Bovie Movie

Three stars team up for this unusual look at America’s role in the war against Iraq. In 1991, as the Gulf War winds to a close, three American servicemen find themselves happy to have achieved victory but wondering about the ultimate importance of what they’ve done (especially since Saddam Hussein is still in power). Major Archie Gates (George Clooney) is a decorated Vietnam veteran and special forces officer with two weeks to go before he retires; Sgt. Troy Barlow (Mark Wahlberg) has a new baby at home; and Chief Elgin (Ice Cube) is probably just going to end up back in Detroit. So when one of them comes across a map that seems to point out where Saddam’s forces have stashed a large cache of gold they stole from Kuwait, they decide to follow the trail and take some of the war booty for themselves. However, the deeper they journey into Iraq, the more they see of the consequences of America’s policies in the Middle East. Although President George Bush and the American military urged Iraqi citizens to rise up against Saddam Hussein, and pledged their support to a people’s movement against the leader, Iraqis found that when they took to the streets against Saddam, the United States did not back them up, and the loss of Iraqi lives was fearsome. When Gates, Barlow and Elgin become aware of what’s happening, they’re torn between their desire to grab the fortune they came for and the demands of their conscience to help the people they came to liberate. Three Kings was directed by David O. Russell and marked a significant change of direction after his dark-humored relationship comedies, Spanking the Monkey and Flirting with Disaster.

Despite the use in this film of voices dubbed by greats of English theater, the casting of long-haired cats to play the roles of Romeo and Juliet seems somewhat perverse. Nonetheless, the lines are well read, and the movie contains some fine original musical compositions. Among the voices: Maggie Smith, Ben Kingsley, Vanessa Redgrave, and John Hurt.

The strange mask that gave Jim Carrey remarkable powers in the 1994 hit The Mask makes a mess of a seemingly ordinary family in this special effects-laden comic fantasy. Tim Avery (Jamie Kennedy) is a cartoonist living quietly in suburbia with his wife Tonya (Traylor Howard), their baby son Alvey (Ryan Falconer), and dog Otis; however, their lives are turned upside down when Otis discovers a strange green mask which channels the spirit of Loki (Alan Cumming), the Norse god of mischief. Both Otis and Alvey get their hands (or paws) on the mask, and soon both are shape shifting and making all manner of trouble while having a great time doing it. Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of Tim and Tonya’s troubles — it seems the supreme Norse god Odin (Bob Hoskins) has given Loki the assignment of recovering the mask, and Loki will do whatever he must to get the mask back from Alvey and Otis.

Rendered comatose for 20 years after a freak breakdancing accident, former child dancer Justin Schumacher (Jamie Kennedy) awakens from his extended repose with no motor skills and the mental capacity of a 12-year-old. So much has changed since Justin lapsed into a coma; not only have people stopped wearing parachute pants, the Internet has connected people in a manner that no child of the 1980s could have ever imagined. Dancing, however, is the one constant that remains as popular as ever. Upon discovering that his mountainous medical bills have drained mom and dad’s bank account and the love of his life (Maria Menounos) is engaged to his lifelong nemesis (Michael Rosenbaum), the breakdancing Rip Van Winkle attempts to reassemble his former dance troupe in hopes of winning back the girl and saving his parents’ failing yogurt shop.

A group of wanna-be filmmakers and actors concocts a scheme to make a movie with a major star without having to pay him in this comedy. Bobby Bowfinger (Steve Martin) has struggled for years to make it in Hollywood with no real success; he’s convinced that he has to make his big break soon or it will be too late. Bobby has a script, and he has a cast, including an ingenue straight off the bus from Ohio (Heather Graham), a one-time regional stage star who fondly recalls her brief moment of glory (Christine Baranski), and a hunky aspiring matinee idol (Kohl Sudduth). He also has a young associate named Dave (Jamie Kennedy), who has a low-level job at a movie studio as a gofer — which means that he has keys to every part of the lot and can “borrow” whatever they need. All they need is a star, but without any money, how do they get one? Kit Ramsey (Eddie Murphy) is a leading action star, and he is obviously beyond Bowfinger’s budget. But Bobby has an idea: what if he tricked Kit into appearing in the film without his knowing it? Steve Martin also wrote the film’s screenplay, and former Muppets performer Frank Oz directs.

For this follow-up to their mega-hit Ice Age, directors Carlos Saldanha and Chris Wedge team with the screenwriting duo behind Parenthood and City Slickers, Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. Robots stars Ewan McGregor as the voice of Rodney Copperbottom, an idealistic robot who wants to convince his electronic brethren to come together and work toward making the world a better place. As the story unfolds, Rodney faces opposition from an evil corporation headed by Big Weld (Mel Brooks) and finds some unlikely allies in the form of a ragtag group of misfit robots called the Rusties and voiced by the likes of Drew Carey and Amanda Bynes. Stanley Tucci and Dianne Wiest provide the voices of Rodney’s parents, and Halle Berry portrays his love interest, Cappy.