Monthly Archives: September 2011

The Whistleblower (2010)

September 23, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Larysa Kondracki, Based on true events, Kathy is an American police officer who takes a job working as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia. Her expectations of helping to rebuild a devastated country are dashed when she uncovers a dangerous reality of corruption, cover-up and intrigue amid a world of private contractors and multinational diplomatic doubletalk. Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia and outed the U.N. for covering up a sex scandal.

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Fancy Pants (1950)

September 23, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by George Marshall, A third-rate American actor pretends to be a British gentleman’s gentleman and is hired by a social-climing, nouveau-riche, American heiress to impress her high-society English acquaintances who then takes him back to her ranch in New Mexico. Though there are many close calls, the butler manages to convince the wild and woolly westerners that he’s a genuine British Lord–even pulling the wool over the eyes of visiting celebrity Teddy Roosevelt.

The Great Dictator (1940)

September 20, 2011 1 Comment

Directed by Charles Chaplin, Twenty years after the end of WWI in which the nation of Tomainia was on the losing side, Adenoid Hynkel has risen to power as the ruthless dictator of the country. He believes in a pure Aryan state, and the decimation of the Jews. This situation is unknown to a simple Jewish-Tomainian barber who has since been hospitalized the result of a WWI battle. Upon his release, the barber, who had been suffering from memory loss about the war, is shown the new persecuted life of the Jews by many living in the Jewish ghetto. The barber is ultimately spared such persecution by Commander Schultz, who he saved in that WWI battle. The lives of all Jews in Tomainia are eventually spared with a policy shift by Hynkel himself.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007)

September 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Tim Burton, In the Victorian London, the barber Benjamin Barker is married to the gorgeous Lucy and they have a lovely child, Johanna. The beauty of Lucy attracts the attention of the corrupt Judge Turpin, who falsely accuses the barber of a crime that he did not commit and abuses Lucy later after gaining custody of her. Benjamin Barker, a man unjustly sent to prison by a lecherous judge, vows revenge, not only for that cruel punishment, but for the devastating consequences of what happened to his wife and daughter. When he returns to reopen his barber shop, Sweeney Todd becomes the Demon Barber of Fleet Street who “shaved the heads of gentlemen who never thereafter were heard from again. initiating a crime rampage against those who made him suffer and lose his beloved family.

National Treasure: Book of Secrets (2007)

September 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Jon Turteltaub, Treasure hunter Benjamin Franklin Gates looks to discover the truth behind the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, by uncovering the mystery within the 18 pages missing from assassin John Wilkes Booth’s diary. Thomas Gates, Ben’s great-grandfather, is mentioned on the page. It shows that Ben’s great-grandfather was a co-conspirator in Abraham Lincoln’s murder. When doing more research, the conspiracy takes Ben, Abigail Chase, and Riley Poole to Buckingham Palace.

National Treasure (2004)

September 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Jon Turteltaub, Modern treasure hunters, led by archaeologist Ben Gates, search for a chest of riches rumored to have been stashed away by George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin during the Revolutionary War. The chest’s whereabouts may lie in secret clues embedded in the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and Gates is in a race to find the gold before his enemies do.

South Pacific (1958)

September 15, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Joshua Logan, On a South Pacific island during World War II, love blooms between a young nurse and a secretive Frenchman who’s being courted for a dangerous military mission. Or should she just wash that man out of her hair? Bloody Mary is the philosopher of the island and it’s hard to believe she could be the mother of Liat who has captured the heart of Lt. Joseph Cable USMC. While waiting for action in the war in the South Pacific, sailors and nurses put on a musical comedy show. The war gets closer and the saga of Nellie and Emile becomes serious drama.

Con Air (1997)

September 15, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Simon West, Cameron Poe, who is a highly decorated United States Army Ranger came to his home of Alabama to his wife, Tricia. only to run into a few drunken regulars at where Tricia works. Cameron unknowingly kills one of the drunks and was sent to a federal penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter for seven years. Then, Cameron became eligible for parole and can now go home to his wife and daughter, Casey. Unfortunately, Cameron has to share a prison airplane with some of the most dangerous criminals in the country, who somehow took control of the plane and are now planning to escape the country with the plane. Cameron has to find a way to stop them while playing along.

American History X (1998)

September 15, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Tony Kaye, The story unfolds through the eyes of Danny Vinyard, who idolizes his older brother Derek. Seeking retribution for his father’s murder and burning a way to vent his rage, Derek finds himself transformed by a philosophy of hate as he turns into a charismatic leader of a local white power movement. Despite his indisputable intelligence, his incendiary actions culminate in a brutal murder and ultimately, a prison sentence. Three years later, everyone awaits Derek’s return: His mother Doris who prays for his safety; his girlfriend Stacey who longs for his return, and most of all Danny who’s desperate for his brother’s love and guidance, yet is driven by his own increasing white supremist hatred. Unbeknownst to Danny, Derek is a changed man. Fresh from prison, he no longer views hatred as a badge of honor. Ashamed of his past he is now in a race to save Danny and the Vinyard family from the violence he brought down upon them.

Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (2009)

September 12, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Carlos Saldanha and Mike Thurmeier, After the events of “Ice Age: The Meltdown”, life begins to change for Manny and his friends: Scrat is still on the hunt to hold onto his beloved acorn, while finding a possible romance in a female sabre-toothed squirrel named Scratte. Manny and Ellie, having since become an item, are expecting a baby, which leaves Manny anxious to ensure that everything is perfect for when his baby arrives. Diego is fed up with being treated like a house-cat and ponders the notion that he is becoming too laid-back. Sid begins to wish for a family of his own, and so steals some dinosaur eggs which leads to Sid ending up in a strange underground world where his herd must rescue him, while dodging dinosaurs and facing danger left and right.

Ice Age: The Meltdown (2006)

September 12, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Carlos Saldanha, Manny the woolly mammoth, Sid the sloth, Diego the saber-toothed tiger, and the hapless prehistoric squirrel/rat known as Scrat are still together and enjoying the perks of their now melting world. Manny may be ready to start a family, but nobody has seen another mammoth for a long time; Manny thinks he may be the last one. That is, until he miraculously finds Ellie, the only female mammoth left in the world. Their only problems: They can’t stand each other–and Ellie somehow thinks she’s a possum! Ellie comes with some excess baggage in the form of her two possum “brothers”– Crash and Eddie, a couple of daredevil pranksters and cocky, loud-mouthed troublemakers. Manny, Sid and Diego quickly learn that the warming climate has one major drawback: A huge glacial dam holding off oceans of water is about to break, threatening the entire valley. The only chance of survival lies at the other end of the valley. So our three heroes, along with Ellie, Crash and Eddie, form the most unlikely family–in any “Age”– as they embark on a mission across an ever-changing, increasingly dangerous landscape towards their salvation.

Ice Age (2002)

September 12, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Chris Wedge and Carlos Saldanha, Twenty thousand years ago, Earth was being overrun by glaciers, and creatures everywhere were fleeing the onslaught of the new Ice Age. In this time of peril, we meet the weirdest herd of any age: a fast talking but dim sloth named Sid; a moody woolly mammoth named Manny; a devilish saber-toothed tiger named Diego; and an acorn-crazy saber-toothed squirrel known as Scrat. This quartet of misfits unexpectedly, and reluctantly, comes together in a quest to return a human infant to his father. Braving boiling lava pits, treacherous ice caves, freezing temperatures and a secret, evil plot, these “sub-zeros” become the world’s first heroes.

September Dawn (2007)

September 9, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Christopher Cain, This film is based upon the tragedy which occurred in Utah on September 11, 1857. A group of settlers, traveling on wagons, was murdered by the native Mormons. and in the name of God, men, women and children were savagely murdered. All together, about 140 souls of men, women and children, were taken. Who ordered the massacre, and why, has been hidden in a cloak of secrecy and conspiracy, And the reputation of one of the nation’s mightiest religious figures has been preserved and protected.

Larry Crowne (2011)

September 9, 2011 1 Comment

Directed by Tom Hanks, Until he was downsized, affable, amiable Larry Crowne was a superstar team leader at the big-box company where he’s worked since his time in the Navy. Underwater on his mortgage and unclear on what to do with his suddenly free days, Larry heads to his local college to start over. There he becomes part of a colorful community of outcasts, also-rans and the overlooked all trying to find a better future for themselves…often moving around town in a herd of scooters. In his public-speaking class, Larry develops an unexpected crush on his teacher Mercedes Tainot, who has lost as much passion for teaching as she has for her husband. The simple guy who has every reason to think his life has stalled will come to learn an unexpected lesson: when you think everything worth having has passed you by, you just might discover your reason to live.

Irreversible (2002)

September 8, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Gaspar Noé, This French thriller chronicles the unspeakable horror of rape and the aftermath, Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in the underpass. Her boyfriend and ex-lover take matters into their own hands by hiring two criminals to help them find the rapist so that they can exact revenge. A simultaneously beautiful and terrible examination of the destructive nature of cause and effect, and how time destroys everything.

Pillow Talk (1959)

September 8, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Michael Gordon, A suave playboy and a headstrong interior decorator must share a party line during a Manhattan line shortage. The deocorator becomes offended when she must listen to the playboy every night wooing a different girl and soon they become enemies. But, when they finally by chance meet in person, the whole thing takes a different turn.

