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BOTTOM LINE: The stylish, comic book action is fun for a while but this well cast film is ridiculous and stupid, wearing out its welcome about half way through its running time.

THE GOOD: There’s a stylish, comic book action quality to “Wanted” that throws you off a little bit when you first see it but then becomes quite fun as the story develops. The idea of a secret fraternity of assassins is a cool place to start an action film, and the filmmakers have another ace in the hole by selecting a stellar cast to populate the assassin characters. James McAvoy stars as Wesley Gibson, an average guy, stuck in a dead end job, his best friend is having an affair with his girlfriend and his life is generally going nowhere. His life takes a dramatic turn when one of the assassins from the fraternity tries to kill him but is saved by Fox (played by a very cool Angelina Jolie). She brings him to meet Sloan (played enigmatically by Morgan Freeman) who tells Wesley that he is destined to be an assassin. After going through the requisite training, Wesley becomes a very talented assassin but becomes embroiled in a plot where nothing is as it seems to be. The best parts of this film relate to its premise and action sequences. The film is fast and furious, with fast editing, fast action, and well choreographed stunts. One assassination where Wesley kills his target by getting his car flipped over the top of the target’s sun-roof is particularly fun. It’s great to see Morgan Freeman actually playing a villain; he delivers a rather understated, but ruthless performance. The film never drops its pace while offering some moments of comedy in between the big action sequences; the best moment comes when Wesley returns to his apartment to get his father’s gun and his girlfriend starts telling him how much of a loser he is. Fox walks in and start kissing Wesley passionately, much to his girlfriend’s dismay and jealousy.

THE BAD: “Wanted” has an adolescent thrill that is okay for the first half hour but it quickly degenerates in to complete stupidity. The basic premise for the whole film is the assassins choose targets based on the names generated from a weaving in a textile fabric that is randomly generated at their hideout. In essence, those targets are based on fate. On first glance, it’s hard to see how a group of otherwise intelligent people would be naïve enough to believe in this ideal for a thousand years without the possibility of corruption (as happens in the film). It’s even more incredible that none of the assassins, until Wesley shows up, ever question Sloan’s credibility given he’s the only one who ever has access to the weaving room that generates the names of the targets. The film’s problems unfortunately do not end there. James McAvoy is a solid actor but even he cannot elevate the pathetic direction his character is given in the first half of the film. I wanted to shoot him; but even if you can stand to watch him being such a walk-over loser, the film expects you to believe that he could go from that character to one of the most lethal assassins in history in just six weeks. Once he becomes the assassin he’s quite cool but his character and development is ridiculous. Angelina Jolie is lethal and cool in this film, but she isn’t given much to do aside from look hot and kick ass in the action sequences. Terence Stamp surprisingly appears midway through the film and is excellent, but you have to wonder why he agreed to be in this ridiculous adolescent fantasy; he just doesn’t fit in. Even Morgan Freeman, who is for the most part great, delivers a speech at the end of the film where he does not look all that natural. The action sequences, which are the biggest selling point in this film, become more and more ridiculous as the film progresses. The train sequence is perhaps the worst culprit when it derails on a bridge going over a massive gorge. Train cars hang off the bridge and people shoot at each other as each train car plummets in to the gorge; it’s fun but it’s over the top. Perhaps the worst thing of all is the last shot in the film; Wesley gives a speech about how pointless his life used to be and how all of us are now suffering what he used to suffer. His choice was to do something about it and now he lives the exciting life of an assassin. He turns to the camera and says, “what have you done lately?” Ordinarily, the point would have been absolutely true, but considering the film is so stupid and the delivery of his speech so condescending, the question he poses is like a slap in the face rather than a revelation. At that point, I almost hoped an assassin’s bullet put him out of his misery, as with the rest of this silly film.

