January 2004 Movies

"Secret Things" is the story of two gorgeous young women who discover the power of sex as a tool to climb the social ladder. Sandrine and Natalie work at a strip club; Natalie performs an erotic act on stage while Sandrine serves drinks. After they are both fired, the two become roommates and Natalie begins training Sandrine in the art of the courtesan. Erotic lessons on how to pleasure oneself and others, how to seduce and not be seduced, public nudity and sex and the art of the fake orgasm are all part of their plan to take on the world of men. Their top prize is Christophe, a charming heir apparent and rising star at a large bank. These femme fatales don't bargain for the ultimate cruelty and power of their prey and soon find Christophe, a man who controls all he meets, their ultimate match.

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.

In 1992, Nick Broomfield made his first documentary about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, and this follow-up comes a year after Wuornos' execution for killing six men during her years as a Florida prostitute. Wuornos gave Broomfield the last interview of her life, and this film includes scenes of Broomfield testifying about his experiences with her.

The story is based on the life of serial killer Aileen Wuornos (Charlize Theron), who was executed Oct. 9, 2002, after murdering at least six Florida men while working as a prostitute. In her 1992 trial, Wuornos pleaded innocent, saying she acted in self-defense to prevent being raped, a statement she later recanted. The film centers on Wuornos' life before the murders and her romantic relationship with Selby (Christina Ricci), a woman she dated while still turning tricks and killing men.

A photographer who is haunted by the feeling that the gap between his ideals and his real life is growing finds himself obliged to put up in his apartment a young relative who has left behind his village looking for a job aboard a ship in Istanbul to go abroad.

Lonnie (Eddie Griffin), G (Anthony Anderson) and Dominic (Michael Imperioli) are three bachelor buddies from the hood who, after a lifetime of hard partying, are in for a rude awakening when their respective girlfriends all get pregnant at the same time. The fathers-to-be embark on an always hilarious and often touching journey while learning as much about themselves as they do about love and fatherhood.

"The Missing" is the story of Maggie Gilkeson (Cate Blanchett), a young woman raising her two daughters in an isolated and lawless wilderness. When her oldest daughter (Evan Rachel Wood) is kidnapped by a psychopathic killer with mystical powers (Eric Schweig), Maggie is forced to re-unite with her long estranged father (Tommy Lee Jones) to rescue her. The killer and his brutal cult of desperados have kidnapped several other teenage girls, leaving a trail of death and horror across the desolate landscape of the American Southwest. Maggie and her father are in a race against time to catch up with the renegades and save her daughter, before they cross the Mexican border and disappear forever.

Ben Stiller portrays risk-averse Reuben Feffer, whose best-laid plans for life and love careen wildly off track when his bride (Debra Messing) dumps him on their honeymoon for a muscle-bound scuba instructor (Hank Azaria). Stunned, humiliated and in the grip of acute indigestion, Reuben plans to play it safer than ever. But a chance encounter with an adventure-craving, childhood friend named Polly (Jennifer Aniston) shoots him into a whirlwind of extreme sports, spicy foods, ferrets, salsa dancing and living in the moment.

In the heartwarming film "Big Fish", director Tim Burton brings his inimitable imagination on a journey that delves deep into a fabled relationship between a father and his son. Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) has always been a teller of tall-tales about his oversized life as a young man (Ewan McGregor), when his wanderlust led him on an unlikely journey from a small-town in Alabama, around the world, and back again. His mythic exploits dart from the delightful to the delirious as he weaves epic tales about giants, blizzards, a witch and conjoined-twin lounge singers. With his larger-than-life stories, Bloom charms almost everyone he encounters except for his estranged son Will (Billy Crudup). When his mother Sandra (Jessica Lange) tries to reunite them, Will must learn how to separate fact from fiction as he comes to terms with his father's great feats and great failings.

Set in the fast-paced world of motorcycle racing, this action movie shows what happens to long-time biker Cary Ford (Martin Henderson) when he is framed by a long-time rival, Henry (Matt Schulze), the leader of a biker gang called the Hellions for the murder of Sleepy D, the brother of Trey Wallace (Ice Cube), the leader of the Machine, the most notorious and feared biker gang in the country. Cary and his friends must make a run for it as they have both Trey and his Machine bikers and the FBI on their tails.

Based on the award-winning Saturday morning cartoon, it's the story about a dog named Spot, but that's where the ordinariness ends. Spot (voiced by Nathan Lane) is a talking dog that has taught himself to read. Wanting to further his education and experience new adventures, he disguises himself as a boy and sneaks into the same school where his master, Leonard, (Shaun Flemming) attends, and becomes the teacher's pet.

A gripping psychological thriller with Hitchcockian twists. Waking from a coma after a car crash, Ben (Colin Firth) learns that his wife, Elisa (Naomie Harris), was killed in the accident, and his world collapses. He attempts to rebuild his life by getting a new job and a new apartment, but his mind starts playing tricks on him. He begins seeing his dead wife everywhere. His attractive neighbor, Charlotte (Mena Suvari), takes him to see a psychic (Brenda Fricker), who tells him that she senses his wife might still be alive. Meanwhile, someone is moving things around in his apartment and destroying cherished possessions. Then the police pay him a visit: he's being investigated for murder.

Struggling with the psychological effects of his repressed childhood memories, a young man (Ashton Kutcher) devises a technique of traveling back in time to inhabit his childhood body. As he attempts to mend the broken lives of those closest to him, he finds that every trip into the past brings chaotic results into the present, leading him to travel back again and again and causing irreparable damage.

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.

Six high school students band together and develop a plan to heist the SAT exam in order to prevent the test from unfairly defining who they'll become. Each in the group has his or her own set of circumstances that leads to the conclusion that the only way to truly decide one's own fate is to beat the system.

A 12-year-old Afghan girl and her mother lose their jobs when the Taliban closes the hospital where they work. The Taliban have also forbidden women to leave their houses without a "legal companion." With her husband and brother dead there is no one left to support the family, and without being able to leave the house the mother is left with nowhere to turn. Feeling she has no other choice, she disguises her daughter as a boy. Now called Osama, the girl embarks on a terrifying and confusing journey as she tries to keep the Taliban from finding out her true identity. Inspired by a true story, "Osama" is the first entirely Afghan film shot since the rise and fall of the Taliban.

Follows the competitive world of street dancing where crews battle for money and respect. Elgin (Marques Houston, IMX) and David (Omarion, B2K) are best friends and leaders of the best dance crew in the area. When another group challenges them to a battle, David and Elgin -- along with their buddies (Raz B, J Boog and Lil' Fizz of B2K) must create and perfect the most cutting edge moves to remain on top. The stakes are raised as friends double-cross each other and true motives are revealed. When the biggest battle comes to town, David and Elgin must work past their differences to prove that they are the best crew on the streets.

Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson), a charming drifter, meets a beautiful criminal, Nancy Hayes, in a Michigan resort town. The powerful and rich local Mr. Majestyk wants Jack gone and Nancy all to himself.