Comedy

Coyote Ugly

As a producer, Jerry Bruckheimer makes movies for guys, mostly action films like Top Gun and Gone in 60 Seconds. The ones he makes that feature women, such as Flashdance and now Coyote Ugly, broaden their appeal with a fondness for "strong women." For Bruckheimer, that means self-determined, attractive women who don't need men to get what they want. Is there anything sexier than that? In Coyote Ugly, the charming young waif Piper Perabo stars as Violet, a New Jersey waitress who moves to New York to make it big as a songwriter.

The Ramen Girl

An American slacker (Brittany Murphy, 8 Mile; Girl, Interrupted) abandoned by her boyfriend in Tokyo finds her calling in an unlikely place: a local ramen house run by a tyrannical chef who doesn't speak of a word of English. Undaunted by the chef's raging crankiness, Abby convinces him to teach her the art of ramen preparation...and despite hilarious clashes of culture and personality, she learns how to put passion and spirit into her life as well as her cooking.

Marley And Me

When a dog wriggles his adorable rear end into a human's life, the human will never be the same. And both Marley, the dog, and Marley & Me, the movie, manage to endear themselves deeply despite a few wee flaws. Readers of the John Grogan bestseller already know the raffish charm of the incorrigible yellow lab puppy, Marley, adopted by Grogan and his wife because she's "never seen anything more adorable in my life." But Grogan's simple tale of love, in all its forms, shines on the big screen, thanks to deft comic turns by Jennifer Aniston--in top form here--and Owen Wilson.

Arthur 2: On The Rocks

"I lost $750 million," Arthur says, "Of course, that was when $750 million was a lot of money." His loss is your entertainment gain in this delightful riches-to-rags-to-riches sequel directed by comedy veteran Bud Yorkin (All In the Family). Effervescent Dudley Moore takes up where he left of as the multimillionaire title prankster. Liza Minnelli is his scintillatingly sassy spouse Linda and with a dash of divine intervention, stately John Gielgud also reappears in his Oscar-winning role as Arthur's acerbic valet.

Feed The Fish

Joe Peterson is a burned-out children s book writer who s on the brink of a mid-life crisis. With his career at a standstill and his relationship in shambles, he leaves town with his best friend to do the Polar Bear Plunge in the dead of winter in Northern Wisconsin. On his quest for inspiration, Joe encounters a motley crew of misfits including an obsessed law enforcement professional, a hockey player, and a potential muse. The crew guides Joe to find his lost passion, survive an assault by an ex-girlfriend, and stay out of the way of the law.

Shall We Dance?

On his evening commute, bored accountant Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) always looks for the beautiful woman who gazes wistfully out the window of the Kishikawa School of Dancing. One night he gets off the train, walks into the studio, and signs up for a class. Soon Sugiyama is so engrossed in his dancing he practices his steps on the train platform and under his desk, and becomes good enough for competition, compelling his wife to hire a private investigator to find out why he stays out late and returns home smelling of perfume.

So Fine

Bobby Fine (Ryan O'Neal) teaches comparative literature at a New England university. His father Jack (Jack Warden) is a hard-luck 7th-Avenue dress merchant in heavy debt to a 7-foot loan shark (Richard Kiel). To pay up, Jack gives up the business - and babe-in-the-woods Bobby finds himself part of the deal. Exposed to the craziest business in midtown, Bobby's solution is the next best thing to indecent exposure: debuting a line of see-through jeans! Soon he's in full tryst with the loan shark's wife (Mariangela Melato) - and the next garment he dons might be a cement overcoat.

Outsourced

The low-key, charming Outsourced is a thoughtful satire about the human side of contemporary frustrations associated with the global economy. Josh Hamilton (The House of Yes) stars as Todd Anderson, vice president of customer relations for a Seattle company that sells phone-order, patriotic kitsch. Part of Todd's job is keeping his operators' order-taking time down to a few minutes. He's good at what he does, but that doesn't stop the company from outsourcing Todd's entire department to somewhere in India, where local workers can field customer calls more cheaply.

Bottle Shock

"Bottle shock" describes what can happen to wine as it travels from place to place. Set in 1976, Randall Miller's widescreen docudrama concerns the real-life showdown between California's wineries and their French counterparts. Napa Valley's Jim Barrett (Lost Highway's Bill Pullman) has been plugging away for years with minimal success. A former attorney, Barrett runs Chateau Montelena with his wayward son, Bo (Chris Pine, the Star Trek prequel's Captain Kirk), who would rather do anything than assist his stern father.

Bottle Rocket

This quietly daffy comedy should have been an indie hit, but ended up ignored by audiences. Too bad; it's a wonderfully sustained caper movie about friends whose career choice is all wrong. Low-key Anthony (Luke Wilson) and high-strung Dignan (Owen C. Wilson--the two actors are brothers) are brought into a life of crime by Dignan's ambition to be a small-time thief. After a few amusingly laid-back trial burglaries, they (and a third buddy) find themselves over their heads when they hook up with an experienced crime boss (James Caan).

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