Bovie Movie

George Lucas draws the Star Wars film series to a close with this dark sci-fi adventure which sets the stage for the events of the first film and brings the saga full circle. After a fierce battle in which Obi-Wan (Ewan McGregor) and Anakin (Hayden Christensen) join Republic forces to help free Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) from the evil Count Dooku (Christopher Lee) and his minions, Anakin is drawn into Palpatine’s confidence. Palpatine has designs on expanding his rule, and with this in mind he plants seeds of doubt in Anakin’s mind about the strength and wisdom of the Jedis. Anakin is already in a quandary about how to reveal to others the news of his secret marriage to Padmé Amidala (Natalie Portman) now that she is pregnant, and visions which foretell her death in childbirth weigh heavy on his mind. As Anakin finds himself used by both the Jedis and the Republic for their own purposes — particularly after Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) expresses his distrust of the young Jedi — he turns more and more to the Force for help, but begins to succumb to the temptations of its dark side. Many of the Star Wars series regulars returned for Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, including Frank Oz as the voice of Yoda, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Kenny Baker as R2-D2, and Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca.

Old Smokey develops a bad temper in this volcanic disaster spectacle. Harry Dalton (Pierce Brosnan) is a volcano expert whose interest became more than academic after he lost the woman he loved in a volcanic emergency. When he is sent to investigate unusual seismic activity in the quiet Pacific Northwest community of Dante’s Peak, he discovers people boiled to death in the local hot spring and plant and animal life dying or displaying unusual illnesses near the city’s supposedly dormant volcano. Harry becomes convinced that a major volcanic catastrophe is in the cards. Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton), the town’s mayor, is a single mother who also runs the local cafe, and now that Dante’s Peak has been named one of the most desirable small towns in America, tourists have been flocking to the diner and other local businesses. While concerned with the safety of her community, Rachel takes a cynical view of Harry’s warnings about the volcano; she has no desire to alarm either the town’s residents or the wealthy visitors lining the city’s pockets. Nevertheless, Harry tries to convince Rachel of the potential danger, as they begin to develop feelings for each other that are not strictly professional. The summer of 1997 was a big season for killer volcanoes at the movies, as Dante’s Peak and Volcano opened within a few months of each other.

A plucky little girl and her dog join their magical pals to save the world in the computer-animated comedy-adventure for the whole family. The Enchanted Village is a happy place ruled by the good-natured wizard Zebedee where young Florence and her dog, Doogal, come to play with their friends, including opera-singing cow Ermintrude, beatnik rabbit Dylan, and Brian the Snail, a sloppy sort who has a crush on Ermintrude. However, life in the Enchanted Village takes a turn for the worse when Zebedee’s evil brother, Zeebad, arrives, freezing the town under a layer of ice and bringing the magic merry-go-round to a halt. Zeebad is searching for three magical jewels that will give him the power to freeze the whole world and rule the Earth, but Zebedee is able to thaw out himself, Florence, and her friends, and they join forces aboard the Magic Train in a bid to stop the villain before it’s too late. Doogal is based on The Magic Roundabout, a children’s television series from the 1960s in which a handful of wooden stop-motion figures enjoyed whimsical adventures; produced in France, the program enjoyed massive popularity in Great Britain, where actor Eric Thompson provided narration, voiced all the characters, and invented new stories to fit the action. (The film was also called The Magic Roundabout for its U.K. release.) In the film’s British release, Kylie Minogue provided the voice of Florence, Ian McKellen voiced Zebedee, Robbie Williams spoke for Doogal, Joanna Lumley read Ermintrude, Bill Nighy voiced Dylan, and Jim Broadbent contributed the voice of Brian. Several characters were given new voices for the film’s American release, with Whoopi Goldberg taking over as Ermintrude, William H. Macy as Brian, Jimmy Fallon as Dylan, and Jon Stewart as Zeebad.

