Film Reviews

In front of a crowd at the Rotterdam Music Hall, Prince and his band perform 13 numbers, 11 of which are from his double album, "Sign 'o' the Times," and all but "Now's the Time" are his compositions. This is high energy stuff, with neon signs flashing above the stage, suggesting the honky-tonk district of a big city. Between a few of the numbers, there are vignettes of street life. Three women - Shiela E, Boni Boyer, and Cat - provide rhythmic, vocal, and physical pyrotechnics. Sheena Easton appears in a film within a film, her rock video "U Got the Look." In constant motion, never far from center stage, is Prince, Minnesota's charismatic pixy.

It would have satisfied even the most voracious history buffs if Rory Kennedy, youngest child of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, had enlisted her mother’s perspective simply as a fresh angle on the Kennedy years. But this movie is so much more. Intimate, humorous conversations and never-before-seen images from the family troves uncover an enthralling story of a vivacious, authentic heroine whose transformation – from rambunctious Republican firecracker to savvy Democratic campaigner to socially conscious single mother of 11 – arcs definitively as her husband’s drama unfolds.

3 college cheerleaders use their martial arts know-how to save their Sensei from mafia kidnappers, but must keep their extra curricular activities a secret in order to make it into an Ivy League school.

Perry and Della are finally married by his old friend, Judge Mary. They plan to go on a honeymoon, but before it can start, Perry is retained by a woman with a gun and $5000.

A prudish woman, working on tenure as a literacy professor at a large urban university, finds herself strangely attracted to a free-spirited, liberal woman whom works at a local carnival which comes to town.

Bill McKay is a candidate for the U.S. Senate from California. He has no hope of winning, so he is willing to tweak the establishment.

In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in the apartment the couple owns.

Chronic serial womanizer Stephane Margelle (Jean-Paul Belmondo) drops his wife Sophie (Marie Laforet) off at the airport so she can go away for Easter weekend. He immediately picks up beautiful young Julie (Sophie Marceau), who has just had a fight with her married boyfriend. He gets her back to his apartment and is preparing for a sexy weekend, when his wife suddenly returns home. He makes up a bizarre, on-the-spot, spur-of-the-moment story that the gorgeous girl is actually his long-lost daughter. Julie plays along, but this leads to a whole series of increasingly ridiculous lies and comical situations (such as when her real mother shows up).

David Callaway tries to piece together his life in the wake of his wife's suicide and has been left to raise his nine-year-old daughter, Emily on his own. David is at first amused to discover that Emily has created an imaginary friend named 'Charlie', but it isn't long before 'Charlie' develops a sinister and violent side, and as David struggles with his daughter's growing emotional problems, he comes to the frightening realisation that 'Charlie' isn't just a figment of Emily's imagination.

A rich and successful lawyer named Counselor is about to get married to his fiancée but soon meets up with the middle-man known as Westray who tells him his drug trafficking plan has taken a horrible twist and now he must protect himself and his soon bride-to-be lover as the truth of the drug business uncovers and targets become chosen.

An elderly ex-serviceman and widower looks to avenge his best friend's murder by doling out his own form of justice.

This documentary, aired on the Turner Classic Movies (TCM) cable network, looks at the life and career of John Garfield, whose career was cut short when he died at age 39. His difficult childhood in the rough neighborhoods of New York City provided the perfect background for the tough-guy roles he would play on both stage and screen.

Stewart McBain (Coleman) is a real-estate mogul who spends his living blowing up old buildings to make room to erect new buildings. All goes as planned for a new subdivision, until a group of protesters object to the destruction of one lonely, ugly building, called the Dutch House. Typically, the media is sent to the scene of the protest, and McBain appears on TV in a bad way. His children - Daphne (Thurman), Chloe (Amis), and Jimmy (Hewlett) - ridicule him for appearing on TV, and as a reward for their remarks, he drops them off at the Dutch House with $750 apiece, and tells them they're on their own. They must find jobs if they expect to make money to stay warm. McBain and his wife, Jean watch from afar as their children adapt to their new lifestyle, meeting new friends, and inviting others into their new home, including a decrepit bum.

Ben-Hur is a 1959 epic film directed by William Wyler, the third film version of Civil War vet Lew Wallace's 1880 novel Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ. It premiered at Loew's State Theatre in New York City on November 18, 1959. The movie's reputation as a classic is primarily based on two spectacular action sequences: the great chariot race and a Roman naval battle, along with lavish production values and strong performances. The plot of Ben Hur revolves around a Jewish prince who is betrayed and sent into slavery by a Roman friend and how he regains his freedom and comes back for revenge. However, instead he finds redemption in Christ, the theme is ultimately about being saved in the Christian sense. The film went on to win a record of eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Actor (Charlton Heston as Ben Hur). This record-setting Oscars sweep has since been equaled by Titanic in 1998 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2004, but never broken.

An old Viking is determined to reach Valhalla, the warrior's afterlife full of excessive drinking and debauchery. To gain entry he has to die honorably in battle, but he discovers that the right death isn't so easy.