For the original review, follow this link: http://www.allaboutmovies.net/filmreviewwanted.htm

Todd Murphy is a staff reviewer at the film/DVD review web site, All About Movies.net – for all the latest reviews on the newest releases. He is also an administrator for the web site: http://www.approachingsexywomen.com

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the world’s five oceans (followed by the Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Arctic Ocean). The decision by the International drographic Organization in the spring of 2000 to delimit a fifth ocean, the Southern Ocean, removed the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of 60 degrees south. Save the pacific is a foundation for the conservation and education of this great unknown Zone. We need to bring the concerns of our waters to the people, to try and save one of the biggest food resources that we know of. So please support ” Save The Pacific” www.savethepacific.org.

A Few more facts, before we get in to the pollution issues.

We need to get our ocean issues out to our schools and to the public before its to late. There is an old saying and it goes ” You dont shit where you eat” and it seems we have forgot about this saying all together. Everyday there are millions of tons of compacted trash being dumped to the bottom of our oceans. The huge trash companies work on the idea of out of site out of mind, and we are fed up with this. Please support save the pacific and any other groups that are trying to preserve our oceans. If we talk loud enough and get enough people behind us maybe we wont have to see what happens after years and years of dumping trash into the sea causes.

So please check out www.savethepacific.org for more information and upcoming events. Also dont forget to check out out line of clothes, and all money collected goes to saving our oceans.

Craig Bullas Save The Pacific Foundation http://www.savethepacific.org 97 cardiff by the sea ca, 92007

Here are the biggest news, sport and entertainment headlines of 1998…

Politically, there was real progress in Northern Ireland when, after 30 years of violence and nearly two years of intensive peace talks, an agreement was reached. The ‘Good Friday Agreement’, as it was called, laid down a future of friendship and harmony and led to British Prime Minister Tony Blair and the Republic of Ireland’s leader, Bertie Ahern, receiving acclaim from all corners.

The much talked about ‘Human Rights Act’ received royal assent, meaning that the UK had to fall in line with the ‘European Convention on Human Rights’. Amongst other things, it gave a legal right to life, a fair trial and freedom of expression; prohibiting discrimination, torture, and the death penalty. Some saw it as necessary for a civilized society whilst others saw it as yet more interfering European bureaucracy.

Another arrival from Europe causing debate was the 43^rd Eurovision Song Contest. This year’s competition was held in Birmingham and hopes were high for UK entry Imaani and her song ‘Where Are You?’. She pulled off an admiral 2^nd place behind Israel’s entrant, male-to-female transsexual Dana International. The winner attracted much post-contest hype and publicity, then everyone remembered that it was only the Eurovision song contest anyway. As for Imanni, the fact you don’t even recognise the name tells you all you need to know about her subsequent music career.

Also giving hope to the UK (well, the English part of it anyway) was World Cup 98 in France. As always, fans were hoping / praying / begging that this would indeed be the year and, as near always, things went a little bit wrong. England were the victims of penalties again (this time to Argentina) and, new face on the block David Beckham was the victim of his own temper. Having been sent off for a silly kick at one of the Argies, Beckham got blamed for everything and was hated by everyone (including, probably, Victoria).

No doubt Jim, Barbara, Anthony, Dave and Denise, of the Royle family, would have been watching the World Cup from the comfort of their sofa in their council house in Manchester. Who would have thought that a TV show about other people watching TV would be such a success? Actually, they didn’t just watch TV, they also smoked cigarettes, made cups of TV and broke wind! It’s doubtful whether Jim Royle would have been impressed with American cult import ‘South Park’ but the rest of the UK certainly got into it; millions tuning in every week to see “Who killed Kenny?” (many more may have tuned into find out who had killed Beckham!)

The cinemas saw a swing back to America for the big successes of the year with no noticeable UK films coming out in 1998. The bloody ‘Saving Private Ryan’ was a second world war hit starring Tom Hanks; the story involving a group of soldiers with orders to safely take home a Private James Ryan to his mother, whose other 3 sons have already been killed. A lot less bloody and a lot more singing and dancing was the re-release of ‘Grease’. The high school love story coming back to the big screen 20 years after its original release (this time with enhanced colour and digital sound).

For a full rundown of the top selling 1998 music…

…alternatively, a guide to the best 90s music for every year of the decade.

