Bovie Movie

Don’t Panic! This long-awaited adaptation of Douglas Adams’s classic BBC radio series/book/TV series finally makes it to the big screen without sacrificing any of its late creator’s jovially lugubrious vision. Martin Freeman stars as put-upon everyman Arthur Dent who, in the company of extraterrestrial friend Ford Prefect (rapper Mos Def), escapes the Earth moments before it’s demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass. Armed with Ford’s copy of the eponymous guide — a PDA travelogue voiced by Stephen Fry — Arthur tries to make sense of a universe in which aliens recite brain-mangling verse, sperm whales fall from the sky while pondering the nature of existence and a paranoid android (voiced by Alan Rickman) copes with depression. Although signs of Hollywood studio tampering are in evidence — the clumsy love story between Arthur and space girl Trillian (Zooey Deschanel) — director Garth Jennings stays true to the oddity at the heart of this quintessentially British space odyssey. 

This supernatural gothic whodunnit is another beautifully crafted offering from eccentric maestro Tim Burton. With a perfect cast milking every sinister nuance, Burton’s clever take on Washington Irving’s timeless tale of terror uses the classic look of Hammer’s golden horror era to stunning effect. Johnny Depp, sporting a clipped English accent, is brilliant as maverick policeman Ichabod Crane, sent to the small New England community of Sleepy Hollow to investigate three mysterious beheadings, which the locals are blaming on the ghost of the legendary Headless Horseman. Cruel shocks and subversive thrills combine with sly humour in a stunning movie that’s steeped in Burton’s Grimm fairy-tale sensibilities and unrestrained love of the fantasy genre. 

Even the slobbish charm of Roseanne’s John Goodman can’t save this horribly misconceived comedy of palace shenanigans. When the entire British royal family is wiped out in a freak photography accident, the unlikely successor turns out to be a Las Vegas entertainer (Goodman), who proceeds to bumble his way through the affairs of state with the assistance of adviser Peter O’Toole. The latter, and John Hurt as a scheming courtier, look to be having a hugely enjoyable time, but the talented cast is let down by writer/director David S Ward’s dim script and theme-park (spotted dick, chirpy cockneys) view of British life. 

Lt. Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) loves a mystery. Why are we here? Is there life after sex? Yes, Drebin tackles the big issues–and the biggest of all is how to stop devious Quentin Hapsburg’s (Robert Goulet) plan to destroy the environment! Returning with Leslie Nielsen are Priscilla Presley as Jane, the woman who can melt a cheese sandwich from 20 paces; George Kennedy as the intrepid Capt. Ed Hocken; and O.J. Simpson, the man so famous a beverage is named after him, as hard-luck cop Nordberg. The gang’s all here. And so are the laughs.

Youngsters who worship the bestselling work of fantasy author JK Rowling will find this sequel to The Philosopher’s Stone even more to their taste. The mood is darker and more scary, but adventure tinged with danger has always been attractive to children. Here, predatory spiders stalk Harry through the Forbidden Forest, there’s a mandrake root with an ear-splitting scream and Harry (an audibly older Daniel Radcliffe) even exchanges a kiss with Hermione (Emma Watson). Director Chris Columbus (again working from a screenplay by Steve Kloves) has allowed some mechanical repetition to creep in, but overall this manages to be ingenious as well as faithful to its source. Of the adult performers, Kenneth Branagh stands out as the egotistical new teacher Gilderoy Lockhart, managing to upstage even the special effects, but, sadly, the character of Dumbledore (Richard Harris) is mostly lost within the convolutions of the plot. 

Harry is about to start his fifth year at Hogwarts. He’s desperate to get back to school and find out why his friends Ron and Hermoine have been so secretive all summer. However, what Harry is about to discover in his new year at Hogwarts will turn his world upside down….

After directing the first two movies in the Harry Potter franchise, Chris Columbus opted to serve as producer for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, and passed the baton to Y Tu Mamá También director Alfonso Cuarón. Though “immensely popular” is an understatement when it comes to Harry Potter, Azkaban is somewhat of a departure from its predecessors, and particularly beloved among fans for its surprise ending. Prisoner of Azkaban also marks the introduction of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman), who has escaped from the title prison after 12 years of incarceration. Believed to have been the right-hand-man of the dark wizard Voldemort, whom Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) mysteriously rendered powerless during his infancy, some of those closest to Harry suspect Black has returned to exact revenge on the boy who defeated his master. Upon his return to school, however, Harry is relatively unconcerned with Black. Run by Albus Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) — who is widely regarded as the most powerful wizard of the age — Hogwarts is renowned for its safety. Harry’s nonchalance eventually turns to blind rage after accidentally learning the first of Black’s many secrets during a field trip to a neighboring village. Of course, a loose serial killer is only one of the problems plaguing the bespectacled wizard’s third year back at school — the soul-sucking guards of Azkaban prison have been employed at Hogwarts to protect the students, but their mere presence sends Harry into crippling fainting spells. With the help of his friends Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson), and Defense Against the Dark Arts professor Remus Lupin (David Thewlis), Harry struggles to thwart the Dementors, find Sirius Black, and uncover the mysteries of the night that left him orphaned.