Bovie Movie

The mystery of one man’s guilt or innocence literally becomes a matter of life and death in this drama. David Gale (Kevin Spacey) was the head of the philosophy department at Austin University and the author of several well-regarded books; he was also an active and visible member of Deathwatch, an anti-capital punishment activist group. One of Gale’s best friends was Constance Harraway (Laura Linney), a fellow Deathwatch activist with whom he became especially close, particularly since Gale’s wife, Sharon (Elizabeth Gast), who had taken a lover in Spain, was usually absent. One night, Gale was seduced by an attractive student from his class, Berlin (Rhona Mitra), who had too much to drink; later, the remorseful student accused Gale of rape. While Gale was eventually cleared of the charges, the negative publicity cost him his career as an educator, and with no job and no wife, Gale turned to drink. When Harraway was found raped and murdered a few years later, Gale was charged with the crime, and convicted despite the best efforts of his well-meaning but ineffectual lawyer Braxton Belyeu (Leon Rippy). Now Gale awaits execution, and less than a week before his date with the fatal injection, Gale agrees to tell his story to Bitsey Bloom (Kate Winslet), a nervy journalist from a major newsmagazine, who arrives with her assistant, Zack Stemmons (Gabriel Mann). As Bloom discusses the facts of the Harraway murder with Gale, it occurs to her that the details simply don’t add up, and soon a mysterious stranger slips evidence to her that suggests Gale has been framed — leaving Bloom and Stemmons only a few days to solve the mystery and save Gale from the executioner. The Life of David Gale was co-produced by actor Nicolas Cage, who originally commissioned the script and intended to star in the film before prior commitments led him to hand the project over to director Alan Parker.

A few innocent women experience a nightmare before Christmas in this bloody thriller. Billy Lenz, a severely maladjusted child, finally snaps under years of brutal treatment by his family, killing and eating them in an explosion of violence on Christmas Eve. For years, the Lenz house stands vacant, but in time it’s purchased and renovated as the new home for a college sorority. A few days before Christmas, a handful of sorority sisters — Dana (Lacey Chabert), Melissa (Michelle Trachtenberg), Kelli (Katie Cassidy), and Heather (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) — are enjoying a quiet evening with their house mother, Barbara MacHenry (Andrea Martin), exchanging gifts and swapping stories before heading home for holiday break. While Barbara remembers the story of Billy’s crimes, the atmosphere is peaceful until the young women receive the first in a series of disturbing telephone calls. Before long, they learn that Billy has escaped after years in a mental institution, and has come back to the house where he grew up to once again spill blood for the Christmas season. Black Christmas is a remake of the 1974 horror film of the same name by director Bob Clark, who later made a less-threatening film about the Yuletide season, A Christmas Story; Andrea Martin, who plays the house mother, also appeared in the 1974 film as one of the sorority girls.

In this terrifying thriller Sarah Mia Farrow, a woman recently blinded in a horseback-riding accident, returns to her Uncle’s home after a visit with her ex-lover. She has been living with him and his family while she slowly recovers from the accident and learns to deal with her blindness. Unknown to her, the entire family has been killed by an intruder. The suspense builds as Sarah unknowingly wanders through the house where the bodies of the family lay visible to all but Sarah. In a particularly frightening scene, Sarah takes a nap beside the body of her murdered niece. Awaking, and finding herself alone, Sarah slowly discovers the bodies, one by one, and realizes that her life may be in danger. Before she can leave, she is trapped in the remote farmhouse and must fight for her life when the killer returns. Mia Farrow is excellent as the increasingly desperate woman stalked by the killer who is identified to the audience only by his boots. The film is suspenseful and crisply directed by Richard Fleischer, moving to a frightening conclusion as Sarah tries to make her final escape, not knowing who she can trust.

An abused wife strikes back at her murderous husband in this action thriller from director Gustavo Graef-Marino. Shortly after her marriage to police detective Jim Beckett (Tim Abell), na?ve ex-cheerleader Tess (Missy Crider) discovers that her new husband has a nasty habit of marrying and later disposing of the brides when he tires of their company. As Jim moves in for the kill, Tess narrowly escapes with the help of detective Lance Difford Kadeem Hardison). Her relief is short lived when Jim makes a break from jail, and the terrified Tess quickly turns to ex-cop-turned-self-defense guru J.T. Dillon (Mark Dacascos) for a crash course in busting skulls. Now hot on his wife’s trail, Tess must prepare herself for the inevitable confrontation that lies ahead.

With an insane asylum standing in for everyday society, Milos Forman’s 1975 film adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel is a comically sharp indictment of the Establishment urge to conform. Playing crazy to avoid prison work detail, manic free spirit Randle P. McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) is sent to the state mental hospital for evaluation. There he encounters a motley crew of mostly voluntary inmates, including cowed mama’s boy Billy (Brad Dourif) and silent Native American Chief Bromden (Will Sampson), presided over by the icy Nurse Ratched (Louise Fletcher). Ratched and McMurphy recognize that each is the other’s worst enemy: an authority figure who equates sanity with correct behavior, and a misfit who is charismatic enough to dismantle the system simply by living as he pleases. McMurphy proceeds to instigate group insurrections large and small, ranging from a restorative basketball game to an unfettered afternoon boat trip and a tragic after-hours party with hookers and booze. Nurse Ratched, however, has the machinery of power on her side to ensure that McMurphy will not defeat her. Still, McMurphy’s message to live free or die is ultimately not lost on one inmate, revealing that escape is still possible even from the most oppressive conditions.