Deciding to have a family is a big decision for most couples, or even singles. The great unknown can be scary. There are no guarantees in life. Children do not come with a money back guarantee if you are not satisfied.

They can’t be traded in for a new model. But, while there is nervousness, there is also exhilaration. There is a sense of joy. Deciding to be an adoptive family is a big decision and you will need help, and a child adoption agency is just the ticket to provide that help for most people.

A child adoption agency acts as an agent and works to find a potential home for many children. Many agencies specialize in babies from other countries. Kazakhstan adoption is one of these, as is Africa adoption.

Another popular place to adopt a kid from is Russia. Since Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, along with other celebrities like Madonna, have started embracing children from other countries, foreign adoptions have begun to climb, regardless of the cost. There should be no misconceptions about the price tag, because adoptions cost a great deal of money.

If you want a breakdown of the amount of money that you will have to spend for an adoption through an agency, here is a brief rundown of the typical expenses. You can expect to pay a fee of anywhere from a few thousand dollars on upwards to over twenty-five thousand dollars just for their expenses. You will also have to hire a lawyer for the paperwork associated with making you the legal guardian of the child.

Looking to adopt from a foreign country? Then you can expect to also pay agency fees in the child’s country, and you will have to travel to the country, often more than once, to meet the child and have all necessary legal papers filed. Because adoptions cost a great deal of money, many have to save or borrow in order to finance the process. You will need to factor this monetary outlay into your budget before you begin.

Most would agree that a home void of the laughter of children is indeed a barren landscape. If you want a kid, but are unable to conceive, then a child adoption agency can be your new best friend.

The agency deals with adoptions every day and can tell you what type of information you will need to provide, as well as the estimated costs that you can expect to pay. Before you know it, you will have your child home with you and all will be well.

We offer a free child adoption audio gift. Learn more about the child adoption agency at our portal, and drop us a note at our domestic adoption blog.

Here are the biggest news, sport and entertainment stories of 1997…

Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car crash in Paris having apparently being pursued at high speed by photographers on motorbikes. It was thought that the driver of her car was drunk at the time but that was disputed by many; some believing that the whole event was a conspiracy plot involving MI5 and the Royal Family. Whatever the true cause of her death; the UK united in paying tribute to her and, after an unprecedented week of mourning, millions watched her funeral on TV.

Also causing much debate was the announcement of the birth of the world’s first successfully cloned mammal. Scientists in Scotland were responsible for the birth of Dolly the sheep and media around the world heralded it as one the most significant scientific breakthroughs of the decade. For some though, it raised moral dilemmas amid fears that the technique could be used to clone humans; church and animal rights groups stirring up most of the ethical controversy.

Politically, the Conservative Party finally fell after 18 years in power following a landslide general election victory by the Labour Party; Tony Blair becoming the youngest British prime minister of the century at 43.

One of the first changes the new government made was to ’stub’ out tobacco sponsorship in the sports world; resulting in snooker, darts and cricket losing out on substantial amounts of advertising money. Formula One racing looked like being the biggest casualty but, a week after implementing the ban, Tony Blair specifically exempted that one sport from the new law (Anything to do with the £1 million Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone had donated to the Labour Party before the general election?).

Elsewhere in sport, a lone yachtsman, Tony Bullimore, miraculously survived for five days at sea after his boat capsized in the Southern Ocean. He sheltered in the upturned hull of his yacht and survived on chocolate and water until he was randomly spotted by a passing Australian navy ship.

Entertainment wise, 1997 belonged to the Teletubbies; Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po saying “eh-oh” to the nation for the first time. Made for toddlers, the show soon became cult viewing for children, students and adults alike; people finding much amusement in multi-coloured aliens running around in a dome. Such was its success that is also produced a chart topping single!

The cinemas saw another homegrown film take centre stage; low budget ‘The Full Monty’ being the big box office hit. The story told of a group of ex-steelworkers from Sheffield who transformed themselves into strippers in order to make money during hard times. It was equally popular on both sides of the Atlantic and was nominated for four Oscars.

For a full rundown of the best selling 1997 music…

…alternatively, a guide to 90s chart music for every year of the decade.