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Our Favorite Movies
- All by Title |
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A Simple Plan
stars Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton |
| Brothers Hank (Bill Paxton), an accountant at a small-town feed store, and Jacob (Billy Bob Thornton), an unemployed, hygienically challenged dim bulb, accompanied by Jacob's oafish pal Lou, stumble across a downed plane in the brush containing a corpse and a sack containing millions of dollars--surely the aftermath of a drug deal, they conclude. Greed overcomes good sense, and the three agree to hide the money for a year and keep the secret to themselves. A simple plan indeed, and it doesn't take long for it to go all to hell as the lure of wealth tears at kinship and friendship, and the ruthless machinations of impetuous partners leave a body count in its wake. |
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American Beauty
stars Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening |
| Weaves social satire, domestic tragedy, and whodunit into a single package, keeping us off balance, winking seamlessly from dark, scabrous comedy to deeply moving drama. The Burnham family joins the cinematic short list of great dysfunctional American families, as Lester (Spacey) is pitted against his manic, materialistic realtor wife, Carolyn (Bening) and his sullen, contemptuous teenaged daughter. |
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Bowling for Columbine
stars Michael Moore |
| Michael Moore's superb documentary tackles a meaty subject: gun control. Moore skillfully lays out arguments surrounding the issue and short-circuits them all, leaving one impossible question: why do Americans kill each other more often than people in any other democratic nation? Moore focuses his quest around the shootings at Columbine High School and the shooting of one 6-year-old by another near his own hometown of Flint, Michigan. By approaching the headquarters of K-Mart (where the Columbine shooters bought their ammo) and going to Charlton Heston's own home, Moore demands accountability from the forces that support unrestricted gun sales in the U.S. His arguments are conducted with the humor and empathy that have made Moore more than just a gadfly; he's become a genuine voice of reason in a world driven by fear and greed. |
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Brewster's Millions
stars Richard Pryor, John Candy |
| Brewster is a minor league baseball player. Unknown to him, he had a (recently deceased) rich relative. In order to test if Brewster knows the value of money, he is given the task of disposing of $30m in 30 days. Brewster isn't allowed to have any assets to show for the $30m or waste the money in any way. If successful, Brewster gets to inherit $300m. The biggest problem of all however, is that Brewster can't tell anyone what he's doing, so everyone thinks he's crazy. |
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Bruce Almighty
stars Jim Carrey, Morgan Freeman, Jennifer Aniston |
| Bruce Nolan (Carrey), a television reporter in Buffalo, N.Y.,is discontented with almost everything in life despite his popularity and the love of his girlfriend, Grace (Aniston) . At the end of the worst day of his life, Bruce angrily ridicules and rages against God and God responds. God appears in human form (Freeman) and, endowing Bruce with divine powers, challenges Bruce to take on the big job to see if he can do it any better. |
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Bulworth
stars Warren Beatty, Halle Berry |
| A surprisingly entertaining political comedy that features a funny and magnetic Beatty as the discouraged politician Bulworth, who has organized his own assassination but, after a three day bender of not sleeping, decides that he wants to live after all. He begins to tell the complete truth at all times, not caring about the potential repercussions of his offensive, yet honest, remarks. |
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Cadillac Man
stars Robin Williams, Tim Robbins |
| A high pressure sales pitch. A high pressure love life. For Joey O'Brien, life is no bed of Rollses.
