August 2003 Movies

Based on "The Age of Grief" by Jane Smiley, it centers on a dentist that has a dream that blurs the lines between fantasy and reality. Dr. Dave Hurst (Campbell Scott) shares two homes, three children and a private practice with his dentist wife Dana (Hope Davis). One evening, backstage at Dana's drama club production, Dave believes he witnesses his wife in an intimate exchange with another man. Emotionally repressed by nature, Dave's jealousy flares up in the form of a raucous alter-ego personified by an unsatisfied patient named Slater (Denis Leary). Slater goads the quiet dentist toward violent action, but the unraveling of the emotional bonds in the marriage is more than a simple threat of aggression can solve.

A thief on the run from a life of crime. A nightclub singer hoping to escape from the blues of heartache. Two lost souls who have become fugitives from the past... but now, fate is about to bring them together in the unfolding present. Half way around the world, in a mysterious and enchanted village, they will each seek a way to literally save their endangered lives, while discovering a love that will radically change them. Valentin (Jeremy Irons) is an English jewel thief and master of disguise who has managed to pull off heists from the greatest gem shops of Europe using only two weapons: humorous bluff and charming deceit. Jane Lester (Patricia Kaas) is a jazz chanteuse reeling from a bad love affair with a philandering trumpet player. Their fates collide when Valentin's yacht (which is named "Ladies and Gentlemen") crashes off the coast of Morocco.

This movie is an anthology of four gay-themed short films that have been recent hits on the film festival circuit: "Bumping Heads"; "L.T.R."; "O' Beautiful"; and "This Car Up". "Bumping Heads" is the story of two gay men trying to figure out if they want to become boyfriends who find themselves working through issues one night at a hospital emergency room. "L.T.R." is the story of a young gay couple in a "long-term relationship" who allow a documentary film crew to follow them around. "O Beautiful" shows what happens after a gay bashing in a corn field, when one of the attackers returns to reveal a secret, and express remorse for what he did. "This Car Up" uses a split-screen to follow the synchronized lives of two lovers.

"Gigli", is a new romantic gangster comedy from director Martin Brest, ("Scent of a Woman", "Midnight Run", "Beverly Hills Cop") about a lowly thug who lets love get in the way of a high-risk mob assignment. Gigli (Ben Affleck) is ordered to kidnap the psychologically challenged younger brother of a powerful federal prosecutor. When plans go awry, Gigli's boss sends in Ricki (Jennifer Lopez), a gorgeous, free-spirited female gangster who has her own set of orders to assist with the kidnapping. But Gigli begins falling for the decidedly unavailable Ricki, which could be a hazard to his occupation.

This is the story of how a washed-up 1980s pop star (Craig Ferguson) gets a chance at a new direction in his life when he discovers that he has a teenage daughter, Olivia (Charlotte Church), in Cardiff, Wales (her real-life hometown) as the result of a weekend affair he had back at the height of his fame, especially when she decides she wants to follow him with a musical career of her own, against the wishes of her mother (Jemma Redgrave).

With East Great Falls High now just a memory, the kids have grown into young adults ready to wreak havoc with a new rite of passage - Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are getting married! Stifler (Seann William Scott) plans to be there (bridesmaids!), and more importantly to throw the ultimate bachelor party (strippers!). Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) is all for the hedonistic rituals, but not for letting Stifler steal the maid of honor, who happens to be Michelle's sexy younger sister, Cadence (January Jones). While everybody else sweats and frets, Jim's Dad (Eugene Levy) is cool as ever, dispensing advice that no one wants to hear and getting ready for one of the best days of his life.

Dr. Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her fifteen-year-old daughter, Anna (Lindsay Lohan), are not getting along. They don't see eye-to-eye on clothes, hair, music, and certainly not in each other's taste in men. One Thursday evening, their disagreements reach a fever pitch - Anna is incensed that her mother doesn't support her musical aspirations and Tess, a widow about to remarry, can't see why Anna won't give her fiance (Mark Harmon) a break. Everything soon changes when two identical Fortune Cookies cause a little mystic mayhem.

