Browse Movies : 2004 (Page #4)

Set in the ferocious Gobi Desert, the story follows two protagonists, Lieutenant Li (Jiang Wen) and Japanese emissary Lai Qi (Kiichi Nakai) - both first-class warriors and master swordsmen. After decades of service to the Chinese Emperor, Lai Qi longs to return to Japan, but is instead sent to the West to chase wanted criminals. His only passport back to Japan is to capture and execute Lieutenant Li, a renegade soldier wanted for leading a violent mutiny when he refused orders to kill female and child prisoners. Li and Lai Qi battle, but finally agree to delay their final personal fight until the caravan carrying Minzhu and a Buddhist monk is brought to safety. The monk, however, is carrying a sacred and powerful pagoda that attracts the attention of the region's ruthless overlord, Master An (Wang Xueqi). Lai Qi and Lt. Li, accompanied by Li's former posse of soldiers, who have forsaken their peaceful new lives to return to his side, must face the cruelty of the desert, the region's barbaric bandits and the brutality of the overlord's men before they can finally face one another.

From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Hours" comes a story that chronicles a dozen years in the lives of two best friends who couldn't be more different. From suburban Cleveland in the 60s, to New York City in the 80s, where they meet an older woman, the film charts a journey of trials, triumphs, loves and losses. Now the question is: can they navigate the unusual triangle they've created and hold their friendship together?

A scientific expedition is assembled by a powerful pharmaceutical company to search for a rare black orchid in the deep recesses of the jungles of Borneo. Their hope is that the orchid can be used to unlock the secrets of youth and immortality. What they soon discover is that the orchid is already being used by a denizen host of giant snakes to augment their strength, size and vitality—not to mention their appetites.

Will Ferrell stars as Ron Burgandy, the top-rated anchorman in San Diego in the '70s. When feminism marches into the newsroom in the form of ambitious newswoman Veronica Corningstone (Christina Applegate), Ron is willing to play along at first-as long as Veronica stays in her place, covering cat fashion shows, cooking, and other "female" interests. But when Veronica refuses to settle for being eye candy and steps behind the news desk, it's more than a battle between two perfectly coiffed anchor-persons...it's war.

Four generations of men are suddenly brought together by the chance to uncover the truth about their family's past. It's a journey that takes them out on the road to a world full of surprises—some comic, some dramatic, and all of them personal.

Anna is a young widow who is finally getting on with her life after the death of her husband, Sean. Now engaged to be married, Anna meets a ten-year-old boy who tells her he is Sean reincarnated. Though his story is both unsettling and absurd, Anna can't get the boy out of her mind. And much to the concern of her fiancée, her increased contact with him leads her to question the choices she has made in her life.

We come to know the rapist Gilson, tried and sentenced by the Law Behind Bars; Zico and Deusdete, inseparable half brothers who, in jail, become each other's assassins; Highness and his shrewd balancing act between women and heists; Old Chico, a Zen master in the ways of the dungeon, at last on the brink of his long-awaited freedom; Warden Pires, who oversees the prison with the perspicacity of a tightrope walker; Ebony, the true leader of the inmate community and the arbiter of all its contentions; the religious conversion of the assasin, Dagger, the rise and fall of the surfer Ezequiel; Antonio Carlos, Claudiomiro and, coming between them like a knife, and depraved Dina; the existentialist philosopher No Way and his love affair with the divine lady Di. The narrative of the film is crafted like a puzzle with one story giving way to another for of surrealist, uniquely Brazilian collage of tragedy.

Budding teenage beauty Anna Foster (Mandy Moore) wants the American dream: life and liberty to pursue happiness. But as the only child of the President of the United States, every detail of Anna's life is constantly monitored by the media, the public and her very protective parents — who are backed up by a battalion of Secret Service agents that safeguard Anna from any danger, including the perils of first dates. Charming and irreverent, Anna just wants the freedom to live life like any other teenager — which means ditching the agents who are seriously curbing her good times. While on a diplomatic trip to Europe with her parents, Anna extracts a promise from her father, the President, which allows her a night alone, unescorted. But when her dad has a change of heart, Anna decides to take things into her own hands. In a wild escape, incognito Anna meets mysterious stranger Ben Calder (Matthew Goode), who reluctantly aids her European getaway. Reveling in her newfound independence, Anna decides to take Europe by storm, accompanied by dashing Ben. As Anna's madcap European adventure takes her farther from her family and brings her closer to Ben, she's dreading the day her holiday will come to an end. Because the most powerful man in the free world is her father, Anna knows that she has a lot more to worry about than getting grounded. But before she can face the President, she has to find a way tell Ben the truth about her identity and risk getting her heart broken — the one thing her father can't fix.

