Bovie Movie

In a small Texas enclave, highlights the rites of passage on the last day of school in 1976 for the new, incoming freshmen at the hands of the class of ‘77 at Robert E. Lee High School. Freshman boys are physically punished, while the girls largely face the brunt of verbal abuse and humiliation. Two main figures emerge. Incoming freshman Mitch Kramer comes to a new realization in his role as a major target of senior hazing. And, among the seniors is Randall “Pink” Floyd, the school’s star quarterback, who moves with facile grace among groups of greasers, nerds, stoners, and athletes alike.

Henry Brubaker is the new warden at Wakefield prison. He makes his entrance as a prisoner in order to get a convict’s-eye-view of the real state of the institution. To his horror he finds all manner of abuse and corruption which, after disclosing his real identity, he sets out to correct.

Tom Ludlow is a veteran LAPD cop who finds life difficult to navigate after the death of his wife. When evidence implicates him in the execution of a fellow officer, he is forced to go up against the cop culture he’s been a part of his entire career, ultimately leading him to question the loyalties of everyone around him.

The true story of a man who, on February 22, 1974, was thwarted from an ambitious plan for political assassination provides the basis for this striking psychological drama. Sam Bicke (Sean Penn) is a salesman for an office-supply company whose life is slowly beginning to unravel. Bicke’s job is going nowhere, his wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), has left him, and his boss (Jack Thompson) keeps pushing self-help books on him that make a mockery of his state of mind. One of Bicke’s few friends is Bonny Simmons (Don Cheadle), an auto mechanic, and together they come up with an idea for a tire shop on wheels; while neither has the money to finance the project, Bicke has learned of a program for small-business loans instituted by President Richard Nixon, which he’s certain will come through for him. But Bicke is denied his loan, which dovetails with his increasing suspicion of the president’s Vietnam policies and a sudden interest in the “by any means necessary” political activism of the Black Panther Party. Desperate to seem important in some way, Bicke becomes increasingly obsessed with the duplicity of Richard Nixon, until he chooses to take it upon himself to stop the president once and for all. The Assassination of Richard Nixon was the first feature film from director Niels Mueller.

This offbeat comedy finds a rotund, daydreaming projectionist (Chuck McCann) who fantasizes that he is the super hero Captain Flash. He imagines his nemesis to be Renaldi (Rodney Dangerfield), whom the projectionist refers to as “the Bat.” Renaldi demands the lobby floor to be so clean he can eat off it. The film uses superimposition of older films, the first to employ such techniques. The projectionist imagines Rinaldi to be in league with the forces of evil like Hitler, Mussolini and space aliens. He is under the delusion that he must save a female co-worker (Ina Balin) from the clutches of the evil Bat. The projectionist summons such heroes as Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper and the US Marine Corp to save her from imagined danger. This is the first feature length film for director Harry Hurwitz, who also appears as an usher. This also marks the film debut for Rodney Dangerfield, who had recently changed his name from his given name of Jack Roy and opened a nightclub. The film premiered at the Rochester Film Festival in 1969. It has earned cult status over the years and is in the archives of the Museum Of Modern Art in New York.

Based on the best-selling novel by James Ellroy, this award-winning crime drama explores both the dark side of the Los Angeles police force and Southern California’s criminal underbelly in the early ’50s, when Hollywood was still seen as America’s capital of sophistication, glitter, and glamour. Dudley Smith (James Cromwell) is the head of the LAPD and is loyal to his officers and eager to turn a blind eye to violence or corruption within his department, as long as it’s the “bad guys” who are getting hurt. Bud White (Russell Crowe) is a police detective whose violent and cynical nature is often at war with his basic sense of decency and justice. Ed Exley (Guy Pearce) is a beat cop-turned-detective whose strict by-the-book philosophy and willingness to blow the whistle on other officers is balanced by a shrewd and opportunistic understanding of the internal politics of the department. And Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) is a flashy “Hollywood” detective who serves as technical advisor for the TV series Badge of Honor. He is also in cahoots with Sid Hudgeons (Danny DeVito), publisher of the scandal sheet Hush Hush, who throws kickbacks to Vincennes in exchange for being brought along when showbiz figures get busted. White, Exley, and Vincennes find themselves drawn into a tangled and sticky web of violence and betrayal following a multiple murder at a coffee shop that is believed to be part of an effort by Mickey Cohen (Paul Guilfoyle) to consolidate his hold on organized crime in L.A. This lead appears to be connected to the discovery of a bizarre pornography and call-girl ring operated by Pierce Patchett (David Strathairn), whose women are given plastic surgery so that they more closely resemble well-known movie stars. White’s role in the investigation is complicated when he falls for Lynn Bracken (Kim Basinger), one of Patchett’s prostitutes, who is the spitting image of Veronica Lake. L.A. Confidential was nominated for nine Academy Awards and won two, with Curtis Hanson (who directed) and Brian Helgeland honored for Best Adapted Screenplay and Kim Basinger taking home a statuette as Best Supporting Actress.

In 1946, a banker named Andy Dufresne (Tim Robbins) is convicted of a double murder, even though he stubbornly proclaims his innocence. He’s sentenced to a life term at the Shawshank State Prison in Maine, where another lifer, Ellis “Red” Redding (Morgan Freeman), picks him as the new recruit most likely to crack under the pressure. The ugly realities of prison life are quickly introduced to Andy: a corrupt warden (Bob Gunton), sadistic guards led by Capt. Byron Hadley (Clancy Brown), and inmates who are little better than animals, willing to use rape or beatings to insure their dominance. But Andy does not crack: he has the hope of the truly innocent, which (together with his smarts) allow him to prevail behind bars. He uses his banking skills to win favor with the warden and the guards, doing the books for Norton’s illegal business schemes and keeping an eye on the investments of most of the prison staff. In exchange, he is able to improve the prison library and bring some dignity and respect back to many of the inmates, including Red. Based on a story by Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption was the directorial debut of screenwriter Frank Darabont.