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Hollywood is a machine. Every week, every month and every year countless films are released into theatres and not every one is as successful as the studio heads would hope. Sometimes the publicity machine was askew, sometimes the movie targeted an odd demographic, sometimes the release was steamrolled by a much larger movie and occasionally the movie is flat out bad.

But Hollywood's loss is our gain. There is a veritable treasure trove of film out there that you may not have seen. I will be your guide to this veritable wilderness of unwatched film. It will be my job to steer you towards the action, adventure, drama and comedy that may have eluded you, and at the same time, steer you away from some truly unwatchable dreck.

Hopefully we'll stumble across some entertainment that may have slid under your radar. Wish us luck.

Runaway Jury (2003)

First of all, I'd like and take a moment to apologize to all of my loyal readers. (Yes, that means you, Mom.) You may have noticed that Stealth Entertainment did not publish last week and that was entirely my fault. I mentioned to our esteemed leader David Mumpower that I planned on reviewing Thunderbirds (the live action movie!) and as I turned to walk away someone hit me over the head with a heavy object. When I woke up, I was locked in a trunk with 40 scorpions. After some frantic negotiation through the trunk lid, I have been released but only after vowing to clear my selections with our wise, all-knowing and scorpion-rich leader. So unfortunately, my plans to review Pluto Nash have been derailed. Instead, I will be reviewing Runaway Jury, a movie guaranteed to result in almost 100% fewer head trauma injuries, scorpion stings and trunk based vacations. Enjoy!

Everyone remembers the big summer hits. Independence Day rocked our world and wowed us with special effects. Jaws ruined beach vacations for years with clever tension and a robotic fish that kept me out of our family swimming pool until I was 14. Shoot, even Finding Nemo glued us to our seats with luscious colors and a pair of neurotic fish quipping at each other. Runaway Jury doesn't have anything like that. Nothing explodes (okay, there is one small fire), there's no violent showdown at the end, and any deaths or violence in the movie are constrained to a very brief 90 second clip at the beginning of the film when a gunman breaks into an office and starts randomly shooting people and a 30 second chunk near the end of the movie when one character beats up another one with a message board. Bad Boys this is not.

That doesn't mean this movie isn't compelling or exciting. It's easily one of the better films in my collection and one that I like to pull out and watch from time to time just to refresh myself. Runaway Jury stars John Cusack as Nicholas Easter, Rachel Weisz as Marlee, Gene Hackman as jury consultant Rankin Fitch and Dustin Hoffman as attorney Wendell Rohr. Look at that cast. Just look at it. Those are some serious actors, people.

And while there is a ton of star power on the movie poster, it's interesting the way the jury was cast in this film, because they look like real people. The women aren't "Hollywood Pretty". They look like a woman you or I might sit next to on the bus. The men (with the exception of Nick, obviously) are a little less Hollywood-ified, but they too look like the guy you sit next to at work or brush up against in the elevator on the way to see your boss with your TPS reports. They're average people, and they've been well written with average problems. It's great casting, and it isn't overplayed either. Who doesn't have a skeleton in their closet they don't want revealed to their friends and family? Who doesn't have an embarrassing or even illegal secret?

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