There are many reasons to recommend Troy as a good ol' fashioned Hollywood epic, especially if you've never read Homer's The Iliad. Dispensing with Greek gods altogether, this earnestly massive production (budgeted at upwards of $200 million) will surely offend historians and devoted students of the classics (for them, there's the History Channel's Troy).
A thinking person's thriller, Spy Game employs dense plotting without sacrificing the kinetic momentum that is director Tony Scott's trademark. The film has the byzantine scope of a novel, focusing on veteran CIA operative Nathan Muir (Robert Redford), whose protÈgÈ Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) is scheduled for execution in a Chinese prison. It's Muir's last day before retiring (clichÈ alert!), and Bishop is being deliberately sacrificed by oily CIA officials to ensure healthy trade with China.
Ocean's Eleven improves on 1960's Rat Pack original with supernova casting, a slickly updated plot, and Steven Soderbergh's graceful touch behind the camera. Soderbergh reportedly relished the opportunity "to make a movie that has no desire except to give pleasure from beginning to end," and he succeeds on those terms, blessed by the casting of George Clooney as Danny Ocean, the title role originated by Frank Sinatra.
Bill Parrish has it all - success, wealth and power. Days before his sixtieth birthday, he receives a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black, who soon reveals himself as Death. In exchange for extra time, Bill agrees to serve as Joe's earthly guide. But will he regret his choice when Joe unexpectedly falls in love with Bill's beautiful daughter Susan? Directed by Martin Brest (Scent Of A Woman).
From the director of Presumed Innocent and The Pelican Brief comes this suspense drama of two complex, proud and passionate men. When New York cop Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford) agrees to open his family home to Rory Devaney (Brad Pitt), he doesn't know that he is about to shelter a dangerous and wanted terrorist. Accepted into Tom's family, Rory discovers a tranquility that he has never experienced. But Rory's terrorist mission is calling - and when he finally has to answer, it is Tom who must hunt him down...and who becomes Rory's sole chance of getting out alive.
