Cast biographies/profiles/filmographies

As she does in The Truth About Cats and Dogs, Janeane Garofalo proves she's a capable leading lady--beautiful, charming, self-effacing, and what used to be referred to as sharp as a tack. Garofalo plays Marcy, aide to dim Massachusetts senator McGlory (Jay O. Sanders). Denis Leary is appropriately slimy as a fellow aide. The senator and Nick dispatch Marcy to the remote (and fictitious) Irish town of Ballinagra, where she's supposed to unearth relatives to use in the senator's PR campaign.

Not even close to his best work, Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yimou--far from a favorite of Chinese authorities, and frequently harassed and stymied in his career--creates an impressive-looking period piece in this gangland story set in the 1930s. Gong Li (Raise the Red Lantern) gives a colorful performance as a nightclub diva who is the mistress of a mob boss. Told from the point of view of a boy (Wang Xiaoxiao) sent by the gangster to wait on the arrogant singer, the story follows these characters over several days as they flee Shanghai to hide out in the countryside.

In this high-kicking martial arts thriller, a young man (Bruce Lee) is called to Rome to help a family friend whose restaurant is being targeted by local gangsters. Used to getting their own way, these ruthless men make the mistake of underestimating the young man's ingenuity. When they are unable to get rid of him, they call in an international martial arts champion (Chuck Norris), creating the ultimate clash of kung fu masters in the ancient city's majestic coliseum. Also known as "Return of the Dragon".

In his final film, Bruce Lee is Billy Lo, a young kung fu movie star with a flourishing career and a promising future. As the leader of a syndicate known for its exploitation of entertainers, Dr. Land jumps at the chance to capitalize on Billy's celebrated status and that of his singer-girlfriend Ann. Refusing to sign with Land, Billy's martial arts mastery is put to the test when he is brutally harassed by Land's men in an attempt to change his mind. In a stunning showdown, Billy goes one on one with a villainous stream of deadly kung fu fighters in a final bid for his freedom.

In the China of 1908, respecting one's teacher is a sign of breeding, and avenging his murder a sacred duty. When a martial arts master (Bruce Lee) learns his revered kung fu instructor has been murdered, his shock turns first to disbelief, then to anger. Determined to wrest vengeance from the gang responsible, he travels to Shanghai to hunt down the killers - and ends up facing some of his most dangerous opponents. A combination of power, grace and humor, this action-packed thriller is a Bruce Lee classic. Also known as "The Big Boss".

Before Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux, before Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull, there was Maurice "Rocket" Richard, the first player to score 50 goals in 50 games and the man generally regarded as the Babe Ruth of the National Hockey League (he was a member of the Montreal Canadiens, the hockey equivalent of the New York Yankees).

The second and last of Anthony Mann's historical epics is a smart, handsome spectacle of the decadence, corruption, and intrigue that tears apart the greatest empire the world has seen. The sprawling story spreads itself thin over a number of characters and stories.

Chen Kaige's ambitious historical epic is more diorama than drama. The film re-creates the rise to power of Ying Zheng, the warlord who in 221 B.C. united China and became its first emperor. Chen wants to show us the violent, decisive acts that shape history, and the plot eventually sets Zheng (Li Xuejian) against his childhood lover, Lady Zhao (Gong Li, who retains her beauty even after her character's face is branded), and Jing Ke (Zhang Fengyi), the reluctant assassin she sends to kill him.

Catherine Deneuve stars in this Oscar-winning (Best Foreign Language Film, 1992) tale of passion and revolution in colonial Veitnam. Deneuve stars as Elaine Devries, the seemingly repressed owner of a prosperous rubber plantation in French Indochina. Her steely exterior, however, is only a mask intended to hide her torrid love affairs from upperclass society. But when her adopted Indochinese daughter innocently falls in love with Elaine's secret lover, the scandalous lover's triangle threatens to destroy their entire family.

Tailors are the secret-keepers of the power elite; customize fine apparel for the rich and powerful, and you'll hear things only whispered in the halls of government. Such is the sly conceit of The Tailor of Panama, coadapted by John le CarrÈ from his own novel, and directed by John Boorman with a delicious spin on the traditions of the spy genre. As British MI-6 agent Andy Osnard, Pierce Brosnan qualifies as James Bond's black-sheep sibling, viewing women only in terms of sexual conquest and conducting spy business by his own flexible set of rules.