00s Movie Review - Erin Brockovich

Director: Steven Sodenbergh
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 131 minutes
Year: 2000
Starring: Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger,  Cherry Jones, Conchata Ferrell

Description: An unemployed single mother (Erin Brockovich) becomes a legal assistant and almost single-handedly brings down a California power company accused of polluting a city’s water supply.

Review: Good fact-based drama without many special moments, which nevertheless managed to surpass the level of the average TV movie of the week. This mainly thanks to the clear direction of Steven Sodenbergh the acting of Julia Roberts and Albert Finney, the fine camera work and the music by Thomas Newman. This largely compensates for the straightforward screenplay, which deviates from the beaten path only once in a while. The film has undeniably become Roberts’ film. At first glance, her character appears to be a stereotypical “white trash” woman, with three children from two different fathers, showing cleavage and wearing ultra-short skirts. But it’s Robert’s  credit that she manages to make it a believable woman. After she gets into an accident and she loses the lawsuit, Erin persuades her lawyer Ed Masrey to give her a job at his office.    
There, she finds herself on the trail of a major scandal when she dives deeper into a real estate issue and talks to Donna Jensen. She has been diagnosed with cancer and her husband and children have also fallen ill. A nearby concern Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) wants to buy their house, but has also paid the doctor’s fees. Erin finds this strange and begins to investigate the matter. Soon many more people turn out to be sick, and their stories are shocking and moving without becoming sentimental. Roberts manages to portray Erin’s drive and charm beautifully, so that the viewer even understands when her children begin to miss her presence, as well as het new lover George.
Despite PG&E’s outrageous practices and the tactics they employ to delay or sabotage the case there are also funny moments, particularly in the altercations between Roberts and Finney. For balance, it would have been even more enjoyable of Finney had gotten more one-liners instead of exclusively with Roberts.
I always love watching this movie, because it’s such an inspiring story. Erin made such a difference in so many people’s lives.

Rating: 4/ 5

Top 5 "CSI" Episodes - Season 4

Here are the five best episodes of "CSI" Season 4, ranked.

5. Episode 11: Eleven Angry Jurors
A juror dies during a trial in a heavily guarded safe house. A four-year-old case od a missing woman is reopened when the woman’s sister gives the CSIs new evidence she withheld during the original investigation.

4. Episode 7: Invisible Evidence
Because Warrick naively assumed simple uniformed cop Hal Watson would have arranged a search warrant, the crucial weapon in the rape and murder trial on a neighbor against Michael Fife is dismissed as evidence in court. A.D.A. Jeffrey Sinclair can only get a 24 hours delay to present new evidence to built the case again. Nick brilliantly smooths emotional waywardness from Sara and Warrick. New clues expected to reconstruct the case agains Fife actually indicate he’s probably innocent. An alternative culprit must be found, starting from Fife’s car.

3. Episode 6: Jackpot
The Sheriff of desolate town Jackpot calls in CSI for assistance after a severed head is found. The sheriff proves rather more cynical than helpful towards Grissom, unlike the veterinarian-coroner. The rest of the corpse is found buried to the shoulders alive, a Native American torture technique. Grissom triumphs over sabotage and works out the local reports and relevant secrets.

2. Episode 4: Feeling the Heat
During a week-long heat wave, corpses are found, mostly accidentally. A.D.A Jeffrey Sinclair decides to ‘make an example’ of a workaholic father who forgot his baby-boy in his scorching-hot car with fatal result, but the team finds the couple los a previous baby and may have murdered this one. Mark Young is missing since his teen date’s fatal lake sports accident. And a fat man on a crazy diet was electrocuted at home.

1. Episode 23: Bloodlines
A rape victim identifies her attacker from a line-up, after correctly giving the investigators his license plate number and physical description. While DNA is recovered, it indicates that the suspect is not guilty, as only 7 out of the 13 alleles matched. This suggests that the rapist is a relative. The suspect’s brothers are all DNA-tested and none are a positive match.

Honorable mentions: Episode 1: Assume Nothing, Episode 2: All for Our Country, Episode 3: Homebodies, Episode 5: Fur and Loathing, Episode 12: Butterflied, Episode 14: Paper or Plastic?, Episode 21: Turn of the Screws

Top 5 "CSI" Episodes - Season 3

Here are the five best episodes of "CSI" Season 3, ranked.

5. Episode 6: The Execution of Catherine Willows
On the day of convicted serial killer-rapist John Mather’s execution, a new case following his MO causes a stay after countering the already administered lethal injection and urgent forensic (re-)examination. It was Catherine’s first case leading to death row. The most modern techniques, even requiring federal equipment not available to Greg, show another killer was at work and probably one was a copy-cat, but the question remains in which order, as that may or not discharge Mathers.

4. Episode 8: Snuff
A murder is caught on tape. With no body or a crime scene, Sara, Warrick and Catherine must get as much information as possible from the grainy 16 mm film. Grissom and Nick must brave a colony of fire ants to recover a body.