This film tells the stories of the locals living in a resort town in northern France so renowned for its pebble-covered beach that the central character, Marie (Helene Fillieres), works at a pebble processing factory. As the town changes seasonally from being completely empty in the winter and crowded during the summer, the working class lives of the locals whose livelihoods depend upon the money spent while others have a great time on vacation go on...

"Step Into Liquid" is a personal glimpse into the world of surfing from the original family of surf films. It's a film for surfers as well as non-surfers alike because it is a film about people with a passion for life. "Step Into Liquid" is a collection of stories about people who live for surfing. The cross-section of characters featured in this film come from many walks of life, but share one thing in common, the need to surf. For many of them, surfing is merely a hobby. For others, surfing is an identity and maybe even a lifestyle. For a fortunate and talented few, it is a profession. And, for one, it is a salvation.

In the explosive action-thriller "S.W.A.T." starring Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Farrell, and inspired by the '70s television series, Farrell portrays Jim Street, an L.A.P.D. officer whose recent demotion to a desk job leaves him desperate for a second chance to don the elite S.W.A.T. uniform. That break comes when team commander Hondo (Samuel L. Jackson) is assigned to recruit and train five top-notch officers for a new Special Weapons and Tactics unit (S.W.A.T.).

This movie tells two stories in three settings, going back and forth between each story as the film proceeds. One is the story of two cowboy brothers (Joseph Fiennes, David Wenham) who worked as mercenaries in Turkey around the turn of the century, and fall in love with the same woman (Anne Brochet). The other is set in contemporary New York, and is about a 90-year-old woman with a secret horde of Balkan gold and a thief (Adrian Lester), who surprisingly become friends. The third setting is the Ottoman Empire, circa 1913.

Set in an unnamed country in a post-apocalyptic future, this is the story of a young female assassin, Yuki (Yumiko Shaku), who discovers that the leader of the band of outlaws she belongs to murdered her mother. Finding herself targeted for elimination after she confronts the group's leader about her mother's death, Yuki goes on the run from her former coworkers. Barely surviving an attack, she finds refuge with a young man who used to be a terrorist, with whom she gradually falls in love, but with trained killers getting closer and closer to finding her, can their love survive?

Shaolin was an art practiced through the ages; a skill mastered in the heart. In "Shaolin Soccer", it is so much more than a philosophy for six young believers. It is a complete way of life. But as the world changed around them, and Honor and Discipline become forgotten virtues, they lose their way - except for one loyal follower, Sing (Stephen Chow). With the help of a former soccer star, he reunites his old, out of shape, misfit friends, and recruits a young woman with extraordinary Kung Fu skills. Together, they're out to combine the ancient power of Shaolin with the modern game of soccer and in the process, just might take the world's most popular sport to its most extreme.

In this modern-day comedy of manners, American sisters Isabel (Kate Hudson) and Roxy (Naomi Watts) come face to face with the complicated social mores of French society. Pregnant and jilted by her scoundrel husband, Roxy is headed for "Le Divorce", while Isabel leaps into l'amour with a married French diplomat who happens to be the uncle of Roxy's soon-to-be-ex. Culture clash and scandal ensue as the sisters learn what it really takes to be an American in Paris.

Molly Gunn (Murphy) is the freewheeling daughter of a late rock legend and the toast of the Manhattan social scene, but when her inheritance is stolen, Molly is forced to do something she's never done before - get a job. She becomes nanny to precocious Ray Schleine (Fanning), an "eight-year-old going on forty." Emotionally distant from her A&R executive mother Roma (Locklear), Ray has grown up with a revolving door of nannies and too little stability. Molly and Ray both feel painfully alone in the world, but as they try to make their new arrangement work, each discovers in the other a true friend.

Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall), Charley Waite (Kevin Costner), Mose Harrison (Abraham Benrubi) and "Button" (Diego Luna) freegraze their cattle across the vast prairies of the West, sharing their friendship forged by a steadfast code of honor and living a life unencumbered by civilization. When their wayward her forces them near the small town of Harmonville, the cowboys encounter a corrupt Sheriff (James Russo) and kingpin rancher (Michael Gambon) who govern the territory through fear, tyranny and violence. Boss Charley find themselves inextricably drawn towards the inevitable showdown as they are forced to defend the freedom and values of a lifestyle that is all to quickly vanishing. Amidst this turmoil, life suddenly takes an unexpected turn for loner Charley when he meets the beautiful and warm-spirited Sue Barlow (Annette Bening), a woman who embraces both his heart and his soul. As these courageous men prepare for the decisive battle that looms, they are also forced to confront and conquer their own internal demons.