Abandoned by the death of their mother, Junior and Scooter find themselves ill prepared for life on their own. To ease their suffering, they search the desert dregs of West Texas for a woman to take Mom's place. Due to their social disability, they are forced to kidnap a woman from a Piggly Wiggly supermarket. They soon realize that they have gotten more than they bargained for when their "victim," Dede, turns out to be the maltreated wife of an abusive Texas Ranger. She quickly turns her misfortune into theirs, convincing the brothers to steal her baby away from her sadistic husband. Life gets even more complicated for these simple-hearted boys when the vengeful Ranger tracks them down bent on keeping them from living happily ever after.

It all begins as successful Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie watches his latest play open to a ho-hum reaction among the polite society of Edwardian England. A literary genius of his times but bored by the same old themes, Barrie is clearly in need of some serious inspiration. Unexpectedly, he finds it one day during his daily walk with his St. Bernard Porthos in London's Kensington Gardens. There, Barrie encounters the Llewelyn Davies family: four fatherless boys and their beautiful, recently widowed mother. Despite the disapproval of the boys' steely grandmother Emma du Maurier and the resentment of his own wife, Barrie befriends the family, engaging the boys in tricks, disguises, games and sheer mischief, creating play-worlds of castles and kings, cowboys and Indians, pirates and castaways. He transforms hillsides into galleon ships, sticks into mighty swords, kites into enchanted fairies and the Llewelyn Davies boys into "The Lost Boys of Neverland." From the sheer thrills and adventurousness of childhood will come Barrie's most daring and renowned masterwork, "Peter Pan." At first, his theatrical company is skeptical. While his loyal producer Charles Frohman worries he'll lose his shirt on this children's fantasy, Barrie begins rehearsals only to shock his actors with such unprecedented requests as asking them to fly across the stage, talk to fairies made out of light and don dog and crocodile costumes. Then, just as Barrie is ready to introduce the world to "Peter Pan," a tragic twist of fate will make the writer and those he loves most understand just what it means to really believe.

From visionary writer/director Guillermo Del Toro ("Blade II", "The Devil's Backbone") comes "Hellboy", a supernatural action adventure based on Mike Mignola's popular Dark Horse Comics series of the same name. Born in the flames of hell, and brought to our world in a pagan ritual, the fierce red hero, Hellboy (Ron Perlman), was saved by his friend and mentor, the benevolent Dr. Broom (John Hurt). Raised in Broom's Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Hellboy joins the likes of the "Mer-Man" Abe Sapien, Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), the woman he loves who can psychically control fire, and Myers, the FBI agent who is his rival for Liz's affections. Together, our heroes must come to terms with fantastic powers that prove to be both a blessing and a curse. In the process they discover that their abilities serve to benefit mankind but may also keep them forever isolated from the society that only they can protect.

Based on the true story of the greatest long-distance horse race ever run, "Hidalgo" is an epic action-adventure and one man's journey of personal redemption. Held yearly for centuries, the Ocean of Fire - a 3,000 mile survival race across the Arabian Desert - was a challenge restricted to the finest Arabian horses ever bred, the purest and noblest lines, owned by the greatest royal families. In 1890, a wealthy Sheik invited an American and his horse to enter the race for the first time. Frank T. Hopkins (Viggo Mortensen) was a cowboy and dispatch rider for the US cavalry who had once been billed as the greatest rider the West had ever known. The Sheik (Omar Sharif) would put his claim to the test, pitting the American cowboy and his mustang, Hidalgo, against the world's greatest Arabian horses and Bedouin riders - some of whom were determined to prevent the foreigner from finishing the race. For Frank, the Ocean of Fire becomes not only a matter of pride and honor, but a race for his very survival as he and his horse, Hidalgo, attempt the impossible.

Albert Markovski, head of the Open Spaces Coalition, has been experiencing an alarming series of coincidences the meaning of which escapes him. With the help of two Existential Detectives, Bernard and Vivian Jaffe, Albert examines his life, his relationships, and his conflict with Brad Stand, an executive climbing the corporate ladder at Huckabees, a popular chain of retail superstores. When Brad also hires the detectives, they dig deep into his seemingly perfect life and his relationship with his spokes model girlfriend, the voice of Huckabees, Dawn Campbell. Albert pairs up with rebel firefighter Tommy Corn to take matters into their own hands under the guidance of the Jaffes' nemesis, the French radical Caterine Vauban.

