Bovie Movie

Hong Kong action genre craftsman Tsui Hark directed this martial arts tale, his second collaboration with actor Jean-Claude Van Damme after Double Team (1997). Van Damme stars as Marcus Ray, a Hong Kong fashion designer who specializes in “knock-offs,” cheaply produced jeans and sneakers meant to look like major-label merchandise. With his new partner Tommy Hendricks (Rob Schneider), Marcus hopes to go legit and put his shady past behind him, but Tommy is really an undercover CIA agent investigating the smuggling of mini-bombs in Marcus’ products. An unwitting pawn in a scheme concocted by the KGB and Tommy’s CIA superior Johanson (Paul Sorvino), Marcus must clear his name and save his company. His quest to do so becomes even more complicated when local authorities link him to a murder and a vice-president, Karen (Lela Rochon), arrives from Marcus’ parent company to investigate discrepancies in his bookkeeping. Knock Off is based on a script by Steven E. de Souza, author of 48 Hrs. (1982) and Die Hard (1988).

Prospective parents everywhere, you have a new role model: Adam Sandler! In Big Daddy, Sandler plays 30-year-old bachelor Sonny Koufax, a carefree slob who has never much taken to adult responsibilities. However, as his old buddies start getting married and drifting away, Sonny realizes that if he doesn’t do something soon, he could end up all alone for the rest of his life. When his most recent girlfriend dumps him because she’s sick of being with a man who can’t act like a grown-up, he decides that it’s time to take drastic action to win her back. To convince her that he can face adult responsibilities, he adopts a five-year-old boy, Julian (Cole Sprouse and Dylan Sprouse). However, the plan doesn’t work, and, as Sonny resigns himself to being single a bit longer, he makes a horrifying discovery: he can’t return Julian, and now he really does have to start acting like an adult. Supporting Sandler in Big Daddy are Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Stewart, Josh Mostel, Rob Schneider, and Kristy Swanson.

A violent, effects-heavy science fiction adventure, Judge Dredd depicts a nightmarish future in which overcrowded cities are terrorized by brutal gun battles and policed by “Judges,” law officers who act as judge, jury, and executioner. Sylvester Stallone stars as Judge Dredd, a punishing enforcer with an unswerving dedication to law and order. Little does Dredd know that a nasty villain (Armand Assante) and a corrupt Judge (Jurgen Prochnow) are plotting to take over the city and plan to frame Dredd for murder in order to prevent him from interfering. Dredd winds up in prison, but he fights back with the help of Judge Hershey (Diane Lane), his partner and romantic interest, and Fergie (Rob Schneider), his friend and comic relief, developing a plan to clear his name and stop the bad guys.

As with his previous films, comedian Adam Sandler and writing partner Tim Herlihy have conceived a simple premise, character, and title, and peppered their creation with visual sight gags. The story concerns Bobby Boucher, a Louisiana-born-and-bred kid living in the swamps with his overbearing, alligator-eating mom (Kathy Bates). Bobby is a water boy for the local college football team, and a damn good one, even good at turning a deaf ear at the ridicule he gets from the players and coach (Jerry Reed). But when Bobby is fired from his job, he is forced to continue his water management skills at the rival college, a losing team with a washed-up coach (Happy Days’ “The Fonz,” Henry Winkler). It’s here that the coach teaches Bobby to channel his anger, and he makes a surprising discovery. The water boy can tackle like no one he’s ever seen. Forced to keep his football talents from his mom, Bobby soon joins the college as a student and learns that there’s more to life than alligator stew. He even falls for a perky ex-con (Fairuza Balk) who teaches Bobby about the birds and the bees. As Bobby leads his team toward victory, they get an invitation to play in the annual Bourbon bowl against his old college rivals. Bobby must choose between the love of his ailing mother and the glory of the final game — or maybe there’s a way he can get both.

One of the toughest and best-remembered sports movies of the 1970s gets a humorous makeover in this comedy. Paul “Wrecking” Crewe (Adam Sandler) was once a famous professional football player, but after several years out of the limelight and an alcohol problem have taken their toll, Crewe is arrested for a serious traffic accident aggravated by the fact he was drunk. Crewe is sentenced to Allenville Penitentiary, where Warden Hazen (James Cromwell) is something of a football fan. Hazen had organized his guards into an impressive football team, and clears a healthy profit by taking bets on their games. Looking to make the competition more interesting, Hazen suggests that Crewe put together a team from the inmate population to play his guards. With the help of fellow prisoner Caretaker (Chris Rock), Crewe recruits the heaviest hitters from the cell block for the team, but the guys don’t play like a unit until Crewe and Caretaker get some help from Nate Scarborough (Burt Reynolds), a former college and NFL coach doing hard time. Adapted from Robert Aldrich’s 1974 box-office smash of the same name, The Longest Yard also features rap star Nelly and Nicholas Turturro; the film has previously been loosely remade in 2001 as Mean Machine, with the action moved to England and the game changed to soccer.

Re-teaming Adam Sandler with Drew Barrymore, his co-star from The Wedding Singer, as well as Peter Segal, his director on Anger Management, Fifty First Dates finds the funnyman playing veterinarian Henry Roth. More than content with a life of one-night-stands, Henry decides to give up his noncommittal lifestyle when he meets and falls for Lucy (Barrymore). However, when he discovers that Lucy has no short term memory, Henry finds himself having to win her heart again with every new day. Sean Astin and Rob Schneider also star.