Bovie Movie

John Frankenheimer directed this $20 million international action thriller from a screenplay by Richard Weisz (pseudonym for David Mamet) and J.D. Zeik. In Paris, Irish organizer Deidre (Natascha McElhone) assembles a team to grab a mysterious briefcase from criminals. They are never told who hired them or the true identity of their targets. The hired specialists: Former CIA officer Sam (Robert De Niro), former Euro intelligence agent Vincent (Jean Reno), German electronics expert Gregor (Stellan Skarsgard), driver Larry (Skip Sudduth), and British weapons wrangler Spence (Sean Bean). After a Seine shootout, the action moves to the South of France, with a recon mission in Cannes, and a chase that brings everyone to Nice. Inevitable betrayals ensue, along with more pursuits.

The child who could start fires with her mind is all grown up and still trying to find out the truth about what happened to her in this made-for-TV sequel to the sci-fi fantasy Firestarter. Nearly 20 years ago, Charlene “Charlie” McGee (Marguerite Moreau) was trained by a mysterious government organization who wanted to exploit her special and very dangerous gift, though Charlie learned the government operatives were not to be trusted when they murdered her parents. Charlie ran away from them as a child, but now in her mid-twenties, she’s decided she wants to know more about the people who shaped her strange destiny — just as Rainbird (Malcolm McDowell), the man who shaped Charlie’s pyrotechnic gift years before, finally finds her after years of search. To Charlie’s horror, she discovers a number of other children with bizarre talents. Charlie is soon on the run from Rainbird again, and her only allies in flight are a former associate of Rainbird turned enemy of the state (Danny Nucci) and fellow test subject (Dennis Hopper). Firestarter: Rekindled originally aired as a two-part miniseries on the Sci-Fi network on March 10 and 11, 2002.

After incorporating elements of comic book style and design into many of his films, director Sam Raimi helms this straight-ahead, big-budget comic book adaptation, which also marks acclaimed young actor Tobey Maguire’s first dip into live-action blockbuster filmmaking. Spider-Man follows the template of the original Stan Lee/Steve Ditko source material, with hero Peter Parker an orphaned, intellectual teen loner living in Queens with his aunt (Rosemary Harris) and uncle (Cliff Robertson), and dreaming of the girl next door, Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst). On a field trip to a Columbia University lab, Peter is bitten by a genetically altered spider and overnight he gains superhuman strength, agility, and perception. At first, Peter uses his powers for material gain, winning a wrestling match with a purportedly lucrative prize. But when Peter apathetically fails to stop a burglar from robbing the wrestling arena, a tragedy follows that compels him to devote his powers to fighting crime — as the superhero Spider-Man. When he’s not busy fighting crime in a spider suit, Peter moves into an apartment with his best friend, Harry (James Franco), and begins work as a photographer at the Daily Bugle. Meanwhile, his do-gooder alter ego finds a nemesis in the form of the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), a super-powered, megalomaniacal villain who happens to be the alter ego of Harry’s father, weapons-manufacturing mogul Norman Osborn. Spider-Man was written by the prolific blockbuster scribe David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Panic Room).

Is the time approaching when a persona in its entirety could be a mere fabrication of modern culture and technology? Or did Hollywood enter that time long ago? Either way Viktor Taransky (Al Pacino) finds himself growing more and more aware of the media-obsessed culture in which he tries to earn his living. Taransky is a film director struggling to survive in an industry that doesn’t require or want his artistic vision. When first he meets a stranger whose vision is considered somewhat questionable, he doesn’t realize the potential of the idea to digitally incorporate a character into his otherwise unsalvageable film. However, in time, not only the director and the entire studio, but American pop culture at large will grow to embrace Simone. As Taransky earns popularity and acclaim via the success of the digitally constructed actress he “discovered,” he struggles to define his own identity as an artist and a person, and finds that lying to cover up Simone’s non-existence is altering his life entirely. His ex-wife and former employer Elaine (Catherine Keener) notices the difference in his personality, upsetting their daughter Lainey (Evan Rachel Wood) and her hopes of their reconciliation. Meanwhile, stray paparazzi turned private investigators threaten to make public incriminating evidence, which could destroy the limelight Taransky enjoys while “hiding” Simone. Amazingly, what Simone doesn’t say or do creates all the more buzz, and causes Taransky to face the reality of his industry. Written and directed by Andrew Niccol (Gattaca), Simone takes a satirical approach to an otherwise fantastical comedy.