Plot Synopsis: Joe's a car salesman with a problem. He has two days to sell 12 cars or he loses his job. This would be a difficult task at the best of times but Joe has to contend with his girlfriends (he's two timing), a missing teenage daughter and an ex-wife. What more could go wrong ?.. a lot, enter a crazy jealous husband with a machine gun. |
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Changing Lanes
stars Ben Affleck, Samuel L. Jackson |
| An attorney (Ben Affleck) in a rush to make a court appointment to file legal papers involving a multi-million dollar trust accidentally collides with an alcoholic insurance salesman (Samuel Jackson), who also is a rush for a court appointment involving the custody of his children. The attorney leaves the scene of the accident and strands the salesman, causing him to miss his custody hearing. During the process of the post-crash discussion, the attorney accidentally drops the papers he needs to present in court. The judge gives him until the end of the day to present the papers and thus begins a cat and mouse game between the proponents. A few questionable actions later on both parties' part, they finally start questioning their actions and their lives. In the end, both come to new understanding of what is important and appear to be set in new ethical and moral directions. |
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Dead Poets Society
stars Robin Williams, Robert Leonard, Ethan Hawke |
| English professor John Keating (Robin Williams) inspires his students to a love of poetry and to seize the day. Painfully shy Todd Anderson has been sent to the school where his popular older brother was valedictorian. His room-mate, Neil, although exceedingly bright and popular, is very much under the thumb of his overbearing father. The two, along with their other friends, meet Professor Keating, their new English teacher, who tells them of the Dead Poets Society, and encourages them to go against the status quo. Each, in their own way, does this, and are changed for life. |
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Don Juan DeMarco
stars Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando |
| A young man (who is the legendary Don Juan?), comes to New York in search of his lost love. Feeling like he has nothing to live for, he attempts to commit suicide from atop a billboard. Dr. Mickler, (played by Marlon Brando), is a soon retiring psychiatrist who helps Don Juan (Johnny Depp), come to his senses. He brings the costumed boy to the psychiatric hospital , in hopes of helping Don Juan find his identity. The doctor works with him for ten days, in which Don tells his life story. |
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Fahrenheit 9/11
stars Michael Moore |
| To anyone who truly understands what it means to be an American, Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 should be seen as a triumph of patriotic freedom. Rarely has the First Amendment been exercised with such fervor and forthrightness of purpose. Moore armed himself with a platoon of reputable fact-checkers, an abundance of indisputable film and video footage, and his own ironically comedic sense of righteous indignation, with the singular intention of toppling the war-ravaged administration of President George W. Bush. It's the Bush presidency that Moore, with his provocative array of facts and figures, blames for corporate corruption, senseless death, unnecessary war, and political favoritism toward Osama Bin Laden's family and Saudi oil partners following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Moore's incendiary film earned Palme d'Or honors at Cannes and a predictable legion of detractors, but do yourself a favor: Ignore those who condemn the film without seeing it, and let the facts speak for themselves. By honoring American soldiers and the victims of 9/11 while condemning Bush's rationale for war in Iraq, Fahrenheit 9/11 may actually succeed in turning the tides of history. |
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Fearless
stars Jeff Bridges, Isabella Rossellini |
| When Max Klein (Jeff Bridges) finds himself facing imminent death as his plane hurls toward the ground, he finds inner calm and release from fear in his acceptance of his own unavoidable end. His panic erased, he helps other passengers to relax, and when he survives the impact, to escape. What follows is his difficult and complex journey back to emotional and spiritual equilibrium. |
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Field of Dreams
stars Kevin Costner, Amy Madigan |
| A modern classic and a uniquely American slice of cinema. Costner stars as Iowa farmer Ray Kinsella, who hears the mysterious words "If you build it, he will come," and is compelled to build a baseball diamond in the middle of his cornfield. His wife (Amy Madigan) supports the wild idea, but a reclusive novelist (modeled after J.D. Salinger and played by James Earl Jones) is not so easily persuaded. The idealistic farmer is either a visionary or a deluded fool, but his persistence is rewarded when spirits from baseball's past begin appearing on the ball field. |
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Fierce Grace
stars Ram Dass |
| Harvard professors Richard Alpert and Timothy Leary made countercultural history in 1963 when they were fired from that institution for conducting controversial psychedelic drug research. In the purple haze aftermath, Alpert journeyed to India and found his guru Maharaj ji, who renamed him Ram Dass ("Servant of God"). Best known for his 1971 bestseller BE HERE NOW, which was a spiritual touchstone of the era, Ram Dass became an inspiration to people across the globe. Filmmaker Mickey Lemle--who has known his subject for more than twenty-five years--intersperses vivid archival footage from hippiedom's glory days with intimate glimpses of Ram Dass today, as he continues to remake his life since being--in his words--"stroked" in 1997. |
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Kundun
stars Tenzin Thuthob Tsarong |
| The story of the Dalai Lama from birth to 1959. The Tibetans refer to the Dalai Lama as 'Kundun', which means 'The Presence'. He was forced to escape from his native home, Tibet, when communist China invaded and enforced an oppressive regime upon the peaceful nation of Tibet. The Dalai Lama escaped to India in 1959 and has been living in exile in Dharamsala ever since. |
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Leap of Faith
stars Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Liam Neeson |
| Stars Steve Martin as Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent faith healer who makes a living visiting small towns and giving hope in the form of prayer. Aided by his no nonsense manager, Jane (Winger), Jonas sets up his tent in a small suburb of Kansas where he soon learns that their hidden mikes, cameras and computers can't fool the neighborhood sheriff. But, when Jonas is touched by a local waitress and her disabled son Boyd, he learns something new about truth and what real miracles are made of. |
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MindWalk
stars Liv Ullmann, Sam Waterston, John Heard |
| Based on Fritjof Capra's book "The Turning Point," and employs elements of his earlier book "The Tao of Physics." The setting is the French island of Mont St. Michel, where an ecclectic trio come together - Sonia, an alienated physicist; Jack, a senator fresh from a failed presidential bid; and Thomas, a sardonic poet and friend of Jack, once employed as his speechwriter. This is a conversation movie — talk, talk, talk... and little else.