Will Smith stars in this action thriller inspired by the classic short story collection by Isaac Asimov and brought to the big screen by director Alex Proyas ("Dark City", "The Crow"). In the year 2035, robots are an everyday household item and everyone trusts them, except one slightly paranoid detective (Will Smith) investigating what he alone believes is a crime perpetrated by a robot. The case leads him to discover a far more frightening threat to the human race.

This documentary will examine the legendary Loch Ness monster, sometimes known as Nessie. Legendary film director Werner Herzog will spend months shooting at the lake, talking to locals, diving underwater, and examining everything surrounding the mythical beast that may or may not live in one of the world's deepest lakes.

Even the onboard navigation system has a meltdown on Nate Johnson (Cedric The Entertainer) and his family's cross-country trek to their annual family reunion/grudge match. Reluctantly along for the ride are Nate's wife (Vanessa Williams), who's only in it for the kids; their rapper-wannabe son (Bow Wow); their teenage daughter (Solange Knowles) who's fashioned herself as the next Lolita; and their youngest (Gabby Soleil), whose imaginary dog Nate just can't seem to keep track of. Can the Johnsons survive each other and all the obstacles the road throws at them to make it to Caruthersville, Missouri? Can they find Missouri?

Life story of Alfred Kinsey, a man driven to uncover the most private secrets of the nation, and a journey into the mystery of human behavior. In 1948 Kinsey irrevocably changed American culture and created a media sensation with his book "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male". Using the technique of his own famous sex interviews, story recounts the scientist's extraordinary journey from obscurity to global fame. Rebelling against the rigid piety of his home life, and drawn to the world of the senses, Kinsey becomes a Harvard-educated zoologist specializing in the study of gall wasps. After being hired to teach biology at Indiana University, Kinsey meets and marries a witty, freethinking female student, Clara McMillen. In the course of his teaching he discovers an astonishing dearth of scientific data on sexual behavior. When students seek him out for advice about sexual concerns and problems, he realizes that no one has done the clinical research that would yield reliable answers to their questions. Inspired to explore the emotionally charged subject of sex from a strictly scientific point of view, Kinsey recruits a team of researchers, including Clyde Martin, Wardell Pomeroy and Paul Gebhard. Over time they refine an interviewing technique, which helps people to break through shame, fear, and guilt and speak freely about their sexual histories. When Kinsey publishes his Male study in 1948, the press compares the impact to that of the atom bomb. But as the country enters the more paranoid Cold War era of the 1950s, Kinsey's follow-up study on women is seen as an attack on basic American values. The ensuing outrage and scorn causes Kinsey's benefactors to abandon him, just as his health begins to deteriorate. At the same time, the jealousies and acrimony caused by Kinsey's attempt to create a private sexual utopia threaten to tear apart the research team and expose them to unwelcome scrutiny.

Baltimore firefighter Jack Morrison, making the transition from inexperienced rookie to seasoned veteran, struggles to cope with a risky, demanding job that often shortchanges his wife and kids. He he relies on the support of his mentor and chief, Mike Kennedy and his second family--the brotherly bond between the men of the firehouse. But when Jack becomes trapped in the worst blaze of his career, his life and the things he holds important—family, dignity, courage—come into focus. As his fellow firemen of Ladder 49 do all they can to rescue him, Jack's life hangs in the balance.

When the shy Sam confides in his protective older sibling, Rocky about the overweight bully in school named George, Rocky hatches a plot to exact their revenge on his brother's tormentor.

Funnyman Bernie Mac brings his irreverent comedy to the big screen to star in this hysterical movie about an over-the-hill ballplayer who learns there's more to the game than individual stats and a Hall-of-Fame plaque. Stan Ross (Mac) once loved the game of baseball, playing with passion, energy, and every ounce of his natural talent. But somewhere along the way, the fame went to his head. The self-centered star ended his career prematurely, shocking his teammates by selfishly quitting the game in the middle of a season, right after getting his 3,000th hit—the unofficial key to baseball's Hall of Fame. Now, ten years later, three of Mr. 3000's hits have been disqualified, and the 47-year- old out-of-shape former slugger attempts a comeback—hitting the gym and facing down pitchers half his age—only to find that three hits are a lot harder to come by than they used to be! The media love to hate the bigheaded basher and they're going to delight in ripping him for every strikeout. With only his ex- flame (Angela Bassett) believing in him, for once in his life, Stan must either rediscover his passion for the national pastime—or settle for living as "Mr. 2997."