Bovie Movie

In 1950, most Americans had only a passing familiarity with the game of soccer, even though it was the world’s most popular sport, and few athletes in the United States played the game with any particular degree of expertise. However, when an invitation was extended to the United States to participate in the World Cup tournament in Brazil — the international soccer championship held every four years — Bill Jeffrey was determined that America participate. In less than two weeks, Jeffrey assembled a team comprised mostly of players from St. Louis (where soccer had developed a small but loyal following) and the East Coast (where the game gained a foothold on college campuses), with immigrants from Haiti, Portugal, and Scotland filling out the ranks. Against all odds, the Americans not only made it to the World Cup games, but defeated the British team (favored by many to win the championship) in the greatest upset of the 1950 games. The Game of Their Lives is a sports drama based on the remarkable true story of the 1950 United States team, featuring John Rhys-Davies as Bill Jeffrey, Wes Bentley as team leader Walter Bahr, Gerard Butler as goalie Frank Borghi, Jimmy Jean-Louis as Joe Gaetiens, a dishwasher born in Haiti who found his way onto the team, and Patrick Stewart as a journalist covering the games. David Anspaugh, who made the acclaimed basketball drama Hoosiers, directed.

Forget everything you know about Little Red Riding Hood; the classic fairy tale gets a new look and a new style in this computer-animated comedy for the whole family. Grizzly (voice of Xzibit) and Stork (voice of Anthony Anderson) are a pair of critter cops who have been called the homey bungalow of Granny (voice of Glenn Close) to investigate a disturbance of the peace. It seems there was an altercation involving Granny, her granddaughter Little Red Riding Hood (voice of Anne Hathaway), a Big Bad Wolf (voice of Patrick Warburton), and a Woodsman (voice of Jim Belushi). However, as the detectives interview the participants and get each individual’s perspective, they learn that Granny isn’t so helpless, Red may have been doing more than just visiting relatives, the Wolf isn’t the predator he’s been cracked up to be, and the Woodman doesn’t have much of an intellectual advantage over the trees he chops down. Hoodwinked also features the voice talents of Andy Dick, David Ogden Stiers, and Chazz Palminteri.

The laziest cat in America swaps places with the richest feline in England in director Tim Hill’s lasagna-laden sequel to the 2004 theatrical hit Garfield. Jon Arbuckle (Breckin Meyer) is on his way to London to propose to his veterinarian girlfriend, Liz Wilson (Jennifer Love Hewitt), and his unflappable cat, Garfield, is determined to be there when Jon pops the big question. Of course, Garfield wouldn’t go anywhere without his old pal Odie, and soon after arriving in the land of Big Ben, the clueless tomcat inadvertently changes places with royal look-a-like Prince. It seems that Prince’s owner, Lady Eleanor, has recently passed away, leaving the care of her sprawling estate Castle Carlyle in the capable paws of her devoted kitty companion. The trouble is, Prince has decided it’s due time for a vacation, and with Garfield in charge there’s no telling what kind of trouble will befall Castle Carlyle. Despite having a devoted butler named Smithee (Ian Abercrombie) to cater to his every whim and a whole host of fun-loving critters with whom to pass the lazy days spent lounging in the sun, this crowned head begins to feel the sting of deceit as the envious Lord Dargis (Billy Connolly) hatches a dastardly plan to do away with the whiskered heir and claim Castle Carlyle all to himself. Meanwhile, as Garfield attempts to hold his ground against his greedy would-be nemesis, the fun-loving Prince is living it up with Jon and Odie by taking a trip to some of London’s most popular pubs.