It has been almost 10 years since one of the scariest horror characters of all time, Freddy Krueger, invaded the dreams of a generation to exact his deadly form of revenge and murder. Now, Freddy has entered into the dreams of another master of evil—the unstoppable Jason Voorhees—plunging cinema's two greatest titans of terror into a battle to end all battles.

The plot is based on the true story of Harvey Pekar (Paul Giamatti), a Cleveland Hospital file clerk who writes comic books about his life and experiences in his free time.

Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" is the story of a legendary showman's double life - television producer by day, CIA assassin by night. At the height of his TV career, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA and trained to become a covert operative.

A Portuguese woman is convinced by her teen daughter to become romantically involved with a businessman who has become wealthy in the fishing industry. The woman becomes more and more attached to him, little knowing that her paramour is really a professional gambler pretending to be a legitimate businessman.

At Dominquez High School in Compton, California, basketball is valued above all else. The end of the year is marked by a traditional cycle of proms, riots and graduation. And there hasn't been a play at the school in over twenty years. In an effort to make a change, English teacher Catherine Borek attempts to mount a theatrical production of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town,"the classic American play about the classic American town of Grover's Corners, New Hampshire. In the process she takes her fledgling students on a journey of self discovery. With no budget and no stage, Ms. Borek chooses "Our Town" for its universal and timeless themes of community, family, love and loss, life and death, with the hope that her students might see themselves reflected in the roles they play.

At the edge of adolescence, Tracy (Evan Rachel Wood) is a promising student and the loving apple of her mother's eye. But that was before she fell under the spell of Evie (Nikki Reed), the most popular and beautiful girl in school. Tracy aches to become Evie's friend but fails the secret code of acceptance. Wrong socks, wrong look. As Tracy transforms to reach for a new life, her world becomes a boiling, emotional cauldron fueled by new tensions between her and her mother, teachers, and old friends. Each decision is radical, each choice is major, each crisis is huge, and it all makes Tracy squeal with horror and excitement. But that's what it's like to be 13!

Eager but accident-prone young executive Tom Stansfield has finally happened upon the opportunity of his lifetime: he can impress his megalomaniac boss and the boss's luscious daughter, Lisa, by simply house-sitting their lavish mansion for one night. It's a plan that could lead to love and success, if only the guests didn't keep arriving. From director David Zucker ("The Naked Gun", "Airplane!") comes an outrageous, fast-and-rowdy romantic comedy about a young man whose quest for the girl of his dreams is interrupted by a constant flow of calamities. One by one, a barrage of wild and crazy visitors take over the house he's supposed to be watching and turn it upside-down, as well as inside out.

When protest breaks out over Dr. S's new CD, the owner of the rapper's record label, Ben Feld, is hospitalized by a heart attack. But his pampered daughter Marci, who's never set foot in the business world, steps in, stands up to Dr. S and tries to tone down his bad-boy edge.

The winner of the second Project Greenlight screenwriting contest, "The Battle of Shaker Heights", is a uniquely funny portrait of modern youth under siege. For high school senior Kelly Ernswiler, life is war - or, at least, it's simulated war. In all his 17 years, Kelly has found just one true passion: re-enacting the epic battle scenes of World War II. When he meets Bart Bowland, a fellow war re-enactor who is Kelly's direct opposite, his life take twists and turns he never expected – including a real-life Special Ops mission against a school bully, an ongoing battle with his outrageous family and the epic teenage crush of a lifetime.

Four skaters follow the summer tour of a skateboard star (Colin McKay) from Chicago to Oceanside, CA, pulling tricks and tearing it up, in their wild attempts to get noticed and grab a major sponsor and a chance to become stars themselves.

This documentary explores the lives and worlds of women who explore their masculine sides as "drag kings," using a legendary Drag King Night in New York as a starting point to follow some of the women into their lives, whether their drag persona be an identity they assume part or full-time. Drag kings in London and Zurich are also interviewed, including some who are experimenting with hormones to accelerate their masculinity.