A one-time freelance hitman who was just attempting to turn his life around is forced to keep his heart pumping when his vengeful former employers inject him with a lethal poison that will permanently stop his ticker if his pulse sinks beneath an active rate in a non-stop urban action extravaganza starring Jason Statham and Amy Smart. Chev Chelios (Statham) was one of the most skilled assassins in the West Coast crime syndicate. When he hung up his guns in the middle of a job to run off with his new girlfriend Eve (Smart), however, the man who was once the hunter now becomes the hunted. Awakened from his slumber by a telephone call informing him of his precarious situation, Chelios soon discovers that the only way to save Eve from certain death at the hands of his nemesis is to stay two steps ahead of his killers, keep his heart-rate high enough to stay alive, and blast through the streets of Los Angeles in search of an antidote.

Four men come together to find out how and why the woman who raised them was killed in this hard-edged urban drama from director John Singleton. Short-tempered Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), struggling musician Jack (Garrett Hedlund), streetwise Angel (Tyrese Gibson), and hard-working Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) are four guys who don’t appear to have much in common, in terms of either race or temperament. However, these men have one very important bond — all four were adopted and raised by the same woman (Fionnula Flanagan), and they all love her as a mother, and respect one another as brothers. When their mother is killed during a robbery at a grocery store, the four brothers come together for the funeral, but when they don’t get straight answers about what happened to her, they begin looking into the crime themselves. The deeper they dig into the case, the more the brothers begin to suspect that the shooting wasn’t an accident, and that powerful and unexpected forces were involved. Four Brothers marked one of the first starring roles for Andre Benjamin, better known as Andre 3000 of the top selling hip-hop group OutKast.

A group of close female friends on a yearly adventure vacation find themselves trapped and hunted in a series of caves by an unknown force that lurks in the shadows in The Descent, the second horror feature from Dog Soldiers writer/director Neil Marshall. After suffering a devastating car crash one year before, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald) is lured to the States with her friend Beth (Alex Reid) to a special spelunking trip by the fearless Juno (Natalie Mendoza), who abruptly fled from the U.K. after Sarah’s accident. Along with two old friends and a new acquaintance of Juno’s, the group embark on a cave expedition that takes a turn for the worse after a rock fall leaves them stranded in an uncharted cave with no map and only a handful of supplies to last them the rest of the trip. As tensions arise in the group, they are faced with another danger — one whose love of the dark is as strong as its lust for blood. Opening to rave reviews in the U.K. in July of 2005, the creature-feature went on to show at the Venice Film Festival and garnered the top prize for Euro feature at Sweden’s Fantastic Film Festival. The Descent was picked up for future U.S. distribution by Lion’s Gate, whose work was cut out for them considering the tame opening of the similarly-themed stateside production of The Cave in late-August of the same year.

Jigsaw (Tobin Bell) is back, and this time he’s concocted his deadliest set of traps yet in this gore-soaked sequel written by James Wan and Leigh Whannell, and directed by Saw II’s Darren Lynn Bousman. Picking up directly where its predecessor left off, Saw III finds Jigsaw near death and fighting to stay alive for one final game. Determined to show his prot?g?, Amanda (Shawnee Smith), what it truly means to carry out his deadly game, the ailing Jigsaw instructs his apprentice to kidnap unsuspecting doctor Lynn Denlon (Bahar Soomekh) in order to ensure that he survives long enough to see how his latest victim Jeff (Angus MacFadyen) fares when faced with the prospect of imminent death. As Lynn and Jeff both struggle to beat the clock and carry out their tasks before Jigsaw draws his final breath, a much larger plan begins to emerge that shows just how cunning the legendary killer can truly be.

A man robbed of his name and his dignity strives to win them back, and gain the freedom of his people, in this epic historical drama from director Ridley Scott. In the year 180, the death of emperor Marcus Aurelius (Richard Harris) throws the Roman Empire into chaos. Maximus (Russell Crowe) is one of the Roman army’s most capable and trusted generals and a key advisor to the emperor. As Marcus’ devious son Commodus (Joaquin Phoenix) ascends to the throne, Maximus is set to be executed. He escapes, but is captured by slave traders. Renamed Spaniard and forced to become a gladiator, Maximus must battle to the death with other men for the amusement of paying audiences. His battle skills serve him well, and he becomes one of the most famous and admired men to fight in the Colosseum. Determined to avenge himself against the man who took away his freedom and laid waste to his family, Maximus believes that he can use his fame and skill in the ring to avenge the loss of his family and former glory. As the gladiator begins to challenge his rule, Commodus decides to put his own fighting mettle to the test by squaring off with Maximus in a battle to the death. Gladiator also features Derek Jacobi, Connie Nielsen, Djimon Hounsou, and Oliver Reed, who died of a heart attack midway through production.