An old and forgotten game develops magical powers in this fantasy for the whole family. Twelve-year-old Walter Budwing (Josh Hutcherson) and his younger brother, Danny (Jonah Bobo), figure they’re going to be in for a boring time when their father (Tim Robbins), who was supposed to spend the day with them, is suddenly called away on business, and gives them strict orders not to leave the house. Walter, who doesn’t have much use for Danny, is motivated by boredom more than anything else when he agrees to play a board game Danny has found in the basement during a round of hide-and-seek. However, the boys quickly discover the space-themed game Zathura has some unusual qualities — a roll of the dice unexpectedly launches the Budwing home into outer space, and Walter and Danny are suddenly fending off menacing robots, angry aliens, and showers of interstellar debris outside the Earth’s atmosphere. As the boys try to figure out a way back home, they get some unexpected help from an earthling astronaut (Dax Shepard) who has also lost his way. Based on the book by children’s author Chris Van Allsburg — who also wrote The Polar Express and Jumanji — Zathura was directed by Jon Favreau, the actor-turned-filmmaker who enjoyed a breakthrough success with Elf.

An aspiring astronaut who was forced to forsake his dream of exploring space in order to save the family farm begins building his own personal rocket as a means of reaching the stars in this quirky rural drama starring Billy Bob Thornton. There once was a time when Charlie Farmer (Thornton) seemed like a shoo-in for NASA’s esteemed astronaut training program. An Air Force pilot who held a degree in aerospace engineering, Charlie was well on his way to blasting off when a family crisis grounded his celestial aspirations. Of course Charlie’s feet may be firmly planted on terra firma these days, but his thoughts are constantly ascending into the clouds and beyond. It’s been ten long years since the man who would navigate the stars began tending to the family farm, and during that time, Charlie has dedicated every moment of his spare time to building the rocket that will one day launch him into space. Though his devoted wife Audie (Virginia Madsen), the pair’s three children Sunshine, Stanley, and Shepherd, and even his father-in-law Hal (Bruce Dern) all support Charlie in achieving his lifelong goal of becoming the nation’s first independent astronaut, a last-minute hitch on the eve before the big launch unexpectedly stalls Charlie’s countdown. It seems that Charlie’s quest to obtain a substantial amount of high-grade rocket fuel has attracted the attention of not only the F.B.I., but the C.I.A., the F.A.A., and the United States military as well. Now, as the powers that be attempt to ground Charlie, citing concerns for civilian safety, a media frenzy descends upon the once quiet farm as the reluctant renegade hero vows to show his children just how far one’s courage and willingness to pursue one’s own ideals can get them when they refuse to give up hope. Northfork writing/directing duo Mark and Michael Polish team to tell the tale of a man considered an oddity by his neighbors, a criminal by the government, and an inspiration by the media and the people.

For his debut feature, John Hoffman wrote and directed this effects-heavy family film based on the story Dogs from Outer Space by Zeke Richardson. Produced by Jim Henson Productions, Good Boy! presents the idea that dogs are actually an intelligent alien species sent to earth thousands of years ago to spy on humans in preparation for a full-scale invasion and takeover. But when the spies stop reporting back to the home planet, Canid 3942 (voiced by Matthew Broderick) is sent to earth to investigate. Once there, Canid 3942 encounters Owen Baker (Liam Aiken), a young boy who runs a dog-walking service. Owen befriends the space-dog, renaming him Hubble. When it becomes obvious that the dogs of earth have forgotten their mission, Hubble enlists the help of Owen to get them all into shape before The Great Dane arrives to inspect. If they fail, all of earth’s dogs will be recalled to their home planet of Sirius. With Kevin Nealon and Molly Shannon as Owen’s parents, Good Boy! also features the voice talents of Brittany Murphy, Carl Reiner, Megan Mullally, and Donald Faison.

