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The Man from Snowy River: ** ½ 

Release date: 1982

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: George Miller

Simplistic and predictable tale about a boy who becomes a man and falls for a rich man's daughter.  Nice Australian scenery, and the action scenes involving horses are highlights.  

The Man in the Iron Mask: **

Release Date: 1998

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Randall Wallace

A promising premise, being based off of the novel of the same name by Alexandre Dumas.  Poorly casted and weakly acted, and marred further by a banal script.  

The Man who Knew Too Little: **

Release Date: 1997

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Jon Amiel

Utterly a cartoonish failure, though it pulls off a laugh here and there.  

The Man with the Golden Gun: ** ½ 

Release Date: 1974

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Guy Hamilton

Moments of outright silliness make this a mixed bag of a Bond adventure for some.  Offers some memorable highlights with the henchman Nick Nack and the Man with the Golden Gun himself.

Marley and Me: *** 

Release Date: 2008

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: David Frankel

A warm-hearted, family comedy that's more about the family then the dog.  Offers a pretty good look at  a typical American family.  

Master and Commander, the Far Side of the World: ** ½ 

Release Date: 2003

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Peter Weir

An authentic, compelling look at life on ships sailing on the high seas.  Great sound effects.  Development into characters is moderate, and final battle sequence disappoints.  

The Matrix: ***

Release Date: 1999

MPAA Rating: R

Director: The Wachowski Brothers

Bold, risky and imaginative.  An daring, free-hand adventure between reality and unreality that unlike most Hollywood pictures, is original!  Last act of film is devoted entirely to action, which deviates substantially from the complex, original and stylish first two acts.  

Memoirs of an Invisible Man: ***

Release Date: 1992

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: John Carpenter

Entertaining, underrated sci-fi thriller about an invisible man on the run from government agents.  Humor and action make this light hearted fun.  Romantic subplot is rather awkward.

Memphis Belle: ** ½ 

Release Date: 1990

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Michael Caton-Jones

Shows it's utmost devotion and dedication to World War II pilots.  Surprisingly still lightweight fare for a World War II picture, and fails to leave that much of any kind of impact, but still entertaining.

Men in Black: ** ½ 

Release Date: 1997

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

Quite a fun movie.  Quickly paced, short and sometimes funny, but ultimately it's only worth as a movie to watch when there's nothing else to do.

Men in Black II: **

Release Date: 2002

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Barry Sonnenfeld

A basic repeat of the first flick.

Midnight in Paris: ***
Release Date: 2011
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Director: Woody Allen
Sophisticated though charming and entertaining film about an aspiring writer who can go back to 1920's Paris at midnight, an era he idolizes.  This is a romantic comedy that can actually take and keep your attention, something which most films of the genre fail miserably at.

Midway: ** ½ 

Release Date: 1976

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Jack Smight

A World War II epic demonstration of the Battle of Midway, which turned the tide in the Allies favor in the Pacific.  Features an ensemble cast.  Battle scenes are made of actual combat footage—that isn't footage of the Battle at Midway.  Has a needless subplot for extra dramatic effect.

Minority Report: *** 

Release Date: 2002

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Steven Spielberg

 Essentially a noir film, with the colors dysaturated to give a very unique look to the movie.  Hampered by a familiar father-son relationship story. Contains some thrilling scenes, state-of-the-art special effects, and Spielberg and Curse have proven to be a very effective team up.

Mission Impossible: **

Release Date: 1996

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Brian dePalma

A spy movie made for the luxury of teenagers, and one that also doesn't really take itself all that seriously.  Action sequences are heroic, but not well staged.

Mission Impossible II: * ½ 

Release Date: 2000

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Ang Lee

An implausible and reckless action movie with the hero blasting his way through an army of bad guys.  Overbearing, overuse of slo mo and fake action sequenecs, shootouts and fist fights.

Mission Impossibe III: ** ½ 

Release Date: 2006

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: J.J Abrams

Third Mission Impossible outing is formulaic but not as reckless as the previous two.  A passable thrill ride that has it's moments, but can't achieve anything short of goodness.

Mission to Mars: **

Release Date: 2000

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Brian dePalma

The entire movie is corny, like the title itself.  Not much about it challenges us and/or makes us think about what lies beyond the atmosphere.  Thankfully it's quickly paced.  

Monster's Inc: *** ½ 

Release Date: 2001

MPAA Rating: G

Director: Pete Docter, Lee Unkrich, David Silverman

A high-quality Pixar film, with an engaging, interesting story and once again superb animation.  Voice talents carry the film's appropriate and funny humor.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: ** ½
Release Date: 1975
MPAA Rating: PG
Director: Terry Gilliam, Terry Jones
Classic comedy that parodies King Arthur's quest to find the Holy Grail.  Lots of funny moments, but the rest of the jokes far fall flat.  Ultimately to downright silly to be worth anything all that special.

Moonraker: **

Release Date: 1979

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Lewis Gilbert

Following the spectacular success of Star Wars, the filmmakers decided to make their own 007 version of Star Wars, which doesn't work as a Bond flick.

Mr. Bean's Holiday: ** ½ 

Release Date: 2007

MPAA Rating: G

Director: Steve Bendelack

Manages to pull off a few simplistic and yet funny gags.  

Mr. Holland's Opus: ***

Release Date: 1995

MPAA Rating: PG

Director: Stephen Herek

A surprisingly entertaining drama.  While still cliched, this brings a joyful sense of entertainment to it.  Also follows bits and pieces of 30 years of American history.

The Mummy: ** ½ 

Release Date: 1999

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Stephen Sommers

Can anything be said to this film's advantage?  Acting and script is lowly, special effects are campy, but it's scary when it needs to be, and the humor, the action and the adventure lighten things up.  

The Mummy Returns: **

Release Date: 2001

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Stephen Sommers

Special effects remain corny, as does nearly everything else.  The first film had joys that cheered it up, but that is all derived away in this sequel, which can't really even seem to function as a decent summer popcorn movie.  The pygmy mummies are a comedic highlight.

The Mummy, Tomb of the Dragon Emperor: * ½ 

Release Date: 2008

MPAA Rating: PG-13

Director: Rob Cohen 

A change of scenery and history is made to make this stupid third sequel actually appear worthwhile.  A few Yeti's save the day in one action sequence, making everything all the more absurd.  We can all figure out what's going to happen after the first fifteen minutes.