Except for ideas. There are plenty of those, and for interested audiences that should be more than enough. |
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Pay It Forward
stars Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment |
| Pay It Forward is a multi-level marketing scheme of the heart. Beginning as a seventh-grade class assignment to put into action an idea that could change the world, young Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment) comes up with a plan to do good deeds for three people who then by way of payment each must do good turns for three other people. These nine people also must pay it forward and so on, ad infinitum. If successful, the resulting network of do-gooders ought to comprise the entire world. Trevor's attempts to get the ball rolling include befriending a junkie and trying to set up his recovering-alcoholic mother (Helen Hunt) with his burn-victim teacher (Kevin Spacey), who posed the assignment. |
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Peaceful Warrior
stars Scott Mechlowicz, Nick Nolte |
| Rising gymnast Dan Millman (Mechlowicz) has everything a college male could want: physical prowess, good grades, a chance at Olympic gold, and a parade of attractive girls eager to sleep with him. So why is his sleep troubled by violent dreams? While wandering late at night, he meets a mysterious man (Nolte) working at a service station, who sends Dan on a quest for his inner self--a quest that becomes crucial when Dan has a motorcycle accident and shatters one of his legs. Under the tutelage of "Socrates" (as Dan dubs the mysterious man), Dan finds a new strength both spiritual and physical. |
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Private Parts
stars Howard Stern, Mary McCormack |
| The notorious Howard Stern, self-proclaimed "king of all media," is a nerdish but appealing media rebel who loves his wife and family. Even if you hate Stern's rude radio show, you may discover that the underdog charm of this warm, whimsical film (based on Stern's autobiography) turns you into a fan--for the length of the film at least. Stern delivers a winning performance as the clumsy college kid and aspiring disc-jockey-turned-demon-shock-jock, who becomes an unlikely hero as he battles station managers, network executives, and conservative "arbiters of decency" in the name of unfettered bad taste. |
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Remo Williams
stars Fred Ward, Joel Grey |
| Based on the pulp paperback adventure series The Destroyer, the film deals with a ne'er-do-well, Remo Williams (Fred Ward), who is recruited to battle the forces of evil. He is trained by an Asian martial arts master who, in those days before political correctness, was played by Joel Grey in heavy makeup. An NYPD cop is 'killed' in an accident. The death is faked, and he is inducted into the organization CURE, dedicated to preserving the constitution by working outside of it. Remo is to become the enforcement wing (assassin) of CURE, and learns an ancient Korean martial art from Chiun, the Master of Sinanju. Based on the popular pulp series "The Destroyer," by Richard Sapir and Warren Murphy. |
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Scent of a Woman
stars Al Pacino, Chris O'Donnell |
| Al Pacino won the Oscar for his lead performance in this 1992 movie. As the blind, blunt, and ultimately benevolent retired Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade, Pacino is compelling, simultaneously subtle and grandly over-the-top when defending his new assistant and prep school student Charlie (Chris O'Donnell) at a disciplinary hearing. Pacino's adventurous escapades in New York City provide comic relief. |
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The Five People You Meet in Heaven
stars Jon Voight, Emy Aneke |
| On his 83rd birthday, Eddie (Voight), a war vet and a maintenance worker at the Ruby Pier amusement park, dies while trying to save a girl who is sitting under a falling ride. When he awakens in the afterlife, he encounters five people with ties to his corporeal existence who help him understand the meaning of his life. |
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The Game
stars Michael Douglas, Sean Penn |
| The story of a rigid control freak trapped in circumstances that are increasingly beyond his control. Michael Douglas plays a rich, divorced, and dreadful investment banker whose 48th birthday reminds him of his father's suicide at the same age. He's locked in the cage of his own misery until his rebellious younger brother (Sean Penn) presents him with a birthday invitation to play "The Game" (described as "an experiential Book of the Month Club")--a mysterious offering from a company called Consumer Recreation Services. Before he knows the game has even begun, Douglas is caught up in a series of unexplained events designed to strip him of his tenuous security and cast him into a maelstrom of chaos. How do you play a game that hasn't any rules? |
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The Legend of Bagger Vance
stars Will Smith, Matt Damon, Charlize Theron |