An unlikely band of scientists and soldiers join forces to save the world from certain destruction in this action-drama. As the world is struck with a variety of inexplicable phenomena — attacks by enormous swarms of birds in London, the explosion of the Colosseum in Rome, a potentially deadly malfunction which forces the Space Shuttle into a Los Angeles riverbed, and the simultaneous deaths of 32 people with pacemakers in Boston — a team of top scientific minds from around the globe is assembled to determine what has thrown the world into such a frenzy. Dr. John Keyes (Aaron Eckhart) makes the startling discovery that the Earth’s electromagnetic forces have begun to collapse, thanks to a sudden lack of movement of the molten ore at the center of the Earth. If the planet is to be saved, the core of the Earth needs a jump start, and Keyes assembles a team to burrow to the center of the planet and bomb the insides back into action. Joining Keyes on this dangerous, last-chance mission are the brilliant but arrogant Conrad Zimsky (Stanley Tucci), French arms expert Dr. Serge Levesque (Tch?ky Karyo, maverick researcher “Brazz” Brazzleton (Delroy Lindo), geeky computer genius Rat (DJ Qualls), and two no-nonsense military types, Commander Richard Iverson (Bruce Greenwood) and Major Rebecca Childs (Hilary Swank). However, as the crew digs deeper into the Earth, the more they discover what they haven’t been told about their mission and what’s really been causing the worldwide chaos. The Core was originally scheduled for release in the fall of 2002, but the movie didn’t reach theaters until the spring of 2003 as special-effects experts perfected the film’s more spectacular scenes.

The second of the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg Indiana Jones epics is set a year or so before the events in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1984). After a brief brouhaha involving a precious vial and a wild ride down a raging Himalyan river, Indy (Harrison Ford) gets down to the problem at hand: retrieving a precious gem and several kidnapped young boys on behalf of a remote East Indian village. His companions this time around include a dimbulbed, easily frightened nightclub chanteuse (Kate Capshaw), and a feisty 12-year-old kid named Short Round (Quan Ke Huy). Throughout, the plot takes second place to the thrills, which include a harrowing rollercoaster ride in an abandoned mineshaft and Indy’s rescue of the heroine from a ritual sacrifice. There are also a couple of cute references to Raiders of the Lost Ark, notably a funny variation of Indy’s shooting of the Sherpa warrior.

A plucky little girl and her dog join their magical pals to save the world in the computer-animated comedy-adventure for the whole family. The Enchanted Village is a happy place ruled by the good-natured wizard Zebedee where young Florence and her dog, Doogal, come to play with their friends, including opera-singing cow Ermintrude, beatnik rabbit Dylan, and Brian the Snail, a sloppy sort who has a crush on Ermintrude. However, life in the Enchanted Village takes a turn for the worse when Zebedee’s evil brother, Zeebad, arrives, freezing the town under a layer of ice and bringing the magic merry-go-round to a halt. Zeebad is searching for three magical jewels that will give him the power to freeze the whole world and rule the Earth, but Zebedee is able to thaw out himself, Florence, and her friends, and they join forces aboard the Magic Train in a bid to stop the villain before it’s too late. Doogal is based on The Magic Roundabout, a children’s television series from the 1960s in which a handful of wooden stop-motion figures enjoyed whimsical adventures; produced in France, the program enjoyed massive popularity in Great Britain, where actor Eric Thompson provided narration, voiced all the characters, and invented new stories to fit the action. (The film was also called The Magic Roundabout for its U.K. release.) In the film’s British release, Kylie Minogue provided the voice of Florence, Ian McKellen voiced Zebedee, Robbie Williams spoke for Doogal, Joanna Lumley read Ermintrude, Bill Nighy voiced Dylan, and Jim Broadbent contributed the voice of Brian. Several characters were given new voices for the film’s American release, with Whoopi Goldberg taking over as Ermintrude, William H. Macy as Brian, Jimmy Fallon as Dylan, and Jon Stewart as Zeebad.