Robin Hood, Douglas Fairbanks’ biggest (though not necessarily best) production of the silent era, represents the first time that many familiar of the elements of the Robin Hood legend were presented on screen. To bring the project to full fruition, Fairbanks and his wife Mary Pickford purchased the old Jesse Hampton studio in Santa Monica, and on that site constructed a near-lifesized replica of 12th century Nottingham. The humongous castle set was so awesome that Fairbanks became worried that his own performance might be dwarfed. It wasn’t: take our word for it. When first we meet Robin Hood, he is still the Earl of Huntington, preparing to joust with his bitter enemy Sir Guy of Gisbourne (Paul Dickey). Despite Sir Guy’s propensity for cheating, the Earl is victorious. Shortly thereafter, Huntington rides off to the crusades with Richard the Lionhearted (Wallace Beery). Upon learning that Prince John (Sam De Grasse), goaded on by Sir Guy, has usurped his brother Richard’s throne, Huntington returns to Nottingham in a new guise: dashing righter-of-wrongs Robin Hood. While robbing from the rich, giving to the poor, and bedevilling the villains, Robin romances the fetching Maid Marian (Enid Bennett). The film’s singular highlight is Fairbanks’ slide down a two-story tapestry, a bit of bravado accomplished by hiding a playground slide behind the huge cloth. As in all of Fairbanks’ films, Charlie Stevens, a grandson of Geronimo and Doug’s “mascot”, appears in several minor roles. Also appearing is Alan Hale Sr. as Little John, a role he’d repeat in the 1938 Errol Flynn Robin Hood, not to mention the 1950 swashbuckler Rogues of Sherwood Forest. Long thought lost, Douglas Fairbanks in Robin Hood (as the film was so copyrighted) was rediscovered in the early 1960s. Most current prints fail to do justice to Arthur Edeson’s glistening photography; also, some versions are stretch-framed to slow down the action to “normal” speed, a process that retards the marvelously fast pace instilled by star Fairbanks and director Allan Dwan. We recommend that you seek out a good-quality, tinted print of Robin Hood, processed at the slightly faster-than-life speed at which it was originally filmed.

In the final episode of the Star Wars saga, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) emerges intact from the carbonite casing in which he’d been sealed in The Empire Strikes Back. The bad news is that Solo, together with Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), is prisoner to the grotesque Jabba the Hutt. But with the help of the charismatic Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams), our heroes and our heroine manage to escape. The next task is to rid the galaxy of Darth Vader (body by David Prowse, voice by James Earl Jones) and the Emperor (Ian McDiarmid), now in command of a new, under-construction Death Star. On the forest moon Endor, the good guys enlist the help of a feisty bunch of bear-like creatures called the Ewoks in their battle against the Empire.

Cinderella was Walt Disney’s return to feature-length “story” cartoons after eight years of turning out episodic pastiches like Make Mine Music and Three Caballeros. A few understandable liberties are taken with the original Charles Perrault fairy tale (the wicked stepsisters, for example, do not have their eyes pecked out by crows!) Otherwise, the story remains the same: Cinderella, treated as a slavey by her selfish stepfamily, dreams of going to the Prince’s ball. She gets her wish courtesy of her Fairy Godmother, who does the pumpkin-into-coach bit, then delivers the requisite “be home by midnight” warning. Thoroughly enchanting the prince at the ball, our heroine hightails it at midnight, leaving a glass slipper behind. The Disney people do a terrific job building up suspense before the inevitable final romantic clinch. Not as momentous an animated achievement as, say, Snow White or Fantasia, Cinderella is a nonetheless delightful feature, enhanced immeasurably by the introduction of several “funny animal” characters (a Disney tradition that has held fast into the 1990s, as witness Pocahontas), and a host of a sprightly songs, including “Cinderelly,” “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes,” and — best of all — “Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo.”

Chuck Jones’ animated version of the classic Dr. Seuss book How the Grinch Stole Christmas originally aired on television in 1966 and has since become a holiday family favorite. Voiced by Boris Karloff (who also narrates), the Grinch lives on top of a hill overlooking Whoville with his dog, Max. Each year at Christmas time, the Grinch’s hatred grows stronger toward those insufferably cheerful Whos down in Whoville. Content to exchange presents, eat large banquets, and sing songs in the town square, the Whos live in a blissful ignorance of the Grinch’s contempt. One year, he gets the idea to stop Christmas from coming by dressing up as Santa Claus. He cobbles together an outfit and makes his dog drag him around on a sleigh while sneaking into the Whos’ homes and stealing their presents, food, and decorations. After he has stolen every last thing, the Whos wake up on Christmas morning to sing in the town square, causing the Grinch to question the basis of his nefarious plan. Thurl Ravenscroft (the voice of kid cereal mascot Tony the Tiger) provides the vocals for the song “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch.” This story was remade into a live-action movie in 2000 by director Ron Howard starring Jim Carrey as the Grinch.