank to her second Best Actress Oscar(the first was for "Boys Don't Cry"), as she infused her unlikely pugilist Maggie Fitzgerald with believable strength and a disarming sensitivity. Morgan Freeman reached his artistic peak as their punchy, gym-dwelling sidekick, before he seemingly lent his dignified presence to every project put in front of him. The gut-wrenching third act, which I won't spoil for those unenlightened readers that still haven't seen it(shame on you), overcame mild controversy to knock out some stiff competition at the Academy Awards for the coveted Best Picture and Best Director(Eastwood) statues.

2. "The Aviator"(2004) An high-minded Leonardo DiCaprio formed a fateful alliance with his directing hero Martin Scorsese in the year 2000, as he set out to permanently silence naysayers and make his limiting pin-up boy reputation a distant memory. The titanic hunk spread his acting wings as Howard Hughes, in this briskly-paced 170-minute biopic that covers the aviation pioneer's life from the late 1920s to 1947. Hughes became one of the wealthiest men in the world during this period, and his brief glory included forays into moviemaking and relationships with various starlets, before crippling bouts with OCD led to a reclusive and painful descent. Cate Blanchett won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar and confirmed her standing as a fantastic female performer by channeling another one, Hughes' most celebrated conquest, Katharine Hepburn.

3. "Sideways"(2004) Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church are both excellent as aging best pals with wildly-dissimilar approaches to life and love in another low-key instant classic from writer-director Alexander Payne("Election", "About Schmidt"). Their bittersweet trip through California's wine country is alternately funny and moving, and the fact that neither man was a marquee name, should have worked against it. Instead, wine sales actually increased because of Jack and Miles(not Merlot, though). Payne's intelligence and unique insights made "Sideways" an Oscar dark horse and one of the year's most pleasant surprises. Virginia Madsen(also an underappreciated non-"star") was nominated for her melancholy waitress.

4. "Spider-Man 2"(2004) This spectacular sequel is not only a high point for the Spidey series but the entire overstuffed genre as well. It seems to be a rule that the second film in a superhero franchise is often the best, as the filmmakers are more confident in the knowledge that the public has embraced the characters and world they established the first time around(see "Superman II" and "Batman Returns"). Director Sam Raimi continues to derive inspiration from 1960s comics as Peter Parker realizes the heavy toll that crime-fighting has taken on his personal life. Can he have a relationship with Mary Jane(Kirsten Dunst) AND stop the destructive Doc Ock(Alfred Molina)? From Tobey Maguire's affecting angst to Alvin Sargent's tight screenplay to a show-stopping elevated train sequence, this remains the "Spider-Man" movie to beat.

5. 'Kill Bill: Vol. II"(2004) The Bride is back, in the superior sequel to Quentin Tarantino's epic comeback/revenge fantasy. QT's kung fu wet dreams were brought to life in memorable fashion in 2003, and it's a huge testament to the strength of the Tarantino brand that audiences ate up all four blood-splattered hours and asked for more. Uma Thurman was injured on her path to immortality, as her focused heroine finally gets around to killing Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and the elusive title character himself, David Carradine. Hardly a straighforward affair, 'Vol. II" has surprises and juicy dialogue aplenty that sealed our devotion to the "Pulp Fiction" writer-director. The long-rumored "Vol. III" seemed like a sure thing(sigh).

6. "Before Sunset"(2004) Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy did something remarkable when they reunited nine years after their refreshing yet largely-forgotten 1995 romance "Before Sunrise". They talked. And they talked. Then they talked some more. Richard Linklater's laidback stroll through Paris struck a chord with melancholic romantics, and such dazzling wordplay is the real special effect in an early 21st Century marketplace. Like all good sequels do, it made the original even better, and the critical groundswell meant we got to meet up with Jesse and Celine a third time in 2013's "Before Midnight". One of modern cinema's greatest couples was officially born.

7. "Shrek 2"(2004) Moviegoers may be all Shreked out, but in 2004 we couldn't get enough of this swamp-dwelling green ogre and his Scottish accent. DreamWorks animation's greatest asset became a box office behemoth that summer, ultimately becoming the third highest-grossing film of the decade(behind "Avatar" and "The Dark Knight"). His pop culture-peppered trip to Far, Far Away may not be as timeless as the 2001 original, but there's still some big laughs in this $150 million sequel(wow), thanks to the awesome vocals of Mike Myers and Eddie Murphy and returning director Andrew Adamson. Oh, and the scene-stealing Puss in Boots, perfectly-voiced by Antonio Banderas, making a spin-off inevitable. A third installment promptly arrived, with much less creative energy, in 2007.

8. "The Passion of The Christ"(2004) Nine years after his Oscar-winning triumph "Braveheart", Mel Gibson got back behind the camera for the ultimate umm, passion project, and the results were impossible to predict. It turned out that the martyred exploits of William Wallace were merely a warm-up, as the intensely-personal "Christ" came to represent a seismic shift in the public's preception of Gibson. The handsome and popular star of countless hits in the '80s and '90s morphed into a provocative figure, unafraid to enthusiastically discuss his faith- a topic that most celebs wisely shy away from. You don't have to share his beliefs(or condone any drunken rants) to recognize that this is an extraordinary piece of filmmaking. A graphically-violent depiction of the last twelve hours in the life of Jesus(a committed Jim Caveziel) told in a dead Aramaic language? Christian zealots weren't the only ones swarming the theater, but only mad Mel could tell you if the $370 million domestic box office was worth the chilly blowback.