3. Episode 23: Inside the Box
A band robbery results in the death of Detective Lockwood. No money was stolen. The only missing thing is one safety deposit box registered to a friend of Sam Braun. Catherine decides to confront Sam about the incident which ultimately leads to the discovery that she is his daughter. Grissom finally decides to get surgery to corredc his hearing.

2. Episode 19: A Night at the Movies
A man is found stabbed to death in an art house cinema while a young shooting victim is found in a storage room with a bizarrely wide bullet hole pattern.

1. Episode 2: The Accused is Entitled
Hollywood sex symbol Tom Haviland admits having sex with a girl who is found dead in the same casino hotel, throat fatally pierced with a corkscrew. As he failed to clean up, the team quickly gathers enough evidence for a murder charge. His top lawyer chooses to demand a near-instant trial, leaving CSI almost no time to work out the part of Tom’s buddy and a second victim, actually the first murder. Meanwhile Grissom’s mentor and predecessor, Dr. Phillip Gerard, uses all his forensic expertise to question every move they make and discredit team members.

Honorable mentions: Episode 1: Revenge is Best Served Cold, Episode 7: Fight Night, Episode 17: Crash and Burn, Episode 13: Random Acts of Violence

Top 5 "CSI" Episodes - Season 1

Here are the five best episodes of "CSI" Season 1, ranked.

5. Episode 19: Gentle, Gentle
A kidnapping case becomes unusually personal to the usually detached Grissom. The 4-month old baby, Zach Anderson, was allegedly kidnapped from his home. A ransom note, found by his mother, is left in his crib. Many things seem strange about this case as more evidence are analyzed. When Zach’s body is found on a nearby gold course, the team is sure that his death is no mere accident.

4. Episode 11: I-15 Murders
While investigating the disappearance of Margaret Shorey at a supermarket, Grissom and Catherine stumble upon a serial killer who claims to have killed five women in supermarkets located along the I-15. Sara and Warrick are given the case of the death of a man who, his brother claims, was killed by a burglar. Sara soon suspects that the brother is not telling the truth. Nick is specially requested to solve a case of harassment.

3. Episode 23: The Strip Strangler
There’s a serial killer on the loose in Las Vegas. Since this is a very high-profile case, the sheriff brings in the FBI to help. This annoys Grissom very much as the FBIs like to assume many things while he prefers to let the evidence speak for itself. Due to his refusal to cooperate, he is taken off the case. Grissom’s team, however, knows better and keeps their boss informed on the details.

2. Episode 9: Unfriendly Skies
The team investigates the death of a passenger aboard a commercial airliner. Grissom, Sara and Nick explore the evidence on the aircraft while Catherine and Warrick interview the passengers. They soon realize that the forensic evidence and passenger statements don’t quite add up. An autopsy reveals that the dead passenger had a serious medical condition. But who, or what, killed him?

1. Episode 7: Blood Drops
The team is called to a suburban house where the whole family, except the two daughters, have been murdered with no apparent motive.


Honorable mentions: Episode 3: Crate ‘n Burial, Episode 4: Pledging Mr. Johnson, Episode 13: Boom, Episode 16: Too Tough to Die, Episode 21: Justice is Served

Jensen, Naomi, Elisabeth and Marg

It's been while since I posted some of my self created wallpapers. I have four new ones. First one is with Jensen Ackles.

Second is Naomi Watts, my favorite actress and this is a beautiful picture.

Then two wallpapers with each a "CSI" actress on it. Elisabeth Harnois and Marg Helgenberger.

They are all pretty simple, but that's the way I like them. The Jensen Ackles wallpaper is on my desktop right now. And you can all use the wallpapers for your own computer of you'd like.

Top 5 Thursday: "CSI" Characters

My all-time favorite TV show. My top 5 changed a couple of times already, because of new characters. But the top three has been practically the same ever since I started watching the show. Here are my five favorite characters from "CSI".

5. Morgan Brody
She appeared as a guest star in the episode “Cello and Goodbye” in season 11. I liked her right away, so I was very excited to hear she would become a series regular. Morgan is a young woman with a fresh view on things and I already see some kind of attraction between her and Greg, but I think she might like Nick more.

4. Warrick Brown
Warrick was without a doubt the coolest CSI. His death really shocked me and that was the first time a CSI episode made me cry. I always loved his friendship with Nick and his flirtatious behaviour towards Catherine.

3. Greg Sanders
When he was just a lab guy he was the funny one everyone messed with. Since season 5 he became more serious and he turned into a great CSI. Greg went through the most change of all the characters and his character also got more depth through the years.

2. Catherine Willows
Catherine is a wonderful person. She is a great leader, a strong woman and very helpful to her friends and co-workers. I really love the storylines she’s in, especially in “Built to Kill” her role is really intense.

1. Nick Stokes
I don’t only like him for his good looks. Nick is smart, good with people, kind and a real teamplayer. I liked him “Stalker”, “Grave Danger” and “Gum Drops”. I've always found him the most interesting and the one with the best storylines. I just hope he finds a nice woman, Morgan for instance...

They almost made the top 5: Sofia Curtis, Wendy Simms, Archie Johnson, Mandy Webster and Ray Langston