As a baby, Ella (Anne Hathaway) receives a visit from Lucinda (Vivica A. Fox), her fairy godmother, and is bestowed with a magical talent that requires her to obey anything that she is told to do. This proves to be more of a curse than a blessing, particularly once her mother dies and she is forced to live with the cruel Dame Olga (Joanna Lumley). Eventually, Ella embarks on a journey to find Lucinda and break the spell, accompanied by the handsome Prince Charmont (Hugh Dancy).
Soul Food is the kind of movie that seems to have been blessed throughout its low-budget production, and it's got a quality of warmth and charm that fits perfectly with its authentic drama about a large African-American family in Chicago. Twenty-eight-year-old writer-director George Tillman Jr.
Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1 is trash for connoisseurs. From his opening gambit (including a "Shaw-Scope" logo and gaudy '70s-vintage "Our Feature Presentation" title card) to his cliffhanger finale (a teasing lead-in to 2004's Vol. 2), Tarantino pays loving tribute to grindhouse cinema, specifically the Hong Kong action flicks and spaghetti Westerns that fill his fervent brain--and this frequently breathtaking movie--with enough cinematic references and cleverly pilfered soundtrack cues to send cinephiles running for their reference books.
Chills and Thrills: Will Gotham City be put on ice? George Clooney is Batman as the Dark Knight battles his greatest threat yet: cold-hearted Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) and venomous Poison Ivy (Poison Ivy). Batman has more than Gotham City to protect: the youthful eagerness of crimefighting comrades Robin (Chris O'Donnell) and Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone) puts them frequently in harm's way. New very special effects include a wild sky-surfing sequence and Freeze's outrageous ice-blasting arsenal. It's state-of-the-art excitement from our Batfamily to yours!