For a Few Dollars More (1965)

September 8, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Sergio Leone, In the post-Civil War Southwest, two bounty hunters set out after a sadistic outlaw, Indio, for whom a $10,000 reward is offered. One of the hunters is a stranger known only as “the man with no name”; the other, Col. Douglas Mortimer, is a former Confederate Army officer whose sister committed suicide after being raped by Indio. The two men first encounter each other in El Paso and prepare for a showdown, but instead they decide to join forces in tracking down Indio and splitting the reward. To win favor with Indio, the stranger organizes a jailbreak and frees the outlaw’s best friend.  At first, they go their own ways, but eventually get together to try and find him. But are they after him for the same reason ?

The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

September 7, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, The true story follows the ups and downs of Florenz Ziegfeld, famed producer of extravagant stage revues. At the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, sideshow barker Flo Ziegfeld turns the tables on his more successful neighbor Billings, and steals his girlfriend to boot. This pattern is repeated throughout their lives, as Ziegfeld makes and loses many fortunes putting on ever bigger, more spectacular shows. French revue star Anna Held becomes his first wife, but it’s not easy being married to the man who “glorified the American girl.”

The Help (2011)

September 7, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Tate Taylor, Set in Mississippi during the 1960s, Skeeter is a southern society girl who returns from college determined to become a writer, but turns her friends’ lives — and a Mississippi town — upside down when she decides to interview the black women who have spent their lives taking care of prominent southern families. Aibileen, Skeeter’s best friend’s housekeeper, is the first to open up to the dismay of her friends in the tight-knit black community. Despite Skeeter’s life-long friendships hanging in the balance, she and Aibileen continue their collaboration and soon more women come forward to tell their stories and as it turns out, they have a lot to say. Along the way, unlikely friendships are forged and a new sisterhood emerges, but not before everyone in town has a thing or two to say themselves when they become unwittingly and unwillingly caught up in the changing times.

The Debt (2010)

September 7, 2011 1 Comment

Directed by John Madden, The espionage thriller begins in 1997, as shocking news reaches retired Mossad secret agents Rachel and Stefan about their former colleague David . All three have been venerated for decades by their country because of the mission that they undertook back in 1966, when the trio (portrayed, respectively, by Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Sam Worthington) tracked down Nazi war criminal Vogel in East Berlin. At great risk, and at considerable personal cost, the team’s mission was accomplished – or was it? The suspense builds in and across two different time periods.

The Ten Commandments (1956)

September 6, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Cecil B. DeMille, During the rule of Rameses I in Ancient Egypt, the pharaoh is informed that the Hebrew slaves believe that a recently seen star portends the arrival of a deliverer who will free them. Wanting to subvert the deliverer, yet unwilling to kill all the Hebrew slaves, Rameses I theorizes that the deliverer must be newly born and so orders the death of every male, Hebrew infant. To escape the edict of Egypt’s Pharoah, Rameses I, condemning all newborn Hebrew males, the infant Moses is set adrift on the Nile in a reed basket. Saved by the pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, he is adopted by her and brought up in the court of her brother, Pharaoh Seti. Moses gains Seti’s favor and the love of the throne princess Nefertiri, as well as the hatred of Seti’s son, Rameses. When his Hebrew heritage is revealed, Moses is cast out of Egypt, Moses, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people.

42nd Street (1933)

September 6, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Lloyd Bacon, Julian Marsh, an sucessful Broadway director, produces a new show, inspite of his poor health. The money comes from a rich old man, who is in love with the star of the show, Dorothy Brock. But she doesn’t reply his love, because she is still in love with her old partner. Julian Marsh needs just one more hit so he can retire and recover his health. It looks like he may just pull it off until his tempermental star Dorothy breaks her ankle on the eve of the show’s premiere and has to be replaced by understudy Peggy.

Gia (1998)

September 4, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Michael Cristofer, The true story of top fashion model Gia Marie Carangi follows her life from a rebel working in her father’s diner at age 17 to her death in 1986 at age 26 from AIDS, one of the first women in America whose death was attributed to the disease. In between, she followed a downward spiral of drug abuse and failed relationships.

Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998)

September 4, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by John Maybury, The true story of British painter Francis Bacon, In the 1960s, Francis Bacon surprises a burglar and invites him to share his bed. The burglar, a working class man named George Dyer, 30 years Bacon’s junior, accepts. Bacon finds Dyer’s amorality and innocence attractive, introducing him to his Soho pals. In their sex life, Dyer dominates, Bacon is the masochist. Dyer’s bouts with depression, his drinking and pill popping, and his satanic nightmares strain the relationship, as does his pain with Bacon’s casual infidelities. Bacon paints, talks with wit, and, as Dyer spins out of control, begins to find him tiresome.

