Rules of Engagement is a pretty typical courtroom drama that puts military values on trial. Unfortunately the themes of redemption and justice are undermined by plot holes you could drive a tank through and the stereotypical portrayal of issues we've all seen before. Hays Hodges (Jones) and Terry Childers (Jackson) fought together as Marines in Vietnam, where Childers saved his friend's life.

After the war, the two men have followed very different paths((mdash))Childers is a much-decorated military hero while Hays, who was wounded, becomes a Marine lawyer and a bit of a drunken failure. Childers is chosen to lead a mission into Yemen to save the US ambassador (Kingsley) who is under threat from a mob of angry protestors. The mission ends in court-martial when Childers is accused of ordering his men to open fire on unarmed civilians. Of course he chooses his old friend to defend him, and thus gives them both a chance to redeem themselves. Although Rules may seem very familiar in a "guess the other movie they ripped this off from" kind of way, both lead actors deliver solid performances which keep the film slightly above average.

Pacey goes to university. Though he hasn't aged any and still manages to play a 15-year-old in that other show (which many of my friends believe should be re-named Pacey's Pond 'cos he kicks Dawson's...but on with the review). But aside from this The Skulls is quite a good film. The movie is about a secret campus society named the Skulls. How about some plot? Well Luke McNamara (Jackson) attends a university. Want more? Alright. He is a townie, rides a bike, lost his father when he was one, is poor, works in the cafeteria. Yet he's tapped for membership in the Skulls because he is a star on the varsity rowing crew.

The rest is an intense action packed ride of intrigue, murder and deception. The Skulls' campus clubhouse is a very impressive Gothic monument so filled with vistas and arches and caverns and halls and pools and verandas that Dracula would have something along these lines if he could afford it. It's good to be a Skull. Luke and his fellow inductees find $10,000 in their ATM accounts (later they get $100,000 checks). Beautiful women are supplied after an induction ceremony. They all get new sports cars. Hey, can I be a Skull? If only I could row...In the end The Skulls is an enjoyable experience and it has enough to be different from all those other secret society movies, though one downside - I didn't see one secret handshake. What is the world coming to?