Thirty years after rising to global stardom in The Wizard of Oz, showbiz legend Judy Garland (Renee Zellweger) arrives in London to perform a five-week sold-out run at The Talk of the Town. While preparing for the shows, Garland battles with management, reminisces with friends and adoring gay fans, and embarks on a whirlwind romance with soon-to-be fifth husband Mickey Deans (Finn Wittrock) - all while bravely struggling to overcome intensifying anxiety and physical decline.
There's no rule against rock anthems from the 1970s in the soundtrack for a movie about a medieval jousting champion, but if you're going to attempt such jarring anachronisms, you'd better establish acceptable ground rules. Writer-director Brian Helgeland does precisely that in A Knight's Tale and pulls off this trick with such giddy aplomb that you can't help but play along.
Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie use their star power to help propel The Tourist to its ultimate, satisfying destination. It just takes a little while to get there. Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (The Lives of Others) sets a leisurely pace for The Tourist, which lets the film be equal parts mystery, romance, thriller, and comedy. But because of its lush cinematography and location-based shooting, The Tourist is perhaps first and foremost a valentine to the city of Venice.
Hamlet, son of the king of Denmark, is summoned home for his father's funeral and his mother's wedding to his uncle. In a supernatural episode, he discovers that his uncle, whom he hates anyway, murdered his father.
First screened in Europe and scheduled for limited release in the U.S., The Illusionist offers welcome proof that "arthouse" quality needn't be limited to the arthouses. Set in turn-of-the-century Vienna, this stately, elegant period film benefited from a crossover release in mainstream cinemas, and showed considerable box-office staying power--granted, teenage mallrats and lusty males may have been drawn to the allure of Seventh Heaven alumna Jessica Biel, who rises to the occasion with a fine performance.
In this inspirational costume drama, Michael Apted (49 Up) recounts a period in British history sure to be unfamiliar to most Americans. In fact, his eye-opening biography of 18th century abolitionist William Wilberforce (Ioan Gruffudd) is likely to come as a revelation to many Britons, as well. After all, despite the presence of his wife, Barbara (Romola Garai), this isn't a particularly "sexy" story, but it is a powerful one. The title comes from John Newton's hymn Amazing Grace ("I once was lost but now am found").
As a pleasant dose of holiday cheer, The Holiday is a lovable love story with all the Christmas trimmings. In the capable hands of writer-director Nancy Meyers (making her first romantic comedy since Something's Gotta Give), it all begins when two successful yet unhappy women connect through a home-swapping website, and decide to trade houses for the Christmas holiday in a mutual effort to forget their man troubles.
Luscious cinematography and even more luscious stars make Tristan & Isolde a feast for the eyes. Adapted from the medieval love story, the movie begins with with young Tristan (played as a child by Thomas Sangster, Love Actually) as he sees his parents killed by the tyrannical Irish, who ruled over a fractured Britain after the Roman occupation.
The original caped crusader is back! Antonio Banderas and Academy Award-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (2002, Best Supporting Actress, Chicago) return for more swashbuckling action, adventure and excitement in the explosive cinematic thrill-ride, The Legend of Zorro! Having spent the last ten years fighting injustice and cruelty, Alejandro de la Vega (Banderas) is now facing his greatest challenge: his loving wife Elena (Zeta-Jones) has thrown him out of the house! Elena has filed for divorce and found comfort in the arms of Count Armand (Rufus Sewell), a dashing French aristocrat.
Although it was unfortunately ignored during its brief theatrical release, this sumptuously seductive production is that rarest of cinematic breeds, the (barely) respectable guilty pleasure. Combining historical fact with hysterical anachronisms of language and mannerism, it's been tailored for maximum contemporary appeal but maintains a lush, romantic feel for its factual 16th-century tale of Venetian love, lust, and political repression.