Writer and director Robert Rodriguez returns to the family-friendly adventure of his Spy Kids movies with this three-dimensional action opus. Max (Cayden Boyd) is a ten-year-old boy who doesn’t get along with his peers and is constantly bullied at school. But Max has an active imagination, and he has a pair of very special imaginary playmates — Shark Boy (Taylor Lautner), a human-shark half-breed cared for by a pack of great whites, and Lava Girl (Taylor Dooley), a girl with superpowers who can conjure heat and fire at will. Max may be a creative boy, but what he doesn’t know is that Shark Boy and Lava Girl really do exist, and he is recruited to help them as they do battle against Mr. Electricity, a super-villain determined to deprive children of their sleep. Shot and originally released in the 3-D format, The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl also stars David Arquette and Kristin Davis as Max’s parents, and George Lopez as a schoolteacher; writer and director Rodriguez wrote the film’s story in collaboration with his then seven-year-old son, Racer Rodriguez.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King brings Peter Jackson’s mammoth adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic to a close in suitably epic fashion. Instead of starting just where the previous film left off, however, it goes far back in time to the moment the tormented creature Gollum first came to possess the One Ring. In this flashback, actor Andy Serkis (who voiced Gollum and performed his movements onset prior to the final CGI effects) finally gets to appear onscreen, portraying Gollum’s former self, Sméagol. This disturbing scene serves as a potent reminder that the Ring seeks to corrupt even the well-intentioned Frodo (Elijah Wood), who is increasingly struggling with the dark power of the Ring himself. Thus, the film returns to the present, following Frodo, Sam (Sean Astin), and Gollum as they journey ever closer to the foreboding land of Mordor. They pass by the terrifying dark city of Minas Morgul, watching as the dreadful army of the Witch King sets out for the human strongholds in Gondor, and move on to the rocky stairs to Cirith Ungol, where an even darker enemy lies in wait. Meanwhile, the rest of the Fellowship reunites in Rohan, having defeated the wizard Saruman on two different fronts, at Helm’s Deep and Isengard. They are not together for long, though, since the hobbit Pippin (Billy Boyd) gets into trouble, making it necessary for him and Gandalf (Ian McKellen) to hastily depart for Minas Tirith, capital of Gondor. Once there, they find the steward of Gondor, Denethor (John Noble), in an unstable mental state and the city preparing for battle against the amassing forces of Sauron. Denethor unwisely sends his only remaining son, Faramir (David Wenham), back into bloody battle to prove himself. He returns nearly dead, sending Denethor over the edge of sanity.

In another realm, elf Arwen (Liv Tyler) begins her journey to immortal life in the Grey Havens, on her way to leave Middle-earth — and Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) — forever, but has a vision that causes her to once again reconsider her decision. Back in Rohan, the men are preparing to ride to Gondor’s aide. Éowyn (Miranda Otto) desperately wants to join the men in battle, but her uncle, King Théoden (Bernard Hill), orders her to stay and defend Rohan if necessary. The hobbit Merry (Dominic Monaghan) also desires to ride with the men, but is denied due to his small size and inexperience. Aragorn is met there by the elf Elrond (Hugo Weaving), who brings him the re-forged Sword that was Broken (in the ancient battle with Sauron) and urges him to take a different route to Gondor. Heeding Elrond’s advice, Aragorn, along with elf Legolas (Orlando Bloom) and dwarf Gimli (John Rhys-Davies), takes a cavernous path through the mountains, where they meet ghoulish ghosts who betrayed Aragorn’s ancestors and are doomed to eternal unrest unless they fulfill their broken oaths by aiding him. All but Frodo, Sam, and Gollum will meet on the massive battlefield of the Pelennor before the gates of Minas Tirith. The former three instead engage in a battle of wills between each other and the One Ring as they head toward the fires of Mount Doom to destroy it. Released in December 2003, The Return of the King topped even its massively successful trilogy predecessors at the box office, and went on to garner a whopping 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture — winning in all the categories in which it was nominated and tying the record of total awards won with Ben-Hur and Titanic.