| Set in Savannah, Georgia, during the early '30s, the story charts the redemption of disillusioned World War I veteran and former golf champion Rannulph Junuh (Matt Damon), who emerges from self-imposed obscurity in an exhibition match against legendary golfers Bobby Jones (Joel Gretsch) and Walter Hagen (Bruce McGill). Having earlier abandoned the socialite (Charlize Theron) who has organized the tournament to promote her late father's spectacular golf resort, Junuh now depends on the support of a young fan (perfectly cast newcomer J. Michael Moncrief) and the mysterious Bagger Vance (Will Smith), a smiling Jiminy Cricket who serves as Junuh's caddy, golf guru, and Socratic angel of mercy. |
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The Man Who Sued God
stars Billy Connelly, Judy Davis |
| Centers around Steve (Billy Connelly), an ex-lawyer who is unable to collect insurance money for his destroyed boat. Deeming the accident an "act of God," Steve decides to sue the man at the root of his problem -- namely, God. Anna (Judy Davis), a jaded journalist who took a particular interest in Steve's case, decides to help him out on his quest to collect from the almighty. The movie raises a host of philosophical issues, some of which include who should represent God in court, who pays up should God be convicted, and the status of Steve's eternal soul. (Important! This video is PAL/Region 2 DVD: it WILL NOT play on standard US DVD player.) |
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The Matrix
stars Laurence Fishburne, Keanu Reeves |
| Set in the not too distant future in an insipid, characterless city, we find a young man named Neo (Reeves). A software techie by day and a computer hacker by night, he sits alone at home by his monitor, waiting for a sign, a signal -- from what or whom he doesn't know -- until one night, a mysterious woman seeks him out and introduces him to Morpheus (Fishburne). A messiah of sorts, Morpheus presents Neo with the truth about his world by shedding light on the dark secrets that have troubled him for so long. Ultimately, Morpheus illustrates to Neo what the Matrix is -- a reality beyond reality that controls all of their lives, in a way that Neo can barely comprehend. |
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The Road To Wellville
stars Matthew Broderick, Bridget Fonda, John Cusack |
| Based on the best-selling novel by T. Coraghessan Boyle, The Road To Wellville satirizes late-19th-century health fads and medical procedures. The story focuses on Will Lightbody (Matthew Broderick) and his wife, Eleanor (Bridget Fonda), guests at the health spa of cereal mogul Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (Anthony Hopkins). The vacationing couple get more than they bargain for, however, when doctors separate the couple and force them to undergo an array of hilariously absurd medical treatments. Meanwhile, con artist Charles Ossining (John Cusack) and Kellogg's adopted son (Dana Carvey) plot to steal the doctor's coveted recipe for corn flakes. |
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The Rocky Horror Picture Show
stars Tim Curry, Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon |
| If a musical sci-fi satire about an alien transvestite named Frank-n-Furter, who is building the perfect man while playing sexual games with his virginal visitors, sounds like an intriguing premise for a movie, then you're in for a treat. Not only is The Rocky Horror Picture all this and more, but it stars the surprising cast of Susan Sarandon and Barry Bostwick (as the demure Janet and uptight Brad, who get lost in a storm and find themselves stranded at Frank-n-Furter's mansion), Meat Loaf (as the rebel Eddie), Charles Gray (as our criminologist and narrator), and, of course, the inimitable Tim Curry as our "sweet transvestite from Transsexual, Transylvania." |
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The Secret
stars ... way too many to list!! |
| Reveals The Great Secret of the universe. It has been passed throughout the ages, traveling through centuries... to reach you. This is The Secret to everything - the secret to unlimited joy, health, money, relationships, love, youth: everything you have ever wanted. For the first time in history, the world's leading scientists, authors, and philosophers will reveal The Secret that utterly transformed the lives of every person who ever knew it... Plato, Newton, Carnegie, Beethoven, Shakespeare, Einstein. Now YOU will know The Secret. And it can change your life forever. |
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Throw Mama From the Train
stars Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal |
| Owen (Danny DeVito) is a friendless would-be mystery writer who has had all he can take. He would do anything to get rid of his overbearing momma (Anne Ramsey), whose howling voice and domineering attitude have pushed him to the absolute limit. He even strikes a deal with Larry (Billy Crystal), his writing teacher, to knock off his much-hated ex-wife, with the understanding that the instructor will reciprocate. |
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