Movies

Two young gentlemen living in 1890’s England have taken to bending the truth in order to put some excitement into their lives. Jack Worthing (Colin Firth) has invented a brother, Earnest, whom he uses as an excuse to leave his dull country life behind to visit the ravishing Gwendolyn (Frances O’Connor). Algy Montcrieff (Rupert Everett) decided to take the name ‘Earnest’ when visiting Worthing’s young and beautiful ward, Cecily (Reese Witherspoon) at the country manor. Things start to go awry when they end up together in country and their deceptions are discovered - threatening to spoil their romantic pursuits.

Two men want to escape from East Germany (under Communist rule) but they will only go if they can take their families with them. Based on a true story.

Based on the classic novel by Jules Verne, Around the World in 80 Days (2003) stars Jackie Chan as Passepartout. As an adventurer, Passepartout ends up accompanying time-obsessed English gentleman, Phileas Fogg (played by Steve Coogan) on a daring mission to journey around the world. Fogg has wagered with members of his London club that he can traverse the world in 80 days. Along the way, they encounter many interesting 19th Century figures and have many exciting and suspenseful situations in their voyage around the world.

This time, the Man of Steel has his hands full with a trio of super-powered villains who escape from their Phantom Zone prison (remember the weird flying diamond-shaped mirror that scooped them up from the planet Krypton?) and land on Earth, where all three have powers to rival Superman’s own. How does it all come out? With a fabulous duel above the streets of Metropolis, and a startling plot twist that neatly ties in Superman’s explosive past. Arch-criminal Lex Luthor plays both ends gleefully against the middle in hopes of a modest reward: Australia.

David Spade plays Joe, whose search for his family has him hittin’ the road and keepin’ it real with every lowlife he meets, including a sweet hottie (Brittany Daniel), a janitor (Christopher Walken), and a pychotic cannibal (Brian Thompson) with whom he has a brief interlude. Through it all, Joe keeps on truckin’ . . . all the way to L.A., where a shock jock DJ (Dennis Miller) targets Joe as the butt of his show. But Joe’s plucky spirit encourages listeners to cheer him on and help him find a better family than the one he thought he wanted. Rock on!

A new batch of recruits arrives at Police Academy, this time a group of civilian volunteers who have joined Commandant Lassard’s new Citizens on Patrol program. Although the community relations project has strong governmental support, a disgusted Captain Harris is determined to see it fail.

Greed is bad, this simple morality tale cautions. A megalomaniacal C.E.O. sends his son into the dangerous African Congo on a quest for a source of diamonds large enough and pure enough to function as powerful laser communications transmitters (or is it laser weapons?). When contact is lost with his son and the team, his sometime daughter- in-law is sent after them. She is a former CIA operative and, accompanied by gee-whiz gadgetry and a few eccentric characters (including a mercenary, a researcher with a talking gorilla, and a a nutty Indiana-Jones-type looking for King Solomon’s Mines), sets out to rescue her former fiance. What they all discover is that often what we most want turns out to be the source of our downfall.

James Bond (Brosnan) is back. A oil tycoon is murdered in MI6 and Bond is sent to protect his daughter. Renard (Carlyle) who has a bullet lodged in his brain from a previous agent is secretly planning the destruction of a pipeline. Bond gains a hand from a research scientist, Dr. Christmas Jones (Richards) who witnesses the action which happens when Bond meets up with Renard, but Bond becomes suspicious about Elektra King (Marceau) , especially when Bond’s boss, M (Dench) goes missing. Bond must work quickly to prevent Renard from destroying Europe.

Casanova is love with Francesca, who thinks he is a friend of himself even though he is engaged Victoria, who is the love of Giovanni, Francessca’s brother. Francessca is betrothed to Paprizzio who thinks Casanova is the feminist writer Guardi, who is really Francessca’s nomme de plume. Amidst all these secret identities and misunderstandings, the Catholic Church sends Pucci to bring Casanova and Guardi to trial for heresy.

Professional daredevil and white-suited hero, The Great Leslie, convinces turn-of-the-century auto makers that a race from New York to Paris (westward across America, the Bering Straight and Russia) will help to promote automobile sales. Leslie’s arch-rival, the mustached and black-attired Professor Fate vows to beat Leslie to the finish line in a car of Fate’s own invention. The Blake Edwards style of slapstick and song originated with this movie. A dedication to Laurel and Hardy appears at the beginning of the film. Edwards’ tribute to Stan and Ollie can be seen most clearly in the interaction between Professor Fate and his cohort Max, as well as in the operatic Pottsdorf pie fight.