Combining the physicality of international action superstar Jackie Chan with state-of-the-art special effects, Highbinders is an action comedy co-starring Claire Forlani and Julian Sands. Chan stars as Eddie, an indomitable Hong Kong cop who, after a near-fatal accident involving a mysterious medallion, is suddenly transformed into a Highbinder -- an immortal warrior with superhuman powers. Eddie enlists the help of fellow agent Nicole (Claire Forlani) to determine the secret of the medallion and face down the evil Highbinders who so desperately want it back.

This documentary, filmed over six years (1996-2002), is about Mark "Gator" Rogowski, a pro skateboarding star in the '80s currently serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of a woman he barely knew. The film mixes old footage of Gator skating and carousing with recent interviews with such skateboarding icons as Tony Hawk and Stacey Peralta. It examines what drove a charming, rich, and famous bad-boy skater to kill.

Two young couples in Madrid (Alterio and Vega; Toledo and Verbeke) are searching for love and happiness, but ultimately they find only lies and heartache, as they switch lovers back and forth, and the erotic tension escalates. There's also a good deal of singing and dancing amidst all the bed swapping.

As its 23 horrifying days of flesh-eating come to an end, an ancient creature known as the Creeper embarks on a final voracious feeding frenzy, terrorizing a group of varsity basketball players, cheerleaders and coaches stranded on a remote highway after their bus breaks down. Fighting their own fears and prejudices while trapped aboard the isolated bus, the terrified group of young athletes are forced to come together and do battle against the winged creature hell-bent on completing its grizzly ritual of feasting on humans.

Nola (Emmy Rossum), an aspiring songwriter who grew up in a trailer park, abused by her stepfather, travels to New York City in hopes of both starting her career and finding, and establishing a relationship with, her biological father. Along the way, she gets a job at a coffee shop owned by a high-class madam, Margaret (Mary McDonnell), and finds herself involved with a court case against one of Dorothy's powerful clients.

Women prisoners strike up a friendship with a young law student who works as a part-time prison guard. Together they discover that a corporation funds and is profitting from the plantation-like work environment they are forced to work under. In a botched attempt to organize a protest against their "slave labor", the women take over the prison - A rare glimpse of the effects of the prison industrial complex on female inmates.

Set in Toronto, a romantic tale which revolves around Rahul Seth, a Westernized, young dot.com millionaire, and his unconventional relationship with the beautiful and wild Sue Singh. Rahul is devastated after the untimely death of his beautiful, pop artist, blonde girlfriend Kimberly. To make matters worse, he is under extreme pressure from his family to get engaged to a good Hindu girl before his sister's upcoming wedding. Lest one forgets, according to the popular Hindu adage, 'the best cure for a broken heart is marriage'. Desperate, he hires the services of the gorgeous Sue, a local escort girl, to pretend to be his fiancée during the ten days of celebration, leading up to his sister's marriage ceremony. While Rahul is the scion of a typically successful NRI family, Sue is the daughter of a humble car mechanic and--professionally speaking--is one of the highest paid escorts in Toronto. They enter into the relationship as opposites. However, during this fateful period of much song, dance and merriment, Rahul and Sue's relationship slowly transcends that of employer and employee. With her passion for life, Sue manages to break through Rahul's hardened exterior to reveal a sensitive man who is not as emotionally dead as he would like to believe. In turn, Rahul's strong personality and advice enables Sue to see her parents in a more positive light.

Dek and Shirley live together with 12 year-old Marlene, her daughter by the sexy, delinquent Jimmy who went off into the badlands of Glasgow years ago and hasn't been heard from since. Decent-but-dull Dek loves Shirley so much that he humiliates her by proposing without warning on national television. Like everyone else Shirley has ever met, Jimmy is watching when she turns Dek down on TV and he returns to town, determined to win her back. Shirley seems destined to succumb to Jimmy's charms, but he hasn't reckoned on the obstacles: their daughter Marlene, his sister Carol, her estranged husband Charlie, their sons Emerson and Lake, Carol's daughter Donna, her boyfriend Donut. Nor could he anticipate the heroic, last-minute challenge from mild-mannered, love-sick Dek.