9. "Ray"(2004) The emergence of Jamie Foxx as an acting force was another one of the big stories of 2004. The same year that he took on a villainous Tom Cruise in "Collateral", Foxx was the total embodiment of the legendary Ray Charles, making the Best Actor race something of a no-brainer(sorry, Leo). His transformative mannerisms allow viewers to fully accept the former "In Living Color" star in the role of the blind, piano-playing pioneer before he even embarks on his soul-music career in the 1950s. Director Taylor Hackford("An Officer and a Gentleman") follows the standard biopic formula with lengthy detours into drug abuse and womanizing, but the central performance is more than enough to keep the film(and the audience) humming along.

10(tie). "Hotel Rwanda"(2004) Don Cheadle's brave hotelier saves the lives of a thousand African refugees during a 1994 genocide that went curiously underreported despite the loss of a million lives and the presence of 24-hour news channels(I guess the OJ Simpson saga was more interesting). The power of film turned our attention to those tragic three months in a devastating drama that earned comparisons to "Schindler's List". If director Terry George wasn't virtually unknown, "Rwanda" might have seen similar treatment during an awards season dominated by the media-made Eastwood-Scorsese rivalry. The world turned a blind eye to these atrocities, and I'm not proud to say that I barely knew it happened. You shouldn't be, either.

10(tie). "Finding Neverland"(2004) A post-"Pirates" Johnny Depp took a break from swashbuckling to make a brief return to the kind of quiet, unassuming characterizations that endeared him to the masses in the first place, before the pull of blockbuster booty proved too difficult to resist. Depp is London playwright J.M. Barrie whose platonic relationship with a single mother(the lovely Kate Winslet) and her five boys inspired the creation of his classic "Peter Pan" in 1903. You're likely to be just as caught up in the whimsy as young Freddie Highmore, who also brightened up Depp's next endeavor "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". Marc Foster("Monsters Ball") directs.

Honorable Mentions- "Miracle"(2004) Kurt Russell coaches the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team. "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind"(2004) Jim Carrey can't get over Kate Winslet. "Man on Fire"(2004) Denzel Washington defends Dakota Fanning. "Mean Girls"(2004) This Tina Fey-scripted comedy is Lindsay Lohan's legacy. "The Machinist"(2004) Christian Bale was committed to his craft. "Hellboy"(2004) Gillermo del Toro comes to our attention. "Troy"(2004) Brad Pitt is Achilles in Wolfgang Petersen's historical epic. "13 Going on 30"(2004) Jennifer Garner is a charmer in this comic fantasy. "Napoleon Dynamite"(2004) Cult comedy about a high school nerd. "Van Helsing"(2004) Hugh Jackman is a CGI vampire hunter. "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban"(2004) Did Alfonso Cauron direct the best one? "The Terminal"(2004) Steven Spielberg strands Tom Hanks at the airport. "The Notebook"(2004) Rachel McAdams(and every other female) falls for Ryan Gosling. "King Arthur"(2004) Antoine Fuqua directs the Disney version of the Dark Ages. "I, Robot"(2004) Will Smith + sci-fi= $$$.

"Garden State"(2004) Natalie Portman had Zack Braff looking like the next Woody Allen. "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy"(2004) Will Ferrell's funniest movie? "The Clearing"(2004) Willem Dafoe kidnaps and kills Robert Redford. "Supersize Me"(2004) McDonald's is bad for you. "Fahrenheit 9/11"(2004) George W. Bush was bad for you. "The Door in the Floor"(2004) Jeff Bridges and Kim Basinger are a depressed Long Island couple. "The Bourne Supremacy"(2004) Paul Greengrass makes Matt Damon an action icon. "The Manchurian Candidate"(2004) Denzel Washington and Jonathan Demme remake the '62 Frank Sinatra flick. "Collateral"(2004) Tom Cruise is a stone-cold hitman for Michael Mann. "Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement"(2004) Garry Marshall and Anne Hathaway gave Disney a hit sequel.

"Melinda and Melinda"(2004) Is life a comedy or a tragedy? "Shark Tale"(2004) DreamWorks Animation goes underwater. "Vera Drake"(2004) does illegal abortions in 1950 London. "Friday Night Lights"(2004) Billy Bob Thornton and Texas high school football. "The Incredibles"(2004) Pixar presents a family of superheroes. "Alfie"(2004) Jude Law is a womanizer. "Kinsey"(2004) Sex education with Liam Neeson. "National Treasure"(2004) Nic Cage is a Disney do-gooder. "The Polar Express"(2004) Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks pioneer motion-capture technology. "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason"(2004) Is it better than the first one. "Closer"(2004) Julia Roberts, Jude Law, and Natalie Portman in Mike Nichols' brutal relationship drama. "Splanglish"(2004) Adam Sandler gets(semi) serious with James L. Brooks. "The Woodsman"(2004) Kevin Bacon is a recovering pedophile. "Meet the Fockers"(2004) Robert De Niro and Ben Stiller are joined by Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand in this huge hit sequel. "The Assassination of Richard Nixon"(2004) Sean Penn lights up this little-seen 1974-set indie as psycho salesman Samuel Byck. "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events"(2004) Jim Carrey is Count Olaf.