To Sir, with Love (1967)

September 2, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by James Clavell, Engineer Mark Thackeray arrives to teach a totally undisciplined class at an East End school. Still hoping for a good engineering job, he’s hopeful that he won’t be there long. He starts implementing his own brand of classroom discipline: forcing the pupils to treat each other with respect. Inevitably he begins getting involved in the students’ personal lives, and must avoid the advances of an amorous student while winning over the class toughness.

The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)

September 2, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by David Zucker, When the incredibly thick Officer Frank Drevin seeks the ruthless killer of his partner , he stumbles and pratfalls on a plot to off Queen Elizabeth. Queen Elizabeth II of England is coming to town, and Vincent Ludwig has plans to assassinate her using a brainwashed baseball player.

The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (1991)

September 2, 2011 1 Comment

Directed by David Zucker, Lt. Frank Drebbin returns to save the day, This time he’s out to foil the “big boys” in the energy business. A top scientist (Dr Mainheimer) is about to publish his report on energy supply for the future. Things don’t look good for the traditional suppliers; oil, coal and nuclear. To save their industries, the suppliers kidnap Mainheimer and replace him with a decoy with a more favourable report.

Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994)

September 2, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Peter Segal, Police Lt. Frank Drebin gets called out of retirement and sent to prison on an undercover assignment. His mission: Learn how terrorist Rocco Dillon plans to blow up the Academy Awards ceremony. Frank’s wife wants him to stay home and father a child, but when duty calls, Drebin answers! The opening parody of “The Untouchables” is hilarious.

Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

September 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Clint Eastwood, The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Japan during World War II, Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff.

Meet the Parents (2000)

September 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Jay Roach, Greg Focker is head over heels in love with his girlfriend Pam, and is ready to pop the big question. Greg realizes the key to Pam’s hand in marriage lies with her formidable father, Jack Byrnes. A trip to New York for her sister’s wedding seems just the right occasion for Greg to ask Pam to be his wife. But everything that could possibly go wrong, does. Upon his arrival at the family’s picturesque home, Greg is greeted by what appears to be the picture-perfect family. But for a guy who usually resorts to dry wit in stressful situations, Greg is suddenly shooting blanks with Jack, a retired horticulturist–and rather imposing figure. No one is good enough for Jack’s first-born daughter, and the fact that Greg is a cat-hating male nurse with a vulgar-sounding last name is not helping things at all. While Greg bends over backwards to try and make a good impression, his weekend begins with lost luggage at the airport and turns into a series of disasters.

Meet the Fockers (2004)

September 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Jay Roach, Now that Greg Focker is “in” with his soon-to-be in-laws, Jack and Dina Byrnes, Ex-CIA man Jack Byrnes and his wife travel to Miami to Greg’s parents, who this time around are Mr. and Mrs. Focker, who are as different from them as can be. As asked in the first movie, what sort of people name their son Gaylord M. Focker? Bernie and Roz Focker. The hyper-relaxed Fockers and the tightly-wound Byrneses are woefully mismatched from the start, and no matter how hard Greg and Pam try, there is just no bringing their families together.

Antichrist (2009)

September 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Lars von Trier, A couple lose their young son the grieving couple retreats to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage. But nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse. To confront her fears they go to stay at their remote cabin in the woods, “Eden”, where something untold happened the previous summer. Told in four chapters with a prologue and epilogue, the film details acts of lustful cruelty as the man and woman unfold the darker side of nature outside and within.

XXY (2007)

September 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Lucía Puenzo, This is the dramatic story of a intersexed 15-year-old. She lives with her parents, who have to cope with the challenges of her medical condition. For just about everybody, adolescence means having to confront a number of choices and life decisions, but rarely any as monumental as the one facing 15 year-old Alex who was born an intersex child. As Alex begins to explore her sexuality, her mother invites friends from Buenos Aires to come for a visit at their house on the gorgeous Uruguayan shore, along with their 16-year-old son Álvaro. Alex is immediately attracted to the young man, which adds yet another level of complexity to her personal search for identity, and forces both families to face their worst fears.

Driving Miss Daisy (1989)

September 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Bruce Beresford, An elderly Jewish widow living in Atlanta can no longer drive. Her son insists she allow him to hire a driver, which in the 1950s meant a black man. She resists any change in her life but, Hoke, the driver is hired by her son. She refuses to allow him to drive her anywhere at first, but Hoke slowly wins her over with his native good graces.   It covers over twenty years of the pair’s life together as they slowly build a relationship that transcends their differences.

Troy (2004)

September 1, 2011 Leave a comment

Directed by Wolfgang Petersen, It is the year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age. Two emerging nations begin to clash after Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnom to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. So they set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy. With the help of Achilles, the Greeks are able to fight the never before defeated Trojans. But they come to a stop by Hector, Prince of Troy.

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