Jack Campbell (Nicolas Cage) is the quintessential Wall Street shark, scoring killer deals by day and shallow escort sex by night. His round-the-clock routine of empty luxuries is disturbed one lonely Christmas Eve when a gun-packing punk (Don Cheadle)--perhaps an angel of mercy--responds to an altruistic gesture from Jack by giving him "a glimpse" of the life he could have had.
Once you've seen Drumline, halftime shows will become works of art. This formulaic yet surprisingly captivating movie honors the military precision of college football marching bands, those battalions of eager, sternly disciplined brass sections, drummers, and fly girls who turn halftime shows into well-oiled Vegas variety acts on steroids. Devon (played by Will Smith protege Nick Cannon) is a cocky Brooklyn kid with a snare-drumming scholarship to (fictional) Atlanta A&T University.
Elf is genuinely good. Not just Saturday Night Live-movie good, when the movie has some funny bits but is basically an insult to humanity; Elf is a smartly written, skillfully directed, and deftly acted story of a human being adopted by Christmas elves who returns to the human world to find his father. And because the writing, directing, and acting are all genuinely good, Elf is also genuinely funny. Will Ferrell, as Buddy the adopted elf, is hysterically sincere. James Caan, as his rediscovered father, executes his surly dumbfoundedness with perfect aplomb.
Goldie Hawn, Bette Midler, and Diane Keaton prove that revenge is a dish best served cold. Former college buddies, they reunite at the funeral of a dear friend who took a swan dive onto Fifth Avenue. All three discover they share the same unhappy history of husbands who dove into middle-age by dumping them for trophy wives. Forming a warring triumvirate, they decide to get even, and along the way remind themselves of long-forgotten capabilities. The action gets a little too "wacky" at times, but the gals are great.
Ferris is a street-wise kid who knows all the tricks. Today he decides to take the day off school. When Ferris takes the day off, so must his best friends, Cameron and Sloane. Cameron is reluctantly persuaded to borrow his father's Ferrari (which is never used). And together they hatch a plan to get Sloane out of class. Suspicious principal Ed Rooney knows all about Ferris, but can never catch him. Ferris' sister Jeanie is also frustrated that Ferris always gets away with his tricks and she doesn't. Furthermore, Ferris is an 'angel' in his parents eyes.
Everybody important from the first film, including the writing-directing team of Charles Shyer and Nancy Meyers, regroups for this sequel involving a pair of pregnancies. Steve Martin's patriarch has a crisis when his married daughter (Kimberly Williams) is with child, and an even bigger one when his middle-aged wife (Diane Keaton) announces that another bambino is on the way.
In this hilarious update of the much-loved Hollywood classic, Steve Martin turns in a winning performance as George Banks, the befuddled father who has a hard time letting go of his young daughter (Williams) when she unexpectedly announces her plans to wed. Tickling funnybones and touching hearts of critics and audiences alike, this entertaining treat chronicles George's hysterical trials and tribulations leading up to the big event. Diane Keaton shines as George's patient, level-headed wife, while funnyman Martin Short lights up the screen as the off-the-wall wedding consultant.
Philo Beddoe is your regular, easygoing, truck-driving guy. He's also the best barroom brawler west of the Rockies. And he lives with a 165-pound orangutan named Clyde. Like other guys, Philo finally falls in love - with a flighty singer who leads him on a screwball chase across the American Southwest. Nothing's in the way except a motorcycle gang, two sneaky off-duty cops and a legendary brawler Tank Murdock. Every Which Way But Loose was a change of pace for Clint Eastwood - and it proved to be one of his most popular films.
Comedy favorite Hugh Grant (Notting Hill) stars as a young man who offends an entire town by declaring their mountain -- a prized local landmark -- to be a "hill." But he soon finds the eccentric locals, led by a witty innkeeper (Colm Meaney) will stop at nothing to defend their honor! While the townspeople rally around their "mountain," a fiery young woman (Tara FitzGerald) charms the puzzled out-of-towner into seeing things their way.
Alternative history and whimsical imagination make comfortable bedfellows in The Emperor's New Clothes. As happens in Simon Leys's novel The Death of Napoleon, the French emperor's demise is faked as part of a political comeback scheme, and Ian Holm--who had previously played Bonaparte in Time Bandits and a 1974 British miniseries--plays both Napoleon and the look-alike who "dies" on the island of St. Helena.
